Well, I'm back! And none the worse for wear, except in what I laughingly refer to as my bank account. Here now, for your perusal and amusement, an account of our trip.

We left about 7 pm CST Thursday evening. To plan our trip, I consulted Yahoo! Driving Directions, and it suggested a route which led us to go straight up to Lexington on the Blue Grass Parkway (aka the Mind-Numbing Drive of Sheer Ennui), then on east through West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and then over the G-Dub Bridge into New York City and its immediate environs. Noting that this route included several states which I had never visited, I thought what the heck, why not. Our final destination was New Rochelle's Marriott Residence Inn, where my daughter had a room reserved for her by the fellow in charge of the Beginnings Workshop, or as it's billed on their website, "Americas Leading Arts Experience for Young People". That 's the reason for the trip in the first place- my daughter had been referred to them by a friend who had been a participate in years past to serve as a chaperone/counselor/participate in the workshop. We thought it sounded like a great experience and opportunity for her to pursue her dream, so we mobilized. But getting her up there and staying up there long enough to see her off was the problem.

Anyway, we drove most of the night until I just couldn't do it anymore and checked in to a hotel somewhere in West Virginia. We rose early the next morning (too early- I could have slept a couple more hours easily) and set about to the real drive, through the rest of West Va. and Maryland, on up through New Jersey. It went smoothly, with only a couple of small traffic-related delays, until we got past Baltimore on I-95 North, where we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way until we were out of Delaware. It took us four hours to get the same distance that it should have taken one or one and a half, tops. Very frustrating, to say the least, and it wasn't even rush hour! There were no accidents that we could see, either, so all we can do is assume that it's like that sometimes on that stretch of road and move on. And resolve never to return that way! Anyway, after we finally got through that mess, we made better time on up through Jersey until we got to the George Washington Bridge, where we encountered another monstrous traffic jam, caused by the toll booth. By now, we were running very late (and adding to this was that Abby didn't really know what to expect when she arrived at the hotel, plus the uncertainty of finding a location somewhere we had never been before), so we became very frustrated and even more tired and put out by this new turn of events. FINALLY, after creeping along for another hour (seemed like more than that, actually), we got over the bridge and into the city, where we fortunately found the hotel without too much wrong turning and cursing. The Residence Inn was a pretty good-sized hotel, right next to a very busy block of town which had been converted into some sort of gaudy Mall-type thing, called (and use your best mullet-rock, hook-em horns voice here) "New Roc City". More on that later. We got Abby checked in, making sure she was gonna be OK and had found other people there for the workshop (it wasn't like an official meeting place or anything like that, it was just where they put up out-of-town participant for two nights), then set out to find our hotel, in nearby Yonkers. After locating our hotel with a little, but not too much difficulty (exacerbated by our fatigue, and some incorrect directions by Holiday Inn's website), we got checked in and went straight to sleep sometime about 1:30 am. In case you're wondering, they had no other vacancies at the Residence, which is why we didn't stay at the same hotel as our daughter. Of course, when we get there and checked her in, the desk clerk informed me that they had rooms now due to several cancellations. Of course. Also of course, we had already made our reservations elsewhere and didn't want to have to pay for a room we wouldn't stay in (too late to cancel, y'know), so I declined through clenched teeth.

The next day, we checked in with Abby, who had a meeting all day, and arranged to meet up with her that evening when she got back to her hotel. A line of thunderstorms was moving through the area, causing rain most of the day on and off, so after some early morning driving-around we decided to hang out at the room that afternoon and head back to New Rochelle sometime about 5:30 pm. Didn't want to drive around unfamiliar territory in the rain, you know. I had a good nap that afternoon. Sorry, it didn't get more exciting than that for us. Eventually we headed over to the Residence, and decided to explore the New Roc City while we waited. An amazing melting pit of people of all types of races and nationalities, mostly teenagers, not surprising-it is a mall, after all. The place was crawling with security people- I'll bet THAT'S a full-time job! From a shopping standpoint, very disappointing- there were only one or two actual stores that we could find, plus a good-sized grocery store in something like a basement level. There was a big Imax movie theater there, but we figured we wouldn't have enough time to watch anything and not miss Ab when she returned. We ended up looking around in a sports merchandise store, checking out this huge arcade they had on another, and sat down in an Italian restaurant called "Zanaro's" for a beer and some really good rolled-up-in-flaky-dough-type chicken "flutes", recommended by the young lady behind the bar. We watched the Yankees game that I had considered going to on the TV. That killed a little time, and we ended up sitting around in the Residence lobby until Abby FINALLY got back around 8, where we went back to the Italian place for dinner, then after meeting some of her co-workshoppers and making sure she didn't need to see us before she left for the main event (which is taking place up in the Catskills somewhere, in a camp-type setting), we went back to our room in Yonkers, to rest up for the big drive home.

Which went off a lot more smoothly than our drive up, I can tell you. We got back about 10 PM CST last night. People, that's one hell a long, tiring drive. We're seriously considering going further into debt to arrange some sort of flight/room package when we go back next week to see the workshop showcase and bring her home. It sounded especially good about halfway through the hilly state of Maryland, which (I believe) employs three times as many state troopers as other states in the Union, and keeps them out each and every one on the Interstate systems as much as possible. I saw more troopers on Maryland roads in one afternoon that I've seen on the stretch of Interstate highway that I drive every day in Kentucky for three months!

Well, that's the story of my New York Adventure, such as it is. Stay tuned for the sequel, in just 10 days!

Got another announcement to make. I'm going on another hiatus. Now, wait wait wait- I promise, it's not gonna be a long one. You may remember that I wrote the other day that we're driving my daughter up to the Big Apple tonight, so she can participate in an acting workshop slash camp type thing in New Rochelle, New York- so it looks like I won't be around a computer until Sunday night at the earliest, probably Monday. No computer, no Show. I'll be back then, and will begin comics reviews once more and all that stuff.

I wish we had the finances to make this into a real vacation-type trip thing, but we just don't. I don't know if I'll have the time or money or cab fare or sand to try to go into the City. We will be staying Friday and Saturday and leaving early Sunday morning, so burglars, my son and my Mom will be keeping an eye on the house- don't get any ideas. I have no idea what we're gonna do when we get there, but I do know that the Yankees are in town this weekend... We'll be staying in a Holiday Inn in Yonkers (all these towns I know from comic books! Hoo-boy!), by the way, so if you've wanted to stalk me and you live up that way, well, now's your chance!

All seriousness aside, everybody have a great weekend and I'll be seein ya soon. Marc Bolan, sing us outta here.

NEW YORK CITY

Did you ever see a woman
Coming out of New York City
With a frog in her hand

Did you ever see a woman
Coming out of New York City
With a frog in her hand

I did don't you know (x3)
And don't it show *

Repeat in toto
*Repeat
Repeat in toto

(A boogie mind poem)

from Futuristic Dragon (1976)

In case you were wondering, all my MIA comics are now accounted for, since my comics shop got me a copy of Daisy Kutter: The Last Train 1. I even got Demo 9 on time! Reviews or commentary or something will be forthcoming in a few days.

Been reading a lot here and there about Grant Morrison's recently finished run on New X-Men, specifically Dirk's first ¡Journalista! column in ages. Now I gotta re-add him to the links list! Anyway, I've made it sort an ongoing project to read his run in TPB format, and I am currently through the third in the series.

Now it may surprise you, since I have so often been on record as being an admirer of Grant Morrison's work, that I haven't been picking up this title since the first issue came out, but it's true- I did not pick this up in floppy format. When Morrison first announced he was going to Marvel and specifically that he was going to write X-Men, such was my disregard for the X-Books that I figured the sheer ponderousness of the accumulated pretentious bullshit from previous writers and editors would drag him down, so I decided to pass. Even though his Flex Mentallo cohort Frank Quitely was on board. In fact, I had not bought an X-Men comic on anything even remotely resembling a regular basis since about 1984 or so, they were just so awful. In my opoinion, of course. However, the other title he did not long after, the beautifully drawn (J.G.Jones, and that's what got my attention) and sharply scripted Marvel Boy, kinda reassured me that Grant would persevere, so I decided that I would sample not only New X-Men but its companion in nouveau Marvel respectability, X-Force, of which I had also declined to partake despite my admiration for Milligan and Allred at the time. Anyway, I bought the first trade collection of both, thinking I would buy the one I liked the most on a regular monthly floppy basis, and get the other in trades if I liked it enough. And the quirky X-Force won out, but sadly ran out of juice (as far as I'm concerned, anyway) not long after so I dropped it. Twice. Anyway, I've been slow to get those NXM trades, disposable-income deficient wretch that I am, but I have (as I said before) picked up the first three. And when I have read them all, I hope to do a more in-depth thing about them. But right now, some brief impressions of the first three trades.

First, I honestly wish that they could have kept a regular artist, or at least artists with a consistent style, throughout. While there is an impressive array of art talent in these stories, including personal favorites Quitely, Igor Kordey and J.P. Leon, the abrupt shift in art styles is a bit jarring. This is most evident in the third trade; I'm thinking it was mostly Quitely & Kordey in the first two. A generous part of the third is also given to Phil Jimenez, a competent but unexciting George Perez disciple who has done quite a bit of work with Morrison and Vertigo titles in general, but whose style never seemed like a good fit. I'm hoping that he won't be back for the next books in the series.

Second, I was a little taken aback by how episodic and disjointed these stories are. Morrison takes delight in a non-linear approach, I fully realize this, but while reading these books I'm always coming across characters I don't remember seeing before, or events referenced that I don't recall, and Morrison's tone is always so deadpan that it just seems weird and strange. And honestly, I think this is one of the most straightforward narratives that he's ever written, but I'm constantly confused by abrupt, anticlimactic resolutions and the other things I just mentioned. I almost feel like I've missed whole issues, like they didn't get bound into my copies. Before I really go on record with this complaint, I should read them all back to back- there's a pretty good gap in between my readings of 1, 2 and 3- and perhaps it's just me on this account. I kept encountering instances where the characters would refer to events that are part of X-Men-as-written-by-Claremont lore, such as the Phoenix saga and the business with the Thunderbird character and so on. I was under the impression Grant was setting out to make his own continuity and to disregard all the crap that had gone on before. Did I miss a meeting or something?

Third, I like that Fantomex character. He adds some badly needed panache to the proceedings, plus the whole mystery of his backstory promises to be good, presuming Morrison ever gets around to dealing with it. For all I know, he may wind up as something totally different before this is over...but for now I like this guy. I also like Emma Frost as written by Grant- she's part of a proud Morrisonian tradition from Crazy Jane to Lord Fanny to Ragged Robin of strong, fascinating female (or shemale, if you will) characters with a acid wit. Can't understand what she sees in Scott, though, except perhaps he's a challenge. Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.

Finally, I am happy that Morrison has managed to avoid the ponderous, soap-operatic cliches of his predecessors. Of course, this no surprise since he strives to avoid cliché and easy solutions rather than perpetuate it and them. It's almost a little too pat and dry so far, though, and I'm just not as caught up in it as I usually am by the best Morrison. Perhaps this will change as I go on with the series, who knows. Stay tuned.

Grinding away this morning, typesetting classified ads and Planning Commission listings and the like, completely menial crap, and listening to Beatles-O-Rama on Live 365...and they played "I Must Be in Love" by the Rutles! What a great song. Made my morning. I loved that TV Special back in the day, had the album on both vinyl and 8-track (you remember them, right? Right?), should have bought the DVD, may still someday. They then followed with Paul McCartney's "Heather", a cut I like very much from his most recent studio effort Driving Rain. If you like the Fabs, and you should all know by now that I do, you should check out this internet radio station.

Hopefully more later.

Peter Bagge is back with another Reason.com cartoon, in which he sinks his fangs into the Fine Arts community. He speaks a lot of truth, even though he aims at some easy targets, and manages to be pretty damn funny in the process. Dare I say that many of us in the comics commentary blogging "business" could perhaps get some insight as well? Anyway, why don't y'all go check it out now, ya'heah?

Much obliged to Ian to pointing it out, so I could point it out to you. That is, if you haven't already seen it over there and checked it out already.

Another thing I've noticed lately is that Blogger has installed a nifty toolbar-type search thingy at the top of all its blog pages, which explains why I've been getting some unfamiliar referrals lately, due to its random-blog-visit link. Problem is, all the other sites I check have a tidy single bar across the top, with all the elements arranged nicely in the roughly one-half inch space, but my page shows a jumble of blocks all stacked up on top of each other and no bar in sight. Whassup wit dat?

Ramble coming on...danger Will Robinson...

I forgot to mention that one day last weekend we happened upon a big tent sale that someone had set up and was selling DVDs for 6 dollars and VHS tapes for $3. All good, but by the time we got there it had pretty much been picked through and there wasn't very much that I consider interesting left, especialy on DVD. Still, I did score a couple of cool vids: on VHS, I found a copy of Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy, a silly film which never fails to make me laugh...oddly enough, I never was able to work up a lot of interest in their TV show, even though I've liked many of the individual cast members in occasional films and TV appearances (especially Scott Thompson), but this movie cracks me up. Of course, each of the five members play a multitude of characters, both male and female, and effectively create distinctive personalities for each; and the storyline, about the creation of a miracle drug that cures depression a little too well and the complications that ensue not only with the public but the creators is sharp and clever. Wish I had found it on DVD, but I'll settle for this until I run across it in that format someday, assuming it's even available in that format. I also got a single tape from The Avengers TV show box set series, featuring two color episodes from 1967 featuring Patrick MacNee as John Steed and the divine Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel. Oddly enough, both have an avian theme, one is about a plot involving spying via carrier pigeons and the other is the classic "Winged Avenger" comic-book themed episode as the pair tangle with someone who is killing people dressed as a comic book character. The color is vivid, the performances dry and droll, and the scripts, while often (to be kind) whimsical, are still engrossing and very much of their time. I hope that someday before I go to meet my maker that I can get all the MacNee/Rigg Avengers episodes on DVD and watch them all again...I love that show. Finally, I did pick up one DVD: Frida, the kinda-sorta biopic starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina and directed by Julie Taymor, whose prior Shakespeare film Titus impressed me a lot. She does a lot of interesting stuff with this one, too, which is why I decided to plunk down my 6 bucks. Her visuals almost offset the soap-opera excesses of the script. I wrote about this film back in February, in case you're interested.

Since I am, after all, ramblin', here's a sports note. two of my fantasy baseball team pitchers: Oakland's Tim Hudson and my Sox's Freddy Garcia. Hudson's been on the DL for a month, finally has come off and I wasted no time activating him. he rewarded me tonight with a very impressive 5 hit shutout. But, and here's my season in a microcosm, Garcia got absolutely hammered tonight, giving up NINE EARNED RUNS in 4 innings, effectively ruining whatever benefits Hudson's gem provides for my team's earned run average. And he's been one of my most reliable pitchers in this nightmare season. As Pepe Le Pew used to say, "Le sigh." I know, I know, waah waah waah.

Good God, look at the time. I gots ta cut the ramblin short and go to bed now. Oyasumi nasai.

I see where DC has bestowed their November solicitations upon our unworthy heads. And I'm seeing a few interesting books there, only not the ones you'd think.

Nice covers on several comics, such as DETECTIVE 800, by Jock- yeah, it's one of those non-representative pinup style covers which so many otherwise knowledgeable people bitch about so often, but jeez- it's a nice painting and it crackles with bright color and energy, kinda like Jock's best work does. I also love the Kirbyesque BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #185 cover by Sean Phillips, and the Jae Lee (still can't get over that Manhunter 3 cover) BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #59. Lee has quickly become one of my favorite cover artists (I like his interiors, too, but he just doesn't do 'em all that often). Of course, that being said, I don't really like his other effort, this month's Manhunter. Dull pose, and somehow, the cigarette sticking out of her mouth has an oddly offputting effect. Intentional, maybe, but there ya go. We also get two nifty Mike Kaluta efforts, for FALLEN ANGEL #17 and LUCIFER #56. I keep hemming and hawing about picking up the Fallen Angel TPB...a lot of fine people praise it, but there's just something about the premise and the character and place names that don't grab me. Plus the art is bland at best, not exactly a sure-fire inducement to make Johnny B buy. That JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #5 cover is, well, eye-catching anyway. Not exactly Mahnke & Nguyen's finest moment, but I'm liking that book well enough so the benefit of the doubt shalleth be invok-ed. Mixed blessing dept.: we're not shown the cover for IDENTITY CRISIS 6, which is bad becuse it makes me wonder if it doesn't give away some other horrible event in #'s 4 or 5, but good because it's one less time we have to see one of those lackluster Michael Turner covers. The man's scratchy ink line makes my corneas hurt.

Noteworthy titles, at least as far as I'm concerned:

JLA: CLASSIFIED #1- Well, hey, it's Grant on the JLA. Good enough for me, even though I'm dubious of the Ed McGuinness/Dexter Vines art. You may recall (but I'd be surprised if you did, except for Bill Sherman) the old Kevin Ayers album Whatevershebringswesing. With Morrison right now, it's WhateverhewritesIbuy.

ELRIC: MAKING OF A SORCERER #3- this is written by Michael Moorcock and illustrated by Walt Simonson! I guess I overlooked the announcement for #1 and 2. I was highly underwhelmed by their previous collaboration, Michael Moorcock's Multiverse, back in 1998 for the Helix line...but this appears to be early tales of Moorcock's Melnibonean Warrior, with no alternate identities or timelines or any of that confusing junk, so I'm very interested. I'll have to keep an eye out for #1.

THE QUESTION #1-I've never really been a big fan of the character, despite his intriguing appearance and respected pedigree. I read a lot of the old Charlton stories, and liked them OK, but intensely disliked the O'Neil/Denys Cowan 80's version, and I'm afraid that this appears to be more in that vein than the Ditkoesque style. Still, it's Rick Veitch, a writer I like more often as not, and Tommy Lee Edwards, one of my favorite illustrators (I should make a list of them one of these days)...so I'm gonna give it a shot.

SPACE GHOST #1-There's no way I can ever take Space Ghost seriously again, but the Ross cover's nice. The creative team of Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti doesn't exactly make me want to go to ridiculous lengths to pick this up. As Zorak would say, "Lotsa luck, suckers".

THE INTIMATES #1-I don't know about you, but right off the bat I hate that would-be satirical title. Sounds like a Victoria's Secret-clad super-team if you ask me, and that's a better high concept than yet another teenage superheroes-studying-to-be-grownup-superheroes yarn...and that's gonna keep me from picking this up. I know, unfair, but it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Joe Casey's a good writer, but the art team doesn't excite me.

TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES #12-wow, the last issue. I stopped after #4 or 5, I think. How on God's Earth, you may ask, can a book sporting art by the likes of Art Adams and others be so deadly dull? Don't know, but I'm amazed it went a dozen.

ANGELTOWN #1-Now THIS is interesting. A mean-streets type tale for Vertigo illo'd by Mr. Underrated himself, Shawn Martinbrough, whose work I usually will always pick up, from Beware The Creeper thru his stint on Detective and the two excellent fill-ins he did for The Losers. I don't have a clue who writer Gary Phillips is or what he's done, but hey- an new ongoing with Martinbrough art! I was there yesterday!

THE LOSERS: DOUBLE DOWN TP
THE LOSERS #18- and here's where you can check out that Martinbrough fill-in, in this nifty new TPB. It's as good as the first Losers trade, and that one kicked ass. And the existence of a solictation for Losers 18 is the most positive thing I've seen all day.

THE WITCHING #6-this has been pretty yawn-inducing so far, but I see that veteran Dan Green's on board as inker now, so maybe the art will improve a tad. And the MacPherson cover series continues unabated- long may it run.

And that's my hardly in-depth, highly personal look at the DC solicitations for November. Make of it what ye will.

While I'm at it, here's something else I haven't done for a while now: WWJBB (look for it on a bracelet near you), or "What Will Johnny B Buy" on Wednesday, according to the Diamond shipping list? Well, wonder no longer.

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH #4-the list says #4 of 4; I thought this was an ongoing. Just as well, I've kinda decided to drop this anyway. But if this is the last issue, then I'll pick it up.
ASTRO CITY SPECIAL-not a fan of Busiek per se, but I've enjoyed his Astro City books. That being said, I was underwhelmed by the last miniseries, and my continued patronage depends on the next couple of AC projects.
EX MACHINA #3-another bubble book.
H-E-R-O #19-continuing the theme, I'm dropping this too. I had high hopes for the current storyline, but it's been diminishing returns all the way and its strong start is but a memory.
HUMAN TARGET #13-safe for now, but I'm just not as fanatical about this title as I oughtta be.
LUCIFER #53-still one of my favorite titles.
DAREDEVIL #63-I can't believe that Bendis made such an ass out of himself at WW Chicago. Sounds like he wasn't alone, though...
DEMO #9-actually, I got this today from good ol' Uncle Larry, but I'm gonna buy my copy anyway (if they get it for me) and give it to someone.

...and that's it! If Daisy Kutter 1 shows up, it might change my plans a bit. If I had more disposable income, I'd snap up that Essential Iron Fist collection; I always kinda liked the Fist's title back in the day. I had the first half dozen or so Marvel Premieres, and also had a set of the Byrne/Claremont run. I see where a new Plastic Man is coming out as well. I'm kinda feeling a bit guilty about not buying it up till now, especially after reading Tim O'Neil's (cute Identity Crisis satire there, Tim) impassioned defense of the title, but after skimming over the first two issues I just wasn't impressed enough to buy regularly. I've been a fan of Kyle Baker's in the past; loved his Shadow stint, Why I Hate Saturn, and You Are Here; and even found a lot to like about King David, horrific coloring aside. But there's just something about the loosey-goosey, Mort Drucker-meets-Sergio Aragones-meets-Disney Studios style he's evolved into that leaves me cold. I liked The Truth very much, but I liked it in spite of Baker's sloppy, hideously colored art, not because of it. I know better than to make a blanket statement like "he doesn't seem to give a damn about his craft anymore", because I know that's not true- the effort to produce nine plus issues of any book belies that, plus the man still knows how to tell a story very well- so I guess all I can offer is the lame excuse that I just don't like where he's at stylistically these days and let it go at that. It's like the old adage about not liking broccoli. It's good for you, but it just doesn't taste good. This being said, I've spotted some affordable runs on eBay, so maybe I'll go that route one of these days.

Well, what was intended to be a short-n-sweet "What I'm buying Wednesday" post sure turned into a monster, didn't it! I'm done. Oyasumi nasai, y'all.

All right, I'm back. The hiatus is over, for now. I'm not really prepared to go into what led me to step away for a week or so, but rest assured I had my reasons, none of which probably matter all that much to anybody.

Where to begin, where to begin. 'Scuse me if I ramble; got a lot to catch up on.

Since I'm still marginally a comics blogger, I'll start by assuring everyone that I'm still picking up those floppies. I may try to go back and write quickie reviews of what I got in the last couple of weeks, I might not. I realize that there's a dearth of online reviewers right now, but that's the way it goes. In case you're wondering, I'm sure you'll be quite relieved to know that I got 2 of the 3 MIA comics: Sleeper V2 2 and Walking Dead 9. Daisy Kutter 1 is still among the missing, but they're assuring me that a copy is on the way. We'll see. They had a 25% off sidewalk sale over the weekend, and while I didn't have much money I did take advantage of the sale to pick up the Flight anthology, plus the third TPB of Morrison's New X-Men. Haven't made it through either just yet. For what it's worth, I thought Love & Rockets 11 was the best comic I read two weeks ago, and last week I'd have to say it would have been a difficult choice between the latest Gotham Central and Challengers of the Unknown. And I continue to read Identity Crisis, but I can't say I'm very proud of myself. It's a very well crafted exercise in unpleasantness, and while it's no big deal to me to see the hallowed DC pantheon subjected to it, I can understand why some have their knickers in a twist over it.

I should do a "Lieber's
Eleven" post, I really should...but damned if I can think of any books I'd recommend that haven't a. been listed already by several of my peers and b. are even available in collected trade format. Another missed opportunity, I suppose. That doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed reading the lists.

Above is another illustration by Flight's Vera Brosgol, whose work I'm always happy to post. It's part of a bunch of sketches she has put up at the Pants Press Sketchblog. I like this little fella. Or is he a she? Whatever. Speaking of Vera, I received my copy of Girly Book, the sketchbook slash mini comic she sold at the SDCC. She even did a drawing on the inside cover and evurrything. Made my day, it did.

Here's the website of Rion Vernon, who does some really nice pinup illustrations in that Timm/Glines/Tex Avery/Jessica Rabbit/gals with impossibly big feet and impossibly tiny waists style. Fortunately, he's very good at it.

Saw a few movies over the last couple of weeks, most notably a Maisie film I haven't seen before, Maisie Goes To Reno, in which Ann Sothern, as the Showgirl with a Heart of Gold, helps out a soldier who's wife is divorcing him. Don't know why I like those Maisie films so much, but I do. Also caught a showing of Seabiscuit, the film about the Little Horse That Could, which starred Tobey McGuire and was almost oppressive in its blatant heartstring pulling. Everything about that movie was engineered to provoke an emotional response from the viewer, so much so that it was almost like a clinical study or something. From its ponderous Randy Newman Natural-Lite score to its Horatio Alger-type plot, it was almost annoying how desperately this movie wanted to mean something. And actually, I liked it in spite of itself. McGuire actually displayed a little emotional range, Jeff Bridges is always good, and the underrated Chris Cooper also gives a standout perf. There's a ton of beautiful Autumn scenery in it as well, which I'll bet was really nice on the large screen. I also caught a screening of Robert Altman's fashion-world satire Prêt-à-Porter, or "Ready To Wear" for the French-impaired. I'd known about this flick for a long time- I mean, geez, it's 10 years old- but had never had a good opportunity to see it. I'm sorry I waited so long...it's really very clever and funny, with a slew ton of well-known (and some not-so-well-known) actors and actresses including personal favorites Teri Garr and Tracey Ullman. Lyle Lovett's there, and you get to see Marcello Mastroianni howl like a wolf as Sophia Loren does a strip tease (still looking pretty darn good, too, at 60). Woo hoo! Just finished watching a couple of Elvis movies on TCM- Double Trouble, a Elvis vs. hired killers yarn which was mostly lame but if you squinted your eyes almost looked like Hitchcock in places, and the seminal Jailhouse Rock, in which not only does the King perform two of his best tunes (the title cut and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care", also given a fine reading by Bryan Ferry on his These Foolish Things elpee), but he tells his love interest "That's the way the mop flops". Whee! The big staged set piece in which Elvis does "Jailhouse Rock" is still awe-inspiring.

OK, what else...I haven't picked up any new music lately, so I can't write about that. Sports is kinda in that awkward in-between phase right now, plus I don't give two shits about the Olympics (just not my bag, baby). Pro football's gearing up, but it's still early in the preseason so it's hard to feel anything but impatience for the start of the games that mean something. My White Sox are mathematically alive, I suppose, but everybody including them knows that they're out of it. My fantasy team is effectively done, too, done in by bad luck and injuries. Oh well.


The job hunt front has seen some flurries of activity lately; I had an interview a little over a week ago for a job which isn't unattractive to me...but the air conditioning's out in their building and the guy didn't want to bring me back in until it's fixed. And so I wait. I drove by there today and they still had the door open with a fan in it, so I can safely assume it's still not fixed and that's why I haven't heard from him since last Wednesday. Or maybe that was just for my benefit, and they don't really want me to come back. Who the heck knows. I also may get the opportunity to do some freelance graphics work for an ex-boss, but this isn't set in stone either. Ah, the uncertainty of my existence.

In case you're wondering, that's my yard I'm standing in in this picture. I also am sporting this rather abrupt haircut, which makes me look like Bobby Hall or Beavis and Butt-head's gym teacher.

Since I'm getting all personal and shit, I've got a little trip in my future coming up- my daughter is going to be participating in and working on staff for an acting workshop/showcase/camp, and we're going to be driving her to it this weekend. So if you're a burglar and have been casing my house, now's your chance. The camp slash whatever happens to be in New York state, near New Rochelle, which by most maps would seem to be in spitting distance of the Big Apple itself. Kids, this is a hell of a drive, an expensive one to boot, and I'm not really looking forward to doing this...but it's my baby girl, and we said long ago that we'd do whatever we could to help her pursue her dream, so off we go. Particularly interesting to me is that our hotel is in Westchester County, which is, as we all know, the location of Xavier's School for Gifted Students or whatever the heck it's being called these days. I really wish we had the money to do this up right and visit the City and all that, but sadly we don't. And then, a little over a week later, we have to go up and get her. Sigh. Still, if she gets happiness and satisfaction, then it's worth it.

And I can't believe nobody called me out on my hiatus announcement post, when I made the erroneous statement that Nilsson never worked with producer Richard Perry again...Perry was behind the board for post-Son of Schmilsson Ringo Starr albums Ringo and Goodnight Vienna, both of which featured our man Harry on backing vocals. Speaking of Mr. Nilsson, has anyone seen the new Nike commercial , featuring one of the tennis star Williams sisters, which uses the Nilsson track "He Needs Me" as sung by Shelley Duvall on the Popeye soundtrack? I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I heard that. I love that song, one of the highlights of that very bad movie, and certainly one of the last songs I'd ever expect to hear in any commercial, let alone a sports gear spot.

OK, all right, I'm done. I suppose this will do for a "sticking my toe back in the pool" post. Hopefully, there will be more to come. I don't plan on taking another break anytime soon, but you never know...

RIP Fay Wray.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled hiatus.

hi·a·tus
Pronunciation: hI-'A-tus
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from hiare to yawn
1 a : a break in or as if in a material object : GAP (the hiatus between the theory and the practice of the party -- J. G. Colton) b : a gap or passage in an anatomical part or organ
2 a : an interruption in time or continuity : BREAK b : the occurrence of two vowel sounds without pause or intervening consonantal sound

Friends, I'm taking a break for a while. Could be a week, could be longer. Just not feeling it right now, got things to deal with. In the meantime, please check out the fine blogs and websites in the links list at right.

Cue Vera Lynn:

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when
But I'm sure we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through, just the way you used to do
Till the blue skies chase the dark clouds far away

Now, won't you please say "Hello" to the folks that I know
Tell 'em it won't be long
'cause they'd be happy to know that when you saw me go
I was singing this song

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when
But I'm sure we'll meet again some sunny day


We'll Meet Again
The Ink Spots
Written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles

May every song you sing/be your favorite tune
Jagger/Richards-"Shine A Light", from Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones.

"See ya next album, Richard"
Harry Nilsson, to producer Richard Perry at the end of the final cut on Son of Schmilsson, "The Most Beautiful World in the World". They never recorded together again.

Hi, kiddies! Sorry to have been AWOL lately, but I've been busy busy busy here at the Snooz and at home. Still am, actually, but I wanted to post this link to a blog entry (on a blog I don't read; found this at 24 Hour Party, I mean Pixel People) titled "How to be creative". This person speaks the truth, y'know...not that I really understand what the heck he's talking about...

Of course, yesterday was Wednesday, and comics were purchased. Just not as many as I hoped. Sleeper Season Two 2 and Walking Dead 9 are still MIA, and they're now joined by Daisy Kutter 1, just like I feared. I know it's not completely my comics shop's fault, but this is getting tiresome, for me and for them- every week, it seems, I'm asking about did this come in or did that come in, and can you call Nashville, and...sigh. Guess I'll have to take another look at online services. I did notice where the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen V2 trade came out; strangely enough, I just finished reading both V1 and V2 over the weekend. My son had seen the movie, and was asking me about the source material, so I figured the best way to enlighten him was to show it to him. He read the first two, said he liked them a lot and wished the movie had been more like that. Me, too, said I. He hasn't picked them up since, but he's a busy boy. I'll keep them around for a while longer. I'll tell you, Alan Moore's done more important, and even more imaginative work, but for all-around entertainment and emphasis-on-solid-characterization, he's rarely done better than both volumes of League, if you ask me. Even if you don't ask me.

Quite a discussion going on at Fanboy Rampage!, in the comments section, in response to somewhat disingenous comments made by Mark Millar, Brian Bendis and Bryan Hitch in response to Michael Chabon's call for more kid-friendly comics, and the pros and cons of publishing same. Interesting stuff, marred only slightly by some typically clueless comments by some fella what goes by Bacardi. There's over 100 comments there!

Had an interesting job interview yesterday, which promises to pay more and actually holds out the hope of some sort of eventual authority on my part. Of course, it's far from a done deal, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

Just in case anyone cares, here's my music today list. Haven't done this for a while. David Bowie-The Man Who Sold The World; Morning Glory-The Tim Buckley Anthology; Iris DeMent-Infamous Angel; Randy Newman-Good Old Boys; Neil Young-Zuma; Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro.

What we have here is Angelina Jolie in her role as "Franky Cook", commander of an all-female amphibious squadron in the upcoming film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

People, I am really excited about this flick! I had previously seen a trailer somewhere, and it apparently didn't make a lasting impression on me. Don't know why. But after reading about the goings-on regarding Van Helsing director Stephen Sommers being off the upcoming John Carter, Warlord of Mars movie and Sky Captain director Kerry Conran being on at The Beat, I started clicking around and eventually went to the official site of the Sky Captain film...and all I can say is wow. An impression has definitely been created.

Captain appears to be a homage to those old science fiction pulp magazines of yore, and silent classics like Metropolis. I would give my eyeteeth to see a Doc Savage or Shadow film done this way. The production design is amazing- everything is soft-focus and retro, like the filmmakers spent a decade with their nose buried in Virgil Finlay and Roy Krenkel-illustrated stories. I don't know if Mike Kaluta had a hand in any of this, but this sort of thing has a definite Kaluta vibe. I'm also reminded of Dark City quite a bit. There's also a strong tongue-in-cheek Buckaroo Banzai feel as well...or maybe that's just me. It's also got a great cast- besides Jolie, we also get Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Giovanni Ribisi looking all weird and cool in his black goggles. I'm tellin ya- this is going to be amazing on the large screen. I think I just might have to go sell some blood or something to get the ticket money, but I'm gonna see this. Wow.

Click on Angelina above to go to the official Sky Captain site. September 17th, baby!

Nor is "Interman" the only CIA-laced adventure generating buzz. "The Losers," from DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, is a high-energy action property about a tough-as-nails U.S. Special Forces unit. Betrayed by their CIA handler and left for dead, the motley crew plots revenge by targeting the agency's dirty operations.

From a backstage.com article on comics properties that Hollywood has its eye on for "development". I'm happy for Jeff Parker, to see his excellent Interman getting some attention...but I'm not so sure I want to see it, or The Losers, or some of the other titles mentioned in the article get run through the Hollywood meat grinder, or get "Catwomaned", if you will.

Still, you gotta believe that Losers would be tailor-made for an HBO or Showtime series. You'd think so, anyway. Found via Franklin's Findings.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #2
SWAMP THING #6
DAISY KUTTER #1
LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2 #11

My haul Wednesday, per the new Diamond shipping list. Kind of a mixed bag, huh. Add to it, hopefully, the MIA Sleeper Season Two 2 and Walking Dead 9. I'm not gonna get my hopes up for Kutter; it wasn't listed on my shop's holds order/update form, but I wrote in big bold letters to ADD DAISY KUTTER...so we'll see on Wednesday, I guess.

They showed GYPSY! TWICE! Get the FUG outta TOWN! WOO HOO!

Sorry. That was my insane gibbering fanboy manifesting itself on Saturday night as I watched the premiere epsiode of the new incarnation of Cartoon Network's Justice League franchise, Justice League Unlimited. Of course, I'm sure you're all aware that the gimmick this year is that the JLA have opened the doors to the teeming hordes of super-people out there, in order to create more merchandising opportunities for CN and DC, I mean form a evil-fighting task force that is legion in number. And while I have my doubts about the viability of this move (I just don't see how they'll give all these characters enough screen time to be satisfying, and that trick never works when they try it in the comics-anybody remember Justice League Task Force?), based on episode one it seems to be working OK so far.

In this episode we get Green Arrow, who makes an immediately favorable impression and could serve as exhibit A of what I was talking about in the previous paragraph- now when will we get to see this cool character again? Captain Atom, who provided some nice humorous moments with his uptight military persona contrasting against GA's less structured, shall we say, approach; The Dini/Timm Superman Adventures Supergirl, who made me a bit nostalgic for those mid-to-late 90s Sunday mornings on WGN, and John Stewart, with a shaved head and stylin' new goatee. They are dispatched to investigate some sort of disturbance in China, which turns out to be some sort of giant robot which I could swear I've seen before, most likely in a Superman book...but I don't buy Superman books, so who the heck knows. Anyway, it turns out to be a rousing adventure and a fine showcase for each of the principals. Nice bit of continuity from last season, with the radiation-addled Stewart calling out Hawkgirl's name. The biggest fun, though, was reserved for the scenes in the satellite, which allowed us fanboys to "name that superhero" as a veritable slew ton of them, as the likes of Atom Smasher and Grant Morrison's Aztek, The Ultimate Man rubbed shoulders with Zatanna and Vibe. Yes, Vibe. The Timm-style Black Canary made an impressive first appearance, causing my inner geek to go all Tex Avery. And did I mention that THEY SHOWED GYPSY! TWICE! Nits to be picked, only one, and here be spoilers, so I apolgize in advance: the Chinese Army gives Cap Atom what appeared to be at least a dozen containment rods, for insertion in the Big Bad's chest hole, which was supposed to shut him down. Draw your own subtext here. Anyway, everything gets all fubar'ed, and Green Arrow dispatches him by shooting one half of a rod into said orifice! One half? Did I miss something here? Did they give Cap all those rods 'cause they were looking to get rid of a bunch they had lying around in the way? And all it took was one half of a lousy stinkin' rod! Minor point, I know, but it bugged me. But that was all. Looks like Justice League Unlimited is off to a great start, and I look forward to Ditko representin' in the next couple of weeks. And they showed GYPSY! TWICE! I love Gypsy, dont'cha know...what? You didn't know? Oh, sorry. I've loved that character ever since the late, unlamented JL Detroit years. She's a swee-tee.

I also caught the premiere, beforehand, of the third season of Teen Titans, and it was of the same quality as the previous two. I suppose either you love this cartoon or ya hate it, and I'm a lot closer to the love camp. It's energetic, whimsical and fun, although it often drives me into a nitpick frenzy. We finally get around to seeing the betrayal of Terra, a seminal event for those who remain devoted to the Wolfman/Perez edition of the comic-book Titans, and I thought it was well done. Plus, even two years later that Puffy Amiyumi/Andy Sturmer theme song kicks ASS.

Someone or something named "Hector Reeder" ("Easy" Reeder's brother, perhaps?) over at Ninth Art has taken a jab or two at the burgeoning Comics Blogosphereiverse in a column which reads, to me, like someone who's trying much too hard to be clever and breezy and fails to make a single significant point. At least when Heidi MacDonald took her shots, she drew blood!

Still, I suppose someone who writes under the nom de guerre "Johnny Bacardi" shouldn't snipe too much at someone who chooses to go by "Hector Reeder". Throwing glass houses, stones, that sort of thing.

Sendin'out Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings today to the great Ramblin' Jack Elliott, 73 today.

BEST OF THE WEEK
COMICS COMMENTARY!
What I bought and what I thought, week of July 28

DEMO 8
Despite the fact that this is yet another static and ambiguous story featuring somewhat unlikeable characters (both come across as self-absorbed, the female frustratingly abstruse and her boyfriend equally frustratingly clueless)...this still was the best comic I read this week, thanks in large part to the wonderful Paul Pope-ish art of Becky Cloonan, who provides this tale of a suicide's mix tape and the effect it has on her surviving lover with a melancholy beauty, like a grey day in February. It's the most evocative illustration job I've seen in a while, and it really brought out the empty, lonely feeling that the character must have been experiencing. For this reason, this issue impressed itself on me more than any others that I read this week, and for once I'm not left wondering "Is she a ghost?" "Is this all in the dude's head as he's listening to the tape?" "Who has the extraordinary power in this issue?" "Is it the guy, with the ability to "see dead people"?" "Is it the girl, who can create mix tapes that make you see dead people?" It doesn't matter. The story is told, empathy is created, mood is strongly evoked, and I give this an A 'cause I'm just like that sometimes.

DC: THE NEW FRONTIER 5
In which Darwyn Cooke does a big sprawling Kirby-ish monster comic, and we also get more in-depth in regards to that ridiculous Green Battery character. In fact, for some reason Cooke seems to have a real affinity and admiration for this most preposterous of costumed characters. Go figure. Anyway, Superman makes an inspiring speech, surely as big a part of his repertoire of powers as is flight and heat vision, we get an eyebrow-arching interlude with Batman and his youthful ward/crimefighting partner Robin, Aquaman appears for no real discernable reason, and J'onn J'onzz finds a most unlikely friend and partner. Plus- the Sea Devils! The Blackhawks! Cool! Cooke's paying tribute and trying to tell a story all at the same time, and for the most part he does so with vigor and imagination (like the blood in Wonder Woman's invisible plane)...and I could nit-pick with the story structure (I'm really wondering if there was a point to that John Henry business), but for my money this is great and grand entertainment, everything that it was promised to be when it was announced. A

POWERS V2 2
AKA the kick-ass adventures of Deena Pilgrim, who lays some serious wood on last issue's cop killer and gets all the best scenes in the process. We also find out more about last issue's climactic surprise appearance of the supposedly-dead superheroine. And that's about it! As always, tightly written, sharply dialogued, and very well drawn. In short, more of the reason why people who dig this comic, well, dig this comic...and I know that many will disagree with most of those claims, but there you go. No accounting for taste. A-

JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER 198
It's funny. Nine times out of ten, I have less than no patience with stories in which the hero or heroine is suffering from amnesia, and if...they...could...only...remember... then they could extricate themselves from whatever heinous situation they find themselves in, which is exactly how Mike Carey's set up good ol' Conjob for the last few issues- and funny thing is, I'm really liking this storyline in spite of it all! An adversary from several issues back in Carey's run has returned, and has some terrible stuff in store for his surprise victim, and apparently John can't do a thing to save himself...and I'll be darned if I know how he's gonna come out alive. Of couse I know he will, but it's nice, the not knowing how. Also, another splendid artjob by Marcelo Frusin, who is now on the short list, I would imagine, of all-time best JC illustrators. A-

EVIL EYE 12
Poor Richard Sala. He does issue after issue of whimsical, weird, extremely well illustrated comics and all everyone wants to talk about is Clowes and Ware and Sacco and the Bros. and... But fortunately for all of us who are attuned to his wiggy wavelength, Sala carries on undeterred. This issue features the big grande finale to his gnarly serial "Reflections in a Glass Scorpion", and I'm afraid that I have to state for the record that after one chapter per issue for the last two years, I have kinda gotten a bit fuzzy on who's who and what's what, and why people were getting killed and what secret they were dying to protect and all that, so it kinda blunted my enthusiasm and enjoyment of this book-length denouement just a little. But still, that art is as good as ever and we get excellent front and back (this one looks like he's been watching Van Helsing) covers of EE mainstay Peculia, plus a great spot drawing on the inside front cover ad for Sala's other Fantagraphics publications. Did I mention that I am an intese admirer of Sala's depictions of the female form? Well worth it for me; others might not share my enthusiasm. A-

PLANETARY 20
Well, the peevish fanboy in me wants to say that no book that comes out as infrequently as this one does should be so gorram slowly paced...but that's just nitpicking. I'm sure it will read better in collected form. Anyway, we get our first good look at the Ben Grimm anagram of the Fantastic Four-gone-bad that our heroes are is dealing with, just in time for them to sent him rocketing into space. Or at least that's what I think they did with him; the finale of this ish was just a tad hard to follow. Bitching aside, this is, for the most part, as well-written and drawn as always, and Cassaday in particular has some really nice moments. But for once, Ellis' glum and terse tone works against him- it's hard to be wide-eyed and blasé at the same time, and he does not succeed at all this time out. B+

THE LOSERS 14
Nick Dragotta, nice to meet you. Now please go away and don't come back. His awkward, too-broad art style has simply ruined the last two issues, which in more capable hands could have been a lot more rousing, if nothing else. Nothing wrong with the story, which focuses on straight-shooting CIA man Marvin Stegler more than it does the titular characters, and also gives us a nice scene in which he meets Clay for the first time. Can't win 'em all, I suppose, and the next issue should be better with Ale Garza's art...but Jock can't come back fast enough for me. B+

THE WITCHING 2
Boy, aren't those Tara McPherson covers great?

Oh. What did I think about the rest of the book? An interesting premise and characters rendered completely unremarkable by the bland art stylings of Leigh Gallagher and Ron Randall. Don't know why the braintrust at Vertigo seems to think that a relatively large amount of readers like this bland, competent, unimaginative and somewhat stiff art, best typified by Y: The Last Man's Pia Guerra, Lucifer's Peter Gross (who has, admittedly, gotten a lot better over the last few years) and Jesus Saiz, who did the first Midnight, Mass. series...but it seems like that if there's a Vertigo house style, then this be it, and that's not a good thing as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't help that writer Jonathan Vankin has no real affinity for the sort of dialogue that would help this rise above mediocrity-one wishes for some genuinely witty repartee, especially from Lucifer, who just seems kinda out of place here. Maybe this will improve, but I won't stand on one leg waiting. C+

MIA: Sleeper Season Two 2. My shop received damaged copies and I'll get mine next week. So they say.

Bon soir. Comics commentary, reviews, whatever the hell you want to call them, coming later- I'm going to my comics shop after I get off work, and I'll look to see if anything came out, like Sleeper and Powers, that I didn't get in my holds folder last Wednesday. So I'll wait until tonight or tomorrow. As if you were wondering...

Say, why not go affix your virtual signature to the Seaguy petition?

Happy to see that Alan David Doane is back on the blogging warpath; he's been missed.

And with that, having run out of anything else to say, he abruptly stops typing and hits the "publish" button.

Remember walking with you by my side
You were my Papa and I was your pride
Now I've got children and I'm going grey
No time for talking I got nothin' to say

Those Sunday dinners that we had at home
Now I've got a house and I've got friends of my own
We can't do tomorrow what we did yesterday
It's best that we're going our separate ways, OK

How is your rheumatism (nothing to say)
How are your chilblains (nothing to say)
How's Aunty Mabel (nothing to say)
So far Papa, I got nothin' to say, OK

Those happy days we spent together
We thought our world would never change
How the days go by
And things will never be the same

You keep pretending that everything's fine
So you make small talk to help pass the time
But all the words that you spit from your face
Add up to nothin' you got nothin' to say

How are those noisy neighbors next door
I'll have to go soon 'cos I'm getting bored
I gotta be home early to see a good play
So far Papa, I got nothin' to say

How is your life insurance (nothing to say)
How is your trade union (nothing to say)
How is your Independence (nothing to say)
So for Papa, I got nothin' to say

-Nothing To Say, by Raymond Douglas Davies on the 1968 album Arthur: Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire.

Kinda summing up my attitude today, sorry to say. Not that I have a father around to sing this to, mind you...I'm just referring to the title more than anything. I really need to get a copy of that album one of these days...

But since you probably came here via the Comics Weblog Update-a-Tron 5000, I suppose I should write something, to justify your faith in me to post something readable. I bought some comics yesterday, including most on my list from Monday, but not all. Happy to report that my copy of Demo 8 showed up...but I didn't get Powers 2 or Sleeper 2. Sigh. A new Mojo came out as well, but I didn't buy it...I'll save it for a less heavy week. Of course, I will review them right here as soon as I can finish reading 'em. Really enjoyed the latest New Frontier, despite the emphasis on that ridiculous Green Lantrin character, or whatever his name is. As a tiny part of the Great Basement Cleaning Undertaking, I took a box of about 45 Playboys and Penthouses from the late 80s-early 90s to my shop, to see if they'd give me something for 'em. We shall see. Hopefully they'll give me enough to turn around and give it right back to them in exchange for some TPB's and CD's...

Been listening to some music that I obtained through...shall we say, less than upfront methods- Goldfrapp's Black Cherry, downloaded in its entirety via LimeWire (don't worry- I will still buy this ASAP. The files have some defects in places), and Morning Glory-The Tim Buckley Anthology, copied from a friend's copy. I've been dying to hear Cherry since it came out last year, and I'm not disappointed. It's a different direction for Alison G and Will Gregory, more harsh electro-funk than the sweeping lushness of their first album Felt Mountain. Kinda like Human League meets Trent Reznor meets Eurythmics meets Bjork meets Shirley Bassey, I guess. Memo to the James Bond people: you need to let Goldfrapp do the next Bond song, pronto. Buckley I've known about for years, but have never been moved to check out his albums, although I did get real curious right about the time his son Jeff did Grace. I downloaded a track or three, but I wasn't bowled over by what I heard. That being said, I knew that I had only scratched the surface of his work, so when I got the opportunity to sample this set, I jumped. Buckley's mostly folk-rockish music is said to be very diverse...and I'm beginning to believe it after a couple of listens to the two-disc set. I haven't really processed it all yet. Hopefully more on that topic later. One kinda cool thing- included in this set, the last track even, is his acoustic performance of "Song of the Siren" from The Monkees TV show, which I remember very well.

Watched a movie last night, The Italian Job. Last year's remake, that is. Good-to-great cast, but the script's never as clever as it thinks it is and there are very few thrills to be had, after all is said and done...but strange thing- it's never boring. Nice opening heist, and the finale's moderately rousing as well. I wouldn't go out of my way to rent it, but an agreeable time-waster. Ed Norton is certainly making a career out of playing creeps and jerks, isn't he? I kept wondering where the hell the police were while all of this was going on. I know Sean Green's character had buggered up the traffic lights, but geez, the NYCPD has helicopters, don't they? And officers on foot? Charlize Theron is nice to look at, but who the hell keeps telling her to shave her eyebrows? I mean, where are they anyway? Oscar ceremony pictures? Nope, no eyebrows. Monster? Barely there, but hell, she's in heavy makeup. I know, I know, what it is really is that they're too light to be seen easily. But she just looks creepy...she should do something to darken them. Yeah, like she's gonna take my advice. Y'know, I've never seen the original version of this flick. Maybe I will someday.

Geez. Nothing to say, huh? Guess you get on a roll, then you're butta. Guess I'm done now. Gonna sit down and do the Sketch of the Day for the Sketchblog before the day's over!

Holy Mackanoley, do I love Alex Toth art. And funnily enough, the work of his that I love the most is his 60s and 70s work for DC, Warren and others. Over at tothfans.com, they've posted part one and part two of a 70s Black canary story that Toth did with Denny O'Neil in Adventure Comics, which I could swear I used to have, but the cover for part two doesn't look familiar at all so I suppose I saw it reprinted somewhere a little later. It's presented here with interesting annotations by Toth. You, little misses and misters, should go check it out, 'cause it's GOOD. If a little dated.

In the spirit of credit where credit is due, Graeme at Fanboy Rampage first pointed it out.

Well. It seems like I have a new name (as if I didn't have enough already, oy my aching head). Per General Smallnuts, I am now Commander Bushytail of the Squirrel Army!

I am honored and will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability, SIR!

Hang on, I'm gonna skip around from topic to topic. I haven't done a rambling post in some time now, intentionally that is, so here goes.

After looking at several of the San Diego Comicon reports online, I can see that a very good time was there for the having, and many did just that. However, on the other side of that coin, I come away with two observations. One, after looking at the pictures posted at 4CR, one of which I stole and posted above, I'm not so unhappy about not being able to attend. That is one humongous mass of humanity, and I'll bet it was heck trying to get around. Second, I have rarely felt as much like an ancient old geezer as I did when I was looking at some of the Pants Presser's photos, and saw the pic of Scary-Go-Round's John Allison, not to mention some of the pros I've seen in other places. Allison, whose SGR and Scareodeleria online comics remind me a lot of Friends as done by Charles Addams, writes and illustrates with a tone and skill which would belie his apparent callow youthfulness. Then again, he may just be a really young-looking 30-year-old. Who the hell knows. Anyway, if you would viddy these photo reports I've been gazing upon yourselfs, go here. And here. And here. Ian Brill has some interesting reports as well, not to mention a dynamite-looking page design.

Some, not a lot, of interesting announcements from the big companies came out at the SDCC, and as usual I found myself most intrigued by many of the upcoming Vertigo projects. I keep thinking I'll list them and post my thoughts on them and other Comicon announcements, but I'll probably keep thinking about it and thinking about it until several months have gone by and it will be beside the point.

What am I listening to today, you may ask? Besides the voices in my head? Stone Temple Pilots' No.4. Camper Van Beethoven-Key Lime Pie. Deep Purple-Who Do We Think We Are?. Bjork's Vespertine. Just can't warm up to that one. Another I've been listening to today is Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily. Now Natalie is an artist who has always appealed to me despite my better judgment. Her music on her own (that I've heard- more on that later) and with 10,000 Maniacs was usually listenable, despite often being somewhat bland & slick. Natalie's contribution was usually the most problematic- her lyrics are groaningly pretentious when they're not stiff, clumsy and awkward, and she sings them in a voice that more often as not reminds me of Zsa Zsa Gabor, dahlings. You know- "They say I must be vun of the vonders, God's own creation". Anyway, even after all this, there's something in the sheer stubborn determined earnestness of what she does that wins me over, even though I fully recognize that I should know better. Case in point, the righteous lather she works herself up in way back on 1987's "What's The Matter Here" from the In My Tribe album. She is positively fervent and convincing as she reads a child abuser the riot act, and that song more than any other made me tolerant of what she's about. Tigerlily was her first solo release after she dumped the other Maniacs, and it's a low-key affair, quiet, folky and often even jazzy in places. Of course, you remember the hits, for good or ill- "Jealousy", the aforementioned "Wonder", and "Carnival", with a jazzy, laid-back vibe that I liked. I don't think this is a bad album, but outside of those songs and about two others, the other tracks just don't make much of an impression, and I think that's why I didn't go out of my way to pick up its follow-up Ophelia, or the two or three albums she's done subsequently. Oh well, maybe I'll remedy that someday. And that's what I've listened to today. So far.

Go here for morethanweimagine.com, the official Mike Nesmith lyric site. One of my favorite Nez songs and lyrics: St.Matthew.

Saw a couple of movies over the weekend, well, actually one and a half. The one, S.W.A.T., the Sam Jackson/Colin Farrell profit-taker which managed to keep me diverted for most of its 2 hours plus. Lotsa shooting and explosions and attitude, completely predictable in every way, but all in all a passable way to kill some time if you're in need of that sort of thing. Later that evening, I caught a screening of the John Cusack film Max, about young pre-horrible dictator slash struggling artist Adolf Hitler's art dealer. I had heard about this odd film for a while, but this was my first opportunity to view it. I wish I could tell you what I thought about it, but I fell asleep before it was over, at about 2 AM. It's not that the film was dull, actually far from it- it was very interesting and well acted. But at some point I laid my head back and shut my eyes, and I was done. Hopefully, it will come on again and I can finish it. Only my twisted mind could process such disparate films in the same evening. Maybe that's why I went to sleep- my brain overloaded. Also over the weekend I was delighted to see the season two premiere of Showtime's Dead Like Me, which, despite showing a little rust in a few subtle places, was still very enjoyable. Can't wait to see where it's all going this year.

Haven't done any sports rambling for a while, either, so here goes. My White Sox are dead but just don't know it yet without Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas, out until September at the earliest. The body's still stumbling around, but it won't be long before it collapses, and the first sign was the loss to the Twins last night. My fantasy team in the money league is the same way...injuries and bad luck have completely negated my hot start and now I find myself in 5th place, 24 points out of 1st and 6 1/2 out of fourth. Stick a fork in me. Ricky Williams? Oh jeez. As with Barry Sanders, he was perfectly within his rights to walk away, but his timing couldn't have been worse. Fortunately, I'm neither a Dolphins fan (quite the contrary) or his fantasy owner, so I'm not as bent out of shape about it as some, I'm sure, are. Speaking of the NFL, my Atlanta Falcons open training camp today, oh boy oh boy. And that's the sports post of the week.

I've posted another sketch on my sketch blog, first in a series that I hope will keep me drawing more often. The plan is to do a "Comic Book Character of the Day" series, in which I shall do a daily drawing of a, that's right, you guessed it, comic book character. I take requests, so go over to the JBSB and make it known! I'm kinda toying with the notion of accepting commissions, in case there's some sucker, I mean some nice person crazy enough to commission me to draw them something...but I haven't decided what to do about that yet. I'm also trying to get a couple of spot illos done for a story written by recent burglary victim Rick Geerling of Eat More People renown. Go visit his Amazon wish list, link at his site, and buy him something, mkay?

On a personal note, nothing new on the job search front. There have been a few things pop up lately, and I've dutifully submitted resumés for each and every one, but have had no response so far. I even had the frustrating displeasure of submitting a resumé for a graphics job with Plus Mark, a Franklin, Tennessee American Greetings affiliate. That's not the bad part, obviously- here's what made it such an incredible bitch- I was contacted a few days later by someone from their HR department, and she left a message. Now, I work roughly 8 to 5, then drive 40 minutes home and stop by to record voice tracks for my radio station job. I get home about 6:30-7, of course too late to return the call and have any hope of speaking to her. I call back anyway, and leave a voice mail message telling her when I can be reached at home. She calls back a couple of days later, of course when I'm not home. Complicating things is that the Daily Snooze has a "no long distance phone calls" policy, which makes it impossible for me to call her during her office hours.. I return the call, and leave another message including my number here at the Snooz (something with which I'm VERY uncomfortable, since I have no privacy here) and even my email address, if she'd care to contact me that way. Since then, nothing. I've called several times, even borrowed a friend's cell phone and called during what should be her office hours, and left messages every time...but have never reached her in person. This went on for about 2-3 weeks, so I can safely assume that by now they've hired someone who's a bit easier to reach on the telephone. This just pisses me off no end. People, I HATE the gorram job search process.

That's all I can think of right now. Kinda slow at work today, can't you tell? Maybe more later.

Although I'm actually encouraged by the comics blogsphere, if for a different reason. I like the idea that the folks who go on every day and write and rant and comment are doing it for no other reason than they seem to be compelled to put their thoughts down in some sort of permanent record. I like that commitment to flying your flag to see who salutes it. I mean, it's not like anyone's paying them to do it. On my better days, I have to believe the blogs are all about passion, and I can dig that.

Joe Casey sums up the reason why I continue to bring you the Show, in a new column appearing at CBR by him and Matt Fraction, "The Basement Tapes". Official theme song of this column: "Million Dollar Bash".

Years ago, I once read something about Axl Rose, of all fucking people... how he'd read CIRCUS Magazine (not exactly ROLLING STONE or CREEM in rock journalism spheres) as a kid, filled with depthless articles and insipid interviews with Elton John or Robert Plant or whoever... and he'd take that shit seriously. He didn't know any better? he didn't know that CIRCUS was mainly the home of mindless fluff pieces extolling vapid musical virtues and the perception of the "kewlness" of the rock n' roll lifestyle. The way lil' Axl perceived it was, as you say, gospel without irony. That informed his worldview, and that gave us the Axl Rose we all know and love today...

I love this observation as well. I used to read Circus, and actually enjoyed it to a point, but around 1975 or so I had also begun to read Creem, Crawdaddy, and Rolling Stone (it was worthwhile back then, trust me)...and I knew right away that Circus wasn't quite in the same league as the others, so I stopped. Some do this with a lot of information sources, many don't...and that's why we get so many folks who are geared to the average rather than the exceptional. I vividly recall friends asking me, back in our teenage years, "How do you know about these people? These Mott The Hooples and Pentangles and Lou Reeds? I ain't never heard of them!" The answer was simple, I said...I read about them, they sounded interesting, so I bought something. This was usually greeted with a blank stare, or a reaction like I had told them that they should eat broccoli.

Anyway, an entertaining column, and one I look forward to reading each week or month or whenever they put it out.

While visiting my good friend Dave Puckett the other evening, our coversation turned (as it so often does) to comics, and 60s DCs and Marvels in particular. We were discussing favorite covers, and first issues read of a particular title, and when I tried to recall my first issue of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, I couldn't do it. I remembered that it involved Baron Strucker, but that's all I remembered. Now, thanks to the Silver Age Marvel Covers Index, I now know which one it was- Sgt. Fury 14, top. Also, below it is a cover that is one of my favorite old Marvel comics covers, Sgt. Fury 16. I think it's the near-monochromatic color scheme of the whole thing, which certainly made it stand out to 5-year-old me. Makes me thirsty just looking at it. Ironic, isn't it, that I'm now constantly bitching about colorists Lee (Gotham Central) Loughridge and Bryan (Bite Club) Miller doing essentially the same thing?

Very cool images and mp3s from the Firefly, I mean Serenity, panel at SDCC can be found right 'cheyre. Looks like they managed to get the entire cast for the occasion, even Ron Glass in his natty hat, and oh to be that close to Morena (Inara) Baccarin...

DC THE NEW FRONTIER #5
HELLBLAZER #198
LOSERS #14
PLANETARY #20
SLEEPER SEASON TWO #2
WITCHING #2
WALKING DEAD #9
POWERS #2
EVIL EYE #12

My haul Wednesday, according to the latest Diamond shipping list. Also add, with any luck, Demo 8, which of course I didn't get thanks to UPS or my shop, or both. They're supposed to be sending me a copy from Nashville. Again. Sigh. Anyways, tickled to see the new Evil Eye, with the finale of the "Reflections in a Glass Scorpion" storyline, listed. Always a happy day when I get new Richard Sala comics.

BEST OF THE WEEK

COMICS COMMENTARIANISM!
What I bought and what I thought, week of July 21

DAREDEVIL 62
Ho hum. Another month, another issue of Daredevil at the top of my weekly ratings pile. I've read three dozen or more reasons, in a variety of places, why Bendis' writing is subpar, why everyone who doesn't think so is blinded by some sort of cult of personality or just doesn't know shit from shinola, and this comic sucks...so I suppose I'm either an idiot or just a contrary mofo because nine times out of ten, when I crack open the new DD by Bendis and Maleev, I'm hooked from page one. This issue extends the situations in which Matt deals with his divorce from Milla and having the Black Widow using him, essentially, for cover from the political machinations of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the US government. The former is represented in a five page sequence made up of two conversations with the Widow and Foggy Nelson, the latter by a humorous conversation between a general and the director of the CIA on pages two and three. Mr. B even throws the fanboys a bone by letting DD and the BW put on thier suits, leap around, and hit someone. Alex Maleev turns in another fine job, as usual better with the conversations and mood than the leaping and hitting. If I must critcize, I suppose that one could say that the proceedings have a somewhat lugubrious pace, but that doesn't bother me. And the beat goes on, dee dee dee. A

LUCIFER 52
Mike Carey is once again taking all his standard mythological and theological, not to mention Gaimanological, ingredients and is cooking up a stew in which the titular character must needs deal with some particularly nasty dieties who are roaming around killing people for some unclear-as-yet motive even as existence ("our" existence, anyway, and not Luci's universe) slowly unravels. I think Carey does very well by all of Gaiman's concepts, and of course has few peers these days in mainstream comics when it comes to dialogue and character interaction. I especially enjoyed the Lucifer-Destiny confrontation at the end. The Gross/Kelly art team turns in its usual solid, if not terribly exciting, job. Nice cover by Chris Moeller, which reminds me a little of the cover theme DC adopted for all its covers about 5 or 6 years ago. When Mike Kaluta begins his cover run, I'm going to be having severe 90's run of Books of Magic flashbacks. A-

HUMAN TARGET 12
The theme, speaking of themes, for this week seems to be "consistency", like in that I always seem to be saying the same things each month. As usual with Milligan's Human Target, I find some plot point or another which leaves me skeptical and unbelieving (besides my usual misgivings about the core conceit behind the Christopher Chance character in the first place), and this issue, it's love interest Mary White's secret life as a "family reuniter", which, admittedly, she glibly explains early on...but I'm still unconvinced at the likelihood that a Hollywood producer's wife (or anyone, for that matter), regardless of how deep their pockets were or how connected they were, could become such a player in a very nasty, dead serious game in such a short amount of time. Oh well, as usual, I just take a deep breath, activate my secret "disbelief suspension" abilities, and find myself enjoying a tautly written thriller with some interesting characters (such as the downright reprehensible slave-trading brothers) and a genuinely tension-filled cliffhanger. Javier Pulido's deceptively simplistic but always outstanding art helps me with this a lot. A-

SEAGUY 3
I am by no means one of those who expects a happy ending or even a favorable resoultion out of his fantasy fiction, even fantasy fiction dressed in social commentary's clothes, but Grant's finale here is so distressingly downbeat, so bleak, and so defeated that my reaction to this, the final issue, was one of disappointment, stunned disbelief even...then concern for Grant's psyche. Now, I realize that Morrison works on a lot of different levels, and I fully concede that I may be missing, or completely misinterpreting the point...but the impression I got from the ending of this issue is that no matter what you do, how many adventures you want to have, how enlightened you may become, and how many good works you may do for whatever cause, it will all come to naught and is ultimately pointless because the system that stifles individualism and creativity will eventually grind you under its benign heel as sure as rain is wet and heat is hot. And I don't know about all of you, but that's the last little moral I expected to get from our Grant. Which makes me suspect that I did indeed miss something. Maybe re-readings will bring ths out, but for now all I can do is shake my head and hope Grant gets a little optimism back into his life and work, whether or not it can make any difference against the machinations of Mickey Eye. One thing I do know- Cameron Stewart did a wonderful, imaginative job of illustrating the epic proceedings. A-. Entire series: A-

JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE 1
Funny. All I ever read, and I suspect that this is a kneejerk reaction sometimes, is how convoluted and hard to follow Joe Kelly's scripts are. And it's not always unwarranted- internal logic and sequential clarity are not always Joe's first priority. This being said, I found the debut issue of Kelly's Authority-lite superteam surprisingly easy to keep up with. Of course, his dialogue and characterization is always sharp, even though most of these new characters haven't made a real impression on me yet, except for Jenny- I mean Vera- who seems to have the requisite bad attitude that the role she fills requires. I found myself liking the unpleasant, arrogant Naif character, who seems to be a liason of some sort for the group. He gets many of the best lines. I'm hoping that Joe K can keep it up for 11 more issues. The art? Oh yeah, I liked the art. Very much, thank you. A-

EX MACHINA 2
Brian Vaughn and Tony Harris spend three-quarters of this issue continuing to set the stage for what I assume will be the future conflicts and relationships our Superhero mayor will be dealing with in time, then abruptly shoehorn in an attempt to discuss the nature of confrontational art, which is a worthy enough goal, I suppose, and the image (a portrait of Lincoln with the N-word emblazoned in the foreground) is certainly provocative (especially if you're a Civil War scholar, I suppose, or were alive in 1865), but the effect of shoving this in from left field is to leave you scratching your head and wondering "What's this got to do with that?" Guess it's just me, but as with Vaughn's Swamp Thing and Y: The Last Man, there's just a blandness about his scripting that keeps me from getting hooked by the stories he writes. Fortunately, he has a capable, imaginative artist in Tony Harris to illustrate his scripts, unlike before, and that makes a huge difference...especially when Harris manages to match his characters' facial expressions to the events they're supposed to be reacting to, a neat trick he sometimes fails to do. B

Checked my email just now, and what to my wondering (no pun intended) eyes should appear but an email from Justice League Elite inker Tom Nguyen, with this absolutely kick ass, unbelieveably cool illustration of Wondy attached! This refers to my, shall we say, intense admiration for the Amazon Princess as rendered by Tom and Doug Mahnke. And, of course, when I review JLE 1, this will in no way influence my fair and balanced (now where have I heard that before?) opinion of that comic. Besides, I already thought that Mahnke and Nguyen were among the very best, if not the best, mainstream superhero comic illustrators working today, so that much you can take as a given, right?

Anyway, domo arigato, merci beaucoups and muchas gracias to ya, Tom! Wish I could afford the original...

Very tired this evening...been helping out at an auction for my father-in-law's auction/realty business. You never appreciate the true meaning behind the old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" until you've been to an auction to liquidate someone's home and belongings. Anyway, hot, sweaty work all day long. So not much bloggy goodness from me today. BUT.



A very special BSBdG goes out to Theresa Ann Doyle-Jones, aka Mrs. B, who turns the same age as her somewhat less-than-better half this very day. The old saying "Behind every successful man is a woman who loves him" has never been truer, except I haven't been all that successful.

Also,



BSBdG's also go out to Thriller artist and helluva nice guy Trevor Von Eeden. I'm not sure how old he is, I think it's a couple of years more than me. Anyway, he's not quite the red-hot, up-and-coming golden boy artist he used to be, but somehow I think there's still great work to come from TVE. And rest assured I'll be along to let you know when.

But seriously, Hugh- what's my motivation in this scene?

Longtime readers may recall that waaaay back in March of 2003 I posted an entry about a news item I had spied on Ain't It Cool News about the upcoming wannabe Hugh Jackman potential franchise film Van Helsing, stating that it would either be (as I so cleverly put it) "either a colossal cluster fuck or one of the greatest action/adventure/horror/fantasy films ever". So, of course, the final result, which I saw Saturday for one dollar, was neither.

I'm sure most of you reading this are familiar with the Van Helsing of print, screen, stage and film so far, mostly personified by Peter Cushing's reserved English gentleman, who was always ready to whip out a silver crucifix on a moment's notice. Anthony Hopkins gave us an eccentric, almost unhinged Doctor, in a lot of ways closer to Bram Stoker's original conception than either Cushing or the Lugosi film's Van Helsing, played stiffly, but with a reserved kind of competent cool, by Edward Van Sloan. Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing is nothing like any of these portrayals; he's a grim, quiet man of action who has no memory of who he really is or how he came to be a supernatural monster hunter for the Vatican, all decked out in his finest Solomon Kane-like black leather. All heroes have to wear black leather in the movies, you know- it's as ubituquous now as white hats used to be. Turns out he has some connection to Count Dracula and the vampiric goings-on in Transylvania, which comes in handy because that's where the Pope sends him next.

Basically, this flick was like James Bond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Moulin Rouge! all mashed together in a big lump. It's big, loud, and relentless as it hurtles from this battle to that battle to this cliff-hanger to that cliff-hanger, helter-skelter, as if it's afraid we'll get bored if it gets quiet and leave. Kind of like an overactive child throwing a temper tantrum. The overriding concern here seems to be a prototype for the next potential Universal Theme Park attraction, and certainly to establish a franchise of some sort. There's not much room for wit or subtlety...but obviously we're not supposed to expect that sort of thing from a movie like this, are we?

That being said, there are a few good ideas in the script, and some very nice production design is evident throughout. Someone in the decision making process had his heart in the right place, because the movie looks good, and there aren't too many groanworthy moments. I was honestly surprised at the ending, which kinda goes against the grain of this sort of adventure film. The CGI are pretty good, too- rarely did the action involving Dracula's annoying vampire brides, the Frankenstein monster, or the werewolves look excessively stiff or fake. There were some rousing set pieces, like the skirmish between Van Helsing, Beckinsale's character and the vampire brides in the village, or a humorous fight between VH and Mr. Hyde, who looks like he walked over from the set of LXG.

Jackman isn't asked to do a whole lot, acting-wise, and that's pretty much what he does. He projects intensity, which is all the filmmakers were looking for. But he looks like Olivier, Brando and Cary Grant all rolled into one compared to his co-star Kate Beckinsale, who is a lovely woman but does not possess one ounce of acting ability in her shapely body. She couldn't act annoyed in a traffic jam. Richard Roxburgh, the wimpy Duke in Moulin Rouge!, is almost unrecognizable and often unbearable as Dracula. He overacts throughout, and adopts a thick accent that gets overbearing sometimes. He does have some effective moments here and there, though, to be fair. Comic relief is provided by David Wenham as Carl, who functions like Bond's Q to Van Helsing, providing him with neat almost-anachronistic gadgets like the rapid-fire arrow shooter you see in the picture above, which he uses to great effect in the aforementioned village scene. He gets some funny lines in here and there, plus gets to pitch woo with a cute villager, so he winds up as the coolest character by default.

So even as my brain told me I shouldn't, I was entertained by Van Helsing. It's overblown and as overstuffed as Beckinsale's snug corset, but it's never boring and, wonder of wonders, doesn't insult the intelligence all that much. In a lot of ways, it's a energetic spin on those moldy old monsters of yore, but I just wish it hadn't been so eager to be a rollercoaster movie and nothing more. I'll give it a B+, but remember that I only paid a dollar to see it. If you spend more than that, you might be a bit less charitably inclined than I.

I've noticed a lot of fine folks (well, not a lot, but there have been a few) posting on the proposed (threatened) Green Lantern flick that's set to star Jack Black in the title role, and the prevailing attitude seems to be "Sure! Why not! What the hell! Green Lantern's ridiculous, and Jack's cool, so why not embrace the inherent cheesiness of the Lantern Corps and go with it?".

Uh...no. C'mon. Aren't Catwoman, Constantine, and of course those timeless classics Batman and Robin and Superman III enough to satisfy that need to see the super hero ridiculed and made fun of?

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm no GL fan, never really have been, although I liked those old O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrows, and enjoyed the occasional Broome/Kane GL's back in my childhood. But I've never really been all that enamored of the character, be it Jordan, Rayner, Stewart, Kilowog, or G'nort even. So I don't have any real vested interest in how he's portrayed, unlike some. I also like Black, although I wish his film role choices were better sometimes. He's great in Tenacious D, was great in High Fidelity, and I'm sure is wonderful in School of Rock (haven't seen it yet). But c'mon. He's more Pieface than GL, and if you just can't get enough of the Starsky and Hutch (2004) school of filmmaking, then there are plenty of places to get your jollies than to see poor GL made into a joke.

If this is the best way they can come up with to bring the Lantern onto the silver screen...then I just wish they'd decline. Forget it. Hopefully, the aforementioned Catwoman and Constantine flicks will bomb so spectacularly that they'll make every producer in Hollywood abandon the comics ship. Of course, I won't hold my breath. But really. Jack Black. Green Lantern. Do you really hate genre comics so much that you would want to see this perpretated in the cinemas of the world? Not me, buddy.

Wanna take a minute and send out a BSBdG to Annie the CzelticGirl, who's also changing demographics as a result of this landmark. I'm feelin' ya.

Thanks to recently-added-to-links-list Jon Silpayamanant's Mae Mai blog, I've discovered an art site by someone who calls himself "Falcoon", and it's beautiful stuff, as you can see from the sample above.. Go check it out, but be warned that the site uses Japanese characters, so you won't be able to read anything. Unless, of course, your browser's set up for them. All right, I'll shut up. Click on the image and go check it out!