So long, suckers!

At the end of today I go on Study Leave for two and a half weeks. Once upon a time this meant “study leave” i.e. come back a fortnight later having used the time productively and read the post-Crisis DCU. Unfortunately, now I have to get my arse into gear. I have one exam to go to obtain my professional qualification and the associated pay, promotion and, more importantly, extra comic-buying power that that brings. Finally I can get that first appearance of Annex!

In the meanwhile I leave you in the capable hands of Spider-Sam, who will be skilfully entertaining you all (or, most probably, himself – he likes to entertain himself) with his unique brand of outstanding achievements in the field of excellence. Failing that, I have anticipated my departure and got ahead on my writing (unlike Kevin Smith), so these will be unveiled as Spider-Sam sees fit.

I’m going to leave on this upbeat note:

I have a phrase.

When I’m walking around London, especially when I have guests with whom I am doing the tourist thang, I will sometimes look up at the incredible buildings, wander through the beautiful parks and gardens or just spot a tramp urinating in public and loudly exclaim “I f***ing love London.”

In similar vein there are times when I just stand and stare at my copious long boxes of bagged and board gems, or I have just finished a brilliant issue of some title which rewards my years of temporal, emotional and financial investment in the medium; maybe I’m walking back from a comic shop having picked up this week’s offerings, or perhaps someone has just placed a comment on my blog and I feel privileged to be part of a great international community of like-minded individuals. When things like that happen I want to stand atop the tallest building and proudly exclaim:

I f**king love comics