Harrow County Vol.4: Family Tree

Preacher #1-66 (Complete Run)

The Big Book Of Scandal

Reading another awesome FACTOID Book for the umpteenth Time!

The Big Book Of Hoaxes

Another one of my very favorite of all the "Big Books" from Factoid Press.

Force Awakens Sparks Renewed Interest in Childhood Treasure

Back in the early Star Wars Craze Years (1978 or so) me and my brothers had a handful of those Kenner Action Figures (Han Solo, Darth Vader, R2D2, Chewbacca and a Stormtrooper) but my friend from across the street had something even BETTER; besides having the figures of Han and Chewie, C3PO, Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, he had the LAND SPEEDER, one of the very first Star Wars vehicles I'd even seen! Years later my brother would get himself the X-WING for Christmas, but at the time, this Landspeeder was the COOLEST thing on the block! 
  He'd bring it over to our house and we'd all get together and play Star Wars... One memory that sticks out is once when my friend was running through the bedroom with the landspeeder in his hand, he slipped on the shag rug and fell on his back, the landspeeder and its occupants flying through the air! 
   My sister happened to be in the room at the time, and for years afterwards, any time someone brought up Star Wars, she'd say, "Hey remember that time Jas was running through the room with his Star Wars toy and slipped on the rug?"LOL
 In any case, we were kids playing with the Star Wars toys and never thought to take care of them, and eventually most of them ended up where all childhood toys go: broken and tossed or given away to younger cousins. For years this was fine, but when we got to college age, my friend began lamenting the loss of his treasured Star Wars collectibles, and so it was no surprise that he eventually re-purchased ALL of the Action Figures we has as kids on ebay... and just this past week, he came over the my house to show me his LATEST re-acquisition: That good ol' reliable Land Speeder!
Aw man, gotta say, holding it in my hands, the memories all came back! The feel of it, and especially that weird reddish-brown colored molded plastic...the color of it really took me back!
 I managed to save a few action figures from our childhood, and have even bought a few of the figures form the newer series (Princess Amidala, Ewan McGregor Obi Wan and Qui-gon...and even the latest of Rey!) and man, seeing this Landspeeder agian makes me want to get ahold of the X-WING we had growing up! Ah, Nostalgia...!

Sandman: Endless Nights

Released long after Sandman had finished its original run, this Graphic Novel was a warm welcome, and seeing our favorite characters (in their own individual stories) again was such a joy to read!!!

They're Not Like Us #13

Yehaaaaawwww! They're not like us is BACK with their awesome THIRD arc where the players in our story start making moves and joining and severing alliances left and right! Nice to see the return of Dawn (Blurgirl) and Maisie, two characters I really love!
Aww, this is such a treat...you know, for awhile there i was worried that maybe the comic had gone on indefinite hiatus (as many of them do...it's the problem of creator owned strips...if the writer/artist loses interest, they sometimes drop it.) that I even ran to reddit to ask about it:

That was six months ago, and I was REALLY losing hope...and THEN to see NEW issues posted up in the "upcoming releases' section of Image Comics just blew my mind and I've been beside myself waiting for it!

Watchmen 1-12 (Complete Run)

The one, the only WATCHMEN, one of the greatest freaking Comic series OF ALL TIME, at least in MY opinion! I was part of the initial bunch who read these issues as they were coming out, and I have such wonderful memories of me and my friends having discussions of what everything meant, and trying to guess what was going to come next!

OMAC #1-4 (Complete Run)

One of John Byrne's lesser-known efforts these days, but still very interesting mini-series to dig up and re-read every now and again! I've heard that fans of the original series (as well as creator Jack kirby himself) have expressed displeasure with this reboot, but having not read any of the comic's original stories, I find this one a rather good read.

Death: The Time Of Your Life #1-3 (Complete)

Death: The High Cost Of Living #1-3 (Complete)

Harrow County, Vol.1: Countless Haints

Usually my friend Gerg is the one recommending titles to me, but this time it was my friend Jas who told me about this terrific title his co-workers were praising, and, knowing my love for books like Sandman and the like, thought I might want to check it out.
 When i got to the comic store to check it out, though, I'd FORGOTTEN what the title of the comic was! the two salesguys said "Can you remember anything about the title?" and I stuttered, " the title sounded like "Hallowed Ground" or something?" but they came up blank.
As I was walking out, I looked on the "new release shelf and yelped out "Oh! Here it is...it's called Harrow County!" One of the guys rolled his eyes saying "Hallowed Ground?" but HEY, I think the words sound close enough that me saying "a new release that came out this week with a title like Hallowed Ground" should have at least gave thema HINT as to what i was talking about, right?
Oh well. At least i managed to get the bnook and YEAH, it rocked! Just like Jas assumed, the pure halloweeney vibe of a peculiar girl who is friends with the "countless haints" in her forest totally enthralled me!!!

An Awesome BLONDIE Release!

Just got the latest release from enduring rockers BLONDIE, a 3 disc set called “BLONDIE 4(0) EVER" (so named in celebrating 40 years of music) that is a treasure trove for any fan of Deborah Harry and the Boys! In this box, you get the latest album from the group, “Ghosts Of Download”, a “Deluxe Redux” Greatest Hits package, and most importantly of all, an amazing DVD featuring a complete 1977 performance of the group at CBGBs!!!!

Ghosts Of Download

I’ve been faithfully purchasing Blondie’s releases throughout all the various line-ups, from their first album “Blondie”to “the Hunter”, from “No Exit” through to “Panic Of Girls” and have loved ‘em all, and “Ghost of Download” is another great album proving that no matter what, these guys have what it takes! Man, how can they still rock so great?!

Deluxe Redux Greatest Hits

 The “redux” Greatest Hits CD is, as the title might suggest, remade versions of some of their best loved Blondie classics over the years- while nothing can compare to the original songs, it’s fun to hear them performed “afresh”! Interestingly enough, the tracklist order is almost exactly the same as their impeccable 1981 Greatest Hits release, with “In The Flesh” and “I’m Always Touched by Your Presence Dear” replaced by later hit “Maria”.

1981 GHits and Redux GHits Tracklisting

 And then we have the Concert DVD, WOWWW!!!! So amazing seeing the band in their ferocious young days when it was all about raw in-your-face performances! My favorite live Blondie Concert DVD is the Musikladen Extra performance from 1978, and if I had one complaint it was that a lot of great songs off the first album weren’t performed, songs like “Shark In Jets’ Clothing”.“Kung-Fu Girls” (a personal fave you may recall I had fun with here), “Rifle Range”, and the great Blondie anthem “Rip Her To Shreds”…

Musikladen and CBGBs Set Lists

Happily, ALL these songs are included in the CBGB’s set!!! In fact, I think the only song they didn’t do was “Attack of the Killer Ants”and while that may seem like a silly song to miss, I can’t help but wonder how they’d do that one live!
After the concert, they even added a really cool bonus for a “Plastic Letters’ fan like me: footage of the band rehearsing “Denis”. I mentioned many times before how much I love Debbie’s look from this era, and seeing them in the studio going through this song was a nice way to end the disc!
If THAT wasn’t enough, I did get around to mentioning all the unbelievable GOODIES the DVD came with: FIVE photos taken by Chris Stein himself, and an awesome fold out poster of a beautiful 1979 Blondie flyer!!! SO SWEET!

Live at CBGBs CD with Amazing Bonus Goods!

Okay, going back to re-watch the concert again…and I think I’ll top this evening off by re-watching the Musikladen Concert, too!

My Blondie Collection!

Since I had dug out all my Blondie stuff, I though some of you might be interested in seeing what I’ve got in my Blondie Collection, all my CDs and DVDs… (sadly my VINYL Blondie stuff never survived my many moves, sigh, would be great to still have them now…)

My Blondie CDs 1

My Blondie / Deborah Harry CDs 2

My Blondie DVD Collection

Oh, and don’t forget my official Barbie collectable Deborah Harry “Plastic Letters” Figurine!

It was when I got this that I realized my obsession with Blondie had gone "Beyond the Pale" LOL

Spider-Gwen, Vol.1: Most Wanted

Gerg gushed about this comic so much that i picked it up this past week, but I have to say that I am just about done with these "hip, young" Marvel comics which do absolutely nothing for me. Really didn't like this. Gerg says he'll try not to immediately recommend superhero stuff anymore, but laughingly doubts he'll be able to resist, LOL