Right then, you bastards...

Welcome to my new bloggy type thing, I live sweat, but I dream lightyears... It's named after a lyric from a Minutemen song called Glory of Man, but you don't really need to know that. What you do need to know is that this is a blog about comics. Yeah, those paper things you've seen next to the 'Dark Romance' section in Waterstones, or in a poncy, and usually ill-informed, article in a broadsheet culture supplement every time a non-capes comic book is turned into a big budget film. My job, self-appointed as it is, is to tell you which comics are worth reading, as I see it.

I don't read single issues, the awkward 32 page things most people think of when they hear the term 'comic'. What I read are trade paperbacks, which are collections of previously published single issues, usually released about 6 months after the single issues came out. The benefit of this format is that it's easy to store, easy to keep track of, available in ordinary book shops, and you get a whole story, sometimes two or three! What this means for the new reader is that you'll usually be able to click a link or take an ISBN number away with you and get hold of whatever I'm talking about really bloody easily. We live in an age of convenience, and trade paperbacks are the most convenient way to read and enjoy comics.

As to why I'm doing this, it's because I'm well known amongst people who know me reasonably well as being the comic book guy (Not the fat misanthrope on The Simpsons, although I have been known to be wildly sarcastic in an ill-fitting t-shirt before now). Anyway, every so often people tell me they're interested in reading a particular comic or comics in general, but they don't know where to start. I'll be aiming this blog squarely at those people, the people who want to pick up a Batman book without being burdened with decades of Bat-history, or the people who liked some comics movie, checked out the source material, and want recommendations for other stuff.

In short, I like comics. I like comics, and I want to share my enjoyment with as many people as possible. That means you.