Atomic Robo
What I bought – May and June 2011
Hey, look at that! I’m back in Arizona and I picked up almost two months’ worth of comics! Yeah, I’m not going to review them properly here – that would take waaaaaaaay too long. This is more of a “What I bought and the random thoughts I have about the issues and, why not, what I did in Pennsylvania for seven-and-a-half weeks.” Can you handle that??????
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Random Thoughts!… with Bill Reed!? (June 7, 2011)
Random Hijack! Yes, I am stealing Chad Nevett’s bit for a week whilst he takes a hiatus from this column. Yes, this is all Travis Pelkie’s fault. It’s Random Thoughts time! Get excited! (Or don’t. It’s really up to you. This is a free country.)
What I bought – 23 February 2011
Thanks to the mild weather, the trees retained their foliage longer than usual. Red and gold, ocher and amber leaped to the eye. How beautifully the leaves aged on ten thousand twigs! No politics could produce such glory in a forest. Only so natural and simple a thing as death. (Frederic Morton, from A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888/1889)
What I bought – 9 February 2011
There was no hope for an empire that lost the will to prosecute the grand and awful business of adventure. (Michael Chabon, from Gentlemen of the Road)
Box of Comics: New Year’s Resolution Comics
For 2011, I’ve told myself to only buy masterpieces, or comics that are as good as I remember comics being when I was a kid. Reviews of such comics– under the cut!
What I bought – 15 December 2010
“You see,” Lardner said at the long bar of the Artist and Writers Restaurant, “Duke thought if his dream came true he would be a different person. He’s not unhappy about the dream. He’s unhappy that he is still the same man. Happens to a lot of us. We get somewhere we wanted and find we’re still ourselves.” (Roger Kahn, from The Boys of Summer)
What I bought – 10 November 2010
“Bonding is like the romance in an Arnold Schwarzeneggar movie.”
If it happens along the way, fine.”
But it ain’t the reason you go there.” (Bruce Feirstein, from Real Men Don’t Bond)
Sunday Brunch: 8/8/10
Links, art, criticism, and discussion– sans the porn, it’s another week on the internet!
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK: What if newspaper comic strips were written by today’s premiere comic book writers?I find the newspaper comics page to be a sad, boring place, populated by unfunny drain-circlers, occasionally peppered with decent strips or good art. So what if your favorite comic writer got in on the action? What would they write? Can you imagine the bizarre possibilities? My suggestions under the cut.
Five Great Comics from the Past Few Months
My Box of Comics posts usually arrive fashionably late, but in this instance, the party ended weeks ago and the Box of Comics is still picking out a tie. So let’s give a quick look at the really good stuff, the comics worth praising from the past few lunar cycles. I suspect many of you have overlooked some (or all) of these gems. (And again, thanks to the Discount Comic Book Service, and also HeavyInk, for providing me with my regular comics fix.)
What I bought – 30 June 2010
The difference between men and sheep seems to be that men, unlike sheep, need not be led to the slaughter but are carried there on the wings of their own enthusiasm. (William Gerhardie, from God’s Fifth Column)
What I bought – 19 May 2010
They hated Thomas for his courage, his brief moment as a bird. Everybody has dreams about flying. Thomas flew.
One of his dreams came true for just a second, just enough to make it real. (Sherman Alexie, from “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”)
Sunday Brunch: 5/9/10
This week’s episode of Sunday Brunch is like buying a gallon of skim milk instead of a quart of whole. So you get all the fatty comments from me cut off, but a whole lot of comics nutrients. Something like that, anyway.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: If Batman was a flower, what flower would Batman be?
What I bought – 28 April 2010
“It took me some time to figure out that love is in the details. It’s in the books and records and the stereo and the convertible. Love is always in the details. And that’s where the pain is too.” (John Crowley, from Aegypt)
What I bought – 14 April 2010
You stay in prison, what your time calls duty, honor, self-respect, and you are comfortably safe. Or you are free and crucified. Your only companions the stones, the thorns, the turning backs; the silence of cities, and their hate. (John Fowles, from The French Lieutenant’s Woman)
Box of Comics: February 2010
This month, every comic I bought revealed shocking political statements underneath the four-color face-kicking! What madness is this!?
