The Johnny Bacardi Show

Number nine...number nine...

2011-10-24T19:10:00.003-05:00

As of today, this blog has been in existence for nine years. Hard to believe. Like Sandy Denny once sang, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes".

I'm really sorry that I don't update it like I used to, but that's the way it is for me these days. I can't bring myself to delete it, so here it will stay, patiently awaiting me to write a little on it, for old times' sake, if nothing else.

Thanks to everyone who's ever read me here, or commented or both. Lots of love to you all.

Happy Birthday Jack Kirby.

2011-08-29T21:25:00.004-05:00

About time I posted something here, eh? Well, it's for a good occasion, I think. Yesterday would have been the 94th birthday of the Once and Future King of Comics, Jack Kirby. I posted some things yesterday on Twitter and my Tumblr, and I thought it would be appropriate to read some of what I consider Kirby's best comics, his run on Fantastic Four. I found some scans (what- give Marvel some money? For KIRBY comics? What money are they giving his family?) and decided to spend some time yesterday afternoon rereading some of his early-mid 60's efforts, just when he and Stan Lee were coming into their own on the title, and including one of my all-time favorite comics, FF #35.

While it's pretty easy to pick holes in a lot of these stories, one thing is undeniable- the dynamism and imagination Kirby brought to the pages...from the gnarliest alien being to prosaic street scenes, he drew them with flair and commitment. Sometimes he wasn't served very well by the inkers they paired him with; Dick Ayers was good, and I rather like Chic Stone, who doesn't ignore Kirby's detailed backgrounds. George Bell neé Roussos, not so much- his crude line and blocky shapes didn't do Jack's pencils any favors.

I thought it might be fun, and take up a lot of space because I know my infrequent visitors are probably tired of looking at that Gene Colan remembrance, to post a page, chosen at random, some which brought back memories, from each of the comics I read yesterday afternoon. I'm inspired, of course, by Tom Spurgeon's wonderful tribute post, as well as the amazing stuff Bully puts up on a consistent basis.

Roussos inks many of the following pages; Ayers does the first few, and Stone ends the run. I hope you can dig these, and I hope they help get across some of what makes Kirby's art so special.

You may notice that I picked out several pages with Giant-Man in them. This is not coincidental; 5-year-old me insisted. Thanks for checking out my FF gallery, and of course, Hail to the King.

Farewell to the Gentleman: Gene Colan, 1926-2011

2011-07-03T18:14:00.006-05:00

I know, it seems like the only time I post here anymore is when someone notable dies...but I couldn't not mark the passing of the great Gene Colan, whose art I've loved for decades, especially when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's.

I won't try to eulogize him or write an obituary, because in the past couple of weeks there have been many, many wonderful posts doing just that, and far more eloquently than I could. That said, because of what Colan's art meant to me as a young comics reader and aspiring comic artist in those years, I wanted to write something...and I think what I'll do is post a few pages from some of my favorite Colan-drawn comics over the years, literally the first ones that came to mind when I read about his passing. They won't be the usual suspects, I don't think...at least after the first few.

The first place I saw Colan's art was most likely on one of his Iron Man stories in Tales of Suspense, under his "Adam Austin" pseudonym, followed soon after by one of his Daredevil efforts. The looseness of his style was the first thing which caught my eye, especially in those days when perhaps only Neal Adams, then just starting out over at DC himself, was doing realism with a flourish- Colan's figure drawing and layout style was far looser, yet it was still grounded in the everyday world. Sometimes, especially in his 70's work, his figures always seemed to me to be dissipating into mist, as if the ink line was the only thing holding it together. I found it exciting and fascinating, but I could never ever draw like that, and believe you me I tried. I also noticed his stellar inkwash work in a few issues of Creepy and Eerie for Archie Goodwin; go here to read a favorite of mine from this period. The page above comes from Daredevil Annual #1, cover-dated September 1967; this one was Stan's attempt to follow the template he came up with for 1964's Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, in which six of Spidey's most popular foes teamed up to battle him. Stan took Electro from the Sinister Six, and obviously 'Leckie neglected to realize that 1) Spidey's rogues gallery was far more deadly than DD's, and 2) it didn't work against Spider-Man, so why the heck did he think it would work here? Regardless, this was a fast-paced and fun tale which gave us DD fighting against each bad guy separately, as well as all together at the end, and a big part of the reason why was Colan's dynamic, kinetic art. I love how all hell breaks loose in that middle horizontal panel, as the "Emissaries of Evil" gang up on DD. This annual also sported a fun backfeature, which gave us a fly-on-the-wall look at a story conference with Lee and Colan...with a generous amount of whimsy to boot. One of the reasons why the whole Bullpen myth was so persuasive and enjoyable back then. You can read that story here.

The above pics, top to bottom, are from Doctor Strange #'s 182 and 178.

Arguably, though, it was Colan's moving on to Doctor Strange, paired with Tom Palmer, who was generally agreed to be his best inker, which seemed to turn him loose and give him free rein to play around with page layout and further refine his storytelling style...which he later used to great effect on Tomb of Dracula, as well as his successful return to the character in the 70's. Colan's style, which was rooted in the newspaper strip/advertising realism tradition (but still was always quite loose, especially compared to the Caniffs, Crandalls and the like), took flight as he gave us page after page of vertiginous layouts and non-stop action; even when the Doctor and Clea had some quiet downtime things seemed to be bubbling under the surface. Below is a great example, and a page I love very much, from Doctor Strange #180; I first saw it on someone's blog right after his death was announced, but alas I failed to bookmark it and forget now where I saw it, otherwise I'd just link to it there. Apologies to the first poster.

By 1970, it seemed like Colan had drawn every Marvel character's comic at least once, except Spider-Man; I remember loving his stints on Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the Avengers as well. Trying to stay as busy as he could, and to keep the money flowing, he began to do a variety of short stints on various titles in Marvel's fractured, hectic 70's period, and all the while doing Tomb of Dracula. ToD was a high point not only for him, but also in comics in general, as was Howard the Duck, a series I was mostly indifferent to as a teen (though I liked Steve Gerber's other work in general); when rereading ToD now, Wolfman's prose often seems overheated (as did Thomas' on those Doctor Stranges), but there's no denying Colan's artistry. He was truly well suited for horror stories, which also was made manifest on a short stint doing Brother Voodoo in Strange Tales, and the story below, from which I've pulled a couple of pages:

Marvel Spotlight was one of Marvel's showcase titles at the time; and featured the Son of Satan character which was created by Gary Friedrich and first drawn by Herb Trimpe. By the time he got his own feature in Spotlight, Steve Gerber wrote and Jim Mooney drew the first few issues, but for whatever reason the artist moved on after #17 and Colan stepped in for #'s 18 and 19 to bridge the gap between him and Sal Buscema, who drew the series until it was granted its own title a few months later. Anyway, Gerber's obviously Exorcist-inspired story could not have found a better realizer than Colan; it was completely rooted in the mix of the mundane and the fantastic that was Colan's stock in trade. He made this two-parter sing (despite some rather unsympathetic inking by Frank Chiaramonte), alternating polite dinner parties and dining room conversations and literal hell-raising action as Daimon Hellstrom struggles to exorcise a demon that can leap from host to host. Gerber tied it up with a clever solution, and went on to write some very imaginative stories before he was done with the character. If not for this two-parter, though, chances are I might not ever have seen the potential for excellence in the Son of Satan; I was not particularly interested in him before I plucked these off the spinner rack, attracted by Colan's art. Daimon soon became a favorite of mine, mostly thanks to Gerber, though Colan's rendition was my gateway. As a matter of fact, the first issue of Howard the Duck that I bought was the one in which Daimon made a cameo appearance, partly because I was tickled to see Colan draw him again.

Gene never limited himself to just horror or superheroes, though; in 1974, he took another fill-in assignment on a series that I was already a rabid fan of: Don McGregor's War of the Worlds (featuring Killraven). Regular artist Herb Trimpe had moved on by issue 25; Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson had done that one. Colan came along next, and provided his usual sharply observed job on one of McGregor's more whimsical scripts:

On his travels across the country to the "Place of Yellow Stones", Killraven and his men, with the Martians' killer Skar in pursuit, happened upon Battle Creek, Michigan, and encountered the leader of the group of its surviving residents, led by Pstun-Rage the Vigilant, who all guarded a treasure at the cost of their lives, if necessary. The revelation at the end is one of the most bizarre endings that I can recall in a comic book from the Big Two that wasn't written by Weisinger or Bridwell. Inked by Dan Adkins, Colan navigated all the action-adventure, as well as the drama and humor, of McGregor's wordy script (that bottom page, in particular, was notorious, showcasing a narrative style that irritated many, but I love it) with aplomb, despite never having drawn any of the characters before. McGregor and Colan collaborated a few times after that in subsequent years, forming a sympathetic team on such fare as the neo-noir Nathaniel Dusk (which I think I should revisit someday) for DC, and Ragamuffins for Eclipse. This story above was the first thing I thought of when remembering Colan and his career's effect on my life; even though the series went on to hit some very high highs with Craig Russell, it will always be a fondly recalled story in one of my favorite comics series.

And that pretty much does it for show and tell with me and Mr. Colan; after Dracula folded and Jim Shooter ran him out of the House that Stan and Jack and Steve Built, I did go on to buy some of his 80's work at DC like the occasional Batman or the aforementioned Dusk (never was too interested in Night Force or his take on Wonder Woman), but with diminishing returns; the fizz had seemed to go out of the pop for me. I still liked seeing his work here and there, especially on his return to Daredevil in the 90's and the outstanding commissions he did via his website. The decision not to saddle him with an inker on his infrequent appearances (which dated back to Dusk and Ragamuffins, if I recall correctly), brought on by his increased reluctance to subject his vision to the tender mercies of other, perhaps lesser talents, wasn't to his advantage, either, at least when it came to printed comics...his very good penciled commissions were something else again. When his health issues came to light, I did the dutiful blogger thing by linking to the drive to get him some financial relief for health care; I also recall a cover gallery on his birthday a couple of years ago. See the tags at right to be taken to those blog posts.

His passing was not a surprise, even as much as it was for me when Jeffrey Jones met his maker several weeks ago. That doesn't make it any harder to process, though, at least in my solipsistic view. Each year, more and more comics legends form my formative years die, and as I said before, every time it happens a little bit of my childhood dies as well. He was truly one of the all-time greatest, and his influence and legacy is vast. Even though he wasn't such a big part of it for the last decade or so, he will be missed merely by not being around.

I will be forever grateful and proud that I was able to experience it first-hand the way I did. I'm sure his work will remain an inspiration to up-and-comers for decades to come.

There have been dozens of outstanding blog posts and obits commemorating Colan's passing; I encourage you to visit the usual suspects (Heidi, Tom, CSBG, Robot 6, Blog@), to find them. I was especially moved, though, by Blake Bell's reposting of interviews with Colan's late wife Adrienne on living with him throughout his career. Here's the posts tagged "Gene Colan", all three parts are there.

What? No Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs?

2011-06-05T10:17:00.007-05:00

Some people are just so clever and creative. It's sickening.

All seriousness aside, please click through and check out this awesome series of drawings of the late great Vincent Price, who would have turned 100 a few days ago, each on a post-it note and each featuring his likeness in most of his films and television appearances, by Zach Bellisimo. I like how Zach draws Price in each of his disguises in Theatre of Blood, to name one example, as well as including Vincent's animation voice work.

And yeah, I know- while there were two Dr. Goldfoot films, he pretty much looked the same in both of them. I was kinda hard up for a post title, OK?

RIP Jeffrey Catherine Jones.

2011-05-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

It was with a little surprise and a heavy heart that I read, first on Twitter then elsewhere as it was confirmed, that Jeffrey Catherine Jones passed away from, as Heidi MacDonald reported it, "complications from emphysema and bronchitis" at age 67 yesterday. Pardon me if I reminisce, OK?

The first place I saw Jones' work was probably in the 4th issue of The Monster Times; early on in that storied publication's history they were soliciting art and one-page stories from the likes of Berni Wrightson, Gray Morrow, Frank Brunner, and Jones. They would run them in the center spreads of the tabloid-style publication:

I suppose this would have been 1975-ish that I read it, though this story was dated 1971 and appeared in 1972. I didn't get my first issue of TMT until 1974, and I would have received this as part of a big package of Timeses that I spent about a summer's worth of allowance on. My memory being a bit fuzzy on some things, I don't recall when I saw my first issues of National Lampoon, in which Jones' excellent one-page strip Idyl ran. That most certainly would have been the second time I became aware of his work, I'm sure, unless I happened up on a friend's copy of NatLamp or perhaps stood at the magazine rack at the convenience store and read them as I was wont to do for a while (I was always nervous about asking my folks for money to buy a copy, or even to buy one with my own money and bring it home) before I started my TMT habit.

By the time I had reached 18, I had become aware of the amazing art book The Studio, which was also the name of both the location and the collective that Jones, Mike Kaluta, Berni Wrightson, and Barry Windsor-Smith had formed when they shared studio space in the 70's. Four artists whose work I admired above almost all others, together! I especially loved Kaluta and Wrightson, who had blown me away with their art on a number of projects, especially The Shadow and Swamp Thing, respectively, about five years earlier. Of course, Windsor-Smith's Conan was a favorite, as well as his later, ornate Pre-Raphaelite-influenced works, and then there was that Jones fella, who I remembered from Idyl and a bunch of paperback book covers. Believe me, I lived in that book for a long time, and copied and studied each page, back when I thought I could be an artist.

I was utterly fascinated with Jones' signature; that single letter "J", curved with the line across the top, and fitting stylishly within a loose square, looked as cool as anything I'd ever seen before. Yeah, bet your ass I copied it; after all, we did share a name. Eventually, I at least dropped the loose square, though to this day I really emphasize the J when I sign my infrequent doodles.

One of Jones' contributions was perhaps my favorite piece from any of the artists, the beguiling "In a Sheltered Corner":

I wish I had a dollar for every time I sat down with a piece of paper and attempted to draw that face, with those lips.

I mean, geez, look at these guys:

Jones is second from left. They looked just like rock stars- rock stars that could generate art masterpieces. That was exactly what I wanted to be at age 18. Exactly.

Anyway, after that, I kinda lost track of Jones and his work. While he appeared in Heavy Metal in the 80's (with a new Idyl-ish feature called I'm Age) I'd see it here and there with less frequency as the decades went by; I just assumed (as one, well, me anyway in those pre-Internet times when the goings and comings of the art/writing heroes was more difficult to keep up with) that he had found regular illustration and painting gigs in places that I didn't see. Of course, I read about his gender issues and his eventual 1998 hormone replacement therapy sessions; several years later (now I had the Internet, y'see) I read about her awful financial issues. Eventually, these seemed to get worked out, and I was proud to cite Jones among my Facebook friends; she posted an always-welcome stream of artworks both old and new. Eventually health issues became too much for her, and now she's gone.

I suppose that's just part of the price one pays for living on; one will see his or her heroes and people he or she admires pass away before them, even people who one still imagines, in their heart of hearts, to be still young and still strong and vital. Even though recent pics told another story, in my mind's eye I saw Jones and her work in the same way that I did at age 16, in 1976, and it saddens me no end to see people who I looked up to like that get old and die. Pushes me, slowly, another foot towards the grave myself.

All that's over now for Jones, and I'll be eternally grateful for the magnificent art. May she rest in peace, and I hope she's found a measure of happiness wherever she is.

Credit where credit is due dept: I got most of the scans I posted here from these fine websites. Please visit them as often as you can, they're good people.

ETA: Not long after I posted this, Tom Spurgeon posted his outstanding obit. Go check it out.

Where the hell am I, anyway?

2011-05-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive, and I do intend to take up blogging here again eventually. There just aren't enough hours in the day and enough energy to pursue it like I feel it ought to be pursued, it seems. But I do miss the days when I'd post several times a week, and keep thinking about a way to get back to that...so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I'm still reviewing comics over at Popdose.com, Tumblring and Twittering like mad, and even post the occasional item of interest over on Facebook, if you're desperate enough for my company to befriend me there.

Look for a post that I'm sorry I have to write later this evening, then stay tuned- keep me in your Google Reader feeds, whatever you do to follow blogs...and who knows? I may be back sooner rather than later.

Introductions are in order.

2011-03-20T07:03:00.007-05:00

No, I'm not introducing anyone or anything. In this past Friday's "Five for Friday" feature, Tom Spurgeon asked his readers to provide, and I quote, "Five of Your Favorite Comics/GN Introductions". Well, sometimes I'm pretty hit and miss with Tom's FFFs; occasionally I'll immediately think of more than five of the given topic, and sometimes it's a real struggle to come up with anything even close to that number. Sometimes, I can't think of anything at all, and I don't participate. That was the situation this week.

Now, when it comes to text introductions to graphic novels and collections, generally, if I read them at all, they don't really stick with me. More often as not, it's just a friend, collaborator, inspiration, or acquaintance of the writer and/or artist, paying back a favor or gladhanding a little. Sometimes I wonder if someone like Walter Cronkite himself could even be bothered writing an introduction to a Peanuts collection; bet a nickel that he had an assistant do it as a favor to ol' Chuck Schulz. For the life of me, I couldn't think of any forewords/introductions that I thought were remarkable enough to come out of hiding in the vast, cobweb-bedecked, shuttered up and boarded-doored archive of my mind.

So, the next thing I thought of were actual intros in the comics themselves; one which occurred to me was those long-winded speeches that the Phantom Stranger, the Rod Serling of Comics, would give before the lead stories in his 70's comic. They fit the character, and Len Wein in particular excelled at it. And then I thought of one other example: the introduction slash infodump that Jim Starlin gave us in Strange Tales #178, via a character named "Sphinxor from the Star System Pegasus", when he relaunched the Adam Warlock character and began that memorable, and short, run of stories back in the mid-70s...and enraptured young David Jones of Horse Cave, KY in the process.

But, alas, I could think of no others, and that's why you won't see Johnny Bacardi among this week's participants. But, thought I, perhaps I could share that Starlin-written and illustrated intro with all of you. And that's just what I'm gonna do. Below, from Strange Tales #178, cover dated February of 1975, the first (and only, I guess) appearance of Sphinxor, and a nifty recap of the Adam Warlock story to that point.

Now that's an introduction. Amiwrong?

"Let's just say that me and Super-Hip, we go back."

2011-03-08T20:47:00.007-06:00

Above is a page from dead-comic-walking Doom Patrol #20. The Patrol, due to the machinations of the powers that be at Oolong Island, their former base, as well as the hissable Thayer Jost aka Mr. Somebody, have been evicted from their home.

They need transportation back to civilization, and Cliff Steele calls in a favor. And as you can see above, that favor is none other than JBS mascot Tadwallader Jutefruice, aka Super-Hip! You know, the fellow flying in the header at the top of this very blog.

Since this is such a momentous occasion, merely the first in-continuity appearance of Tad's alter-ego since, appropriately enough, the Mento-Elastigirl wedding in the later days of the first DP series, and I wanted to share it so much with everyone...well, I couldn't wait to get the comic and scan it, or download it, so I ganked it from CBR's preview, where I read it first. You all probably know how much I'm in the tank for this comic in the first place...and dropping Super-Hip, even older, fat Elvis-style Super-Hip...well, I for one was completely geeked by it.

Best of all, since Giffen is doing some of the best writing of his career right now, and dare I say in particular on this comic- he has done an unsurprisingly great job of reintroducing him. Many writers, especially those who perpetuate the sour tone that has become de rigeur at DC these days, would have made him a pathetic figure. Pill junkie, perhaps. What if it had been James Robinson? J.T. Krul? Shudder. But Giffen gives us an older Tad, like I said Fat Elvis or Wayne Newton style, living large in Vegas- perfectly logical and very gratifying for someone like me, who loves the character mostly because, well, I thought he was really neat and cool back in 1966.

My friend Jason (@jason1749) Last Name Unknown on Twitter said "Jeez, Giffen's writing that book directly at you now, isn't he?" and given that the sales figures for DP are so low, that may be true- I may be the only one still reading at this point!

Regardless, I thought that this was just far-out, fab, gear and groovy and wanted to share.

Oh, and DC? I beg of you- next time you need cannon fodder for your big multi-issue line-wide crossover doom-and-gloom event, please forget Giffen has done this, OK? Thanks.

Happy Birthday Will Eisner.

2011-03-06T07:25:00.005-06:00

Today would have been the late Will Eisner's birthday. Here's a page from 1946.

Google paid tribute today by creating this swell graphic; go here and click on the Spirit's mask.

Dwayne McDuffie, RIP

2011-02-22T19:41:00.006-06:00

Multiple sources around the Net have reported that Dwayne McDuffie has shockingly passed on. I say shockingly because no one seems to have even been aware that he might have been ill- he has been active in his writing career, both in comics and in animation, right up until now. No cause of death has been reported as of this writing.

I won't try to BS you and tell you that I've been a lifelong fan of his or anything- I can only think of one series I've read regularly that he scripted. Back in 1993, when my then-11-year-old son wanted me to start getting him comics to read on my weekly Wednesday run, some of the titles he liked were DC's teen heroes- Robin, Impulse, Superboy. One other that caught his eye was the series above, Static. Now, since I was as much a comics geek back then as I ever was, I read not only the titles I bought, but the titles I bought for him (he liked X-Men, Spawn, Gen13, and other hot books back then too- I didn't read them often) as well, and I enjoyed Static. McDuffie only scripted the first four issues, along with the mysterious Robert L. Washington III, but was instrumental in creating the character with artist J.P. Leon, the first place I saw his soon-to-be excellent work as well. He was a driving force behind the whole Milestone ~~imprint~~ company published by DC which was designed to spotlight minority characters. Many years later, I found myself addicted to the animated TV series Justice League Unlimited, as far as I'm concerned one of the high-mark programs of its kind- he was its story editor and a producer, and also scripted many of its best episodes. I may have to go back and look up some of the other comics work he's done, such as the late 80's Marvel series Damage Control and his troubled stint on Justice League of America. He seemed to be a talent whose best work was still ahead of him, whether it was in animation or comics.

Reaction all over the Web has been heartfelt and overwhelmingly sad- he seemed to have been well-liked by everyone whose lives and careers he touched. I never had the pleasure of interacting with him online, but I can see his obvious talent and importance in the industry, and he will be missed by all who care about comics. I just thought I should write a few lines.

So...how's it going?

2011-02-13T08:20:00.005-06:00

Having a good new year so far?

This is my first post here of the year 2011. I really hate that I don't update this blog as often as I once did, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Life in the Meat World is hectic and often frustrating, and I often have trouble getting myself in the proper mental place to write. I do still post stuff all over the place at odd times, just not here...and while it's possible that I'm spreading myself too thin, often it's just quicker and easier to post in those places. And those places are:

Twitter, of course. I'm always blathering on about something there. I hope you'll follow me in case I accidentally say something profound in 140 characters or less.

I've been posting mostly images of this and that on my Tumblr blog, called I Come Tumbl'n. That's kinda taken the place of the images I used to post here. Last night, I thought I would start a mini-feature of sorts, in which I'll post a page a day from Thriller, until I decide to stop.

Speaking of Thriller, I'm afraid I'm not going to be upgrading the venerable old website anytime soon; although I did reserve a Wordpress blog a few months ago with the idea that I might recreate it in blog form. Someday, I'll give the series and its creators a proper spotlight.

I'm on Facebook, and post a lot of links and videos there, which probably irritates my friends and family no end but I do get positive feedback as well, so feel free to friend me there if you like. I deleted my MySpace page last week, so don't look for me there.

If you miss my opinions and thoughts on recent comics and graphic novels, please check out my more-or-less weekly column over at Popdose, Confessions of a Comics Shop Junkie. Perhaps someday I'll start capsule reviewing my new comics purchases here again, but it won't be anytime soon.

I've also been invited to participate in a group blog about pop culture called Poplitiko; many, many fine writers have contributed already. I haven't put anything up there just yet, but I plan to do so as soon as I can get some coherent thoughts together. Chances are it won't be about comics; my first post will most likely be about my favorite year in music, 1974.

I still post the odd sketch on the ol' LiveJournal, as well as my DeviantArt page.

Geez, I am spread thin!

OK. How about some personal stuff! Actually, it had crossed my mind to make this blog more diary-like, but I'm not sure how much I want to do that. I din't think my personal life is all that interesting. I'm still working at the small print shop full time, though decreased business has caused the owner to cut us back to 4 days a week instead of 5...this is not a pleasing development, but we've managed to get by OK so far. Needless to say, I am considering my options and have been looking around for other jobs, but let's face it, my age is a handicap now. I've also begun to entertain thoughts of a career change for the first time in my life...but what, I can't say right now. Anyway, I still work part-time at the radio station, and right now, during basketball season, I'm getting enough hours to almost make it worth my time. That will all come to a halt in April, and I'm now considering trying to find a second part-time job to help make ends meet. Busing tables or working in a kitchen doesn't sound as bad to me now at 51 as it did, oh, 20 years ago.

Recent TV and movies I've seen and enjoyed include the Coens' True Grit and of course Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (I know, I haven't done proper movie reviews in ages). I've begun to watch the AMC series Breaking Bad on DVD, and am liking it quite a bit so far. I actually won an autographed copy of the documentary Who is Harry Nilsson...and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?- autographed by the director, not by Nilsson, of course. Actually, I have Harry's autograph already, obtained years ago for me by a friend at a Beatle convention. Long story. Anyway, it's fascinating, informative, and often moving- and while I can quibble with this and that and how it is or isn't presented, I recommend it highly if you haven't seen it. As far as currently airing programs go, right now I'm loving the FX series Justified, and am looking forward to the return of HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Treme.

Musically, I took money I got for Christmas and ordered a bunch of recent albums, such as the Black Keys' Brother, Tom Petty's Mojo, Band of Horses' Infinite Arms, Justin Townes Earle's Harlem River Blues, and Paul Simon's self-titled debut. Of all the new ones, I really loved that Band of Horses the most, though they were all very good. Some better than others. My music listening habits are random and varied; I'm liable to start the day in a Prince mood and wind up listening to Jethro Tull by days' end.

I also took some of that Christmas money and ordered the first four volumes of Fantagraphics' Popeye comic strip reprints; while I had read several of them here and there over the years, and liked them a lot, I had never read a sustained run of them. I have to tell you, that is some inspired, wonderful, insane stuff. If you think you know Popeye from today's comics or the cartoons, know that this is a whole 'nother thing, like those comics and films cranked up to ten and dosed with something stronger than spinach. They're quite amazing and very enjoyable, and I haven't really gotten into the acknowledged peak of Elzie Segar's tenure yet. I'm also still getting and reading lots of comics; current favorites include Keith Giffen's Doom Patrol, which is selling poorly and probably won't be around much longer, damn it; Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt's Sixth Gun; Jeff Parker's entertaining Thunderbolts; Aaron and Guera's Scalped; David Hine and Moritat's surprisingly good take on The Spirit; and the Hellboy books, with a number of creators including Mike Mignola and Guy Davis, are as solid as always. Invincible Iron Man. Batgirl is intermittently interesting, as is Batman, Inc. and Booster Gold. And I know I'm forgetting some, so I'll stop now.

I'll wind this up. I don't know when I'll post here again, but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Thanks for reading!

Stan Lee: An Appreciation.

2010-12-28T14:28:00.008-06:00

It's Stan the Man Lee's 88th birthday today.

I've held forth before about Stan and what I felt like his role with Marvel was; while I certainly can believe that many, if not most, of the concepts that galvanized everyone so much back in the early 60s were thought up by Kirby, Ditko, and who knows who else, I do believe that Stan's dialogue and plotting skills were very important in shaping those early classics. It seems that Stan was the hustler, the instigator, the shit-stirrer- keeping everybody up, keeping everybody positive, focused, and committed, and coordinating Marvel's ascent back in those long-ago days. It seems like the only thing he couldn't do was keep everyone well-paid and happy, and thus those halcyon days were relatively short-lived. Indeed, once the most-likely more-lucrative Hollywood and the college lecture circuit beckoned, Stan's focus and enthusiasm for editing and scripting seemed to wane...witness how flat and dead the dialogue is on his later issues of Fantastic Four and Thor, especially compared to his immediate successor, Roy Thomas', overheated, hyperbolic prose.

Regardless, at no point in his early Marvel career was Stan's scripting better than on the title in which he took the most pride, I think- Amazing Spider-Man. Yeah, a case could be made for Silver Surfer, but that was much later. One of the first Marvel comics I ever read was ASM #16, in which Spidey teamed up with Daredevil to battle the Ringmaster of Crime (He's been popping up on this blog a lot this year, hasn't he?) and his Circus. The breezy banter between DD, Spidey, and the Crime Circus thugs trying to jack them up delighted me as a 4 year old, and has continued to do so every time I've reread it in the 46 years since. I thought, as tribute, I'd post those pages here so you could read them for yourself. Click to read biggerer, you know the drill:

Now, sometimes Stan could wield the heavy hand when it came to the soap operatics, and often his attempts to provide his godlike and cosmic characters with a profound voice were often stilted and ludicrous. But on Spider-Man, he was on top of his game, keeping the expository dialogue in check and hand-wringing in its proper place, plus, as above, he didn't leave out the humor. I know damn well Ditko did not write that dialogue, nor did Kirby, as anyone who's read his post-Marvel work surely can see, write any in their collaborations either. So here's to you, Mr. Stanley Lieber- when you wanted to, you helped change a lot of lives, including mine, for what I've always thought was for the better, riding herd on those early game-changing days. For that, as well as your current comics ambassador-like station, I think you'll always deserve a lot of credit. Happy birthday, and many more.

So long, farewell, arrivaderci, goodbye.

2010-12-22T09:19:00.004-06:00

I was sitting at the radio station on Monday night, engineering a local high school basketball game, and scrolling through my Twitter feed when I saw this announcement. Dirk Deppey, who edited The Comics Journal for a while and before that, helped foster the Comics Blogosphere as we know it today and has been operating one of the few absolutely essential linkblogs for a long time now, has been laid off from Fantagraphics, which means no more ¡Journalista! with him at the helm, anyway. This is a sad day.

Now, I hear you say "Wait! Dave, weren't you the one who was always bitching about Dirk and how he never linked to your blog posts when you were trying to make your voice heard? Wha hoppen? Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

Well, that's true. I did do that. I felt like I was being unjustly ignored, and in my usual passive-aggressive fashion, I decided I'd just bitch about it, mention it in passing in the odd post, and move on. Eventually, though, earlier this year Deppey addressed that very issue, tempest in a teapot that it was, and we kissed and made up. Or something like that. Anyway, by then I had pretty much stopped worrying about it anyway, so it was all good.

Funny thing is, even in the height of my feel-so-slighted period, I continued to check out ¡Journalista! on a regular basis, because it was always a place where I could find something of interest, even if it wasn't me. And if memory serves, waaaay back in '03 or so, in the Paleozoic Era of comics blogging, a link from Dirk to me (a Super-Hip thing, I believe) was one of the first indications to me that there was even such a thing as a dedicated group of people who devote their newfangled weblog things to writing about comic books. So believe me when I tell you that even if Fantagraphics decides to carry on with someone else doing the work for significantly less pay or even free, it won't be the same, because his writing voice will be missing. With so many things from even less than ten years ago changing, and not always for the best, all the time...well, that's not such a good thing.

So anyway, I've already expressed good wishes to Mr. Deppey via Twitter, that very night even, so at the risk of being redundant I'll just take a minute to say best of luck to you, sir, in future endeavors, be they comics-related or not, and I'm sure you will go on to better things in the future. And thanks for the links I did get.

Ain't no snafu. No folderol.

2010-12-18T12:46:00.016-06:00

Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod.

Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over.

A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

Don Van Vliet, also known in the music world as Captain Beefheart, died on Friday at age 69.

May I ramble a bit? I'll get to the point eventually.

You all know (or should, if you've been reading me for any length of time and have a good long-term memory) that I have had a lifelong fascination with the recorded output that eminated from the Brothers Warner and their associated label Reprise, especially in the years 1970 through 1975, and that, perhaps, not coincidentally, is mostly when Beefheart and the Magic Band were in full swing. I wish I could tell you that I was a fan from Safe as Milk on, but that's just not the case- despite being aware of the man and his group from seeing the curiosity-provoking song titles listed in the old Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders, I was not in a position to hear his music until 1976, when I purchased the 8-track of the collaborative comeback effort he released with Frank Zappa, 1975's Bongo Fury. You see, when I first got interested in the Captain, it was roughly 1974 and he was represented by the critically savaged and backwards-looking Mercury Records releases Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans and Moonbeams. Since my income was limited to the ten dollars a week I'd get from my parents (just enough for an album and a couple of comics or paperback books), I was reluctant to take a flyer on these records, which were painted in a poor light by people whose opinion I respected. There was a chance encounter with a vinyl copy of 1972's Clear Spot, which I spied at a Louisville record store in the Mall at St. Matthews sometime in late '74. I snatched it up, took it to the cashier, and looking at it in line, I noticed a side-length light scratch, where someone else had slid it out of its clear plastic-with-a-flap sleeve and apparently didn't take the greatest care in replacing it. I decided to put it back. I didn't see another copy of it on vinyl until the 90's, in a used record shop, where its $25 price tag was a bit rich for my blood.

You see, part of my problem was that in those long-dead days, there was obviously no Internet with its myriad ways to get music, both illegal and legal, nor were there an endless parade of repackaged CDs of varying price points to help the uninitiated discover an artist's back catalogue, especially for an artist as obscure and out-there as the Captain. The records came out, sold a few, very few, then got deleted and if they weren't smash hits they didn't get reissued but instead were sold for significantly less with a hole punched in the sleeve or the corner cut off the record, same for the 8-tracks and cassettes. And reel-to-reel, I assume, though I don't recall ever seeing any cutout reel to reels. Cutout bin diving is one of the great lost pleasures of being a record buff, believe me, now limited to cities and towns with independent record stores. If you were lucky, you could find some great records for a buck ninety-nine. Since, by 1975, all the Beefheart albums had been deleted, it was very difficult to run across copies. Believe me, I looked after that.

Anyway, after Fury, a couple of years later I finally ran across a cutout copy of Clear Spot on 8-track. Snatched that thing up immediately and played the hell out of it. It was a more commercial, which is to say some attention was paid to accessibility, effort, produced by smokin'-hot Ted Templeman, producer of the Doobie Bros. and soon to helm releases by Van Halen and others- almost a last-gasp play, a Hail Mary if you will, full of R&B and Soul and New Orleans shuffle, as well as the usual oddball spoken-word poetry set to Jazzy, angular rhythms. It would spawn no hit singles and didn't sell any better than his more challenging efforts such as the highly-esteemed Trout Mask Replica and the underrated Lick My Decals Off, Baby. So, the Captain broke up the Band, got new management, and released the aforementioned even more blatant commercial stabs, then hibernated again until hooking up with Zappa and releasing Fury. For some reason, I was reluctant to get 1978's Shiny Beat (Bat Chain Puller), even though it got a lot of positive writeups in CREEM and other places. Perhaps I felt the bloom was off the rose, perhaps, I was looking in other places at the time. I did break down and get 1980's Doc at the Radar Station, thanks to seeing him perform the track on Saturday Night Live. I could have sworn it was on ABC's Fridays, but can't find anything online to back that up. Anyway, I bought it, liked it a little though it took so much time to grow on me that I didn't get the followup, 1982's Ice Cream for Crow. After that, there would be no more music from him, though I didn't know it at the time. Eventually, bit by bit, I acquired some of the Loss Leaders with Beefheart tunes like 1971's "Click Clack", and liked them a lot, but still had no luck finding those Reprise records. Finally, CDs happened, and I got the Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot twofer, finally replacing that long-discarded 8-track, and the 1999 anthology The Dust Blows Forward, where I finally got to sample some of the by-then-legendary Trout Mask tracks and many others I hadn't heard. My fandom was cemented, as I came to love nearly all of the weird and willful stuff, even the more conventional blues-based pre-Trout Mask music like "Abba Zabba" and "Electricity". Since then, I've gone on and acquired, by hook or crook, the albums I craved to hear for so long and love them all in their way, especially Clear Spot. You never forget your first love.

Van Vliet's music was an almost indescribable blend of Dada Delta Blues, Zappa-style weirdness, playful lyrics, the aforementioned jazz, R&B, soul and other stuff. Not much country, but there was a little twang in the mix. I'm not surprised it wasn't embraced by the masses- and it seems to me that Van Vliet wasn't either. Eventually he said to hell with it and stopped making music recorded for mass consumption, instead choosing to concentrate on his career as an (unsurprisingly) surrealist painter and sculptor, which brought him a lot more success (and personal satisfaction, I'd bet) than his music career ever did. And that's fine.

Although it took me a hell of a long time, I did finally come to appreciate the genius of the man, and find out a lot about the wonderful musicians who backed him (they deserve a ton of credit for those records, especially considering the crap he put them through while making them, as it turns out). Unlike many artists who bowed out early to pursue other paths, I don't really resent it and wish there had been more, although I sure do wish there had been more from his mid-70s reunion with Zappa. It had been so long since he issued new music, I had mostly resigned myself to the occasional online news update and fairly frequent listens to his albums...so I don't feel the wrenching sense of loss that some of the deaths of people I admire fosters; it seems like he was already gone for a long time to me. Still, he's one of those larger than life figures who left his often sloppy and chaotic mark on a sadly limited number of people, though by extension (i.e., all the musicians he subsequently inspired), the number becomes remarkably large. I am glad that I made the effort and am a better person for the experience, I think.

The most wonderful time of the year.

2010-12-17T14:47:00.003-06:00

By that, I mean Best of 2010 in comics lists. I've always put mine here, and I may still, but for now you can read it here.

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

2010-12-08T07:25:00.004-06:00

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.

2010-11-28T08:20:00.004-06:00

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...

2010-11-18T19:06:00.004-06:00

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.

2010-10-24T06:29:00.004-05:00

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.

2010-09-15T20:57:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-08-05T20:48:00.003-05:00

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

2010-07-24T11:55:00.006-05:00

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.

2010-07-21T22:34:00.000-05:00

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.

2010-07-18T21:00:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-07-14T14:42:00.000-05:00

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.

2010-07-12T20:00:00.011-05:00

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.

2010-07-08T11:02:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-07-05T08:07:00.006-05:00

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!

2010-07-04T06:26:00.002-05:00

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

More later, hopefully.

...the less said the better.

2010-06-30T13:56:00.010-05:00

There it is, guys and dolls...the picture that launched ten thousand (and counting) comments, tweets, and such: the controversial redesign and reboot of Wonder Woman which was announced yesterday, causing the Internet to explode.

In the course of the interview, new writer J.M. Straczynski was quoted as saying:

"What we also haven’t seen before is her new look, the first significant change in her appearance since the character debuted in 1941 (not counting the mod look used briefly in the sixties, about which the less said the better)."

Put aside that he's conveniently forgetting the black and gold biker shorts and jacket look Wondy sported in the 90's, it was the backhanded dis to the Mike Sekowsky-era Wonder Woman run that irritated me. What a cheapjack, unnecessary swipe at a decades-old run, and oh, how brave and bold (see what I did there?) it is to knock a man's work who's kinda dead now and unable to respond.

But it did set me thinking- even though I recently read all of the Emma Peel-era Wondy stories recently thanks to the trade paperback reprints, am I letting my rose-colored memories of my childhood interfere with my objectiveness and common sense (and yes, I realize that I didn't actually read many of those stories until the TPBs came out- work with me here, OK?)?

So whaddaya say that we go back in time, and take a look at a fashion show- specifically, a display of the hideous and kitschy clothes that the de-powered Diana Prince wore under Mr. Sekowsky's tenure, shall we? And these are taken from Wonder Woman #'s 178-193 (1968-1971):

After issue #184, the experiments with color pretty much stopped, and she wore various outfits of white for the rest of the run, when she wasn't in disguise. Editorial must have decided that she needed some kind of costume-like motif, for identification if nothing else. Her Brave & the Bold appearances at around this time featured her in white outfits as well.

Those are some godawful hideous outfits, aren't they. Heaven forbid that anyone would ever look back to that era for inspiration.

Anyway. What do I think about the new outfit and direction? I said most of what I think on Twitter yesterday:

• I've seen worse redesigns, and Wondy is difficult, I'll concede, but that outfit is SO 1993.

• Which is approximately when Lee stopped growing as an artist, come to think of it...

• There were a dozen better Wondy revamps to be found at Project: Rooftop. Just sayin'.

• So, they're going in a "Cougar Town" direction with Wondy, then. That's what the outfit suggests...

Well, let's face it- I wasn't buying Wonder Woman anyway, I've never really been a big fan although there were periods (like the one above, as well as the brief Kanigher/Andru stab at doing a WWII retro style Wondy, as well as Gail Simone's recent arc that brought back DC's version of Beowulf) when I found her interesting, by and large I am quite happy not being all that invested in whatever direction they choose to take her. And even though I've kinda liked some of his recent Brave and the Bold stories, JMS can go eat one as far as I'm concerned. Mr. Hipster Funny Man.

A brief word, if you will.

2010-06-23T07:59:00.006-05:00

Just a quick post to let you all know that I have finally disabled the Haloscan/JS-Kit comments that I had on this blog for many years, until someone got greedy and decided to extort money from its users. Anyway, I backed up my comments back in March or so, thinking I would disable then, but it's taken me until now to figure out how to do it successfully. So, that means I've lost a handful of comments since (including one by Paul Chadwick, which I was equal parts proud of getting and shocked by) and for that I apologize.

RIP Al Williamson

2010-06-16T14:57:00.007-05:00

Illustrator AL WILLIAMSON died this past Saturday at the age of 79. Now, I heard the news that day, but I wasn't really thinking I'd eulogize him. Don't get me wrong- I knew full well who he was- one of the greats, with a graceful style in the great newspaper strip tradition. A consummate craftsman, certainly in the discussion when it comes to the all-time greats. But at the time, I had no real emotional connection because I couldn't think of anything he'd done that particularly moved me one way or the other since I'd been reading comics. I remembered him being one of the Warren stable in their glory years under Archie Goodwin. I also recalled his work on features like Flash Gordon and even recalled reading Secret Agent X-9 in the Louisville Courier-Journal (or was it the Louisville Times? I forget), and I also remembered a ton of ink jobs on comics I didn't buy very much, if at all, like Marvel's Star Wars adaptations and other comics. His byline was always appreciated, but I never sought it out.

Ah, but I was wrong!

After reading Steve Bissette's remembrance today, it hit me- he drew one of my absolute favorite Warren stories, the wickedly funny "The Success Story", page below:

Click to read it inflated-ego size. If nothing else, when I first read it at the tender young age of six or so, it introduced me to the concept of "ruling panel borders", and that stuck with me for years. To this day I have a reluctance to rule panel borders. Go here to read it in its entirety.

And then, and then it REALLY hit me. Bissette's mention of Williamson's interaction and mentoring of the likes of Tom Yeates and Rick Veitch jogged my memory- Williamson drew a story in the multi-artist fourth issue of Timespirits, from a Steve Perry script! Below are two of his pages, click to read them dino-size.

So there you go. You never know sometimes, what kind of connection you could have with a man's work. There have many great tributes already- I linked to Bissette's above, and here's Tom Spurgeon's, as well as a roundup of most of the others.

As I so often seem to say when someone of this magnitude passes on, and it's happening more and more these days- we're running out of great ones and we won't see their like again.

Pic of Al above found here.

Happy Birthday Harry.

2010-06-15T05:45:00.005-05:00

Today would have been the 69th birthday of HARRY NILSSON, so here's a posthumous BSBdG.

Favorite album? Hard to pick just one. If pressed, I'd cite 1972's career-killer Son of Schmilsson, and I also have a great deal of fondness for 1974's Pussy Cats with John Lennon.

Underrated? I'd say 1976's Sandman, but others may disagree.

At any rate, he left us far too early (he was only three years older than I am now when he passed in 1994!), and I wish the people in charge would get the documentary, as well as the album he was working on when he died, out in my lifetime.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 3.

2010-06-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

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) . Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to it.

#146: "If the Thunder be Gone"

If you recall, last issue we left the depowered-by-Odin Thor as he was the unwitting pawn of the rascally Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, who planned to hypnotically enlist Thor's help to steal a gigantic golden bull. This time out, the plan takes place. We see Thor at the beginning, still unaware that he's joined the C of C, rehearsing by lifting a giant barbell, with Princess Python on one end and two of the Acrobats (did they ever get names? I dunno) on the other. The Ringmaster walks up and presents Thor with an unusual gift: a replica of his own costume. However, when the Thunder God dons it, it looks exactly like his own duds. Which begs the question- why couldn't Thor just go back to his house and get his real one? Perhaps he did before the evening's performance, don't know. Anyway, we get a little exposition and also some internal monologuing by our hero; he's bummed that he's been reduced to working in a carny, but he's determined to make the best of it.

Showtime! And another fun Kirby full page panorama:

Now, I don't know much about the business of running a circus, even back in 1967, but I don't see how Ringy ever gets a permit to pitch his tent, given his criminal record due to encounters with at least Spider-Man and the Hulk. Oh, well, I guess he can use his freaky hat and hypnotize the necessary parties, so there's that. Let's assume that's the case and move on.

The crowd is skeptical that it's the real Thor they're seeing, so Ringy has him throw his hammer through a granite barrier. Even de-powered, Thor has the strength to shatter the target, but when the crowd keeps heckling, asking why Thor's hammer doesn't return, Ringy hypnotizes them all into seeing it fly back into his hand. I suppose he suggests it to them, though Lee didn't have him actually speak the words. While scanning the crowd, Thor sees Jane Foster, who, if you'll recall, was Don Blake/Thor's love interest for the bulk of the early issues, before Kirby and Lee really got cosmic and mythological. She's with another guy, though, but since Thor's had some Sif action, he's not all that concerned, instead thanking Odin for "(managing) to ease the aching of her heart". Nice guy, that Thunder God. After the show, Ringy gets down to business and tricks our guy into looking at his hat once more, putting him in a trance so he'll help them steal that gigantic golden bull. The heist itself is a nifty example of Kirby action; while I'll always associate Ditko with the Circus of Crime, Kirby draws them in action very well. Here's how it goes down, click to see jumbo elephant size:

The guards finally extricate themselves from the coils of the Princess' python, and open fire. Ths shots startle Thor and break the hypnotic spell, and he drops the statue, pinning Princess Python against the wall. And that's how this issue ends- the police warning Thor to give up, or they'll fire; Balder, Sif and Odin looking on from Asgard (and Papa pretty much washing his hands of the outcome, nice parenting skills there), and the Princess kinda yelling/asking him to kindly get the two ton bull off her. Next issue: "THE WRATH OF ODIN!", which prompts me to ask exactly what he's got to be pissed off about.

If you'll recall, the Tales of Asgard feature ended last issue, and rather than continue it, Stan and Jack decided to showcase the still-fairly-new Inhumans, who they had introduced in 1965 but really, other than a few appearances in Fantastic Four, not much had been revealed about their beginnings. We see one group of humans (?) that are far advanced in comparison to their primitive fellow beings; eventually it's shown that they had to hide themselves away, creating a super-advanced city, yeah, that's right- Attilan, a city dedicated to research and knowledge. The whole Terrogen mist as a power-activator notion is shown here as well (for the first time? I'm not 100% sure but I think so), as we are privy to a conversation between two scientists and their leader Randac. The scientists can't decide if unleashing the mist on the primitive people will advance them or kill them all in a horrible plague...so Randac volunteers to step into the mist. No mention of the Kree connection or any of that stuff, so I'm assuming that all was thought up later. This is all Lee dialogue, for sure, but I think it's fairly obvious that Kirby's responsible for everything else...if you squint your eyes, this looks (and reads, just without the normal Kirby dialogue) like an early issue of New Gods or 2001- see example at left. Not long ago, I read a couple of the Inhumans' later exploits, credited to Kirby on both art and script, that wound up in Amazing Adventures around 1969 or so, and I was surprised by how different the dialogue scanned; it didn't read like Lee's at all, but wasn't like the Kirby dialogue style we all have come to know so well via his Fourth World series and subsequent efforts. Maybe someday I'll get around to putting some pages from them here. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the issue at hand except to show how restless the King was getting, even as far back as 1967, and I'd say that these were the first few steps towards his declaration of independence from Marvel.

Next, we find out if the police shoot Thor full of holes, and if Princess Python ever gets out from under the bull.

Truth in Advertising.

2010-05-27T05:23:00.006-05:00

Written by PAUL DINI • Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH

Poison Ivy's new job as a research technician may have her working undercover, but that doesn't mean a new threat to Gotham City will stay secret! Dr. Pamela Isley is spotlighted in this special issue of GOTHAM CITY SIRENS.

Got some new posts in the pipeline, including more Thor, so stay tuned for that. But I was looking at the solicitation copy for some DC Comics that came out yesterday, and noticed the above.

Now, maybe I'm crazy, but if you're spotlighting a character in a "special issue", wouldn't it be in everyone's best interests to have that character on the cover? And yes, I see the ivy at the bottom left. That may be a subtle way to suggest said featured character, but does anybody think it's effective? Besides the artist and editor, that is? But wait- perhaps this is suggesting that hey- Ivy's undercover, and she's so undercover that she couldn't be there to pose seductively for the cover artist! Yeah, that's it! Genius! Also, the cover creator credits don't match the solicitation creator credits. Really- WTF is going on at DC these days?

Nitpicky, I know, and I don't even buy this comic. But I wanted to post something, OK?

ETA: d. has the skinny on this in the comments. Still, that's mighty shoddy marketing there.

Stephen Perry, RIP.

2010-05-24T14:45:00.009-05:00

I don't know exactly where this will go, but I know I have to write something, and the words are coming even harder than usual. I sincerely hope this is premature, and if that turns out to be the case I'll gladly take it down. It's gonna ramble, too, so please forgive.

In 2003, I wrote a longish blog post extolling the virtues of the short-lived mid-1980's Epic Comics series Timespirits. At some point a few months later, I had become part of a collective comics blog called "Four Color Hell" (I had completely forgotten about that blog!), and re-posted the Timespirits piece there, where it came to the attention somehow of the series' co-creator and scripter, Stephen Perry. He sent me an email on April 5, 2004:

To the 4 color hell guy: thanks for the kind words. I should like very much to bring back Timespirits, first as a reprint for the generation that has come since I left comics, and then as the continuing series I had always envisioned. The Timespirits graphic novel "Doot Lives" never was published, and the script remains in a drawer, along with many other adventures of Cusick. I've tried to contact Tom (Yeates) but this is only the third week I have entered into the world of the internet -- surprised anyone remembers. After whoring on Thundercats and Silverhawks, and losing a major motion picture deal, I bummed and, while writing all these years, have published nothing since 1991.

Well, of course, I was excited to hear from him like that, so I replied, and we exchanged a couple of emails back and forth afterwards. Mostly just small talk type stuff, a little about the series and so on. I didn't hear from him again until February of 2006, when out of the blue he emailed me to let me know that things were looking good for Timespirits to be collected and published again, and to ask me if I'd mention it here, which I did. Another couple of emails went back and forth, and that was it. About a year later, after seeing no TS collection, I asked him how it was coming along, and he told me that they had had issues with the printing, among other things, and didn't know if it would happen or not. Disappointing, but that stuff happens. After that, I heard little else from him save for an occasional forwarding of some political-type email or somesuch, no more than a couple...and thought nothing of it until I saw Steve Bissette's urgent update and appeal in his behalf with its dismaying news. I wanted to try and do something, anything, and eventually I sent along a small amount, nowhere near what I would like to have sent, thinking that something was better than nothing. After the first contribution I made, he emailed me expressing gratitude and filling me in on what had happened since the last time we exchanged emails, and his tale was horrifying. Shocking. I was heartsick for days after reading it. It was worse than Bissette had let on in his post. I briefly considered doing some sort of illustration, perhaps to auction on eBay and raise some money for him, but alas as so often is the case the plan came to naught. While I didn't have a lot of money to contribute, I did remember that the Hero Initiative was around to look out for comics creators who had fallen down on their luck, and I emailed Gail Simone, who I knew had worked with them before and might be able to tell me how I could get the HI involved. After I had sent her one of Perry's emails so she could read for herself how bad it was, she contacted them herself and got Perry a little assistance. May she be blessed for getting involved. I was very happy to hear this and hoped that perhaps things might be looking up for him and his little boy...but that turned out to not be the case. After that, I continued to get the occasional email from Steve, updating me on his status and occasionally asking for money; I did send a little more, just a drop in the bucket. Eventually, it looked like he was going to get the medical treatment he needed, and he sounded optimistic and ready to write again. But, the surgery and its aftermath went horribly wrong, and his life devolved into what surely sounded like a living hell, which culminated in the terrible news reported over the weekend. His last email, with the subject line of "Farewell" (the preceding one was named "Death"), was so depressing I couldn't reply. I didn't know what to say or do, and I regret not trying to come up with something now. Who knows- he might not have been able to have read it anyway, but at least I would have tried.

I don't want to come across as self-serving. Perry and I were only acquaintances, and Internet acquaintances at that. We all have them here, some of us more than others- people we interact with frequently and in a friendly manner in chat rooms and Twitter and whatnot, but have never met, and most likely never will. My admiration for his work began and ended with Timespirits, a comics work which moved me more that I can reasonably explain (and I know that Thomas Yeates probably had a lot to do with that as well). I'll come out right up front and admit that while I did read, and promptly forgot, a lot of his other Marvel stories in publications like Bizarre Adventures and Epic Illustrated, I freely ignored other work like the Thundercats and Silverhawks stuff, based on cartoons my son watched and not especially interesting to me. Figured he was paying the bills by doing that; little did I know back then. But there was just something about the 'Spirits comic that grabbed my imagination and emotion like few others have. All this said, I was delighted to have known Perry as well as I did, and was honored to help in the insignificant way that I did. I always hoped that I'd be able to buy new comics that he had scripted, and perhaps someday attend a convention in which he would be a guest. After this past weekend, though, this is unlikely to ever happen. Until the grisly remains are identified as his, there's always a slim chance he'll be found or will turn up...but since the police are already treating this as a homicide case, I'd say that's very unlikely. I worry about his young son going forward; from his emails, (and I want to be diplomatic and not make insinuations I can't prove or back up) I'm not sure that his situation is the best for him right now. I hope that concerned parties keep an eye on this. I also hope that Stephen, if he is indeed gone, is in a better place now, free from pain, where he can write to his heart's content. I am, and was, proud to have been his "Internet friend".

Two more things: first, when I sent a money order to him last year, I also enclosed the original to the quick pencil sketch I did of the Timespirits, link above, since it looked like I was never going to do it up right. In return, after complimenting the drawing (he said "Not Yeates, for sure, but not too awful"- high praise to me!), he asked if I'd be willing to draw a 2-3 page TS story if hr wrote one for me. I told him that I didn't want to make promises I couldn't keep, but I would try. For the first time anywhere, here is the story he wrote (and I've cleaned up the spelling and such just a bit):

Tentative Title: The Arrow Heard Round The World

Cusick is at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean at a thermal vent collect a weird sea animal that lives in the extreme water heated by magma. He needs this critter to finish a potion that will save the planet ...

We go into flashback panels here to tell what has happened, to tell the bulk of the story:
Doot is practicing with a bow and arrow, shooting at a target of some sort. (George Bush photo? Cheny? Osama? Something funny.) He has shot a lot of arrows and is reaching for another one in a quiver.
Cusick is appearing, to shout: NOT THAT ONE!
But he is too late, Doot has let the arrow fly.

The arrow will not stop at the target. In fact ... it WILL NOT STOP AT ALL ...FOR ANYTHING!
(This arrow is, in effect, an idea stolen from the first Men in Black movie. In MiB Will Smith is brought to HQ for the first time and he knocks that little ball from it's mooring, and the little ball, over the next twenty seconds, careens around HQ smashing through everything and bouncing all around until Tommy Lee Jones stops it. That thing, Jones explained in the movie, caused the Eastern Seaboard blackout in 1979.)

Our arrow is the same concept. Once released ... it will not stop, smashing through everything -- targets, walls, cars, bridges, buildings, mountains ... as Cusick and Doot chase it, Cusick trying to throw a potion on it that will stop it -- which he does and the potion does not work, at which point he remembers he needed one final ingredient for the potion -- which is a little critter found only at the thermal vents at the bottom of the pacific.

We've wrapped to the thermal vent by now, and the potion is complete, but Cusick and Doot still can't catch the arrow -- it has gone right through the center of the earth and Cusick picks up Doot and the chase at the point of its emerging.
It should cause tons more damage before Cusick and Doot finally are just about to catch it as it heads toward some famous theater or arena or something like Madison Square Garden or the Hollywood Bowl or something ... a name is on the marquee.
Cusick manages to throw the potion on the arrow just before it zooms into the theater ...
to hit ...
STEVE MARTIN
in the head.
The last panel is, yes, Steve Martin, with his banjo and the stupid "arrow through the head" as he performs, with Doot and Cusick in the wings.

That's it.

sp

How cool is that, anyway? I laughed out loud when I read the revelation at the end. I'm not sure exactly who owns the copyright to these characters, so I'll just say they're © Thomas Yeates and let it go at that. Perhaps this falls under the Creative Commons thing (which I've ever understood all that well). I tried to be true to my word, but except for a couple of hastily scribbled attempts at laying out the opening scene, I did not live up to my promise, sorry to say.

Finally, I want to post some Timespirits pages that came to mind, months ago, when I first heard of Perry's plight, and echo somewhat the hopes of those (this may be presumptive of me, but I hope anyway) who knew him and loved him. In these pages, we see the aftermath of their final battle with the Spirit Eater on a mountain in Tibet; an unfortunate result is the death of Doot, Cusick's young companion and fellow Timespirit. Something must be done with all the souls the Eater captured, including Doot's, and the High Lama knows what to do. Apologies if I spoil. Click to view them bigger, of course.

The last page, below, of not only this issue but (as it turned out) the series as a whole, and one of the absolute best endings I've ever read in a comics series, never fails to move me, and I find it hard to express exactly why. Each character featured in the previous seven issues- Three Birds and the Bloodless Ghebe, Princess Pey and Tubal Carrin, the human/dinosaur spaceship captain and her prehistoric ancestor, which Doot encountered on a trip to the past (long story); Thorneypaws and her manager (no Hendrix, though), the High Lama and the Yeti Spirit Eater, all come out and take a bow. Then, they turn (and it's implied that the applause is louder and louder) back to the curtain, expecting someone else (again, implied, Doot and Cusick and perhaps the Talking Fish, last seen in Cusick's frying pan) to come out and take their turn...but no one comes. It's left for Three Birds, Doot's unfortunate brother from the very first issue, to have the final word: a shrug. I thought this was absolutely brilliant.

Goodbye, Mr. Perry, if such this is. I hope you have found peace.

For more: Steve Bissette, part one and part two. Also, Nat Gertler, Rich Johnston, and Mark Evanier.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 2: Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69)

2010-05-18T09:00:00.002-05:00

Continuing to look back at some 1967-1969 issues of The Mighty Thor that I recently read.

#145 picks up where last issue left off, with the aftermath of Thor's battle with the Enchanters (two of them anyway), and dealing with being stuck on Earth with Sif and Balder, powerless
and unable to return to Asgard to aid Odin in his battle with the third member of the terrible trio.

Recap: Having bested Brona and Magnir in battle, Thor turns the equally powerless pair over to the police. We then abruptly head back to Asgard, and witness Odin, last seen rocketing through the cosmos in a fireball with Forsung, the third Enchanter, standing over his vanquished foe, just like that, and loudly proclaiming "you better recognize", or at least what passes for that in Asgard. I mean really- check these pages out for some truly epic chest beating:

Now that is some cold blooded shit right there. Having dispensed righteous godly justice, Odin turns his attention to his son and his entourage, restoring their powers and summoning them home. But.

Thor isn't so sure that he should go back home, because he has grown attached to Earth and believes (rightly so) that he can do much good as Dr. Donald Blake, and says as much to Odin, which pisses Odin off no end because he's just got done kicking Enchanter butt and doesn't want any lip from his wuss of a son. In another ongoing theme that was happening before this run and probably continued for a long time after, Odin decides to teach Thor yet another lesson and says "OK, fine, you want to stay on Earth? Then you can stay- but without your powers! Because I don't want any more of your lip!" And that's just what happens. Now, I don't really understand why Thor just couldn't get a haircut and continue to practice medicine as Dr. Blake, but apparently that's out of the question so he decides to go out and find a job, no easy task for a long-haired young man in 1967. But look who Thor winds up running into:

Yep, the freaking Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime! Small world, isn't it? Thor is apparently unaware that the Circus of Crime and its slimy Ringmaster have battled the Hulk and Spider-Man, this being the Marvel Universe of 1967 and not the Marvel Universe of 2010 (crossovers were more limited, even then), so when they ask him to try out for the vacant strongman position, he is more than happy to oblige and demonstrates his might for them:

The Ringmaster, slimy bastard that he is, returns the favor by hypnotizing Thor with his hat, and instructs him to carry a giant bull made out of lead (colored brown by the colorist- oops) for fifty paces before setting it down. Thor succeeds, of course, and Ringy reveals his true plot- they want to steal a giant calf made of solid gold, and need someone strong enough to lift it, then carry it to a waiting conveyance. More on the actual heist next issue, next time.

The Arabian Nights-inspired "Tales of Asgard" backfeature concludes this issue, as Thor and the Warriors Three, with the help of Prince Aladdin, I mean Alibar, use magic and might to defeat the evil wizard Mogul and rescue Hogun's people in the land of Zanadu. Volstagg gets to carry his big-ass cannon around for a while too. Ya gotta love Volstagg- check out the page at right, and the aftermath of the abrupt defeat of Mogul:

Comments: I'm a father, I understand a little about parenting, but the constant "gotta teach Thor humility" events that were a hallmark of this comics' golden era kinda strained the old disbelief meter a bit. Still, this was 1967, and the Generation Gap, with parents and their difficulties with their kids (and vice versa) was very much on everyone's minds at that time- and of definite interest to the Counterculture crowd that Marvel was aiming at in those days. So Thor kept getting "bugged at his old man" for a long, long time.

Boy, talk about odd dramatics- the sudden end of the Odin/Forsung battle came across almost as an afterthought. I would have thought it would have been stretched out for more drama, but I guess that wasn't the case. I wonder if Kirby drew a battle, but they decided to leave it out because of space considerations?

It shows how used to today's comics I am, I suppose, that I find it hard to believe that Thor didn't recognize the Ringmaster and his outfit...I mean, he was in the Avengers, for heaven's sake, and I know it was early on but surely they had files on all the costumed creeps, even then!

Kirby's art is often very powerful in places this issue; I was especially impressed by the staging and the bulky, strong figures of Odin and the fallen Enchanter on page 3. I liked his Ringmaster, as well- Kirby drew him fiddling with his gloves a lot, and generally made him look as unctuous as he could be. I usually associate the character with Steve Ditko, since they were regular Spidey foes for a while there, but I guess Kirby was first, when they appeared in an early issue of The Hulk.

Next time, will Thor help the Ringmaster get his golden calf, and what will replace the Tales of Asgard?

My Movie Year, the conclusion.

2010-05-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

OK, now to finish what I should have finished a long time ago, a look back at the films I watched in 2009.

OCTOBER

Jumpers
Blood Simple
The Blood Waters of Dr. Z aka Zaat

I though Jumpers was fast-paced and fun; no classic by any stretch but a good time-waster with a decent cast and few dead spots. Blood Simple was the only Coen Bros. film I hadn't seen, and I'm sorry I waited so long. It isn't as polished and quirky as their subsequent films would be, but it's no less well written and full of memorable characters. Blood Waters, also known as Zaat!, aired as part of Turner Classic Movies' Underground late night showcase for Psychotronic cinema; it's a dull grade-z dud that I had been curious about for a long time. Now I can check it off the list and happily live the rest of my life without seeing it again! October, especially on the 31st, is usually a big movie-watching month for me, but the usual cable network suspects didn't air the expected Halloween marathons and the films they did screen I'd already seen many times. Hopefully 2010 will be better. I also held on to Blood Simple for a long time before I finally watched it.

NOVEMBER

Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me
Milk
Taken
Run, Fatboy, Run
Role Models
American Scary
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
It Takes a Thief
The Devil and Daniel Webster aka All That Money Can Buy

I kinda picked up the pace in November; the Mercer documentary aired on TCM, and was an interesting look at the legendary songwriter who wrote such standards as "Moon River" and two longtime favorite songs of mine, "Skylark" and "Drinking Again". Milk told the story of slain San Francisco political figure Harvey Milk; the period detail looked good and Sean Penn was excellent in the title role. Taken had Liam Neeson giving a typically solid performance in a often ludicrous kidnap rescue action thriller. It was fun as long as you didn't think about it too hard. Fatboy was the Simon Pegg vehicle in which he trains for a marathon to impress the girl he loves; not top-flight Pegg, but he was likeable as ever in the role and there were a few laughs here and there. Role Models surprised me a lot; I expected another lame comedy with Hollywood life lessons and/or juvenile fart and tit jokes, but it turned out to be a good, and often very funny, little account of two slackers who wind up having to mentor two misfit kids. American Scary was a documentary on TV horror movie show hosts; I rented it hoping to see some footage of Sir Cecil Creape, the fondly remembered (by me, anyway) 70's horror host that I watched faithfully on Nashville's NBC Channel 4 in my teenage years. Sure enough, Sir Cecil got some screen time, but not as much as others- some of which, like Zacherley and Ghoulardi, I had heard of and many I hadn't. Worth a look if you're interested in the subject. Keanu Reeves sleepwalked through the unnecessary remake of Day the Earth Stood Still, no big surprise but at least he was playing an alien. Don't know what the rest of the cast's excuse was, including one annoying kid with big hair. Thief was some classic Hitchcock I hadn't seen, very enjoyable. Finally, one of my favorite films- the excellent 1941 version of Devil and Daniel Webster, imaginatively staged and featuring excellent turns by Walter Huston as Mr. Scratch, and the stunning Simone Simon as a literal nanny from Hell.

DECEMBER

Breaker Morant
Semi-Pro
A Christmas Carol (aka Scrooge)
Drag Me to Hell
Gran Torino
Four Wives
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Indestructible Man

The death of Edward Woodward prompted me to finally get around to screening Breaker Morant; it was a gripping drama with a fine perf by Woodward as the lead. Usually, a little Will Farrell goes a long way with me, and so I was fully prepared to ignore Semi-Pro, even though it was a film that was loosely based on the real-life American Basketball Association, which I loved as a kid. Happened to catch it on HBO one afternoon, and wound up liking it a lot more than I expected- sure, Farrell was doing his usual clueless buffoon schtick, but the supporting cast was great and the situations, many based on ABA stunts I recall, were very funny. Every year at Christmas, I watch 1951's Scrooge, which is one of my favorite films period and features what I consider to be one of the best performances in the history of cinema, Alastair Sim's portrayal of the title character. The supporting cast is excellent as well, featuring many vets of British stage and screen at the time (including young Patrick MacNee, who appears (as an older man, in the 1990s) on my DVD in a completely pointless color introduction) as well as gorgeously oppressive and gloomy black and white photography. When Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday one year in the 70's, Sir Cecil Creape (see above) screened this on "Creature Features", it was so gothic; I saw it for the first time, and I've made it a point to watch it pretty much every year since. Drag Me to Hell was a bit of a disappointment; Sam Raimi's energetic return to horror was sabotaged by an unlikable heroine and some (admittedly typical for Raimi) scenes that came across as a bit more goofy than I think they were intended. I liked Gran Torino; Clint Eastwood's grouchy, bigoted old man who gradually comes to accept his foreign neighbors was a very good role for him, and was often touching without overdoing it. Four Wives was the sequel to Four Daughters, which starred my Forties inamorata Priscilla Lane and her sisters, along with Claude Rains as their dad and John Garfield as a bad-boy love interest. Wives brought most of the cast back (sans Garfield) and caught us up on what they were doing later; it was an enjoyable soapy time-waster, and of course you all know I can watch Priscilla in pretty much anything. Finally, the last thing I watched in 2009, on Netflix's "watch it now" on New Year's Eve, was the MST3K episode that spotlighted an old el cheapo Lon Chaney thriller called The Indestrucible Man. I had seen that film many times growing up on Nashville Channel 5's afternoon Big Show, but I thought it would be fun to see what Crow, Tom Servo and Joel brought to it, and I wasn't disappointed- much fun.

And that's all, folks! I'm keeping a movie diary this year, too, so perhaps I'll do this again in 2011.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 1: Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69)

2010-05-16T11:23:00.009-05:00

Recently, while scrolling through my Google Reader feeds, I came across a site which features pics of a lot of original artwork from various publishers and years of comics. This particular post had several examples of original Jack Kirby art, specifically pages from his run on The Mighty Thor. This made me realize that it has been ages since I read any of this stuff (and to be honest, I didn't always buy Thor on a regular basis back then, when I was a preteen), and I didn't recall what happened in a great deal of it. So, I decided to go track some down and see what I thought about it now. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I found a run of mid-late '60s Thors from 1967-1969, the waning days of what we've all come to understand as the Classic Period of Marvel- and after having read them, I thought it might be interesting to recap them. So, shall we begin?

#144: As it turned out, #144 was the conclusion (of sorts, more on that later) of a multi-issue account of Thor and Odin's battle (aided by Lady Sif and Balder) with a trio of typically weird-ass Kirby godlike badguys called the Enchanters, one of which was in the possession of something called the Living Talisman.

Recap: As we join Thor, Balder, and Sif on Earth, apparently the lady and her escort have found Thor (or perhaps Don Blake, he was still changing back and forth at this time) in what I assume is Blake's apartment, and have informed him of the threat. As they converse in flowery Stan Lee pseudo-biblical godspeak, they're startled to see a green blotch of Kirby Krackle in the window, in which a face soon appears, Wizard of Oz-like- it's the Living Talisman! Basically, the Talisman just wants to tell them that they can't hide, and throws in a few pithy "thou art stupid fools"-type remarks before he's done, as you can see below. We meet Brona and Magnir for the first time this ish, the Larry and Curly of the trio. Dig those Kirby-designed masks:

And yea verily, this battle is joined! Thor, noble as ever, chooses to fight the pair alone, and Balder and Sif are left behind as the fighters ascend on a hunk of rock into the air, and do battle- the Enchanters' science tricks against Thor's hammer and his godlike strength, bragging and boasting about how powerful each of them are the whole while. Pay attention, kids, this is a reoccurring thing for the whole of this run. Meanwhile, Odin's up in Asgard, hosting/judging some sort of Great Outdoor Fight-type event, when the festivities are interrupted by the Moe of the trio, Forsung. After more bragging and declarations, they decide to have a fight to the death, a la Cole Younger and Belle Starr's would-be lover in The Long Riders, except instead of Bowie knives and a sash tying their wrists together, they both grasp a phallic symbol, I mean a scepter, and zoom off into space in a big fireball.

Unbeknownst to Thor and Co., still battling on Earth, Odin agrees to take away the powers of the other Asgardians (I guess to prevent unwanted interventions), and Forsung promises not to avail himself of the Talisman- and that makes things a wee bit more difficult. But feareth not, Thor prevails due to his righteous might or something like that, applying a royal butt kicking to Brona and Magnir, and the trio are left on Earth, unable to return to Asgard, and must anxiously await the outcome of the "All-Father"'s conflict.

There's a back feature in this issue, more of the "Tales of Asgard" feature that ran in the book and allowed Kirby to stretch his imagination a bit more. This one seems to be an Arabian Nights inspired arc, in which Thor and the Warriors Three strive to defeat a wizard named "Mogul", who is able to summon demon riders in the service of Satan, no less (and exactly why again did they have to call the obviously Satan-like character in Silver Surfer "Mephisto"?) on a flying carpet, with the help of a "Prince Alibar". At the end, we are rewarded by this sight:

BAD ASS VOLSTAGG WITH A BIG BAD ASS GUN.

Comments: One of the biggest hurdles I've had to overcome, reading not just this but any of the classic 1963-1970 Marvel output is just how awfully florid and stilted much of the dialogue is- not like DC's from the period, mind you, which was often even worse in its own way. I notice this more when it's Lee writing comic/magic characters like Doc Strange and Thor; his FF and Spider-Man had a more naturalistic "sound", and the humor and wit he could bring stood out because of it. Of course, the bad guys postured and pontificated just like here, but when the good guys are doing it too it gets tiresome- I can only take so much "I can't believe you dare challenge me because I am all-powerful and mighty and so on".

There's also a little soap-opera subplot going on in which Thor's bud Balder is secretly crushing on the Lady Sif, who of course has eyes only for ol' Blondie. I suppose Lee and Kirby were going for a Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot thing, and I'm not far enough along in my rereading to know if it was explored any further.

The Kirby art is, of course, full of action and energy, and it shines through despite the typically grubby-looking Vince Colletta inks. I don't intend to let this series of posts turn into a Vinnie-bashing exercise, but one can't help but wish he'd done romance comics or something else all his career and never got to touch a single Kirby page, not only here but on New Gods and other projects. He was a skilled craftsman, and was great with deadlines, I understand that...but his scratchy line and penchant for omitting background (and often foreground) details are just hard to take. I don't think the Enchanters' costumes will go down in the annals of Great Kirby Costume Design...they're a slapdash, mix-and-match set of togs, with a half a dozen different things going on with each part of the body. Brona's helmet has a weird-ass looking expression, with the eye slits so far apart. The manifestation of the Living Talisman on the chest plate of their armor is interesting- reminds of the little holograms that were placed on some of the toys from my kids' childhoods- Transformers or M.A.S.K., perhaps?

In a lot of ways, the "Tales" feature gave us more of the high myth-based adventure that you'd think you'd get with a Thor-based property- at this time, the main stories were full of the cosmic epics that readers had come to expect from Stan and jack since the Galactus trilogy. I think those are collected now; I think they might be fun to read someday.

Coming eventually (you know how I am...I won't make promises I can't keep): #145, and the fate of Odin!

The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back.

2010-05-12T20:49:00.002-05:00

I used to review comics on this blog, you know. But I kept getting more and more behind, and the amount of new comics I was getting and reading was directly inversely proportioned to my desire to write about them...so I finally said "enough". I needed to stop for a while. And thusly, I left the below post in draft status since about a week before Thanksgiving of last year.

Until now.

Frankly, I'm tired of seeing it in the draft queue. So, I thought I could either finish the darn thing, or post it as is for all to see and shake their heads at. Typically, I chose the latter. So here's the post, in all its incomplete glory, and now I only have 3 posts in my draft queue! Hooray! Listed at the end is the insurmountable mountain of comics I had yet to review.

Yes, here's another 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 29th and November 12th, 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.

And, yeah, I'm still way behind, so please bear with me as I look at comics you read and most likely forgot about three weeks ago...

ABE SAPIEN: THE HAUNTED BOY: Poor Abe just can't seem to keep from getting the short straw when it comes to one-shots, can he? A recycled Twilight Zone plot combined with grubby Patric Reynolds art might yank someone's crank, but not mine. D+

AMBUSH BUG: YEAR NONE #6: God only knows what happened to the real #6, but I guess it doesn't really matter. While this series certainly had its share of fun and yuks, (and a fair amount of rambling aimlessness as well, let's be fair) it was defeated mostly because no matter how hard Giffen and Fleming tried to poke fun, nothing is sillier than what's being presented as canon in the ongoings this sought to ridicule. The battle was lost before the war was waged. If this leads to Fleming getting a regular gig somewhere again (assuming he wants one), though, it will have been a success. B-

ASSAULT ON NEW OLYMPUS #1: Basically, this is Incredible Hercules Annual #1, what with the same writers and one of the artists currently doing the ongoing, so I guess it's just Herc's perpetually anemic sales figures that prompted this stand-alone, which fits right between epics in Herc's own book. While there's no tittie-twisting this time out, it's an enjoyable bridge to not only the ongoing but, I assume, another of Marvel's multi-title crossover events I really have no desire to follow. A-

BEASTS OF BURDEN #2: In which the WE3 effect comes into play once more; if you don't want to hug your pets after reading this, especially if you have dogs, well, you're a more cynical, heartless bastard than I (or Dorkin, for that matter), Gunga Din. As always, Jill Thompson's watercolor art is sensational. A-

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #1: Fairly routine update/rejiggering of the Widow's origins, marred by the jarring transition between xxx's slick, modern-comics art on the modern-day events and J.P. Leon's more aesthetically pleasing, illustrator-ish work on the flashbacks. What's more logical than to have the Winter Men's artist on a tale of an ambiguously timed old Mother Russia? If this only had some of Winter Men's style, this would be worth your time. C+

DETECTIVE COMICS #858
DOMINIC FORTUNE #3
FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: RUN #6
GHOST RIDERS: HEAVEN'S ON FIRE #4
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #19
HELLBLAZER #260
IMMORTAL WEAPONS #4
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #137
MADAME XANADU #16
MARVEL DIVAS #4
POWER GIRL #6
THUNDERBOLTS #137
UNDERGROUND #2

xxx= didn't know the artists' name when I wrote it, and I'm too lazy to look it up now.

R.I.P. Frank Frazetta

2010-05-10T13:35:00.004-05:00

Word has gone out that the great Frank Frazetta is dead of a stroke at 82.

I first became aware of him primarily as the guy who did those dynamic and evocative Warren magazine covers when they hit the magazine racks in the mid-1960's; although, ironically enough, the first one I ever bought (well, OK, had bought for me) didn't sport one of his paintings on the front, I know without a doubt the second one did, and I loved looking at the others in house ads, and as they came out on new releases. Eventually, as a teen, I discovered the many paperback covers he did, most notably the Conan series, and began to find out how he fit in with his contemporaries and the influence he had on some of my favorites of the time, most notably Berni Wrightson. He was one of the greats, and almost more of a larger-than-life figure than many of the characters he brought to life.

If you haven't seen the documentary Frazetta: Painting with Fire, that's a good place to start, and I'm sure many of the usual suspects will be posting links to many places where you can get an idea of the legacy he's leaving.

It's like someone wrote a comic just for me.

2010-04-09T07:59:00.007-05:00

The esteemed Bill Doughty of Trusty Plinko Stick renown left me a message on Facebook the other day, asking me if I knew about the above, and since I am not a regular reader of the newish Batman: The Brave and the Bold Johnny DC book, I did not. But when I found out the news, I had to check it out...and OH. MY. GOD. Not only do we have the first appearance (of which I'm aware anyway) of Johnny Bacardi Show Official Mascot Super-Hip! (always gotta have that exclamation point, you know) since the Elasti-Girl/Mento wedding in Doom Patrol #104, but we also get Mad Mod (whom I've devoted a post or two to in the past...Google it) and Brother Power the Geek, another longtime favorite character of mine! And all three (especially Brother Power) are handled very nicely- Moddie is done in Teen Titans style, unsurprisingly, and Super-Hip! could have stepped straight out of the pages of Adventures of Bob Hope. I do think, after further reflection, that he could have used his shapeshifting powers to get out of that jam...but I also think I'm way too geeky about it, and at least he got to save Batman's butt on the second page. From Go-Go Checks, no less...heh heh. It's just a good thing he didn't change back into Tad Jutefruice.

Many thanks to Bill, and writer Sholly Fisch as well as artists Robert Pope and Scott McRae. Well done, fellas.

This is just a small part of the whole comic, so I hope no one gets their knickers in a twist, me duckies, by me posting these pages.

R.I.P. Dick Giordano.

2010-03-28T20:04:00.004-05:00

For those who may be unaware, the artist and editor Dick Giordano died yesterday. Giordano was one of the most important figures in comics in the 60's through the 80's, first at Charlton Comics and later at DC. For a quite thorough career overview, I'll refer you to Tom Spurgeon's typically eloquent bio/obit; Mark Evanier's is, as usual, well done too.

For me personally, it's hard for me to recall when I first became aware of his work...I just didn't buy or read very many Charltons in the 60's, so I figure it had to be in an issue of Batman or Detective, where he inked Neal Adams (I think Giordano was arguably Adams' most sympathetic delineator) or perhaps some of the Len Wein/Dick Dillin circa 1972-73 issues of Justice League which he inked over Dillin's pencils. Perhaps the first time I saw his full art was in the Human Target series he did with Wein, which appeared as a back feature in Action Comics at about this time. I couldn't care less about the Bates/Swan stodgy (but admittedly weird and all-over-the-place) Superman stories, but the Target feature was something I didn't see too much in comics in the day- a TV-style action thriller which played to Giordano's strengths- he was firmly in the late 50's-early 60's advertising art-inspired tradition rather that one which lent itself well to superheroics (although his inking work was fine on these endeavors). I've seen a lot of it over the years, but I'm not sure if he ever did better work on his own. I've posted a couple of pages from one such story, in Action #423. This is the art I think of when I think of Giordano. Oh, and as an editor, he was the man who gave Bob Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden the green light to do Thriller, so I owe him for that. He also was the one who had some pages of the original art that he had inked in that series (#'s 5 and 6), which enabled Von Eeden to help me acquire a page for my own collection. That's my absurdly tiny connection to the man.

He was definitely one of the greats of the field, and he'll be, already is, I'd imagine, be missed.

My Movie Year, Part 3.

2010-02-22T18:29:00.001-06:00

Continuing my look back on the films I watched via various venues in 2009.

*- viewed in theater.

JULY
X-Files: I Want to Believe
* Up
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Wanted
Dodge City
Sex and the City
Thunder Road
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Coraline
The Most Dangerous Game
Green Lantern: First Flight

There was a time, my friends, when I was a big fan of the X-Files TV series. Witty and fresh, with an appealing pair of leads and a gnarly mystery lurking in the background, it was appointment TV for me in the mid-late 90's. Then, a funny thing happened about four seasons and one feature film in; I first realized that the one-off episodes with monsters and freaks and stuff were a lot more satisfying and just plain fun than the episodes that supposedly advanced the increasingly-becoming-more-obscure alien abduction/invasion storyline that was ostensibly the spine of the entire show. Finally, in 1999 sometime it occurred to me that the writers didn't really have an ending in mind, and they were dangling all these -shocking!- revelations in front of us viewers like a carrot in front of a horse...and I bailed. I no longer cared what happened to Mulder's sister, or how Scully got impregnated by aliens, or what the fuck was up with the Smoking Man, or any of that. I stopped watching and never looked back. By then, it all began to fray at the edges anyway as it barreled into confusion and tedium; David Duchovny left, only making cameo appearances, and new agents were introduced, Tara Kings all of them. The show was mercifully killed in 2002. Then, in 2005, for some reason, someone thought a sequel/update feature film was a good idea, even though only the hardcore X-Files junkies cared...and I Want to Believe was the result. Wisely eschewing the whole dead-end alien conspiracy theory crap, it was back in the "paranormal investigators" mode, and honestly, I didn't think it was all that bad. It felt padded and overlong, but it was good, after all that time, seeing Mulder and Scully again, and Billy Connolly was interesting as a pedophile psychic priest. It had the misfortune of coming out the week after Dark Knight premiered, which sure didn't help the box office...so even though there has been some discussion of a third feature film, it sure seems like we've seen the end of the franchise as we know it, for now, anyway. Mrs. B and I went to see Up on the Fourth of July; it's a tremendously entertaining flick that 1), played terribly on my fear of heights; and 2) moved me to tears at least twice thanks to a couple of highly emotional flashbacks. Heck of a good movie, but I don't know if I'm ever going to watch it again! The third Mummy flick was that rarest of rare things, a third sequel that was actually more fun than its predecessor. Of course, it helps that it starred Brendan Fraser, and was partially set in Tibet. Wanted was another comic book based film that was hamstrung by the arbitrary and mostly unnecessary changes they made to the source material. Still, it had some decent effects and action sequences, and the cast was good. Dodge City, another classic Western that aired on TCM; I am always up for an Errol Flynn pic, especially when Olivia De Havilland plays opposite. I pretty much ignored Sex and the City when it aired on HBO as a regular series; just wasn't my Voutton bag, baby. This is another one I sat and watched on a slow afternoon; the sight of Kim Cattrall naked save for a bare-minimum sushi covering was a plus, but everything else was kinda dull. Thunder Road featured Bob and Jim Mitchum as shine-running brothers; it was a fun and diverting little Fifties flick. I liked the first Narnia movie just fine, as I did the book when I read it as a kid. Somehow, I never got around to reading the sequels. This one wasn't particularly memorable, even though most of the original's cast returned. Still, if they ever put out Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I'll probably check it out too. Coraline was visually beautiful, but the script, adapted from Neil Gaiman's book, held few surprises and was more than a little cloying. Most Dangerous Game was another TCM viewing; it starred the stunning Fay Wray as one of a group of people who have the misfortune of shipwrecking on a remote island and being hunted as game by the nutjob occupant. It's a familiar story, but this was one of the first attempts to film it. Finally, First Flight was an animated Green Lantern movie, which gave us an account of how Hal Jordan of Earth came to get the power of the Power Ring, and join the outer-space peacekeeping Green Lantern Corps. It had its moments, and I didn't think it was terrible, but it didn't blow me away either.

Whew! July was probably my heaviest movie watching month for some reason.

AUGUST
Punisher: War Zone
Transporter 3
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
The Big Heat
Max Payne

War Zone was very violent and over-the-top, and was ridiculous fun because of it. I think I preferred Thomas Jane in its predecessor, but Ray Stevenson looked a bit more like Tim Bradstreet's comics covers. Speaking of over the top and silly, Jason Statham (whom I will apparently watch in anything) returned with another Transporter sequel; it was also good fun, especially if you didn't pay too much attention to the script. My grandson, who was very much into the latest Star Trek film, noticed we had STVI on VHS, and wanted to watch it. I've always thought it was one of the best of the Shatner/Nimoy flicks, and Nevan liked it too. The Big Heat was a Fritz Lang noir classic, with Glenn Ford as a driven cop determined to take down a crime syndicate boss. Being able to see movies like this is just one reason why I love TCM so much. Finally, Max Payne was a clumsy attempt to mix the supernatural and cop drama genres; it was pretty bad.

SEPTEMBER
Southland Tales
* Inglourious Basterds

For some reason, as summer made its way into fall, I didn't watch too many movies, especially in September. Part of the reason was that I held on to Southland Tales for several weeks, hoping to get in the mood to finish it and failing. It was a mess, despite an interesting cast. Maybe someday I'll get around to finishing it, but it won't be anytime soon. I did go out and see Basterds, Tarantino's latest, a sly and clever attempt by the movie junkie auteur to demonstrate how film can change and reflect our perceptions of the world around us, all dressed up in Dirty Dozen clothing. Great cast, especially Christoph Waltz as Lanza, the hissable, yet devious and crafty "Jew Hunter", and Brad Pitt, channeling Clark Gable as a Sgt. York-type who heads a group that hunts Nazis. For a far better examination of this film than I can provide, I refer you to Todd Alcott.

I will conclude soon with October through December!

My Movie Year, part 2.

2010-02-01T10:00:00.003-06:00

Resuming my look back on the films I watched via various venues in 2009.

*- viewed in theater.

APRIL
Kung Fu Panda
Daywatch
Quantum of Solace
Grey Gardens (HBO, 2009)
In the Valley of Elah
The Kingdom
The Spirit
Journey to the Center of the Earth (3D)

I found Panda to be a hugely (pun only slightly intended) entertaining martial arts adventure romp that featured some excellent character and background design, as well as several outstanding action setpieces. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. 2006's Day Watch was the sequel to 2004's Night Watch; both are highly imaginative, if somewhat chaotic and disjointed, films about a struggle between groups of supernatural beings, separated into "Light" versus "Darkness" camps. I don't know if there are plans for more, but if they make any, I will watch them. Quantum, the second Daniel Craig Bond film, didn't impress quite as much as its predecessor Casino Royale did, but was still entertaining although the action-thriller mindset these flicks are crafted with becomes tiresome after a while. Still, I like Craig and I like his take on 007. Gardens, HBO's take on the life of the Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, was very well acted by Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange (I thought Lange was better, but so far Drew has gotten most of the accolades) and kept me interested throughout; I was unfamiliar with their story, and I hadn't seen the 1975 documentary that made them notorious/famous for a while. Elah was one of a multitude of well-meaning but dramatically inert films that came out in the wake of the Iraq conflict; Tommy Lee Jones is low-key and very good, but on the whole the movie wasn't particularly memorable. The Kingdom, another Middle East conflict flick, was the opposite of low-key, taking an action-thriller stance that was often ludicrous. It was diverting, and I didn't get bored, but I don't recommend it. I finally caved and watched Frank Miller's wretched Spirit; it was every bit as excessive, condescending and sour as I expected. Won't do that again. Finally, Brendan Fraser is back doing his lovable lug schtick in yet another take on Verne's novel; it was no classic but did a credible job of creating an epic atmosphere with lots of CGI effects and I liked it OK, but I'm inclined to like Fraser. It originally played in theatres in 3D; I wonder if that made it more of an immersive experience...

MAY
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Brian Wilson- That Lucky Old Sun
* Star Trek
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Fred Claus
Bride Wars

I liked, didn't love, Ang Lee's Hulk plus I've never really been a fan of the character, not even as a kid, so I wasn't particularly interested in the do-over remake with Ed Norton. This one emphasized action over the family psychodrama that hamstrung its predecessor, a wise approach I think, and featured a more interesting cast overall. Still nothing to write home about, but I give the newer one a slight edge. Lucky Old Sun was a documentary about the making of Wilson's 2008 solo album of the same name; as I am in the bag for all things Beach Boy, I had to screen it. Wilson is a slightly pitiful, but still fascinating, fella...especially when he's working in the studio, where he suddenly becomes focused and aware like you just don't expect when you see him interact with interviewers and people outside the studio. Saw the new Trek in the theater with my son and his son...I liked the cast, that updated the old very nicely, and the nonstop action was exciting. That said, I could have lived without all the time travel bullshit, apparently conceived in order to provide a way to get Nimoy his cameo, and there are more than a few inconsistencies in a script that expects us to believe that the Grand Canyon is a short drive away from Iowa. Fred Claus had some good actors flailing away in a silly script, pretty much what you'd expect. Sometimes you watch stuff just because there's nothing else on and you don't want to get up and go outside, y'know? Which also kinda explains why I subjected myself to the horrible Bride Wars, too. I blame my daughter; she was home watching it, I was probably sitting there doing something on the laptop, and watched it too. Any movie that can cause me to be repulsed by both Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson probably should never have been made.

JUNE
Stagecoach
Rocknrolla
Space Chimps
Captain Beefheart: Under Review
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in the 60's
Tropic Thunder
Citizen Kane
Bolt
Spellbound
Repo! The Genetic Opera

Stagecoach is, of course, the venerable old John Wayne/John Ford oater; it's definitely a classic and made a star of Wayne. Rocknrolla, a Guy Ritchie effort, was much, much better than his previous film Revolver, but only sporadically recaptured the spark that made Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch so good. Chimps? Well, I guess it was a slow day or something because I recall very little about watching it. I must not have hated it, I guess...I rented a couple of documentaries from Netflix about similar subjects: Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) and his childhood buddy Frank Zappa, both of which went on to make some strange and wonderful music. I know the stories behind each pretty well, but I still will watch anything I can get my hands on about not only them but many artists whose work fascinates me- you never know when you'll see a performance clip or interview excerpt that you haven't seen before. A lot of fine people praised Thunder upon its release; I found it occasionally amusing but not particularly wow- inspiring. Tom Cruise's manic film exec was memorable. Kane is one of my all-time favorite films, perhaps the favorite, and I watch it at least once a year. Bolt was a real surprise, entertaining and clever throughout, and I even got a little something in my eye at the end. Or something like that. Spellbound- another classic Hitchcock film. I will always watch a Hitchcock movie if nothing else is on, he's a favorite filmmaker of mine. Finally, another surprise: I found the Gothed-up and bloody Repo! to be a hoot and a half, with some imaginative concepts and scenes, and some not-bad music as well. Wrote a bit more about it here (scroll down a bit).

Coming eventually, July through September!

A brief announcement.

2010-01-23T16:52:00.004-06:00

Hey! I fully intend to get back to My Movie Year pretty soon, so fear not, assuming you were wondering. Just wanted to let you know, if you're reading this and have missed my opinions on comics, that I have been asked to review comics for the pop culture-focused site Popdose.com, and I did indeed accept with the utmost humility. My first review column has gone live today, and I wanted to let you know.

I've been reading Popdose for some time now, and there are a lot of very talented writers there, especially when it comes to music. They've had little, if any, comics-related writing, however, and that's the niche I will strive to fill. All I can do is hope I don't drag down the overall quality too much! I may eventually get back to reviewing here as well, but for now I think my comics reviewing will be found there, as well as the occasional Trouble With Comics post as time permits.

Which is not to say I'm done with comics over here...I've got a few ideas that I hope to take a stab at eventually. Stay tuned!

My Movie Year, part 1.

2010-01-17T16:46:00.007-06:00

In the year 2009, I decided just for the heck of it to maintain a movie diary. When I'd watch a film in its entirety, I'd write it down in a spiral notebook, noting if I saw it on cable, Turner Classic Movies, home video (DVD, usually from Netflix) or in the theater. I thought it would make good blogfodder. Let's put that theory to the test, shall we?

*-viewed in theater

JANUARY

Burn After Reading
Neverwhere (TV)
The Apartment
The Golden Compass
Death Race (2008)
* Wall-E

Burn was an amusing Coen Bros. farce with a good cast, but it never really achieved liftoff. I really enjoyed the novelization, as well as the Vertigo comics adaptation, of Neverwhere, but I had not seen the original British TV production. It was enjoyable enough, done on the cheap but the cast was committed and it was fine. Still prefer the comic. The Apartment was the Best Picture Oscar winner for the year I was born, but I had not seen it until catching it on TCM. It's an excellent, often hilarious, pic with good perfs by Jack Lemmon and the smokin' hot Shirley MacLaine. Compass had its moments, and the effects were good, but it moved at a snail's pace, as if it was struggling with its heavy ambitions. Hard to beat the cast. Death Race was cast well, too- any flick with both Ian McShane and Jason Statham has an advantage already. But this souped-up remake was no patch on the much-lower-budgeted original. Finally, Wall-E was another triumph for Pixar, questionable science aside, and is especially affecting early on.

FEBRUARY

Appaloosa
Sahara (1943)
The Bank Job
Fool's Gold
Dead Like Me- Life After Death
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins
Collision Course
Shine a Light

Appaloosa was a pretty good western buddy drama, featuring good perfs from the always reliable Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. Also featuring Renee Zellweger at her most squinty and annoying. I liked the desert war drama Sahara; I have a weakness for old Bogie movies. What can I say. Watched Fool's Gold on a slow day, if I recall; it's mostly terrible- Matthew McConaughey's character was interesting, and Kate Hudson's cute as usual, but the uneasy mix of rom-com and Raiders of the Lost Ark-style adventure just didn't gel. It was no Romancing the Stone, that's for sure. Bank Job is a not-bad Jason Statham heist movie; I enjoyed it quite a bit. The long-awaited straight-to-video Dead Like Me sequel was a dud, missing Mandy Patinkin sorely and saddled with a script that had very little of the magic of the sadly missed Showtime series, despite bringing back some of the original cast. Spiderwick was yet another attempt to strike Potter gold; it was OK, with good effects, but didn't really cach fire. Roscoe Jenkins gave us Martin Lawrence as a talk-show host who returns home for a family reunion. Lots of Hollywood life lessons were learned, but it was sporadically amusing. Curiosity, nothing more, led me to view Collison Course, a truly awful Beverly Hills Cop-style buddy pic that paired Pat Morita and Jay Leno (!) as a smartass Detroit cop who has to work with a Japanese policeman (guess who played what). It was done much better (well, not much better) in the Rush Hour series, or the Sean Connery/Wesley Snipes actioner Rising Sun. Fiascos like that are one reason why Leno went back to standup, and then late-night talk shows, and now the current mess on NBC. Shine a Light was a Rolling Stones concert film, directed with flair by Martin Scorcese a la the Band's Last Waltz. The Stones are in good form, and the guest stars aren't bad either- Christina Aguilera was surprisingly good.

MARCH

The Hurricane
That Hagan Girl
Willie Dynamite
Taking Chance
Fort Apache
Blue Hawaii
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Iron Man
The Mindscape of Alan Moore
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
* Watchmen
Leatherheads
Lou Reed's Berlin Live at St. Anne's Warehouse

Lotta movies this month, as I was off work for a few days with the flu. Hurricane was a pretty good 1930's disaster flick of sorts; a tale of a young sailor's strugle with authority and oppression on a South Pacific island that climaxes with the titular calamity, done with pretty good effects for 1937. That Hagan Girl is the notorious soaper that starred Ronald Reagan as an older man involved with a grownup (but still portrayed as a teen) Shirley Temple, who is the victim of rumors and innuendo in a small town due to her questionable parentage. Is Ronnie her dad? Is it squicky until the reveal at the end? Yep to one and no to the other. Dynamite was a blaxploitation flick from the mid-70s that aired on TCM's Underground series; low budget and poorly acted, it was still fun. Taking Chance, starring Kevin Bacon as a volunteer military escort officer who accompanies the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown, was an unexpected pleasure- it features an outstanding perf by Bacon, as well as nuanced, deliberate direction that really evokes mood. It may have been the best film I saw in 2009, and I highly recommend it. Fort Apache, a classic western, Blue Hawaii, not one of Elvis' best, were two more flicks I screened on TCM as I fought the influenza. I wasn't expecting to like Sarah Marshall all that much, but the cast was good, the script was often very funny, and the finale, in which one character stages his long-in-the-works mock-serious puppet vampire saga, was incredible- it made the movie as far as I was concerned. I also came away liking Russell Brand in his role as well, surprising because I really couldn't stand him when I saw him hosting something, probably the video awards, on MTV. Rented Iron Man for Mrs. B; I saw it in '08 in the theater but she hadn't seen it. Mindscape was a fair-to-middling Alan Moore interview/biodoc that kept my attention, mostly, but the Man himself is not an engaging interview subject, with his doleful demeanor. The Brain That Wouldn't Die was a flick I came to like watching it as a kid on the Big Show on Nashville Channel 5 in the 60s and 70s; usually the really bloody parts were edited out but I distinctly remember one glorious late 60s afternoon when they slipped up and showed it uncut; the poor lab assistant who had his arm ripped off by the pinhead geek monster in the locked room was probably my first exposure to filmed gore. It's one of those low-budget, poorly acted and ludicrously written but still highly enjoyable b-movies of the 50s that I'll always have a soft spot for. You may be familiar with Watchmen; one thing I'll always remember about it was that I threw out a rod in my engine as I drove to see it one weekend afternoon. My truck was in the shop for a month, as I had a new engine put in. I think it was a mostly pretty good attempt at filming something that is probably unfilmable; I'd give it a B+ if I was rating it. Leatherheads was a laugh-free "comedy", wasting George Clooney in an excruciatingly bad take on pro football in the early 1900's. Ol' Squinty, Renee Zellwegger, is in it too, trying to channel Kate Hepburn and failing completely. I closed out the month with the DVD of Lou Reed's return to his ambitious and often depressing 1973 album Berlin; as a fan of the album, I was curious to see how he'd treat it (he's been ambivalent towards it in the past, but there's always been an air of "unfinished business" surrounding it), and I'm pleased to report that he and his band performed it very well. Well worth checking out if you're a fan of Uncle Lou.

Coming eventually, April through June.

The JBS Personal Best of the Decade 2000-2009.

2010-01-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

Since we have reached the end of another ten year period (and yes, I know the Decade of the Aughts proper technically encompasses the years 2001-2010), I'm feeling the itch to issue forth with another list, this time putting out there for the record my favorite comics series of that period, i.e. the comics that rocked my world in that space of time, as remembered through the filter of time.

As always, the usual disclaimers: this is not intended to be a definitive best-of the decade list. It's limited to series, one-shots, GNs, etc. that I read in the past 10 years. There are a great many excellent (I'm sure) comics that I did not read in that decade, for various reasons, and regardless of their perceived merit, I won't include them here. No webcomics, either- that's a separate list on Planet Dave. I'm going to omit trade collections and reprint series as well, which is why you won't see Showcase Presents: Bat Lash, Bambi and Her Pink Gun, or Starstruck here, to name a few.

Since we're talking 10 years here, I think I'll extend the list to a nice, even 20 titles. I realize I may be contradicting myself here- over the years I may not have rated these titles as highly as others. But with the laws of hindsight and revisionist thinking fully in effect, I simply regard a few of these with more affection (for lack of a better word) than I may have previously. These will be in alphabetical order, to show lack of favoritism. Of course, merely being on the list shows favoritism, but you know what I mean. And just for shits and giggles, I'll post them in cover gallery format without a capsule description. Also, bear in mind that I started blogging in 2002, and while I tried to go back and research what was released in 2000- September 2002, I may have forgotten or overlooked something. It's easier to collate the information when you have it all in writing, as I do from October 2002 to date. I've got a lot on the list below, and I'll bet I'll be thinking of others I've forgotten for another 10 years at least. OK. Enough blather, let's go:

HONORABLE MENTIONS: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen V2, Asterios Polyp, Underground, Aqua Leung, Top 10, B.P.R.D.: 1946, Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts, Batman: Year 100, Beasts of Burden, DC: The New Frontier, Empowered, Hellboy: The Wild Hunt, Freddie & Me, Planetary, Sleeper Seasons 1-2, Criminal Seasons 1-3, Batgirl: Year One, Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, Captain Britain & MI-13, Same Difference and Other Stories, Dr. 13: Architecture and Morality, Hawaiian Dick series, The Legend of Wild Man Fischer, Ursula, Courtney Crumrin series, Black Metal V1, Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil, Peculia and the Groon Grove Monsters, Scurvy Dogs, Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Owly.

I also feel I should cite certain titles that may not always have been among the very best in any particular month in which they were released, but over the decade were consistently very, very good, and I bought them on a regular basis throughout. To wit:

100 Bullets, John Constantine: Hellblazer, Gotham Central, Lucifer, Daredevil, Meat Cake, Love & Rockets (incl. New Stories and Penny Century), Catwoman, Fables, Incredible Hercules, Guardians of the Galaxy, Invincible Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons, Invincible Iron Man, X-Statix, Hero Squared.

And now that this is out of my system, I will resume hiatizing. Hope everyone has a happy 2010.

The JBS Personal Best of 2009.

2009-12-26T20:22:00.008-06:00

Or, to be more accurate, the works of sequential fiction from which I derived the most pleasure in the past calendar year, gleaned from the various Spinner Rack Junkie columns I've inflicted upon you in the last 11 months.

As always, this is a highly subjective, entirely personal list; in no way is it intended to be comprehensive or any sort of guide for the unwary consumer looking for enlightenment. There are many, many excellent works that I have not read, for a number of reasons. You won't find too many critical darlings here- no Ganges, no Footnotes in Gaza, no manga (haven't read a single thing from ol' Nippon this year), no Pim and Francie, no The Hunter. I'm sure they're awesome, but I haven't read 'em. Maybe someday, but not in 2-double aught-9, so they're not on the list. No webcomics, either, though I do read 'em and love many. I don't own any of the physical printed collections, so I don't put 'em up here.

So anyway, here they are, 12 total, because most people do 10 and I like to be different, in alphabetical order so I can avoid the appearance of ranking one over the other.

ASTERIOS POLYP, the long awaited GN by David Mazzuchelli, is such an audacious burst of creativity that one hates to take shots at it- the protagonist isn't terribly likable (although he does improve), quite often the art reminded me of Chester Gould meets Hank Ketcham (a far cry from the MillerTothisms of his Batman: Year One days, for sure) or reading certain chapters of Understanding Comics, plus there's a strong Lifetime Movie of the Week vibe to its basic story - but no matter. The narrative as a whole becomes absolutely engrossing, with the creator taking opportunity to hold forth about a great many philosophical and esoteric notions, and I appreciated the uncynical tone of the ending, even though it's another of those ambiguous types that drive me up the wall. This one, though, kinda depends on your perspective, one of the themes of the story as a whole. Mazzuchelli's unorthodox art gymnastics take on a definite bravura, and it's exciting to see what kind of daredevil (no pun intended) leap he takes next. It may be a bit, just a bit, overrated- but it's still worth your time, I think.

BEASTS OF BURDEN: Evan Dorkin playing it (mostly) straight, and Jill Thompson turning in some absolutely stunning watercolor art in service of one of the odder story ideas in recent memory- talking animal (well, talking among themselves) occult detectives. No Scooby-Doo Mysteries here, though- this is on the level, and after a tentative first issue we got two back-to-back excellent, often moving supernatural adventures. I may be jumping the gun by including this since I have yet to read #4, but I've no doubt it will be right there with the others.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13: Paul Cornell's Anglo-centric superhero saga went out on a gonzo high note, as the team faced off with a very vicious and very overconfident Dracula, with assistance of a kind from Dr. Doom, and it was (as so often the case) well-written and illustrated enough to not sell enough copies to avoid cancellation. What a shame, and yet another example of how some radical rethinking needs to be done if the market won't support this sort of comics.

EMPOWERED: Adam Warren's gorgeously illustrated R-rated superhero exploitative cheesecake satire has been good since issue one, but was represented in 2009 with its best issue yet, as well as a nicely done one-shot at years' end.

HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT: I know, what with all the various spinoffs and side projects under the BPRD/Hellboy banner, it's beginning to get a little confusing. That said, this particular branch, even though there was a long delay in the middle of the run, was never less than clever scriptwise (with Mike Mignola taking the opportunity to add to H.B.'s mythos a bit) and illustrated in excellent fashion by one of Mignola's best collaborators (besides Corben and Guy Davis), the underrated Duncan Fegredo. Best Hellboy adventure since last year's Crooked Man, the only one in recent memory that was better. Plus, a couple of issues featured Gary Gianni's Monster Men series, always great.

POTTER'S FIELD: STONE COLD: Under-the-radar one-shot from Boom! that I enjoyed very much when I read it earlier this year. Interesting premise (that TV, not surprisingly, co-opted via the Christian Slater vehicle The Forgotten) and excellent art by favorite Paul Azaceta. Hope there will be more.

SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS: Anytime we get this much new Craig Russell art, especially in the service of the sort of things that Neil Gaiman cooks up, it's a good thing. This was a masterful re-presentation.

SCALPED: If ever a series deserved the tag "grim and gritty", I guess it's this one...even though the term has taken on a pejorative tone in the last decade or so. This gripping account of crime, pride, greed and desperation in a Native American reservation has been consistently excellent all year long.

SCOTT PILGRIM V5: SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE UNIVERSE: I suppose it points to the fact that 2009 just didn't send me a lot of comics that blew me away that I include this very well done but somewhat forward-looking chapter in this list. All the stuff that makes O'Malley's protagonists so endearing and yet so frustrating are here again, and that makes it good enough for me...but "good enough" really shouldn't be on this list.

STARSTRUCK: I hoped for years that Elaine Lee and Mike Kaluta could somehow get around to giving us more of the inventive, clever, densely detailed world that I fell in love with back in the mid-80s, but eventually I had to face facts and give up. I am pleased to report that the unlikely did indeed come to pass, and it looks beautiful thanks to the colors by Lee Moyer. Sometimes, I suppose, you can come home again.

UNDERGROUND: Down to earth (no pun intended- well, maybe a little pun intended) saga of park rangers vs. greedy locals, written with satisfying verisimilitude by Jeff Parker and drawn for maximum tension by Steve Lieber, who's never done better work that I've seen, anyway.

WINTERMEN WINTER SPECIAL: Long-awaited finale to the outstanding, albeit indifferently presented, Soviet supersoldiers miniseries by Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon. Despite more editorial and company interference than any five series should have had imposed on it, what did come out in fits and starts was always engrossing and often flat out brilliant.

Honorable mentions: Showcase Presents: Bat Lash (I did not buy this, but I do still have the originals, which are not diminished by the lesser mid-70's reprints included in this long-overdue collection.); B.P.R.D: 1947, Greatest Hits, Incredible Hercules, Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire, Fables, Criminal: Sinners, Sir Edward Gray, Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels, Marvel Divas, The Mighty, Guardians of the Galaxy, Madame Xanadu, Phonogram: The Singles Club, Solomon Kane: Castle of the Devil, Invincible Iron Man, Incognito, Immortal Weapons, Umbrella Academy: Dallas, 100 Bullets, Jack Staff, The Boys, Terra, Sub-Mariner: The Depths, Power Girl, Detective Comics feat. Batwoman, Agents of Atlas, Doom Patrol (V5).

Just in case you're interested...

2009-11-26T08:42:00.003-06:00

I'm going to extend this posting break here, perhaps at least until the end of the year. The stars, planets, humors, vapors, and all other sorts of esoterica in my personal life are just not conducive to me being a regular blogger right now. Plus, I'm just a bit burned out on the whole thing. I can't see a single damn thing that I bring to the party anymore that you can't get in better, cleverer fashion in a multitude of places. I don't want to go away completely, but I just can't see me contributing anything much here right now...and while I hate it like sin, I don't want to be just putting bullshit up here (well, more so than usual) for the sake of putting something up.

That said, unless ADD tells me to stop, I do intend to keep contributing infrequently to Trouble with Comics, so there's that if for some sad reason you just can't make it without my musings on books of the comical variety. I'll probably still do the Five for Friday at the Comics Reporter, whenever I can think of answers to the relevant topic in time to get them to him. And, sure, I'm still on Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook, so it's not like I'm going away for good, as pleasurable as that may sound to some. Oh, and I'm going to continue to put NFL predictions up on the LJ as well.

So anyway, be good, and be good to each other, have a happy holiday season, and sayonara for now, at least as far as the Johnny Bacardi Show goes.

Pumpkin Pie.

2009-11-14T14:10:00.003-06:00

I guess that title is in poor taste, no pun intended, but I couldn't think of anything else more appropriate to go with this nice Autumnal picture of a young Marilyn Monroe, sitting in her sincere pumpkin patch.

Just wanted to get something up here, to show that I'm not dead or anything. Not much time or energy for blogging lately, and I hope that changes soon...I'm more behinder than ever, reviews-wise, and I'm behind on some stuff I'm writing for Trouble With Comics for Alan Moore month as well. Anyway, just checking in to let you know that I'm not done just yet.

Picture taken from this very nice Marilyn pics post at Golden Age Comic Book Stories.

CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

2009-11-08T14:17:00.001-06:00

Please be upstanding for another 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 16th and 28th, 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.

And, yeah, once more I'm way behind, so please bear with me as I look at comics you read and most likely forgot about three weeks ago...

BATMAN AND ROBIN #5: Looks like Grant's just giving us a more genteel version of Miller's ludicrous Spillane-with-Tourette's All-Star Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, and the more I read, the more squalid the whole thing seems. I know he can do better, and I know he knows that, too. Not helping: artist Philip Tan, who gives us not one but two absolutely incomprehensible action scenes. My interest is hanging by a thread, and only the promise of Grant's Squire drawn by Cam Stewart, coming eventually, is keeping me around. C-

THE BOYS #35: The sad/weird backstory of likeable Boy "Mother's Milk" takes center stage this time out, and it's typically Ennisian, with smirks riding shotgun with pathos. As always with this title, for them that likes, here's more. B+

B.P.R.D.: 1947 #4: Continues to flow along nicely thanks to the Moon/Ba art, but the story feels like it climaxed last issue. Hopefully Dysart and Mignola have something extraordinary in mind for the ending. A-

CRIMINAL: SINNERS #1: Wait, aren't all criminals sinners by definition? Anyway, Tracy returns, and is once more placed between the proverbial rock and the proverbial hard place. All your favorite noir tropes are once again present and accounted for, and those who seek to wallow will find this a most acceptable trough, especially as it's once more illustrated with aplomb by Sean Phillips. A-

DAREDEVIL #501: The first issue of the Diggle era reads pretty much like the last eleventy-hundred from Bendis and Brubaker, which is not necessarily a bad thing- consistency does have its virtues. As you probably know, the new wrinkle is that DD is leading longtime pain-in-the-necks the Hand, but we don't wanna get too crazy out of line so he is of course all angry and angsty about everything, just like Miller Christ didst intend. Lotsa good character work, especially with the supporting cast, and a decent enough plotline that while it doesn't break any new ground, at least moodwise, at least shows that Diggle will keep the dramatics compelling and I guess that will keep me buying for a while longer. I recall liking artist Roberto De La Torre on Thunderbolts; he told the story well enough, and his style, while derivative, at least had some personality. I'm pleased to report he brings that to bear here. B+

FABLES #89: Most of this issue deals with Bufkin the flying monkey, left behind in the old Fabletown digs and faced with the threat of not only Aladdin's old genie, but the Baba Yaga as well. It's almost impossible to describe the events in this comic without sounding nuts, you know. Also, more with Frau Totenkinder, now all young and hot and stuff, as she tries to find out more about the threat of the Dark Man. Lots of stuff going on; this title is as engrossing right now as it's ever been, and it's been pretty good before. Artist Mark Buckingham once more saves most of his creativity for his nifty panel borders, and does everything else as well as he needs to- he's always reliable. A-

GHOST RIDERS: HEAVEN'S ON FIRE #3: OK, I'm buying this now for Aaron's take on Daimon Hellstorm, so naturally only has a cameo in this issue. Even so, this one's still got a lot of fast-paced action, as the bickering brother Riders battle an old Marvel Monsters-age baddie whose schtick it is to possess inanimate objects like cars and bulldozers and such, as well as one of the House of Ideas' less-inspired ones, Big Wheel. It's the sort of left turn that would ordinarily be offputting, but Aaron makes it work. The action scenes pop thanks to a god job by Roland Boschi and Dan Brown. More drive-in movie-style fun. B+

HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT #7: The lead story keeps on keepin' on, gearing up to what should be an appropriately apocalyptic finale. As always, Mike Mignola is Hellboy's best writer, and Duncan Fregredo is the next best thing to Mr. M himself on art. What I've been enjoying the most, though, and forgetting to mention is the backups- first, the return of Gary Gianni's quirky and bizarre MonsterMen (or Corpus Monstrum, or whatever the hell he's calling it these days), which I've missed, and this issue's not-as-good-but-still-pretty-good Henry Hood spotlight, which ties in with the Witchfinder series running concurrently. Whew, it is to make the head spin, keeping up with all this... A

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #136: Maybe the best comic I've read this year, certainly the funniest. Exhibit A for the jury:

Now I can cross "Seeing Hercules dressed like Thor giving a tittie twister to Thor dressed like Hercules while they're battling" off my bucket list. A

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #19: Somewhat anticlimactic resolution to an arc that was pretty good as a whole; your satisfaction depends a lot on whether you think Osborn would care all that much about being seen beating the crap out of a defenseless Tony Stark on worldwide TV. Me, I'm a bit skeptical- would Dubya or Cheney have had the same scruples? Anyway, the literal ending itself was pretty interesting, and I think I'll follow along a while longer to see what happens. B+

LIBERTY COMICS: A CBLDF BENEFIT BOOK #2: Just like last time, we get several somewhat heavy-handed and obvious stories, mostly of the barbed satire stripe, apparently OK because it's done by some outstanding creators such as Paul Pope, whose "Loverman" finally sees print, Brian Wood, who dusts off the Channel Zero concept, Paul Grist, more Apocalypstix by Ray Fawkes and Cam Stewart, and others, all for a good cause- it's great art showcase. I'm down with the cause, and the propaganda this time is slightly better than last time, but I prefer subtlety. Character flaw on my part, I suppose. B

SCALPED #32: Things are rapidly coming to a head, it seems, for both Dash and Chief Red Crow...and about the only thing I can predict is that the resolution will most likely be very bloody, and I'm pretty sure nobody will learn any damn life lessons. Once again, consistently consistent in its constant excellence. A

STARSTRUCK #2: It's difficult for me to be impartial about this series, so I guess I won't even try. As excellent now as it was 20 plus years ago, and the added scenes are providing clarity- I don't recall if the whole Mary Medea boards the spaceship to go to war in the aftermath of the botched Bajar spy mission scene was in the B&W Dark Horse reprint series, but it read as unfamilar to me, and made her motivations clearer. The dialogue is great, the helter-skelter script construction is still fun, Kaluta's art was never better and has rarely been better since, and the new coloring continues to kick ass. Perhaps I'll find something to nitpick eventually- the Galactic Girl Guides backups still strike me as somewhat trivial- but for now I'm completely in the bag. A

STRANGE TALES #2: Indie artists slumming once again, or so the attitude of most of these stories would have you believe; still, some are having fun and that gets this across just fine. Best of show, Jacob Chabot's amusing "Lookin' Good, Mr. Grimm" which carries the Thing's resemblance to chia pets to its logical conclusion and reminds us that hig-spirited humor was always a big part of the old FF formula; others which impress are Jim Rugg's long-shelved Brother Voodoo story, Matt Kindt, doing his Super Spy thing with the Black Widow, Jhonen Vazquez's cutesy MODOK, and Tony Millionaire's goofy Bob Burden-esque Iron Man tale. Less impressive is Pete Bagge's long-delayed Hulk, which only reinforces my own held belief that when it comes to the Bradleys or the Beach Boys, Bagge is golden. Everything else, not so much. B+

WITCHFINDER: IN THE SERVICE OF ANGELS #4: Continues to be an entertaining smorgasbord of cultists, ghosts, demons, and Mignola's ever-spreading Hellboy mythology, ably brought to moody life by Ben Stenbeck. A-

As always, sorry about being so late with these. More coming soon.

I had Seven Seconds to say...

2009-11-05T10:54:00.005-06:00

Today's Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting goes out to writer ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, 53 years young today. Above, a small cover gallery of the many series he's had a hand in over the years. There seems to be one exception, though, and I just can't quite seem to put my finger on which one it is. Oh well, I'm sure it will come to me.

It also happens to be the birthday of the great JIM STERANKO, and Guy Fawkes Day as well! (Boy, wouldn't a Steranko-illustrated, Fleming-scripted issue of Thriller have been something to see?)

I gazed a gazely stare.

2009-11-03T10:28:00.009-06:00

Back in the hazy, crazy days of 1973, Scottish pop singer Lulu, who was by then past a string of Sixties hits including "To Sir With Love", the theme for a film in which she also appeared with Sidney Poitier and for which she was probably best known here in the States, gravitated into the orbit of David Bowie (she years later confessed to a fling, Bowie hasn't commented) and Mick Ronson at the height of the Glitter era...and the a single, a cover of Bowie's 1970 title track from his Man Who Sold the World album, was the result. Above is a TV performance of same from 1974. Although I dearly love the music the Bowie/Ronson team made together, I had not gone as far as to check this out before- although I was aware it existed. The slightly-different arrangement isn't bad, although the sinuous guitar melody line that runs through the original is missing until closer to the end, it's definitely got that honkin' sax that DB liked in this, the pre-Ronson split Pinups era...but I don't think Lulu's vocal does much for the song at all, sorry to say. Her calm, sweet demeanor doesn't really jibe with the ominous paranoiac mood the song (especially in its original version) evokes. I haven't heard the B-side, "Watch that Man", a fave Bowie track of mine from Aladdin Sane.

Anyway, today is Ms. Lulu's birthday today, and reading about it got me curious to hear her cover. Thought I'd take the opportunity to send along a BSBdG. Wish I could have been more complimentary- I did like "Sir", and she was definitely a big part of the whole Swingin' '60s scene. So there's that!

"Your bodies will be unlovely..."

2009-11-02T20:31:00.006-06:00

A two-page scene from Druid #3, Warren Ellis' sequel-of-sorts to his Hellstorm run in the mid-'90s. I was totally taken by surprise at the cultist's reaction to Ludgate's demand, and I still remember laughing out loud when I read it. Who says Ellis can't do teh funny?

What a cut-up.

2009-10-31T00:22:00.005-05:00

Wishing you all a happy and safe Halloween!

Art by Matt Dixon, found via Drawn!

Another multi-cover Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting!

2009-10-30T18:30:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's another of those big multi-cover birthday tributes, this time in honor of P. CRAIG RUSSELL, who turns 58 on this very day.

The first time I saw his art, early in his career on an Ant-Man tale in Marvel Feature #7, inked by mentor Dan Adkins and someone named Mark Kersey, I wasn't impressed. But then, a year or two later, I spied a copy of Amazing Adventures #28 on the spinner rack, and was surprised to see how much he'd progressed in the interim. And not only that, but I soon discovered that I loved the feature as well- War of the Worlds feat. Killraven, and began a fandom for both that has lasted to this day. It's been something to see how he's refined and developed his style over the years as well, from trying to play by the Marvel house rules to streamlining it, incorporating a myriad of influences. He's gone on to do a ton of work for a variety of publishers, including many adaptations of classic fairy tales and operas, and he brings the same verve and imagination to all of them. It's always a treat for me to see new artwork by Russell, one of my art heroes.

Here's his official site.

Sign of the times.

2009-10-28T09:31:00.004-05:00

You see it happening all the time these days; there's even a blog devoted to it. Newspapers and print magazines are dying out, or at least the more repetitive iterations of same-- a winnowing of the herd, if you will-- and the Internet, along with the economy, are mostly to blame, it seems.

So with this in mind, it's a bit sad- and yet it isn't- to see the announcement today that the Comics Journal will no longer be on its bi-monthly, or quarterly, or whatever it was on, publishing schedule. Instead, they will offer a twice-yearly "bigger and more elaborate" issue, and concentrate most of their efforts towards expanding and redesigning their website, and providing most of its content there, supposedly free to all. Click on the link above to get the skinny.

Like Alan David Doane said this morning, back in the day- we're talking late 70s and into the 80s- the Journal was a hell of a thing, comparable mostly to the nothing-is-sacred attitude of rock's CREEM magazine than anything else, always striving to point out work that was better than the norm, and comparing/contrasting that work to the current output of the major companies of the day. While sometimes shots were taken that were uncalled for (the slagging of Don Heck's reputation comes to mind), at least they had opinions, and often passionate ones at that. Also, for my money, TCJ featured some of the best interviews I have ever read (and I'm not always crazy about interviews), and always had top notch art, even the filler illos in the letters page, some of which were done by the Hernandez Bros. early on, pre-Love & Rockets.

Ad now, I begin a rambling and personal account of my history with the Journal. You may skip ahead one paragraph if you don't care.

After buying an issue here and there via mail order or from my friend Dave Puckett (probably the first place I ever saw a copy), I eventually broke down and subscribed, and did so for many years. The cover of the earliest issue I own now is posted above. Finally, sometime in the mid-late '90s, turned off by the increasingly sour, dismissive and cynical tone that had begun to really become noticeable in practically everything that was written (It was always that way to an extent, but it had gotten excessively so by then, in my opinion), as well as an ever-increasing price point combined with the ever-crappier gray newsprint stock paper that the interiors were printed on...well, I stopped buying. By then, I had stopped subscribing (my comics shop gave discounts for holds customers then, and I figured I was breaking even), but it was five or six bucks that I could spend elsewhere, so I bade farewell to the Journal, thinking I'd pick up an issue when I could afford it and if someone I was interested in was featured. And sure enough, I did that for a while. But eventually, the Interweb came along, as did Fantagraphics' web site, and hey! They reprinted stuff from the Journal right there on their site! Plus, they had a cool news column that could actually report current comics news (a longtime bugaboo with the print edition)! And hey! When I got started blogging, I even got mentioned in that column a couple of times! (A far cry from today, where I do not exist as far as Deppey is concerned) And eventually, a lot of outstanding comics-related content became available to all via the rise of the Comics Blogosphere, much of it written by people who had read and were influenced by TCJ itself. So the upshot is that it's been quite some time since I actually purchased a physical copy, this one was my last, I believe...and I can't believe I'm the only one.

So this is a natural and inevitable progression, I believe, and while I, who will always have an nostalgic attachment to paper (not only comics and magazines, but album covers as well), still must acknowledge the necessity of this move. I wish them the best of luck- even though I gripe about them, I can't imagine the world of comics without Groth and the Journal to comment on it.

Happy Blogiversary to Me.

2009-10-24T16:34:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-10-23T08:18:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-10-19T10:01:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-10-16T13:58:00.005-05:00

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.

2009-10-16T11:53:00.007-05:00

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.

2009-10-15T21:24:00.002-05:00

Unlike this guy.

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

Grow old along with me.

2009-10-09T07:54:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-10-08T11:19:00.005-05:00

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.

2009-10-06T09:51:00.008-05:00

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.

2009-10-05T21:29:00.007-05:00

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.

2009-10-05T11:23:00.007-05:00

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!