The Future's Uncertain and the End is Always Near

-- Roadhouse Blues, The Doors

September 2024 Newsletter

“The Future’s Uncertain and the End is Always Near” – Jim Morrison

Intro

I surpassed my goal of getting 50 views for my previous newsletter.  I got 51 LOL.  Let’s try for 52!

The piece below may sound a little morbid,but it’s been something that has been on my mind in one way or another over the past four years and, now, as I approach 60,, I think it’s worked out enough in my head to write about it.

Q:  How Many More Years Do I Have Left To Read Comics?  A: ?????

I turn 60 years old this month.  I am in pretty good health, visit my doctors regularly and am working on my weight so there isn’t any sudden health issue that got me to thinking about it, it’s just getting older makes you think about it.  When you see actors or celebrities that you grew up with or people that you knew die.  The first time I thought about my own mortality with regard to comics was when Viz announced their reprint of “Fist of the North Star” in 2021.  On their planned publishing schedule, the series will finish publishing in September 2025 and at the time I thought “hopefully I will be alive when it finishes”.  But getting older really hit me recently when Sid “Viciious” Eudy died recently.  He had been fighting and lost a battle with cancer for the past few years. He was 63.  I’m going to be 60.  That I think is what really hit me and what gave me the impetus to write this. He was only three years older than I.

So how does this affect what comics I’m going to read?

In my outside comics life, I’m a CPA.  I deal with numbers. I stick with facts and reality. I don’t look at things at face value, I question most things if they don’t immediately make sense..  And the facts are that, barring any unexpected medical issues or accidents, I probably have less than 30 years of life left.  And there is no guarantee that these last 30 years are going to be easy, In fact, they are probably going to be harder than now.  A car doesn’t just stop working one day, it usually needs more repairs as the miles accumulate.  

So now I’m thinking about all the books that are out there that I have never read that I want to read.  I think this is why I finally started getting serious about reading “Love and Rockets” volume 1.  I have heard about it for years and now when I think about what I want to read, I think: 

If I read X, that means I may not have the time to read Y. Is it worth the time to read X? 

I don’t obsess over it, but it does inform what I read and what I buy these days.  With few exceptions, I have stopped buying floppies in the back issue bins, I prefer graphic novels and collected works now.  I don’t want to commit all that space to single issues, I would rather have books on a shelf. And when I buy, I want it to be something that I really absolutely want to read.  I really don’t have time for mediocre comics and if I think it’s mediocre, I’m not wasting my time with it.  

Strangely, I’m at peace with all this. There’s a lot of living I plan to do and many things to look forward to and I’m not planning on going gentle into that good night.  I’m older and it’s harder to do a lot of things, but there are a lot of things I can still do pretty well and a lot to do in the future.   I’m glad after these past four years I can be at a place where I can process it, talk about it and, most importantly, move on.  

Outro

That’s it.  I really don’t have that much more to say right now. 

If you are ever curious as to what I’m reading and getting into, you can follow me on Instagram on @rc_comix as it’s the one place where I post content. Instagram is far from perfect but it’s still the best platform to discuss comics.

I also have a YouTube channel you can find at https://www.youtube.com/@rccomics where I talk about all types of comics (except Big 2 because I’m too old for that stuff). It’s very DIY and I don’t have the nice big mic, oversized headphones and pro cameras and nor do I intend to.  It’s more of a commitment than I plan to make at this time.  However, I think that what I present and talk about is of interest and better than some of the channels I have seen. But I may be biased.

Until next time…