Mikester

It’s the Comics Weblog Update-A-Tron 3000, courtesy of Dave! Well, okay, that’s not what he calls it…it’s what I would have called it, so it’s a good thing he did it and not me. Anyway, let this page keep you updated on when your favorite weblogs (like Neilalien) and your least favorite weblogs (like mine) get updated. Or, at least in my case, when I last revised my weblog to correct the misattributions and dumb typos. It’s pretty neat, so go check it out.

Here are a few more details about that Superboy cover I posted a couple days back, via Mah Two Cents.

You may think you know about Superboy, but you don’t know this much about Superboy.

There’s a whole lot more on the site’s main page.

Most disappointing part of New Comics Day: having pal Dorian look at the cover of the new issue of Uncle Scrooge and proclaim “Golden Age Scrooge versus Modern Age Scrooge!” For a brief moment, I thought this was true (what with the presence of Magica DeSpell on the cover), but, alas, it’s just yet another distant relation and most definitely not a time-travel Scrooge vs. Scrooge story. Rats.

A couple nice items showed up today…volume two of Gyo by Junji Ito, which, if at possible, looks even more horrifying than the first volume. I’d written about Gyo before, and looking back, I realize that I never did follow up on Uzumaki. I’d better get cracking. Also arrived today was 8 1/2 Ghosts by Rich Tommaso…just grabbed it on a whim. There’re ghosts, there’re sordid doings, there’s filmmaking, Satan is in there somewhere…I haven’t read it yet, so I have no idea what’s going on, but it looks to be pretty entertaining.

Also took a look at a couple previews of comics shipping next week…the first issue of the Punisher movie adaptation has this winner of a last page image (SPOILER ALERT, in case you’ve never read a Marvel comic book in your entire life). If that’s an accurate portrayal of the quality of the movie…well, consider yourself forewarned. I did read the new Swamp Thing #1 by Andy Diggle and Enrique Breccia…oh, it’s good. It’s practically issue #172 of the prior Alec Holland Swamp Thing series, without ignoring the intervening Daughter of Swampy stories. Pick that up next week, internet pals. Oh, and pal Dorian pointed out in the new Alpha Flight #1 that one of the characters is the son of Major Mapleleaf…isn’t the death of Major Mapleleaf’s son one of the main “plot” points in the “Northstar Comes Out” issue from a previous Alpha Flight series? I suppose it could be another son…but what if it isn’t? What if it’s Major Mapleleaf’s zombie son, back from the dead to fight crime in Canada? I’d read that, certainly. Well, read it next week and we’ll all find out together, I guess.

Oh, and just in case you can’t get into Mel Gibson’s Passion movie tonight, may I suggest this viable substitute?

While Alan David Doane has his 5 Questions (the most recent is Chester Brown), Flat Earth has his Archie comics and romance advice columns, Neilalien (who manages to refer to himself in the third person and make it sound natural…I do it and people laugh at me) has got his Dr. Strange and Laura has her Aquaman, and Graeme has his finely-honed eye for message board nonsense…

…I’ve got an old Superboy cover:

Superboy #189 (August, 1972), cover by Nick Cardy

During the early 1970s, when horror was finding its way back into popular culture, via movies, books, and television, comic books were not immune. You had Superman fighting devils, Swamp Thing and Man-Thing were hauling themselves out of their respective swamplands, the Son of Satan getting Comics Code approved (somehow), people were getting possessed left and right (like, oh, say, Ghost Rider), and, where he was cavorting with Krypto and teaming with the Legion of Super-Heroes before, now Superboy was dealing with “The Curse of the Hangman’s Noose.”

What I like best about that cover, I think, is the inset Superbaby head between Pa’s feet.

And that, my friends, is what I have to contribute to the Comics Blogosphere.

Neil Gaiman’s legal battle with Todd McFarlane is over…”full steam ahead now for the Miracleman plans,” sez Neil.

(via pal Tom)

Speaking of atrocious redesigns, I’m foolin’ around with the font types and sizes on this weblog. If your eyes start bleeding, let me know.

The comic series based on the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm Batman animated series is cancelled.

Rats. The animated series Batman comics were the only Bat-comics I’ve read on a regular basis for the last decade. And what I’ve seen of the new animated series (in particular, the atrocious redesign for the Joker) doesn’t have me interested in any comic based on it.

You know those little Javascript tagline thingies I have at the top of this page, that change every time you visit? Well, I was about one nosehair away from taking it down, until pal Jehan asked me to keep it around. However, she lamented the fact that she keeps getting repeats. So, tonight, I’ve added about a dozen more…and if you have any suggestions for more taglines, please feel free to share them with me, either via e-mail or in my comments section here. I have no prize or payment or anything, beyond my promise to think good thoughts about you for approximately 45 seconds to one minute, should I use your tagline. If you do contribute, please use my format “[something-something] since 1969.” Thanks, chums!