One!

Clean Sweep!

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness" they say.

April is here and it's time to clean out the closets. Over the past several months I've had some very specific themes which resulted in some material being kicked down the road. Several pieces, reviews and whatnot, have been delayed several times now as space on any given day was soaked up by something more immediate or more germane.

But I've learned that situation only gets worse if you don't deal with it, and so this month I've dedicated myself to making sure everything resting in the recesses of the Dojo's dimmest corners gets dusted off and presented (or deleted). So look for a hodge-podge of the strange and peculiar. No big themes, only a bunch of stuff.

In the "Favorite Cover" section look for a month-long tribute to the late and great Paul Ryan, an artist who passed away last month much too young. His work was an oasis of high quality in the 1990's, a decade when awful comic artwork was far too common.

And now for some comic book covers that really suck!

No fooling around! See you later.

Rip Off

The Day Of The Beak!

Turkey is the order of the day, but it's perhaps wise to remember that despite all we've done as a society to tame and domesticate the wildlife around us, it could still rise up and demand its share. Maybe turkeys aren't as dumb as we think, maybe they are just lulling us into a false security against that day when they get their revenge.

Eat well. Then sleep well...perhaps. (Tryptophan is part of the long war they've been perfecting themselves for.)

On the other hand.

It's Thanksgiving at last and I hope one and all have a happy holiday, and I hope you don't have to work unless you want to.

Rip Off

The Devil And Stan Lee!

I was checking out this 1975 comic book over at this link. It's a hoot of a story by Al Hartley adapting and updating the Biblical saga of Adam and Eve from Genesis. It's a curiously compelling narrative and reasonably well-crafted, as most if not all of Hartley's stuff for Spire seems to be.

But a few images really jumped out at me on the following pages when Lucifer inevitably shows up to tempt Eve. Take a look.



The Devil here looked really familiar in an odd way.


Dr. Lucifer Serpent

Stan (The Man?) Lee
Is Hartley, a former Bullpenner, saying something about his old boss? Or do we just have an unfortunate and unintended similarity here?



It reminds me of how Jack Kirby adapted his old partner into his Fourth World stories in the guise of the ultimate con-artist Funky Flashman.


The devil is in the details as they say.

What does Stan think of my speculations?


That's about right I'd reckon.

Rip Off

Ark Encounter Of The Sad Kind!

Guess what's coming to my town. The Al Hartley cover above is a big hint. Here's a link to give you an insight. I'll have more to say when you return.

Actually it's coming to the town right next to mine, but the whole shebang will be only a few miles from my front door. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a more or less church-going type of guy, but this project seems ripe for ridicule. It's hard for me to see how this works for anyone. True believers should be very uncomfortable with their faith being transformed into a theme park, reduced to the same marketing ploys used by Disney folk and lesser-known carnies. Non-believers on the other side of the equation probably see the literal nature of this project as anti-intellectual.

Lord knows Kentucky doesn't need any help building up the yokel image it has across the country. This kind of thing, as beneficial as the jobs might be (and they are a good thing for this community, that I'll agree to), only adds to that stereotype. "Hillbilly" is one of the last slurs one can sling with relatively little fear of condemnation. This feeds that perception unfortunately.

This community has always had a chip on its shoulder about being looked down upon by outsiders. The students I've tried to teach for decades now, often dismiss their lack of focus and motivation on the fact they are from this particular county and little is all that should be expected of them. I've been trying to break that spell my whole career, but it seems in recent years the battle has been a losing one. This doesn't help.

Here's a link to the main page for this project. There's one of these things in Hong Kong. Here's a link to that.

Sigh.

Rip Off