I would like you to dance/take a cha-cha-cha chance.

Can't let the day go by without sending along a Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting to Sir Paul McCartney, 67 years of age today.

Here's my now four-year-old list of favorite McCartney and Wings tracks. I don't think I'd add anything from albums released since, although I did like "Fine Line" from Chaos and Creation and "Dance Tonight" from Memory Almost Full. In fact, I thought the latter was a pleasantly surprising, strong collection of songs.

You'd think that people would have had enough of Paul McCartney; I look around me and I see it isn't so. Oh no. (I never get tired of that joke. "We KNOW", I hear you all say.)

Picture ganked from the outstanding BEATLE PHOTO BLOG, your source for unique, interesting Fabs snaps and fart jokes.

A few items of note.

ITEM! Yesterday, I got the opportunity to read an advance PDF of the first issue of Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber's new creator-owned series from Image, Underground. Here's how Image describes it in the solicitations:

Park Ranger and avid caver Wesley Fischer is on a one-woman mission to stop Stillwater Cave from being turned into a tourist trap, but public opinion is not on her side. When locals begin blasting in the cave, Wes and a fellow ranger investigate – and a confrontation spirals into a deadly chase deep under the Kentucky mountains!

Didja see that word "Kentucky"? As a lifelong resident of the Bluegrass State, that kinda got my attention. You don't see comics that take place in my neck of the woods very often. Actually, I seem to recall discussing the idea for a story set here a year or two (perhaps) ago with Parker via email, but eventually forgot about it. I suppose this must be the end result of that line of thought! Anyway, this locale is kinda close to home for me; I don't really live near the mountains (that's East, I'm South Central), but I do certainly live right in the middle of cave country- Mammoth Cave National Park is only about 15 minutes away from my doorstep. Heck, the town in which I live has "Cave" in it, named for the good-sized cave ("Hidden River Cave", aka "Horse Cave") right on Main Street as well as the American Cave Museum and Karst Center that serves a lot of ecological causes as well as doing pretty good tourist business. Plus, there are lots of big and small caves all around here, some connected even, so while I am far from knowledgable about them I do know a thing or two, and I find the whole story setup very interesting. It highlights a very topical conflict when it comes to caves, that is the age-old commerce vs. conservation argument, and does so unobtrusively within the context of the story. Characterization is strong, as is to be expected from Parker, and while it sometimes reads (like so many comics stories do these days) like a movie/TV series pitch, it can be enjoyed on its own terms as a sequential narrative. The small-town versimilitude is good; there's a strong Native American presence in Parker's small town of Marion that I don't really see around here where I live, but I can't speak for the mountains of Eastern Kentucky; I'm sure there was a lot of migration north from Tennessee and North Carolina, so it's not a problem. I've posted a couple of pages above, the second one is a great example of Lieber's solid art- the cave scenes feature excellent blackspotting, and he's as good with the action scenes as he is the small-town diner ones. I'm thinking that this is going to be a series that people should be reading. Here's an interview with the creators at Newsarama. Underground is supposed to hit the stands in August.

ITEM! As you may know if you've read my blog for any length of time, one of my all-time favorite comics series is Elaine Lee and Mike Kaluta's Starstruck. Having first been smitten way back in the early-mid 80's via the serialization in Heavy Metal magazine, then continuing to follow when it was collected into one of the Marvel Graphic Novel series, which led to the 6-issue Epic Comics series, then the Galactic Girl Guides features that appeared in Rocketeer Adventure Magazine...as well as the abortive revival attempt by Dark Horse Comics in the 90's...well, let's just say that I pretty much had given up hope that it would ever see the light of day again, Lee having phased herself out of comics writing and Kaluta concentrating on covers and illustration work, and oh yeah, the little matter of being unable to find a publisher willing to commit the money. Fortunately for all of us, IDW stepped up to the plate and will soon be reissuing Starstruck once more, this time expanded from the original art by Kaluta and featuring lavish color by Lee Moyer, and unless I'm mistaken, it will finally move beyond where the Epic #6 left off. It all sounds too good to be true! Anyway, the hype machine has slowly gotten into gear, and Newsarama posted part one of an interview with the creators today, and it's fascinating stuff to me. Starstruck is right up there with Thriller, Chase, Timespirits, Gemini Blood, and all those other books that I tend to obsess over, and with Moyer's colors adding a new dimension to Kaluta's always-brilliant finished art, it looks gorgeous. And of course, Lee's dense, layered, yet humorous and exciting script, with its multitudes of fascinating characters, gets the showcase it deserves here, looks like. I'm as excited about this as I have been anything comics-related in a long time.

ITEM! This may come as a surprise to you, since I know that everyone (well besides Dirk Deppey) looks upon me as a grand old man of comics, who has seen and read just about everything, but I have never owned, nor read in reprints, the 70's Spider-Man story which detailed the death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin, and the subsequent payback Pete enacted. I just wasn't buying Spidey at the time (I would have been 11-12), having loved the Ditko years, as well as the early Romita Sr. stuff as well...but by the time Gil Kane and Gerry Conway came along I had long stopped reading. So, when Comics Should Be Good at CBR spotlighted that legendary, but unseen-by-me sequence from AS-M #122 as one of their "Year of Cool Comic Book Moments" series, well, I was gobsmacked, as British comics writers tell us our friends across the pond say, to see that the screenwriters of the first Spider-Man film pretty much used this same ending, which (and I hope I don't spoil; I think I'm the last person to read this) sees Pete inadvertently cause the death of the Goblin at the pointed ends of his glider. I though the film's scriptwriters made that ending up! Just shows to go ya, I guess- I don't know everything! You can see the rest of the sequence by clicking on the link above; reading it now, I am struck by how odd Kane's pencils look with the heavy Romita inks. Also, Conway's scripting is tres pretentious, at least to me; his attempts at amplifying the drama of the scene via narration are as hamfisted and leaden. But pretty much all Marvel comics read like this then; this is the voice, I believe, that young writers were encouraged to write in at the time at the House that Jack (and Steve and yes, Stan) Built; imitative of Roy Thomas, who had pretty much taken the writer/editor torch from Unca Stan by the early 70's. I recall liking his Daredevil and the Black Widow series, which came out at about this time, but little else- and I am finding that when I do reread his stuff now, it's going down a bit better than it did, say, in the late 70's to early 90's for me, a period in which I unfairly dismissed him as a hack of the highest (lowest?) order.

ITEM! I'm all out of items for now! Reviews, which should get me caught up once and for all (till the next DCBS box shows up, that is), will be forthcoming.

BACARDI SHOW BIRTHDAY GREETINGS.

I used to do this all the time, almost every day, back when I started blogging and for about a year or two after- it takes a minimum of effort (image searching takes the most time) and provides a little blogfodder when you don't have anything else in mind to write, something which has happened to me with dismaying frequency lately. Perhaps it's time I started doing them again. So, how about some recent birthdays that have a little resonance for me:

My Forties inamorata, Priscilla Lane, would have been 94 last Friday. Above, you can see her in a screencap from what is probably her best-known film, Arsenic and Old Lace, made in 1941 but not released till 1944 due to the popularity of the stage version. Many will recognize her from the Hitchcock film she made as well, 1942's Saboteur. She had an energy and vivaciousness that lit up any movie she appeared in, and a certain outgoing quality that made her a natural for "good gal" kinds of parts, even though I bet she could have played the "bad girl" if she wanted. She didn't make too many more films after that; she had an independent streak, it seems, and didn't play well with the studio system of the time, which makes me love her all the more. It's a pity that Turner Classic Movies, which at least screens her films from time to time, won't dedicate an evening to her or recognize her in some fashion. At this point, I could direct you to the Priscilla Lane Picture Gallery, but due to the dismantling of Geocities, its owner is in the process of moving all the pics to the Priscilla Lane Fan Club Yahoo! Group, which will require you to join in order to see them. Because I've written about her on numerous occasions in the past, I got an email a year or two ago from Priscilla's granddaughter, who was looking for online pics of her grandma. I directed her to that site, and was really geeked for about a week...

Yesterday would have been the 68th birthday of Harry Nilsson. My love for Harry's music knows no bounds, ever since getting the 45 of "Coconut" when I was 11, and also loving the B-side "Down". The first album I bought came a few years later, 1974's Pussy Cats, which got my attention because of John Lennon's name in the production credits. After that, I picked up everything I could get my hands on, including what is still my favorite LP of his, Son of Schmilsson, which had a couple of tracks that featured his rowdy good humor side to career-derailing effect. Be that as it may, it showed every facet of his multi-faceted musical abilities, from vulgar to sweet, sometimes in the same song. To this day, rarely does a week go by that I don't listen to some Nilsson somewhere. He left us all too early. A good place to go if you want to get acquainted with Harry is the For the Love of Harry blog, dedicated to all things Nilssony.

Yesterday was also the 64th birthday of one of my all-time favorite comics writers, Don McGregor (left in picture), who, unlike the other two BSBdG nominees, is thankfully still with us. As I've written many times here, McGregor wrote one of my absolute favorite comics series, War of the Worlds featuring Killraven, his verbose style adding a sense of high drama to the proceedings, ably assisted by an up-and-coming young P. Craig Russell, Herb Trimpe and Gene Colan on earlier issues, and others. I came to his other great 70's work, Jungle Action featuring the Black Panther, a bit late (the first issue I chose to buy was the last one he wrote!), but I soon made up for that by scouring the quarter boxes and back issue bins of that new phenomenon, the comics store. I really wish Marvel would release a TPB of "Panther's Rage". The above pic was found on McGregor's Facebook page.

That's all for now! Maybe I'll even post some whose birthday is today!

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Once more into the breach with CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, where I frantically attempt to catch up with comments on comics that I have bought and/or received during my two-month hiatus, to be specific since March 21st, some of which may even still be on sale at finer comics selling establishments worldwide if you're lucky. Or not, as the case may be.

THE BOYS #'s 29, 30: The stale X-Men satire finally expires, with little in the way of laughs or thrills, and now gives way to the inevitable "shoe's on the other foot NOW" storyline, in which our poor persecuted super-shits get a measure of revenge on Butcher and the titular lads (and lass). If it sounds like I'm down on this book, I'm not- there are more than a few little plot threads I'm interested in, even though, if you remember my piece on spinoff Herogasm the other day, I'm kinda dreading the outcome of one of 'em because I just don't think Garth has it in him to be kind. Anyway, it's still well done, although I think I'm beginning to wish it was a bit more well done, if you know what I mean- but I'm still on board. For now. #29: B+; #30: A-

FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: DANCE 1
FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: ESCAPE 1
FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: RUN#'s 1, 2: Run gives us the Human Flame doing just that, as all the "good"guys want payback for the death of Martian Manhunter, and is against all odds quite compelling as we see his desperate attempts to survive. Of course, he can't help but remain a douchebag even as he does so, which makes it all the more interesting. Escape presents Tom Tresser aka the Nemesis, locked away in some World Peace Agency prison or psych ward or something, and hits every Prisoner note imaginable as he attempts to figure out what the hell is going on. Cameron Chase, Count Vertigo, Amanda Waller, and some guy who wears a jacket that makes him look like Number Six, as if we didn't get it already, figure in as well. It's needlessly complicated and poorly drawn. Dance features Morrison's Final Crisis Forever People anagrams as they go through the old X-Statix-style fame/fortune/media attention vs. being altruistic superheroes thing. The team is likable, the script is fun and funky even though it's weighed down by Morrison's shadow, and Chris Cross' art is very good. Dance: A-; Escape: C-; Run: B+.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12-14: Fast-paced cosmic action, written with wit and spark, and tied in successfully to the whole "War of Kings" event, which I haven't been following but Abnett and Lanning have been doing this sort of thing for a long time now and if they can't get in the spirit of it, nobody can. #12 resolves the whole Drax/Moondragon thing, Wesley Craig's art going down a bit smoother than in #11; #13 has better art and features the Guardians taking a direct hand in the outcome of the War; and #14 continues that story, with an amusing cliffhanger at the end courtesy of newly-minted loose cannon "Martyr" ("Ugh"), formerly Phyllida Mar-Vell. Brad Walker and a thousand digital renderers provide art which suits the proceedings a bit better, I think. #12: B; #13-14: A-

HEXED #4: Rote finale with the requisite clever twist at the end, not bad as these things go but a little familiar just the same. I would read more if Boom so chooses to put them out, just to see if they do anything interesting with the somewhat charismatic lead. B+

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #12, 13: After a while, I tend to realize that don't want the fucking carrot anymore. C

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #'s 24, 25, 26: Others have disagreed, but I've enjoyed the "Escape from the Eighth City" storyline as much as anything Frubaker did in their tenures. Travel Foreman's art has been more problematic, especially during fight scenes, which are pretty much the lifeblood of any martial arts-themed endeavors, but I've gotten used to it, and I can't deny it's dynamic. So well done, fellows. And now, we count down until the hiatus and an uncertain future for yet another Marvel title which deserved to continue to be published, but probably won't be for much longer. A-

INCOGNITO #3: Hard to come up with anything clever or illuminating to say about this wonderful title, done by two gifted creators at the top of their form right now. You should be buying this, yep. A

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #12, 13: The Dark Reign continues here, too, with Tony Stark on the run, as Norman Osborn sends mercenary badguys after him ,and Pepper Potts tooling around pissing Normie off in her own super-armor, and for good measure Maria Hill takes on old Jim Starlin villain the Controller. Lots of stuff going on for sure, and Matt Fraction is playing honest with his readers, which becomes him. Too bad Salvador Larocca's art jumps all over the line between underdone and overwrought. Way more interesting that it ought to be, for sure. Both issues: B+.

JERSEY GODS #'s 3, 4: I can't really say for sure why this doesn't work for me; Glen Brunswick's script blends the world of Kirby with the world of Kevin Smith (the filmmaker) well enough, and Dan McDaid has a Cooke/Pope style that is at home with both the mundane and the fantastic, appropriate for a series dealing with both, all mashed up like chocolate and peanut butter. Maybe if I was from Jersey, or liked rom-coms. Don't know. I do know that #4 was my last issue. B-

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #25, 26: #25 wrapped up the Marvel Family saga, for now, and was typically angsty and draconian solution-wise. Not that it's going to stay that way for long, mind you. Jerry Ordway, who specializes in such things, provided a solid art job. #26 was a once-more-around-the-horn one-and-done by departing Geoff Johns and initial series artist Dale Eaglesham, with Nathan Massengill on inks; it's pleasant and often amusing, as good a way to go out as any, I suppose. You don't see that type of story all that much anymore. Next up, only God knows. #25: B; #26: A-.


THE MIGHTY #'s 3, 4, 5: While Boom! and Mark Waid's newest Superman deconstruction Irredeemable gets all the attention, here's another take on the "what if Supes wasn't such a nice guy after all" genre, and while I haven't read the other yet, this one isn't half bad, because writer Tomasi is taking pains to spend more time with the normal liaison guy than he is the title character, and I think it will pay off in the end. This is not a series that will have anyone talking, and will probably eventually be as forgotten as, oh, Trouble Magnet or Relative Heroes is now, but it is a good read so far. Chris Samnee, last seen (by me) on Marvel's Devil-Slayer rethink, comes along in #5 to replace Peter Snejbjerg, whose bowing out was done with no fanfare or publicity that I've seen, and he does a great job picking right up where Mr. S left off. Samnee's got real talent, he does, but that said, I'll miss Snejbjerg, whose art we don't see too much anymore. Oh well, at least I won't have to type his name again anytime soon. A-

THE MUPPET SHOW #1: I've always kinda liked the Muppets, but I never really had a strong attachment. Yeah, I used to watch the show upon occasion, especially when they had a musical guest I wanted to see, and yeah, I went to see the movies, too- heck, I even remember when the Muppets used to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, fer chrissakes, singing "Mena Mena", and watched Sesame Street (even though I was a little old for it)...but seeing a new Muppets thing has never been a priority of mine, really. While I'm a little amused and puzzled by the need or desire to see a Muppet Show comic book in 2009, at least 30 years after the show it's based on last aired, I realize the characters are perennials (though I'd be willing to bet that the average 20-something would be more likely to ID Sesame's Elmo than the Swedish Chef or Rowlf) and the sales figures seem to confirm Boom!'s faith in the property. Of course, the real reason to buy this is Roger Langridge, who has a deft cartooning hand and is capable of parroting that trademark cornball Muppets, Inc. humor. I'm sure this will do quite nicely for the Boom!sters, but it's probably the only issue of this I'll need to read in my lifetime. A-

POTTER'S FIELD: STONE COLD #1: Somehow I missed this series when it was published initially a year or so ago; my bad. I did get the opportunity to read this one-shot, and I liked it as much as anything I've read from Boom! in a long time. This is a really interesting premise, done with an appropriate gravitas and featuring a kinda-novel idea inspired by the real-world term for a place for the burial of unknown or indigent people. Here, a fellow named "John Doe", appropriately enough, has charged himself with the task of, as the press release puts it: ...naming the unnamed in this cemetery! Using a network of underground operatives who don't know each other, he fights to save the unsaved and solve the mysteries of the unjustly slain! And of course, it's absolutely ready-for-TV! But the real ace in the hole is artist Paul Azaceta, whose work I always love (which you know if you've read my blog at all), and who doesn't disappoint here. I see where a collection of the first miniseries is coming soon (if not already out)...I definitely need to keep an eye out for it. A

SCALPED #'s 27, 28: The peripheral cast spotlights conclude, with #27 focusing on loathsome FBI agent Nitz, providing some much-needed depth to what has been pretty much a one-dimensional character. Good job by Francesco Francavilla, whose work comes across here as a little restrained and flat compared to what we've been given previously. #28 welcomes back regular artist R.M. Guera, and provides some long-awaited info on what happened to Red Crow, Gina Bad Horse, Catcher & company back in 1975 when those two Feds were killed. As always, first-class drama all the way. #27: A-; #28: A



SEAGUY: THE SLAVES OF MICKEY EYE #1, 2: Damn it, Grant, didn't you get this shit out of your system via The Invisibles so long ago? I mean, as with that title, I understand what you're getting at, but you make it such a goddamned chore to parse through all the allusion and illusion and metaphor and just plain old flights of fancy that it really diminishes your message in general. Classic can't-see-the-trees-for-the-fish-type scenario. Of course, bear in mind that as I write this I haven't read concluding issue #3, so I may get struck by a crimson bolt of enlightenment yet. The saving grace, as far as I'm concerned, is Cam Stewart's wonderfully open and inviting art; he's very good at reining Morrison in. Until I read #3, I give this an incomplete C+.

TOP 10 SPECIAL #1: Another not-bad script by Zander Cannon that focuses on Girl 2, the hapless-but-likable clone replacement for popular-but-killed-in-action Girl One. Unable to hack it in law enforcement, she has shifted into the legal profession, and finds it just as difficult as her previous gig. Even though it's not the freshest plot in the world, borrowing liberally from a thousand-and-one courtroom dramas on TV and film and counting on the injection of the semi-serious superhero people to give it a little novelty, "spin" if you will, it's somehow enjoyable just the same because Cannon does such a good job of writing the characters like Alan Moore established them so long ago. It's not helped by the all-wrong art stylings of "Chinese superstar Da Xiong" (as the solicit text says)- perhaps it's just me being so used to Gene Ha and his definitive versions, but the storytelling is lifeless and bland, and some of the characters just look odd- Shock-Headed Peter, for example. Unfortunately as well, it appears this could be the swan song for this still-enjoyable and regrettably-truncated series, read more here on Cannon's blog. Not the best note to go out on. B-

YELENA BELOVA AND THE THUNDERBOLTS #130-132: I know, I know, that's not the title- but let's face it, Diggle notwithstanding, I wouldn't be buying this now if not for the presence of my favorite Black Widow. Diggle does well by her for the most part, and I especially appreciate the attention paid to her dialect and accent, but I kinda miss her insecure, eager-to-prove-herself side of the miniseries- it's been replaced by a mercenary matter-of-factness that does fit the tone of the book better and probably suits a characters that's been transformed into a lizard monster and disintegrated. #130 & 131 wastes my time with everybody's apparent favorite character but mine, Deadpool, who comes across as a mix between Bullseye and the Creeper with bad skin; #132 gets back in line with the more interesting Dark Reign stuff, and thankfully Diggle indulges himself in some good character work as well as accomplishing the difficult task of making some Wolverine badguy that I'm completely unfamiliar with kinda interesting, not an easy thing to do considering my apathy towards Marvel's cash cow and his extended cast. Bong Dazo's (that name makes my inner Beavis and Butt-Head snicker) art on those issues is too broad and exaggerated for my taste, but I suppose it suits the broad and cartoonish character he's asked to depict. I hope to sweet Internet Jesus that Yelena never dons that ugly eight-eyed mask again, "black widow" visual metaphors be damned. Roberto De La Torres' art on #131 is a bit more of a proper fit. I'm liking this book just enough- it might be one the first I'd drop if I had to, but not the first. #130, 131: C+; #132: B+

UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS #5, 6: The saving grace here is the messy relationships between the Academy members, because Way is like his obvious inspiration Grant Morrison in one way in particular- he loves to lard on the odd-for-odd's sake. Unlike Moz, though, he knows when to pull back a bit before everything gets lost in translation, and while this weird-ass time-travel/Kennedy Assassination riff does teeter on the brink of incoherence at odd times, it gets resolved nicely and points towards more almost-incomprehensible future exploits and continued acrimony. Can't not mention Gabriel Ba's art; without it in all its angular glory, none of this would be half as interesting or readable. A-

UNKNOWN SOLDIER #6: Look- this is well-researched, earnest and sincere, successfully (if in an often too-complicated fashion, but it's a complicated situation) calls attention to a truly dire problem, and it's a smart rethink of a venerable old character. Problem is, though, to me anyway, it's also dull as dirt, with unexciting art. This book has its admirers, and I can see why, really I do, but it just doesn't push my buttons and it failed the six-issue tryout period for me, so with this issue I bade it a fond adieu. C+

One more to go, including comics I got Friday the 12th!

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

And now, it's finally time to resume with CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, now committed to catching up with comments on comics that I have bought and/or received since March 21st, some of which may even still be on sale at finer comics selling establishments worldwide if you're lucky. Or not, as the case may be.

100 BULLETS #100: No cut and paste this time. This finale was the entire series in a nutshell, I think; complicated and byzantine till the end, and as always immaculately illustrated- I think Ed Risso's work on this series has set a standard for commitment as well as gangster/noir art, as well as just plain ol' sequential storytelling. An admittedly small group, but there are some good names in it. I wish Azzarello hadn't been so obtuse in his scripting sometimes; it was often way too hard to tell the kinda-sorta bad guys from the kinda-sorta good guys, as well as to suss out their motivations for this act or that act...which I guess was the point in a lot of ways but often made keeping up more of a chore than you'd like for it to be. That said, I'm not really a big fan of Noir fiction in general, films, books, you name it, and that speaks to the talent of all concerned (as with Brubaker and Phillips on Criminal ), that I have followed this all these years and enjoyed all the gnarly polt twists as much as I have. I think I really do need to reread all 100 issues in a sitting before I render final judgment, but really, I think this has been a heck of a ride, exciting and baffling in equal measure, and while I can't wholeheartedly recommend it for just anybody, I think if you're the kind of reader that doesn't mind a bit of a challenge, you might like this series. You might also want to buy it in trades in order to get more of the story at once; one hundred singles is a lot of floppies to buy. Y'know, after all is said and done, I'll miss this comic- I'd got used to having it around. A-

AGENTS OF ATLAS #'s 3, 4, 5: Continuing on its merry way, picking right up where it left off from the previous series, missing only the assured art of Leonard Kirk- but his successors make up in energy and spirit what they lack in polish. #3 suffers from my complete indifference to Wolverine; #4's flashback mania went down better because I know Parker's just introducing plot threads to be developed later, but I find the Agents more compelling now than in the past, Venus excepted of course. #5 was an extended superguy fight with the saving grace of humor. #3: B; 4: B+; #5: A-.

BATTLE FOR THE COWL: ORACLE: THE CURE #1-3: I reviewed #1 in my last (to date, I guess, although they may let me do more someday) piece for PopSyndicate.com, but had not opined on the other two. I liked certain things about this series, but was unimpressed with how abruptly it was resolved, and while the...titillating covers by Guillem March were nicely done, the interior art was mediocre. I like the character as she is; I hope they don't plan to change the status quo...but that's kinda hypocritical of me considering that I'm not really a Bat-book buyer (that's gonna change soon, though). C+



B.P.R.D.: THE BLACK GODDESS #'s 4, 5: I'm sorry- I love the B.P.R.D. cast, and of course Guy Davis is one of today's greats as far as I'm concerned...heck, John Arcudi will get slack from me for all eternity simply by virtue of having written Major Bummer... but this whole storyline, with the mysterious Asian (?) dude and all the frigging frogs and giant robots and missing Liz Sherman has been dragged out so long it's flabby and confusing, and like X-Files (which this series invites comparison to in some ways), I'm at the point where I no longer care. What needs to be done is anybody's guess, and I'm signed up for the next mini, but I'm not getting a whole lot of bang for my buck, constant explosions within notwithstanding. B-

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 #'s 12, 13: The whole Vampire Invasion of England thing remains fun and quite engrossing; lots of characters having to make difficult decisions and relating to each other in arresting fashion. I especially like the way Cornell is handling Pete Wisdom, Blade, and the Black Knight, and in a perfect world, that's why we'd have these kinds of titles, to show how one person, with a clue, can show us an interesting new side, or sides, to a character that we readers have previously dismissed or ignored completely (I raise my hand here). However the comics buying world in general is equally dismissive of such fine lines, and seeks more immediately gratifying criteria before he or she lays their money down, vampire missles from the Moon notwithstanding. And truth be told, as Steven Grant so astutely sums it up in his most recent Permanent Damage column, it's a comic mostly about magic and magic users, which rarely sells to a wide audience, and let's face it- awesome powers aside and 30 years' worth of stop-and-start characterization upgrade attempts aside, the lead is still pretty much an uninteresting cipher. Of course, this should be saved for the final review, when #15 ships; we still have a few more chapters to go, and this is another good one. At least Cornell gets to wind this up in unhurried fashion, and at least we got 16 issues. I wish Chase had gotten 16, to name but one fondly-remembered but shitcanned series. A-

DAREDEVIL #117,118: This book keeps spinning its wheels furiously, each new writer trying to put his own stamp on what Frank Miller did 30 frigging years ago, and that means putting Matt Murdock and his loved ones through the proverbial Trials of Job for months on end. But luckily these DD writers have been a mostly capable lot, and therefore what seems like the 800th return of the Kingpin storyline takes on some gravity and even pathos, thanks to Brubaker. Nice to see Mike Lark inking himself again, and even nicer to see the Owl used so well. Someday, I'll get tired of seeing Matt twisting on the hook for my entertainment...but for now, I'm not at that point just yet. #117: A-; #118: A

DETECTIVE #853: Gaiman's typically twee approach to writing, filtered through the grimy lens of six decades' worth of comics history, ambles along amiably until a surprisingly tender finale, all the more strange because given the subject it shouldn't work...but against all odds it does, and therein lies the talent that all his acolytes see and I have to look hard to find sometimes. And even more surprisingly, it works despite being saddled with relentlessly ordinary Kubert-son art. You just never know sometimes. B+

FABLES #'s 83, 84: I washed my hands of Jack of Fables long ago, and don't really have any desire to follow the spinoff mini The Literals, both of which form a trilogy miniseries with this, the motherbook, so I guess I'm not completely up to speed with everything that's going on, and I can live with that because Willingham's not really getting too far away from the storyline he set up before the spinoff madness commenced, and I, for one am grateful. That said, nothing much is going on in said storyline, and that's kinda annoying. Artwise, also pretty consistent (its middle name is Mark Buckingham, you know), but I vastly prefer the design-oriented but relatively restrained Buckingham to #84's loose and sloppy Tony Akins. As always, if you've been along for the ride thus far and are invested in the characters, you can't stop reading...but I can't imagine what someone new to the party would think. #83: B+; #84: B-.

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #4: Of course, the most notable thing (to me, anyway- I dare say precious few others give a damn) in this prodigal chapter is that someone at DC finally killed off Kinetix, which of course didn't make me happy at all...but hey- I didn't like the state Abnett and Lanning left her in, and it's not like any subsequent Legion writers were gonna use her anyway, so whatever. The rest of the comic is more of the same convoluted scripting and claustrophobic Perez art that we've gotten in issues previous. I follow out of idle curiosity, if nothing else. It's not boring, I'll give it that. B-

HELLBLAZER #253, 254: Hate to say it, but I'm beginning to think that there pretty much isn't anything left to do with this character without going to ridiculous extremes, like giving him a caped costume or black leather. Hey- John Constantine could be the next Spectre! Kidding! Pete Milligan's plugging away gamely, but to no great effect; he's bringing nothing to the book or the character that hasn't already been brought before, and it's not helping that he's saddled with run-of-the-mill Vertigo House Style artists. #254's Goran Sudzuka's pencils, combined with Rodney Ramos' inks, looks like nothing else than superhero specialist Jerry Ordway, totally wrong for this sort of thing, and really hamstrings Milligan's plague-ghost epic before it gets a chance to get off the ground. Get him on Justice Society and the hell away from here. I've followed ol' Conjob a long time, but he's in a real rut and I'm beginning to wonder if it's not time to cut bait. Both issues: C+

HEROGASM #1: The Boys spinoff, with Garth taking the piss from the big multi-character crossover cosmic epics which are all the rage these days as only Garthy can, which is to say crudely, crassly, and most important, funnily. John (Hitman) McCrea is his partner in crime this time. This reads exactly like its parent book, features most of the same characters, including Wee Hughie and sweet l'il ol' Starlight, which you just know is going to end badly and will be genuinely sad when it does- which begs the question of why exactly this is a separate series and not the next four issues of the regular ongoing. More sales, I suppose, but beware of watering down your best Scotch, Dynamite Entertainment... B+

HERO SQUARED: LOVE AND DEATH #2: Good Will Coasting. That would make a nifty title for a movie, wouldn't it? B

THE INCREDIBLES #1: Dell/Gold Key used to do this sort of thing all the time back in the day; sometimes they tried hard (sometimes not so hard, but that's not the case here) to replicate the charm, pizzazz, and cleverness of the adapted property, and either utterly failed or did not succeed in finding an audience, and only would run a couple of issues before exiting stage left. The Incredibles movie, in my opinion, is certainly one of Pixar's best, and maybe one of the best animated films ever. This comic doesn't come close to that standard, blame a lack of feeling or understanding of what made the source special, or other sort of nebulous criteria. That said, it's still quite readable, especially if you like the characters, and it may have gotten better since, I don't know. Regardless, insofar as #1 went, I was underwhelmed. C+

JACK STAFF #20: Paul Grist continues to manipulate his now-sprawling cast in as-always interesting fashion, with his dry humor and daredevil storytelling chops intact. As always, the delays are frustrating but the results are always usually worth the wait. I wish I could go into more detail, but it would take a lot longer than I want to spend on it...if you're not following this book, you're missing out on an entertaining read. In my opinion. A-

POWER GIRL #1: Worthwhile, as always, for Amanda Connor's art- but hubby Jimmy and writing partner Justin haven't done her (or PG) any favors by saddling them with an excessively talky script that sometimes neglects to portray their mostly likeable heroine in a positive light. As the Daughters of the Dragon/Heroes for Hire example, along with this, suggests, sometimes maintaining the quality between very good minis (and this includes the recently-concluded Terra) and the subsequent ongoings is problematic for the Graymiottis. I think this is worthwhile for the pretty pictures. Whether or not that translates to cost-effective is something else again. B+

TINY TITANS #14: Cuter than a cute thing all wrapped up in cute. Did I mention it's cute? A-











Many more to come, hopefully sooner rather than later. The hurrier I go the behinder I get, as the saying goes. Do you like me putting the covers next to the capsules, instead of at the top of the post like I used to? It's a little trouble, but I like them there.

Thank You and Bad Afternoon.

As I slowly, but surely, do comics reviews (12 capsules done, 28 more to go...), I thought it might be neat to put this up for all to see, having recently...acquired...a set of scanned issues of that comics series that I tend to run on about,Thriller.

Of course, one of the issues included in this set was the last one, #12. And in those dim and distant days, comics used to have these things called "letters pages", in which people just like you and me could sit down at a typewriter and bang out a missive of condemnation or praise or just plain weirdness. As I was growing up, I did a fair amount of said letter writing, desiring to get my opinions out there, and this was the only game in town for that sort of thing. These days, we have blogs for that but like I said, this was a long time ago, 1984 (beware the savage lore) as a matter of fact. Young David Allen Jones, every bit of 24 years of age, in the prime of his life and infatuated with that weird-ass Thriller comic that DC had been putting out, was nevertheless quite dismayed by recent events involving his beloved book, seeing original creators Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden suddenly bail on the series that they had (by all appearances, not a half-year ago) sought to hitch their respective wagons to stardom on, with very little in the way of explanation...and they were replaced by Bill Dubay, whose previous work had mostly been in service of Jim Warren, and the even-then-legendary artist Alex Nino, also a Warren vet but also branching out into other endeavors- and if DC had drawn names at random out of a hat (and I'm not sure they didn't do this), they couldn't have come up with two less likely people to continue the series, especially in the unique style which had captivated young Dave (and precious few others, it seems) so.

OK, I'll stop the cutesy third person stuff now.

Anyway, I was quite dismayed by what I saw after reading Thriller #9, and sat down at the typewriter at my in-laws' office (mine was busted) to compose what would be my last appearance in a lettercol (short for letter column, another fannish name), well, probably ever. I still remember sitting in the empty office (it was on Saturday, I think) and batting that thing out. Anyway, and I think you've figured this out by now, you will see that letter, in its entirety, above. It features a less jaded me, I think, as well as a more naive one, and certainly not one who is as, shall we say, knowledgeable about the way things go in the comics biz these days. Remember, we didn't have access to the people who made the funnybooks in 1984 like we do now...even at 24, these men were distant and mysterious, and I wouldn't have dreamed that 18 years later, I would go on to contact, and even dare I say befriend, both of the men responsible for the creation of the comic I cared about so deeply and grabbed my even-then fading imagination so hard. When I reread this thing now, I am alternately proud and cringing inside- I make some truly dumb assumptions and sound like the kind of geek we all make fun of now mercilessly in others. Still, I think I made my point- this new team was nowhere near a patch on what we had been given before- and hey! I got a letter printed in what was left of my favorite comic series of the 1980's! The beer offer still stands, by the way.

So here it is, make of it what you will. Of course, click to embiggen.

Oh, and yes, this scan acquisitioning is part of my long-delayed commitment to revamping my Thriller webpage; to get it off Angelfire with its myriads of popups, and add a lot of the neat stuff I've gotten from both Trevor and Bob since it went live back in 2002. I'm taking a crash course in Dreamweaver at this very minute, and despite the fact that I will soon lose my laptop, and thusly will have less Web time until I get a new one, I hope to get started with the reconstruction this Fall, maybe later this Summer even. These scans will help immensely, keeping me from having to dig out and rescan my copies. Keep watching the skies!

This, that, and the ever popular other thing.

I've been on a pretty good roll as far as blogging goes lately; I want to keep it going but only have about five comics reviews done out of about fifty, so I thought I'd just post some miscellaneous stuff here, all in one place-like. Much of this has been posted already on my Tumblog (Tumblelog? Whatever- link in sidebar at right), but since I am dubious that others follow me both here and there at least on a regular basis, I thought I'd post some things I've also posted over there. Hope you don't mind.



First, here's a utterly charming little Wolverine illo done by the talented Maris Wicks for the (I assume) latest Project: Rooftop redesign contest. Wolvie toasting marshmallows on his claws is effing brilliant. People reblogged the hell out of this one, much to my surprise...



Let alone the fact that this ad, one of 15 Sexist Vintage Ads collected by a website called Oddee.com, uses my realworld name, amusing me greatly...but women used to douche with LYSOL? Are you KIDDING ME?



The cover for Green Lantern #23, by the great Gil Kane. Boy, this cover won't go down as one of his career highlights. Awful staging and perspective- GL looks like he's falling from a great height, and looks flat and one-dimensional in that window; it looks like Tattooed Man's plane is shooting at a poster. T-Man's Popeye "costume" is uninspired and lame, too- one of the few times a 70's super-suit upgrade actually improved a early Silver Age character. Don't get me wrong, I love Kane's work, and am but a small dog nipping at his mighty heel...but he was not on top of his game for this one.



Here's a page from a Hellboy story that artist Pete Von Sholly did recently, and posted it on his blog along with an account of his unsuccessful efforts to get this picked up by Dark Horse comics. This kinda blows my mind- Von Sholly's no hack or greenhorn; he's an accomplished storyboard artist with a deft painting style and a wicked sense of humor (his story's title? "Drag Me to Hellboy", heh heh) to boot. Why DH would pass on this, especially in light of some of the stuff that passed muster back in the Hellboy: Weird Tales days, is beyond me.




One of the most bad-ass covers I've seen lately, from Smash Comics #3. What a kickass robot! I keep hearing Thin Lizzy when I see this one.



Back on Memorial Day (Monday, at least, my day off), I kinda found myself killing time by hunting up images of good old Poison Ivy, from the popular Batman comic books, and posting them on my Tumblr. This is the image that got me started, by someone named weshoyot on DeviantArt. Love that leafy bikini bottom.

Oh well, it's getting late so I'll wind this up. More stuff coming.