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From the February 6-12 2006 edition of TV Guide:

That’s from the full-page ad…here’s the listing from the “Highlights” page for Wednesday (2/8):

“Bones uses her own superpowers to analyze the killing of a comic-book geek in another case of a troubled kid that the forensics freak feels a connection to.”

So either this will be another exaggerated, stereotyped portrayal of a comic book fan…or it will be a dead-on portrayal of a certain type of comic book fan. Either way, look to your favorite comics message board for much wailing and rending of garments after this airs…particularly if it hits too close to home for some folks.

(Actually, I’ve never seen this Bones show…any good?)

For more educational viewing, tune in to your local PBS station Sunday night (2/12) for Nature:

“Peter Parker could learn a thing or two about arachnids from aficionado Martin Nicholas, who chats with Spider-Man creator Stan Lee about spiders’ abilities….”

So that Rudy in Hollywood book I was talking about this morning? The one I won off the eBay? The auction ended Sunday night, I paid for it shortly after…

…and, when I came home from work this evening, the book was waiting in my mailbox.

It was shipped out from Illinois on Monday via media mail, and it arrived today.

I didn’t even think that was physically possible. I can’t even get stuff mailed across town this fast. I mean, talk about having the wind at your back. My mind is blown.

Special thanks to Milo for not getting into a bidding war with me over this book. A kind gesture, sir.

A review of this book will be forthcoming.

Okay, it’s not about a gorilla, but I am finally the proud owner of Rudy in Hollywood, the only collection of William Overgard’s short-lived, highly regarded, and mostly forgotten comic strip about the talking chimpanzee trying to make a showbiz comeback. (I’ve discussed it previously here.) I managed to snap it up for under four bucks, plus another four for shipping…so it cost me less than eight bucks to get a copy of a book I’ve been trying to find, on and off, for the better part of two decades. Sorta anticlimatic, when it’s put that way.

Also, I’m not quite the proud owner just yet…I only won the auction on the eBay a couple days ago, so with any luck it should be in the tender mercies of the post office right now, winging its way to my waiting mail receptacle. Er, yeah.

However, I do believe I have an actual comics-related gorilla suit story to share with you. Former coworker Rob, pal Fred, and I all piled into Fred’s car one Saturday morning in the mid-90s, and drove up to San Jose for the second Alternative Press Expo.

We were at the convention pretty much from the moment it opened until they turned off the lights and kicked us out, but we did take the occasional break from the APE convention to wander the streets of San Jose and take in the sights. As we were leaving the convention hall on one of these breaks, we ran into the convention mascot…a fellow, wearing a gorilla suit, who was wearing a convention t-shirt over that. Well, by God, I needed to have a picture taken with this gorilla-suited gentleman, and, arm in arm, he and I posed for a picture. Afterward, we bid our tearful goodbyes to our gorilla-suited friend, and continued on with our comics-filled day.

Alas, there is a sad ending to this tale, as back in the old days, cameras used to use this thing called “film” that some of you younger folks may not be familiar with, and the problem with film is that, sometimes, it doesn’t always develop properly. Thus am I left with only my fond memories of that day, with no photographic proof of the event.

And that is my only comics-related gorilla suit story, as brief and sad, and mostly pointless, as it was.

Happy National Gorilla Suit Day.

Special thanks to The Ferrett for his timely reminder of National Gorilla Suit Day. Be sure to check out his new webcomic (with artist Veronica Pare) Home on The Strange.

“ALL-STAR COMICS#58-1ST POWER GIRL-JSA REVIVAL-1976-HOT!” – Complete with lots of illustrations (and a photo) of Power Girl that aren’t from the comic, just so you know who the seller is talking about.

Wonder Woman cake!

A tall and disturbing Spider-Woman.

I’m all congested and yucky and stuff, so here is just some random material I’m tossing your way before I crawl back into bed:

1. Dara compares and contrasts a good Swamp Thing cover with a bad Swamp Thing cover.

2. CYBERNETIC BATMAN HEAD!

3. Happy birthday to Fred Hembeck!

4. “It’s now official.NO GAMBIT IN X3”

“What, they can cast halle berry and james marsden but not someone to play gambit? Please…”

“Is it that hard to stick a guy in a trench coat and give him a pack of cards?”

“That’s SH*T! He’s too hot not to be in it!”

“at least if X3 sucks we can say ‘X3 would have be cool if Gambit was in it'”

“I think this only proves Fox doesn’t want to please the fans.They only want to push Wovlerine.”

“Lets realy hope so.If he’s not in X4 then we need to deystroy Fox.”

“maybe we can make our own movie!!!! and make lots of money ^^ then they’ll be sry…”

“I think if I had to listen to five minutes of that faggish accent I would ****ing kill myself. He made the cartoon almost apinful to watch.”

“Its true I do hate Gambit. Hes number 3 of my most disliked comic book characters. But seeing as this thread is mostly full of those who like him I’ll keep my negative commetns to myself.”

“gambit’s cajun-ness simply cannot be ignored! his TRADEMARK is his accent!”

“He will be in X-Men 4.”

Well, I think as these “meme” fads go, pal Dorian’s is one of the best. It’s a weird mix of commentary, comedy, appreciation, and mockery that’s been (mostly) good-natured and fun to look at. So kudos to Dor for cooking it up, whether he meant to or not!

Like I said this morning, as fun as it is, I gotta cut myself off or this is going to end up being all that I do. But, before I let it go…here are a last few shots. These first two are by yours truly:

Kevin, a customer of mine, asked me if I would make this next one for him. Hey, don’t look at me, I’m a “lefty blog,” remember:

This next one is a contribution from reader Luke McB., who captures the feeling evoked by this particular Alex Ross image perfectly:

The next two are from reader John L.:

And I wanted to end with this one, also from John L., because everybody loves MODOK:

Believe you me, I could have kept going. I wanted to do “Spider-Man…doesn’t appreciate irony,” but I couldn’t find a picture of Spidey being attacked by spiders that I liked. Employee Nathan suggested “Darth Vader…finds your lack of faith disturbing,” which is brilliant. I also wanted to do “Daredevil…just doesn’t see what the problem is,” because apparently I like to make fun of blind people. Oh, and “Message boarders…are apparently allergic to hosting their own freaking images,” as I believe many of us have discovered during this particular meme.

At any rate, it’s been fun, and I look forward to seeing what other “affirmation banners” (or whatever the heck you want to call them) you folks cook up. Keep checking here for future entries…at least until Dorian can no longer keep up with them. I don’t know how he’s managed so far!

“A wedding fit for superheroes”

“‘Louise had always dreamed of getting married dressed as Wonderwoman….'”

“[The chapel’s] proprietor said they were the best costumes they had seen in the chapel’s 40 year history.”

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So what’s up with Iceman back issue sales, lately? Not just the 1984 series by DeMatteis ‘n’ Kupperberg, but this 2001/2 “Icons” series as well. Every time I check our X-Men back issue bins for restocking, we’ve sold out yet again of both these series. I’m trying to think of an “Iceman’s hot!” joke, but nothing’s really coming to me.

Is it just our store, or is it nationwide? Is the public demanding their Iceman comics, after the character’s star turn in the X-Men films?

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Hey, if you wanted to participate in pal Dorian’s “meme” but didn’t have your own website or weblog or anywhere else to host your image, send it my way and I’ll post it for you tonight. I’m only going to participate in the meme one more time before retiring from it. I have to retire from it, because the temptation is to do nothing but these things, and as fun as they are, I need to move along.

So if you have one you want to share with the world, get it to me by 6 PM Pacific time tonight (send it to mikester (at) progressiveruin (dot) com), and I’ll get it posted for you. (I reserve the right to not post a banner if I decide it’s not something I want on my site, for whatever reason. Yeah, I know, I’m a jerk.)

Employee Nathan overhead the following exchange between two participants in the Yu-Gi-Oh tournament going on at the game store next door:

Kid 1: “I destroyed your monster!”

Kid 2: “No you didn’t!”

Kid 1: “Yes I did!”

Kid 2: “Oh yeah? Well…I hate Green Day!”

from The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril #3 (December 1970) by Del Connell & Jack Manning

Read more about it here.

Always remember:

…and:

…and:

The first two were suggested by pal Sean, the last one was entirely my fault.

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Some notes from this week’s New Comics Day:

Nextwave #1, Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen’s somewhat less-than-serious Marvel superhero team book, blew out the door immediately…even after I had bumped up numbers on our initial orders. And it’s funny…I’m sure some humorless Marvel fan somewhere is offended at the lack of respect afforded, say, Captain Marvel/Photon or Fin Fang Foom, but it’s a real hoot. And, surprisingly for a Marvel comic, I was able to place reorders for additional copies.

Plastic Man #20 – the last issue of Kyle Baker’s run, which, I still suspect, suffered in sales because it wasn’t the “serious” Plastic Man comic people apparently were hoping for. Those of us who stuck with it got a fun and bizarre funnybook…and this issue had probably the last Dr. Light joke you’ll ever need. Woo boy.

Doris Danger Seeks Where Giant Monsters Creep & Stomp – this is listed as a “trade paperback,” but it’s an oversized staplebound magazine. But, if you like the old Marvel Kirby ‘n’ Ditko monster comics, this is probably right up your alley. Pin-up pages include work by both Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, as well as Mike Mignola. Worth a look if you like the giant monsters.

Serenity trade paperback – wish I had it for that one or two week period the movie was in theatres, but hey, we still sold through all our copies, so I shouldn’t complain.

Catwoman #51 – sales are way up on this series…we keep selling out of the new issues, and our adjusted orders haven’t quite caught up yet. Finally, a Catwoman comic people seem to be enjoying.

Savage Dragon #122 – 1) yes, it’s finally out, and 2) I don’t seem to recall the cover’s paper stock being this thin. Exactly one micron thick. Okay, not that thin, but boy it feels flimsy.

Cartoon Guide to Sex by Larry Gonick – destined to be the most flipped through book on our shelves…at least until the flipper realizes that the book isn’t filled with nekkid girls.

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“Underdressed heroines”

“It’s my opinion, but Starfire’s skirt should be longer, and both Starfire’s and Raven’s bodies should be covered up more-I think it’s kind of inappropiate to parade around in a one-piece, and Raven’s one piece is too tight-looking, somewhat revealing and shows too much of her contours.”

“Dude, they look like nuns compared to the new Supergirl.”

“Really, Superheroines (and heroes for that matter) would need to have clothing that isn’t loose, given their career choice. I mean, how well would Starfire fly around and fire starbolts if she’s wearing a more conservative outfit?”

“When you look at the bare skin , you dont see the fist heading toward you.”

I need to post the next one in full for the proper effect (and because I want pal JP to see it):

“I find the discusssions here without moral character. If you read the Bible and follow the teachings of the church, you should know that being underdressed is sinful. That is why in Christian and Jewish traditions, woman have always been portrayed as the temptress….the way to sin. Eve and Mary Magdalene comes to mind although the latter showed penitance. There should be laws to prohibit all these bad influence in comics. Freedom of expression is one thing but not blasphemy in the eyes of the Lord. I am not some bible thumper and I enjoy my comics as much as anyone else but to hear some of the comments here makes me sick to the core. I just want you all to know that there are still good folks here in these message boards. And for your information, homosexuality is a sin.”

“If anyone wants to see one of the sexiest female depictions in the entire DC Universe, you need to check out Jim Lee’s AllStar Batman and Robin. The first issue is 2/3 Vicki Vale, and I have never seen a female character look sooooo good in any book.”

“Raven should wear a parka. Swimwear should resemble wet-suits, but bulkier. Like deep-diving suits. Wonder Woman, if she appears at all, should always appear behind a fence so only her head is visible, like that guy on Home Improvement.”

“oh god, WHO GIVES A BLOODY ****?! these threads are sooooooo stupid, and usually degrade into a series of unimaginitive sexual inuendos. […] god, can’t people these days have an INTELIGENT BLOODY CONVERSATION ABOUT SOMETHING WITH SOME INTELECTUAL MERIT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”