…for getting me through another life when the brain just wants to remain out of thoughts.

I used to collect Marvel comics when I was a teenager. There was Comic Mart at Serene Centre opposite the road from Adam Hawker Centre. Spent many hours there just reading titles, imagining plots and gazing at many covers as I could.

My favourite was the “What If” series followed by Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch as well as good ol’ Spidey.

Needless to add, I bought most of those. Back then, Singapore never was lucky enough to get the first edition so I made do with direct editions, telling myself that it’s the same. 50 years down the road, I was going to sell them for lotsa cash. I don’t tell myself that anymore. And I also tell myself that maybe it wasn’t Singapore but me that didn’t realize there were other shops that did sell first editions.

However, it doesn’t matter now since I no longer intend to sell the comics. They have become this stash of “me time” that I value. At the end of a long day, when I don’t want to struggle with inherent concepts in a book or the plot in a novel, comics take me to that place for a short time when it’s okay to imagine.

Perhaps it’s not only Marvel comics but the imagination that I should cheer.