Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Not my tree topper (sadly), but check out my Tumblr for a monstrous helping of similar Christmasy goodness. I went kind of nuts this year.

Hope you're all having a happy, peaceful holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have no idea who made these dioramas or where they first appeared, but I'm very thankful for them nonetheless.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

It's Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! We made it!

I struggled for a while to figure out what movie would be worthy of writing about for actual Halloween Day, but I finally decided not to do that at all. The movies were for counting down. We're here now, so let's just enjoy the day.

Not that scary movies won't be part of it. I've taken the day off from work and David's home from school, so we're spending our day watching movies and getting ready for tonight. I know The Lost Boys, The Black Cat, and The Private Eyes are on the docket, but we'll probably have time for more. Maybe some Vincent Price or Hammer's The Mummy. Tonight, we'll have our annual viewing of Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

What scary movies are on your watch list today?

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

I'm thankful for Wondermark's creating this horrifying beast.

Happy U.S. Independence Day!

Hope you've had a meaningful Memorial Day

[Image from Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier.]

Merry Christmas!

Whether or not you celebrate the holiday, I hope today's a wonderful day for you.

Happy Thanksgiving, United States!

Don't be a turkey.

(If you get that: God bless you. You're old.)

Defending The Patriot

I didn't get to last week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment about patriotic pop culture ("What movie, TV show, comic book, etc. makes you want to stand up and salute Old Glory? "), but if I had, I would've written about The Patriot. Today seems like a good day to catch up.

It's not cool to like The Patriot, especially these days after the Fall of Mel Gibson, but even back in the day it had a bad reputation as the American Braveheart. That's not fair.

I understand re-assessing Mel Gibson movies in light of his off-screen activities; I'm not going to say that people shouldn't do that. My problem is with faulting The Patriot for having a superficially similar theme to Braveheart. That's a shallow reason not to like a movie, especially when it has so much going for it.



I'm not going to defend Gibson's personal actions or statements, but there's no denying that the man can act and he brings it in The Patriot. I never related to Braveheart (I'm more of a Rob Roy man), but The Patriot goes into some themes that resonate with me in a powerful way. It's not just about revolution and fighting for what you believe in, it's about protecting your family and the sacrifices you have to make to do that.

Gibson's character, Benjamin Martin is deeply conflicted. He hates how England is treating the Colonies, but isn't willing to put his family in danger to support a revolt. As someone who never had to sacrifice anything for my privileges as a US citizen, I can relate to that. I can't think of anything that would make me sacrifice my family's security. What's amazing about Martin's experience is how it flips that protectiveness around and turns it into a reason to stay away from his family and join the revolution. Gibson struggles with his decisions in a powerful, relateable way, so by the time he's fully invested in the war, so am I. The Patriot helps me relate to grand themes like oppression and freedom by connecting them to something as simple and primal as love of family. It's a pretty obvious trick - and I can see why some are resistant to being manipulated that way - but even though I'm not easily roused by patriotic themes,it works on me.

The rest of the cast is as good as Gibson. Playing Martin's oldest son was the breakout role for Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You was the only thing anyone had seen him in up to then) and Jason Isaacs grabbed more attention than ever by being the most deliciously evil villain since Alan Rickman in Die Hard. The kids are all good (Skye McCole Bartusiak has an especially memorable moment as Martin's youngest daughter) and Joely Richardson is an inspiring heroine who holds the family together while Martin protects them in the war. Think I'm going to go watch it again right now.

Happy Birthday to me, part two (or, Comics are awesome and I love my friends)

Ben Zmith draws the hilarious and awesome Rooster Jack comics. Turns out, he also draws an amazing birthday card featuring my favorite chicken-handed fantasy hero. Thanks again, Ben!

I'm seriously humbled and awed by all the love I've gotten today: here on the blog, through Facebook and Twitter, on the phone, and in person. Thanks to everyone for a fantastic birthday.

Happy Birthday to me

I know it's weird to wish myself a Happy Birthday, but I really just want to show off this awesome drawing my even more awesome friend Jessica Hickman made for me. Thank you, Jess!

Have a meaningful Memorial Day

If you live in the US, I hope you find time to eat some bratwurst and remember our fallen soldiers. Maybe not in that order.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Unfortunately, I'll be nowhere near a mariachi band or a burrito all day, but that doesn't mean you have to deny yourself. Hope it's a good one.

Photo lifted from Helldini Chronicles.

Snappy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry. (Especially if someone's done this joke before and I missed it.)

Merry Christmas!

Taking the day off to go visiting with some friends.





[Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Guess who's coming to your rooftop tonight?

If you'd like to read the story that goes with that cover, Four-Color Shadows has you hooked up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[From Sheldon Vella's Popgun, Volume 2 story, "Survival of the Festive."]

Happy Independence Day!

Photo by Thomas Hawk.


I'm out of town all this week, so the blog's taking a break. See you next Monday!

A Meaningful Memorial Day

Image from Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier.

It always sounds weird to me to wish someone a Happy Memorial Day. I'm not sure that happiness is the right emotion on a day for remembering the people who died protecting their country. On the other hand, I'm not sure that it's not the right emotion when combined with gratitude. Either way, I'm certainly not going to refrain from eating bratwurst and potato salad with friends; I just hope to do some reflecting as well.

For those of you in the US (or anyone else who wants to participate), I hope the day is meaningful for you.