Don't deny it, Parker. We both know it's true...
You and your puerile little displays of gallantry -- they may work for the masses, but did you really think they could fool someone like me?
There was a moment when you looked at the darkness and blinked. You hesitated, and now you'll never be able to maintain that altruistic facade of yours -- it's going to crumble. The line's begun to blur, hasn't it? Just for a moment, you reached towards the darkness. You saw your true self. I commend you for holding out this long...
We are so alike, you and I. We're cop and killer -- the same psychological profile -- one small step removed from being exactly the person we hate the most. Oh, you think you're so high and mighty... but we're both just a couple of borderline personalities dressed in ridiculous costumes, acting out their power fantasies. The difference between us is that I've always been willing to admit it. But now, I've made you look at your reflection, and you don't like what you see in the shadows, one of these days, one of us is going to inevitably kill the other.
It's coming, Parker... Sooner than you think. And when it does, you're going to have to choose.
Do you really know which way you're going to go?
- Paul Jenkins, "Trick of the Light"
"Comic Con Confidential"
I actually met Paul Jenkins once.
It was at that same comic book convention in which I told Joe Kelly to "keep writing them, because sometimes, they're the only thing that keep me going."
Now I'm not a huge fan of celebrity culture. I'm not the guy who's just got to schmooz over some guy after a good show. I don't care who or what Britney Spears does with her free time... but comic book writers fascinate me. I'm desperate to find out what Brian Michael Bendis thinks about the Spider-Man animated series. I know the names of Joe Kelly's kids. I'm going to go to Christopher Priest's church some day... These are my role models.
So here's the story:
I was in line to have Garth Ennis sign Preacher #50 and some key issues of Hellblazer and Hitman, and Jenkins was sitting next to him. He was doing a signing, too, but compared to the line to see Ennis, no one was really all that interested in Paul. Not even me. I mean, I knew who he was. The first issue of Sentry had just come out, I just hadn't cared enough to bring my copy with me.
I was standing in front of him, waiting for the guy in front of me to stop gushing over Garth, and I looked over at Jenkins, and he says something like "Thanks for coming," and hands me some random complimentary issue of The Incredible Hulk that he's just signed for me.
I felt this odd pang of guilt at that moment. He had to have known I wasn't there to see him, but there he was, trying to connect with me anyway.
To make a lame story short, Ennis didn't say anything to me while he was signing my books, and who could blame him? He was a little busy.
A couple of days later, I was back home, and I finally sat down and read that issue of Hulk. It was great.
Right now, I can't sleep at night until I've read a piece of Paul Jenkin's work, and there will always be a special place in my heart for the overlooked and unbitter.
NEXT:
Green
You and your puerile little displays of gallantry -- they may work for the masses, but did you really think they could fool someone like me?
There was a moment when you looked at the darkness and blinked. You hesitated, and now you'll never be able to maintain that altruistic facade of yours -- it's going to crumble. The line's begun to blur, hasn't it? Just for a moment, you reached towards the darkness. You saw your true self. I commend you for holding out this long...
We are so alike, you and I. We're cop and killer -- the same psychological profile -- one small step removed from being exactly the person we hate the most. Oh, you think you're so high and mighty... but we're both just a couple of borderline personalities dressed in ridiculous costumes, acting out their power fantasies. The difference between us is that I've always been willing to admit it. But now, I've made you look at your reflection, and you don't like what you see in the shadows, one of these days, one of us is going to inevitably kill the other.
It's coming, Parker... Sooner than you think. And when it does, you're going to have to choose.
Do you really know which way you're going to go?
- Paul Jenkins, "Trick of the Light"
"Comic Con Confidential"
I actually met Paul Jenkins once.
It was at that same comic book convention in which I told Joe Kelly to "keep writing them, because sometimes, they're the only thing that keep me going."
Now I'm not a huge fan of celebrity culture. I'm not the guy who's just got to schmooz over some guy after a good show. I don't care who or what Britney Spears does with her free time... but comic book writers fascinate me. I'm desperate to find out what Brian Michael Bendis thinks about the Spider-Man animated series. I know the names of Joe Kelly's kids. I'm going to go to Christopher Priest's church some day... These are my role models.
So here's the story:
I was in line to have Garth Ennis sign Preacher #50 and some key issues of Hellblazer and Hitman, and Jenkins was sitting next to him. He was doing a signing, too, but compared to the line to see Ennis, no one was really all that interested in Paul. Not even me. I mean, I knew who he was. The first issue of Sentry had just come out, I just hadn't cared enough to bring my copy with me.
I was standing in front of him, waiting for the guy in front of me to stop gushing over Garth, and I looked over at Jenkins, and he says something like "Thanks for coming," and hands me some random complimentary issue of The Incredible Hulk that he's just signed for me.
I felt this odd pang of guilt at that moment. He had to have known I wasn't there to see him, but there he was, trying to connect with me anyway.
To make a lame story short, Ennis didn't say anything to me while he was signing my books, and who could blame him? He was a little busy.
A couple of days later, I was back home, and I finally sat down and read that issue of Hulk. It was great.
Right now, I can't sleep at night until I've read a piece of Paul Jenkin's work, and there will always be a special place in my heart for the overlooked and unbitter.
NEXT:
Green
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