Category Archives: Uncategorized

My lovely and wonderful wife got a gift certificate to MyComicsShop.com for Christmas, and I have a bit of a problem -- I'm not sure what to spend it on. Two thirds of it I am generously donating to you, good blog reader. Sort of. I'm getting the complete run of the 1985 "Who's Who in the DC Universe" and subsequent updates so I can hunt down more ridiculous and mock-worthy characters for your belittlement and enjoyment.

But that leaves me with about thirty bucks to spend, and I can't figure out what I ought to do with it. I don't want to just get the current issues I get from my regular store, but I already have most of the "big" sets I'd want.

So I thought I'd ask you all -- if you were recommending a "must have" graphic novel or trade paperback to someone who loves comics, what would you recommend? Here are a few sets I have and love, if that helps:

• Watchmen
• Kingdom Come
• Marvels
• The Complete Frank Miller Batman
• Blankets
• Daredevil: Born Again
• Concrete
• The Complete Bone Adventures

(Edited to add: Those are ones I already own, not ones I am thinking of buying. Just to give you an idea of the kind of thing I like.)

Lay it on me, intelligentsia! Tell me what I need to buy with my remaining monies. Otherwise I might just say "Screw the blog readers and their 'Who's Who', I'm dumping all that and instead getting the 'Complete Calvin and Hobbes'"!

Concluding our month-long "What If?" tribute, I bring you a scenario so unsettling, I may not be able to sleep tonight:

Rampaging muscle-bound Hulks and sinister Kryptonians are a walk in the park next to this one, folks, so let's take it below the fold and not scare the kids.

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The winner of Caption Contest 21 is ... Socrates! Not the dead philosopher guy (I assume), but rather the blog poster who goes by the same name. Although it'd be kind of cool if, in keeping with the resurrected Jimi Hendrix from the Mashup this week, the wise old Greek came back just for this. I bet he'd have me draw someone strangling Plato.

But I digress! Socrates has won a custom black and white illustration of whatever he or she likes, which I'll post once it's done for all to see. So keep it clean there, Socrates. Here's that entry done up all pretty-like:

The Honorable Mentions for this week were:

HalLoweEn JacK: I am woman! Hear me ‘SMECK’!
Syzyx: Hung jury? No, I prefer mine battered.
Runt82: Guys, unless your last name is Kirk and you fly in a spaceship, STOP trying to seduce me.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and better luck with the next contest!

As an aside., how would you all feel about opening these contests to a vote, instead of just having me pick the winner? It would take a week longer to find out, but it would be more democratic. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but figured I'd throw it out there and see what you think. I'd probably do something like pick the top five or ten entries, and put them into a poll.

I've updated the FaceMaker applet with the following changes:

1. Added hover text-tips for the buttons to show what they do.
2. Added a "color hair" button that does the same thing for hair, mustache, and beard as the "color skin" button.
3. Changed the color of the item slot boxes to match the other buttons' color schemes.

The last two big things to do are to a) add the preview boxes over on the right (bleh) and b) get the final "skin" designed and implemented. Should be relatively soon!

So I'm reading through my Jack Kirby "Silver Star" compilation, and who do I see making a guest appearance as a tripped-out drug punk but Howard Stern, famous shock jock? Here's the panel in question alongside a reference photo.

I bought a Sirius satellite radio just to hear Stern, so I'm definitely what you'd call a fan. But even I wasn't sure at first this character was based off of his appearance, until I saw him get the snot kicked out of him by the highly patriotic and upright Silver Star, which clenched it. I bet ol' Jack was trying to get in good with the Comics Code Authority and his publishers thought showing Howard getting smacked around would be the way to go.