As promised, COMIC REVIEWS! Woo Hoo!

1. LUCIFER 32: In which most of the complex machinations of the last couple of issues come to fruition, and there's still a lot more dangling threads left to go. Nobody in comics right now is writing better stories that Mike Carey, and though I have often been critical of the team of Peter Gross and Ryan Kelly, they did outstanding work this time out. A

2. DAREDEVIL 39: This book-length courtroom scene was more gripping than anything in the last two seasons of the Practice. Have to wonder why Al Roker was moonlighting as a prosecuting attorney, though. Nice Doc Strange cameo. A

3. JLA 75: Well, the big wham-bam-thank you ma'am el finale grando has come and gone. I think Obsidian Age should be subtitled "Nitpickers Delight"...for every good thing Kelly did, it seems like he did two not so good things. I'm still not sure I really get all the time travel paradoxes, one reason why nine times out of ten I can't stand time travel stories... but overall, I think it was a ripping good adventure, with lots of nice character interaction and was one of the few big multi-issue epics that stayed interesting from beginning to end. I only wish Mahnke & Ngyuen could have drawn the whole thing, or at least the big finale...I was never all that impressed with Guichet & Propst. And this issue was a total artistic hodgepodge. Even the golden (in my eyes, anyway) team of Mahnke & Ngyuen was inconsistent...exactly how long are Aquaman's arms supposed to be in that splash page near the end of the book...! A-

4. SHANG-CHI, MASTER OF KUNG FU 3: My initial joy at seeing Moench and Gulacy together again, doing one of my favorite 70s characters and the character that they did the best, is becoming tempered somewhat by the realization that nothing of note is really happening. It's all nicely (if a tad inconsistently) drawn and well dialogued, but when you get right down to it, it's Shang, Leiko, Reston, and Tarr-again-versus the resurrected Fu Manchu-again-and we get a big James Bondian subplot-again. The one novel thing, the sexual tension between the married-to-Reston Leiko and Shang is addressed, and that's the highlight...and I'm not so sure that it should be. A-

5. THE TRUTH 1: When you overlook all the hoo-hah surrounding this clever "What If" style limited series, what you get with this first issue is a nicely scripted, though somewhat leadenly paced, story with irritatingly indifferent art and ghastly color by Kyle Baker. After I Die at Midnight, King David, and this I wish someone would take Baker's Wacom tablet and computer with Photoshop and throw them into the Hudson Bay. His actual drawing is OK, but looks rushed and sloppy, like he's trying to get finished so he can go back to drawing caricatures or animation or whatever yanks his crank these days...'cause it sure ain't comics. B+

6. THE FILTH 6: Grand, glorious incoherence as only Morrison can write. Problem is, I don't have a lot of patience for incoherence for its own sake, so this better kick in real soon. As usual, nicely drawn and colored. B+

7. Y: THE LAST MAN 5: I still say that this doesn't deserve half the praise it receives, but in spite of myself I actually enjoyed this chapter. Guess I'll be buying #6 after all. B

Music today so far: Redd Kross-Phaseshifter, T.Rex-The Slider.

Good morning. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a little cool, but hey-it is November...

God help me, somehow I'm walking around with the most heinous, disgusting, and all sorts of other ugly adjectives songs ever written in my head, Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All". I almost called in sick to work, and if it doesn't go away soon I'm considering a lobotomy or shock treatment. I can't take it much longer.

Al Gore is popping off again; despite the fact that a lot of what he's saying is true he needs to watch this sort of thing, since it sounds a lot like sour grapes to me...and I'm sympathetic to his message. Read all about it here.

My main man Chris "L'il Kim's Lotion Boy" Tabor has sent me this, for those of us who are concerned about privacy issues. Me, I figured they had all this info already and are just coming up with justification for possessing it...

From Mike "Stupid Llama" Cary, here's...snicker...this...hee hee hee...BWAH-HA-HA!!!

I read lotsa comics last night, and liked several of them. I'll be telling you what and why later.

I was clicking around on the Web last night and ran across a couple of sites that had already broken out lists of the best albums of 2002 and that sort of thing...I realized, to my dismay, that I couldn't even name ten albums that came out in 2002, and I bought even less than that! So if I wanted to do something like that I'm gonna have a problem...and I call myself a music afecienado...hmpf. On a related note, that noted confident heterosexual Mike Cary sent me this list of the top 100 albums of the 80's, a musical decade that just didn't do it for me, if you know what I mean. We compared notes and I own 35 of the 100 on the list...I need to do better, I suppose, but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in seeking out albums by Joy Divison or the Fall, so my life will have to be incomplete for a little while longer. Anywho, check out the list and tell me how many YOU have!

A quickie link before beddy-bye: some photos from one of my all time favorite movies, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The Eighth Dimension. I like to think I'm well versed in all things Banzai, but I had never before seen some of these photos. Enjoy, and as always-no matter where you go...there you are.

I've been neglectful. I've added several sites/blogs to the list at right and haven't written about them. Apologies to all involved, no slight was intended. One blog I do wish to note is the most recent one I added, the Vodka Pundit. I got a laugh or three from his writings, and we who invoke alcohol in our pen names should stick together, so there he is. Rock on, Vodka Pundit. Maybe I could be the Rum Pundit someday. I should live so long.

I also added the very enlightening sites Cursor.org, endorsed by no less than Tom Tomorrow, and Stand Down, an always interesting and sadly relevant anti-war site. You see, the idea is that if you or someone like you stumbles upon this humble little blog, since you most likely won't find a lot of insightful political commentary (political commentary being de rigeur for blogs, as far as I can tell), then so you won't go away disappointed you can click on one of those friendly little links at right and get the political commentary I know you are all (if you'll excuse the expression) jonesing for. All for one and one for all, that's me!

Jonesing. Like in Jones. My real last name, you know.

More music: The Replacements-All Shook Down, and Prince-Come.

Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies. I found this link on "Joanie Da Goddess"'s site via Blue Streak...now you can discover which Pulp Fiction character you are! Surprisingly, I'm Butch. The character, smart ass.

I would have posted the picture & link and all that here, but apparently the code's incomplete or I did something wrong, 'cause it doesn't work and you'll have to go take the test to see for yourself.

Music so far today: I Am Shelby Lynne, Blind Melon-Soup, and Warren Zevon-My Ride's Here.

Brand new Buffy tonight, featuring the intermittently interesting Aimee Mann. Here's a preview.

Music since last post: Disc 2 of the 20 Years of Jethro Tull box set, Miles Davis-In A Silent Way again, and Disc 1 of Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro.

Boy, it's just one right after the other these days, isn't it? Rest in peace, Mr. Flint.

On the other hand, here's a good news/bad news type thing: apparently da WB is cancelling Birds of Prey! This is a bit surprising to me since I wasn't aware that it was struggling in the ratings...I just don't follow that sort of thing as closely as I could, I guess. Serves 'em right for screwing around with the basic idea of the comic, which was just fine to begin with and didn't NEED any tinkering. For my part, as I said a few days ago, I didn't think the show was a total trainwreck, but it could have and should have been much better. So what's the good news? Fox has reportedly given the green light for more episodes of Firefly, my favorite new show of 2002. Read about both stories here.

Tomorrow's Wednesday, and of course it means NEW COMICS DAY! According to Diamond, I've got a fat stack waiting for me: the Filth 6, JLA 75, Lucifer 32, Y: The Last Man (and maybe: my last issue) 5, Daredevil 39, Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu 3, and (I'm not sure if I have added these to my holds) I think I'll be getting the Truth 1 and the JLA/JSA Secret Files 1. Probable Chase appearance, you know. Of course I will review these right here in my humble little blog, for all two or three of you that give a shit.

Music so far today: Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture From Your Living Room, an obscure 1973 gem...