Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

Monkey Covers return just in time for the end of the year--and college football bowl season--with the cover of Magilla Gorilla #2 from 1970.

(Standard disclaimer about football-playing cartoon gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

YAMR: Best of 2006

Christmas is over, so it's time to retire the Christmas 2006 Mix on Yet Another Music Radio; it was very popular during the holidays, but we're moving on.

Our new playlist at YAMR for the next little while is Best of 2006, over 100 tracks of my favorite music from the past year.

You'll hear songs by:

Allison Moorer, Andrew T. Hunt, Annie Stella, Anoushka Shankar, The Arcade Fire, Ashley Monroe, Baby Gramps, Barenaked Ladies, The Be Good Tanyas, Beirut, Beth Orton, Boy Kill Boy, Cat Power, Cobra Starship, Corinne Bailey Rae, Corrina Repp, Damone, Delerium, Dixie Chicks, The Duhks, Elizabeth Mitchell, Enter the Haggis, Evanescence, Ferraby Lionheart, Goldfrapp, The Grates, Hello Stranger, Jack Johnson, Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, Jewel, John Whipple, Johnny Cash, Jonathan Coulton, k.d. lang, Kasey Chambers, Kaskade, Kelly Sweet, Kevin Devine, Kim Richey, Klee, KT Tunstall, Laura Michelle Kelly, Lisa Loeb, Mark Insley, Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, Mindy Smith, Natalie Walker, Neko Case, Nerina Pallot, Nina Gordon, Office, Pink, Pinmonkey, Plumb, The Ranconteurs, Rocky Votolato, Saint Etienne, Sandi Thom, SHeDAISY, Sing-Sing, Smoosh, Sol Seppy, The Sounds, Starlight Mints, Sting, Sugarplumb Fairies, Todd Snider, Venus Hum, Vienna Teng, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It's nearly seven hours of great music, so tune on in!
 

Review: Opening Lines, Pinky Probes, and L-Bombs

Opening Lines, Pinky Probes, and L-Bombs: The Girls & Sports Dating and Relationship Playbook
by Justin Borus & Andrew Feinstein
Santa Monica Press, $14.95

Opening Lines... attempts to serve two purposes: as a collection of strips from the syndicated Girls & Sports comic strip, and as a dating guide for (heterosexual) men.

On the plus side, it's an attractively designed book; it integrates the full-color strips with tips and advice from the comic characters, with the strips and tips organized by theme (rather than chronologically as one finds in most strip collections). There's plenty of variety, with text blocks, charts, word balloons, etc. I suppose if one is a fan of the strip, this will be a winning collection.

However, I can't say that I personally am a fan of the strip. Yes I like sports, and yes I'm a single male; but G&S seems to have at its core a view of the relationship between the sexes that I don't cater to, namely one that is combative and where a person has to essentially trick a potential mate.

But then again I'm currently single, so what the heck do I know?

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

(A review copy of this book was provided by one of the authors.)

CBLDF Fund Drive Update

I'm still looking for three more people to contribute $25 to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as part of our Third Annual CBLDF Fund Drive, so I'm extending the deadline to this Friday (the 29th) at Noon EST. Remember, I'm matching your donation of $25 to the CBLDF. I know you want to spend all of that holiday money you received from Great Aunt Susie on your favorite comics, but the best way to make sure that you can continue to buy the comics you want to but is to give a little to the CBLDF. Details here.

Christmas Covers - December 25

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

We finish this season's celebration of Christmas covers with a stained-glass scene of the nativity from the cover of 1947's Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact #35.

We'll be back in December 2007 with twenty-five more holiday-themed covers (and for those of you who have been patiently waiting, we'll be back to Monkey Covers next Sunday!)

(2005: Dell Four Color #1274)
(2004: Captain Marvel Adventures #19)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 24

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Today's Christmas Eve cover is a visit from Santa on the cover of 1955's Dell Four Color #666.

Come back tomorrow for our final Christmas cover of the year.


Just 1 more 'get-up' until Santa!

(2005: Dell Four Color #1274)
(2004: Captain Marvel Adventures #19)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 23

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Even the manga gets into the Christmas spirit on Mario Kaneda's cover for Girls Bravo vol. 6.

Come back tomorrow for our penultimate Christmas cover of the year.


Just 2 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: All-New Collectors' Edition #C-53)
(2004: Impulse #34)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Best DC Cover Ever

In this week's DC Nation, art director Mark Chiarello is asking readers to vote for their favorite DC cover ever.

Now I know that there are a lot to choose from, what with all the wonderful monkey covers and all. But once you stop and think, I'm sure you'll agree that there is only one possible choice: the cover to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #141 by Jack Kirby:




David Campbell agrees with me, and you know he's never wrong about these sorts of things. Brendan McKillip does too.

So I call on all of my fellow comic bloggers and readers to do the only sensible thing and cast your vote at DCNATIONCOVERS@dccomics.com for Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #141. (Votes must be sent in by 12:00am on January 5, 2007).

Christmas Covers - December 22

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Dumbo goes caroling with Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the rest of the Disney crew on Tony Strobl & Norm McGary's cover to 1959's Dell Giant #26.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 3 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: Man-Thing #3)
(2004: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #9)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Review: A.L.I.E.E.E.N.

A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
by Lewis Trondheim
First Second, $12.95

The conceit of Trondheim's A.L.I.E.E.E.N. is that the book isn't of his own devising, but rather an artifact from an alien culture that he found left behind from presumably a UFO landing. This conceit is carried forward in the high class packaging that we've come to expect from First Second, with the cover and interior pages having faux wear and singeing. The dialog is written in an alien language, making this effectively a silent comic, the type that Trondheim excels at.

There are several short stories, each of which features cute little alien creatures doing rather disturbing things to themselves and each other. Eyes get poked out, body parts get swallowed, and in one case momentous defecation commences. The separate stories turn out to be interlocked, so seemingly random events in one story turn out to have relevance in another. Trondheim is definitely channeling Jim Woodring here, and with good results; fans of Frank will find a good deal to enjoy here.

The conceit of this being an alien comic adds another level to the proceedings. We don't know what the intended audience for this book is in its native culture. Is this typical children's humor for little aliens? Or is this a subversive comic akin to the underground comix of our own culture? Is this what the aliens look like, or is this their version of funny animals? Would this book be banned or embraced? Is this high art or low? Reading through this comic with different sets of assumptions can radically change how we react to the material, and brings in question how we react to all those other comics where we know--or think we know--the context in which it should be read.

Rating: 4 (of 5).

Christmas Covers - December 21

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Wacky Squirrel has a very different idea on the usage of mistletoe on Jim Bradrick's cover to 1987's Wacky Squirrel #2.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 4 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Archie Giant Series Magazine #15)
(2004: DC Comics Presents #67)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

10 Fave Christmas Albums

I was considering calling this post "The 10 Best Christmas Albums Evah!" But since this list reflects my personal tastes--which quite frankly can change from day to day--I decided instead to call it a favorites list instead.

The Christmas Mood: Original Recordings of the Alfred Burt Carols - The Columbia Choir and Ralph Carmichael Brass Ensemble (1954)
Growing up in our house there were all the regular Christmas carols. But every so often Mom or Dad would pop in a tape of this recording of the 'other' carols, choral arrangements of Al Burt's songs. "Caroling, Caroling," "The Star Carol," "This is Christmas" and others that so perfectly capture the holiday season. Out of print and rare for many years, it was finally remastered in 1995 and released on CD. (You can order it from the Alfred Burt Carols Website).


Merry Christmas - Johnny Mathis (1958)
This was the album that my parents put on every December when we put out the Christmas decorations and trimmed the tree, and as such it's the music that means Christmas to me. The combination of Percy Faith's arrangements and Mathis's smooth tenor can't go wrong. (iTunes link)


A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965)
Without Vince Guaraldi's wonderful jazz score, A Charlie Brown Christmas probably would not be the enduring holiday classic that it is today. This album succeeds not only as a soundtrack album, but as a Christmas album as well. The original song "Christmastime Is Here" has over the past few years become a holiday standard, but there's plenty of great jazz improvisations on classic carols as well. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Mannheim Steamroller (1984)
Sure, over the past decade or so Chip Davis has turned his Christmas-themed albums into a veritable industry, along with a rapid decline in quality into treacliness that has marred all his recent works. But this first Christmas album shares the same winning combination of classical & new age electronica that was evident in the first three Fresh Aire albums. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Festival - Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops (1987)
A collection of orchestral carols from the group's classic Arthur Fiedler days, it's a one-stop shop for all your classical pop Christmas needs. Their version of "Sleigh Ride" is still the gold standard. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Bruce Cockburn (1993)
Perhaps an unlikely candidate for a Christmas album, progressive Canadian folk singer-songwriter nonetheless sucessfully brings his style to this set of religious carols, pulling from the familiar and also from more rare songs like "Riu Riu Riu" and "Jesus Ahatonnia". His uptempo take on "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" is fantastic, as is the call-and-response version of "Mary Had a Baby". (iTunes link)


Hallelujah, He Is Born - Sawyer Brown (1997)
Normally a mediocre-at-best mid-level pop county act, Star Search winners Sawyer Brown somehow managed to find exactly the right combination on their album of religious-themed carols and songs. The original title track, with full backing of a gospel choir, is a winner, as are their original "Glory to the King" that opens the album and their take on "Little Town of Bethlehem" that closes the disc. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Story - Point of Grace (1999)
This first seasonal album by the CCM quartet opens with a bang, a 10+ minutes medley of "Joy to the World", "When Love Came Down" and "Angels We Have Heard on High", complete with backing choir and orchestra. The rest of the album fares well too, with both secular and religious carols in the mix as well as a few new compositions. (iTunes link)


Brand New Year - SHeDAISY (2000)
With just one previous album under their belt, the sisterly trio SHeDAISY bucked tradition by making their second album a holiday album, and knocked it right out of the park. Innovative melodies and harmonies enliven traditional classics. (iTunes link)


Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (2006)
This collection of five Christmas EPs from Stevens is not only full of great takes on classics and wonderful new compositions, the packaging is also a work of art: a box set including extensive liner notes, stickers, and a comic mini-poster! (iTunes link)



Those are my choices for holiday listening--what are yours?

Christmas Covers - December 20

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Batwoman has a gift for Nightwing on J. G. Jones's cover to 52 week 33, due out today at your local comic shop!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 5 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Strangers in Paradise #70)
(2004: The Amazing Spider-Man #314)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Comics 2006

Looking for a little Christmas Cheer at the comic store? As you might guess by my annual Christmas Covers feature I tend to buy Christmas-themed comics, even if it's a title I don't normally get. Here's a rundown of some of this year's holiday-themed comics to consider:

Marvel & DC both have their annual holiday specials. The Marvel Holiday Special 2006 is the more successful of the two, with the wonderful"How Fin Fang Foom Saved Christmas" by Scott Gray & Roger Langridge; and a framing sequence by Andrew Farago, Shaenon K. Garrity & Ron Lim set at an A.I.M. office holiday party. Mike Carey's attempt at a holiday-themed alphabet book starring The Thing has some clever rhymes but isn't much of a story, though Mike Perkins turns in some good art.


The DCU Infinite Holiday Special was solicited as the DCU Infinite Christmas Special, but apparently some bah-humbug pc editorial shenanigans got in the way of a wonderful pun. It's mostly by-the-numbers stories, though Joe Kelly & Ale Garza's Supergirl story works pretty good, and the concluding Elseworlds Superman & Batman story by Kelley Puckett & Pete Woods is a lot of fun.


Also from DC is Justice League Unlimited #28, with The Phantom Stranger playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past for The Flash, though he shows Wally not his own past, but Batman's!


Marvel counters with Wolverine #49, a fill-in that's been pretty accurately described as Die Hard with Wolverine. Unfortunately Logan does not wear the Santa outfit you see on him on the cover, but instead his rather silly yellow-and-black threads.


Blade #4 by Marc Guggenheim & Howard Chaykin finds Blade facing off against a demon that possesses a department store Santa and others. Chaykin really hits his stride in this issue that plays to his strengths. And the Punisher: X-Mas Special 2006 by Stuart Moore & CP Smith is an appropriately moody story that features Frank Castle spending the holidays crossing off minor mobsters from his Naughty List.


Steve Edmond's Emo Boy #10 has the title character moping about how he can't understand why people are celebrating Christmas while there's so much suffering in the world. Fortunately Santa shows up to set him straight; I won't spoil it by telling you how, though you might get a clue from the cover...


Dork Tower #35 interrupts the comic's ongoing storyline for a second issue in a row to give us John Kovalic's take on "The Gift of the Magi," with a twist on the twist ending.



Flare Adventures #18 features a Chrissie Claus story that finds Santa's granddaughter and her friends in skimpy clothing fighting a bunch of evil elves or somesuch. Even inks by Dick Giordano don't help it out much.


Having never read an issue of Jim Balent's Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose before I was expecting the holiday-themed issue #41 to live up to the comic's reputation as featuring outrageously proportioned women and plenty of misogyny. Quite a surprise then to see that it instead was a rather fun-loving story about the titular witch and her friends celebrating the Yule festival with a snowball fight and tobogganing. Of course a couples of pixie show up and use magic to strip everyone of their clothes, providing plenty of gratuitous nudity (although it doesn't seem fair that all the women show the full monty while the one male's manhood always seems to be discreetly covered).


Every year some of the Archie Comics offer up Christmas themed stories--this year it's Archie #571, Betty & Veronica #222, and Betty & Veronica Spectacular #76--and every year I'm reminded why (with the notable exception of Sabrina) I don't bother with Archie the other 11 months of the year. It's pretty much the same stories told over and over: middle-class Betty is jealous of her friend, the spoiled rich Veronica, and both have an inexplicable thing for bland Archie Andrews. If you want a lot of the same old same old, there's also Archie's Holiday Fun Digest #11. At least the Betty & Veronica Spectacular has art that feels a bit more lively than standard-issue Archie. (Johanna also reviews this year's Archie Christmas comics on her blog.)


For Duck and Mouse fans there's plenty of holiday cheer from Gemstone's Walt Disney line: Walt's Disney's Christmas Parade #4 features the classic "Christmas in Duckburg" by Bob Gregory & Carl Barks, with plenty more Christmas- and winter-themed stories to round out its pages. Walt Disney's Comics #675 and Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #360 are both about 50% winter-themed in content. For those who want a smaller dose there's the Christmas-filled Mickey Mouse and Friends #295 & Donald Duck and Friends #346; the latter has a minor Carl Barks story, while the former includes the rather fun "The Quest for Quasar" by Stefan Petrucha & Noel Van Horn.


Due out this week, though obviously not read yet, are Fables #56, which promises to give the lowdown on Santa Claus; 52 week 33, the Christmas week issue with Batwoman on the cover; and The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle one-shot from Paul Dini & Kyle Baker.

Christmas Covers - December 19

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Omaha & Chuck take a break from trimming the tree on Reed Waller's cover to Omaha the Cat Dancer vol. 2 #1 from 1994.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 6 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Marvel Comics Super Special #39)
(2004: The Spirit #12)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

CBLDF Fund Drive Reminder

There's less than a week to go in my Third Annual CBLDF Fund Drive, and so far only two people have donated. That means that eight more people need to donate to meet our goal. Remember, I'm matching your gift of $25, so stretch your dollars for freedom!

New Library Comics: Week of December 11, 2006

Here are the comics we added to our library collection last week:


Baker, Kyle, 1966- Nat Turner /New York : Kyle Baker Pub., 2006. vol. 1

Davis, Andrew. Drain /Greenville, SC : Wide Awake Press, c2004.

Frost, Sean. Simon and the bitey, hurting pain /[Manchester, Mich?] : Sean Frost, c2002.

Frost, Sean. Simon and the book of job /[Manchester, Mich?] : Sean Frost, c2004.

Hiti, Samuel. Phenoms : mind over matter /[United States?] : La Luz Comics, c2003.

Kressbach, Karl. Delusion dispatch /[Grand Rapids, Mich.?] : Mental Note Press, c2003.

Siu-Chong, Ken. Darkstalkers : The rise of the dark ones /[California] : Capcom ; [Chicago], Devil's Due Pub., 2005- vol. 1

Southard, Nate. Drive /[Texas?] : Frequency Press, 2005.

Steckler, Ben T. Bee see! /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler, c2004.

Steckler, Ben T. Fresh hot pizza! /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler, c2004.

Steckler, Ben T. Peeps et beans : a sweet story /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler, c2004.

Steckler, Ben T. Take your licks! /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler, c2003.

Steckler, Ben T. Wo! not a motel Bible. Tomato now! : the gospel of the evil Dr. Palindrome /York, PA : Gideon A. Canoe, Dig?, 2005.

Steckler, Ben T. Your dick's too short to f**k with God /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler, c2003.

Tomassi, Debbie. Paint box : a colorful romance /Boston, Mass : Little, Brown & Co., c1998.

Christmas Covers - December 18

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Today's cover by Craig Rousseau & Wayne Faucher is from 1998's Impulse #45 and features Bart chasing down Santa. Back when Bart Allen was a fun, interesting character and not the yet another brooding, moper that he's become.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 7 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Adventures of Superman #487)
(2004: Mutt & Jeff #32)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 17

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Art Baltazar draws today's Christmas cover for the 2000 Patrick The Wolf Boy Christmas Special!

(It's a balmy 50 degrees here today--nice, but hard to get into the Christmas Spirit! How do those of you in the South do it?)

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 8 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: A Patty Cake Christmas)
(2004: Superman #165)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 16

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

It's Christmas in the Caribbean on the cover of Katy Keene #33!

(It's a balmy 50 degrees here today--nice, but hard to get into the Christmas Spirit! How do those of you in the South do it?)

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 9 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Bone Holiday Special)
(2004: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #76)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Friday Miscellany

ITEM! Over on TV Squad, Jay Black has a nice mini-essay: "In Defense of: Obsessive internet fanboys." Being a television blog he obviously focuses on television-related things, but it applies just as much to comics too I think.

ITEM! Somewhat related: Dave Snider dropped me an email about his new comic book-focused social encyclopedia: Comic Vine.

ITEM! Also related: my ongoing wiki obsessions: Comic Series Wiki, TVIV, TeeVeePedia.

ITEM! Since the Comics Weblogs Update-a-tron seems to have gone fallow--due to what would appear to be Yahoo!'s negligence in keeping blo.gs operating, I've switched over to using Google Reader to keep up with my comics blog reading. As with many things that Google does, it tends to hit the mark more often than it misses (at least imho).

ITEM! Don't forget the Third Annual YACB CBLDF Fund Drive. I'm matching your $25 donation!

Christmas Covers - December 15

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

It's Judge Dredd vs. Giant Robot Santa on the cover of 2000 A.D. #763!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 10 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Incredible Hulk #378)
(2004: Batman #45)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 14

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Today's selection is Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike #38. Hey DC: For next Christmas, I want a Showcase Presents: Sugar & Spike volume, okay?

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 11 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Sugar & Spike #26)
(2004: Sugar and Spike #32)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 13

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

John Stewart celebrates Christmas on the Mosaic world on Cully Hamner's cover to Green Lantern: Mosaic #9.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 12 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Jonah Hex #34)
(2004: Starman #27)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

New Library Comics: Week of December 4, 2006

Here are the comics we added to our library collection last week:


An anthology of graphic fiction, cartoons, & true stories /New Haven : Yale University Press, c2006.

Attitude 2 : the new subversive alternative cartoonists /New York : Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, c2004.

Brown, Jeffrey (Jeffrey David), 1975- Fuck you : all-new comics! /[15] p., chiefly ill. ; 28 cm.

Cartoon America : comic art in the Library of Congress /New York : Abrams, 2006.

De Villeneuve, Daisy, 1975- He said, she said /San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2004.

Monster engine. /Huntsville, Tex. : Little Engine Studios, c2004.

Moore, Alan, 1953- From hell : being a melodrama in sixteen parts /Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions, 2006, c1989.

Rall, Ted. Silk road to ruin : is Central Asia the new Middle East? /New York : NBM, c2006.

Satrapi, Marjane, 1969- Chicken with plums /New York : Pantheon Books, c2006.

Stall, Vincent. Robot investigator /Minneapolis : Vincent Stall, [2002], c2001.

Tarsis, Brian. City of dreams : a tale of erotic fantasy /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 2003.

Vaughan, Brian K. Pride of Baghdad /New York : DC Comics, c2006.

Christmas Covers - December 12

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Our cover for today is 1989's Veronica #6, featuring Veronica's Christmas in Germany.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 13 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Dell Movie Classic #725)
(2004: Treasure Chest vol. 23 #8)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Third Annual CBLDF Fund Drive

It's December, so it's time for YACB's Third Annual Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) Fund Drive.

It's styled on the matching-funds pledge drives that my local NPR station does (but without interrupting Wait Wait Don't Tell Me six times in an hour...)

For the period between now and December 29, if 10 people join as CBLDF members at the $25 level (or higher) I will donate $250 to CBLDF.

(To donate, go to the CBLDF Website, click on the link across the top that says 'Membership', the scroll down to the join link.)

Just email me the confirmation email that you get from CBLDF when you make your donation. I'll post periodic updates until the goal has been met. (Please mention in your email if you'd prefer to remain anonymous.)

From the CBLDF site: "The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community."

UPDATE: The Fund Drive is over, and alas we did not meet the goal this year. Only seven people donated; I've sent in my matching gift of $175. Hopefully we'll do better next year!

Christmas Covers - December 11

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Vince Squeglia drawn the cover to The Best of DC #58, featuring the Super Jrs!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 14 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Batman #27)
(2004: The Brave and the Bold #148)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Get your checkbooks ready--the 3rd annual CBLDF fund drive kicks off later today!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 10

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Colleeen Doran brings a classic Christmas touch to her cover for A Distant Soil #26.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 15 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Classics Illustrated #15)
(2004: Action Comics #93)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Get your checkbooks ready--the 3rd annual CBLDF fund drive kicks off on Monday!)
 

Christmas Covers - December 9

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Here's a blast from the past--1939 in fact--with Sheldon Mayer's cover to All-American Comics #10!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 16 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Roy Rogers Comics #49)
(2004: Pogo Possum #11)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix for over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Get your checkbooks ready--the 3rd annual CBLDF fund drive kicks off on Monday!)
 

ComicSpace

Even though I'm an old fart (at least in Internet years!) I now have an account on ComicSpace, one of those social networking places, this one devoted to comics.

So drop on by and make me your friend!

Christmas Covers - December 8

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Today we have Leinil Francis Yu's festive cover to X-Men #108 from 1990.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 17 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Liberty Meadows #29)
(2004: Top Ten #6)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Get your checkbooks ready--the 3rd annual CBLDF fund drive kicks off on Monday!)
 

Geek Shame

Over at Seven Hells, Devon asks: "What is your most embarrassing comic book purchase… EVAR?!?" (via Lyle)

He goes on to admit that his is multiple copies of the polybagged Superman #75, while respondents go on to list various Rob Liefeld books, as well as other things such as Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and Wildcats: Nemesis.

Me? Oh sure I could list the various comics that I bought in the hazy 90s boom too. But taking the embarrassing part of the question as the crux, I'll admit here that, for sure embarrassment, it must be Penthouse Comix #5.

Now in my defense I bought the issue because it had Curt Swan drawing an adaptation of Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex." And you know what, that story was worth every ounce of embarrassment. Still, given the cover, I was glad that the comic store (Dave's II in Ann Arbor!) used plain brown bags.

Christmas Covers - December 7

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Here's a downbeat cover by Joe Kubert to 1992's Sgt. Rock #21.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 18 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: Pinky and the Brain #19)
(2004: Alf Holiday Special #1)


(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)
 

Christmas Covers - December 6

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Jennifer & Gabe learn that crime doesn't take a break for the holidays on Alan Davis's 1990 cover to The Maze Agency #11.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 19 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: Spider-Man's Tangled Web #21)
(2004: Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)
 

New This Week: December 6, 2006

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Curses, the collection of Kevin Huizenga's work from Kramer’s Ergot and The Drawn & Quarterly Showcase. Huizenga is a huge fave here, and a hardcover collection will be extra nice. (PDF Preview)


In other comics:

Abstract have a new issue of Strangers in Paradise (#86).

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#79), a new Metadocs one-shot, and a Tigers of Terra special.

Ape have a new issue of Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon (#3).

Boom! have the fourth issue of the Hero Squared Ongoing.

Checker have a trade collection of early The Trouble with Girls.

DC debut the new Justice Society of America & Batman Confidential series; return to Manhunter (#26); give a Showcase Presents volume to Shazam!; and have new issues of 52 (week 31), All-New Atom (#6), American Splendor (#4), Desolation Jones (#8), Jonah Hex (#14), Justice League Unlimited (#28), Midnighter (#2), and Superman Confidential (#2).

IDW have the second issue of the Angel: Auld Lang Syne mini.

Illusive Arts debut Tony Loco.

Image have new issues of Invincible (#37), The Nightly News (#2), and The Walking Dead (#33).

Marvel debut Warren Ellis's take on the old New Universe with newuniversal; have this year's Marvel Holiday Special; a second Runaways hardcover; and have new issues of Agents of Atlas (#5), Doctor Strange: Oath (#3), The Irredeemable Ant-Man (#3), and Spider-Man and Power Pack (#2).

NBM have a new volume of Rick Geary's Treasury of Victorian Murder: Madeleine Smith.

Oni debut the Leading Man mini.

Seven Seas have the second volume of AOI House.

Viz have several manga, including some new Shojo Beat volumes like Aishiteruze Baby, Baby & Me, Beauty Pop, and Crimson Hero.


So try to save some money from Christmas shopping and buy some fine comics for yourself (or put Curses on your list to Santa!)

Christmas Covers - December 5

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Yakko, Wakko & Dot really trim the tree on the cover of 1994's Animaniacs: A Christmas Special #1.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 20 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: Shanda the Panda #14)
(2004: Famous Funnies #125)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)