--ksst--roger that, mystifyin' readers--sst-- your old pal the NASA Ghost transmitting from the void of deep space, beyond the plane of existence you all will be enjoyin' some candy in tonight--kkrrsskkk-reaking up, hold onnn-kkrrss--read me, Houston? Copy that--I hear Marvel Comics did a new WHERE MONSTERS DWELL this month, if I were tangible I'd go pick that up for some Halloween readin'---ksst---the original series was coming out around the time our capsule went off course into the eternal void--good stuff--kk--well, it looks like a Cosmic Wraith is driftin our way, so we're gonna be in for a bit of a fight out here--zzt--just want to wish all you trick-or-treaters a great time tonight on that big blue orb--phsstt-crackle--NASA Ghost, over and out---end transmission---

A new feature in which I say things and never fully explain them to your satisfaction, even if I know you well. For today, I'm bouncing all over the place because Marvel has just given me a powerful death ray with which I'll be decimating cityscapes in 2006. And it's not an X-book or anything like that.

Duck and Cover!

Teddy Roosevelt asks:

Ain't Boilerplate Great?

Stand aside, knaves- this is MY day! Until October 25th becomes a nationally recognized holiday, I'll keep honoring it myself... by eating things I like, blowing off work, etc. Fortunately I stopped physically aging some time ago.

Here's another good article on Bill Watterson, but now he doesn't seem to be painting as much as the last one indicated. Maybe just not with his father. I wish he'd put out a book of whatever he's been doing, I don't care that it's not Calvin and Hobbes. My own Dad enjoyed C&H a lot (though he always called it "That Calvin") and thoroughly read the compilations I got him. I guess I better just bite the bullet and shell out for that collection, which is doing gangbusters in bookstores everywhere. That article link is courtesy The Comics Reporter.

Our MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #5 is out now, with Manuel Garcia and Scott Koblish drawing some excellent Dinosaurs and Mammoths. Stop assuming it's the "Marvel Baby Book" you childhaters, and pick up a copy. It's also reviewed over at Silver Bullet Comicbooks this week, if you're curious.

I've just gained more work time during the day, because this is the last of Fanboy Rampage. Graeme McMillan is no longer going to spend hours of his day searching the comics interweb for the ravings of the maladjusted to provide us with highlights. I don't blame him, he's surely lost some part of his soul that he'll never get back, and often he has those same loons come post comments on his blog as if he were one of them (shudder). Thanks for showing us the trainwreck Graeme, it was fun.

And a revelation probably everyone has had, but it just hit me now. As I think I'm being so damn funny for putting up the famous picture of John Kennedy Jr. saluting his father's casket, I look at the picture a minute and realize: he's not saluting-- he's just trying to keep the sun out of his eyes! Look at that light source, where it's coming and how bright it is out there. Now I feel a little deflated, because joke or no, I have always thought that was a touching photo, and now I'm pretty sure it's only because of the "captured moment" of photography. I hope I'm wrong.

Cartoonist Steve Manale shared a classic "comics shop moment" with me yesterday. He picked up a couple issues of my Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, creating this exchange:

The kid at the counter :"Oh! These are written by Jeff Parker--the guy who did The Interman!"


Me: "Yeah. I liked The Interman a lot."


The kid at the counter: "Me too. It's such a shame that he's doing comics for kids now."

You can read Steve's own shameful comics at Superslackers.com.

Sorry I haven't been posting this week, house-hunting foibles have occupied all my non-work time. One handy tool is the website mashup housingmaps.com which brings the power of Craigslist and Google Maps together as a useful and visual tool as you freak over how much houses cost. And now I see that another such mash-up has been created...



That's UFOmaps.com which brings Google Maps with a UFO sightings site. Interesting how saucers avoid North Dakota. I learned about both of these sites from the famous boingboing.net

I finally looked at the pictures I took at Stumptown, and most blew. Way too dark to salvage any imagery. Here's what few came out. That first one is Mercury Satellite Jesse Hamm mugging in between Excalibur Comics' Debbie Fagnant and cartoonist/documentarian F.C. Brandt.




On the left is... oh, I forget her name but she's dating Ezra Claytan Daniels. On the right is cartoonist Nate Beaty.



Cleo Hahn, daughter of David, found the show so relaxing she went to sleep.



And Steve Rolston almost went to sleep too. Aw!

Still reeling from being clobbered at the Stumptown Comicsfest, but I'll try to put up some pictures soon. If in fact, I took any.

Meanwhile, here's an article showcasing PARTS UNKNOWN comics retailer John Hitchcock, an old buddy of mine. John's tendency to drag classic comics' greats like Al Williamson and George Evans down to the Piedmont of North Carolina was very influential on me years ago. If you're ever near the campus of UNC-G in Greensboro, NC, pop in his excellent store. Or if you just have some unanswerable question about EC Comics, call him and get it solved. Thanks to The Comics Reporter for the link.