Movies have always been my ‘thing’ I mean sure I read the Beano for a lot longer than I probably should have but I have never really had more than a casual relationship with comics.

Movies were what I lived for, I sorted my DVDs into genres and lumped together movies starring the same people and new the exact position of every disc, I have learned to not be so anal about them now,mainly down to the fact that my 2 year old daughter who almost from birth liked to wind me up by pulling them out or turning them upside down! (and I swear she knew what she was doing). I can forgive her though as she is also the reason that comics have become my obsession as I slowly immature with age.

When we found out that we were having a girl and had decided on a name I began an Internet search for strong female role models for her to grow up with hopefully sharing her name which is how I happened upon Cassie Hack not exactly her name but close enough for my purposes, here we go I thought a female led comic what could be more perfect and I quickly perused the first issue I found where within two pages she had had her toe cut off my a skinless psycho and been called a Cu…. anyway this was not the kind of thing my little girl would be reading anytime soon! It did, however, ignite a spark in me, this comic was clearly not for children but by god it was perfect for me! I devoured issue after issue moving on from Hack/Slash to The Boys and by the time I started Preacher I was hooked!

I have always loved comic book/superhero movies and liked to have a wee Google of the character to see any changes the films made but when it came to comics I was shying away from the big names thinking they would be more clichéd and aimed more at kids, oh how wrong I was. I began skirting the edges reading Deadpool and Hellblazer downloading them from the start and being surprised at how much I enjoyed them considering how long ago they were written but it was again a Cassandra who held my hand into the more mainstream comics this time Cassandra Cain, Batgirl. Here was a better example of something I could let my daughter read early on but of course I better read it just to make sure and the more I read the more I really enjoyed Batman and his crimefighting family, ok so they weren’t uber violent like the comics I was used to but they were still pretty dark and gripping and really REALLY good stories I started reading them from the start and yeah they are a little cornier the further back you go but still a really good story and enjoyable read. The only thing about Batman is that the stories split into each individual characters solo comic it’s common to see ‘concluded in Nightwing #65’ which means you read that comic and before you know it that’s you reading all Nightwing’s stuff too because it’s ace and then you have to read Red Hood and then Birds of Prey etc., etc. and some of the artwork iv seen in Batman, in particular, isn’t work at all just pure art!!

Now favourite hero is a strong term not to be bandied about lightly and there are far too many options out there to list them all but a few notable ones of mine are wolverine, Deadpool (I’m more of a Dc reader but love these two) Constantine, Tony Chu, Green Arrow, Batman and Aquaman (The animated Brave and The Bold version is all I really know but I love). All of these have qualities to love about them whether it is humour, sarcasm, skill or excitement but for me, Batman encompasses everything and has some excellent writing that keeps you gripped cover to cover time and time again.

As for my daughter, well when I see the pure joy on her face as she climbs onto my lap, runs her fingers through my beard, grabs a handful in each hand and pulls in separate directions I think she may just enjoy Cassie Hack a little sooner than I’d like to admit!