When I remember back to the the earliest moments of my love for comic books, the vision I have is of me laying in bed, X-Men comics strewn all around, reading the lastest installment in what would later be called the Dark Phoenix Saga.

This storyline, written by Claremont and drawn by Byrne were like my Big Bang event. Before this, I was a child who had read some comics. After this, I was a comic book reader. I had been hooked. This simple plot, which carried over 30 or so issues of the X-Men would kick off for me a lifelong interest in comics, as well as in literature and reading.

I can't overstate the impact this story arc had on my life as a teenager, as a young adult, and even now as a middle-aged man still struggling daily with keeping my humanity in the face of growing power and responsibility.

This storyline embodies so much of what I love about comics.