Interesting Observations Made From Old Comics: Captain America Annual # 8 pt. 2

Even a total bad @ZZ!!! like Wolverine has feelings.

Words by Mark Gruenwald with art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty

Interesting Observations Made From Old Comics: Captain America Annual # 8

The Avengers used to have standards.

Words by Mark Gruenwald with art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty

Listen up, DC Comics!

How To Get Me To Borrow A Copy Of Supergirl




Make it non-continuity and throw Darwyn Cooke on it. Charming and cute, Supergirl would be that girl next door with a mischievous smile and a secret. Readers should have a crush on Supergirl, giving anything to be her romantic interest or best friend. Drenched in nostalgia and classic Silver Age goodness, a Darwyn Cooke Supergirl would be light, entertaining and fun. It would be a welcome respite from the "mature" stories of the current DCU. Of course Darwyn Cooke is not the only DC writer out there that could do the character right, but if you could find a better person for the job, please say so.



How To Get Lots Of Fan Boys To Buy Supergirl




Sales on Supergirl would probably skyrocket if they fully embraced the cheesecake potential that superhero comics are all about. Even though the Supergirl book is currently in the realm of cheesecake, it suffers from the lack of a good artist. Churchill always seems to be 5 steps behind the Image founders, such as Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. Although there are a barrage of notable bloggers that would be even more upset at the Supergirl book than they are now, sales would be decent and all hope lost. Increase her bust size and get an artist that knows how to draw an attractive woman. It wouldn't suit my personal tastes, of course, but its safe to say that there is a very healthy percentage of fanboys out there would favor that kind of creative change. Just look to the fan art on the web to get an idea of what some fan boys want from a Supergirl comic. Sexy, Seductive, and Stacked.



How To Get Me to Love Supergirl




Of the few Supergirl incarnations I have read, Alan Moore's Suprema was the best. A Silver Age character displaced from the Supremeverse of 50s and brought into our modern world, she was loud mouthed, opinionated and intolerant of all the grim and gritty heroes of the 90s. Her appearance in the issues of Supreme and Youngblood always stole the show. Like your morally superior and somewhat overbearing sister, is was her duty to remark on her contemporaries' methods of heroism and their complete lack of proper decorum while swooping in to save their asses.


The Supergirl that fans are faced with now is one that does not understand her place. Writers are relying upon third rate teenage melodrama as a means of showing her going through the paces of maturing into the hero that she should be. When Supergirl first appeared, it was at a time when being a hero was something that just came naturally with no questions asked. Putting a Silver Age character like Supergirl through the Marvel Comics Merry-Go-Round of Faux Realism defeats the point of the character. Smoking, drinking, and making out with an alternate reality version of your cousin will never make for an engaging Supergirl comic. Happily punching bad guys while chewing out Batman for being such a stick in the mud? Not in this life time.

Just cuz'

The Iron Man-Tony Stark doodle/sketch blog has been updated! Only one week late on catching this! Yay!

Go read about some mini-comics that you and I should both be reading! Someone wanna give me a copy of Class Of 2006: Real Quotes From Real Students from Jury Rigged Comics as either a belated Christmas Present or Early Birthday? Just pick a reason, I'm cool with either or.

The one artist that I currently wish I could emulate right now is Nick Derington. Next month, it will probably be Hugo Pratt. Or Sal Buscema. Ima little slutty like that.

Go to Cartoon Brew, watch this video of Uly Meyer drawing, than just kind of hang out and see what else is going.

So, Dave Sim is like this weird guy who has written all kinds of messed up things that I will probably never get around to reading, but Dave Sim reading magazines like the TCJ and Comic Book Artist and then writing about it....I read and liked. Dead on about The Comics Journal, that Canadian mysognist is.

Podcasts! Do you like? Me, too. iFanboy.com and Ink Studs. One is for the "Jon Hex" inside of you and the other is for your inner-Spurge.

This is where I get off

"Ha! In your face, stupid New Avengers fan! You thought it was Iron Fisting Agent Of Shield Daredeviling Man, but you were wrong! It was a whiny emo ninja chick that's deaf! Can you say plot twist?! Cause that's just what happened!"

Sorry. I just read that preview right now and found myself a little dumbfounded over Brian Michael Bendis's need to drag his messageboard ranting into the pages of the New Avengers. Carry on.

A little something that makes you both happy and sad at the same time...

Happy! :)

Finding a random copy of Hiroaki Samura's Blade Of The Immortal: Food one shot on the bookshelf in my living room.

Sad... :(

The same issue of Blade Of The Immortal was damaged to all holy Hell. Haven't you roommates ever heard of a bag and board?

Getting your roommates to read comics. What an interesting task. Not that I feel the need to force comics on other people, its just that I enjoy them so much that I only wish to share them with the world at large. So far, the only luck I have had in that department at the current house I am living at is with Roadstrips, a travel anthology comic. Jim, the resident beer drinking, dirt bike riding, half coyote-dog owning housemate read a little bit of it on the can and commented on how he enjoyed it. Other than that, graphical novellas get no love.

Is your house like this? Do the ones in your house that leave copious amounts of dirty dishes and drink your alcohol without asking also spurn comics?

Ahh. If the way you treat Blade Of The Immortal is any indication of your disrespect towards the artform, I don't WANT you reading my comics anyway!

Diamond 1, Boob War 0

Did I ever tell you that someone made a comic book using my roommate as a template for the main character? Its called Nightmare Girl and you can check it out right here at NightmareGirl.com. Its Boob War through and through.

Last night, she asked my friend Ryan and I if we knew what Diamond was. We explained to her that Diamond was pretty much the one and only distribution company that supplied everything comic related to comic shops all over the nation. Intrigued by her question, we asked here why she was in interested in Diamond.

"They won't carry Nightmare Girl because they said that both the writing and art aren't good enough."

Huh. Although Nightmare Girl is not necessarily my cup of tea per se, there is definitely a niche market out there for books like it. Just take a look at the likes of Lady Death, Vampirella, and Tarot comics. What's to keep Diamond from adding Nightmare Girl to the ranks of such esteemed alumni? Are we left to assume that where Nightmare Girl artist Duvall Stowers fails, the work of Jim Balent meets the Gold Standard of cheesecake comics that Diamond has set in place? Is it even fair to maintain some kind of standard for a small branch of the comic book medium that by the very nature of its subject matter disregards things like "good taste" and "decency"? Now, I am not condemning books like Lady Death or Nightmare Girl for being tasteless. To do so, would certainly miss the point. Its safe to say that a book like Nightmare Girl is catering to a specific audience that openly embraces the cheesecake nature of the art. Interestingly enough, the comic book exploits of a female character like Ms. Marvel can be equally full of gratuity and vapid storytelling as some of the aforementioned books. The main difference being that a book like Ms. Marvel has Marvel Comics on its side. With that, comes some kind of respect that dignifies the purchase of Ms. Marvel over Lady Death. Don't ask me how, but for some strange reason it just does. As for Nightmare Girl? If there was a time machine available, I would instruct my roommate to jump in it and turn that dial back until it reads 1994.

When I look at a book like Lady Death on the shelf, I can not help but think that its merely just a hold over from an era where variant covers depicting male super heroes have been transformed into buxom females by Rob Liefeld sold well. A move like that today on a super hero comic SHOULD get you laughed off of the racks. (Fear not, readers. If anything, we still have the female version of male heroes to satisfy that need.) Despite the fact that the 90s are for the most part over, there are people out there that still continue to buy Lady Death and Tarot. As long as there is the threat of an ample bosom ready to burst open the bikini that fights to hold them in, there are fans that threaten to compromise ad space in Previews when they open and read a Jim Balent book. And there is a large contingent of people out there that are more than happy to hear the news of Diamond's decision towards a book like Nightmare Girl as well.

Over the past few months, I have witnessed my roommate's reaction when she first saw some of the art for the first time, having posters printed up, and eventually holding the finished product in her hands. It was exciting to see her tell everyone about the comic that she was going to be starring in. The adolescent power fantasy that most comic book fans wish for was a real for her and sitting right there on our coffee table. Its safe to say that the breast enlargement the creators gave her was something that she could do without. (Especially since I have recently overheard her arguing with another friend against women getting breast implants.) She probably assumed the increased bust line was an attribute that all female heroines had to possess in order to survive on the racks, much like the muscles their male counterparts needed to defeat a super-villian. Unfortunately, it appears as if that same bra size could have very well been one of the reasons for the book's defeat at the hands of Diamond.

I helped put into perspective for my roommate the uphill battle that Nightmare Girl is going to be facing. Off of the top of my head, I threw out the name of Cold Cut with the advisory that I was unfamiliar with what kind of titles they distribute, thinking they might have a chance there. Taking into consideration the traits that Nightmare Girl exudes, there really was only one piece of semi-worthy advice I could give her:

"Wear something skimpy and hit those convention floors. From what I hear, they are absolutely CRAWLING with potential fans for this kind of stuff."

In the face of Diamond's decision, that might be this book's only chance.

Punisher War Blog - a GYCWO tie-in!

(click the pic and read)





NEXT: The Death Of Speedball!

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 8

Let's take five..

Egads. If you thought reading Civil War was bad, trying pouring over the comics just so you could write some really bad jokes over photoshopped images of Captain America and Tony Stark. Do we really have to wait until February 21st for this thing to end? Thank god for The Immortal Iron Fist. If you are not reading that book than we are not cyber-friends.

Real quick aside from all this Civil War nonsense:

James Sime over at The Isotope Lounge has announced the Fifth Annual Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics are accepting submissions up until midnight, March 15th. Look towards 2008 for Spencer D. Carnage to come in and win this shit. I would gladly enter into this year's contest, however I don't think I have enough time to complete the totally radical comic that I just plotted out. Its going to be a hugely insane battle between the forces of comic books and computers, with a cameo from the eBay website. If you look down now you will notice that you are sitting on the edge of your seat.

Mr. Paul Pope blogs about the monstrous task that Chris Pitzer and himself are currently undergoing to get Pulphope out. Having just read the Pulphope ashcan, I am extremely excited to be reading this. I have not had the chance to pick up the new FF anniversay issue that he contributed to. That just came out last week, right? While the minutes whittle away towards Pulphope's release, kill a few of them reading an 8 page Batman story Pope did some time ago in Gotham Knights # 3.

And Babel and The Wire are tre stupendous. If you have seen neither, please do. Pan's Labrynth is good, too, but not so much like the others. And 24 is looking like its turned into 90's X-men. Color me non-surprised when a future version of Jack Bauer shows up as the mastermind of every bad thing that's happened in the 24-verse since its inception.

Get Your Civil War On # 8

(click to read in all its two color glory)




NEXT: The Punisher War Journal 2.0!

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 7

Get Your Civil War On - Delayed!

We appreciate everyone's response to Get Your Civil War On over the past few days. We are almost at the finishing line and we just can not wait until we show you all how these things pan out. And let me tell you: you have never SEEN anything like this. Once this is done, the Of Course, Yeah! Marvel U will changed. For-ever. Unfortunately, we are running into some delays with our artist. He strained his hand playing Zelda on his new Nintendo Wii which has forced us to push the release date back. Unfortunately this delay doesn't just affect Get Your Civil War On. The release dates of Punisher War Blog, The New Thunderbolts: Justice Through Nippleclamps, and Civil War: Hack and Slash have been pushed back as well.

We thought about bringing in fill in artists, however we do not want to damage the artistic vision of the story, especially one that is as important as this. Just imagine if they replaced the artist on Penny Arcade, PVP and Dinosaur Comics? At one point or another these webcomics suffered a hiatus due to unforseen complications, forcing their creators to delay publication. If the Penny Arcade had to resort to using Alien Loves Predator for fill in, its safe to say that the overall quality of the webcomic would have suffered. We're looking at the long term picture here and we ask that you all be patient. Get Your Civil War On has been an amazing story for us here at Of Course, Yeah! and know that when the next issue comes out, you will absolutely forget the fact that you waited several days to read it.

With that being said, we are proud to announce two new series spinning out from the events of Get Your Civil War On. The first one we would like to announce is House Of Forever Yesterday! We don't want to go into too many details, but we do want to say this: The Scarlet Witch is back. And so is Mark Bagley. If there were two things that we here at Of Course, Yeah! were looking forwarded to the most its Wanda and Mark. We're anticipating that House Of Forever Yesterday will be a huge hit amongest the fans. If not for the delays on Get Your Civil War On, the House Of Forever Yesterday would not have been possible. The second new title to spin out of Get Your Civil War On that we would like to announce is.....Get Your Secret Wars On! Taking you back to the days of the Beyonder, Tony and Steve discuss all the huge changes that happened in the legendary Secret Wars I & II....over the phone! Its going to be great. The fans have been clamoring for the return of Beyonder for awhile and we here at Of Course, Yeah! have replied by doing just that.

Its an exciting time here at the Blog Of Idiocy! Stay tuned and you will not be disappointed! Excelsior!

Get Your Civil War On # 7

(click to make big.)





NEXT: Will Tony be able to cope with the fact that his new boy toy Peter Parker has defected to the Anti-Registration side? And how does Clor figure into Tony's plan to cope with this loss? Until next time......Excelsior!

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 6

Get Your Civil War On # 6

(click on the pictures to make them bigger)





NEXT: Is there trouble in paradise for Tony and his boy toy, Peter Parker? Doesn't everyone see that Tony's just trying to look out for the future?

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 5

Get Your Civil War On # 5

(click to read, then click [back] or [<-] to read more)






NEXT: Tony Stark? Still a dick.

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 4

Get Your Civil War On # 4

(click, read, etc, etc.)





NEXT: Shots have been fired! A friend has fallen in battle! And Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist, defends himself again against allegations of racism! Stay Tuned, True Believers!

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 3

Get Your Civil War On # 3

(click to make bigger, read, then comment on my awesomeness and/or suckiness!)






NEXT: Is this the real life? Is this fantasy? Caught in a Company-wide Crossover, no escape from reality...

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 2

Get Your Civil War On # 2

(clicking pictures makes them bigger and more legible)





NEXT: Luke Cage calls Tony, and Storm and Black Panther's wedding

PREVIOUS: Get Your Civil War On # 1

Get Your Civil War On

With apologies to David Rees...

GET YOUR CIVIL WAR ON ! ! !

(click on the pictures to make them bigger)





NEXT: Cap calls out Tony for jacking all the good heroes.

Get Your Blog On

Yesterday, I bought some new comics. Today, I blog about them. Its like fate sometimes how these things work themselves out.

• Civil War: Casualities Of War
  "Remember that time when we were friends and now we're not? Yeah, me, too. Let's fight!"
  
  And that's how it goes. If Marvel was smart, they should have just filled this issue with reprints from some of those old issues that were referenced in this comic and made it into a trade. At $19.95 a pop, Captain America & Iron Man: That Time There Was Only One Set Of Footprints In The Sand Was Because That Was When I Was Carrying You would have flown off the shelves and into our hearts. If that trade played Andrew Gold's "Thank You For Being A Friend" while you read it, I am fairly certain that it would make Time Best Of 2006 Top Ten List. "and if you had a party...."



• Iron Man # 14
  "Being a super-villian sure is tough."
  
  I know, Tony. Why do you think guys like Dr. Doom, Leader, the Red Skull, Loki and the Absorbing Man are always so damn pissed off at you heroes when they come back from obscurity to take you on for what they wish was ONE LAST AND FINAL TIME? They want a return on their investment towards Evil! With repayment in full! + Interest! You hire a bunch of goons and build a bunch of robots, only to have your crime ring slash attempts at world domination foiled by some guy with a suit and goofy name that starts with noun and ends with the word "man" you too will find that life is tough and stressful. Its almost as if every superhero under the sun is out to get you! Buck up, old chum. The finish line is in sight and if what I am hearing is correct, your ass skips the trip to Disneyland and heads straight into the loving arms of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-Carrier that is guaranteed to blow up within the first 6 issue arc. If that is not a victory, what is?



• New Avengers # 26
  "If you just wanted to sleep with me, you could have just asked. Using Chaos Magick created Kree Soldiers really sends the wrong kind of message, don't you agree?"
  
  Oh yes, I get it now! This is why its called NEW Avengers. Because its not like the OLD Avengers. If this was OLD Avengers the Mantis would show up to help the team fight Egghead & The Masters Of Evil while Jarvis serves tea. In NEW Avengers, we have things like trannie ninjas, superhero ramblings, and Hawkeye-And-Scarlet-Witch Make Up Sex. I'm sorry, did I spoil that for you? Oops.
  
  This issue is why a series like Marvel Comics Presents should be in circulation. No, not so we can have some story about the X-Factor era blue Beast accidentally running into a cyborg gang of ninja bots while he's on the way to the store. This isn't bad, but it doesn't belong in an Avengers book. Its belongs in Marvel Comics Presents, 8 pages at a time, on a bi-weekly schedule alongside a story of the Powerpack fighting a Mandroid at the Niagara Falls. Despite having the wrong title of the cover, Alex can still draw even if his line weight can be a little dead from time to time. I can guarantee that this issue will probably piss you off at some point or other.



• New Avengers: Illuminati # 1
  "Ok, why do I always get stuck carrying the crippled guy every time his wheelchair gets knocked over? Seriously, what's up with that?"
  
  The Illuminati is arguably one of the best contributions that Bendis has made to Marvel Comics. Its a nice spin on well established characters that is not completely out of character like some OTHER big name writers... As Carla says, it is pretty much just the A-Team of the 616. As for who is BA and who is Face, you can discuss that over at her wonderful site in the comments. Over here? We inarticulate our thoughts with great ease and work REAL jobs that do not involve bagging and boarding comic books on the daily basis!
  
  Ahem. I don't know about you guys, but I liked it. Sure, you could argue all these great minds would probaby be a little more careful when it comes to storming the Skrull gates, but what's wrong with a little goof up from time to time? Especially when it ends with Charles Xavier getting knocked on his ass. Ok, maybe not that last part. I really enjoyed the part where the Skrulls are rocking the torture stick on the members of the Illuminati, as their observations seemed on par with good comic book science. There was only one page that showed a confusing fight scene, which is down from the usual 3 to 4 pagesof confusing fight scenes that Bendis tends to write. Maybe Brian Reed is responsible for that, I can not say for sure. And Cheung, even though your anatomy seems to be a little off when compared with the heads of the characters you draw, I like your style. Definitely looking forward to the next issue. If you guys could some how throw in a reference to the X-Cutioner's Song, I will cyber-high 5 the lot of yous.

Blue Blazes!

Let's spoil some things for a moment, shall we? Marvel's Civil War: The Return:

I was hoping that this cover meant the return of Nova to the Marvel U. Considering that the 42 prison was in the Negative Zone, I had a feeling the end of Annihilation would put Richard Ryder square at the door step of Tony and Reed's new prison, causing all kinds of glee and warm, happy feelings.

Well, its not Nova. Yes, I know the star on Nova's helmet is different. I'm aware of this. I was just hoping that Marvel got it wrong. He'll be back soon enough, though. As for who it is, just take a look and figure it out. Who else with a star for a logo would totally blow your fanboy minds if they returned? You guessed right. I know, I know, but what about XYZ that caused Mystery Super Hero to disappear? Mystery Super Hero is back with the XYZ in full effect which I believe is the most interesting aspect of Mystery Super Hero's return.

---

While trolling for Nova pics, I came across this post on the Bendis Board by Sean McKeever regarding a New Warriors pitch:

I pitched New Warriors two years ago but there was no interest. They wanted a high concept pitch with them as the equivalent of "child actors all grown up," and I wanted a serious ensemble drama that happened to also be an action-heavy superhero comic.(link via New Warriors Continuity Conundrum)

I do know that Marvel is still looking for this concept with a friend of a friend of a friend currently pitching it for the Power Pack. Essentially, its the Royal Tenenbaums meets the Marvel U. This same friend of a friend of a friend is also being prepped to possibly take over for Dan Slott on She-Hulk. He just needs a successful introductory project put out first before the transition is made and that Power Pack project could possibly be it. That or a mini featuring the Vulture.

While we're getting our spoiler on...

Cap knows Tigra's a spy. He's using her to feed false information to Tony!

Does that not just wet your whistle or what?

If Judd Winick had created Wonder Woman...

Instead of this:


She would look like this:

• Instead of hailing from the Amazon Island of Themyscira, she would come from the Dressing Room of a Strip Club.


• Instead of exuding power and love, she would exude perversion and lust.


• Instead of wearing a star spangled freedom inspiring bikini and tiara, she would be wearing black lingerie and too much make up.


• Instead of a lasso that forces those who become ensnared by it to tell the truth, she would wield a whip that paralyzes others by overloading the pleasure centers of their brain.


• Instead of being revlaunched by Allan Heinberg and Jodi Picoult, she would be relaunched by Jim Balent.


• Instead of fighting alongside the JLA, she would be trying to sleep with everyone in the DCU.

And yes, she would totally be into "da butt."

New Fantastic Four

Brian over at Again With The Comics posted an image for Fantastic Four # 544 which he found on Diamond's website. Unfortunately, Diamond wised up and removed it. Since Brian hotlinked, all he's got is a broken image. Thank the stars above for Spencer's detective skills combined with Wizard's inability to get with it. I bring ye spoilers..













For all of those who are paying attention....

Fantastic Four's new line up as depicted by Michael "Get that heroine a sandwich!" Turner!

Fantastic Four # 544

In the aftermath of Civil War comes Reconstruction, the beginning of a stunning new era! Rocked to its foundations by the events of the past several months, Reed and Sue plan a hiatus from the team to work out there marital problems, leaving Ben and Johnny to hold down the fort. But they won't be doing it alone, as two new members join the team - and you won't believe who they are! • 32 pg

(From Wizard's online store.)

This pretty much jives with what was said over at Mike Sterling's site right before issue # 1 of Civil War came out, except for the fact that Johnny is part of the team. While investigating, I tried to see if there was any other covers on Wizard's site that were left out of the solicitations, but I had no luck. Rich picked up the pre-Civil War # 1 spoiler last week, but What other kernels of knowledge is this Painted Doll dropping that we're missing. Once again, we turn to the comments over at Mike's site, which lead us....here. A post from "the_painted_doll" over at Rich Johnston's forum from September 26. Its interestingly vague, but it does a raise a question, when you consider that Rich, who probably knows more about Civil War than he lets on, has only recently reported something that was already picked up elsewhere.....exactly how much is Marvel paying you to keep you quiet, hmmm?

Ahh, its baby of his. Made him go all Eddie Murphy-soft on us.

EDIT: Apparently I'm not as savy as they say. Comic Book Resources reported the following:

Marvel Comics has just released the following image with a single question included, "Is this the new Fantastic Four?"
The image by Michael Turner features Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), Ben Grimm (The Thing), Storm and Black Panther and suggests that this is the new line-up for the team starting with March's "Fantastic Four" #544 following the conclusion of "Civil War," which tore apart the group. That issue is written by Dwayne McDuffie with art by Paul Pelletier.

I like stuff.

I'm a little slow today, so please forgive my lack of proper blogging enthusiasm. Last night, the band played at a sports bar a couple towns over for a very drunk crowd of 12 at a time when I'm usually yawning for sleep. Considering it was our first show in 3 months and at least 50% of the band was drunk, we did amazingly well and had an absolute blast. One thing to remember for next time is to NOT put my beverages in front of the bass drum because the long hair welding guitar player will kick them over. The night ended with an invite to play another sport's bar, this time in our hometown.

Secret Wars: Rocking your faces while you watch ESPN

---

Wong! Rival Hydra Factions! Giant Santa Claus Hydra Robot Rampaging Through New York! A Fin Fang Foom Story That Doesn't Involve Stupid Jokes About Purple Pants!

Marvel making the holidays a little more merrier with this Newsarama preview for this year's Holiday Special...

---

I downloaded some podcasts this weekend and I want to give a shout out to everyone's favorite "Ironic Age" blogger, Chris Sims of the ISB for giving us a short but sweet podcast. Two in fact. Could be a little longer in length, but they're fun nonetheless. Check them out.

To celebrate Chris's foray into podcasting, I offer up a picture of Captain America getting his face kicked by some guy named Joe:





In addition to Chris's podcast, I downloaded a few from Wordballoon as well. If you have not had the pleasure of listening to John Siuntres, please do so. He comes from radio and brings with him a very entertaining combination of comic book knowledge and class.

---

My friend Ryan just let me borrow the American TPB by Mark Verheiden from Dark Horse and the Jonah Hex Showcase TPB. Leaving for work this morning, I think I made the unfortunate mistake of picking up the American instead of the Jonah Hex because after only a few pages, I feel as if I am going to choke on the late 80s/early 90s not-so-good Grim 'n Grittiness of it all. Help me out here, fellow bloggers and commenters. Should I continue? Is there anything in Verheiden's The American that would a fully involved read?

Yeah, probably not, huh.

The Good, The Bad, and The Links.

The Good!

Brian is celebrating his 100th post in the form of a gala with Modok and Doctor Mayavale as guests of honor. The only thing funnier than that is getting stuck in an elevator with the two. Go, read, click on some of the links and read some more. Brian's got nothing but love for comics and he Modok obsession runs strong.

The Bad!

Chris over at 2 Guys Buying Comics wusses out. After a year of rocking out with their cocks out, Two Guys calls its quits if only because its really down to just One Guy and he just doesn't love us anymore. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even love comics! Its bad enough to post intermittenly, but to give up on it all together? Bollocks! You ask me, I think Chris is giving up because of Civil War. Way to let a crappy company wide crossover beat ya down, bro. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!

The Links!

• The Playboy Townhouse courtesy of Meathaus. Peep that rotating Playboy Bed that has been "electronically turned on its 360-degree base to take full advantage of a romantic fire." Just one questions, though: where's a player gonna store all his long boxes?


• Jon Hex makes with the funny, detailing what it was like right BEFORE Grant Morrison came onboard. Its a question that we all know the answer to, but Jon makes it funny. Now, if only he could take the time and learn just a little bit about HTML...


• Totally, completely hilarious


• Natural forms!