Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The One That Got Away...

Lately I've been getting a little melancholy and reminiscing on the "good times". There was a time, not so long ago, where I was with someone special, that I thought could mean great things to me and looked forward to being with as often as I could. One of those rare occasions where an outside force brings that much joy to your life that their mere presence could fill you with as much giddy anticipation as the final bell during the school day.

But for some reason that feeling left me.

All those times of looking forward to being with them just cut short inexplicably. Just like that, and all I was left with was a scant handful of memories and questions. "Why? Why did you leave me? What did I do wrong? Please, please could you just come back to me for a little while? I can't stand not having you around..." and then you're left with quiet. Just yourself in a room, sitting and waiting, hoping and praying, not sure of where to turn to next...

... Fuck I miss Desolation Jones.

Seriously, what the fuck? You have this kick ass comic, written to bittersweet perfection by someone like Warren Ellis with all the gallows humor you could ever want, but just that smattering of hope that gave it that little bit of edge, and outstanding art by the man, the myth, the legend J.H. Williams III and then POOF! two years later you're siting there realizing that nevermind it's not coming out now, they didn't even get past a third of the second arc. It's so terrible to see, that something like that can just whisk itself away from you, without much ado or warning but leave you with some hope that it just might come back some day if you're really hopeful and patient. Has this ever happened to you?

... what? What did you expect me to talk about here? A girl? Please...

Fell. Desolation Jones. Gutsville. The Infinite Horizon. That's just a few off the top of my head. Seems like I can't go more than a quarter year with something either just disappearing into the night, falling off the face of the planet, or just being yanked from me because no one else loved it as much as I did. Doesn't it seem odd how this just happens in comics? That one month you're checking off the same old on your LCS order like any other day and all of a sudden you notice you're a little light. You do a little digging and notice something isn't shipping that month. Odd, but it happens, and you eagerly anticipate it being there the next month and curse the extra four weeks wait under your breath. Except that four turns into eight, then twelve. Then you're seeing re-solicites for it and you're back to your two month buffer, but you're starting to lose hope and you do damage control as you try and make your brain forget it exists until you actually have the next issue in your hands. If there is one...

And don't forget the books that are cut down before their time. I'm still lamenting the lack of Nextwave in my comic book diet. The Order, Irredeemible Ant-Man, The Thing, hell even Gotham Central - despite having three years plus - wasn't enough. What can I say, I'm a greedy fuck. I'd gladly cancel half those companies respective lines if it meant getting those books back up and running. Like we need those fucking Classified books anymore. But alas, you soldier on...

There will always be a new batch of comics to take their place, and for the most part you can always find a replacement I guess. Something like Fell and Gotham Central, okay, not so much. But there will always be a new Order to rally behind, or someone pitching a Thing series or what have you, but it's never the same. And maybe you'll get lucky, like with all those SCUD fans who were handed the happy news that the series would come back after its nine year hiatus and you'll even get a pimp ass complete edition for your patience, but that's about as slim a chance as us getting Planetary before year's end (please, god, for fuck's sakes at least get us the last Planetary!). More likely than not though, you're going to have to get used to disappointment.

You always hurt the one you love, but sometimes the one you love hurts you back. That's just the nature of the beast. Comics are a tough trade, and you're going to get your heart broken. But thankfully there'll always be someone there to catch you while you fall. Thank you Fables and Criminal and The Walking Dead, I don't know where I'd be without you to lead me through all those troubled times.

Cheers...