On Becoming a Reader and Patron Again

Check out As in guillotine... for more. I grew up reading comics purchased from newsstands and bodegas in the Bronx in the 70s, and experienced firsthand the birth of the direct market via Moon Knight. One of my first jobs as a teenager was a Page at the Mt. Vernon Public Library, mostly shelving books and exploring varied interests, including my introduction to Stephen King’s and Ian Fleming’s earliest novels. Back then, comics and libraries weren’t a thing yet, except maybe for comic strip collections, and none of my childhood faves were being collected yet. While I had aspirations of being a writer as early as 3rd or 4th grade, working in publishing or libraries never crossed my mind until after high school, when I got my first job in a bookstore in Manhattan. It was a temporary side gig, most notable for my serendipitous discovery of Matt Ruff’s Fool on the Hill, and it was the first time I became aware of publishers other than Marvel and DC. Working in publishing was a vague…