I'm no fan of the New York Post...

.... but I have to admit, this front page is damn funny.

Buy my comics, make me rich: AMAZONS ATTACK #3

It's out this week. Here's the info, and here's the cover...

Give it a look, and let me know what you think.

Got five seconds to spare?

Then watch this. I promise it's worth it.

Buy my comics, make me rich: CATWOMAN #68 and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: CUT

Something a bit different this week. First, we've got the latest issue of CATWOMAN, which wraps up the "Catwoman Dies" storyline in suitably slam-bang fashion. Just dig Adam Hughes' cover, which makes nice use of classic Soviet iconography. And really, who doesn't love classic Soviet iconography?


Inside, the art comes courtesy of David Lopez (pencils) and Alvaro Lopez (inks). I realize I don't say nearly enough about these guys, because month after month they take all the crazy crap I throw at them in the script and come up with something better than I could've imagined. Guys, if I forget to say it sometimes, I love your work on the book. It's top-friggin'-notch! (And, while I'm at it, Jeremy Cox (colors) and Jared K. Fletcher (letters) are no slouches either.

Here's a three panel sequence from CATWOMAN #68 to whet your appetite...

The other book I've got hitting the shelves this week is the one-shot TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: CUT! I've gone on record about how I think Tobe Hooper's original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is one of the all-time great horror movies, a brilliantly filmed, almost impossible-to-watch exercise in suspense and terror. I'm not claiming CUT! is in that league, but it was a lot of fun to travel down to Texas for 22 pages and put my characters through the wringer. It's just about the only horror story I've ever written (I did have something in Vertigo's barely remembered anthology FLINCH way back in the 20th century, but that's about it). This one doesn't skimp on the violence, gore or meat-processing hints, so if that's not your bag (as they say), you might want to skip it.

But if you like a little carnage in your comic books, by all means check it out. I promise that it's one story, one part, 22 pages, with absolutely no crossovers with anything else. Here's a small sample, with exquisite art by Stefano Raffaele. Think of it like one of those bits of cooked meat they give you at the super market to entice you to buy more...

As always, bring your comments, questions and criticisms right here to X-Ray Spex. I'm curious for any feedback on CUT! especially, so speak up.

Triumph covers the Tonys

Really, do I need to say any more?

Ummm....

OK, it's over, and I'm not going to put any spoilers here for anyone who didn't catch the final SOPRANOS Sunday night. All I'm going to say is .... er....huh, wha?

I think I know what David Chase was going for in that last scene, and I've got my theories as to what actually happened. Plus, I'll give him credit for making the last few moments almost unbearably tense. But as for the ending? The actual way it ended?

Hmmm. Not sure about that. Thoughts?

FINALLY!

My beloved Cleveland Cavaliers are in the NBA finals for the first time in team history, after beating Detroit 98-82 on the home court Saturday night.

Too bad my dad's not around to see it, because he stuck with them through some pretty lousy seasons. I'm sure he'd agree this makes all those snowy trips out to the Richfield Coliseum worth it.

This will be a day long remembered, but not a day in the life

Here's the trailer for a movie I've been dying to see for years, ever since I heard it was in the works. I'm not sure when it's hitting theaters, but I'll be right there in the front row when it does -- just like I was for another movie. When was that? Hell, must've been about 30 years ago ... yeah ... almost 30 years exactly...



C'mon -- if that doesn't get your movie geek juices flowing, then I don't know what will. It's got humor, it's got heart and it has all those great nods to you know what. And yes, that is John Francis Daley, Sam from the late great FREAKS AND GEEKS, in the lead role. You can read more about the movie here, including comments from some fans of the One True Film.

I realize I didn't write anything special to commemorate the 30th anniversary of STAR WARS, but after posts like this, this, and this, really, what else did I have left to say? I will mention one thing that I've noticed in the past few days: Several sites (including my own pal, The Rockford Rascal) have wet themselves over the fact that this summer is, in fact, the 40th anniversary of SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.

Who cares?

Seems like yet another example of the boomers trying to eclipse a Gen-X milestone with a lamer, more overblown one of their own. What's more, I doubt the sincerity of those Fab Four fans. I know lots of people who've watched STAR WARS recently -- hell, it's the first movie I played on my swell new TV -- but do you know anyone who has endured PEPPER'S in its entirety in the past decade or so? I'm guessing not. It might have been a revolutionary album four decades ago, but these days? It's virtually unlistenable. And I oughta know -- I listened to it plenty, once upon a time.

Like many idiots, I bought my own copy (on LP -- this was the mid '80s) when I felt the ill-conceived need at the end of my high school years to listen to some more "sophisticated" music. I played the hell out of it over that summer, but I haven't listened to it since. Maybe it's because, like PEPPER'S, I also entered this world in the summer of 1967 (the so-called "Summer of Love," followed immediately by the "Many Summers of Hate") and I've been hearing the Beatles since I can remember. Or maybe it's because, when you get right down to it, the much-acclaimed greatest album of all time is -- gasp! -- not really very good.

PEPPER'S sums up everything that can be wrong about rock 'n' roll and makes it wrong-er. The album is so overblown, so pretentious and takes itself so seriously that even the "playful" parts -- does anyone enjoy all that goddam carnival music? -- are obviously supposed to impress us with their sheer brilliance. Please. There's more brilliance in the single opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night" than on both sides of this disc. PEPPER'S is the LP that led to all the awfulness of the 1970s, when it took a bunch of snot-nosed punks with four chords and glue addictions to kick rock 'n' roll in the ass and remind it of its roots.

And that includes a certain Mister John Lennon. Remember, after those four moptops (thankfully) called it quits, Lennon remembered the early rock bands that inspired him in the first place and focused on a stripped-down sound. It was Paul who took all that goddam carnival music and ran with it.

Forget PEPPER'S. Gimme A HARD DAY'S NIGHT anytime -- those songs still sound great, and it's been even more than 40 years.

Plus, the movie's not bad, either. It's no STAR WARS, but really -- what is?

Behind the Amazons

Here's a link to the AMAZONS ATTACK #2 behind "Inside Look" feature at Broken Frontier. It's a little peek inside the creative process that went into the issue.

While you're there, why not check out a similar article by my pal Matt Anderson about his fun new comic, WHITE PICKET FENCES. I've seen the first issue and it's a hoot -- combining '50s suburbia with an alien invasion, it's like nothing else out there. Be sure to pick up your copy soon.