Star Trek Memories: And How It Helped Point Me to the Love of My Life

Well, I'm finally getting around to the post I alluded to ten days ago for Star Trek's 60th anniversary.  And the celebrations continue for me as I'm thoroughly enjoying re-watching the first series' episodes, some by myself and some with my wife. That shared enjoyment of the series began a long time ago and was a key factor in knowing she'd be a suitable mate for me. So let's slingshot around the sun and go back in time from somewhat recently to a long, long time ago...(Sorry, wrong franchise)

"Spanning Jordan's swelling tide"

Sorry, I've been away for a while - I hope to rectify that in another month after I finish processing the rest of the stuff in my garage, which still needs to go into storage.

Today is Mother's Day, and it also marks the 56th anniversary of my Daddy "spanning Jordan's swelling tide" into Heaven.  The phrase comes from his favorite hymn, "Life is Like a Mountain Railway."  My mother told me about it yesterday.  I almost choked up reading the lyrics because he not only lived the song, but he died the song as well, going from his train car into Glory. 

Here's the last stanza and refrain:

Spanning Jordan's swelling tide;
You behold the Union Depot
Into which your train will glide;
There you'll meet the Sup'rintendent,
God the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous plaudit,
"Weary pilgrim, welcome home."

Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach the blissful shore,
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

More details can be found here with accompanying links (although the character portrait info is no longer viewable).

And someone has done a nice write-up on the hymn here.

Short and sweet...just getting my writing feet wet again...

IRON MAN 3 (2013) and the Backwards Appreciation Phenomenon (BAPH)

 

Wednesday, a week ago (Feb 4), my wife and I got to rewatch Iron Man 3.  It was the concluding part of our Trevor Slattery/faux-Mandarin backstory review (in reverse) following our completion of the excellent Wonder Man Disney+ show.  Since I was taking the next day off to visit my mother in my home state, we amazingly finished it in one sitting! (If you're 55+, you may appreciate how rare that can be, which is why I like to still watch movies in theaters where you're forced to see it through without pause.) And I really, really enjoyed it, much more than I remember upon seeing it the first time back in 2013. (Doesn't look like I even blogged about it.)  Well, I'm contributing this increased favorable opinion to BAPH (pronounced "BAFF"), the Backwards Appreciation Phenomenon. 

(Add it to your lexicon folks, you won't find it in Websters...yet.  Because I just coined it as a term, but the concept has been around for decades.)

Re-POST Link due to the Winter Olympics

I have several posts brewing in my mind this week, and was up early this morning with time to work on them, but then I put on some Winter Olympics while drinking my hot fizzie (Nuun, Electrolyte Drink tabs dissolved in boiling water)... 

Now, I'm not much of a sports person, with the exception of playoff major league baseball, whenever my "home" team, the Kansas City Royals, is competing.  However, I'm a sucker (as in "sucked in") for Olympic sports, specifically "winter" Olympic sports.  There is something comforting and cozy about watching these events snuggled under a blanket while being stuck inside because of the intense cold weather (the real feel is -1 right now).  Or perhaps, it's because traditionally, you are at home when the games are on, versus the summer games, when you could be traveling or doing something outside yourself. So, it's partially nostalgia and the opportunity to watch with family. Whatever the reason, I'm drawn to all the interesting alpine and sled events, not so much the figure skating (and definitely NOT the hockey - Sorry Canadians).  Maybe I'm also influenced by all those epic ski chases in Bond movies?

And it's always better to watch the events LIVE, which you can do for $11/month on Peacock Premium right now.  $11 for 16 days of content is a good deal, especially if you can bypass the overly packaged, highly USA-biased, summary evening coverage. I certainly want the US Team to do well, but you shouldn't ignore the other athletes.  And it's more exciting when the events unfold in real time.

Man, I thought this would be a quick post, but I'm battling Grammarly (which isn't even enabled), trying to avoid all the underline colors that it's warning me about in my sentence compositions!  The orange ones are the worst, because they're not technically wrong, just not what Grammarly's AI would do, I guess.  I'm writing this you 'bot, not you!! (Sadly, it still is influencing me somewhat...)

Anyway, I wanted to share a link to an old post related to a previous Winter Olympics (again from 16 years ago).  You can find it here.

See you sooner than you may think...possibly.

16 YEARS LATER

Today, 2026 January 30th, marks the 16th anniversary of my premiere posting on Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales.  I recommend reading the preamble (at least) from my initial offering, which can be found here, as context for today's post.

As this milestone "sweet sixteen" anniversary approached, I have now reached Season 5 of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, which I began watching back in early November, the day before my Planet Earth/Dylan Hunt post.  I finished the eighth episode (s5.8) yesterday.  It's been a great series so far, which I've enjoyed immensely (especially Harper and Rommy), but a friend warned me at the start that an abrupt change in direction occurs in the fifth season.  After a brutal Season 4 finale, the status quo has been entirely upended as we encounter characters days, months, and years after we've last seen them, displaced in time and space.  They've been living (and surviving) during this time, having undergone major changes along the way (and some regressions as well).  This all reminded me of DC Comics' "One Year Later" event from twenty years ago (2006).

Maybe DC got the idea from Andromeda, since Season 5 began in 2004.  Regardless of where it originated*, it was a pretty nifty publishing endeavor (I hesitate to use the term "gimmick").  After the big (miserable) Infinite Crisis event, DC dropped readers into each title, picking up with the characters "one year later".  And a year in a comic book character's life is a looooong time in normal publishing.  The character may be barely recognizable or their status quo has undergone tectonic shifts, leaving readers to ponder why and what caused this to happen to their "lives".  Creatively, it allowed DC to mix up or establish new creative teams to move the needle on a character's story that otherwise would've taken years to achieve normally.  It's both familiar and nouveau at the same time, with the ongoing story and the backstory unveiling simultaneously.

*Actually, Marvel did it first with Secret Wars back in 1984!  Think Amazing Spider-Man #252 with the first appearance of his black symbiote suit or She-Hulk unexpectedly joining the FF in #265. (See my MMW post from last July for stories from that era, ironically not long before Marvel announced the cancellation/indefinite hiatus of the Marvel Masterworks line.)

[This is different from a hard reboot ala New Earth (post-Crisis), or a soft reboot like One More Day where they de-aged and de-married Peter Parker to make him sexually promiscuous and ruin his character for all time, as it happens in continuity.]

I co-opted DC's "One Year Later" label above for this comparison reflection on where I am...16 years later.

Thanksgiving 2025 (a thorny rose herself)

Thanksgiving at Mom's House

I didn't call

her "Mom"

but I

could have

(should have)

There'd 'av been

no conflict

as I call 

my mother

"Mama"

Strange to think

that for a 

kid who revelled

in calling adults

by their first name

I would 

often find it 

awkward

to use the name

"Joyce"

It seemed 

improper somehow

less familiar

than it

really was

I should've

(could've)

called her

"Mom"

but I didn't

She became

another mother

to me

thirty-three

years ago

By marriage

of course,

the official

term being

"mother-in-law"

Not the 

stereotypical

"hate each 

other's guts"

type either

No

she was 

loving, kind 

(opinionated, direct)

a source of support

Conflicts 

were few 

and frustrations 

might occur 

only occasionally

She exuded

love and affection

through her smile,

eyes, words,

and actions

A soft 

heart-y interior

within a tough confrontational 

(very particular)

shell

The

woman

could

be

fierce

Loved by

all

yet

abandoned

by two

She didn't deserve

to be alone

but she was

a survivor 

(thrive-or)

After her

second husband

left her for 

"the ministry"

HA!

I started

to get

her flowers

for her

birthday

She'd admire them

 sitting on the stove

surprised to find out

that they were hers

(every time)

A woman who 

cultivated roses

 (a thorny rose herself)

should always

be remembered

Yellow carnations

(if I could find them)

would still 

look good

weeks after

I wasn't allowed 

to get her flowers 

this last birthday

'cause the budget went 

to a flowering plant instead

But I sent some

down anyway

six weeks later

an emissary

(my final tribute)

I'm told

she liked them;

and they were present

 at her passing

(and so was I)

A silent sentinel 

to two grieving

loving daughters

anguishly saying

good-bye

I prayed 

if it were His will

that I'd be there

for them

(for me)

God's timing 

is perfect

threading the needle

between birthdays

and anniversaries

Forever avoiding

a taint of grief 

on future milestones;

 great indeed are

His tender mercies!

Her favorite room

(double doors to the deck)

looked out upon

her wooded garden

so carefully kept

Within her house

built just for her

(over 50 years past)

at the end of the street

Forty-four O'eight Banff

The site of so many 

Thanksgiving Dinners

 with assigned seats,

crystal goblets, and taboo subjects

(mostly) avoided

A room and a table

filled to the brim

with family and friends,

green chairs and bun warmers

(fall foliage decor abounding)

She cooked her turkey

upside down 

so the white meat

would always

be moist and tender

My "real" Thanksgiving

had been the Day After

(in Claremont)

until the Day After

was no more

I should have

 realized earlier 

that one 

wasn't more "real" 

than the other

I was just 

getting a bonus 

Thanksgiving

(a double portion of

 my favorite Holiday)

Yearly traditions

die way too fast

but at least the

memories made

generally outlast

This year

we're all scattered

to various homes

while Mom's house 

now sits alone

A place of joy

a place of sorrow

a place of feasting

a place of no more

tomorrows

Thanksgiving at Mom's house

was so very special

but feasting with her 

next will resume

at Heaven's table

https://obituaries.carewellcremations.com/joyce-leamon

THIS is "Planet Earth"? (or Will the real Dylan Hunt, please stand up?)

One of my favorite albums from the early '90s is School of Fish.  The whole thing is a masterpiece, especially the first two tracks: "Intro" & "3 Strange Days".  I echo some of the lyrics frequently because they represent a limited and compressed toe-dip into some pop culture phenomenon, experience, or sampling.  I'd even call the term 3 strange days a "short soirée", even though that stretches the definition well beyond the norm.  But hey, mangling and jangling the English language is just how my thoughts work.  And it may not be a strict three days (and it doesn't have to be limited to pop culture entertainment), but you get the idea:

For three strange days
I had no obligations
My mind was a blur
I did not know what to do
I think I lost myself
When I lost my motivation
Now I'm walking 'round the city
Just waiting to come to
For three strange...

So last weekend, after completing my annual Halloween movie fest (more on that another time...maybe), I started watching Gene Roddenberry's unsuccessful and bizarre, loosely-connected trilogy of mid-70s SyFy films: Genesis II (1973), Planet Earth (1974), and Strange New World (1975) on Tubi.

It's something I've heard about and seen pictures of over the years, and I've always wanted to check it out.  Let's just say there's a lot to discuss...

By My Own House Betrayed!!!

 WARNING - some of the images below may be terrifying!

"The Germ of Righteousness" and Balancing the Scales

Yesterday, I mentioned that there was something about Albert Werper's character arc that I wanted to expound upon.  And thanks to waking up early, and it finally being the weekend for me, I can give it a go. However, I'll have to provide more *spoiler* details about the story to do so, which means if you're inclined to read Tarzan #5, you might want to skip this post for now.

Bad Influences

 

Obviously, there's a story behind this...

31-24

Sometimes a post begins with an idea, sometimes it begins with a title.  Today, it's the latter.  And to ensure you know my pronunciation intent, I'll spell it out for you: "thirty-one, twenty-four".  No, this isn't the beginning of some girl's measurements.  If you're reading this in real time (today's original posting date), then you probably already have an idea of what I might touch on this morning.  Meet me after the jump break if you're curious to know more.

Jungle Tales of Tarzan (#6) - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Well, I've kept you waiting long enough.  Those who've been faithfully following this latest resuscitation of Comics And... no longer need endure sleepless nights in anxious suspense.  I can now finally reveal the mystery Tarzan novel I hinted at two weeks ago.  

Deepest, darkest African Cannibalistic Tribe drumroll please...  

Jungle Tales of Tarzan

Did anyone guess?  Probably not.  You only had 12 to choose from out of the 24 novels, which you can view in all their Neal Adams and Boris Vallejo cover glory here.

I finished the book just over a week ago and have been eager to write about it ever since.  Let's take a swan dive past a towering tropical waterfall and plunge into its textural depths.

Out of Time Traveling Thru the Night

It's 10:00pm Saturday night, and I'm just about to drive out of the BMI Event Center parking lot in Versailles, Ohio.  ApologetiX had finished their outstanding performance at Immortal Fest II only 45 minutes prior.  Within that short window I was able to speak to most of the band members and get signatures on my copy of the setlist. Instead of heading to a nearby hotel, I'm heading home to Columbia, Maryland over 500 miles away. This year I'm not just avoiding a lodging expense, I've got to get back in time for my 3-month old granddaughter's baptism, scheduled for 10:00am the next day.  The iPhone GPS app says it will take 7.5 hours, and I've got 12 exactly.  Plenty of time, right?

John Christopher's The Tripod Trilogy

 "Listen, kiddo, Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout!"

- Carol Marcus

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

And neither was I.  However, my personal history is rooted in scouting in three ways:

• I used to have a bevy of Kenner's Steve Scout toys back in the mid-70s.  Specifically, I had Steve and Bob, the Pathfinder jeep with removeable wheels, the snowmobile, and the scout base tower made of formed plastic faux wooden logs.  A cross between MEGOs and GI Joe Adventure Team, these were a lot of fun to play with outside, but not very durable as my broken and incomplete collection attests.  They probably have no value to speak of any more, not even displayable, but they are touchstones to my past that I'm reluctant to leave behind in a trash receptable. 

• I also was a Cub Scout.  I'm pretty sure I joined during my brief sojourn in Leavenworth, KS, during the fall of 1978 when I lived at my Grandmother's house a block down from the elementary school where I had started 3rd Grade.  (I can clearly recall trying to sell peanut brittle to the neighbors along Olive Street for one of the fundraisers.)

During that time I enjoyed: 

• playing on the wooden playgrounds (all the rage those days), the greatest of which was Buffalo Bill Cody Park with it's zipline swing, and playing kickball during recess (the only sport I was ever good at); 

• biking down alleyways with a bubblegum card in my spokes pretending I was a member of G-Force from Battle of the Planets (aka Gatchaman); 

• posing my Kenner Star Wars action figures on the stone wall surrounding the property or on the 90-degree turn carpeted stairs, which were also fun to ride down on a pillow...as long as the door separating the two floors was slightly ajar.

One thing I didn't enjoy was all the sentences I had to write as punishment for offenses at school.

I know I achieved my Bobcat, Wolf, and Bear badges, but I'm unclear on whether or not I finished by Webelos or not.  Many of these would have been completed after we returned home to Virginia in early 1979.

• One of my fondest memories of being a "Scout" was the Boy's Life magazine that came in the mail.  And I was totally blown away and entranced by the serialized version of John Christopher's The White Mountains, book one of The Tripod Trilogy series, which began in the May 1981 issue.  I even have some of the pages saved somewhere in my archives (likely an old Avon box), but fortunately, I didn't even have to dig it out because this wonderful site has the entire adaptation scanned for your enjoyment.

I started reading the trilogy on 2025 Jul 19 and finished the fourth book last night, 2025 Aug 13. My daughter Evelyn helped get me some of the missing volumes that I needed for my birthday.  I had at least read The White Mountains back in Middle School, but the rest seemed to be new to me.  Anyway, let's explore how awesome this series is below the jump break.

Closest I could get to matching spines.

TIME DELAY

Last night, my wife and I were watching a few minutes of The Sound of Music, the 50th anniversary Blu-Ray edition. We had started it the night before, while babysitting our second granddaughter for the first time.  This version contains a nifty "My Favorite Things" function that allows you to select one of four special features: production photos, sing-along lyrics, movie/real-world facts, and trivia. We had activated the lyrics and facts, so during the "Do Re Me" song montage of Salzburg, Austria locales, up popped the caption stating that filming began in April 1964.  Now, savvy movie aficionados (or buffs) know that The Sound of Music is a quintessential 1965 film, which marks its 60th anniversary this year in 2025.  You can even see it in theatres for a brief run this coming September. And therein lies the theme of this latest installment of Matthew's Musings, Time Delay.

The title of this post immediately sprang to mind, along with the beginnings of a musing. Do I keep it to myself or share it with others? Well, if you're reading this, then you know the answer...

A piece of art, writing, or entertainment is defined by the time it is presented, published, or released.  However, in most instances (with the exception of electronic writing, such as this blog), there is a gap in time between when the work is developed and when it is ready for public consumption.  Subconsciously (or maybe even consciously) we understand this, but that doesn't stop our time association with whatever it is to be slightly askew from actual reality.  Thus, creating a perception reality that is just as real to us and more impactful.

LAST DAY

Last Day

What if this was your last day?  How would you live it?

I’ve been thinking about this, because today, 2020 May 10, marks the 50^th anniversary of my Daddy’s death.  So yesterday would’ve marked his last full day on earth, 1970 May 09.  He was 31, married, and had three children: a 6-year old boy, a 4.5-year old girl, and another son in the womb soon to be born (me).  I know some details about that last day, which I recounted in my poem from Mother’s Day 10 years ago: http://comicsand.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-to-remember.html. And I asked Mama to write up a character portrait of Daddy, which is just wonderful and will be shared sometime today, if it hasn’t already. But while, thinking about Daddy’s final day of life is the inspiration of this message, it not really about him as you’ll see.

Last Day

What if this was your last day?  Would you accept it?

Just thinking about those two words automatically invokes images from one of my favorite movies, Logan’s Run from 1976.  In that film, in order to keep the population under control living in the sealed domed city, the citizens voluntarily went to Carousel on their 30^th birthday.  There they would don hockey/skull masks and white-body suits decorated with red flames, stand in a circle, and raise their blinking red life clocks (crystal palm flowers) to “Identify”.  Then they would float up into the chamber until they exploded in a fiery display while their fellow citizen onlookers shouted, “Renew, Renew!”  Why would anyone do this?  Well, they were taught to believe they would be reborn and just get to live another 30 years of fun and pleasure.  Those that didn’t believe the messaged lie realized that the people were actually going to their deaths.  So in order to live longer than 30, they attempted to flee the city seals, becoming Runners.  The City could not tolerate that sort of independent thinking, which would upset their control and delicate balance, so they enlisted Sandmen to terminate the runners. Logan was a Sandman, but later became a runner.  Anyway, it’s a great movie from story to music to costumes, but again not the real subject.

10 YEARS AFTER

Well, this is a surprise. 

You may be thinking, "Yeah, you haven't done a blog post in over a year."  Or at least, that's what you were supposed to be thinking. Instead, you're probably saying, "Umm, you posted already today.  What gives?"  You see, the first post sort of just happened. 

Oh, I wrote it, and scheduled it for some distant day, but I totally forgot about it.  I was planning on writing this post for today, which marks the 10th anniversary of my debut appearance as a blogger on Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales. 

Even though the blog has sort of morphed into a private Facebook Group these days, it's still pretty important to me and I routinely go back to the well and resurrect links to old posts I remember writing.  It was a big part of my comic (book-centric) life for a number of years and I enjoyed the creative expression.  Although, I can't imagine how I ever had time to write every week for so long, was ready to take a break, was ready to try again, and now just glad it still exists out there like an old friend. 

Anyway, I loaded up the site this morning, ready to compose something new, and the Ant-Man Marvel Masterworks review was up...brand new today! Foiled by time-travel! Past-me is awfully tricksey.

With today celebrating such a momentous occasion, I wanted to ruminate on the current state of my comic-book reading, collecting, etc.  The hope is that by self-examining my own behaviors and habits, I may arrive at some new conclusions on what to continue doing and what to do next.  After all, I'll be hitting 50 this coming May and I want to be "redeeming the time" well.  While I'm not given to New Years Resolutions, I have been slowly retooling my pull list lately, moving toward some changes. [more after the break -- sorry no photos, but plenty of links]

Dark Shadows Beginnings -- A Review

I'm way behind in my new comic reading.  And I'm making slow progress thru some of my more recent hard cover acquisitions.  The reason?  Too much TV (as always).  How can that be when all the CW comic-related shows (including the excellent Riverdale) are on winter hiatus and the Marvel Netflix shows are all but done (sob)?  Amazon Prime.  Or rather, the free streaming shows available on that service.  It all started around Halloween when looking for something spooky to watch, I viewed the Dan Curtis Production of Frankenstein (1973).  It reminded me of Dark Shadows.  I then caught the film-quality version of Dan Curtis' Bram Stoker's Dracula (also 1973) with Jack Palance, who if you believe the internet was the inspiration for Gene Colan's depiction of the character in the Marvel Comic.

After a few more Dan Curtis classics(?) such as a werewolf in LA and a zuni doll from Trilogy of Terror (filled with plenty of jump-scares), I decided to delve back into watching Dark Shadows.  I became a fan of the show over a quarter of a century ago around the time I got married.  It was on the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel (back when it contained good material) where they aired at least two episodes back-to-back, I think around 10:00 am (after the Six Million Dollar Man or Incredible Hulk).  I had seen odd episodes here and there, but this was the first time I recall making a concerted effort to watch the series regularly.  I remember seeing much of the late 1860's story line, where Barnabas' consciousness enters his entombed body during that time and meets the "real" life Quentin (I think to deal with the music-appearing spook version from 1968 [then present day]).

I even got a few books on the series back then celebrating its 25th anniversary, so I read synopses of most of the episodes.  After all, how could anyone watch them all?  Back when MPI was issuing video tape versions, each one was about $30 each and contained a week's worth of shows, meaning only five 22 minute episodes.  That's quite an expense when you understand that there were 1225 episodes!  Enter Amazon Prime.  A search will show you that they have divided the series into 26 "collections" of around 40 episodes each.  As a daily [Gothic-horror] soap-opera (did I forget to mention that?) there were no yearly seasons as we understand them, which means they just broke them up into roughly even chunks that stop whenever, not necessarily at the end of a major story arc.

Picking up roughly where I had left off in the mid-1990's (and possibly later as my older kids remember watching some of the show with me at times - maybe from the library?), I began watching Collection 17, episode 27 (#884 or sequentially #873), which originally aired on 1969 November 13.  This means I was viewing it almost exactly 49 years later!  (The episode numbers don't always add up due to interruptions and them always wanting the Friday episode with the bigger cliff-hanger to be a multiple of 5.)  It was a show that I could watch by myself, when others are watching This is Us or Call the Midwife.  But a funny thing happened.  My 10-year old son, "Manny" (Matthew Jr.) started watching it with me.  He enjoyed it enough that he got upset if I watched it without him (shades of Netflix show viewing with my beloved wife)!  So, I waited, and waited.  Our progress became too slow for my purposes.  I kept watching with him  -- we're currently thru Collection 20, episode 15 (#996 or sequentially #981), which originally aired on 1970 April 20 (nearly a month before my birth!).  We've seen the entire Leviathan story-line and have entered into 1970 Parallel Time.

I didn't like having nothing to watch when he wasn't available (or willing), so I went back to the beginning.  Specifically as it is listed on Amazon -- Dark Shadows Beginnings.  It's a six-part collection that includes the first 206 episodes (thru #209), spanning from 1966 June 27 to 1967 April 14.  All of these precede the first appearance of Barnabas Collins (at least in person).  You may question the need to view the episodes before things "got interesting".  Well, I'm here to tell you (after an extremely long-preamble/warm-up exercise), that there are plenty worth watching.  It's OUTSTANDING!!!

But where to begin...How 'bout the way each episode does:

"My name is Victoria Winters..." 

[more after the break]

The Reason

December 25, 2018

Yes, I grew this beard for a reason.

You ask, “In honor of the season?”

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Not So!

(Though my belly has begun to shake,

I’m afraid that’s from too much cake.)

It’s my brother’s fault you see…

He was only honest with me.

Now, instead of having the clean shaven chin

Of Burke Devlin or Popeye the Sailor

My skin is more akin

To the incarcerated face of George Taylor!

Remember him?  The famous film-guy,

Who confronted with destroyed Liberty

Knelt in the sand, wet from foaming seas,

And CURSED the human race!

“GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!”

Strange Contrast

Remember Him?  The sinless God-Man,

Who surrendered His will to gain our freedom

Knelt in a garden, sweat as bloody drops,

And BLESSED us by choosing to take our place!

And he said, “Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me; however not my will, but yours be done.”

(Yeah, that’s all true

And Jesus can certainly SAVE you)

But if you’ve got to know why,

On the day we sing of the babe that slept with cows.

I’ve just got to say,

I was only covering up my jowls!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The State of Comics And...

Our beloved founder and zen "pool" master, Jim, has let it be known that he's bowing out of our Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales reunion tour.  He's certainly been the guiding force behind this endeavor, encouraging us with his comments and schedule reminders.  Not to mention he's the one person we can always count on to actually read our posts.  According to said schedule, Shawn and Lee are up for the next two Sundays, but I honestly don't know if they or Thomas will want to continue on a regular basis or not (Gwen was already taking a hiatus).  I for one have two posts "in the can" to share that I keep pushing back for newer material.

Anyway, I, personally don't plan to stop (the "...of course, we can still be friends" stage), but in terms of a standard rotation or organizational format, I think it will be whenever the mood strikes us, i.e. "No Deadlines!"  It'll be interesting to see if not having the deadlines will promote more posting or less.  We're all quite busy (as I'll discuss more below) and this is just for fun.  I appreciate the opportunity to express myself and this is an awesome way to accomplish that on a semi-regular basis.  Without it, I'm just reading/thinking about stuff by myself and that's not nearly as enjoyable as being part of the larger Comics community.  We may not be comics creators (yet), but somebody's got to be the "Siskel and Ebert" too.  To quote Roy Neary from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, "This means something; this is important." Or not, maybe we just like to play with our mashed potatoes...

So, in typical comic-fashion, I've been having a Crisis of sorts...A Crisis of Too Many Unread Comics!  (That was going to be the original title of this post. I probably have well over a hundred by now.)  Every week almost without fail I faithfully stop into my Local Comics Shop (LCS) on New Comics Wednesday, the stupendous Cosmic Comix and Toys, which I've been a patron of for over 20 years.  I truly love it there, not just the atmosphere, but the chance to chat with the gang and the regulars.  It's a bit like my version of Cheers.  I get my books hand delivered for me from my box, or I'm allowed the privileged to go behind the counter and get them myself.  I carefully study the issues (like Juan Valdez) and if necessary go to the rack and select the best copy possible. The service is exceptional. They'll place stuff in my box (beyond my "normal" list based on just an e-mail [sometimes the day of]) to check out with no pressure or obligation to buy.  I can always put something back, because they know there is always something else I'll probably pick up.

Even when I try to cut back, I usually get something new.  For example, this week I picked up Batgirl #25, 26, 27, and 28.  The art by Paul Pelletier was the main draw, but the story was really great too and I highly recommend the series (and may discuss further in another post).  I canceled Vampironica by Archie Comics.  It was like a combination of Buffy and Blade with Archie characters and drawn by the excellent Greg Smallwood, but EVERY issue arrives DAMAGED.  I might be willing to pay a buck for a beat up book, but not four!

I also picked up a slew of Marvel books, including a lot of Infinity Wars/Warps tie-ins. (I really enjoyed Duggan's All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, but they've gone overboard with this Warps concept (trying to create the next Spider-Gwen or Cosmic Ghost Rider.) Really, the best thing about Marvel is their digital codes.  I have a friend in Australia who Paypals me cover price minus $2 for each of them.  It's a huge savings for both of us. Unfortunately, I've gotten so far behind in my Marvel reading that I get the books only to bag and board them for months at at time until I give up on ever hoping to read them and relist on ebay.  I just sold my Venom:First Host lot last Friday.  I actually read that and liked it, but it was one of the few things I thought would actually sell , so up it went (it took less than 24 hours).  It might have helped that I listed it for cover price minus a dollar per issue to account for the lack of digital codes.  I loved the finale of Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man, but the new series is a little too tongue in cheek for my tastes. Sure, it's funny and entertaining, but it doesn't feel like Spider-Man to me.  A lot of books are that way.  Then there are the super serious ones like Immortal Hulk and Captain America, both sporting exceptional Alex Ross covers.  I enjoy the Hulk quite a bit, but Cap is unreadable and the middle-aged Sharon Carter desperately hoping for some affection from Steve is painful to watch.

To be honest, I'm digging DC books more than Marvel right now. Hawkman by Bryan Hitch is a stand out for me along with Tom King's Batman, the recent Two-Face arc in Detective Comics and Justice League Dark.  Then there are the mega maxi-series like Doomsday Clock and Heroes in Crisis (are those people really supposed to be dead?!  Wally West?!  We just got him back!)  Although, I've given up on reading the Bendis Superman books for now.  Of course, I'm still buying them all, but I'm three months behind (times two series) and I'd spend all my limited time catching up. (Plus, I really hate Rogol Zaar and can't wait for him to be gone.)  Now, I may eventually binge read a bunch or try to sell them.  I've been getting the new Justice League series, but I'm like 9 issues behind now and the Drowned Earth series is just going to further tax my budget.  You can buy them here (second shameful plug).  Despite my interest, I'm just not invested in these storylines right now.  If only that were true for all the comics related TV shows I partake in...

I love all the Marvel Netflix series (those that are left, sadly).  I watched Iron Fist season 2 twice, the first viewing in 26 hours.  Then I rewatched Defenders with my daughter and started Daredevil season one for the umpteenth time.  I'd probably be well on my way of watching Daredevil season three by now, but my wife wanted me to wait to watch it with her (it's been a week since episode three [SOB]).  The fever has at least left me for now.

The new CW shows are all in full swing with Riverdale being my favorite.  Flash seems promising again this season, Legends is still a lot of fun, and Arrow has been pretty good.  I'm really excited that John Wesley Shipp is returning as the 1990's Flash in an upcoming cross-over.  I've been waiting for that since the beginning of the show.  I like Black Lightning, but I'm going to probably wait to binge it once the season is over.  I don't want catching up on my weekly TV shows to be a part-time job!  Besides, there are still some Petticoat Junctions to watch (excellent series, so funny).  My youngest son and I are about to finish the original Lost in Space series, which we usually view on Friday mornings before he goes to school.  We've finished the 60s Batman series and Six Million Dollar Man.  We need to finish Buck Rogers, Bionic Woman, and The Incredible Hulk.  We took a side trip and enjoyed the first (only?) season of the Justice League Action cartoon, which included great portrayals of Firestorm and Booster Gold.

So obviously, TV watching, which I'm highly invested in, takes up a bunch of my "free time".  Then there is blogging (thinking about what I want to write at least) or ebay listing (thinking about what I want to sell at least), not to mention unscheduled Facebook challenges!  There are also the numerous hardcovers I'm getting.  These are high on my reading list and kick the new comics to the curb.  The Doug Moench Fantastic Four's have been slow going for me (Marvel Masterworks volume 20).  Bill Sienkiewicz draws an unsettling Reed Richards with his neck always stretched out. The latest Iron Man volume (#11) contains some favorites and I'm eagerly awaiting volume 12 next Spring.  So much to read, so little time.  That doesn't even bring into play the fact that when I do sit down to read something, I often fall asleep!  Or when I wake up in the middle of the night from insomnia on the weekends (or just get up early), my eyes aren't focused enough to actually enjoy reading.  Plus, even with my new Oscar Goldman's I still have to vary the distance to get perfect clarity.

The point of this all is that I really need to change my buying habits.*  This year's Baltimore Comic-Con reminded me how much I love original art and classic Bronze Age comics.  If I severely reduced my new comic list, then I could afford some really cool commissions.  But it's so hard to stop, after all part of the act of buying something you may never read is a hopeful endeavor...a promise that you really will get that time by the pool to relax and enjoy something special one day.  What I want is a series or character I really care about like I do my favorites on TV.  Batgirl has some strong potential at least.  But some of the big events...it may be a great story, but in the scheme of things I can live without it or wait for the trade. 

*My motivation for the books I'm getting is out-of-whack:  It should be reading first, then collecting, and finally looking at resale value.  Instead it is more backwards, looking for resale (buying the next issue to help with a sale), mindlessly collecting, and then reading.

I have enjoyed some independent books lately too like Isola, Oblivion Song, and Hey, Kids Comics!  Unfortunately, the Simpsons ended it's 25 year run with Bongo the other week.  We didn't even get a new Halloween Treehouse of Horror this year.  Speaking of Halloween, the kids are back from the Halloween-Disco (thankfully I found that 5-spot on my dog walk earlier which helped pay for them to go), so I better sign off.  Happy Halloween and I'll see you around sometime when you least expect it.  Keep Reading!