Just Stay at Home

Okay, so are there actually people out there who like Lobo? Are there people who are honestly fans of the character? I have a hard time believing that.

As far as I understand it, Lobo began as sort of a parody of the excesses of comics in the 1980's (and later the 1990's). But it seems that at some point along the way people started to take the character seriously. And we ended up with what we have today.

I'm having trouble finding the tings that make the character appealing to his mysterious "fanbase." I can only assume that these imaginary people are seriously disturbed. I say this because I can't see why anyone would want to read about Lobo -- let alone a solo story about the character.

In reading Weird Worlds I completely skimmed through the Lobo portion. I was uninterested and mostly bored. I found the Aaron Lopresti Garbage Man story to be really good, though. Then I kind of zoned out during the Tanga tale which again left me cold.

This is frustrating for me, and it's a problem with anthologies. What does a guy do who only likes two out of the three stories in a three story anthology? Does he continue reading it o enjoy the story he likes and just ignore the others? Or does he give up the ghost?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. But I am sure that I can't stand Lobo.

Curse the holidays! I didn't realize until I got to the comic book store today that comics are delayed. I can only assume that this is because of the festivals and making merry of the previous week. Was it worth it? I can't see how.

Without new comics, what can I talk about? How about this: I think I might buy Weird Worlds just for the "Garbage Man" story.

I don't know why, but I've always enjoyed the "monster as hero" tales, which is exactly how Aaron Lopresti describes his Garbage Man character. It seems that in some ways they're trying to use him as a replacement for Swamp Thing (who appears to still be trapped in the Vertigo ghetto).

Now, I haven't read much Swamp Thing stuff, as I'm firmly entrenched in the DCU and Swamp Thing hasn't been a real part of it for a long time. But I've always been intrigued by the character and had been meaning to look into more stories. I got a taste of the character with the Swamp Thing/Batman story from Batman: Hidden Treasures and I really enjoyed it. The "misunderstood monster" is a character we haven't seen much in recent years and there's still a lot that can be done with it.

Will Lopresti's Garbage Man fill that slot? I believe Lopresti said that Garbage Man would be meeting Batman early on. Done right, Garbage Man could be a fresh and interesting addition to the DC Universe.

Okay, maybe "fresh" isn't the best word. But you know what I mean...