Friday, May 26, 2006

Quick Links:


A site dedicated to saving the Britney that was.

http://bringbackbritney.com/

Also: The wax museum doll of Britney, on a stripper pole. The new one at Madame Tussauds in NYC is supposed to have an animatronic heaving bosom.

Jodie Foster really, really did this. At first I was embarassed. Now I think I love her all the more.

See Jodie rap from 8 Mile.


New Zealand Acoustic Hip-Hop Geniuses (courtesy of Jim D.)

Here.

Don't forget to hit the League of Melbotis STORE for all your clothing needs.

And the funniest thing I've seen in quite a while (courtesy Cowgirl Funk)


Thursday, May 25, 2006

MELBOTIS: THE STORE

Hey, Leaguers,

We at League HQ are perfectly aware that many of you feel constrained by the fact that The League is mostly some pictures and words floating in the internet. We know you want to take The League of Melbotis with you no matter where you go.

Thus, we've decided to sign up with CafePress.com and dream up a League of Melbotis store.

Next time you're looking for a great gift idea for your kid or Mom & Dad, why not pop on in and buy a bunch of stuff? We've even got stuff for your dog.


****UPDATE****

Jamie thought I had been negligent by not mentioning that all the images of "Robot Planet" have some minor nudity. Yes, you can see a cartoon booby. Beware.

Also, Jamie mentioned that I should vary the pictures some. I'm going to add some pics that Jamie requested. And then probably leave them. Long story short, beware the booby in "Robot Planet" and don't order anything until I say it's cool.

****end update****

***Update Update***
Well, go nuts. I changed some images around. Now Jamie can get the shirt she wanted.

Yes, some shirts go up to Steans Boy sizes.

I checked the terms of use, and there's nothing in there about CafePress owning my images, which doesn't surprise me, considering their business model. They are much more concerned about covering their own interests and making sure their clients aren't breaking any laws.

CafePress gives you an option when you're setting up your store to basically bump up their base price if you want to make a profit. I've chosen not to do so. Now, if I suddenly see all the hip kids walking around Tempe with LoM shirts, we may see me trying to get a dollar or two per shirt. In the meantime, I've not adjusted anything.

***end update update***

Go to THE STORE.
GHOST RIDER: THE MOVIE

Here's a link to the site of the new Ghost Rider trailer.

It looks pretty bad. It looks like Ghost Rider is wearing some sort of polyester outfit instead of leather, and that maybe his head is a Halloween ice cream/ liquer confection (a flambe!).

I am neither pro nor anti-Ghost Rider, but this movie doesn't look very promising. Perhaps most telling is that it was due to be released this summer and they didn't even dump it in the August C-Grade movie junklot. It's not coming out until February.

So, sweetie-pie, you know what we're doing for Valentine's Day..!
Wednesday

Well, Wednesday was just an oddly decent day. I got a lot done at work, it wasn't as mind numbingly hot out as I'd suspected, Dan called me at work to fill me in on some Blackboard updates (and life updates), and I got to leave work at a decent time.

Also, of course, Jamie is home from the hospital. She went in to the ER on Monday around 1:00 AM and was admitted, so she was sort of hanging out without much to do at Chandler Regional until Tuesday evening.

She's going to see a pulmonologist (outpatient) to check up on some breathing stuff she's had going on for a while, but otherwise she seems okay. Jamie, of course, took the opportunity in the hospital to tell Dr. Chang I'd been running. He didn't exactly praise me for my astounding transformation, but it was kind of funny how he was more than ready to switch gears and discuss that instead.

So, this evening was kind of nuts with the finale of Lost (which Jamie taped, and which I will not be watching), the Suns/Mavs game and finale of American Idol. I'm kicking myself now, but since we assumed the Suns were sunk, we tuned in to AI. Obviously a very, very bad call.

That said, American Idol turned out to have, arguably, its most entertaining episode to date. Pairing contestants with showbiz success stories, it made for a pretty good variety show without all the self-congratulatory hoo-hah of an established awards show. I mean, where else will you see Mary J. Blige, Live, and Burt Bacharach under one roof? Where?

But, of course, they also had Prince, who reminded us EXACTLY what a performer can be. Thank you, Prince, I had almost forgotten. How have I never seen him live? I'm not living right.

And the show was funny. AI gave in to it's inner dorkiness for the AI Awards, giving some of the not-so-lucky contestants an opportunity to take the stage. And while Clay Aiken may now look like the lost child of Barry Manilow, it was funny to see him as a seasoned performer.

We tuned over to the Suns/Mavs game with three minutes left, saw our boys were down and tuned back. We were more than a little stunned to see the news after the show announcing a Suns victory. I am, I admit, more than a little surprised. Winning Game 1 at Dallas didn't seem to likely. Now for Game 2 the Mavs are really going to be looking for blood.

New comic day brought a conrnucopia of good stuff which I didn't get much of a chance to read. 52 is turning out to be a very interesting read thus far. I guess it's on my recommend list. It's fun to have a book to look forward to every week, so, sales willing, I'll be curious to see what lessons DC takes from 52 as far as marketing strategy.

I still have a stack of other stuff to read, including two Gail Simone written comics (Birds of Prey and the new Secret Six book).

No Superman books this week. Trimming it down to two regular titles is leaving me feeling a bit high and dry, and with JLA on hiatus until July, All-Star Superman a bi-monthly and Superman/ Batman on a wildly irregular schedule, it's just not always as easy to get my Superman fix as I'd like.

Also: Parents called. New Frescata sandwich at Wendy's was okay for what you pay, and Lucy was able to entertain herself all night with a tennis ball.

Hope your Wednesday was a good one.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

No post? Not so.

Check out my review of Da Vinci Code over at Nanostalgia.com

I think you'll find that I am a genius.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Mavs v. Suns = silly betting

Despite the fact that he is not an amoral moron, CrackBass is a Mavs fan. For those of you keeping track of the NBA play-offs, the Mavs beat my San Antonio Spurs last night in game 7 of round 2. It was a feirce battle, and had we fouled the evil Dirk with a few seconds remaining, Spurs would be up for the Western Conference Championship rather than Mark Cuban's evil minions.

Your Phoenix Suns finally decided to play as they do in the regular season and blew out the LA Clippers in game 7.

So, next up, the Suns v. Mavs in the Western Conference Champeeeship.

So, me and CrackBass are putting our money where our mouth is.

Says CrackBass:

Well dear readers, the Mavs won their series over the evil empire that is San Antonio. They overcame themselves and thanks to some horrific officiating (even I think Duncan was fouled at the end of the game), the Mavs will be facing the Suns of Phoenix for a 7 game series beginning Wednesday. The League, Steanso's younger, more distinguished brother, currently resides just outside of Phoenix, in the burgeoning metropolis of Chandler, AZ. Since The League was stripped of his super hero status four years ago after an unfortunate and misunderstood incident with a baby giraffe, The League has been forced to take an interest in such mundane things as pro sports, and therefore, the Suns. I care for the Mavericks a great deal. A bet has been suggested between The League and I. If the Mavs win, then The League shall be forced to do something foolish (mowing the yard in a dress, a la The Simpsons, if only Chandler supported the growth of plants); if the Suns win, I shall do something. We are open to your suggestions. We will take submissions and will choose before tipoff on Wednesday.

Now, the problem is that I don't think the Suns will make it to Game 6, but I have to stand with my local sporting franchise. After all, I have two Suns shirts and no Mavs shirts.

We are now taking requests for what should be the result of this little wager.

You see the comments tab. Go nuts.

Personally, I think whomever loses the battle should have to give Steanso his annual bath.
RIP Lloyd Bentsen

I don't make note of the loss of too many politicians, but I think Mr. Bentsen's years in public service and interesting career are certainly worthy of reflection.

Read more here.
The International Trailer for Superman Returns

Far more spoilery than prior trailers, but a lot of fun.

Go here.

Thanks to Jim D. for the hyperlink.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Summer of Superman/ Melbotis Mailbag

Randy writes:

I always thought Supes got "beat up" too easily. For a creature with god-like powers, he gets knocked around a lot. This is what always frustrates me when watching a Superman cartoon (JLU; Superman TAS). If Supes was so powerful, couldn't he just destroy people at will? Sure, folks like Doomsday and Darkseid would give him problems, but a guy in spandex with a ray gun? Yes, he has to be careful so that he doesn't kill human beings, but why should he let them push him around? It's like he doesn't fully utilize all his superhuman skills.



Dear Randy,

Point well taken, Randy.

In issue #1 of New England Comics' The Tick, The Tick explains that he is "nigh invulnerable". That's his power. He's exactly as invulnerable as the story dictates. A lot of these sorts of questions don't really bug you when you accept that nigh invulnerability is more or less the status quo of the average superhero in comics or any medium.

The creators of the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited TV programs have gone on record about their decision to de-power Superman in the cartoon. The point being, if Superman were operating at full capacity, would he really need the Justice League? If one watches over the course of the series, it's pretty clear they either couldn't agree on Superman's power (he stops a hurricane but is having trouble with a truck falling off a bridge?), or they simply didn't know what was appropriate to make the show work. I remember screaming bloody murder at the TV in the first episode where Superman is overcome by some alien knock-out gas. Supes can fly in the sun's corona. I think he can handle a little chlorophorm.

All things being equal, I think the same argument regarding "de-powered" superheroes can be made regarding Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern or Wonder Woman. However, nobody seems too concerned that J'onn doesn't have his "Martian Vision" or, seemingly, his telepathic powers. There's barely a snort that Wonder Woman's magic lasso is just super-strong and doe snot force anyone to tell the truth. And I've heard barely a peep that Green Lantern appears limited to lasers and bubble shields in the cartoon.

On the flip side, nobody seems concerned that Hawkgirl can destroy otherworldly atomic drills with a swing of an electrically charged mace.

I guess what I'm saying is: It's all about managing expectations. Everybody more or less has an idea of what Superman can do. It's possible the show's creators misstepped in not meeting those expectations.


If Supes was so powerful, couldn't he just destroy people at will?

He could, but he doesn't. If he did, I think you'd see someone named "Zod" and less of someone named Superman. The idea that Superman would "destroy" people is sort of anathema to the concept of the superhero. Simply because you have the ability to destroy somebody doesn't mean that you utilize it.


Sure, folks like Doomsday and Darkseid would give him problems, but a guy in spandex with a ray gun?

Well, it depends what's in that ray gun and whether Superman was braced for the punch it delivered.


Yes, he has to be careful so that he doesn't kill human beings, but why should he let them push him around?

I think what you're asking is: Why does Superman allow himself to be put in harm's way? Or, are you asking: Why does Superman let himself take the first hit?

Look, some of it is just bad writing. If you have telescopic vision and heat vision and some guy down the block is shooting the place up, you could, in theory, melt the weapon before he ever notices you. I think this is the approach you'd see in the comics but which seems to have missed the JLU writers.

If you're asking why Superman doesn't just pound everyone who is a threat to him... You're kind of missing the point of Superman.

One of the things I dig about Superman is that it's not like Superman is stupid. He KNOWS he can beat most other folks on the surface of the planet. So when he shows up, he can always give crooks of all stripes a chance to drop their weapons and surrender peacefully. He can also afford to take the first shot in a fight, knowing it's entirely likely that he will be able to walk away from a fight.

Does he fully utilize his powers and skills? I guess it depends on your definition. Comics are full of characters who believe they are fully utilizing their powers and/ or skills in order to make the world a better place (ie: the world according to them.) Part of the point, again, of the superheroic ideal is that simply because one has the power, one doesn't necessarily force others (and most likely cannot force others) to abide by their notions of right and wrong. What they CAN do is step in to protect people who stand in harm's way or protect those who are at risk because someone else is "fully utilizing" their powers in a way which is detrimental to the powerless.

But what I think you're really asking is: Can't Superman open a greater can of whoop-ass than what I've seen?

The answer is: I guess it depends where you're looking. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Superman really cut loose on JL and JLU, but that just wasn't in the cards. I did feel like the producers might not even have really liked Superman all that much as a character in the first season, maybe because he can be a pain in the ass to write as he's the swiss army knife of Superheroes.

I think by the end of the show, they really had come to like him a lot more, and had become more comfortable using him in stories.

You do hear some writers complain that Superman is too tough to write as the hero who can do anything, but the fact is that successful Superman stories have only infrequently been about Superman slogging his way, video game like, through low-level villains to the big boss. And, in fact, I don't personally find those sorts of stories terribly engaging anymore in any comics (not just my Superman stories).

Superman comics usually present a far more logical view of what Superman might do. The editors know who their readership is, and they're far more likely to ensure that they don't receive bags of letters asking why Superman let, say, The Rainbow Raider get the drop on him.

I think when you see characters of more limited power, it's easier to chalk up their actions to a "real" effort. Everyone's favorite example: Wolverine. Wolverine is, for all intentions, a guy with a few knives. Wolverine is portrayed as hacking and slashing his way through piles of ninjas, etc... each issue, often with his mouth hanging open, drooling. THAT, is effort. That is a guy fully utilizing his abilities. Superman isn't usually portrayed in this sort of light. And when Superman DOES demonstrate effort, it's usually shown at such a scale that it's less relatable (such as "charging up" by flying through the corona of the sun before smashing through the invading alien army.).

I'm not sure this actually answered your question. What I would say is: in all the media where you see Superman appear, rarely is he portrayed the same way from media to media or even program to program. And, yes, Superman fans also get frustrated with the seeming lack of consistency, too.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Some Super Unexpected Attention

Apparently Jim D. somehow got a link sent to USA Today regarding the Summer of Superman posting from last weekend. And, apparently, one of the USA Today blogs linked back.

So, LoM has a little unexpected attention.

Howdy to folks stopping in. Sign in below in the comments section. We'd love to see who is popping by.

A million thanks, as always, to Jim D. Special thanks to Whitney Matheson (reporter for a great Metropolitan newspaper) for the USA Today plug. Much appreciated.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Well, today was a real gem.

I'll try to keep it all short, but we headed to the ER this morning as Jamie had numerous, seemingly unrelated symptoms like a fever, a sore throat, a migraine and probably some other stuff.

However, after sitting there for two hours (I started the second Augusten Burroughs memoir) Jamie decided she really didn't feel all that bad. At least not bad enough to deal with the ER anymore. NOTE: The ER is for people with a medical emergency. about 50% of what you see come in can be dealt with by putting an ice pack on it and a splint from Walgreens.

Anyhoo, we checked out having only, really, checked in.

We kept Jamie's pre-scheduled appointment with her doctor. It seems she may be dehydrated, which is a tricky thing for a dialysis patients. She may also have developed an allergy to something out here. And she has waxy build-up on one ear.

Anyhow, nothing major. She's doing okay, but we're really going to have to keep an eye on her hydration levels.

When we got home, I guess I'd been pretty stressed. I sat down and read a few comics (this was around 4:00) and I fell sound asleep for an hour.

Anyhow, I don't have much to add, but since I've somehow accumulated dozens and dozens of comments from Sunday's posts, I thought maybe I'd step in to say thanks for all the participation! I feel like the first Summer of Superman post was a hit, so I'll try to think of some other posts I can do in keeping with the theme.

Ya'll have a good one.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Tuesday Night Ramblings

Hey, ya'll.

Well, there's like 3 seconds left in overtime and Mr. MVP just screwed up a perfect chance to win the Suns/ Clippers game. Crud. I don't need the extra stress, I tell you.

By the way, what sort of bizarro universe am I living in when the Lakers didn't get past the first round and the Clippers are still competing for the Western Championship? I keep expecting to see goatee'd Spock come around the corner.

I'm going to say something that I find personally painful: The Mavericks will probably win the NBA Championship this year, and, even worse, they may deserve to. You have to understand, with John Stockton and Karl Malone out of basketball, my least favorite guys are now Dirk and Cuban. Which pains me. Because Avery was one of my favorite players ever. Remember when it was Avery and Robinson carrying the Spurs? I do. Dammit.

Well, shazam! Looks like Raja Bell just bought the Suns a 2nd overtime. I'll be dipped.

You know what's awesome about the Clippers (aside from Sam I Am)? Penny Marshall, Laverne herself, is at the game.

I know CrackBass loves the Mavs, but to me Cuban represents what's pretty much awful about about money+ego. I mean, how many millions does he really have to get fined before he takes his Moe hair and sits down? They need to quit fining him and start reducing Dirk's minutes every time they want to punish that moron. Dirk is skilled, yeah. But he's a jerk, which makes him hard to actually respect. Sorry Dallas fans, this is why nobody will cheer your team if they aren't from Dallas. Your owner makes us dislike your team. Funny that Big D produced two of the biggest jack-ass owners in sports...

I can't take all this basketball. It's too much. I need to get back to the WNBA where it's all about the opportunity to play, and nobody cares who wins.

Shit. Shawn Marion just got hurt.

I am just not into this Bam Maguera guy, even when he incorporates Roller Derby into his ads...

OKAY...

So, just to clear the air here. Not The League nor Mrs. League were offended by any comments made when things got a little wacky yesterday. Let's all just relax.

Regarding my Hopes and Dreams for making comics:

Look, I really, really appreciate the support. I do. Ya'll are nice to tell me I make nice pictures. Jason is nice for telling me I have decent ideas.

There's a saying among comic creators: There's no such thing as a fan over the age of 21 who doesn't want your job. Would I like to do all that? Oh, sure. I'd also like to be an ice cream taster, an NBA recruiter, Gillian Anderson's towel boy or an astronaut. Like anything else, sure, if you try hard enough and chase your dreams, that can be you. Whatever.

I am totally happy enjoying other people's work. I am happy sitting at my table and drawing my little pictures for fun. It's a nice thing to do to keep the brain working as you unwind.

Calling me out for not making a comic kind of ruins the whole thing for me. I never said I was making a comic, so I'm not even sure where that comes from. Up until when I moved my table out of my office last week, I'd had time to draw one picture in all of calendar year 2006, and that was at a special request for KareBear's birthday.

I don't see what's wrong with me enjoying my hobbies separately. Going forward, that's sort of what I would prefer to do.

Jesus. Did you guys see that? My Suns! I can't believe that. Insane. Good game. Marion and Raja were awesome. Mr. MVP made some pretty dorky mistakes. Ah, heck, we WON!!! I thought we totally blew it.

And Billy Crystal, also there for the Clippers, looked so very sad. How will he tell funny baseball stories now?

Kenny Smith looks sleepy. It must be past his bedtime.

Speaking of...

Sunday, May 14, 2006

They may not know you, but they love you...





Yes, we re-arranged the living room. I was sick of everyone coming into my office whenever I was at my drawing table so I brought my table to them.
SUMMER OF SUPERMAN:
A SUPER LIFESTYLE - HAVING A SUPER DAY

Leaguers probably wonder how the League manages to maintain a Super outlook in life. The answer is: You have to start your day the Super way.

Superness can vary from day to day, so you really have to take steps to ensure that you've done what you can to make your day as Super as possible.

Below you will find a photographic guide to a typical, say, Saturday in the League's busy, busy life.



Your Super alarm is set to wake you for your day. Superman would not steer you wrong. If he's telling you to get up, you probably should. Also, note the super-safety of keeping a Super flashlight by the clock in case of an emergency.



You've been getting your Super Sleep all night, so now it's time to get up and get on with your Super Day!



Filling your head with Supermanness isn't enough. You've also got to fill your tummy with Super goodness. Remember, you super are what you super eat.



While enjoying your Super coffee, it's time to really start considering how your day can be more Super. You should consider a wide-ranging view of Superman as you enter your Super day.



Check your home for Golden Age items



...add a lot of Silver Age



...and some Modern Age and a few items from the upcoming movie.




Select from your Super wardrobe



Brush your Super teeth with super accutrements.



Make sure significant other is properly attired



Check in with Super Dog



Check in with the Fortress of Nerditude



Staying classic means you can't go wrong...


Check Super library for readings



Review other materials in Super Library



Consult with Super Friends about how to proceed with your day


Now The League has taken the necessary steps to get rolling. We hope your day is as Super as can be. We'll be having a few more Summer of Superman highlights. We hope you keep checking in.
Happy Mother's Day

Hey, everybody. Most of you should have a mother of some sort. I sincerely hope you visited or called your mother today. I did. I love my Ma. She's one hell of a lady and a really good dancer.


Weekend Round-Up

Friday night wasn't all that exciting. In fact, I can't really tell you what we did Friday. I believe I picked up food from Venezia's and we watched some tube and played with some dogs.

Lucy has officially made the passage from interior-destroying outside dog to lazy inside dog. I don't know what Jamie did, but somehow in about three weeks' time, Lucy made the adjustment.

Saturday Jamie tried to get me up to go running, but was completely unsuccessful. Around 10:00 I took an hour-long walk around the new part of our neighborhood (which is nicer than my part), ate some lunch and went to see Poseidon. Look, to keep it short, it wasn't my favorite movie. Of course I did a review, and you can read it over at Nanostalgia.com.

Last night we headed for United Airways Center to see a pre-season WNBA match between the Phoenix Mercury and the Conneticut Sun. Hey, it was $10.00 per ticket for good seats, a Coke and a hot dog. All we paid for was a plate of nachos, which, apparently, the 90 year old lady at the concession stand took 10 minutes to "fix" herself.

I sort of dig the WNBA, mostly because seats are $10 a pop, but also because it's such a laid back atmosphere that winning or losing is sort of incidental. That, and... let me put it this way... if a bomb ever goes off at a WNBA game and the audience is wiped out, there will be nobody in the city of Phoenix to train dogs.

The Mercury doesn't have cheerleaders, but we do have something called the "Hip-Hop Squad" which is comprised of a Disney-esque team of insanely perky multi-ethnic folks, some of whom can dance. I mean, all of them can sort of dance, but only one or two actually seem to be able to dance in a way which people might find engaging. Many of the members look like elementary school teachers trying to dance. It's sort of the best/ worst thing I've seen in weeks.

I strongly suspect the Phoenix Mercury won't be taking home a national championship if this weekend's effort was any example of what Phoenix has to look forward to, but at $10-15 a ticket, I'll be back.


Anyhoo, Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's and children of Mom's.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Melbotis Mailbag: Emergency Edition

RHPT writes:

Dear Mel,

The Mysterious M has gathered her 8 closest friends from high school in Nashville this weekend, and four of them have made camp at our house (with 4 more arriving tomorrow as reinforcements). They have overrun the house - now with women's undergarments strewn around the house [and not in the good way] - and cornered me into the office with nothing but a laptop, internet connection, two cats, and left me without food or water. Please send help.


Dear Randy,

By the time we'd get to Tennessee it would be far too late. You're on the right track with the internet connection. Beware: You can't actually stay in the room the whole time or, by the end of the weekend, the stench will be unbearable .

My recommendation, take M's momentary distraction as your cue to hit your local comic shop. It will give you a chance to get out of the house and you can finally spend some quality time (and money) looking at comics without M worrying about when you're coming home.

I also suggest possibly hitting Best Buy and/ or your local record store.

If money is an issue, you say you have two cats. It's time to teach those cats to dance. Not only will it fill the time, you can also bid your guests a nice fairwell with a small dance number. Afterward, you go on the road with those dancing cats, Randy. You'll take the world by storm.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Melbotis Mailbag!

Yes, Leaguers, it's once again time for Melbotis Mailbag! The assembled might of League HQ is here to assist you in answering all of the questions which plague you.

Natalie writes:

Here's a question for your mailbag:

Do men identify with and/or aspire to be superheroes because of their innate desire to fix every problem they come across? Do you think a superhero that just listened to the problem and didn't jump right in with a solution or a fix would be considered a failure?

-Natalie, who contrary to indications pointing otherwise is not bitter and jaded. Yet.


Natalie, my dear, it sounds as if there's a subtext suggesting you're asking something completely different from the stated question, but since I'm not exactly clear on what that question is, I will take this on at face value.

This is a little boring, but I think the answer to your first questions is: Yes. Dudes would like to be able to resolve problems easily and efficiently. This is not just ridding the world of crime, but also changing a tire, mowing the lawn and making cheeseburgers. Thus, the pneumatic wrench, the powered lawn mower and the gas grill.

Moreover, I think a lot of people wish they had greater ability (ie: superhuman ability) to resolve problems they know they cannot solve as a flesh and blood mortal. Also, men like to wear tights. We don't talk about it much, but notice the pants on football players, the outfits on winter olympians and the speed suits on swimmers.

In answer to your second question, I think you have to draw a clearer picture of "listening", and when that might be appropriate. For example, Batman probably isn't going to want to take some share and care time with a guy about to stab someone 47 times in a dark alleyway. Iron Man isn't going to hang about listening to why Kang the Conqueror should get to rule all of history.

I do think that you'll find in Superman comics that The Man of Steel generally gives everybody an opportunity to put down their weapon and give up, or at least figure out what's going on in any situation before he starts slugging people. Superman knows who he is, and so does everyboy else, so you do get an opportunity for people to pause when he shows up to, say, foil a bank robbery.

Superheroes are a largely reactive bunch, not terribly proactive. I don't think they'd necessarily be considered a failure for trying to stop and think out a situation or learn the motivation of a perpetrator. I do think if you read most comics, the characters are either placed into a position where they MUST immediately react to a clear and obvious threat. Many a comic story has been written regarding a superhero walking into a situation throwing punches first and asking questions later, only to learn that they may have taken the wrong side.

Usually superhero teams will not just go running around slugging people, there usually is some discussion of appropriate plans of action with all viewpoints considered. For good examples of this, I suggest JLA and JSA comics.


The next question was submitted by Steanso, no doubt, to see what I would be willing to print. At the risk of any potential future employer deciding this post makes me unfit for employment, here we go.

Steanso writes:

Dear Melbotis,

Can you please explain the cause and the cure for the chafing, burning sensation that Jeff Wilson experiences in his crotch region whenever he participates in any extended outdoor activity? I have suggested that the sensation may be a biproduct of the hormones which the doctor has given him in anticipation of his gender reassignment surgery, but Jeff seems skeptical about this being at the root of his problem. For the good of Crackbass and of everyone who gets stuck watching him jiggle his junk, please help.

Steanso


Dear Lord.

Well, it was just a matter of time before the bi-curious antics of Steanso and CrackBass spilled over into LoM territory. I confess that neither my information nor the database at League HQ had any immediate answers. We do know that in the old west cowboys would use something called "crotch powder" to keep themselves from chafing from the hours and hours in the saddle. I assume this is merely talc.

My suggestion, do not let anything go to chance. You must assist CrackBass in applying liberal amounts of baby powder and/ or Gold Bond Powder to the offending region.

If that doesn't work, try some tough actin' Tinactin.

Remember, Steanso, only you can make a difference.



That's all for this evenings's mailbag! Keep those letters coming.
THE BEST THING EVER PUT TO VIDEO. EVER.

Do you like Spider-Man? And evil samurai? And the movie Desperado?

Because if you do, Leaguers, have I got some awesomeness for you, courtesy of Doug.

Go here.

Beware... when you come back, you will never be the same.
Some Interesting Tidbits

Justice League Heroes will be coming out soon. If you own a console and you do not buy this game, you are some sort of weirdo.

Here is a page where you can download the trailer.

You can even play The Flash, J'onn or Zatanna. Now that, Leaguers, is a Justice League game.

If I had to guess, they're going to be fighting the White Martians.


The final episode of JLU will air on Saturday night. I'll probably post more about this on Nanostalgia.com, but this show surpassed all expectations. Unfortunately, it's a lot more expensive to make a new cartoon than just buying some Japanese stuff. (Thank you, Cartoon Network, for Bobobobobo)


The Superman Homepage is reporting that a Superman documentary entitled "Look, Up in the Sky" will air on A&E in June. I will keep you all posted.


Comic Book Resources has it's 10th Anniversary. If you like comics, you should be visiting this site.


It's the 10th Anniversary of Kingdom Come, the groundbreaking work by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. This comic helped redefine the superhero comic for the last ten years. You can find echoes of this work in both Infinite Crisis and Civil War.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Melbotis's Bubble of Blechhhh

Last night after dinner and AI, Jamie asked me to look at Mel's incision where he had his surgery. I guess earlier in the day she'd had a look and it appeared he was getting some fluid build-up behind the scar.

I pulled up his shirt and a bubble the size of my fist was right behind the scar. Mel was happy as a clam and appeared not to notice.

Our vet was long closed so we rushed to the 24 hour clinic a few miles from the house. The place was run suspiciously like a people ER. The only difference being that they weren't worried about getting sued, I guess, because the nurse in triage looked at Mel's bubble and said, "I'm going to save you two hours of wait. Go home and put some hot wash cloths on the bubble for fifteen minutes. Do this twice tonight. Go see your vet first thing in the morning."

I have no idea what this was supposed to do, but we went home and put hot wash cloths on Mel's bubble. I made arrangements to miss work in the morning, made appropriate e-mails and checked on Mel who was, still, happy as a clam.

This morning he woke up and the bubble was slightly larger. I went for my run and at 8:05 I called the vet to get an appointment. We were to go in at 10:00.

I took my shower and got cleaned up, checking on Mel through the window to see how he was doing. He was pretty much standing in the yard happily wagging his tail.

Jamie came home from dialysis, scarfed down an Eggo and we were ready to roll. Mel came inside, and I immediately noticed his bubble was gone. He had a small rupture in his scar that was no longer bleeding, where, I assume, he scratched open the bubble or it just popped. Either way, he'd drained the darn thing.

We still drove him to the vet where they added some staples to his scar and told us that, apparently, what he'd had was "serum". I'm still not sure I'm buying their answer, but it's just bodily liquid that can form at a surgery site.

Bottom line, Mel is fine and I missed 3 hours of work. And somewhere in our yard is a puddle of Mel's blecchhh...
Infinite Posting

If you're wondering why things have been a little quiet lately, I've been working on some sort of rambling review of DC Comics' last few years worth of effort.

It's really, really long. I am sorry.

Still, I would feel remiss if I did not point to my post as both an explanation and excuse for why so little has been showing up at The League.

Go here to read about Infinite Crisis, etc...

Monday, May 08, 2006

52 Website

DC launches a new comic series, 52, this Wednesday. This series will be 52 issues in duration, released once a week, and covering 52 weeks in the life of the DCU.

A crazy idea, so we'll see if DC can pull it off.

To learn more, go to DC's new 52 website.

If you get a chance, look it up and explore. There's actually some pretty funny stuff in there if you've been following DC comics lately. Check out the "Dollers & Sense" story and "Ask Dr. Expert" for some really geeky stuff.
Suggested Reading:

TST has given me her permission to re-direct you to her site. She recently completed the 95th day of a 95 day eating disorder recovery program.

Her comments are honest and enlightening, and I highly recommend her blog as reading to all Leaguers.

Read here.


Melbotis Mailbag

Hey, ya'll... We have two very different letters sent in to the Melbotis Mailbag as well as a question from the Mellie Noms. I will still be digging back through the Mellies Noms to answer all of your questions.

Steven submitted this with his Nominations:

In the future, The League should not ________
Use vaguely Biblical and/or archaic, beautiful language to describe infertility or other personal ailments. It has had a searing effect upon my mind:
"Now, it's more or less public knowledge that Jamie's insides are a rocky place where my seed can find no purchase."

This sentence is both beautiful, cruel, and sad; it has etched itself into my mind.

I wish I could take credit for this one, Steven, but I can't. While somewhat accurate to describe our personal childless status, I lifted this from the opening of the Coen Bros. classic, "Raising Arizona" as H.I. McDonough realizes that his beautiful wife, Ed, is barren. Nobody has a talent for dialogue like the Coens. I believe the exact line was "At first we could not understand why this woman, who looked as fertile as the Tennessee valley, could not bear children. But the doctor explained that Ed's insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase."

I apologize for any discomfort.

As Steanso or CBG could tell you, "Raising Arizona" is just about one of my favorite movies of all time. If you haven't seen it in a while, I think you should watch it as soon as possible.


Doug writes:

Dear Melbotis,

Why doesn't the League have an ATOM feed? My other friends' blogspot blogs all have them. Is it a preference you have to enable? RSS and ATOM feeds are neat.

Sincerely,

Doug

Well, Doug, Mel has no idea what you're talking about, but he does ask "Am I a good boy?" The answer is, "Yes, you are a good boy!" to Mel's question. The answer to your question is more complicated.

I looked into an RSS feed a long time ago with the help of Steve G. Harms. It turns out Really Simple Symdication is a @#$%ing lie. The tools I looked at kept spitting me code that didn't seem to do anything. I would plug it in here, I would plug it in there, and nothing happened. Nothing. I couldn't figure out what was up, so I quit.

Also, I'm not really clear on what the point is of RSS. I sit in front of a computer all day for a living and I work in an online media environment, and I'm still a bit confused as to what RSS is supposed to be doing for me in general, let alone in relation to a blog. It seems a little bit self-important for The League to be blasting you guys to come read our latest navel-gazing hoo-hah.


Jim D. writes in with a comic related question.

Are really good stories that are told prior to a continuity reboot somehow tainted because they are no longer in the continuity?

What Jim is talking about is some serious comic-nerdy stuff, so I'll try to explain.

You can refer to my prior post on Continuity here for a primer on continuity in comics.

Every once in a while a comic will get stale, an idea worn thin, or become implausible or goofy as time marches on and the comic reading and writing populace becomes more sophisticated. (I use the word "sophisticated" with no small amount of reservation.)

Thusly, a company may decide to "reboot" a character. The most famous instances of such a reboot actually belong to the Big 3 at DC: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. In 1986, after a company wide event known as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were each assigned to top-shelf comic creators who were asked to re-tell their origin with a modern sensibility.

I'll stick with the Superman reboot as it probably had the most long-standing changes to the origin and character.

John Byrne re-told the story of Superman's origin in "Man of Steel", a 6-issue limited series that was then followed up with the appropriate changes in Superman, Adventures of Superman and Action Comics. Prior to Man of Steel, Superman had been a Super-powered youngster in Smallville who took on the name "Superboy", fought crime and natural disasters and generally had some nice adventures as a teen-ager in an idyllic Kansas small town. Whenever he felt like it, Superboy would join up with a gang of teen-age Superheroes in the 30th Century known as The Legion of Superheroes.

Also, the motivation for Lex Luthor's anti-Superman-scheming ways could be found in Superboy. Apparently Lex and Superboy had been pals, with Lex helping Superboy out as a child-genius scientist. Lex had a fire in his lab, and Superboy blew it out, spraying chemicals on Lex's head which caused her hair to fall out. Being a vain little goon, Lex decided Superboy was jealous of him and had caused the entire scenario to humiliate him.

Superboy had his own comics, appeared in Adventure Comics for years, and also was part of the cast of the fan-favorite Legion of Superheroes.

Byrne wished to look to the original version of Superman who had not, in 1938, spent time as Superboy, and struck Superboy from the record. Needless to say, Byrne removed the Lex hair removal bit from Superman's history. Lex was now a corporate tycoon who despised Superman for exposing some of his criminal activity and humiliating him (ie: arresting him) in public. Lex also went bald the year Superman appeared in Metropolis. I think the suggestion was that the stress got to him.

This decision to rework the Superman mythos forced the cancellation of Superboy comics as well as Legion of Superheroes. Legion would need to be rebooted as Superboy was no longer part of their lore. Further, Krypto was struck from existence as Krypto had been Superboy's pet pup on Krypton, and had appeared mainly in Silver-Age Superboy comics.

Are the stories from the first 50 years of DC/ National's history "tainted" by the decisions in 1986? I can't see how you can they aren't. After all, those stories no longer "exist" in the minds of the Superheroes wandering the DCU. Or, at least, they didn't until Infinite Crisis #4. So, God knows what the next 20 years will look like.

It's my opinion that the Crisis events were a small bit of genius on the part of the DC editorial staff. Continuity could continue, characters could advance, and it didn't necessarily throw the baby out with the bathwater in retelling the story of the DCU. But you also didn't need to worry about reading every issue of "Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen". In a way, in the DCU, it's ALL continuity. It just depends on which aspect of the universe you're looking at, be it the 1939 version of Superman or some version of him from the animated series.

I guess the question then is: Are the pre-reboot stories still enjoyable?

Again, this is my opinion, but: Yeah. I like reading the stories from the 1950's and 60's and being allowed to know that they're a product of their time and place. The stories can serve as a relic of a bygone era and still be strip-mined by today's creators for the best parts. Sure, the format is simple, and the stories geared at kids, but there's a bit of raw energy there and a puzzle-solving nuance that's all but gone from comics these days. (You couldn't show Superman beating the tar out of people in the 1950's thanks to threats from parents' groups, so he HAD to do something).

The fusion of past and present is exactly what's making Grant Morrison's "All-Star Superman" such an amazing comic read.

In the meantime, other comics such as re-boots of the Superboy concept and Legion of Superheroes have struggled endlessly since they were written out of existence. Something happened there that took the wind out of the sails of both concepts, and it's left both franchises gasping.

The Smallville TV show mixes the heroics of the Superboy comics with the costumeless alien coming to terms with a destiny that Byrne described. Legion of Superheroes has had, I believe, three separate launches since 1986. Most likely because Paul Levitz, who once wrote "definitive" Legion stories is now running DC. It will be interesting to see if folks regain interest in the Legion again with "Superboy and the Legion" coming to TV this fall on Cartoon Network.

In the end, you have to answer the question for yourself. How do you, as a reader, feel about these decades of pre-1986 DC comics? You can mine them for comics history or dismiss them as the past.

I do think the reason DC appeals more to an older readership than the teen-ager audience (who seem to enter comics invariably through Wolverine and Spidey) is due to an adult's sense of perspective and understanding of the importance of history. Marvel is getting there. In the past two or three years they've really learned to take a look at their roots and have made some hand-waving about their own "golden age".

I guess, as a rule, reboots do need to be kept to a minimum. It is difficult to keep up with character change after character change, as well as plot alterations, etc... The rules of continuity still apply. Editors need to show the greatest amount of foresight possible when re-writing the histories of their characters or you stand to lose your long-standing leadership all together.

Again to the Superman case: Superman's fan base was expected to grow with the reboot, but in the intervening years, that's not really happened. A lot of folks were put off by the drastic changes Byrne brought to the character. Despite Berganza's shaky record as an editor, he was willing to reintroduce elements of the Silver-Age of Krypton. I'll be curious to learn Superman's new status-quo in the upcoming year as Infinite Crisis once-again provides opportunities to alter the character's past to reset and look to the future.

On a personal note: I do buy collections of older comics. I do enjoy the stories. I highly recommend readers pick up what they can afford of the old stuff. Most of it doesn't show the same cinematic quality of modern comics, but the comics are also usually a lot denser in plot and generally a fun read.


That's it for today's Melbotis Mailbag. Don't forget to keep sending in those questions.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Comics, Summer of Superman and Rollerderby

Hey Leaguers!

Friday I finally got my hands on some of the toys being released with the upcoming film, Superman Returns. I got "Truck Lifting Superman", "Crystal Smashing Superman", "Bulletproof Superman", and "Zipping into the Air Superman". Pictures to come.

Anyhow, the toys got me all in a tizzy because they really are some fairly decent toys for a movie tie-in. And, man, do they class up the living room.

Saturday I got up around 7:00 and tried to break up my usual run/ walk/ lope/ frighten the neighbors routine by bringing Lucy along. What I learned is that Lucy is not a good running partner as she thinks it's a race. Sure, she's faster than me, but she just kept getting yanked around on the leash when she tried to pull forward. Deciding that I'd prfer not to wind up dragging a dead dog through the neighborhood, I slowed my pace to a walk and all was well.

I was doing some cleaning up of the Fortress of Nerditude when Dedman called.
"The League!"
"Yessir!"
"I've been to Free Comic Book Day! I got you a back issue of Superman versus Santa Claus!"
"Yokay!"
Well, I was, of course, deee-lighted that Jim D. was taking advantage of Free Comic Book Day at his local retailers, and I felt a bit down about my own decision NOT to partake in FCBD. You see, The League has a lot of comics. A LOT of comics, and picking up free comics doesn't hold a lot of appeal when you already have tons of comics, some of which are in a stack waiting to be read.
"Hey," I asked Jim, "Find me JSA #39. It's the only hole in my run on JSA."
He called back two minutes later. He'd found it. WHOO-HOOOO!!!!

So Jamie and I stepped out of the house to redeem a coupon for a free cat toy at PetsMart (we had to pick up dog food, anyway). While eating my mediocre salad at Chili's, I kept stewing over my decision NOT to go to FCBD.

Finally, en route to League HQ I turned to Jamie (who was driving) and asked "Can we go to Mesa?"
Jamie is the bestest wife ever. Most wives, as I understand it, somewhat tolerate their husbands' eccentricities. Jamie's willing to drive.
So we drove up to Mesa and after overshooting by, oh.... three miles, we turned back and made it to the Atomic Comics in Mesa where comics scribe Ed (Captain America) Brubaker and Michael (Gotham Central) Lark were participating in a signing. These two guys are now jointly working on Daredevil in the wake of the ground-breaking Bendis/ Maleev run, so I guess that's why they got pulled in together.

At any rate, there was a really long line when I came in, and I knew we had about a 50/50 chance of seeing the line and turning around and walking back out the door again. I sort of wandered around the comics, trying to figure out what the situation was, and quickly realized neither Lark nor Brubaker were in the store. I guess they'd taken lunch.

I grabbed a Daredevil and a back-issue of Gotham Central for them to sign, and finally asked a store employee what the deal was. "Is that the line for Lark and Brubaker?"
"No. They're on break. Those are people trying to get a sketch from (blah-blah-blah)."
"So where's the line for those guys?"
"There isn't one."
Okay, so in my head, the way Reedo or Steanso might spend some time worrying about meeting, say, Ween, I had been sweating it that meeting these two guys would be an insurmountable task. I turned to the girl checking me out at the counter and said "So, look... I've never been to a signing before. I don't know how this works. Is there a gratuity expected?"
"They don't want you to kiss up to them."
I paused, realizing this girl did not know what the word "gratuity" meant.
"You know," she continued, "They're just guys. Treat them like you would anybody else."
Well, The League has crippling social anxiety in non-work related environs, and so I just sort of shrugged and said "So I can be a complete jerk."
The girl was confused.
The guy pointed me to a sweaty guy in his forties (we're all seaty, it's AZ in the Springtime) and said "Go stand with him. I guess we'll start the line there."
So I stood with the sweaty guy, pretty excited to be second in "line", or "Blob" as I suspected it would become as it was not a great place to queue.
"So who's this 'Lark' guy?" Jamie asked. I pulled out the Gotham Central issue I'd bought and flipped through it, expalining to Jamie how, yes, it's a little retro, but Lark's work has a certain naturalism and how he really draws the best Batman of the past five years and blah, blah, blah...
Then this guy walks up to the blob of five of us and says "Are you looking to get your comic signed?"
"Yeah-" I'm about to tell him to get in line BEHIND me.
"Cool. I'm Michael Lark."
So, anyway, I guess Michael Lark heard my elevator speech on the virtues of his work. Which can't be all bad.
"So," I said, flipping through his original page art (I loved his 'Pulse' stuff and it was in there). "You're not actually from here?"
It turns out Lark is from Dallas and also, despite only being in PHX a short time, ALSO finds PHX butt-ugly and lame. Nice guy. Seriously. It was a little weird because, I mean, what am I going to do? Sit there and tell him how much he kicks ass? That just seemed a bit off.
Brubaker showed up and happily signed my comic, but it sounded like he'd an altercation with the store staff over dropping the F-Bomb in conversation with a fan.
Not really having anything to add to the conversation, I said my thank-you's, took my Daredevil and Gotham Central and scooted out.
I did, however, totally forget to grab any actual free comics.
What blew me away was that these guys are big in the comic industry. Especially Brubaker. I mean, Brubaker writes Cap and X-Men and stuff. At a Convention, he'd be huge. For some bizarro reason (and I choose not to question why) there was nobody in lien to see them, but there were like 20 teenagers in line with their moms waiting to get a sketch from (bla-bla-blah).

Last night we headed North to Casey at the Bat, a sports complex off Union Hills in Phoenix to see the Surly Girlies take on the Bad News Beaters. Sadly, my favorite player was not actually playing last night, but the Surly Girlies must have been putting in some serious overtime at practice because they looked great.

They played at an outdoor in-line rink which is usually used for some sort of in-line hockey, as near as I could tell. It was open air and pretty darn nice. Lots of people, most of which were Surly Girly fans, batting cages and some sort of miniature golf course.

Hippie's Revenge (#069) was probably the star of the evening, but Denise Lightning (#23) and Kiddah Kilah (#17) stepped up as well.

I think I did have a moment of clarity as one of the Beaters went down and the announcer had us all applaud her as she left the track. "Let's all hear it for 'Chesty Molesty'!" And two hundred people applauded wildly.

Perhaps due to the open air envirnoment, the crowd was pretty sedate. Music was provided by The Route 66 Killers who were a step above the last group to play and brought their own belly dancer to perform along with them. For good or ill, the dancer wore an ape mask, which I think Jamie found a bit distressting.

Lots of kids show up for these events, and so it was kind of fun to see five or six boys and girls dancing to some surf punk along with ape-dancer.

Anyhow, the Surly Girlies demolished the Beaters. The final score was 174-144, but I suspect the Surly Girlies gave up some points in the 3rd period, or else they finally got tired. Of course, with the way the clock was off and the score board seemed to change just randomly from time to time, who knows?

The announcers, looking to get some crowd involvement, did take time out to annoucne the final score of the Lakers/ Suns game (which, sadly, I already knew thanks to my Blackberry).

Oh, and Justice League Unlimited kicked-ass.

All in all, a good Saturday.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

CBG PGRS

According to her own website, my old roommate and film school collaborator CBG is now great with child. Well, not "great" quite yet, but she's knocked up.

You can read CBG's account here.

You need to see the picture. The little critter looks so much like CBG, it's adorable.

Soon the world will be populated with a walking, talking CBG DNA replicant. Are we ready? Apparently the Bush White House is putting a plan into place. Expect word from Chertoff to be released this afternoon.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Infinite Crisis #7

The final issue of Infinite Crisis hit the stands yesterday. A lot of people aren't going to like this comic. A lot of people aren't going to like this series.

The League is not to be counted among these people.

The wrap-up to the biggest event at DC in 20 years was an absolutely mammoth undertaking, and, as such, it's sheer size and scope gives readers plenty of places to find problems. Did the story deliver? That's up to every individual reader to decide.

In the end, the series did what it set out to do, and that's to reset the DCU for the next twenty years of publishing history. Whether or not you liked how they got to that point is personal taste.

Jim was looking for my review, and I'll give it ASAP over at Nanostalgia.com as soon as time permits. For now I have comics to read. Tomorrow night I have a Cubs/ D-Backs game to attend, so we'll see when I can get to my full, navel-gazing review.

Next week 52 begins. I highly suggest picking up the first issue.

Oh, and get this...

So tonight I was sort of reading comics, sort of watching the Cavs game. If you watched, you know this game came right down to the wire. With three seconds left in OT, my DVR switched channels on me to start recording "Mythbusters". Why? ABC can't set their @#$%ing schedule for "Lost" to 8-9 like the rest of the world. "Lost" is apparently so special it runs from 8:02 - 9:02. So my DVR can onlyhandle two channels at the same time, and for two minutes I was scrambling with the remote and I missed the end of the game.

Screw you, ABC, for not just broadcasting at 8:00- 9:00 like the rest of the civilized world.
Maintenance

I've been trying to finally add Leaguers to the blogroll, so please check it out to see if I missed any suggestions from the Mellies, or if one of you Leaguers has a blog or website I haven't added. I'll also add organizations, etc...

I've also updated the poll on the left menu bar.

And, if you haven't seen it yet, I've linked to the new Superman Returns trailer. Scroll down a bit. It's there.
Poll Position

Say "so long" to the old poll and welcome in a new Poll.



Thanks to our three pirates for chiming on this go round!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

SUPERMAN RETURNS TRAILER NOW ONLINE

Go here. or here for different bandwidth, etc...

Thanks to SupermanHomepage for alerting SuperFans everywhere.

btw... in true comic-movie form, looks like the villain steals the show once again...

I think they're still saving the big guns for the actual movie, but even if not, this looks like the Superman movie I would want to see.

***update***

Nathan was the first one to send me the link via e-mail. Bonus points to Nathan for his Loyal Leaguerness

I was going to hold off, but, heck, why not...

I declare it is now officially

(taa-daaahhh!!!)

THE SUMMER OF SUPERMAN

Here's an April article from the local student paper on AZRD.

read here

Monday, May 01, 2006

Free Comic Book Day

Hey, Leaguers... I would feel as if I were slacking in my crusade if I did not mention that this coming Saturday (May 6) is Free Comic Book Day.

FCBD is an annual event in the comic industry wherein publishers print up free copies of some great comics. The idea is to drum up interest in potential new readers and get current readers to check out titles they aren't sure they want to spend money on just to test the waters.

I can't guarantee what FCBD will look like at your local comic shop. I've seen some stores that did it up right for long-time readers and folks who came in to see what the big banner was for (Austin Books), I've seen some shops that are mostly interested in the new customers that the comics might draw (Atomic Comics), and I've seen some stores that didn't seem to understand the concept in the slightest (my very own local comic shop).

If you're in the Austin area, I highly recommend dropping into Austin Books (on Lamar) or Funny Papers (in Dobie Mall). In Houston, I recommend checking out any of the Bedrock City locations.

Comics which should be available will include titles for both adults and the kids. It looks like Gemstone is going to have some of their great Donald Duck comics available, so look for those. (I picked up "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" the other day. Good stuff. Seriously!)

Parents, this is your only wanring: comics are like movies, so do not expect for all content to be G-rated silliness. There's all kinds of stuff in those things and they don't have much of a ratings system. So take a look at what your kid is holding in his or her hand before letting them take anything home. Don't be a loser who decides to sue because you can't take two minutes to monitor what your kids are reading.

I just noticed some of the local shops in Phoenix will have some of my favorite writers and artists for signings, so Jamie may have to deal with me standing in line for hours on end to get Steve Dillon to sign my copy of Preacher #1 at Atomic Comics. Not to mention Michael Lark and Ed Brubaker will be at the Atomic Comics in Phoenix.

Man, these stores ARE doing it up right.
RANDOM COMMENTS APRIL 2 - May 1

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Some quick updates

For The Admiral... Here is further information on Marvel's new event, Civil War.

I've done some reviews of DC comics from last week over at Nanostalgia.com.

And, we left Lucy inside today while we went bowling and to the store.

I bowled a high of 142 and a low of 98. Jamie's high was a 136, and her low in the mid-90's. My low score is up for debate as on the fourth frame I missed the 8 and 10 pin, but the machine registered the bowl as a strike. Unsure of how to fix the computer error (and not really inclined to collect my imaginary strike) I got something lower. But who knows? Maybe I would have gotten a spare? I think God wanted me to have a strike, is what I think.

By the way, the Chandler AMF Lanes has the BEST musical selection of all time. I hadn't heard that much crappy nu-country in one span of time since leaving Texas.

Yes, we'd never before left Lucy to just roam the house while we were gone, but it's summer, she's a big girl, and I'm not going to stick her in her kennel anymore every time we leave. Apparently the separation anxiety was a bit much for her. When we got home, right by the back door, she'd barfed up all the grass she'd eaten in the backyard (she eats grass all the time). It was so sad, and so very, very gross.

I felt awful for the little squirt. She must have been so scared. Luckily, she and Jeff had managed not to kill each other.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Catching Up with The League

Melbotis's post-op recovery goes apace. He has a big square shaved into his side, about 7" x 7", and his big old scar and stitches sit in the middle. We can't really bandage him, but in an effort to keep him clean, we've asked Mel to put on a shirt. Now he looks like a little man.


Yes, next to The League, everything looks a little smaller.


The League is shocked to learn Mel prefers Marvel to DC


Here is the plate of brownies Jamie made for me on my birthday. I forgot to post this after my birthday.




















Anniversary

As last evening was our anniversary, Jamie and I went to Primo, this odd little italian restaurant a few miles from us. The place is in a strip shopping center near a Taco Bell and a bagel shop, but it has decided that a mediocre location and an oddly spartan interior are no reason they can't have really darn good food. For some reason, probably the white tablecloths and waitstaff in white-shirt and tie, most of the patrons have decided that you have to dress up a bit to go to Primo.

Part of that pressure may also come from the fact that 80% of their patrons are from Sun City (the 50 and over community south of us), and this is their big night out for the week. So, heck yeah, these folks put on something a little snazzy. That, of course, isn't the norm in Arizona. Most places are more like Chili's, where if you have a diaper and scuba fins on, you can get a table.

Some people show up in their t-shirts and shorts, look around for a beat, then head to Taco Bell.

Others don't seem to notice, and Ziggy (the owner) doesn't really have a real dress code. If he did, the first time we showed up in t-shirts and shorts, we never would have made it in the door. What I always wonder is what the families like this do when they sit down and see the menu is not pizza, grinders and spaghetti out of a can. They don't ever get up and leave, so they must be figuring something out.

Anyway, Jamie has a new dress she got for her birthday, so she wore it to dinner. She looked lovely. I looked awful. And as I had to come home early to jump-start Jamie's car, I never even got a chance to get her anniversary flowers.

Ah, well. There's always next year.


Speed Skating and Balloons

As some of you may know, Chad Hedrick won the gold medal in Olympic Speed Skating a few months back. He's originally from the same general area of Houston where The League went to high school and where The Admiral and The KareBear still dwell.

Chad's aunt teaches at the same school where The KareBear works, and for some time they've been trying to get Chad to pop in and give a "follow your dreams" speech.

Unfortunately for poor Chad, he also works out occasionally at the gym where the KareBear chisels herself into a menacing teaching machine and guilt dispenser. Now, the KareBear is in awe of Olympians and all that, but she's also mostly interested in her class of kids and getting them inspired. So, The KareBear, not sure what this term "boundaries" means, apparently bugged Chad at the gym (using her patented guilting technique that has never quit working on The League) until he came to Kaiser Elementary and gave his "chase your dreams" speech.

Way to go, KareBear.

Oh, and apparently my Mom's school put her up in a hot air ballon yesterday. So now she wants to take Jamie up in a hot air balloon. Not sure what that's all about.


NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is upon us. The League was delighted, but not surprised, that Vince Young was in the top five picks. We're even more excited that he went to The Titans. That's a good spot for him to grow, as long as McNair hangs around to make sure VY keeps his head screwed on straight.

Reggie Bush went a surprising second. Some guy I'd barely heard of went first, with the Texans picking Mario Williams out of NCState. Reggie will be playing for The Saints. Let us all hope Reggie makes wiser decisions that Ricki.

Matt "I Look Like a Future 'The Bachelor' Contestant" Leinart wound up in AZ, which is probably great news for Leinart. Leinart, no doubt, is completely unaware that folks in Phoenix pay more attention to USC football than UA or ASU football. This guy is going to have a massive built-in fan base the second his feet hit the turf at the new Cardinals stadium in Glendale.

I didn't even know Huff had entered the draft from Texas, so I was excited to see him go to Oakland (before Leinart).

I'm glad all the debate and speculation can end. The NFL draft is necessary, but it's very boring television (I'd never watched before). Most puzzling is all the hooplah over a bunch of players who have as of yet to prove any of their NFL mettle. Even in the "remember the time..." clips they were using to fill space in the show, there's Berman, ugly and moronic as ever, talking about a bunch of players who showed up in the NFL and pretty much fizzled.

If anything, the draft is popular simply because it gives the NFL a chance to be seen on TV when they won't really be doing anything again until August.


Basketball

Speaking of sports and fizzling, my Phoenix Suns are looking like maybe they aren't a play-offs made team this year, losing two of three to the Lakers. Or, more accurately, to Kobe. It's just painful and I can't watch.

The Suns just look off, like everybody but Nash thinks they don't belong there. Meanwhile, the Lakers look brisk and confident.

Oh, and the Cavs squeaked one out last night, thus extending their stay in the paly-offs that much longer.


Baseball

This week The League has two big events lined up. On Thursday we have tickets with pretty good seats to go see the Arizona Diamondbacks meet up with the Cubbies. As The League has as of yet to see a team he's cheering for win a baseball game (could be something to do with seeing mid-90's 'Stros and then The Cubbies) I've decided to cheer for the D-Backs in hopes that the Cubbies win.

I'm trying to learn the names of the different D-Backs pitchers, but we haven't been watching enough and I don't know enough about baseball.


Rollerderby

Our other big scheduled event for this week is to toddle north to see the AZRD bout between the Surly Girlies and the Bad News Beaters. I'll be cheering on the Surly Girlies. But mostly I'll be cheering on Brickhouse.

Exit

Hope you guys are having a good weekend. I'm off to read some comics.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Melbotis Post-Op Update

Mel is doing well, though he's moving a little slow.

Last night Mel wanted to be with the peoples, but he was still sort of doped up. We tried numerous times to get Mel to go to sleep on his blanket in the bedroom, but he would then follow us back into the living room a few minutes later.

He was much peppier this morning, but he's still moving a bit slow. Lucy seems to know to leave him alone, so we're doing okay.
6th Wedding Anniversary

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Melbotis Update

Hey all - Mrs. League here. Melbotis has had a hard week, so I thought I'd share.

Last December when Mel had his yearly check-up, we asked the vet to feel a lump in his side. The doc said not to worry, it was probably a clump of fat cells, but to keep an eye on it. Early this week as I was giving Melly his nightly brushing, I noticed the lump was substantially larger. To be on the safe side, I took him to the vet again yesterday and much to my relief the biopsy showed only fat cells. However, the doc recommended that he have surgery to remove the lump so today Melly went under the knife.

The vet's office just called and said (while laughing because Mel was licking her) he was doing great! We will bring him home tonight and now he will just have to be tortured with the 10 days of ear medicine he got for his ear infections. It's dog ear medicine all around at League HQ - Lucy has an infection, too. Maybe I should give Jeff the Cat some medicine, too, just to be on the safe side...

On the whole, Mel is doing much better than he was before Lucy entered the picture. He has more energy and takes walkies with Lucy almost every night. At one time he weighed in at 122, but as of yesterday was 104! I'm very proud of him (League, you need to update the side panel with his new weight).

We love you, Melly!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Melbotis Mailbag: The League's Comic Book Continuity Manifesto

D. Loyd included this question in his Mellie Noms:

Why does the League obsess about Continuity in the DC world?

Good question, D.

For those of you who do not read comic books, comics work a LOT like soap operas. The Spider-Man comics that are released today under the name "The Amazing Spider-Man" follow the adventures of the same Peter Parker kids fell in love with in 1963. From a certain perspective, it's all been one long, continuous story for more than forty years. For good or ill, it's also been a story told by a long list of writers, editors and artists.

There are also multiple Spider-Man comics, and some have come and gone over the years, but Spidey usually has two comics going on at any time. This is usually where new readers notice continuity problems as it's tough to figure out when the events in Amazing Spider-Man are taking place versus the events in Spectacular Spider-Man.

Just to get complicated, Spidey lives in a world populated by a wide array of heroes, which means he may also appear in other comics. He might guest star in Captain America, which means that, from a reader's perspective, in six months Spidey needs to remember who Cap is and what events took place over in Cap's title.

It's supposed to be the job of the editor to make sure that there are no oversights in continuity. One of the great joys of comics is the history that surrounds the major comics and characters. The characters don't forget what's come before. They do refer to prior events, and they discuss them from time to time (or give you the necessary exposition in a thought-bubble). As a kid I first learned the names of the editors at Marvel as the editors would add an asterisk and a small box to a panel that contained dicussion of prior events. Spidey might say "Last time I fought Doc Ock I threw a brick at him.*" And then the editor would have a little pane that said "* in issue #187 -Exposition Lovin' Ralph".

As a reader, you wanted to know what was going on that made Spidey throw a brick at Doc Ock. So off you'd go to find a back issue at your local comic shop. The real point, of course, was to let you know when and how events occured. I learned about the entire storylines for Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past in this manner before ever reading the stories.

Marvel also wisely had instituted a policy that said "assume every comic is the first comic that somebody ever picked up". I think the policy has been abandoned under Quesada for a while, but may be on the comeback. What the policy meant for editors was that any issue of a new comic might contain lots of those little asterisks. It also meant characters called each other by name a little too often, and they spent more time than a DragonBall Z character explaining their powers. They might also spend a lot of time thinking about the meaning of a fight during the middle of a fight.

As a kid, to me, that meant I was discovering a whole new world which had a rich history, where actions had consequence and meaning, and that these imaginary worlds were a heck of a lot more interesting than Pencewood Drive.

My point here is that the editors may have made the wrong decision when it comes to new readership. I'd heard that a lot of the old Marvel practices had been scrapped because continuity was too burdensome to new readers. To a potential casual reader, sure. But to the little geeks just discovering comics, scrapping continuity and references to the past means there's nothing behind the latest issue. No continuity means that there's no world to discover and appreciate, and that each issue is as disposable as the last episode of Power Rangers. Continuity and editorial control of continuity put a challenge to new readers, one that is not impossible, and one that's enjoyable to overcome as they dig out the lore and missing pieces that make up the comic they hold in their hand.

As an adult reader who knows his way around the Marvel and DCU fairly well, the need to continue to learn more and more about comics hasn't really gone away. I'm constantly learning new things about the comic publishing industry, about the folks behind the comics, the kinds of stories that were told, etc... and I still unearth new tidbits about the characters that make up the roster of the DCU. That's the fuel that sets the fire of the historian side of my comic geekiness.

To more directly answer D. Loyd's question of why I care about Continuity at age 31: What is the point of reading a story if any impact will be immediately erased by the whims of the next creative team?

I'm going to use character death repeatedly as an example, partly because the death of a character is a definite terminal point in any narrative, partly because it's terribly abused in comics, and partly because it's a lot less picky than some geeky things I could point out.

If I read a well-written story in which, say, The Flash kills the Trickster, and part of that story is that everyone knows The Flash killed The Trickster, (a) it's not going to make sense when the Trickster pops up again four months from now because "Brave and the Bold wants" to use The Trickster and, last I checked, he was dead. (b) If other characters are aware that The Flash is capable of murder, wouldn't they treat him with the proper caution? If never refer to those events again, doesn't that leave sort of a gap? (c) What did Flash learn from his experience? If Trickster never died, than we assume Flash never learned that lesson. (d) if Flash mentions the death in his own comics, and, so, say, as promise to never kill again, the Flash starts wearing yellow trunks... it won't make sense if he's wearing trunks when he comes up the Trickster again in two years becasue he was aline in "The Brave and the Bold".

Yes, these things happen.

Now multiply that by dozens of comics coming out every month, twelve months a year. It's a daunting task for an editor to keep up with, but the fans of the comics can do it, and they're spending money, not earning it.

Comics have enough problems with logic and time compression. In spite of those short fallings, what they can provide is a continuous story in which the characters grow and learn lessons, just as characters on a television program can grow and learn lessons. While some mistakes and changes are inevitable (and some, may, in fact, improve the overall logic of the comic) blatant disregard for the events of a story which many or most readers know shows a lack of respect for long time readers who have been the ones to support a title.

Similar to a television program which has multiple seasons, fans would not tolerate, say, a dead character reappearing without explanation when a new season debuts. I do not want to see movie sequels in which dead characters suddenly return to life because the writers decided they liked a death scene in the original, but they really wanted that guy, after all. (How would Godfather II have been if Sonny had just pulled up to the lake house with no explanation?). I don't want to read a book where characters are impossible to track and suddenly walk into a room when we believe they're on a boat somewhere in the Pacific. I want comics to show the same, basic respect for my intelligence.

It is true that many creative teams do find themselves painted into a corner by the work of previous creative teams. I don't find this to necessarily mean that the previous work should simply be ignored. Writers like Geoff Johns have shown heroic efforts in streamlining continuities, finding ways for apparent continuity flaws to co-exist, and basically writing to the situation rather than pretending like it never happened.

It is, in my opinion, the editor and writer's job to ensure continuity remains intact in mainline comic books. Action Comics should not contradict itself as team after team is inevitably replaced. If the writers and editors wish to tell a story which contradicts continuity, the story should be strong enough to carry itself as a one-shot or limited series. Otherwise, it is the writer's duty to find the logic in altering the continuity one way or another in their story-telling.

The popular stance four years ago was that continuity was for saps and that it damaged the industry. What the writers were publically stating was that they were being given writing jobs based upon success elsewhere, and they didn't have the appropriate knowledge to complete the job they'd been recruited to do. And, of course, they couldn't be bothered to spend a few hours reading comics to see what was going on with a title before they took it over.

What DC has managed to prove since Identity Crisis is that continuity does matter. Readers will tend to pick up additional comics if they are somehow tied together. Readers will tend to stick with a title if they don't feel abandoned by the editors. And you can explain and fix all of your continuity problems with a Crisis when things get out of hand.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Some amusing links at Nanostalgia.com

Here is my review of Ultimate Avengers: The Movie

Here are some thoughts on the all-new trailer for Flight 93.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Radio Silence

The League apologizes for the lack of posting.

Thursday morning I met with my doctor and I said "Well, I need to lose some weight. I was hoping to come up with some sort of dietary plan and maybe an exercise plan."

Dr. Chang does not suffer fools, and made it pretty clear that my getting in shape was not his responsibility, it was my own. Apparently he's quite sick of people asking how he can help people get in shape, but at the end of the day, he can't really help people eat less and exercise. "Everything else in this world," he told me "you can pay somebody else to do it for you. I can pay someone to clean my house or wash my car. I can't pay someone to work out for me. I can't pay someone to eat less."
Anyway, we had a long discussion about how my lazy caveman brain didn't want for me to work out because it wanted to store energy for fight-or-flight moments, but since I'm not routinely being attacked by wild beasts, I needed to show some will-power.
Schedule? Schedules are for losers. Every day. I must go out and exercise every day. None of this every-other-day crap. Not after work, either. After work there are excuses and things to do and distractions. So with the sad knowledge that I must now go to bed earlier, I am getting up in the dark (which in AZ in Spring is pretty early), patting Mel on the head, and putting on my sneakers.
What should I do for an exercise? I asked. Run. It's cheap and you don't need equipment or a place to go to do it. No gym membership. No trainer. Just move your fat ass faster than normal and try not to have a heart-attack.
"This is the United States," Dr. Chang advised me, "If you drop dead, they'll resucitate you."
So I'm running.
Not well, mind you. The first day I kept waiting for Thursday night's dinner to come back at me. My knees were killing me and I felt generally beat up all day on Saturday.
So I'm trying running. I've no technique and I'm mixing stretches of running with stretches of walking until I'm positive I won't vomit. And I'm only on day 4, so give me a @#$%ing break.

Memories of 8th grade keep coming back to me, when I took athleticism as a point of pride. I wasn't any track star, but I had one of the top 1/3rd times in the mile on the football team (and I was a lineman). I could run two miles and get sweaty, but not tired. Muscles and joints didn't hurt. And you never cared if people were watching you run because you might look funny.

Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

Sunday Jamie and I met up for lunch with Tami Nelson. Tami and I have orbited one another since high school, then in college, then out of college, and somehow we continue to bump into one another and occasionally keep in touch.

Tami is my token Katrina victim. She left Austin 5 or more years ago for the promise of adventure in New Orleans. Long enough, anyway, for it to become home. She evacuated herself and her world-famous cat, Tom Proctor, prior to the storm, going back to Spring for what she believed was a long weekend. She's now in Austin, and there's a story there, but it's Tami's and I don't really feel like I'm the one to share the story second-hand.

While in New Orleans Tami had become involved in improvisational comedy. The remarkable part of her story is that her troupe, scattered to the four winds in the evacuation, found one another and regrouped in Austin. They renamed themself and are now performing a mixed bag of local Austin shows and travelling to improv festivals, apparently stronger now than prior to the hurricane.

Anyhoo, it's always great to see someone out here in the Valley of the Sun. Bits and pieces of your former life do occasionally wash up on shore, and it's always interesting to see "how much did we change? Or did we change at all?"

Tami has an interesting opportunity, and if it materializes the way it sounds like it might, I'll let you cats know. Folks in Texas might be particularly interested.

Also, if you are in Austin, look for performances by ColdTowne.