Hello??? Is This Thing On??

WHO AM I?

Hello, my name is Chad Burdette, I live in Albany, NY and I have issues.

These issues have been with me for as long as I can remember and I hear admitting a problem is the first step to recovery.

Every hero or villain has an origin story, but mine is a bit different as it does not involve a radioactive insect bite, a horrible life-changing tragedy, or a desire to the champion for or destroy mankind. Having superpowers is something that most of us have probably dreamed of since childhood or becoming a fan of the comic book medium. If reading comic books throughout the years has taught me one thing, it is that I am just one freak accident, animal bite, or genetic mutation away from gaining powers of my own. It wasn't until later that I realized that becoming a superhero usually involves a freak accident so I decided it would be it for the best in the long run to stop attaining powers. Any way it would be my luck that I would get some type of superpower that was really lame like the ability to wake up from a deep sleep seconds before the alarm goes off or enhanced senses that only told me when items in the fridge have gone bad.

I like to blame my parents for getting me hooked on comics. When my wife suggests (and most of the time rightly so) that I spend too much money (never says I don't spend enough)to support this addicti…er…hobby I like to pass the blame off to my parents. They were the ones who introduced me to comics and started the vicious cycle since growing up I was surrounded by comic book related paraphernalia. The toys I played with were the original Star Wars line, G.I Joe from the 80’s cartoon series, Transformers, He-Man, all which I still own and have housed in an undisclosed location with my expansive comic collection.

Before 1993, my older brother was the only one in the family who collected comics. I tagged along with him when he went to the comic store and occasionally bought a comic that caught my interest. The first comic I remember purchasing was the trade paperback of Batman: A Death in the Family, where The Joker murders Robin (Jason Todd) (Spoiler: He gets better) I can also remember going to the library and checking out the books which collected the early stories of Superman and Batman and getting lost in the pages and early history of the characters.

After 1993 I started buying and reading comics on a regular basis during the Knightfall storyline where Batman's (Bruce Wayne) back was broken and was replaced by a grittier Az-Bats in the cowl (Spoiler: Bruce Wayne got better and came back). What sparked my interest was reading a short blurb in the local newspaper about how Batman was going to be replaced and get a new uniform. That afternoon I rode my bike down to the supermarket and found the first issue of the storyline, Batman #492 on the newsstand. I will admit part of the reason I bought it was I thought it would be worth lots of money some day. I mean, it was the 90’s, Superman had “died,” Image Comics was in it’s early days with most characters wearing belts with huge pouches... ah memories. From that point, it was “GAME ON” and I was hooked. I would buy issues as they came out while at the same time searching out the issues that preceded and built up to Knightfall so I could learn the back story. While I may have started with reading Batman and Detective Comics, little did I know that I was merely dipping my toe into to a larger universe of the reading experience. I started reading DC titles from the extended Batman family of books (Robin, Nightwing, and Catwoman), and The Flash, Green Arrow, JLA, and more as my foray into the world comics began.

Since then I have accumulated close to 12,000 comics for my collection. The amount of money I spend on comics monthly has ebbs and flows and is currently on a severe ebb as I know have an 18 month-old son, but I still read what I can, when I can. I am currently digging pretty much anything DC Comics is putting out there connected to the Rebirth- Doomsday Clock storylines, Marvel Comics is hit and miss for me especially since I got pissed when they went to the Legacy numbering scheme

I also dabble in some indie books and try to support projects of the local creators and friends that I have made through the years.

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Why Am I Here

Good question, but seriously, for almost five years now I have been writing the comic book blog, The Comics Multiverse, for my local newspaper, The Albany Times Union's website as a community blogger. When Raph, the Director of Failed jokes, who I have known for years ago through the Comic Geek Speak podcast community was looking for contributors I jumped at the chance to help a friend while expanding my reading base and giving me the opportunity write about stuff that might not be appropriate for the newspaper's site or just too detailed and geeky.

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What to Expect to See Me Write About:

My posts run the gamut of the comic book industry, with the following being just some examples of past writings:

*Weekly Picks and Pulls of what is being released each week</li>

*Recaps/breakdowns and Primers for comic book related tv shows, Netflix series', and movies for both DC and Marvel.

*Interviews with creators about their current projects and Kickstarter projects

*In-depth reviews and analysis of current/ past storylines and profiles of specific characters throughout their publication history.

*Different things about the comic collecting hobby such as binding, digital vs. print, local comic book stores, and current trends in the industry

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I hope that you enjoy what I have to share and any feedback is always welcome and a big thanks to Raph for letting me have another out to share my love of comic books.

Along with what I share here, you can check more at the Comics Multiverse blog out at https://blog.timesunion.com/comicbooks/

Follow me on Twitter at @TUComicsblog

Like The Comics Multiverse on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TUComicsMultiverse/