Guest columnist Wayne Rée shares his discovery of comic books, from his start as a super-hero fan to his evolution into a believer of the power of the art form of comics.

Wayne Rée

The fastest way to get to know someone, I firmly believe, is to start with one simple question: “What’s the first comic you ever read?” (A similar approach works for movie buffs, music fans, or voracious readers of any kind, sure—but this is a site about comic books, after all.)

It’s not so much the answer that’ll tell you everything you’d want to know about that person, but everything else that follows. Because once you open the floodgates, almost any fan will start going on and on about their own little journey through this medium that we love so much.

On the one hand, that’s what this column’s about, really. It’s incredibly egocentric—and I’ll be the first to admit that—but at its core, I’m telling you the story of me, month after month, by recalling my journey with comics’ greatest creators and creations. Because I genuinely believe that everyone’s got a story to tell. I just happen to know my story better than anyone else’s.

On the other hand though, I find that personal experiences are also one of the best ways to spread the word about the things that you love. I could tell you to listen to The Smiths, for example—or I could talk to you about how, during a particularly crappy point in my life, their music helped me out of my funk and got me back on track.

(Yeah, I know. That wasn’t exactly a comic-related example. But I’ll get to those in greater detail from the next edition of this column onwards.) (Also, I just bought a ticket to watch Morrissey in concert and I’m really psyched!) (Ahem. Anyway…)

So, that’s what you can expect from me. But before I start talking about specific characters or creators, there’re just two more things you need to know: Hi, my name’s Wayne—and my first comic ever was a European hardcover reprint of classic Spider-Man stories from the ’60s. But we’ll get to my relationship with Spidey (and one of his particularly amazing friends) next time.

Welcome to the journey, man.

Wayne Rée’s been writing professionally for about ten years. He’s worked in everything from advertising to publishing, and was even part of the team that created Singapore’s very first tattoo magazine. He dabbles in screenwriting and photography, and travels way too much.