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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Sprawling and wonderfully messy, like NYC itself!

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of Jonathan Mahler As its back cover states, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning is literally "a kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977," as Jonathan Mahler ambitiously weaves together New York City's major stories of that surprisingly pivotal year -- the Yankees turmoil-filled championship season; the divisive mayoral race; the illuminating blackout; and the "Son of Sam" killer; among several other low-profile but similarly influential events -- into a dizzying collage that is ever-so-slightly less than the sum of its parts.…

Continue ReadingSprawling and wonderfully messy, like NYC itself!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Random Shuffle: Mix Tape 01

Ten random selections from the hard drive, via Windows Media Center: 1985 -- Bowling for Soup-- I started 11th grade in the Fall of 1985. Yikes! Do I Make You Proud -- Taylor Hicks-- His debut album may have "bombed" but he's still my second-favorite Idol, behind Kelly Clarkson, and I'd catch him in concert any day. Please to Excuse the Blues -- Patricia Smith-- On page, on stage, Patricia's work holds up long after the first time it blows you away. Mercy on the Battlefield -- Oscar Bermeo-- Now happily married on the left coast, this was OB's coming out.…

Continue ReadingRandom Shuffle: Mix Tape 01
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

5 word challenge: A new beginning

The need to express oneself in such a public manner is a peculiar trait, indeed. With comics taking up much of my blogging energy the past couple of years -- not to mention my free writing time, generally speaking -- my personal blog faded into the background, to the point where any new passion or outrage was promptly filtered through the context of comics, and if there was no connection, there was no post. I'd heard of Vox somewhere in my online travels recently, and then my friend Dan signed up, and after poking around a bit, it rekindled my desire to…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

On the Shelves: 3/7/07

Reading is fundamental. Read what you like; don't waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 3/7/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: 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. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com] PICK OF THE WEEK The Living and the DeadDARK HORSE COMICS Star Wars Legacy #9, $2.99 Legacy has replaced Conan, which I still enjoy, as my…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Hater Blog: Levitz or Quesada?

Dick Hyacinth of the entertaining guilty pleasure and recent addition to the Blogs of Note, Dick Hates Your Blog, has been running a series of "Hate Polls", pitting the likes of Mark Millar, Geoff Johns, Brad Meltzer and Joe Quesada against each other for the title of Most Hated in Comics. Last week, after Quesada soundly thumped previous reigning champ, Millar, he asked who else might be a worthy challenger to the formidable DaQ and my comment was one of my favorite ever, as succinct a description of the "Big Two" as I could imagine:Yes, Levitz is whom I'd put…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Random Thoughts and an Update

So yeah, “minor” surgery is still surgery, and coupled with a drug industry and medical profession that takes “side effects” a bit too casually, I missed the entire NY Comic Con. The whole damn thing. The PopCultureShock party, too, which pisses me off the most, actually, as I was hoping to meet up with some people I hadn’t seen in a while as well as putting some faces to blogs I enjoy.

Ugh.

Anybody out there who did attend the party? I can live vicariously through your feedback!

I spent most of the past week laid up in bed, periodically hobbling around the apartment to take a break from marathon sessions on my rarely used Xbox: Destroy All Humans!, Just Cause and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Not a single comic book tie-in among them, although throughout Fable I was thinking what a great license it would be to adapt for comics. It features a pretty solid storyline that’s ripe for embellishment, especially since the main character is so malleable, by design, but driven towards his destiny by forces beyond his control, that much of the subtext takes place in the player’s head.

I wonder if the rights are available and how ridiculously expensive they might be?

(more…)

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

NY Comic Con: T-Minus 12 Hours

My surgery went well, and other than passing out on the way home, presumably from the combination of Valium and hunger -- head back, mouth open, wife yelling for help kind of passing out! -- I'm feeling pretty good now. Relatively speaking.My 9:30am appointment got pushed back to 11:15am, so my wife and I walked across town to the Javits Center to pick up my Press Pass and get the lay of the land. We couldn't get past security and on to the Convention Floor itself, but we got a good look at things from the entrance and I took…

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