Welcome to CmX499!

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What’s a good comic adventure at least a bit of back story.

At the Drugstore

I remember reading comic books as young as 6 years old. I remember spending my money and begging my parents for more every time we went to the drugstore to buy comic books.

My grandparents had one really big comic book in their house and I’d pretty much read it every visit there. I believe it had three or more stories. I think I remember one being Iron Man. I definitely remember one with the Hulk taking on M.O.D.O.K. (I never got over how weird M.O.D.O.K. looked).

My favorite cartoon shows all starred comic book heros, Spider-man, Batman, Iron Man, Captain America and the Superfriends/Justice League. I remember being in first grade and hurrying my walk home to make sure I saw that day’s episode of Adam West Batman on the local TV station.

Collecting

I was around 12 when I started really collecting them. Part of it was for the whole collecting thing (the bubble started even back then) but mostly it was for the stories. My favorite two series were the Teen Titans (the Marv Wolfman and George Perez years) and almost anything X-men. My biggest reason for collecting back issues was to get my hands on everything during the John Byrne period.

I loved the stories and especially his art. I enjoyed getting certain mini-series. I remember eagerly awaiting every month for the new episode of The Secret Wars (the first one, not the steaming pile that came later). I loved the four issue Wolverine series without even knowing who Frank Miller was. I enjoyed the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series even though I was not a big fan of Kitty myself.

I read to enjoy the stories more than to collect. I still have all those comics but I doubt they’d be worth what they could have been had I not read every book over and over again (and brought some to summer camp).

At 14, being the teenager I was, I started to get disenfranchised with comic books. I got tired of connected arcs and special editions. I liked Wolverine but he was not my favorite (Nightcrawler) and I felt that his growth and multiple series had more to do with economics than story. When Marvel resurrected Jean Grey to create X-Factor (with a resurrection story as stupid as any created by daytime soaps) the camel-breaking straw had come. Dealing with my own life had become hard enough. I left the world of comic books.

The Lost Years

My love however never really went away. Even after college I talked to friends who collected just to learn about the new story arcs and where characters were. I couldn’t wait to see every comic book movie that came out.

A Passion Resurrected

Just over three years ago my family pooled up some money and got me an iPad for the holidays. Comixology had already launched successfully and even then just months into the re-birth of the tablet, digital comics became instantly available.
Even though I had the age, maturity and salary to buy comics I started with dipping my toe in the waters. To be honest I feared going crazy purchasing (something I carry in my genes). While maybe earning decent money a husband and father should be relatively reasonable with his purchases.

I started with free comics. I then got into sales. Sometimes I would just buy an issue because I couldn’t wait for the price to drop any more. I started buying a lot of comics.

I decided to take a break from it all. Partly for the money. Mostly to just concentrate more on other things.

Present Day

I’ve been back for a quite a while now. If I could I would become the mighty Sarlacc of comic books; an open maw devouring them all. I can’t do that. 
I began to be more selective with my purchasing with the goal of finding some sort of balance between satiating my hunger while not going (too) bankrupt. Out of that process a set of guidelines slowly evolved:

• Go crazy free real issues of comics (real meaning not previews or a #0).
• Buy individual issues at 99¢.
• Only buy collections or graphic novels at a cost equal to 99¢ an issue (a buck per 22-25 pages).
• When nothing is currently available that meets the established criteria, deal and re-read previous purchases. Some books are good enough to enjoy several reads anyway.

Two results came out of this process:

• I controlled my purchasing of all the great Marvel, DC, Image, Vertigo, Valiant, Archaia, Dynamite, IDW, Dark Horse and other publishers that had books I wanted that cost over 99¢. I’m dying to read hundreds of issues of all the great series out there. I just have to wait.
• I discovered an incredible wealth of interesting and often great books from very small publishers or independent artists. I knew I could find a lot of great stuff. But now I had a reason to pro-actively search for it.

CmX499

Sometimes people have true instant epiphanies. Other times ideas grow and evolve until they take a life of their own. CmX499 formed at the crossroads of personal ideas and epiphanies.

Over the past year I have wanted to write about comics. I had applied to a couple of sites for reviewer positions without any success.

At the same time I would read or follow comic book news/reviews sites. While they did cover some of the interesting smaller books I’d read, that coverage could be sparse or non-existent.

One day I arrived at the crossroads. That day I had found an application for a freelance writing position that would specialize in writing about Marvel and DC comic books and movies. A part of the application required me to write a paragraph on how this magazine could angle itself differently from those that already existed. That same day I had been reading articles and guides about how to grow and even potentially monetize blog writing. Almost every writer talked about two important points: finding something you're passionate about and becoming then a strong and knowledgeable voice in that subject.

My brain put it all together and CmX499 was born.

I have absolutely enjoyed just the short time I’ve spent putting this all together.

I hope you will too.