Introductions May Be Necessary

I remember Blue Devil. I remember Sasquatch Vs. Sasquatch, Green Lantern hurtling to his death, covered in some kind of yellow goo, and Peter Parker being torn apart by his black costume and his traditional red-and-blues. I remember 1984, 1985, 1986, and being excited about trips to Waldenbooks in the mall, or to IGA in Owensville, digging past copies of Cracked to find a comic book I hadn't bought the week before.

I remember the Invisibles and wondering what the hell was going on. I remember Death, with her top hat and big black boots. I remember Madman with bright colors and laser guns and girlfriends. I remember realizing that comics could still be fun and smart and exciting, and getting the stink-eye from Don Parker when I brought friends into his comics shop in Milford, Ohio.

I remember We3 and American Elf and Billy Dogma. I remember From Hell and 1602 and Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Blankets and La Perdida. Comics have made me look forward to Wednesday ever since I found out they existed, and talking about comics gives me goosebumps on my arms and stars in my eyeballs and ideas in my head.

Last week, via his Bad Signal mailing list, Warren Ellis wondered aloud about what would happen if the online comics discussion were elevated above the negativity that permeates comic book message boards. He suggested a groupblog where the brightest superhero writers could have a dialogue about comics, could present ideas to their audience, could open the floodgates of ideas and conversation. It struck me as being a good idea, whether you're a popular comics writer or not. I mentioned it to some friends of mine, and they agreed. Juan suggested the title SEQUENTIAL HEART, and even though it happens to rhyme with the fine folks at Sequential Tart, it was too good to pass up.

I wanted to start a place where folks who loved comics could talk about comics. We'll be posting essays, musings, reviews, arguing back and forth and talking about the things we like more than the things we don't. Feel free to join in and comment, or just check in from time to time to read what we're up to. Sequential Heart--we're pumpin' good comics!