Introduction.

Hello Blogspot world! My name is Mark Livingston, I'm a 22 year old from Tampa, Fl (currently living in Brandon, Fl) who got into comics (heavily) a little over a year ago. I started writing about my life online on Blurty many years ago, and then LiveJournal became the big website. If you're interested in following my personal life, you can add me at http://maniacthw.livejournal.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/maniacthw

Anyways, I picked up my first comic when I was in the fifth grade. It was Ron Marz writing Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern right before he was shot into the past to meet face to face with Hal Jordan. I stopped reading comics altogether after Kyle left Jade in charge while he went on to reform the Corp. My interest peaked again after the movie V For Vendetta when I went out and bought the book instantly. I didn't get back into comics until after The Dark Knight came out. After that, I grabbed as many trade paperbacks that I could get my hands on involving Batman.

I've since found a shop I regularly go to (Read More Comics - Brandon, Fl), found a couple of books I follow, a few writers I love, and a few stories I feel compelled to share. I hope to help spread the word about some of my favorite, and least favorite, books to a larger audiance than I typically do on a daily basis. I started this blog because I saw a large hole as far as websites dedicated to personal opinions of comics. You'll see me on CBR as maniacthw, penciljack under maniacthw, and around the internet, usually under the same name. Under this paragraph I'll post my collection, my favorite books, my pull list, favorite writers, etc. I want this to be an awesome blog for an awesome cause, Lets get this started:

The Collection:(Trade paperbacks & graphic novels)
V For Vendetta - Alan Moore
Punisher (MAX): In The Beginning - Garth Ennis
Punisher (MAX): Irish Kitchen - Garth Ennis
Punisher (MAX): Mother Russia - Garth Ennis
Punisher (MAX): Up Is Down & Black Is White - Garth Ennis
Preacher: Gone To Texas - Garth Ennis
Preacher: Until The End Of The World - Garth Ennis
Preacher: Proud Americans - Garth Ennis
Preacher: Ancient History - Garth Ennis
Y: The Last Man: Unmanned - Vaughan
Y: The Last Man: Cycles - Vaughan
Fables: Legends In Exile - Willingham
Batman: Detective - Dini
Batman: Year One - Miller
Batman: The Long Halloween - Loeb
Batman: Dark Victory - Loeb
Batman: Under The Hood vol 1 & 2 - Winick
Batman: A Death In The Family - Starlin
Batman: Officer Down - Multiple writers
Batman: RIP - Morrison
Batman: Batman & Son - Morrison
Batman: Turning Points - Multiple writers
Batman: The Killing Joke - Moore
Robin: Year One - Dixon
Robin: Search For A Hero - Nicieza
Nightwing: Love And War - Wolfman
Nightwing: Mobbed Up - Grayson (haha! Get it?)
Teen Titans: A Kid's Game - Johns
Teen Titans: Family Lost - Johns
Teen Titans: Beast Boys & Girls - Johns
Green Lantern: Rebirth - Johns
Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War vol 1 - Johns
Green Lantern: Rage Of The Red Lanterns - Johns
Witchblade:  Vol. 1 - Marz
Iron Man: With Iron Hands - Moore

Single issues
Red Robin #1-5, 7-9, 11-16
Azrael #1-12
Batman & Robin #1
Flash #1&2
Green Arrow #1&2
Green Lantern #98&99
Detective Comics #608, 868
Batman: Year Three #1-4
Batman #703
Battle For The Cowl: Commissioner Gordon #1, Batman Alive #1
Brave And The Bold: Atom And The Joker
Joker's Asylum II: The Riddler #1Destroyer (MAX) #1 (of 5)
Time Masters: Vanishing Point #1 (of 6)
Zatana #1-5

My Pull List (what I get every month)
Green Arrow
Red Robin
Azrael
And I might be adding Zatana. Still on the fence here.

Favorite Writers I'll pick up just about any book with one of these names on them:
Fabian Nicieza
David Hine
Paul Dini
Chuck Dixon
Garth Ennis

Top 5 Favorite TPBs
5 Punisher (MAX): Mother Russia - Garth Ennis
4 Green Lantern: Rebirth - Geoff Johns
3 Batman: Detective - Paul Dini
2 Robin: Search For A Hero - Fabian Nicieza
1 V For Vendetta - Alan Moore

Ok, hopefully you all got a taste of what I like. I'll be adding news, reviews, upcoming releases, etc to this blog as it picks up steam. Hopefully I get some followers on here to discuss these books with me. I'll also get a YouTube channel going eventually once I get everything together. Hopefully my blog helps you find some new characters you wouldn't normally check out, and hopefully you guys help me check out some new characters also. Now leave me some comments and introduce yourself. Leave a few suggestions for books everyone should check out and tell me what's on your pull.

Until next time, I'm ComicBookGuyMark87. I'll see you then!