This is kind of neat.

My most interesting photos from Flickr, presented in easy-to-scroll format.

Friday Night Fights: Booga has a black belt in Ping-Pong-Poo.

From Tank Girl: The Gifting.

Get ya damn hands up.

The Rack | The Local Beat

Kevin Reviews His Weekly Singles #10

1985 #1
Continuing my tradition of buying the first issue of a Millar-written miniseries because of the artist! Tommy Lee Edwards does a fantastic job here, but Millar’s reliance on high concept and increasingly tin ear for dialogue combines with some painful attempts to write in the “real world” of comics fandom circa 1985 (hamfisted Gary Groth references? really?) to make a comic that feels like the very worst kind of Fan Fiction, the $3.99 equivalent of Young Mark Millar Joins The Avengers.

All-Star Superman #11
The cover moment doesn’t occur until the last page, but the issue builds to it splendidly. As always, there’s no shortage of things to point out as positives (Lex Luthor’s plan unfolding, Superman talking to his robots about taking care of the zoo while he’s gone, Solaris) and very, very few negatives (the Vampirates ad on the back makes me want to start rounding up submissions editors at the major publishers and chop off fingers.) I’m not looking forward to seeing the final Morrison/Quitely issue of this, even if I’m fanboyishly eager to see how it all plays out.

Angry Youth Comix #14
In thirty years, when Johnny Ryan is being handed a lifetime achievement award at the Eisners for kicking comics in the balls when it needed it the most, I’m going to lean back, sip my whiskey, and say “I told you fuckers so.”

Batman #677
When this is collected, I’d very much appreciate it if this arc were redrawn completely by an artist who understands the basics of comics storytelling so I can enjoy Grant Morrison Writing Batman the way it was meant to be enjoyed: free of really, really crappy art.

Blue Beetle #27
Will Pfeifer (who’s heralded as a guest writer here versus being treated as the “real” writer for this first post-Rogers arc – a significant-seeming difference, at least in my mind) comports himself well enough, even if the end product lacks the zip that Rogers made a hallmark of the title. David Baldeón and Steve Bird’s art, much like the script, resembles the previous version of the title while still feeling a bit hollow. I think this may be an example of something being overpolished by editorial – it’s tentative and overcomfortable where it is versus offering any surprises. Harmless, but nothing I’d spend $2.99 a month on.

Daredevil #107
Boy, you know what’d be nice? (I mean, besides Matt Murdock having, say, three or four hours of genuine happiness in his own comic.) A Brubaker/Rucka Dakota North miniseries.

Just putting that out there.

Final Crisis #1
One of the things I love most about Morrison (and addressed nicely by Andrew) is his willingness to treat comics like “regular” fiction, giving the reader a sense of discovery that goes beyond turning over the final card and revealing the Joker’s face on it. There’s moments in Final Crisis that harken back to my favorite science fiction author, Iain M. Banks – huge, strange, wonderful things happen and there’s no attempt to explain it all up front, instead engaging the reader and giving them the chance to figure out how things work. It requires a lot of faith on the audience’s part, something most superhero comics writers (perhaps justifiably) are unable to muster and I’m not sure if Morrison and the intended audience are going to be on the same page in that regard.

It’s predictably lovely, with J.G. Jones working hard to ensure that superhero comics look better than movies on paper. There’s creative layouts that are easy to follow, nicely-handled characters and expressions, and no shortage of bigness. Final Crisis, like Morrison’s All-Star Superman, promises to show that superhero comics can exploit their eccentricities and foibles instead of being covering them up and acting like they opened the cabinet door in their own face one too many times.

Speak of the Devil #6
Wow. I frequently talk about how much I want at least one character in a piece to be likeable or sympathetic, but Gilbert Hernandez is skilled enough a creator that watching the action unfold is pleasure enough on its own. It’s not for everyone, but those that can appreciate supremely black humor with no dearth of bent eroticism should look for the collected edition when it becomes available.

To You, From Lex Luthor.

The Rack | Snoozefest

If you like Lost…

…then Birdie’s got something for you.

There is no special technique when it comes to kissing.

You have never been in love…

A few things:

• This is where Hector from The Rack got his name from.
• This is probably my favorite Morrissey solo song that’s not “Every Day Is LIke Sunday.”
• I want a huge MORRISSEY sign that lights up. Yes, it can say his name and not mine.
• Hopefully somebody else is going to get this stuck in their head so it’ll be out of mine after two weeks.

The Rack | Staff Picks For The Week Of May 29, 2008

"And one more thing – we’ll never never fight…not even when the honeymoon is over."

From DC’s Falling In Love #128, January 1972

1. At what point in their lives did the wave of crushing disappointment hit Alison and Helene? I’m thinking “freshman year of college,” but I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.
2. Alison seems to think that standing around singing is going to net her a man. Has this strategy ever worked outside of films such as the cited South Pacific?
3. Did “A Dreamy Guy” ever write an essay that consisted of something more than “She will put out a lot?”
4. “Discussing [...] the Grand Funk Railroad.” Great euphemism, or greatest euphemism?

Also, Helene, darling? He’s gonna look. That’s what we do. We’re guys. It’s what he does after he looks that matters.

The Rack | Over There

Major Inapak: The Space Ace #1

Click to read Major Inapak: The Space Ace #1

This promotional comic for the long-gone milk additive was drawn by the respected Golden Age cartoonist Bob Powell and published by Magazine Enterprises.

Friday Night Fights: Here’s a quick one.

Pick your teeth up.

The Rack | No Whammies

Another Muxtape Update! This time you can download the tracks (if you’re on eMusic or you join eMusic or something…)

It’s Memorial Day Friday! If you’re at the office, you’re most likely impatient and wanting to go! Why don’t you listen to some relaxing music while you stare out the window, trying to come up with ways to murder your boss?

If you like what you hear, here’s's the records all the tracks came from, in case you’re an eMusic subscriber. If you’re not, that’s fine – you can join through the links and get 25 tracks free with no obligation!

Brazil has the best celebrity endorsers.

Kevin Reviews His Weekly Singles #09

GØDLAND #23
While the whole “parallel reality” schtick has been a standard of superhero comics since the Silver Age, Casey and Scioli manage to make it exciting again, no mean feat in the post-Elseworlds era. It’s certainly not the issue to start things off with, but it is another argument for the title being one of the most fun titles for those who like superheroes, if not the way the big guys are handling them most of the time. I doubt that GØDLAND is going to go the way of Brat Pack, but there’s an impression that, as De La Soul reminded us, Stakes Is High, and that none of the characters are particularly safe.

Justice League of America #21 (Contains some plot spoilers.)
Just last week, I scoffed at Dan DiDio’s DC Nation column in which he informed the eager readership that they’d be slapping a (hideous-looking) “Sightings” banner across the top of the comics that were important to the publisher’s editorial mandates. Then (of course) this week, I picked up JLA for the first time in a few months because of said banner (a sort of “making sure I was right” thing) and the Carlos Pacheco art and cover. Next thing I knew, I was taking it home, reading it, and thoroughly enjoying it, despite the fact that the “Trinity” (a concept I’m thoroughly sick of) sits around a table and talks for the first third of the issue before we cut to Hawkgirl (!) and Red Arrow (!!) trying to stop The Human Flame (!!!) from getting away from the scene of a robbery and getting foiled by Libra, who takes the Martian Manhunter villain (there is such a thing?) to the supervillain cotillion he’s holding. This should be “decompressed” comics at their absolute worst, but McDuffie’s script is basically perfect, giving readers a lot to chew on in every scene while giving us the perfect balance of action and the excitement of dudes-standing-around-talking that has become a mainstay of the DCU.

Star Trek: Assignment Earth #1
I bought this John Byrne written-and-drawn Star Trek comic on a whim, as the original episode is one of my favorites. I won’t be making that mistake again.

War Is Hell: The First Flight Of The Phantom Eagle #3
Short Version: I am very much enjoying this Garth Ennis war comic drawn by Howard Chaykin, who is one of my favorite artists. It makes me laugh while giving me glimpses of what aerial combat during World War I was like. Also, dude gets crab lice from a hooker, something that never happens with Nick Fury.

NEWS FLASH: Mark Bagley, Bizarro, Sports Illustrated in Anal Fisting Shocker!

J Jonah Jameson, by Jeff Lemire