On your knees and suck it Cap!

or am I just seeing stuff that's not really there again?

Teething problems

To Fantastic Realm in Finsbury Park where I was disappointed to find that only three of the eight comics on my pull list had found their way into my box.  To be fair, I was able to get two of the missing items from the rack, but there was no sign of Fear Agent, Gigantic or, (and this really surprised me), Green Lantern. The boss man told me that Fear Agent hadn't come out, that he'd been shorted on Green Lantern and that I was the only customer who had showed any interest in Gigantic, so he'd forgotten to order it. All of which worries me. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful for the discount, but if I'm going to have trouble getting my books, then I'm going to do the equivalent of the money I'm saving at the new place on tube fares to Gosh. Which is exactly what I ended up doing today! 

You see, I was convinced that Fear Agent did come out this week and, while I'm sure he was sincere in his belief that all the West End shops would be sold out of Green Lantern, I love the book so much that I had to see for myself. Gosh had both comics + Gigantic AND Lord Hurk's latest offering, Urgent Telex (which to be honest I had planned on visiting Gosh to pick up anyway). 

Now, I don't want to knock Fantastic Realm too hard, because in the main they seem just fine. I understand that they are a newer and smaller outfit than the West End stores, I was also well aware when I signed up that they didn't have as much independent stuff as I'd like and, of course, they do give me an excellent discount. As long as they don't read this and throw me out on my ear, I'm happy to continue shopping with them, but I do hope that today's problems don't become a weekly occurrence.

Moore speaks!

Look, it's an interview with Alan Moore

"The average age of the audience now for comics, and this has been the case since the late 1980s, probably is late thirties to early fifties—which tends to support the idea that these things are not being bought by children. They're being bought in many cases by hopeless nostalgics or, putting the worst construction on it, perhaps cases of arrested development who are not prepared to let their childhoods go, no matter how trite the adventures of their various heroes and idols".

I feel so small.

Shopping list

Been a while since I posted up a shopping list, but here's what I'll be picking up tomorrow, minus the groceries which I got last night...

Note: "pot for Jack" is not a drug reference, but a reminder to buy a couple of jars of pureed fruit for my son. Ah, how life has changed.

I suppose I don't need these lists now that a chap in a comic shop puts all my books in a nice box for me, but I'm a sentimental old man who enjoys writing things down + I don't trust the new shop to remember everything yet.

Looking forward to the new Green Lantern obv. New Conan is always nice, especially when our barbaric pal is about to embark on a career as a mercenary. Gigantic #3 should be good, and there's more Remender goodness to be had from Fear Agent.

Visit these people

Every once in a while some pile of old gubbins or other which I've stuck up on this self indulgent blog gets linked on a more popular site and my hits go through the roof. Now, I might hang on to one or two of the people who arrive here via said link, but, in the main, folks don't return and the tumbleweed starts blowing again pretty darn quickly. Which, you know, is fine by me - honest! I did this thing for a year or so while no-one was reading it, so I'm amazed that anyone comes back at all. BUT, let's face it, it is nice when people have a butcher's at your bilge, soooooo, (if you've got the time), make some people happy by having a look around their blogs...

Push listing (for short, sharp, bitter and very funny reviews and previews)

Wild Tyme (for considered, well written commentary on pop culture)

Captain America 327 (for a nice fella's comic thoughts and some kick-ass Subbuteo men)

You look like a little kid with a beard (who probably gets a fair amount of traffic anyway, but deserves a visit from you because you need to check out his fantastic fantasy miniature painting skills. Seriously, I'm mega jealous of this ability)

Pulps from the bothy (who rarely writes about comics, but sometimes makes me wish I didn't live in a big stinking city)

Pornokitsch (for nice old paperback covers!)

And if anyone else out there has a blog which they want to plug, bung the address in the comments section and enjoy as one or two (if you're lucky) hits flood in.

My son is asleep...cue SPEED BLOG!

Lad's napping, so a brief window for blogging...

Picked up Secret Warriors after hearing some good things about it. I have to say it was a lot better than I thought it would be. For those not in the know, you've got Nick Fury and his team of superpowered nobodies working underground because Norman Osborn has disbanded SHIELD. Blah de blah. It's a fast moving action comic with Fury going all Jack Bauer on a bunch of baddies, before using some sort of cloaking device to waltz into the Oval Office undetected and lay the law down to Barack Obama. There's a massive, great fucking twist at the end AND (because it's that diagram loving nutter Jonathan Hickman on writing duty) you get a bunch of excellent charts and maps in the back which will no doubt draw comparison with his work on Nightly News, but are actually more like a fanboyish tribute to the glory of the 1980s Marvel Handbooks. The art is perfectly nice (by a fellah whose name escapes me) and apparently Brian Bendis was also involved on scripting. All in all a very enjoyable comic. I will buy issue #2!

What else? Read another stonking issue of Green Lantern Corps where Kyle Rayner manages to get hold of a fit alien bird despite the fact that she tumbles to the fact that he's a bit of a weirdo who draws and then hordes pictures of deceased Green Lanterns at the moment of their deaths.

Ploughed through Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham's JSA trade The Next Age. Top stuff obv.

Started rereading John Byrne's short but fantastic run on The Hulk. Oh man, it's good stuff. Hulk smashes a stag to death in the first couple of pages and works his way up the tree of life from thereon in. Woo-hoo! Keep your thinking Hulk, this is the Jade Giant for me!

Golden Age euphemisms for masturbation #102

Panel from "The Beast from the Deep" originally published in Tales of Horror #7 (1953)