Review of Smutty Teens, by Johnathan


Okay, so this isn't a real review, so sue me. Rather, it's an excuse for my tardiness. See, part of my life imploded a few weeks back, and then my job got a lot more complicated. I've responded to all of this with an unprecedented wave of sloth. Don't worry, though: I shan't ever get tired of writing about comics in a snarky fashion. Just thought that the folks who enjoy reading such ramblings might like an explanation of my tardiness re: a review of the Human Flame. And so there it is. Ta-da!

NOT APPROVED, really.

Review of Ancestral Style, By Johnathan

Boy oh boy, was I lazy this week or what? I could blame it on busyness at work, but that would be a lie (not that I wasn't busy, mind you). Nope, it was just plain inertia. Well, tomorrow is Canada Day, and I plan on lazing about here in the John Cave, so perhaps I'll get that review of the Human Flame off my chest, like I've been meaning to, before Grant Morrison has him eaten by Titano the Super-Ape or something.

In the meantime: check this out:

That, boys and girls, is my great, great grandfather, William H. Hazel, and he is rocking a friendly muttonchop/neck beard combo that the world of today couldn't even handle. From now on, whenever I'm blue, I'm just going to think about how those same beard-genes are somewhere inside of me. I'm tearing up a bit, here.

JOHN APPROVED

Photos From HeroesCon

Here, finally, are my photos from HeroesCon. As I said, I didn't take very many. Here are the best ones.

Me holding the beautifully-lettered sign made by Kris Black for me when he picked me up at the airport:

That was taken in my very sweet hotel room at the Hilton.

Me and Robert Kirkman:

Do I look like I'm running on two hours of sleep? I think I do.

And here I am with the Chapman brothers and the beloved Homestar puppet:

This is a photo I snapped from my seat at the Collaboration in Comics panel. In this photo you'll see, from closest to furthest, Matt Fraction, Darwyn Cooke, Cliff Chiang, Barry Kitson (mostly hidden) and Jimmy Palmiotti. Pretty all-star.

Buffy artist Georges Jeanty does a sketch for my pal Tiina.

Benito Cereno, Nate Bellegarde (sketching Two Face for me!), Darkseid, and Mister Miracle (passed out).

Me and 3/5 of the Dollar Bin crew (Brian, Tre and Adam) at the after-party):

Here are some photos of the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find comic shop in Charlotte, which put on the event. This is the afterparty. This shop was completely amazing. I work at an amazing comic shop, so I am not easily impressed by other shops, but this one is rad:

They run all the wires from the computers and stuff through those giant Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus statues. Isn't that awesome?! (oh wait, you can't see Spider-Man in either of these photos...well...he's there...fighting Doctor Octopus).

Outside at the party:

It was a great time!

Celebrating the Nineties with Ghost Rider

Over at the Invincible Super Blog, Chris Sims is having a contest to celebrate the most nineties-looking covers of all time.

Although you basically can't top any cover in the Marvel 2099 universe, I feel that issue #15 in the oh-so-90s Ghost Rider/Blaze Spirits of Vengeance series is a pretty good representation of the era:

Yep. That's a lot of pink.

It doesn't glow in the dark. It glows in the day.