365 T-shirts - the reasoning

This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.

I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.

I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.

When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.

The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.

I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.

Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.
(Second Update - 1310.24. First Update - 1306.05 Originally Posted - 1304.25.)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

T-shirt #140: Mage: Joe Phat

T-shirt #140: Mage: Joe Phat: More Grading Robot

This shirt is not a modified replica of a uniform. This is the actual shirt in terms style, cut, and design as worn by the character Joe Phat in the comic book Mage: The Hero Defined, the second series of stories about Kevin Matchstick and his companions begun by Matt Wagner in 1984 and published by Comico. Wagner returned to the world of Mage in 1997 for a second run of issues, The Hero Defined, this time from Image Comics.


This is my second Joe Phat T-shirt.






My first Joe Phat shirt had a hole punched in it. Dissatisfied with this turn of events, I bought another. The original Joe Phat shirt with its hole will surely come up for its own feature some day when I am under the work gun as I am today and need a quickie.

Joe Phat is an avatar of various Native American characters/identities, such as the Coyote and the Raven. There's a great explanation of Joe Phat, via this link to the Comic Vine page. The Mage Wikipedia page is underwhelming, but it does provide some basics. Joe Phat is loosely based on a friend and colleague of Matt Wagner's, comic creator Joe Matt.

I woke up this morning with the thought in my head that this should be the shirt of the day. Originally, I had another shirt planned. But, today, Grading Robot, my alter ego, must channel the essence of Joe Phat. I have to be FAST. I have to be dedicated and disciplined. I have to persevere and overcome and triumph.

I am also going to the county fair with my dad.

And I was going to have a haircut but I needed to save work time, so I am re-scheduling.

Grading Robot must run at full power today.



The Mage books are very good, though as much as I like them, if I am going to recommend comics to a non-comics reader, or even recommend comics to a comics reader who doesn't know the stuff  that I am recommending, Mage would not make the top ten (though it might make the top twenty). Books like Optic Nerve, Concrete, The Tale of One Bad Rat, Strangers in Paradise, Bone, Fables, Y the Last Man, and a few others are the first things to come to mind outside the mainstream.


I have at least two other shirts that will give me a chance to share about Kevin Matchstick and the Mage stories. For now, Grading Robot must cycle up to full velocity and break the quantum barrier between this world and the next.

Have a good day!

- chris tower - 1308.08 - 8:56

PS: I could not stay awake last night as I was reading comic books and listening to the Detroit Tigers game on the radio. When Rondon gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-4, I had to go to sleep. I woke a little after midnight and checked my tablet to see through bleary eyes that the Tigers had won 6-5. I slept happily after seeing that and yet I was not sure of it. I had to check again this morning to make sure I had not dreamed that I had seen a winning score and the eleventh straight, consecutive victory for my favorite. It's a good day to be a Detroit Tigers fan.

PPS: Two covers and a page of interior art to inspire those who do not know the comics that are Mage.


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