A Christmas Gift (from 3 years ago!)

 Today was pretty low key. I slept in, then drove Lu to work before going to Mass, then ran some small errands in the evening with Junie (pharmacy, Walmart, storage, etc). 

But right before Mass I swung by Collector's Edge Comics and FINALLY used this certificate Junie got me for Christmas way back in 2021! To my shame, I lost track of it for a long time but was overjoyed to rediscover it. 

Despite the expiration date being two and a half years in the past, the owner honored the gift certificate. I raided the discount bin and picked up ten copies of the great 80's run of Blue Devil. 

Thanks Junie!

Shazam: Fury of the Gods

 

This movie doesn’t work, and there’s a bunch of reasons for that.  A complete lack of any real character development along the way, the idea that a thousands-year old goddess is cool being coupled with a high school boy (eww) , a formulaic superhero plot, and so on. but let’s focus on two things:

 

One, and I’ll try not to spoil things here, but if Hollywood learned anything from the Star Wars sequels, I had hoped it was that death means your dead; if you can die and just come back it robs a character's actions of any weight and significance.

 

AND

 

It was fun watching Zachary Levi play a 14-year-old Billy Batson in the first film, and I bought into his childhood wonder. But this isn’t a comic book. Time passes in the real-world, and because of that Levi is now playing a near 18-year-old on the brink of adulthood, not to mention an adult who has spent four years as a superhero. Putting the same immaturity and naivety in Billy’s words and actions paints Billy as an idiot this time around.

 

I loved the first Shazam, and I’m sad that this flub will probably end the series. But if this was the direction it was going, that’s probably a good thing.     

Help me Identify this Spider-Man Issue

As a kid,  I loved a stand alone issue of one of the Spidey titles so much it inspired me to write a letter to the editor. Please help me ID the issue!

It would have been in the mid '80's (say 85 to 87?) and featured a melancholy Spidey thinking of Gwen on what I believe was the anniversary of her death.  Meanwhile a 3rd tier villain with a whip robs a bank, and when Spiderman intervenes he's so distracted by his grief that he finds himself trapped beneath some rubble and being choked to death by the bad guy.

Thankfully the memory of Gwen inspires him and Spidey rises to win the fight,  mercilessly pointing out to the villain how unimpressive he is compared to his traditional foes. 

Does it ring any bells?

Thanks Junie!

Junie and her friend helped me organize the haul from Saturday's comic book convention

The Comic Book Convention at State Fair Park

1st: great seeing Alex Q and Patrick M

2nd: it was legitimately hard labor to search through each of these boxes. Well, by 1st world standards, but hard labor all the same.

The good news? I found scads of what I needed, and most issues were only 50 cents!

The bad news: there were a LOT of issues.

 Zoinks!

Firestorm #17 and the Day my Grandpa Died

On the day my grandpa died in 1983, a family member - their identity long lost to memory - bought a handful of comic books and brought them to our house in a thoughtful effort to distract me from my grief. Yesterday, thumbing through the dollar bin at the comic store with Junie,  this cover triggered a long lost memory. As I flipped through the book, the memory was confirmed; this issue of Firestorm was one of the books from that awful day. I'm happy to own a copy again - and under much better circumstances.

update: (from my sister Katie)  

Auntie Dolores had her daughters bring comic books and food from the open pantry they owned for us. Auntie Dolores watched us while mom and grandma went to take care of grandpa’s needs.

Web of Spiderman #1

I owned this - still do I think, but sans cover now and beat to hell - and I remember it was a pretty good story, with the church bells and all.

A Full Day

I drove yesterday, for the first time since the surgery, taking Smiley to my childhood stomping grounds at Collector's Edge Comics, where he picked up a few Teen Titans and Robin titles. In the dollar bin I scored issue #1 of "All-Star Squadron", a lifelong favorite, & the first issue of "Night Force", a very well written title by the legendary Marv Wolfman. I promise Lisa, I won't buy anything if Parker wants to go again, but I won't turn down a boy that wants to read comic books. BTW, he wanted to spend his own  money to buy a MLP graphic novel for LK, but I vetoed it as too generous.

As for the hip, it was a rough day, but I don't think driving had anything to do with it. It's very warm to the touch, but a quick internet check revealed that to be normal. The pain was markedly worse than it has been, but I consider myself comfortably on track - it's just a longer road than I originally estimated

Late in the evening, after Lisa took GC to a competitive swim program, the two of us went to the grocery store. Once again, I was reduced to riding around in one of those blasted scooters, this time with my crutches balanced awkwardly on my lap. (other stores have scooters with crutch holders in the back). "Here, let me carry the crutches," Lisa said. 

"Hell no," I said. "These are all that keep people from thinking I'm just a fat, lazy bum."

I loathe those scooters, but I'll admit, they are a blessing..

Comic Books

Smiley just asked to have some of the (too many) comic books from my youth, and I said have at it. He's reading Green Arrow in the living room right now, and asking which Robin was my favorite. Jason Todd is his pick; I prefer Dick Grayson.

I Raised Them Wrong

I am ashamed that my oldest two children prefer Marvel to D.C. #JustWhenYouThoughtYouRaisedThemRight #Pfui

A Happy Reader

Here's Lu. I  bought her a Betty & Veronica Double Digest and she adored it.

Spidey Facts

You know what? I liked the damn Clone saga. Bring back Ben Reilly!

All-Star Squadron Annual, 1984

The comic book above - the 1984 'annual' for the All-Star squadron  -was one of my favorite's as a kid. I loved the series, with it's mix of 1940's nostalgia and Golden Age superheroes, and I especially loved this issue as it tapped into my love of history.

The members of the All-Star Squadron fan out across time to prevent the murder of seemingly insignificant people. In reality the intended victims are future Presidents of the US, all the way through Reagan, tho' the Squadron never learns of the fact (it is revealed to us by way of a series of news clippings on the then-current whereabouts of Nixon, Carter, etc)

Green Lantern fails in his quest and a boy - and now unknown would-be President - is killed.

I read and re-read this issue until long after the cover fell off, and I was a kid that treated his comics with care.

Should I ever find the $, it'd be nice to gather a complete collection of this series. I'd certainly enjoy reading them again.