Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Comment: The Comics Blogiverse

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 22, 2005
Post category:Pop Culture Reviews
Post comments:1 Comment

The myriad comic book-related blogs that have sprung up over the past couple of years run the gamut from unpretentious reviews and commentary by enthusiastic fans to jaded bile and snark by agenda-driven wannabes looking to break into the industry. The Comic Weblog Linkatron 5000 links to them all without prejudice so I thought I'd offer up quick takes on some of my favorites, all linked (and newly updated) in the left-hand column under Comic Blogs.The BeatHeidi MacDonald is the real deal, an industry veteran covering the news of the day with an occasional dose of intelligent snark. Only downside…

R.I.P.: Jim Aparo (1932-2005)

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 20, 2005
Post category:Uncategorized
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Jim Aparo is one of the first artists I have a distinct memory of from my earliest days of collecting comics, and his version of Batman remains to this day one of my favorites. He was one of the first artists whose styles I could recognize at first glance and who could get me to pick up a comic book I normally wouldn't, including Aquaman!When people say "they don't make them like they used to," they could easily be talking about Jim Aparo. Rest in peace. (Batman and the Outsiders #1 cover courtesy of the Grand Comic Book Database.)The following…

Our 7th Anniversary

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 20, 2005
Post category:Personal
Post comments:3 Comments

Rereading that last post, it almost sounds like our vacation sucked, but that’s just work filtering through and tainting my perspective. We had a great time, the most “quality time” we’ve had together since…hell, Spain in 2000, right before Isaac was born?

I was thinking about the past 7 years the other day, and what’s changed since July 18, 1998:

1) Bill Clinton was President and was somewhere in the process of being impeached for the whole Monica Lewinsky psuedo-scandal. George W. Bush was Governor of Texas and netted $14 million from the sale of the Texas Rangers, a nice profit from his $600,000 investment…with borrowed money!

2) The first Gulf War had still not been officially declared over, and I was still in the NJ National Guard.

3) A month after our wedding, I was on the Nuyorican Poets Café’s only National Poetry Slam Championship team, and had just started running a little bit louder a couple of months before that.

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Bourbon Street Stinks!

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 20, 2005
Post category:Media Personal
Post comments:1 Comment

How come no one warned me? Bourbon Street at night is like everything I hate about Hoboken, magnified 10 times over, plus strip clubs! And it stinks like a mix of old alcohol and stale mop water. For all its unappealing skankiness, though, we did have fun people-watching the first two nights; and while I don't believe they're really 180 Proof, the Hand Grenade is a mighty tasty drink. ;-) The French Quarter itself, and our trip overall, was a whole lot of fun. The humidity, as expected, was brutal at times, but for being on vacation instead of going…

INFO: Free Comic Book Day 2006

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 19, 2005
Post category:Media Pop Culture
Post comments:0 Comments

Diamond Comic Distributors has announced this weekend in San Diego that Free Comic Book Day 2006 will take place on Saturday, May 6th, the second consecutive year the event will take place separate from the release of a comic book-based movie. Marketing will be in full swing for the summer slate of comic book-inspired movies, though, including Zoom's Academy, scheduled for release the following weekend, May 12th; X3, May 23rd; and Superman Returns, June 30th.It also won't fall on Mother's Day weekend again, a poor bit of scheduling that made it difficult for some fathers **ahem** to fully participate in…

Try Something Different: 7/20/05

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 19, 2005
Post category:Media Pop Culture
Post comments:0 Comments

Support Independent Comics!Independent comics (and manga) being released tomorrow, 7/20/05, courtesy of ComicList. Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it.Recommendations, sometimes blind, in BOLD. Which ones are YOU reading?ACTIVE IMAGES Gunpowder Girl & Outlaw Squaw GN, $12.95A. D. VISION Chrono Crusade Manga Vol 6 TPB, $9.99 Cromartie High School Manga Vol 3 TPB, $10.95 Yotsuba Manga Vol 2 TPB, $9.99ALIAS ENTERPRISES LLC Killer Stunts Inc #3 (Of 4), $2.99ANGEL GATE PRESS 10th Muse #1-6 Coll Pack, $6.00ANTARCTIC PRESS AP How To Draw…

Batman Begins vs. Fantastic Four: Different Paths to Success

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:July 14, 2005
Post category:Pop Culture Reviews
Post comments:5 Comments

The friendly rivalry between Marvel and DC knows no boundaries. What started decades ago in print has now spilled over onto celluloid. About a month apart in their release dates, the iconic figures of Batman in DC's Batman Begins, and Marvel's Fantastic Four battle it out for comic book supremacy on film. Two different paths, two different beginnings, but ultimately, both will win.Batman Begins got off on the right foot from the start by signing its director, Chris Nolan. The film was the beneficiary of a lot of buzz before its release, followed by positive reviews from critics and fanboys…