New Diamond shipping list! Looks like a fat stack is awaiting me this week:

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH #2
BATMAN: HARLEY & IVY #2
DC: THE NEW FRONTIER #4
HELLBLAZER #196
LOSERS #12
MIDNIGHT, MASS: HERE THERE BE MONSTERS #5
PROMETHEA #30
ALEISTER ARCANE #2

I've been meaning to write a bit about Aleister Arcane, the first issue of which I picked up at the 25% off sale at my comics shop a few weeks ago. It's my first exposure to IDW books, specifically would-be horrormeister Steve Niles, and I thought it was an intriguing first chapter in a story idea that frankly I don't see how it can be sustained in an ongoing series (if it's a limited series I suppose I missed that info)...but it was a good read and sported some very nice painted art...so, I'll give it a shot. Also, any week that contains a new Promethea and Losers (not to mention New Frontier 4) is a kick ass week indeed.

More great news from the Philadelphia Wizard World Vertigo panel:

* The Losers' second trade paperback, Double Down, is due for a November release.

Oh yeah. Another excuse to pester my friends to buy The Losers!

Been reading the reports from Wizard World Philly, specifically the Vertigo panel, and one thing really jumped out at me:

* Morrison's Doom Patrol will be collected. The first volume will be released in September and will feature a new cover by Brian Bolland and three pages never seen before. The second volume will be released in December and will include art from Morrison.

Wow! I never thought I'd see the day, especially since DC seems eager to replace Morrison's run with something- anything- else! I would think that they would be concerned that less discerning readers would be completely confused when confronted with this, after having read Byrne's more, shall we say, traditional take on the DP. Oh well, if nothing else maybe there will be some more Crazy Jane in the "three pages never seen before". I miss that character.

A couple of pics from the upcoming film Constantine, too. Boy, DC is trying to put their best spin on the whole thing, but I just can't see how this is going to be anything but a trainwreck. There are easily 500 actors you could name off the top of your head that would make a better John Constantine, and to make him American totally strips the character of effectively 3/4 of his charisma and personality, which has never been Keanu's strong suit in the first place...which is probably why it was done. Anyway, we'll see.

Watched a couple of entertaining movies over the weekend, and they couldn't be more different.

First, Bend It Like Beckham, a thoroughly predictible, but no less enjoyable film about a young East Indian girl named Jess (short for Jesminda), played with spark by one Parminder K. Nagra, whose dream it is to play soccer (or "football", if you will) for England. Of course, her devout and straightlaced parents are dead against it, her mother because she wants her daughter to follow in the footsteps of her older sister and get married, lkearn to cook and raise a family, and she would be "showing her bare legs to complete strangers"; and her father because he was a good cricketer who wasn't allowed to play in London due to prejudice against Sikhs. The complications ensue when she meets Jules (played by Keira Knightley, who left me cold in Pirates of the Carribean, but who's quite likeable here), who sees what a good football player she is and recruits her for the local women's team, called the Houndslow Harriers. She begins sneaking off to play and practice, and much of the first half of the film is devoted to the complications caused by this. Eventually, a love triangle forms between Jess, Jules and the coach of the team (Jonathan Rhys-Davis), who can't really pay attention to either of them because he's their coach...but eventually breaks down and falls for Jess, which infuriates Jules. But don't worry, everything pretty much turns out OK in the end, although not quite in the way you'd think, and I was consistently entertained, charmed, and fascinated by this film, which does follow the standard template but adds enough quirk and personality that it overcomes its limitations. The soundtrack, a mix of Eastern and Western musics and studded with cuts by the likes of Melanie Chisholm, Beckham's spouse (for now) Victoria, and Curtis Mayfield (sadly missing on the CD), is great and there's even a colorful and raucous Eastern Wedding scene. I heartily recommend this film to anyone who is in the mood for a feel-good kind of movie with enough of a twist that you'll respect yourself in the morning.




I guess there's not much else to be said about Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.2 that hasn't been said much better in many different places...but I'm gonna try anyway. KBV2 is, when you boil it down, a movie made by a film geek for film geeks, and if you are inclined to like his sources, or like a down-and-dirty action tale with snappy dialogue and interesting characters, you'll more than likely dig it a lot. Tarantino's simply making film as collage, passing on the styles he loves- no more, no less. He's not really aspiring to ART, even though if it happens during the course of the flick that's just fine with him. There are nitpickers and naysayers, mostly repulsed by the violence, or perceived sexism, or what have you- and those people will always find something to complain about. But for those who are a bit more objective about their film, or can be if need be, then I don't see how you can't not like these films, both this and Vol. 1. I have to admit that I got more of a charge from the first volume...this one was more Italian Western than Hong Kong Fu-influenced, and I've never been real crazy about the films of Sergio Leone and others. Just personal preference, I suppose. Secondly, V2 just seemed a bit padded. Of course, this was originally conceived as one long movie, but the studio requested it be shortened somehow and it eventually got split into two "volumes"...but it didn't show as much in the first as it did in the second. Another minor quibble. I can unreservedly say that I really liked the performances by Daryl Hannah (who knew she could play such a bad-ass bitch!) and especially Michael Madsen, whom I've always liked and seemed doomed to straight-to-cable mystery/thriller hell and hasn't been a part of a movie this good in ages. Of course, Uma Thurman gave a real eye-opening perf as the main character- seems that QT knows how to bring out the best in her. She's been unrelievedly bland in everything she's done since Pulp Fiction. The Kill Bill films may never be considered "great cinema", but I happen to appreciate what Tarantino's trying to do, and I hope he keeps on doing it for as long as he can. I'm also hoping that Kill Bill will be restored to a complete film again and released on DVD that way, 'cause I'd really like to see it in one sitting.

BEST OF THE WEEK

COMICS COMMENTARY!
What I bought and what I thought, week of May 19!

COURTNEY CRUMRIN IN THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM 4
Well, what we have here is a remarkable piece of work, I think, despite a somewhat tentative beginning. Despite borrowing liberally from a lot of sources, such as Rackham's illustrations for A Midsummer-Night's Dream, Lovecraft, and many works of fiction for young readers (including, yes, Harry Potter, Ted Naifeh's crafted a very credible little world for his round-faced, big-eyed, and somewhat hard-to-like but still sympathetic protagonist to inhabit- full of monsters from legend, wizards, fairies, and, most horrifying, high-school teenagers. This is the finale of this particular mini series, and it advances as many plot threads as it does resolve others, even though I kinda thought it was a little rushed- like he ran out of pages before he realized it and had to accelerate the process to stay within the count- I still was satisfied, entertained and, of course, very interested in what happens next. And his art is, as always, very good. Very, very good. This issue: A. Entire series: A-.

LUCIFER 50
OK, I'll freely admit right up front that if you haven't been reading this title up to now, then this is not one of those "good jumping-on points" that they keep going on about. Of course, you may have a passing familiarity with Biblical lore and/or Gaiman's Sandman , and that may help, but I doubt you'll really pick up on the subtleties that Mike Carey has been developing for the last 4 plus years. For this extra-sized issue, what we get is some backstory- explanations about motivations and histories of several of his cast of characters, and a few implied theological posits for those who are inclined to dissect those sorts of things, and 40 pages of gorgeous P. Craig Russell art (hey, just like in Sandman 50, whatta coincidence!), exquisitely colored by someone name of Lovern Kindzierski. All for only 55¢ more! A nice reassurance that Mike Carey isn't neglecting his best book as he speads himself thinnner and thinner these days. A

DAREDEVIL 60
Mostly satisfying conclusion to the "DD vs. the Yakuza vs. the super-hero population of New York and Ben Urich and himself and his friends" story arc which is mostly fast-paced, down-to-earth, and pretty funny in places (some might be offended by the Cage/DD/Iron Fist/Spidey banter, but not I). Alex Maleev is asked to draw some action this time around, instead of black panels with facial outlines and Xeroxed city streets, and while it will never be a strength of his he still succeeds as often as he falls short. I still can't think of any artist I'd rather have drawing this title as it is right now. Docked a full notch for essentially restoring DD's status quo, convienently doing away with the most compelling character (soon-to-be ex-wife Milla), and reassuring us that no matter how sharp Bendis's plots or dialogue may be, we're still reading the exploits of a corporate licensed property, and he can bend but never so much that he can't be restored to his original shape whenever possible. B+

SEAGUY 1
Oh, Seaguy. I was tempted to let it go with a cutesy, clever "Da Fug!" and that's it, but I feel like I should do a little better than that. To begin with, I believe that arrangements should be made now to do a full scientific study of Grant Morrison's brain, in order to find out exactly what makes it so different from normal human brains, and try to come up with an explanation regarding how the man can produce the random, the absurd, the nonsensical, the whimsical, the surreal, the flat-out strange ideas he does, and how he can do them with such apparent ease and profieciency. Seaguy seems to be mostly a platform for Grant and artist Cam Stewart, never better than here, to present his views and feelings about the world we live in, both as citizens and as comics readers, and to express these views and opinions as obliquely as possible, giving us a cornucopia of such wildly disparate characters like Death-as Venetian-gondolier, who plays chess with our "hero" on a daily basis, Seventh Seal-style, and is defeated because of the plot contrivance (and it's made obvious that this is a PLOT CONTRIVANCE, make no mistake) that he's "colorblind", so he can't tell the black pieces from the white pieces, "XOO", a substance that everything in this society SG lives in seems to be made of, or will be soon...SG drinks a soda and regurgitates a living, pink eel-like creature that resembles a melting penis made out of bubblegum, a wizened old stereotypical sea cap'n who seems to be able to discuss ancient Egyptian history fluently, "She-Beard", an obvious swipe at Wonder Woman/Red Sonja type characters; SG crushes on her, but she ignores him, and of course, Chubby De Choona, a floating, cigar-chomping Jabberjaw-esque tunafish who seems to symbolize SG's inner monologue, fills the comic relief sidekick role, and speaks in a 40's Brooklyn tough-guy dialect. Of course, as it stands right now, the disjointed parts are greater than the sum of all this, and you can take almost every single oddball character and situation and attach some sort of deeper significance to it...but due to the sequential nature that Morrison's chosen to give this to us in, we will have to wait a while, I think, before it all becomes clear...if it ever does. It took me a few readings to "get" Flex Mentallo, too, but when it finally did kick in, oh boy, did I love that one. The Filth and The Invisibles, on the other hand, I still don't fully understand, and I probably never will. Still, I can certainly appreciate the skill and imagination that goes into Morrison's projects like this, and all I can do is go along for the ride and hope for the best. And hope someone declares "SHAMAN"! soon. B+

HUMAN TARGET 10
Wrapped inside a Matt Wagner cover that depicts George Clooney in a prison jumpsuit, we have a clever story about our hero filling in for an escaped convict and longtime friend of his who just wants a week to take care of some personal matters on the outside, and enlists Chris Chance to take the heat dressed as him. Of course, we get a twist ending, a really surprising one for sure, so be ready! Also, another nicely done art job by Cliff Chiang, who hasn't exactly made me forget Javier Pulido, but has impressed me enough to hope that he can perhaps alternate storylines, if this low selling title has enough storylines left...! But as always, the credibility of Chance's disguises still bugs me (especially when it comes to sexual relations, something which is a big part of the storyline here), and this title, while it entertains me and maintains my interest, just doesn't grab me (for reasons I just can't quite put my finger on) and leave me eagerly anticipating more. If Human Target got canned tomorrow, I would think it was a shame, but I wouldn't be too upset. B+

Been out and about most of the day today, and now I'm crashed out in front of the telly so I have no energy to write or draw or do anything except watch Mickey Eye...so comics commentary (I hesitate to use the term "reviews" these days) will be forthcoming tomorrow. Saw Kill Bill Vol. 2 today, too- for $1! Cool, huh. Good movie, too.

In the meantime, something to tide you over: click on the above illustration to go to a site with the text of Will Shakespeare's A Midsummer-night's Dream, with accompanying (beautiful) illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

D. Emerson Eddy has written a thorough examination of one of my favorite comics series, the late 80's Shadow series by Chaykin, Andy Helfer, Bill Sinkiewicz, and Kyle Baker. I am especially a fan of the Helfer/Baker issues; I thought those were just amazing examples of high adventure wedded with black-as-ink comedy. To this day I would give mucho dinero for a four-issue miniseries featuring the Shadow's "Cob Driva" Percy Jenifah.

However, at the end I think D. has erred somewhat: the cancellation of this series, by most accounts, was requested by Conde Nast well before the final issue of the series, #19, not because of what H & B did in that particular issue, but because of the total incongruence of what was going on in the comic with the established Shadow character that would soon be featured in the movie which was surely then in the planning stages. And while it may have been a little too over-the-top in its superhero parodics, I think more substantial plot devices were on the way (the rock star who paid to have the Shadow's girasol stolen), so I think that this issue stands out a bit more because of the abrupt cancellation directly afterwards, and wasn't necessarily indicative of any potential direction or downward slide.

The article, should you choose to read it, is in Adobe PDF format; which means if you don't have Adobe Reader then you'll need to go to Adobe.com and download it...but worry not; it's free.

Now I'd like to point you to a very astute dissection of the Angel finale, at Otto's Coffee Shop. He also posts about Deadwood after every new episode...

Yep, this looks promising. A preview of Brian Vaughn and Tony Harris' upcoming Ex Machina. I've been somewhat less than impressed with what I've read from Vaughn so far, but hope springs eternal, as they say, and I'm very curious about the politician with the green stuff on his face. Hope I added this to my pull list.

Found via Graeme, checkin' out CBR so I don't have to.

For those of you with artistic aspirations, CBR's latest Comic Book Idol competition is set to get under way.

Just thought you might like to know.

While I'm thinking about it, here's another comic-music association, perhaps the first time this peculiar phenomenon ever happened to me, and I'll bet Neilalien might find this interesting: Strange Tales 133, Dr. Strange mixed up with warring sisters in some Ditkoesque dimenson in a tale titled "A Nameless Land, A Timeless Time" (Boy, could Stan name 'em or what), and "Love Potion #9" by the Coasters, one of the many classic 45s in my Aunt Lavana's record collection that I listened to all the time when I was a little kid and stayed with my grandparents while my folks worked. For some reason, this story (which I haven't read in years) and that song are forever linked in my mind.

More non-nostalgia related posts later, hopefully...

I was listening to Electric Light Orchestra II the other day, and the whole time I also kept flashing on scenes and certain panels from DC's 1973 Shadow series, specifically issue #2. Because I was first listening to that album at about the same period of time that I was first beginning to get acquainted with the Shadow, and in particular Mike Kaluta's atmospheric artwork on same, the album and that particular comic are forever linked in my mind. Another example of this is Rick Wakeman's 1973 solo debut Six Wives of Henry VIII and issue #29 of Amazing Adventures featuring Killraven, specifically the snow skimmer chase sequence at the end. If you've ever read it you'll know the one. Say, when are we gonna get an "Essential Killraven", anyway?

So I'm wondering- do any of you do this? Associate certain albums or songs with certain comics? Enquiring minds wanna know...

New Christgau Consumer Guide up over at VillageVoice.com. He's not too crazy about the Thrills, it appears, but the Jon Langford disc he reviews first sounds interesting...

Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings are in order to day for the lovely Jane Wiedlin, who turns an astounding 46 today. Never was a huge Go-Go's fan, but I really liked her overproduced but quirky and clever debut solo album, from waaaaay back in 1985, Jane Wiedlin.

Jane apparently has other, non-musical interests, as well. That's where I stole the picture from, as you'll see if you click on the link.

Your quickie link of the day: The Dancing Jesus Homepage! Dee dee dee dee dee dee...

I don't recall where I first saw this, but I thank you, whoever you are.

Well, it's the second intermission of the Flames-Sharks game (Go Flames!), so I'm gonna try to write a few lines before I go back to the cushy embrace of the tee-wee.

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then I need to go get my flame resistant pajamas...because I started to sit down earlier this evening and comment on the other odds-and-sods comics I've picked up lately, like I said I would, but the usual distractions ensued and now I don't really have the time. I've got about a half dozen lengthy pieces in me, but just can't seem to gather the energy or find theopportunity to squeeze them out. Like I said, I started...but then the Angel finale came on, and there went that plan. Most of my early evening was taken up by working on my template, trying to replace all the bells and whistles I had on JBS version 2.0. So far, so good, but I wish I knew why my Onestat icon's not showing up...

About the Angel series finale, I think that one was as good as we could hope for all things considered. Plus, they left the door open in case the principles ever wanted to do a special or even, God forbid, a film someday. Well done, with lotsa drama, tension, and laffs. I got a chuckle out of Angel's remark at the very end, plus the reaction from Spike when he told them "One of you will betray me". I wish the Buffy finale had been as satisfying. Now get to work on Serenity, Joss...

Also, there were new comics to read, all I listed previously...except for Demo 6. I did a fair amount of bitching, and they called Nashville again (this time with me standing there) to get me copies of both that and the Scurvy Dogs I missed two weeks ago. I don't know why this has to be such a hassle, but there ya go. What can ya do, besides try alternative suppliers with no guarantee that I'll get any more satisfaction from them than I do my well-meaning, and mostly competent, but still often frustrating only-comics-shop-in-the-area.

Found myself awake in the wee hours this morning, and managed to catch an airing of last year's zombie movie du jour, 28 Days Later. Fast-paced, artfully shot and well acted, and pretty gripping throughout. All the English-ness of the thing was kinda fun, different anyway...I found myself wondering, "wouldn't it be cool if someone made a sequel to Snatch, in which Brick Top, Bullet-Tooth Tony, and Frankie Fucking Four-Fingers came back as zombies?" But you know, something bugs me about zombie movies, ever since Romero: just exactly why is it, do you think, that zombies always want to be cannibals, to eat flesh, brains, and blood? Is there something about the plague viruses, or radioactive substances, or comet dust, that creates an intense need for raw human meat? I know, I know, because it's scarier that way...but when you think about it it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Sure, they're crazed, irrational, mindless wretches- but since when does that translate into blood lust or cannibalistic urges? If they're ravenously hungry, wouldn't a Philly cheese steak or Caesar Salad do just as well? Are they trying, on some level, to replace blood or protein lost? Or should I just stop trying to rationalize and sit back and enjoy the zombie movies and comics and just shut up? Ah well...if you haven't already, see 28 Days Later. It's an intense thrill-ride of a film, and even stops long enough once in a while to give us a mystery or two and allow us to think. About why zombies always become cannibals.

Anyway, I plan on trying to get some stuff written in the next few days, but to be honest I, right now, intend to spend a significant chunk of the weekend trying to draw at least a page or three of some of the scripts I"ve gotten lately (thanks, Ken, and of course Larry's Proof of Concept), so other than new comic capsule reviews (gotta be real careful what I call 'em, y'know), I can't guarantee anything. But hey- isn't life like that, when all is said and done?

3rd period's starting. Gotta go. Oyasumi Nasai.

Hey! I feel another Vinyl-O coming on! For those who may not be familiar with the Mondo Vinyl-O!, it's where I write a paragraph or three about a number of those paragons of antiquity the 33 1/3 long-playing vinyl recorded album, specifically those I've listened to in the period since the last Vinyl-O!. This was prompted originally by a new turntable I purchased in late 2002, and my joy in being able to listen to a lot of albums that I hadn't been able to for a heck of a long time, or to be specific, the demise of my previous turntable. So anyway, on with the show.

IAN HUNTER'S OVERNIGHT ANGELS (1977)
You're probably aware of Hunter- lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the great Mott The Hoople, big hit "All The Young Dudes", also wrote "Once Bitten Twice Shy" (Great White had a hit with it, shudder) "Cleveland Rocks" (you remember- Drew Carey). In 1975, having gone as far as he felt he could go with Mott, he struck out on his own (well, with former Bowie main man Mick Ronson at first) and released his self-titled debut later that same year. It went over pretty well, but Ronson couldn't hang around thanks to his rotten contract with Tony DeFries and MainMan, so Hunter was left to his own devices and recorded the more low-key and jazzy All American Alien Boy in America the next year. While this was an excellent album, it contained no hits and stiffed. Hunter went back to England, formed a band, recorded some new songs with then-white-hot Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, and named the record after the band, "Overnight Angels". All good, right? Monster record, right? Wrong. Columbia USA, for some reason, didn't like the album and chose not to release it, and it was available only on import for several years. Of course, you know I had to search all over God's earth to get a copy because I was an absolutely rabid Hunter/Mott fan back then, and I managed to score this album a year later thanks to the efforts of Bill Lloyd at Tunetown. Anyway, it's a mystery why Columbia didn't like this- it's certainly no worse than the first two. With Baker at the helm, it has a bit more bombast than we were accustomed to getting from Ian at the time, but it really added a galloping, frantic edge to cuts like the side one opener "Golden Opportunity" and the next cut, "Shallow Crystals". Track three, which name-drops the band in "Hey Hey We're The Monkees" style, opens ominously but soon breaks out into a surging rocker. "Broadway" is a typical Hunter song about young girl in the big city and showbiz and rock 'n' roll and all that, and is marked with nice dynamics. Side two begins with a bopping rocker "Justice of the Peace", featuring doo-wopish vocal backing; it's agreeable but slight. Next up is another fallen angel song, "Miss Silver Dime", which again has a nice theatrical dynamic with its swelling chorus but features some rather sexist lyrics (Hunter sometimes fell into this trap, sadly). "Wild and Free" attempts to be just that, but is really the only clunker on the record- it's a lot of bash and crash and nothing else. "Ballad of Little Star" is similar in feel to "Shallow Crystals" and "Broadway". The album's closer is really out of left field- "To Love A Woman" is almost pop-soul, and sounded very radio-friendly to my ears with its Queen-ish backing vocals. It's anybody's guess why this album received the treatment it did, but the upshot was that Hunter disbanded the group (one of the members had gone to join Foreigner anyway) and came back two years later with what was his best-selling (well, Ian Hunter might have sold more, I don't know) solo album, You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic, so it all turned out OK. I still like to dig this out and give it a listen once in a while, and I'm happy to have it!

SUPERTRAMP-EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS (1977)
This was the album that set Supertramp up for its late 70s-early 80s success, thanks to its hit "Give A Little Bit", a charming piece of poppery that sounds good on the radio to this day. Supertramp as a group was an odd duck- too pop to be prog, too elaborate in its song structures and subject matter to be pop- but most often they got lumped in with the progressives. Of course, after the next album Breakfast In America went sextuple platinum, they started getting compared to the Beatles, with whom they did share a definite knack for writing memorable melodies. Anyway, there's plenty of those on this album, which is quite all over the map with its influences. Of course, there's strong popcraft throughout, augmented with jazzy sax and chord changes and even some gospel flourishes here and there. Quietest Moments isn't as pop-friendly as its successors were, several cuts are over six minutes in length, the best being the big magnum opus track "Fool's Overture", essentially a "Fool on the Hill" type statement which incorporates synths and a sampled Winston Churchill speech, and is actually very memorable despite its self-pitying lyric. Other cuts of note include the love-song title track, again melodically strong, the theatrical-sounding "Lover Boy" which kinda comes across as music-hall on Thorazine; "From Now On", with its catchy gospel-choir BVs in the chorus and fadeout; and my favorite cut, ironically the simplest and shortest- "Downstream", a very touching love-n-devotion song with a haunting melody. Groups like Supertramp may be one of the reasons why we got Punk, but they were OK with me. I listened to this album a lot back in '77 and '78, so it remains a sentimental favorite, even though later I got really really tired of hearing "Take The Long Way Home" on the radio.

JOAN ARMATRADING-THE KEY (1983)
West Indie-born Armatrading was a husky-voiced singer-songwriter that everybody always thought was one album away from having that ONE HIT single or album which would propel her into superstardom...and while it never happened, she's managed to have a long, steady if not spectacular career which continues to this day. This album was as close as he came to grabbing the brass ring. It was produced (to distraction, some might say) by Steve Lillywhite, fresh off successes with XTC, Big Country, and especially U2, and he did his typical bombastic thing on nearly every cut. The Key is very much a 1983-type record, loaded with synths, syndrums, and agressive reggae-ish beats, and fortunately for Armatrading her songs were strong enough to hold up under the weight of such treatment. There are several tracks i flat out love, like the rockish (if a bit dodgy lyric-wise, in a PC way) "I Love It When You Call Me Names"; the swaying reggae-ish title track- the "key", of course, is to your heart; and a couple of heartfelt ballads ("Everybody Gotta Know", "I Love My Baby") which close each side and are very moving despite the overbearing synth accompaniment. "Drop The Pilot" is another catchy rocker. Adrian Belew guests on several cuts. According to AMG, this one crashed the US Top 40, but I don't think she ever returned. Lillywhite went on to absolutely butcher (in my opinion, a lot of people dig it) Marshall Crenshaw's second album, and produced a handful of subsequent Armatrading releases. I dig this one out occasionally and get taken straight back to '83.

GRAHAM NASH-WILD TALES (1973)
Around 1972, when glam, bubblegum and shock-rock were ascendent, many of the old-school 60's rock stars were seeing the writing on the wall for the hippie dream, and many of them recorded downbeat, depressed records which reflected on their lives and what went wrong. A great example of this is Neil Young's classic On The Beach, and his CSNY compadre Graham Nash followed suit with this, his second solo album, which shares many similarities with Young's album, including many of the same musicians and general sound. Of course, it's nowhere near as good as OTB, but there are several worthy tracks here including the side one opening title cut, which finds Nash in a cranky mood as he confronts someone who keeps complaining to him, set to a "Woodstock"-ish beat. It pretty much sets the feel of the record- Nash is in a bad mood, and almost every cut has a scolding, didactic tone which becomes kinda opressive for a while. He makes George Harrison sound like a happy-go-lucky free spirit sometimes. Misery loves company, I guess. Anyway, some other memorable tracks include the country shuffle "You'll Never Be The Same" which features some nice harmony vocals even as he gives the kiss-off to a former girlfriend, "Grave Concern", another uptempo rocker with that mid-70s Young rhythm section sound and some tasty David Lindley slide guitar; and "And So It Goes", which reminds somewhat of Young songs like "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "L.A." and again, nice harmony vocals- in fact, that's a given throughout the record- say what you want about CSN and the occasional Y- those sumbitches could harmonize. Brilliantly. Beautifully. My favorite cut is the gently loping "Hey You (Looking at the Moon), which has a low-key but engaging melody, nicely sung of course and featuring some wheezy harmonica licks in the mix. One serious negative to this album, though, is the Dylanish "Oh Camil (The Winter Soldier)", which finds scornful Nash taking the high moral ground in judgment over a Vietnam vet. This is simply reprehensible, and while he took some flak over it, he didn't get enough if you ask me. Anyway, Wild Tales, overall, is a strong, and overlooked record, like its predecessor Songs For Beginners. Nash engages and entertains even as he repels with his glumness and hectoring. My love for the early-mid 70s CSNY sound is enough, apparently, for me to overlook the most egregious of subject matter.

BONNIE RAITT-THE GLOW (1979)
Bonnie, having released six good-to-outstanding albums featuring her distinctive blues/country/pop/folk throughout the 70s to almost complete chart indifference, was looking (like Joan Armatrading above) for that ONE BIG HIT which would propel her to the next level. It looked like her cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway" from 1977's Sweet Forgiveness was gonna do it, but it stalled before reaching the upper heights of the charts, so enter Peter Asher, who was experiencing mega success as the producer of both James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, who were both superstars at the time. Hook her up with Bonnie, and the sky's the limit, right? Uh, wrong. The Glow failed on a lot of levels, and a big part of it was Asher's production style, which poured layer after layer of gloss on an artist best left with some rough edges here and there. The record came out and sank without a trace in the post-punk- and-early-new-wave-late 70s. Bonnie, for her part, didn't help much- her originals were uniformly dull, and what spark The Glow has comes from the covers, such as side one opener "I Thank You", the old Sam & Dave hit and the first single, which doubtlessly got overshadowed by ZZ Top's cover of the same song from that same year- a bigger hit, as I recall. Still, it was a rocking track and definite reason for optimism. It's followed by another Hayes/Porter blues song, "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)", and while you'd think it's right in Bonnie's wheelhouse, it's given a plodding treatment and seems two minutes too long. And that remains a problem- there's a tired feeling about just about every song on the record. Tempos are mid-at -best, and each song has a generic sameness about it that makes almost every one of them dull and boring. Not the best way to propel onesself to stardom. There's a Jackson Brown cover, "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate", which is played for dramatics but becomes a snooze (of course, it doesn't help that I'm not a big Browne fan anyway), a woulda-shoulda been fun cover of "Bye Bye Baby", a rocking cut for about a minute and a half but again it goes on too long and doesn't get any more interesting; a dumb reggae-style cover of the great song "The Boy (Girl) Can't Help It", and some primo lounge-schlock on the title cut. Towards the end, it perks up a bit with a cover of Robert Palmer's "You're Gonna Get What's Coming", which was also a single and probably should have been a hit- it's catchy as all get out but overlong; and the album closes with Eric Kaz's "Goin' Wild For You Baby", a tuneful ballad in which Raitt finally sounds as winning as she can, and hearkens back to previous efforts like her excellent 1975 Home Plate. The Glow was a total disaster, in my opinion, and kinda hastened her slide into dire career straits during the 80s. Asher didn't fare much better after this album, either- he was less in demand by the middle of the 80s as Ronstadt went off into other musical directions and Taylor went into semi-retirement. Of course, it took an even slicker approach by producer Don Was to get her that long-awaited and well-deserved stardom via 1989's Nick of Time, but she went through a lot of down periods beforehand. Oddly enough, I saw her in concert on the tour for this album and she delivered a great show, which convinced me that it was Asher what sunk this record.

The winners in the Great Demo Giveaway have been announced.

Go forth and viddy, o my brothers.

My good bud Dave Puckett's done it again. After sticking his toe in the blogpool by creating the one-shot Beatles and Bizarro site, he's now moved on and created a new ongoing blog called Elmo's Junction, and it promises to serve as a forum for his commentary and viewpoints on goodness knows what.

"Elmo" is Elmo Jenkins, a character Dave created years ago which kinda serves the same function as Buddy Bradley for Pete Bagge, or "Joe Matt" does for Joe Matt, or "Harvey Pekar" does for...well, you get the idea. I've been privileged to have been reading his exploits, all written and drawn by Mr. Puck in his idiosyncratic style for a long time now, and they're often very amusing. I wish Dave could collect them all and put them out for general perusal, but you know how those things go...anyway, I don't know if Dave plans to post any of his Elmo strips there, or talk about comics, music or whatever...but I think it will be interesting anyway.

I'll add it to my links list as soon as I can get behind a PC again...

Once again, I've tried on a new template. While I loved the Roman-looking header on the other one, there were lots of other things I didn't like. So I think I'll settle for this one for the time being. Of course, links will be forthcoming.

DC's just released its August solicitations, of which this sweet Mike Kaluta cover for Lucifer 53 is one. Just for grins, I think I'll go down the list and comment when something occurs to me:

BATMAN: THE 12-CENT ADVENTURE
Jeez. Last time it was a 10 cent adventure. Guess rising prices are just a fact of life.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #13
Haven't we outgrown the need for this type of cover art? I mean, how does Supergirl swallow her food with such a narrow waist?

ACTION HERO ARCHIVES VOL. 1 HC
Now this might be actually worth picking up, if one had 50 bucks to drop. I used to read the odd Charlton featuring Captain Atom back in the day, and always liked them. Plus, it's 224 pages of Ditko in his prime! Wonder if Blue Beetle will get the same treatment?

FALLEN ANGEL #14
I have less than no interest in this title, but that sure is a swellio Philip Bond Cover. You know, I'd pay good money if DC would publish a comic written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Bond featuring Super-Hip! vs. The Mad Mod...

JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #2
I loved Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke & Tom Nguyen's JLA stint, and I'm sure it's gonna be excellently drawn...but the more I read about this the more apprehensive I get. Did someone accidentally retype an old 80s Teen Titans, or maybe more apropos 90's Team Titans description? Either way, it sounds mighty lame.

THE LEGION #37, #38
Oh, to have started with such high expectations, only to fizzle out at the end. Maybe they'll get it right next time. I won't hold my breath.

THE LEGION: FOUNDATIONS TP
NO, G*ddammit! LEGION LOST! LEGION LOST!!! Jesus!

WEIRD SECRET ORIGINS 80-PAGE GIANT
This could be kinda fun, but the fun would stop as soon as I realized that I spent 6 bucks for it. Sorry.

THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL. 14 HC
Ghod I wish I could afford these...they're really getting into the primo years now. What a great, classic illustration on the cover.

THE HOLLOW GROUNDS TP
Don't know a damned thing about this, but the cover's nice. Kinda got a chuckle out of the description, especially the reference to the "...startling appearance of men". Women have been dealing with that, especially early in the morning, for centuries now.

HUMAN TARGET #13
Nice to see Pulido back, but oh Lord, who let John Watkiss (cover artist) out of whatever obscurity he's been in for the last ten years? Seems like he was the official Vertigo fill-in artist for about 4 years there, and I've never understood why people liked his sketchy, oddly constructed work and shunned Warren Pleece.

THE LOSERS #15
Boy, I'm glad to see this book still on the schedule! Nice cover of Aisha, and I'm looking forward to her spotlight.

LUCIFER #53
If Kaluta wants to crank out about two or three dozen covers for this title, then that's just fine with me! Beautiful.

WE3 #1
Another bizarro Morrison/Quitely opus with an eye-catching cover. If I worked at the press where they printed this book, I'd snag about a couple of dozen sigs of that cover and staple them to telephone poles all over town, just to fuck with people.

WHY I HATE SATURN TP -- New Printing
If you haven't read this, in which Kyle Baker made his first big impression, then you should. It's a lot of fun. And best of all, Baker didn't color it!

Yeah, lots of comments, mostly about the covers...understandable, I hope, since that's all they show.

Found this while clicking around the other day: Bill Mudron's Pan.

Sad to read about the death of actor Tony Randall, who of course is best known as Felix Unger on TV's The Odd Couple, but is also best known to me at that ancient Chinese hoodoo man in one of my favorite films, 1964's 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

I don't think Randall was very proud of that film, but he gave a hell of a performance...

Just a quick look at some of the odds 'n' ends, book-wise that is, that I've picked up over the last several weeks.

NEW X-MEN TPB 2: IMPERIAL
Am I the only one that thinks of yo-yos when I scan the title of this collection? Duncan Imperial? get it? Anyway, I'm sure that there has been tons and tons of cogent commentary devoted to all of Grant Morrison's X-Men stories, and I don't know how much new I can add to it- but I'm gonna give it a shot anyway. Not being an X-fan, I didn't exactly make it a priority to be on board when Grant went from DC to Marvel and started scripting this book; he had just finished up Invisibles, which I liked more in concept than in actual execution, and was not enthused about his taking over characters that I frankly had less than no interest in. So, I didn't buy New X-Men, nor its sister in X-pectation defying, Milligan & Allred's X-Force. Still, my admiration for these creators won out and I decided to do a comparison test, and then buy the winner on a regular basis, and I bought the first trades of both NX-M and X-F, gave them a good reading, and while I was surprised to find myself enjoying them both, I liked Milligan & Allred's anything-goes XF just a wee bit more so that's the one I went with. I figured that I'd perhaps try Morrison's X book again down the road, and that time was now. It pretty much continues what he started in the first trade, with Xavier's sinister twin sister, Emma Frost and the weird students at Xavier's school, the Disneyesque Beast, Lilandra and all those aliens, pretty much everything that's been done with the X-Men since Byrne and Claremont had their day in the sun...but you know with Morrison it won't be that simple. That being said, this is as close to a mainstream superhero adventure as I've ever read from Grant; he doesn't really deviate too much from the roles each of these characters have filled since the early 80s. What he does do, though, is avoid the dreary, hamfisted melodrama which caused me to stop buying so long ago and kept me away from years...as originated and perfected by Claremont but faithfully carried on by his many acolytes and successors through the years. Morrison's having none of that- sure, there's drama, but it's understated drama and never slides into the bathetic indulgences that have been the hallmark of the X-books for so long. And the action in the first two trades glides along at a breakneck pace...we go from corporate evil to alien invasion to another scuffle with Cassandra Nova and there's barely a minute to blink between cataclysms. If I've gotta read superheroes, then for God's sake let them be like this- lean, taut, and significantly low in bullshit. The art in the second trade is a bit of a distraction, because at least in the first one we had mostly Frank Quitely, but due to reasons beyond the ken of mortal men needed fill-ins for many of the subsequent issues and the styles clash a little. Quitely has that widescreen-epic-yet-calm-cool-and-passive stylistic thing going on, with all his puffy-looking characters- but still somehow extremely imaginative and compelling; Igor Kordey's style is a lot looser, more sloppily inked, and to be honest I like his work a lot (especially on the Black Widow mini of a few years ago)...but coming before or after Quitely's prim style it's a bit of an adjustment. Ethan Van Sciver falls somewhere in between- you can tell people like Perez and Bolland were influences, and he reminds me a lot of other Morrison collaborators like Phil Jiminez and Chris Weston...just a wee bit stiff and posed, but still more than adequate and (to me) another mental adjustment. So while Morrison's New X-Men will probably never rank very high on my all-time favorite comics series list, these are compelling and enjoyable stories. I think I'll pick up at least the next couple of trades sooner or later.

KING DAVID
I had originally intended to buy this when it came out; in fact I had gotten it in my holds stack because at the time I was still a big Kyle Baker fan. But I took one look at this, with its absolutely brutal coloring and less-than-exciting (not exactly a real religious person here) subject matter, and decided that I didn't want to spend the 20 bucks for the privilege (and I still got a 20% discount back then!) of owning it, so I put it back. Two years later, however, I came across it in a 75% off box (probably my long-ago holds copy!) and said, sure- what the hell, I'll buy it for more or less five bucks! And you know what? I'm glad I did. Yes, the coloring is still nauseating (I wish Baker would rethink his color palette choices- he makes Lee Loughridge look like a master), but the script is witty (even if it meanders a LOT) and Baker's art is- once you look past the garish magentas and teals and mottled browns and purples- very, very good. Baker essentially adapts the story of David straight from the bible, beginning with his childhood in King Saul's palace and ending in stragely abrupt fashion with David as an adult, post-Bathsheba and aware of God's displeasure with his recent actions. Then bang. The end. What the f-? Was Baker perhaps anticipating a part two? Either way, I suppose we'll never know. But if you run across a copy of this somewhere for five, or heck-even ten bucks somewhere, pick it up. I thought it was a hoot and well worth what I gave for it. It's the closest thing to Marshall Efron's Painless, Simplified, and Illustrated Sunday School that I've ever encountered. And if you remember that mid-to-late 70s Sunday morning show, which aired at something like 5 or 6 am, then you know what I mean.

I've got more, but it will have to be later. Stay tuned- same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Here's what I'm gonna get on Wednesday according to the Diamond shipping list:

HUMAN TARGET #10
LUCIFER #50
SEAGUY #1
DAREDEVIL #60
COURTNEY CRUMRIN IN THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM #4
DEMO #6

And that's it, with the finale of Courtney Crumrin and the big 50th issue of Lucifer causing me to tremble in...




...anticipation. Seaguy looks like fun, based on the preview, and Daredevil is always solid when Bendis is scripting. I had a talk with the guy who manages my comics shop about making sure I get some of these less prominent titles I want, like Love Fights, Scurvy Dogs (should be here this week or next), and most notably this week's Demo. I made it a point to let them know I was expecting to find #6 in my stack- we'll see, I guess.

BEST OF THE WEEK

COMICS REVIEWS!
What I bought and what I thought, week of May 12!

FABLES 25
Bill Willingham certainly seems to have more affinity for epic adventure a la his Fables: Last Castle one-shot rather than the Fractured Fairy Tales of several other one-or-two-other issue stories in this usually always enjoyable series. The one constant gripe I've had is the inconsistent and often awkward-looking pencil art of Mark Buckingham, but much to my surprise he has risen to the occasion, turning in an outstanding job, especially in his clever layouts. You can feel the tension rising among the good people of Fabletown as they prepare for the big conflict with The Adversary, which we're being set up to think is Geppetto, and just might be...but my money's on the Blue Fairy. This issue is another successful chapter of the best arc in this series yet. Keep your fingers crossed...A

THE WALKING DEAD 7
More angst amongst our beleaguered group of zombie apocalypse survivors, as they deal with the aftermath of the climactic events of last issue and we also get some interesting new additions to the cast. Also new is artist Charlie Adlard, with whom I'm quite familar now, thankyouverymuch. For my money, he's done his best art job yet, turning in an effort which reminds me somewhat of Walt Simonson here and there, and some of the better 70-s-80's Warren Filipino artists in others. This helps ease the sting of losing Tony Moore and ensures many more issues of the best zombie soap opera in recent memory. As long as sales hold out, that is. A-

GOTHAM CENTRAL 19
Ah, nice to have ya back, Ed. Rucka's OK, but Brubaker shines on this book and makes it that much more worth reading. We get a handy recap of Brubaker's last stint, accompanied by a "...previously on Gotham Central..." that I defy you to read and not hear a TV announcer's voice intoning the words, plus the beginning of a story which begins with a hostage situation in a bank that ends tragically, then works in a recently-absentee member of the Bat-cast, then gives us a clue to what's really going on with the hostage taker which promises to be interesting even if it is kinda reminiscent of a storyline from the Rucka/Martinbrough Detective run of a few years ago, ironically enough. It's also wonderful to have Mike Lark back- I missed him more than I did Ed. A-

H-E-R-O 16
After a few months of scuffling along, this title has been re-energized with the return of Robby Reed and # 1-4's lead Jerry Feldon, who are both sporting residual abilities from their previous exposure to the H-E-R-O dial and are apparently on track to mix it up with its current psychopathic possessor. Writer Wil Pfiefer certainly seems re-energized, anyway, since there's been more wit and drama in the two previous issues than in the last four or five put together. I still miss original artist Kano, but this Dale Eaglesham chap, while occasionally stiff and a little too slickly inked, is more than good enough. We also get one of the more imaginative and grisly murders I remember seeing in mainstream comics, even though we don't see a drop of blood. The Spectre, or perhaps Dr. Phibes, would be proud. A-

BITE CLUB 2
This book's greatest strength is also its greatest failing- it's a typically witty Chaykinish romp, as filtered through writer David Tischman- who by now has aping the master down to a tee. The problem, however, is that it's a typically witty Chaykinish romp- and we've read this a thousand times already, right down to the snarky quips, cynical attitude, and irreverence towards religious figures and mainstream morality. Still, the Vampire Mafioso concept hasn't exactly been done to death yet (even though it's been used as recently as Alan Moore's sorely missed Top 10), and I'm enjoying it like I would a McDonald's hamburger- I know I could be doing better, but hey, it tastes good anyway. Even more mystifying is how well David Hahn's cutesy, prissy art style works in the context of what he's being asked to illustrate; it's more Trina Robbins-ish or Dan DeCarlo-like than you think the ideal approach for this subject matter should be...but somehow it works just the same. Here's hoping that this comic continues to defy all the dictates of logic for at least four more issues. B+

DISTRICT X 1
Well, you see, I met this woman at the comics shop and she suggested I buy this...and suddenly, I couldn't help myself! I was also feeling the strange urge to buy a gun and open fire in a crowded store, but I managed to fight that one off. All seriousness aside, this was an impulse purchase based on the fact that this seems to be Marvel's answer to Powers and Gotham Central, and I like both of those books, so what the hell, thought I. A bit more mature in tone than I was expecting from Marvel at this particular point in time, and nicely drawn, but I don't really feel the characters like I do in the aforementioned competitor's cop books, and that becomes a liability. It picked up a bit after the opening park scene, though, and this Bishop character looks interesting (yes, I know that he's been in X-Books forever, but remember, I went from '84 till 2000 without buying any X-titles on a regular basis so I don't really have a clue what he's all about) so this might be a title worth keeping an eye on. B

EVENING SHIFT 1
Almost not not-bad little noirish tale with the clever twist that the narrator isn't a hard-boiled private dick- he just dresses like one. He encounters a suicidal young lady in the bar where he likes to unwind after work, and complications, as they end to do in these sort of tales, ensue. I thought writer Chris Gumprich did a fine job of maintaining the Hammett/Spillaneish tone, providing the sort of dialogue and narration we expect, but not going overboard with the cliches like many people who attempt this sort of thing do. He's undercut a lot, though, by artist Dwight Williams, whose art is, sadly, just not professional enough to get the most out of Gumprich's scripting. It's not that he's without talent- his layouts and compositins within panels looked pretty good, but he just can't draw people convincingly right now. His art here kinda reminds me a lot of the fanzine art I used to see of illustrators who are doing, or have done, amazing things eventually, so I strongly encourage him to practice, practice, practice. I don't know how old these guys are, but I'm sure there's time for improvement, especially in Willams' case...and Gumprich might be ready now. C+

Little Futurama figures! I gotta get some of these. Morbo cracks me up.

Domo arigato to Larry Young for including me on his "blogs checked every day" list. I am honored.

Naturally, this coincides with a bit of a fallow period for me, as evidenced by the significant lack of content this week. Between work and home, I'm staying very busy and just don't have the time or energy to write anything remotely in-depth. Plus, right I'm dealing with some personal issues that definitely sap the ol' creative juices as well. So please bear with me, and hopefully I'll be a little more productive down the road.

Heidi MacDonald has answered her critics and defended her opinions over at the blog she didn't delete.

And while I still wish she had chosen her words more carefully, I will definitely cop to doing something which always annoys me when others do it: sounding off without having read the full article in question, and therefore reacting to quotes and statements taken out of context. There's no justification for doing it and for this I think I should apologize.

Maybe it was because I was at work that day...kinda adds to the old blood pressure, y'know.

OK- this is all I'll say about it, and I plan to move on and hold no grudges. Like I'm sure she was losing a lot of sleep over it anyway.

It's been one of those days. Busy busy busy at work, then I get home and wanna read comics and watch baseball (and the new Angel- my, they're certainly pulling out all the stops before they go, aren't they?) the rest of the evening, and certainly not spend all night typing after having spent most of the day typing, if you know what I mean. So while I gots some stuff I want to write about eventually, it's gonna wait a while.

When picking up my comics today, I checked on getting a copy of Scurvy Dogs 4, and have been assured that they did indeed get them in Nashville. They will send one north ASAP for me. Avast.

I got an email from My Faith in Frankie penciller Sonny Liew today, about his Malinky Robot series. He thoughtfully provided a link to his website, and it's chock full of artistic goodness. I suggest you go see for yourselves.

That's all I got for now.

But first- the long awaited return of "the music today" list! Ben Harper-Welcome To The Crue World; Joe Henry-Trampoline; Mercury Rev- Deserter's Songs; Jethro Tull-A Passion Play; The Williams Brothers- Harmony Hotel; Neil Young-Greendale.

Mucho grande graciases to DJ Spoof and Coolio for linking to my Sketch Blog! DJ Spoof in particular said such wonderful stuff that I was afraid he had been looking at the wrong page!

Hopefully I can keep coming up with stuff to put on there...but that's kinda the reason I'm doing it in the first place!

What to my wondering eyes should appear today but the dirt over at The Comics Treadmill about Heidi MacDonald, (who's always seemed nice enough in the rare occasions I've had internet conversations with her) who has decided to spew a little venom at comics bloggers, having dipped her toe into the pool a few weeks ago and apparently finding the water not to her liking.

Geez, how dare we! Obviously, we commoners who don't get paid to write about funnybooks should never have opinions and even more heinous, should never actually put them out for the world to see! What the hell were we thinking? Of course, Miz MacD doesn't name names- that would mean actually calling someone out- but by doing so tars all of us with the same brush, from the erudite likes of Bill Sherman, Alan D. Doane, Sean T. Collins, and Dave Fiore who have actually had print reviewing experience (Sherman and Collins having appeared in the Comics Journal, same as Heidi when she was getting started), to those of us who are rank amateurs but still occasionally have something to say. Who the heck appointed her regulator of blogging about comics anyway? She had a blog for about five seconds, and deleted it!

This really irritates the shit out of me, because while she's entitled to her opinion, she is obviously putting herself on a pedestal which I'm not so sure one should put oneself on. When someone uses a bully pulpit like this to present an opinion that is based on personal reckoning only and not any sort of concrete facts is just irresponsible. For other, more intelligent responses, check out Dave Fiore (succinct and clever), Ken Lowery (more lengthy, but spot on none the less), and a most non chopped liver-like response by Shane over at Near Mint Heroes.

Feh.

Update: Heidi addresses the issue herself, along with a host of other fine folks, at Kevin Melrose's comments section.

John Jakala points to a preview of the upcoming DC book Seaguy by Grant Morrison and Cam Stewart. It looks pretty damn good, especially the coloring. Don't take my word for it, go look for yourself!

That estimable Pop Culture Gadabout, Bill Sherman, has once again hit nail squarely on head with his insightful review of Planet of the Capes. I'm still embarrassed that I didn't catch on from the beginning to what it was all about, but hey, I never claimed to be a real critic anyway, nor did I ever claim to be particularly insightful for that matter.

So does this change my final opinion of PotC? Well, somewhat. I think Larry Young and artist Brandon McKinney turned in a mostly clever little parody slash satire. But I can't help but flash on Bob Christgau's review of John & Yoko's Some Time in New York City in situations like this, specifically this statement:

...if agitprop is one thing and wrong-headed agitprop another, agitprop that doesn't reach its intended audience is hardly a thing at all.

For what it's worth, I whip that one out when referring to Grant Morrison's work quite often as well.

Oh, by the way: enter the Seven Days of Demo contest already, willya? Time is running out!

Y'know, I'm kinda liking this Blogger upgrade...at least now I have some of the buttons above the text field that I didn't have before because I'm on a Mac. Of course, of the four I'm seeing, only the "insert link" key actually functions, but hey-it's a step in the right direction anyway! Especially considering I'm using the pretty much and soon-to-be-if-not-already obsolete OS 9 instead of OS X!

I kinda like the way the previous posts are arranged, too. I like being able to call up a draft and publish it without having to uncheck the "draft" box. I had hoped the upgrade would solve my template problem- I'm not seeing all the code on my Macs, and I have to get on a PC before I can add links, buttons, functions or pictures or change colors and fonts. I do like a lot of those new templates that are now available, but would rather go through a root canal with no local than go through the ordeal of restoring all my links and buttons and bells and whistles...so I guess I'll keep ol' blue for a while longer. Plus, I don't see the comments function that Tegan referred to, not that I would use the function anyway. Probably a perk for those PC users out there. Bastards.

We Mac people learn to do more with less, it seems.

By the way, go check out my Sketch Blog! And leave a comment, even if it's "you stink". I've been digging around the basement and other parts of the house, looking for all the art I did over the last few years, trying to find some good stuff to put up and hoping to have to avoid drawing anything new for a while. Oops, did I just say that? Actually, the reason I started it was to do precisely that: to goose me into drawing regularly again. So far, the spirit has been willing but the flesh has been weak but I have the goodest of good intentions so don't give up on me!

Soon, and I'm well aware of promising more than I can deliver (always a phobia of mine), the other five Vinyl-O reviews, a paragraph or two about the trades I picked up last Saturday: King David, Sandman Presents: The Furies, and New X-Men 2. I also received three issues of the newish kids series Sidekicks, and plan to opine on them as soon as I can sit down and read 'em. I'd write about movies, but the only movie I've seen from beginning to end lately was Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle, whichis kinda review-proof, y'know, because it doesn't aspire to be anything else but a big, dumb, loud rollercoaster movie, and it certainly succeeded with flying colors. Haven't seen Kill Bill Vol. 2 or Van Helsing yet, thanks for asking. I did see where a Priscilla Lane film I haven't seen in years, Saboteur, is coming on TCM later this month. Looking forward to that- it's the only time Alfred Hitchcock ever made do with Priscilla's services. Said she was too girl-next-door-ish or something like that. Hmph.

The Official NHL Playoff Team of the JBS, the Calgary Flames, beat San Jose yesterday and are now up 1-0 in their best of 7 series. Go Flames, eh!

OK, I'm done. Oyasumi nasai.

Update! Looks like I do have that comments function, after all. I wasn't looking for it in the right place, that's all. I'm still happy with Haloscan, so all's well for now.

Just to prove how influential my opinions are in the comics world, I see where the current run of The Legion, a title which I've been buying more-or-less faithfully since around 1996, is coming to an end in after about five more issues. Of course, as my regular readers may remember, I had decided to stop buying Legion as of the most recent issue, since I felt the book had shot its creative wad and was dying on the vine as writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning seemed to be eager to move on to other, presumably greener pastures, piling on dubious science and wacked-out contrivances (the weird-ass business with Superboy, the return of Lightning Lad in Element Lad's tromium body, completely nullifying the impact of the conclusion of the criminally unavailable-in-a-trade Legion Lost, and most unforgivable, leaving my beloved Zoe Saugin aka Kinetix as an Amazon Breadfruit Woman, or some such) that just didn't sit well with me. Also, the new creative team of Gail Simone, Dan Jurgens and someone named Andy Smith (a Crossgen refugee, methinks) didn't excite me at all. So, for the first time since 1999, I bid the Legion a forlorn adieu. Then DC summarily goes and cancels it, obviously since I wasn't buying it anymore.

I started buying both the Legion of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires regularly a couple of years after the 1994 reboot, because Wizard had hyped it in a small feature article and I was intrigued. And after picking up the most recent issues, I kinda liked it. It was no Watchmen or Love and Rockets, but it was well-drawn (although I preferred the more organic stylings of Lee Moder to the staid Archie-style Jeff Moy work) and the character interaction was interesting, so I became a Legion reader for approximately the third time in my life. I stuck with it through several artist changes and a couple of writer changes, justifying my continued patronage as "guilty pleasuring" until finally I couldn't take it anymore after an incredibly silly storyline involving Bizarros...and I bailed. And I was content for a while, until I started noticing a little something different a few months later...a new artist. One with a radically different style from what I'd grown tired of before. The artist was newcomer Oliver Coipel, and the storyline was "Legion of the Damned"...and it looked a lot more down-to-earth than what had been the norm. At first I was hesitant to re-add it, but I soon gave in and bought the most current chapters, along with the ones I'd missed, and I was hooked again. I soon was convinced that the Abnett/Lanning/Coipel team was enthusastic, talented, and had set out to do some memorable stories, and they did not disappoint for a long time. But, as the Quiet Beatle once sang, "All Things Must Pass", and entropy started when Coipel left for Marvelbucks, and Abnett & Lanning soldiered on, but it just wasn't quite the same despite some fine fill-in artists.

Of course, this wasn't my first experience with DC's 30th century super-team- heck, me and the Legion go way back. When I was about 4 or 5, I distinctly remember playing "supers" with other neighborhood kids and whenever we were the Legion, I was always Lightning Lad or Sun Boy because I had red hair. The first Legion story I remember owning and reading was Adventure Comics 334, which featured the LSH trapped in 'The Super-Stalag of Space". After that, I got the occasional issue but I wasn't really a big fan of either the Superboy-Superman family or the art of Curt Swan so I didn't get many. In fact, the first time I bought a Legion comic for real was in the 70s, when Dave Cockrum and Cary Bates breathed fresh air into the stale concept by totally redesigning their uniforms and creating some fun and fast paced adventures. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, Cockrum bailed to go do some X-book or something, and was replaced by Mike Grell, whose work I hate with a passion, so I left not long after. And I didn't buy another Legion title regularly until Tom and Mary Bierbaum and a talented newcomer named Chris Sprouse launched the Legion companion book Legionnaires, and collaborated on six excellent (and underrated) issues before Sprouse's terminal lateness caused problems and he was soon replaced. OK, at first it was by Adam Hughes, early in his career, but he didn't stay much longer and was replaced by several artists who gave us some of the most amateurish comics art I've ever seen. I bailed again, and now we've come full circle, when I resumed my Legion habit a couple of years later.

Knowing the history of the LSH as I do, and also knowing that LSH fan (and former writer) Paul Levitz is stil calling the shots, I'm pretty sure the Legion will be back sooner rather than later. Will I buy? Who knows. I'm not ruling it out!

I'd like to take this opportunity now to wish my sure-to-be-granted-sainthood mother, Doris Jeanette Frasier Jones not only a happy belated birthday (May 8) but also a belated Happy Mother's Day as well.

Like she ever reads my blog to begin with...

A cursory glance at the Diamond shipping list lets me know that I should be getting:

BITE CLUB #2
FABLES #25
GOTHAM CENTRAL #19
HERO #16
WALKING DEAD #7

And that, as they say, is that!

BEST OF THE WEEK
COMICS REVIEWS!
What I bought and what I thought, week of May 5

B.P.R.D.: PLAGUE OF FROGS 3
Sure, it's great that Mike Mignola rather than this writer or that is doing the scripting honors himself on this one, and this Lovecraftian adventure story is all the better for it...but the real star of this particular show is artist Guy Davis, who is doing some of the best work of his career here, or at least some of the best work I've ever seen him do, anyway. Love the depiction of Johann, the "Ghost in a Bag", after his containment suit gets shredded. Dave Stewart is doing a wonderful job on the colors, as well, giving us a vivid palette, even when he's depicting murkiness. Lee Loughridge could do worse than to get with Sewart and exchange trade secrets. The BPRD are hip deep in the middle of trouble involving the frog creatures we saw way back in the first Hellboy story, Seeds of Destruction, and despite the fact that you pretty much know they'll get out eventually, at least Mignola's managed to work up a decent amount of suspense in regards to how and at what cost. A

SWAMP THING 3
OK, in this issue Swampy encounters a relative of Abigail Arcane, who has been transformed by her evil uncle Anton into the grotesque, shambling Patchwork Man. Oh, wait. Wrong Swamp Thing 3. Sorry. I kid, but it is odd seeing these issues come out in a new restarted numbering. In this issue, we find out more about the plans of all the particulars, Tef?, Swampy, Sargon, and John Constantine, who has a nice Abbott and Costello thing going on with a reanimated corpse bearing Alec Holland's spirit. Andy Diggle is proving his tepid Lady Constantine miniseries an aberration, providing sharp dialogue, and Enrique Breccia once again gives us effective atmospherics and poor figure drawing. A-

SECRET WAR 1
My guilty pleasure purchase of the week is a diverting little piece of superheroic spystuff, featuring all the usual Bendis strong points: great dialogue, ironic humor, and a neat little idea at its center- where do all those super bad guys, who never seem to be able to pull off that one big score, get all those swell toys? Looks like Nick Fury wants to find out, and that's where this begins...but who the heck knows where it's gonna go? Between the atmospheric (but awfully dark and murky) painted art of the much-hyped Gabriele Dell'otto and the usual terse, dialogue-heavy Bendis scripting, this could pass for an issue of Daredevil, and if you (like me) like that sort of thing, you should check this out. Makes me wish for two things: one, that Bendis try his hand at writing a S.H.I.E.L.D. series someday, and tow, that they had titled this something else- the very name "Secret Wars" made me associate this with the ?ber-wretched 12-issue series back in the 80s...enough to make me want to pass. Fortunately, this has absolutely nothing to do with Beyonders. A-

SANDMAN PRESENTS: THESSALY, WITCH FOR HIRE 4
Kinda ends with a whimper instead of a bang, as Willingham chooses to give us the climactic event that the past three issues have been leading up to "off-screen" in favor of a would-be clever retribution scene...then ends the whole thing proper on a dismayingly ambiguous note, all the better to make you want to buy a sequel, my dear. Even so, I enjoyed this mini for the most part- I like the title character in spite of herself and Willingham certainly puts a lot of imagination into her exploits. But all tease and no money shot is not a good way to build reader goodwill. This issue: B+. Entire series: B.

TOM STRONG 26
No Alan Moore, no Chris Sprouse, except on the cover. Will the last person to leave ABC turn out the lights? Taken on its own terms, what we have here is a not-bad, not-especially-good script based on a clever idea by one Mark Schultz and solid Madrueira-inspired art from Pascual Ferry, and really, this issue isn't that terrible. But it's kinda like when Gary Cerrone took over the vocal chores for Van Halen, or Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne. Those fellas were fine vocalists, but they weren't Dave (hell, or Sammy for that matter) or Ozzy, so the same buzz just isn't there. And it's with this that I bid a forlorn farewell to the printed adventures of Tom and his Strongmen of America- it was fun while it lasted. C+

Biggest disappointment this week: no Scurvy Dogs. No surprise, but a disappointment.

Real gosh darned busy today, so no time for blog. How did that song go again? "It's Blo-og, it's blo-og, it's big, it's round, it's wood..."

Speaking of Wood, Demo's Brian that is, I thought I'd take just a second out of my busy day and direct you to an interview with he over at Kevin's. Then, after having drawn mad inspiration from the in-depth look into the man's thought processes, go write your entry to the Great Demo contest.

And if you have any further questions, take them to the Laughing Buddha.

Brace yourselves...it's back. Part one of that long-awaited new edition of Johnny B's Mondo Vinyl-O, in which I write a paragraph or two about ten long playing, 33 1/3 RPM vinyl record albums to which I have listened in the interval since the last MV-O. This was all brought on when I got a new turntable a little over a year ago, after not having one for about five. Needless to say, I was having fun getting reacquainted with a lot of music in my collection that I hadn't been able to listen to for a long time, and I thought I'd share. The new has kinda worn off the turntable since then, but I'm still dragging those old platters off the shelf, many of which aren't available on CD even if I could afford them, and giving 'em a spin, not to mention that I still get the occasional new-to-me album off eBay and other places. Frankly, kids, I prefer the sound of a good condition album to a CD any old day...and I know that's a terribly old-fashioned attitude to have, but there ya go. Of course, CDs have many advantages that vinyl does not, but I still love me some vinyl. So enough with the preamble, lets get down to it.

BERT JANSCH-MOONSHINE (1973) Gotta set this one up a little bit. Back in...oh, sometime in the early 80s I think, I was beginning to become infatuated with those newfangled cassette things and began to look upon them as a preferable alternative to the 8 track tape- which just never really seemed to work right despite its larger tape size, which should have meant better sound...but the packaging was faulty. More often as not, 8-tracks were prone to getting chewed up in the player, and often the shell itself would become defective, causing mis-tracking, grinding, and many other annoyances. Anyway, it was sometime in the early 80s that I made my last significant purchase of 8-track tapes, taking advantage of the huge cutout bins at Woolco in Bowling Green. They used to have bin after bin of cutout vinyl and tapes, and I always enjoyed rummaging thru them to see what I could find. Oh, if I could only go back in time and go through those bins now. That particular day, though, I bought ten 8-tracks for ten bucks, one of them being a copy of Bert Jansch's 1972 solo effort Moonshine. I was geeked beyond belief, because I was such a devotee of Jansch's group The Pentangle, in particular their Solomon's Seal album, which came out the year before. Since Seal had become one of my favorite albums, you can understand my excitement and anticipation. First thing I did when I got home was eagerly stick it in the old 8-track player, and after about 30 seconds of quiet acoustic picking, I began to hear a grinding noise and the dreaded garbled sound...my tape was eaten by my hungry player. So after a few minutes spent throwing things and cursing loudly and enthusiastically, I resolved to find a vinyl copy of that album. It took me over twenty years. About a month ago I finally found an affordable one...so has it lived up to such a lengthy introduction? Well, yes and no. Moonshine is a quiet affair, mostly Bert's doleful droning voice and his nimble acoustic guitar, and to be honest the songs don't exactly jump out and ask you to love them upon the first few listens. I think the best cuts are the ones which have the most novel accompaniment, like the album opener "Yarrow", with its haunting flute, the very atmospheric title track with more flutes and bells as well, or "Night Time Blues", a mid-tempo track with lively fiddle accompaniment by one Aly Bain. "Ramble Away" gets a rollicking arrangement, and "Oh My Father" gets a full band treatment, rocking agreeably with some stinging electric guitar riffs noodling away in the background. I really like the lyrics to the midtempo acoustic number "The January Man", which essentially personifies each month of the year, giving each a verse. I have a weakness for that sort of rhyme, it appears. The only real clunker on the album is an odd cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", which is a duet with Mary Hopkin, standing in for Jacqui McShee, I assume. Problem is, she comes in singing on the odd beat, and the two voices clash rather than compliment...which makes the track a trial to sit through. Duets with Hopkin, yay. Duets like this one with Hopkin, not so good an idea, and probably should have been left in the can. Moonshine is definitely a grower, you'll need to listen several times before many of these cuts will make a strong impression. But these are strong songs, the accompaniment (including Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson) is first rate, and it's well worth picking up should you run across it somewhere. Rotsa ruck.

BLACK OAK ARKANSAS-HIGH ON THE HOG (1973) Black Oak was the working man's southern boogie band for about a four year period there, after releasing four albums on Atlantic subsidiary Atco that built them a loyal following. The main thing which set BOA apart from their contemporaries like the Allmans, Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top was the Robert Plant-meets-Jim Varney antics and raspy bullhorn voice of one Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, who would strut around onstage, washboard in hand, with his long blonde hair hanging down to his ass just like a weird mix of Foghorn Leghorn and Sebastian Bach. Anyway, BOA's sound was no-frills southern boogie blooz, competently if not especially well played, and given a boost by Mangrum's crazed vocals. This particular album was the one which gave them the smash hit they'd worked so hard for- the cover of the old LaVern Baker blues song "Jim Dandy" (featuring vocal contributions by the late Ruby Starr), which was all over the airwaves in the Summer of '73. The rest of the record has its moments: "Swimming In Quicksand" has a nice nasty wah-wah riff at its center; "Back To The Land" and especially the beautiful "High And Dry" (probably my favorite track on this record, with its gorgeous melody (that even Mangrum doesn't mess up) and graceful banjo/steel guitar solo) are nicely done country-fied ballads, and "Movin" ("Movin' down the highway is my life/I'd rather have asphalt than a wife"), "Happy Hooker" (about guess what), the instumental jam "Moonshine Sonata" and "Mad Man" all rock convincingly. After this, they toured and recorded for what seemed like years and years, striving to follow up "Jim Dandy" amid multiple personnel changes and the onset of Punk and New Wave, which pretty much knocked Southern Rock for a loop on the charts. I think some version of Black Oak is still out there, fronted by Mangrum, coming soon to a small club or state fair near you...

SANDY DENNY-SANDY (1972)
I scored a really good condition copy of the second proper solo album by the First Lady of British Folk on eBay a few months ago. While I was already familiar with most of the best songs here via the two compilations I own, I still wanted to hear the other cuts on this record. Problem is that the best cuts here are those which have been gleaned for the many best-ofs that have come out since her untimely death, such as the solemn and stately "It'll Take A Long Time"; "Listen, Listen", with its bracing multitracked vocals and sympatico string section, and "The Lady", again with symphonic accompaniment. Of the unfamilar cuts, only her cover of Dylan's "Tomorrow is a Long Time", which is a little more uptempo but fails to outdo Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story cover version that same year and the very Fairportish "Sweet Rosemary" make much of an impression, which is not to say they're bad, they just haven't really grabbed me yet. Such was the low-key, restrained genius of Sandy Denny, which created songs which snuck up on you, then didn't let go. Really, the only track which I dont like at all is her acapella version of "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood", which many fans love for her admittedly lovely vocal, but (like many accapella tunes do) bores me to tears. Still, the instrumental accompaniment is by all the usual Fairport suspects, such as Richard Thompson, and is very well played, so while I don't like this one as much as I do its successor Like An Old Fashioned Waltz, I still like very much.

EMMYLOU HARRIS-EVANGELINE (1980)
Americana Queen Emmylou has a large and fanatical following, but even the most fervent of them generally shun this record, claiming that it's "too short" and has synths (!). Indeed, it's not available on CD, never has been. So, of course, it's my favorite of all her albums. This album, admittedly almost unforgivably short at just shy of 40 minutes, starts out with a Rodney Crowell tune "I Don't Have To Crawl", all low-key, mid-tempo, menacing and garnished with understated synth. Next, we get a bluegrass/Western swing hybrid with harmonies by the Whites and guitar by Ricky Skaggs, her musical cohort for much of this period, titled "How High The Moon". The next cut continues the stylistic variety with a folkish duet with Waylon Jennings called "Spanish Johnny", a western tale which features chiming mandolin, growling harmonica and Jennings' bloated, boozy harmony vocal which flirts with being on-key almost as much as it is off-key, but somehow in tandem with Harris, it sounds marvelously haunting. A fine, faithful cover of John Fogerty's "Bad Moon Rising" is next, then a cover of the Band's "Evangeline", which almost seems written for EH, especially when the harmonies kick in on the chorus. This first side is one amazing sequence of songs- each just flows into the other and is amazingly diverse. Side two, unfortunately, suffers a bit by comparison...can't really say why, but perhaps it just doesn't hit as high a note as the other does. The flip side starts with a surprisingly reserved cover of a song by her mentor Gram Parsons, the Flying Burritos Bros' "Hot Burrito #2". Next, a James Taylor cover, "Millworker", is faithful to the original (one of my favorite Taylor songs, from 1979's Flag) but just isn't as affecting as Taylor is on the original. Little Feat's "Oh Atlanta" is next, and while it's not bad I could think of a dozen other Feat songs that I'd rather hear her sing. We then get us a preview of the Trio album she did a few years later with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt on a fun cover of the old 40s standard "Mr. Sandman", complete with ba-ba-ba's. Finally, she closes with another Crowell cover, "Ashes By Now", which I think Crowell's then-bride Roseanne Cash toopk to the bank a year or so later. Coming off the heels of her brilliant bluegrass and gospel-tinged Roses in the Snow, Evangeline was regarded, I think, as a bit of a step backwards and an overproduced compromise. Me, I don't think she wanted to pigeonhole herself as a hillbilly singer and decided to push the envelope a bit. Regardless, this forgotten and overlooked record is well worth checking out if you get the chance.

STARZ-VIOLATION (1977)
Woo! Metal, dude! Or at least pop-metal. Starz were one of the zillions of poor man's BoStyxes, Boreigners, Kisses and Aerosmiths out there in the mid-to-late 70s, and really didn't make a big dent in the public consciousness even at their peak, which was probably the period between their 1976 debut and this, the follow-up. I probably would have sold it in a yard sale or a used record store somewhere if not for four cuts, which are as solid and tuneful as anyone could ever hope for their hair metal to be- "Violation", "Sing It, Shout It", "Cherry Baby", and the oddly syncopated, string-accented ballad "Is That a Street Light or the Moon?", all of which boast dynamite melodies 'n' riffs along with infectuous choruses. In fact, "Sing It" and "Cherry", I believe, should have been monster hits- and did, truth be told, trouble the lower reaches of the charts back then. A look at the credits helps explain a bit- it's produced by none other than Aerosmith's producer at the time Jack Douglas. But wait! There's more! Not being content with an atypically listenable pop-metal album, Violation was also a concept album as well, something about teenagers being prohibited by law to listen to rock music in an Orwellian future society of some sort. Yeah, that was mighty stale even back then, but there you go. Of course, the Starz boys fight the power and liberate the youth of the future with the power of the Marshall amp just in time for the final cut. Special mention must go to the drummer, who was named "Dubé" and sported a Rollie Fingers moustache, the cheeky fellow. Even when I was a teen, I didn't have much use for the Angels, Head Easts and REO Speedwagons of the music world...but none of them put together ever made an album that was as solid as this one.

That's gonna do it for the first half...I've got five more coming sooner rather than later.

Looks like Andy Diggle won't be lacking for work after The Losers folds: Newsarama points us to his upcoming Adam Strange miniseries, with art by Pascual Ferry, late of yesterday's Tom Strong. Looks real good. Go see for yourself.

While I'm talking comics, I have a confession to make. Of course, yesterday I got no Scurvy Dogs. So did I take the money I would have spent on Dogs and buy some promising looking indie book that I would have ordinarily passed on, thus giving some deserving artist and publisher a tiny shot in the arm and some much-needed support? Nah. I bought Secret War. All right! All right! I know! It's Marvel, and it's superheroes, and I keep whining about how sick I am of both of them. I have no excuse except that it's Bendis, and my friend Chris Tucker (no, not THAT Chris Tucker) suggested it. Mea culpa, as they say.

I think I'll go stand in the corner now.


Update! Just wanna state for the record that as far as I know, The Losers has not been cancelled, nor would I be the first to know by any stretch. I was just being my usual optimistic self when I made that semi-serious reference in the first sentence of that post. Don't want to get any hot internet rumors started, especially one that could hurt sales of one of my favorite comics out there right now.

Artbomb has steered me towards an thoughtful and thourough Time.com piece on Harvey Kurtzman. I enjoyed it, and I think you might too, hence the link. You're welcome.

Wanna take a minute and direct you to Forager's highbrow discussion of the use of the term "middlebrow" in criticism. I remember Christgau was always referring to David Bowie as "middlebrow", and by these criteria, I think that's very apt.

Also, I like how Kirbyfan J.W. has grouped his links, into "New Gods", "Mister Miracle", and so on. I'm grouped with the Forever People, which is pretty cool. Can I be Mark Moonrider?

The above is a striking Vampirella illo done by none other than Becky Cloonan. Becky, who draws AiT/PlanetLar's Demo. And that's right, this is a sneaky way to once again hype the latest and greatest contest from those Lone Gunmen of the Comics Blogosphereiverse, Shane, Ken, Rick, and Kevin.

Go here for the 411, the skinny, the straight dope on how to enter and possibly win a shitload of cool swag. More fun than a pirate boat full of monkeys!

I see where the Flight Volume One watch continues, with a feature article over at Newsarama.

Now, boys and girls, when Vera Brosgol, Jen Wang, Clio Chiang and the other Pants Pressers are famous and are at the top of the industry, I want you all to remember that your ol' Uncle Johnny B told you about 'em long ago.

And when you all want to buy my original pen, ink and watercolor illustration of Pandora Arcana by Vera B., I'll just laugh and mock you all mercilessly.

Just when you think that there's no way that the excitement engendered by THE GREAT LOSERS GIVEAWAY can be topped, well, it's been done. I am pleased to announce another contest designed to get those of you out there who are hesitant to partake in, shall we say, less accessible and more refined fruit the opportunity to sample free of charge and personal consequence, AiT/PlanetLar's intriguing ongoing series Demo, plus the chance to win a whole bunch of other cool stuff as well!

As conceived by those fine gentlemen of irreproachable repute Ken Lowery, Shane Bailey, Rick Geerling, Kevin Melrose, and your humble scribe (actually, my contribution was kinda in the "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" area), here's what ya gotta do: write. Tell us how you would answer the question what if you were different? What if you had powers that set you apart from everyone else? What would become of your life? How would you change? We want to know what superpower you'd want to have, and what you'd do with it. And while I can certainly get behind the "I'd like to be invisible so's I could see people in the shower" notion, we're looking for something a bit more, shall we say, fresh. You know, original.

Tell 'em what they can win, Johnny!

OK. Copied shamelessly from Kevin.

Top prize is the first five issues of Demo, copies of Channel Zero, Jennie One, Couscous Express, Public Domain and The Couriers 02: Dirtbike Manifesto, and a piece of original art from that most misunderstood of one-shots Planet of the Capes, all courtesy of Larry Young and AiT/Planet Lar, plus a six-issue subscription to Digital Webbing Presents and four back issues, courtesy of Digital Webbing!

The other prizes, along with all the other pertinient information you will need, is right here, in a really nice looking contest info page. Second through fourth prizes are pretty darn swell, too.

Finally, Kevin Melrose has an interview with Demo artist Becky Cloonan over at his joint. Go read it, then start writing! What are you waiting for?

Contest ends May 12, by the way. I feel like I should rattle off a whole bunch of disclaimer type stuff now really fast in a low monotone.

Edith Bunker meets The Grand...

Remember how, in All in the Family (all right, all you young whippersnappers out there, don't give me that look- AitF has been in worldwide reruns for at least 20 years now), Archie would tell a joke, and everyone would laugh but Edith...and then about ten minutes later Edith would get it and suddenly burst out laughing?

Well, that's kinda how I feel after reading where somebody has finally explained what the Planet of the Capes TPB was all about. Thank you, Dorian (Gray?). You shall be linked to eventually.

Does that change my C- review from a few days ago? Maybe. I'll have to re-read it first, with that in mind. But sitting here at work and trying to remember story details, I'm still not sure if I would have really picked up on the subtleties, even with foreknowledge...and that's not good. Or at least I don't think it is!

And Larry, it would have been really funny if you had had Charlton Heston come out at the end and said "You damn dirty apes"!

The fine folks at Newsarama have posted the gist of WonderCon's Vertigo Panel recently, providing the opportunity for yours truly to opine about upcoming product from the line which, after all is said and done, commands a significant amount of my comic dollars.

First was this comment by, I assume, Matt Brady:

Sparsely attended, with Bill Willingham the only pro on hand, Sunday's vertigo panel at WonderCon allowed DC to show art and lay out the imprint's schedule for the coming months.

Uh...why was it necessary to make a note of this? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for poor struggling DC, or are we supposed to be nodding our heads and saying "Yup, that just shows to go ya...nobody cares about Vertigo books because they don't have big muscle dudes and chicks shooting force beams out of their fingertips, and/or because they're published by a big conglomerate instead of by Sainted Indie Publishers"?

OK, now that that's out of the way, here's what the sparse crowd was presented with.

Of course, Seaguy was mentioned, and I'm already getting that one. Hey, It's Grant Morrison, and I'll always give him a shot.

We3 is described as a take on The Incredible Journey by Morrison and Frank Quitely. Say no more, I'm there.

The Originals is by Watchmen's Dave Gibbons, who is an artist I respect and believe brings incredible chops to everything he undertakes...but for some reason I usually find his style dull and dry, Watchmen being the most notable exception. The sample cover we're given, however, looks really sharp, so while I must always be wary of judging a book by its cover the concept is intriguiing as well. So we'll say "maybe" there, pending seeing some interiors.

Couldn't care less about Blood + Water, which underwhelmed me first time around. Pass.

There will be a preview of The Witching in Fables 26, which might go a long way towards helping me decide if I want that limited series or not, despite the magnificent Tara McPherson covers.

Sandman: Endless Nights will be out in TPB in August , it says. Good. Now maybe I can afford it when my comics shop has another storewide 25% off sale.

Bought about 9 issues of Y: The Last Man, grew progressively bored with each issue, and cut the cord. So the announcement about its upcoming Summer storyline doesn't interest me.

Hellblazer 200 looks like it will be a gas for longtime readers like me- this issue will sport art by Steve Dillon, arguably Conjob's best illustrator and the guy most people associate with this book, when they're inclined to think that sort of thing; Most recent regular artist Marcelo Frusin, in my personal top 3 when it comes to JC stints; and upcoming regular Leo Manco, whom I'm sure you're all sick of me going on about how much I loved his stint on Ellis' Hellstorm. What? No Sean Phillips? Anyway, it looks like it might be that rarest of rare birds- an anniversary issue that lives up to the name.

Fables sports yet another excellent James jean cover, plus promises to show us an encounter between Bigby Wolf and Frankenstein. Whether this is the monster or his creator is unclear, but it sounds like a good idea to me. I'm not familiar with the penciller for this arc, Tony Akins. Anybody?

Human Target will have Chris Chance getting mixed up in sex-trade hijinks at the Mexican Border. Sounds OK, but I wonder who the artist will be?

Someone named Ale Garza, another with whose work I'm totally unfamiliar, will be the "fill-in regular artist", an oxymoron if I've ever heard one, on an upcoming Losers arc focusing on Afghani loose cannon Aisha. Well...that's cool, I guess- after all, it was during Shawn Martinbrough's fill-in stint that I first got the Losers jones. But I worry about Jock leaving the book. I can't help it, it's my Mother in me.

And that's pretty much it.

Saw this quite some time ago over at Sugar 'n' Spicy, but I'm only just now getting around to checking it out: a strange and fascinating tarot deck designed by Otake Shigeo.

Pleased to report that the Official NHL Hockey Playoff Team of The JBS, the Calgary Flames, eliminated league 200-pound gorilla Detroit last night 1-0 in a hard-fought contest that I unfortunately had to bail on as midnight approached due to my annoying need for sleep.

Go Flames, eh!

The White Sox won, too, continuing their not-bad season start...but as his fantasy owner, tentative closer Billy Koch is gonna give me five ulcers before the season's over...

And that's your Sports Post of the Week!

Just in case anybody cares, here's what I'll be getting on Wednesday:

BPRD: A PLAGUE OF FROGS #3
SANDMAN PRESENTS: THESSALY, WITCH FOR HIRE #4
SWAMP THING #3
TOM STRONG #26
and SCURVY DOGS #4

Again, not a lot of quantity but some good quality titles this week. Larry Young's AiT care package plot pays its first monetary benefit, at least on my part, as I am supposed to get Scurvy Dogs. Whether or not I'll actually receive the copy I've ordered remains to be seen.

Brought to you courtesy of Diamond's shipping list and the letters D and J and the number 4.

Haven't done one of these in ages, but I definitely feel the need to send a big fat old Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting to the lovely Welsh chanteuse and former Apple artist Mary Hopkin, who turns an astounding 54 today. I'm listening to her Paul McCartney-produced debut as I type, and I'm always finding myself enjoying the quaint, retro feel of the whole thing, which features a wide range of material from Donovan and Nilsson to Irving Berlin and "The Inchworm Song" from Hans Christian Anderson, and on many cuts is augmented by old-timey jazz horns, full symphony orchestras, latin acoustic guitar & brass, and many other diverse sounds which were contributed by McCartney, no doubt. I love her third album, Earth Song/Ocean Song very much, it's one of my favorites...but it's in more of a Britfolk mode, with hubby Tony Visconti at the helm and people like the Pentangle's Danny Thompson and Strawbs' Dave Cousins accompaning her.

Happy happy to ya, Mary. Those were the days, indeed.

Since I am regarded in many quarters as a "comics commentary"-type blog, here's my take on the Micah Wright thing that has everyone all a-twitter:

Like Mark Millar, I've never read a single thing the guy's written, so while it doesn't particularly affect me one way or the other if he's losing work thanks to the kneejerk PC reaction by many of TPTB, I will say that while what he did was pretty stupid, especially in these apparently less enlightened times...but for him to be losing assignments and jobs over it is, to say the least, a grevious overreaction. For the love of God- if they fired or denied work to every creator that said or did stupid things, there would be no comics industry left to speak of! So while I don't particularly have a vested interest in his future, I hope he perseveres and overcomes. Guess I just have a soft spot for fuckups.

Quick note about a couple of good friends of mine who have started, or resumed blogging- Ruth Loiacano, at L'il Truthie's, finally posted something a few days ago...and I hope it won't be the last thing anytime soon! Guess she got tired of me nagging her...

Also, my longtime friend Dave Puckett, who's been collecting comics longer than I have, if you can believe that, has started his own blog called BeatlesandBizarros, and I'll just bet ya that it will be full of interesting stuff.

Right in the middle of a busy day so far, hopefully I'll have more later...

BEST OF THE WEEK

COMICS REVIEWS!
What I bought and what I thought, week of April 28!

LOSERS 11
What more can I say about this book? It works, and works extraordinarily well at every level, as character study, drama, spy-thriller and action thriller. And writer Diggle even manages to get some gallows humor in when you least expect it- as in the case of Clay & Aisha's brief "zero bodycount" discussion. And you know a book's got it going on when a telephone discussion is as fascinating as any of the big shoot-em-up scenes. Artist Jock absolutely shines, especially during the aforementioned telephone conversation between interesting new character Stegler and his boss, and also the aerial scenes in which Pooch tries to evade a stinger missile- we even get a "wow"-inducing two page spread in that one. Even Lee Loughridge seemes to be inspired to excellence- the scenes inside the dormant (at the time) volcano, all dark greenish-blues and yellows, and the outdoor scenes, all yellow, subdued red and orange, are positively beautiful. Jock also gives us another stellar cover, with exciting perspective and refreshing humor, effectively serving as a big fat FU to those who piss and moan about the lack of word balloons and copy on their comic book covers. For the life of me, I don't know why more people aren't reading this series. Guess it's because of the lack of black leather and tights. And clichés. A

LOVE FIGHTS TPB vol. 1
Clever little romance book, set against a world in which superheroes exist and focusing on the people who make a living chronicling their exploits. Jack, who pencils the adventures of big cheese super-guy the Flamer (I suppose calling him the Homosexual would have been too obvious), meets cute young intern at superhero gossip magazine Expose, who aspires to be a feature writer. Complications ensue, of course, aggrivated by the fact that every story Nora writes causes publicity problems for the Flamer, which in turn affects Jack's livelihood. Plus, Jack has an intelligent cat with superpowers of his own, unclear motivations, and the apparent determination to interfere as much as possible in his owner's love life. If this all comes across as a wee bit quirky-cutesy, that's OK, because Watson tempers it a lot with several nice sight gags, and also throws in a skewering of the Vince Colletta school of comic book inking, some shots at the comics business, and even manages a jab at himself- specifically his previous Breakfast After Noon series. Good stuff, and really-I don't mind the deceptive simpleness of Watson's work because he can say more with a few slender lines and some chalk-ish tone effects than many professionals can say with a thousand strokes and a whole battalion of Photoshop filters. A

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH 1
It's a given that any project involving Rude art is going to be skillfully illustrated, and Rude's in top form here, even better (I think) than on the debut one-shot a month or so. The difference maker is going to be the scripting, by inker Gary Martin- and I'm pleased to report that he's managed to avoid the clumsiness of the one shot this time out. The alleyway scene with the Moth, Nestor and the Weasel was snappy and even funny in places. And if new character American Liberty reminds me a lot of American Maid from the Tick, well, that's just the underlying wackiness of this whole concept asserting itself in my head. A-

BATMAN: HARLEY & IVY 1
Can't really say what seperates this from your run-of-the-mill issue of Batman Adventures, or whatever they're calling it these days, except that it's actually drawn by Bruce Timm for once, and we get a neat little somewhat playful women's prison-catfight shower scene that would fit in nicely with any exploitation flicks of the Chained Heat-Switchblade Sisters school, which is not exactly PC but churlish boor that I am, found amusing. Other than that, this is a pretty routine Batman vs. Harley and Poison Ivy story, one we've seen a hundred times before, and is saved from being a snoozer by the storytelling skills of Timm and writer Paul Dini. Perhaps the apparent change of scenery we'll see next issue will elevate this somewhat. In the meantime, as much as I love Timm's art, and I do love Timm's art-I sincerely hope that the women in his life (or at least the women he may employ as models) don't all have boobs shaped like bananas like Harl & Ivy sport on the cover. B+

JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER 195
In which another routine "John has amnesia and can't remember who he is, but he's in trouble and he better remember fast!" story gets a sudden goose from a two page guest appearance by the Phantom Stranger, of all people, that makes me wish that Mike Carey could be tabbed to try his hand at a PS miniseries or something. Guest (and from what I hear, upcomng regular) artist Leo Manco gets juiced by this script turn as well, turning in art in the style I used to love when he drew Warren Ellis' excellent Hellstorm from so long ago for the Stranger's cameo. All right, everyone's in trouble, especially John and longsuffering Chas, and since we all know JC's gonna get his memory back I hope he does it quick and we get to move on to fresher storylines. B+

ULTIMATE SIX 7
I've seen a lot of references in other reviews to the notion that "Marvel can't count" because there were only actually five bad guys in this...but see, kiddies, the sixth member of the Ultimate Six was supposed to be Spider-Man, as shown on the cover. But of course, Spidey didn't play, and the Ultimate Six was pretty much one short for the duration of this not-bad, not especially good series. All the Ultimates ingredients were there, including terse dialogue (verbosity just isn't in Bendis' repertoire, thank God) and cinematic Hitch-ish art by Trevor Hairsine and Danny Miki, but the end result feels padded and rushed all at once somehow. Oh well, this could have been better, but it also could have been much worse. B+

MIDNIGHT, MASS.: HERE THERE BE MONSTERS 4
As much as I like the lead characters and the world in which they're operating, I fear the low-key approach taken by writer John Rozum on this (seemingly) make-or-break second shot at success for his brainchildren may have hurt more than helped its chance to reach a larger market. There is a lot happening in this series, much of it clever, but it's strangely uninvolving despite some really nice and imaginative, if somewhat subdued, art by Paul Lee. B

Went to the sidewalk sale at the Great Escape (aka My Comics Shop That I Bitch About From Time to Time) this morning. They had the usual stuff outside: CD's, vinyl, TPB's, comics, figures & toys, cards and so on, some stuff as much as 75% off, plus they had 25% off of all merchandise inside. So I went down to buy the Love Fights TPB that came in Wednesday, plus the latest issue of Mojo magazine, which featured John Lennon on the cover with an article about his protest period from '68 to '72. Also, in a side note, it featured a small review of the Donovan album Cosmic Wheels, which you all know that I groove on (as they used to say), and has apparently been re-released in a twofer disc with its lackluster successor Essence To Essence. Thought you might like to know this, Bill S.!

I went a little crazy and got carried away in the 25%-75% off fever- and I bought more than I meant to. I'm sure none of you have ever done that. Anyway, just in case you're wondering, here's what I picked up:

King David by Kyle Baker. Ghastly color, but it was 75% off and I kept thinking if I could ever find it at a substantial discount, I'd get it. I did, and I did.

New X-Men TPB 2: Imperial. Yeah, that's right, I bought an X-Men book. I have less than no use for the ongoing travails of the not-so-merry mutants, but I do love Grant Morrison's work, not to mention Frank Quitely and Igor Kordey, plus I bought the first one a couple of years ago to see whether I wanted to start picking the comic up regularly. Turns out I liked X-Statix, or as it was named then X-Force a bit better, so I bought the former regularly for a while, and never got back to the latter. That has changed. I've heard and read a lot of good stuff about this book, so I'm gonna give it another shot to see if it grabs me. At least this time I won't be concerned with whether or not I want to buy the ongoing!

Sandman Presents: The Furies TPB. Well, even though I have nothing but love for the writing of Mike Carey and the art of John Bolton, I passed on the initial overpriced hardcover and kinda forgot about it when the softcover came out. At 25% off, I decided to make my move.

Steve Niles Tales of Terror: Aleister Arcane #1. The painted art looked really nice, and I had read a positive review or two about this, so I picked it up. Again if it hadn't been 25% off, I probably wouldn't have.

And this, plus the Love Fights and Mojo, was my haul. Doesn't sound like much , but it was just a hair over 50 bucks, even with all the discounts. Sigh. Anyway, I'm looking forward to sitting down and reading them ASAP.

It's late, and I'm tired, and I'm not gonna attempt anything substantial tonight. But I did see something interesting over at Shane's joint: the newly formed (well, new to me...but I tend to be behind the curve of this sort of thing) International Comic Arts Association, or ICAA for short, "dedicated to the strengthening and further advancement of the industry as a whole". I'm sure the cynics, critics and the do-nothing brigade will soon be out in force- but me, I think this bears watching, and should at the very least provide a lot of blogfodder for the burgeoning comics blogosphereiverse.

Tomorrow, I have a 25% off sale at my comics shop to attend, then my neglected yard will need to be dealt with, weather permitting. Sometime soon, comics reviews. And who knows, I might even try to draw some more- panels even, and in some sort of sequential order! This should be interesting...

Hello, everybody...been busy busy busy today.

All I got for now is this link to Pantone.com (you know, those little color sample books that fan out and no designer or printer can live without) and their Colorstrology Page. Click on your birth month, then the date, and go from there. Mine is "sunburn" and "burlwood". Wearing these colors is supposed to portend all kinds of good stuff for me, but those colors just make me look kinda silly. Anyway, hopefully I'll post something more substantial later.

Once in a while I'll go over to Wilson & Alroy's record review site; even though I often disagree with them on this review or that, they have a nice, no-frills style and they're fun to read. Clicking on their "new additions" link, I was greeted with a review of something called Wing Sings the Songs You Love, and curiosity provoked, I checked it out. Apparently there's this expatriate Chinese lady named Wing, now a resident of New Zealand, who has released at least seven albums of covers of songs both old and new...and Wilson is evidently an admirer of her work. At least I think he is...all those reviews are written with eyebrow firmly cocked. Anyway, he points to her official web site, where you can get Quicktime samples of many of her songs- and let me tell you, once you've experienced the stylings of Wing, well, let's just say you won't ever forget them. Go check 'em out, I double dog dare ya...hee hee hee...

Because she seemed to go over well when I posted a sketch of her yesterday, here's another, as recent as you can get...'cause I did it a few minutes ago. It's been kinda slow this afternoon. Anyway, here she is- the Princess of Arrika, daughter of Nikolas and Vulnavia Arcana, goddaughter of Ravyr Zevon, and her world's only hope...if she can only get back there.

I was gonna put some snazzy text graphics on it, but we got busy again...

Ooh! Ooh! A Music Meme!

1. Grab the nearest CD.
2. Put it in your CD-Player (or start your mp3-player, I-tunes, etc.).
3. Skip to Song 3 (or load the 3rd song in your 3rd playlist)
4. Post the first verse in your journal along with these instructions. Don’t name the band, nor the album-title.

Ain't no people on the old dirt road
No more weather on the old dirt road
It's better than a mudslide mamma when the dry spell come, yeah
Oh oh oh old dirt road


Via Brendan.

You know what? I love me some NRBQ.

I caught an airing of the Mountain Stage concert show last night on one of our local PBS stations, and it featured the Q along with Loudon Wainwright III (another subject for further research-I've heard his stuff on and off for years but have never been moved to buy, something I intend to remedy some day). For some reason, I was thinking that this was an older show, but a glance at the Mountain Stage website gives its air date as September 2003, so...hey, it looks like they haven't lost a step over the years. I hate to admit it, but it's been a long, long time since I last picked up one of their albums- 1994's strangely uninvolving Message For the Mess Age, which was also Big Al Anderson's last record with the group...and, I think, caused me to mentally write them off as well thereafter. Judging from their show last night, though, they're as quirky and fun as ever, mixing covers of country, show tunes, and R&B with likeable originals, and doing them all with style and class. Bassist Joey Spampinato is cool and smooth, and sings wonderfully; brother Johnny, who replaced Big Al, is a fine addition and bashes his guitar quite nicely, and Terry Adams (native Kentuckian he) is his usual inimitable self, playing the piano in his Chico Marx-meets-Jerry Lee Lewis style; and drummer Tom Ardolino is solid as a rock in his knit hat. I never got to see NRBQ when Big Al was with them, and I've always regretted that...but I think I'll try and keep an eye out to see if they'll be playing nearby (as it seems like they always are), and take care of that once and for all. My son watched a large part of the show with me, but I don't think he was impressed much. Afterwards, I dug out their great 1977 album At Yankee Stadium, sporting one of my favorite album covers (by the way), and gave it a spin. Man, I love their trombone-accented cover of "Shake, Rattle & Roll".

And this concludes my rambling little appreciation of the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. If you've never heard anything of theirs, please do so immediately. Start with the 2-CD set Peek-A-Boo, and go from there. It probably won't change your life or anything, but you'll have a damn good time for a while.

Have you ever felt like doing something crazy-nutty-insane? Well, I'm kinda in that sort of mood. So I'm gonna post more sketches from the last few years, since I've had a pretty positive reaction to what i've posted so far. Lest you fear I'll turn this into a sketchblog, I will tell you that there isn't much more that I care to present for public perusal, even when I'm throwing my better judgement to the wind. So here goes!

I did this one of Lady Pendragon, a character I know absolutely nothing about nor have I ever read a single issue of her exploits, for a Wizard cover contest I was thinking about entering. Swiped from Mucha.


This is Volcana Ash, from the McGregor/Russell 1970's War of the Worlds featuring Killraven series. Drawn from memory one slow afternoon at Camping World, and it shows.


Another Wizard contest entry, the difference being that I actually sent this one in. Of course, I didn't win. Guess I should have drawn Wolverine.


Finally, this one's all mine. Her name is Pandora Arcana, and she's a cross between the mysterious Russian princess Anastasia, Pat Savage, and Johanna Constantine. She's a character I've had kicking around in my head for years upon years now, and I have a whole backstory and cast of characters to go along with her. Occasionally I toy with the idea of creating a website for her...but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Hope you like 'em, and I hope they didn't take too long to load. I tried to create the files at 72 dpi, but you never know. Will I post more? Stay tuned...

That Melrose fella points to a Time magazine review of Derek Kirk Kim's Same Difference and Other Stories, which is mostly positive, as well it should be. It also makes me think that I really, really need to get some trades of Optic Nerve one of these days. Stray Bullets, too. So much to read, so little time.

Two quick things that I felt like sharing:

One, I've been listening to Mott The Hoople Live, a 1974 stopgap record, the sort that Christgau refers to as a "profit-taking throwaway"...but this ragged little record kicks ass. Ian Hunter had to skip the subtlety and baroque touches that he used on the last studio album, The Hoople, and it makes the album sloppy but fun. One half was recorded in New York, and the other half in London. Ariel Bender was the guitarist, replacing Mick Ralphs, who had joined Bad Company. Bender was the type of guitarist whose reach exceeded his grasp, and what he lacked in skills he made up for with sheer howling noise...and he gets several opportunities to make noisy solos on several great songs. I bought this new back in '74 when I was 14, and I think I've always kinda overlooked it because it wasn't as sophisticated and laden with studio gimmickery as its immediate predecessors, but here 30 years later, on this evening anyway, it sounds pretty darn good.

I also want to note that the Official Hockey Team of the Johnny Bacardi Show is now the Calgary Flames. I like those guys. They play gutty and hard. Plus they have pretty cool unis, ironically enough for a team called the "Flames". As I write, they lead the Red Wings 3-2, and I hope to hell I haven't jinxed them. Go Flames!

And that is your sports mention of the week.

Update! It seems that there will be a reissue of MTH Live, a 2-disc set which promises more of the two shows represented on the vinyl and current CD version. I've been clicking around on a pretty thorough MTH site, and that's where I saw the announcement. I looked on Amazon, but found nothing...stay tuned!

Just when you think you've seen it all, something comes along like a bolt out of the blue and knocks you for a loop.

There is apparently going to be an American Gothic motion picture! You heard me. A movie revival of the excellent TV series from the late 90s. Sheriff Buck must have pulled a few strings. I'm quite sure that they're passing out fur parkas and snow boots in hell even as I type this. Go here to read the article.

Thanks to Mik Cary for the heads-up!

Not that I'm trying to be a comics news source or anything, but as you may know I really like the art of Jason Pearson, and now I read in Markisan Naso's column (via Popp'd) about an upcoming collaboration with Ed Brubaker called Redbird. Now, questions of political correctness aside, and I know it's always dodgy when creators deal with Native American characters...this looks incredibly sweet! It cracks me up, paleface that I am, that she's wearing a t-shirt with the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo...you just know the Native American PC patrol's gonna love that. Just based on the preliminary sketches, I'm sold. I understand that it will run in an as-yet-unnamed anthology book from Wildstorm, which is not especially encouraging given WS's recent history, but we shall see (as the saying goes) what we shall see.

Anybody out there remember Tim Truman's Scout ?

I see where, over at his CBR column, Augie DeBlieck has critiqued The Losers, and comes to completely opposite conclusions about artist Jock and colorist Lee Loughridge (Is Loughridge a woman? I didn't know that!) than I hold. I will admit that I didn't care for Jock's style at all when I first saw it, not only on the preview that appeared in 100 Bullets but also on his fill-in stint on Hellblazer as well, but I think he has definitely progressed with his Simonson-meets-Sean Phillips style, and I wouldn't want to see anyone else (well, maybe Shawn Martinbrough) drawing the book. And I generally despise Loughridge's glum, monotonous palette on nearly everything else she's done, but she uses a much wider range on Losers, and has come up with some beautiful effects several times.

Still, interesting column, especially the sales figures analysis.

I honestly think that the new Catwoman flick is going to make Batman and Robin look like Spider-Man. Or maybe even Citizen Kane.

Check out this poster and explain to me who the hell would think that open-toed shiny vinyl high heel boots would be appropriate footwear for anyone, let alone cat burglars, or whatever the hell this character is supposed to be? Ay caramba.

Most of you reading this may already be aware of it, but if not you can go here for a video interview with Losers writer Andy Diggle!

Dipping once again into the Ait/PlanetLar box o'goodness, I now present the following:

CHANNEL ZERO
I went through a phase, oh some 10-15 years ago, of being obsessed with the books of William Gibson (or at least strongly interested...I mean, how far can you take that particular obsession living in rural Kentucky and not even owning a home computer until 1993?) and other "cyberpunk" authors, and I have surely not been the only one because there have been a ton of imitations since...not only in prose novels, but films and especially in comics, and (to be kind) many of them have been (shall we say) less than successful in mining the same vein that Gibson and his peers. Heck, even Gibson is having difficulty these days, as his newest novels have been greeted with mixed reviews. Fortunately for our purposes, however, Brian Wood's Channel Zero is one of the good ones. The tale of former performance artist-turned-"Infoterrorist" Jennie 2.5, who lives in a Orwellian not-so-distant future (actually, "right now" according to the notes at the beginning) dominated by special interest groups and the corrupt government (did I say "future"?). She attempts to wrest freedom of expression back from the Evil Empire by hacking into the regulated, sanitized airwaves and bringing the truth back to the people in order to wake them up from their media-imposed slumber. Problem is, Jennie becomes a celebrity for doing this, and the government turns her fame inwards against her, leading to unforeseen complications and a somewhat draconian resolution. Wood is giving us a lot of stuff here- adventure story, media commentary along with subtle and not-so-subtle satire of same, and compelling personal drama as well. Wood the artist is also on top of his game, augmenting his McKeever-ish drawing style with daring layouts and effectively minimalist inks, as well as collage both pictoral and also in the form of tiny slogans stripped in at all angles on nearly every page, serving to disorient sometimes, amuse sometimes, and often enlighten along the way. It could have easily devolved into chaos, but Wood's instincts keep him honest every time. Channel Zero is sharp and smart, and more than a little prescient given that Wood started this in 1997! Zero is by far the best thing I've read from AiT to date, and I hope that Wood can find time (between issues of Demo) to give us further looks into the life and times of Jennie 2.5. A

Which, in a way, he does with the follow-up

JENNIE ONE
In which we meet the pre-upgrade Jennie 2.5 when she was just struggling art school student Jennifer Havel, and we get a little insight into why she became what she became plus a glimpse of the events that led to the "Clean Act" which has made life so stifling for the free-thinkers in Jennie's world. Biggest difference here is the artist, Demo's Becky Cloonan, and while she's not the daredevil Wood is, she's still pretty damned good- reminsicent of Paul Pope in a lot of places, and she gives the story a lot of vitality along with a more...aesthetically pleasing, shall we say, Jennie. I want more, I do. A

COME IN ALONE
Basically a collection of Warren Ellis' online columns from Comic Book Resources that appeared from 1999 to 2001, how interesting you'll find this depends on how you feel about Ellis and his opinions. If you're an admirer, chances are you've probably got many of these pieces memorized anyway. If you're not, you probably won't want to read...but I think that would be a terrible mistake because much of what Ellis says here is as true in 2004 as it was five years ago, maybe more so, and if your preconceptions are so easily shaken perhaps they're not worth holding in the first place. Me, I'm somewhere in between. Often I think Ellis snipes just for the sake of sniping, and can be a bit of a contratrian- but he has a very low bullshit tolerance factor, always a good thing, and sees to the heart of much that the average comics reader just doesn't want to see...and I admire the heck out of that. I read many of these columns the first time around, so a lot of this was familiar to me, but I can recommend this book to anyone that wants a serious examination and discourse about many of the problems which the comics industry faced, and still faces, now. A-

PLANET OF THE CAPES
Well, here's where I go from the comp list to the shit list in one fell swoop. As I've said many times before, I just don't care for super-hero satire. It's not that I don't think the spandex set shouldn't be made fun of, God knows- quite the opposite, in fact. But frankly, in my opinion, the best super hero satire is over fifty years old- Kurtzman & Wood's Superduperman. While there have been other worthy attempts- Marvel's Not Brand Echh comes to mind- there's nothing that the legions of would-be satirists, both in cartoons and in comics, can say or show that wasn't said or shown quite effectively four decades ago. But wait, you say- PotC isn't exactly satire! It has its serious side as well! And that's true...but the humorous stuff and the serious stuff are all written with the same straightfaced tone, and the result is neither here nor there, and is often baffling as in the case of the gargantuan Hulk-type character, who carries a child in one of his deformed arms while going on a destruction spree, and whose frightened parent is told by another of the "heroes" that "He just wants to show you a good time...he just wants you to care", and the parent, along with the onlookers, just accept this and go along, after the Schaff gives the child back unharmed. It's not funny, and you can't take it seriously because we don't get any further with the situation, so one doesn't know what to think. Do these beings, apparently the only super-folks on this world, simply think they're above concern for the lesser, ordinary people they presumably protect? That's certainly the case with this "Grand" fellow, who's a sort of not-so-true blue Superman type. When the super-group gets transported to another world, and encounter powerless Fantastic Four-ish types, all the Grand wants to do is take over, because he doesn't think anyone there can stop him. The Batman/Captain America-amalgam Justice Hall disagrees, and they battle, in a homage or satire or something of Miller's Dark Knight books. This book is full of neither-this-nor-that moments that left me frankly unsure what to think about them...I didn't think it was successful as social commentary, or satire, or even as straight superhero adventure since it seems to be made up of a thousand different elements of superhero comics I've read for 40 years now, and none of them are topped, enhanced or re-examined at all. Allegory? If that's the case, then I just didn't get what it was an allegory for. Creative hubris, perhaps? Regardless, PotC just didn't work for me. It just read like a collection of the clichés that satirists and revisionists use to lampoon the original superhero clichés. Perhaps I am just slow on the uptake, who knows. The art, by Brandon McKinney, was just as inconsistent as the script, which makes it well matched, I suppose. Obviously, he's trying to give us a Perez/Starlin inspired look, and while he wasn't completely unsuccessful, it's just not an art style that excites me much. C-

Still to go- Astronauts In Trouble: Master Flight Plan, the Making of AiT, and True Facts. I'm not done with you yet, Larry...heh heh heh...

I'm sure many of you woke up this morning wondering "Hm. I wonder what comics Johnny B is going to buy on Wednesday?". And thanks to the nice peoples at Diamond, I can tell you!

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH #1
BATMAN: HARLEY & IVY #1
HELLBLAZER #195
LOSERS #11
MIDNIGHT, MASS: HERE THERE BE MONSTERS #4
ULTIMATE SIX #7

And that appears to be that. Batman: Harley & Ivy looks to be a lot of fun, and I expect no less from the Dini/Timm team. I was a bit sobered after I read the early review from one of the fellas at The Fourth Rail, in which he points out that with the imminent demise of the Batman Adventures comic, and a new-style Batman animated series on the way, that this might be the last hurrah for the animated Timm-style Batman we've all come to know and love. Well, I've known and loved it, anyway. Also looking forward to the ending of Ultimate Six, and you can take that any way you like; also any week with The Losers is a great comics week even if it was the only one I was getting.

Our phone wasn't ringing in over the weekend, and we had been thinking about getting a new one for quite some time now (our old phone's handset had died, so we were using another one that didn't have an answering machine, so I had jury rigged both phones together so I could receive messages), so I bought a new phone Saturday night. Well, actually, I put it on a credit card. And because I put it on a credit card, the little "spend money" devil on my shoulder said "Hey, there's the CD by that Joss Stone chickie that you saw on VH1 the other night! And it's only $8.95! Why don't you throw that in, too!" So I did. I thought, well, this might be interesting if she (or her people, anyway) is/are as faithful on record to the retro-soul leanings as she was on the VH1 Divas show I saw the other night. And on that score, she succeeds 100%. Most of the songs on her Soul Sessions CD are very much influenced by Aretha Franklin and Miami Soul, not to mention early Bonnie Raitt, an apparent influence that doesn't get mentioned in the hype. There are some impressive, nicely done tracks like "Fell in Love With a Boy" (A funked-up, gender-corrected cover of the White Stripes song, by far the best thing on the record) opener "The Chokin' Kind", "I've Fallen In Love With You"; a ballsy Carla Thomas cover blessed with a nice string arrangement, and a cover of that chestnut "Some Kind of Wonderful", which is given a laid-back but driving arrangment which pleases. On the negative side, "Dirty Man" is a would-be showcase for Stone's pipes, but has a bare-bones blues arrangement which bores me to tears, and a couple of cuts towards the end are would-be soulful, but just come across to me as dull and lifeless, with her band tinkling around in the background while Joss wails and coos and Janises around ("I Had A Dream Last Night", "For The Love Of You"), and these do nothing for me either. Will our 17-year-old wannabe LaVern Baker have staying power? Will she go on and have a long career, or will she be the next Joan Osborne or Macy Gray? Will she stick to her Stax guns, or will she go all Britney & Christina on us? When will Madonna enter the picture? Who knows. But right here right now, this is a fine little early 70s-style recording- nothing world-changing or anything, but a heck of an accomplishment for a young lady her age and well worth a listen on your part.

The other newish album I've been listening to lately is from Dublin's The Thrills, titled So Much For The City. Even though they're from Auld Eire, they have an affinity for Americana, in the Van Dyke Parks/Beach Boys circa 68/Monkees/Byrds/Neil Young tradition and their debut album is full of it- every song cobbled together from this group or another. And fortunately, these fellows know how to borrow with style. Every song is listenable and often very clever and tuneful- for example, the song "Old Friends, New Lovers" borrows liberally from Nilsson and the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack, and opener "Santa Cruz" sounds like the Old 97's performing songs from Parks & Brian Wilson's Orange Crate Art collaboration of a few years ago. Not a bad album overall, but I'd like to hear a bit less creative borrowing next time and a little more originality before I become an acolyte.

Finally, I really like the song from that ESPN commercial, in which the Black Eyed Peas redo their "Let's Get Retarded" into a more PC-friendly "Lets Get It Started". Catchy as hell, it is.

More later, hopefully.