Blog Update for August

This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

I thought July was a good month for comics, but August might have actually been better. A couple books snuck in from the last week of July (like Immortal Iron Fist #7, which was amazing, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5, the best issue of that series so far), but mostly, it was great books crowding out other great books. There's a pretty good spread of most publishers, with 2 indies (Mouse Guard & Toupydoops), 2 Image (Dynamo 5 and Invincible) and 3 Dark Horse (BPRD, Hellboy & Buffy). DC bumps up to 5 if you count all their imprints (a lone book from the DCU, a lone book from Wildstorm and three from Vertigo) and Marvel once again really has its hooks in me, with 8 books, almost half of my top 20 for the month. Of those 8, two feature Ed Brubaker, two feature Matt Fraction and two feature Jeff Parker. Fair to say those three guys are in my top 10 writers of the moment. Probably the top five. As for the stuff that almost made the cut? There's well over a dozen, many of which easily would have made a Top 20 in a lighter month. McDuffie and Pelletier on Fantastic Four #548-549. Kirkman and Adlard on Walking Dead #40-41. Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 was also great post-apocalypse action and survival tales. Brubaker's got Daredevil #99 and Captain America #29. New Warriors #3 offered up great twists and turns. Local #10 featured the Austin area and one of the few bars I've been to in town, Beerland. Usagi Yojimbo #104-105 were great as always. Spirit #9 started what is probably the over-arcing tale closing out the Cooke/Bone run. Green Arrow Year One #3-4 continued a strong bi-weekly story. Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 and Wraith #2 were pretty solid reads. And then there were the debuts, like Brit #1, Flash #231 and Terror Inc. #1, all fun stuff.

There are only a couple graphic novels that didn't make the cut this month, Shannon Wheeler's Screw Heaven, When I Die I'm Going to Mars from Dark Horse and Rose & Isabel Parts One and Two by Ted Mathot, which I finally got around to finishing. Both were very good, but didn't quite bump out any of the other good stuff I read this month. My desire to actually read books again has cut into my comics-reading (and TV-watching, and videogame-playing) time, and this month I read The Golden Compass (very good) and Kitchen Confidential (very funny and interesting, and man could I not be a chef). Next month I'll probably read the next two books in His Dark Materials trilogy, the new Greg Rucka novel Patriot Acts, and maybe start on the Alton Brown book I'm Just Here For The Food that I bought my wife for her birthday a couple years back.

In August, I started to watch Mad Men, based on a number of critics I like who loved it, but I just couldn't get into it. I really enjoyed the first episode, and the look and feel of the period is great, but I stopped and started the second episode about six times and just couldn't stay engaged. I gave up on a lot of shows this month, actually. I realized, with three episodes on the Tivo and no particular interest in watching them, that it was probably time to go ahead and give up on Rescue Me. I finished John From Cincinnati, although just barely, and I think my final estimation is that it's a mediocre show with genius in it. I invested a fair amount of time and got zero payoff. If JFC were actually the reason HBO canceled Deadwood (and it isn't), I'd have been pretty pissed. I have watched the first episode of Damages, which I'd qualify as "OK," but never got around to watching the remaining episodes on my Tivo, which means I probably never will. And Entourage is just barely hanging on, I'm watching purely on momentum now, same with Big Love (although that show is demonstrably superior, I just don't have as much intrinsic interest in the premise)... HBO better come up with something impressive in their next crop of shows, or, despite my love for HBO On Demand, I might go back to DVD spot watching those few shows they have that interest me, like Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Especially since Showtime has Weeds, which kicked off a great third season. True, Californication was weak, but I hear good things about Dexter, and two great shows could overshadow HBO at the moment. Especially since I haven't seen much The Wire, and thus I've got tons of seasons of that on DVD when I finally get time to sit down and give it the attention it deserves. I was also pleased to see Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt return for a second season. Burn Notice continued to grow on me, and is probably my favorite show of the moment. So of course, it's going on hiatus until tennis season (or whatever) is over, several weeks from now. I'm a little less enthused about The 4400 on USA, although as of right now I'm still watching it. And of course, I sprinkle viewings of Daily Show, Colbert Report and Countdown throughout.

I added a ton of new links to the RSS feeds this month, helped a great deal by post-San Diego linkblogging and business cards gained during the show. Added feeds for a half-dozen artists, new comic blogs from Marc-Oliver Frisch, Laura Hudson, Bahlactus, Jason Michelitch, Valerie D'Orazio and my first ever video podcast from Blair Butler. Added another TV critic from the Chicago Tribune via links from the TV critics I already read, and added feeds for CNN Politics (2008 election stuff is starting to piss me off, which means it must be time to become more avid in following it) and realized that I had somehow lost the feed for Whitney Matheson's excellent pop culture blog Pop Candy when I migrated over to Google Reader in the first place. Even better, she's got a podcast, too! Oh, and I figured out how to share my feeds from Google reader, so each category now has a link to the shared feed.

Weekly Comics to Come - August 29th, 2007

TOP FIVE
Brit #1 (Invincible fans should definitely pick up this return to an earlier Kirkman creation, it's a very fun first issue with strong art by Cliff Rathburn)
Fantastic Four #549 (I love seeing Black Panther and Reed Richards playing off each other, as written by McDuffie. And the rest of the book is really good too)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #5 (Stunning art by Duncan Fegredo, great monsters and action by Mignola, terrific book)
Local #10 (Finally, the Austin issue! Looking forward to Wood & Kelly's rendition of my town)
Manhunter Vol 3 Origins TP (The first volume was good, the second great, and as I recall, the third as good or better than the second. Can't wait for the relaunch)

THE REST
American Virgin #18 (I've been really enjoying this latest story, and I believe this begins a Ryan Kelly guest art stint, which is cool)
Avengers Initiative #5 (Some good stuff, some really weak stuff, good art... I want to like this book so much more than I actually do)
Fone Bone Plush Toy (These look great, saw them in San Diego)
Hack Slash Series #4 (Really fun B-movie horror/action stuff, as always)
Incredible Change Bots GN (Hilarious geek appreciation and making fun of the Transformers by Jeffrey Brown)
Previews Vol XVII #9 (Down the Line is in the works... now if only our site would come back online... stupid hosting company)
Punks The Summer Comics Special (Been anticipating this for a while, crazy experimental comic from Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain)
Transformers Spotlight Optimus Prime (The big O (no, not Oprah) gets his own comic)
Usagi Yojimbo #105 (The two-part origin of Jei was creepy and great, and the book is, as always, terrific)
Walking Dead #41 (Wow, two issues in two weeks... and I'm guessing we're ramping up to some major goings-on now, with an invasion by the "evil" forces of the other town)
Wasteland #11 (I'm so behind on this story... I've read them all, but it hasn't gelled in my head... I really need a second trade to catch up)

A Little Current Events Ranting

So I went to CNN to find a link about Alberto Gonzales resigning, because I wanted to post a little something. But I found another link I want to talk about more, so let me just say, the news that Alberto Gonzales is retiring could only be made better if the word "resigning" actually meant "being devoured by rabid wolverines." And that definition could be retroactively applied to Karl Rove as well.

That said... do you believe this shit? Michael Vick, scumbag football player who organized dogfights, may not do jail time. May come back to the NFL. May get off the hook because, on what amounts to the third draft of his apology after he floated out a "no comment" type thing early and then a "it was the other guys, I never made any money off it" on Friday, he says he "found Jesus" as a result of this.

Really? You found him? What did Jesus have to say about you being the organizer of a dog-fighting ring? Was it something like the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank (that last name apparently a comment on his fucking soul), who said in the article, "We cannot tell you today that Michael is cut from the team. Cutting him may feel better emotionally for us and for many of our fans, but it's not in the long-term best interests of our franchise," Blank said.

Your franchise? YOUR FRANCHISE?

Oh, heaven forbid your professional football team have an off season in any way because one of your team members actually managed to push past the acceptable doping, date-raping, violent macho bullshit they get away with every day and find something socially unacceptable.

I watched pro football for a while there, and got kinda bored with it. Now I'm glad, because it means not having to justify supporting the kind of scum that seemingly make up the ranks of pro sports more and more these days, from the dog-fight-organizing pros to the apologist "anything for a win" coaches and owners.

The 2008 Presidential Election is gonna suck, isn't it?

Not since the Al Gore/GW Bush election in 2000 have I had such a dire feeling of "Death or Chi-Chi?" in my political choices. Seriously, if it's Clinton vs. Romney (or pretty much any of the Republican contenders of the moment) in 2008, I don't know if I want to vote. Because I honestly don't believe either one will represent me. And I've seen how well third party voting works out in 2000.

I mean, I knew Clinton was a cynical political operator even before this:



But now there's this:



If the next President isn't looking for an exit strategy from Iraq on day one, they aren't my candidate. But depressingly, it seems like the Democratic political machine is embracing Hilary, even though Obama or Edwards is probably a lot more electable with the rest of the electorate. It's the same kind of hive-bound, internal politics thinking that has gotten them to where they are today.

Weekly Comics to Come - August 22, 2007

TOP FIVE
Immortal Iron Fist #8 (Beginning the martial arts tournament, and it's great)
Mouse Guard Winter 1152 #1 (Saw a little of this in San Diego, it looked gorgeous, looking forward to reading it)
The Order #2 (The new character focused on in this issue is terrific, and it continues to be exactly what I want out of a modern superhero team book)
Thunderbolts #116 (Starting a new story arc, and it actually gives lameass emo boy Penance cool story moments... that's gotta be worth some extra points)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #3 (Fantastic, funny and clever and beautifully drawn, with a great short illustrated by Colleen Coover at the end)

THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #2 (Dirty dozen in space, full of action, and the first death)
Amelia Rules #18 (An issue exploring what it's like for kids whose parents are soldiers in Iraq)
Comic Foundry Magazine #1 (New comics magazine, I've read the first issue and it's very good)
Death By Chocolate Redux GN (David Yurkovich's unusual, interesting superhero tales include a man whose powers can turn anything into chocolate, and that's not even the half of it. Great, innovative stuff in a new edition)
Green Arrow Year One #4 (More Diggle/Jock action comics)
Invincible #45 (This book is in really interesting story territory right now, and after re-reading the stories in the 3rd Ultimate collection, I'm very much in the mood for more)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #15 (Jeff Parker, Leonard Kirk... the Avengers in Asgard? Hell yeah)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 10 (More great suspense from Urasawa)
Repo #3 (The Spears/G future/action book rushes towards its conclusion)
Spirit #9 (Only four more Cooke/Bone Spirit issues left, meaning each one is a rare treasure)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #19 (Solid adventure Star Wars stuff, as always)
Surreal Adventures Of Edgar Allan Poo GN (Looks like beautiful art, strange story, and I've got a fondness for Poe)
Tellos Colossal Hc (I've only read scattered bits of Tellos, but knowing that this is the last we'll see of Mike Wieringo's non-superhero stuff, I absolutely want to give it a read in this complete form)
Terminator 2 Infinity #2 (First issue was pretty decent, I'll keep reading to see where it goes)
Toupydoops #6 (Yay! Another issue of the Hollywood as comics humor comic!)
Ultimate Spider Man 100 Project TP (Art book to benefit HERO Initiative)
Walking Dead #40 (Really digging the current story on this book as well)
White Picket Fences #3 ('50s alien invasion/young adventure comic)

In Memory of Mike Wieringo

I never got to meet Mike Wieringo. But I was a fan of his work, especially his collaborations with Mark Waid on Flash and Fantastic Four. And on Spider-Boy, the Amalgam one-shot he did with Karl Kesel. Wieringo's art showed the pure joy of comics, and I was really enjoying his daily blog, where he showed new sketches and was talking about a space adventure comic he was thinking about. Now we'll never get to see it, and that's the least of the sadness about losing Wieringo at such a young age.

Below is the first ever sketch I ever got, the first page in my sketchbook, from Chicago Con 1996. The artist? Mike Wieringo.



Edited to add: Scott Kurtz posts this recollection of moments with Mike, and it's incredibly moving. It's starting to sink in just how much we lost, and I'm remembering back to the day that Mike Parobeck died. So many years later, I'm still struck on an almost daily basis of how much that sucked, and I suspect the same is going to be true of losing Mike Wieringo so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Edited to add: I realize that it sounds stupid to say that I never met Mike Wieringo, when I've got a sketch from him. What I mean is that I never had a conversation that went beyond "I really like your art," so I don't really consider that we knew each other at all.

Weekly Comics to Come - August 15, 2007

TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 (Solid second issue of the quest for a hero to stop the Phalanx)
Captain America #29 (Another beautifully drawn, interesting issue of the post-death Cap book)
Good As Lily GN (Word is this Minx book is a good one, and I'm very much looking forward to it)
Highwaymen #3 (I can probably call this my pick of the week already... issues #1-2 are some of my favorite comics of the year)
Narcoleptic Sunday GN (Read this on the plane back from San Diego... the artist is terrific, and writer Jeremy Haun, previously known for his art, does a great on the run/crime riff. Reminds me of Steve Rolston's One Bad Day, which I also dug)

THE REST
Booster Gold #1 (Not so much feeling the multiverse, but I really liked Booster originally, and his creator Dan Jurgens is involved, so I'll give it a shot)
Brave And The Bold #6 (Not loving it as much as I was early on, but it's still a really fun book)
Flash #231 (Waid's first full issue, curious to see where he goes with it)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #2 (First issue was quite a bit of fun)
Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 (The Top Cow pilot season one-shots have a pretty good set of creators on them)
Terror Inc #1 (Weird zombie/body-snatching merc/assassin concept re-visualized as a MAX book from David Lapham... sounds potentially interesting)

OK, this is a surprise

I knew Obama was showing some heat in the Democratic circles, but I wasn't quite sure I believed he was electable. I'd certainly vote for him, but I wasn't sure he could reach any kind of centrist or Republican-leaning base, which any candidate is going to need going into this next contentious election year.

But it turns out that he's polling third in the Iowa GOP caucuses. That's interesting, and it suggests a glimmer of hope, that maybe there are people out there who will vote for someone who shows youth and idealism, rather than just political pragmatism and the many scars of having battled their way into the political process for years and years at a time.

I don't know that Obama is my ideal candidate, but then, I don't think there is an ideal candidate for me. A recent rundown of candidate positions that was linked off Boing Boing showed me that Dennis Kucinich was the closest match, but he's definitely not a guy I see as real electable, and I've never particularly connected with him as a candidate before. But based on this, and seeing Obama face down Hilary Clinton over special interests (her defense of lobbyists turned my stomach, and pretty much put me off her completely... I'd been wary before, but that was pretty indicative of how much of a political insider she is) makes me think he's the guy I want to support in this election.

Unless MODOK runs as an independent. Because really, who doesn't want a giant telepathic head in the Oval Office?

Can Someone Explain Health Insurance To Me?

So it turns out that, as a result of the urgent care and brief hospital stay Suzanne underwent when Aaron was born, we owe the hospital, ambulance company and lab somewhere in the neighborhood of $7000.

Now, the amount isn't that shocking. Medical care is expensive, and these folks basically saved my wife's life. OK with that. Totally.

But here's the thing... we pay around $200 a month for health insurance, and they aren't really covering any of it. Because our deductible is $10,000, not the $5,000 each that we thought it was. Again, more or less our fault, we had a high deductible, OK.

But what the hell is the point of paying for insurance if it doesn't cover health costs? I mean, I pay around $150 a month for car insurance on two cars... if I have an accident, that insurance will take care of the car. Isn't that what insurance is for? To get insurance that would actually pay for these uncommon expenses, we'd need to be paying near $1000 a month. Which I sure as hell can't afford. I imagine many can't.

I realized that the health care system and medical insurance system was broken, but I hadn't realized just how badly. The sick part is, I still have to pay over $200 a month for insurance that basically does *nothing* for me on the off chance something catastrophic happens and our bill does go over $10,000 somehow. This is not unlike paying $50 a week for "Godzilla insurance." It's not likely to happen, but if by some chance Godzilla does rampage through Austin, I'll be covered.

So I guess the budget will be a little tighter for the next year or two while we pay off the hospital in installments. Not gonna kill us, but it is frustrating that we'll be paying basically *two* medical bills each month, one for past costs and one as a mostly ineffective hedge against future ones.

Well, this is disappointing...

...if hardly surprising. The Democrats have rolled over and given the OK to a secret court that could determine whether or not it's OK to wiretap foreign and domestic signals. Along with this article about "the art of compromise" it seems clear that the Democrats are little to no different from the Republicans, and no matter who winds up in office after G.W. Bush, it's probably not going to do anything to fix our severely broken government.

Our system of government is just truly and permanently fucked, isn't it? Riddled with corruption, controlled more or less by corporate interests and driven by a hundred different selfish agendas that have little or nothing to do with serving the interests of people they were elected to serve. I'm really starting to think that in my lifetime there's going to be armed revolution, a fascist government or a viable third party... and the third party seems really damned unlikely.

Weekly Comics to Come - August 8, 2007

TOP FIVE
Bprd Killing Ground #1 (The newest BPRD story starts, and the last one was great, as always)
Criminal #8 (I'm actually loving the second arc of Criminal more than the first, and I really enjoyed the first)
Nova #5 (This may be my favorite new Marvel series... great spacefaring action, and ties into Annihilation: Conquest very well)
Invincible Vol 3 Ultimate Coll HC (Very much into Invincible right now, looking forward to re-reading these issues and seeing all the cool extras)
Last Call Vol 1 GN (Vasilis Lolos' graphic novel about a ghost train, I've read the first 1/3 or so and it's great)

THE REST
Alan Moore The Complete Wildcats TP (This was great stuff, glad to finally get it collected... even though I think I still have all the issues)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #2 (More of the new gothic gunslinger at Marvel... who is, I am informed, *not* Rom. But is still cool)
Black Metal Vol 1 GN (Rick Spears & Chuck BB turn in a tale of heavy metal and demonic magic at Oni)
Daredevil #99 (Nice reveal, as we finally find out who the bad guy behind the Gladiator madness has been)
DMZ #22 (Concluding the "Friendly Fire" arc, which has been the best of the series thus far)
Dynamo 5 #6 (Good cliffhanger on the last issue, this and Astounding Wolf-Man are two new superhero books everybody should be checking out)
Fables #64 (More of the Flycatcher arc, which might be the best the book has been since "Homelands")
Green Arrow Year One #3 (Second issue picked up the action, and this book has been a fun surprise)
Incredible Hulk #109 (I'm actually liking this side story more than the main events of World War Hulk)
Jack Of Fables #13 (I've sort of lost the thread of the story, but I still enjoy this one when I read it)
Robot Dreams GN (Beautiful looking book from Sara Varon, indie creator of Sweaterweather)
Star Wars Legacy #15 (Way too many factions in this book, but beautiful art and some interesting ideas)
Star Wars Rebellion #9 (My favorite of the very strong Dark Horse Star Wars books, with a great crime/intrigue story going on right now)
Un-Men #1 (New Vertigo book, and I'll give it a look)

Weekly Comics to Come - August 1, 2007

TOP FIVE:
American Virgin #17 (Loving this book as always, and the latest world travel story is the best it's been)
Annotated Northwest Passage HC (This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book collecting some of the best cartooning in the industry. Only $20, too!)
Fantastic Four #548 (Great stuff from McDuffie and Pelletier, and all of the FF come off as in-character and cool)
Godland Celestial Ed HC (Saw this in San Diego, it's every bit as gorgeous as you'd expect)
Metal Men #1 (Curious to see Duncan Rouleau's take on the unusual robot team)

THE REST:
Awakening #1 (New zombie book from Archaia Studios)
Conan & The Midnight God #5 (Concluding the really solid King Conan miniseries)
Faker #2 (First issue was intriguing and well put-together, I'll give the second issue a look)
Inannas Tears #1 (Myth and history with beautiful art, another Archaia book)
Killing Pickman #1 (And another Archaia book, this one about a monstrous serial killer and a vigilante homicide detective)
New Warriors #3 (Really good third issue continues to set up the anti-Avengers Initiative team)
Okko Cycle Of Water #4 (I think I missed issue three of this, but I dug what I've read previously)
Scalped Vol 1 Indian Country TP (OK, all the acclaim from folks I trust means I'll give this trade a shot, even though the series didn't hook me)
Scarface Scarred For Life TP (Ditto here, especially since there were satirical elements in the first issue I did really like)
Starkweather Immortal #0 (Another Archaia book, nice art, good premise about the immortal Legionnaire with the spear of destiny)
Uncanny X-Men #489 (Solid issue, although I'm still sort of bored with X-Men in general)
Wisdom Rudiments Of Wisdom TP (Paul O'Brien loved this one, so I want to give the trade a read)
World War Hulk #3 (Hulk and his aliens versus a pissed-off Thunderbolt Ross and the army? OK, that's potentially kind of awesome)

Blog Template Update for July

This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

Wow, was July a great month for comics. Huge, huge weeks every week, almost. I didn't even read everything available in the last week of July, so it's possible some of that stuff might pop up in August. With the announcement of The Spirit ending (yeah, I know it continues beyond #12, but without Darwyn Cooke, I can't imagine anyone making it work), there's not much hope for DC in my Top 20 future. Even amongst those that didn't make the cut, there's only one DC book, by Mark Waid and George Perez. However, five of them are Vertigo (well, one Wildstorm), which means DC the company still owns 25% of my Top 20. So does Marvel, actually, based on all four of the Annihilation books (I love Conquest) and the first issue of The Order. There are also five books on my "just missed it" list from Marvel. I hate to admit it, but Marvel has my attention right now. Then again, Dark Horse has 25% of the list too, with two of their four Star Wars books (and all of them are good), the always-excellent BPRD, the short but sweet Grendel Behold the Devil and a fantastic standalone Buffy the Vampire Slayer issue. The other 25%? Mostly Image, with one Oni book for flavor. Either I'm missing a lot of good indy books (and I don't think I am), or July was a month where not many indys were published. There were three books (Green Arrow Year One #1, Repo #2 and Spirit #8) that would have made the cut in almost any other month, and then there are exceptionally good books like Brave And The Bold #5, Captain America #28, Hack Slash Series #3, Invincible #44, Marvel Adventures Hulk #1, New Warriors #2, Runaways #27 (yep, back on board), X-Men First Class Vol. 2 #2 and Zero Killer #1. Postcards and Silverfish nearly made the graphic novel cut, but I didn't read many more. Must have been the gigantic Harry Potter book I read that took my time.

Or maybe it was TV. I've started to really love Burn Notice, although I'd probably love it more if it were on F/X and truer to its source material instead of all USA'ed up. Still digging John From Cincinnati, but wondering if it's going anywhere. Big Love picked up for me a bit, but still isn't good enough to keep HBO if there wasn't something else I really wanted. Which Entourage isn't either, at this point. They're sliding down to the level of "good enough," which works for regular TV but not pay cable. Fortunately, I've grown addicted to movies on demand and I really liked Bill Maher's latest stand-up special, and I still want to like shows as much as I liked Deadwood, Sopranos, early Entourage, etc. Also still watching The 4400 and Rescue Me, though I probably wouldn't be if they were competing with a wider variety of stuff to watch. And with the addition of a bigger TV to my office, I've added Countdown, Daily Show and Colbert Report back into the background TV rotation. Still catching up on the rest of Freaks and Geeks as well. Also have the first DVD of Sandbaggers and Eureka, but haven't watched either yet.

A few new feeds this month. There's the shiny new Savage Critics site (so good I'm jealous), Ben Templesmith, John Hodgman, The Newshole (Keith Olbermann's site), The Process (Joe Infurnari's webcomic), Transmission-X (a webcomics site that features a lot of really good artists). I also added a new "Top 10" blogs for the ones that I read first, every time there's a new entry in Google Reader.

Weekly Comics to Come - July 25, 2007

Kind of bummed that three of the Image hardcovers I was hoping to get before San Diego (Invincible 3, Godland 1 and Elephantmen) didn't make their (already late) ship dates, but it's still a pretty good week.

Of course, I'll be on a plane, so I probably won't read most of these this week.

TOP FIVE
American Virgin Vol 2 Going Down TP (I've become more and more pleased with this book as it keeps going, and I'm looking forward to re-reading the second arc in trade)
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #1 (Maybe the best Conquest yet, with a "Dirty Dozen" in space feel)
Multiple Warheads #1 (Awesome, hilarious, imaginative work from Brandon Graham)
Postcards True Stories That Never Happened HC (Looking forward to this anthology, which has a great talent line-up)
Pulphope SC (I've gotten an early peek at my copy, and this thing looks amazing)

THE REST
Batman #666 (Morrison's Batman has been a bit disappointing, but anti-Christ vs. future Batman? OK, I'm there)
Black Summer #1 (Warren Ellis murders superheroes... not particularly interested, but that's what I thought about Thunderbolts too)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #5 (Standalone about a Buffy stand-in, I think this'll be a good read)
Doktor Sleepless #1 (Warren Ellis revisiting weird science/future ala Transmet? Now that I'm interested in)
Dust #1 (Nice Dave Dorman-esque art, alt-WWII/sci-fi concept from Image)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 (First issue was great, a look at an alien invasion from the ground level)
Green Arrow Year One #2 (Solid first issue, hoping for more action in the second)
Grendel Behold The Devil #0 (It'll be short and cheap, but it's great to see new Matt Wagner Grendel after all these years)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #4 (Loving this series more with each issue, and Fegredo's art is stunning)
Hiding In Time #1 (Witness protection via time travel... great concept)
Immortal Iron Fist #7 (Very much onboard this book after #6, I believe this is a standalone about a female Iron Fist in 15th century China)
Incredible Hulk #108 (Actually digging Pak's Hulk more than World War Hulk itself)
Invincible #44 (Digging this book again almost at the level I was in the beginning)
Love And Capes #5 (Fun, sweet, great cartooning, looking forward to another issue... and to getting a Love and Capes Toon Tumbler!)
Previews Vol XVII #8 (Down the Line will most likely be delayed a week by San Diego)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #18 (I'm enjoying all of the Star Wars books right now... KOTOR is my least favorite, and it's still pretty damn good)
Usagi Yojimbo #104 (Last couple issues of this have been great, even by Sakai's high standards)
Walking Dead #39 (Wow, lot of books I'd gone off for a while that have pulled me back... issue #38 was really good, and I'm interested in seeing what's next)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #2 (Loved the first issue of this... this issue is also good, if not as great as that one)

Clueless Emmy Voters Strike Again

Honestly, I'm so worn out by the bizarre Emmy choices every year I don't even have a good rant in me about it. There were a few pleasant surprises, but far too many snubs and too many "He got nominated for 24? But all he does is squint and yell!" type moments.

For more elaboration, most of which I agree with 100%, I point you to two of my favorite TV critics, Melanie McFarland and Alan Sepinwall.

Tagged

Nate Southard, even knowing full well that my music tastes are nowhere near as defined as my tastes in comics, movies and TV, has tagged me with this meme, wherein I list my "my top 5 side 1, track 1 songs." Since I last had vinyl when I was about 14 (I won 6 albums from a radio station, including ZZ Top's Afterburner, Tears for Fears and some other stuff, none of it great), and I am strictly digital music now, what you've got is me searching my iTunes for Track 1 songs, organizing them by my star rating, and guessing around from there. Weep in shared shame at my utter lack of music sophistication!

1. American Idiot - Green Day, American Idiot
2. Sure Shot - Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
3. Beverly Hills - Weezer, Make Believe
4. All My Life - Foo Fighters, One by One
5. The Comeback - Shout Out Louds, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff

And just for fun, here's all the stuff I came up with that didn't make the Top 5:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince, Purple Rain
Helter Skelter - U2, Rattle and Hum
Beers, Steers & Queers - Revolting Cocks, Beers, Steers & Queers
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen, Greatest Hits
Mess Around - Ray Charles, Ultimate Hits Collection
Invincible - OK Go, Oh No
Lapdance - N.E.R.D., In Search Of
Loser - Beck, Mellow Gold
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet, Jet
Stitched Up (Featuring John Mayer) - Herbie Hancock, Possibilities
Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy, Fat of the Land
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
Hells Bells - AC/DC, Back in Black
Someone to Love - Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather
Angry Anthem - The Forces of Evil, Friend or Foe?
I Feel You - Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith & Devotion
Satan is my Motor - Cake, Prolonging the Magic
Who Was In My Room Last Night? - Butthole Surfers, Independent Worm Saloon

Now I guess I'm supposed to tag people... people with blogs. But I don't know that many people with blogs, so I'm wussing out on that part. How about this... any of you out there who are reading and have blogs, tag yourself, email me a link and then I can later edit this and claim that I tagged you. :)

Weekly Comics to Come - July 18, 2007

Holy crap does this look like a good week. I could have made a Top 15 of books I'm excited to read. In fact, what the hell, it's my blog, that's what I'm doing this week. And even the stuff in "The Rest" is really good. It's gonna be a good week.

TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #1 (Another strong chapter in Annihilation, as Christos Gage does a riff on the chosen one in space with the new female Quasar and Moondragon)
Hood Blood From Stones Premiere HC (Great under-the-radar mini from Brian Vaughan and Kyle Hotz collected in new hardcover)
Intersections HC (Art book from Sean Phillips & Duncan Fegredo... I'm getting the hardcover, but there's a softcover available as well)
Super Villain Team Up Modoks 11 #1 (Fred Van Lente does a supervillain heist... sounds like fun)
Zero Killer #1 (Post-apocalyptic series from Dark Horse, artwork looks gorgeous and teaser in FCBD book was good)

NEXT TOP FIVE
Bone Vol 6 Old Mans Cave Color Ed SC (Getting closer to a complete set of color Bone)
Flight Vol 4 GN (Another volume of the always-impressive and gorgeous anthology)
Highwaymen #2 (First issue was a really strong action book, looking forward to #2)
Monster Attack Network GN (Same writers as Highwaymen, giant monsters vs. military attack squads... I'm in)
Spirit #8 (Darwyn Cooke returns!)

NEXT TOP FIVE
Captain America #28 (Very good, it's amazing how good the book can be even when the title character has been dead for three issues... the credit goes to Brubaker, Perkins, Epting and the rest of the creative team)
Giant Sized Marvel Adventures Avengers #1 (Agents of Atlas by Parker & Kirk is enough... that it also features Parker's Avengers is a bonus)
Goon #19 (Yay, the Goon returns! After the hilary of Satan's Sodomy Baby, I'm regular for a regular dose of Powell's madness and beautiful art again)
Repo #2 (Another strong first issue, can't wait to see the follow-up... Rick Spears, Rob. G, hells yeah)
Terminator 2 Infinity #1 (Curious to see how Dynamite does with a property I've always liked... their Lone Ranger take bodes well)

THE REST
Avengers Initiative #4 (Decent World War Hulk tie-in... book is still in the "solid enough" camp for me, not much more, but I'll keep reading)
Brave And The Bold #5 (Last issue lost me a bit, hope this one regains my interest the way it had it in the first two or three issues)
Hack Slash Series #3 (Enjoying this on a regular basis)
Hot Mexican Love Comics 2007 (Trying this on a whim, I liked some of the creators involved if I recall correctly)
Lone Ranger #7 (Want to catch up on this one, as soon as I read the trade)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #1 (Written by my friend Paul Benjamin, and the art I've seen looks great.)
Programme #1 (Soviet super-soldiers from Peter Milligan and CP Smith)
Scarface Devil In Disguise #1 (The origin of Tony Montana... with nice looking art)
Screw Heaven When I Die Im Going To Mars Tp (Shannon Wheeler gets a new collection of cartoons)
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #4 (Jeff Smith finishes up his Shazam story)
Star Wars Dark Times #4 (It's late, but the art and story are always worth it)
Strange Embrace #2 (More creepy weird stuff from David Hine)
The Order #1 (Fun, if not knocked out of the park fun, first issue)
Thunderbolts Desperate Measures (Paul Jenkins, creator of Penance, writes. This makes me nervous, but it's Thunderbolts, it's art by Steve Lieber, and it features a character named Americop. I've got to at least give it a look)
Weapon #2 (First issue was kind of old school fun, flawed but entertaining)
World War Hulk #2 (Not completely onboard, but curious enough to see where it's going)

Well, that's one way to deal with the hotel shortage...

This is gloriously insane. And I love it. Kudos, Jonah... you have raised the bar for all the other sites in terms of both impressive spectacle and imaginative logistics for the show.

I'll definitely be tuning in to those videos.

Weekly Comics to Come - July 11, 2007

TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #1 (So far, Annihilation Conquest is shaping up to be *better* than the original Annihilation, which is pretty impressive... the new character in this mini is interesting, and has great visuals courtesy of Kyle Hotz)
Bprd Garden Of Souls #5 (The latest BPRD mini concludes... fantastic, as always. Guy Davis is one of my favorite artists, and he just keeps getting better)
DMZ #21 (The latest in Wood's "Rashomon" style look at a civilian massacre in occupied New York, with Burchielli taking over full art duties on this chapter)
Fables #63 (The Flycatcher arc has been the best one in quite a while, last issue was terrific)
Nova #4 (Impressive new series, and the tie-in to Annihilation Conquest is a great read with a bit of a shocking twist)

THE REST
Clubbing GN (The latest Minx offering, written by Andi Watson with art by Josh Howard)
Fallen Angel Premiere Collection HC (Oversized collection of the IDW Fallen Angel, and I'm curious to give it a shot)
Green Arrow Year One #1 (Diggle & Jock team up for what is sure to be a low spandex, high action look at Green Arrow's origin)
Guardian Alpha One Shot (It's a line of multi-cultural Christian all-ages comics, which is interesting and different enough... but one of the guys behind it is Michael Davis, of Milestone Comics, which I loved... I'll give it a look)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 9 (Great suspense manga, new chapter)
Rex Libris TP (Space librarian tale from Slave Labor)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #20 (The final McKeever issue, curious to see his ending)
Star Wars Rebellion #8 (Loving this crime/espionage take on Star Wars)
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1 (At last, Colbert's goofy sci-fi parody comes to comics)
Superman Confidential #5 (Also running late, curious to see how the Cooke/Sale story wraps)
True Story Swear To God Vol 1 TP (This would rank higher, except that I've already read everything in it... but it's great)
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters TP (Liked what I read of this, decided to wait for the trade to read it complete... and here it is)
Xombie #3 (Surprisingly fun zombie/adventure story based on a webcomic, from Devil's Due)

My Latest Entertainment

Over the past few days, I've watched one movie, seen one new TV show and read three big 'ol hardcovers. Two of them were things I've been anticipating that I was pretty pleased with, the other was a pleasant surprise that I picked up on thanks to good buzz.

TV:
Burn Notice (USA) - I'll be honest, despite enjoying The 4400, I don't really think of USA as a place for really great TV. So I wasn't overly hyped for Burn Notice, about a spy who gets "burned" by his agency and forced to stay in Miami, leading to him becoming something of a private detective/do-gooder with his skills.

But it turns out, the first episode was pretty damn good. Nice voiceover, some good wit, solid action, believable tradecraft and good writing and action overall. I watched it a couple days ago and I've been anxiously checking the Tivo for a new episode since, which means it's hooked me pretty good. Well worth checking out, and if you're the type of person for whom this is a plus, Bruce Campbell is in it.

Movies:
Transformers - I know, I know, shut up. But really, despite a pretty awful script and Michael Bay's ADD direction, this was pretty good at what it set out to do. I mean, I think it could have actually been a really good popcorn movie all the way through, as opposed to a weak movie that effectively pushed my giant robot/action movie fan buttons, but I can't deny that in general, the movie kept me smiling, especially when the robots were on screen. A couple really good action sequences on the road and in the air, and Peter Cullen doing the voice for Optimus Prime, helped a lot. Fun, and I can even see picking up the DVD to skip ahead and watch the action sequences from time to time. When the inevitable sequel comes out, I'll go and see it. Especially if there are different writers and a different director.

Comics:
I've been meaning to read Annihilation now that all three hardcovers are out, and finally got the chance to do so today. As it turns out, this is a pretty kickass superhero/space adventure epic. The miniseries are much stronger collected in one place, where you can see how they directly feed into the main story, and the main story has the exact scope I would hope for. Big explosive comics at their best, kicks the hell out of Infinite Crisis, Civil War and House of M combined.

Weekly Comics to Come - July 5, 2007

Delayed a day by Independence Day. Another large-ish week, although mostly that's because there's a ton of manga.

TOP FIVE
Astounding Wolf-Man Directors Cut #1 & #2 (Really dug this new series at Free Comic Book Day, and I've had the chance to read #2 and it's just as good)
Captain America War & Remembrance Tp (Fantastic collection of Roger Stern/John Byrne Cap... my second favorite run after Gruenwald)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #7 (Tom reacts to online reviews of his first book, which means I get to be on a page of the story, which is kind of cool... but not the reason I'm looking forward to reading the book - I just love the book)
Usagi Yojimbo Vol 21 Mother Of Mountains TP (Always glad to see more Usagi in trade, wish the whole thing was in print more often)
Y The Last Man #57 (As the book gets closer to its end, I'm really anxious to see the conclusion)

THE REST
All Star Superman #8 (The end of the first two-parter the book has done)
American Virgin #16 (Always great, love the art especially)
Batman Ego And Other Tales HC (Collection of great Darwyn Cooke work)
Battle O/t Bands (Fun looking manga from Steve Buccellato, it's on my reading table now)
Damned Vol 1 Three Days Dead TP (Demons meet prohibition gangsters... great read, terrific art by Brian Hurtt)
Dynamo 5 #5 (Not only is it a good read, it's a new series that comes out on time, which is especially nice)
Faker #1 (Intrigued by this college/horror story from Mike Carey and Jock)
New Warriors #2 (Second issue is a pretty solid follow-up to the first)
Runaways #27 (Back onboard a little, as Whedon's take on a super-powered turn of the century L.A. is kind of fun)
Silverfish HC (Lapham's Vertigo OGN... this would make my top five, except we were allocated so I'll probably have to wait a week or two to read it)
Union Jack London Falling TP (Solid action series in the Brubaker Cap vein by Gage and Perkins)
War Angels Vol 1 (Don't remember much, but Tokyopop's giving it a big push, and the visuals looked interesting)

My Wife's Birthday

Today is my wife's birthday. There are a lot of things I love about my wife, but a few struck me right about the time I was going to bed, and I figured I'd put them up here on my blog, since I know she reads it.

1. She's intelligent - I love that when she writes in her blog, she'll drop words like hubris. Or that she picks up all this weird, interesting knowledge from Discovery Channel, various podcasts and reading the Internet and books.

2. She's tough - Seeing what she went through during the birth of our son just re-affirmed this, which I already knew. I was scared for her during the whole post-birth ordeal, but I watched her fight to stay awake, and worry about staying awake, even when she was in a whole lot of pain and the midst of a lot of confusion. And I know she'll fight like hell for her kids. Even in a lot of pain, on a lot of drugs, she wouldn't sign the form to admit Aaron over to the hospital. She knew she wanted to think about it. I was fully conscious, and I don't know if I would have thought about it before I just signed whatever they were putting in front of me.

3. She's understanding - While I stay up way too late every night, catching up on TV and the Internet, she doesn't gripe at me about coming to bed late. And even though she's got two kids to watch over, she lets me sleep in in the mornings, keeping my weird schedule of doing stuff at night and starting the day in the early afternoon.

4. She's principled - My wife will fight for her principles. She thinks about why she believes what she does, she'll argue those principles even with people who probably won't ever change their minds. I can sometimes have a hard time arguing with people, because I just don't care enough to change their minds, or I don't want to bother thinking about and defending my positions. I haven't ever seen Suzanne have that problem.

5. She gives me strength - Since I married Suzanne, I've had to take a leap of faith at a dream job by moving halfway across the country, I've had to suffer through some very unpleasant surgery, I've had plenty of job stress and I've worried about who knows how many small things. Knowing that she's there with me, that I've always got someone to talk to, makes it all possible.

Happy birthday, Suzanne. I love you.

Blog Template Update for June

This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

As with May, it was a good month for comics. There was a fair amount of stuff that would have easily made a top 10 in a different month, including Elephantmen Pilot, two issues of Jack of Fables, Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2, Spirit #7, Strange Embrace #1, Walking Dead #38 and White Picket Fences #2. I didn't read quite as many graphic novels, but pretty much everything I read was really good.

May was a really good month for TV... June was a pretty suck month. I'm more on the "naysayer" vibe on The Sopranos finale (though it wasn't unexpected that it would lack any kind of closure), Big Love is kind of boring me in its second season and Entourage, while still enjoyable, may have peaked with season two's Aquaman/Mandy Moore story. Although the season four opening episode was pretty good. Rescue Me and The 4400 are both shows I like, but don't love. Haven't watched Flight of the Conchords at HBO yet (although several critics I respect dug it, so I might have to give it a shot on HBO In-Demand), but I have been digging the hell out of John From Cincinnati. In fact, it's easily my favorite show of the moment. I still miss Deadwood and think it's unfortunate Milch and HBO couldn't give that show a season or two more to wrap on its own, but John From Cincinnati has an interesting cast, a weird vibe I like and that Milch-esque dialogue, along with HBO's stellar production values. Makes me want to check out some of Kem Nunn's novels, actually.

With TV being so lame, I've turned to DVD a bit more. I'm finally watching all of Freaks and Geeks, based on my love of Knocked Up, 40-Year-Old Virgin and Undeclared, and while I'm still not as gaga over it as many of its fans, it is a really enjoyable show. I also got the complete Kitchen Confidential, and I think Fox was too quick on the trigger on that one. Good cast, funny writing, unusual setting... it wasn't a great sitcom, but it was a solidly good one. That still only fills up 7 slots on the Top 10 TV this month, and there just aren't any more. The only other things I've watched have been stuff I've put on in the background in my office while I'm working, like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (three times so far, I love this movie), Serenity and Beverly Hills Cop I & II.

Didn't have a ton of new feeds this month, but I've gotten to the point where I've started unsubscribing from some of my feeds because I don't have time to read them all, so there probably won't be a lot added. But I was delighted to jump onto the LOLcats bandwagon by adding the "I Can Has Cheezburger?" feed, which provides a guaranteed unicorn chaser in lolcat form everyday (OK, that's about as much leet-speak as a 36-year-old man is allowed in a month, and I apologize). Also added a blogger who linked to me on Comic Pants and/or Inside Joke Theatre and then I found their stuff and liked it, Noetic Concordance and added the new RSS feed for comic artist Mike Wieringo. Also, I can't believe it took me so long to add The Savage Critic to my RSS feeds. It's one of my favorite reads each day, and I agree with about 90% of the reviews there.

Weekly Comics to Come - June 27, 2007

Another huge week, June has been busy for comics

TOP FIVE
Art Of Bone HC (Dark Horse's "Art Of" volumes are always impressive, and this will be no exception)
Criminal #7 (First issue of the new arc was fantastic, maybe even better than the previous arc, can't wait to see where it goes)
Goosebumps Graphix Vol 2 Terror Trips SC (The other two volumes were very good)
Invincible #43 (All kinds of plot and character developments, great art)
Thunderbolts #115 (Best issue of the relaunch thus far, gorgeous art and a terrific superhero/supervillain fight or two)

THE REST
Annihilation Book 3 HC (Finally I can read the whole original Annihilation saga)
Collected Toupydoops TP (Really funny, smart read that is even better in collected form... review planned soon)
Daredevil #98 (Nice penultimate issue of the latest arc)
Fantastic Four #547 (McDuffie and Pelletier continue to impress)
Garth Ennis Streets Of Glory Preview (Curious to see what Ennis will do with a western and no boundaries, courtesy Avatar)
Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1 (I haven't read Green Lantern in a while, but I'm curious about this new story)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #3 (Amazing art, interesting story)
Immortal Iron Fist #6 (Great conclusion to the first arc)
Jack Of Fables #12 (New story, now that Vegas and Jack Frost are wrapped... I think)
Lone Ranger Vol 1 TP (Been wanting to check back into this, gets good buzz)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #14 (Best Avengers title running)
Previews Vol XVII #7 (New Down the Line in the works)
Subculture #1 (New title from APE about geek culture, sounds fun)
Walking Dead #38 (Kirkman's Image books are always late, and then they always hit the same week... good thing I like both of them enough not to mind the weird scheduling)
White Picket Fences #2 ('50s alien invasion story continues, had a good first issue)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #1 (New ongoing, looking forward to checking it out and catching up with hardcover soon)

Support the CBLDF

Y'all may have heard about the Gordon Lee case, and that the CBLDF is about to go to trial to defend a retailer from some bullshit charges. If you haven't, you can find out a lot more by visiting Kady Mae (of Sequential Tart) and reading this post, wherein she says if she gets 40 or more emails from people who have donated $25 or more to the CBLDF, she will donate a $1000 at San Diego.

I've been meaning to re-up my membership in the CBLDF for a year now, and this was as good a chance as any, so I bought a membership for the store at the Advocate level. If you buy a membership at this level, you get a membership card with custom art (I can't remember the artist on this year's card, but previous editions have included Frank Miller, Will Eisner and Peter Kuper) as well as a T-shirt with the first amendment written out in the shape of the American flag.

Or you can donate $30 (I think) to the cause and get the shirt. Or donate whatever you can afford and get the satisfaction of helping free speech and comics. I don't linkblog a lot, partly because I'm too lazy to keep up, but this seemed like a link worth spreading to whoever's reading here, and also a good chance to remind folks that the CBLDF is an important organization that does good work.

Weekly Comics to Come - June 20, 2007

TOP FIVE
Brave And The Bold #4 (Finally, the next chapter in the Mark Waid/George Perez superhero team-up tale)
Mantlo A Life In Comics (A tribute to Bill Mantlo, which looks really cool)
Repo #1 (New Rick Spears/Rob G book, probably my most anticipated read this week)
Spirit #7 (Disappointed it's not all Darwyn Cooke, but the guest artists include Jordi Bernet and Kyle Baker, so I can't complain too much)
True Story Swear To God #2.06 (The last issue was one of my favorites, I love this book)

THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Prologue (Looking forward to reading this, but kind of wanted to read the original Annihilation hardcovers first)
Captain America #27 (Good issue, although still nowhere near what I actually wanted from Cap)
Ex Machina #29 (I'm an issue or two behind, might start reading just trades, but it's still been a really good book)
GI Joe Storm Shadow #2 (First issue was fun, if disjointed, but with great art)
Grendel Archive Edition HC (Collecting the original Grendel stuff, which I've never read)
Highwaymen #1 (Looking forward to this action miniseries from Wildstorm)
Incredible Hulk #107 (Solid issue, but I'm already losing interest in World War Hulk)
Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 3 Digest TP (Collecting the second run by Jeff Parker, which includes several genius issues, like the Ego the Loving Planet issue)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2 (First issue was solid, if not up to MA Avengers levels, and Iron Man isn't a dick... bonus!)
Maxwell Strangewell GG (The Fillbach Brothers craft a strange and intriguing new graphic novel)
Tales From The Crypt #1 (Papercutz relaunches the EC classic as an all-ages book... I'm curious, at least)
Tick 20th Ann Sp Ed #1 (Celebrating 20 years of the Tick, with a lot of guest talent... now if only there were consistent, well-produced trades of the early material)
Warhammer 40K Damnation Crusade #5 (Just read the first four issues a few weeks back and enjoyed them)
Warhammer Forge Of War #1 (Boom! takes on Warhammer Fantasy, and their Warhammer 40K comics have been good)
Wasteland #10 (Best enjoyed in trades, but a good read all around)
X-men Endangered Species One-Shot (If you've seen Children of Men, you know that opening scene where everybody was moping because the youngest man on Earth had died? This is like that, if that scene had been the entire movie, and if it had sucked. Seriously, bad art, boring story, it just sucks the life right out of the room.)
X-men First Class HC (Wasn't huge on Roger Cruz's art, but kept hearing nothing but good about Jeff Parker's stories, so I'll be checking this one out)

The New Baby & The Scariest Day of My Entire Life

Well, as you can see by that picture on the right, the long-delayed (OK, only two days past due date, but Katy was early and we expected the same) new addition to the Lander family has arrived. Unfortunately, his arrival did not come as easily as Katy's, but the good news is that things seem OK now.

It was a bit of a rough week. On Sunday night, I was up way too late (as usual) and after finishing up the 2-disc Kitchen Confidential, I came to bed about 3:00 AM. Just about the time Suzanne's water broke and she realized the "gas pains" she'd been having were in fact labor. We grabbed our stuff, called my parents to come to the house and watch Katy and called the midwife.

At about 5:00, we headed to the birthing center. I could tell that Suzanne was in more pain this time, and that continued throughout. She was still remarkably calm, nothing like the screaming pregnant women you see in TV and movies, but I know her well enough to know that it hurt a lot more this time. Aaron hadn't made it easy on us... there was a miscarriage scare, a week of bedrest brought on by fears he was coming too early and then he waited a couple days to come out, and did so more painfully than asked for.

After he was born, at about 9:00 in the morning (8 lbs. 5 ounces), I noticed that there was a lot of blood. The midwives handed my son to me so they could attend to my wife, and I wasn't panicking, hoping that this was, if not normal, not a big deal. That all changed when one of them called an ambulance and I was told that they couldn't get the placenta out. That's when I went into "scared out of my goddamned mind" mode.

I don't think I fell apart, because I knew I couldn't afford to and Suzanne couldn't afford me too, but man was I panicking inside. We got into an ambulance, rode to St. David's, and left Aaron with the midwives to follow us in the car. I didn't get to ride in the back with Suzanne, I rode up front with the ambulance driver, worrying the whole time that it was taking us too long. Forget about all the movies you see where ambulances are careening down the road at breakneck speeds... when you're in the cab, and you think your wife might be bleeding out in the back, driving into oncoming traffic doesn't seem fast enough. It really did seem like we were doing like 30 mph, even though I know based on how fast we got to the hospital that it wasn't the case.

Same with going into the hospital. There were a couple techs, three nurses and one doctor in the room, but it wasn't the crazy fast-cut movement of ER or even Scrubs. Everybody was doing their job methodically, but at that point, I just didn't see the urgency I wanted. I'm sure it was there, but it all moved really slow for me. Fortunately, the doctor, Dr. Fitzwater, got the placenta out and got Suzanne onto some medications for the pain. She was allergic to some of the anti-biotics, which meant she got some Benadryl to control the reaction, and combined with a dizziness side effect from the pain medication and general loopiness from the loss of blood, I could tell she was kind of out of it. We all kept talking to her, though, and she stayed awake, and after what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, the doctors got her stabilized.

We were in the hospital for a couple of days, but we got to come home fairly quickly, and Suzanne seems to be feeling well and recovering nicely. She's stuck in bed for at least a few days, but she's able to feed Aaron and get him to sleep, and both her parents and my parents have been in to help with Katy. We've also got a great support system in my friends and in the Austinmamas, who have had an outpouring of offerings of support. Kind of funny, when we got home from the hospital, there was a phone message and an email from members of the listgroup, wondering if everything was OK because they hadn't heard from Suzanne in a couple days. My wife is what you call a frequent poster when she's involved with a list. :)

At any rate, it was a scary, awful day, but the end result is a recovering, soon to be fully healthy mom and a healthy, happy (by newborn standards) baby boy. Anyone who wants to see pictures can look at my flickr set. And right now my email priorities are, in order: Family, Business, Friends & Scheduling Stuff and then everything else. So if I'm less responsive than usual, or if you notice my workload at Comic Pants has grown even smaller, now you know why.

Weekly Comics to Come - June 13, 2007

Wow. Huge week. Which is perfect, since the baby will probably come on Wednesday and I won't be there for it. :)

TOP FIVE:
BPRD Garden Of Souls #4 (Easily one of my top five favorite series running)
DMZ #20 (Ditto, especially on this latest arc, which is the best the series has been so far)
Fables Vol 9 Sons Of Empire TP (Some great stuff in this one, including how the Empire would invade Earth)
Nova #3 (I'm really digging this book, although I'm anxious for it to get back to space... but they handle the Civil War/Initiative tie-in very well)
Re-Gifters (First Minx book was a solid favorite, I look forward to reading this one)

THE REST:
Avengers Classic #1 (Art Adams covers, original Dwayne McDuffie story, I'll check it out, even though I have the Avengers CD-ROM and Essential Avengers for the main story)
Aviary (New one-shot from Adhouse, sure to be beautifully designed and interesting)
Black Diamond #1 (Car chase madness from AIT/Planet Lar... their first color ongoing series... those who miss Drive should check this out)
Death Jr Vol 2 TP (More fun adventures with art by Ted Naifeh)
Elephantmen Pilot (I've already got this, I think, but it's really terrific stuff)
Fables #62 (The Flycatcher arc has re-invigorated my interest in the series, and I don't know where it's going, which is nice)
Goosebumps Graphix Vol 3 Scary Summer Sc (Terrific art line-up on this one... weird that volume two never came out)
Hack Slash Series #2 (First issue was pretty impressive, with a great new artist)
Hellboy Animated Vol 2 Judgement Bell TP (First volume of this was surprisingly excellent as well)
Hulk Planet Hulk HC (Now that it's all together, I might give it another shot, especially if World War Hulk is enjoyable and doesn't piss me off)
Jack Kirbys Fourth World Omnibus Vol 1 HC (Very tempted by this, but I need to see production values first)
Mystic Arcana Magik (Hoping for good, as I have a fondness for Magik, but I haven't got any sense of Marvel's magic event yet)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 8 (Terrific suspense manga, as always)
Scarlet Traces The Great Game HC (Beautiful art by D'Israeli, interesting post-War of the Worlds sci-fi by Ian Edginton)
Star Wars Legacy #13 (Still only mildly enjoying this, but it's solid and has great art)
Star Wars Rebellion #7 (The delays lost a lot of my interest in this one, but I've liked what I've read)
Stormwatch PHD #8 (Finally caught up on this book... it's OK, not great, but I'll keep reading)
Sub-Mariner #1 (Reviewing this for Comic Pants, so I'll read it, but with low expectations as I'm not a fan of the characters and don't really know the creators)
World War Hulk #1 (Expecting it to piss me off at some point, but right now I'm onboard. Hulk Smash!)

Pandora Internet Radio

My buddy Dave showed me this new site, which is just too cool for words. Basically, it's Internet radio, but you program it by putting in songs and/or artists you like and it plays songs from them as well as songs similar to those, and you can thumbs up/thumbs down to help it narrow things down.

Very, very cool and totally addictive. My station is HERE, although it's very much a work in progress.

Blog Template Update for May

This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

Given how much I hate much of Marvel's best sellers, I'm continuously shocked by how much of them I read. Six books this month (counting Criminal, which is just barely Marvel), and three of them are even in post-Initiative continuity. DC doesn't fare so well, post-52... none of their books even made it close, and the one book I am reading, The Spirit, isn't in continuity. Of course, there were four Vertigo books in there, just as many as I have Dark Horse and one less than I have of Image. Two indys, one from Archaia and one from Oni.

Graphic novels I read this month but didn't hit my Top 10 include a slew of discounted Marvel hardcovers (Westerns, Horror, Supreme Power 1-2, Best of Wolverine), Transformers: Infiltration and Transformers: Escalation, the latest Walking Dead HC, the Oni story of the first monkey in space, First in Space and Plain Janes, the launch of DC's Minx line. Those last two would easily have made a top 10 in a weaker month, but there were just so many good trades released in May. And that's not even counting the good ones that I haven't read yet, like Mouse Guard or Fell. Single issues that almost made the list included Hack Slash Series #1, GI Joe Storm Shadow #1, Black Coat Or Give Me Death #1, World War Hulk Prologue World Breaker, Marvel Zombies Dead Days, the third issues of Buffy, Star Wars Dark Times and Marvel Zombies Army of Darkness and Captain America #26. So it was a pretty good month for comic books. There wasn't a lot new, but what was new was pretty good, an X-Men First Class Special with great artwork and the hilariously sick and wrong Goon: Satan's Sodomy Baby.

May was a really good month for TV. Sopranos and Veronica Mars both drew to a close, the latter in a decent manner after a disappointing season and a disappointing near-pickup, the former in fine style, although as I write this there's still one more episode to go. A lot of TV ended in May, which means my June line-up is probably going to look pretty different. Most of what was great (The Office, 30 Rock, The Shield) stayed great, and Lost took a huge upturn and ended on a great episode, while Heroes ended a great set of episodes with a really disappointing finale. The upfronts for next season look pretty fucking abysmal in terms of new shows, so this might have been the best season of TV for a while.

Tons of new feeds this month. I added Tom Brevoort's Marvel Blog: Blah Blah Blah to follow the entertaining Editorial Simulation, finally added The Savage Critics to my feed, found Melanie McFarland, Seattle's TV Gal off a link from Alan Sepinwall and added Rolling Stone's Photo, DVD, Music and Movie feeds. I also added a couple new writer feeds from Andy Diggle and Heroes producer Greg Beeman, found artist blogs for several favorites like Frazer Irving, Kyle Baker and Sean Phillips and added three new webcomics: Alien Loves Predator, Smuggling Spirits and Wondermark. Then there were two new local feeds for Austinite Rob Osborne and the Alamo Drafthouse.

Weekly Comics to Come - June 6, 2007

TOP FIVE:
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #4 (The conclusion of Whedon's first arc)
Dynamo 5 #4 (One of my favorite new series on a biweekly release schedule... doesn't get much better than that)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #1 (The origins of Heath Huston, Texan alien exterminator, picks up at Dark Horse)
Jack Of Fables #11 (At last, the conclusion of the "Jack Frost" story)
Superior Showcase #2 (Indy style superheroes! The first issue was great)

THE REST:
Avengers Initiative #3 (Weaker with every issue. Some good moments, but I can't believe this is the same writer who kicked ass on early days of She-Hulk and on The Thing)
Fantastic Four Inhumans TP (Beautiful Ladronn art on part of this, beautiful Pacheco art on the rest... stories so-so on both)
Invincible #42 (Jumping-on priced at $1.99, and I've been enjoying this book a lot lately)
Marvel Zombies Army Of Darkness #4 (In a way, more fun than the original Marvel Zombies, since it includes so many C-listers)
New Warriors #1 (Solid first issue with beautiful art by Paco Medina)
Spider-Man Family #3 (Includes stories by Paul Tobin and Fred Van Lente)
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #19 (One more issue of McKeever to go)
Strange Embrace #1 (Loved this in black and white GN form, looking forward to seeing the new color version too)
Uncanny X-Men #487 (Interesting opening to the new arc, but I miss Billy Tan's art and I'm still pissed about Corsair... and Banshee, for that matter)
Ward O/t State #2 (Good first issue, weird but engrossing concept)

Threadless Summer Sale!

Threadless, the place where I buy almost all my T-Shirts (excepting stuff I buy at Comic-con and small press shows), is having one of their regular $10 sales. Most of their shirts (which are voted on by the membership and designed by people all over the country) are really cool, and I already have at least a half-dozen. After this sale, I'll have about ten more.

You can check them out HERE.

Weekly Comics to Come - May 31, 2007

TOP FIVE
Black Coat Or Give Me Death #1 (First series didn't end great, but was otherwise very enjoyable... looking forward to picking up the cliffhanger)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #2 (First issue was solid, with beautiful art... but I think I'd like Hellboy to go back to the BPRD now)
Punisher Max Vol 3 HC (Waiting for hardcovers pays off, as I've got some new Punisher stories to read in the format I prefer)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #17 (I've been digging this adventurous, light-hearted take on early Star Wars, and have gone from reading trades to reading issues)
Usagi Yojimbo #103 (Continues to be a great read every time)

THE REST
Daredevil #97 (I like this book, but I do think Brubaker's noir sensibilities are a little off-kilter with the take on the superhero genre I prefer)
Drawing From Life #1 (Jim Valentino returns to auto-bio)
Fallen Angel #16 (Love Kristian's guest art, but I don't even know where the story is at this point)
Fear Agent Vol 2 My War TP (Good solid action-heavy sci-fi with great art)
Previews Vol XVII #6 (Down the Line already in the works)
Spider-Man Fairy Tales #1 (Could be kind of fun, almost certainly will have nice art)
White Picket Fences #1 ('50s period piece with weird science/alien elements, sounds like fun)

TV Thoughts - Summer Finales & Fall Preview

I watch a fair amount of TV, it's probably my favorite medium aside from comics. And though there's a lot of it that's trash (say 99.99% of reality television, for example, if the 0.01% is Celebrity Poker Showdown and Dinner for Five), there's also a lot of good stuff. I always enjoy the Network upfronts at the beginning of summer, because there's always so much promise in what's going to come next. I know in my heart that, as per usual, most of the shows I like will struggle for an audience and die, leaving me frustrated with their sudden departures, but there's usually a flood of promising new series. Last season was especially promising. This season? Not so much.

But before I talk about what's coming up, a few words on what's going on. As I write this, I'm just about to sit down and watch the Lost season finale on Tivo. With the exception of the Hurley-VW bus episode, I've been really crazy about this season of Lost. I know many folks felt it jumped the Ezra James Sharkington this season, but I couldn't disagree more. Especially in the last half-dozen episodes or so, the show has started giving fascinating answers, raising even more fascinating tension and presenting the same elevated level of writing and acting that you just plain can't on a genre show, most of the time.

I hope it's good, because so far, my season enders have been downers. I was hugely disappointed in the lackluster Heroes finale, which spent a lot of time on weepy build-up that duplicated all the effort made in the previous excellent four or five episodes, and left too little time for a lackluster and illogical final fight with Sylar. Lots of build-up, disappointing payoff, and too many questions stopped me from enjoying it. Like why does D.L. go from mortally wounded to okay enough to lay around for a few hours before surviving, with no apparent medical attention? Why didn't Sylar use some abilities besides telekinesis when battling the assembled heroes? Why didn't Peter pull out some impressive abilities in that fight? Why couldn't Peter fly on his own, and if it's because he only uses one power at once, why was that never, ever mentioned, not even once, during the show? Kind of a crucial thing to leave out, if your big season finale cliffhanger is going to rely on it. I didn't hate the finale... it was solid enough that I still plan to pick up the DVDs. But after the notable jump in quality the show took in the last half of the season, it was disappointing to see it plummet down to the "merely OK" quality level that it begun the season at.

Veronica Mars? I'm disappointed that it's gone, but also disappointed by the ending. They were good shows, but the last episode seemed like the kind of thing that could have been an entire season arc, or at least one of their mini-arcs, and the payoffs would have been great with that much more build-up. I'm glad that Logan and Veronica didn't wind up together (I hated that relationship as a long-term thing, and much as I found Piz boring, I preferred him to gripy, bitter Logan. Nobody ever really seemed to match wits properly with Veronica in terms of her boyfriends, which is a shame) and the downer ending, while sad, did fit the general vibe of the show. It was also great to see Mac and Wallace return from invisibility to regain the roles they should have had for the last season and a half of the show. Season three was pretty weak, and I doubt very much I'll be picking up the DVDs. Again, not an awful finale, but a disappointing one.

All the sitcoms ended well, though. 30 Rock was brilliant and funny, The Office funny and kind of sweet with its turns in the Pam-Jim relationship, My Name is Earl kind of surprising in a "huh, where do they go from here?" way and How I Met Your Mother a cute, relatively fresh take on "the big wedding" episode that also features some notable turns in the Robin-Ted relationship and, as always, show-stopping moments from Neil Patrick Harris' Barney. OK, now that I think about it, not all of the sitcoms ended well. Seeing the J.D.-Eliot story rear its ugly head again in Scrubs put me on the edge of "What the hell are you doing?" rage. We've been there before, gotten all the mileage there is out of it, I'd rather see J.D. and Eliot in the just-friends relationship, the way they work best. Scrubs was a weaker season, and I'm torn... on one hand, I'm glad they get another season to try and do the final season right, on the other I'm wondering if it's going to get weaker still and go out on a weaker note.

Midseason and summer looks pretty great to me as well. Sopranos is doing that slow-burn thing really well, Entourage is fun again (although it still hasn't hit the addictive level for me it did during season two) and The Shield is amazing. The most consistently excellent show on television. And the teaser for Glenn Close's new show, a lawyer show that seems to be much more a gritty crime drama than another Shark or Law & Order, looks very promising. Midseason also brings the return of several shows that I like but don't love, like The 4400, Rescue Me and Big Love. Combine with several new shows launching from HBO (none of which look great, but I can never judge HBO on their teasers, which are inevitably weaker than their shows) and this looks like a good summer for TV.

Good thing, because the Fall season looks like it's gonna suuuuuuuck. I mean, there are returning favorites, like Lost, Heroes, the NBC Thursday comedy block (it's Must-See again) and How I Met Your Mother, but the crop of new shows is disappointing. And the shows I really liked this season, like Smith and Kidnapped, got killed early and thus, no season two. Even flawed shows that could have gotten better, like Studio 60, are gone, gone, gone. So it was up to the networks to come up with some fresh new shows to catch my eye again. And they failed miserably. Here's what I'm looking at for next season:

MONDAY
8:00 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Now that I've discovered this show, I can't get enough of it. It's not Arrested Development or even 30 Rock or The Office, but it's a good, solid, occasionally off-beat comedy with a great cast.

9:00 p.m. K-Ville (FOX) - This is a cop drama (strike one), but it's set in post-Katrina New Orleans (I have a fondness for the city going back to before Katrina, so I like the setting) and stars Anthony Anderson (who rocked the house in The Shield). Too bad it's opposite Heroes, meaning that I won't be watching it. In fact, given that this is the only series FOX has that holds any interest for me, it looks like I'm down from one or two FOX shows to none. Come January, they're promising a revitalized 24 (they've won me back once, with season four and five, but I'm not sure I'm up for another go-round after the crap they served up this season... if the show isn't centered on CTU and Los Angeles, I might be interested... if it is, I'm gone) and, more importantly, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. There's plenty of life in the Terminator franchise, and this could be really good. Of course, it's Fox and it's sci-fi, so it's probably doomed anyway.

9:00 p.m.: Heroes (NBC) - The finale may have been a bit of a letdown, but the teaser for season two was fun. Looking forward to seeing where they go from here.

10:00 p.m.: Journeyman (NBC) - A drama starring Kevin McKidd (whoever the hell that is) as a man who travels back in time to help people in trouble. The vibe I'm getting, for whatever reason, is that this is gonna be lame. I may or may not watch, depending on the advance word.

TUESDAY
9:00 p.m.: Chuck (NBC) - The teaser for this one on the NBC website is kind of funny, with just a touch of Judd Apatow flavor (even though he has nothing to do with it, the show is in fact by The O.C.'s creator). It's a spy dramedy starring Zachary Levi as a regular guy who stumbles upon a second career as a government agent. Has potential, and Adam Baldwin as a supporting player, which is a plus.

9:00 p.m.: Reaper (CW) - And over on The CW, at the same time, is a show with a similar premise, except that the everyman stumbles onto a second career as a bounty hunter for the Devil, because his parents sold his soul when he was born. Neat enough premise, but it conflict with Chuck, which I'm more interested in, and which has the additional benefit of not being on the network that cancelled Veronica Mars.

10:00 Cane (CBS) - An ensemble business about a Florida rum family, with a good cast. Again, though, I just don't care much about the premise. If it's more crime drama than family drama, I might be onboard. But I doubt it.

Meanwhile, ABC offers up a show about the Geico cavemen. Somebody in programming must have lost a bet.

WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m.: Pushing Daisies (ABC) - Another weird premise, this one about a guy whose touch can bring someone back to life, but then he can't touch them ever again without undoing the gift. Too bad one of the first people he brings back is his girlfriend. Weird, intriguing premise, pushed over the top because the guy behind it is Bryan Fuller, of Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls.

9:00 p.m.: Bionic Woman (NBC) - I don't particularly care about a remake of the 1970s TV series, except that the teaser from NBC looks solid enough, and more importantly, one of the guys behind it is David Eick, who helped make another revamp of another '70s TV sci-fi series (Galactica) I didn't care about into one of my favorite shows. Not particularly looking forward to it or anything, but I'll give it a couple episodes to hook me.

10:00 p.m.: Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) - Got a mild interest in this one because of the cast, but I generally don't have much interest in the "rich people are such bastards" genre. If it's more Arrested Development than Dallas, that'll be one thing, but I don't think that's the vibe I'm getting.

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (NBC)
8:30-9 p.m.: 30 Rock (NBC)
9-9:30 p.m.: The Office (NBC)
9:30-10 p.m.: Scrubs (NBC)

10 p.m.: Big Shots (ABC) - I like this cast, which features Christopher Titus, Michael Vartan, Josh Malina, but it's another "how rich and powerful people live" show and quite frankly, I don't much care.

FRIDAY
9:00 Moonlight (CBS) - A vampire P.I. - Hmm, where have I seen that before? I have serious doubts that this is going to live up to the moody, noir and yet fun vibe that Angel achieved, and I'm more expecting another half-hearted, quickly cancelled attempt at genre from the networks, who (with rare exceptions) don't seem able to pull them off. Especially bummed because this got picked up instead of the zombie show Babylon Fields... we haven't had a lot of zombie TV, as compared to the numerous vampire shows.

Weekly Comics to Come - May 23, 2007

TOP FIVE:
Criminal #6 (The new story arc begins!)
Dynamo 5 #3 (Really digging this new superhero team book by Jay Faerber and Mahmud Asrar... Invincible fans especially should give this a look)
Fantastic Four #546 (Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier are kicking much ass on this book)
Spirit #6 (Darwyn Cooke is a genius, and his take on The Spirit is genius as well)
Fell Vol 1 Feral City TP (Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith doing weird police procedural... fun stuff)

THE REST:
Captain America #26 (Not quite sure I'm up for a couple years of a Captain America book without Captain America, but it's solidly written and drawn)
Gutsville #1 (Bizarre concept, nice art by Frazer Irving, I'm looking forward to this)
Irredeemable Ant-Man #8 (I think I missed last issue... I'll see when I try and read this one, I guess)
Left On Mission #2 ('70s style spy novel in comic book form)
Legend Of Grimjack Vol 7 TP (Yay, more Grimjack reprints!)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1 (All-ages Iron Man who isn't a government stooge/total dick)
Psycomm Vol 2 (Tony Salvaggio's futuristic media criticism/psychic warfare book gets a second volume)
Star Wars Legacy #12 (Started reading this again after picking up the trade... too many factions, but solid writing and gorgeous art)
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane Vol 3 My Secret Life Digest (More Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane always welcome as well)
Transformers Escalation TP (Movie trailer and interested friends have me in Transformers mode, time to give this a read)

Weekly Comics to Come - May 16, 2007

TOP FIVE
BPRD Garden Of Souls #3 (Every issue of this series is gold)
Left on Mission #1 (Very good new spy series from Boom!)
Local #9 (A new issue of Local is always welcome)
Mouse Guard Vol 1 Fall 1152 HC (Looking forward to seeing this great series in a beautiful hardcover)
Plain Janes (The launch of DC's Minx line, art by Jim Rugg of Street Angel)

THE REST
Adventures In Oz HC (I bought the trade, but the hardcover is sooo cool... very tempting)
Death Jr. II #3 (Late enough that I've forgotten what's going on, but the good news is it means the trade is imminent)
Ex Machina #28 (Been really digging this one lately)
Fables #61 (The second part of the Frog Prince story, which has rekindled my interest in the book)
GI Joe Storm Shadow #1 (Larry Hama does ninja shit... OK, I'll check that out)
The Goon: Satans ##### Baby (Offensively funny, or just offensive? Or just funny? Worth looking to find out)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #13 (Jeff Parker rocks, and I love that someone is writing the Avengers I want to read)
Runaways Vol 3 HC (The Vaughan/Alphona Runaways is all collected in hardcover. Nice.)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Vol 2 TP (First volume was great, action-packed Star Wars stuff)
Uncanny X-Men #486 (The finale of the Brubaker/Tan space X-Men saga)
Wasteland #9 (Hyped for this book again after reading the trade and re-connecting with the story and characters)
X-Men First Class Special (Decided to wait on the trade to read the series, but I'll definitely check out this special in the meantime)

Con Planning

So I'm definitely going to San Diego this year. Flight booked, hotel room arranged, registration in. Done.

But after looking at the guest list and seeing some of what's going to be offered there (like Vasilis Lolos' new mini-comic), I'm dying to get to MOCCA at the end of June. Just one small hitch... MOCCA doesn't really have any info on hotels, etc.

So... anybody out there have advice on where to stay in New York that's convenient to MOCCA and relatively cheap? I'm not a newbie to the subway in New York, I rode it for about six months and I actually find it a pretty convenient way to travel, so it doesn't have to be too close... just close enough so that I won't be on the subway for an hour each way or something crazy like that.

Shot in the dark, really, and I don't know that anybody reading this blog will be able to give any advice, but I figure it's worth a shot.

Adventures in Retailing: Free Comic Book Day 2007

Wow, was that a long (but rewarding) week.

This was my fifth Free Comic Book Day. I've worked every one since the beginning (aside from 2006, when I had a family reunion to attend instead) and they're always a lot of work, but very rewarding. It's even moreso (on both fronts) when you're the store owner.

We had a great Free Comic Book Day. We ordered just enough, for the most part. We even have a few Spider-Man, Bongo and Justice League left over for next year. My fears of running out of the Umbrella Academy sampler or Spider-Man didn't come true. My only regret is that we didn't order more Astounding Wolf-Man, as we ran out of that about mid-day, and I would have liked to have had it into the night. But in general, everybody got the comics they wanted. We started off giving out three to a person, but in the early afternoon moved to five per person, and by the end of the night it was "one of each of what's left" which equated to somewhere between 6-10 per person, depending on how close it was to the end of the night.

From noon until about 3:30, we had comic book creators in the store signing and sketching. Paul Benjamin was clearly in his element, working the crowd, cracking jokes and signing plenty of autographs. We sold quite a few copies of his Pantheon High manga from Tokyopop, and he signed a whole bunch of his copies of Marvel Adventures Two in One Free Comic Book Day offering. Scott Kolins sold several gorgeous prints of pin-ups and covers he had done, as well as doing many a sketch and signing copies of Omega Flight and other works. Billy Tan had two lithographs (one of Hepzibah, one of the X-Men, I bought both for the store) and two sketchbooks (one guys, one girls, I bought both of those as well) and some gorgeous character illustration pieces, and we sold a few of his Uncanny X-Men issues to sign as well. Billy did quite a few sketches as well (including a Corsair for me and a beautiful inked Batman for a customer). Everybody seemed to have a good time, and we were packed to the gills while the creators were there.

Next year, I definitely want to figure out how to get more press coverage. I sent out a press blurb to a ton of folks, including local TV, radio and news and all the comics news sites, and literally nobody picked it up. Many ran press releases for the big Zeus event CAPE (and that's a great event, if I wasn't running my own FCBD I'd be there every year) and a few also ran press for the last-minute mini small press Con being done by Austin Books (again, great store and a good idea for an event.) I was a little frustrated to be ignored when I thought we had a pretty good event put together and I had taken the time to send out press info in advance, but that's the way it goes. Next time, a full fledged press release, even earlier, and more follow-up. Certainly the lack of coverage didn't cost us anything in terms of attendance.

I worked about 14 hours that day, and well over 40 this week getting ready, but it definitely paid off. Tons of kids and adults came in and got free comics. Everybody seemed to have a good time. And I'd do Free Comic Book Day even if it cost us more money, but instead it was our biggest day for the store yet, even counting our five year history. We did about three to four times our usual Saturday business, and even with the expense of free comics, advertising and related costs, it was a very successful day for us.

Already looking forward to next year, and to figuring out what cool event we can run at the store next.

One of my customers, Dave Figueroa, took pictures, so there's a slideshow below.

Weekly Comics to Come - May 9, 2007

TOP FIVE
Criminal Vol 1 Coward TP (Looking forward to re-reading this all in one sitting, and even more looking forward to the next story arc)
DMZ #19 (Last issue was one of my favorite of the series thus far, previews for this one have looked incredible)
Hack Slash Series #1 (Really good first issue, review up at Comic Pants later this week)
Jack Of Fables #10 (Continues to be fun, and in many ways even better than the series that spawned it)
Killer #4 (More of this beautiful, haunting European series from Archaia)

THE REST
Countdown #51 (OK, I'll at least give the new weekly a shot... like many, though, I have 52 fatigue at this point)
First In Space GN (The story of America's first chimp in space from Oni... I've read it, it's good)
Immortal Iron Fist #5 (Not loving this book, but interested enough to keep reading)
Invincible #41 (Back onboard Invincible again, although the latest issue was a little blood-soaked for my taste)
Marvel Zombies Dead Days (The origin of the Marvel Zombies, by the original creative team)
Noble Causes #29 (I'm behind on Noble Causes, and I need to catch up)
Nova #2 (Very good first issue, looking forward to the second)
Okko Cycle Of Water #3 (Yay, it's Archaia week! Miyazaki-esque adventure book)
Secret History Book Two (Another Archaia book... first issue of this was gorgeous but story didn't quite click, plan on giving it another chance to hook me)
Sollitaria #1 (Intriguing looking new indy book)
Spider-Man Fantastic Four #2 (Fun superheroics from Jeff Parker and Mike Wieringo)
Star Wars Dark Times #3 (At long last, the third issue of this gorgeously illustrated and well-written Star Wars series comes out)
Thunderbolts #114 (I'm actually really enjoying this cynical anti-hero book)
Two Guns #2 (First issue of this unusual crime thriller was really good... glad to see the second issue arrive in a timely manner, too)
Y The Last Man #56 (Closing in on the end)
Y The Last Man Vol 9 Motherland TP (The penultimate Y The Last Man trade)

Blog Template Update for April

This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.

April was a fantastic month for single issue comics. I had a tough time cutting it down to 20, and the books that didn't make the cut included All-Star Superman #7 (a good issue, but one of the weaker ones for the series), Spider-Man Family #2 (great Spidey by Sean McKeever and Kano, good Spidey by Paul Benjamin and Vasilis Lolos), three Kirkman books on the cusp (Invincible #40, Irredeemable Ant-Man #7, Walking Dead #37), Spider-Man Fantastic Four #1 (classic superheroes by Jeff Parker and Mike Wieringo) and the latest issues of Ex Machina and Manhunter, which should give some indication of how good I think my top 20 were this month. Pretty good month for jumping-on points, too. Four issue ones make the list, and three of the others (DMZ, Fables and Runaways) are new story arcs or new creative teams.

In general, Marvel dominates the market right now, and maybe there's a good reason for that. Although I hated Civil War and I don't like a lot of the editorial direction of the universe in general, I still found 7 books that I really liked, three of which are directly Initiative/Civil War fallout-related, all but one of which is in continuity. Contrast that with DC, where there are two books, The Spirit and Brave and the Bold, which is as out of step with DC's modern, grim and gritty continuity as you can get. Marvel may not be exactly where I want them to be, but it seems that DC has really lost its way, and badly needs re-focusing. Of course, DC also offers Vertigo, where 4 of my favorite books come from. Dark Horse has two perennial favorites (BPRD and Usagi) and one new favorite (Whedon's Buffy). Boom! offers up a strong first issue (hope the second arrives in a timely fashion) with Steven Grant's Two Guns #1, and Adhouse offers up awesome in comic book form with Johnny Hiro #1. And Image has a strong single issue in Ellis and Templesmith's Fell and a potentially great new ongoing in Jay Faerber's Dynamo 5.

Graphic novel a day is definitely dead, I just don't have time! In fact, my graphic novel reading for this month was down, such that I had a little trouble putting together a Top 10. Thankfully, a swell of interest in Ben Templesmith's work at the end put three of his graphic novels on there. Interestingly (to me, anyway), there are no Marvel or DC or even Vertigo trades on my list this month. It's all indy, the closest I get to mainstream is one Image book.

As predicted, Andy Barker is D.O.A. Just as well, I guess, as the last few episodes weren't as funny as the first couple. Also unsurprisingly killed on the TV Front, Drive, the new Fox/Tim Minear (a combination that is a synonym for early cancellation), which grudgingly makes my Top 10 (largely based on Nathan Fillion's work) on the basis of the three or four episodes that actually aired. How I Met Your Mother, Studio 60 and Veronica Mars are still M.I.A., but that didn't stop April from being a pretty good month for TV. I fell behind watching Raines and The Riches (although I want to get back to them) and completely gave up on 24 and Black Donnellys (before NBC did). 30 Rock had a fantastic two-part season finale, and here's hoping that Alec Baldwin's personal issues won't crash the show next season (it's certainly crashed my previously high opinion of the man). Heroes came back really strong, with ".07%" and the future episode from last night, and it's easily my second favorite show at the moment. Favorite? Oh, that'd be The Shield, which did an amazing two-part opening arc with Forest Whitaker and continued on in the dark, tense vein of the series after that. Also back, Entourage (not great, but good, and I love Carla Gugino so that earns it bonus points) and Sopranos (slow boil, which I know some folks hate but I'm kind of digging). Scrubs has finally picked up, and something on the NBC promos about "final four Scrubs" made me wonder, is this show ending? If so, it's probably about time, and I'd like it to go out strong. The Office came back and was continuously funny. And Lost has been up and down, but has had some really good episodes, and I'm still very much on board the show.

I fell a little behind on TV and Movie watching and Graphic Novel reading this month because, for the first time in a while, I finally picked up some prose. I've had the Harry Potter bug for a while, but wanting to watch The Order of the Phoenix trailer and knowing that the final book was coming out in July finally spurred me to read the books. So I spent this month reading the six Harry Potter books, and I really enjoyed them. My personal favorite is probably Goblet of Fire, if only because there's so much important set-up in there, followed closely by Half-Blood Prince and Prisoner of Azkaban. My least favorite (although I still really enjoyed it) is probably Order of the Phoenix, because it spent a lot of time building up the bad guys and none of them really got a harsh enough comeuppance for me. It's a good book, but the dark tone went a little far for my tastes. I'm now working my way through the movies (re-watched Sorcerer's Stone, saw Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban for the first time), and I'm just waiting for Goblet of Fire (which I know will be disappointing, as I can't imagine fitting enough into even a three-hour movie) from Netflix. In short, though, I was easily swept up into the cult of Harry Potter, and while I'm glad that the character is getting an ending, I'm already hoping that J.K. Rowling will open up the world when she's done with it so we can get comics or something of that nature set in the world. It's such a rich mythology she's created, I'd love to see more of it outside of the Harry Potter-Voldemort epic story.

Tons of new feeds this month. I keep finding artist blogs, like the one from Chad Thomas (talented guy I met at Wizard World Texas), Max Riffner (winner of the Isotope Mini-Comic Award) and Ted Lange (re-mixer of Super Mario and Shakespeare). There are a couple comics blogs I probably should have been reading before now, like Chris's Invincible Super-Blog (which seems like it's undergoing changes now), the amusing Pass/Fail Studios and Christopher Bird's Tetsubo Productions (where he has humorously, but convincingly, been campaigning to be made new writer of The Legion). Then there's Fisticuffs, in which artists' creations face off in imaginary battles voted upon by the readership, probably my favorite new site discovery of the month. Oh, and I once again started visiting The Engine and The Onion, although both are updated so frequently that I don't do much more than skim, in general.