RIP Dave Stevens

I've just seen a report that Rocketeer creator, Dave Stevens, has passed after a long battle with leukemia.



Most people will know Stevens through the movie adaptation of his creation, The Rocketeer, rather than through his phenomenal artwork. Unfortunately, its been a while since The Rocketeer has seen print.

A few months ago I picked up The Rocketeer on DVD, and wondered why I didn't own any of the comics. I noticed Stevens' website didn't seem as if it was receiving maintenance. But it was a nice reminder of the quality of Stevens' good girl art and realistic, if romantic, style of rendering. Unfortunately, it provided no clues as to further printings of The Rocketeer, nor did it suggest anything about his Stevens' health. In short, I had assumed Stevens had moved on in the art world, and was not aware of any health issues.

It would be a nice move for Image or Darkhorse to ensure that Stevens' work saw print again in order to preserve his memory and legacy.

New Frontier Contest-o-rama!

Hey, Leaguers!

The contest for winning a copy of the DCU Animated Movie "Justice League: New Frontier" has drawn to a close.

I appreciate everyone who entered, except for Jason, who chose to go middle-school on me. Also, he is wrong.




Jamie - Martian Manhunter
This may surprise you as I have never before disclosed this information, but my favorite Justice Leaguer is Martian Manhunter. The guy has some awesome powers comparable to Superman, yet I believe he is underrated. His plight as an outsider, too, is compelling and sympathetic.

JAL - Green Lantern
Member of the JLA I'd most like to be, and thus, my favorite: Green Lantern, badass costume and not a jerk, as far as I know. One accomplished dude before his superpowers, so he doesn't have some inferiority complex when it comes to Superman, again, as far as I know.

Bunny Box - Batman
my baby loves Batman cos he's intelligent, fit and a natural leader of the group. Plus, he's just a normal human being with lots of cool gadget. All that makes him try to improve himself daily.

Jason - Batman
My name is Jason Steans, and Batman is my favorite Leaguer, mostly because he's not wimpy and gay like Superman.

Michael - Flash
I'm never too proud to sign up for a free giveaway. Put my name in batman's cowl when March 7th rolls around.

As to my favorite league member... That is difficult, but as to the core members I must go with Flash.

Flash embodies what I like in a superhero. Carefree, powerful, nimble, capable and clever. Consider my Marvel favorites, Nightcrawler and Longshot, and it becomes clear that I like the guy who knows how to laugh, the conscience of the group, the one who has to remind everyone that, yes, we must stop Darkseid, but let us get to video games afterward.

simon macdonald - Batman
My favorite Leaguer has to be Batman. Anytime you face global threats with bat-a-rangs, intellect and peak condition as your only super powers, you're all right by me.

theresa n. - Batman
Batman is my favorite too. I even named my cat after him "Batman".

Edit update: The League makes a mistake
I forgot to include RHPT's entry.

RHPT - Booster Gold
My favorite Justice Leaguer is Booster Gold (does he count?). I like him because, if I had the power to travel back in time, I would use it to profit - and certainly not fight evil. Plus, he's got a robot sidekick.

And time travel is cool.

RHPT will receive a special bonus prize as he was overlooked when I made my entries for the drawing.





THE WINNER!!!


I literally put the names in my cowboy hat and stirred them around.

and I am proud to announce that the winner is...
Simon Mac Donald!

Simon, you can claim your prize either by booking a flight to Austin and swinging by my house, or...

Look over there on the left and click where it says "View my complete profile".
And then look under the Contact section where it says "Email".

Send me your e-mail and where you'd like the DVD sent.

New Frontier: One Last Chance

We were so busy over the weekend, I more or less forgot about the New Frontier DVD contest. My amnesia is your opportunity.

If you'd like to submit an entry to the DVD give away for "Justice League: New Frontier", try to submit an entry before 7:00PM CST, March 10th. I'll be coming up with my random drawing technique this evening and making an announcement ASAP.

In order to submit and entry, contact me via e-mail or comments section. If you want to double your chances, let me know the identity of your favorite Justice Leaguer, along with a sentence or two as to why.

It doesn't need to be fancy.

League weekend

Hey ya'll

This weekend was surprisingly busy. And it doesn't look like things are going to slow down any time soon.

Friday night we went to Juan "Beta Juan" Garcia's birthday get-to-together at the Flying Saucer. Basically like a less-dark Gingerman, and apparently part of a chain, it's located in the nuevo-hipster locale of the Triangle, just north of 45th street on Lamar (just before Austin Books).

Saturday we jumped out of bed and straightened some for the somewhat surprise arrival of Doug. Wednesday or so Doug decided to come to town, so... come to town he did. Saturday we hung out with Doug, went to Rudy's BBQ, and then I gave in to my allergy attack and passed out for an hour or so.

Saturday night was Mandy's Fiesta. Honestly, I was expecting decent food, but the food was really, really good. Add in seeing all kinds of folks, from Kraber to JenShaw, and it was a nice night.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with RiffTrax, but it's a web project by the former MST3K guys. Anyhow, Doug and some of his friends had submitted to part of a fan-competition to submit jokes for 1997's "Batman and Robin". Which is, maybe, the worst movie ever. It's... Anyway, Doug & Pals gota few jokes in. And while I enjoyed watching what of the movie I caught with he and Jamie... man... that's just not a good movie.

Today we got up, fed Doug, took him to the airport, and Jamie got pulled over by a cop. Of course, cops look at Jamie and refuse to actually ever ticket her lest she burst into tears. And NOBODY wants Jamie to cry. So, Jamie once again got a warning.

That's not really fair. Jamie rarely gets pulled over, and today was kind of a fluke. But, again, she never gets a ticket.

This evening Leaguer Nathan C. is in town for SXSW, so he's staying at our house for two nights. Its great to see him again.

Anyhow, I'm tired and am off to bed.

Howdy, AC!

So yesterday after work I hit my local comic shoppe, Funny Papers. I have a fairly standard routine when I go down there.

Park outside in 15 minute parking
Run in
Walk past the Marvel comics to see comics marked "New this week" for anything interesting
Same for DC
Get my comics from behind teh desk where they've been "pulled" for me for the week
Check against the new comics of the week to see if I missed anything
Check the Virgin Comics and Indie comics for possibilities
Check out

Yesterday, however, they had a discount table set up. Apparently they're clearing inventory of overstocked items, items that never moved, etc... And it was 99% stuff I'd already decided against at some other point in my life.

I was rifling through the discount pile when a gentleman addressed me and said "You're that Melbotis guy."
Indeed.

Anyhow, it turns out he's a bit of a lurker on the site (though he was one of the folks who checked in on my "Say Howdy" reader inventory post). AC seemed like a nice guy, but, honestly, I was so baffled by being recognized from the site that I was possibly not as conversational as I might otheerwise have been. So, apologies, AC.

He recognized me, btw, from the photo at the Olive Garden. A was not, however, making that same face when looking at the comics. I think.

I've only had a single instance before of being recognized from the Blog, and that was Austin Books shopkeep Brad Bankston knowing me by the pile of 70's era Superman comics I was buying at their back issue bananza this summer. But we'd also exchanged a few e-mails on a topic, and he'd had reason to swing by LoM, if you recall.

The internet is a funny thing. It seems that the ripple effects of keeping up the blog continue to surprise me. After all, its how I've met many of the readers, and kept up with many folks with whom I don't chat as often as I'd like. It's led, indirectly, to employment for one Leaguer. It's meant trips to the BMT, stacks of comics from folk's old collections.

Sitemeter is great, and so is Google Analytics. But I've always appreciated the conversations that pop up in the comments, the e-mails, and feeling of our own little clubhouse we've managed to build, first and foremost. You might recall that I used to put up a monthly free-form comments section. That was mostly to give readers a sandbox. I've thought about doing it again since, but... you know, I'm not sure what I'd do. And I wouldn't want to have to police it. So there you are.

So, thanks, ya'll. It's no fun to post just for myself.

And thanks, AC, for saying "howdy" when you caught me at the discount table, wondering why they had so many copies of Marvel's "Bring on the Bad Guys" collection from about a decade ago. I hope we'll be able to run into each other again.

And don't be a stranger. Feel free to drop in and comment any time. We'll be expecting you at the LudiChristmas 2008 Party.

Say Howdy

hey Leaguers and non-Leaguers alike!

I'm looking to see who the heck is still reading. If you pop by the site over the next few days, please leave a comment, even anonymously.

Thanks,

The Mgmt. (The League)

Watchmen: Now younger and sexier!

Here's a link to the official Watchmen movie site.

Pretty clearly, the producers and director decided that audiences were not going to come out for a middle-aged, paunchy Night-Owl, or a past-her-prime Silk Spectre.

Which kind of leaves me scratching my head. I'm not really sure what to make of the pics from this site, but if Ozymandias isn't old enough to ponder his legacy, then what's the point, really?

Yes, younger heroes will bring in the kiddies, but that was never really the point of Watchmen, was it? I am increasingly skeptical. V for Vendetta looked right, too, but missed the mark. And, perhaps because it came so close and then missed, it was all the more disappointing. Watchmen looks like more of the same.