On comics and other pop culture topics, including archived Comic Book Commentary posts from 2005-2007.
It was a year ago, almost to the day, that I went to St. Mark's Comics with Omar and got hooked on comic books again. "Hooked" in that crackhead sense, apparently, as after buying a legit box for them, I've realized the sense of control I thought I had over what, and how much, I was buying turned out to be a severe case of denial. For some reason, I thought the long boxes held 100 comics and was surprised when my nascent collection didn't fill it completely. So I counted...and realized I've bought over 200 comics in the past…
Between my internet connection at work being screwy all day and Blogspot.com seemingly on the blink, the post I started writing earlier was lost. It was about the difference between Batman and Superman and a comment director Wolfgang Petersen made about it. Petersen was apparently attached to a Batman vs. Superman movie that was scrapped in favor of separate movies. Can't say I'm disappointed. Petersen's also the director of the new movie, Troy, with Brad Pitt lamely delivering one of the corniest lines ever: "Immortality! It's yours. Take it!" No thanks, Brad. Between Gladiator and Return of the King, I…
a home abandoned long enough returns to its base components walls, windows, doors, floors and ceilings the sum becomes considerably less than its parts old books lean listlessly on shelves next to faded pictures of places long-forgotten, friends no longer familiar a film of dust covers them all the last mix tape from years ago hides at the bottom of the box at the back of the shelf in the closet never opened the dust on the doorknob is proof of its neglect we are more likely to pick at scabs than encourage healed wounds to remember the sting of…
There's only been a handful of "black" movies that have struck me as having that certain something at their core that expressed a sincere love for the people it presented, warts and all, and this is one of them. The first Barbershop, Waiting to Exhale, Boyz N the Hood and Rosewood are some of the others that come to mind. There's an emotional honesty to each of them that transcends the archetypes they employ to tell their stories. Of course, that's all debatable but, in this instance, it's not the point.
As a kid, I was a big fan of GI Joe. I vaguely remember in the 70s having a couple of the big 12" dolls and the jeep. I think at least one of them even had "real" facial hair. In the 80s, I really got into them when the 3-3/4" action figures came out - Snake Eyes, Grunt, Scarlet, Stalker and Cobra Commander, who you could only get via a mail-in promotion. We shoplifted a bunch of them from the old Caldor's in Pelham every time we went, hiding them in our socks with the cardboard backing that had…
When I got into Dungeons & Dragons back in High School, there were a number of other role-playing games I was familiar with - Gamma World, James Bond, Marvel Superheroes, etc. - and they all took place within fantasy worlds of some sort, past or future. Even James Bond, which took place in something resembling our "real" world, was at its core, a pen and paper version of the movies which are as far removed from the "real" world as dragons, elves and wizards. Times changed and D&D [in a PC vs. Macintosh business model kind of way] evolved into…
Puke-arama: Night 2! The fun never ends... And the snow is falling, and I'm cranky from a hectic day at work, and I'm exhausted from a lack of uninterrupted sleep. I do have several new comic books that I picked up at lunch, though, all but $5 of which were free thanks to my $20 rebate kicking in! So it's not all bad. :-) In other news, you don't want to mess with me. Either of me! The allergy thing is odd, though. Either way, I'm a bad mofo. Shut yo'mouth! Your Supervillain Career by NinjaDinerYour NameYour Claim to FameAn…
