Retro Vertigo

A couple months back, I was discussing with a friend that Vertigo was slowly being dissolved. Anyone keeping up knows that there have been a couple recent announcements that show that the end may indeed be near. And while I believe that most peoples's "best of" lists would (and rightfully should) be composed at least 50% with Vertigo titles, the imprint is becoming more and more archaic. Maybe it's run its course.

The most recent news is that founding Executive Editor Karen Berger will be stepping down after two decades. This could be to get some new blood for the waning imprint. Currently there are only four ongoing series, and with no big news on upcoming projects, an expansion seems doubtful.

The even bigger news that enraged bloggers a few weeks back was the cancellation of Hellblazer at issue 300. But honestly that's well past due. Don't get me wrong. It's a solid series that I've jumped on and off throughout the past 20 years, but is anyone really going to miss this? For years, it's felt like this book kept going just to keep going.

Which brings up everybody's next favorite complaint: They're using all the Vertigo characters in the DCU. Well, good. Because they're using them. When was the last time we saw Animal Man in Vertigo? 17 years ago. Swamp Thing hasn't even been used since 2006.

When Vertigo first started, it was used to distinguish some of DC's preexisting fringe books from straight-up tights and capes stuff. A group of British writers were onto something with new approaches to some obscure characters (the most famous being Sandman) and DC really wanted to take it to the next level. But a lot of people forget that for a while, these books were still part of DC continuity. Batman could show up in Swamp Thing or Vice Versa.

There were some stand-alone titles, but it didn't really change until Preacher. After that, Vertigo shifted to creator-owned books like Transmetropolitan or 100 Bullets. So bringing the old superhero characters back to the DCU makes sense, because that's where they belong. And the books aren't that different from their pre-Vertigo days. They're a little safer now, but at this point Warner Bros is more interested in comics to keep licenses for movies.

Currently, there are a lot of publishers putting out high quality creator-owned books. Image (who have come a long way since Vertigo's inception) has been setting all kinds of records with Walking Dead.  A lot creators that have been associated with Vertigo for years are moving to Image and other independent publishers, and  Vertigo is no longer is needed to fill the niche of make prestigious original titles anymore.

So it's sad, but their heyday is likely long over. And unless they produce a hit movie or TV series I can't imagine Vertigo lasting much longer. But even if the end is nigh they have a great run and will leave a legacy one of comics' most outstanding back-catalogs.

A Whole Nother New World

I'm going to reiterate that Marvel really does have the top artists working for them. Avengers one is absolutely beautiful. I've followed Opena through Ghost Rider and X-Force and he really keeps improving. Another cool thing is that it has a layout similar to Hickman's Image books which is kind of interesting that a writer has his own recognizable visual aesthetic. The script is solid, but pales in comparison to Hickman's creator-owned work. If I'm going to recommend you buy a book that he's writing, it would be Manhattan Projects. 

The last few pages seem somewhat rushed to move along the plot. Although in today's decompressed era it's a little nice to actually move the plot ,so it's not all bad. My biggest concern with this book is that with it's frequent schedule (every other week for this one and Hickman's  New Avengers will also run every other week so that Avengers will essentially be weekly) they are going to need to change artist for every story arc. Marvel will have other top artists working, but I wonder if it will hurt the consistency of the overall tone.


I wasn't much looking forward to this until I flipped through it. Steve Dillon is another top notch artist great with facial expressions, especially when said faces have bullets running through them. And although I find the Punisher to be one of the most boring popular characters Marvel has, there have been three runs in the past decade or so that I really loved. two of them were drawn by Steve Dillon (with scripts by Ennis and Aaron. In case you were wondering, the third run was Remender's).

Unfortunately the script was lacking. There was very little substance and I felt the humor fell flat (although that's more subjective). They wasted the entire first issue with a team recruiting story. The story focuses around Ross and the Punisher. The other vignettes where the other characters are recruited seems unnecessary and forced in just to remind readers that these characters are on the team (which the cover conveys perfectly).




This series has slowed down a lot since the first issue. The second issue was spent entirely with Wolverine's team and the original X-Men while this issue focuses on Cyclops's team. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I can enjoy a nice slow build (especially when we've already had three issues in the past four weeks it's not that long of a wait at all). The two plots converge at the end of this issue. Let's hope the payoff is big when we get to the next one.













Maybe not as funny as two, but still has a lot of laughs. This is the first Marvel Now book that's officially made my list.

A Whole Nother New World

Before starting each individual review this week, I'd first like to mention how spectacular the art is in these particular issues. The scripts were great. Don't get me wrong. But the artist have incalculably elevated these comicbooks. This is the industry's top talent.

And before I start this Hulk review, I'm going to tell an unrelated anecdote that I will forever associate with artist Lenil Yu:

Somewhere around a decade ago, I was hanging around in a comic store that I frequented. A stranger walked in, and we got to discussing comicbooks. We started discussing artists. I mentioned some artist that I liked and he replied, "I like Yu." After a few uncomfortable seconds of  silence he followed up with, "He draws Wolverine." When everyone realized what he meant, we all had a good laugh.

So now to the debut issue of Indestructible Hulk. The Hulk is easily my all-time favorite comicbook character. That being said, it's been nine years since I've bought more than three consecutive issues to any Hulk series. I like that they've tried a lot of different things throughout the years. I just haven't liked anything they've done. I always feel he's best when written to embody Frankenstein and the Wolfman. This comic unfortunately is not that. Fortunately though, it's really good.

The tone of this book seems to take its ques from the Avengers movie. (Which makes me realize that I've never mentioned on this site. I'll have to do something about that.) Mark Waid presents Banner as a genius who treats the Hulk as a condition or handicap to be dealt with. It's a lot lighter than recent years, and looks like it could be a lot of fun action without sacrificing characters and plot. A lot happens in these 20 pages.

And while I have been complaining about decompression and the 20-page format, a lot happens in this book. It goes from the '30s to present day to Dimension Z. John Romita Jr is one of my absolute favorite artists who often works with writes who I really dislike. Rick Remender has worked on some really stellar books and this one's no exception. It's got a very Fear Agent meets Kirby feel to it. If I were to recommend just one Marvel Now book, it's this one.

Deadpool continues to be very funny.

A Whole Nother New World

I actually liked all four comics this week. As much as I love Brian Posehn, the creative team that I was most excited for in all the relaunched books is Aaron and Ribic.How can this not be badass?

I haven't read a lot of Thor recently but this series seems to be a pretty big departure. It doesn't take place on Midgard at all and there is absolutely no tights and cape stuff here. It solely revolves around the mythical aspects of the gods (I guess kind of sci-fi since there are different worlds).

There are three concurrent stories united by the same antagonist. One story taking place hundreds of years ago, one in the present, and one millennia in the future, in what appears to be Thor's final battle.

My only problem was that three stories is a lot to fit in what is now only 20 pages of comic. It doesn't leave a lot of room. Other than that, this was a really cool start.






This was my least favorite book this week. Not that it's bad. But going back to my 20 page point from earlier this seems like all appetizer and no meat. It vaguely establishes what the book is about, but spends most of the time individually introducing and establishing each character. It's something many writers do on their first issue and it always seems redundant. I know this is a number one, but it's not like there was even a month since the last issue. And there have been 600+ issues, two movies, and a few cartoon shows about the Fantastic Four. Nearly (if not) everyone reading this has at least a vague understanding of these characters. It also seems to be a direct continuation from Jonathan Hickman's run.

All in all, this was a decent (albeit slow-paced) issue with really good Mark Bagley art. Since this is tying pretty closely with FF hopefully that premiere will pick up the pace a bit. Otherwise we won't have a story until three issues into the run.

This was the biggest surprise for me. I was a long-time reader of Bendis's Avengers run since the beginning eight years ago. I loved it for a long time, but he's been spinning his wheels for a while now. I dropped it last year and figured that I was just Bendised out. That coupled with the seemingly dumb premise of bringing the original X-Men to modern times, I thought this was going to be awful.

I guess Bendis just needed a change-up because this is a really fun read. It's been my favorite new Marvel book so far. The time-travel aspect was only touched upon towards the end, but it seems like it can be used in some really fun ways. I know time travel never makes sense but it's a cool concept and some of my favorite stories of all time involve it.

This also seems to really move the X-Men along dealing Cyclops's role post-AVX. There are also new characters being introduced now that the "no more mutants" quo is over. Hopefully we get some cool young characters that stick around and are not just a plot device for this one story.

 I've actually haven't read this series since the name changed to Legacy, but I'm pretty sure this is also a pretty big departure since the previous series. Mostly because this isn't about the X-Men. It's about Prof X's son Legion. However I don't blame Marvel's decision for keeping the title. A book titled Legion would probably only sell about a dozen copies.

This is a good starter issue based mainly around character development. Unlike Fantastic Four this is a way way way more obscure character that many people have probably never even heard of. It sets up Legion pretty well and gives glimpses of some weird mutant prison camp.

It’s A SpongeBob Christmas! trailer by stuffwelike

A Whole Nother New World

So now we're really in the thick of the Marvel Now relaunch, and this is the comic that really made me give these new Marvel books a second thought. I'm a pretty big fan of Brian Posehn's standup, and was actually a huge fan of Joe Kelley's run on the original Deadpool series. That being said, the only Deadpool issue I have read in the 13 years since he's left the series was the first issue of Daniel Way's run.

This is a pretty good start. Not hysterical, but I did laugh a few times. Like I mentioned, I haven't read any Deadpool in a while, but the premise and humor seems a little different: SHIELD is using Deadpool as an agent for the messy jobs that would garner bad publicity (which does exist) for the Avengers.

Although the script is good, what really sells it for me is Tony Moore's art. His facial expressions really bring it home. The most memorable part is a detailed two-page splash consisting of partying zombie presidents. My biggest concern with this title is that Moore cannot keep a monthly schedule let alone the twice monthly schedule that Marvel's pushing. I hope the book can sustain quality for the issues he's not drawing. On the optimistic side, Walking Dead has continued to be great throughout the 97 since he left.

Next is Iron Man which I enjoyed. The plot was solid. The characterization was spot on. The art looked great. The only thing this book was lacking is a uniqueness. It's a perfect book in the post Iron Man film Marvel universe, but really didn't seem all that different from what I've read of Fraction's or Ellis's runs. The only thing that really seems all that new is the armor's color. There is room for plenty of interesting directions to play out in the arc, but after a single issue, it seems to be a bit generic.

Quick Update

The Dean Ween and Friends show that I posted the other day has been moved to Wed Nov 28th.

"The Goon" on Last Call w/Carson Daly from Goon Kickstarter on Vimeo.

A Message From Eric Powell, Creator of "The Goon"!!! from Goon Kickstarter on Vimeo.

I just came across this, and there are only five days left! I generally don't care too much about adaptations, but this looks like it could be really cool. Click on the widget below donate. There's some really cool stuff especially if you're in the LA area.

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Greetings!

Dean Ween aka Mickey Melchiondo spends a lot of time at the Jersey shore and knows a lot of people. He'll be hosting a benefit concert this coming Sunday and I'm hoping you'd consider advancing this show. Let me know what you need tomake this happen.

"Like a lot of people I know it's hard to figure out where to best donate money and resources right now. To this end I've just arranged a benefit concert for my good friend Nick Honachefsky who lost his home and all of his worldly possessions in the storm. I'm hosting a benefit concert at the Saint in Asbury Park, NJ on Sun Nov. 11--"Dean Ween and Friends" featuring Claude Coleman, Glenn McClelland, Chris Harford, Dickie Moist, and the all of the usual suspects to help Nick get back on his feet. The evening will feature new music and old music by Moistboyz, Chris Harford, Jimmy Wilson, members of Ween, etc. More specific details to follow. Also, there is a fund set up for Nick at this address:

 http://nickymagnum.chipin.com/nick-honachefsky-fund

"These are trying times for a lot of my closest friends and family members as well as my brothers and sisters in the NJ fishing community. If we all pitch in a little bit it can go a long way towards a complete recovery and some sense of normalcy to an area which is so sacred to so many of us."

-Mickey

A Whole Nother New World

Much like I did with DC last year, I'm going to give a weekly review of the Marvel Now relaunch.

I first want to mention that I have no problem with the renumbering. People complain about all the tradition being lost, but the only reason that comics used to have such high issue numbers was because in the old days, new comics didn't sell well.  To keep sales, publishers would just change titles instead of starting a new series.

For example: Incredible Hulk did not originally sell well. Instead of cancelling after six issues, Marvel started Tales to Astonish at issue seven. When the Hulk became more popular, instead of starting a new series, Marvel changed Tales to Astonish back to Incredible Hulk at issue 102. It had nothing to do with tradition or artistic integrity. It was because at the time readers felt more secure with a book that had lasted. Issue 102 would sell more than a number one.

I haven't bought a Marvel comic since April, so I'm not distraught about any cancellations. A lot of these new ideas seem interesting. And unlike DC which hit a magic reset button that kept some continuity but not others but didn't really state which was which (muddled continuity and some other minor complaints aside, I think DC made the right choice), these books continue where the previous volumes left off.

The first of these new books Uncanny Avengers. This is meant to be the new Marvel's flagship title and amalgamates their two biggest franchises. To say I was disappointed may be putting it lightly. Coming from two creators I have enjoyed very much in the past, writer Rick Remender and artist John Cassaday, this story came across as bland and although the art is solid, not up to par with Planetary or Astonishing X-Men.

The rest of the review will contain spoilers:

The prologue is pretty cool and teases the antagonists for what will be at least the first arc. After that, most of the book is more of an epilogue for Avengers Vs X-Men dealing with Professor X's funeral and Cyclop's incarceration. I realize that the book is not a restart and will deal with these topics. But Marvel says the object of  Marvel Now is a new start to gain new readers, and this seems completely bogged down with previous continuity. There's even a House of M (an event that happened eight years ago)discussion. With the continuous massive events that occurred throughout the past decade, there has been no room for character growth and their only character background seems to stem from these ridiculous events where everyone is constantly acting out of character in order to reinvent Marvel's status quo for the year (until the next event).

The last page reveal would have been exciting if Marvel hadn't already released the cover. to issue two, and the seeds planted were kind of cool but overall in serialized storytelling I feel the first installment needs to stand as a microcosm to the series. While decompressed storytelling may work in a trade, as a first issue there wasn't enough to get me excited about the next which is important when deciding what to spend money on from month to month.

All New Issues

Friends of You Don't Look Hip, Bill Ellis and Dani O'Brien have recently released a book of their long-running web comic All New Issues. Mail order will be available soon. Until then you can check out the archives or if you're in New Jersey, you can pick one up at the newly reopened Wild Pig Comics.

RIP

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Buy My Book!

On more time I'm going to mention The Indie Cred Test, the book I worked on as a Major Contributor with Chunklet Magazine. It was picked up by Penguin earlier this year and this orange second edition was released today.

The internet has just peaked...

American Banned

A quick follow-up on Black Kiss 2 which I mentioned a couple weeks back. I mentioned that the first issue had some pretty fucked up stuff in it (for a mainstream comics anyway). Apparently it's so fucked up that British customs held it for a week. To avoid further complications, Diamond has cancelled all future issues including a second printing of the sold out first issue.

Happy Endings

A year ago I loved this series so much that I wrote:

"It's what Disney and Warner Brothers comics would be like if they had any balls and didn't just publish stories aimed at little kids to generate supplementary sales for their big budget summer garbage."

Which I still stand by. Any hero published by the big too comes off as a pussy in comparison.

Unfortunately after seven monthly issues, this one had a ten month delay. On the up side, it's very good and I'm kind of glad that it ended since it can't keep up a schedule. Six years ago, Godland was my absolute favorite book and I wore my Basil Cronus t-shirt (on a side note, the only person who ever recognized it was Patton Oswalt) out faster than any shirt I have ever owned. Now it comes out twice a year and I still love it, but a lot of the excitement's gone.

Anyway if you missed this, there's a hardcover coming out soon. And Godland only had one issue left (although 36 just came out earlier this month, so probably not until next year) so that should be collected sometime. There both great.

Nice Reference

RIP

A Valiant Effort

I really enjoyed Valiant Comics during their first go-round about 20 years ago. It was a new tightly-knit sci-fi based superhero universe that focused on good stories in a period when comics centered around flashy art, claws, and guns. I was a lot younger, but I remember that first wave of Valiant titles to be really high-quality. Like anything else, the line got spread thin when expanded, and the company eventually got bought out by Acclaim who really only wanted the characters to make video games.

Especially after the article I wrote yesterday, it's hard to imagine any publisher outselling the big two, yet Valiant and Image both had top-selling books. Anyway, they've tried to reboot a few times over the years. This summer they've put out four books, and seem to be off to a good start.

X-O Manowar
I'm enjoying this book quite a bit. I vaguely remember the Valiant characters and kind of their deals, but it's been a very long time. My friend tells me that the opening arc is just an expanded retelling of the original zero issue (a gimmick that Valiant started for those who don't remember) which I have read, but again, a long time ago. But whatever. It's barbarians fighting bug aliens. What's not to like?

Harbinger
This is easily my favorite. And it's a really great way to start a team book. It focuses on one character at his very lowest point until he eventually meets the rest of the team. It sets a tone as opposed so that you essentially get to know the character and develop pathos.

Bloodshot
Bloodshot wasn't one of the original characters, and like some of the other Valiant additions, seemed more centered around guns as was the zeitgeist. He's pretty much an invincible soldier. This kind of stuff generally doesn't appeal to me.

Archer and Armstrong
This was OK. I remember the original series being more of an odd couple humor-based thing. Without giving away the plot, I guess my biggest problem was the very overt social commentary. As much as I enjoy satire, it seems out of place in an action-oriented book. But it's only one issue. Maybe as it goes on, it will flesh out the buddy dynamic.

A Whole Nother New World

Marvel (who's used to being on top) has been having a little trouble keeping up with DC this past year since their line-wide relaunch. They do have a plan though. So first let me recap.

While DC lowered the page count to drop prices a dollar, Marvel followed. Only they just dropped the page count and left prices. They know that comic fans will complain about anything but will never stop buying.

Next thing, they cancelled any books that weren't Avengers, X-Men, or Spider-Man related. And all minis. Some got cancelled before they were finished, and some solicited books were cancelled before an issue came out. Then they started double-shipping most of their top selling books. 

Next is the big one. They needed a blockbuster. So they really brought out the think-tank for this one. I'm sure the meeting went something like this: 

What sells big? Crossovers. What do comic fans love? Superheroes fighting each other. Who are biggest superheroes? Avengers and X-Men. What do we call it? Avengers Vs X-Men. Brilliant. We'll double-ship it and it'll end in a line-wide relaunch.

And they promise that it's a relaunch and not a reboot whatever that means. And it's a slow relaunch. They say over twenty titles in four months. Marvel pretty much always relaunches titles, sometimes there's not even a change in creative team. So really what's the big deal with that?

While DC expanded their universe and tried to bring diversity (They gave some fringe books a chance. Some caught on. Some didn't.), Marvel's essentially playing musical chairs with their top books and top talent.

And that's not entirely a bad thing. People were pretty skeptical about DC's relaunch, but I think after its debut most people would agree that they're putting out a lot of quality stuff. A year ago I was buying no DC books, now I buy seven monthly titles. Right now I buy no Marvel books. Maybe they'll put something out worth buying. A lot of them seem interesting. They have only announced about half of the new titles so far, but as of now these are the ones I'm looking forward to:

Thor
Jason Aaron on Thor. If you don't realize how badass Jason Aaron is, perhaps you should look at this beard:

Hulk
I've loved the Hulk since I was a wee lad and he scared me on the TV lookee box. Although it's been nine years since I've read more than three consecutive issues, I always check it out whenever there's a writer change. Besides I bought Hulk #1 last year, I bought Hulk #1 in 2008, and I bought Hulk #1 in 1999.

Deadpool
Brian Posehn writing any comic and I'm there. Deadpool should be particularly awesome.

This was just sent to me. Too funny not to post:

Black Kiss 2

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it on here, but I love Howard Chaykin. He's possibly my favorite artist, and I buy nearly anything he draws.I think American Flagg! is way better and more innovative than Dark Knight Returns (and predates it by three years).

For those unfamiliar with Black Kiss, it was a black and white erotic hard-boiled neo-noir. Published in 1988, Vortex Comics gave Chaykin complete control to push boundaries with really graphic and some pretty weird sex scenes, and to  his surprise, nothing was censored.

I actually only got around to picking it up earlier this year. It's surprisingly dense for a story that's essentially centered around blowjobs. Like much of Chaykin's writing, it takes re-reads to get everything. You can read a synopsis upon completion and realize that you missed half of what went on. Anyway this is very cool and enjoyable even beyond the X-rated content (which is also pretty awesome). The only problem is that Chaykin's stories can be difficult to follow since a lot of his characters look similar, and black and white doesn't make that any easier.

So last week Black Kiss 2 #1 was released by Image Comics. Even though Chaykin's said he's not trying to top the original, this has some pretty wild stuff in it. Trust me. You don't want to read this on the subway. I'm not even sure exactly how it ties into the original, but it's pretty awesome.

Wild Kingdom

This ad would be infinitely better if...

...the conversation was:

MARTY: Do you see the light up there?

SIRI: Yes.

MARTY: Do you see the woman in the window?

SIRI: It's your wife.

MARTY: Do you know who lives there?

SIRI: A nigger lives there.

MARTY: Did you ever see what a .44 magnum pistol would do to a woman's face?

SIRI: It would fucking destroy it. Just blow it right apart.

MARTY: Did you ever see what it would do to a woman's pussy?

SIRI: That you should see.

Fan Fic

Hey! So there are a couple Kickstarter campaigns going on for two very cool movies. Or two very cool subjects really. The movies aren't finished yet (or else funding wouldn't be necessary) so I should say very cool subject matter. Anyway, check out these trailers. They'll explain it way better than I can. Click on the widgets and give some money. You'll get something back: music, credits, shirts, stickers, etc:

This just in!

This is awesome!

OMG

Mark Your Calender for Some Freak Puke

So I just started writing for this site right now. Check out my High on Fire review. Or don't. I don't care. Fuck you.

A Less New World

As you've probably already heard, the axe has fallen upon the New 52 and six books have been cut. And although I predicted it would be the first book cut well before this debacle began, I'm still pretty upset that OMAC was cancelled. It ended up being a really cool homage to the really old Kirby monster stories along with the really weird Fourth World stuff he was doing in the early 70's. I think I read somewhere that OMAC's story was going to continue in Justice League International (which makes sense. It's written by Giffen's recent writing partner Dan Jurgens), I didn't really care too much about the story of Kevin Kho. I liked the retro style monster fights. If you missed it check it out in a few months when it gets reprinted in one volume. If you need more Kirbyesque stuff check out the American Barbarian webcomic by Godland artist Tom Scioli. It's really cool. I've skimmed through it but plan on waiting for it to be released in book form next month.

In related news, OMAC co-writer Dan DiDio (along with Jerry Ordway on pencils) is scripting another story featuring Kirby characters. The current arc of the anthology series DC Universe Presents features a Challengers of the Unknown tale. I picked this up, and it's a lot of fun. I'm starting to really enjoy DiDio as a writer. Nothing incredibly groundbreaking but he's producing some really solid enjoyable comics.

One more DC recapping note. I got the New 52 HC for Christmas. It's 1200 pages with every single number one issue. I'm slowly making my way through it and have to mention that it turned me on to the new Flash series which I was not interested in at all. The story is solid and action packed, but the artwork is amazing with some of the most creative layouts in comics. And they just re-introduced Captain Cold!

And finally on to the new titles. As sad as I am to see OMAC go, it looks like DC is keeping up on the quality side of things. They have some pretty top-notch creators attached. Most of these look pretty interesting, and I'll probably try all of them out. But what I'm really excited for is Dial H by China Mieville with Brian Bolland covers.

One odd thing is that we're only half a year into the new paradigm, and there are already a lot of creators leaving and swapping books. Sometimes for unspecified reasons. I don't know. Maybe it will keep the books fresh, but it doesn't seem like a good sign. But I guess we'll see. It's been pretty good so far.

Fuck Jun 5!

Mar 13!

It's that time of year...

 ...where I copy and paste the same thing I posted last year. At least there's a different image though. So pledge, fuckers.

Alright. It's marathon time at WFMU. For those of you who have not heard, WFMU is the coolest radio station in the world. It's completely free form and completely listener sponsored . Seriously, if there's another station that plays both The Melvins and Tom Jones, I'd like know about it. If you've never listened, check it out:

http://www.wfmu.org/

June 5

So I guess now I officially have to stop calling Nirvana, Tool, Mastodon, etc. Melvins Lite.

too bad he's not running for American Idol...

All Star Superman

And then there's this...

...which oddly enough was recorded by original St Elmo's Fire themesmith John Parr. This (and the other parody songs) don't change the fact that Tebow's an overrated douchebag. Fuck him, fuck Green Bay, and fuck the Giants! I mean go Giants! Shit. Whatever.

Wait! What?

In an unfortunate turn of events, I will be rooting for a New York sports team this Sunday. An occasion so rare that I felt needs some sort of documentation. So if any of my asshole friends are reading this I will drink out of your atrocious pint glasses this weekend. However as soon as the game ends, I will resume my hatred regardless of the outcome, so there is a possibility that I will replace my drink with urine. My point being: Fuck Aaron Rodgers! Fuck Green Bay! Go G-Men!

Top Ten

No. I'm not giving you yet another yearly top ten list a month late. But instead occupying someone else's list. Although it's with a shared endeavor, and at the bottom of the list, it's still a personal milestone.

The Indie Cred Test (in which you can find me in the credits as "Major Contributor") was ranked 10th in SPIN magazine's book list last year. I'll take it.

On top of that, Penguin Press will be publishing new editions this fall. So if you don't have this already (and I don't know why you don't. I've mentioned a few times that you should) you can get the current editions cheap at Chunklet.

Fatale

Despite my love for most things hard boiled and noir, I've never read Criminal or any of the Brubaker/Phillips stuff. I'm not really sure why. My only guess is that I never jumped on it at the beginning because I was never really that into Brubaker's mainstream stuff. I don't think I even became that aware of it until the Blast of Silence was released on DVD a few years back with Sean Phillips art. One day, I'll have to catch up on the trades.

I was pretty happy that they started a new series that I could get in on from the ground up. On top of that, this series infuses Lovecraftian horror. How cool is that? The first issue incorporates the horror themes subtly and it works seamlessly.

If that's not enough to get you on board, look at this cover. How could you not want to read this?

Deep Two

Hey. I know it's been a while since I've even posted a stupid picture or video. I'm going to try to get back on this. Until I get busy. Or apathetic. Or whatever until next time. Fuck it.

So we've got our first Melvins release of the year. Looks like they're not letting up. There are 13 vinyls on the way. Kind of the way the pressed HAT on vinyl, Sugar Daddy will be a collection of singles. This time with alternate bands on the b-sides. Some will be new, and some will be defunct. They will also be fancy and probably expensive. There is promise that there will be plenty pressed so that this will not be ridiculously expensive. Although there should be more $500 vinyl box sets released a little later so they should be doing OK.