Why? By Don MacPherson Around the office at my new job -- staff writer for The Daily Gleaner in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada -- a few people think of me as the "Dot-com Guy." I freelanced at the Gleaner before accepting a job in New York City at Psycomic. You folks remember Psycomic.com 1.0, right? It didn't take long to realize that the site's parent company -- Psylum -- wouldn't last long, but it was fun while it did. And then there was Fandom.com, for whom I freelanced from my hometown of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Fandom provided a fun year, and though it was managed far better than Psylum, I figured it wouldn't make for a lifelong career either. I was right. So now I'm back in mainstream journalism, writing stories about municipal protests, strawberry harvests and the occasional movie review. Making my living as an online comic-book critic is a thing of the past, and that's fine. I love my new job, so I still have a good deal of job satisfaction. So why keep writing comics reviews? Why not just sit back and enjoy comics purely for entertainment, as a hobby? Why spend my free time the same way as my workday hours: in front of a computer, typing away? Because I want to be involved. Because I need to be involved. I love comic books. I've been in love with the medium since I first read Batman Family #19 more than two decades ago. As a child, comics opened my mind to the limitlessness of imagination. As I grew up, comics became not only an outlet for escapism and imagination, they opened my eyes to the world around me. I learned more of the Second World War from Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron, and the desperation and despair of teenage runaways was made real by Marv Wolfman and George Perez in New Teen Titans. Today, comics not only entertain me, they occasionally challenge me. Warren Ellis warns us to watch our leaders carefully in Transmetropolian, while Peter Milligan points out the silliness and indulgence of celebrity in X-Force. Though comic books perhaps cling to tradition more than any other entertainment media, it's also more progressive and experimental than any other as well. Can you imagine audiences tolerating bestiality and dismemberment in order to appreciate the themes of friendship and loyalty in a Preacher movie? Can you imagine American television viewers having the patience for the slow pace and ups and downs of Strangers in Paradise? Why am I writing reviews again? It's simple. The world of comic books is an exciting one, and I feel lucky that enthusiasts have invited me to be a part of the periphery by reading what I have to say. But what about Randy Lander? Why is he reviewing again? Cuz he's my bitch. And he does what he's told. Don MacPherson is nobody's bitch, but he's willing to learn. Email Don MacPherson comments about this column, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.