So. Yeah.

There's an old joke that you know a salesman is lying when his lips are moving.  There's a newer joke that you know a blogger is lying when they say they will post more often.

Running a blog is the definition of a labor of love.  You're certainly not getting paid to do it, and any time you devot to it is time away from family, or work, or relaxation, or chores, or whatnot.  There's little upside in terms of opportunity cost in running a blog.  Yet lots of us do it -- specifically the loosely knit circle of DC Universe character specific blogs which have all sort of sprung up in the wake of Rob Kelly's Aquaman Shrine (no pun intended).  

We're an odd bunch of bloggers with an odd spectrum of approaches, styles, interests, and mindsets.  We run the gamut from one coast to the other, one side of the aisle to the other, new school, old school, high school, grad school, and clown college.  But at the end of the day we all share a love for the DC Universe and at least some subset of the characters who inhabit it and interact with each other.

Yeah, get to the point Luke.

Like I said this is a labor of love.  And when things get turned up to 11 in other parts of your life, the labors of love inevitably suffer.  It's simply the way it is.  And this is no different.  Working as the sole instrument engineer on a construction site is a demanding, time consuming task which will creep and creep and creep until it takes over all of your waking hours.  If you let it.  And while I have successfully fought that battle on other fronts, this battlefield was lost.

The other night I was cleaning out my nightstand and came across two nearly completed Hawkman collections.  One was the "Wings of Fury" trade for Volume 4.  The other was the Golden Age Hawkman Archives.  I stared at those two books for a few minutes and felt a wave of feelings.  Guilt, mostly.  Guilt for not keeping up the blog.  Then a bit of regret.  Then... inspiration.

I put aside the other comics I was reading.  Shogun Warriors was published several decades ago, it can wait a few more weeks.  Morbius is a vampire, he's effectively immortal.  Godzilla will understand.  And I did something I had not done in months.

I sat down and read Hawkman comics and had a grin on my face the entire time.

I had stopped reading my Hawkman collection because I didn't want to take the notes and blog about it.  Isn't that a stupid reason to stop reading the adventures of a character who I have come to love over the last few years?  A character whom I loved enough to devote this blog to him and his partners and foes and associates?

I started this blog as a chronicle of "one fan's journey into Hawk fandom."  I think it is safe to say that "I have arrived" there.  Being Carter Hall needs to be refocused.  Repurposed.  I know all about Hawkman, whichever one you want to talk about.  It's not a journey into the fandom now.  I am part of it.

They say that writers gotta write.  Well, bloggers gotta blog.  And while I may not be as up-to-the-minute as I want to be with news and tips, but I feel like I need this.  I need to get back to a place where I can sit down at night after the kids are asleep and the dishes are washed and the email is answered and just read comics.  Read comics where a pair of winged warriors use the weapons of the past and the technology of the future to fight the crime of the present.  Maybe the posts themselves won't be as structured as they were.  Maybe I'll finally talk about the villains I have been promising for years.  Maybe, maybe.  

But I know that I want to read Hawk comics and blog about Hawk comics and talk about them with all of you out there in Internet Land.  

So now I have to ask: Will you have that discussion with me?

Kindest Regards,

~Luke