Happy Blogiversary to Me.

Yes, 'twas on this very day, seven years ago, that I decided to start writing stuff on the Internet for public consumption. Even though I've slowed down a lot (or perhaps spread myself a bit thin) over the last few years, I have no intention of stopping completely anytime soon, and as always, I appreciate each and every one of those of you who stop by and read, no matter how infrequently I post. You're all aces in my book.

And appropriately enough, this is my 100th post of 2009! Time was, I had 100 by April.

Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you.

It was New Years' Day, 1965. I was five years old. I watched Soupy Sales's program that day, and Soupy told me to remove all the "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" out of my parents' wallets and mail them to him. Of course, I did so. I got a severe beating (spent over a week in the hospital, and I still walk kinda funny to this day), my parents sued, lost their case, and lost their house due to all the legal bills. As we struggled to get our lives back in order thanks to Sales' irresponsible prank, we cursed his name every day and I never ever watched any Soupy Sales show again.

And of course, this is bullshit. That said, I think Soupy Sales would appreciate the joke.

Actually, truth be told, I never really paid a lot of attention to the Soupster on TV back in the early '60s. I vaguely remember the version of the show that ABC aired around 1965 or so, which I might have viewed once or twice (probably not on New Years', though) and he was a constant guest-star presence on shows (The Flintstones, even!) that I did watch as that decade went on, continuing in the '70s, where he always seemed to be popping up on game shows and stuff like Love American Style. Still, he was a definite part of the cultural zeitgeist, and everybody knew who the heck he was.

So, it's with a little bit of sadness that I see where he has passed on- while he wasn't as "special" to me as he was to some, He was a small part of my rapidly-fading childhood memories- heck, he even appeared as a panelist on Match Game- and thus will be missed.

The quote above was the only quote I could find attributed to him; I'm sure that better can be found with enough digging, so by all means keep looking!

Another Soupy-related side note- his sons, Hunt and Tony, pursued a career as professional musicians and played on a lot of music that I have bought and listened to- with Todd Rundgren on his first couple of solo albums, on through a short stint in Paris, the post-Fleetwood Mac group with Bob Welch, as well as David Bowie and Iggy Pop in the late '70s, on some of the best albums by either. They reunited with Bowie in his late '80s Tin Machine group project as well.

RIP, Soupy.

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Time once more for a way overdue CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, in which I opine in shortish fashion about comics that I have bought and/or received and/or read in the interval between October 1st and 15th, 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.

DETECTIVE COMICS #857: This textbook example of the power of art with vision and imagination to enhance and enliven otherwise ordinary scripts continues in full force here; while Rucka's story is no great shakes, J.H. Williams III makes it look real purty. And even though this particular storyline is run of the mill, his Batwoman isn't; I like the prickly-yet-caring personality she's shown so far, and the back-and-forth between her and her Alfred-figure military dad is intriguing. There's also a mildly eyebrow-lifting reveal at the end that piques my interest as well. So far, so good. The Question backup, not so much. It's steadfastly bland, and sure, I liked Renee Montoya from Gotham Central and other Rucka Bat-stories as much as anyone, but I'll continue to say it- jerry-rigging her into the Question persona was not a good idea, and if this is the best that can be done with her/it, then maybe we should just retire her/it. A-

HELLBLAZER #259: Two things- Simon Bisley art (and I don't always say that- sometimes he gets carried away with the absurdity and distortion, and not always in a good way) and the huh-what? re-introduction of Kathy George from Milligan's fan-favorite Shade- lift this up a notch from what we've been getting previously. I am happy that his current JCH storyline is going in unpredictable directions, but I can't help but feel like he's winging it now, as it seems like it should have wrapped two issues ago. B+

HEROGASM #5: The "Supies", a caped-set awards show notion that Adam Warren beat Garth to in Empowered months ago, provides the background for more extrapolation and enhancment of what he had already set in motion in The Boys. Surprising, perhaps: a bit of sympathy for the Homelander? Not so surprising: more "cum-sponge" jokes. Plus, Hughie sure is taking a long time to realize he's been buggered. As always, if you like the main title, you will need to be keeping up with this as well. B+

IMMORTAL WEAPONS #3: So far, this series has been very good, shining a spotlight on the warriors that Danny Rand brought back with him from the Tournament at the Heart of Heaven waaay back in his most recent series...but this issue is the best so far, and somewhat surprisingly it deals with the one Weapon who has had the least exposure, the Chinese folk hero-style Dog Brother. DB is nowhere to be found in this case, though, except in stories told by one street urchin to another, and it's their saga that provides most of the story, as well as a poignant ending that ties it all together in great, affecting fashion. Artist Tim Green, who we had seen doing a flashback story in the Immortal Iron Fist series, illustrates this with nuance skill in his finely-detailed style. The backup story continues the Iron Fist tale that I suspect was slated for his "on hiatus" title, and is interesting enough; it sports a new artist, Hatuey Diaz with an odd drawing style that reminds me a bit of what Faryl Dalyrmple did on Omega the Unknown a while back. A

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #135: Amadeus Cho's turn again, as his investigation into his past gets center stage once more in alternating fashion. This one's a labored old-time movie serial-style semi-farce that at least boasts a cool character name with Captain Japanazi and a decent enough reveal at the end, plus Rodney Buchemi's art works well enough...so it gets by. The Thorcules saga is better so far, though. B+

MADAME XANADU #15: Finale of the three-parter which has turned out to be a treat for not only fans of Madame X but those who miss Sandman Mystery Theatre as well. Even though this sometimes looked rushed, it was a huge treat to see the Kaluta art on interiors as well as exteriors; between this and Starstruck, we haven't seen this much MwK in our four color funnybooks since the old DC ERB days. B+

MARVEL DIVAS #3: As smartly illustrated, with well-done dramatics and well-placed levity in just the right proportion. Interesting cliffhanger this time out, considering the history between Patsy and Daimon Hellstorm, who, between Ghost Riders and this, has rarely, if ever, had it better (at least appearances-wise) in print before. Whoever commissioned that sex-kitten cover (#1's, of course) from Scott Campbell should be smacked in the back of the head. A

MODELS, INC. #2: On the other hand, this one disappoints just a bit, especially when compared to its sister publication cited above; it's soap-opera murder mystery plot is fine, and the character interaction works well enough, I suppose, but there's a sort of joylessness about this, rote-ness if you will, and that kinda sucks the fun out of it. Perhaps if the artist was a bit better at drawing attractive comic-book females, who knows. The intro page was cute. C+

PLANETARY #27: Yeah I read this early; the height of irony for such an overdue title if I do say so myself. I seem to recall reviewing the previous couple of issues quite favorably about, what was it, 2006?- but this one fails to inspire similar enthusiasm simply because it's fairly obvious that this was tossed out in a "Oh, all right, HERE" fashion. I remember Ellis having to do this sort of thing once before, when he was faced with having to write the (somewhat unexpected, if I read the letters page correctly) final issue of Hellstorm after having just launched what was intended to be a multi-issue epic...and he did it in grimly amusing fashion, having Daimon pop in on the characters that he was going to be in conflict with, and just ruthlessly destroying them, or at least neutering the threat they posed. I hadn't ever seen anything handled like that before in comics, and it has stuck with me to this day. This time, Ellis had a little more warning, and therefore chose to concentrate on one central part of the vast tapestry he spent all that time establishing...and while the inclination is to want more, I suppose he was being just as ruthless by pretty much ignoring others to clear up what happened to the missing member of the Planetary team at the expense of everything else. Of course, this all flows along smoothly and works OK as a story; Ellis being Ellis, we get the usual hosts of ideas cribbed from Metafilter and Boing Boing, all described to the reader as tersely as possible. And befitting the epilogue that this is, each character gets a chance to do something one last time, be it expository (Drums- his exchanges with Snow were always good for a chuckle) in nature or physical (Jakita, of course), it works within that "here we go again, one more time" framework. Ellis is but one half the equation, though- Cassaday really grew up in front of our eyes on this book (and elsewhere, X-books, what have you, I know), and his work, far more assured and expressive of course than at the beginning, is really what gets the whole across. In the hands of lesser artists, like the ones Ellis has laboring for him under a lot of his other titles, this would be an unpleasant slog...but Cassaday makes it work and work well, and neutralizes somewhat Ellis' sour tone. Planetary sure morphed into something unforeseen before it was done, and I'm not always sure that that was a good thing, but overall it was a diverting read and I'm glad I was along for the ride. A-

POWER GIRL #5: Three hot alien chicas crashland on Earth, one hot dude follows in pursuit. PG investigates, meets dude. Progresses pretty much how you think it will, but it plays to Amanda Connor's considerable strengths, and is therefore still worth your time. B+

THUNDERBOLTS #136: Diggle, you are forgiven. Now, let's see where we go from here. B+

UNDERGROUND #1: I reviewed this a month or so ago from an advance PDF, and here it is again in case you didn't read it then.

X-MEN vs. AGENTS OF ATLAS #1: I understand, this is just a stab at expanding the brand awareness of the struggling Agents of Atlas ongoing, now on a hiatus of some sort. That's all very well and good, and I suppose it's as good a way as any to indoctrinate the heathen as to the wonderful exploits of the Agents, who are done very well as always. Problem is, it's not just an AoA story, and no matter how well Parker writes them, I simply can't care less about whatever permutation of the X-Men we're being given...that ship sailed for me long ago, and that tempers my enjoyment of this marriage of convenience just a bit, even though both Carlos Pagulyan and especially Chris Samnee, who really should have a regular gig by now, provide very good visuals. I'll keep buying, because I am invested in the Agents enough to want to see where Parker is taking them, and yes, because Venus (even this version) is in it. The things we do for love sometimes. B-

RIP George Tuska.

Above, four pages (actually, the last four- apologies if I've spoiled a FORTY YEAR OLD COMIC STORY) from Iron Man #11, cover dated March of 1969, which featured the resolution of a two-part thriller that pitted the Armored Avenger against the Mandarin yet again. Script by the great Archie Goodwin, inks by the great Johnny Craig...and pencil art by the late GEORGE TUSKA, who has died at the age of 93, according to various sources around the Web. These four pages illustrate what I thought Tuska did best, at least in my experience with his work- dynamic action, with expressive faces and gestures, and a grounded, not too flashy, but still visually unique style. Love panels 2 & 3 of that first page.

Personal reminisce department: This Iron Man run was the first time I remember being impressed by his art- I remember a short fill-in stint on Avengers earlier in 1968, and perhaps he had work in one of the Warren magazines as well, I'm not sure. He wasn't a favorite of mine, sorry to say, although I was never unhappy to see his art in any comic I chose to take home. I remember sitting in the hairdressers', reading the comic above while waiting impatiently for my Mom to get her hair done...I had probably just turned, or was soon to turn, nine years old at the time. For some reason, I kinda lost interest in Iron Man comics by the end of the year; I think I only bought three more issues. Not Tuska's fault, though. He went on to do many more issues of Iron Man, as well as the early issues of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and many other jobs for both Marvel and DC. It wasn't until just recently that I became aware of his pre-60's Marvel efforts; what I've seen looked very good- no better than many of his peers at EC and places like that, but certainly better than the run of the mill back then. The style that I became familiar with as a kid didn't develop until much later.

Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say about the guy. He was a hell of an artist. Don't know what Marvel would have done without him.

ETA: Evan Dorkin has an amusing, yet completely appropriate obit up in which he brings up a couple of points I meant to make but as so often is the case forgot until I read it in posts by better writers- Tuska's habit (in his 60's-70's work, anyway) of drawing big teeth on most of his characters, as well as his foreshortening tendencies, especially when drawing limbs (or lack thereof).

Others: Tom Spurgeon, Mark Evanier. And in this case, anyway, the Onion A.V. Club is full of shit.

Nice cover.

Spied this somewhere, probably CBR, the other day, and was quite taken with the pose and the somewhat extreme closeup point of view. Nicely iconic, and while yes, it doesn't give the prospective buyer any indication of what awaits within, it is certainly eye-catching, no pun intended- and isn't that what a good cover does? I assume this is by intriguing newcomer Lee Garbett, probably inked by Trevor Scott and Photoshopped by goodness knows. Am I gonna buy? Nah- the recent crop of Bat-books has been a huge disappointment to me, Detective excepted, and I've yet to see anything, besides the likable decision to resurrect Stephanie Brown in the lead and the aforementioned showcase for Garbett's pencil art, that would cause me to believe that I would feel any differently about it.

But this piece? I like. For what it's worth. Look! A preview!

ETA: My friends in the comments inform me that the artist of this here cover is none other than good ol' Phil Noto, something I figure I could have twigged on to if I'd only bothered to do a little not-so-creative Googling. Well done, Mr. Noto! Well done, and many thanks, friend commenters!

I got nothing.

Unlike this guy.

Hopefully I'll get back in the saddle eventually, please bear with.

Grow old along with me.

A posthumous BSBdG today for JOHN WINSTON ONO LENNON, who would have been 69 today if not for, well, you know.

From 2005, here's a list of favorite solo Lennon tracks. I should probably revise it someday.

Pic courtesy of the fab and gear Beatle Photo Blog.

誕生日おめでとう!

Sight unseen.

Apropos of nothing, and mostly because I want to get something up here, I just wanted to state for the record that I like this eye-grabbing cover, which wraps itself around the latest Doug Moench-Kelley Jones Batman opus, entitled Batman Unseen...although I think there is some confusion about whether it's supposed to be Batman: Unseen or Batman: The Unseen. Regardless, this is a damn exciting Kelley Jones illo, I do believe- of course, he's always been capable of providing dynamic images in his rubbery post-Wrightson/post-"Ghastly" Graham Ingels/post-Frazetta fashion, and he once more delivers the good here as we see Bats swooping down on a, well, an unseen foe, escorted by a remarkably organized bat posse. Now, I bought (and still own) almost all of their early-mid 90's collaboration on the Batman proper title, and mostly enjoyed them all; Jones' exaggerations would often liven up some awfully staid, but still readable, Moench scripts. That said, I remember feeling that the duo had peaked towards the end of that run, and nothing I've seen since has caused me to think any differently...so I probably won't be buying this. But I do like this cover, and wanted to share.

Day is Done.

As a fan of the band and its various configurations, I subscribe to the StrawbsWeb news email feed...and the latest one, which I got yesterday, bore some sad news: Robert Kirby (pictured above), who did string and wind arrangements for a lot of musicians most notably in the 70's but right up till today, died last Saturday.

His biggest claim to fame came, I suppose, as the arranger for Nick Drake's first two albums (interview here), but his name first came to my attention with a credit on Strawbs member David Cousins' first solo album, Two Weeks Last Summer, back in 1972. I think I first acquired my copy around 1978 or so, it was not released officially in the US, and mine was a Canadian import. As a budding Strawb fan (I had just purchased the wonderful Ghosts album not long before), I loved the album...and one cut in particular, credited to "Robert Kirby's Wind", stood out. Titled "That's the Way it Ends (Including the World)", it featured a gorgeous melody on the intro, a prim, melancholy arrangement made up of oboes, flutes and clarinets, with Cousins accompanying himself on piano on the second part of the track. Here's an interview with him dealing with his Strawbs work. I kept seeing his name pop up here and there on albums I'd pick up, and eventually (even though I had owned Pink Moon on vinyl a couple of years previous) I obtained the CD reissues of Nick Drake's records and discovered the excellent work he brought to them as well. Probably the first place I ever saw his name in the credits was as choir arranger and conductor for two tracks on Elton John's Madman Across the Water album, which I first heard in 1974.

An obscure sort of figure, unless you're an ardent British folk/rock fan, but a part of my musical upbringing just the same, and I salute him for what he contributed, as well as hope he rests in peace.

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together once more for CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, in which I opine in shortish fashion about comics that I have bought and/or received and/or read in the interval between September 7 and 30th, 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.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #10,11: Final issues (well, final for now, or so we're being told) are rarely satisfying affairs; usually the writer gets the bad news just as he's embarked on a long saga of some sort or another, and then is forced to truncate and edit and wrap up in hurried fashion, and the results usually are obvious on the page. That's not quite the case here; the whole Suwan vs. Jimmy Woo thing probably didn't have the legs (the story, not Dave Johnson's Suwan on the cover- yowza!) to go more than two or three chapters anyway before it would have been necessary to move on. Jeff Parker does a typically satisfying job of giving all the characters room to strut their stuff, and even gets to point a couple in a potentially interesting new direction (M-13's newly discovered scientist/inventor; another Venus, still sadly non-blonde but apparently tied in with the pantheon that Van Lente and Pak are exploring and hey-! Who's going to be appearing in Incredible Hercules now for a while? Why, the Agents!) before all is done. A trio of not-flashy but very good artists (Gabe Hardman- apparently good to find in this case, ha ha-, Dan Panosian and the underappreciated Paul Rivoche) maintain a nice consistency and continuity in their styles, so that the change doesn't detract from the narrative. Said it before, and will say it again; if you haven't been keeping up with this, you're missing out and hopefully you'll get another chance down the road. It's really the best thing of this kind that Marvel's put out since the long-ago Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. days. Both issues: A-

BATMAN AND ROBIN #4: I signed on for Morrison and Quitely, and to be frank, Moz hasn't made this interesting enough for me to want to stick around for long. A new Red Hood, Grant? Really? This is what you want to give us? Do you even care anymore? Well, maybe I'll stick around for Cam Stewart's turn anyway. New artist Philip Tam is game, and acquits himself well, but he just doesn't have the range and scope his predecessor did. If that's unfair, well, such is life. B

BEASTS OF BURDEN #1: Well worth your time for Jill Thompson's stunning watercolor illustration work, but while Evan Dorkin's story is pleasingly quirky with its aggregate demon frogs and whatnot, a little more effort to let us know which talking dog and talking cat was which and why we should care if one goes missing or meets a horrible fate would have made this work a lot better. Yeah, I know, you could go to Dark Horse's website and re-read past installments in this series, which have seen print in their intermittent hardcover Books of... series, but I'm lazy sometimes. That said, this is still a promising series and I remain interested in where it's going. A-

THE BOYS #34: Well, for those who love seeing one-dimensional Nazi-supervillains getting the living shit beaten out of them, this is one of the best comics of the year. Fortunately, for those of us who are invested in the characters and want to find out where this is going, Garth has not forgotten us and moves things along a bit as well. Although I've never been the biggest Darick Robertson fan out there, I think he's fricking Jack Kirby compared to Carlos Esquerra, who has pinch-hit on Vertigo titles that Ennis has written before so I can assume he got the gig through connections. He's far from incompetent, but his grubby style just doesn't grab me. An old favorite character comes back in this one, and for that I bump it up a half letter grade. B+

BPRD: 1947 #3: As they so often do in B.P.R.D. land, things get kinda out of hand as disaster strikes the ad-hoc team that Professor Bruttenholm assembled to check out the vampiric activity in the Old Dark Chateau. Dysart's dialogue and pace is once again outstanding, and the Moon-Ba team can seemingly do pretty much anything these days, and do it in excellent fashion. A-

CAT BURGLAR BLACK: Another Richard Sala opus that is gorgeously illustrated as usual, but is also strictly by the Established Standard Sala Template. I'm beginning to think that if you've read one Sala story, you've read 'em all, and that's a pity. Handsomely presented, and perhaps a good place to start if you're curious about his oeuvre, but that's where my recommendation stops. B+

DOMINIC FORTUNE #2: I believe returning to this character has got Chaykin flexing muscles that he hasn't used in quite some time now, perhaps not since Blackhawk; this is full of snappy patter and has a definite mature tone, even though it has singing, boozing little people and the main badguy and his temptress squeeze remind me more than a little of Daddy Warbucks and his ward Annie. Sure, his Angel and the Ape pushed a lot of the same buttons, but that came across as outright farce, and this hasn't...yet. Chaykin the artist is also rising to the occasion, eschewing a lot of the tricky layout and typography that worked so well in American: Flagg! and Time Squared, but kinda got in the way of the storytelling in such later work as Challengers of the Unknown. So far, I like. A-

FABLES #88: Well, we always knew that Frau Totenkinder was capable of more than we have previously seen, and now it becomes apparent that we will see even more as she preps for an apparent throwdown with the evil forces that besiege all. Said forces will surely now number among them the Baba Yaga, who's a busy old biddy these days between here and Hellboy, in their ranks. That's pretty much the big reveal (cover image notwithstanding) in this typically well-done chapter, and it's nice to see Steve Leialoha (still subsuming his solo style) back on inks, even if it's partially so. B+

GHOST RIDER: HEAVEN'S ON FIRE #'s 1, 2: In which we see the return of characters that Warren Ellis gave us oh so long ago in his revamp of the by-then somewhat ludicrous Son of Satan, including girlfriend Jaine Cutter. I was a big fan of Ellis' short stint on that long-ago-cancelled title, consider it some of his best work even if he doesn't, and it's great to see that Jason Aaron gets what made them special, even if he's conspired with the artist to radically change his appearance, even making a clever joke about it as they go along. The new look, shaved head and pointy goatee, works just fine, but I think Daimon is a bit more menacing as a long-haired, stubble-bearded biker-type. That's just me. Anyway, this revival is part of an ongoing storyline that apparently began in the Rider's proper title, or a previous miniseries, or something. I'm too lazy to do the research, sorry, and it's not really necessary towards understanding what's going on. It's got something to do with the search for this kid who's supposed to be the Antichrist, on the run from angelic assassins (hey, just like Ellis' War Between Heaven and Hell in Hellstorm!) and it's wisely handled like a QT-type imitation grindhouse flick, with lots of action and very little pretension. Both issues: A

HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT #6: OK, as if Mignola didn't set enough plates spinning in the first five issues, we now get a new plate: Arthurian legends. Didn't really see that coming, but hey, it works just fine just the same. Another outstanding chapter of the ongoing collaboration between Mignola and artist Duncan Fregredo, who really is the best non-MM artist this series has seen yet, no offense to Richard Corben. A

INCOGNITO #6: OK, OK, it wasn't exactly like Sleeper, but it was mighty damn close. Anyway, things get revealed and resolved, and we get set up for a return to this world and these characters when and if the creators choose to do so- and that's a very good thing, especially when one of the creators is Sean Phillips, at the top of his game. I wasn't exactly blown away by this; it's whole storyline was just a tad mundane (by design, I'd imagine, what with all the pulp magazine callbacks in the lead as well as the back), but no less enjoyable for it. A-

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #134: Herc's turn again, and this whole Thorcules saga remains good fun, with lots of lighthearted adventure, some of it PG-13 in nature. Reilly Brown and Nelson Castro's art fits the whole Tolkien-by-way-of-Kurtzman vibe very well, gving us a good approximation of the sort of art this kind of Gods-v.-Elves fantasy material needs. Thor-, I mean Hercules remains one of the best books on the stands right now. A-

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #17: Fraction's "Tony Stark on the run" script remains gripping, even occasionally touching- even in the face of some awfully inconsistent art by Salvator Larocca. Anybody that can get me to follow an Iron Man book as long as I have this one must be doing something right, I figure! B+

LOVE & ROCKETS: NEW STORIES #2: Jaime plays fast and loose with "fantasy" and "reality" and gives us some outstanding slam-bang superhero action as he does so, while Gilbert indulges his inner David Lynch on a couple of surreal (one overtly so) stories that tried my patience. If you're a Beto fan, you might feel differently, but so far I don't think he's holding up his end of this, the latest and most expensive iteration of this long running series...which makes me feel like I'm not quite getting my money's worth. Oh well, I'm enough of a Jamie admirer to want to spend it anyway, but still... B+

THE MIGHTY #'s 7,8: Whoops, I think I forgot to write about this last time out, so I will redress that now. Really don't have much more to add to what I've already written; this under-the-radar title is really a very good take on the suddenly-popular "What if Superman wasn't so benign" concept that's making the rounds these days, building credible suspense and identification as we follow Bad Superman's human liaison Gabriel Cole as he seeks to get to the bottom of what's going on. Also, can't say enough about how well artist Chris Samnee has taken over for original illustrator Pete Snejbjerg, without missing a beat. I don't know how much longer this has to go; sales are abysmal and while I thought it was originally solicited as a limited series, it seems to be set up as an ongoing. Hope writers Tomasi and Champagne get to wind it up before the axe falls...and you might oughtta get the floppies because there sure as hell is no guarantee of a collection. A-

STRANGE TALES #1: DC had its World's Funnest and Bizarro Comics, and now Marvel joins in on the "Hey, let's curry some geek favour by letting some indie cartoonists play with our characters" bandwagon with this ad hoc collection of stuff, some of which seems to have been lying around forever, like Peter Bagge's sporadically amusing Hulk that was announced so long ago. This one peaks early, with Paul Pope's fun and clever Inhumans story, in which they try and try to feed Lockjaw some gourmet dog food, only to get interrupted with world-shaking crises; right now everything Pope does is excellent, it seems. Most of these are played for laughs- I mean, if you have Jason, Nick Gurewitch or Johnny Ryan doing Spidey, Wolverine, the Hulk and the Punisher, you don't really expect serious drama, let's face it. And therein lies the rub- each contributor does exactly what one would expect them to do, and meets expectations- and while I can't speak for everyone, I myself would kinda like to see expectations EXceeded once in a while. Once the novelty of seeing, say, Molly Crabapple drawing a She-Hulk story wears off, what you have left is curiosity value, nothing more...and these days, I kinda want a bit more for my four dollars. Still, on its own terms and expectations aside, if you like seeing talented creators shooting fish in a barrel by making fun of eminently mockable licensed properties, well, look no further. B+

THUNDERBOLTS #135: Diggle's so good at this high-tech action-thriller spy stuff that it doesn't get diluted by all the superheroics, and despite my disappointment in the Black Widow-related reveal, I am still very interested in where this is going. And on top of that, Diggle told me on Twitter a few days ago to "Wait till I read #136", which now has me wondering what that will be all about. Guess we will see what we will see! B+

WITCHFINDER: IN THE SERVICE OF ANGELS #3: After the genuine creeps delivered last issue, this one's a bit of a step back, but that doesn't mean it's not worth your time. Seems that much of what's been going on can be laid at the feet of Egyptian cultists...an weird and interesting wrinkle, the introduction of which seems to be a type of plot twist that Mike's been indulging himself a lot in lately. I'm most impressed with Ben Stenbeck's art; it evokes dread and mood very successfully, and resembles Mignola's in a very satisfying way- not imitative, just evocative. A-



Oy, I'm so behind. I have last Friday's new box of comics, including Thunderbolts #136 (a plot twist I am excited about, for sure! All is forgiven for now, Diggle) and the final issue of Wednesday Comics, which I plan to look at in its entirety in a separate post later on (heck, you could probably just go back and look at the first post I did on the subject; my opinions didn't change that much) patiently awaiting me to finish reading and begin writing.

This and that, and the Always Popular Other Thing.

I am about to resume blogging; just wanted to let you know. Review post coming later tonight, after I've reread one of the books in question- I've almost forgotten what was in it! Hardly a ringing endorsement, I know...and no, I won't tell you which one it was. Anyway, later tonight.

Today would have been the 128th birthday of former U.S. President Chester Alan Arthur, did you know that? Neither did I, until this morning.
And now, you know.

I did begin what looks like it will be a 3-part look at the Thriller comic over at Trouble With Comics...I don't know if it will be any more or less revelatory than the website, but check it out anyway!

Shh!

...don't wake up the sleeping blogger!

All seriousness aside, I'm not asleep, not right now anyway, but I am being pulled in a number of directions, only one or two blog-related, and something has to give, i.e. this blog. I plan to get back to posting here soon, so please bear with yet another of my extended silences over here. I really do want to have at least 100 posts this year, and I'm still a ways away.

I do have a couple of longish posts up over at Trouble With Comics, so there's that, if you haven't seen them already. I'm fond of the quick-and-dirty image posting over at my Tumblr site as well...a lot of the illustration work I once posted here ends up there now.

I swear by the Hammer of Grabthar I will get back to Hammer Locke eventually, and I have quite a few comics to review once I can get the energy.

So...right. See ya later!

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Once more into the breach, dear friends, with CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, where I opine in shortish fashion about comics that I have bought and/or received and/or read in the interval between August 19 through September 7, 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.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #3: Oh, Grant, Grant. What I am I going to do with you? I complain about needless obfuscation in Seaguy, yet I get dissatisfied when you play it straight here. It's enough to drive a poor comics geek to drink. Anyway, that's not to say that this is bad; anytime Morrison collaborates with Quitely there are multiple pleasures to be had- unfortunately mostly visual this time out, as Frank does the all-hell-breaking-loose resolution of the first story arc in smashing fashion. Recent fans of the Batman R.I.P. storyline have been delighted at the little bit of circular storytelling via the callback to that series which occurs at the end of this one...but I don't count myself among that number. This isn't bad, but it's no All-Star Superman- hell, it's not even in the same league as All-Star Batman and Robin, and it grieves me to say it. B+

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #3: Doesn't say much for your hero when he and his support have to call in the JLA to intimidate the latest threat. Nicely drawn, but dramatically inert. Isn't it about time for another Jingle Belle book? The back feature isn't much better, a disappointingly rote scuffle between costume-less (not naked, unfortunately) Manhunter and Jane Doe that is predictable in every way, and the art adds nothing. C-

DAREDEVIL #500: Well, didn't see that coming necessarily, and I suppose it's at least a new direction, even if that direction points down Angel Street towards Wolfram and Hart. I suppose this is as good a way for Brubaker to exit the title as any. We also get a teaser for Andy Diggle's upcoming stint; a shortish story that brings Ann Nocenti, clumsy writing voice and all, back for a blatant nostalgia wallow, even though frankly (no pun intended there) I don't see how people can possibly be nostalgic for the Miller/Nocenti years when the character hasn't strayed from that path since his Marvel Knights resurrection over a decade ago. Anyway, it's a good-enough story made a lot better by David Aja's art. Finally, we get the standard pinups and a reprint of a Miller story, still effective after all this time (it has been quite a while since I've actually sat down and read those Miller issues, which I don't own anymore)...but sadly, I'm also reminded how much I hated Klaus Janson's inks then; sure, he could spot a black like nobody's business and was a deft hand with zip-a-tone, but his clunky, brittle line highlighted every shortcoming in Miller's equally clunky figure work, and he never made any penciller better except perhaps Sal Buscema. Anyway, as 500th issues go, this is just fine. I don't know why you'd want to get this, though, if you don't own the previous 125 or so. A-

DETECTIVE COMICS #856: Guess I need to dig my Rucka/Martinbrough 90's-00's issues of Detective out of storage and reread, because I sure don't recall any storylines with morphing monster people in them. It's been a while, though, and I don't have every one of them, so I'm sure I just missed it. Anyway, doesn't matter, because they just add another layer of weird to an already odd story arc...and besides, it's the art that's the star here anyway, especially in a wonderful formal-ball fundraiser scene that features lots of well-staged sexual banter and some genuine tension of more than one kind; for the first time, Rucka provides enough to keep Williams from having to do all the heavy lifting and it really pays off. The Question backup pales in comparison, remaining bland and unmemorable, just the sort of story that got backup stories killed off before. A-

FINAL CRISIS: RUN #'s 4, 5: Somehow I neglected to opine on #4; guess it got lost in the shuffle of losing my laptop. Anyway, it's pretty much on a par with its successor; despite the utter lack of anything remotely approaching a sympathetic character (even the Justice Leaguers are smart-ass dicks), Matt Sturges is somehow keeping me interested in the squalid goings-on as the Human Flame continues to run from, and confront, both the "good" guys and the "bad" guys who wish to a) kill him, or at least beat him up a lot before bringing him to justice, and b) kill him. Another writer might want to make us feel empathy for poor ol' misunderstood Flamey, but not Sturges- Flame keeps backstabbing, blinding, maiming, and dumping on anyone who comes in contact with him with one goal only- to become more powerful than those hunting him. He manages to achieve this in the cliffhanger ending of #5, what happens next remains to be seen and I'm happy to say that when all bets seem to be off to the degree it is here, well, who knows how it will end. Artwise, the hypermuscled style Freddie Williams brings to bear is not always a favorite of mine- think of a slightly more restrained Bart Sears- but he does a good job of ramping up the tension via pacing and layouts. By far the best of the Final Crisis Aftermath books I've read so far. B+

GREEN LANTERN #45: I don't know, perhaps it's because I'm just not following all the myriad Blackest Night spinoffs as closely as I should, but half of this was exposition that dealt with events that happened in other books, and the other half was a long, boring, talky fight scene between Sinestro and Star Sapphire that would have gotten me all worked up when I was 15, but just tries my patience now. My admittedly tentative interest in this whole thing has begun to fade. C-

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #17: I suppose it speaks to how comfortable Abnett and Lanning are with all this Cosmic Space Opera stuff that this modest little book is probably the best thing in that narrow, exclusive-to-Marvel genre since Jimbo Starlin broke that ice three decades ago, and the return of Jim's second-most interesting bad guy in this issue underscores it. The art, by Brad Walker, Victor Olazaba, and Scott Hanna blends together well and acheives a nice dynamism necessary for the breathless pace. Of course, this is still tying in with the War of Kings thing, but not to the story's detriment. The debriefing scenes annoy, because they're a kind of giveaway as far as who makes it through the events described (as if we didn't know anyway) and there are a couple of arbitrary cast member deaths that we all know probably won't last, but otherwise, this remains a very enjoyable little space romp. A-

HELLBLAZER #258: Things keep going from bad to worse for poor ol' Conjob, as the mess he started keeps escalating, as it so often does for him. Effective Hammer-horror goings-on, effectively rescuing what seemed like a (again, no pun intended) DOA storyline just two months ago. Artist Giuseppe Camuncoli seems to finally be in a groove as well, just in time for Simon Bisley to step in next issue. This prospect is not one which excites me; I've never really been a fan of his work. Oh well, I'll continue to roll with the changes, as the song goes. B

HEROGASM #4: In which Garth gives us one of the more squirrely 9/11 conspiracy theories you'll ever run across, and this continues to slowly but surely build to a, well, climax, for lack of a better term, and I have to wonder what the ramifications will be for the main book. McCrea's art has been inconsistent, depending on who inks; I think this was his best issue yet, not coincidentally because he inked himself. B+

IMMORTAL WEAPONS #2: The Weapon with all the spiders (Bride of Nine, or somesuch) gets her turn, as does Damned (I wish to Jebus the second trade would come out!) writer Cullen Bunn, and he gives us a pretty good old dark house-style mystery story in addition to a times-past account of the Bo9S's early history as well; the clash between the modern artifact-chase thread and the ancient battle-in-China scenarios is handled nicely. A big benefit is some slightly surprisingly (well, not so- he's a tremendous artist in whatever media he chooses) good pencil-and-ink work by Dan Brereton, stepping out of his painted comfort zone and showing a style that betrays a lot of Gene Colan, Don Newton, and I'd bet Gray Morrow influence. It looks mah-velous, despite three, count 'em three inkers. Not so mah-velous, but pretty darn good just the same, is the back feature, the continuation of the Iron Fist story by Duane Swiercynski and Travel Foreman that I'd bet was intended for the next few issues of Immortal Iron Fist. A-

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #133: With Herc off pretending to be Thor, we look in on Amadeus Cho as he tries to get to the bottom of the events that lead to the death of his parents, his sister's disappearance, and why he's regarded as the "seventh smartest person in the world". What he finds is one of those "town under the thrall of an evil, mind-controlling genius" scenarios, but Van Lente and Pak typically handle it with a light touch, and have my interest. Love the reference to the wonderfully cheesy old Sci-Fi B-movie Fiend Without a Face in the floating brains scenes, and we get yet another amusing recap at the beginning. So far, gotta go with the Thorcules story as the most entertaining, but Amadeus' at least has me wondering where it's heading. I wish the art was a bit better; it's slick and professional looking, and Photoshopped up real purty, but it lacks personality, that little something extra that makes the eye sit up and take notice. Oh well, could be worse. B+

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #17: I suppose this is the time-honored "darkness before the dawn" type issue; things certainly don't look good for Pepper, Maria Hill, and especially Tony Stark, whose self-inflicted memory loss keeps getting worse and worse. Of course, I've been reading comics long enough to know that whatever happens won't be as dire as it seems it's going to be...but Fraction is enough of a wild card as a writer to raise the specter of possibility that something significant might...just might happen. The whole "Dark Reign" background remains a fertile ground for interesting character interaction as well. Salvador Larocca continues to provide adequate, but unexceptional art. B+

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #30: The character interaction was OK, I guess, but otherwise this is just another slickly done generic spandex slugfest, mostly bereft of the more purposed feel that Johns brought to the party. Nice to see Eclipso back, although the last time I saw the character, he was a she, Jean Loring to be precise. Guess something happened in some comic or another I didn't read. Oh well, if this is the kind of retro back-to-the-80's-feel comics you're looking for, then I guess this is as good a place to get it as any. Me, I'm beginning to think my time could be spent doing something else more worthwhile. That Cyclone sure is cute, though. D+

MADAME XANADU #14: Sandman Mystery Theatre nostalgia continues unabated as Wagner gives us Wesley Dodds in full gas mask and fedora regalia this issue, as he encounters Madame X in the course of an investigation. So for that, if nothing else, this issue is a winner, and the encounter is done very well, as is the alternate Spanish Inquisition flashback. Mike Kaluta's art is a bit better this time out as well; of course, it's as finely detailed and expertly staged as usual, with excellent period detail as well, but the awkward figure drawings in evidence last time are practically nonexistent. Another fine chapter of this consistently good series. A-

POWER GIRL #4: This one thankfully returns to what made her previous miniseries, as well as the subsequent Terra series, as much fun to read as it was, as PG and her young friend team up to battle a magical ecoterrorist. It also helps that no matter how dire your script may be, putting Amanda Connor in charge of illustrating it is a recipe for success, she's just great as usual. This is the first issue that I can recommend to the curious, and for the first time, I hope it continues, and not just so I can see more Connor art. A-

SCALPED #31: The plight of Dash Bad Horse and the fallout from Red Crow's actions i the previous issue provide most of the story impetus this time out, although there are many other interesting things going on in the background. More of the hard-hitting dramatics we've all come to expect from Aaron and Guera. A

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: ECLIPSO: Growing up, I read a lot of comic books that were written by Bob Haney. I read many, many issues of Teen Titans, Metamorpho, Aquaman, and later on I was a regular buyer of The Brave and the Bold until I was in my early twenties. I generally liked Mr. Haney's work, as awkwardly dialogued and as jerry-rigged, plotwise, as it could be- he was rarely dull, and usually always seemed to be enjoying what he was writing. So believe me when I tell you that this is easily the worst Bob Haney stuff I've ever read. That said, I've always liked the Eclipso character, when he would pop up here and there in comics I'd read as a kid; you may recall the Metal Men story I wrote about the other day as one example. Ol' Clipsy seemed like a great, hissable villain, ruthless and evil and with a cool visual style and power. But the first run of Eclipso stories saw print (1963-1965) before I really started buying a wide variety of comics (or, more accurately, had my mom and dad buy them, heh), and while I'm sure I saw issues of House of Secrets on the racks, I guess there were just others I was more interested in. The first time I read an Eclipso solo story (i.e., not as a villain in Justice League or whatever), it was a reprint that appeared in Archie Goodwin's 1970's Detective Comics run; it was illustrated by Alex Toth, whose work I remember liking when I saw it in other places like CARtoons and other DC books. The story didn't make much of an impression on me, and reading it now once more as one of the selections in this collection, I can see why. I'm kinda getting ahead of myself here, I know, so to sum up so far: Appearing in House of Secrets #'s 61-80 (he closed the book down the first time, before they revived it with supernatural stories), Eclipso was an attempt to do a Sci-Fi kind of Jekyll & Hyde tale; probably inspired by the success Marvel eventually had with the Hulk, it's the story of a young scientist named Bruce Gordon who ran afoul of a hostile tribal chief named Mophir on an island, and who was scratched by the chief's mysterious black diamond as he plunged to his death in a scuffle with Gordon. After that, every time an eclipse of the sun or moon occurred, Gordon would transform into Eclipso, a malevolent doppleganger who used the power of the diamond to carry out his evil schemes, most notably by firing a black power beam out of his eye through the dark gem. Also mixed up in this is Gordon's mentor, Professor Bennett, and his daughter, Bruce's fiance, Mona. At first, only the Prof knows Bruce's secret, but eventually Mona gets wise. Anyway, right off the bat, we see that Haney isn't interested in exploring this schism; Gordon is portrayed as a stoic, heroic, good guy and Eclipso is cunning, vicious and cruel- but Haney never seeks to establish that perhaps this is a side of Gordon that he was never able to release, until the magic black diamond enabled him to do so. The typical plots, as the series went on, usually always followed a basic template: eclipse happens (or light passes over him and puts him in shadow, it often got ridiculous how many different ways Haney enabled Bruce's changes- eclipses don't happen nearly as often in real life as they do in these stories), Bruce changes (or splits off, that happened later), raises hell for no real good reason except some sort of vague "conquer the world/nation/something" master plan that only seemed to exist as a reason for 'Clipsy to act evil, Bruce and the Prof concoct a way to change Bruce back (often several times in a story), and eventually they get rid of Eclipso for good- or do they? Haney, to his credit, did seek to change things up from time to time- a (probably editor-mandated) team up with book-mate Prince Ra-Man, which was pretty much the highlight of the post-Toth issues simply because it was different, and contriving ways to physically separate Gordon and Eclipso, to allow for more movement of both and potential conflict, I suppose. Regardless, these stories, even the handful illustrated by the great Toth, are depressingly routine and often nonsensical; as so many writers did back then, the characters are constantly explaining and describing everything to everyone, and with the exception of Ra-Man, there was not one memorable villain in the entire run. After a few early issues by Lee Elias, whose Caniffesque style was fine, if unexciting, Toth took over for about six issues and delivered a typically outstanding job- he was really coming into the style that he became loved for. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be especially engaged with the scripts (I can only imagine what he must have thought of them, as finicky and outspoken as he could be), and his imaginative layout style is subsumed in favor of just the basics. He doesn't even letter many of them; the one or two that he does really stand out by comparison. Eventually, after Toth moved on (probably to Hanna-Barbera), Jack Sparling took over, and his grubby, awkward style really looked lackluster and unimpressive. I'm sure he was a reliable artist, and not without talent, but while he could do a mean horror/mystery tale he was all wrong for superhero action- as he proved not only here but on Metamorpho and other titles as well in his mid-late 60's stint with DC. So that's what you're getting with this package, I'm sorry to say- the worst of Bob Haney, and some awfully uninspired at best and sloppily-rendered, bland at worst art. Eventually, Eclipso kept popping up in other places, usually as a bad guy, until he finally was done well by Walt Simonson, and his notorious 1980's solo series had some definite highlights in the course of its 18 issues too. No wonder it took so long, seeing what we were given at the beginning- this is by no stretch the best of Silver Age DC at all. Recommended for Toth completists only; this would get a big fat D if not for him. C-

Trouble Waiting to Happen.

I don't usually repost press notices here when I get them, but I thought I could make an exception with this...

Comic Book Galaxy Expands in Tenth Year with New Group Blog TROUBLE WITH COMICS

(The Comics Internet) -- Now in its tenth year of pushing comix forward, Comic Book Galaxy has had as few as one and as many as two dozen contributors at any given time in its history. As it rolls into its tenth year, the Galaxy is expanding once again with the creation of the new group blog TROUBLE WITH COMICS.

Comic Book Galaxy publisher Alan David Doane says in his post introducing the new blog that "[Trouble with Comics] grew out of conversations with my good friend and partner in thoughtcrime Chris Allen, as I was assembling my recent eBook, Conversations with ADD. I had to dig into the Galaxy's deepest, hidden recesses to find some of the material for the eBook, and Chris helped me pound it all into shape. As we worked together on all that, I think we both realized just how much we missed feeling the rush we got from the most exciting times we had together (and sometimes separately) on Comic Book Galaxy. With that in mind, we started talking to good writers we knew, some who wrote for Comic Book Galaxy in the past, some who are new faces around the Galaxy Clubhouse but who nonetheless agree with our stated goal of 'pushing comix forward.'"

Edited by Galaxy veterans Alan David Doane and Christopher Allen, the mix of contributing writers to TROUBLE WITH COMICS includes returning Comic Book alumni Johnny Bacardi, d. emerson eddy, Mick Martin, Marc Sobel and Diana Tamblyn, as well as writers new to Comic Book Galaxy like Alex Ness, Matt Springer, and David Wynne.

TROUBLE WITH COMICS will include regular reviews and features, as well as interviews, profiles, previews and more. Among the features currently on the blog is the first in a new series of Five Questions interviews by Alan David Doane, this one featuring comics writer Ron Marz.

You can read TROUBLE WITH COMICS by going to www.comicbookgalaxy.com/troublewithcomics/ and subscribe to its RSS feed at http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/troublewithcomics/atom.xml .


And that's the way it is. I know, I know, I hear you saying "But JB, you can't even maintain a regular posting schedule on your OWN blog, how you gonna contribute to this?" And that's a good question. I'm thinking and hoping the great talent assembled there will prod and inspire me. I do have one longish post in the works, one which I've been asked to do by more than one person, so there's that...and plans are afoot for theme weeks and that sort of thing, which I think I could take part in as well. Regardless, I think ADD and the rest are OK with my irregular posting, so we'll see how it works out.



Guess you can call me "Trouble Man" for now...

Guess ants won't be a problem.

I was going through my Google Reader feed, and noticed a post in which someone waxed enthusiastic about this cover for the new Adventure Comics #2. And that's fine, it's a romantic image, well drawn by promising newcomer Francis Manapul. I can see why this person liked it; it evokes the classic-for-some Superman-flying-with-Lois scene from the first Superman flick, and I always appreciate a comic book cover that employs understatement rather than the usual hysterics.

Problem is, I also look at this cover and wonder exactly what practical purpose having one's picnic thirty feet in the air, on the back of your super-dog no less, would serve. Seems like you'd always be having to fly down to the ground to get this or that, and if you should drop your napkin, well, better have a few more handy! I'm sure this Kon-El character would have anticipated it, because, well, he's super and all that. Poor Krypto will, I'm sure, be begging for scraps, and that could cause some tension-mounting plunging-to-the-ground situations as he scrambles to get them. I'm sure he'll get impatient and be glad when his master gets done pitching woo as he munches on his tunafish sandwich, and heaven help them if he spies a cat on the ground below! Maybe it's just because my soul is a shriveled-up little black thing that resembles a raisin, who knows...but this scenario just looks odd and impractical to me.

Reviews coming. Coming at a snail's pace, but they're coming just the same.

"Tea?"

For your reading pleasure, the three pages which made me a fan of Paul Grist, and his Jack Staff (and later on, Kane) series. I had seen his work before, most notably in an issue of TwoMorrows' Comic Book Artist, which sported a back cover depicting the X-Men, most notably Professor X, in his unusual (well, unusual by mainstream comics standards, especially in the late 90's) style. I think I had also seen him mentioned in the Journal once or twice, I was still buying it regularly then. Anyway, I was intrigued, but by the time I first discovered him Kane had suspended publication, and he had already self-pubbed five issues of Jack, plus I just didn't recall seeing very many issues of either at my comics store, and neither did I want to dive into the back issue boxes and get #'s, oh, 12, 17, and 20 of Kane, then be frustrated for months looking for others. But when I spied Jack #6 on the rack, all brand new and shiny with its loud orange cover, I pounced. I was entertained by Grist's always-lively layout style, with its extreme perspectives and panel placements, along with his deft use of black and white areas...but what really got me was the deceptively simple, very British and understated scripting style he employed, in display above. He's still doing this sort of thing to this day. I've been a fan and a reader ever since, going back and acquiring the back issues of Jack I missed, as well as continuing to pick up the ongoing series, now printed in color by Image. I also went out and got all the collected trades of Kane, a cop series that is even better than Jack in a lot of ways, and one I hope he returns to someday.

All this is in order to send Mr. Grist a Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting on this, his birthday today. Hope it's a good one.


Golly, if it weren't for birthdays, I'd never post anything around here, would I? Anyway, reviews are forthcoming.

Five for Sunday, or Inspiration Often Strikes Late, If At All.

From time to time, I like to participate in Tom Spurgeon's "Five for Friday" series over at the Comics Reporter, which you should all know intimately. If for some strange reason you don't, suffice it to say he calls the tune, and we all dance to it by naming five things which fit the established criteria. I always see the Reader feed on Friday night, usually about 7 or 8 PM CST, and to be frank (or David, or Bob, or...never mind), sometimes I just can't think of anything and am often too tired to make the effort because I am old and feeble.

Anyway, the latest one, which went up today, was themed "Name Your 5 Favorite Funny (And Not-So-Funny) Animals." I was unable to get it up, metaphorically speaking, in time for the deadline of midnight Friday night...but I did think of some and now I will share them with you, including one I've meant to spotlight for a long time.

First of all, a disclaimer- and I realize to some, this may be heresy...but I have never really been a big fan of funny animal comics. Just didn't interest me much as a kid, and that didn't change when I theoretically grew up. I mean sure, I had plenty of funny animal comics- Gold Key Disney Donald Ducks and Mickey Mouses, and liked Pogo and so forth, had a handful of old Howard the Duck comics (although I was not the fan of this character that many were/are) as well as many, many cartoons and films featuring a host of animals, both funny and not-so- but I was never really enticed to buy/watch (or continue to buy/watch on a regular basis) simply because there were anthropomorphic characters. Now, when I came up with this list (and this disclaimer has gone on for a lot longer than I wanted it to), I thought I would name some I didn't see on the others' entries over at Tom's...so rest assured I appreciate and like, nay, even love in some cases the likes of Hobbes, Omaha the Cat Dancer, Ray Smuckles, and so on, even if I don't especially embrace the genre, if that's what you want to call it.

Shall we begin?



1. Fox and the Crow
I don't know, this may technically count as two, but hey- this is not official, it's on my blog, and I'll dance if I want to. Fox and Crow were a DC funny animal title that began in 1952, and ended sometime in late 1967 or early 1968, taken over and replaced by Stanley and His Monster. I have often (well, not really all THAT often) thought that Kevin Smith's butchery of Stanley was brought on because he was a closet Fox & Crow fan. I remember owning a few of the F&C books, with and without Stanley (although more with) as a kid, and I was amused by them...hence their inclusion.



2. Dirty Duck
By Bobby London. One of the best things about the comics section of the National Lampoon. Kinda overlooked and forgotten these days, and that's a shame- I wonder if there's a collection in the offing someday? Should be.



3. Harvard-Harvard
Bob Hope's talking Dachshund, from the Super-Hip days of his comic that I'm always going on about. Pic courtesy of Magic Carpet Burn.




4. The cast of Puppy Action!

OK, now here's an obscure one for ya. Back in 1990, one issue, and one issue alone, of this black and white indie comic came and went, lost in the shuffle of the thousand and one black-and-white funny animal comics of the day. I myself would have never noticed it if not for one Suzanne Boggs Feinstein, who worked at the Great Escape nee Pac-Rat's at the time, and thought it was very funny- and suggested I might find it so as well. And y'know what? I did. It's a fast-paced and amusing, if a tad dated, satire of corporate business, with the boss dog decked out in a crown, and all the usual office types scheming and cutting up behind his back (and in front of him, sometimes). This sort of thing has been done to death by now, and the last story is a type that's been done even more, a satire of Nerd/Geeks at a comics/SF convention, but it predated Office Space as well as Dorkin's Eltingville Club, so that much is going for it, at least. This comic is so forgotten that it doesn't even have an entry on the Grand Comic Database, nor is there one in the Comic Book Database either. Pearlstein went on to develop the animated Sniz & Fondue, which aired as part of Nickelodeon's Ka-Blam! show later in the 90's. What he's done since is unknown to me, certainly a look at his IMDb profile doesn't yield much. Anyway, so you can get a taste, I've scanned two pages- check 'em out below:



And finally...



5. The Talking Fish from Timespirits

This one's a natural, since the plight of Steve Perry has me thinking a lot about this title. This character was perhaps the closest thing that Cusick and Doot had to an arch enemy; he shows up during two different story arcs and causes trouble in both. Speaking of Perry, I hope you all have considered sending something along to help him out. I haven't been able to just yet, but I'm working on something.

Snap, crackle, pop...sluice.

Yesterday was Walt Simonson's birthday, and of course I missed it, as unable to find the time to sit down and focus and write as I seem to be these days. Even still, I thought last night that I would attempt to pay a little tribute of some sort, and I wanted to spotlight a somewhat unheralded and kinda-forgotten art job he did before he went on to Marvel, and Thor, and the FF, and so on: his brief stint on the Metal Men comic back in '76-'77. By this time, he had really begun to perfect the dynamic, playful style he had gotten everyone's attention with in the excellent Manhunter, and this, as well as the last few issues of Hercules Unbound (which he did at about the same time) just blew me away back then. I searched high and low for scans of his MM ( for some reason, I no longer own my originals) run so I could post a few pages for your edification, and finally, one night later, I found some. They were mostly corrupt and wouldn't display properly, but I did manage to find a few great pages from one issue in particular, #49, which was the conclusion of a two-part story involving Eclipso (I've been reading the Showcase Presents that came out a week or so ago, and I'll probably try a longish review soon. relatively speaking.) and his quest to resurrect some sort of ancient god, the likes of which were most popular back in the mid-70's. Apologies for the awful look of these; I don't have a computer at home with Photoshop anymore so I can't touch 'em up. Still, the resolution's OK and they're quite readable.

Anyway, many things jump out at me- the breathless pace of the action, full of speed lines and Simonson's patented lighthearted onomatopoeia; although you can't tell it much from these pages, Simonson made a definite effort to pay homage to Alex Toth's version of not only 'Clipsy but alter ego Bruce Gordon and girlfriend Mona Bennett as well. Marty Pasko's script (I've always felt that his work on this title was his best) was breezy and fun, not written with overwrought imitation Roy Thomas dialogue like so many writers' scripts from that time period were, and Simonson's art brought a lot of that out- look at the last panel of the last page, in which Mercury exclaims "There he goes- sluicing back into the sea!"...and sure enough, he does so accompanied by a big "SLUICE" in wobbly letters, courtesy of the artist. There's also an amusing sequence (in the page at right, click to see biggerer) in which the Big Bad, name of Umbra, fires death-beams out of his fingertips, which seek out their intended targets- humans Doc Magnus, Mona, Gordon, two others- and Walt gives us a panel with helpful little boxes with arrows pointing to each, telling us which target each beam is intended for. Well, I thought it was amusing, anyway.

Anyway, Simonson and Pasko's short-lived Metal Men was good comics. Take my word for it. If I ever run across a set, I'll buy them back someday.

Oh, if you want further testimony to the man's excellence, if any was needed, here's my last year's tribute, with lotsa covers.


Oh, and lest I forget, Tuesday the 1st was the birthday of the great Gene Colan. I wished him a happy one on his Facebook page, 'cause we're all best buds and such. Anyway, here's last year's covers tribute.

Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings to both!