Secret Origins
Another blast from the past, courtesy of Google. In the summer of 2004, I wrote an article celebrating the 20th anniversary of the comics store where I spent the better part of my growing-up years in Barre, VT. It was published in Burlington, VT’s Seven Days, the alt-weekly newspaper that published my very first professional work (a review of a Sex Pistols reunion show) in 1996.
7D wasn’t interested in just another “local business survives two decades” story, so they asked me to contribute my reminiscences of how I became a comics fan and what an influence the proprietor, Mark Patterson, had on my life. I eagerly accepted the challenge, which gave me the opportunity to add about about 50% more schmaltz to the piece than originally planned. It’s sappy, it’s highly sentimental and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.

Yeah, it kicked ass.
Not that I’m biased or anything.