Everybody Loves You When You're Six Feet in the Ground.

It has been thirty years since the senseless and maddening murder of John Lennon.

安らかに眠る, John.

All the animated movies in the world. Sort of.

Yep, it's come to this. Memes. I saw this somewhere else the other day, and thought it might be fun to do.

- X what you saw
- O what you haven't finished/seen or saw sizable portions
- Bold what you loved
- Italicize what you disliked/hated
- Leave unchanged if neutral

CLASSIC DISNEY
-------------------------------
[X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[X] Cinderella (1950)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Lady and the Tramp (1955): I saw this at the Twin City Drive-in when it was re-released in the early-mid 60s. I think it was 1965, but I'm not sure.
[X] Mary Poppins (1964)
[X] Peter Pan (1953)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[O] Song of the South (1946)


DISNEY'S DARK AGE
-------------------------------
[ ] The Aristocats (1970)
[X] The Black Cauldron (1985): The first (and last) drive-in movie we saw with my son at the Twin City in Horse Cave.
[O] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[O] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967): Saw this on its original run in the theatre, when I was 7. Loved it then and now.
[O] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[ ] Oliver and Company (1986)
[O] Pete's Dragon (1977)
[O] The Rescuers (1977)
[O] Robin Hood (1973)
[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963): Uh...Walt was still around for this one...

This whole "Dark Age" thing is dubious to me. While I was mostly indifferent to most of these (not enough high concept to impress teenage-and-early 20's me), some of them are well done, and I really should get around to seeing the one with the Roger Miller songs.

THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
-------------------------------
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991): I still can't get that damned "Gaston" song out of my head.
[ ] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[X] Hercules (1997): I liked the Hirschfeld-esque character designs, and some of the songs were very well-staged.
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995)
[ ] The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
[X] Tarzan (1999)

Must admit I saw many of these because my kids were just the right age to want to see them...my daughter LOVED Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.

DISNEY'S MODERN AGE
-------------------------------
[X] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[X] Bolt (2008): I wound up enjoying this one a LOT more than I expected to.
[ ] Brother Bear (2003)
[ ] Chicken Little (2005)
[ ] Dinosaur (2000)
[X] The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
[O] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[ ] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002): Watched this the other day for about the fourth time, and it still holds up for me.
[ ] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Treasure Planet (2002): Another one which I thought was better than I was expecting. Quite imaginative in places.

PIXAR
-------------------------------
[X] A Bug's Life (1998)
[X] Cars (2006)
[X] Finding Nemo (2003)
[X] The Incredibles (2004): By far my favorite Pixar film.
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[ ] Toy Story 3 (2010): No, I haven't seen this yet. Soon.
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009): A wonderful, excellent film that I have no desire to subject myself to again, thanks to the devastating flashbacks.


DON BLUTH
-------------------------------
[X] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[X] An American Tail (1986)
[ ] An American Tail: Fieval Goes West (1991)
[X] Anastasia (1997)
[X] The Land Before Time (1988)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[X] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[ ] Thumbelina (1994)
[X] Titan AE (2000)
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)

Some of these were OK; Bluth's animation was mostly well done but often looked rubbery and unconvincing. I suppose my favorite of these is Anastasia; another favorite of my daughter, and I've always been interested in the subject matter. Yes, I sat through Rock-a-Doodle. What of it?

CLAYMATION
-------------------------------
[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[X] Chicken Run (2000)
[X] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[X] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[X] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005): These W&G flicks are always fun; weird grimacing aside.
[X] Coraline (2009)

Claymation? None of the Burton flicks cited here are Claymation. Oh well.

CGI GLUT
-------------------------------
[X] Antz (1998)
[O] Bee Movie (2007)
[O] Happy Feet (2006)
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[X] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[X] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[X] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[X] Madagascar (2005)
[X} Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[X] Monster House (2006): A favorite of my wife.
[X] Over the Hedge (2006)
[X] The Polar Express (2004)
[X] Robots (2005): I liked this one more than I probably should have.
[X] A Shark's Tale (2004)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[X] Shrek The Third (2007)
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)
[X] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

IMPORTS
-------------------------------
[ ] Arabian Knight (aka The Thief and the Cobbler) (1995)
[X] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
[X] Persepolis (2007)
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)
[ ] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] Wonderful Days (2003)
[X] Yellow Submarine (1968): One of the cornerstones of my childhood movie-watching life.

STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
-------------------------------
[ ] The Cat Returns (2002)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
[X] Kiki's Delivery Service (1989): A favorite of my wife. I thought it was cute.
[ ] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[ ] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[X] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984): I watched this a couple of years ago, and I'll be damned if I remember anything about it.
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[ ] Porco Rosso (1992)
[X] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[X] Spirited Away (2002): This one, on the other hand, is one of the best films I've ever seen.
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[X] Ponyo (2009)

SATOSHI KON
-------------------------------
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[X] Paprika (2006): Visually lovely, but I found it hard to follow.
[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)


SHINKAI MAKOTO
-------------------------------
[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[ ] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)


OTHER ANIME FILMS
-------------------------------
[X] Akira (1989)
[ ] Angel's Egg (1985)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title - Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[O ] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title - Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
[ ] Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Galaxy Express 999 (1979)
[X] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
[ ] The Girl Who Lept Through Time (2006)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title - Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] Memories (1995)
[ ] Metropolis (2001)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] The Sky Crawlers (2008)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[X] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)
[ ] Urusei Yatsura: Only You (1982)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)

CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
-------------------------------
[X] American Pop (1981)
[X] The Animatrix (2003)
[X] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996).
[X] Cool World (1992)
[X] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[X] Fire & Ice (1983)
[X] Fritz the Cat (1972)
[ ] Halo Legends (2009)
[X] Heavy Metal (1981)
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin' (1982)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)
[X] Sita Sings the Blues (2008)
[X] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)

OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
-------------------------------
[ ] The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
[ ] Animal Farm (1954)
[O] Animalympics (1980)
[O] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007): I watched about half of this; what is hilarious for 15 minutes proved to be tiresome for almost an hour and a half.
[X] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
[ ] Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
[ ] Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
[O] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[ ] Cats Don't Dance (1997)
[X] Care Bears: The Movie (1985): Took my son when he was 3, OK?
[O] Charlotte's Web (1973)
[X] Fern Gully (1992)
[ ] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[X] Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[X] The Hobbit (1977)
[X] The Iron Giant (1999): One of my favorite films.
[ ] Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
[X] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[X] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[ ] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[X] Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[ ] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[X] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[ ] Shinbone Alley (1971)
[X] Space Jam (1996)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
[ ] Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] The Swan Princess (1994)
[ ] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
[X] Wonder Woman (2009)
[ ] Balto (1995)
[X] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

And that's it, I guess!

Just like little girls and boys/Playing with their little toys...

The other day I was hanging out at the town library, visiting my Mom (she works there), and scanning the shelves, and happened across a remarkable little book titled Who Were the Beatles? by Geoff Edgers- part of a young readers-geared "Who were/was..." series. The simplistic, yet adequate and even clever in their way illustrations are by Jeremy Tugeau. See the samples below- first, of young George with his Mom and his first guitar, and next, a scene most likely meant to be from the White Album sessions, when Yoko first started insinuating herself into the Beatles' studio.

Since it's aimed at preteens, much of the Fabs' convoluted, sometimes odd, sometimes messy history is omitted- but given how much that is written about them these days adopts two postures: cynical or fawning, it has a refreshing lack of both as it assays their history that I found charming.

Which is not to say that uncomfortable topics aren't included: John's murder, his "lost weekend", George's chafing at being the odd man out, the breakup of the group and why, John and Paul's sniping at each other in the papers- all are there.

For example, here's the description of John's lost weekend:

By the mid-1970's, John Lennon was still one of the most famous people in the world, more so than the other Beatles. Was he happy? No.

He was still a young man- only in his thirties. Yet he'd spent so much time in the spotlight. He never seemed at ease with himself, even at home. His marriage to Yoko Ono was breaking up. John was afraid it would end up in divorce, just as his first marriage had. Eventually, Yoko asked John to move out. He agreed, though he didn't want to. John began to drink too much. He also took drugs. He started hanging out with people who only wanted to go to parties. He got into fights. His music suffered.

Of course, this is © Edgers. I'd take issue with that last statement, but see what I mean? Even though it's not 100% accurate (no mention of Harry Nilsson or May Pang, which would muddy the picture, I suppose), the lack of snark, hipper-than-thou posturing and mean-spiritedness won me over completely.

I've read a lot of books about the Fabs over the years, but very few of them left me with a good feeling about them. This one did. I guess, in these troubled times, that that is a hell of a thing.

(Reposted from a 2007 entry on my LiveJournal. I figured that many didn't see this over there, and I'm thinking I might put a few more LJ posts up over here, just for the sake of keeping this blog active.)

I'm Here to State this Blog is Eight.

Yes, it was eight years ago that I first put words in a blog post and set them loose on the world. It's been an interesting experience. LOT of water under the bridge, and a lot of both good and bad life events for me in that span. I know, right now I'm not posting very much over here, and I'm not happy about that, but it's probably going to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Too many things dividing my attention, and that causes me to leave some things on the back burner- such as this blog. I'm still finding time to Tweet; and I post the occasional video or link on Facebook...and of course I'm still writing about a handful of comics a week at Popdose. I hope you'll follow me there. Until the day when I can get back to updating this blog regularly, I hope you can find it in your hearts to keep me in your feed readers or bookmark tabs or however you monitor blogs, and I thank you for your attention and support over the last 8 years.

RIP Jerry Grandenetti.

Word has reached the Internet, and by extension me, that Jerry Grandenetti passed away back in February. You may recall, if you've been reading my blog for any period of time, that I have written several posts praising his work in the 60's and early 70's, especially in the black and white Warren Magazines line, via titles like Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. Although I was infatuated with the work of many of the artists represented in those pages, such as Alex Toth, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Wally Wood, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, and many others, none of them grabbed my attention or captured my fancy like Grandenetti's surreal, expressionistic, almost hallucenogenic renditions of (mostly) Archie Goodwin's stories. Here are links to two previous posts, one an entire story, a personal favorite called "Rub the Lamp", and a single page from a later story called "Type Cast". As the years went by, I would read a bit about him here and there; I soon became acquainted with his work for DC, especially his run on the 60's Spectre, succeeding Neal Adams, inked by Murphy Anderson. The difference in styles was too jarring for many, and eventually the book was cancelled. Like Frank Robbins when he took over from Mike Kaluta on The Shadow several years later, fans didn't take it well...but I really liked his stint, although it wasn't until the mid-70's that I read them. Eventually, I found out about his beginnings working for Will Eisner, and his stint on DC's war comics. After a while, he moved into the greener pastures of advertising, but kept his hand in by illustrating a hodgepodge of things for DC in the 70's, mostly Joe Simon projects like Prez and in the pages of First Issue Special, The Green Team and The Outsiders. Sadly, his work was unappreciated by many at the time, who only seemed to appreciate the flashier, more modern-style artists of the next few decades. Regardless, I never forgot the charge I got from that 60's stuff, and he became one of the artists I was always evangelizing about to whoever would listen. When I started blogging, I was excited to discover his website, through which he solicited commissions, and I always thought it would be so great to get him to do something for me, but alas I never could afford it. The website is no longer online.

Anyway, short story long, of all the great artists I've admired, appreciated and loved over the years, few have given me as much pleasure as Grandenetti did in the 60's, my formative years. His was such a challenging style, it definitely could be an acquired taste, so I can see why it didn't receive the accolades I thought it deserved. In way of tribute, I want to post a series of pages and covers from different points in his career; I hope it will provide some insight into his talent and yes, genius, and perhaps enlighten you about why I revered it so. It's a very incomplete sample set, but I hope it will be satisfactory.

Two Eisnerish Dr. Drew pages, via Four-Color Shadows.

War comics covers for DC, many done with wash tones.

The uncut funk here, Warren pages from Creepy and Eerie. Grandenetti also did several stories as a ghost for Joe Orlando. Now, some DC pages from roughly the same period; the Spectre pages are inked by Murphy Anderson:

And from the 1970's, Prez and the Green Team:

Always wanted to see a Batman-Green Team teamup. You'd think the cartoon guys would be up for that. Anyway, finally, the one page bio that appeared in Creepy #42:

And that's all. Rest in peace, Mr. Grandenetti, and thanks for everything.

The Power of Love.

Gosh, it's been a week since I posted anything. I have some stuff in the works, pinky swear. In the meantime, here's a pinup of Venus (source unknown, tho I think it's from Marvel Spotlight #2) by the great Bill Everett (the headshot looks touched up by persons unknown), subject of an excellent Blake Bell book that I reviewed over at Popdose this week. You all know how much I loves me some Venus.

BSBdG: Trevor Von Eeden

Sending out one of those super-duper multi-cover tribute Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings to Trevor Von Eeden, 51 years young today.

Closer to Seeing the Dream Come True.

Just found out via a watched comments section on the For the Love of Harry blog that at long last, the Harry Nilsson documentary Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talking About Him? is set to be released on DVD on October 26 of this year, according to Amazon.com! Now, release dates and schedules working the way they do, this may be changed, but at least we Nilsson fans who have been waiting to see this for years now can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

In keeping with this blog post title, "Don't tell me that isn't what you wanted to do"...

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 4.

Continuing my glacially-paced look back at a randomly-chosen run of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69).

#147 picks up where the last couple of issues left off, with the now-less-than-godlike Thor in deep doo-doo with the police in the aftermath of the botched Giant Golden Bull Caper, in which the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime hypnotized him into trying to steal a huge statue from a museum. Pinned by gunfire from the cops (and I'd imagine in his de-powered state, a slug could be fatal), he picks the golden bull back up (and off the trapped Princess Python), carries it laboriously back to its resting place, and surrenders peacefully. The Princess (who seemed to be crushing a bit on Goldilocks) pleads with them not to arrest him, "He's innocent!" she proclaims...but she's also making noise so her giant python can find her and carry her down to the street below the museum, where the Ringmaster and the other Circus members await. The last time we see them, they're hauling ass out of town, claiming it was Thor's fault their plan went all pear-shaped. Meanwhile, the Thunder God is taken downtown and booked...and he even gives up his hammer.

Change of scenery now, as we go to somewhere else in the universe, and find none other than good old Loki, in exile, on a big interconnected asteroid/barren rock-like thing. He helpfully muses to himself (and us, of course) that even though Odin sentenced him to eternal exile on that barren planetoid, he knows that the big guy is a sap and won't leave him there for much longer. And sure enough, on the very next page, Loki feels "stirrings" and disappears, rematerializing in Asgard, in front of Odin. The somewhat random All-Father tells Loki that he is also merciful as well as vengeful, and if Loki promises to be a good boy from now on, then he is free to go (since, after all, if Loki stays on the rock, then Stan and Jack can't use him in new stories!). Loki, in his best Jon Lovitz voice (that's who I'd cast in the role in the Thor movie), promises to be a good boy from now on (you may roll eyes) just as Sif and Balder burst in, and call Odin out on his decision. Now, if we've learned one thing in these last four issues, it P-I-S-S-E-S Odin off when people question his judgement, no matter how cockeyed nuts it may be, so he gets all uppity and reminds them that Thor stepped up to him too, and got depowered and stranded on Earth for his trouble. Sif and Balder take the hint and leave, and Loki slinks off chewing on this new morsel of information about his hated stepbrother. He decides to head to Earth and deliver a little payback to the Thunder God C.O.D. for all the ass-whippings he's suffered in the past.

Meanwhile, in his jail cell, Thor is sitting and talking to his cellmate when the cellmate begins to mess with him, suspecting he's really a plant, a spy of some sort. He even thump's Thor's helmet off his head! (The other prisoners are wearing jumpsuits, Thor gets to wear his costume for some reason, including his hat) Thor does not appreciate this at all, and hoists the con up in the air in order to perform a yea verily beatdown on his butt when he is interrupted by a guard- someone has stood Thor's bail, and he's free to go! As he reclaims his hammer and signs his release, he asks to meet his benefactor, and is greeted by a slim, familiar looking fellow in a fedora and cool shades (kinda resembling Speed Racer's Inspector Detector), who states that he's not interested in gratitude, and will explain his reasons in his car as they leave. As they drive three cars wide on the freeway, Thor puts two and two together and realizes that the man is, you guessed it, Loki- and they proceed to indulge in your basic five-page Lee/Kirby slugfest, with a god-powered Loki beating the crap out of valiant and strong, but mortal, Thor. Much grandiose soliloquizing and shattering of brick walls happens in these five pages, until they are interrupted just in time by Balder and Sif, who have decided to defy Odin and beam down to Earth to help their (boy)friend. Odin looks down and sees what hath transpired, and once more is P-I-S-S-E-D (I wonder if Norse Gods have anger management therapists?) O-F-F, firing a beam of mysterious power down to the planet below. Next month: "LET THERE BE CHAOS!"

The second part of the Inhumans backfeature is quite interesting. The robotic Kree Sentry is shown visiting the city of Attilan, just after their king Randac has exposed himself for the first time to the Terragen Mists. The Sentry was set by the Kree to watch the city, and appear to them when they become advanced enough. As they await his fate, the Sentry informs them that their people were granted superior intelligence by his masters, which explains the reasons why to their satisfaction. Turns out he, too, is there to find out how the mists have affected their monarch. Just then, he arrives and demonstrates, firing a powerful, but ineffective, force blast at the giant robot. The Sentry observes that the mists have given him power beyond any other human, and shall henceforth be referred to as...Inhuman! Randac, for his part, vows to expose the other subjects to the mists, and will live in the Great Refuge. Satisfied with this, he admonishes Randac to tell his people to use their powers wisely, because if the Kree ever does return, they may "meet as...deadly foes". The Sentry departs, "never again to be seen by...the Inhumans". And thus concludes...Thor #147!

Comments: I will say that after the mundane Ringmaster two-parter, the return to the more cosmic godstuff was welcome. Ironically, though, that whole juxtaposition of the ordinary Earthstuff, the reactions of the man on the street to Thor and his friends (well illustrated by this issue's prison scenes, as well as the sight of Thor and Loki driving off in a car), was to me one of the most interesting things about the whole series. I guess, though, that there are only so many double-takes by Joe Blow on the street that one can do before routine sets in, which probably explains the shift to more grandiose story ideas beginning soon. Besides, I'm sure Stan and Jack both realized that the Ringmaster and his cronies didn't belong in this milieu, and that whole thing just smacked of "We need to ground Thor a bit, let's try this", and it wasn't altogether successful, even though I liked Kirby's slimy, reptilian rendition of the Ringmaster. Also, I will hand it to Vince Colletta for a not-bad inking job this time out. Of course, unless one owns a whole set of Kirby Collectors in which a page or three from this might have appeared in penciled form, showing what he left out, we'll never know for sure what might have been.

Next time, we find out exactly what mojo Odin hath cast this time, and how it affects our quartet of battling gods.

Add Some Post-Apocalyptic Native American Adventure to Your Day.

From Scout #10, cover dated August of 1986, here's a nifty pinup gallery featuring some very good artists doing their versions of Tim Truman's characters, including Tom Yeates and Steve Bissette:

I included J.K. Snyder III's because it's his written and drawn-by back feature, which ran in the first eight issues of this title, that I'm going to be taking a look at next. Stay tuned!

Harvey, I Hardly Knew Ya.

I won't lie to you: The only issues of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor I have read in my life are two of the DC/Vertigo ones that came out a few years ago, and I got comped on them. Now I realize that probably makes me automatically invalid as a comics commentator, but bear with me, OK? I'm not unfamiliar with Pekar's work in general; you couldn't read an issue of The Comics Journal in the Eighties or Nineties without running across something with his name in it- a review, interview, you name it. For what it's worth, I've read plenty of excerpts in different places as well as anthologies with stuff he did in them, and I did see him on David Letterman once or twice. Sadly, though, not the one in which he appeared for the last time. I was never really moved to seek out his work, however, (even waxed philosophical about this shortcoming of mine a few years ago, scroll down a ways for the review) even though I enjoyed the excellent American Splendor feature film, made by Terry Zwigoff and starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar.

If I ever do decide to make the effort to appreciate Pekar's work more, it won't be in his lifetime, sorry to say- Harvey passed on early this morning, and the entire comics community is in mourning. Even a Philistine like me can recognize that Pekar's influence over the last three decades has been huge, especially in the Alternative comics genre, in which he was a pioneer and an inspiration, especially for those who chose to write and illustrate slice-of-life stories. He was a talented writer with a unique point-of-view, and will be missed by all.

Thanks For the Memeories.

In an effort to provide content here on a more frequent basis (stop laughing, you), I think it's high time I got back to putting music-related stuff up here. And in that spirit, here's a Facebook meme that I got tagged with by the esteemed M'sieu David Fiore.

Rules: Create a non objective list of your favorite albums of the last 20 years (anything released between 1990 and now), remember, this is your FAVORITES so, if Maroon 5's songs about Jane was your favorite album, that should be number 1, even if you feel Nevermind was a more influential album.

#1 is probably #1, but most of the rest of these are in the order I thought of them, mostly. It doesn't say how many albums to list, so I'll limit it to 25. I have no doubt that I will forget several. Also, for no good reason, I'm naming one album per artist.

1. Flaming Lips- The Soft Bulletin
2. Lloyd Cole- Don't Get Weird on Me, Babe
3. Matthew Sweet- Girlfriend
4. Ron Sexsmith- Other Songs
5. Eels- Daisies of the Galaxy
6. Los Lobos- Colossal Head
7. Wilco- Summerteeth
8. Jellyfish- Spilt Milk
9. The Jayhawks- Sound of Lies
10. Coldplay- A Rush of Blood to the Head
11. Paul Westerberg- Suicane Gratifaction
12. Shelby Lynne- I Am Shelby Lynne
13. Julian Lennon- Help Yourself
14. R.E.M.- New Adventures in Hi-Fi
15. Puffy Amiyumi- Nice.
16. Brian Wilson- SMiLE
17. The Waterboys- Dream Harder
18. Masters of Reality- Sunrise on the Sufferbus
19. Cibo Matto- Stereo Type "A"
20. Tori Amos- The Beekeeper
21. Iris Dement- My Life
22. My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges
23. Miranda Lee Richards- The Herethereafter
24. Maria McKee- Life is Sweet
25. Joe Henry- Trampoline


Others I thought of after I posted the list: Prince's Gold Experience, Patty Griffin's 1000 Kisses, Cyndi Lauper's Hat Full of Stars, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Stone Temple Pilots' Purple, Paul McCartney's Driving Rain, Matthew Sweet's In Reverse, Jack Johnson & Friends' Curious George Soundtrack (shut up, you), The White Stripes' Elephant, Beck's Odelay and Sea Change, Fishbone's Truth and Soul, Pearl Jam's No Code.

The Very Breast of DC.

In typical better late than never fashion, I read the second issue of Zatanna's new series this morning. One thing, or to be more accurate, two things kept jumping out at me at various junctures: Zee's boobies, placed by the artist and/or highlighted by the colorist to be the focal point of the composition. I guess the adolescent faction of the readership just will not be ignored.

Like Seinfeld so famously quipped, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Happy 4th of July!

Marilyn Monroe, via If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats.

More later, hopefully.