The Comics Gnome Poots…
The Warren Ellis Superhuman Trilogy Ends Starting Today…


SUPERGOD #1

Ah Jeez…

The Comics Gnome POOTS quality over quantity these lean days but still he seems to get through. I’m dying to hear what the Young Kiwis bought at their day at the FunnyBook Bodega. Was it “Gotham”…the nigh-infamous place where Kiwis get fitted for Capes & Cowls?

I still wince that Kiwi didn’t like FELL by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith. Friends have different tastes. I suggested Fell…I threw it on her stack last time when she was here in the States. Damn…as if I was an MLB pitcher yearning to have that one pitch back…but iDigress.

Nonetheless, here I am again to pitch to you more Warren Ellis. If you dare…read the Supergod #1 preview here.

This is seriously frakked-up stuff. And it’s great. One of the best Sci-Fi minds, who happens to write great superhero stories. Ellis is at his best when he’s unattached to the properties of MARVEL…where he flexes his wicked buff imagination.

Supergod is the third in what’s known as the Avatar Superhuman Trilogy by Ellis. The first was the politically-edged…


BLACK SUMMER
trade collection, issues #0-7
This story is about a failed superteam, forced to reunite when it all goes to hell…after their former leader (Sgt. Pepper in blood-spattered White) murders the White House for war crimes.

Then came the San Francisco piece NO HERO which was more about sick & twisted visuals, a gonzo nightmare. I might want to read the script someday. The Superhuman team as a brand in modern culture and the costs of admission…quite literally a world without heroes, just a superteam with an agenda a bit too clever for the world to let continue. But the new guy is a lot more than he seems or what the team is prepared to ultimately face in this sick-thriller.

NO HERO hardcover trade collection, issues #0-7

Next comes Supergod. A usual Ellis conceit; grab onto a slice of history and anchor your story there. 1947, 1999, 2001, 2004, et al. Ellis makes certain anachronistic events in history and uses a backstory as the foundation to his vision of “parallel nows”. “kinda-yesterdays” or “almost-tomorrows”.
This time…the “what if” was a Superhuman Arms race during the Cold War years. And its tragic result…

SUPERGOD #1 wraparound cover

The Comics Gnome has never stopped POOT’n fresh Warren Ellis on my coffeetable. Another AVATAR press mini just finished is the pseudo-steampunk/post-spaceflight IGNITION CITY. It has the trappings of a Sci-Fi period piece…but it really is an old-style Western. Stunning art with retro-tech in a Buster Crabbe “Flash Gordon” meets Iron Oxide Look to the Background…an Artificial Island on the equator with the last Launch catapult on Earth. And intrigue, murder & revenge. Foul language, heavy drinking. It’s Classic Warren Ellis doing “His Thang”.

Ignition City #5 wraparound

For the next time you get to Gotham, Young Kiwis…
crea shaakti,

I hit the bodega for the first time in ages the other day... (an anniversary gift Chris and I gave each other!); it felt like going home. The gnome was kind to me too, presented me with an assortment of shiny covers and full color wonderment. I'm off to bed early to curl up in the funny pages. Gnight :)

It was "Star Wars in Concert" night at the Bruins-Sabres game saturday night. Chewbacca got to ride the Zamboni. 'nuff said.

Check...check.

Ahem.

My old computer died. he was 8 years old. An Apple Powerbook G4. but thanks to Doctor Hooey who reached into his stooponifying Re-Tardis...got me back online with the computer I've named "Bubble".

Hello Bubble.

He's an old iMac Hooey found for free on the intrepoop. Pretty sweet.

Thank you Pete! Whew. The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree...heh!

crea shaakti,

Ya know that it a little, well, ironic. My recollection of watching the holiday special for the first time was similar to the far left panel, shortly after meeting James for the first time and listening to the Beach Boys on 45...

I'd put the Curious Case of Benjamin Button in it's place on the scale... now that movie was truly terrible and actually did drive me to drink for a few days after watching it...

The Comics Gnome POOTS!
The Holiday Blues.

Have Faith in the Force, children. As Qui-Gon Jinn said, "another solution will present itself". Less sunlight, colder days and freezing nights. From Samhain 'til Beltaine...a season of sorrow. I got so bummed out last year with all the Christmas music from All Saint's Day until X-Mas Day. Nonetheless, I got over it. So for the Dead of Winter...Wookiee Life-Day. Such Irony! Life-Day...all you want to do is jump out of an airlock. One for the Geeks. Chez Geek, c'est chic. Toot toot...BEEP BEEP!!! Sorry...random disco moment.



Wow!
Now that's funny.

xkcd

I've been emailed a few of these comix strips from the frontier of the IntrePoop. The Comics Gnome wished me to POOT this on you. It caught me off guard, again.
I own a VHS copy of the Holiday Special. I think I'm going to once again re-create these three panels. sigh...

crea shaakti,

THE SMOKING PUCK!

October 17, 2009
By Rev. Sully

Christening the New Season!
aka: Got Nuthin' To Do on my Day Off but Watch Hockey...

Watching Hockey...perhaps one of my favorite things to do. But what if your game doesn't start until 9PM and you find yourself in the early afternoon with Nothing on the Eijit Box, a steak sammich and case of beer? Well, I got the NHL Network on my Cable TV system. Right now, I'm watching last night's 2 hour edit of the Vancouver/Calgary game. I got an Original Six date at 6:30PM with the Toronto Maple Leafs at home to play the NYC (PATOOOIE!) Rangers...all leading up to the 9PM Bruins/Phoenix match.
Two Bruins games in 2 Nights on the Road...last night's 3-0 Bruins shutout over the Dallas Stars and tonight's match against the Phoenix Coyotes. So far, the early season has been a mixed bag with the season opener a real stinker but since then, the Hometown Heroes have Held their Own although a couple of losses have the Boo-Bees buzzing.
Last season, the Beantown Black & Gold were one Season Standings Point shy of the Best Team in the League (that went to San Jose) including a vicious all-season first place ride, stomping most of the Gordie Come-Latelys. It might take a few more games to find that schwerve again but all the ingredients are there with little personnel changes.
Christening this season as a failure so far? I've heard the moaning * crying already. Sheeesh...who wants a throatpunch, I'll ask again. Are you kidding? It's too early to form any opinion...it's not like dating or a job interview...it's not about dressing or acting the part to impress. But speaking of Christening, Meathead's baby son gets christened tomorrow...I'll refrain from calling him "Meathead, Jr." until he earns that moniker. Since he's getting a Catholic baptism, I hope to Christ Lucas is an acorn to Meathead's tree...but iDigress...

For Pete's Sake!
Penalties, Overtime & Shootouts
Part 2: Overtime
Who likes working overtime? No one unless you really have to! But in NHL Hockey, if the Game is tied after the Regulation 60 minutes of clock play, we have to stay at the Office until the Job is Done. A few years back, we Hockey Fans suffered what I call “the Long Offseason”...the cancellation of a whole season due to an Owners Lockout over a Money dispute with the Players Union. After this humbling experience, Hockey came back better than ever with a few rules changes. One was Overtime.
Before the Long Offseason, the NHL was incestuous...Kissing One's Sister was allowed. Ties! Tied Games! The old sports cliche about kissing your own sister applies to the Tie in Professional Sports, "sure she's a great piece of @$$ but c'mon, she's my sister!" Ties would factor into the season standings; 2 points for a win, 0 points for a loss and 1 point for a tie.
When the NHL returned from this Long Offseason, the rules were modernized for the 21st Century one being the resolution of games. No More Ties! Tied games after the OT...get settled in the Shootout but that's for next week.
Overtime though is a Five Minute Period and Sudden Death, which mean the next goal wins. A two-minute break is given between the 3rd Period and OT. One change to Overtime in the Modern Era (the Year 1992 and on) was the amount of players on the ice. OT used to be 5-on-5 for a whole 20 minutes! Then in the 80's OT was reduced to 5 minutes to give scoring that precious Game Winning Goal some urgency...unfortunately that Season Standings Point was all some teams were looking for and would sit back for that point.
Since the Long Offseason, teams play the 5 minute OT period 4-on-4. This allows more open ice...you'd be amazed what a little open ice and do for a player's momentum with a few extra strides of the skates. Once this OT is over though undecided, the game goes to a shootout.
But Know This: in the playoffs...it's a little different. At the End of the 3rd Period...the full 15-minute intermission is given and OT is the full 20-minute period...and it goes on until someone scores a goal; 2OT, 3OT, 4OT and yes...5OT. It's as if you're playing a doubleheader in a row. It's grueling nonetheless that's Playoff Hockey. It's still Sudden Death and there is No Shootout as in the regular season.

Hey...for Pete's Sake, a visual aid! Like a Slide Show or a School Hygiene film!

Peter Puck??? Well, he's going to help me explain hockey to you. Just a smidgen outdated, especially with "Offsides" (no more thing as a 2-Line Pass, it's the Modern Era versus the First Expansion Era of the late 1960s). Part 2 of Peter Puck next week.

Crea shaakti,

Rev. Sully


All Statistic used in this Smoking PUCK are courtesy of NHL Dot Com’s Statistics page. In the words of Doctor Hooey, “RTFM”.

HUZZAH!!!
I forgot to mention they even did the YMCA ~ Fiji styles. One of the staff had a birthday too and in true HRC fashion she had to do a shot for her birthday. Unlike the Mass Institute it was in the middle of her shift.
I should have taken my pins... I still have some you know...
I considered buying some FIJI ones and posting them back to Jeff Church. :)