Where I'm From...

I've just spent the last couple of hours reading up on Warren Ellis' Second Life columns at Reuters (which can be found here). One of these focused on where SL came from, and this got me to thinking... where am I from? So let's find out. It'll be an adventure for both of us.

I was born in NYC, and have lived here damn near my entire life (I don't remember the parts that didn't happen here, so they don't really count to me), and I intend to keep it that way. City boy born and bred, concrete in the blood. Really. I'm not at home until I curse out somebody for what is probably a bad reason, but it makes me feel better.

But this isn't about the City that I love with every fiber of my being; this is about my mind.
The first book I remember reading is a book about a fox who was hunted year after year, and always escaped.

This was his game. After this, I got heavily into David Eddings' fantasy novels. I read them furiously. I still read them.

Then I got into comics. I read Archie comics when I was younger, as most did. I abandoned them for manga (japanese comics) not long after, and it was there that I found Sanctuary, a manga about the total overhaul of Japan from the political and yakuza (japanese mafia) perspectives. This was when I realized that comics could move people, that they could do the same work as books, as "high" literature, and so on. They were a legitimate medium, and (though I couldn't articulate it as such at the time) this is a conviction I hold to this day.

Next came Blade of the Immortal, a comic about life, violence and the consequences of both. Heart-stopping-ly illustrated and powerfully written, it still amazes me.

Books had kind of drifted off into the background at this point. It was all about comics for me. I got a job at my comics store, and I tore the place apart looking for new things to read. I read PREACHER, SANDMAN, the X-MEN, many other things. A kid who I knew years ago came through one day, and told me about a great book by Haruki Murakami called Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World. (I'm gonna stop with the links. Do the damn work yourself.) I read it, was thrilled, and while looking for more books of his, found another author with the same last name, Ryu Murakami, and figured I'd give him a try. I bought Coin Locker Babies, and it was odd as all hell, kind of beautiful in the way that blood-splatter can leave one in awe.

Around this time, I was introduced to TRANSMETROPOLITAN, Warren Ellis' masterpiece. It blew my mind. It made me think, it made me want to write, it made me want to work. If you know me at all, I've talked to you about TRANSMET already, so I won't do that here. It's damn good. If all comics were to be purged by god, and was I told that I had to choose one, and only one comic to save, it'd be TRANSMET in a heartbeat.
So, through this journey, I think we've learned something. I was not born of fire and piss and vinegar, and all that other bullshit. I was born of anger at stagnation, violence, and strange-ness, all of which can be found in all of the books that I've mentioned as important to my growth.

And because someone's said it before me, and it better than I can, I leave you with this:

"Change or die."~Warren Ellis

[originally posted 4/1/07]