Category: Uncategorized

Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson’s new Wildstorm book The Boys debuted on August 16th. It was followed up two weeks later, on August 30th, with #2. It’s a sensible enough strategy — follow up the first, which was largely concerned with setup, quickly with the second to quickly build an audience. I’ve mused before that this is the sort of thing that used to merit a double-sized specacular debut issue, but no one ever seems to do that these days, so whatever.

But here’s where things come off the rails: According to DC’s schedule, there is no issue of The Boys in September.

And then in October, there are another two: #3 comes out on the 4th, and #4 on the 25th. After that, it seems to settle into a once-a-month schedule.

I realize it’s just a matter of a few days, but huh? Why would you publish two issues one month, none the next, and then two the month after? It’s still running approximately monthly, and I don’t see any problems with Robertson’s speed, but why not avoid the poor optics of not having an issue in September? Would it have been impossible to bump #2 to the first week of September, or move up #3 to the last?

It’s not a big deal, and it certainly doesn’t change anything in a meaningful way. It’s just weird and nonsensical, which is the sort of thing Marvel and DC seem really big on when scheduling books.

… is more Kool-Aid Man.

I just think he’s awesome. Shut up.

(posts displaying a minor modicum of intelligence will resume soon)

… the JLA is a bunch of jive turkeys.

(And they say comics are written by white guys for white guys. The gumption!)

… but I think it was worth it:

Copy of the extremely hard to find, most talked about, and unquestionably biggest book of the year? Check.

Limited edition signed by greatest writer in the history of the medium, as well as the exceptionally talented artist? Check.

Extra spiritual karma for supporting a risky and ambitious project by one of the best publishers out there? Check.

Yeah, life is good. And after reading the first volume, I must say that Lost Girls is very good, too. More in-depth thoughts to follow on that count, though.

I’ll try to start blogging about the films I’ve seen at the Toronto Film Festival tonight or tomorrow, but for now a few odds and ends:

• I’ve seen five films over the past four days, and I’m tired. Saturday night was the only chance I’ve had thus far to sit down and do nothing. But still, I’ve seen two great films, two very good ones, and one okay one, which is quite a good ratio. I’ve also seen Ron Perlman, Forrest Whittaker, and Guillermo Del Toro in person, as well as the Finnish ambassador, which isn’t quite as impressive but still pretty cool.

  I will also make this prediction now, before everyone else gets in on it: Forrest Whittaker will receive an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Partly because he’s very good, but also because he’s playing a real-life historical figure who’s kind of crazy. The Academy loves that kind of thing.

• I am going to be spending entirely too much on comics over the next couple months. As if Lost Girls weren’t expensive enough, I found out that the Beguiling managed to get me a signed copy after all, so I get to exchange my copy and shell out another hundred bucks. Expensive, but worth it.

  Next, Brian K. Vaughan’s Pride of Baghdad comes out this week, and I’m looking forward to it enough to pick it up in hardcover. Also this week, Drawn & Quarterly has the next collection of Yoshihiro Tatsumi‘s work, Abandon the Old in Tokyo. That’s probably not an immediate purchase, but The Push Man and Other Stories was good enough that I want to see more of Tatsumi’s work.

  And later in the fall, there’s going to be League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Dark Dossier and Absolute Sandman.

  I will be poor.

• I don’t have a strong emotional reaction to September 11th. As much as it was a horrific event, putting it in perspective with world history shows it to be just another atrocity, more evidence that thousands of years haven’t done much to evolve certain parts of humanity. (Perhaps it’s just my recent infatuation with Lars von Trier, but I think my point of view fits nicely with most of the Scandinavian movies I’ve seen over the past decade)

  But still, the little things fascinate me. It seems bizarre, perhaps even perverse, that the date that’s emblazoned on our recent past should appear in such mundane and insignificant ways: A phone bill due on September 11th, or tickets to a movie or a baseball game. It seems strange, but at the same time inevitable, since the only alternative is shut down society entirely on that day, which doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea.

It’s late and I have to go to bed, but two quick points about how good my day was:

The Toronto International Film Festival started today, and I saw a very good movie. I’ll be blogging about all the films I see (8 scheduled for the next week), but I just want to say how much I love the festival: Great films, you get to see directors and stars, who usually look just like regular people, and audiences that are there because they love film.

I got my copy of Lost Girls today. There will, I’m sure, be an extensive post about it eventually (it’ll be hard to set aside time to read it this weekend), but I’m just happy to have a copy of the first printing: Distribution is somewhat limited in Canada, with Diamond Distribution not carrying it at all (presumably due to content and possible legal problems), and the first print run sold out across the U.S. in a couple of days, with a second printing scheduled for October and a third for December. But thanks to the greatest comic store on Earth, I’ve got mine. I’ve only had time for a brief perusal so far, but it looks very, very nice, both as an artistic work and as a wonderful looking book. I took my time unwrapping it from its plastic, partly for fear of damaging it, and partly out of the fear of being disappointed. The book is in A-OK condition, and I don’t think I’m going to be disappointed.

Or, put another way: Yes, I just paid $90 for a three-volume set of comic book porn, and I’m damned happy about it.

One of the greatest shows ever to appear on Canadian television (and yes, goddamit, that is an accomplishment) and the source of my neverending (and currently unrequited) love for Molly Parker is finally coming to DVD:

There will be much feasting, merriment, and reciting of dialogue.

Wildcat transit strike.
Smog advisory and a high of 30 degrees.
First day of new job.

What a splendid combination.

So today I went out for a nice bike ride. Took about four hours altogether, including a couple breaks. It was a bit windy on the way back along the lake, but generally it was quite nice.

Until I got home, at which point I began to feel like I’d just smoked a carton of cigarettes. Every time I took a halfway deep breath, I started coughing. Not even a regular cough – I felt like I was going to start losing pieces of my lung. Now, about four hours later, it feels like it’s gone away.

There is, I suppose, the possibility that I just came down with asthma today. But I suspect that would have shown itself while I was pedalling hard, not a couple hours after the fact. (The ride home, in fact, was quite slow.) So I’m going to go with “breathing in chemical crap” as the reason for my discomfort.

This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this, but I don’t remember it ever happening as early as May. A couple times, going out riding was probably pretty stupid – I went out once in August when it was about 35 degrees, and regretted it. But the weather today wasn’t even that hot, and I spent less than half my time on actual roads.

Really, that’s disgusting. And as the weather gets worse, we’ll get the same drill: Stay inside. Don’t exercise strenuously. Turn the air conditioners and fans on. Perhaps there’ll be one of those idling blitzes – ticket people who leave their car running, unless it’s really hot, in which case it’s okay to leave your car running so you can keep the air conditioning on.

Fucking people with their cars.

It disturbs me that I’m now seriously considering buying a filter mask to wear while riding in the city. But it’s rather less disturbing than having my chest sliced open during an autopsy and hearing (from the afterlife) the doctor talk about how many cigars I must have smoked.

No, I haven’t posted much lately.

Yes, there’s a reason. The last week and a half has been rather odd.

Off for the long Easter weekend, but everything should get back to normal on Monday.