Say goodbye to the mask: The Comics Fan is signing off

This is farewell.

For 15 years, I have funneled my longtime love for comic books into a Sunday column for The Gazette. Over that time, Marvel — once known for some truly awful movies — saw its characters win blockbuster status on the big screen. CrossGen tried to shake up the comics industry but died. “Smallville” hit the small screen. Spider-Man’s marriage to Mary Jane was erased. Digital comics arose. Captain America was killed, but got better. DC weathered an “Infinite Crisis” and a “Final Crisis.” Vampire-slaying Buffy found an afterlife in comics.

I’ve talked with comics’ top creators — from legends such as Stan Lee to hot new talent such as Jason Aaron. I attended Comic-Con International in San Diego for two straight years before a lot of other media discovered it.

Now it’s time to hang up my cape. It saddens me in a way: I won’t be writing about DC’s upcoming “Flashpoint” or its decision to have two Batmans (Batmen?) Or Marvel’s Captain America and Thor movies.

But I’ve always done the Comics Fan pretty much on the side, and the growing demands of my day job don’t leave much room for “the side.” And, after having been through event after event, through blackest nights and secret invasions and superhero civil wars and dark reigns, I’m a bit burned out. I doubt I’ll ever give up on comics completely, but Wednesday — new comics day — isn’t the lure that it once was.

So I’m outta here. For now, anyway.

See you in the funny pages.