Waydown #20.04.22

I've been later than eight months (haven't I?). 

I’ve stopped buying comics*. I may never buy another comic in my life*. They’re expensive; I’m usually missing the other parts in a story; I can wait for a trade, which I can often get at the library (or something as good); we’re all probably going to digital soon anyway; and I already have plenty. There’s no reason to keep amassing books that I have to find a place for, especially if there’s little chance that I’ll read this stuff again (since there’s plenty of new stuff I can read for the first time, and there will never be a lack of something fresh to check out). But my love for comics still stands and my reading may even go into overdrive soon**. There’s new stuff from the library and the boxes (and boxes (and boxes)) of stuff I’ve accumulated over the years that I still haven’t gotten to (which I've now had to move, so I've seen -- and lifted -- what I need to do something with). Everyone knows I’m also not the fastest reader for print, then even slower when I want to take my time to appreciate the art, so it takes me a while for a comic, longer than it probably should. Now I've put a halt to stuff from the library, since I probably have enough for more than my lifetime from my own stuff alone. I’m determined. It’s also not likely I’ll keep much of it, so let me know if you’re interested in what I’ve read (reviewed in these zines, of course). I’d suggest a trade but that would mean I’d be taking stuff in. But maybe we could work something out. And all this isn’t even counting print books, which are their own thing, but I’m not buying them either (though getting as many audiobooks as I can fit on a hard-drive, to say nothing of Overdrive).
(* For myself. I’ll still buy plenty for my daughter and the kids in my life. All my nieces and nephews and friends’ kids have to do is show a minimal interest in comics and it’s likely they’ll get plenty from me, as an easy birthday present or just because. It also gives me something to purchase when I’m at a comics shop since I feel an obligation to buy something when I’m pawing through the new books.)
(** Which is overstating it, since I can't/won’t make more time, and it’s doubtful that I’ll want to dedicate more time to reading when I could be creating.)

No need to talk about the Covid-19 crisis this time. Maybe next time (which could come much sooner since being sequestered has given me the space to turn something out quickly).

REVIEWS

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (audiobook). The other tome that I faked reading in school but now have come back to, if only to fulfill an obligation to say I’m reading the classics. I knew back then that much of the experience of this book was in its context, being life and its crises in colonial America, a favorite to teach, and that holds little interest to me, so I weaseled my way out of it. There’s no interest in pursuing whatever in the world I wrote in those papers so it was probably good that I wrote on a typewriter and tossed them after I got a grade (which somehow was always passing). But now I can blow through a book in the time it takes to read it aloud (not the time it would take me reading the print, which, especially when I can’t be interested in it, slows to less than a crawl), and it’s free from the library, then I can find why this story has survived all these years to finally get (back) to me. Even being read aloud, the first chapter would kill it if the rest of it was written in the same dense purple prose, an elevated speech that makes it an unappetizing word salad and not a positive sign as an example of enriched writing from the period, but the rest of it smooths out to something more conversational, even experienced in modern times. It’s not quite elegant, and even Moby-Dick’s brutish writing was sharper and with more grace, but it pushes through its story with only a marginal excess of words. An online Cliff-Notes is still useful from getting lost in where it’s going but it turns out to be a fairly astute story, and even a mystery, in solving for her partner in the perceived crime she committed (which is given away too early, but the gist of the story doesn’t really need to be a who-done-it, especially when there’s more story in its consequences). And there’s something about the historical context, which can be a fairly dour setting save for being among such entertainingly judgmental and easy-led people (though more about its law-makers than its citizens), but it’s also about the societal mores of the time and the crime for which she was accused, for how far we’ve come as a society (or not come), for the absurdity of the crime, or for the act of being judged, and judging. Or just being grist for a term-paper (which this isn’t since I just read it as a book and not as homework (then actually did it for reals this time)). There are surely classics more dry than this, but it turns out to be survivable and even enjoyable, especially if you don’t have the pressure to have each chapter read for discussion in class the next day (or act like you did).

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (audiobook). I fell out of my Stephen King fandom around The Green Mile and never really picked it back up. I had caught up to most of his classic stuff by the end of high school (reading a lot of books in less than four short years), and it seemed like he was past a prime of making really impactful stuff from that point. His turgid stories I picked up in Esquire did little to dissuade me of the notion. There wasn’t anything he put out that came up in the culture that seemed so compelling to read (save for On Writing, one of the best guides to writing, autobiographies, or books I’ve ever read, but seems separate from his other work), and the new swath of adaptations and appreciation of his work come pretty much from the old stuff, (most of) which I’ve already been through (see below). And it was easy to disengage from his stuff, since there weren’t characters that continued on to follow (especially I gave up on “The Dark Tower” after the third one). Even when I found some of his stuff on audiobooks, I passed them up, being the newer stuff anyway, and not knowing enough to separate the chaff from the wheat (though I’d have gone with the old stuff if it were available). Even a sequel to The Shining wasn’t enough to get me going, though that one I found on audiobook, making it much less a commitment, so I figured I could give it a chance. It’s welcome to fall back into getting wrapped up in King’s stream-of-consciousness prose, no more focused than it’s ever been, but even at his worst he’s a master storyteller taking joy in spinning you a tale, even if the story isn't great or as great as the stuff used to be. King’s works have always had an implied finality but if he was going to continue the story of any of his characters, the best one would probably be Danny Torrance, so we get our wish, but not the story we could have wanted. The original Shining was one of King’s best. Even with the masterpiece that was the movie (even when high-jacked into making it more of a Kubrick work than a King one) the book was rich source material and still made for a creepy, compulsive read. He left no loose ends then but now he takes threads and weaves them into a new thing, but less of building something from them than connecting them to a new thing. It’s really about fitting in what he had done rather than keeping it on, as if he had a few half-baked ideas and realized he could finish the recipe by slipping in some elements he knew worked. The older Danny and his saga could have been altered slightly (or not used at all) and it would have been the same story, if not better-received since King wouldn't be bound by the original tapestry. As it is, the connection doesn’t add anything to it that he couldn't have made anew, and when he tinkers with the continuity -- a late twist that will induce a groan (if you care at all by that point) -- it’s a reminder that he didn’t have to do this at all. It burrows into a trope that even King has often steered clear of or at least did something with when he used it -- that of good vs. evil -- even though he tries to defend his villains by spending more time with them, which doesn’t flesh out the characters much more than as stock bad guys he can dispose. It seems like it even skips genres, which could be its biggest fault, both in its action and the lack of commitment to doing it. The original was scary as hell, with even more parts that didn’t make it into the movie (but were embarrassing in the ill-conceived TV mini-series); this one is more of an adventure romp that the characters don't have to stay in. The Shining was terrifying for its intensity; this new one barely has a whiff of anything sinister, instead being a trudge through predictable scenarios and excessive effort that only comes barely to life in a few over-written moments and doesn't have to be held to the story it’s dragging along. There are some recurring themes that provide a minimal amount of continuity, but clearly not King’s main concern. The Shining said more about alcoholism in showing its bad state than this one tries to tell baldly. It does better when it veers away from its plot, in character moments that don’t come out as well in the conflict, but that part only goes into the fusty main story. It’s a lot of lesser elements from King’s library, without the sparks that made his books at turns scary and compulsive. A few decent ideas here and there, but no explosions like he unleashed with the original. And sadly, not enough to encourage me to read more of his new stuff (though still seeking out the early stuff in audiobooks). King shouldn't be stopped -- even by himself -- from telling the continuing stories of his well-loved characters, but hopefully he can find better inspiration than what this came from. (I read something years ago, when asked incessantly if he was going to do sequels to his books, that King had an idea to have Danny meet the girl from Firestarter and they go to ‘Salem’s Lot. That could almost write itself. And would only be better than this.) And there’s enough if you only know The Shining from the movie to get this, but if you haven’t read either, read The Shining for gosh sakes. It's even less on its own if not considered as a sequel.


It’s read by WIll Patton (you’d recognize him) who has a solid voice and can bring some life to even dry texts. The voices he does for characters can become grating, but in differentiating a robust cast of characters, especially the miscreant villains, he has to portray them all, if not just setting them apart from each other. It has to be a forgivable crime with audiobooks. It gets cartoonish later on when it gets to picking up as much intensity as it’s going to get. It’s not much, so when he gets emotive it sounds silly, and in turn less scary, if it had any to start with. So maybe the text conveys the feeling better when not being led along, but it's also possible that the reading voice in your head wouldn’t make it better (plus you’d have to spend more time with it).

Batman: Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? (DC). DC resurrects an idea of the last story with a most prominent hero, going back to Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". Publishing the "final" story of any character isn't new in comics, but they return to the exact same premise as the Superman story, down to the title referring to the hero's nickname. If they could have gotten Moore to do it they would have, and it probably would have happened years ago, but there's more a chance of getting Jack Kirby back to do new work. It might not be such a bad concept if it wasn't so blatantly a rip of the past story, and as if Gaiman is just as good as a replacement (which could be argued for or against but I'll leave it). But where the Superman had the context of being at the end of his original (pre-Crisis) version and world, this just seems like Didio pulling any idea that could turn some cash, even if they've done it before. We don't need a last Batman story, especially since the true last one likely (and hopefully) won't happen in our lifetimes. So what it becomes is a lesser Batman story that doesn't have any reason for existing other than being collected in a hardcover later on. Gaiman rattles out yet another story-about-a-story meta thing, which was exactly enough fuel for Sandman then made it a good time for Gaiman to answer to novel publishers. It's Gaiman going to the same well and turning in a rote story that didn't need much effort. It's not a bad conceit but we've seen it enough to expect it from Gaiman and we have to hope he has more notes as a writer. The tired concept and lack of anything new for the character except for a cringe-worthy ending makes it less than deserving to be a classic Batman story. There seemed to be some fanfare leading up to it, then it was released quietly, from what I could tell, maybe because when they had it they realized that it wasn't Gaiman's best effort. One of the Kubert brothers gets another high-profile assignment, which, as always, is just barely sufficient at best and at worst derivative, but in with a weak story at least it gets the project out and keeps away names big enough for a stunt but bad enough to waste even a poor Gaiman story just so they can say they worked with him. Still, even a poor Gaiman story is better than most, and more edgy than most attempt, though not to be memorable this time.

Modern Masters Vol. 18: John Romita Jr. (TwoMorrows Publishing). I was a fan of Romita Jr. since his first run of Uncanny X-Men, and not just because he was drawing that book at one of its high points (since somehow at that age I could tell that the inking sucked) and not because of his family's relation to Marvel, but there was always something about his style that was unique from all the other stuff out at the time. If I wasn't a full-fledged fan by his Daredevil run then that's definitely where it took off for me, and there's been enough in the time since to pick another dozen peaks in his evolution (and with better inkers). The artist rarely gets much time to speak unless they're also writing (which puts them in a different category), and even if they might bring as much to an interview as a writer, since they deal in pictures more than words, there's no reason to think that an artist might not have something to say (or at least answer sufficiently when asked a question). So Romita gets his spotlight, even if it might not be the most comfortable place for him. He's always been a journeyman penciler, albeit one that had stayed in one place (up to the publication of this book). So this one goes along the same road: an unextraordinary interview that wouldn't threaten The Comics Journal and a sampling of work modest enough to only be deficient for want of more.  But most of the artists who have made a name for themselves have also done it as writers so they have the control over words and ego (or ego and control over words) to make for an interesting sit-down; Romita has always been an artist, the hands connected to a brain concerned with the other matters of the story, a quiet but powerful tool, so he doesn't always come up with much to say, almost like he's surprised anyone would want to talk to him, which could be understandable after years of being disregarded as just the drawing the story. But he answers the questions amiably enough, even getting some snippy gossip in, which could be appropriate in a conversation but maybe not in a book, and surely an ax that was already out of grind back then and can only be moreso now. He fills in some history, that he was basically a guy looking for a job and figured it all out as he went along (though doesn't deny that he got work because of his family connection to Marvel), but so little about his technique or practice that you'd assume he's still figuring it out. The gallery of work is frustratingly small, especially when you imagine how much work this guy has done (being one of the few in decades who could put out pages like it was a job and not high art that could blow off a deadline), but it's also a great curation of many of his better pieces (and in black & white, which means they don't pop in color, but allowing the detail of his pencils without the crap-shoot of any iffy inker). His work can seem slap-dash, which is understandable if not excused when considering that he was and always has been of the school that you have to get the books out on time, which usually necessitates a page a day at least (a practice lost so completely these days that it surely confounds modern-day prima-donna artists without the discipline to keep to a schedule), but even his most hurried pages still have more structure, weight, and life than more refined artists might be able to come up with in a week. Whether it was genetics, luck, talent, or desperation, his work still stands up, and it's lovingly presented here, even if it's only a taste. Taken out of the context of deadlines and publishing dates, the pages could have taken any amount of time to produce (and a shame that it's lost that they probably took a sliver of the time his contemporaries were taking), but they can stand as an inspiration to artists to stop being so fussy and look at the art as a job, and that you still might get to be interviewed even if you've only pursued being purely an artist (which is to say to let the writers who only write do their jobs, and don't let your ego try to make books).

Essential Avengers vols. 1 & 2 (Marvel). If Marvel always intended to have a shared universe, it was only a matter of time before they thought to put a team together from their leading lights (if not just swiping the idea for the Justice League of America). It's not even that Stan & Jack were the best team for it -- they were doing all the books anyway. Maybe it was a hard sell for them to fit in another book on top of all the others, and especially one with so many characters, but they were both workhorses and Stan knew the value of a cash cow. Though it's one of their lesser efforts, which is still a high bar, with the stories not being their best. We may remember the origin of the team and all the members and how the Hulk left after the first mission (I always thought because Stan didn't realize that the Hulk doesn't work on a team, and since he was making it up as he went along, had to write it into the ongoing story) and Cap joining (a great idea to fit him in there even if they were already a few issues in) and Kang and Zemo & the Masters of Evil, the rest is a lot of filler, which at least has Kirby art (though clearly what he left for the end of the day) but Stan filling the space with words can become agonizing (at least from the perspective of concise modern comics). There's a lot more space that needed to be filled and it often plods along until they can get out of the issue. Then it gets even worse when Heck came on, being even worse than Kirby's lesser stuff. Heck was probably a solid artist in any other genre but his superheroes were stiff, angular, and never looked comfortable. Cap forming an Avengers team out of basically bad guys could have been a fun conceit but it just became more heroes for Stan to ride around, and with very few consequences to give the series any continuity. The early villains were used like they were punching a clock and the later villains were largely forgettable -- so much that Marvel, who will resurrect any concept no matter how wayward, hasn't bothered to dig them up in the time since; the stories went nowhere (so much so that it was clear from the vagueness of the final caption selling the next issue that Stan had no plan for what they were going to do next). There was very little flow from one issue to the next, except the same languid pace and art, which could be forgiven if the heroes' own series were where their own stories were continuing, but Stan was editing those too, and he pulls threads back and forth when he feels like it but not enough to propel characters' individual stories in the main book, even those who didn't have their own series. It gets better eventually, of course, but after the grinding desert of these issues, it's hard to find hope for reaching the oasis of whenever Buscema came on (even if he was saddled with Thomas's novels of words). There's also something that is lost in the lack of pop from not being in color, and, though it's nice to examine his line work without another level of interference, overall a crime to reprint Kirby's work without the electricity of vibrant colors clashing together in the tradition of the best superhero comics. In all, not Stan & Jack's worst effort, since they never really had one, but regarded as classic stories now for reasons other than the stories and their lasting quality for being read.

The Essential format was such a big, great thing a while back. To have those stories reprinted in one, massive book, and affordable enough that color seemed like a reasonable sacrifice at the time. But now they have the Epic editions, which are the same thing but with color, and though more expensive (who knew color cost so much), they still sell. And to have those collected books that are as similar to the original issues as you could get, even with the (necessarily) cheap paper, it's a wonder why they ever had to do another, cheaper version (except to be able to sell the same material again). Just knowing they're full, colored issues of those treasured series lets them sit better on a bookshelf (until the full advent of the next stage of evolution, in all digital (see: last issue's comments on bookshelves)), though hopefully for making such a commitment with the Epics to an iffy market and not to have us buy the same material yet and yet and yet again.

Captain America: Steve Rogers; Secret Empire (Marvel). Another attempt for me to get back into reading comics regularly, easing in with Marvel’s big event of the year. There’s no reason for me to read a crossover but it was as good a place to (re-)start as any, and at its best it could be a re-introduction to the Marvel Universe and a survey of what was going on within it these days, after I’d fallen off with the intricacies of the characters and their situations for a while. Being Captain-America-centric made it even more enticing, and maybe something I would have read, or rather, caught up on later. I even made the effort to read the Captain America: Steve Rogers series up to that point (attained easily enough in trades), even if that run existed solely as a lead-in to “Secret Empire” (though some pretty, lush art by Jesus Saiz). Secret Empire, as a mini-series or story, starts off with a bang in #0, maybe one of the most explosive first chapters that a comic has had in a while, maybe since DC’s Crisis. Three threads are set up, with different teams of heroes, from street-level all the way to the cosmic. These on their own are to easily rote, but together, with Cap and Hydra and a universe-wide conspiracy, they allude to some moving stuff ahead. The story actually pulls off the deep betrayal by Captain America, one of our most trusted heroes, revealed to have been a Hydra agent all along. Of course we know this will be inevitably undone, as they’re not going to let Cap continue to exist as a traitor, and the premise was a publicity stunt in the first place, but for that moment in time, and if buying in to the emotional manipulation of the story, it touches on that feeling of being betrayed by anyone. Of course, it might also vary by how much a Cap fan you are (and you know I am), but there's no reason to not give yourself over to it if you're investing in the story in the first place. The art in the issue is a little off-track, though rendering each of those three sub-genres with equal flair would be a feat in itself, but it holds together and hints that the story might get even more perilous and thrilling. And that’s just the introduction! The rest of the series would be a lock from there. If it could keep up even some of that intensity it would be a success. It's as much anticipation for a comic as I've had since I followed them enough to pick up a crossover event. But then the first, official issue throws all that away. If I wasn’t so gob-smacked at where the story went I might have thought that I missed a big chunk of the story in between -- and not gob-smacked in a good way. It’s not that the story took a different turn in that issue but rather that it’s a completely different story. Cap is still a traitor for the moment but the whole thing is in a different place, with a different set of players, and a distance from where it was before, which it discards like it was beneath its notice. From probably the second big events from Marvel or DC, the claim was that the core mini-series would unite the related series but we’d get a full story without having to buy comics we didn’t normally buy (except for that mini-series, which was usually a premium format), but that was almost always a lie. From the creative team and editors that had to send time setting up the event to the readers who were going to buy it anyway, to have a mini-series that connects to other series without affecting them and them affecting it would not be possible. There might be cool moments in that mini-series and it might be a lot of the main story, but it was never truly independent if it ran through other series and they ran through it. And so was the case with “Secret Empire” and the dozens (it seemed) of other series and new mini-series that crossed over with the main story (conveniently advertised in the back of every issue), minor they might try to say but in this case could explain what happened between #0 and the rest. There’s nothing said in #1 about the different space or even a possible time-jump, or if the super-team it shifts to are the current version or something made just for this. That then creates a disconnect from the main universe, even if it’s just a suggestion that this is an alternate-world thing, and if this is something that will even affect the rest, and how any stakes are void if it’s not connected, since it would be easy enough to wipe away any consequences when it all has to be undone and go back to the money-desperate world it was. Then killing off a major character isn’t enough to give it any weight (especially since they bring her back too quickly for it to have any kind of impact, but by now it’s Marvell’s worst cliche that they’re going to ruin the magnitude of any character death by bringing them back). Each issue then has its own disconnect from what came previously, if not as significant, but still enough to make anyone wonder if they’re reading the same series. The art only compounds this jaggedness, with wildly differing art styles that aren’t even united by the story. (The best thing about Andrea VaXXX’s art is how distinctive it is from anything else, but that also means it doesn’t play well with others, and the fact that they tried it shows they only wanted to boast an artist get instead of putting one in whose art would contribute and not detract (or that Marvel has been running low on artists to brag about).) There eventually gets to be a through-line for the story but it’s far less interesting than what they entered with. By the time they undo Cap’s betrayal as the central conflict, it’s just another flat comics story at best. The betrayal by Cap was a bold move, and deserving of getting some press, but its heights would take some real tricks to pull off resolving. They planted a spectacular event that they couldn't end, and, arguably, couldn’t provide a compelling middle for, and it irks even more for having such a promising start. Most of the time they don’t even get the one good part, but it’s frustrating to see the possibility of something great then having it thrown away by poor execution and even weaker effort. It’s probably telling that once they explained it away that it didn’t ripple through the Marvel Universe, so they clearly wanted to forget it as much as we did. And they probably re-started the universe anyway so it didn’t matter, which they also probably knew, which reveals their intentions as a stunt as even more deceptive since they weren’t going to follow-through with it. So I renew my disinterest in big events, though I can't blame it on another failed attempt to get back in to reading regularly. If I can’t keep up with just one comic a month, at least it’s from reading stuff that has been collected properly because it’s deserving and not cheap headline-grabbing gimmicks that lead to crap stories.

Groo vs. Conan (Dark Horse). It's hard to be funny in print. Cartoonists can do it but that's their job. And it's generally not a requirement in mainstream comics, since their self-seriousness precludes a need to be clever. One of the few who adequately straddles those two worlds and is a master of both is the legendary Sergio Aragones. You can be a fan of comics or comic strips or Mad Magazine and you can't help but appreciate his work, and inevitably find something at least chuckle-worthy on every page. His work is always a joy, and one of his many masterworks is Groo. It was always just a mark on his resume, having more popular work elsewhere, but there was a mountain of work with the hapless barbarian and much of it was worthy. It has the distinction of frequently making me laugh out loud on many occasions, something other comics can only rarely boast. Any reason to check out Sergio's work is a good one, even with something as potentially wonky as a crossover of Groo and Conan. A stunt, sure, but it has Sergio (as if it could include anyone else (besides Evanier, of course)). I was pulled into it for researching Conan for an RPG (a project which has still, sadly, gone unfulfilled) but it wasn't long into it before reacquiring that joy of reading Groo and experiencing Sergio's work. A serious Groo book would be less worthy than a  silly Conan book, but it meets the two. This is something out of continuity for Conan (as if there's any ongoing story with the character), and of course with Groo it never gets anything approaching true seriousness. It's a one-off story that sits nicely in a collection, unconnected to anything else, even Groo continuity (again, as if there's any such thing). Sergio and Evanier even shuffle the story into a meta thing, which can be a delight when there are creators capable enough to not let it be too self-aware, pretentious, or just plain dumb. It's a good piece drawing on the best elements of Groo and putting them as a counterpoint to Conan, and just making a fun story. Of course a game in Conan's actual world might not be as silly, and probably shouldn't be, but stunt mixes like this should always be so fun wherever they appear.

Contest of Champions (Marvel). Inevitably Marvel did a trade paperback of this at some point, but the collection I got was in a format more like a comic, like an annual or 80-Page Giant that DC did well with. It’s the same story so it’s good to get it cheaper. It also doesn’t need a deluxe format or a huge mark-up from its original $.60 cover price but it's good to get away with it as cheaply as possible if you find a compulsion to read it. Its importance comes from its place in history, not that it's a good or necessary story. Being their first-ever official mini-series might have been a shock at the time, though easily overlooked these days when even ongoing series end up being limited, but also its direct lead-in to Secret Wars shortly after, not in continuity, since this doesn't need to be placed among any other stories, but along the timeline of Marvel's big events. Secret Wars (the first one), a much bigger story, is almost just another draft of the same story. That Shooter was in charge of both, then wrote the later one, wouldn't be a knock on him as EiC, but the fact that he did the same story twice, something an editor under him surely wouldn’t let fly, doesn’t reflect well now. Mattel had enough money to do whatever they wanted, even if it was to retread a story for their toys, but it makes Shooter look lazy. It’s a good thing I’ve sainted Secret Wars as untouchable (though deserving of a modern re-read), so this gets a pass for its place in history. I didn't get it when it came out originally, and that it was separate from an ongoing would have been lost on me. But it was stuffed with heroes (even if it cut out only a few for small teams to focus on for its events), introduced a clutch of new ones (though I knew from some issues of the Marvel Universe Handbook that they were no great shakes), and covered some international ones, which has always been a revelation to me (though how their sole definition was from their representation of the surface elements of their home country always seemed a bit wonky). Its historical importance is lost when taking it as the glorified inventory story it is, and even the landmark it is means little now, but there’s a nice bit of text at the end of this edition that explains some of that history, which can be enriching for a fan of one of Marvel’s golden ages (though because of other titles and creators than this), and it’s a nice, cheap reproduction (though considerably more than $1.80).


The art is as bland as most of what Marvel was trying to push out monthly, sacrificing artistic flair for regularity enough to settle into the boring house-style that Shooter seemed to impose on places he led (unless it was by an ego he couldn't beat down), though if it was between making a splash or getting the books out he went with the latter (letting the stuff that came from an actual effort being what lasted anyway). 

Quick Bites:
* Paper Girls vols. 1 & 2 (Image). The second volume is better than the first so maybe it's going somewhere. Still not quite near to Saga, though.

My Favorite Stories, By Character:
Superman: Superman Annual #11 (1985)
Batman: Man of Steel #3
Spider-Man: "Kraven’s Last Hunt"
Captain America: original run #s 281-283 (and anything else drawn by Mike Zeck)
Wonder Woman: Super-Friends (TV show)
Daredevil: “Born Again“
Iron Man: “Armor Wars“
Thor: Marvel Double-Shot #1
Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn
Flash: the Who’s Who entries Carmine Infantino drew for the Rogues Gallery villains/the Mark Waid run (tie)
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters
Wolverine: Larry Hama’s run
Punisher: Punisher War Journal #s 12 & 13
Avengers: Secret Wars (1984)
X-Men: “Mutant Massacre“
Justice League (of America): Justice League (1987) #s 1-7
Shazam: Legends
Fantastic Four: (first series) #242
This isn’t my definitive list so much as it’s a challenge for anyone to recommend stories that are better than these, which are the best I know as of this writing (and woefully deficient when I realize how many classic stories I've missed ). If they’re not on this list, you could say I haven’t read their best story yet. Let me know.


My Top Albums of 2019:
10. Western Stars- Bruce Springsteen
9. Father of the Bride- Vampire Weekend
8. Thank U, Next- Ariana Grande
7. On The Line- Jenny Lewis
6. Lover- Taylor Swift
5. I Am Easy To Find- the National
4. Igor- Tyler, The Creator
3. Lux Prima- Danger Mouse and Karen O.
2. Ladytron- Ladytron
1. The Center Won’t Hold- Sleater-Kinney
(And I hadn’t gotten the Billie Eilish album but that probably would have been on here. Probably the Brittany Howard one as well. Maybe the LDR one too.)

Stephen King Books I Haven't Read:
'Salem's Lot
The Dead Zone
Firestarter
Christine (or did I?)
The Talisman
Cycle of the Werewolf
The Eyes of the Dragon
Insomnia (maybe I did?)
Rose Madder
Desperation
Any of The Dark Tower after The Wastelands

Anything after The Green Mile (except for short stories that were in Esquire in the last few years, and Doctor Sleep (see above))

My Top Beastie Boys Songs Of All Time (In This Order):
20. "Heart Attack Man"
19. "Triple Trouble"
18. "Paul Revere"
17. "Intergalactic"
16. "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn"
15. "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)"
14. "Sabotage"
13. "Root Down"
12. "The Negotiation Limerick File"
11. "B-Boy Bouillabaisse"
10. "Get It Together"
9. "So Whatcha Want"
8. "Time For Livin'"
7. "Ch-Check It Out"
6. "Get It Together"
5. "Sure Shot"
4. "Finger-Lickin' Good"
3. "Egg Man"
2. "The New Style"
1. "Shake Your Rump"


RAVES

Getting up early. But make a good reason for it because when I’m asleep I really want to keep sleeping.

Butter. I've spent most of my life avoiding the evils of butter, but some recipes I've made have it as an essential ingredient and I've come around to it. It helps with fried eggs and it's great on bread. There's probably worse.

My comfy slippers. I'm usually a barefoot guy but our new place has hardwood floors and you kinda need slippers. A gift so great that Sweetie got a pair from me.

Okay, the next one is mostly written (then another half after that), and it will have a uniting theme (mostly). Hopefully in just two months, in keeping with the APA's traditional deadline (which is usually my aim but life usually comes up).