How it began...

My earliest fangirl inclinations go back to about when I was 6. Down the street from my dad's butcher shop was a luncheonette with a news stand inside. I would always manage to talk my grandfather into buying me comic books.

Then I remember "The Shazaam/Isis Power Hour". I wanted to be Isis. For Halloween, my mother made me a pink Isis costume.

Later on came my first character obsession: Jason from Battle of the Planets. For me, it was LOVE! He was so much cuter than Mark, and not annoying like Tiny and Keyop. This was the days before VCRs, so if my mother decided she wanted to go out when Battle of the Planets was on, I'd throw a fit.

I used to watch any show that had superheroes. No Smurfs or Strawberry Shortcake for me! Give me Captain Marvel, give me Isis, give me Superfriends. I still have the Isis and Wonder Woman dolls from back then. Too bad I don't have any of my comics. I've managed to find theh set of 8 Isis comics again though.

Around age 12, when we moved to Dallas, my comic urges resurfaced and I began collecting in earnest. I became a die-hard fan of New Teen Titans and Legion of Superheroes.

And there began my true love of Garfield Logan, the Changeling. I was 13, he was 16. And there also began my long history of self created superheroine avatars. At the same time I had an infatuation with Mon-el of the LSH, but somehow it just didn't last.

We'd weekly meet my aunt, uncle, and grandfather at Furr's restaurant for a family dinner. Around the corner was a comic book shop. And again, I'd talk my grandfather into buying me comics (except now, it was the older stuff, 60's and 70's Teen Titans and Legions).

More of the Purple Purposeless from Doom Patrol #16

and more...

Sometime around high school, my comic book interest waned. DC was splitting their comics into special "Baxter paper" editions, available only at comic book stores and costing far more than the others. My parents' business wasn't that good at the time. Plus things were happening in the comics that were making me lose interest. This included the Crisis.

About that time, a friend of mine introduced me to the Doctor Who fandom. And then I was lost. Doctor Who fanaticism lasted me all the way through college (my Doctor Who book collection won the first annual SMU book collecting contest). But new episodes ceased to be produced and the novel only stories weren't as good. Meanwhile, I still fantasized about Gar Logan. I didn't read any comics, only bought the occasional one from used bins, but never forgot him in my fantasy life.

And so, next came my first active, knowlegeable interest in anime. It started with Sailor Moon. At that time I was working for an Asian couple selling computers. The internet was becoming widespread, and on breaks I could track down info on the series. There I discovered that Battle of the Planets was originally a series called Gatchaman.

I began going to Project A-Kon, a local anime convention. I became immersed into Visions of Escaflowne, Bastard!!, Ranma 1/2 (and my activity in GRIT, the Global Ranma Insanity Thread), Magic Knights Rayearth, Clamp School Detectives, and more.

Lately I've had a resurgance of interest in comic books (thanks to the Internet), possibly spawned by my collecting of translated manga. Due to poor writing, I haven't been able to get back into the Titans, but Gar's appearances dragged me into the current Doom Patrol series.

What's to come in the future? Who knows...