In Maps & Legends, Online at Zuda

Back in the day, when I had far more disposable cash than I have right at the moment, I was a big, big, big, totally-and-completely comic nerd. Not Comic Book Guy, thank God, but still, I would hit the comic store (and the music store, too, naturally) as soon as I got paid each week and stock up on a dozen-plus different titles I was following at the time, plus whatever back issues I needed to fill the holes in my collection. It used to be a ridiculously large part of my life, self-image, yadda, yadda.

Sadly, these days my longboxes full of comics languish pathetically in a closet in the garage, where I really, truly hope to God they’re not being rotted/eaten to shreds by who-knows-what, and my primary exposure to anything comic-like basically comes from visits with the fam when the little brothers are around and I can borrow whatever new they’ve got lying around. I’m now only a comic nerd by proxy, which at times makes me kind of sad, but hey, that’s my economic reality. Gotta have priorities. (Although I do make exceptions for certain stuff, like anything Astro City, any Hellblazer graphic novels I come across at Borders or Half Price, or the awesome, awesome DMZ series…)

The above blather is to explain somewhat why my friend Mike Jasper has managed to become my new “dude, I want to be you” idol. On top of the sci-fi novels he’s already published, now there’s In Maps & Legends, an online comic Mike’s writing (with art by Niki Smith), which is currently the top of the heap at DC Comics‘ interactive, vote-for-your-favorite Zuda Comics site.

What’s up there now is just a snippet, really, but it already looks damn intriguing, in a thoughtful, backstory-heavy, Gaiman-/esque comic-fantasy sort of way — I’m seriously looking forward to seeing more, and am surprisingly impressed with the interface (not having to wait long for the next page to load is nice, although that may be more of a factor of the connection speed here than anything else).

Now, I’d meant to post this earlier to pester people to vote for Mike’s comic, but I think I may’ve missed the boat — apparently he didn’t need my help, though, since it looks like he’s been trouncing the competition and may(?) be the winner. Which means that he & Smith will get to sign a contract with DC to continue the comic the rest of this year, presumably for money & glory & whatnot. Holy shit. If that’s the case, congrats, Mike! And to the rest of you comic geeks out there, check out the comic, either way…