One of my earliest memories of super-heroes was watching The Justice League Animated Series early mornings before school. Remembering back, my favorite from the bunch was always John Stewart. He was the coolest looking member in the bunch and also was my introduction to the Green Lantern Corps.
Growing up, most weekdays after school my grandfather took me on a little trip to run errands. During one of these outings, was the first time I stepped foot in my local comic shop. I excitedly stumbled in while my grandfather was keeping busy at the next store over. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of comics and books around me, I managed to come to my senses and decided to try and find my favorite hero from TV: Green Lantern. While on the search for Green Lantern, one of the coolest comic book covers I’ve ever laid eyes on stood before me. BLACKEST NIGHT #1! I still maintain that was without a doubt one of the coolest covers on the shelves at the time. I had to have it!
I remember running out the store and begging my grandfather for the 5 bucks I would need to get me that book. After about 5 minutes of begging, I managed to convince him to walk me back and buy the copy for me. Being an excited 13-year-old with an edgy looking comic, I just couldn’t wait until I got home. I read it during the car ride home and the doors it opened to me as a newbie reader could not be understated. Hal Jordan?? Barry Allen?? You mean to tell me Batman is dead?!? My only knowledge of some of The Justice League at the time was through the animated series; I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of these characters existing and being dead before I was even born. Thus started my long and hectic journey into DC comic book continuity. It’s an exciting time to be a comic book reader of any kind these days with how much is out there, but I find the current Dawn of DC the perfect jumping on point for any 13-year-old kid’s first trip to Graham Crackers Comics!