It's Blog... It's Better Than Bad, It's Good!

An Art Nouveau egg?  It will all make sense shortly... Ok, so first off if you can tell be where I liberally borrowed the title of this blog from and you come down to the store and do so, I'll give ya something.  Something likely worthless, but generally entertaining and just in case it hasn't completely sank in yet, FREE!  Now on to old business.  I had posted a while back about wanting to blog regularly, but was foiled by illness and a bad computer power supply.  The illness was minor, but annoying and the power supply vexing yet more or less easily fixed (word to www.newegg.com, economical and convenient if you need computer replacement stuff... just don't forget where all those wires connect!).  The blog I was working on around that time had to do with going to Gen Con up in Indianapolis... so here are few excerpts that I feel are still of useful or entertaining value, at least to those of us proud enough (you may substitute "proud" with shameless, desperate, or noodle headed if you like) to get our geek on.

In regards to Gen Con, what it is- "For the uninitiated Gen Con is the world's largest gaming convention.  Board games, role playing games, card games, miniatures games, video games, old games, new games, classic games, completely made up on the spot games, "werewolf" games (duck duck goose for geeks, sorta), puzzle games, puzzling games, train games, kid games, penguin games, war games, building games, small games, big games, and games from all four corners of the earth..."

My expert definition of "gaming"- "Gaming (the act of consciously and willfully setting aside time, money, and emotional stability to engage in the manly or womanly art of outwitting, out maneuvering, and out "look, my dice are hot tonighting" others at a an imaginative diversion of simulated circumstances and often random chance)...

On the natives- "Like the pirates and princesses from the darkly exotic sea ports of Kush from Howard's Conan or the weird alien menagerie of Mos Eisley spaceport (quick aside... Gen Con is wondrous and exotic and lots of fun, but it can also be described as a hive of scum and villainy.  Sometimes this is not bad, other times people suck, but mostly not.  Those who have attended will know what I mean and the rest will have to find out for themselves one day) the denizens of Gen Con are interesting..."

If you have not attended Gen Con before and are interested/terrified and wish to attend/avoid next year's show, check out this link http://www.gencon.com/ for news and information about Gen Con 2012.

Next, I want to once again virtually shout out a hearty "yahoo!" for the wonderful Water Street Bridge (http://www.jonbaade.com/tmp/wsb/) a self described "Garage Celtic. Pseudo-Slavic. Electro-Magically Acoustic" band who were the nicest picking,strumming, thumping, singing, ear pleasingest bunch of genuine folks I have ever the pleasure of meeting.  I tip my hat to them and so should you.  Check 'em out at the link above. 

Also, while at Gen Con I had the pleasure of talking to artist John Tyler Christopher (http://www.johntylerchristopher.com/).  John has a very distinctive style (and great middle name) that for my money really hits the mark.  My eye sees a little Adam Hughes, mixed with some Alphonse Mucha (Czech Art Nouveau painter and kick @$$ turn of last century illustrator) and all the rest is John.  His layout and design sense strike you immediately ... he deftly brings all the elements of a piece together with the surrounding "decoration" as intriguing to the eye as the focal point.  I really like an artist who maintains that thick, fluid black outline then punchs up the interior with all they've got.  Furthermore, John was just plain ol' nice and genuine.  Meeting the guys and gals from W.S.B. and John is one of the great pleasures of going to a thang like Gen Con.  In talking to John I learned how much he enjoys the opportunity to work in comics (check out his amazing Iron Man piece below) and how much he really wants fans getting into stores and checking things out.  I couldn't agree more!  We talked about how meeting face to face, sharing stories and laughs, and being a part of something is what makes the in-store experience so important.  Other things we talked about I am sworn to secrecy on, but who knows, maybe one day John might be around to tell you in person...

So what have we learned... Newegg.com is useful, Gen Con is fun, Water Street Bridge and John Tyler Christopher are swell folks and very talented, and I can has blog posting.  What's up next?  Me thinks commentary on some comics I've read, including several DC title's "last" issues before the NEW 52.  Cheers!

(cal)Lame(ity)

Let me just say that a wise person once said, in regards to content for the internet age, that it must be consistent and predictable.  If you provide something for people to regularly pay attention to they might just do so.  I was working on a post about my experiences at Gen Con this weekend (more there later, hopefully) when the power supply on my computer died.  I am now typing this up at the store with all the time constraints that implies, thusly the lame-o post this time around.  I will provide the aforementioned regular content and will not see my road to hell paved with good intentions (perhaps paved with smashed computer parts though).  In the mean time, as a hopefully entertaining preview to my next actual post, type Water Street Bridge into your browser and enjoy some great music.  Cheers (and jeers for a lousy power supply, bleh!)

Aquaman Is Cool

Aquaman is cool so bite me.  I may seem to be coming off as a little defensive here.  I have my reasons.

First, maybe because of the rotten, like dead fish stored in a hat box rotten, reputation that Aquaman has been handed over the years.  OK, maybe not handed (or dehanded), possibly at times earned, but never deserved.   The second is because of the misinformed musings of an intelligent young lass who sought to berate and belittle the sovereign of the Seven Seas without giving me a chance to navigate for her a course to true understanding of the greatness of Aquaman.  Allow me to now elucidate.

I mean, yes, Aquaman has been an easy target for jokes like "Hey, Aquaman, what's your power...I talk to fish.", however, this power is much more than simply small talk with a mackerel.  Aquaman can telepathically communicate not only with fish, but also mammals, cephalopods, crustaceans, and all manner of sea life.  Now here's the even cooler part.  Yes he can communicate with them, but that is not why they come at his call.  They do so because Aquaman is the KING OF THE SEVEN SEAS!  Schools of tuna help him out because they are in awe of him, whales come to his aid because they respect him, octopuses lend him eight hands because it's the right thing to do, and sharks do what he says because, well, he's da boss.  Aquaman stands for and fights for the rights and well being of all creatures of the ocean and they love him for it.

In the past (pre-Crisis for those keeping track) you could defeat Aquaman by denying him access to water.  For how long you ask.  A day?  Several hours?  No, 1 hour.  Yes, 60 minutes out of the water, 60 minutes without a bucket of H2O tossed in his face, and Aquaman was so much soggy toast.  This limitation actually has changed several times over the years and was basically just added in the '60s to give him a sort of vulnerability a la Superman and kryptonite.  Now the real fact of the matter (and I know so because I've read my DC Who's Who) is that Aquaman's connection with water makes him more like the Superman of the seas.  He can swim astoundingly quickly, even being able to swim up Niagara Falls.  His body is adapted to the greatest of ocean depths making his muscle tissue incredibly dense.  Who here passed "Super-Hero Science 101"?  If you did you'd know this means Aquaman is invulnerable (i.e. more or less bullet proof) and has immense super strength.  Aquaman will kick your butt wet or dry. 

He hung out with a walrus and rode around on a giant sea horse (but who wouldn't want to do that.. oh, that's right, Batman who has no time for fun when he could be out bruising his knuckles on the faces of lunatics).  So Tusky leaves a little to be desired in this day and age of grim realities and stark futures, but that doesn't mean that Aquaman is immune to the dark times down in the deep.  Consider his family.  His half-brother is the villainous Ocean Master who is constantly trying to usurp and even kill his heroic sibling.  He is married to Mera, a refugee from a dimension of water who ironically was sent to murder her future husband.  They had a loving relationship despite this and produced a child aptly named Aquababy (Arthur Jr. actually).  That all was nice until the Black Manta killed their child by drowning him in air.  That's right, Aquaman had his baby killed in front of him.  Bruce Wayne lost his parents, Aquaman his infant child!  Now that leaves scars, the kind that trashes your marriage, alienates you from your best friend, and casts shadows of self doubt over your role as champion and protector of the seas.  Despite all this he forged on and became not only one of the first super-heroes to show real concern for the environment, particularly the oceans of the world, but also a respected world leader and peace maker.  Aquaman acts locally, but thinks globally.  

Aquaman has been challenged by a seemingly never ending string of style disasters over the years.  Short hair, long hair, clean shaven, bushy beard, two hand, hook hand, hand made out of water hand, fish scale, sea shells, sea weed, and even a baby blue leotard are all aspects of Aquaman's often disparate visual makeup that have cost him a more dignified reputation.  His early '60s costume, however, is iconic.  A shirt of glistening fish scale mail, the warmth of orange off set by the coolness of green, and the understated stylized "A" belt buckle make him as easily recognizable as any of the classic DC characters.  

 So, yes, on the surface if you just think Aquaman is a guy with a hook for a hand who talks to fish he seems a bit lame.  If you dive into the depths of the true character of Aquaman you will find he is, much like the oceans of his world, multidimensional, mysterious, full of wonder and life,and, dare I say, deep. 

I've rambled enough for now, but I suggest you check out the following for yourselves.  Aquaman: Death of a Prince TPB (detailing the sad demise of Aquaman's family is new and on the shelf at the store now) and Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol.1 are both currently available.  Aquaman: Time and Tide TPB  while currently unavailable is also a great read.  For more on the Aquaman relaunch as part of the DC New 52 check out this link- http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/07/27/preview-first-four-pages-of-aquaman-1/

Until next time cheers and remember to respect da (Aqua)man!

Welcome!

Hello and thank you for checking out the blog of me, Tyler, from Vintage Phoenix Comics.  Put simply, this spot in web space (not to be confused with Web-Head Space... a nonexistent blog I just created about Spider-Man) exists for me to explore and expand upon various topics that will be of interest to the fans of Vintage Phoenix and the kinds of stuff we all love.  Needless to say there will be very few posts about knitting (unless someone knits me a Thor sweater), dessert recipes (although I do oft hunger much like Galactus... feel free to bring me cookies at the store), home improvement tips (Cowboy/Ninja/...Carpenter?!?), or mountain biking ("Mississippi Queen!  She Got a 10 Speed!").  There will be posts about comics, toys, games, movies, music, and literature as well as sundry other items befitting of the ever widening community which not inaccurately and often proudly has become known as Geek Culture.  These posts will be littered with pop culture references, nerdy in-jokes, and stuff maybe only my mind will comprehend.  I hope it will be something that you enjoy.

This is my first venture into blogging and if it shows please be kind.  Be kind to anyone who posts or comments here.  This blog will be maintained as a friendly and welcome place for all to contribute their thoughts on those ideas that I put forth.  I expect most visitors to this blog to be adults and as such this will be reflected in its tone.  The topics will not necessarily only be for mature visitors and may even at times seem sophomoric and juvenile (i.e. fart jokes are OK and I may wax about the merits of The Herculoids).  No bullying, excessive vulgarity, or prurience will be tolerated.  This is not a blog about politics or religion.  I wholly support all the freedoms we are privelaged to enjoy, but let's keep things here about the fun and may our most spirited debates be over Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon.  Use a little commons sense and we'll all get along just fine.

OK, let's see if I can't get this puppy started (Steamy the Pneumatic Nepalese... aw, nevermind).  For my first (uh, actually second- ed.) topic I hope no one out there is going to be a wet fish as I de"fin"ed one of my favorite super-heroes.  "Sea" ya soon.