YOUR COMICS BRONZE AGE EDITOR IN HIS SEATTLE OFFICE, STOCKPILING A FEW REVIEWS.
The Seattle dateline on this article offers a clue to the tumultuous year that was 2011. After more than a decade in the wheat fields of Waterville, Wash., your Comics Bronze Age editor relocated back over the Cascade Mountains to the wet side of Washington state. The reasons for my move were both professional – a new job as communications director for Humanities Washington – and personal.
It was the personal that forced CBA into hibernation.
After 16 years, my marriage came to an end. I won’t go into details, other than to say the split wasn’t something I wanted. In the dark months at the end of 2010, as it became clear divorce was likely, comic books suddenly stopped bringing me happiness. Long a gateway to childhood joy, comics seemed to have no place in my grim adult world; energy once spent on escapist entertainment was needed to survive. Rather than let CBA become a chore – and it was fast becoming one – I reluctantly decided to step away.
And it took me awhile to get my comics groove back.
By the time I moved to Seattle in June of 2011, I wondered if comic books would ever bring me joy again. Thankfully, my collection made it through the divorce, albeit somewhat streamlined for financial reasons. But my comics sat unread and unloved … at least for the first several months.
By fall, I started to pay an occasional visit to the Marvel Universe. Old friends started to sneak out of their Mylar sleeves. A trip up the street to the Meridian Park School Comic Book Show followed, as did a Groupon-inspired outing to Comics Dungeon, an excellent comic-book shop here in Seattle. As the winter rain began to fall (noticeable only in that it’s a bit colder than the region’s spring, summer and fall rain), I was back in the thrall of the hobby I’ve enjoyed since before I could even read.
Comic books take me to a happy place. They did when I was 10, and they do again at 42. The return of Comics Bronze Age is a gift to myself: A celebration not just of comic-book goodness published from 1970 to 1985, but of the sense of whimsy and wonder I worried I might have lost forever.
The realities of my new life – job demands, single parenting, etc. – dictate a less aggressive publishing schedule for CBA. I’ll be posting a new review every Monday and Friday; as in the past, these selections will offer a fairly random cross section of offerings from Marvel, DC and the era’s other, smaller publishers. On Wednesdays, I’ll be joined by Gentleman Tom Kiefer, an friend and academic from Nebraska whom I’ve been talking comics with for the past several years. Relatively new to the Bronze Age, Tom will be diving into Essentials and Showcase Presents volumes to offer a series of sequential reviews.
Hopefully, the day will come when CBA can return to a daily schedule. By 2014, we’d love to see a second print edition come off the press. In the meantime, though, CBA is back – and isn’t going away again anytime soon.
Thanks again for waiting, all. And, please, make sure to comment and enjoy!
Andrew, great to see you back with the blog. And sorry to hear about the turmoil in your ‘real-life’ alter-ego. Still, I hope everything works out for the best – and I’m looking forward to future posts.
Andrew –
All the best to you, sir. We appreciate whatever you have to offer, and look forward to reading it. Welcome back.
Doug
CBA’s is back! Thank you!
On the other, hand, sorry to hear about your troubles. Glad to hear things are starting to get better for you, though.
Looking forward to Comics Bronze Age 2.0. Welcome back.
Buddy
Thanks, all! Really glad to be back. I started getting the itch in spring, but wanted to stockpile enough reviews to make sure I could maintain a regular schedule. We’re good to go on that front. Looking forward to getting back out on the Web and immersing myself back in the Bronze Age Blogosphere!
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew – Great to see you up-and-running again! I’m terribly sorry to hear about the challenges you’ve faced, and I completely understand your reasons for shutting down CBA at the time.
Hopefully 2012 will continue to be prosperous for you!
Welcome back!
Shag
PS: Just bought “Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold – The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 1″. Looking forward to reading it!
I am an older reader 56 and love comics.The Bronze age brings loads of memories to me. I wish you all the luck in the world. peace.
Welcome back! Those of us who love 70s and 80s comics have been missing this!
“Long a gateway to childhood joy, comics seemed to have no place in my grim adult world; energy once spent on escapist entertainment was needed to survive.”
Man, that rings so true these days. I’m glad to see the blog back!
Oo, fun! I haven’t read a blog hardly at all this summer, with biking, swimming, and my silly Avengers game on FB…I think this will be very cool! I wonder if there is a place in the publishing world for people who like to write such things, and if our chances would be greater banding together to write a Bronze Age book? I have a list of six publishers in mind. Your job sounds interesting! Keep dry!
Welcome back Andrew
I myself went through a financial crash in 2010 when I lost my job, I was at a precarious time with school and car loans almost totally paid off when it happened. That flung me into a tailspin, but with the support of my wife (always encouraging, always positive) and some fancy footwork with the bank, I was able to clear up my outstanding debt, after landing a decent job. Amazingly we then went on to buy a house.
2 years ago I was down and almost out, now we own our own home.
During 2010 I gave up comics totally, I had done so from 09, but I would dabble every now and then, but now I have been out of buying new comics. Doesn’t stop me from digging out hundreds of comics from the 70s and 80s that I have in storage.
Sorry to hear about your divorce, am glad you’re doing better now.
[...] Blogosphere | After a nearly two-year hiatus, the website Comics Bronze Age — it focuses on comics published between 1970 and 1985 — has returned. [Comics Bronze Age] [...]
CBA has been sorely missed. I am incredibly pleased to see this come back.
Andrew,
Welcome back! I can’t wait to read your new posts — your site was one of my top blog sites before the dark days of the “great hiatus”. I look forward to having more fun with you and the other commenters! I’m so glad that you are finding a happy place in your life where there is time to share your love of comics with everyone.
Welcome as well to Tom Kiefer!
John
Glad to hear you’re back, and sorry for your tumultuous year. I’ll keep reading and make sure to send some traffic your way by posting the “re-opening” of your blog on my blog. Welcome back!
I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, but I’m glad that comics can bring you joy and an escape once again, and Im doubly glad to hear that CBA is back.
Wow, that’s a lot of love. Thanks, everyone!
Shag: Love those early Showcase B&Bs! I must admit, though: I actually like volumes 2 and 3 better. I love Neal Adams’ art, of course, but actually think I prefer Aparo’s Batman. And, because of his use of spot blacks, Aparo’s art looks so nice in Showcase Present B&W.
C Lue Disharoon: The market is pretty limited for such books, and the good folks over at TwoMorrows have that market pretty much down cold! I did a print edition in 2010 (you can still download a PDF version) and will likely do another in 2014, but it’ll be a labor of love.
Dale: Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a pretty rough patch, too! Glad we’re both back to a place where we can enjoy a little four-color escapism.
And, to everyone: Thanks again for all the kind words! Thrilled to be back and look forward to celebrating comic-book goodness with you all.
Echoing what’s been said, great to see you’ve found your groove again. Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got lined up over the coming months.
Nice to see you back, Andrew.
Welcome back! The period 1970-1985 pretty much captures my main collecting time (though I didn’t really start into DC and Marvel until the mid 70′s; before that I was into Disney and Archie). It’s fun to go back. I’m pleased to hear things are getting better personally and look forward to future reviews!
Alright!
After leaving comics in the 90′s (yeah the same reasons as everyone else) and rejoining 10 yrs later I find myself returning to the Bronze Age as the only consistently good enjoyable comics. Bravo for returning.