DMZ featured in NYT

One of my favorite comics was featured in the New York Times. Go check it out.

A Convo With Colbert

A New Perspective on Vote Choice

Given all of the recent buzz about Harry Potter, I couldn't resist posting another great clip from Liberty Meadows:

Local #9 was going to be set in Ann Arbor

According to Brian Wood's Livejournal, Local #9 was actually going to be set in Ann Arbor. Kind of a bummer that it isn't, but its cool to be considered!

My 12.27.2006 Reads

Based on the comics coming out today, here's what I'm pulling:

OCT060178 52 WEEK #34 $2.50
OCT060161 BATMAN AND THE MAD MONK #5 (OF 6) $3.50
OCT060184 CREEPER #5 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV060175 DETECTIVE COMICS #827 $2.99
OCT060186 FLASH THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #7 $2.99
OCT060290 JACK OF FABLES #6 (MR) $2.99
SEP062141 ASTONISHING X-MEN #19 $2.99
OCT062151 DAREDEVIL #92 $2.99
OCT062159 MARVEL 1602 FANTASTICK FOUR #4 (OF 5) $3.50

Liberty Meadows rocks

If you couldn't tell from the last entry, I've been reading a lot of Liberty Meadows by Frank Cho, which is about the staff and residents of the "Liberty Meadows" animal sanctuary. The strip is collected in comic book form, so I've been able to go back and read the whole thing again.

Liberty Meadows was one of my favorite comic strips as a kid (along with the Boondocks and Foxtrot), and it still holds up years later. Its got kind of a snarky humor, especially when its poking fun at the other comic strips. The character design is fantastic, especially the main animals of the series -- the art matches their personalities perfectly.

Frank, the nerdy vet of the sanctuary, is in love with Brandy, the animal psychiatrist. Frank has absolutely no chance with Brandy, and is too awkward to make his feelings known properly. Its cute. The series also features Dean (a pig who is an ex frat boy / male chauvinistic pig), Ralph (a midget circus bear), Leslie (a hypochondriac bullfrog), Truman (a naive duck), and Oscar (a wiener dog who actually acts like an animal). Good stuff.

haha

Happy Holidays!

Awwww. This is cute.

In other news, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Series of the Moment: Local

I'm really enjoying Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly right now. Its a 12-issue miniseries, with each issue set in a different city and representing a year in the main character's life. Each issue is a self-contained story and is about a "normal" person, which sets it apart from a lot of other comics.

The basic premise is that Megan moves from city to city trying to find her place in the world, and keeps screwing up every time she gets a fresh start. There are issues where she is only peripherally involved in the story, but she is the element that ties the series together (even when she's in the background). I'm having a hard time telling if Megan is self-destructive or just quirky.

Another neat bit is the "My Local" feature at the end of many of the issues. People send in pictures, post cards, and notes about where they're from. Its a great touch and the series feels even more authentic.

If you want more information, both The Onion AV Club and Newsarama have interviews with Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. You can also check out some art previews, courtesy of Brian Wood.

Ultimate Spider-Man #103

I'm going to reserve judgment until this story is complete, but I liked this issue:

Originally, I felt that this arc was confused and a little too ambitious -- The clones, Gwen, Peter's "dad," MJ, the FF, Aunt May finding out, and S.H.I.E.L.D. are a lot to handle in a single story arc. Still, Bendis is doing a good job with resolving loose plot threads and moving the story along. The arc has been kind of dark though, especially for Peter. Hopefully they go for a story with a lighter tone after this one.

I actually thought that Peter's "dad" being a clone was appropriate. The setup was all there -- despite being a doctor, his "dad" didn't know anything about practicing medicine. Also, he "appeared" in the flashback in the same place as the other released clones, so it fits.

Tarantula died. He was probably the coolest clone and had the most potential for a future (aside from Spider-Woman), so that sucks. Not sure if Kaine is dead or not, but he doesn't really seem to be a keeper anyway.

Spider-Woman seems cool. Let's hope that she doesn't die.

If you're interested, Comic Book Resources has an interview with Mark Bagley along with preview art for Ultimate Spider-Man #104.

Hello World

Welcome to my personal blog.

If you're looking for my thoughts on Michigan and National politics, you'll find it over at Capital Viewpoint. This is my place for "everything else," including commentary on comics, cartoons, movies, music, TV, pop culture, video games, tech stuff, and other odds and ends.

Peace.