At Last! My San Diego Comic-Con Report! pt. 1

So a week after everybody else who was at SDCC has given you their opinions, photos and rants I finally have a few moments to get mine down. It would take quite a lot of bandwidth to tell you everything and I'm sure much of it would be meaningless unless you are really into comics are were actually there. There are a few things that stand out and I do have a few misc. photos to share. Speaking of that, I have to get a new memory card for my camera. I thought I could switch off with the one we use in out new digital camera, but discovered too late that it didn't work. There were other pics I took that I had to delete to keep the ones I have. I promise to do better next year!

As you can see Lex Luthor's cousin "Shortie" Luthor made it to the con and was gabbing it up with '50s Superman. I caught a video of this particular Man of Steel dancing on YouTube over at BarelyPolitical, I believe. Pretty funny!

I was pleasantly susprised to see a number of folks dressed up as members of the Justice Society of America (I didn't get a chance to get more photos of them), which must demonstrate that there are fans of the books around. Makes sense then that DC has announced a second JSA title coming out later this year.

Peter Jackson's DISTRICT 9, looks good and they had a big presense at the convention. Dan and I couldn't resist having out picture taken by the MNU van. Okay, I dragged him over to be honest. I'm the bigger fanboy, I guess.

As usual at SDCC there was way too much stuff going on to take in even a part of it over three days. I may consider doing Thursday, as well, next year, but will have to look at my Vacation schedule and how many days I'll have.

That will have to do for now. I hadn't noticed the time. A few more photos and more stuff later!

Going to San Diego and other things on my mind

If you have been paying the least bit of attention here or over at my other blog (or MySpace, Facebook or Twitter) you already know that I'm going to be meeting up with my friend Dan on Thursday. We have a hotel already booked, in fact Dan will be in SD on Wednesday and will be staying there already.

I have some plans to meet some folks there over the weekend, but plan on spending most of my time roaming aimlessly about the displays and taking lots of pictures. Of course, should I be struck by another Jedi this year I don't know if my camera will survive a second light saber hit. *sigh*

There are a number of panels and presentations I would like to attend, but I don't have the patience to stand in line for two-hours for a one hour program. A quick glance at the posted list of programs made me realize that I can't possibly attend everything I would like. A couple of Mark Evanier's panels sound good, especially an interview with Stan Freberg on Friday and the annual "Quick Draw" with Sergio Aragones & Scott Shaw! The former MST3K folks now working as RiffTrax are also doing a live event, which I missed last year but hope to catch this time around.

As usual, I'll be going to Dick's Last Resort at least once and the Marriot Gaslamp for the annual Capa-Alpha breakfast on Saturday. I hear they have re-opened the Spaghetti Factory also, so I might head over there. There are a lot of good places to eat in San Diego, but the problem is that most of them will be packed. We'll have to see how the coffee shop at the hotel is if nothing else is available.

If I can I might try to log-on over the weekend at least once and give a quick update to some of my pages. Keep an eye out!

I highly recommend the first issues of both BLACKEST NIGHT & BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORP for you DC fans. Some really creepy stuff, including the seeming death of a couple of characters and the resurrection of several more. The lead up to this series in the two GL books has been good and it looks like this is going to have a big payoff.

Still listening: Old Time Radio

One of the nice folks that we have met on our regular Bingo nights is Jeanne. Jeanne is a wonderful lady, who it's hard to believe is in her mid-80s. She's still working part-time and has more energy than people half her age. Anyway, Jeanne is quite naturally a fan of Old Time Radio and has been nice enough to let me borrow some of the CD collections she owns.

Among the collections have been compilations of detective shows, some sets of one series and others of miscellaneous programs. As a fan of these shows I'm still surprised to discover one with which I wasn't familiar or to find one by a particular actor. Two actors, primarily known for their film or television roles (at least by me) were Dick Powell and Jack Webb. In both cases, it was a pleasant surprise and in the case of Webb a revelation.

I knew Dick Powell played RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE on radio for several years. Jeanne had let me borrow several collections featuring this program and I had also heard several before on RADIO SPIRIT compilations. What I hadn't known was that four years previously (the same year Powell appeared as Philip Marlowe in the film "Murder,My Sweet) he had a short-lived radio program. Called ROGUE'S GALLERY, Powell played Richard Rogue, a private-detective. The show's gimmick was that at least once a week Rogue would be hit over the head (or otherwise rendered unconscious)and find himself in dreamland where he would have a conversation with his alter-ego, EUGOR (spell it backwards!). Just as with Powell's interpretation of Diamond, the show was often tongue-in-cheek with Rogue never taking himself too seriously. If you find these shows I recommend them, since you can hear how this portrayal comes close to the one Powell used in the later series.

Other than DRAGNET, and perhaps the film THE D.I., most folks probably are not familiar with Jack Webb's career. I'll be honest and admit that except for knowing he did a few other movies and later became a producer, my knowledge of Webb was pretty much limited to that of his Sgt. Friday. I'd also read his non-fiction book on the Los Angeles police department (and some of their most famous cases) THE BADGE, back in high school. It's kind of odd hearing Webb playing some one other than Friday, especially because his voice is so distinctive, as is his delivery. Apparently, his first show was actually of the comedy/variety type and called THE JACK WEBB SHOW. Sadly, I haven't heard any of those and may have to only imagine what they must have been like.

Before DRAGNET, Webb appeared/starred in about a half-dozen radio dramas for various periods. The only two that I have heard myself have been PAT NOVAK FOR HIRE (Webb as an unlicensed P.I., who also works down on the docks) and JEFF REGAN, INVESTIGATOR (where he works for the sometimes not very scrupulous, Lion Detective Agency). It's a lot of fun, if odd, hearing Webb portray characters who weren't criminals, but didn't have a lot of use for the police. In fact, in both of these dramas you often had the police working at odds with Webb's characer and even being corrupt. It was while working on the film, HE WALKED BY NIGHT in 1948 (based on a true murder case), that Webb got the idea for the series that would make him a star.

Hope you found this interesting. Next time out either comics or a movie review.

Quick Review of ROB HANES/ADVENTURE DIGEST

In preparation for San Diego, I'm going through some of my comics to decide what I might need/want to purchase. I have also checked out the current list of 'guests' and may bring along some books to have signed while I'm there.

I first met Randy Reynaldo at one of the SD Comicons in the early '90s, if I recall. He is there just about every year and so was I for some of that period. Considering the number of 'small press' comics and creators that have disappeared over the past decade, it's great to see somebody like Randy continuing to put out such a fun book.

Randy's Website will tell you more about his book and the lead character than I can, so I recommend you go there. However, I highly recommend ROB HANES for fans looking for something a bit "old fashioned" yet contemporary at the same time.

Reynaldo's influences such as Milt Caniff, Roy Crane, Alex Toth and other "Golden Age" of action comic strip artists are obvious. Rob is modeled after the adventurers like Terry, Buz Sawyer and Steve Canyon, but the stories themselves involve terrorists, video piracy, steroids in professional sports and other things the Old School guys never knew of. Of course, as in those strips and Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT you'll see lots of beautiful women and evil henchmen in just about every issue.

Check out Randy's page, read some of the free webcomics and buy some of the Rob Hanes books. I think you'll be happy you did!

Remote Viewing: Surfing the channels last night

I've yet to start reading anything online, but Donna and I thought that Niel Patrick Harris did a nice job hosting the Tonys last night. He was fun and you could tell he was having a good time. I think it's smart to fill the show with musical numbers, since most of America will not have a chance to see the actual shows. Smart, also, to promote the traveling editions of the shows, as for many those are the only way they'll get a chance to attend.

Quick notes: Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Angela Lansberry are all beginning to look their age, with Parton beginning to take on that creepy, Joan Rivers overly tightened look. Liza continues to act and look like a drag-queen doing a moderately okay impersonation of her. (Yeah, Donna didn't think it was funny when I said that either!)

The new season of WHO WANTS TO BE THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR? began last night. No standouts, but you can understand why somebody doing a salad would get booted. I also can't see the nutritionist going too far either and you should never bad-mouth the network kitchen to somebody who works there!

TOP CHEF MASTERS looks to a way to spin-off from the original. Bringing in some of the major chefs who have been judges on the TC show and Food Network to compete against each other for charitable donations. I love this stuff!

Stay tuned!

I've got no clue, but what the heck?

As I mentioned yesterday, over on PARTING SHOTS, the block seems to have been lifted on Blogger. They have been working on the various filters and there are librarians who post professional information and links on their blogs, but we have not been able to access them. We'll see what happens in the coming days.

When time permits I'm going to be adding and deleting some of the links on both my blogs. There are some news sites that have caught my eye and others that I seldom, if ever, visit any longer. I doubt I'll be playing around with the layouts, since I'm pretty happy with them.

If you haven't been here in a while, or are just finding this blog, I recommend you scroll down and view my reviews of STAR TREK, WOLVERINE & WATCHMEN. It will give you a pretty good idea of where I'm at currently. I stopped promoting these blogs a few months ago, when the filtering began, but have started listing it on some new sites. If you haven't been here before, Welcome!

I hope to be posting some comics reviews later this week, since I'm currently going through three weeks worth of stuff I picked up at Nuclear Comics.

I'm really getting into the buildup to BLACKEST NIGHT at DC, but the teaser shots of returning "dead" DCU heroes has me nervous at the same time. Still I recommend both GREEN LANTERN & GREEN LANTERN CORPS, even though I think Sinestro is outlasting his usefulness. I'm hoping he departs as some of my favorite heroes make their return.

On the other hand, I think I about reaching the saturation point for "Dark Reign" over at Marvel. It might be time for both the Big Two to start getting back to non-epic stories and maybe letting the good guys win every so often.

Really quick: If you like zombies and other films of an apocalyptic nature, you should try QUIET EARTH. Good site for folks who like that sort of thing, and I'm certainly in that category. I have to admit that I got an initial kick out of the site's name, since my first apa was called CURSED EARTH, which referenced the post-apocalyptic America in the Judge Dredd series.

Well, I have to go now. There's something scratching at the door, so I better go and ....

Stop Talkin' About Comic Books Or I'll Kill You - Ookla The Mok

How can you not love this song!

"I don't care if Spider-Man's a clone!!" LOL

Popcorn for One: A Review of STAR TREK (a few spoilers)

So okay, I'm a sucker for STAR TREK (ST), especially the original (OST) series with Shatner, Nimoy and company. I've lost count of the number of times I have seen all the episodes. I also enjoyed NEXT GENERATION & ST: DS-9, and the first two seasons of VOYAGER, although I'll admit that after the pilot & first few episodes of ENTERPRISE, both Donna and I gave up. I've also seen all the previous Big Screen ST films, at least once and several a few times when they started making the rotation on television. It was obvious from my initial viewing of the "Under Construction" trailer prior to last year's San Diego Comicon that I was going to be psyched for this movie.

As a fan of LOST and CLOVERFIELD, I was willing to give J.J. Abrams the benefit of the doubt on his take on the franchise. He admitted he wasn't a fan, and frankly, that might be a good thing, especially as the film takes things in a different direction. These are not the characters I have followed since high school and I'm fine with that. Maybe part of the problem with some of the earlier ST films was that we were already overly familiar with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the bridge crew. We could almost guess what their reactions would be in any given situation. For a 'new generation' (pardon the expression) of fans to accept the series it had to move into new ground.

In the first few minutes of the movie a gigantic spacecraft emerges from a wormhole and engages a Federation ship. From that point, all bets are off. The appearance of the Romulan ship, commanded by Nero (Eric Bana) changes events and creates an alternative timeline. The characters we knew from OST are not the characters we are introduced to throughout the film. The names are the same, but almost everything else we knew has been changed.

The James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) we see here are for the most part closer to the 'classic' ones we knew. Spock (Zachary Quinto), or NuSpock as he as been branded in fan circles, is by far the most radically different from how we knew the Vulcan portrayed Leonard Nimoy. As both characters appear in the film, the versions are easy to compare. Sulu, Checkov, Uhura and Scotty are all here, with Uhura (Zoe Saldana) given quite a bit different persona than we saw from Nichelle Nichols. It will be interesting to see in the sequels (which I'm sure we can expect given this movie's critical success and box-office) where the different characters go from this point.

I liked the new actors, and thought they did good jobs in the roles. I don't think I'm the only one who will be willing to see some more of the new Enterprise crew.

DCU: Green Lantern CORPS - Floyd Was Here

Just because it is so cool!

I"ve added both GREEN LANTERN and GREEN LANTERN CORPS to my pull list at Nuclear. Love the way both titles are going with the leadup to BLACKEST NIGHT.

Whoa! Got over a dozen freebies for FCBD. Hope you scored some goodies this past weekend! I"ll try to have some reviews and comments later this week.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (with spoilers)

Hugh Jackman owns the role of Wolverine. I can't imagine another actor doing the role at this point and hope I won't have to for a while. Equally good in the film is Liev Schreiber, who stars as Logan's brother the villain Sabretooth.

If you aren't a comic book fan, you might be surprised by some of the things revealed in the opening sequence of the film. That I won't giveaway! You might also want to stick around after the credits start to role, as there are a couple of extra goodies. Just don't expect to see Nick Fury or Tony Stark show up. They aren't that sort of spoiler, just a couple of moments to show "what happened to..."

As you may know, if you have read anything about the movie, this takes place a few years before the incidents in the first X-MEN film. We see a couple of characters that appear there and understand why they react as if they don't know each other after an initial meeting. The movie is filled with mutants, some of whom I'm familiar with and others I'm not, so I can't say how faithful they are to their four-color characterization. I do know that one character is pissing off the fanboys and I can understand why. Even though I've never liked this character I think he is ill-used and this ruins him for future appearances. (Think Darth Maul!)

One last thing about particular mutants in the movie. I think it was a mistake to use The Blob in the film, since the scenes with him (after earlier ones where he is unidentified) stop the film for comic effect and it doesn't work. It's basically Wolverine fighting Fat Bastard! The same information could have been introduced without resorting to jokes about an obese man.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie and think that it works. Not amazing, but a decent summer movie for action fans. If you enjoy super-heroes and can overlook some of the minor things I've mentioned I recommend you check it out. Give you something to do until STAR TREK opens next week!

Hugh Jackman on FCBD plus Wolverine Trailer

Damn! For the 3rd year in a row I'm working on FCBD!

Support your local shop and buy some comics.

Watching & reading, as usual!

Is everyone as confused by LOST as I am? (SPOILERS)

I mean I still enjoy the show and many of the characters, but the current time-hopping storyline makes things even more confusing then they were when you just had to worry about something being a dream or vision. Characters are not only appearing in flashbacks, but some have actually moved back in time to the 1970s. In the latest episode one character saw himself as a three month old infant!! Oh, and John is alive again. (End spoilers)

I'm currently reading three books, and should probably concentrate on one. I'm about half way through I'M NOT A COP! by Richard Belzer, one of those books where the celebrity writing as her/himself becomes involved in a mystery or murder. Steve Allen, wrote a nice series where he mixed fictional and real life characters solving crimes. Belzer, does that here, but doesn't really include anybody other than himself in the story, except in some phone conversations he has with his wife. I think you have to like the Belz and his humor, along with his television persona to enjoy the book. So far, I am.

I've been a fan of Charles Dickens, since I first read some of his novels back in junior high. His final, unfinished novel THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, has been the subject of close to a dozen books, in which different people have tried their own hand at discovering what Dickens had in mind for the ending and even attempted to write that conclusion themselves. In DROOD, writer Dan Simmons tries his hand at not only figuring out the mystery of the novel, but also of the final years of the author. Following his surviving a horrendous train wreck, the famous writer spent the final years of his life engaged in not only writing, but performing and staging adaptations of his works. In his personal life he also seemingly became even more difficult and began suffering from both physical and psychological attacks, often leaving him in weakened states.

Simmons, through the narration of Dickens'one-time friend and collaborator, author Wilkie Collins (The Lady in White, Moonstone, etc.), chronicles the final years of the "illustrious" writer as he becomes involved in with a mysterious individual called, simply Drood. Who is this person? Is he a healer, or serial killer? What hold does he have on the author and what will Dickens do to protect him? Finally, has the favorite of Queen Victoria begun plotting a murder of his own and decided to turn his own life into one reflecting his final work? Even though I'm not quiet halfway through I highly recommend the book.

Oh, and in case you're wondering I'm also reading comics.

Not sure where Dwayne McDuffie is going with JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, but things do not look good in the current issue #31, where the team is basically told to disband by the current chairperson. Repercussions of several past and current stories come together and we see how a few of the characters are dealing with the apparent death of Bruce Wayne/Batman. McDuffie sort of fills us in on things and lets us know of other changes taking place in the DCU. Looks like there are several super-hero teams about to be shaken up and have their rosters changed.

That does it for now! Don't forget about FREE COMICBOOK DAY coming up pretty soon, either!

Supercar series one title sequence

For some reason I can't explain, I found myself humming this on my way to Starbucks this afternoon. I haven't seen the show in a couple of decades, but still remember the opening.

On an unrelated note, it pays to call the hotels in San Diego a couple of months before the convention if you want to book a room. Hell, don't even mention the con! I know folks who booked rooms last year when they were there, or a few months after. If you are sharing a room the costs aren't that bad.

Oh, did anybody else catch the premiere of THE UNUSUALS last night on ABC? A comedy/drama cop show, with some familiar faces. I liked it!

Just some random stuff!

If I haven't mentioned it before, but I believe I have, I'm going down to the San Diego ComiCon again this year. My friend, Dan, is flying in from Brooklyn and we already have a hotel room booked for three nights (Thursday thru Saturday). The only definite thing so far will be the annual Capa-Alpha get-together on Saturday morning. Be nice if we got more than the six folks that came last year, although I had a really good time. These things used to take up several long tables with a couple dozen current and former K-a members. Ah, well...

I have finally gotten around to watching my anniversary present from last year. Namely the MST3-K 20th Anniversary DVD set. Nice selection of four films from several seasons, plus the "History of MST3-K" special split over three of the disks. I still haven't watched the fourth film, with the video of last year's SD convention get-together. Recommended to all MYSTies!

In the comics, it looks like several titles are having deadline problems for various reasons. It will be interesting to see what effect the badly delayed FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS will have on the up-coming new LS-H series. Also, I'm really disappointed that Marvel's THE TWELVE seems to have slipped under the radar and the delays will probabaly real damage the sales on this very, good book. Finally, it's nice to see Barry Allen back in the scarlet costume. I don't think things are going to go smoothly for the speedster though. Check out THE FLASH: REBIRTH, if you haven't already. Plus, I recommend RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS and both the current GREEN LANTERN & GREEN LANTERN CORPS books. Been quite a few year since I could say that!

FAIL Barbie . . . REAL TOY Review Mike Mozart JeepersMedia on YouTube

OMG! I need this immediately!!!

Popcorn for One: A movie review - WATCHMEN

WATCHMEN

Wow! That pretty much sums up my reaction to the film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s classic graphic novel, WATCHMEN. Director Zack Snyder finally does what others before him could not get done. Namely bring this book to the big screen and do it justice. Seeing it in IMAX probably added to my enjoyment, but I'm sure it would also work on the regular screen.

If you are familiar with Moore’s story you already know that it takes place in an alternate 1985, where Richard Nixon is in his third term as President and the U.S. won in Vietnam. In this reality super-heroes, have been around since the 1940s and were pretty much accepted until outlawed. Some have gone into business, or into other pursuits and some began working for the government in one way or another. When one of the more notorious members of the group called The Watchmen is murdered, another member believes that someone is purposely targeting ‘masks’.

That pretty much sets up what happens as we learn some of the background and origins of the major players. It seems the ‘good guys’ may have had their own share of dark secrets and might not have been morally much better than some of the ‘bad guys’ they fought.

Some reviewers didn’t look favorably on the performance of Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre II), but I thought she was quite good. Her action scenes seemed believable and I thought she was equally as good in the straight scenes as many of her male co-stars. To be honest, I certainly thought she was better than Matthew Goode, doing his best David Bowie impersonation, who chewed the scenery as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. I put Goode’s performance on a par with Julian McMahon who made Dr. Doom such a cipher in both FANTASTIC FOUR films.

On the other hand, a couple of the major male leads were extremely good and I would hope one of them gets a nod come Oscar time. If Heath Ledger brought the Joker to life (pardon the expression) then Jackie Earle Haley as RORSCHACH deserves equal credit. With his face totally hidden behind his ever-shifting mask, Haley has to use his voice and body language to portray what is going on. Those scenes, especially those in prison, where he can be seen are even more powerful. Patrick Wilson and Billy Crudup (Nite Owl II and Dr. Manhattan respectively) are both good, even though Crudup is computer generated for part of his performance. Hey, if a CGI- Gollum can get an MTV Movie award than Dr. Manhattan and his blue wee-wee are equally deserving of one. As The Comedian, Jeffrey Dean Morgan actually makes you feel sympathy for a character that is pretty unlikable.

By the way, it was fun to see Matt Frewer(Max Headroom, for those with good memories)as Moloch, a 'retired' super-villain. Even though he doesn't have a big part in the film his role is pivotal to the plot.

Finally, I think this film does as much to bring up the level of ‘super-hero’ movies as did the original SPIDER-MAN, IRON MAN and last year’s DARK KNIGHT. Just don't take any small children or elderly nuns, huh?

Folks who know me know I love previews. There were about a half dozen film trailers, evidently being released to IMAX. Of them, I know I'll be catching the new STAR TREK film, with fingers crossed and the second TRANSFORMERS film looks to be even more over the top then the first. Donna caught an ad for MONSTERS VS. ALIENS on television and we might both go to see that one. The next Harry Potter movie really looks as dark (even in the way it was filmed) as I remember the book, but the 'kids' do seem to be much older than the ones they portray at this point.

Save me an aisle seat!

Amazon Babes from Another Dimension!

I just got a real kick out of this. Ultimate fanboy stuff!

Review: The Jakarta Plot

Despite the fact that the Joe Bob Briggs site hasn’t posted a new review for well over a year, I’m still finishing up the books I have. There should be three more after this one, I believe, but at this point I think I may have lost track of which books JB sent me and those I’ve picked up at cons.

While I’m at it I want to apologize again for posting so seldom but I have listed the reasons before. Hope you will forgive me and drop by every so often to see if I have actually blogged.

**************************************************************************
The Jakarta plot – R. Karl Largent; published by Leisure Books
ISBN: 0843945680

When you read these books you have to wonder how many ex-CIA agents are running around. Also, why does it seem the Agency always has to bring them back in to perform actions the current crop can’t seem to accomplish? I’m just asking.

Largent’s book is quite good, even though his hero, former agent Gideon Stone does seem to question himself a bit more than necessary. Stone is likable and I’m assuming that Largent will be bringing him back, if he hasn’t already (as the book was published back in 2006). One of the weaker elements is that some of the secondary characters, and there are dozens, never seem to really have any back-story, or any that we learn. We feel sympathy for them when they are injured or killed, but that’s because of how it affects Stone and not because we genuinely care about them. An odd thing is that this is truer of members of Stone’s team than of individuals on the opposing side. For instance, we know more about a native crewmember on a barge, used in a later mission, than we do about several servicemen who accompany Stone on his first rescue attempt.

When a group of Communist terrorists capture and hold captive U.N. delegates of an international meeting on the island of Java, including the U.S. Vice-President, the CIA is asked to attempt a rescue, while not admitting it publicly. Led by the popular Bojoni Sawak, the Bandung rebels demand that the current leader of their country step down and recognize the Bandung as the legitimate government, otherwise, the hostages will be executed one by one. With Stone already in the area, working to recover some documents lost when a civilian airliner is blown up, it’s an easy move to have him head up the assignment. Since he is an expert diver and former black op, you know that the ultimate rescue will involve at least some of those skills. When the initial attempt goes badly wrong, leading to the death of two of the group and the VP still hostage, the stakes rise. Stone has to get his team into the terrorist base, perform his mission and get everybody out alive. Complicating matters is the threat by China that any overt American intervention would be considered a provocative action and might lead to that country becoming involved.

As is typical of this type of book, Largent brings in a lot of technical information on the equipment Stone and his team uses. Interesting to a point, but it does make this reader skim over paragraphs of this stuff in order to get to the main action. If you are more into this Tom Clancy sort of thing and especially if you are interested in deep-sea vehicles and helicopters you might want to tack a half-star onto this. Overall I give this a solid -

Three stars

Narwhals

Just thought this was fun!

I'm still around!

I really don't have anything to add right now and not being able to post during the week has gotten me out of the habit. Seems that come the weekends I don't feel like blogging or don't have anything timely.

During the week I'm posting on Tony Isabella's messageboard, CBGXtra.com or one of the other places regarding comics. I'm also pretty active on Shelfari in several groups (Graphic Novels, Horror, etc.) and trying to catalog the books I've read or owned. Another reason why I don't blog when I have a chance, is because I've already talked myself out.

If you happen to wander around YouTube you might catch me commenting on one video or another. There it's pretty much politics, but also some of the goofier sites (What The Buck?; PonceMan; Penn Says and several others).

Next time I pick up a batch of comics (I'm about three weeks behind) I'll try to comment. Until then take care!