Saturday, May 28, 2005

Too tired, and too sick. Maybe next week.

by Tegan at 10:02 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Friday, May 27, 2005

Amazingly, I only have to raise $477 more to participate in the 2005 Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I'm amazed and gratified.

Dracula, the blog. Someone is posting the various bits from Dracula as blog entries, on the dates that are indicated in the book. Start here and use the calendar in the sidebar to advance through the novel.

Mah Two Cents directs us to web comics.

See, and hear, what people see and hear out their windows around the world.

The Mystery of the Beeping House.

Why DRM is a bad business model. If it breaks every time you upgrade, what are the odds that you'll keep buying it?

Darth Tater Puns.

Drink 7Up and go to space.

A prequel to the prequels?

Open Office is better than MS Office. More proof. Like I need any. I switched over ages ago.

Voyager has almost left the solar system... You can even listen to it go.

Move over, Einstein, there's a new kid on the block. The Museum of Hoaxes chimes in about the article.

The New York Times is now reporting that detainees at Guantanamo Bay claimed that the Koran was flushed as early as 2002 ("Documents Say Detainees Cited Koran Abuse" May 26, 2005). And for anyone who thinks Newsweek retracted the statement about the Koran being flushed, they didn't... they retracted the information on their source, not the story itself. The Koran was abused, and only people who are completely out of touch with reality can deny it.

by Tegan at 10:53 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Green Lantern Secret Files 2005: The first story was pretty good, but what the heck was up with that second story? It doesn't really add anything to the mythos or the storyline, it doesn't even clarify. This one was barely worth getting.

Plastic Man #16: Ug.

Birds of Prey #82: "The Long Count": I still don't get what Wildcat and Canary are up to, so I'm not sure what's happening in this issue. And then we get the whole tie-in with Booster looking for Beetle. And Helena's odd little sojourn. It's getting confusing again, and I'm not sure I'm happy with it.

Teen Titans #24: "The Insiders": Huh. Part of this book picks up where the last Outsiders left off. And I'm just not sure what to think of Superboy in this one. I'm beginning to think maybe I'm better off just reading the animated DCU and not the regular DCU for most of my stories.

Seven Soldiers: Guardian #2: "Homeless Superior": Um. Ok. I wanted to like this, but I just don't buy the mystic subway pirates thing at all. Maybe the next issue will improve the mini.

by Tegan at 7:42 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Thursday, May 26, 2005

So when I mentioned to my husband that the comics blogosphere is rapidly becoming more divided over the whole Rann/Thanagar thing, he simply responded "OA!"

I'm having second thoughts about Rann myself. I'm not a huge fan of the DC science fiction stuff in general... and Hawkman at least was active on Earth for a long time, whereas Adam Strange was generally not Earthbound. But I don't go in for guys with wings, while rocketpacks seem pretty hot. But Strange is almost a complete mystery to me, whereas Hawkman has at least teamed up with Aquaman a few times. I don't recall any major Adam Strange/Aquaman team-ups... Aquaman's pretty much useless in space and Adam doesn't do much on Earth at all. My least favorite Aquaman guest appearance ever was in a Hawkman book, though. And Hawkman's continuity! Yi, let's not even get into that.

Yeah, I guess I remain ever so slightly Rann-leaning... but just barely. I'm not really a fan of either planet.

by Tegan at 2:31 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Dial B For Blog has posted a couple of pro-Rann banners. I like the first one... such classic goofiness. I'm telling you, I don't really support either Rann or Thanagar, I only lean toward Rann cuz of the cool retro-scifi costumes.

The Beat reports on The Interman Movie.

Wow, I just posted about only needing $777 more for The Walk, and suddenly I only need $612 more. Wow.

In Washington State, it is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town. In Everett Washington, it is illegal to display a hypnotized or allegedly hypnotized person in a store window. In Seattle, you may not carry a concealed weapon that is over six feet in length. Need to know some dumb laws?

Baseball Players who can be considered physically handicapped, but played anyway.

The US Army REALLY wants you. A High School honors student pretended to be a high school dropout with an insatiable fondness for marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, but a pair of Army recruiters still wanted him. He taped the recruiters' phone calls to him and videotaped one recruiter taking him to a head shop to buy a drug detox kit, all for a nice little article for his school newspaper.

When this starts happening in the US, that's when we'll know the government has gone too far.

Murderer caught by blog entry confesses.

by Tegan at 10:58 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

I only have to raise $777 more for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and I'm in the walk. That's a long way to go, but still very doable.

MANY thanks to Tom Galloway for his generous donation, and to Paige Gifford (who owns Corner Comics), Jen the Houseguest (I will find that episode of Lost for you, I promise), my Physical Therapist Lisa, and Grandma Helen. When I go on this Walk, every one of you will be going with me, since you're the ones who got me there.

I'm still doing the Drawing, even if only two people have entered so far. A $15 donation gets you an entry, and I promise that every prize will be worth at least $15.

The mail-in donation deadline is approaching fast... June 14th (that's the postmark date). Please, if you've got a few dollars to spare, let it go toward fighting breast cancer.

by Tegan at 1:06 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Want a piece of Sci-Fi history? JMS is auctioning off the book of G'Kar. Anyone who watched Babylon 5 knows what it is... go read the item description if you don't. If I had some serious spare cash, I'd probably go for it.

I used to play at lightsabers, but even as a kid I knew better than to use fluorescent light tubes and gasoline.

How to get Nosferatu, the old classic film, for free.

Cats as art. Not pictures of cats... not statues of cats... but living cats.

Handy links for my own reference: June/August solicits for Image, DC Comics, and Marvel.

An inspiring true urban legend. George Dantzig, rest in peace.

Blogger identifies his own killer. Yow. This one is a bit painful and chilling.

by Tegan at 9:08 AM Seattle time - Permalink   

Monday, May 23, 2005

Because I'm so late this month, this is the abbreviated version of "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". I'm going to start with the bulk of the book, and then come back and cover the "big four" at the end. Please remember, I'm listing what looks interesting. The numbers after each title are usually the page number in Previews Magazine, so you can follow along at home.

AiT/Planet Lar (226): SEAL Team Seven.

Alias (226-235): Opposite Forces v2 #2 and Pakkin's Land v2 #4 made the list, Imperial Dragons #1, Gimoles #1, and Armorquest #1 look interesting.

Alternative Comics (235): Coexisting looks interesting.

Antarctic Press (243): Oz: The Manga #2 made the list.

Boom Studios (262): HERO Squared #3 made the list.

Clib's Boy Comics (268): True Story, Swear to God #14 made the list (duh).

Dork Storm Press (286): PS238 #13 made the list (also duh).

IDW Publishing (303-309): Angel: The Curse #2 made the list.

Illusive Productions (310): Dorothy #4 made the list.

Kandora Publishing (310): Barbarossa and the Lost Corsairs #5 made the list.

New England Comics (318): The Tick: Days of Drama #1 made the list.

Speakeasy Comics (327-333): The Grimoire #5 and Beowulf #4 both made the list. Some of the other books looked very interesting.

TwoMorrows Publishing (360): I really wanted the Justice League Companion, but we couldn't afford it this month.

We got nothing in the merchandise section... so back to the beginning:

Dark Horse (21-56): Conan #18 and Samurai Executioner Vol 7 made the list. Shadow Rock looked interesting.

DC Comics (57-132): Aquaman #32, Birds of Prey #84, Day of Vengeance #4, DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #2, Green Arrow #52, Green Lantern #3, JLA #116, JLA Classified #10, JSA #75, JSA Classified #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #8, Outsiders #26, The Rann/Thanagar War #3, Plastic Man #17, Seven Soldiers: Guardian #3, Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #3, Teen Titans #26, Villains United #3, The Batman Strikes #11, Justice League Unlimited #11, Astro City: The Dark Age #2, and Neverwhere #2. Whew.

Image Comics (133-180): Wildguard: Fools Gold, Hero Camp #3 and Stardust Kid #2.

Marvel Comics (182): Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, Shanna the She Devil, and Powers.

And that's it. Not much else to say on this one, except, wow... I'm late. I think this is the first month ever that I was the last regular subscriber to turn in my order at the local shop. Ouch. I'll try to do better next month.

by Tegan at 7:45 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Captain America and the Falcon #14: "American Psycho Part 2": It's finally over. I'm not entirely sure what happened altogether, but it's over.

Green Lantern: Rebirth #6: "Brightest Day": Batman has a point, and it's one that's going to keep coming up as long as Hal Jordan sticks around. But maybe they pulled it off... I'm not sure. We'll have to see how this works out.

Rann/Thanagar War #1: "The Fires of War": I've never been a fan of the DCU's space books. Rann never interested me much, and I thought Thanagar was ridiculous. When Green Lantern wandered off into space I found myself less interested in the book than ever. So this story, in general, doesn't do that much for me. We got it mostly because we knew GL would be involved somehow. But although it's a decent set up, it just doesn't interest me all that much.

Outsiders #23: "Lockdown": Someone in the Outsiders is a traitor, and Arsenal is determined to find out who. I suppose this could've been worse. As it is, it was just one of those mystery stories in which everybody gets questioned, only this story doesn't even bother to give the reasoning behind the result. Because of that, it's a pretty unsatisfactory ending.

Green Arrow #50: "All Together Now": Pretty clear that this story is happening before the tale in Outsiders. Oh well. The art is creepy on this issue. I'm not sure what's wrong, but it doesn't look right at all. A little below average for a superhero book.

JSA #73: "Black Vengeance": I guess it's a good thing I got Day of Vengeance, because if I didn't, I really wouldn't have much of an idea what was happening in the middle of this issue. At least the cover says "Day of Vengeance Tie-In" so folks who didn't pick up the mini have a clue why there is wierd stuff happening. As for this issue itself, not bad overall. About average for this book.

Batman Strikes! #9: "Sanity Plea": I really, really don't like this version of the Joker. As a result, I didn't much like this story.

Aquaman #30: "Kiss of Death Part 1: The Nine": Let's see... besides the absolutely STUPID medical info in this one, it isn't really that bad.

Ok, so the cover makes no sense (why would Aquaman's hand be forced into his own mouth?) and the interior artwork is a little too bubbly (why oh why do so many artists insist on drawing tons of distracting bubbles when drawing underwater scenes?). Aquaman's choice of person to contact about getting into the killer's psyche is just ridiculous. And as Absorbascon pointed out, what's with the lab coat? I can see him wearing it in a lab as a courtesy, but why in Arkham? Good points: the artwork isn't too bad, except for the bubbles. And it's nice to see Aquaman as detective, even if all the facts are just plain wrong. And there was a promising secondary character, too. Still, it's pretty pathetic, even for a fill-in.

Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur #2: P Craig Russell artwork, and a traditional kind of Conan script. Nothing wrong with this book. Conan fans should snag it.

Pakkins Land Vol 2 #1: I'm not really sure what to make of this one. I guess one issue isn't quite enough. It's a Narnia/Oz sort of book, with a young man reaching into another world and making waves as he goes. I'll give it a couple of more issues to impress me.

The Lone and Level Sands: A very cool little package showing the story of Moses from the point of view of the Pharoah. This book assumes that all the miracles/curses were real, and works from there. It's quite a book. It was a nicely different way to look at a familiar old story.

Chickasaw Adventures #3: "Tears at Fort Coffee": Johnny continues his adventures into the past with a trip to the Great Removal, when white settlers used force to push the tribes off their land. A nice twist in this one. This has been a very cool series to read.

Oddly Normal #2: Oddly finds out that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This one is really quite good, and worth a glance or two. Certainly worth a read if you like fantasy.

Battle Hymn #2: "The Milk Run": The aquatic character on this one definitely owes more to Namor than Aquaman, but while it looks fairly derivative at the moment I don't think it's going to stay that way. I just wish the issues would come out in a timely manner. I'm liking it, but I can barely remember what happened in the first issue.

Usagi Yojimbo #83: "The Treasure of the Mother of Mountains": This issue is all set-up, and I really have no idea what is happening or where it's going to lead. I think this one gets a slightly lower rating than usual only because there is enough developments that I'm not certain I'm going to remember them all when the next issue comes. It's still one of the best books out there, of course.

As an extra, while I'm trying to catch up with my regular comic book reviews, I plan on throwing in reviews of the Free Comic Book Day offerings. I did manage to get all of them this year, but I haven't read many of them yet due to time constraints. When I review these, I won't give them starfish ratings, but instead I'll indicate how well I think the books did their job as a free sample.

FCBD: Owly: Splashin' Around: Cute, funny, and certainly perfect for young kids. This one is pretty nice. Rating: Strong. Makes me want to read more.

FCBD: Wizard Free Comic Book Day Special: If you want to know what Wizard is all about, this is certainly a perfect sampler. In that it succeeds on its Free Comic Book Day mission. Of course, its faults all lie in that same aspect. It's Wizard. Rating: Strong, represents its parent book perfectly.

FCBD: Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards: Confusing. Very confusing. I really wanted to like this one a lot, but instead I found myself wishing for a scorecard. Decent art, and I'm very interested in the subject matter, but I found it difficult to read and enjoy. Rating: Weak, too confusing to inspire readers to seek out more.

by Tegan at 1:51 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #2: "Mood 7 Mind Destroyer": Again, is Justin male or female? I'm just not sure. In any case, this story is showing some potential. I'm curious, I guess.

Villains United #1: "And Empires In Their Purpose": This is a strange start. If I understand it right, all the villains are uniting, whether they want to or not. And it's very interesting which ones fall into the "not" category. I'm not sure I really like it, but I want to see where this goes.

Fallen Angel #20: "Sacred Cows": I never really understood why I was getting this book, nor was I really sure what was happening, in a universe-spanning way. Now that the book is done with the DCU, I doubt I'll be getting it if it revives elsewhere. It was always just ok, and at times brilliant, but that's not enough anymore.

Justice League Unlimited #9: "Caslte Perilous": Nice seeing Vixen get a starring role. The strength of this book lies in introducing tons of the lesser known characters from the DCU, and they've done it really well. This was a very good issue.

Shanna The She Devil #4: "The Killing Season Part Four": More dinosaurs, more expendable soldiers, more pretty Frank Cho drawings. Not much else to say. The plot is moving along at a glacial pace, but it gives Cho lots of opportunities to draw Shanna and dinosaurs.

by Tegan at 12:30 PM Seattle time - Permalink   

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Only two entries so far. Bleh.

• This will be a basic drawing. I will put the names in a hat and get a friend or somebody to draw them out.
  
• For every $15 that you donate to the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day for me I'll give you one entry.
  
• Mailed-in donations must be postmarked by June 14th, Online donations must be made by July 7th.
  
• In addition to your donation, you must E-Mail me (tegan@eskimo.com) with a subject line of "3-Day Drawing" and indicate that you want to be included in the drawing.
  
• There will be multiple prize packages, which haven't been set in stone yet.
  
• You can win multiple times (up to three times per person).
  
• I will be paying for all shipping charges within the United States. If you do not live in the US, please contact me before entering.
  
• The drawing will be held AFTER the 3-Day walk, probably on July 31st, to give me time to recover from The Walk.

Prizes so far (may be combined into prize packages):

• Street Angel 1-5, including an autographed copy of the mini-comic
  
• Egg Story
  
• Ninety Candles (thank you Erin!)
  
• Abadazad 1-3 Set
  
• Bricktop A1 Special
  
• The Dave Johnson Sketchbook
  
• Codeflesh
  
• Last of the Independents
  
• The Couriers 02: Dirtbike Manifesto
  
• Channel Zero: Jennie One
  
• The Annotated Mantooth
  
• Filler
  
• Brath 7-13
  
• Doctor Who #1 (Oct-84) and some other Doctor Who goodies
  
• Some Superman books
  
• A variety of Heroclix

The goal of this project is to get enough donations that I can participate in the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I will still do the drawing even if I do not get enough contributions, but I'll certainly be happier about it if I do make my goal.

Please feel free to promote this drawing elsewhere, on blogs or message boards (as long as it's on-topic, darnit. No spamming!). The more donations I get, obviously the more happy I'll be.

by Tegan at 8:27 PM Seattle time - Permalink