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Okay, I'm still here. It's just been a very busy couple of weeks. Things at school have been ridiculous, and I spent last weekend at a workshop in Princeton which I'm still recovering from.
That said, I'll try to get to posting again later in the week. But I can't guarantee that there will be any sort of regular posting in the near future. Every few days is probably all I'm going to be able to find time for. But you never know...
I don't normally post over the weekend, and I wouldn't have been able to if I'd tried. I'm currently in a state of shock and heartbreak.
Most of you who read this blog know that I lived in Japan for a number of years until recently. I'm studying Japan, and was there are recently as last July. So as you can imagine the current disaster unfolding in Japan has hit a bit close to home.
Everyone I know in Japan is safe -- most of them live in the western part of the country, far from the epicenter of the quake. But that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better. Thousands of people in a place I love are dying and I can't do anything to help them but hope and pray.
Things like this remind us of how powerless we are sometimes in the face of the world. We can't move mountains like Superman. So when the world shifts we have to shift with it.
But that doesn't mean we're without heroes. Even in the face of all the destruction there are people from all around the world doing everything they can to help. They're heroes in the truest sense of the world, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
I spent most of my time in Japan living in Kobe. In 1995 Kobe was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. But by the time I arrived in 2005 you could barely tell. Kobe had been rebuilt, stronger and more beautiful than ever.
And so I have faith that the people of Sendai, Miyagi, and all the other places devastated by this earthquake will rise up and rebuild their homes. They won't be able to forget the pain or the people they've lost. But I know the spirit of the Japanese people. It won't be easy, but they'll make it through this.
頑張って、日本。
Alas; I had no time to write a proper blog post this evening. I had to spend it writing a review of a book on women's detective fiction in 1990's Japan. Since it's a review, you may wonder what I think of the book. I'll let the incomparable Wild Dog answer for me:
I had to go to a symposium on medieval Japanese Buddhist today. It was exactly as exciting as it sounds.
As a consequence I'm somewhat fatigued and didn't get the chance to read my books for the week. So I'm regrettably without real content for the night. So here's a random cover from Strange Adventures:
When I saw this DCU pop-up book my first thought was this: "I have got to get that for my niece."
Now, she's too young to appreciate something like that right now. But in a few years when she starts looking at books and appreciating the pictures I want her looking at a pop-up book with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
You've got to hook them when they're young, you know. I don't want her to eventually fall in with a bad crowd. The type that appreciates Spider-Man or the X-Men. That would be disastrous.
It's important that children be exposed to good influences. Most modern comics probably don't fit with that. But there's no question that some are appropriate for kids. And even if they can't appreciate the Superman comic, they should at least appreciate Superman.
I'm just trying to be a good influence.
Well, I arrived home from Japan three hours before I left (that's always a little surreal). I've been awake for over twenty hours now so I'm about to hit the hay pretty hard. But I just wanted anyone still reading this to know that I'm start posting again tomorrow.
See you soon.
You know what I hate? I hate the random little descriptors that publishers like to put on the covers of the super-hero comics. Things like "Crash Test!" on the cover of the most recent Power Girl or "Death at Three Million Feet!" on Batman Beyond. It clutters things up and doesn't really tell us anything about the story. A cover's art, logo, and composition should tell us everything we need to know. And those random sayings obscure that.
Now, I'm okay with certain extra words on the cover. Take a look at this week's Zatanna, for instance. "Bewitched by Brother Night" is similar to those other random phrases. But instead of obscuring the nice cover art it is incorporated into the logo. That makes it feel like part of the composition rather than something that obscures it.
As Todd Klein will tell you in his phenomenal series on comic logos, covers need to stand together as a whole. A great logo and a great cover image are all you really should need to sell the comic. The publishers haven't seemed to have figured this out in the last twenty years...
A quick update, friends. I'm halfway through my summer language program and it is destroying me. And by that I mean it is improving my Japanese through an intense study regimen. But sometimes I feel like I'm going to be destroyed.
I don't have a whole lot to say about comics right now. But I did read the most recent Secret Six, and I enjoyed a light, fluffy story about how fools tend to underestimate the Six and Bane remains a badass.
Three weeks to go! See you soon enough!
I want to apologize to everybody for not having posted much -- okay, at all -- this past week. I'm currently in Japan and will be here until some time in August. That said, I've finally settled in and hopefully I can start blogging again tomorrow.
Watch this space. If there's anybody left out there watching...
Posting here will probably be somewhat light the next few weeks. It's my vacation time, and I like to take a bit of time off from even things I enjoy (like this blog). Whenever I take time off I always come back refreshed and able to write good posts again.
I mean, I feel like I've been phoning it in the past few weeks. And I probably have been.
There weren't a lot of interesting comics to read last week anyway. But I'm sure I'll be able to find something interesting soon. Like Secret Six this week or Birds of Prey next week. Stay tuned.
Let us take a moment to remember those who have been lost.
I came down with a nasty cold last night. As a consequence, I ended up sleeping for ten hours. When you sleep that long you tend to have weird dreams.
I dreamed I was in a toy store. As I always do, I checked out the DCU action figures, hoping for someone I would really be willing to spend money on. I rarely find anything in the real world. But in the dream?
Doctor Polaris! Everyone, filling the shelves! The DCU line and Brave and the Bold! I could finally get a proper Doctor Polaris! It was a dream come true!
Except... It was no more than a dream. Alas.
Not much to talk about for the August solicits. I mean, only half a dozen of these DCU titles haven't already been "previewed." Interesting to note that Magog has been canceled at issue #12. I think we all saw that one coming. I give Azrael until the end of its current story arc.
But then, this is just me being cranky because I'm tried. I'm trying to rush this post of so I can get to bed. I'm taking a two week Chinese language class here at the beginning of the summer and I have to get up early for it. Spoiler: for an English speaker Chinese is really hard. I think it's the hardest language I've dealt with yet.
Anyway, Guy Gardner's new series starts this month. I think that's probably the thing I'm most excited about. I used to not like Guy. Then I started to realize that the brain-damaged sycophant that was in the JLI wasn't really Guy Gardner. And that the real guy was actually pretty freakin' awesome. Thanks for that, Kalinara.
Lo, for it came to be December the Thirteenth which was and is the date of this blog's founding.
Long have I written upon this virtual parchment. And know that I am thankful for each and every one of you who reads my word.. It has been four long years and I am grateful for each of them.
They say all good things must come to an end. But not this thing. I know I haven't been a reliable blogger this past year, what with me starting graduate school and all. But I want to thank all the readers who've stuck with me and comment from time to time (and those who don't comment as well). I'd probably still write even if nobody commented... But it wouldn't be half as fun.
Here's to another four, or eight, or twelve years. As long as they keep making comics and I keep reading them I'll keep talking about them. And that's really what it's all about, isn't it?
Apologies for the lack of posting over the end/beginning of the week. I came down with a real nasty cold over the weekend. Still, I'm fine with that because at least it's not the H1N1 Flu (which is going around the campus like mad). I'm hoping (fearing?) that Black Lantern Azrael and Black Lantern Doctor Polaris may pick up the slack for the rest of the week.
In other news, I saw that guy again. He was wearing the same damn Avengers sweatshirt. I don't know what to make of that...
The next issue of The Flash: Rebirth isn't coming out until the middle of November.
I'm usually pretty laid back when it comes to delays. A week here, a week there. These things happen. The problem here is that I really want to read that book. And so out of pure self-centeredness I'm more than a little steamed that it keeps getting put off.
Here's my question: what else do these artists (and I assume it's an artist issue and not a writer issue) have to do? Isn't drawing comic books their job? Isn't that one of the first things they should be putting their energy toward?
My job is being a graduate student. I get everything done on time and -- if I can be a little self-congratulatory -- I do it well. I also have time to write this blog, play board games once a week, and occasionally see a movie.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable towards Mr. Van Sciver. There could very well be a good reason why The Flash: Rebirth is taking so long to finish. Or, again, it could have nothing to do with it all.
But whoever is at fault, hurry up! We can't get the new Flash series until Rebirth finishes. And I really want to see Wally's new costume...
I had a very awkward encounter yesterday.
It happened while I was walking to class in the morning. This is usually uneventful, and I'd say that yesterday more or less follows along with that. It's important as well for you to know how I dressed. As is occasionally the case, my clothes were largely comic inspired. I was wearing my Flash t-shirt and my Superman stocking cap. So I was rocking it DC hard.
As I walked I noticed another fellow coming at me from the opposite direction. He was also dressed in comic attire, namely and Avengers hooded sweatshirt. Now, this presented a conundrum. Obviously the pair of us were kindred spirits of a sort. After all, he was dressed in comic attire and he most certainly was not you typical average non-comic reading person who sometimes wears a Batman or Spider-Man shirt.
But as already mentioned, he was wearing a Marvel shirt. It would be like a Cubs fan and Cardinals fan passing each other on the street (actually, that's happened to me before too). We sort of glanced at each other but didn't say anything. We both seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact. It was obvious that something tied us together. But as much as that might have sparked a friendship there was something else -- something even more important -- that kept us a part.
We passed each other and I imagine I will never see that fellow again. What a weird experience.
Well well well. What have we here. Why, it's a birthday. Specifically my birthday.
The question becomes: what to do with this day? The opportunities, they are ripe for exploitation. The world is at hand and there is nothing to hold me back. What should I do?
Really, I'm thinking of finishing my homework and then going to bed early. I think I've got a bit of a cold coming on. What do you think of that idea, Wild Dog?
Those of you who follow the goings on in the comic blogosphere (or at least the part I care about) know that Scipio and the Absorbascon have gone on hiatus.
Now, Scipio isn't clear on how long or why he's taking a break from the blog. That's his business and pretty much irrelevant anyway.
What I want to mention is the importance in the Absorbascon to my being here today. Yes, I know that sounds melodramatic (as though "here today" is President or alive). But it's the truth, and since I'm very happy to be here today I think it bears mentioning.
I started this blogger account for the sole purpose of being able to comment on another blogspot blog about comics. That blog was the Absorbascon. When I found the site it was as a revelation; here was someone who had tastes in comics similar to me and was writing about them. No only that, but he didn't muddy up the waters with posts about "Spider-Man" or the "X-Men" or anything else with hyphens in its name. Here was a blog that spoke to me.
I can't remember what the first post I commented on was (though I believe it had something to do with DRAMA). Not long after I decided to try my hand at the blogging myself. I think I've done okay these past few years (even if I haven't these past few weeks).
So I guess what I'm saying is: thanks, Scipio. Thanks for all the fun and all the laughs. I'm sure going to miss it all. I wish you good fortunes in all your endeavors... And I hope we'll see you around these parts again.
Dear Dan,
China is in East Asia, not Southeast Asia. Nice try!
Sincerely,
Guy Who Used to Live in East Asia
