Photo Bomb: My High School Home and Bedroom

I'm not sure why I took these pictures at the time, but it's a nice little time capsule.  This picture is a little blurry because it was taken without a flash.  Unfortunately, you can't really see the things that are there.  That's my beloved Tigers hat on the desk.  There's a fedora on the hat rack.  My Peanuts books are on the desk to the left with a Snoopy doll on top.  You can barely see on the middle shelf a boxed Power & Perils RPG game.  If you haven't heard of it, you haven't missed anything.  Next to it are some Starblaze books: Elfquest, Lightrunner, and Myth Adventures.  I no longer have those.  I don't see my Robotech art books there.  Maybe this was before I got them.  There's also some Marvel graphic novels.   

  

This one was taken with a flash.  There's my Ruby (the sci-fi radio drama) poster and my Excalibur promo poster.  Then there's a fashion poster.  For some reason, I took down the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue pictures that you can barely see above.  The top shelf has my paperbacks.  I was a big Larry Niven (sci-fi) fan and Lord of the Rings.  On the middle shelf are my AD&D books and a Paranoia RPG box set.  I don't have those anymore.   

I inherited a big penny collection.  These were kept in a hushpuppy piggy bank.  You can just barely see it on top of the shelf next to the Tumbleweeds painting (which came from a shopping trip to Juarez when I was a little kid).  At some point, carrying around a bunch change seemed silly, so I cashed it in.  I don't remember how much it was.  

  

Here's the lamppost down the street from where I lived.  Here's what it looks like in the snow.  That's a novelty caption I bought at a One-Hour developer.  

Here's a couple of views around the house at sunset.

Lastly, a tree died in our backyard.  Dad built a well around the stump.  It was heavy and cemented in place, but windstorms knocked it over a couple of times.

Comics Review: Conan, Forge, ERB, and Tigers! Oh My! Part 3

Part 2

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon #2

And Ron and I took a trip to Coas Used Bookstore nearby.  Actually, we went there first as I recall.  We also went by the Rad Retrocade afterward.  Ron wanted to check out the arcade games there.  Unfortunately, neither of us were hungry.  I’d like to try the food there sometime.  Not to mention they had the big UFC match on a TV over the bar, which I wouldn’t have minded staying for, not to mention the very attractive bartender.  There was also really good-looking waitress working the outside tables at the pub next to Zia Comics.  We were outside eating the ice cream that they sell at the comic book store.  I’m really writing all of this in no particular order.

I have the first volume of this series.  This second volume seemed familiar.  If I owned this before, I don’t know why I got rid of it and kept the first one, since they’re both about the same in quality.  And that quality is good. 

The story in these two volumes isn’t an adaption of the movie, but rather the backstory of how Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai met.  It’s just good Hong Kong cinema storytelling.  The artwork is really good, and sometimes great, but it is flopped from its original presentation.  Sometimes that brings up balancing flaws in the artwork.  It’s a recommend for the quality of the material. 

 

These are slightly bigger than a digest, but not very thick.  They were expensive when they came out in the early 2000’s.  They’d still be pricey now for what they are.  I remember the Hong Kong publisher, Tony Wong’s Jademan Comics, trying to publish color comics in the US in the early 90’s.  They were sort of piggybacking on Japanese manga coming over, but the two really aren’t the same thing.  These HK comics are mostly martial arts and Chinese mythology driven, but formatted more like American comics and read like superhero comics.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon definitely has a more universal appeal thanks to the great movie.     

     

Crossgen Forge #3

This is an earlier trade paperback in the series than the first one I reviewed.  Obviously, I should have bought this first, since I had a choice between the two.  I thought the other one looked better, but I did not make a good discernment there.  This one is better altogether.  The stories make a little better sense here being closer to their beginnings.  This is important, since most of these titles are kind of high concept.  The artwork is generally better here as well. 

Meridian 19 & 20

This fantasy title was the only one pretty well along in issues.  It starts with a disaster in #19 and then turns into a major battle in #20.  There’s also a crossover with another Crossgen character from another title in #20.  It’s a bit random, but it serves a point of sorts for the heroine.

 

My main complaint would be the overwhelming amount of internal monologue by the heroine.  This isn’t unfamiliar territory for a girl’s story, but the copious captions don’t sound like a girl . . . even though the issues were written by a woman.  Regardless, the Steve McNiven artwork is a winner.  I wouldn’t mind having more issues of this comic.

Negation #3

There’s just one issue, but a lot happens in this sci-fi superhero adventure.  The group escapes their destroyed planet and are picked up by new allies and discover that they’ve been brought here from different universes.  There’s good action and good artwork here.

 

The Path #1

At last, a starting issue.  This story sets the stage for a samurai drama.  The story by Ron Marz is like a Japanese costume drama.  The artwork by Bart Sears is very good and like a Japanese comic.  “Like.”  It’s a Western simulation of a Japanese comic and story.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing for an American audience, but given that the setting isn’t supposed to be earth, it might have been better if it had diverged more from the source setting.  That would have allowed this story avoid a comparison as a Western knock off.

 

Crux #6, #7, #8

This Eternals-esqe has a really weak, strange premise.  It’s all built on a mystery.  Stories like this are predicated on dragging out the mystery.  By the time it is inevitably solved, you’ll have to bring up new mysteries or hope you have developed worthwhile characters and followup stories.  There’s plenty of action and the issues are more comprehensible than the other volume I’d read.  The artwork and writing are good.  So the best I can say is that I guess you can make sh*t shine.

Sojourn #4, #5, #6

Greg Land’s artwork is beautiful.  I don’t care if he’s using photo references; he’s using them well.  The Ron Marz fantasy story is fine, but badly decompressed.  I’m pretty sure these three issues, with a bunch of backstory, could have been done in one issue.  On the other hand, I’d hate to cramp Land’s style by giving him a more compressed canvas.  I have a Sojourn trade paperback.  It all works pretty well in that format.

 

Saurians Unnatural Selection #1

This story was a thrown-in.  It’s the first of a two-part mini-series.  This is a spinoff of Sigil, a Crossgen comic I’ve never seen.  I generally hate stories like this where it flips the protagonists.  The Saurians are the bad guys in Sigil, lizardmen fighting the humans.  The best I’ll say is that is well done for what it is. 

 

I wish I’d bought this one first so that I might have enjoyed the next volume more or, at least, been less disappointed.  If I’d gotten this new, it was $10.  That was a good deal, even if you didn’t like or understand all the titles.  It was certainly worthwhile at a discount.

Comics Review: Conan, Forge, ERB, and Tigers! Oh My! Part 2

Part1  

Conan the Barbarian: The Life and Death of Conan Book 2

I read this thin trade paperback in one sitting when I got home from work early one night.  That’s not a crack on its size, because it did take a while to read.  This is not an exercise in decompressed storytelling; it’s a traditional comic book.  I kept reading on, because it was interesting.  It has six issues inside (somehow) and was $18.  I wanted to get a trade and this seemed like the most interesting option at the store.  Conan is fairly reliably entertaining. 

 

I did not notice that this was Book #2 when I bought it, but I don’t think I really missed much on the overall story.  It’s fairly episodic with a thread connecting the stories and then paying off at the end.  Even though this is a Marvel production, the owners of the character keep them on a tight leash.  Conan Properties is not going to let some male feminist write the barbarian fighting imaginary social justice battles while contemplating gender-reassignment surgery. 

Sigh.  It’s the current state of the comic book industry that almost forces me to make tired comments like that.  I’m just bored with it and having to read into the subtext of everything.  For instance in the first story, something of a flashback like the next two stories, Conan buys five prostitutes, who also happen to be highly skilled warriors.  He didn’t know that when he bought them; he just needed some attractive women to help get him into a party as a pimp.  They just happened to be awesome fighters.  Were this a TV sitcom, I’d say this story was more of a backdoor pilot for a spinoff than a social statement.

Next, Conan is in Cimmeria to visit relatives after his many travels.  His wizard foe, Thoth-Amon, uses his sorcery to somewhat ruin the reunion.  Conan seemed a little more sentimental than usual here.  This was more of a horror story than a fantasy, but just a teaser for succeeding issues. 

Next was a more psychedelic story.  I didn’t quite get what was going on other than Conan was trying to lead a group of people out of a giant worm.  Then there was the origin of Conan’s child foes, who are his tormentors for this series.  It’s straight horror.  It’s gross and uncomfortable to read.  After this chapter, I decided that I wouldn’t pass this along to dad for him to read.

This brings us to the present.  Conan is killed at the end of that chapter.  The end.  Except, it isn’t.  In the afterlife, Conan faces down Crom, who resurrects him only to promise him a worse fate later.  For the finale, Conan faces down an evil god and the children turned into demons.  He gets some timely help from his son, the crown prince, and his special forces, the Black Dragons.  However, he basically finishes everything off himself.

Conan does technically die in this, so the title isn’t false advertising.  I’ve read elsewhere that Conan’s actual final fate is that Red Sonja collects him for an adventure to the far away land to the west.  His ultimate death is still not revealed. 

 

Even only seeing half of the total story, it’s still pretty good.  I kept reading along longer than I meant to just to see how it would finish.  The artwork was a bit frustrating.  It was really good in places, and then mimicked other artists, and then looked cartoony.  (There were three artists over these six issues.)  None of the styles really looked right for the character, but they did tell the story, so they worked in that respect.  Overall, I recommend, but you might be better off looking for some classic Conan material.                     

Part 3

Comics Review: Conan, Forge, ERB, and Tigers! Oh My! Part 1

I actually hate using any variation on that phrase, “Lions and tigers, etc,” but it just sort of slipped out.  I was back at Zia Comics and Coas Books for more comics recently.  I may need to stop hanging out with Ron.  We keep going places that cost me money.

 

Batman #33 DC Universe Rebirth

I’d bought a couple of comic books for my co-workers the last time I went to the comic book store.  After I’d handed them out, I realized I hadn’t bought anything for my boss, Eric.  Of course, he didn’t say anything, but he had a little edge towards me afterward.  I rectified this oversight with another trip.   

 

Eric has a couple of Batman items in his office, so that seemed like an easy enough find at a comic book store.  Zia Comics had a bunch of overpriced Batman/Fortnite crossover issues on the new issues rack.  I admit part of me was intrigued.  The other part of me was snickering at the pop cultural lateness or obvious desperate marketing ploy (for both franchises).  I checked the back issues bins for something more reasonable and I picked the one with the coolest cover. 

 

When I handed it off, Eric seemed quite touched and mounted it on his wall.  I also gave an Archie comic to his boss, whom I had a meeting with later in the week to head off another oversight.  I had lent her an Archie digest last month when she mentioned she’d been an Archie fan as a girl.  (She requested it.  “But won’t your husband make fun of you when he sees you reading it in bed?”)  She seemed pleased too.  Okay, I think I’m good with everyone now.

As to the comic, I really liked the artwork by Joelle Jones.  This might be the best version of Catwoman since Jim Balent.  There’s remarkable sensitivity in the lines.  As for the story though, what a waste of effort.  This whole “story” could have been compressed into four pages and not lost anything worthwhile.  This includes the worthless subplot of several Robins sitting around with Alfred (and Ace the Bathound). 

The worst of it was this.  Batman and Catwoman confront some badass guard.  Batman defers to Catwoman to take him out.  And in the next scene, the badass is simpering as the two of them walk past him.  That is the worst kind of storytelling: Don’t show and don’t tell, just look cool . . . and leave to the reader’s imagination how she took the huge dude out, since it makes no logical sense.  Hopefully, Eric liked the cover. 

   

Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe: The Land That Time Forgot #3

I picked this up as a throw-in.  I thought it looked interesting.  As per the cover, one of the female characters does go around with half of a top for the whole issue.  Her braid will make heroic efforts to cover her nipple.

 

I remember seeing the movie from the 70's with this same title that involved savages and dinosaurs.  I did not know it was created by ERB.  The comic book story was a sequel.  This story was basically a chase and a rescue.  The art was okay, but unappealing.  This was a mistake purchase. 

 

They weren’t kidding about an ERB Universe.  The ending leads into two other short stories.  One goes to Pellucidar (the inner world) and the other to Venus.  I did read a story about Tarzan (ERB’s most famous creation) taking a trip to the inner hollow world.  Even he was daunted by the trials there. 

I’m sorry I didn’t see this comic there.  It looks like it would have been more interesting.

 

Then there’s this crossover for which there was a short preview.  It strangely works, but I’m not sure why Don Diego needs to protect his Zorro secret identity outside of Mexico.  In any case, American Mythology Productions does produce several titles in this line.  I don’t know who buys them, but they are canonical. 

Part 2

Photo Bomb: Cats and Dogs

Regrettably, none of these were my pets.  

Here's Aunt Judy's cat, Choo Choo.  He's passed away, but he was well loved.

This is my co-worker, Mike's, cat, the famous Mr. Kitty (also went by the name, Lissa).  This cat was a bit of a running gag between us.  Mike insisted that his mom had actually left the house to the cat and he was only allowed to live there as Mr. Kitty's servant.  The cat was also a mastermind dabbling in many foreign intrigues that we could only see the results of later on the news.  Mr. Kitty has passed away.  As per his wishes, he was mummified and entombed in a pyramid in the backyard.    

Here's Mr. Kitty barely tolerating Mr. Dog, who has also passed.   The cat was very friendly.  I always held it against Mike that he didn't let me see the cat more often.

  

Here's Aunt Judy's dog, Quincy, along with my niece.  Unfortunately, he's no longer around either.

This is Aunt Judy's new dog, Tucker, as a puppy.  At last, we have a pet who's still with us.  My dad met him when he visited the relatives.  He was very impressed with him.  He said Tucker was like a little person.  He sat at the dinner table to eat.  

Here's a cat I knew personally.  I think she was a stray that hung around and mooched off people around the neighborhood.  She was very friendly.  My parents allowed me to let her inside at times, but she was not the family pet.  Unfortunately, she lost a kitten in birth once.  When mom consented to let me have her as a pet, we couldn't get her into the car to take her to the vet, so that was that.  The last time I saw her, we were moving.  I let her inside.  She saw the furniture was gone and ran out.  I either don't remember her name or we never named her.

  

This is a cat I knew in El Paso.  This was not my cat or a stray, but hung out in our backyard at times.  She was friendly, so I saw happy to see her there.

Little House on the Prairie

Mom gave me a full set of Little House on the Prairie books in a nice slipcase one Christmas when I was a kid.  I never actually read them until last year.  I also read her James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small books that she kept recommending.  I really enjoyed all of these books, but extreme guilt was probably the only way I was ever going to get around to reading them.  While I can say these books would appeal to anyone of any age, me as a little kid was not going to read the girly-looking Little House books.  (Actually, I might not let a little kid read the last book, The First Four Years.  It's way too grim.)  The books are exciting in places, but not action books.    

I found these clippings in the slipcase about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  They are from a Springfield, Missouri newspaper.  You can visit her final home near Springfield as it is a museum.  Pa's fiddle is on display there.