I am a fan of the publisher Rotopol. They put out great comics in German and English and often notify me of cool releases that I enjoy reviewing. Rotopol sent a lovely note wishing me a great holiday season and it folded out to reveal a really pretty calendar. It was cool enough I thought I ought to make a post about it. You can see it above this text. I like the sun and moon a lot. It is gorgeous and thoughtful. Thank you for the card/calendar, Rotopol!
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Hot Comics Revue 20--Mark Spears is Monstrously Popular
Mark Spears has been making art for comics, cards, and the like for quite some time. He also has suddenly become immensely popular. A slow-burn overnight success, as oxymoronic as that sounds. The sudden hit he's created? "Mark Spears Monsters," which has overtaken numerous Top 10 comic lists and inspired a lot of spending for an assortment of fun main and variant covers. Mr. Spears did a Kickstarter campaign that was incredibly successful and it resulted in the publisher Keenspot picking up the series. Since then, everything has sold like hotcakes. The main covers are hot, regular covers are popular, store-exclusive variants sell out in a jiffy, and the original Kickstarter issues are insanely sought-after too. A new Kickstarter launched last Friday for a prequel series that will go to backers and then come out with Keenspot in 2025. It, obviously, has been backed heavily. Anything related to Mark Spears and his monsters is selling for a good deal above the cover price.
Why is this series so hot? Well, the artwork is good (on the covers as well as inside the comics) and people love monsters. Plus, some covers have sexy ladies or lady-monsters. There are tons of folks out there with a kink for monsters and sexy guy or gal creatures are bound to sell too. "Mark Spears Monsters," is a comic that caught lightning in a bottle and while eventually there will be too many variants or books for folks and it could burn out a bit, I'd imagine some of the initially popular issues will keep their value for some time. If you can find any copies for cheap, grab them as quickly as possible.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Television Tuesday: TLC is Going a Little TOO Hard on Those 90 Day Fiance Shows
I love trashy reality television. Some shows keep me engaged and others eventually wear out their welcome. I eagerly tuned into, "The Bachelor/Bachelorette," for a handful of years until it became overly complicated with so many shows and a tedious formula ("Golden Bachelor," reignited my interest briefly, however). On the other hand, "Big Brother," manages to keep things fresh enough that I always check a new season out because some are fantastic even if others drag. I enjoy a lot of TLC programs and one franchise that has grown, grown, and grown would be, "90 Day Fiance." The initial idea was straightforward. We followed a couple as their future spouse arrived in America and had 90 days to get married as per a K-1 Visa. Then the spin-offs started.
Some of the mamy 90 Day shows include, "Before the 90 Days," following couples meeting in person for the first time. "The Other Day," which was about the reverse situation where an American is going to live abroad. "Happily Ever After," and its focus on couples that got married. "Single Life," with cast members who did not find love and are now looking for a partner. "Family Chantel," which focused on Chantel and her insane family. "Pillow Talk," where cast members watch, "90 Day," shows and comment on them. The list goes on and I'm going to stop because there are 18 or so of these things creating a complex continuity where people might be on one show, shift to another, then another, and before you know it we've created an unstoppable machine that gets to the point where there is a spin-off featuring the cast doing a cooking show (it happened). You now are unable to tune into TLC without there being at least one new 90 Day-related program occurring that week, possibly a handful. I've got to ask, is this too much?
A chart from Reddit attempting to figure out how to watch everything 90 Day-related. |
I used to try and watch almost any, "90 Day Fiance," type show. With so many programs these days, however, the brand feels diluted. I'm not going to criticize how real or fake the shows are, this is reality television and there are always questionably planned-out elements, one theorizes. I don't care too much if I'm entertained, but am I having fun with every show or am I just trying to check them all out so I know who the Hell a couple on, "The Last Resort," is that are trying to save their relationship because they were on two other 90 Day programs already I must've missed due to the sheer deluge of content? I want to watch reality television to relax, not try to keep track of nearly 20 shows and what is going on in them. At least some shows are relatively self-contained still besides some thematic links like, "Thousand Pound Sisters," and, 'Thousand Pound Best Friends," which, yes, are real shows I watch because I already told you I enjoy junk programming. My point is that TLC needs to show a little restraint with the 90 Day brand because you can have too much of a good thing and get sick of it--even deliciously trashy international couples.
Monday, December 2, 2024
It's Not Just You, Honey Crisp Apples Have Become Increasingly Hit-or-Miss in Quality
I love apples. Our eldest child, Clarkson, is very picky about food but he'll eagerly eat apples. His little brother, Gibson, adores apples. My wife, Samii, is fond of apples as well. We have tried a variety and over time a clear favorite has emerged. We are big fans of the Honey Crisp apple. The thing is, over the years it has felt like some Honey Crisp apples just are not as good as they used to be. Is this in our head? Apparently, it is not, as a fascinating article by Genevieve Yam for Serious Eats discusses.
"How Honeycrisp Apples Went From Marvel to Mediocre," has Yam tracing the origin of the Honey Crisp apple to how attempts to greatly scale up production of the tasty fruit has at times impacted the quality. People trying to grow it in regions that aren't optimal for its biology, extensive storage times, and other factors have resulted in there being a risk that your Honey Crisp apple might not always have a delicious taste but instead be a bit weak and mealy--still better than a Red Delicious, though. I suppose in an attempt to meet the demand for the Honey Crisp apple it hurt the quality, a story that can sadly be applied to many products. It still is our household's favorite kind of apple, but I'll admit without hesitation that too many Honey Crisp apples these days for my liking are a disappointment once you chomp into them.
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Joe Biden is Over It/Has Pardoned Hunter Biden
I Enjoyed but Also Have One Quibble with, "West Coast Avengers," #1
I read the latest iteration of, "West Coast Avengers," by Gerry Duggan and Danny Kim, and quite enjoyed it! The debut issue features Tony Stark and an assortment of heroes (and reformed villains) working to help the Western end of the United States stay safe from danger. The West Coast Avengers comics have always had an interesting mish-mash of a cast from the days when it was Hawkeye's team in California, and this new series contains bigger names (Iron Man, Spider-Woman, War Machine) and random characters (Firestar, new addition Blue Bolt, a reformed Ultron). One thing slightly bugged me, however. You see, a potential villain is revealed at the issue's end, and...Ultron is up to no good.
The idea of taking a monster like Ultron and having him be a good guy now (due to events in some other mini-series) is a cool change to the usual formula, for real! The extra twist that he's still plotting destruction with, "The Gospel of Ultron," being advertised as coming in 2025 at the issue's end kind of ruins things. I mean, it is zero surprise for Ultron to be doing evil again--even if it is slightly different in the sense he seems to be fusing humans with machines (kind of like he used to be with Hank Pym) instead of outright wanting to kill all humans.
I don't mind Ultron being a baddie, but why would you solicit him as reformed and make a big deal out of it only to do an immediate rug-pull and declare, "Nope, he's going to be a problem!" It is my one quibble with the new series even if it leads to a cool story from this new, "Gospel," of that mischievous machine. It just could've been less obvious this was going to happen.