Ivy Did It!

Would that I could blame Pamela Isley for my long absence from these pages. It was however, Poison Ivy, which snuck up on me unawares in the garden around mid-May.

I'd spent the first 42 of my years suspecting that I might be immune to the stuff, considering the sheer number of times I've wandered unwittingly into great drifts of the Leaves of Three, without ill effect.

Suddenly, this year, poison ivy is my kryptonite. Go figure. They say global warming is responsible for the plant's new potency and is effecting folks who've never been bothered before, so it would seem I've become a global statistic.

The Garden itself, has also been drawing me away from the business of organizing the old comic collection...but that was sort of a given as spring turned to summer. Plus June's exceedingly busy at work...and the weather's so nice. I've hardly even been able to keep up with all the blossoms.

I have now had the chance to read the first trade paperback collection of "52", and even though I know where the story's going, what a great read. It's absolutely worth the wait...anticipating the second volume's release in a week or so (tho to be honest, more immediately, I'm all about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).

I am still trying to stay abreast of developments in the DC Universe/Megaverse, through the wonder of the Internet. It's a mess, frankly, but it interests me. Everything seems convoluted at the moment, but I really do have this feeling that they've got some over-arching plan for the next year...and that (beyond the Crisis of Infinite Crossovers weariness...glad I'll be able to find things bundled in trades in a year or so...)we'll find that everything makes sense...or at least suitably entertained us. They are, after all, just comic books, right?

(But Amazons Attack?! I'm reserving judgement there. I'm not exactly sure how I foresee this coming out so that it's not a public relations nightmare for Themiscyra. Thank the gods that soon we'll have Gail Simone showing us the way on Wonder Woman!)

There's so many good resources for following what's going on, but I've recently come out as being rather fond of Ami Angelwings. If you aren't reading her review blogs, I can only ask, why the heck not? Her "text speak" style takes a little mental translation, but then she's just great.


I don't know much about this Squirrel Girl, but I sure like what I see.

And I just love love love that she gets around in something called a "squirrel-a-gig"!! Chee!!


I'm interested by some of the more thoughtful discussion on the internet about DC's latest teaser image about the upcoming "Final Crisis". I can't help but wonder (I know...ha ha) about the possibility of these being dopplegangers from one or more of the 52 earths. You'll note I'm sure, as I have, that Diana's wearing the classic silver age high heeled boots here.

But to be honest, this image from the upcoming Justice League of America #14 excites me a little more. Somehow, it feels like many a cover from my childhood. Plus, I like the colors, particularly in the shadows at the top--shame they'll be covered by the logo.

Super Moms

Some moms are nurturers, taking children to their heart and doing everything they can to help their child fit into the world. They try to teach goodness and fairness and encourage their children to be a good example themselves.

Other mom's sacrifice the joy of having their children near them, for the sake of the world at large. They worry about their children and wonder if they've made the right decisions.

And no matter the length of each mom's life, they are always taken too soon. They can only hope that the examples they have set in the time they had are taken to heart by their mourning children.

Moms come in all shapes, sizes, colors and temperments. Today, I salute them all, but especially my own Super Mom. She comes to the title with qualifications quite diverse and I wish her a Super Mother's Day!!

Free Comic Book Day!

Had an enjoyable and productive trip to Hyannis this morning. I needed assorted supplies for the garden and so I combined that with a visit to Borders, for a few graphic novels I'd ordered, as well as the latest issues of both Wonder Woman #8 and Amazons Attack. These are really hitting their stride now. It's becoming more obvious that Jodi Picoult is setting up Nemesis to be a potential Steve Trevor type to Diana, which is something she's long needed.

She's got a relationship growing between these two characters that has a sort of "Dave and Maddie" feel to it, for those of you ancient enough to recall the classic, but ill-fated Moonlighting. It seems like that could give us entertainment and good stories for some time to come.

To get myself excited about the arrival of Gail Simone as the new regular writer for this series, the graphic novels were actually two Birds of Prey collections, as well as the Secret Six mini-series, all featuring her work. I've read such great things, I'm really sort of looking forward to wrapping up this entry and going off to do a bit of reading!

In other current comics news, I've been reading all the online reviews, synopses, etc., of the final issue of 52, which came out this week. It sounds to have been a suitably big finish, with the "return" of an all-new Multiverse. Ah, the possibilities!!! Can't wait to read the trades on this...but will have to practice patience, since the first of the four volumes of the series won't be available 'til the end of the month.


Meanwhile...most importantly, today was Free Comic Book Day and so the highlight of the Hyannis run was my visit to Newbury Comics, where I was in need of a few more packages of polybags for the collections, and also picked out my five titles from the special display rack.

For the uninitiated, this event happens every May and its just great. In an effort to bring in some new fans, most comic publishers prepare a special issue which is available at stores for free that day. At Newbury, the limit was five. I picked mine out with my pal Sebastian in mind. He's eight and will hopefully enjoy my choices...and not mind that I gave them a quick and careful read before delivering them to him!