Obviously all of us are in some fashion fans of comics and have been for a chunk of our lives. Some of us just love the medium as a vehicle for storytelling. Some of us love super-heroes and comics was long the primary habitat for them. Some of us are just readers, while others are hardcore collectors. Some may have aspirations to create comics or have done so. Some of us prefer floppies, others collected editions or strips, or whatever. Some of us have huge numbers of comics in our possession, others have moved on from owning physical comics. Some of us revel in comic related merch and ephemera-toys, apparel, art, etc. some of us were just comics. And we've probably all come to comics via different paths and discovered them at different points in our lives (and there's been a lot of discussion here over the years about how we discovered comics, our favorite things from or about comics, favorite stories, creators, etc.) and followed different paths in our comic pursuits. We've also talked a lot about what comics have meant or mean to us.

The one this we don't often talk about though is what we want from comics moving forward. Many of us are reaching an age where circumstances are changing in our lives. Some here are retiring, some recently or soon will become empty nesters, others may be dealing with health issues, some have become dissatisfied with comic fare produced after a certain point, some may have had other interests overtake comics in importance in their lives, etc. All of his shapes what we still want from comics. So I ask-what do you want from comic moving forward?


As for me, I want to keep discovering things that fire my imagination and bring me joy. Whether that is discovering a new (to me) title, a new (to me) creator, revisiting something with a new perspective, finding books I don't own at a shop or show. But the bottom line is I want comics to continue to be a source of joy in my life. Seeking out and engaging with stories told in panels and pages using words and pictures in whatever format I can and sharing those experiences with others brings me joy. I don't want it to be a source of negativity, I don't want it to be a financial burden, I don't want it to be a source of income or a creative outlet, I just want to experience joy as I experience comics. And for the most part I do.

Realizing this and embracing it has altered the way I approach a lot of things about comics and changed (hopefully for the better) some of my behaviors regarding comics and the comics community. I enjoy what I read (or watch or buy), even when it may not be a shining example of what comics can be. I enjoy acquiring and organizing comics. I enjoy talking to people about the joy of comics or about what they love about comics. So these are the things I cleave to and seek out in my comic experiences. Joy and wonder. I do not find joy in looking for negatives or wallowing in negativity. I do not find joy when I allow my (often) unrealistic expectations to color my experiences. I do not find joy in some of the toxicity in certain fan circles. I do not enjoy pissing in others cheerios, so to speak, if they enjoy something I don't (though the kneejerk reaction to do this was ingrained in me from years of such behaviors being normative in comic fandom and one I now consciously try to avoid), or others trying to piss in my cheerios if I enjoy something they don't. There are obviously things in comics, decisions by publishers or creators, etc. I don't like. Nothing is perfect. There are good comics and bad comics. There are good comic related media and merch, and not so good comic related media and merch. I'll give my honest assessment of it all and if I have a critique that is relevant to a discussion, I'll offer it, but I don't want to wallow in the negativity or to be negative for the sake of being negative just to be a part of the conversation because negativity gets the attention. I don't want to be a part of the torch and pitchfork mentality some have about comics, I don't want to approach everything looking for something to complain about or assuming I am not going to enjoy it. Why would I spend time and effort seeking out things I won't like (or won't let myself like)?

And because of this I have been curating my comic experience more and more over the last few years. I try to steer away from the overly negative, I tune out a lot of what people complain about, I don't worry about what comics others think I should be reading or collecting, I focus on what I love about comics. I want to enjoy my experiences with comics. If I am not enjoying it, why do I bother? Why should I continue to do so?

So I want to read as many of the comics I own that I haven't read or want to revisit as I can.
I want to fill in some holes and runs so I can read them.
I want to spend time with my friends and associates in the comic community whose company I enjoy.
I want to experience the wonder of discovering new things I love that fire my imagination when I read them, whether that's new discoveries or rediscovering an old fave.
I want to continue to create new memories with comics not replay old ones over and over with diminishing returns.
I want to enjoy my comics experience, and when my comics experience stops bringing me joy I want to be able to walk away with no regrets.

I'm not trying to be a Pollyanna or an apologist (I am too much of a devoted realist for that), but I want to make better choices about how I position comics in my life and which aspects of comics and comic fandom I choose to partake in.

But I want comics to be something positive in my life since it is such a big part of my life. If its not, then maybe I don't need/want them as a part of my life-there's enough other things in the world that cause me agata and not joy, I don't need that from comics too.

I see a lot of folks coming in to comics. I see a lot of folks walking away from comics. Sometimes our forums here are a microcosm of that. But I think there have been times when I took comics for granted (it's far too easy to do), or I allowed the negatives to drown out the joy comics can bring, where I allowed the presence of comics in my life to drag me down instead of lift me up, to bring out behaviors of my worst self instead of those of my best self. I've made friends because of comics. I've lost friends because of comics. But the past is what it is and won't change. I know what I want from comics moving forward (its been a process), but I think having the conversation about what each of us wants from comics is important. Maybe it's a form of mindfulness about what we do, or maybe it's a safeguard so we don't become sources of negativity in our own lives and the lives of others. And some of us just may want to collect and read a bunch of comics and have fun with our comics friends and not think about it too much. And that's cool.

But I am still going to ask-what do you want from comics?

-M