Ian's Books & Comics, dreams of a better world
When I was a paper boy, we slid the newspapers into our bags before we set out on our rounds - my fingers would be marked by the ink of broadsheets - I was sure that I could smell the headlines - I can remember looking at the smudged photograph of Neil Armstrong, stepping onto the moon - I thought that the world depicted by my Science Fiction paperbacks would soon become a reality - beautiful spacecraft would fly to Mars - domed cities would grace the Mare Cimmerium -
When I returned from my round, I would scan the Marvel Comics in their rack - I'd first discovered these when I'd returned one evening, shaken by my encounter with a dog with yellowy brown fur -
I became a Marvel Comics addict - I loved the bright colours of the illustrations - I lost myself in the plots of the stories - the skyscapers of Metropolis to me seemed just as marvellous as the superheroes - in the America of my imagination, I knew that I would see a noble being flying through an impossibly blue sky -
I also liked looking at Tales from the Crypt - the covers of these comics were bright with gore - my favourite cover depicted a man being dragged into an opening grave by a green skinned zombie -
I saw Ian's Comics & Books, whilst walking along Albert Road, in Southsea - Tess had gone into this exciting cave of comics on a number of occasions, speaking at length to Ian - when I went in, myself, alone, I was in awe at what I saw - all of the Marvel Comics, and others, reverently encased in clear plastic wrappers - like the relics of saints -
Young men and women stood, heads bowed, before the reliquaries of comics - I was aware of the spell these comics worked - they showed us a world where good might, in the end, prevail -
When I was a paper boy, we slid the newspapers into our bags before we set out on our rounds - my fingers would be marked by the ink of broadsheets - I was sure that I could smell the headlines - I can remember looking at the smudged photograph of Neil Armstrong, stepping onto the moon - I thought that the world depicted by my Science Fiction paperbacks would soon become a reality - beautiful spacecraft would fly to Mars - domed cities would grace the Mare Cimmerium -
When I returned from my round, I would scan the Marvel Comics in their rack - I'd first discovered these when I'd returned one evening, shaken by my encounter with a dog with yellowy brown fur -
I became a Marvel Comics addict - I loved the bright colours of the illustrations - I lost myself in the plots of the stories - the skyscapers of Metropolis to me seemed just as marvellous as the superheroes - in the America of my imagination, I knew that I would see a noble being flying through an impossibly blue sky -
I also liked looking at Tales from the Crypt - the covers of these comics were bright with gore - my favourite cover depicted a man being dragged into an opening grave by a green skinned zombie -
I saw Ian's Comics & Books, whilst walking along Albert Road, in Southsea - Tess had gone into this exciting cave of comics on a number of occasions, speaking at length to Ian - when I went in, myself, alone, I was in awe at what I saw - all of the Marvel Comics, and others, reverently encased in clear plastic wrappers - like the relics of saints -
Young men and women stood, heads bowed, before the reliquaries of comics - I was aware of the spell these comics worked - they showed us a world where good might, in the end, prevail -
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