So how do I go about presenting it? With Joe Hill, do I go by series? That's going to be another huge L&K post with other tinier posts. With Starman, do I break it down by the different Starmen, starting with Ted Knight?
Whatever I do, I've got to start somewhere. My collection is constantly growing, what with new Hill books and comics (even if they're only new collections or series based on his works if not written by him) coming out, and I'm still building my Starman back issue collection. If I keep waiting, I'll ALWAYS be waiting.
So fuck it, let's kick this bitch off with something small.I don't know when he started working with me, and I don't know when he quit, and I don't know how long he was here. I've been with the same company for more than 16 years now, and everything just blends together. It's a swirl of friends and projects and bullshit.
But I digress.
There was a guy, his name was (and still is, if I'm being 100% factual) Jonthan Gibson. He was hired as a computer forensic analyst. I don't take to new people quickly, but we ended up bonding over nerdy things, eventually forming a good friendship.
When he was in school at the Savannah College of Art and Design (Jonathan, please forgive me if I get any detail wrong, and by all means feel free to correct me), he and artist Julie Collins self published three issues of a fantasy comic book called Chronicle.One Friday during my lunch break I was visiting my friendly neighborhood local comic book store (LCBS from here on in) because they had posted on Facebook that they had purchased a box full of variant covers and they were priced to sell. I'm a completist, so when I'm collecting something, I'm collecting ALL of it, and that includes all types of variant covers and reprints. So I spent a little bit of time shuffling through the short box of comics, pulling out issues here and there, so I "needed," some I figured I could flip for profit (meh, I've been only slightly successful with that). Toward the end of the box I came across two black and white comics, no publisher mentioned anywhere on the cover. The title tickled something in my brain, so I pulled one of the comics out. There, right on the bottom, was my coworker's name. Out of all the comics I bought that day (and it was quite a few), these two, issues 0 and 1 (sadly, no #2), are by far my most valued (in sentiment if not monetary value).
I bought these books after Jonathan had moved on from ROCIC to greener pastures. However, I host a Game of Thrones season premiere viewing party every year that he attends. The first one I had after purchasing his comics, I brought them out and had him sign them for me. Just because he's my friend doesn't change the fact that I'm a collector at heart. I've since located Ms. Collins through social media, and I'm about to get in contact with her to see if she might have an extra copy of #2 lying around and/or if I could mail the two comics I have to her for her to sign.
Jonathan has kept up with Chronicle, transitioning it to a web comic. You can click on the links to visit the strip's webpage and Facebook page. The strip isn't his day job, so updates aren't 100% regular, but I recommend giving him a look and a follow.
So that's it for this first installment. I'll begin my Joe Hill collection with the next installment...but which series? Hmm, decisions decisions.
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