X-Ray Spex Turns 10: Or, What the Hell Are You Doing Writing a Blog in 2014?

It was ten years ago today, as near as I can figure, that I wrote my first post at X-Ray Spex. It was a typically rambling, self-indulgent couple of paragraphs all about how I was going to start a blog even though I "really have no idea what I'm going to fill it with. If it's like most of my other projects, look for a whole lotta nothing. But, on the offhand chance I actually follow through on something, it could be fun. Or at least something to look at when you're pretending to work."

Hey, chalk one up for prognostication!


September 2004 was a long time ago, and much of my life was very different. For one thing, Amy and I hadn't added this little bundle of fascination to our family. (That would happen in the spring of 2006, and if you're curious about the process of bringing a nine-month-old girl back from China, I wrote a blog about that, too, and it's still up and running.) Long before I was posting photos of Allie on Facebook, I was posting them here -- like the unbearably cute one above from Halloween 2007. Another big difference? I was still working at the Rockford Register Star. I'd been there since January of 1990 and would stick around, in one form or another, until late summer of 2012.


When I started at the Register Star, the internet barely existed. Now it's all but forced that newspaper -- and most others -- to the brink of extinction. Also, I'd just started writing CATWOMAN, though the first issue (with art by the great Pete Woods -- that's one of his early concept drawings above) wouldn't hit the stands for a few months. It was by far my longest run on any comic, almost 40 issues released between 2005 and 2008, with runs to follow on CAPTAIN ATOM, BLUE BEETLE, IRON MAN 2.0, AMAZONS ATTACK, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT and other assorted comic books, followed by a longer-than-I-would-have-preferred dry spell, followed (thankfully) by my recent run on RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS and my current run on TEEN TITANS. In case I haven't made it clear, yes, it's very, very good to be back.


That's one reason, in this age of Facebook (founded in early 2004), Twitter (created in March 2006) and other social network sites I barely understand that I keep this blog up and running, even if it's not quite as frequently updated as it was back in its early days. Whether I had a gig reviewing movies or not, whether I was writing a comic book or not, X-Ray Spex was always here for me to ramble on about pop culture, a free (in every sense of the word) outlet for my thoughts. Sure, it's a handy place to hype my comic books, but I can (and do) do that just as easily (and probably more effectively) on Twitter and Facebook. No, the blog is for longer, less promotional items, pieces like my monthly recaps of the movies I've watched; a long, detailed account of a live appearance by Jerry Lewis (still the most hits I've ever had on this blog, mostly because my account was, as far as I can tell, the only account of this memorable evening); and a fond tribute to the great "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" cartoon that I watched with that little girl we met earlier who dressed up as Batman.


In fact, probably my favorite thing I've written on this blog was my monthlong series of posts on horror movies in October 2007. It's the sort of thing I never could have written for the newspaper, as 31 columns about horror movies -- including not-for-family favorites like "The Last House on Dead End Street" -- wouldn't fly in the Register Star, and that sort of rambling, self-indulgent writing wouldn't fit on Facebook or Twitter. Nope, for that sort of thing, a blog -- this blog -- is the place to be.

So feel free to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, where the updates are more frequent. But keep an eye on X-Ray Spex, because that's still my favorite place to hang out. The grand era of personal blogs may be over, but this one isn't going anywhere.