Happy Halloween!

Back in the 60's Tom Fagan organized the annual Rutland Halloween Parade centered around Marvel and DC superheroes alike, and the festival would occasionally show up in the pages of the comics, like Amazing Adventures 16 where the Beast encountered the Juggernaut!

The Human Fly

One of the more obscure titles that Marvel published in the 70's, The HUMAN FLY was a character that my friend Larry really dug for some reason, and I specifically remember a much-read copy of issue 18 at his house!!

 The Human Fly was a puzzling one....the by-line read that he was “The WILDEST Super-Hero…because he’s REAL!”, but me and most of my friends weren’t sure if he REALLY was a “real” character or just a “Made Up” character we were MEANT to think was real.

Come to find out the Human FLY WAS based on a real person, stuntman Rick Rojatt:

“Rojatt, a Canadian, says he once was a Hollywood stunt man—although the California union has no record of him. He also says he was in an auto accident in North Carolina six years ago which killed his wife and 4-year-old daughter and badly injured him. He had 38 operations in four years, he says, which allowed him to walk again but left him with a body that is “60 percent steel parts.” He says he conditions himself by rising at 3 a.m., running six miles and then plunging into a bathtub full of ice cubes.”

-From People Magazine 1976

Howard the Duck #18: "If You Knew SOOFI"

How many of you remember Anita Bryant and her Anti-Gay “Save The Children” crusade which resulted in her getting a pie in the face and inspiring Steve Gerber to create the villainous organization SOOFI (Save Our Offspring From Indecency) in HOWARD THE DUCK?

Like the Save The Children Organization, SOOFI had similar plans to “Cleanse America” of its “filth” …and targeted Howard for indecency because he was walking around without any pants on! HAHAHAHAHA

It’s a widely held belief that Gerber alluded the “person under the mask” of SOOFI Leader Supreme Soofi to be none other than Anita Bryant herself; though no real mention of Anita is mentioned, the folksinger was well known for her association with Florida Orange Juice, and the SOOFI’s round orange “Citrus Heads” (as Howard calls it) certainly hints at this, and when the Supreme SOOFI confesses to Howard that she is “a Girl from the Sunshine State”, who else could it be!?

Howard The Duck was such a GREAT comic- Steve Gerber infused the most sharp and witty satirical takes on the problems of the 70’s into Howard’s exploits!

Posted by zinkognito @ zdorama.blogspot.com

FreakAngels (Complete Run)

 FreakAngels as originally an online comic, and it was a joy to tune in each week and read the four of five new pages of story and beautiful art. They were part of my weekly ritual, and for the first time in years, I've been having a hankering to re-visit my old friends back in Whitechapel...

Outcast, Vol.5: The New Path

Volume Five of the awesome OUTCAST arrived so it's time to dig out my earlier trade paperbacks and read the series all over from book one again!!! Really love this series.

Desolation Jones: Made in England

Reading Desolation Jones again for the umpteenth time. Man I love this book. Such a cryin' shame that Warren Ellis baled on this one after (thankfully) completing this first story arc "Made in England".

As I re-read this again, I consciously tried to pin down what I love about this comic so much, and you know what, it comes down to the characters. I LOVE the characters here, especially Jones' relationship with Emily, the chemically-altered Special Agent who got operated on to produce alluring pheromones but instead with a botched trait which gave off an aura of near-revulsion instead.

No man or woman can stand to be near her, and so it is Jones alone who can endure her company and be there for her when her loneliness becomes unbearable. Very touching.

Unfollow, Vol.3: Turn It Off

I have to say that while I was initially intrigued by the idea of a billionaire giving away his fortune to 140 chosen people, by the time the second book came out, it had veered so far from what I was expecting that I decided to drop the book. But then I read that the third trade paperback was going to be the conclusion of the series, and, having invested my money into the first two books, made a point to pick it up later when I could get it cheap.
 What instead happened was, I got tickets to see the new Bladerunner 2046 movie but found that tit was going to be tow hours before my showing. With so much time to kill, I wandered into a comic store in the neighborhood, and, seeing the third Unfollow book. decided to pick it up and read it after all.
Meh, have to say it still didn't grab me and will probably not read it again, but it was an adequate way to kill some time.

East Of West, Vol.7

Been a YEAR since East of West Volume Six came out (Volume Seven was scheduled to be released in early June but kept getting postponed til September) and so I decided to dig up all my books and start reading them all over again from the beginning. Gonna take my time reading this one so I'll be preoccupied with this for awhile....Damn, this is such a great freaking series!!!!!

The Walking Dead Vol.28: A Certain Doom

Continuing on with "The Walking Dead" and is it just me or is this turning into the most boring, repetetive series ever? I swear this same scenario has been re-used over and over for years now.

Dropping "Snotgirl"

After reading the latest issue of Bryan Lee O'Malley/Leslie Hung's "Snotgirl", I think I'm going to drop it as a monthly purchase and wait for the trade paperbacks from now on. Normally I wait for an arc to end before dropping a title (like I did with "Injection") but with three more issues to go at 2.99 a clip, it would still be around the same price to buy the issues collected at 9.99 per book.

Leslie Hung's art is beautiful but the storyline just hasn't grabbed me like I thought it would, and its meandering plot would be better served reading all at once.

The Incredible Hulk #182: "Between Hammer and Anvil!"

The Incredible Hulk, Issue #182! Coming right after issue 181's famous debut of Canada's Wild n Wool Wolverine,  this one also featured Wolverine briefly at the beginning of the issue where he is being called back by his government. Because he was in it, issue #182 is a pricey comic to own, and so very few people have actually read it. 

That’s a shame because this issue’s story “Between Hammer and Anvil!”, where Hulk meets the kindly traveller Crackajack Jackson, is one of the sweetest and most touching stories EVER.

Crackajack Jackson is on his way to the state Penitentiary to meet his incarcerated son “Hammer” Jackson. Along the way he befriends the Hulk, and during their travels, he teaches Hulk the alphabet and shows him how to write his name, saying “A man ain’t nothin’ if he ain’t got his name!”

What they don’t know is that Hammer and his partner Johnny Anvil have escaped the prison and have crossed paths with a VERY bizarre-looking alien, who gives them the power of  a cosmic chain…and when Crackajack and Hulk show up, there’s gonna be a battle ahead!

A very touching and bittersweet ending, Crackajack Jackson became a person that Hulk would reflect on in later issues as a true friend of his.
Posted by zinkognito @ zdorama.blogspot.com

Manifest Destiny Vol.5: Mnemophobia & Chronophobia

This is a series which seems more like TV show than a comic with its episodic set up: Lewis and Clark and the Gang discover a new threat. The threat attacks them (and usually kills a member). They figure out how to defeat it. The End.
And yet, I  like reading this series, in much the way i loved turning in to each episode of Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno's Incredible Hulk" TV show years back....simply comfort food for thought!

"They're Not Like Us" NEWS!

Just the other day i was wondering about the status of "They're Not Like Us", and November's Solicitations List just gave me HOPE!

As you may recall, they've been postponing and rescheduling issues 16 and 17 and have recently taken it completely off the upcoming release schedule, leaving only the final series issue 18 up (for a tentative sept 20 release). The series seemed to be in limbo! But with the November Solicitation, I was ABSOLUTELY RELIEVED to see THIS Trade coming up for November 29:

Oh MAN, can it be true!!???!!! I reaaallllly hope so!

Man, WHAT is going ON with “They’re Not Like Us”?

  

After 9 months on hiatus, I was thrilled when “They’re Not Like Us” resumed activity in January with issue #13. ..Things went well for three issues, but issue #16, which was originally scheduled for a May Release, got first pushed back to a June release, then July, then August…

   I know that sometimes things get behind and I want them to take all the time they need to produce such a fine title, but I was alarmed when I recently checked on the upcoming release page and saw that both issues 16 and 17 had been taken off the page entirely!

Now the only upcoming release posted on the site is issue #18, (which lists Sept 6 as its release date which can’t be right)…I also noticed that issue #18, which once had the title of “My Little Empire”…now sports the new title of “Move On”:

This change bothers me because it makes everything seem so “up in the air”. Would love to have some concrete news.

Monstress, Vol.Two: The Blood

Continuing on with Volume Two of the Marjorie Lui/Sana Takeda series MONSTRESS...I know I could have bought the exclusive edition from Barnes & Nobles but I was at a comic store and didn't feel like going to town so I jsut got the "regular" version...