Texas on Fire

While the East Coast has been experiencing severe weather, and Louisiana has been grappling with a tropical storm, since the 4th of July, most of Texas has been dealing with record breaking heat by standards of both intensity and duration.  Add in the fact that it simply will not seem to rain here, and the Central Texas region, which is home to Austin has become a wildfire waiting to happen.

Fires of various sizes have been cropping up all summer, and its a credit to the firefighters that while we've definitely lost homes and property, by and large the disasters have not spread completely out of control.  Until now.

I'm afraid its gotten pretty bad out there.  My folks bought a house in North Austin they're retiring to before Thanksgiving, and were in town for the weekend for the UT/ Rice game.  Unfortunately, wildfires caught out in their area, and right now they're evacuated to my... sofa, actually.  Its fairly nerve-wracking watching the news and seeing the devestation.  And the crazy part is that Steiner Ranch isn't even the part of town hardest hit.  Bastrop, a former small town - now a bedroom community, is getting hit really hard.

Anyhow, I may be distracted for a while dealing with my folks' situation and real life, so I ask that you bear with us.

Here's The Statesman, our local paper, and their coverage.

Labor Day, Shmabor Day

I read this strip for the first time in 1st or 2nd grade. And while I've come to understand, since, why Labor Day exists, each Labor Day this rhyme runs through my head.

You may not recall, but this is what early Garfield strips looked like back before he was changed to four, easy to copy circles with cartoon arms and legs that could be farmed out to Korean animation sweatshops.

click for full size

Thank you, Garfield creator Jim Davis, for the indelible impression you left upon me at a very early age regarding the irresponsibility of management at capitulating to today's holiday.  Were it not for our national fervor for a good cook-out, I don't see how this pinko holiday would have survived.

By the way, when I read Garfield strips, in my head our titular feline sounds exactly like my brother.  I don't know why.

Our Odd 20th Century/ 21st Century Football Evening

As I've complained about, Time-Warner failed to pick up the Longhorn Network, and seems like it will continue to not carry the Longhorn Network, which means that, like likely thousands of other people in my area, I got up this morning and looked to see if I could change cable carriers.

The only carrier in town with the Longhorn Network is Grande Communications, who are also much cheaper than my carrier, but, of course, they haven't made it yet to my neighborhood.  Whatever that means.

So, last night we had PaulT (aka: @PlacesLost) over at the house, ate some Tostitos, and listened to the game on the radio while watching the LSU/ Orgeon game on mute.  We tried to keep up with both games via iPhones and laptops.  It was kind of a goofy night.

And while Paul's company was great, Paul and I also like to talk as much as grannies at the Gossipin' Fence, so you tend to lose a lot of the nuance of the game unless you decide you're going to just sit there silently.  And, if you're a casual football fan like me, you have a lot of questions you don't often think about when you're able to watch the game.

"A reverse pass?  What the hell is a reverse pass?  What does that even mean?"  Paul was kind enough to mime it out for me.

So that was our weird night.

Also, I was a bit bummed that Oregon lost to LSU.  But quite chuffed that UT won their game 34-9.

Yes, yes.  I know its Rice and not OU, but we didn't just win a game, we won it by more than a touchdown, which means UT might not be the Keystone Cops this year, even if UT, reportedly, didn't play a perfect game.  

The next game to be carried exclusively on the Longhorn Network is the Kansas game, a game I will most definitely want to see.  Hopefully we'll either have the LHN by then, or we can think about all sitting quietly around the radio, I suppose.

So, it seems like comic-fans have no respect for the history of their own preferred medium

A few things are becoming clear as we head toward the release of the all new Action Comics #1 this coming week. 

1.  Newsarama either doesn't understand what the world "cynical" means
2.  or they're still sweetly young and naive enough that they've mistaken the gregarious energy of Superman's over exuberance and naive idealism for cool cynicism
3.  85% of comics "journalists" and 95% of commenters have absolutely no familiarity with Superman's earliest phase in the Golden Age, or any other age

Today I looked at the article from Newsarama entitled "DC's New Superman is a Modern, Cynical Hero".  There's a lot of speculation here based upon the 7 page preview released by DC today to Newsarama.  From looking at the pages, this is pretty clearly NOT the Superman we know from the Silver Age onward, the Superman we think of as a sort of jolly, invulnerable pal or uncle.

I'm expecting a lot of comics fans are looking at these pages and saying to themselves "this isn't Superman!".  Sure, they can name the Superman creators and tut-tut about the Siegel lawsuit, and they know Superman kicked off the concept of superheroes in earnest with Action Comics #1 (1938), but they've not done their homework.

I'm excited by how excited YOU guys are over the New 52

Guys, its no secret I love comics, and especially the DCU.  One of the major goals of my blogging since I started way, way back in April of 2003 was to share my interest in comics of all sorts, share my interest in the colorful world of DC Comics and Superman, and see if that interest couldn't rub off on anybody else.

Its been no small bit of joy to me the past few days as a couple of you guys have emailed me or side-barred with me asking about the new Justice League comic or the New 52.  I think this is the point of DC's exercise in rebooting, in giving folks who either quit reading comics or never read comics a window and an opportunity to check out comics in a really easy way.

Austin Books Sale is On like Megatron

Jamie is a good person.

This evening she picked me up from work, we went to Austin Burger/Pizza/whatever joint, EZ's, had a bite and then headed up to Austin Books and Comics Sidekick Store.  This is where the action is for the sale, in many ways.

I picked up some Bronze Age Superman (man, that era is just good fun, too), an issue of Men of War, finally picked up the last few issues of Superman/ Supergirl: Maelstrom, and found out there was a second Icon trade that I didn't even know existed.  I really liked the first volume and...  I never reviewed that, did I?

Well, anyway, the big buy for me was a complete run of Volume 1 of Alien Legion and a handful of the prestige -related issues that came later.  Yes, I love Alien Legion.  Because it is awesome.

that Legion?  of Aliens?  Totally rad.

If you're in Austin, head on down and see what you can find on sale (cheap, people). The sale goes all the way through the weekend.

Now, Jamie didn't buy anything, but she just wanted to come see.

 "Don't you want anything?" I said. "I think you've got plenty I can read," she replied. Will I get Jamie to read Alien Legion?

 Only time will tell.

Signal Watch Sports: College Football Ready to Go (and being a Longhorn fan at the moment)

Its almost Game Day! 

I imagine our friends Jake Shore and Fantomenos are quite excited about Oregon's prospects this year.  I know I am, and I'll be watching. 

I'll also be watching Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and a lot of others as well. 

But, oh my, my Longhorns.  And the Big XII.  And the @#$%ing Longhorn Network.

No doubt many are currently thrilled to hear that Texas A&M has left the Big 12 Conference, delighted that somehow this diminishes UT.  To this, I say:  quit listening to sports radio.  Its making you crazy and ignores the bigger picture.

Signal Watch Reads: Justice League #1 (welcome to the DCNu)

Justice League #1
Part One
writer - Geoff Johns
penciler - Jim Lee
inker - Scott Williams
colorist - Alex Sinclair
letterer - Patrick Brosseau
associate editor - Rex Ogle
editor - Eddie Berganza
cover - Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair
variant cover - David Finch, Richard Friend, Peter Steigerwald
this review is of the print version, standard cover, read 09/01/2011 1:30 am

So, Justice League #1.  Its been a long time in coming.

To contextualize, my reading of Flashpoint #5 concluded about two minutes before I picked up Justice League #1.  DC's decision to release the two simultaneously makes perfect sense, and I was more than delighted to have them both to read back to back.  especially as both are written by Geoff Johns and it was great to make the transition with the same writer.

The problem is that as someone who has been a fan of DC Comics since late middle school, how do you read this comic as something that you'd put in somebody's hands who doesn't know much about Batman and Green Lantern except what they'd seen at the cinema?  I can't really make that call.  And the more I think about it, I don't know that I can write a useful review.  Say you're from the Amazon jungle and you meet a fellow Saudi Arabia who has seen a movie or two with jungles...  once you get him off a plane on the Amazon, what does that guy see that you don't?  And what are the million things you see that he hasn't learned to see yet?

Signal Watch bears Witness: Midnight Release of Justice League #1 at Austin Books

So, I wasn't going to go to the midnight release of Justice League #1.  And then, mid-afternoon, I had this thought that "gee, this sort of thing only happens every so often.  I don't go to midnight movies anymore, I don't go to late concerts, and hopefully DC won't be re-launching their entire universe again in the next twenty years.  At which point I'll be 56, and there will be no way in hell I'll be showing up for midnight releases then..."

So at 11:00 I hopped in the car and drove up to Austin Books, arriving around 11:30ish.

The deal was that ABC wasn't just having Flashpoint 5 and Justice League 1 available, they were also putting back issues on sale, and all DC Superhero trades were 25% off. 

I ran into Brandon outside, came inside and paid my $8 cover charge, which got me a receipt, which would get me my comics at 12:00. 

Comc Book Brandon shows off a comic I will never be able to afford.

I did take advantage of the 1/2 off sale and picked up a few issues of Men of War to work on my Enemy Ace collection.  Truth is, there's a big sale at Austin Books this weekend, and I plan tos pend time hitting the dollar bins, so I'm watching my pennies a bit.

So many nerds packing in so tightly.  It must be New Justice League Day!  EEEEEEE!!!!

This was still before midnight, and people were sort of lurking about, very ready for their brand new Justice League.  I heard some people standinga round me talking about how they'd never bought a DC Comic before, which I found exciting/ bizarre.  But I think that's what the relaunch is all about:  get some folks to try the comic that they've never tried before and get people reading some DC.

But to the one guy criticizing his friend for being into Aquaman: let it go, dude.  There's no one right answer in superheroes, and especially in comics.  Also, Namor is one of the oldest characters in superhero comics. 

Kids today.  No respect for history.

The crush to the register was more of a slow mosey to the register.

There was a bit of a line to checkout after midnight, but everyone was in such a good mood, it all went off without a hitch. 

Via Twitter I've talked a bit to the brains behind website The Kryptonian, Aaron.  I happened to run into he and his lovely fiance, Michele.  You can see Aaron's report here.  Youc an read his review here.  And see his enthusiasm at nabbing an alternate cover here:

that dude in the back was really excited about photobombing the happy couple

I went home, read some comics, and crawled into bed in the wee hours. I'll write up some on both Flashpoint 5 and Justice League 1 in short order.

Austin Books once again did a fantastic job hosting, and it was great to have the opportunity to share in the anticipatory atmosphere DC has been working so hard to build. ABC made the event easy and fun, and I think that's a pretty big success.

No Post Wednesday

So I went to the midnight DCNu Justice League #1 release party.  It was fun!  I met Aaron Ortega who runs The Kryptonian and his lovely fiance, Michele.  I saw the first Hal Jordan comic, picked up my Flashpoint and Justice League comics, and bought a few issues of old school Men of War for 1/2 off (it features a lot of Enemy Ace).  And I briefly chatted with Brandon.

I'm calling it a win.

We'll talk Flashpoint and Justice League later this week, if that's cool with you.

Here's Marie Windsor to keep you company while I go do other stuff.

Ms. Windsor will have none of your shenanigans.