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.
It was on or around July 10–11,
2026 that Comix Wellspring, a major print-on-demand printer popular with
independent comic book creators and crowdfunders, suspended operations and shut
down. Founded in 2011 as a comic-focused division connected to Greko Printing
in Roseville, Michigan, Comix Wellspring became a very popular choice among
independent creators and publishers for the past decade. It’s sudden, and
recent announcement that it has temporarily suspending all operations came as a
complete surprise to the entire industry.
Comix Wellspring halted production
and refunded all unfulfilled customer orders due to what it described as
“unforeseen operational challenges.” In the announcement posted on their
website, they also directed customers who are in need of comicbook print
services to Greko Printing, the original founder of Comix Wellspring, now that
there’s no longer non-compete restrictions in place.
In the past, we had personally used
both Comix Wellspring and Greko Printing, as well as Ka-blam for our own comics.
While there is still some serious
consternation among Indie comic companies and solo publishers as to where they
will be getting their comics printed. Into this uncertain future comes a new
player, Morris Publishing’
According to their web page, MorrisPublishing was founded back in 1933 as a commercial printer. Over time, they
have evolved into a specialized printer in the short-run book and
self-publishing industry, claiming to have published millions of books in a
variety of genres, comicbooks and graphic novels among various other types and genres.
The company boasts about producing short-run books in quantities of 25 to over 5,000,
offering binding styles and sizes which conform to industry norms and can
be tailored to meet most authors’ needs. The company also states that because
they specialize in certain sizes and features, publishers can expect to receive
lower prices with them than other printers.
What makes their pitch especially
notable is they have recently begun a social media blitz on Facebook and other
social media platforms, by offering a free comic to herald their arrival on the
scene. We recently signed up to receive the comic and were reasonably impressed
with their presentation. To be sure, we have often, in this forum and
elsewhere, extolled our own interest in comicbooks that aren’t just comics, but
a teaching medium. The Ghostwriter (Morris’ presentation comic) is a fine
example of just that.
The comic starts out with a
two-page story with Ghostwriter rescuing a female publisher being abducted by a
villain named Traditional Comicbook Sample (Yeah, I know, totally corny, but
easily overlooked, for the purpose of an intro narrative.) From there it gives
visual examples of both traditional and Manga style comics. Next up is a
two-page spread pitching as to why Morris should be your choice in comicbook
self-publishing. This is followed by a how-to guide to self-publish with Morris
in five easy steps that covers traditional and Manga comics as well as graphic
novels. The steps include types of binding, black & white as well as color
printing options, types of binding and paper choices, and wraps up with how to
prepare your files for printing. The comic then winds up with Morris’ pledge
for up-front pricing as well as promotion tool to market your book. The back
cover offers up a full-page ad with specific information on how to contact
Morris, including a phone number, email, and their physical mailing address.
We have to say, if you want to
print in the comicbook market, perhaps the best way to gain the attention of
comicbook publishers (especially Indie publishers) pitching your services in a
giveaway comicbook is actually a pretty genius way to go about doing it.
Last year, when we attended
Terrificon at the Mohegan Sun here in Connecticut, we scored a copy of the wonderfully
fun giveaway comicbook, Captain
Terrificon Presents: The Scarry Squad. The comic, written by Paul
Kupperberg, with art by Pat & Tim Kennedy, inks by Barbara Kaalberg, and
lettering and color by Mortt Todd. It contained a back-up story by Paul with
pencils by Rich Maurizio, inks and colors by Ken Weaton, and colors by Robert
Snyser, as well as a second story by showrunner Mitch Hallock, and illustrated
by George Deep, tells the origin story of Captain Terrificon.
Well, this year (2026) Mitch did
it again, and produced and distributed yet another (albeit smaller) comicbook.
Smaller, not so much in size, but in page count. This comic actually functions
the dual role of presenting us with the origin of Captain Terrificon, as well
as the convention’s program. It is a flip-book, with the program presented as
the “up” side when opened one way, and the comic story as the “up” side when the
book is flipped over and opened the other way.
The program side gives us a
message from Mitch, the panel schedule, an ad for Terrificon merch, an ad for
Boom Tube Comics, a list of vendors and guest artists (along with their
location at the show), as well as a floor layout for the convention. The flip
(comicbook) side gives us a one-page recap of what occurred last issue with
Cap. Terrificon, as well as a five-page story of the good Captain’s origin.
Both the recap and the comic are written by Mitch and George Deep and
illustrated by George.
Needless to say, the show itself
was all kinds of a major blast as not only is it Connecticut’s premier
comicbook show, the show is most especially a comic-centric show featuring
comicbooks and comicbook creators front and center. To be sure there are
numerous celebrity guests, but many, if not all, of them are—if not comicbook related,
at the very least comicbook adjacent in their celebrity. This year, among the
comicbook celebs were Chris Claremont, Mike Gold, Rick Parker, Mike DeCarlo,
Richard & Wendy Pini, Klaus Janson, Denys Cowan, (all of whom I got to chat
briefly with), and others.
Oh yeah, I also met Captain Terrificon himself.
I was also there as an invited
guest (first time, thanks Mitch), and not only was I able to catch up with
several of my fellow creator friends, but I met a fan who had a pristine copy
of Agent Unknown #1, the very first comic I created and was available from Renegade
Press. Also, I did rather well at the show (my first three-day event where I
was exhibiting). I was aided and abated by my nephew Tony-o, so, a totally
amazing experience.
All-in-all, the Captain Terrificon
comic giveaway is both informative and entertaining, as well as a pretty nifty souvenir
of the show itself. Can hardly wait ‘til next year to read more about Captain
Terrificon.
Stars:Tom
Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink
As we rejoin our intrepid hero, Spider-Man, it has been some
four years that have passed since the events of No Way Home, and
Peter is now an adult living entirely alone in Queens, NY, having voluntarily
erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves. Given his chosen solitary
life, fighting crime in a New York that no longer knows his name, he's devoted
himself entirely to protecting his city as a full-time Spider-Man. This is
where Peter proves how resourceful he is, Given that no one remembers who he
is, and he is now totally and completely on his own, with no back-up or support
from Stark Industries, he has had to create all of his own tech. Peter has
created his own artificial intelligence assistant E.V. (often referred
phonetically as E.V.I.E. and voiced by actress Naomi Watts).
In his fight against crime in NYC, Spidey has formed an
alliance with NYC Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) with whom he is
connected with not only by phone but an app that alerts each of them to crimes
being committed throughout the city. However,
as the demands on him intensify, and his increased isolation weighs on him, the
pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence,
even as a strange new pattern of crime gives rise to one of the most powerful
threats he has ever faced.
As the film opens Peter is shown setting up his apartment in
what was essentially a storage unit filled with boxes and junk. He also
monitors the video TikTok postings of his friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) who
has been hanging out and traveling with MJ (Zendaya)—which naturally adds to Peter’s
depression and anxiety). This is followed by what this long-time Spidey fan can
describe as the most amazingly spectacular footage of Spidey swinging through
the steel and glass canyons of midtown Manhattan. All of which is interspersed
with Spidey taking down an impressive array of his rogues’ gallery, including
(but not limited to) Scorpion, Tarantula, Tombstone, Boomerang, and Ramrod. He
also goes up against several ninjas from The Hand, a traditional Daredevil set
of villains.
Also appearing (and having a major presence in this film) is
the organization Damage Control. In the comics, Damage Control is a private business
that is tasked with repairing damage created during battles between Marvel
heroes and villains. Here in the MCU the group has been transformed into a paramilitary/quasi-governmental
establishment tasked with capturing and housing super-criminals. As the film
kicks into high gear, there is a massive tank blowing through the streets of
the city heading towards the Damage Control building.
As Spidey is swinging down the streets avoiding machinegun
and rock fire, he runs afoul (and over) by The Punisher’s (Jon Bernthal) van.
This results in an exchange between the pair (who obviously know each other as
revealed by Spidey about an interaction they had on Staten Island, where Spidey
saved Frank Castle’s life). Spider-Man manages to stall Punisher, and follows
the tank to the Damage Control building where it crashed through the side of
the building.
Once inside this sets off an amazingly cool chase sequence
where the driver of the tank is revealed as an elderly woman, only we
immediately see that she isn’t so much the driver of the tank, as simply as
someone who is being possessed by somebody else. As soon as she is discovered, the
entity begins jumping from person to person as they race through the building
to get to the rooftop were Damage Control cops are loading Scorpion into a helicopter,
escaping the chasing Spider-Man.
From here we follow Peter through the film as he works his
way through the mystery of who the entity is (you may already know, but I’m not
going to reveal that here), tries to protect MJ from the entity, deals with
Frank (and his murderous tendencies), recapture Scorpion, reconnect with MJ &
Ned, and deal with his own evolving physiology. To do this last part he reaches
out to Dr. Banner, who is now a teaching professor at Empire State University.
To deal with the entity and scorpion, he connects with Yelena Belova (Florence
Pugh) who is now going by Black Widow.
Throughout all of this we gain a real connection with Peter
and his struggles to live in a world that no longer knows who he is, including his
best friend and (more tragically) the love of his life, who knows she is
missing something, but is wholly unable to understand quite what that thing is.
All of which gives us, the viewing audience, something that is more than just “another
superhero punch-em’-up), but a fully functioning, completely fleshed out story beautifully
panted across a two-and-a-half-hour film that is full of equal parts
sentimental emotional highs and lows, and several high-octane fight sequences each
designed to bring thrills, chills, heartfelt emotions, as well as an thoroughly
enjoyable experience.
So, yeah, not only is this a most amazing cinematic
experience, it is the best Spider-Man film created to date (yes, even better
than the first Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire (which I waited
some 10 years from it’s announcement to debut) and yes even better than Spider-Man:
No Way Home which was stunningly brilliant. This film is the whole
package, and it is really that good. I remember when the first Spider-Man film
came out and it help kick off a golden era of superhero films. Hopefully, this
film will re-kickstart a new golden era, of superhero films as we head over the
next three years including Clayface (October 23, 2026), Avengers:
Doomsday (December 18, 2026), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
(June 18,) 2027), Man of Tomorrow
(July 9, 2027), Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027), The
Batman 2 (February 18, 2028), and Dynamic Duo (June 30,
2028), Black Panther 3 - December 15, 2028.
Oh before I go, I do want to reveal two non-spoiler, very
cool Easter eggs I saw in the film (I’m sure there are more). One is There is a
scene where The Hulk is chasing Spidey down a hallway that is reminiscent of
Him chasing Black Widow through the Helicarrier in the first Avengers film. The
second isn’t so much an MCU reference as it is a film reference. There is a
shot of Spidey and MJ on the roof of a building with the lit-up Silvercup sign,
that seems to be a call-back to the first Highlander film. Both very cool.
Like most of the known world, I went to see Spider-Man Brand
New Day today (Thursday) with my nephew, and great-nephew, at the AMC Marquis
16 in Trumbull, CT. About 20 minutes into the film the entire theater lost
power (there was a massive rainstorm that may have contributed to it).
Fortunately, within just a few minutes, the power came back on to the
excitement of us all. However, after some 30 minutes or so of no film, the
sound returned but not the visuals of the movie itself. Needless to say, we wound
up sitting thru about 15 minutes of that, putting us some 45 minutes back on a
film that started after 5:00 on a school night with a 10-year-old. We finally just
left.
Sider-Flavoradditive
Thankfully, the theater promised to refund tickets to everyone on site. Still,
the entire experience was such a major bummer. Anyway, we eventually were able
to book tickets to catch the film on Sunday morning, so that part’s good. So,
finally having finally seen the film, I want to say that it was truly amazing.
In fact, the first several minutes of it with Spidey swinging through the
streets of downtown Manhattan were truly spectacular.
Then nephews and then I chose to re-book our Spider-viewing experience for Sunday at a different theater, which we did. And, of course, even that trip was fraught with its own tribulations, as there was a two car accident on the highway which delayed each of us (coming in different directions) towards the theater. Still, we both managed to make it to the film as the trailers were rolling (good thing modern movies come with 15 to 20 minutes of trailers, promo material and commercials before the actual film starts.
Spider Popcorn bucket and drink cup
Spidey theater pin
And just to prove all the nay-sayers who are trying to tell
us that we are suffering from some kind of “Superhero Fatigue” the film’s
opening weekend was (according to Box
Office MoJo) $927,000,000. Proving
that what audiences are tired of are, is bad writing and direction, not the
story or characters themselves. What people seem to forget is that throughout
cinematic history we’ve gone through multiple phases of trends, including musicals,
westerns, war films, gangster films, Sci-Fi, horror, and more. Right now, we’re
in a superhero trend, and yes, it will eventually morph into something else,
but as far as I’m concerned, this superhero trend will continue for quite some
time to come.
Oh, and while I’m on the subject of my favorite superhero, I
might as well as admit that I purchased quite a number of Spider-Related swag,
both from the movie theaters, and elsewhere. Some of which has appeared
supporting this admittedly self-indulgent essay.
All of the Spider-Swag you see here (including the mini-Lego-like figures plus way more are part of my personal collection. And then there is the non-alcoholic beer endorsed by Tom Holland and sold by Bero. Yeah, I bought that was well. Oh, and there are a pair of Spidey pajama bottoms from SuperheroStuff.com on the way.
Or, 5 (More) Reasons
Why Cognitive Behavior Therapy Doesn't Work
It was just about a year ago that I wrote
a review of the amazing graphic novel, 5 Reasons Why Cognitive Behavior Therapy Doesn't Work,
written by Dr.
Alan Domian, Ph.D. However, as I wrote at the time, while “I’m not
a psychologist myself…I don’t feel qualified to discuss the medical aspects of
this particular tome, however, as a comicbook historian, with some 50 years in
the field of comics (as a fan, journalist, and creator) I feel fully qualified
to comment on the nature of the book itself.”
Having said all of that (and more) back then, Dr. Domian
felt it necessary to update his book with some additional material and issue
a revised second volume. That done he sent me a copy of the new volume so I
could review the updates as well. To talk about the graphical (ne comicbook)
portion of the book itself, it is wonderfully illustrated by Paola Amormino,
colored by Francesca Ingrassia, lettered by Giuseppe Naselli, and edited by
longtime comicbook writer and editor Paul Kupperberg, with production by
Freelance Ink. For his part, Kupperberg has been writing comics for over 50
years with editorial stints for DC, Archie, and a number of other comic
companies. Again, while not a psychologist myself, the story itself is well
presented and plays out over 124 pages.
As for the updated material (15 additional pages), include
an expanded introduction, a breakdown/explanation of the various chapters, an article
on the flawed concept that feelings are an arbitrary choice by which Dr. Domian
explains, in paragraph form, the basic problems of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).
Then, about a third of the way through the book, he again breaks into text to
offer Dr. Bernard Apfelbaum’s Ph.D interpretative neutrality, reclaiming
insight into psychotherapy. Apfelbaum (1926–2016), was an American clinical
psychologist, psychoanalyst, and sex therapist based in Berkeley, California.
He is best known as the director of the Berkeley Sex Therapy Group and as a
pioneer who coined the term “autosexual” in 1989.
Dr. Alan Domian, Ph.D.
This is followed by an essay where Domian discusses the
various characters in his graphic novel their motivations, and what they are
all about. Finally, he winds up with an endnote to talk about his purpose in
writing the book. This is followed by a longer discussion of what happened to
Amelia, the main character of the book who is being counseled by her new
therapist, Dale. Dr. Domian winds up his new volume with an article on
resolving psychotherapy effectiveness anxiety, a pair of examples of ego
analytics, references, and a brief “about the author” bio of himself.
Finally, while I am unqualified to weigh in on the clinical
aspects of the book, I will again state that the storytelling aspects of it are
most excellent, and the fact that Dr. Domian took the time to realize that his
first (noble) attempt to present this material was a tad wanting, so that he
took the time to update, and enhance the original volume by adding the additional
medical material. As a 25+ year practitioner in his field, he clearly knew what
he was talking about, and then, after his first foray into publishing a graphic
novel (a wholly unique experience) he took the time to update and refine his
work, we feel it necessary to give him high marks in both his work, and its presentation.
I’ve been writing professionally
for nearly 50 years,
My first published work was as a
radio ad copywriter, for a number of radio stations in Fairfield and New Haven
County. I had gotten an internship at a local radio station in 1977, during my
senior year in college, as I had been working as a DJ in my college radio station
and our station manager referred me to the station.
While that phase of my writing career
only lasted a few years, I soon moved into a phase that is—on at least some
level—is still with me. In 1981 my first published article appeared in print in
Amazing Heroes, a comicbook-themed publication, this was followed by articles
in numerous other comicbook, trading card and similar-themed publications,
kicking off a nearly two-decade run of articles, interviews, and reviews making
me one of the most prolific journalist in the field of comicbook reporting.
I even spent a goodly amount of
time writing marketing and PR material for most of the major comicbook
companies. This, of course, led to me creating and writing a comic of my own
for an Indie company, in 1986. That comicbook was Agent
Unknown, for Renegade Press. Unfortunately, that comic only lasted three issues, as there was a
massive crash of B&W comics in ’87, so we canceled the comic, and sadly it
would be nearly 20 years before I created another comic.
In 2006 I was approached to
contribute a short story to a horror comic entitled Psychosis. From
there I started contributing stories to several other Indie comicbook companies,
including Pronto, Main Enterprises, Red Anvil, and others. In 2025 I inked a
publishing deal with Dark
Fire Press to produce comics and prose novels. It was here that my
comicbook Wülf Girlz, and its accompanying novella Taste
the Moon have appeared.
Meanwhile, unwilling to allow my
past comicbook stories to disappear into the dustbin of comicbook history, I
decided to gather together some of my older work into omnibus editions. The
first such edition was Funnybook
City, Jump the Shark issue, which collected stories I had published
over at Main Enterprises (Funnybook City being the name of my self-publishing
company, chosen because my Uncle always referred to comics as “Funnybooks”).
My second book (which just dropped to Amazon)
is titled Funnybook
City Yesterday’s Neurosis and contains wok that originally appeared
in Guild Works Publications, Atlas Unleashed, and elsewhere. Rounding out this
issue are a handful of 500-word flash fiction and other prose stories that I
penned. This volume will be followed by a third Funnybook City collection
titled Lickety Split Tales which reprints stories I wrote for Pronto Comics.
I also
reprinted two articles from the beginning of my print career entitled Remembering
Steve Ditko which covered both Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr.’s respective
runs on Spider-Man, which ran in a book I put together for my appearance at the
2025 DitkoCon in Johnstown, PA. A second compilation I produced is called Wings
of Man, which gathered together several “flight” stories, including a
couple that involved a German Immigrant named Gustave Whitehead who not only
lived in my home town, but built and flew a plane two years before the Wright
brothers.
Future issues I am planning on
publishing include a collection that reprints my Renegade Press Agent
Unknown comics, as well as some related stories. I’m also compiling a
number of short prose stories for an anthology, as well as writing and
producing more Wülf Girlz stories and comics. Hope to see you when they arrive.
The world isn’t quite what we
think it is. At least according to Paul Kupperberg’s new novella, A
Clockwork God. In his book, he postulates a world where all of the
various gods from all of the multitude of pantheons return to earth to set up
shop, and rule over whatever part of the Earth that they have chosen as theirs.
And now, 20 years have passed since their return, and someone is killing them.
Meanwhile the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is nowhere to be seen. Hence, positioning
him as a “clockwork god”—that is to say, a god who set the world in motion, and
then simply walked away from it allowing it to run on its own.
All of which is a little ironic as
Kupperberg is a self-confessed atheistic Jew. He is also an American writer and
editor with a long career in comics working at DC Comics,
and other companies. He is currently a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. After
leaving DC he became the executive editor of Weekly
World News. These days he spends his time writing novels, comic books,
and newspaper
strips. Some of his titles include The Same Old Story, the
short story collection, In My Shorts: Hitler's Bellhop and Other Stories,
JSA: Ragnarok, I Never Write for the Money but I Always
Turn in the Manuscript for a Check, the Young Adult novel Emma’s
Landing, and his latest novella, The Blank.
But that’s not why we’re here, for
the gods have returned—and they are demanding worship. Welcome to the ReDeus
Event. It is the year 2032. As previously stated, it has been 20 years since the
gods of myth and legend returned to Earth. Twenty years since they carved the world
into territories ruled by rival pantheons. Twenty years since every man, woman,
and child on the planet was forced to swear fealty to their ancestral deities—or
be branded as heretics and hunted down without mercy.
And now, a man calling himself Junker George (Junker Jörg (Knight George) was
the alias used by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther while he was in hiding
at Wartburg Castle in Germany between 1521 and 1522) has emerged as one of the most
unlikely and perhaps most dangerous individuals in this fractured new age of faith.
Claiming to be neither prophet nor priest, George is actually the possessor of a
most holy Relic of Christianity, a survivor who is effortlessly moving through the
fault lines between gods and mortals.
Much to his dismay FBI Special Agent Irwin Benjamin, a weary, middle-aged atheist
who has spent his life trusting evidence over faith and reason over revelation
is now being drawn into George’s growing insurgency. For Benjamin, it means confronting
a universe that no longer makes sense...and deciding whether his disbelief could
be the most powerful weapon left to rescue all of humanity. As George moves through the various pantheons,
wantonly killing various gods Agent Benjamin discovers that for him, staying neutral
is no longer an option...and that the price for defying the gods may be higher than
anyone imagined.
Kupperberg’s writing is both crisp
and compelling as he builds this brave new world filled with gods from multiple
pantheons, Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Indigenous Americans, and beyond.
Truthfully, the sheer volume of research required of Kuperberg to piece
together the various gods, their names, attributes, and associated pantheons
must have been staggering, but just know that for someone that has been making
up names, abilities, and superpowers for some 50+ years, none of the gods
presented here are make believe. (Seriously, who knew so many pantheons existed?)
There are so many random details
that make this story not only so amazingly compelling, but so insightful about
today’s political and global situations. From the tiniest detail to random conversations
by the primary characters, all building to an ending that completely surprised this
reviewer. This story was not only grippingly entertaining, but seriously quite
a bit of fun to read as well.
