I participated in a thread on BlueSky where you listed one book a day for twenty days (no explanation) that had influenced you. Some books came to mind immediately; others took more thought. It was a varied list from classics like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible.

Then I began to think of what in my early years ignited my love of words and books. I realized it wasn’t books at all, but comics. My earliest memories are of devouring the Sunday comic section of our local newspaper which led to me spending all my allowance at the corner convenience store. It had a swiveling stand out front on the sidewalk full of comics. I loved spinning it around to discover new treasures. 

Images of strong women were hard to find, and I gravitated toward the classic heroes (see below). At least the Fantastic Four had a woman on the team.

Initially I started with the stuff for little kids, Casper, Archie and Richie Rich, but soon discovered the super heroes. and…POW SMACK WHACK…the doors were blow off on my love of fantasy/sci-fi.

I still love comics and buy graphic novels frequently. Do you still read them?