What I’m Getting Thursday July 8

This week sees the super hero material dominate my list. Since I have been slowly growing bored and losing interest in that side of the comic world I’m surprised how many books on my list still have me jazzed for the week. I think my love of that material waxes and wanes with the quality of the material.

Still let’s start with Vertigo and other category.

Scalped #39 is the beginning of a new arc called “Unwanted”. While the pregnancy of Dash’s girl friend is obviously a main element of the arc I’m sure that unwanted will apply in more than one place. I love this series.

Demo Volume 2 #6 (of 6) is coming out. This series has gotten stronger as it has gone on, I just hope the sales were strong enough to get us to a volume #3.

Sweet Tooth #11. The series by Jeff Lemire continues to intrigue. I feel sorry for our antlered headed star of the book as he appears to be an innocent and yet somehow a central element in the apocalypse that occurred.

Walking Dead #74. Kirkman and Adlard just continue to amaze with this series. Rick and company are still in the compound that gave them sanctuary and I have a feeling will be there for awhile.

Kill Shakespeare #3. This series has been a surprise sort of book in that even a non-Shakespeare person like myself continues to be drawn in and Gwen who is well versed in Shakespeare enjoys it. She probably gets more out of it because she knows who are the players are.

IZombie #3 hits the stands. This book reminds people of Buffy and since I was not a huge fan of that show I will take their world. For me it has been a great beginning and has built up a solid foundation for the series.

Hellboy the Storm #1 (of 3). This is billed as the final arc of the long running Hellboy story line that has been going on for a few years. I have heard that it will clear the decks for some new Hellboy adventures that might have Mignola back as artist as well as writer.

Wolfskin Hundredth Dream #2 (of 6). I’m not 100% sure why I continued with this series, but Ellis’ over the top Barbarian continues to entertain me.

The rest of the books I’m getting are the cape and cowl material.

Blackest Night HC. I’m now getting this with mixed emotions as Thomm said the book does not work that well as a standalone series. I’m not getting the GL and GL Corps HC as well, so we will see someday down the road how it holds up on its own in my view.

Batman Odyssey #1 (of 6). Neal Adams comes back to a Batman series as writer and artist. The preview of his pencils shows he is still a force in this business; hopefully he can pull off being a writer as well. Of course I’m not that worried as Neal plotted and was not credited for many ideas he had when he was first entered the field. Neal is possible the most influential artist ever in super hero comics. His merger of the dynamic presentation of heroes’ ala Jack Kirby with a more photo realistic look forever changed comics. Plus he was very influential in tearing up the old panel layouts and design and bringing in innovative page designs and storytelling techniques.

Scarlett #1. Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev have a new creator owned series under the Icon banner. Marvel has smartly allowed certain creators to have their books published by them to help generate sales as they get a higher profile being in the Marvel section of the ordering catalogs. This series has potential as Bendis is best with solo characters and a dark noir feel to Maleev’s heavily photo referenced computerized artwork should work well with a girl who goes rogue and decides to pay people back who wronged her.

X-Women (One Shot). Milo Manara is the artist and a well known erotica artist. Who cares what Claremont writes this book will border on soft porn masquerading as a “woman’s comic” from Marvel. This is a very bizarre way to celebrate “Women of Marvel”. I have to see this.

X-Force #28 is the second to last chapter of Second Coming. I’m barely looking forward to this as the story has dragged on way too long. It reminds me of the movie “Face Off” that seemed cool and then it had ending after ending after ending and ultimately was an overacted farce of a movie that has aged poorly.

Doom Patrol #12 – I dropped this series and picked it back up right away as it has gone into some very wild tangents. I love that it is playing with some of the old elements from the Grant Morrison run; maybe it will switch over to being a Vertigo series.

Thor The Mighty Avenger #1. This looks great. It is a new series with a re-imagined Thor. It looks like it will be a lighter book and I think this could be a sleeper hit. Plus it stands alone, so it is not mired in 50 years of Marvel history.

Brightest Day The Atom Special #1 – Jeff (Sweet Tooth) Lemire comes into the super hero side of things. I now want DC to offer Scott Snyder some work in the DCU as fresh blood is needed and Scott is a great writer.

Batman Confidential #46 – Like Legends before it I find that I grow weary of endless and meaningless Batman stories. I think the editors need to solicit Batman stories from everyone and then choose only the absolute best. The monthly publishing schedule seems to produce some arcs that while entertaining are not compelling. Of course this arc has Tom Mandrake as the artist which I always enjoy.

Great Ten #9 (of 9) - A shame they cut an issue off of this mini-series. This is probably the best under the radar series being produced by the big two.

Batman and Robin #13 – I’m really concerned the return of Bruce Wayne may ruin this series and I’m also worried that many Batman fans may not appreciate Frazer Irving’s unique art style. All in all I’m still enjoying Batman under Grant Morrison, like his X-Men run it remains one of the most dynamic runs on the book in years.

Brightest Day #5 –For the record it appears that the five week months are building in a little cushion as the bi-weekly series are really twice a month books. I like this series, I just want it to focus more on one or two of the stories each issue and move them forward more.

Shadowland #1 (of 5) – I ranted against this, but I like DD too much to pass on whatever they are going to do to him. I will not pick up the various ancillary titles that purport to be tie-in to this story. Also if between this and DD it doesn’t make sense I can drop it midstream.

JSA All Stars #8 – I like Matt Sturges writing and I like Freddie Williams art, but the combination is not working for me on this series. Add to that the backup story is generic, way too long and making me pay $4 for a book that should be $3. DC is making me consider cancelling a JSA book and I love the JSA.

Jonah Hex #57 – Easiest book for me to get as almost every issue is one and done. If you did not like this issue the next you should like, I have enjoyed almost every issue of this run.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird #2 – I like the characters, they have a good creative team and the book is only $3. Hopefully it will remain within its own continuity and not worry about all the Avengers stuff.

Red Hood Lost Days #2 (of 6) – A surprise to me that I find I’m more interested in what happened to Jason then I thought I was. As a villain Jason Todd has more going on then he ever did as a hero.

Steve Rogers Super-Soldier #1 (of 4) – I’m checking out issue #1 because of the creative team, we will see how long I want to go on with this story. It is an incredibly stupid name for Steve Rogers, just call him Steve Rogers. It wasn’t Nick Fury Immortal Warrior.

Red Robin #14 – Even with the change in creative team this book continues to shine. DC did a great job in making this series work and keeping Tim as an integral part of the Bat family.

Secret Six #23 – A great series, that has only gotten stronger as each issue goes by. Can’t wait to see where Gail takes us next of course John Ostrander is filling in this issue which is perfect as John and Gail both shine on this type of book. Also I’m sure John worked closely with Gail on this issue.

Irredeemable #15 – What was once a beloved series for me has found itself mired in storylines that are dragging on forever. I had doubts about an unlimited storyline and those doubts are coming true. The story needs to have a beginning, middle and an end to work. It can be a 36 or 48 issue long story it just needs to have an endpoint.

It is a big week with a lot of what look to be terrific books coming out. This week could end my feeling of general malaise I have had with the spandex bunch.

Happy Birthday, USA!

Let's try to remember what the USA is about by looking at what it's not.

It's not about a static constitution written for an agrarian society ruled by a wealthy few and voting rights to only a few more. It's not founded by a bunch of guys who all thought the same thing was a good idea for how to run a country, either. Finally, it's not about the Founding Fathers being some sort of perfect saints.

The Founding Fathers were of different minds on what the Constitution should entail. In fact, the Constitution is one big compromise, a concept that is an anathama to the absolutists of the talking head world of punditry, whether on TV or the internet, but the truth nonetheless. They compromised on slavery. They compromised on congressional representation (majority in the House, even numbers in the Senate). Even so, as soon as they were done with it they weren't satisfied and proposed the Bill of Rights (aka the first ten amendments). From the very beginning the Constitution was written to change.

And change it has. One of the first and most important of changes was not an amendment, either. It was the Supreme Court case of Marbury v Madison that established the Supreme Court's power to review the constitutionality of executive and legislative actions. That's nowhere in the Constitution as a power granted to the court, but for over 200 years now it's been accepted as such. The author of that decision, and the Chief Justice at the time, was John Marshall, a Founding Father. (He's the guy behind Ben Franklin in the tattoo on my right leg.)

The Founding Fathers were full of flaws, both personal and political. There's the aforementioned failure to deal with slavery, which eventually lead to the Civil War. The original Constitution they created left voting rights limited to white males who owned real property. The Senate was an appointed body, not elected. Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Thomas Jefferson engaged in extramarital affairs (after being widowered) and likely fathered children who were literally his property.

These guys were human. They did something phenomenal and without precedent in creating the framework for a government that, over time, evolved to protect its citizens from intrusive government while also allowing it to take more action to "form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity".

That Preamble alone should tell even the most casual of readers that the Constitution was not a document writ in stone (that would be the Ten Commandments).

Something else the US is not about is this.

This is a sign a neighbor has on his gate. Now, the US has lots of people who "think" this way. I am reluctant to grant that there's any actual thinking involved, though. Let's start with the linguistically amusing "Obama, orgainizing to socialize America". I'm going to presume he means turning the US into a Socialist nation, as that's what the vapid talking head advocate incessantly, but what this sentence without punctuation actually says is something else. I'll grant Obama has utterly failed at socializing America, too. The social skills of the populace appear to be in free fall, far more so than the economy.

Then there's the second part of "working to steal our freedom", so let's take those two parts together. Obama is turning the country Socialist and stealing our freedom. What industry has been nationalized? Not a freakin' one. Health care? Nope. That's all to be run through private companies. Chrysler and GM? Nope. The US owns majority interests in stocks, but is working rather diligently at selling the stocks as soon as possible. Financial industry? Nope. Bailed out banks have had to follow some additional rules, including restrictions on executive compensation, but the biggest of the bunch have already bought their way out of the loans. And that's something too, because none of those banks were bought by the US. Instead, they were provided loans with conditions. There's nary an industry in the US that's owned by the US. Hell, even things that would seem like maybe a good idea for the government to control, like defense and highway construction and security at airports, is contracted out to private industry. These days even a lot of military operations are handled by private contractors. Social Security? The SEC? I'll leave those at the simple observation that Obama didn't have anything to do with the founding of either, both having pre-dated his birth (in HI, by the way).

So, the Socialization of the US is a bankrupt idea. Let's move on to "stealing our freedoms". I can't for the life of me figure out which freedoms those might be. Can't vote? No, more people than ever can vote. Can't move to whatever part of the country I want (if I can afford it)? No, nothing governmental holding me back there. Can't leave the country if I want? More of an issue for getting in than out, unless I'm subject to some sort of penal oversight. Can't go to school? Hell, that's not even a right, but I have access to free education for my kids and all sorts of governmental and private sources of aid for college and such. College is ridiculously expensive, but that's not the government's fault. Can't marry who I want? Well, I'm not gay, so I'm ok there. Loving v Virginia took care of that in 1967. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this neighbor is not agitating for gay marriage rights.

I'm all for a robust discussion of issues facing the nation. We have serious things to address in terms of how to promote the economy while still protecting ourselves and our posterity (environmentalism). National security is always something up for discussion (is military intervention in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq helpful, harmful, or a wash? should policing be the primary way to address terrorism or should policing and military action go hand in hand?) . This kind of thing isn't discussion of any sort, though. It's just yelling as therapy, like an angry driver in rush hour traffic. Like that driver, it's one thing to be peeved at the other drivers, but when it gets into road rage (militias, assassination threats, advocating "no" as a sole policy for governance), it's something dangerous to others, myself included. The hot button social issues are less important for the health of the nation, in my opinion, but sure, let's have a rational discussion of why banning abortion is not providing women with a choice (as Palin maintains with a straight face) or why allowing gay marriage in no way undermines heterosexual marriage (which is doing a fine job of failing all by itself). Why, we could even enter the politically fatal realm of atheism as a legitimate choice of "belief". I'm certainly game.

So let's remember that the US is about a government designed to impede rash action and promote compromise. Instead of hiding in corners with only those of like minds (ie those opposed to the release of the names of petitioners signing on to repeal of gay marriage rights), come out into the light in the center of the floor. Put forth some ideas for the problems facing the country. Listen to other people's ideas. Work out something that a majority can agree on. Sure, it doesn't generate ratings or blog hits, but then the Founders didn't anticipate that government would be based on the profits and losses of media organizations on an instant news cycle. Another flaw on their part, I suppose.

The List - June 2010

And now we're back to the last day of the month being Wednesday. I hate that. No time at all for this. Ah, well, at least I got a lot of good stuff this month. Something of a propensity for the small, contained story, which is often a good thing. This month also had a lot of books come out twice, and in one case three times, so some of them are being lumped together. Unfortunately, no Scalped at all this month.


1. The Walking Dead 73 - Between the DC area location and the change from nomadic, scratch existence to an established, apparently secure and benevolent community for our core group of survivors, this book has taken yet another intersting turn. This particular issue had good furtherance of Rick's preparation for the inevitable disaster, but more interesting to me was the focus on Abraham. His character has developed significantly in his relatively brief course in the book. Less so for the others who joined the group with him, but I'm sure Kirkman will get there eventually.


2. Atomic Robo and the Revenge of the Vampire Dimension 4 - Loved this issue. Pure Atomic Robo fun. It's the end of a long couple of days in 1999, which started with the attacking eponymous vampires. Now we have Thomas Edison, evil genius, or as one of the supporting cast has named him Undead Edison. The conversations in this book are really what it's all about, rather than plotting. And, despite being the fourth issue in a 4 issue series, this is essentially a stand alone story, as were each of the preceding three. In fact, I don't know how Clevenger and Wegener decided on the subtitle other than it being more catchy than calling the series Atomic Robo: A Bunch of One Shot Stories.

3. Fables 96 - Now the Snow White and Rose Red back story has gotten past interesting and into fascinating. While the prior two issues told an interesting story of their childhood, the latestest installment is showing how their early adulthood has really shaped their relationship and their relationships within the entire Fables community. Now it's not so bad that I don't know what's going on with the Dark Man. And, wow, does Snow ever have a hard early life. It's a wonder she's as well adusted as she is. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in quite the same light.


4. & 5. Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard 1 & 2 - This is so unlike the usual publishing schedule for Mouse Guard. I'm accustomed to waiting many months between issues, not two in one month. Of course, that Petersen has a large group of guests writing and drawing probably helps. These are a sort of Canterbury Tales in the Mouse Guard realm, with a bunch of mice at a tavern each taking a turn telling a tale, with the winner having his tab wiped clean. It's a good set up for having different creators telling stories in different ways and of different sorts. It doesn't play into the larger Mouse Guard stories Petersen has told, at least in a direct sense, but fleshes out the Mouse Guard world's culture.

6. Secret Six 22 - Talk about a hard childhood. Catman could easily be a raving psychopath, and I suppose to some exent he is. At least he knows who and what he is, though. Simone's ability to make a villain heroic in the most emotionally painful of ways is impressive. But it's not just Catman's violent, pain wracked confrontation with his son's kidnappers that's central to this story. Simone has readers empathizing with a team of badly damaged mercenaries who kill often and easily.

7. & 8. Invincible 72 & 73 - The Viltrumite War. I could leave it at that, but Kirkman goes from massive, epic fight in the first of these issues to a more leisurely paced period of healing in the second. It's a good shift, allowing us all to catch our breath, in addition to being realistic (as realistic as superhero comics manage, anyway) in the time needed for Invincible the heal from his very severe wounds. Too bad we don't visit Earth during this time to see how Eve's pregnancy is progressing over these months, but I'm sure Kirkman has that story in the pipeline. Oliver has developed into a far more balanced and interesting character than I expected, and Nolan's discussion with Oliver is patented Kirkman dialogue that doesn't worry about how much space it takes so long as it flows organically. Can't wait for the attack of Freddie Mercury.

9. daytripper 7 - Possibly the most violent of Bras's deaths, and maybe the most unexpected, too. His friend Jorge always seemed like an anchor for Bras in the previous stories. His descent into mental instability following the prior issue's near death experience is a surprising turn. It's necessary that this is a limited series, but it's leaving me wanting more. Definitely made me a fan of Moon and Ba. Fits in my single issue theme for the month, too, as each of these issues has been something of a stand alone story.


10. Madame Xanadu 24 - A new arc in 1963, or at least starting there. Harlem as seen through the eyes of an 18 year old black woman. The cusp of a lot of changes for women and blacks in the US, but still a lot of chains of the old ways. Nimue is hardly in this issue, serving to provide counsel to the young woman when the woman starts seeing people as they'll be when they die, sometime in the near future, rather than as they actually are at that moment. The girl is the narrator of the story but is narrating it from our present. Although it's the first of a new arc, the way it's told makes it feel like a stand alone issue, too. One thing I'll mention that I particularly liked was artist Marley Zarcone's depiction of the young girl. She has freckles. Now, not many artists show black people with freckles but it's not an uncommon thing. My wife has freckles that are similarly around the eyes. Love the attention to detail.


11. American Vampire 4 - Snyder's tale of young vampire Pearl continues to captivate. She's coming into some awareness of her abilities and limitations. She also has interesting relationships with Henry and Hattie, one of whom has betrayed her and the other has shown real devotion. King's back story of Skinner Sweet is less enchanting, but then, I don't necessarily want the same kind of story in both parts of the book. It remains an excellent vampire Western, which is a fairly specific genre.


12. The Unrwritten 14 - Lots of focus on Lizzie this go 'round. And the conspiracy operators are quite omnipresent, or nearly so. Webs everywhere. I'm waiting for Wilson Taylor to show up, though. Seems like the story can't really progress unless he does.


13. Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father 1 - Ah, now this is sweet relief. I had thought Dynamo 5 might have gone the way of Noble Causes, which shows no signs of life. This is a 5 issue arc (appropriate, I suppose), but I'll take what I can get. Unlike Jim, I find the change of powers amongst the heroes to be both interesting and engaging. The characters were getting comfortable in their roles with the powers alloted as they had been. This change makes them have to think and act in new directions. For instance, Spencer, who's half alien, can no longer shape shift to look human, thus isolating him from a lot of human contact. That's got several issues of good story in it all by itself.

14. Incorruptible 7 - I've said it before, but this is a much more interesting book than Irredeemable. Not that the latter is a bad book. I just like the smaller scale on this one. There's more of the relationship between Max Damage and Jailbait that's of interest than the more grandiose tale in Irredeemable. This time we not only have Jailbait realizing she has to leave Max because of the danger to her and the concommitant danger to Max that her jeopardy creates, but also an opponent with some smarts attacking Max when he's vulnerable. The development of how Max's weakness works is well thought out.


15. Unknown Soldier 21 - Only the barest appearance of Moses, our hero. This is a stand alone issue told from the perspective an AK-47. Yes, our narrator is an inanimate object. It's a bit awkward and jumps around because of that. It's a little strange to have an unconscious object feeling remorse. This is no intelligent design like Atomic Robo.


16. Zatanna 2 - I thought our dream demon had Zatanna cold, but Dini had a nice save for her in store. It's a strong month for stories when Dini's first appearance is all the way down here at 16.


17. The Great Ten 8 - It's nice to see aliens crash landing somewhere other than the US. That's run as a central element throughout this book, and nothing's more central than the mixing of alien tech with ancient Chinese tech to create Shaolin Robot. I would think the Politburo would be more than a little concerned about the reliability of this robot, though. All in all, it's been a fun series. Looking forward to the concluding issue.


18.-20. Justice League: Generation Lost 2-4 - This seems to be running under the radar a lot, as I've not seen anyone else comment on it. Not that I'm spending a lot of time looking. Still, I mostly picked it up for nostalgia to Giffen's JLI days and have been pleasantly surprised by the book. I had missed out on all that came before with Max Lord turning into a villain, but it's easy to pick up on here. The conspiracy he's working is in keeping with his abilities. I want to see how this plays out, so I'd say it's successfully hooked me.


21. Detective Comics 866 - Loved the changing art style to suit the mileus of the aspects of the story. The art for the flashback to Dick's first outing as Robin reminds me of the animated Batman shows, which were great. The story itself is a stand alone and a tragedy, too. You have to think that in the real world someone would have killed the Joker a long time ago, be it a court ordered execution, a vigilante, or some other na'er do well.


22. Batman: Streets of Gotham 13 - I like the Carpenter character, but the plot of the Director to off Batman and the builder of the trap was a little too pat. It's not a bad story, but it left my memory almost as soon as I was done reading it.

23. & 24. Justice Society of America 39 & 40 - The end of the Nazi future. No surprise in that, as we can't just have Nazis running the world as the status quo. Kind of funny that the Nazis get brought back like this. National Socialism hasn't had an appeal in a long time. Racism is certainly plenty prevalent, not to mention nuts with guns, but full on Nazis? Not so much. Anyway, Obsidian is revived as more than a wall ornament, which is nice. He and Mr Terrific seem to be the only ones who recall the Nazi future. I can understand that with Obsidian, being a semi-aware source of energy for the machine the Nazis used to control the super powered, but Mr Terrific was only supposed to be able to send a few seconds worth of message from the Nazi future to his present self, so why should he recall so much more than Obsidian? A bit of a weakness in the story, and the more or less summary style of story telling in issue 40 is also a detraction.


25. Zorro 5 - The first of this month's 6 free comics from Cards, Comics & Collecitibles of Reisterstown, Md. Typically good Wagner stuff, and probably could have been higher on The List. Lots of good background on Zorro's training and development as a person.


26. Jonah Hex 31 - Freebie numero dos. Good stand alone Hex story. Reminds me of the ones I'd read as a kid, though more violent. None of that weird mysticism of him talking to the dead that's in the movie, either. From all I've read of the movie, I'll not be seeing it any time soon.


27. Northlanders 29 - By all rights this story should be a lot higher on the list. First off, it's Northlanders, a series I love. Second, it's a one shot. But it just doesn't engage me. A small Viking trading boat takes a sudden right turn into the Atlantic because its captain is bored and disatisfied with his life. Mutiny, insanity and general mayhem ensue, with the ship ending up in Greenland and everyone dead. I'm not sure what Wood was going for here, but whatever it was, I missed it.


28. The Warlord 15 - Because Skartaris wasn't packed wall to wall with disparate elements, we've added aliens. Invading aliens, of course. And a little sister for Tinder/Warlord. Grell's using the curious passage of time in Skartaris to full advantage, though.


29. Birds of Prey 2 - It's not that I don't like this. It's just that I didn't recall a lot of what happened by the time I was putting the list together. It has good potential and Simone has done well with this concept previously. I think it'll climb up The List in future issues.


30. Irredeemable 14 - I feel like I'm being strung along on this story. There's a lot of soap opera elements of secret affairs discovered, Faustian bargains, and general focus away from figuring out how to kill the Plutonian and actually doing something in that direction. I don't even remember why we're looking for these things when Survivor nearly killed him all by himself when they last fought.


31. Gotham City Sirens 13 - Crazy sister, former nun, fighting machine. Seems all too familiar, like something out of the '80s. Again, not a bad story, but nothing to stick with me.


32. iZombie 2 - I was thinking this was going to jump right into Gwen searching out the killer of the guy whose brain she ate, but we went off in a bunch of other directions and only a little bit of creeping out the dead guy's family. More vampires in this issue, actually. The book has to watch out that it doesn't become just another vampire and zombie cliche. It has a good start with an intelligent zombie and shouldn't squandor that.


33. City of Dust 1 - Another freebie. I like this. Really good art, distopian future. As an atheist I question the premise of that future that all imagination has to be stamped out to do away with religion and the dangers religion presents. Atheism, unorganized as it is, doesn't advocate stamping out religion, let alone imagination, and there's no logic to the conclusion that imagination has to be wiped out to protect people from religion. And the art does the whole coy business of not showing nudity in a situation where it would be obvious. A guy haning around talking with a hooker, post coitus, is not going to have himself or the hooker strategically covered by sheets. With graphic violence throughout the book, graphic sex and nudity ought to be just as prevalent, if it fits in with the story.


34. Red Tornado 3 - The only thing that keeps this freebie from being the worst of the month is seen below, but man, this is bad. I don't remember comics from 1985 being this bad, but then, I didn't buy this one back then. It is at least in keeping with the pouty nature of this weak character, but that's no plus.


35. X-Force 123 - A product of something that went through Marvel Comics in the February 2002 issues, this is a 'Nuff Said issue. No dialogue at all and Milligan oddities abounding. There's explanation at the end, but this is just aimless to me.









Stay tuned for an Independence Day post later today.

Happy Birthday American Top 40!!!

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of Casey Kasem's first American Top 40 broadcast. I've been listening to the re-aired broadcasts from the 70's and 80's since January and they're simply FANTASTIC!!! The stations that air the 70's shows will air the first countdown today or tomorrow from 1970. The stations that air the 80's shows will air a special top acts of the 80's countdown from 1987. You can even visit the AT40 message board to find out what countdown will be playing the following weekend. Locally, around Baltimore you can catch the 70's show on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM on 101.9 FM and the 80's show Sunday night at 8:00 PM on 102.7 FM.

Comic fans should be well acquainted with the great Casey Kasem, who voiced Robin in the Superfriends cartoons, Mark in Battle of the Planets, and Shaggy on Scooby Doo. He did a lot of other cartoon voices too.

One thing I really like about these broadcasts is the variety of music, which you often don't get on the radio these days. The 70's shows especially have a good mix of soul, country, rock, folk, funk, disco, etc. If you grew up in either era, the weekly shows can really take you back to that time. Listening to an Air Supply album could drive you mad, but hearing Air Supply next to Journey or Styx sounds great. I think my Luck Cage Essential will read particularly well with some early 70's background music.

Enjoy!

Five O'clock Shadow

In the series Incorruptible, Max Damage has to quickly shave right after he wakes up or his body will become so tough that any razor will break on his stubble. This hardening increases the longer he’s awake, making him invulnerable. He can stay up for days until sleep deprivation starts hampering with his mental faculties, forcing him to rest. Consequently, Max is usually perpetually unshaven. If you look, there are a lot of Max Damages walking around nowadays.

When did it happen? When did going unshaven not just for one day, but several days become so fashionable?



I suppose my earliest recollection of the unshaven being in vogue would be back in 1981 when Harrison Ford first starred as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Of course he was generally only “scruffy-looking” when he was out in the field, but was clean-shaven back at the college. (Interestingly, Han Solo was ALWAYS clean shaven, despite Princess Leia’s comments on his appearance.) I’m going to put Indy in the “I’m too busy trying to stay alive” to shave category.



Then in 1984 we had Don Johnson’s portrayal of Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice. I seem to remember that Sonny had alcohol issues. Anyway, he wasn’t afraid to go unshaven to work, but he probably got flak for it. He did go undercover a lot, so I guess he needed to look more “seedy” (Although, Tubbs usually found time to shave.). Still, I’m going to put Sonny in the “I’m too lazy or hung-over” to shave category.



So, we had precursors 25 to 30 years ago, but that doesn’t explain the rampant unshaven-ness going on these days.

Now, when I was a kid, I always wanted to be more grownup, which is a typical childish fancy. And I do mean childish, since the child hardly can comprehend what they’re wanting really entails. For example, I used to want to have “B.O.”. Likewise when it came to facial hair, I wanted to have the swarthiness of Sean Connery’s James Bond – the shadow, not the hassle. Back in high school, I’d be lucky if I could get a few strands of hair to grow. Things started getting a little more visible during college, especially during exam week, which was a typical time to forego the blade -- The “I’m too busy studying” to shave category. Needless to say I regret both of those wishes as I’d rather not have body odor (although deodorant is easy enough to use and effective) and I certainly wish I didn’t have to shave as often as I do. (Do you realize how hard it is to apply sunscreen to stubble?)

I had a conversation last week with a couple of guys and the topic turned to shaving and it seemed pretty universal that shaving was a royal pain for us all. (I once had a friend who was originally from India and he had to shave TWICE a day to maintain a “clean-cut” appearance.) None of us used an electric razor, as they are woefully inadequate for dealing with the neck hair. What’s the point of using something “quick” when a wet razor is still required to finish the job? One individual was in a position where someone might complain if he didn’t shave for work. It didn’t make much difference for the other one, but he did notice that he received more compliments when he shaved.

I think the trend of smaller beards, van dykes or goatees, really stems from the desire to shave less. You still need to maintain them, but one will likely not notice if you miss a day or so if you’ve got something already growing. I’ve known people who grow beards seasonally (usually they’re hunters). Sometimes I imagine using the “I’m growing a beard “ excuse. Of course, I might not be growing a beard the next day, but then I could start growing another one the day after that. Who could prove you wrong?

Since I usually get up so early for work, most people would assume I hadn’t shaved by the time they saw me anyway, especially if I’m using a dull razor. (I remember a Simpsons episode where Homer shaves and his “shadow” disappears and then immediately reappears – that’s what it’s like to use a dull razor.) Consequently, I started skipping days or shaving at night (which times my five o’clock shadow at 5:00 AM) to gain me an extra few minutes of sleep. However, I usually can’t go for more than a couple of days before I have to scrape it off. In fact I see quite a number of workers who skip a day too (probably another reason why I felt comfortable doing it).


Not only is it more prevalent and socially acceptable in the work place (except for maybe interviews), but it seems to be fashionable. I was looking at the “vision” magazines, while at the eye doctor a few weeks ago. Many of them were really just another type of fashion magazine, especially since most of the frame advertisements were from Europe. The majority of male models were sporting LOTS of facial stubble. Given today’s fashions, I’m curious if Jim’s future son-in-laws will be clean-shaven on their wedding days?

I have another theory for why men go unshaven for days at a time – the cost. Razors are VERY expensive. So expensive that most stores have to lock them up as their unit cost per pound is nearly 400 dollars. When did they become so pricey? I honestly don’t remember, but in the last decade I think. Luckily, I can make a dull razor last several months!

Now I really don’t mind shaving as long as it’s on my own terms and timetable. For one thing my beloved wife LOVES it when I’m clean-shaven. And I have to admit I like it too – it’s just the monotony of it all and the time it consumes that irritates me. At forty I now have plenty of visible stubble and some of them are even gray. (Gray hair was something else I used to look forward to: I bet I’ll regret that too, when I get some.) Just all part of growing older. However, I know a great way to feel youthful again: shave before a nap. When you wake up, your face is still baby smooth! Makes me feel like a 20-year old again (momentarily).

Max isn’t the only “stubble-bum” in comics these days. If you check the latest logo for the Fantastic Four (the one that shows the four members in circles around the text, like they had in the late 70’s), you’ll see that Reed Richards is also unshaven. Now, Kirby often showed Reed unshaven if he was really working hard on something, but the current super muscular Reed is ALWAYS perpetually unshaven (Give him an eye-patch and he could pass for a Nick Fury life model decoy). Reed falls in the “My work is too important or I’m too busy” to shave category. You would think that a super genius could develop a better way for mankind to shave itself!!!



If you normally shave, but didn't today; what not shaving excuse category do you fall in? And not to leave the ladies out this could apply to their legs or their armpits as well (Although, that practice differs depending on the country or culture). My mother used to have a really cool shaver called a Flicker, which made a great space ship to play with once the razors were removed. She also used a straight razor! Compare that to our ultra comfort four-blade safety razors, we use today. Women are certainly tougher than men at times.

Red Hood's Revenge: A Review

Red Hood's Revenge
by Jim Hines


This is the third book in Jim's Hines' Fable-type stories. The first, The Stepsister Scheme, focused on Princess Danielle Whiteshore (aka Cinderella) and Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White manage to save Danielle's Prince from an evil fairy. It was a fun read and a decent introduction to the characters but overall Hines' second book in this series, The Mermaid's Madness, ended up being a better book overall. In some ways the three main characters thrived better in a story that didn't revolve too closely around their own stories. Red Hood's Revenge feel back into a focus on one of the main characters, Talia (Sleeping Beauty). In some ways this actually weakened the story as the writer enjoys switching perspectives every few chapters. I feel that'd he'd have better success in drawing you into one of the main character's stories if he spent more time allowing the reader inside their head. However, aside from that one concern this book was fairly enjoyable.


While the story is really about Sleeping Beauty the underlying plot also attempts to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Red Hood is an assassin who is hired to come after Sleeping Beauty. You see, when Sleeping Beauty left her kingdom she did so to escape execution - she had murdered the Prince who had "rescued" her (ie got her pregnant while she was still sleeping only to have her wake up because of birthing her children). The twist here is that fairy-kind is attempting to take over Talia's kingdom by using the curse still in her blood to put all of the palace into an enchanted slumber. Red Hood doesn't quite intend to fulfill her contract as she wants revenge against the fairies herself - and thus much chaos ensues.


Snow White and Cinderella are very much background characters with Talia and Red Hood taking most of the spotlight. While I enjoyed the story overall I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. All I'll say is that it made sense in order to continue the story but it seems to me that Talia's story deserved more than what it got. I can only hope that Hines' will revisit Talia's character at a later date and give her a more satisfying resolution to her past.


Even so I'd still recommend these books for some fun reading - especially if you are a fan of the Fables/Wicked type genre.

B+

The Death of Clark Kent and the Rest of Secret Identities

I can’t speak to every single super hero comic because I don’t follow all of them, but in what I do follow I have noticed that the secret identity has become a thing of the past. Why that is true is a subject for debate and I have my ideas, but let’s first put my proposition to the test.

Clark Kent has been absent from the Superman comics for a long time. With the New Krypton storyline and the War of Supermen and now the Grounded arc coming up I’m guessing we will not see Clark for a long time. The last time I remember Clark being an integral part of the Superman stories was when Geoff Johns was writing Action Comics. What is really odd is that most people always felt like Clark was the “real” character and Superman was the persona he adopted to be a hero. Now Superman is all that there is of the character.

Bruce Wayne is dead and returning, but even before he died he had died. I can’t remember the last time anyone ever really used Bruce Wayne as part of the story line. It has been years since Steve Englehart wrote Batman and actually had a life for Bruce. Of course Batman was always considered the “real” person and Bruce was the persona, so I’m not sure if this hurts the book as much as losing Clark.

Hal Jordan has died again and Green Lantern is alive and well. When the series started again Geoff tired to give Hal a life of his own and was even trying to develop a new love interest for him with Cowgirl. Since the build up to Blackest Night I don’t think I have seen a picture of GL without his mask in over 18 months. I know a fair amount of people believe Hal to be a cookie cutter character and now we don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Barry Allen is alive and well. As much as many of us bemoaned the fates about losing Wally as being the main Flash, at least Barry is playing an integral part in the Flash. Of course we are only 3 issues into the new series, so it is still early.

Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman and all of her secret identities have crashed and burned. I’m not sure if you can force one on her now, but this maybe one of the problems writers are having with her as they keep trying to make her have a secret identity.

Dick Grayson has been lost and eaten by Batman. In Nightwing Peter Tomasi was really developing Dick’s alter ego and setting up a strong secret identity thing that has gone by the wayside now that he is Batman. I believe that he has made a few appearances as a civilian and I believe Dick remains himself even under the mask, but still, he is gone.

Marvel is probably worse with secret identities as they just recently tried to do it with Thor and that effort, I believe, is over, Matt Murdock is all but gone (and will be I’m sure with the Shadowland story), Spider-Man is dead to me anyway and I’m guessing (because I stopped reading it) that maybe Tony Stark is still an actual character. For the vast majority of their characters Marvel abandoned the pretense of a real life years ago. Hard to believe but Scott Summers used to wear civilian clothes and go into the city with Jean Grey on dates.

So why have all the secret identities died off or just go unused?

My theory is that first and foremost it comes down to lazy writing. It is just easier to have the super hero side be front and center all the time and not have to deal with the ramifications of a real life. As comic book writing has matured the idea of a secret identity is harder and harder to make work. The old conventions of Clark or whomever just disappearing whenever danger strikes and then reappearing feels worn and lame to an older and perhaps more sophisticated audience. Instead of trying to be more inventive or making the secret identity more integral to the story the writers have abandoned them as an old time convention that is no longer needed. Again this is just my theory, but it sure seems that way.

The other problem is that everything is a long story arc. In the middle of Blackest Night that took over nine months of our time and maybe a week or two of comic time it would not have made sense for Hal to make an appearance. The push towards more “realism” in our super hero books has made the civilian sides of our heroes out of place inside the confines of these grandiose stories. Even worse, the propensity for following one big story with the next big story never gives us time for the character to go back to their true identity. In the old days the character would be off on an adventure and then we would have a quiet issue or two building the character back up and checking in on the supporting cast. In fact the supporting casts in most books are now other heroes and long gone are the people who would normally surrounded the main character.

I understand and can even see how this has happened as an almost natural outgrowth of how super hero stories are now told. The problem is that we have lost what, at times, made these characters identifiable to us. We no longer have Bruce with a failing relationship, Clark getting yelled at by Perry White for missing a deadline, Donald Blake being ignored by Jane Foster, Tim getting a bad grade on a test, Matt screwing up a case because of his night job and on and on. I don’t have a Batmobile, I don't come from another planet, I haven't been bitten by a radioactive spider or the rest. I do have had job issues in my many years working, I have had failed relationships, and I have had some other screwy things happen to me and enjoyed successful relationships and many happy times. These are things that make a character and I have a commonality. I can relate to these characters in their civilian identities. I can’t relate to the super hero side. I can enjoy the adventure, but the character and I have lost the elements that made us the same.

Hopefully this is a phase and the writers will go back and try to re-establish secret identities because I think they are an important element in the overall appeal and stories of these characters. If they don’t put these secret identities back into place it makes it easier to walk away from a title because there is nothing of me in the character and without that commonality how can I care about them?