Busy month of reading for me, post-Comic-Con. Here’s what I read in the overheated month of August … Physics for Cats: Science Cartoons by Tom Gauld • 5 Stars on GoodreadsThe latest in Drawn & Quarterly’s series of reprint volumes by British cartoonist Tom Gauld was released in advance by the publisher at San Diego... Continue Reading →
Watchlist is an irregularly scheduled series of posts featuring reviews and observations on streaming TV series I’m watching. Let’s start with the big screen … I’ve seen only three movies in theaters this summer (well, theater, singular … I’m lucky to have the Village Theater in Coronado as my hometown movie house, one I can... Continue Reading →
For one brief, shining moment in August 1971, Marvel changed their comics to 48 pages and raised their price to 25-cents. And the books, for the most part, featured NEW, double-sized stories of around 34 pages. DC Comics had raised their price and page-count a couple of months earlier, but used reprints from their extensive... Continue Reading →
A bit of a slowdown in my reading as I prep for TWO panels at Comic-Con this year. Here’s what I read before and after the big event. The Avengers in the Veracity Trap by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho • 5 Stars on GoodreadsI have more than a vested interest in this new MarvelArts... Continue Reading →
Normally at this time of year, I do a blog post chronicling my Comic-Con experience. Well, vlogging is the new blogging, so here’s a visual essay of “Everything I Got at Comic-Con!” including comic books, graphic novels, magazines, and even a Wookie! This is a different kind of Tales From My Spinner Rack! video, focusing... Continue Reading →
The big week is here ... it's time for Comic-Con 2025 and wow, talk about double the pleasure, double the fun (and you know me … fun is my middle name) … I will be on TWO panels this year! The first is Tales From My Spinner Rack LIVE!, based on my YouTube channel, on... Continue Reading →
Here’s what I’ve been up to in my DC Finest reading and collecting. DC Finest: Batman: The Killing Joke and Other Stories by Alan Moore, Mike W. Barr, and Brian Bolland (608 pages)This latest Batman volume of the DC Finest reprint series collects stories from Batman 413 through 422, Detective Comics 580 through 599, and... Continue Reading →
Watchlist is an irregularly scheduled series of posts featuring reviews and observations on streaming TV series I’m watching. Well, Harry Bosch has finally wrapped it all up—in a not so neat little bow—with the third and final season of Bosch: Legacy on Prime. I was pretty much disappointed in this one; it was 10 pounds... Continue Reading →
Tales From My Spinner Rack LIVE! returns to Comic-Con International with a special panel presentation looking back at “Our Favorite Fantastic Four Covers by Jack Kirby” from the artist’s run on the title from 1961 through 1970! The panel will be on Thursday, July 24 at 12:00 PM in Room 9. Moderator Gary Sassaman will... Continue Reading →
It’s hard to believe, but 60 years ago, three of Marvel Comics most famous issues debuted on the very same day, July 2, 1963: Avengers 1, X-Men 1, and Fantastic Four Annual 1. Buying all three issues would set you back 49 whole cents at the time, but you could probably put a child through... Continue Reading →
The first month of summer started with the usual graphic novels and comic book collections, plus two of my favorite authors’ new books; one of them great, the other … well, not so great. Nightshade by Michael Connelly • 5 Stars on GoodreadsWhat a great beginning for a new character by Michael Connelly! Nightshade introduces... Continue Reading →
Jim Shooter died on Monday, June 30 of esophageal cancer. He was supposed to appear at HeroesCon last weekend, but word quickly spread that he was very ill. The one-time editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics was a controversial figure in the industry to say the least, and I’m sure just about every obituary you’ll read about... Continue Reading →
Every time I get a new DC Finest volume, I think of DC’s similar series, Showcase Presents, published from 2005 through 2016. I wonder if the “build” of a DC Finest book was inspired by a similar volume of that earlier series, if someone, somewhere at DC is taking note of those 120+ volumes of... Continue Reading →
With the new Superman movie written and directed by James Gunn about to take off, Tales From My Spinner Rack! Episode 19 takes a loving look back at ten of my favorite Superman artists, influential creators who defined the look of the Man of Steel in his comic book adventures from 1938 through 2000, in... Continue Reading →
Oh, May … we hardly knew ye. The month passed in a blur and I’m pretty sure a day or two after I realized it was May, it was May 31. Still, books were read, and they were all pretty good. Here’s what I read in the merry, merry month of May. Crumb: A Cartoonist’s... Continue Reading →
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