Comic Day Again

Booya!

So today didn't yield a lot of comics for me, but it did give me some good ones to talk about. All I bought was:

Dark Reign: The Hood #5/5 - 10/10
X-Factor #49 - 7/10
The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead #5/6 - 9/10
Green Lantern #46 - 8/10

The Hood is one of the best villains in comics. I keep freaking saying it. This conclusion to his miniseries was not a letdown at all. When a revenge-driven widow comes after The Hood's family because his alcoholic cousin blabbed about them, and several of the members of his gang threaten to mutiny, his alter ego Parker Robbins, is forced to completely sell his soul to the demon Dormammu to save his life, his wife and daughter, and his criminal career. He managed to defeat White Fang and outed the Controller, who had been leading the mutiny, and sent his cousin to rehab far away. The art is nothing fancy, and looks a bit more like and indy book than a Marvel title, which is cool because The Hood started in the MAX imprint. The writing is good and the story was just phenomenal. The Hood's family life is headed for disaster. It's like having a drunk abusive father except instead of drunk and abusive he's possessed and schizophrenic. Plus you can't help but feel bad for the guy, since literally nobody trusts him and half the people he knows wouldn't mind seeing him dead, but the guy's got a family to protect.

X-Factor seems to be slipping a bit. Peter David was way too affected by the ridiculous fanmail about Rictor and Shatterstar kissing. First of all, neither of them is gay, they're both bisexual, which was already explained a long time ago. Secondly, if you have a problem with two guys/girls kissing in a comic book, then don't read Marvel comics (Wiccan+Hulkling, Quasar+Moondragon, Northstar+Colossus(Ult.), etc.). Marvel has lots of gay and bisexual characters. Even Multiple Man has admitted to having a gay dupe that sometimes pops out.The only good thing to come out of this nonsense is adding depth to Guido's character by making him intolerant of Rictor's sexual preference.

That said, the issue wasn't terrible, in fact it was really good. Dr. Doom, although apparently senile, is lucid enough to hatch a plan to kill mutants before they cause the alternate future in which Layla and Madrox are trapped. The problem is that David's dialogue is good, but doesn't explain enough of what's been going on. I get more from the recap page than anything else. That may be my fault as a reader, but having read the issues at least four times each, I can honestly say that A. there's not enough evidence when Cortex reveals that he is a dupe of Madrox, and B. there's not enough evidence for the reader to get that Cortex was the dupe Madrox sent to the future way back in Messiah Complex. (But I am so glad Layla's back. We all love her)

The Dark Tower (aka the most depressing mainstream comic ever written) is just too good to put down. Here, in the final chapters of Roland's journey into becoming the Gunslinger of Stephen King's novels, everything has gone to hell. His father, as well as the fathers of all the other young gunslingers were killed by Farson and his men. Now he, Cuthbert, and Alain, with the help of Aileen, the only female gunslinger, are all that stand between John Farson and the fall of Gilead. (Spoiler Alert: If you know anything about Stephen King's Dark Tower, you know that they lose.)

Geoff Johns makes me happy again with an epic showdown between Sinestro and Mongul for the planet Korugar. Mongul had claimed not only Sinestro's army, but his own home planet for himself until Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris at the behest of Indigo-1 returned Sinestro to Korugar where he would face off against the usurper. With style and ruthless efficiency, he threw Mongul into the Yellow Lantern power battery. Now the strongest members of the Green, Violet, Indigo and Yellow Lantern Corps have joined forces to fight back the Black Lanterns that Abin Sur prophesied... unless of course he too has become one of them.

That's the week in reviews! I also bought Ed Brubaker's Sleeper: Season 2, which is going to be awesome! Do you have any comic book recommendations? Share away!

-Steve

More Poetry!

Heya Crowd!

So in my foolishness, I deleted a poem I wrote that I hated, but my Poetry Workshop loved, so I've taken the time and spent the hard labor of re-typing it here for you at the low price of "I-don't-get-paid-for-this!"

Tell me what you think:

"The Strongman and the Liar" or "The Fortress of Solitude"

When Superman left his burning home
He had no idea what he
Was to become.
Time he saved Metropolis from
Thundering explosions
And again he fought back Bizarro and
Lex Luthor in their lunacy, with
His spitcurl still in place,
And blue eyes beaming.
Life became one crisis after another in
The form of cybernetic alien conquerors
Bent on enslaving the planet or
Young, prideful Superboys from a dying Earth.
But Lois.
Lois was Delila. She, after years of prodding,
Learned the secret.
Maybe he just told her.
Maybe he said, "Lois, I love you."
By whatever inclination, she flipped back her
Jet black hair, lit a cigarette, and
Lied.
"Your secret's safe with me" she said.
But Kal-El went the way of Samson.
His hair was cut.
His eyes put out.
He found himself in solitude and cried what tears he could.
So when I leave home and
Do my best, when I
Turn evil on its back,
Leave my secrets where they stand.
If I love you, love me.
But I won't trust you with my thoughts,
Because the strongman's kryptonite
Isn't kryptonite, but rather
Letting lovers in.

That's all for now, folks! Have a good'un!

-Steve

Because I'm Bored and Awake

Good Morning (I hate you),

Well, I forgot my weekly comic reviews this week, mainly because nothing particularly awesome came out for me. Instead, I picked up the following

Flash: Rebirth #4
Invincible Volume Ten: Who's The Boss
Invincible Volume Eleven: Happy Days
Three Shadows
It's Superman (A novel by Tom De Haven)

All good stuff I guess. Oldies but greaties. Geoff Johns retcons the origins of The Flash's Speed Force. I don't know how I feel about that, because it involves a lot of "comic science" to explain how even though other speedsters came first, Barry Allen is the creator of the Speed Force that gives them their powers. It sounds like he's trying to make Barry the "Ion" of the speedsters. Not every group of heroes with the same powers needs a fucking poster boy. It's like saying "there may have been other mutants with healing factors before Wolverine, but because of his DNA being shot back in time via a story arc yet to occur in Old Man Logan, he actually is the root of all healing mutants, including Angel, Elixir, Sabretooth, Omega Red, Apocalypse etc." It's just kind of lame.

Three Shadows was amazing. A little sad. Okay a LOT sad, but it kind of moved a little slow for me. The story is legit. Suspenseful at times, dramatic The art looks like Disney storyboards (it was written by a former Disney animator). I can relate to lots of the characters and the fact that it was written almost as a tribute to a child that passed away... man. Good stuff.

Invincible sure hasn't gotten bad. Kirkman always tends to hang right in the middle with me. He writes a series so long that it almost get predictable, but I'm glad that Allen the Alien's little twist was thrown in. He was the most unexpected part of the comic and now he's a three-dimensional powerhouse. (Although I think I may have spotted some continuity issues between Atom Eve's family in these trades and Atom Eve's two-issue origin mini-series)

It's Superman is very touching. I've never been happier to have a professor like De Haven. His Fiction Workshop is helping me be more conscious of things in my writing. The characterization of Lex Luthor and John Kent is stellar. Overall the novel does an awesome job of filling in the transformation from farmboy to the mature figurehead of the Justice League. It's Superman.

In other news, I say the strangest things. Some of them stupid, ignorant, and some sort of poetic and well-suited to romantic comedy movies (maybe that's my niche?). At any rate, give me your thoughts on this gem:

"I'm not holding my breath, but that doesn't mean I can't stop breathing from time to time."

I'll leave out the context and whatnot out of respect for anonymity. But that is such a great line to throw in a Nicolas Sparks novel or something.

Anyway, that's all I have this week. I'm gonna sit around and pretend I'm David Duchovny for the rest of the weekend. Enjoy yours.

-Steve

New Medical Breakthroughs!

Two posts in one day!? Whaaaat?!

Okay, I just had to share this. My mom sent it to me, she got it from my dad, who got it from my grampa, he got it from my aunt, who got it from... well whatever. It's funny!

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap.



Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give 100% recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.



Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine. That means they take water out of fruity bit; get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made out of grain. Bottoms up!



Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: If you have body and you have fat, ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, ratio is two to one, etc.



Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Cannot think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No Pain...Good!



Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetables be bad for you?



Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only do sit-ups if want bigger stomach.



Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: You crazy? HELLO… Cocoa beans! Vegetable!!! Cocoa beans best feel-good food around!



Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming good for figure, explain whales to me.



Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!



Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.

-Steve

The Dating Scene

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Well here's a little manuscript I wrote for my Fiction Workshop. It's a little rough around the edges now, but we'll see how it turns out after some extensive revisions. Let me know what you think!

Nate fiddles with his phone, checking the time once more, in the backseat of the run-down sedan his best friend Ryan drives. He looks up at the barely dressed and bloody girl they had met only a few short hours ago in the front seat.
“I think this is really fun,” she says, “three wayward criminals on the lamb, ditching a body in the countryside. It’s like that Christian Slater movie!”
“Yeah! Except we sort of meant to kill the asshole.” Ryan says. “Isn’t it poetic, Nate? A killer gets killed by the girlfriend he’s trying to kill? Maybe you could pitch THAT to the other editors!”
Nate hears what they are saying, but his eyes are still glued to the pastoral landscape outside. He looks at corn fields, and fields of those little blue flowers whose name eludes him. He turns back to see Ryan sticking his head into the backseat. “Naa-ate!”
“Sorry Ryan.” He says. The girl, whose name they had learned was Melissa, is picking flecks of skin and dried blood from under her fingernails. Ryan swerves a bit when he turns back around. “You know what I hate? Changing guitar strings.” Nate rubs his eyebrows. “It’s just one of those things you have to do, but winding the little chromed up knobs over and over only to pluck the string and find out you were turning it the wrong way all along…”
“Yeah, um, that sucks man. You listening to me?”
“I think guitar players are sexy.” Melissa rolls with the subject change, grinning and smoothing out her skirt.
“Ha! Good luck with that one!” Ryan says. “I know you may be thrilled to join the population of the singles, albeit violently, but ol’ Nate here has been hitched right out of college! Idiot.”
Nate covers his mouth and raises his eyebrows, a signal that usually indicated that he was tired.
“Really?” Melissa asks. “Well is she trying to kill you over some drug money and some two-bit hooker? We could kill her too!” She holds the back of her seat and briefly looks back at Nate.
“No…” Nate says as he moves his hand from his mouth back to his eyes and rubs them some more. “No. And I think it’s a little scary that you two are so friggin’ into this. I mean, aren’t you worried about jail? Or worse, hell? Murder is right up there with false idols and turning without signaling. Super sins.”
“Riiight. Well,” Ryan says, picking up speed, “to question one, we don’t get caught. To question two, what are you worried about? You got your free ticket to heaven already!”
“What do you mean?” Melissa looks at Ryan, then looks back at Nate, quizically. “What does he mean?”
“Shut up, Ryan.”
“No, no! This is good!” Ryan scratched his beard, a trick of the yarn-spinning trade. “Back when we were kids, Nate here was an altar boy. But get this, one morning before mass, he ate some bean and cheese burrito,”
“I hate it when you tell this story.” Nate fishes around in his bag.
“so then he crapped his pants right in the middle of the ‘peace-be-with-you’s!” Ryan slaps the steering wheel, obviously pleased with himself, while Melissa stifles a laugh with her hand on her mouth and turns back to sit forward in her seat. “If that doesn’t get you into heaven, I’m not sure what will!”
“I hate it when you tell this story.” Nate repeats while he pulls out the manuscript he was supposed to have been editing.


It’s only about and hour and a half later when Ryan pulls the car into an isolated gas station.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Nate says. “Did you forget the little problem of the body in the trunk?”
“Yeah, but we need gas and I want some coffee, man.”
“Ooh!” Melissa pops up in her seat. “Can I come in?”
“Are you serious? What do you want? I’ll get it.” Nate points his finger up and down her slender frame, carefully drawing her attention to the large spatters of now brown, dried up blood.
“Oh, right. Well get me a Butterfinger then.” She slumps.
“Oooookay.” Ryan says and he opens the door and makes for the pump. Nate gets out of the car and russles his hair as he walks toward the Quik Shop.
Nate pushes his way in and is halfway to the candy section when he hears someone come in after him. He glances back to see a flirty couple, guy with his arm around the girl, girl with her hands to her face, giggling. Her wedding ring glints in the flourescent light.
“Just a sec hon, I’ve gotta tinkle.” She says, removing his arm from her shoulder. The guy walks past Nate, who realizes he’s been standing and staring at the couple.
Nate rubs his eyes. He walks toward the beer section and examines the particularly slim selection. The guy reaches across, left hand in Nate’s eyeline, and grabs a 40-ounce Steel Reserve. “’Scuse me, bro.”
Nate’s eyes follow the guy’s hand back to his chest, then his face. Nate’s eyes go wide as the guy passes behind him toward the checkout counter.
“Homewrecking son of a bitch!” Nate punches the guy in the back of the head.
“What the--” The guy drops his 40 and stumbles forward clutching his head. He turns around to meet Nate’s fist a second time. Nate pushes the poor guy to the ground and starts punching and slapping the hell out of him.
Melissa, who had been looking in the little mirror in the sun flap, sees Ryan turn toward the Quik Shop in response to the commotion. “What the fuck!?” Ryan bolts for the shop and Melissa shrugs, gets out of the car, replaces the gas pump, closes the cap, and starts the car.
“Stop hitting my boyfriend, you psycho!” the girl inside screams, peeking out from the ladies restroom.
“Please! Please stop this in my store, sir! Please!”
“Dude! Nate, get the fuck off that guy!” Ryan runs and pulls Nate off of the guy, Nate still swings at the air and kicks violently until Ryan sets him down and slaps the back of his head. “What is the matter with you?”
“Stupid asshole!” the assaulted man stands up and punches Nate in the groin. Nate doubles over. Thinking quickly, or more accurately not thinking at all, Ryan pulls the Glock from his belt loop that had so recently been used by Melissa in the brutal murder of her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. Ryan points the gun at the man, now rubbing his jaw in pain and before he can say anything, Ryan guns him down with four shots to the chest. The last two being somewhat unnecessary.
The girl screams. The shop owner screams. Ryan turns his aim quickly to the girl and then the shop owner. “Call the police and I swear I will drop your ass!” Ryan taps Nate on the shoulder. “You okay, bud?”
Nate struggles to stand up straight but continues clutching his groin in pain. He stumbles toward the candy aisle and with his free hand, grabs a handful of Butterfingers. He does his best impression of a run toward the door. Ryan keeps his aim on the shop owner, whose hands are in the air like he most certainly cares, while he walks out the door. He pauses a moment, and then makes a break for the car.


It’s sunrise when the car runs out of gas.
“Two murders in one night? You know, for some clean-cut boys, you two are like the Thelma and Louise of…well, Thelma-and-Louising.” Melissa leans against the side of the car, daintily breaking off tiny pieces of Butterfinger and munching on them. “But here’s as good a place as any to dump the loser.”
“You know… this might be easier… if you helped with the digging.” Ryan moves heaps of dirt and sand one arm at a time.
“Plus… can I point out… that I have yet to actually murder anybody.” Nate drags the body of Melissa’s ex-boyfriend toward the little excavation project Ryan is working on.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you one.” Melissa yawns and stretches her arms into the air. “Hey, tell me about your wife.”
“Ha! This’ll be good.” Ryan wiped his forehead with his arm.
“I love the way her hair curls up around her cool, steel blue eyes.” Nate sits on the corpse and looks up wistfully at the spinning colors in the early morning sky. “And I used to love watching her breathe, when her satin skin inflated and deflated and all I could smell was peanut butter on her breath. She loved peanut butter & jelly sandwiches even though she knows I’m allergic. I loved that smell. It was nice when she…” Nate looks down at the body beneath him. “You know what? Forget it.”

Thanks all. Keep doing what you do.

-Steve

Some Poetry... BAM!

Happy Wednesday errrybody!

So while everyone continues throwing Photosnobbed images of Kanye interrupting imporant moments in history/movies/news, I thought I'd refresh everyone with one of my wacky Wednesday poems! (No it's not about Kanye... he's a douche)

Oh and before I forget, I did buy comics today, but my reviews will be a little later. I'm just not in the mood right now. But they were all very good picks this week.

"ale test”

People always said you and I have too much in common.
I should be inside you.

We love our rainy days and spending bookoo bucks on beans.
We dance along the coast and spit across the ocean.

Your cosmic hypodermic hits me soft, like a maritime breeze in the vein.
Spin the top and let insects munch their grub, I love it.

Let the fools and hypocrits shoot off shindigs South of us, they don’t matter.
They’ll say what they say, but they can’t break our bourgeois bond.

I twirl beneath your useless interstates and litter on your pristine pathways.
You depress me like a half bottle of Beefeater and not enough lime.

You lack the flare, the spice, the bang of the rest,
But the rest of the West and their pompous pretending can’t match your simple truth.

I’m sleepless,
In you now like so many other fakers and falsers, but you love me right?

Of course. I bring you strawberries and syrup for your fraps,
While you take and take the timidity of me.

And that’s what love in the city is all about.
People always said so.

That's all for now! Let me know what you think.

-Steve

Fun Little Experiment

Hi (internet user # 43577)!

Do you suffer from bloating? Cramps? Diarrhea? Auto-erotic asphyxiation? Well it sounds like you have a case of the "Mondays!"

Have no fear, I'm here with a little post about a fun experiment I did to help understand my emotional state better. You have iTunes? You should do it too!

I reordered my iTunes library by play count (of course, my play counts were all reset sometime this year... around March? May? so these numbers are not reflective of my lifetime listens), and listed out my top 20 most listened songs. They are as follows (play count in parenthesis):

1. Strawberry Fields Forever-The Beatles (80)
2. Circle Gets a Square-No More Kings (69)
3. Something to Hide-No More Kings (61)
4. Sirens in the Deep Sea-Longwave (55)
5. Robots Don't Cry-No More Kings (52)
6. Forever-Chris Brown (51)
7. Michael (Jumpin)-No More Kings (50)
8. All These Things That I've Done-The Killers (45)
9. Cellphone-No More Kings (44)
10. Someday-No More Kings (44)
11. CrushCrushCrush-Paramore (44)
12. That Green Gentleman-Panic at the Disco (40)
13. Lottery-Chris Brown (39)
14. Lost!-Coldplay (37)
15. How Far We've Come-Matchbox Twenty (36)
16. Look After You-The Fray (34)
17. Fall on Every Whim-Longwave (34)
18. Girl in the Sea-No More Kings (34)
19. She's a Handsome Woman-Panic at the Disco (34)
20. Strawberry Swing-Coldplay (33)

Very interesting. Clearly I LOVE No More Kings, which is totally true. Chris Brown kinda snuck in there, and it's strange because I like Lottery way more than Forever.

Although not a surprise, and sort of a subjective observation, about half of the songs listed are sad songs, and only about 5 are love songs. Clearly I like songs with "Strawberry" in the title, though I thought Strawberry Swing would be more like #9.

What do you think my songs say about me and my disposition? Speak up! You should do the same. Psychoanalysis via song choices is fun!

Happy Monday, do try and survive the week.
-Steve

Comic Review Day

Tally ho!

A big week for Peter Tomasi in comics. Today, my review will focus on Tomasi's Blackest Night Batman tie-ins so far. Maybe a sprinkling of Booster Gold, and definitely Adhouse Books Skyscrapers of the Midwest and The Aviary.

The ratings are as follows:

Marvel
Ultimate Avengers #2 - Awesome. You should be reading Mark Millar's work. Good return to lots of intrigue and character struggle.

Ender's Game: Command School #1 - Great so far. If you read Yost's graphic version of Ender's Game: Battle School, you know that his pacing and Pasqual Ferry's pencils make for a pretty reimagining of the sci-fi classic.

DC Comics
Green Lantern Corps #40 - Continuing his awesome work in keeping the readers up to speed on everything Hal Jordan and Barry Allen aren't doing in Blackest Night, Tomasi uses sensitive backstory to draw out the best in characters like Kyle Rayner and Salaak.

Blackest Night: Batman #1 and 2 - Okay, I was hesitant to pick this up until I saw the cover for issue 2, so I bought them both today. I've been saying for a while that whenever Bruce Wayne comes back (because you know someone is gonna do it) that Dick Grayson and Tim Drake should reconcile and while Bruce plays Batman for the JLA and the World's Finest and whatever, Dick and Tim should either look after Gotham in his stead, or move to some other crime-ridden city and be the daring duo; Batman and Red Robin. Neither of them sidekicks, but partners. Like Hawk and Dove, you know? That's just what I'd like.
All that aside, Batman's got it pretty bad in Blackest Night. Not only is he one of the only guys in this little zombie apocalypse with no super powers or ways of killing Black Lanterns, but also, he's got lots of dead people to worry about coming for him. Namely his parents known as the Flying Graysons, Tim's parents, Bruce's parents, and God knows who else that would make him sob. This tie-in does a good job supplementing the "all grown up" story revolving around Dick becoming the real Batman. It shows how mature he is now, and how far he's willing to go. As he said to Damian, "Not only to honor Bruce's memory... it's our code." Tomasi, Winick and Morrisson have all done a great job using little lines like that to show the reader, even out of context, that Dick, as a character, is maturing into a hero with a lot to offer. I would certainly enjoy a small arc of JLA with Dick Grayson wearing the cowl, just to see/show his real quality as part of a team, and even more so part of the "Trinity" of leaders in the League.


Booster Gold #24 - As always, Jurgens never disappoints. This book had a few big reveals and concluded the business that started way back when Booster broke into the Batcave to steal the photos Bruce had of Booster trying to save Barbara Gordon the night she was shot by the Joker (also from earlier Booster Gold issues). The events following led to the Black Beetle, whose true identity is yet unknown, conspiring to aid Deathstroke and Ravager in murdering Dick Grayson before he ever becomes Batman, resulting in an alternate future where Trigon rules the Earth (I know, right? Why can't Booster Gold prevent all these alternate dystopias?! OMAC? Then Starro? Now Trigon?!). In the photo below are resistance fighters Kyle Rayner and Ollie Queen, staging an assault on Trigon's minions to get whatever it is they need to kill him. But wait! It was all a trick for the Black Beetle to get a new scarab; a red scarab that is apparently more powerful than the Blue or even the Black. Now the Black-Red Beetle can travel through time much more freely than our heroes Booster Gold and Rip Hunter. In the small scale battle, Booster did save Dick Grayson by disguising himself as Deathstroke and throwing the fight with the Titans in which Dick would have been killed. In the long run? What will the evil Beetle do with his new powers? We'll have to wait and see...



Adhouse

Skyscrapers of the Midwest - A strange series of tales in a world with cat-people, robots, and cicadas. This is a funny, but very sad, look at the life of a poor 5th grader that life could not be more cruel to. It's filled with hilarious mock ads like the one pictured below, that and the robots help keep the book from being too awkward and depressing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.


The Aviary - This was a weird ass book. Darkly humorous, a little sad, and Tarantino style storytelling. I can't really summarize the plot, it would ruin parts of it, but it's told in a series of vignettes that focus on a wide and varied cast of jacked up characters who have much more in common than even the reader may realize. It is a tad confusing at the start, but if you stick with it, it's very rewarding. A good book, just don't do any drugs before you read it. At least not the first time through.

Salamander Dream - A touching little story about a young girl's fantasy, smothered by harsh reality. It really is sweet, but sort of bittersweet. The art is clean and clear. Short, but not too short.

Remake - Um, I have no idea. This book is wild. Made of of lots of episodes starring a child superhero named Max Guy, this book is anime/silver age inspired zaniness. Fun.

Johnny Hiro - This could be my favorite funny book to date. Half-Japanese, half-sitcom, all action. It is so freaking funny I nearly choked on soda. Hiro is a half-Japanese fella living in NY with his (utterly racistly portrayed) girlfriend Mayumi, the thing is, he's kind of super. I say kind of because his superpower seems to be mildly good luck in situations caused by abysmally bad luck. Very funny.

That's all I've got for today. Have a groovy one! Enjoy the Steelers game, I am!

-Steve

Strangers on a Plane

Hello again!

Well, I may have told a fib when I said there were no new comics. That is to say, no newly printed comics for me to buy. In accordance with my overwhelming desire to overachieve, I've begun work on my Lit Editing and Publishing presentation on Adhouse Books, a local Richmond comics publisher that has some really great titles.

Today I picked up Salamander Dream, Aviary, Remake, Skyscrapers of the Midwest, and Johnny Hiro. (I also just decided that when I use titles of things they ought to be italicized, don't you agree?)

I'll get a review of one or more of these comics up by tonight, once I've finished reading them all. In the meantime, here's a short scene I wrote for my Fiction Workshop. It went over well in class, despite my performance anxiety and trembling voice when reading it aloud (I'm ok with public speaking, just not reading my own work):

I had never left the United States. I guess I was always a little less cultured than everyone else, but I don’t think I’d ever admit it.
My brother, though, he’s been everywhere. Mexico City, London, Prague, and everywhere in between. He’s tanner, taller and just that much more world-wise than me. I suppose that’s why even though I’ve looked up to him since I was ten, I still take no small amount of pleasure from the fact that he’s a coked up, needle pushing failure, while I’m a successful art director. Everyone is inherently selfish like that.
I remember once I was watching my brother while we were grounded on a plane to Barcelona. His little birthday present to me that I had to pay for, my first trip out across the Atlantic, but it was just our luck that the flight was delayed at least an hour while we sat in the claustrophoic tube on the tarmac. He was five or six seats behind me, you know how airlines never seem to book you next to the people you’re traveling with.
He sat next to a young man with long straight hair, dark skin, reading some indie fashion magazine. From far off you’d probably say he and my brother were the siblings and I was the “little stranger.”
Then I heard them start up a conversation.
“God! Ah hope we freakin’ take off soon!” the young man had a thick Missisippian accent and that particular high-pitched voice people generally associate with gay guys.
“Yeah, yeah. Are you from Spain?”
“Oh no. No. Ah’ve taken more years of Spanish than Ah can count, but Ah never retain any of it, so Ah’m tryin’ to get a little exposure.”
“Oh. Ha. If I had to guess, I’d have said you were Spanish. You’d shock my brother. He always says you can usually judge a book by its cover pretty accurately.”
“Ah’d tend to agree with him. But you shouldn’t let that be your excuse for never havin’ talked to somebody. Unless they’re from the city.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s true. I think the only way to truly know someone is to find out what books or movies they like.”
“Ah know, right? It seems like everbody wants to know people’s past and what they’re all about, but Ah say no to knowin’ all that.”
“Yeah. Besides, there’s some things even the people closest to you don’t need to know.”
“Like what?”
“Um… You know? I think I just saw the mechanic drive off from under the wing. We might take off soon.”
“Haha. It’s okay man. Ah’m a republican too.”
“No, it’s not--“
That was all I managed to hear before the captain’s voice buzzed over the speaker and the little seatbelt and no smoking signs binged. I’m sure they talked more, but not nearly as much as in that moment.
You see, my brother is a lot like me. We’re both more terrified of what we know than what we don’t know. And unlike the gay republican from Missisippi, my brother and I were books whose covers offered up more truth than we imagine people could take. Nobody ever says; oh you’re a herion addict? That’s so lovely! Life had gotten a lot more complicated. It was much better when we were ten, but it took all my life to see that.

I've taken to calling it "Strangers on a Plane" as a nod to Hitchcock. But I doubt there'll be any murder in it if I decide to flesh it out into a full short story. Let me know what you think.

-Steve

Some Poetic Licensing

Hola y como estan?

On a very special Wednesday of no new comic books thanks to the labor day holiday, I've decided to throw up some personal works of mine. Starting with this:

Another poem for my Poetry Workshop, this one is due to be revised tomorrow. Let me know what you all think:

“Strawberry Mash”

We decided, the bros and I,
That we’d hit the bar for a time.
We started slow with a round of shots
And avoided vodka and olive brine.
(We’d had a bad night before, you see.)

Tell Me I’m Wrong, and
Shortly after a pitcher or three,
We screamed “happy birthday!”
Then came karaoke.
(We love our music, you know?)

I wouldn’t have blamed anyone
If they’d happened to Stop and Stare
As we rumbled about, but
At that point I’d have been soberest to care.
(I designated myself the light drinker)

Of course, by 3 AM, I’d toasted enough
That I stumbled too when we left the bar.
Too drunk in fact to know
Daylight savings had come, I was off by an hour.
(My phone doesn’t change automatically)

When we reached my apartment,
It was like We’re Here to Tell You (skip)
The party’s not over.
Still always beer to drink and shots to do.
(None of us inclined to say no)

Bottom of the Ocean.
(skip)

In This Town I never sleep,
At least not until the sun comes.
Everyone had left and
I vomited up all that fun.
(Strawberry cheesecake and fettucini)

Happy Wednesday!

-Steve

Song time!

Bam! said the lady!

I took a week off for my birthday. Now presenting:

Song

A song I've been working on (and one of the few riffs I doubt anyone will steal). Let me know what you would add (other than lyrics) because is sounds too rough to me.

-Steve