in the heat of the night the animals scream

I know I'm way late to the party on this, but I just discovered the graphic novel Transmetropolitan, on the advice of my friend Ryan. As an added bonus, we saw it in a comic shop with our friend Alan, who it turns out had never read Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns. We convinced him to pick them up and read them, and I was reminded of the excitement and wonder I felt the first time I read Dark Knight, and how profoundly Watchmen affected me the second time I read it, and saw all that stuff you miss the first time through.

In my limited free time this week, I've been re-reading Neuromancer, and all these new (to me) graphic novels that I got over the weekend. There's Transmetropolitan, Proposition Player, and Hopeless Savages, which are all outstanding, and I haven't gotten into Scott Pilgrim, Planetary, WE3, or Ex Machina, yet.

These graphic novels and the trip to the Comic and Game shop (Metro, in Santa Barbara) brought on such a hypernostalgic geek jones, it's sick. I've heard stories of recovering addicts who see a movie about junkies, and feel a throb in their veins, like their arm's longing for the pinch of the needle, and I have some sort of geek version of that.

It's a very tangible longing, an insistent yearning, to sit on Darin's floor in 1989 and play Illuminati, watch Holy Grail, listen to They Might Be Giants, and then paint 40K armies while we argue about plot holes in Aliens before we head off to a comic convention at the Shrine Auditorium, hoping the newest Sandman has come out.

It's watching The Prisoner for the first time, networking Mac II computers using Appletalk to play NetTrek and Spaceward Ho!

It's walking into an empty engineering set on Stage 9 when I was 15, so I can stand behind the pool table, look at the engine lights pulse with their nearly-silent neon click, and pretend that the ship was real.

It's watching a VHS bootleg of Akira, having no idea what's going on, but still loving it and wanting more and more and more.

It's hours and hours of Car Wars and Awful Green Things and 40K and Talisman.

It's listening to The Frantics, Bill Hicks, Bob Goldthwait, Dr. Demento, and Bill Cosby.

It's music, too: Squeeze, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, The The, and Oingo Boingo.

It's movies: Batman, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Dawn of, Night of the Living, and Day of The Dead.

It's not talking to girls, but spending an awful lot of time talking about girls.

It's a longing for the uncomplicated simplicity of those years, years which we were convinced were anything but uncomplicated or simple at the time.

I get like this a few times a year. I can never pinpoint the exact reason, and I sort of hope I never do; I enjoy these hypernostalgic trips, even if a certain amount of sadness and longing is the price of admission. If I figured out why these feelings well up from time to time, they probably would stop coming, and I'd lose touch with my formative geek years: the most complicated and uncomplicated -- and most important -- years of my life.

Comments

[James Landrith]

Wow. I feel you on that Wil.

XM Radio, eMusic and iTunes has really kicked me in the ass with nostalgia as I listen to the 80's channel, Fred, Ethel and Lucy and download tracks from iTunes and eMusic to purchase new releases or replace my old cassettes as well as older releases I never got into when they were new.

When I feel old or overwhelmed, I can always retreat into a good album from my youth. Like you said in one of your podcasts, music is more than background noise, it is a soundtrack for life. I rely on my iPod and XM Radio to supply that soundtrack. I simply cannot stand local radio anymore (a separate issue).

Once the music starts, I can see faces I had forgotten, places I'd like to visit again and a feeling that turning 36 won't necessarily be so bad. It was fun, but I don't want to repeat it.

I just want to remember it.

Remember the past, but prepare for the future.

[PAgent]

I loved Transmetropolitan. It really knocked my socks off.

And I want a bowel disrupter.

[Kato]

You had me at the "Hanging Garden" reference.

Nostalgia is fun, isn't it? But then, I guess that's why it's called "nostalgia" and not "why couldn't I have just been a normal kid like everyone else"-gia.

[DJ-Panic]

Wil - if you ever need a quick does of geekyness for nostalgia, check out nerdcorehiphop.org

Geeky music, made by geeks, for geeks. Lots of great memories great brought up by those guys :)

[BonzoGal]

Good geek longings! And reading everyone else's rememberances and suggestions here has been fun too.

My Dad gave me a great piece of advice when I was in high school which has stuck with me through my now-42 years: the best days of your life should always be the ones you're living right now. He told me that the kids having their "best" days in high school would probably not be all that happy as adults, because they'd shot their wad. (Okay, he didn't say "wad", but you know what I mean.)

Nostalgia is fun, and past days can be looked back on with great warmth, but: with your fab wife, bitchin' kids, enviable writing skillz, kick-ass friends, etc., NOW can really be the best days of your life.

Sorry if this seems lecture-y... I'll go back to reading my old copies of Dynamite Magazine, and eating my Pirate Dinner... ;)

[spider_J]

I'm quite surprised that noone has pointed this out yet, but...
your friend, Patrick Stewart, already beat you to the Transmet party.
He wrote the forward to one of the trade paperback editions. ;) And was considering voicing Spider in a tenative animated version which may never materialize. Be that as it may, Transmetropolitan and Planetary are excellent works.

[Gandalfe]

You know what really makes me feel nostalgic? Finding new music. Gives me the same sense of excitement I used to get when I'd pick up the new Boingo album, or when I'd first hear Alphaville.

[mariazmess]

wil! you JUST discovered Transmetropolitain??!? bummer! i started reading it as it was being published... 7-8 years ago?!

i'd go home for a weekend from university and pick up 5-6 issues, taking them back to residence and reading them back to back, in the middle of the night. they made me wanna smoke too many cigarettes, headbutt everyone, and masturbate. wicked fuckin comic.

btw, wil, i haven't read you in a while. i was googling my own name when i came across a comment i left you and decided to see if your website was back up. then i went to see what you were up to. i have a lot of catching up to do -- i missed you!! i have to update my favourites... silly, no?

[James Landrith]

Gandalfe said: "You know what really makes me feel nostalgic? Finding new music. Gives me the same sense of excitement I used to get when I'd pick up the new Boingo album, or when I'd first hear Alphaville."

Word. I got that feeling when I happened across a band called Dakota Moon a few years back while watching MHz on television (http://www.mhznetworks.org/programming/artists/646). I bought both of their CDs right away and played the hell out of them.

Digging on that band so hard helped me recapture that feeling from my youth - when music was vibrant and fresh and every release seemed to be exciting and well worth the $8.99 for a cassette.

When you just couldn't wait to share your latest find with your best friend so you could jam together...

[AT]

After I started Sandman and read novels such as V for Vendetta and The Watchmen I read through the Preacher series. LOVED IT.

I tried to get into Transmet but couldn't. Maybe I need to try again.

The frantics are awesome. I watched them on Four of the Floor when I was a kid. I can't believe I understood the humour. Some sketches still stand out in my mind. Mr. Canoehead rocked.

Yay for Canadian comedy.

[LMangue]

This entry and the more recent entry on your SW action figure story brought up similar memories for me. Your mention of Metro Comics...another block of memories. I worked there when it was across the street waaaay back.
I miss Santa Barbara.

[Jeff]

Oh, man! The Frantics were great! One of my former colleagues used to have a bunch of their episodes on VHS. If you haven't seen them, you MUST find them and watch them -- they're so much better than just the audio.