Goodbye Daredevil...

This is my letter to the 'Letters Without Fear" column of Daredevil:

Dearest DD Team,

What a bittersweet day it was when I read that this run of Daredevil will be coming to an end. It's one of those things that I knew was going to happen eventually, but chose to blissfully ignore. I remember when I glossed over the cover of issue #1 several times while looking over the racks at my local comic shop and dismissing it. Admittedly, I've never been a regular reader of Daredevil, and when took a closer look at this particular cover observed that Daredevil was covering his eyes with his club, and the background was entirely composed of sound effects, I knew that this was something special.

I bought that issue, and it started a journey into remembering why I love the comics medium. This book has been so inventive. So engaging. So spectacularly pure in it's approach to its visuals and character moments. It has changed the way I look at a panel. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the term and has been consistent for every single issue.

My wife and I have recently welcomed our first child into the world, and while it has been the most wonderful experience of our lives, as many parents know, it also is an expensive experience. I had to cut my comics budget quite a bit, and am down to only 3 books a month. If I could only afford one comic a month, Daredevil would have been the one.

I have been reading Marvel comics since I was 8 years old, about 23 years ago, and it is with a tearful eye, that I bid goodbye to the best batch of comics that I have ever read. I know that there's more people responsible than just the writer and the pencilers, but to Mark, Chris, Paolo, Marcos, Marco, Khoi, Mike, and Jock I want to thank you for your contributions to our love of comics. I adore you and you will be missed.

With Love,

Greg Deaner from Colorado

So we bid farewell to this fantastical adventure that we embarked on nearly three years ago. Good night sweet princes. May we always look back on this run with the enthusiasm that we first looked upon it with.

I'm Back!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Sorry about that. Had to be done. So let's see what's been happening in the Negative Zone. I know! A numbered list in no particular order except chronologically.

1. Stopped blogging after The Amazing Spidey-Man 1 was released in theaters only to make a triumphant return many moons later.

2. Saw Iron Man 3. Wasn't as angry about the Mandarin as most people were. Disliked most of the rest of the movie, but enjoyed it slightly more than Iron Man 2.

3. Saw Dark Knight Rises. Hated it with a passion. Talked in 'Bane Voice' for weeks.

4. Got into a serious car accident n wife's car on a rainy morning on a rainy highway. Seriously totaled car. Seriously unscratched driver. Said some serious Our Fathers.

5. Celebrated invulnerability after car accident by having a mancation with best buddy and playing video games and poisoning liver. New nickname is The Juggernaut.

6. Stopped ordering comics from DCBS and started up a pull list at my LCS, because it felt right.

7. Knocked up wife. Checked off an item on 'things to do' list.

8. Started watching Doctor Who. Finished entirety of rebooted Doctor Who series on Netflix in about a month. Became a fan of Doctor Who.

9. Dramatically decreased pull list to save for college fund. Started reading only good comics despite the effect it would have on The Negative Zone.

10. Was asked to take on illustration duties for a children's book that my sister's mother-in-law...or my brother-in-law's mother...or my mother's son-in-law's mother...whatever is writing. Panicked. Then handled it.

11. Drew my ass off for the book while taking labor and delivery classes with wife. Discovered what a doula was, Hired a doula.

11.5. Saw Man of Steel. Was impressed by the visual effects, but bored by the movie itself. Nonetheless happy to see Supes on the big screen again.

12. On June 28th (our anniversary) my wife went into labor. On June 29th(baby's actual due date) at 12:25am our child, Eliana Claire, was born. Life forever altered in an indescribably sleep-deprived and amazing way.

13. Tried Bacon Maple Kettle chips.

14. Started writing for blog again.

So you see, it's been quite a several months to a year or more for me. Fourteen things happened! I guess the logical thing to do would be to update you on what comics I'm reading. Here's my pull list as of the last few months:

-Saga by Vaughan/Staples (Image)
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Eastman/Waltz/Santolouco (IDW)
-X-Men by Wood and Coipel/Lopez (Vol 4((Marvel)) -about to drop
-Daredevil by Waid/Samnee(Marvel)
-Trillium by Jeff Lemire (Vertigo)

I'm considering dropping X-Men only because it's pretty irrelevant and, like most launch titles, started out with a great artist and tapered off to a lesser one. I am thinking that I will keep up with my X-Books in trade and only the ones that matter (relatively speaking) or of particular interest to me. I want to read Uncanny X-Force and X-men Legacy, but I have to read Wolverine and the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and All-New X-men just to get the overlapping stories. TPB it is, unless I can find a super good deal on eBay for back-isssues.

Movie and TV news:
I am watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and not enjoying it very much. I think it's boring and needs more comic superheroes/villains. I'm staying with it only because I have faith in Joss Whedon and expect a payoff. It was just green lit for a full 22 episode season, so there's that.
Movies that I'm looking forward to are Cap 2, Thor 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm tentative on X-Men: days of Future Past. I don't give a crap about Ant Man, The Wolverine or Superman/Batman. I'm reserving judgement on Age of Ultron because I'm worried about lightning not striking twice for Whedon. Hoping we see some announcements about Dr Strange, Ms Marvel, Heroes for Hire, Flash, and Wonder Woman. All in all, it's a pretty exciting time to be a fan of comic book movies.

That's the happenings as of the last year or so. It feels good to be writing again and hope to keep at it.