T-Shirt #221: Aquaman

T-Shirt #221: And now a few words about Aquaman

As I mentioned Friday, my Aquaman entry has been in the works for months. This would be more impressive if I had actually written anything. Instead, I have read about Aquaman and pondered the key question: Why do I like Aquaman so much?

I fear becoming a bit of a broken record. I love most of the main superheroes. So, if I start each entry with a blanket statement of "I love so-and-so," this will become rather repetitive. And yet, with the exception of Nightwing, Aquaman is my favorite DC superhero. If I demote Nightwing to the sidekick role from whence he came (as the original Robin) of the big name superheroes, the original Justice League, Aquaman is far and away my favorite.

But why?

Once again, refer to T-shirt #62 for more on the Nightwing love. Why Aquaman?

He's king. It's a bit like the Arthurian epic. He's king of the seven seas. King of Atlantis. He is protector of environmental rights of the oceans. He can swim really fast. He has a hot lover/wife/queen. His costume is an unusual mix of bright colors.

But he was not the first ocean hero. the Sub-Mariner (Namor, which is ROMAN spelled backwards in case you never noticed that before) pre-dates Aquaman by two years, appearing in a comic for Funnies Inc. and created by Bill Everett. AQUAMAN came along in 1941 in issue 73 of DC Comics' More Fun Comics.






The image on today's shirt was created by Alex Ross, who I wrote about profusely in T-shirt #155. It's an excellent image and depicts Aquaman very well.

This has been one of my favorite shirts and most often worn shirts for years (since around 2008).







You also see me posing with the old MEGO Aquaman toy. I have referenced this toy several times as it has been visible in pictures of my office on this blog for months as I contemplated and wondered, what the heck am I going to write about Aquaman?

THE TROUBLE WITH THE BLOG - THE MAMMOTH

The trouble is the mammoth. I tend to think that I have to create a definitive entry, an enormous and impossibly long love letter to my subject especially when I only have one shirt devoted to that subject. At this time, this is my only Aquaman shirt, so I want to write everything about Aquaman that I can possibly think of to write. But I am holding back. I am going to obtain at least one more Aquaman shirt before the year is out. I will have more opportunities to deliver Aquaman love letter content. Still, the entry will be long as I have many links, many images, and a huge cover gallery.
















1960s FILMATION SERIES

Surely, the root of my love for Aquaman goes back to the Filmation animated series from 1967 and 1968 as part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. Aquaman was also one of the SuperFriends, the classic 1973 animated series.

I will share two clips from the Filmation series. There's much more Aquaman content on YouTube if you're interested.

VIDEO CLIPS FROM AQUAMAN FILMATION SERIES

Aquaman - The Rampaging Reptile-Men

The Adventures of Aquaman - 06/36 War of the Water Worlds

MORE ON WHY AQUAMAN IS COOL

TEN REASONS AQUAMAN IS A BAD ASS

I have posted the link above (in my links list) to an article on the TEN reasons why Aquaman is "bad ass." I think the list is a good summary of why I love Aquaman: he is King of the Seas (as I already wrote), he does more than talk to fish, his wife is also a superhero, he travels through time and space, he deals with real loss, he commands armies, he played with deadly animals as a kid, he founded the Justice League, he doesn't have time for your crap, he fought gods and punched death, and he will throw a bear at you.

The last item alone is reason enough to check the link. Tossing polar bears = bad ass.

But the big item is the one this guy did not really number: HE'S KING. It's the reason the classic 1960s-1970s stories of Namor, Sub-Mariner at Marvel are so good. They focused on the kingdom and struggles with running the kingdom, being the king. Aquaman's great story line has always been his legacy and his role as King of Atlantis, which proclaims to hold dominion over all the seven seas.

When the comic provides the right mix of action stories and Atlantis kingdom stories, it is at its most successful. It's Arthurian. It's the stuff of legends.

Though I have been steeping myself in Aquaman lore to write this blog entry, I am going to restrict myself to the current run in the New 52 as to why Aquaman is such a compelling character and his stories are so rich and full of pathos.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! The following section contains SPOILERS. If you wish to read the recent run of Aquaman issues, skip the next section or read aware that you will have the story spoiled.

AQUAMAN CURRENT ISSUES - THE NEW 52

Not to overstate here, but the current run of Aquaman issues are among the best comics currently being published and always hit my the top of my list because of their quality and not just because I love the character so much.

In September of 2011, as part of DC's New 52 re-launch of the DC universe, the company published Aquaman #1 written by Geoff Johns, pencils by Ivan Reis, and inks by Joe Prado. Of all the New 52 books, it held the most promise and was surely the one that instantly captured my attention and jumped to the top of my stack.

I was not the only one impressed with the new Aquaman comic book. The new comic has become a regular mainstay in DC's top ten best-sellers every month. Issues five and six of the current run (see review for issue five in list below) outsold every Marvel comic those months (in early 2012). Generally, for 2013, Aquaman ranked overall in the 20s, somewhere from 21-29th, in overall sales by title, usually with sales of 50-60,000 individual comics.

From the start, this run of Aquaman comics re-defined the character and distinguished itself not only as one of the best DC Comics being published, but as one of the best superhero comic books being published today.

Charles Skaggs, author of the blog DAMN Good Coffee...and HOT! has reviewed both Aquaman #1 and Aquaman #5. His review of Aquaman #1 is linked below. His comments about the first issue do a better job than I could possibly do, and so I present some of them here. See the full review via the link.

"Seemingly on a mission, writer Geoff Johns goes right at all the misconceptions and jokes about Aquaman.  He takes out some bank robbers by upending their getaway truck in the middle of the street with no ocean and no fish anywhere in sight.  He walks right into a seafood restaurant and orders fish and chips, telling an obnoxious know-it-all that he doesn't talk to fish.  And best of all, he shuts down said know-it-all riding him about being nobody's favorite superhero with nothing more than a hardened glare and a large, pointy trident.  This could get a bit annoying if Johns oversells the "Aquaman isn't a joke" campaign issue after issue, but for now it's more than appreciated" (Skaggs, September 29 2011, DAMN GOOD COFFEE AND HOT - REVIEW AQUAMAN #1).

The first two story arcs are already collected in hardcover and trade paperback, available wherever comics are sold (such as the local shop FANFARE SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, via Amazon, or any of the many online vendors of comic books). The third volume is due in November of 2013 and the fourth in May of 2014.

The first volume, THE TRENCH,  introduces creatures from a trench at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, impossible depths unreachable by anyone but Aquaman. After volcanic activity opens the trench, the creatures make their way to the surface seeking food. The creatures capture dozens of humans to store as food for their people and their queen, taking their prey to the breeding ground in an extraterrestrial space craft at the bottom of the Atlantic, "from a time before Atlantis sank" Aquaman says. He defeats the queen, seals the trench off, and rescues the captured humans, kept alive in egg-like pods. The last two issues of the first volume continue to explore Aquaman's character, his past, and his relationship with Mera, whon in past continuity was his wife but in this version they are unmarried. Charles Skaggs review of issue five can be found below. Issue six, "Mera Unleashed," well establishes her character and her opposition to her father, defending Aquaman. The stories are all tightly written (Geoff Johns) and the art is masterful (Ivan Reis and Joe Prado). Aquaman's character is reinvigorated, and those creatures from the Trench are not only a new and terrible menace, but eventually factor into the story arc in the current issues (October-November 2013).

One of the strengths of the New 52 allows DC to re-start character history and continuity mid-stream. Most 52 comics started a few years into the story line of each hero, allowing for back story development as well as forward story progress. For those readers who like New 52, this is a way for DC to cherry pick what creators like from the rich history of the characters that runs in stories back to about 1938. But it also allows creators to invent new back story and history for characters, types of stories that would not have been told in the 1940s. Such is the case with Aquaman Volume Two: The Others. A grisly murder brings back together a group of super heroes that Aquaman led many years ago, before meeting Mera and before assuming the Throne of Atlantis. Just as Johns established a good relationship between Arthur (Aquaman) and Mera, he mixes it up with the introduction of Ya-Wara, one of the Others, a warrior accompanied by a black panther, wearing a bikini. Mera is not pleased. The Others re-unite to solve the murder of Kahina the seer, who we readers know was killed by Black Manta in the first chapter of the story. The Others are all interesting characters and evoke a wealth of history for Aquaman and all the adventures and experiences he had before the start of the New 52 stories.

The third volume, Throne of Atlantis, connects to a series of issues throughout the DC universe. Atlantis attacks the surface world. The Justice League respond. Whose side is Aquaman on? Paul Pelletier takes over art duties after Ivan Reis leaves the book. These issues explore Arthur's troubled past and his position in regards to Atlantis, will he re-take the throne? Classic Aquaman characters are re-introduced, such as Vulko and Tula, who in this incarnation is Aquaman's sister, shared with his brother Orm, the Ocean Master, acting King of Atlantis. In the end, Arthur must attend to things that have been happening in Atlantis, actions perpetrated by Atlanteans, while he was running around on the surface playing super hero with the Justice League. Meanwhile, Mera has problems of her own, trying to fit in with the "surface world." There's a final quote by Murk, a loyal soldier of Orm's, who tells Tula that "we can't trust the surface world to do right by us, Tula. They hate us," which sets up the future story lines and the rift between Atlanteans and surface dwellers.


The most recent story arc and what will become the fourth volume, Death of a King, is unfortunately the last for Geoff Johns, who is leaving the book with issue #24. As of the writing of this blog, a new writer has yet to be announced.

GEOFF JOHNS LEAVING AQUAMAN

AQUAMAN SHRINE REVIEW OF ISSUE #24

I am going to close my comments here, but I plan to return to re-cap and review this current story arc and write a rebuttal to the review of issue #24 linked above.

This is more than enough Aquaman content for now. I hope I have enticed you. If not the many images and links, may entice and inspire.

Why are you not reading this book? And if you are, good for you.

REVIEWS AND SUCH OF AQUAMAN IN THE NEW 52

DAMN GOOD COFFEE AND HOT - REVIEW AQUAMAN #1

DAMN GOOD COFFEE AND HOT - REVIEW AQUAMAN #5

GEEK NEWS - MTV - AQUAMAN NEW 52 REVIEW

CRAVE-ONLINE - AQUAMAN NEW 52 REVIEW

AQUAMAN RESPECT THREAD - NEW 52

THREAT QUALITY - NEW 52 AQUAMAN REVIEWS

VARIOUS AQUAMAN RESOURCES AND COOL LINKS

Do I expect any reader to click and investigate all these links? No, of course not. And this content may either move to my next Aquaman entry (once I buy another T-shirt or four) and/or be updated here. In any case, this is a good resource for Aquaman content. Not only is my blog searchable, but I added an Aquaman category. That's how special he is.

AQUAMAN - WIKIPEDIA

AQUAMAN DC WIKIA

Wow!! a site with daily Aquaman content. Plus the most current Aquaman news. Awesome.

THE AQUAMAN SHRINE - daily devotionals to Aquaman

THE UNOFFICIAL AQUAMAN WEB SITE

Wow!! A blog posting the ENTIRE run (over 500 issues) of DC's Adventure Comics. The Blogosphere continues to amaze me.

ADVENTURE COMICS BLOG - 1975

TEN REASONS AQUAMAN IS A BAD ASS

Aquaman's Finny Friends

The following also contains a list of links to other Aquaman content.

One good link: Aquaman Indexing: DC Special Series #1 - 1977

Yeah, SHOES... wish I could wear Converse. See yesterday's post for why I cannot (T-shirt #219).

CONVERSE - Aquaman shoes

My favorite blogger, Charles Skaggs, did a post back in July on why Aquaman is a risky search and leads to "toxic" websites. The Aqua-dude gets no respect!

Aquaman - Most risky Internet search







Leave it to the fans! If you have not heard of FILKING, then you have obviously never been to a geek fan con. Filking as a term came about as a typo of folk [music]. It is a special brand of music mostly performed at science fiction and other related types of conventions.




One of the premier filk bands of all time in the fan world (Ookla the Mok) has a song dedicated to Arthur Curry (aka Aquaman), which is considered of the band's "greatest hits."

Ookla The Mok Arthur Curry Live

Yesterday's filking is today's "fake movie trailer." Just last week, one fan posted this fake trailer for an Aquaman movie, which is hilarious and wonderful.

Aquaman The Movie (Official Fake Trailer)

AQUAMAN IMAGE GALLERY

- chris tower - 1310.28 - 9:00 & 1310.29 10:17

NOTE ON DATES: I originally published this post on Monday 10/28/13 (1310.28), but on Tuesday when I reverted it to draft to work on it and finish it, this changed the publication date. I thought the publication date was fixed once established. Not the case. Now I know. Just sayin', I did not miss a day.

T-shirt #220: Star Trek Red Shirt Gift

Clockwise starting with me, Randall Davis, Steve Cameron, John Kasdorf, Mark Peeters, and Nathan McLaughlin

T-shirt #220: Star Trek Red Shirt Gift

Played Dungeons and Dragons today.

Technically, Pathfinder, which is a revision of D&D 3.5.

I am sporting a red Star Trek shirt that was a Kellogg's give-away.

The shirt was a gift from John Kasdorf (pictured above), so it earns both a new shirt tag and a gift shirt tag.
You can see the chips, which are ever popular, and the signature pistachios.

Dice are in evidence, of course, as is beer, which is a relatively new addition as my earliest years of play did not feature beer.

Yes, that is a UFP Star Fleet Messenger Bag in the picture. More geek gear. Expect it.

I spent all morning working on my Aquaman entry, which is nearly done but needs some work. When I left to play, my plan was to post an incomplete entry when I got home and finish the Aquaman post tomorrow. I have revised this plan, and I will either finish tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. So, stay tuned for AQUAMAN.

Meanwhile, the D&D game went well. I used the Cause Fear spell well and actually made a try attacking with my claws as I am a Draconic Sorcerer female gnome named Astrid.

Extra No Prize points if you know what TV character inspired my choice of a name for my character.

Lazy Sunday. No work. Fun times with good friends.

More content in the days to come.

- chris tower - 1310.27 - 18:50

T-shirt #219: Brooks White Sleeveless with Star Trek shirt and patches

T-shirt #219: Brooks White Sleeveless with Star Trek shirt and patches

Damn weather. It's time to start wearing the warm shirts. Today's T-shirt is a sleeveless, moisture-wicking, athletic shirt made by my favorite shoe company: BROOKS (more on this subject in a minute). The shirt I am wearing over the top of the Brooks shirt is a very warm, chamois shirt made of plush, 100% cotton on which I had stitched (or has stitched for me; I do not sew) two United Federation of Planets patches and a very nice Starship Enterprise patch.

The patches on shirts thing goes back to my senior year of high school and early years of college. I like the look of the patches on the shirts, which convey an official feel, as if I am wearing a uniform or some gear issues by Star Fleet or whatever is featured on the patch. I have several different shirts with various patches. Look for more to be featured in weeks to come.

Eventually, I wore out the shirts on which the patches had been stitched (though one still bears elbow patches attempting to increase its longevity), and then for a long time, I did not have any shirts featuring geeky patches to wear. Once I hit my thirties, and was still single, I was a little hesitant about letting my geek freak flag fly, and so I did not put the patches on new shirts and return to wearing such geek-wear outside the house.

Geek was not as cool in the 1980s or 1990s as it has become today. Geeks had to grow up and mainstream geek. Once comic books were not kid stuff any more, once Star Trek fandom was not fringe culture and open to ridicule, then being geeky became cool. Long before Big Bang Theory made the nerdy and geeky thing so popular, long before Comic Con was a massive popular culture event with a whole issue of Entertainment Weekly devoted to it, some of us were geeking it up, though somewhat in secret.

I addressed this "closet geek" thing in T-shirt #21 and shirts you will not see me wear in public. I also wrote about "the closet" back in T-shirt #166. In regards specifically to Star Trek geekiness and hiding that Trekkie (or Trekker but who are we kidding with the name game here?) rabid fan thing, You may recall that I devoted three of my first fifteen shirts to Star Trek (see list below).

I first addressed this issue about hiding my inner geek all the way back in

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold.

This is another one of those times in which I am in favor of copying and re-presentation. Back in the first weeks of the blog, I had not figured out what I wanted the blog to be and how it would function, how I would present content. Check out how shirt it is! Of course, by T-shirt #13 I had figured out how to extend the content to mammoth proportions.

Monday, March 25, 2013

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

Star Trek! One of those Facebook ads that show up because the social web 2.0 knows I love Star Trek snared me. Now that I am married, I am a lot more comfortable showing my true geek self. Not that I was all that shy about it before I got married. But there was quite a bit of hiding my in the closet, so to speak. I think the "closet" comparison is somewhat apt, not to minimize the way the term is usually applied, which is far more serious. Now, I am more comfortable with who I am. Also , geek (or nerd, if you prefer) has become cool. I always loved these uniforms. Once the ad caught me in its trap, I sprung for the blue and red ones, too. Damn. "Now, would be a good time to beam me up, Scotty..." - 1303.25 9:25

Star Trek has been featured on the blog nine times now, counting today. The list via the Blogger links is worth re-presenting if you, dear reader, wish to perform some exploration. There's quite a variety of subjects here and have fun if you wish to visit or re-visit these. T-shirt #118 helped me write about the Trayvon Martin case and in T-shirt #131 I wrote about classic 1980s arcade games and the awesome Ready Player One.

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-shirt #11: Star Trek Science Officer

T-shirt #13: The Unlucky Red Shirt

T-shirt #39: The UFP symbol: United Federation of Planets

T-shirt #72: Science Blue STNG

T-shirt #81: Starship Enterprise Schematics

T-shirt #118: WWKD: What Would Kirk Do?

T-shirt #131: Starfleet Academy

The content on being geeky and in the geek closet would be enough content for one blog post. I am trying to limit my sometimes gargantuan content and keep things focused and limited.

However, last night I reviewed a production of "The War of the Worlds," the original radio drama from 1938, created by Orson Welles. The show was very good. Expect my review soon.

This show put me in mind of Jeff Wayne's impressive and ground-breaking, progressive rock adaptation of this HG Wells science fiction classic. I found the entire album on You Tube but can't seem to bring up the video here, so this is just the first cut. It's worth checking out. Narration was by Richard Burton.

No one would have believed that in the last years of the 19th century that human affairs where being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed we were being scrutinized as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few have even considered the possibility of life on other planets, and yet across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us.

War Of The Worlds (1978) - Jeff Wayne (Disc 1)

Who's ultra geeky now, huh?

- chris tower - 1310.26 - 16:21

POSTSCRIPT - I am a Brooks shoes guy. I always wear Brooks, and now with my foot problems, I need to stay in neutral cushion shoes; Brooks makes excellent neutral cushion shoes. But I decided to make a switch to Saucony as my outdoor shoes for this season. I tend to need to change shoes once a season (every three months). I decided to give Saucony a try as it had a Goretex shoe, which is water resistant, and I had a pair of Saucony many years ago which I dearly loved.

I was assured that Saucony had returned to excellence as I had not liked their shoes at all in recent years, and so I am giving them a try. So far so good.

Here's my anal shoe thing: I have to be in shoes all the time as I have orthotics. So, I have indoor shoes, regular outdoor shoes, and several old pairs for rainy days and work outside and such. Usually when I buy a new pair, I rotate: the current indoor shoes become the new outdoor shoes, and the new shoes become the new indoor shoes.

I bought the Brooks' Glycerins recently, so I decided to keep those as the indoor shoes and move the Saucony shoes to the outdoor shoe as soon as I give them an indoor test drive to make sure I am going to like them. Test drive is almost over, and I am nearly convinced that the Saucony shoes are keepers.

Just a little extra Brooks-related content. And my ultra-geek nature hits new heights (or lows, depending on your perspective).

T-shirt #218: New X-Men by Jim Lee

T-shirt #218: New X-Men by Jim Lee

This is an old T-shirt, and it smells a bit musty, indicating that I may not have worn it in sometime. It is a bit stretched out and the art is a little faded. It is possible that this shirt dates back to about 1991. I was so enamoured of the revamped Psylocke (turning her from buxom, Brit lass to a slimmed down, long-legged Asian psychic ninja) that I had my Dad redraw the art for my MFA reading, which in protest of WMU, I held at KVCC sometime around 1992 or 1993.

The shirt's art is from X-Men #6 published in 1991 featuring a defeated Wolverine in the hands of Sabertooth as Psylocke stands by, apparently having aided the villain. This is one of my favorite images from this era, and Jim Lee is a favorite artist, as I mentioned recently in writing about his current project: Superman Unchained.

Nevertheless, today's shirt exists primarily to allow me to write more about comic book (when do I need an excuse?) with your favorite feature of the week: THE WEEKLY COMICS LIST.

I also have a few remarks on recent audio book pleasures, subjects that fascinate me, blog categories, and the last Root Beer Stand stop of the year.

RECENT AUDIO BOOK PLEASURES: DUNE

I used to be a more spontaneous person. My wife is my spontaneous than I am. For me, generally, things must be planned ahead of time. I am juggling too many things to be spontaneous all the time. When it comes to what I am reading, there's a mixture of spontaneity and planning. For instance, Ender's Game has jumped up my stack for a quick re-read as the movie is due out next week. But my re-reading of Dune has been in the works for about five years. But more recently, I have mentioned it three times on this very blog: T-shirt #181, T-shirt #207, and T-shirt #209 because as you know I love to refer you readers back to previous blog entries. Also, I did just discover the means of searching the blog for keywords, which helped with making that list immensely.

I am loving the re-read of Dune in a full cast recording so much that I am going to re-read the next two volumes (Dune Messiah and Children of Dune) and the other Frank Herbert volumes that I never read (another three volumes). I strongly recommend the book and this full cast audio edition. My experience of the book is much richer this time through.

SUBJECTS THAT FASCINATE ME

I know I go on and on about the same subjects a great deal. This is one of the pitfalls of the blog. It is subject to my own whims and interests, to my daily life, and all the elements that populate it. I keenly remember one reader telling me that he liked the blog though it contained a bit too much about comic books for his taste. This comment gave me pause, and I have given it a lot of thought in the many months since. I have strived for variety. And yet, subjects like comic books, science fiction, Ultimate, and Baseball are going to recur over and over and over and far beyond the interests of some readers, both frequent and infrequent. With this in mind, I changed the header text at the top of every blog page to list the main subjects I define as part of my geekdom. I figured readers who land on my blog via a random search should have some idea of what they are getting into if they venture forward and deeper.


ANOTHER BRIEF NOTE ABOUT THE BLOG: BLOG CATEGORIES

I have been once again reflecting on my blog and its elements: this time, categories. From the top of the first page any given day, scroll down a bit, and you will find a list of categories. So, if you do truly love the Weekly Comics Lists, you can click and bring up all those entries on one page. I have recapped these entries before, and you can view some of these recaps (assuming I have archived them all correctly) via the Blog Recap category.

But a category problem has occurred to me. The categories are not wholly accurate. For instance, the Comic Books category (currently at 65 entries) does not represent sixty-five t-shirts with comic book art or logos.  Looking at those entries will bring up all entries with comic book art and all the entries in which I wrote about comic books, of which just glancing at the most recent there are six in the first 12 or so.

This problem is true for many of the big categories. Baseball shows a list of all the entries in which I wrote about Baseball, not just those entries with shirts devoted to Baseball.

Sub-categories are a bit more accurate. DC Comics will bring up a list of twenty-six shirts with DC Comics art. Likewise, Marvel Comics will bring up a list of sixteen shirts devoted to Marvel Comics. Given that I have "too much about comic books," these numbers strike me as surprisingly low.

Just a "for your information" report on how the blog works, thanks for reading.





THE LAST ROOT BEER STAND STOP OF THE YEAR

I love the Root Beer Stand. Mainly, the one on Westnedge as it is across the street from Fanfare. But any will do. I miss the old Dog 'n Suds drive ins that used to be here in Kalamazoo.

The Root Beer Stand closes for the season tomorrow. So despite the chill, I will have my last chili dogs and root beer of the season today for lunch. This is my picture from last week Friday, what I thought would be the last visit to the Root Beer Stand for the year.

Do not be surprised if I buy a Root Beer Stand T-shirt.

SIDENOTE on the ROOT BEER STAND: I believe that many years ago A&W owned the drive-in here on Westnedge. I was a big fan of these places from a very young age. I was six years old and in first grade when we moved to town, living in Schoolcraft for one year before we moved to Richland.

One day, out shopping with my mom, I wanted to go to the Root Beer Stand. In trying to find it, my mom got lost. Because Westnedge becomes one way in downtown Kalamazoo, she ended up on Park Street North and before she knew it she was heading up onto 131 Business Loop, knowing that this was not the way to the Root Beer Stand. She pulled over somewhere, found a pay phone and called my father. She needed directions back to Schoolcraft because by then it was much too late to go have a root beer.

How much easier is this situation these days with cell phones and GPS? Even without GPS, my mother would have been much less panicked to call my dad from the car than to find a pay phone in a part of Kalamazoo that frightened her.

WEEKLY COMICS LIST


I have been looking forward to Brubaker and Epting's Velvet for months. So have other readers. Check out this fan boy's reviews.

FANBOY FRIDAY - WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING MONTHLY COMICS.

This is a great write up (from two months ago) about many of the comics that I have been raving about, such as Lazarus, Fatale, and Saga. (Okay, I have not quite raved about Saga, but I am going to.)
I think the James Bond feel of Velvet (heh) is going to make for a good read.


And yet, I log it somewhat lower this week than others. Aquaman will always take the top spot when it comes out. I love this book. I have had an Aquaman post in the works for months, quite literally. I mentioned an Aquaman toy in a photo in a blog entry in July! I have intended, since probably the end of June, to write a ton of Aquaman content. But I have not. I have thought about Aquaman and tried to figure why I love the character and the comic book so much. I have collected a stack of all the recent Aquaman issues. I have mentioned my purchase of two volumes of Silver Age Aquaman stories. And yet, I have very little other than a couple of links, a few photos, and a video to share. But with the most recent issue (#24, which I read last night), this content dearth may change.

Ultimate Spider-Man takes the second spot, though this issue was a little bit of a let down, possibly because I am concerned that the upcoming Cataclysm story line will shut down the Ultimate universe entirely. Though I would not be surprised to see the current Spider-Man from Ultimate Comics cross over into the mainstream Marvel universe if this is indeed the planned end of Ultimate universe.

Justice League ranks highly again with a strong issue on the origin of Uberman. The next Battle of the Atom chapter takes the next slot because I finished all the others two nights ago, and I want to find out what happens. Velvet is a bit lower, but all of these comics will get read before next week's comics come out. I would be pouring through the back log more on Sunday during football if not for playing D&D (actually Pathfinder) with several nice young men. Ah well...

Not much else to share about the list, though check out the special purchase. Shades of things to come...

COMICS FOR 1310.23

Aquaman #24
Ultimate Spider-Man #28
Justice League #24
Wolverine and the X-Men #037 - Battle of the Atom Chapter 9
Daredevil  #032
FF #013
Iron Man #017
Nova #009
Young Avengers #011
Flash #24
Velvet #1 (Brubaker/Epting)
Clone #11
Great Pacific #11

Back Log

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril #4 of 6
Uncanny Avengers #013
Thunderbolts #017
Teen Titans #24
Superman #24
Secret Avengers #010
Satellite Sam #4
Indestructible Hulk #014
Catwoman #24
Sex Criminals #2

Special purchase: CLASSIC SUPERMAN T-SHIRT

- chris tower - 1310.24 - 13:30