Dyslexia.

Do you read comic books? I do, they’re a very important part to our culture, and what do people think when I say comic books, is usually Spider-Man, or Archie, or Maybe even the comic strips in the funnies section of your paper. And no, I don’t mean those, I mean real comic books. Like Sandman, Love and Rockets, 100 Bullets, Doom Patrol, V for Vandetta, The Dark Knight Returns, Concrete, The White Lama, Black Jack, Dawn, Queen & Country, Cerebus the Aardvark, or Strangers In Paradise.

I am talking about comic books, right now, because of one thing, If it wasn’t for comic books, I never would of learned how to read. Now given that I do have dyslexia and I didn’t learn how to read till I was about 12 to 13. Back then, I had always loved comic books, they where amazing source of art to stare at even if I couldn’t read the words. Back then, Image was still on top of the game, Marvel was loosing money, DC was floundering, and Oni and Dark Horse, where strong but still respectably tiny.

So when I had found the internet store for comics called “Next Planet Over”, I oozed with delight. And I don’t remember if I had picked the series or if my mom did, but regardless, I ended up with the series called Danger Girl. Danger Girl was a series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell, this series back then was a key stone to my love of not only looking at comics but reading them. And It just hit that I had to read them. I had to. So I made myself. It took a while I am sure, since I am working off of memory, I can’t really get down most of the details but it worked. I ended up reading them, all three of the collected books I had got.

And lets be honest, it was the women of “Danger Girl” who pulled me into reading it, I am not going to cop out and say “Oh, I was young, into bright colors and I had nothing else to read”, which is bull. They where hot, I liked hot women back then, still do, and it was 2 plus 2 equals 4 for me.

Moving on. After danger girl, I had gotten into other comic books back then, which now I look at and ask myself “why would you ever read (or try to read) such a thing like this”. And that’s true, I’d see something “cool” looking and I’d pick it up and try to read it. It was like brand new to me and I had to be all over the place. But back then, like many young male boys, I had to get the flashy, new comics, like Spawn or other Image titles. Back then, it was always about Image.

Now, that I had more comics, I read them, a lot. Or tried to, still being new to the whole reading thing, I am glad, that I picked the flashy ones, because they pulled my attention, even if I couldn’t read some of the words still. Around this time, I was getting into music also, Metallica’s Load and Reload played a big part in my life back then, and ^&*%^ you if you hate those albums, I love them.

But back to the dyslexia, I still suffer from it, or gain from it, depending on how you look at it... There are 101 different theories to why anyone person could have dyslexia. Dyslexia can almost cripple a kid who doesn’t have the support of his or her family or themselves. If my mother didn’t believe in me, I probably wouldn’t be where I am, if my father wasn’t who he is, I probably wouldn’t be where I am, if I wasn’t who I wanted to be, I wouldn’t be who I wanted to be. Having dyslexia didn’t cripple me, I never let it "cripple" me or inhibit me from learning or reading. And that’s a very important lesson I had to learn for myself.

And when you think about the people who’s had dyslexia before you, it’s kind of amazing, I won’t list every one, because not every one knows everyone who has dyslexia.

Edward James Olmos, Orlando Bloom, Erin Brockovich, Tom Cruise, Anthony Hopkins, Jay Leno, Ozzy Osbourne, Guy Richie, Billy Bob Thornton, Kiera Knightley, Sylvester Stallone, Joss Stone, Andy Warhol, John Lennon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Einstein, Robin Williams, Tomas Edison, Nelson Rockefeller. Leonardo Da Vinci.

That says a lot about people with Dyslexia and should put power to those who feel they won’t amount to anything because of Dyslexia. Even Nelson Rockefeller put it perfectly in a quote of his.

“I was one of the 'puzzle children' myself -- a dyslexic . . . And I still have a hard time reading today. Accept the fact that you have a problem. Refuse to feel sorry for yourself. You have a challenge; never quit!” - Nelson Rockefeller.

I don’t know about you but that says it all right there.

So, to conclude, I’ll say I now read novels of legendary stature like Naked Lunch and The Inferno and On the Road and that I’ve moved on to better comic books. Ha.

Please, visit these sites for further information about Dyslexia.

www.dyslexia.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia

http://www.dyslexia.org/

And if you know someone who has Dyslexia, do yourself a favor, never, ever give up on them. Empower them with all that you have, it will be 100 times worth it, if not for you, but for them.

Thanks!

(PS, while writing this, I constantly miss spelled Dyslexia, about 66 times.)