Pac-Man Pumpkin

We went to a pumpkin carving the other night, and I felt obligated to post this photo. I wish I could say I created the Pac-Man pumpkin, but I was too busy eating to carve one (though I did help scoop out some of the gunk).

Recently published in...

Comics Buyer's Guide #1648, where I review the following:
Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy #1 (3 out of 4 stars)
Super Friends #5 (1 star)
Fantastic Four: True Story #1 (2.5 stars)
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #1 (3.5 stars)

Here's my review of Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy #1:

Joker’s Asylum: Poison Ivy #1
DC Comics
$2.99, color, 32 pgs., available now
Writer: J.T. Krul
Artist: Guillem March

Starring an impossibly long-legged, usually half-naked (or naked altogether) Poison Ivy, “Deflowered!” finds The Botanical Babe once again stalking and killing corporate fat cats who make their living at the expense of others. Other plants, that is. And once again, Batman is on her tail (so to speak), investigating the deaths, trying to find a pattern.

This story is like countless other Poison Ivy yarns, but for a couple of differences that make it stand out (at least to some degree). Instead of poisoning her victims with toxins, Ivy is making them suffer extra by having her plants stab them with thorns or choke them to death. In addition, though every fan knows Ivy favors fauna and flora, this story pounds the notion home (and makes Ivy a somewhat sympathetic character) by showing her shrieking in terror at hearing the plants, flowers, and trees cry with “sorrow and torment.”

An origin recap and surprise ending add to the horticultural hijinks. Book-ending the action in Crypt Keeper-like fashion is The Joker, whose appearance is purely superfluous.

The Cowboys

I usually just post about comics, video games, science fiction, and the like, but I liked this picture of my wife and I taken at the Dallas Cowboys' game a week ago Sunday. The Cowboys lost, but we had a great time. We were on the 40-yard line 11 rows up, so we had a good look at Romo, T.O., and the rest of the 'Boys (there were probably some cheerleaders there, too, but I didn't notice).

OAF CON 2008

Just got back from OAF Con 2008, a gathering of seasoned (I was easily one of the two or three youngest people there) comics fans and pros buying and selling comics, pulp novels, movie posters, magazines, fanzines, and much more.(OAF stands for Oklahoma Alliance of Fans, an organization started during the early days of comic book fandom).

OAF convention organizer Bart Bush, who was a key figure in early comic book fandom (he published the OAF fanzine during the early 70s). Bart was kind enough to display my book at his table.


The highlight of the show for me was meeting special guest Bill Schelly, comic book historian and author of The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (among other books).


The Revised Edition of The Golden Age of Comic Fandom


Rick Kelsey, a friend who went with me to the con, talking with and getting some books signed by Bill Schelly.


The con had lots of cool collectibles for sale, including these Universal Monsters bubble soap containers from the 1960s (the Dracula bottle is a prototype).


Vintage Universal Monsters models.


The Bride of Frankenstein, my favorite Universal Monster.


Co-author Michael Cochran and publisher Russ Cochran selling their new book about Hopalong Cassidy.


A typical display of Golden and Silver Age comic books.