That a 37-year-old guy would own some 7,000 comic books and wait 20 long years for Hollywood's version of Spiderman to appear is not especially noteworthy. But that a poet (think, economy of expression; expanses of white paper) would dig comics (as in, outsized characters and dialogue; a surfeit of colour and exclamation marks) does give pause.

"It's just a different way to tell a story," shrugs Ottawa poet, essayist, publisher and all-round literary action figure rob mclennan when queried about his comic book mania.

Labels: ephemera, poetry