Today I was witness to something that reinforced my love for this industry and that I made the right choice to follow this career path no matter how difficult it can be from time to time.

A friend and I were waiting for our check at lunch today when a guy in his thirties , Paul (I got his name later) walked into the restaurant. I didn’t see him more than heard him. Not that he was making a lot of noise or drawing attention to himself, but it was the familiar rustle of the plastic bags we get at comic book stores. I knew it was comic Wednesday. Without looking at this guy I turned to my friend and established my dominance of the geek-dom by telling him, “Someone just brought in comics.” Nailed it! Paul sits at his table and removes his new comics (and it was an impressive pile) from his comic bag and proceeds to bag and board them while waiting for the waitress. He continues to work while having a polite but slightly awkward conversation about comics and art with the waitress. Now at this point I’m thinking to myself that we have a serious collector because of his attention to detail while sliding his comics into the protective sleeves, but what really impressed me was what he did when he was finished with his project. He organized the books in the order he wanted and started reading them. I sat there for a moment looking at him (I believe I was even staring, sorry Paul). It was great to see someone so intently enjoying reading his comics. Obviously he takes care of them, but it was my opinion that he does that in order to have the books last. I don’t think he’s the type to rush out and Ebay the latest comic gimmick.

I got a chance to introduce myself and talk with Paul, a very casual guy. He seemed a bit skeptical at first. I’m betting he thought my friend and I were going to bag on him for bringing in comics. I told him my name and that I read too, more of the independents than he was familiar with but comic fans are comic fans. By the end of the conversation I got a much better feel for Paul. He’s an avid reader as much as a collector.

The point of this ramble is that meeting a comic fan is just as exhilarating for us as it is for them. I was suffering some serious burnout this week working on three different projects, but now it’s all I can do to finish typing up my thoughts here so I can get back to work. With that I’ll end it a big THANK YOU to all the “Pauls” out there.

Cheers!