I’m a jerk; website maintenance; new comics day; the End of Civilization.
Totally unfair comment made while breaking down the comics order Wednesday morning, in 3…2…
“Wow, this must be ‘failing comic companies’ week!”
Yeah, I know, but it’s best that I get this stuff out of my system before we open.
Well, as promised, I began trimming the sidebar, removing weblogs that haven’t been updated in a while. By “in a while,” I mean since before November. The one exception is the mighty Ringwood, whose semi-monthly pronouncements must not be missed.
I also added a couple new quotes to that rotating quote-o-tron, in case you were interested.
Well, new comics day was a real bear this time around, with about a bazillion new funnybooks unleashed upon the market. Well, maybe not that many, but there sure were a lot of indies that came out, and it was taking me forever to get everything in order and on the shelves. Having about a dozen different covers apiece for all the new Avatar books didn’t help matters any.
Speaking of Avatar, the Jason X comic (based on the finest movie in the Friday the 13th-inspired series) contained the panel of the week! To wit:
Hey, you and me both, friend. And, yeah, I added the black bar. I’m a big ‘ol prude.
Also new this week was Infinite Crisis #3, and I just have one question…how did the kryptonite ring go from this (its first appearance in Superman #2 from 1987):
…to this, in the new Infinite Crisis?
It’s basically gone from a polished stone in a setting, to a jagged rock glued to a band, apparently. And yes, it’s supposed to be the same ring that’s been a plot point since almost the very beginning of the Superman revamp. Did I miss something somewhere?
Speaking of IC, I was half-right, in the same way I was half-right about Identity Crisis. Both those links can be spoiler-y, if you don’t want any hints (or half-hints) as to how either story works out.
Just in time for Christmas…bust out your Diamond Previews for once again, Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization. (Previous installments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
p. 125 – Batman Utility Belt Replica: “…Designed for display only, and is not meant to be worn.” Okay, the darn thing is $350, and you can’t jigger the thing so people could actually wear it? It’s a safe bet the kind of people who are going to drop 350 bones on this thing are likely also to be the kind of people who’d wear a replica Batman belt. Why not make them happy? (Reminds me of the old Transmetropolitan prop glasses that, as I recall, also had the same “not for wearing” notice. And yet, whenever I’ve seen them since they’ve been released, it’s because someone’s worn them into the store.)
p. 165 – The Simpsons “Ironic Punishment” Deluxe Boxed Set: McFarlane Toys have really outdone themselves, with a grotesquely fat (well, fatter) Homer being force-fed donuts by a demon. “Turn the crank handle and the donuts fall right into Homer’s mouth, then drop out behind chair for re-stacking.” Ewwwwwwwww.
p. 187 – Marvel Milestones: Frank Miller’s Daredevil Statue: Marvel continues to drop its pants and relieve itself all over Miller’s Daredevil work with a reproduction of the cover scene where DD is in despair, hugging the gravestone of Elektra, back before she’d been revived and misused and overused to the point of stripping away anything special that the character had. I suppose Elektra’s grave may now be read as a metaphor for the character’s current commercial value. Only $150.00.
p.188-9 – Marvel Minimates Darktide DVD Box Set: You read that right. It’s a box of X-men Minimates that comes with a DVD, featuring a “full-length [computer] animated adventure – starring all-new 3-D X-Men Minimates.” Will almost certainly be better than X-Men 3.
p. 270 – Civilization must exist just a short time longer, so we can get Runaway Comics #1 by Mark Martin. Sight unseen, I am recommending this comic. Buy it, you won’t be disappointed.
Now back to the End of Civilization, already in progress….
p. 408 – John Lennon 18-Inch Talking Figure: Must resist offensive joke…must resist offensive joke….
p. 428 – Okay, so I want the Super Skrull Mini-Bust. We all have our weaknesses.
p. 428, again – Emily the Strange “Emily Rocks” Bust – “Cynical marketing scheme sense, tingling!”
p.430 – Star Wars Clone Wars Yoda Monument:
“Youngling not included.” Oh, those cards.
p. 445 – Ghost Rider by Andrew Robinson Signed Lithograph: Well, you can get it now for $99.99 (unframed) or $149.99 (framed), or wait for the close-out sales after the movie is released.
p. 450 – Kurt Cobain Tin Lunchbox with Drink Container: “Kurt Cobain is immortalized on this full-size collectible tin lunchbox.” That’s a sentence I don’t think anyone was ever expecting to read.
A special bonus link I left off yesterday’s Mirror Master post: Earth-349: The Flash. Warning: dirty.
