Post College... there is one memory that will always be with me when I think how comics have influenced me - and how it helped me become the person I am.
I go back to 1986 - having just had a very controversial election, many people - myself included, beleived that we (and democracy) had one chance against a conjugal dictatorship. Mind you, I had no real quarel with the incumbent president - but I was also filled with youthful idealism. A great part of this being influenced by comicbooks. Anyway, back to the story - I had chanced upon an opportunity to prove my resolve in helping make sure the elections results were not robbed from us.
I volunteered to guard ballots in one municipality - a municipality, I might add, that experienced attacks by goons the day before. I was one of the faceless many who decided to help reinforce the group guarding the ballots. I was not alone. I had two friends - and as we bravely waited fro possible attacks to come, we passed the time comparing notes. My one friend - Johhny, a musician by heart, had been a reader of comics long time ago and at another place and time, had seen me with my collection of Secret Wars (by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck) - needless to say, he got blown away and I somehow rekindled his curiosity and interest in comics.
Johnny asked me to fill in the blanks from his last encounter with marvel's heroes (circa late 60s and early 70s, based on what he'd mention. Deke (my other friend and the person who completes this trio of volunteers) had been more exposed to comics - though not in a regular manner. I'd say that Deke had been followign what he could read - but did not bother looking for, buying or collecting the comicbooks like I did.
Anyway, we literally talked till dawn (no attack came - thank God) about how Marvel had evolved its stories, and how their heroes had changed through the years. It was this talk that reminded me of why I was guarding the ballots, it was this talk that also made me realize that I just had to hark back to some stories I'd read to remember the struggles these imaginary heroes went through, the sacrificed they made and the odds they faced - yet prevailed. I silently thanked my comic collection for giving me the moral compass and the courage to do what I was doing that night.
But this was not the only memory...
Giong back a few years, I had the habit of hanging around another friend's place - this was Maxi, and his comics collection was breathtaking. He actually stumbled upon Fantastic Four #2, and was just beaten to the punch of getting #1 by a day. This he was able to do by finding a treasure troev of old comics being sold - I would guess that the owner probably passed away and the relatives just decided to seel the collection - happy to get rid of it, not realizing the value of the comics. Granted they were not in mint condition... heck, they were not in fine condition, either - their pages were browned and in an efort to probably preserve the cover, a brown thick paper was pasted on the inner back cover. Like I said, no 'real' collectors value - but back here, a treasure troev none the less.
Anyway, I would go to Maxi's room - even when he was not around (the rest of the household knew and trusted me - I guess, thats possible since we knew each other since high school, not to mention that his mom and mine were close friends too) and would proceed to read his comics - this is where I first read such classics as Avengers #93 (Kree/Skrull War) and of course, the near complete run of Fantastic Four.
It was in one of this typical type of day that I saw Deke there (he too, was Maxi's friend) and he informed me of a group reffering to themselves as Role Players - in lieu of the type of game they played, which was of course Role Playing Games. He invited me to join them one time, just to possibly observe them. The clincher? They were playing the Marvel RPG. Now, I'd seen the advertisments - ignored them at the most, since I thought the game out of reach. Now here wasa group actually playing the game... I did not just have to imagine things, I could try sharing such imaginations with others... I agreed of course and a date was set.
I braved this new frontier, actually having to go to the campus of a rival school from that of where I literally grew up in, and observed this intriguing new game. It seemed that Deke had informed them of my interest (and avid collection hobby) and they asked me to 'roll up' a chracter to join them. Needless to say, this was the start of a new adventure, a new chapter and new friendship. The Watcher for this group, Alan, continues to be a close friend these days.
Third experience I can think of? I actually had another friend, Onjie, who's family owned a... club, where men would flock to enjoy booze, music and scantily clad women. Now I would nto be truthful to say that I did not enjoy the sights whenever I went there - but I was also severely limited with not having a job. Still, I did go out with soem friends, and we were allowed inside without the customary entrance fees - courtesy of Onjie. Once inside, we graba a free table and partake of the visual extravaganza.
One evening, Onjie invites me to his office (he was the club's manager) to dicsuss comics in a quieter environ... now, most of my other friends used to mention that this office was just beside the kitchen and they'd feast by raiding the stores and cooking up anything they could - to Onjie's delight, since he enjoyed food too. But the, ahem, best fringe benefit for me was the fact that Onjie's office overlooked the 'ladies' dressing room via a one-way mirror. To this date I wonder if the ladies knew we were watching, and in doing so, were making a relatively private show for us by walking around with just beads and make-up.
I'm sure they were teasing us - oh, we did get to talk comics... but I had to turn my back on the one-way mirror. Those were one of the harder discussions (no pun intended here) I had about comics. Ah... to be young and single.
I go back to 1986 - having just had a very controversial election, many people - myself included, beleived that we (and democracy) had one chance against a conjugal dictatorship. Mind you, I had no real quarel with the incumbent president - but I was also filled with youthful idealism. A great part of this being influenced by comicbooks. Anyway, back to the story - I had chanced upon an opportunity to prove my resolve in helping make sure the elections results were not robbed from us.
I volunteered to guard ballots in one municipality - a municipality, I might add, that experienced attacks by goons the day before. I was one of the faceless many who decided to help reinforce the group guarding the ballots. I was not alone. I had two friends - and as we bravely waited fro possible attacks to come, we passed the time comparing notes. My one friend - Johhny, a musician by heart, had been a reader of comics long time ago and at another place and time, had seen me with my collection of Secret Wars (by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck) - needless to say, he got blown away and I somehow rekindled his curiosity and interest in comics.
Johnny asked me to fill in the blanks from his last encounter with marvel's heroes (circa late 60s and early 70s, based on what he'd mention. Deke (my other friend and the person who completes this trio of volunteers) had been more exposed to comics - though not in a regular manner. I'd say that Deke had been followign what he could read - but did not bother looking for, buying or collecting the comicbooks like I did.
Anyway, we literally talked till dawn (no attack came - thank God) about how Marvel had evolved its stories, and how their heroes had changed through the years. It was this talk that reminded me of why I was guarding the ballots, it was this talk that also made me realize that I just had to hark back to some stories I'd read to remember the struggles these imaginary heroes went through, the sacrificed they made and the odds they faced - yet prevailed. I silently thanked my comic collection for giving me the moral compass and the courage to do what I was doing that night.
But this was not the only memory...
Giong back a few years, I had the habit of hanging around another friend's place - this was Maxi, and his comics collection was breathtaking. He actually stumbled upon Fantastic Four #2, and was just beaten to the punch of getting #1 by a day. This he was able to do by finding a treasure troev of old comics being sold - I would guess that the owner probably passed away and the relatives just decided to seel the collection - happy to get rid of it, not realizing the value of the comics. Granted they were not in mint condition... heck, they were not in fine condition, either - their pages were browned and in an efort to probably preserve the cover, a brown thick paper was pasted on the inner back cover. Like I said, no 'real' collectors value - but back here, a treasure troev none the less.
Anyway, I would go to Maxi's room - even when he was not around (the rest of the household knew and trusted me - I guess, thats possible since we knew each other since high school, not to mention that his mom and mine were close friends too) and would proceed to read his comics - this is where I first read such classics as Avengers #93 (Kree/Skrull War) and of course, the near complete run of Fantastic Four.
It was in one of this typical type of day that I saw Deke there (he too, was Maxi's friend) and he informed me of a group reffering to themselves as Role Players - in lieu of the type of game they played, which was of course Role Playing Games. He invited me to join them one time, just to possibly observe them. The clincher? They were playing the Marvel RPG. Now, I'd seen the advertisments - ignored them at the most, since I thought the game out of reach. Now here wasa group actually playing the game... I did not just have to imagine things, I could try sharing such imaginations with others... I agreed of course and a date was set.
I braved this new frontier, actually having to go to the campus of a rival school from that of where I literally grew up in, and observed this intriguing new game. It seemed that Deke had informed them of my interest (and avid collection hobby) and they asked me to 'roll up' a chracter to join them. Needless to say, this was the start of a new adventure, a new chapter and new friendship. The Watcher for this group, Alan, continues to be a close friend these days.
Third experience I can think of? I actually had another friend, Onjie, who's family owned a... club, where men would flock to enjoy booze, music and scantily clad women. Now I would nto be truthful to say that I did not enjoy the sights whenever I went there - but I was also severely limited with not having a job. Still, I did go out with soem friends, and we were allowed inside without the customary entrance fees - courtesy of Onjie. Once inside, we graba a free table and partake of the visual extravaganza.
One evening, Onjie invites me to his office (he was the club's manager) to dicsuss comics in a quieter environ... now, most of my other friends used to mention that this office was just beside the kitchen and they'd feast by raiding the stores and cooking up anything they could - to Onjie's delight, since he enjoyed food too. But the, ahem, best fringe benefit for me was the fact that Onjie's office overlooked the 'ladies' dressing room via a one-way mirror. To this date I wonder if the ladies knew we were watching, and in doing so, were making a relatively private show for us by walking around with just beads and make-up.
I'm sure they were teasing us - oh, we did get to talk comics... but I had to turn my back on the one-way mirror. Those were one of the harder discussions (no pun intended here) I had about comics. Ah... to be young and single.
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