Dork Forty!

Bats, Cats, and Tortured Spacemen: A Tom King Two-Fer

December 15, 2020 // 1 Comment

So Tom King’s got three 12-issue series running right now: Strange Adventures, Batman/Catwoman, and Rorschach. That last one is not something I’ll be discussing, because it’s a book that, as far as I’m concerned, is an unauthorized sequel that shouldn’t exist. The other two, though… The other two I’m enjoying quite a bit. So let’s take a look at those, shall we…? Batman / Catwoman 1 by Tom King and Clay Mann I really wasn’t sure if I [...]

Fare thee well (AGAIN), Johnny Constantine! We (STILL) hardly knew ye!

December 1, 2020 // 2 Comments

So the new DC Implosion has finally claimed a victim that stings: Hellblazer. It’s not the first time they’ve canceled this book, and this time admittedly doesn’t sting as badly as the original. But still, man… Still… Hellbazer 10-12by Simon Spurrier, Matias Bergara, and Aaron Campbell I’ve really been enjoying this new run of Hellblazer. It’s retained a bit too much of the “sparkly magical shit” Constantine picked up in his six-year [...]

Departures

November 17, 2020 // 0 Comments

So I’ve still got a buncha funnybooks here that I read while I was on blog vacation, and a bunch more that I’ve read since, and I don’t know which ones are which anymore, but I’ve got a buncha categories to put ’em all into, starting this week with… DEPARTURES All good things must come to an end, and that includes funnybook series. In the last few months, we’ve had a few of the good’uns say goodbye, so I thought I should maybe devote a column to [...]

Then There Was That Time Captain America Fought Richard M. Nixon…

November 10, 2020 // 4 Comments

So it’s been a crazy week. I had fully intended to do my usual column last Tuesday, but then that whole “election” thing happened, and I figured people had more important stuff to worry about than funnybooks. And the week that’s followed since has been… well, like I said… crazy. The last time America saw a White House dissolving into this much desperation was the Watergate era, when President Richard M. Nixon lead a secret super-villain cabal in a scheme to [...]

What I Did on My Blog Vacation

October 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

So it’s been a while. I didn’t intend for my blog vacation to last quite as long as it did, but once I really dedicated myself to not doing much of anything for a while… That shit really took. As I write this, I’m on the final day of a week off from the day job, and I was maybe three-quarters of the way into that vacation before I realized that I was feeling human again. My vacations are always this way, of course. I tend to be kind of relentless when I start doing [...]

Putting the Farm to Bed

September 8, 2020 // 0 Comments

So we went another week without a column, and I really don’t have it in me to do one this week, either. I have books I want to talk about, but not the will to actually sit down and write. It’s been a long year for everyone, and I’m just flat-out exhausted. So, as happens from time to time, I think I need a vacation. A few weeks to just read comics and watch movies and play online and not stress out over self-imposed deadlines. Just thinking about it feels relaxing. [...]

Strange Spaces and Weird Sex: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!

August 25, 2020 // 0 Comments

So here we are again, with a whole big pile of funnybooks to discuss, and not much time to do it in. Last week, I handled that with just a couple of full-length reviews. This week, though, I think it’s time for the opposite approach. Which means, of course, that CAPSULEREVIEWSAREGO!! Decorum 4 by Jonathan Hickman and Mike Huddleston Sometimes, I think I don’t really understand what’s going on in this book. That usually happens a few pages into any sequence involving the Church [...]

Cowboys and Nazis and Giants and Aliens

August 18, 2020 // 2 Comments

So it’s been a while since we had time to sit down and really talk comics. And it’ll have to be a short talk, even now. But the constant grind of work, pandemic, and politics is starting to have some deleterious effects on my psyche, so… Let’s talk comics for a minute. I’ve got a big pile of books to discuss here on my desk, and I don’t even know where to start. Oh, wait! Yes I do! PULP by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips The current masters of funnybook noir [...]

Nerd Farming Ain’t Easy

August 9, 2020 // 0 Comments

So it just hit me this morning (Sunday, as I write this) that I missed posting a column this past Tuesday. I kind of thought I had, but I didn’t, and then I just put it out of my mind. Can’t remember the last time I didn’t at least post a picture saying, “Stay tuned, we’ll be back soon.” But it’s been that kind of week. The day job’s kicking my nerd-farming ass, and I’m thinking that it’ll be another week before I’m able to get [...]

Toth Does Conan

July 28, 2020 // 1 Comment

So we’re back with another art gallery post this week. I hope to resume regular long-winded funnybook discussion soon, but the day job’s just taking up too much of my time right now. Gotta make a living to buy them funnybooks, after all. But I hope the quality will make up for the lack of verbiage here, because I’ve got a collection of Alex Toth pieces I didn’t even know existed before this weekend. Farting around online during lunch, I stumbled across a drawing that [...]