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| Dawn and I sampling the flora & fauna of Washington, D.C. |
Before 2008, I was merely a passive comic book fan. I
collected one or two issues, but it was hardly a passion. Then for some reason that I don't remember, I decided to read the novelization of Alex Ross & Mark Waid's "Kingdom Come" by Elliot Maggin. For those of you who don’t know, "Kingdom Come" was a 1996 DC
Comics mini-series. The series dealt with what happens when Superman goes into
exile for a decade and new “heroes” step into the fold and start to run amok. (If
you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do. It is a good example of how to
write a story with a strong understanding of a characters history and
motivations.) It was this novel that really opened my eyes to the world of comics. I was drawn in by the fantasy and the complex situations of what seem to be simple characters. So I began to pick up all things comic related and that is why a good friend of mine invited me to the Steel City Comic-Con in
Pittsburgh where my life changed forever.
The Steel City Comic-Con was my first "comic culture" experience and I honestly didn't know what to expect. All I knew is that my friend was meeting another group of his "Pittsburgh Social Media" friends, which Dawn just happened to be part of. When I first met Dawn she was a bundle of energy and was
bouncing from exhibit to exhibit at the Comic-Con. Honestly, I couldn’t take my
eyes off of her and all I wanted to do is walk next to her. It’s funny, 5 years
later and that feeling still hasn’t gone away. Our first conversation was among
a large group of her friends and we were talking comic books, of course. Dawn
said that she was a Marvel girl through and through, X-Men to be exact and she
didn’t like DC. Of course, me being a DC fan, I had to start a discussion about
the difference between Marvel and DC. It is my opinion that DC is really based
on a religious model of existence and Marvel is based on the scientific model
of existence. My evidence for this is that Marvel often talks about the “mutant
evolution” and uses more science-fiction basis for many of their characters,
while DC uses more of a mystical and ideological tone. Not that DC shies away
from science, but their language is a bit softer and broader, they have “meta-humans”
as opposed to “mutants” and different “Justice Leagues” as opposed to “Avengers”.
As I was exercising all my nerd muscles,
it was like everyone else at the table disappeared and Dawn was the only one I
was talking to. (Editor’s note: My
argument must have worked, because in the past 5 years we have only bought a
handful of Marvel comics.)
In a nutshell, from that first dinner on, I was hooked. There
hasn’t been a single day since where I haven’t thought about her. That’s
not to say it has been perfect or easy. We’ve both gone through quite a lot to
be together, but isn’t that what being passionate about something is all about?
I can’t imagine life without her, so that’s why I’m marrying her. I’ve found
something I can’t live without and I’m taking it with me wherever I go. I can’t imagine being as passionate about any
career as I am about her and I’m pretty happy about that. My pure bliss would
be an infinite amount of time with her and a never ending stack of comic books.
I wonder if it would be creepy to invite Mark Waid to our wedding since he
helped to start this whole thing...worst case scenario we’ll just register at
the Twilight Zone.
