One day...

...I'll learn to add pictures by the stinkin' gross to this damned thing. Then we'll really be cooking! Until then, you're just going to have to use your imagination. See you after the jump...



I like 52. I haven't tried to hide or deny that fact. In fact, I've become so used to getting my "fix" of 52 that I get cranky when I don't get it. So imagine my shock, my horror, my disappointment when I get to my LCS and find that there are NO COPIES OF 52! And WHY are there no copies of 52 to be had? Because UPS "mishandled" the box to the extent that it appears a pole impaled the box clear through.
(On a side note, I've NEVER seen a comic shop with so many UPS/shipping problems. I'm just saying...)
Anyway, so there was no 52, but I did pick up a few other things:

1. Action Comics 847: For a fill-in issue (from what I understand, anyway; I'm not a regular Action Comics reader, and I understand there are some timing problems in the production schedule...), this was a REALLY good story. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a good father/son story, and McDuffie didn't disappoint. In fact, his work here convinced me to give Fantastic Four a try. I'm glad to see him doing more comics work. And I don't know who the artist is (his name escapes me at the moment), but his work is evocative of Tony Harris, which is a strong selling point for me...

2. Wonder Woman 6: This is Jodi Picoult's first issue, and it was pretty good. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Diana's various conflicts here are really the first insight into her character from within that we've seen, I believe. I know some people dislike the first-person narrative boxes, but sometimes you need them to "get inside the character's head", and Picoult demonstrated a pretty clear grasp of who Diana is, even if Diana herself doesn't seem to know (in the context of the story). Also nice to see Drew Johnson back on the art chores for this run. He draws a nice Wonder Woman. The onloy thing that would make it better is if Ferdinand (the minotaur chef) were to come back. But hope springs eternal...

3. JSA Classified 24: This is the 2nd part of another Dr. Mid-Nite story, and while I really enjoyed the first part of this story, I haven't read the 2nd yet. I expect to have read it by the weekend, but we'll see what happens. Perhaps a few comments by Sunday...

And that was the week that was. I bought a little, read a little, and now it's time for bed. Peace!

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Another Sketch from the Book...

This one's by Peter Snejbjerg, the fellow who took over the main art chores on the series after Tony left with (I think) #50. Peter's look is definitely different from Tony, a slightly cleaner line, I guess you might say. And Jack looks less like Tony when Peter's drawing him. Which is to be expected, I suppose...

Anyway, this is sort of an interesting story, and frankly, it's a HUGE stroke of luck. Again, this takes place at SDCC 2004. I have a copy of Starman #80 signed by James Robinson shortly after it came out. I knew Tony was going to be at SDCC 2004, so I brought along my copy of 80 for him to sign, since he did the cover. After that, I'm cruising the DC booth and I hear one of the staffers say, "Where do I put Snejbjerg when he gets here?"

Obviously, that caught my attention. He wasn't even mentioned on any of DC's promotional material for the convention! A few questions to various staffers tell me when he's due for his signing, so I que up shortly before his scehduled arrival, only to be told that he won't be there for that signing and to come back later. Grrr...

So I come back later, and sure enough, there he is. I get him to sign my copy of #80 (since he did the interior art) and a sketch in the book. Obviously it's a rough sketch, but I'm more than pleased with it. I've also got a couple of pages from him that are just fantastic. If I can find a scanner big enough, I'll share with you...

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Not what I had in mind...

...but I've got to finish grades tonight, so it's gonna be short (but at least it's here, right?).

I've come to a conclusion: generally speaking, I hate message boards/forums/whatever you wanna call 'em. Seriously, I've never met such a bunch of bitter, nasty goofballs as just about any you'll find on comic book forums. Why in Heaven's name would you spend your time commenting (frequently ad nauseum) about comics you don't read, don't like, and wouldn't read anyway?

I see it all the time, but my current problem is with all the people carping on Mark Waid's work on Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes. I enjoy it. I've enjoyed the whole series. But if I didn't, I'd just drop the book. I don't like Michael Turner's art, for example. It's pretty enough, but I don't like the elongated torsos and the fact that everyone seems to be 6'6'' or taller. But I don't get out on the message boards, making a fool of myself complaining about what a hack Turner is or anything like that. His style isn't my bag, so I ignore it. And why should he care what I say? It's not like I can do better, and no one's paying me for my opinion.

Although, if I were going to make reasoned criticisms and defend my position without personal attacks, that would be one thing. But that's not how it goes. Noooo, that would make too much sense. It's MUCH easier to snipe at someone else's efforts, particularly when you don't go to the trouble of actually READING what you're complaining about!

GRRRR! Man, I get so angry about this stuff. Which is why it's unlikely you'll ever see me on a message board or forum. I spend enough time dealing with jerks in my day. I don't want to deal with them in my off-time...

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My desk is a mess...

...I've got grading to finish, papers to write, comics and "real" books to read, my office needs cleaning, and I still need to put a second coat of paint on the stairwell wall. But I do have a couple things to mention briefly:

1. UNLV! Go Rebels! Whooooooooo! I TOTALLY picked them over Wisconsin. And I'm picking them over Oregon, too! Boo-yah! Seriously, not since the Tarkanian era have we done this well in the Tournament. Keep goin', boys!

2. Do I have the nerve to pick Butler over Florida?

3. I went 40-8 over the first two rounds of the tournament this year. That's about 83%, if I've done my math right. I picked some of the big upsets (Winthrop over ND, UNLV over Wisconsin, VCU over Duke), but also made some astoundingly bad choices (Gonzaga over Indiana, Michigan State over UNC), whether out of loyalty (Michigan State) or just liking the team (Gonzaga). Otherwise, I think most of my picks were pretty good (obviously, the numbers bear that out to some extent).

Tomorrow, I'll have some thoughts on Grant Morrison's 7 Soldiers "event", and a few other things. I'll even try to include more than one picture in the post (although who knows how that's going to work out...).

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Are there comics this week?

Not a lot came out for me this week, although the long awaited Zatanna bust shipped...and I forgot to pick mine up, even though I've already paid for it. D'oh! Sometimes I am not smart. Although my excuse is that my brain is so fried by these 2 papers I've got due tomorrow (that I'm not finished with yet), that I'm not firing on all my cylinders. So back to the grindstone.

I'll post more later, as I'll no doubt be at my computer aaaaallllllll day.

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Ok, one more...

I've got one more WonderCon story (that I can recall right now, anyway), so I'm going to share that, then go off and try to write these stinkin' papers that are hanging over me.

So it's Saturday morning, and I've just come into the Moscone Center for WonderCon Day 2 (Electric Boogaloo), when I stop at one of the concession booths for a little H2O and a Rice Krispy Treat. My conversation with the woman behind the counter goes like this:

Her: "So how you doin' this morning, Sir?"
Me: "I'm lovely, thanks. And how are you doing?"
Her: (Stopping in mid-change count to look at me) "You know, I like that! I really like that! I think I'm doing lovely too! Thank you so much for asking!"
Then she looked me straight in the eye, handed me back my money and handed me my H2O and Rice Krispy Treat.

I was really touched that I could brighten her day like that, just by giving my normal response to her question. It just sort of put a little spring in my step. It was the start of a great day.

Peace...

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More Madness!

Et tu, Digger? Really?

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Let the Madness Begin!

I love college basketball, so this week has been VERY enjoyable for me. I've got a few quick comments to make about various things regarding the NCAA tournament, and I'll talk a little more (but not much) more in detail about the brackets/pairings later (I'm still working on papers for my Masters' classes.

1. My alma mater, UNLV, won their conference tournament! Go, Rebels! This landed them a #7 seed in the...West, I think (although it might be the Midwest. Hang on, I'll go look...yup, it's the Midwest), and a matchup against #10 Georgia Tech. Good luck, fellas!

2. Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint has the BEST name in all of college basketball. When I grow up, I want to name all my children Bruiser Flint Ziegler.

3. Come on, Duke Boy! ESPN's Tim Legler just picked G-Tech to upset UNLV in the first round. Don't listen to him, RebelNation! Go Rebels!

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300

I saw 300 last weekend at WonderCon (yes, I was one of the lucky winners!), and while I'm not going to give you a super-detailed review/commentary with lots of screen-caps and other fancy-schmancy stuff like that, I will take this brief discussion below the jump.



For the most part, I enjoyed the movie. There were things I really liked and things I just didn't really care for. I'm just going to talk about a few of them below here. In a list. Because I like lists:

1. I'm just going to get this out of the way, but MAN, Gerard Butler looks good in the outfit (such as it is). I don't feel like it detracts from my manlihood to say so, either. The rest of the cast is Pretty, too (at least the ones that are supposed to be), but Butler owns the screen when he's on it...

2. I liked the additional storyline about what was going on in Sparta/why the army didn't show up to help Leonidas. I thought the interplay between Queen Gorgo and Senator Thurmond (or whatever his name was) was, while vicious, also accurate (or at least as accurate as we can imagine a conversation between 2 long-dead historical characters conversing in their native tongue).

3. I really, REALLY like that Matrix-style, bullet-time stuntwork. There are points in the movie where Snyder just really does a super job of controlling the pace of these effects. Superlative effects, folks...

4. I have to confess that the shot in the beginning of the 7 year-old Leonidas was pounding the face in of some other kid disturbed me. I'm not saying it should be removed from the film, but considering how violent many of the schools in this country are, it just seemed an interesting choice to include in the film. I also, btw, concede that the image does a good job emphasizing some things about Spartan society to the viewer: the importance of...loyaly to Sparta and to the Spartan ideal (or the ideal of any society, really), and HOW hardcore do you have to be, as a society, where you'll throw away any defective infant? That takes more nerve than I've got, I guess.

I've got a few more thoughts on the film but it's getting late and I've got a lot of writing yet to do. Perhaps tomorrow or Sunday...

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It's Thursday, right?

Apologies for the non-post last night, but I was sporting a 103-degree fever yesterday/last night, so I figure that gets me off the hook. So...a few more notes about WonderCon after the jump:



1. I mentioned in a previous post that I spent part of the con helping out Scott at his booth. So I'm working the booth and a man and his son come up. Son (about 10) is asking if we have any Gene Colan comics. I look at Son. I look at Dad. This is not the typical request from a 10 year-old. Dad, by way of explanation, mentions that they'd just been at the Colan panel (Gene was a Special Guest of WonderCon this year), and Son was impressed by what a class act Gene was. I point Son in the direction of Daredevil, unsure if we have any of the early issues, and compliment Dad on "raising this boy right!" Dad smiled and said, "We've all gotta do our part, right?"

True enough, Dad. True enough.

2. Which ties in with the discussion going round the blog-o-sphere (but best summarized by Heidi Mac over at The Beat) about where the so-called "next generation of comics readers" is coming from. Really, the same place they always come from: their parents. Sure, I know that most parents who aren't into the hobby aren't going to drag Junior down to the LCS every Wednesday, but I've been hauling my 2 kids (4 and 2) to the shop off and on almost since they were born. And now they're to the age where they're asking for comics themselves. And they have some definite opinions on what they'd like. Son likes Teen Titans Go! while Daughter likes Mickey Mouse (ok, those are a little harder to come by, but we manage somehow). Someday, my little angels are going to decide they want to check out some unholy nonsense like Heroes for Hire, or Witchblade (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with those books; they're just not to my liking), but that's the way of things. We get the kids to where they can make their own choices and then hope they can make good ones. I'm sure my Pop was aghast when I bypassed Donald Duck for Batman or Superman. So, it's all of a cycle, really...

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More Wonders...

I've said before that sometimes it's all about the hunting-and-gathering. It's what got me into Pokemon (and keeps me there, to be honest), and of course, every collector is motivated by that to some degree. What other explanation is there for grown men and women to be pawing through the back-issue bins at a con? So what did I find at WonderCon?

I'm not telling tonight. Largely because I'm stupid and forgot to scan the cover before I sat down to do this and it's midnight. I'll tell (and show) you tomorrow.

Promise.

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StarBone!

Here's the next in the long-promised series of scans from my Starman book. Jeff Smith did this one at San Diego in...2004, I believe. Right around the time Bone was ending and the big One Volume Edition was coming out, actually. So I explained what I wanted, and he was a trooper about it, getting right into it. Phoney was the natural choice, really, since he already wears the star. Maybe if you're good, I'll show you the other sketch he did for me a few years earlier. It's SWEET.

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WonderCon 2007

Went to WonderCon this weekend just passed. A first time trip, despite numerous trips to SDCC. Lots of things to say about it, so meet me after the jump.


Went solo to the convention as Mrs. Z. is 9 months pregnant, and she didn't feel like chasing the kids and her sister around SF (not that I blame her), so this was me getting in a last hurrah before I settle down for the final grind before the Winter Quarter's classes end. So what did I see? Well...

1. Tony Harris is the COOLEST! He was the main reason I went to WonderCon, because I really wanted to commission a sketch from him. What I wanted was American Gothic, but with Jack and Sadie; an Opal Gothic, if you will. He was sufficiently intrigued by the notion (and the fact that I had reference material both for A.G. and for Sadie helped) that he made that one of his sketches for the day! BOO-Yah! It's on sketchpad-sized paper, so I'm going to have to find a place to scan it for me, but once I do, it's going up here. Anyway, Tony is just cool as hell. He also did a head sketch of Jack for My Buddy Rob (Shhh! Rob doesn't know yet!), and all that cost me was a bottle of water. Which I was happy to get for him. Does it make me too geeky to be a little excited at being Tony Harris's go-fer? You know what? I don't care. And one piece of gossip--Tony said that he'd been talking to DC about doing more with Jack (presumably with James Robinson, although Tony didn't say specifically), so we'll see what happens.

2. On a related note, at one of the DC panels, Dan DiDio said that they (meaning DC) were interested in having James do more Starman stuff, but that it was a question of James's schedule. So, here's hoping the schedule clears up soon!

3. I'm not saying it was a lightly attended show, but the crowds were soooo much more manageable than SDCC! Holy Crap! Even on Saturday foot traffic was moving at a good clip and you could stop and not get run over by five people! And it was REALLY about the comics! Sure, there were some movie panels, but for the most part, the show was about comics! What a novel idea! I'm not saying I'm giving up SDCC, but I could definitely get used to making WonderCon part of my regular convention year...

4. Worked at my friend Scott's booth for a while on Friday and Saturday. That was fun. Passed the time, chatted with other fans and was able to sell a few comics. You know, Scott sometimes asks me if I'm interested in going with him to this show or that show. I think after Ziglett3 gets a little older, I might take him up on the invitation.

5. Got to meet a number of other folks whose work I admired, including Adam Beechen (Justice League Unlimited), who was super-nice, but is leaving JLU! NOOOOOOOO! Ah well. That's just the way it is, sometimes. Anyway, I also got to meet Trina Robbins, whom I "know" from the comics scholars listserv we both belong to. She's such a class act. Really, there's no other way to describe her. She's just wonderful to talk to. Also met Steve Leialoha (I'm sure I'm misspelling his name, and I apologize), who was very easy to talk to. He's been around the industry for a while, worked with everybody, drawn almost everybody, and still a very humble fellow. Wish I'd gotten to visit with him more. But I did get a sketch from him in the Starman book. Also got to meet Pia Guerra, who's drawing Y: The Last Man for Vertigo. She's also easy to chat with. In fact, I didn't meet one "not-nice" person the whole weekend! Man, that's...well,...nice!

I'll have more tomorrow, since I've still got some reading to do before bedtime...

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