Secret Invasion roars into comic shops soon. And it comes without a whole lotta extra books to buy.

Here’s the panel report at Newsarama. As you can see, there are going to be a number of tie-ins and crossovers. In fact, it’s indicated in the conversation that Secret Invasion almost tacitly requires that you read New Avengers and Mighty Avengers to keep up.

Other titles are . . .

A Secret Invasion Front Line, where hopefully we’ll spared comparisons of the Skrulls to Al-Qaeda (but I’m not holding my breath).

(more…)

All thanks to Mr. Browfield for recently talking up the tattoo work I’ve had done.  It’s been a labor of love in more ways that one over the last 4-5 years, and I’m happy to say it’s truly complete now. 

Whereas this was how it was 6 months ago…

Now it’s truly come to life.  A little breakdown of the characters and details??  Going left to right…

The first character, the one in green was the first original piece Patrick Cornolo did for me back in 2003. I had the idea to have him design a punk version of Green Fury.
Underneath that is a passage from Bob Seger’s “Fire Lake”, a tribute to my late father, and the song I danced with my mom to when I got married in September of 2007.

Next is Firestar from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends a cartoon staple of mine in the early Eighties.
Then there’s a couple of head shots, one of the original Firestorm and his contemporary counterpart. Below them is a shot of the New Teen Titans original über-babe, Starfire.

Underneath that’s a free liger that Mr. Cornolo did for me for free, but that’s got nothin’ to do with this. Heh.

Right above said liger is where we start to get to the newest stuff, as of March 10th…
I had Patrick add a little tribute to an old friend of mine who, sadly, recently passed away — I got his old jersey number 20.
As you work your way up, there’s a shot of Firehawk, Firestorm’s better half. Right above that, I had Patrick work something else into the flames: my beloved Denver Broncos’ team logo.

Running up the back of my leg, when I got this custom design of the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four, I added the 13 at the bottom as a tribute to my wife’s father who had just passed away around the time of that session. It was always his magic number.
And placed squarely on my calf is one of my favorite individual pieces, Patrick’s Rydenesque take on Wildfire of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
It’s funny how much I dig that one in particular, because I got the worst skin irritation from that one during the healing process that I had to see the doctor for cellulitis. Ouch!!!
But once it got rehabbed it looked pretty stellar and still does.

This week in our Best Shots column at Newsarama, we cover the following . . .

Feature Reviews:

Justice League: The New Frontier Special; review by The Rev. OJ Flow

Logan #1; review by Corey Henson

Cable #1; review by Jeff Marsick

DC Special: Raven #1; review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Young Liars #1; review by Richard Renteria

Penance: Relentless #5; review by Richard Renteria

La Perdida; review by Michael C. Lorah

Tonoharu Vol. 1; review by Michael C. Lorah

North World Vol. 1; review by Troy Brownfield

Justice League: The Lightning Saga hardcover; review by Tim Janson

Plus, Pellet Reviews: Grimm Fairy Tales #22 (by Jeff); Justice League Unlimited #43 (by Caleb); Supergirl #27 (by Brian Andersen); Atom Eve #2 (by Brian); Dan Dare #2 (by Troy); Uncanny X-Men #496 (by Troy); Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12 (by Troy); Green Lantern #28 (by Troy); and Gravel #1 (by Troy).

By the way . . . No Vlog this week, but the Siegels shall return soon.

1) I know my credit score. And I’m excited about it.

2) I can explain the basics of buying and owning a home, including things like “homestead exemptions”.

3) I have twice as many children as my parents did.

4) My youngest son not only walks, but can identify Hulk and Spider-Man. (Note: I did not train him for this; I discovered it today when both boys were playing with their Marvel MegaBloks. Connor asked Kyle to hand him the Hulk, and Kyle looked around, picked Hulk up, and handed him over.)

5) I own T-shirts that are considered “vintage”, though I remember when I bought them new.

6) The dorm that I lived in during most of my college days has now been retrofitted for air-conditioning. (Weak little bastards.)

7) We’ve been doing Best Shots @ Newsarama for over THREE YEARS.

8) I’ll be 35 on my next birthday . . .

9) Which is STILL nine years younger than Scott Licina. ZING.

10) On June 29, 2008, SHOTGUNREVIEWS.COM will have been online for NINE YEARS.

Wait a minute! Does that mean that I’m making an unofficial announcement that June 29, 2008 will begin the “Counting to Ten” anniversary promotion? I couldn’t possibly.

My first article for WIRED runs in the March issue, and they’ve got it up on the website right now. It’s a humorous look at the Best Sidekicks. Enjoy!

Update: I’ve already received one piece of hate mail castigating me for making fun of Dana Scully. On the other hand, forum readers at Muppet Central seem rather pleased that I included Beaker. You win some; you lose some.

The All-Star Companion Vol.3
From: TwoMorrows Publishing, edited by Roy Thomas

As recounted in previous reviews in our Best Shots @ Newsarama column, I really enjoy the “Companion” series by TwoMorrows. Each volume comes complete with great (occasionally recently discovered art), yards of anecdotes, and miles of history. A highlight of the effort includes as many attempts to get primary-source interviews as possible. Frequently, they go that one better, getting the actual writers and artists involved to write their own remembrances. Thomas, in particular, is all over this volume; really, who else would you want to discuss the evolution of the Young All-Stars title?

(more…)

If this song were about Hervé Villechaize instead of banal sentimentality, then it would kick 31 flavors of ass. As it is, it’s junior high poety from another American Idol winner; the charts are merely a truck-stop on her slow journey back to anonymity.

Here’s a sample:

I can’t waste time so give it a moment
I realize, nothing’s broken
No need to worry ’bout everything I’ve done
Live every second like it was my last one
Don’t look back at a new direction
I loved you once, needed protection
You’re still a part of everything I do
You’re on my heart just like a tattoo

(Just like a tattoo, I’ll always have you
I’ll always have you, I’ll always have you)

Forgetting for a second that the central simile is groaningly clumsy . . . how many cliches can be crammed into one chorus?

Additionally, the whole commits a cardinal sin: it’s boring. Really boring. Watching-grass-grow-as-the-paint-dries boring. Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend may be weak on a number of levels, but at least it rocks a little, it’s catchy, and its video demonstrates that Avril has grown up to look kinda like Kristen Bell’s not-quite-as-hot little sister. Tattoo could be used by the U.S. Military as a first-strike pacification method; they could pipe it in through the radio stations of hostile countries and murder the opposition in their sleep.

Back to the foundational simile: “You’re on my heart just like a tattoo.” Are heart tattoos a new thing with the kids? “Hey, crack this one’s chest; he wants a Mighty Mouse on his aorta.”

I kind of appreciate that the objection of her affection isn’t “in” her metaphorical heart, but ON her heart. It makes it sound like someone is sitting on her ribcage. “You’re on my heart just like I’m being pressed in the manner of the Salem Witch Trials!” That would be an awesome line, save for the fact that it doesn’t rhyme.

Kevin Huxford has ridden into the sunset, as documented here. However, that sunset has led to a sunrise for SCHWAPP!!!, his newly rededicated comics and pop culture blog.

As part of his relaunch, Kevin asked me 10 Random Questions for his new interview feature. It was rather fun, and Kevin decided to post the manga-style family portrait that the talented Sarah Vaughn did of me, my wife, and kids last year.

So, if you have ever found yourself enjoying Kevin’s posts, Kevin’s blogs, Kevin’s Best Shots reviews, Kevin’s arguments with comics talent, Kevin’s appearances in Lying with the Gutters, or tall bald Muslim men in general, you should check it out. And if you happen to dislike any of those things, I’m sure he’d welcome your posts as well. But don’t say I didn’t warn you . . .

Mike Huckabee wants you to know that all the votes should be counted! He doesn’t want the United States to be like the Soviet Union!

That would be awesome . . . if Huckabee hadn’t insisted on Gore dropping recount efforts in 2000.

Today’s internet lesson, kids: Once this shit goes up, it stays around FOREVER.

Inspired by Chanel’s post from earlier this week, I now revisit the halcyon days of “Spice World”.

And now, the bridge from “Spice Up Your Life”:

Flamenco
Lambada
But Hip Hop is harder
We moon walk the foxtrot
Then polka the salsa
Shake Shake Shake haka
Shake Shake Shake haka

Verily, the voice of a generation, were they not? I can’t tell you how many young girls I saw in the late ’90s getting out there to polka the salsa.

I’m also intrigued by “Flamenco/Lambada/But Hip Hop is harder”. Are they saying that the music is harder (true), or that it’s harder to dance hip-hop than it is to do the Lambada? I would say that it’s harder to dance the Lambada, because after all . . .

So Lipstick Jungle debuts tonight, making it the second Sex and the City knock-off to appear is this strike-addled season. To be fair, Jungle is at least a knock-off by Sex creator Candace Bushnell (who appears to support the Joe Bob Briggs axiom that if you’re going to remake a movie, then remake the movie).

On the surface, the greatest difference between the programs would be that one has four women and one has three women. Jungle has played up the sex factor in their advertising; seriously, Kim Raver’s been on Third Watch, The Nine, and 24 and I don’t recall that I’ve ever seen as much of her breasts as I do in the picture above. Also, if you consider the way that the women are draped on each other, they’re clearly shooting for a male audience on the subliminal “chicks with chicks” level. Mafia, for its part, comes off in commercials as cold and stuffy. Or maybe that’s just Lucy Liu.

(more…)

With Knight’s sudden departure from Texas Tech, it made me wax nostalgic. Not for his tantrums or diminishing returns, but for the times in the past that I’ve talked about this extremely talented, but extremely emotionally undisciplined, sports legend.

Here’s two.

(more…)

Barb just gave me this:

Ann Coulter just said that she would campaign for Hillary Clinton if John McCain becomes the Republican Nominee. It’s right there in the video.

My head is exploding. In fact, I probably look like Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark as we speak.

Maybe this is all some diabolical plan to completely screw up the Clinton campaign.

Then again, maybe no matter how it goes, we’re still screwed.

Though Fergie’s (admittedly curvy) body of work contains many senseless lyrics, I must admit that I enjoy the images conjured by this bit from “Clumsy”:

When you touch my sleeve
Butterflies so crazy

I think it would be outstanding to have clothing that drove insects insane at the slightest touch. Think of the super-heroic applications!

Red Skull: I have you now, Mein Capitain!

Captain America: Not so fast, Ratzi! Watch as I touch my new Alex Ross-designed glove!

Red Skull: Ach Lieber!! Un swarm de locusts!!!! Jawhol!!!!!!!

Captain America: That’ll teach you to mess with America, Red Scum!

A U.S. spy satellite will be falling out of orbit soon. It may contain hazardous materials.

Does that sound vaguely familiar to anybody?

In the interest of public safety, I now post this oversized document.