This is the place where I discuss all things Sacred and Profane. Stop by and check me out. Leave a comment (or not), as this is done for my own amusement. If you too are entertained, all the better, but that is not the motivation here. For I, am a...Writer with attitude! Comics, Sci Fi, movies, TV, Books, the Internet, Pop Culture, you name it. I talk about all of these things and more. These are the things that entertain me. I can only hope that some of them will entertain you as well.
Hey there kids, I just wanted you all to know that I just recently acquired the fourth copy (issue #1, actually) of the General Mills, Justice League of America mini-comic. After purchasing a bunch of boxes of specially-marked cereal (including Breakfast, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, CoCo Puffs, General Mills, Golden Grahams, and Honey Nut Cheerios).
I was able to acquire the elusive comic on ebay for a reasonable amount., now I have the whole set. An in-depth review of the series itself can be found on Examiner.com.
We stumbled across this series completely by accident, which makes us fortunate, but you would think that either General Mills or DC would have done a better job of promoting the series.
Ah well, what are you going to do? This is why we must remain ever vigilant.
I first met Steve Bissette probably 30something years ago at at comicbook show in New Hampshire that was being hosted by a very good friend of mine named Mark Ernst. Shortly after this Steve announced that he was releasing Taboo, and trading on the fact that I had met him (and had the foresight to have gotten his number) I pitched a story about it to Amazing Heroes. Well AH was interested, but, as Steve had the reputation to not be anything close to the fastest artist in the world, he was no wheres near ready to publish.
In fact, it took him a full year to get to the point where he was ready to publish. Well, my editor, Kim Thompson, was understanding, and told me to keep after Steve, and whenever Steve was ready to publish,, he would run the story. So I would regularly call Steve every month or two until he was ready. Then I wrote the story, which eventually wound up as a cover story in AH.
For several years afterwards whenever I would meet Steve, he would be extraordinarily friendly to me, introducing me to all of his friends and being quite nice to me. I never really understood why, until some 10 years after the publication of the article, Steve said to someone, “Bob was the first one to write about Taboo.” Suddenly the light went on in my head (hey, I never said I was very bright).
Flash forward another 20 years and I again reconnected with Steve (who has long since left comics and is now teaching in Vermont), on the Internet. Well, as it turns out, Steve wrote a book (he’s apparently written a few, actually) about Rick Veitch’s decades-old comic/Graphic Novel, Brat Pack. Well, Steve sent it to me and I recently read it and posted my review of it over at Examiner.com (where I write about comics and movies).
Well, the book is an amazing look at not only Brat Pack, and what went into influencing Veitch to create that marvelously subversive tome, but Bissette’s book Teen Angels & New Mutants, is an enlightening expose of the entirety of the pop culture landscape that surrounded his and Veitch’s growing up and becoming part of the comicbook community. Steve’s book is currently available (as are updated graphic volumes of Brat Pack), and we strongly urge you all to check out both of them.
Back in October, when I was attending the New York Comic Con I acquired several comics, some of them were produced by some very good friends of mine. I'm just now getting around to posting about it (sorry guys, life sometimes gets in the way).
In No particular order, here they are:
Andrea Grant’s Minx is continuing the tale of a a woman who walks the in-between spaces between the “real” world and the dreamscape that is just a shadow and a whisper beyond the veil of what we see.
By her own admission, Andrea has been working this comic for some 10 years, and has, over the past few years, issued a number of iterations of this comic as it has evolved. It is lyrical, engaging, and totally original. Andrea is a wonderful renascence talent that simply commands the space around her.
Hector is just another average teen living in a small town in Massachusetts, However his whole life changes one day when his grandmother dies and he himself is relentlessly pursued by horrific monsters that are generally only seen in our nightmares. Soon, Hector finds himself fighting for his very life against an army of hell-spawned creatures that are led by a magma-spitting, fire-haired werewolf who threatens to bring about man's darkest fear to a terrible reality the return to Earth the demon known as Olosi (Satan) himself!
Hector is not only the artist who illustrated this powerful story but the storyteller himself. This issue (as was issue #2) was scripted by Chris Buchner. As each issue has been published, you can not only see the improvements to Hector’s art, but the story itself grows and deepens as we are drawn further and further into the world of Hell’s Blood.
In addition to this issue (and the first two), GWP has issued a combined copy of both of the first two issues in a single package. We strongly urge you all to pick up all iterations.
All of which brings us to a pair of stellar comics from our very good friends over at Atlas Unleashed. The Adversary #3 (by the incomparable Jim Webb) and Crimson Rose by Mark Mazz, Grey Williamson, and N. Steven Harris.
Webb’s Adversary which continues the story of a demoness who has managed to overthrow the reigns of her demonic lord and master (Beelzebub). These days she fights the demons she used to serve. While serving the minions of Hell she was one of its top warriors, now she battles on the side of Heaven.
In this second issue she goes up against a demon named Belial who has possessed a fallen priest, in order to lure Adversary out in the open in order to kill her. Only, things don’t go quite the way Belial (or Adversary) planned. It is a fun book to read, and this chapter delves deeper into the character of Adversary. Jim is a delightful storyteller, making this book a Must Buy for readers.
Next up from Atlas Unleashed, is a preview con book entitled Crimson Rose. The comic that AU presented at NYCC is a fully-rendered penciled version of the comic without dialogue. While this may sound like “not quite” a comicbook, don’t think like that. Grey’s fully-detailed pencils are powerful and are fully-capable of telling a story without the need of dialogue.
Further, by presenting the pencils in this fashion, AU has given us the unique opportunity to see how intense and through Grey’s pencils actually are. Plus it certainly whets our appetite for the completed package.
Personally, we can hardly wait.
Also of note for this issue is the powerful cover by our good friend Chris Torris. We have to admit a personal bias towards Chris’s work as he was the penciler for our own relaunch of our own comic, Agent Unknown (Renegade Press) — the first story of which appeared in CAG #7, and the follow up is slated to appear under the AU umbrella. Any way, Crimson Rose looks like a very interesting book, and we are looking forward to the full version.
well, these were just a few of the comics we acquired at NYCC, and over the next several weeks as we approcah the end of the year, we will be posting about the other, so stay tuned.
Several years ago Marvel published a special pro-social comic in conjunction with the American Cancer Foundation (ACF) staring Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Storm (from the X-Men). that extolled the virtues of stopping smoking. Well, I acquired that comic back when it originally appeared but the other day the ACF set up a boot at my workplace and were passing out copies of the comic (now with a brand new cover).
Needless to say, I'm a sucker for these comics, and couldn’t pass up acquiring a new copy. The original cover is off to the left over here while the new cover is below. The interior of the comic is the same and it is discussed in detail over on Spiderfan.
The Diamond art listing for issue #3 of he War of the Independents.
Title: The War of the Independents #3
Plot & Art: Dave Ryan
Cover art: Todd Nauck
Flip cover art: Chris Giarrusso
Script: Robert Sodaro
Colors & Letters: Wilson Ramos Jr.
Imprint: Red Anvil Comics
Rating: All Ages
Format: Comic (32 pgs)
UPC: 609224530005
Price: $2.99
The Story: The War of the Independents raves across the multiverse, and in this issue the supermen are on their way to Norway to locate the fabled hammer, belt and gloves of Thor, the legendary Norse god of thunder. Meanwhile the villain, Maldestrak — a being of godlike power who is pure evil , and bent on the utter destruction of all forms of life — arrives there first acquires the magical items as well as their incredible power; then proceeds to kick everyone’s butts. Guest stars this issue include the Tick, Atomica, Karma and El Gato Negro, as well as many others.
That's right kids, Superheroes in my breakfast cereal. A short while ago I brought to you collective attentions that General Mills (in the form of several of their cereals) were producing — in conjunction with DC Comics — a series of four Justice League mini-comics that were getting packed in the cereals.
Well, I’ve already acquired three of them, the third of which was just today:
So now I have issues 2-4, hopefully I’ll acquire issue #1 soon, then I can read them in order.
This particular comic came in a box of Coco Puffs. Other GM cereals in the promotion include Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Golden Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Trix.
Personally, I love these types of comicbook giveaways, and have an extensive collection of them (to be sure, most of them are Marvel comicbook, and most of those comics star Spidey s still I’m an equal-opportunity comicbook collector, and try to acquire as many of these as possible.
Well, That’s where I am right now, and perhaps either later today or sometime tomorrow I’ll get the chance to look for the missing comic. In the meantime — Breakfast!
A short time ago I wrote about how I acquired a couple of Marvel comics produced for the various Triple-A baseball teams. Well, apparently, it is not just Baseball that (Marvel) super heroes go well with, but football as well. I recently came across this 1970 Giants/Cardinals program that also features several Marvel superheroes.
