That’s a difficult one to nail down but I decided to give it the ol’ college try as the cool kids say (at least back in the 80’s they did).

For context I wasn’t always a book worm. In my capricious youth I loved comic books. Mostly Marvel. Mostly The Punisher, Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants.
My box of comics with their various stories, characters and illustrations were my best friends. Growing up I came from a broken home which found me traveling between group homes and shacking up with friends or family. I learned a lot about urban survival tactics in my preteen years before eventually my sister took me in and helped raise me.
Though I had little to nothing in terms of physical objects (2 pairs of jeans, a couple shirts and a pair of sneakers) there was one constant in my tumultuous life journeys. That old box of comics. I had so many people tell me to get rid of em but they were the only constant in my life, and everyone of em was bagged, boarded and well cared for. I knew every story and each character lived inside my head.
Those stories are a big reason why I got into the Urban Fantasy genre as a young adult.
Fast forward a decade or so and I’m working a tech job at a pretty decent company in Seattle. Back in the early 90’s all us tech guys were considered just as geeky as us comic kids in the 80’s so it was a good fit. One of my co-workers was a nice jolly fellow named Rob. Rob had a couple years on me, and we had done some book swaps. I would pass along a little Spider Robinson and he would shove some David Weber into my hands.
The year was 2001 and all us tech folks somehow managed to survive Y2K. The end of days according to the Mayan calendar and every news outlet looking to sell advertising space on the stupid tube.

“I felt like Rob was my dealer. Getting me hooked on Dave Weber and Larry Correia only to sneak in crack educing kid fodder.”

Walking past Rob’s desk, I see a copy of none other than Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Aside from civilizations narrow escape from Y2K end of times the media vultures had found something new to sink their venomous talons into. Harry Potter.
The first movie was a meager 8 months away and the world was ablaze with love and hate for the little fantasy story that could.
I was an unabashed hater of Harry Potter.
“Dude, Rob! No. Don’t tell me the pod people got you too?”
“It’s good.”
“You know it’s written for kids, right? Like, little kids. No self-respecting sci-fi drama reader should be caught dead with that in their vicinity.”
“No. Seriously. Here.” Rob insisted shoving the book into my hands. “My niece forced me to read it and seriously dude it’s good. Just try it.”

I felt like Rob was my dealer. Getting me hooked on Dave Weber and Larry Correia only to sneak in crack educing kid fodder.
But Rod had introduced me to a couple great authors, so I reluctantly borrowed his borrowed copy of the first Harry Potter book.
After consuming all 3 that were available at the time I started drooling for the impending movie and decided.
What a minute. Let me put aside my usual sci-fi series like Star Wars and look about for an adult Harry Potter. Surely someone is making this.
Perusing Barnes & Noble I found Harry Dresden staring me in the face. Adult Wizard. It was right there. After devouring all the Jim Butcher series on the shelf, I moved on to several others in the genre but there really wasn’t much at the time. But what was available was delicious.
It felt like adult comic books. I really enjoyed the fact that you could have “kitchen sink” fantasy on rails with the genre. So you loosely know what you’re going to get. All the story tellers are using similar ingredients to weave their tale, but they also have a plethora of options for said ingredients.
Werewolves
Witches
Warlocks
Fairy
Fae
Bigfoot
Or whatever. The storyteller had room to create their own universe using popular and sometimes entirely new mythical creatures and old timey magic.
Not all but most had an overarching theme of hope. Aside from the unfamiliar living in the shadows amongst something very familiar to us in the urban landscape the primary appeal was that underlying theme of hope. That no matter where you come from or where you’re going. Even if life’s monsters cross your path, you just gotta hold onto hope and maybe grab a gun or two and some magic wielding friends and you will perceiver.
Later in life I gave up 2 of my 3 boxes of comics. They went to one of my nephews who I had a hand in raising and consequently was a big comic nerd.
I still have that original box of comics though. It sits on a shelf next to my dad’s ashes. The box is buried under a large mound of well-worn Urban Fantasy novels. My dad loved his fantasy books.
All of them are well loved.