What World Are We On

[supermanfan]

I read comics in the 1970s and very early 1980's. At that time, Earth 1 was the dominate DC stage. However, since Crisis on Infinite Earths I have not really followed what was going on.

After reading Identity Crisis and a few other recent comics, I was clear that this is not the same Superman that I grew up with. There are no Phantom Zone criminals, Kandor is not the city I remember that was enlarged, and Superman and Batman don't appear to be the best of friends. It almost seems that DC was bent on making Kal-El the only survivor of Krypton. Also, who is the Lex Luthor in this universe. He seems more like Donald Trump than the evil scientist that I remember.

I can appreciate that DC has to continuously re-invent their universe in order to keep their mainline characters at an appropriate age. It was not uncommon for the heroes of Earths 1 and 2 to occassionally team up. It was an ingenious was for Julie Swartz to explain how Superman and Wonder Woman could fight the Nazi in WW2, and still be youthful in the 1970s.

So, my question is, what Earth are we on? And does the modern day heroes ever team up with their Earth 1 counterparts?

Thanks!

[Blake Petit]

You REALLY need to read the Crisis.

There's only one "real" Earth now. Earths 1, 2, C and a few others merged into one and everyone has forgotten. Superman, Wonder Woman and a few others were revamped from the ground up, and the new universe is based on that. They can't meet their counterparts because there aren't any counterparts to meet.

There are a few survivors -- the Earth-2 Superman and Lois survived and, with Superboy-Prime, went "elsewhere." We know Earth-2 Superman is still alive, but somewhere else entirely.

A few years ago they DID reintroduce the multiple earth concept with "Hypertime," but that's not the same thing.

[Bad_Monkey]

They did indeed make Superman the only surviving Kryptonian.... for a while. Zod has been re-introduced. Kara Zor-El has recently been re-introduced. As has Krypto. Superboy is a different person now.

Luthor is the evil businessman, not the mad scientist.


Like Blake said, you really need to read Crisis. Then The History of the DC Universe, which sums up the ammended history of the DCU immediately after Crisis. Then Man of Steel.

[Blake Petit]

Oh, History of the DCU is a must-read. Man of Steel... it's a great book, but DC has kind of drifted away from it. If you want a grasp on who Superman really is in the current comics, I'd suggest getting the excellent Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu. Probably the best version of Superman's origin I've ever read.

[supermanfan]

Thanks to you all who have promptly replied to my question. I guess I am still stuck in the Silver/Bronze Age. I have just recently read a few comics to see what has been going on since my youth.

I did read Crisis 20 years ago. And recently received all 12 issues in one softbound cover thanks to Amazon. One thing to keep in mind about Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was created by DC as a means to boost comic sales. Those of you who were around at that time (1985-1986) recall that Marvel did thier own version. I think it was called the Secret Wars or something.

Crisis ended with the Earth 1 universe being the dominant. But the other world's histories blended with it. Earth 2 Superman and Lois, and Superboy Earth prime went to a paradice. Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor from Earth 2 went to Mount Olympus. And the last I saw of the Earth 1 Superman was an imaginary tale from Curt Swan (I think it was Superman #423 and Action Comics #583). In that tale, most of Superman's villians and some friends died out. Superman supposedly exposed himself to gold kryptonite after killing Mxytlplk. Then assumed a new identity and married Lois. The story ends with their infant son squeezing a lump of coal into a diamond. But this was of course an imaginary tale (aren't they all).

In the late 1980's, I only caught glimpses of the Superman reboot. Krypton became a stoic version of the one in the 1979 movie. And, if was really that boring of a place, deserved to blow up. I think I had read later that Jor-El actually made up this less than exciting version so that his son would not mourn for his home world. The real Krypton was more like the version that I grew up with. I thought I read that Birthright confirms this.

As far as team ups with the Earth 1 counterparts, I wouldn't give up on that just yet. Even though Crisis streamlined the universe, there are still alternate Earths. There is one that has Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate (formally Earth 3). Also, I thought that I had run across a comic in the early 1990s that had Superman visist an alternate Earth. On that planet, Gen. Zod, Jax-Ur, and Faora had killed that world's Superboy, and everyone else on Earth because they would not submit to their leadership. Superman ended up breaking his oath of not killing by executing them with their version of kryptonite.

I guess my point is, if there is EVER a team up with the Earth 1 Superman I would be interested in buying it.

[Blake Petit]

What I'm saying, though, is that the Superman we see now, for all intents and purposes, is the "Earth-1" Superman. His timeline was just restarted. Earth-1 isn't a "counterpart" Earth, it's our Earth.

Yeah, there are alternate versions, like I said, due to Hypertime. But it's very, very different than it was pre-Crisis.

[supermanfan]

Blake, I appreciate your replies to my questions. But have to respectively disagree. This modern DC world is not Earth 1. And this is certainly not the same Superman I knew in the 1970's. The personality, morales, and powers are different.

Not to sound too cold, but DC, Marvel, and the others are a business. DC will do what they need to do to sell comics. That is why they came up with Crisis, which was an excellent story. This is also why they killed off Superman in 1992-1993, and put Batman in a wheelchair.

However, as part of the (slightly) older generation, I recognize the fact that I am no longer part of DC's target audience. So I sincerely doubt that we will hear from the pre-Crisis Earth 1 Superman again. And even though I am not losing any sleep over this, would like to hear from him again.

Since the re-boot was about 20 years ago, DC should be due for another one. After all, they will have to keep their mainline heroes young. Not too much demand for a Superman in his late 50's trying to save the world. If I follow the Earth 2 timeline correctly, Kal-L from Earth 2 would be almost 90!

Also, it was sad to hear of Julie Schwartz's passing away last year. He definitely was the creative force behind DC during my youth. I am sure he is missed.

[Cardiac]

The crisis wasn't to keep the heroes young. It was to clean up the complex continuity you're arguing over now. DC heroes don't exist in real-time and so Superman isn't anywhere near approaching 50. It might be refreshing if he did, but it's not happening anytime soon. Granted, Superman behaves differently now to how he behaved in the 80s but I'd chalk that up to an entirely different generation of creators and two decades of character development. Or Austen...

[supermanfan]

I agree, the Crisis was not created to keep the heroes young. DC had done this since 1938. Julie Schwartz created the multi-verse as a way to explain how Superman and Wonder Woman could fight in WW2, and yet still be youthful in the 1970s.

Those of us who are old enough to remember will recall that Superman went on special missions for President Kennedy (as an adult). Whom was the only President who knew that he was Clark Kent. Yet the readers of the Superboy comic in the early 1980s will recall that he was a teenage Clark Kent in the mid 1960s. Both were considered the Earth 1 Superman.

Crisis was created to boost the sale of comics. It was very successful at that. And was a great story.

Our heroes will continue to stay young, and have a new generation of writers who are keeping them in context with the modern world. This is why Beetle Bailey has remained a private for the past 30 plus years.

Anyway, Superman is not the same one I grew up with. And I can imagine 20 years from now my children will see an entirely different man of steel.

[Bad_Monkey]

Earth 1 and Earth 2 are now drastically different than they were, pre-Crisis.

Earth 1 is now the home to all the modern day DC characters. This contains both the pre-Crisis Earth 1 and Earth 2 characters. (The ones that weren't whiped out of continuity in Crisis or Zero Hour, that is). There is no Earth 1 Superman and Earth 2 Superman, there's just Superman. The JLA and the JSA exsist in the same universe now. The various older members of the JSA were alive back in the 40's and 50's and are still alive and fit enough to fight crime through various explainations.

Earth 2 is now the home of Ultraman and The Crime Syndicate. Although I think the current story in JLA is trying to say that this is actually just the Anti-Matter universe, and no one realized it until now. (Although I could be wrong about that)

[Blake Petit]

Actually, BM, I think they've always said that the CSA's Earth was an anti-matter universe... at least since Morrison reintroduced them. I think that Busiek is just the first to say that the CSA and Qward are in the same anti-matter universe.

[supermanfan]

You are both correct. The CSA has always existed in the anti-matter universe of Qward. However, Earth 3 (as it was called pre-Crisis) was the first to die by the Anti-Monitor.

Although powerful, the Earth 3 Ultraman was not smart. Which was to the annoyance of the Earth 1 and 2 Luthors when they teamed up. From what I have read, the current Ultraman is not a moron.

He gained additional powers from exposure to Anti-Kryptonite. This is consistent in the pre and post Crisis versions.

The Earth 3 Ultraman actually lived on Krypton until he was a teenager. His father, Jor-LL, was head of Krypton's most powerful crime family. However, Kal-LL was a disappointment to his father due to his lack of intellect. Jor-LL was responsible for the destruction of that universe's Krypton. He saved only his son.

However, I think I had read that this Ultraman is an earthling who was re-engineered by aliens. He is not from that universe's Krypton.

Finally, the current version has Lois Lane as Superwoman and Ultraman's wife. In the pre-Crisis, Lois and Superwoman were two different people. Lois was married to that universe's Alex Luthor. Their child was spared during the Crisis and helped the heroes defeat the Anti-Monitor.

[Cardiac]

I don't mean to sound harsh but all this continuity stuff is irrelevant to me, and I'm sure it's irrelevant to many other readers. I honestly don't care how old Superman 'should' be by now, as it's not a great leap from believing a man can fly to ignoring logical flaws over 60 years of storytelling.

[supermanfan]

No, I did not take it as harsh.

There are a few generations of comic book readers, and mulitple sites out there. You have to understand that from 1938 until the early 1980s, the target market for comics was boys ages 9-14. So yes, many of the storylines were tailored for that audience.

Around the time of Crisis, DC sought the need to expand their audience. Stories came in touch with more of the real world. Thus the reboot of Superman and other heroes.

I have seen a few websites of folk who are not shy about their feelings on the reboot. http://theages.superman.ws is one of them. I sympathize with their thoughts, but don't lose any sleep. I am now 40ish and am a very, very casual comic reader. I only picked up Identity Crisis because I had read about the storyline on a magazine while on a business trip. This site that we are on is hosted by the company I ordered the series from.

I asked questions on this site because it looks like there are a lot of folks who are in the know of the modern DC world. Although I would like to read Birthright, or about the new Supergirl, I probably will not get the opportunity in the near future. So I will pop in here from time to time and ask questions.

Superman is a cool legend. Whether you were are my father's age, who enjoyed the Golden Age. Or me who had the Silver/Bronze era. Or the modern version today.

[Mark Blicharz]

Crisis was created to fix continuity because the multiverse was too messed up for anyone new to follow it.

[supermanfan]

I know a lot of the stuff you may read about Crisis will say that. But the true reason behind the series was to boost sales. The comic book industry was in a huge slump at that time.

As a heavy comic book reader during the Silver Age, I can attest that the multiverse was really a pretty easy concept to grasp. We all accepted the fact that there were different versions of Earth. Which explained how the same heroes from WW2 were still youthful in the 1970's. Even Captain Marvel was on a different Earth than Superman.

Comic weren't really designed at that time to keep their audience as they got older. But rather be picked up by our younger brothers. By the time Crisis came out, I was in college, and had not read a comic book in almost 5 years. Only a few of my friends whom I played Dungeons and Dragons with continued to buy them. And they preferred Marvel.

Crisis was enough to peak my interest and get me to buy the series, along with several other of my peers. It appealed to a large audience and was thus, the most successful comic series in history.

I guess the point I am making is that the Superman legend has changed and evolved in the last 20 years. New writers, deeper plots, and more realistic display of human emotions with the characters. I enjoyed reading the Identity Crisis series and am following the recommendation of those on this message board to read the Birthright series.

Long live the Man of Steel!

[Mark Blicharz]

Every issue put out is intended to boost sales, regardless of what it is. Crisis' main purpose was to simplify DC's continuity.

[Bad_Monkey]

Originally posted by supermanfan
I know a lot of the stuff you may read about Crisis will say that. But the true reason behind the series was to boost sales. The comic book industry was in a huge slump at that time.

As a heavy comic book reader during the Silver Age, I can attest that the multiverse was really a pretty easy concept to grasp. We all accepted the fact that there were different versions of Earth. Which explained how the same heroes from WW2 were still youthful in the 1970's. Even Captain Marvel was on a different Earth than Superman.

It was easy enough for the longtime readers to understand, and for those brave enough to dive headlong into it and wade around semi-lost long enough sort it all out, it wasn't that tough, but the idea of multiple Earth's with several different versions of the same character is a fairly daunting thing to face down.

The reason that sales were in a slump was because DC continuity was too intimidating to many potential new readers. As further proof of this, look at Marvel at the same time. The late 70's and early 80's were a boom period for them in no small part because they had a relatively simple, straightforward continuity.

If that's not enough to convince you, in the introduction of the Crisis on Infinite Earths trade paperback, series writer Marv Wolfman says that DC Continuity was too complicated and he felt it needed to be simplified and streamlined.

[supermanfan]

I would agree that if someone had just become a DC reader in the earlier 1980s that the multiverse concept could be a bit much. And as I stated in earlier responses, my generation was no longer reading comics very much at that point.

And yes, giving Superman the ability to move a planet the size of Earth was over the top. He had become too powerful and several of my peers were switching to Spiderman for that reason.

Anyway, didn't mean to offend anyone. But this is all interesting discussion.

[Blake Petit]

I don't think anyone is offended -- just honest differences of opinion. :)

[supermanfan]

Thanks Blake. I certainly appreciate the hearty discussion.

I guess from my perspective, our generation has felt like we have lost our Superman. When I was a kid, my Superman (Earth 1) would occassionally team up with my father's Superman (Earth 2). Which was a cool thing for an 11 year old boy.

I find it interesting that Superman has changed so much, and wonder if Hollywood has had a play in that. It wasn't until the 1979 Superman movie that Lex Luthor (played by Gene Hackman) was more of a businessman and older than the Man of Steel. Prior to that, they were the same age and best friends in high school. I think it also influenced the Krypton from the original reboot of 1986.

TV's Lois and Clark was the first to show the Kents surviving through Clark's adulthood. Prior to that both had passed away just before he left for college. And I wonder if the series influenced DC to finally let Superman and Lois get married.

Any chance that Smallville will impact the orgin of Superman as well? I guess time will tell.

[Blake Petit]

Jon and Martha living preceeded Lois and Clark, actually, it was a major factor in the Byrne reboot.

And if you'll read "Birthright," I think you'll see that Smallville is having an obvious impact on how Superman is being shaped for the 21st century.

[Mark Blicharz]

Smallville is kind of a mix of the original origin and the reboot. So is Birthright.

[supermanfan]

Kevin Spacey is casted to play Lex Luthor in Superman Returns (release 2006). It should be interesting how he plays the character.

Honestly, I was not impressed with how Gene Hackman played Luthor. As talented as he is, he could have played a more ruthless one and not so much the comic relief.

[Mark Blicharz]

That's how he was written though, not really his fault. I would have preferred John Glover to play Lex going by how he plays Lionel on Smallville. He fits Lex perfectly.

[Walt Kneeland]

With the discussion of 'Crisis'....found a thing on ebay--a "Legends of the DC Universe" "Crisis" # 1, apparently written by Wolfman, from 1999 or so.

Anyone know if this was a mini-series (I seem to recall the "Legends of the DCU" lasting 20-some issues) or a one-shot, or what?

Just has my curiosity up, is all. :D

~Walt

[Blake Petit]

Legends of the DC Universe was an ongoing series that got cancelled after a while. The "Crisis" issue was a one-shot spinoff that fit in between issues 5 and 6 (I think) of the original "Crisis" series. I've got it, it's about the heroes of Earth-1 finding yet ANOTHER Earth where versions of themselves existed, although each was altered in various wys. It was pretty good.

[Walt Kneeland]

Knew about the ongoing :D But that's cool on the one-shot...

May have to take a look for it when I finally get the Crisis TPB (which, for the moment, is beating out the other stuff on my "ordered-to-check-out" list).

I had the book in my hand last week, but managed to find the willpower to put it back.

And the original appearance of the issues WAS 1985, right?

20 years.....I'm gettin' old.... :D

~Walt

[Blake Petit]

1985 and 86, I think.

[lennygray]

To keep things simple... when comic hit the big time with the introduction of Superman in 1938, writers never imagined their work would be analyzed decades later by continuity buffs. The target audience was around 8 to 14, after which it was expected those readers would move on and the new readers wouldn't know or care about "continuity."
Several things happened.
Fandom was created. Suddenly, fans collected back issues and examined storylines and references and "continuity buffs" were born.
By the 1970s, the DC Universe was so over-burdened with continuity links, back-history and multiple characters with the same names that it became almost prohibitive for new "fans" to catch up, not to mention price-prohibitive. DC, first and foremost a business, came up with "Crisis on Infinite Earths" to simplify everything and provide newer readers a place to hop on board.
Fast-forward 20 years.
Now, the DC Universe is again over-stuffed and continuity-crazed. How many Supergirls are/were there? And how the heck can Slam Bradley (who dates back to Detective Comics #1 in 1935) still be around? He's gotta be 95, at least! And which Plastic Man is in the JLA...the original from the 1940s or his son (yes, that was the explanation) from the 1960s? Or another?
We can all discuss what DC needs to do but what they will do is what they HAVE to do to stay profitable.
So kick back and enjoy. It doesn't have to make logical sense. It's entertainment and they are ALL imaginary stories, after all.

[Fanatix]

In response to that last comment...

The way I understood it, which is vaguely, is that when crisis ended, it was basically a total reboot of the dc universe. The only heroes around during ww2 were the original Justice Society, the majority of which either died or had their lives extended through magic which explains how their still around. But really the big guns didn't even start their superheroing careers until the mid 80's. Superman never fought in ww2, bruce waynes parents weren't killed until...i guess the early 70's if he started being batman in 1985 around the age of 25. So plastic man's career also wouldn't have started until then, even if he was originally created in the 1940's pre-crisis.

Overall I honestly don't care. It's one earth, thank god. I didn't start reading DC until the mid 90's Each character has all this history, sure, but none of the big guns have been replaced or jejuvinated through magic. It makes sense, I like it. Hypertime and the rest of the universes are a pain and confusing. If DC wants to create one shot, "what if" titles or whatever, like marvels ultimate universe, then they should keep them as seperate as possible.

[lennygray]

Since some people like to define the various "Ages" in DC history,
Golden, Silver, etc...

It's time for a new reboot, possibly......

Ive been a comics reader for about 45 years and a serious collector since 1973, mostly DCs and independents..... Marvel turned me off many years ago when they printed an LoC of mine and they replied with a childish insult. I've rarely touched a Marvel comic since.
I can't say I'd win a trivia contest, but I do pretty well with my DC knowledge.

hmmmm... maybe I could write a column in here? Old Reader Strikes Back!

[Fanatix]

DC essentially is doing a reboot, bringing back supergirl, restoring batman and superman as friends in their own new "worlds greatest" book. Superboy is loosing the things that differentiated himself from superman 5 years ago, theres a new kid flash, robin has lost his parents like the last 2. Hal Jordan is returning. It's like their trying to go back to the silver age.

Personally I hate it, especially bringing back people from the dead, something i've disliked ever since it happaned to superman. Death should mean something if we're supposed to be on the edge of our seat seeing if the heroes survive. It's getting to the point where it doesn't matter, if they'll die they'll be back sooner or later.
The way this trend is going, DC might as well kill batman for the cash and publicity a death storyline would bring and then bring him back in a year.
That might seem like an exageration, but to me it's exactly what their doing with rebirth. Hal Jordan going crazy was the "star wars" epic of the dc universe, with him going all darth vader only to redeem himself in the end, while a noobie, a kid essentially took on the most powerful weapon in the universe and brought something no other lantern had, a true imagination.

[Magnus2k]

Well, the Hal Jordon thing stems from all the Jordan fans that have done nothing but bash Kyle Rayner and cry for Hal since he left. I mean, its actually sad. From what I've heard they actually had an association and everything.

[Mark Blicharz]

An association? That's sad. Hal wasn't ever half the GL that Kyle's proven to be time and again.

[Blake Petit]

Yep. HEAT. "Hal's Emerald Attack Team." They even took out an ad in Wizard, it was pretty pathetic. I picture 50 of the kind of comic book readers that perpetuate the Simpson's "Comic Book Guy" stereotype sitting around in a basement poking pins into a voodoo doll of Ron Marz.

[Mark Blicharz]

:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :crazy:

[Walt Kneeland]

On the one hand, I can see where folks're coming from: get a character/version of the character you really like, it's frustrating to lose it.

Like right now...I'm "adjusting" to "Birthright" (at this rate, it'll be in paperback before I get around to picking it up) and "Smallville" becoming THE origin for Superman, and all those changes.

My favorite version was from the inter-connected titles/on-going weekly saga from the early to mid 90s up til just after the "Our Worlds At War."

But obviously, DC (as any company/business) has to keep moving forward.

And I *AM* getting old: Popular Culture generally has about a 20-year/generational cycle-span, and we're at that point where the majority of those picking the stuff up are from a "generation" removed from what I started in.

And that's where all my TPBs and back issues come in handy. :D

Main thing is keeping the "spirit" of the character(s) and such. Superman as the mask some kid from Kansas wears to allow himself to maintain the identity he's grown up with--his "self," if you will--and that his sense of right and wrong have been instilled into him by his parents, and that he identifies more as a human than alien, while at the same time having that unique position AS an alien.

...and I do believe I'm rambling...probably going a bit off-topic, so I shall shut up...

~Walt

[supermanfan]

It looks like we have a lot of discussion based off this question I have asked last month. And it is nice to know that I am not the only person over 35 on this forum.

Someone mentioned in an earlier thread that maybe DC will kill off Batman. For those of you who have been reading comics before Crisis, this had already happened. The Bruce Wayne (Batman) of Earth 2 did pass away in the late 1970s. His and Selina Kyle's (Catwoman's) daughter, the Huntress carried on his tradition. This is why he did not fight in Crisis.

The short lived series Birds of Prey kept them as her parents. But explained that Batman had left Gothom after he supposedly killed the Joker. I was not too impressed with how they made Batman out in that series. He has a greater sense of commitment than they showed. But then again the storyline was to show three young attractive women running around (how original).

Birthright is a great orgin for Superman for the 21st century. And yes, it looks like a reboot. High speed Internet has only been around since the late 1990's. If you read Superman's obituary from 1992 (after fighting Doomsday) it reads that he had been protecting Metropolis for about 10 years. Given that, Superman would have began his career in the early 1980s when a home computer would have been a TRS80 or Commodore 64.

[Walt Kneeland]

Originally posted by supermanfan
It looks like we have a lot of discussion based off this question I have asked last month. And it is nice to know that I am not the only person over 35 on this forum.

Discussion/discourse is a wonderful thing! ;)

35+?

And here I am feelin' old at 24! :D

~Walt

[Mark Blicharz]

Hah! You're older then me Walt!

[supermanfan]

Old at 26? Come on, you have your whole life ahead of you.

Comics isn't just a young man's game. After all Julie Schwartz was in his 60's when he was the creative force behind DC.

But you will find that as you get older, have kids and so forth, your ability to dedicate time to this hobby decreases. But I still like to read a comic from time to time.

[Walt Kneeland]

Well, definitely old compared to when I STARTED with comics. ;)

of course, I've been working 'em into my academic studies: I got my degree in Popular Culture, with a personal emphasis on comics, and even now as a LIS student, I find myself using comics as examples for things, and I'm leaning toward a certain aspect of library science that will allow me to work with comics and such, with (among others) a goal to eventually be able to spend others' money to buy comics/TPBs/HCs/graphic novels/whatever and get others readin'.

~Walt

[Fanatix]

You can get a degree in popular culture???

What the hell am I doing studying mechanical engineering!

Maybe its not to late to get a minor.

[Walt Kneeland]

Yup. I think many schools, if they have it, probably offer it through some other department--English, Culture Studies, I dunno.

Bowling Green State University has an entire Popular Culture DEPARTMENT. :D I was fortunate enough to take a couple classes with one of the professors who helped to create the department, just a year before he retired.

On the one hand, it's awesome...I really enjoyed the studies, I actually MISS having to do papers and such. But the downside is: what do you DO with such a degree?

Me....I'm back in school, going for another degree, the Pop Culture degree leaving me underqualified for most "practical" jobs, yet "over-qualified" for stuff like McDonald's/etc (who seem to not want to even call a guy back who applies to a position mopping McD's floor for minimum wage, assumably because he has a degree...)

But that's another thing entirely, and I've rambled on yet again...

~Walt

EDIT: It's not just comics....TV, Music, Movies/Cinema, etc. The first definition I learned for "Popular Culture" was "The filter through which we [society?] view reality." All sorts of great theories and whatnot; it ties in to Sociology, Psychology...Technology....really, you can pull pop culture (comics or otherwise) into just about ANYthing.) (...and feel free to kick this soapbox or whatever out from under me anytime...)

[Bad_Monkey]

Originally posted by supermanfan
But you will find that as you get older, have kids and so forth, your ability to dedicate time to this hobby decreases.

Speak for yourself, dude. I've got a nine year old and I probably read twice or three times as many comics as I did when she was born. Although, in fairness, that partially because there are twice or three times as many comics worth reading now as there were in '95-'96.