The senses-shattering introduction to Onward, Manchester’s coverage of the X-Men relaunch.

When you’re still in single digit ages, your life pretty much revolves around cartoons. Or at least mine did. Nothing, however, grabbed me quite the way X-Men: The Animated Series did. Complex characters with inner turmoils; it seemed like a massive step up from my usual fare. I was quickly hooked.

From those humble origins my love of comicbooks did blossom. Arcadia Comics opened up in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1994, at exactly the right time to foster my interest and capture the majority of my pocket money. Eschewing the rest of the Marvel line (with the exception of the odd Spider-man comic here and there) and ignoring DC Comics altogether, my focus was very much on the X-Men, and its labyrinthine continuity.

As I progressed through high school, I stopped visiting, for fear of being associated with a medium that might be viewed as “uncool.” By the time college rolled around, however, my love of the written word had become all-encompassing, and eventually led me towards a couple of critically acclaimed graphic novels, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Maus by Art Spiegelman (both of which fall into “must read before you die” territory). I sought out everything I could, discovering Scott Pilgrim before there was a bandwagon to jump upon, delighting in the work of the Hernandez Brothers, and digging Daniel Clowes’ worldview.

Eventually, this path led me back to superhero comicbooks, and even back to Arcadia, and its rows upon rows of back issues from the era I cared about the most. Being employed, I could afford to be more extravagant (splashing upwards of £30 on Uncanny X-Men #266, the first appearance of Gambit, for example), and used to depart the store with epic hauls. During a Jeffrey Brown book signing I discovered that OK Comics in Leeds was also well-stocked in that department, so I made a pilgrimage or two when I could find the time.

By 2006, eBay had replaced the need for me to travel out of the city centre for back issues. The proprietor of Arcadia (which had closed down one year previously) was arrested and charged for an unsolved murder, for which an innocent man had served 16 years in jail for. My interest has waxed and waned over the last decade, usually in sync with my bank balance, but something always brings me back. I almost caved when DC relaunched its entire line in September; the X-Men relaunch proved impossible to resist.

So here I am. Back on the hook. So very glad you chose to join me.

Coming soon: reviews of X-Men: Regenesis, Wolverine and the X-Men #1, and plenty more besides!