Art Bee

Greetings great fans of comicdom! Writing this article was a particularly hard feat. Many ideas swam in my skull ricocheting around without aggregating into a reasonable idea of how to start this bio. The sad part about it all is that this was my idea for us to do. My decision was to sit and start expelling words as they formed and see what they create.

As a person I am sure anyone out there reading this could really give a shit about the personal details of my life. One day, if I happen to be a famous celebrity for whatever reason, I will attempt to bore you all with my ascension to whatever status my activities have achieved, and silly people will read it and quiver with delight as they realize I am no better than them. You are all here at this site to read about our thoughts about the comics we read and other related things, so this will be the focus of my banter.

When I was a child (this was the ’80s), comics drew my attention as they did many kids, but the unfortunate side of this was my father’s former interest in comics from his youth. The Fantastic Four was my favorite as a child along with G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars. My interest was murdered by my old man as the kids from Riverside were shoved down my throat. Archie comics may have been a great thing in the ’60s, but for a child in the ’80s . . . screw that. Unless you are an absolute fossil or someone comic fans make fun of, no one should even bother with any colored pages even closely related to Archie or Riverside. To some up my childhood interest in comics, it miscarried, so it was never given a chance to grow and bloom.

My second blast of comic interest started with my best friend guiding me to one of our local comic stores in my late teens. With no interest to buy at first, the store welcomed me with wonderful colored artwork lining the walls. This coupled with a great store owner rekindled the old interest. At that time Spawn and The Darkness were in there infancy. For about four years my main focus was villains and anti-heroes, but alas, the interest dried up along with my finances.

Over a decade later, Madman reintroduced me to comics. Comics have changed quite a bit since the last time I was reading them. The big two are more interested in selling books than the quality of the comic or integrity of the characters. Shortly after getting back to the medium, I was invited to become a writer for HCB along with Madman, William R. Davis Jr., and Will Dubbeld, and it has been a joyous ride so far. It is great to write alongside three other opinionated derelicts such as myself.

When it comes to reading comics, I tend to have loyalties to a character, rather than a writer or artist. A strong, well-defined character is crucial to a good story, but my absolute favorite characters are anti- heroes, which is why I love Superior Spider-man, The Darkness, and Spawn so much. Batman tops them all. He is more at risk being a hero, and his rogues gallery is unparalleled in superhero comics.

There it stands. My expelling is done.