News of the Right

My last reviews of the 2007! I actually got my stash this week from Comic Town in Columbus, OH. My brother and I took a day trip down so I could scope out the city in anticipation of moving there. And what’s visiting a new town without stopping in at the local geek hutch? A trip I don’t want to take, and I’ll tell you that for free. This week was a mixed bag of the great, the good and the “I paid how much for this?”.

Wonder Woman #15: Gail Simone continues her making the Amazon Princess great by deepening the Amazonian culture, history (herstory?) and philosophy (”Punishment for the adult; empathy for the child.”). Simone writes WW like she’s been doing it for ages. Just one question: if WW can’t penetrate the barrier around Paradise Island, how did Captain Nazi?  A

Wrath of the Titans #1: Interesting follow up to Clash of the Titans, but I was uncertain as to why all the gods had to look different from the movie. And why no one really addresses Danae’s blindness. B

Blue Beetle #21: Brian Andersen sent me an email about this issue saying “This will be us one day!!” Written by an unknown, Justin Peniston, this is a good stand-alone story that gives hope to us indy comic nerds that we can break into the Big Time one day. A

Thor #5: A break in the search-and-transform pattern of the past few issues that sets up future plot lines (maybe a few too many). The cover is… misleading, but I like how it ends up. A

Angel: After the Fall #1: I loved Season Five of Angel - the writing was smart, the drama high and the character development was unreal in its placing. With Season Eight of Buffy kicking ass all over the world, I figured that the comic book “next season” of Angel would fare as well. Yeah, not so much. C+

Angel: After the Fall #2: I got issues 1 and 2 at the same time, not knowing what they would be like, but anticipating the best. Maybe because Angel was such a strong ensemble show and the native situational humor and drama between the characters worked so well, that splitting them apart here … splits them apart. and why, oh why, is Illyria with Spike? C

Grendel: Behold the Devil #2: I’m hoping that the last page does not reveal who has been stalking the Devil. I never would have attributed that kind of… grace and agility to him. Still, the blood flows, and the story moves on. B+


HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!!!!!

The Buffalo Beast, whom I do not know nor whose website have I had time to look at thoroughly, has published his (or her; again, I’m just finding out about this) list of the Top 50 Most Loathsome People in America of 2007. The list is bound to spark controversy because it hits all sides of the political and social spectra, but I personally like #9:

You

Charges: You believe in freedom of speech, until someone says something that offends you. You suddenly give a damn about border integrity, because the automated voice system at your pharmacy asked you to press 9 for Spanish. You cling to every scrap of bullshit you can find to support your ludicrous belief system, and reject all empirical evidence to the contrary. You know the difference between patriotism and nationalism — it’s nationalism when foreigners do it. You hate anyone who seems smarter than you. You care more about zygotes than actual people. You love to blame people for their misfortunes, even if it means screwing yourself over. You still think Republicans favor limited government. Your knowledge of politics and government are dwarfed by your concern for Britney Spears’ children. You think buying Chinese goods stimulates our economy. You think you’re going to get universal health care. You tolerate the phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques.” You think the government is actually trying to improve education. You think watching CNN makes you smarter. You think two parties is enough. You can’t spell. You think $9 trillion in debt is manageable. You believe in an afterlife for the sole reason that you don’t want to die. You think lowering taxes raises revenue. You think the economy’s doing well. You’re an idiot.

Exhibit A: You couldn’t get enough Anna Nicole Smith coverage.

Sentence: A gradual decline into abject poverty as you continue to vote against your own self-interest. Death by an easily treated disorder that your health insurance doesn’t cover. You deserve it, chump.

Harsh, eh?

In less acerbic news, The Beast visited the Creation Museum, and was neither smitten nor arrested, though why not remains a mystery. If nothing else, one has to admire his sense (yes, the Beast is a him!) of humor and daring-do.

Cast your eyes now to Jeffrey Howell of Scottsdale, AZ, who is fighting a lawsuit brought on by the Recording Industry Association of America for having MP3s of songs he legally purchased on CD. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

The Pope declares war on Satan and assembles exorcism squads to lead the fight.

Brattleboro, VT drafts war crimes indictments against Bush and Cheney.

Jesus is a “lady with a beard”; Christian guys want kick-ass Jesus and less shame about Internet pron.

Spanish Bishop makes unclear claim: either children seek out sexual abuse or gay men are the same as pedophiles. His protests seem too much.

harbls

Christmas is always a joy for me, but ever since my nephew Dominic has been old enough to rip through wrapping paper like a tornado through Kansas, it’s been that much more special. Christmas is for kids. Having a kid around makes the holiday even better. Here I have a video of Dominic and my brother looking for me during round 100 or so of “Hide & Go Seek”. I’m in my Mom’s closet (go figure…) peeking out through the crack. Notice how even though Dominic has a sword in hand, he is the first to skedaddle when I leap out yelling. Heh. Heh.

Oh, and sorry for the dark quality. I’ve put a (flashed) picture below.

“Don’t go home,” Jack said. “Spend Christmas with me.”

“We’ve just met,” I smiled.

He seemed hurt, which made me feel bad. “I can come tomorrow night. Same place.”

“Lost in the same place in my woods? Good luck with that,” he pouted.

“My parents’ place then,” I offered. “They’ll want to thank…” Jack embraced me unexpectedly and kissed me like every boyfriend I’d ever had was kissing me all at once.

My parents found me on their porch the next morning; my wrapping-paper skin blue with frost and a frozen smile like I’d gotten the best Christmas gift ever.

A policewoman in a Florida Best Buy Tasers a “loud” customer.

The Lakota Nation of American Indians has seceded from the United States.

Pro-lesbian t-shirt throws teacher for a loop; student almost suspended.

Because Americans are Christian and love to shop, the Talking Jesus action figure at Wal-Mart has sold out.

GLOBAL ORGASM DAY

WHO? All Men and Women, you and everyone you know.

WHERE? Everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with weapons of mass destruction and places where violence is used in place of mediation.

WHEN? Solstice Day - December 22, at 06:08 Universal Time (GMT)

WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible instantaneous surge of human biological, mental and spiritual energy.

–from the Global Orgasm Day website

My friend Michelle and I hosted our second annual Christmahannakwanzaastice Charity Party for Animal Trustees of Austin this past Saturday. Our theme was “wine and cheese”. Over 30 people showed up with donations of food and litter (and a carrier!!) for ATA and the animals they care for (we provided the drinks and snackie-poos; gotta get ‘em in the door somehow!). All my cats (Zaph and M and Rose) were neutered at ATA and my dog (Hogan, seen in the picture above) had his heartworm treatment there. And Michelle’s six dogs and one cat… don’t get me started. Fun was had by all and four lucky people won door prizes - a gingerbread man kit, an ATA calendar, a bottle of wine with wine spouts, and a bottle of champagne. By the end of the night we were exhausted and way toasty, but for what a reason! Next year we’re doing “beer and shots”.

• Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame has Alzheimer’s.
• Amazon.com buys J. K. Rowling’s £2 million handwritten book, Tales of Beelde the Bard then goes out of their way to make fans jealous.
• The Mama Mia! trailer is released!!!!

Grendel: Behold the Devil #0: I love Matt Wagner’s work; I have ever since his early work on Grendel and Mage. I truly believe he’s one of the most under-appreciated and underused creators in the comics world (next to Art Adams). So, when I heard that he was returning to his original devil, Hunter Rose, I couldn’t wait to see if the same old (black) magic would be there. It was. Matt Wagner tell an elegant and violent story in 6 pages without leaving the reader in a lurch. A+

Grendel: Behold the Devil #1: Why do I cheer for the devil? Grendel is an evil figure, a monster who enjoys the bloodshed, yet here I am excited to be reading about him again. I doubt I would buy sad clown painting by Gacy or the serial killer collectable cards that were so popular in the early 90’s, so what is it about Hunter Rose I like so much? This is a must have series! A+

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #9: Faith is one of the most complex characters in the Buffyverse. She has fought for evil, dodged her burdens by attempting suicide, been redeemed… or so we think. How close is Faith to becoming the next Dark Slayer? Does she love and/or hate Buffy that much? A+

Sadly, though, there was no Gutsville #3 this week. Me are sadness.

So, the South Koreans (oddly referred to in the article as “SKoreans”) have cloned cats AND made them glow in the dark. That’s pretty damn cool, but I’d like a cat that gave off heat and could be set like a thermostat - from “bed-warmer” to “turkey roast”.   I’d really love a cat that could shoot lasers out of its eyes, though I’m betting the dog wouldn’t.

I just found out yesterday evening that the Advocate Insider had a little write up on the Comic-Con panel back in July. How exciting.. well, how exciting it would have been to know. It’s still exciting, but in a five-months-later kinda way.

If “interstatual” is indeed a word.

Thanks to some encouragement (and an email address) from Brian Andersen, I got in touch with Rich from Whatever in San Francisco, and he decided to run Frater Mine and the generic goddess comics! Whatever is the place in Castro to “get your geek on”, as the slogan goes, and since Rich is a huge supporter of gay indy comics, it’s only fair that we show him some love back. Support local businesses!! Thanks Rich for selling my stuff!

Now that we’re “interstatual”, next year, we go international!

No, really, what is the word for “having business between the states”?

(pictures courtesy Brian’s cell phone)

Ambigrams are clever pictures that are the same backwards and forwards, or right-side up or upside down, or angle-to-angle (soon to be made wildly popular with the movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons, no doubt). And the 20th Anniversary DVD of a favorite movie of mine, The Princess Bride, features an ambigram:

Pretty neat, eh? I saw this movie for the first time on Thanksgiving Day, 1987. It was my freshman year at Mercyhurst College and I had just worked a 13 hour shift at Rebecca’s Restaurant where I was a bus slave. Really, my job at Rebecca’s was a great one; obviously so, I had been there for three years by the time I started college. The whole staff was amazingly cool - the bartender let us drink after-shift sometimes, the head waiter was a condescending prick with a wicked sense of humor (ah, Fred!) whom we all loved, the eponymous co-owner was a terrific woman with a thing for gay men, the wait staff was a trip and us bus kids… well, we thought we owned the place. On the Thanksgiving in question, I was to work the early shift, then go home to have dinner with my folks. However, just before I was supposed to leave, Fred told me that several of the bus kids who were supposed to be there, weren’t coming. They were “sick” or some such BS. Fred gave me the option to leave, but said they really needed the help that afternoon.

What could I do? I called my mom and told her to go ahead and eat without me. A work ethic is a terrible thing sometimes, right? Thank God Mom understood.

One other busser stayed for a second shift - Amy. By the time we were done it was way late and we were exhausted, but we couldn’t relax. Rebecca fed us and tipped us extra (from her own pocket, I think), so, feeling rich, Amy and I called our parents and said we were going to see a movie to unwind. The Princess Bride.

To say I howled and stomped and cried my way through the movie is a gross injustice to the embarrassment that Amy suffered that night. But The Princess Bride is still one of the best movies ever, and I say that with twenty years’ (!!!) worth of perspective and repeated viewings, not just through the lens of punchiness.

Jesus. Twenty years.

Next week, I go home to Erie, PA to see my folks for an extended Christmas visit. And usually before I go home (case in point, tonight), I log into Gay.com to see what folks are about and if there’s anyone cool to meet or whatnot. Really, I almost never do this anymore because chatting is such a hassle and, really, if i wanted to see any of these guys, I’d go visit in person. Still, gay people in my hometown fascinate me, and going back makes me want to see what the scene is like (especially if anyone from high school is there - heh heh). Then I got a private message that reminded me why I don’t chat often:

«xxxxxxxxxxxx» visitng?
«stsean» not yet
«stsean» next week
«txxxxxxxxxxxx» up for a massage when visting?
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» i do sensaul erotic to deep - can really use the business
«stsean» well, tis the season
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» th
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» thx
«stsean» no pro
«stsean» er..  no prob
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» well keep me postd next week
«stsean» whoops! my freudian slip was showing there.
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» unto sure what u meant
«stsean» unto?
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» yeah
«stsean» what is “unto”?
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» duh. un means not.
«stsean» so you’re not to sure what i meant.
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» yeah.
«stsean» nice chest pics.
«xxxxxxxxxxxx» thx

*sigh* And he really did have nice pecs. But that was about all.

zaftig

fakakta (alternately, “farkakt“)

The awesome Juan Romera and my very talented brother Scott have provided me some art samples from the next issue of Frater Mine. Respectively, you can see pages 1 and 5, and the cover above. I can’t say enough good about them - they do so much to being my stories to life and I’m genuinely thrilled to be working with them.

Frater Mine #6, “Shadows of the World Appear”, the third part of the Here, There and Nowhere story arc will really mark the beginning of stories told as an ensemble. But first, we have to get the main players - Colleen, Matt and Mark - isolated from everything they depend on, then bring them together. It’s gonna be rough. Enemies are everywhere and allies are closer than they imagine. It’s going to be a great issue, especially if letterer Ed Brisson will be part of the staff again. I know I’m looking forward to it!

Lots of entries this week!

• Else considered buying a new boyfriend
• Aaron will achieve becoming his terrier in the future.

Again, “awesome.”

Whatever ran a LOLCreashun contest last month to see who could LOLize pictures from the Creation Museum. Check out the entries. They made me LOL. My faves are below.

(thanks to JoeMyGod for posting it first!)

more under the fold

• She ordered events as they occurred in time.

François Peneaud and Carlos Garcia’s Brother to Dragons has been reviewed at Prism Comics. Take a look, and once you decide you love it, skip on over to Class Comics to get yourself a copy or two. But for God’s sake, just be aware that Class Comics is an adult site! If’n you don’t want to be subjected to man-on-man action and enormous penes, then by all means, don’t go! If, on the other hand, that’s totally your bag, then click away!

mawkish