Free Form Comments

Say whatever you want to in the comments to this post -- random, off topic thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions, recommendations, criticisms (which can be anonymous), surveys, introductions if you have never commented before, personal news, self-promotion, requests to be added to the blog roll and so on. If I forget, remind me. Remember these comments can be directed at all the readers, not just me.

ALSO. You can use this space to re-ask me questions you asked me before that I failed to answer because I was too busy.

AND you can use this space to comment on posts that are old enough that no one is reading the comments threads anymore.

You do not have to have a blogger account or gmail account to post a comment -- you can write a comment, write your name at the bottom of your comment like an e mail, and then post using the "anonymous" option.

WRITING FOR THIS BLOG. If I see a big free form comment that deserves more attention, I will pull it and make it its own post, with a label on the post and on the sidebar that will always link to all the posts you write for this blog. I am always looking for reviews of games, tv, movies, music, books and iPhone apps.

Uncanny X-Men #250

[Jason Powell keeps on truckin with every issue of Claremont's X-Men. People in the comments have been disagreeing with him, which is cool, as long as you remember two things: 1. that you are wrong and 2. that Jason is right.]

“The Shattered Star”

Compared to other multiple-of-fifty anniversary issues that comic-book creators love to make a big deal out of – Claremont being no exception – Uncanny X-Men #250 arrives with little fanfare. A caption reminds us that it is the 250^th issue, but apart from that it feels much less like a turning point than issues 150 and 200. Though there is one subtle acknowledgement of history: The story sees Lorna Dane placed into a giant plot device that magically strips her of her magnetic powers, a moment dramatized on the cover. This makes it a bookend with the 50^th issue of Uncanny X-Men, which saw Lorna placed into a similar device to activate those powers in the first place (a moment also chosen for dramatization on that issue’s cover).

Blog Updates

I realize that I hardly every blog here, in part because I have become busy, in part because I have become more than a little jaded about things like the current comics scene, in part because I am lazy, and in part because twitter allows me to do a lot of things I used to to with this blog in an easier and more economical way. This is not an announcement that I will be blogging less, so much as an acknowledgement of the fact that it appears the amount I blog currently is probably not a temporary position -- although I still hold out hope that I will come roaring back, or take up some big issue-by-issue or episode-by-episode thing. I will certainly be blogging about each of the final 18 Lost episodes, for instance, and really should return to the Maxx. And I am on Winter break now, which means I will finally go to the movies (the last one I saw was Inglourious Basterds): Avatar, Nine, Where the Wild Things Are, The Informant, 2012, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Box and The Fantastic Mr Fox and the upcoming Legion are all on my list. I expect to have some strong opinions on at least some of those. If I do, I will share.

What is the point? The point is that I used to post, and then add labels to distinguish guest bloggers -- so that if you wanted to follow Jason Powell you could use your RSS reader and his label to just see his posts. But I figured I was the default blogger and you would see mine just from following the main link at geoffklock.blogspot.com. No more. All my posts now have their own labels -- which you can use to avoid me or follow me specifically or whatever. The toolbar on the right has been altered to reflect this, and I have made sure each of our primary guest bloggers has the link to their posts with their names.

http://geoffklock.blogspot.com/search/label/geoffklock

Mister Miracle 11 & 12

[Andy Bentley continues his look at Jack Kirby's New Gods series -- for the final volume, generally considered to be a major fall off, he is going to look at two at a time. I, myself, wanted to read all of the New Gods issues after Final Crisis, but stopped right around here.]

“The Greatest Show Off Earth”
“Mystivac”

From here on out, I’m going to combine two Mr. Miracle reviews into one post. As mentioned previously in my column, the other Fourth World titles have been suspended indefinitely and Kirby has a mandate to make the Mr. Miracle title friendly to new readers. The result is a standard superhero tale with little mention of Apokolips or any other aspect of the ongoing saga.

“The Greatest show on Earth” involves the return of Doctor Bedlam to once again challenge Mr. Miracle’s skills as an escape artist. This is the first repeat villain we’ve seen in the series which is a sign something is off. If you do not remember, Bedlam is merely a consciousness which can inhabit any of the blank animate robots he controls. Like his last appearance, this one centers around the power of the mind and overcoming fear. The plotting is quite familiar: an elaborate trap that Miracle escapes with a generous contribution from his mother box.

Kevin Geeks Out Tomorrow

[I will be at this tomorrow, as will Sara. If you are in NYC, come visit. Sara talks about Smurfs and I talk about how Ocean's 12 is the best movie ever, which you may have heard me talk about before, but not as fast as tomorrow night.]

Part of the series Kevin Geeks Out!

Kevin Geeks Out is the comedy-variety show hosted by writer-comedian Kevin Maher – a monthly confabulation of vintage film clips and videos, new finds, guest experts, games and curiosities. To geek out with Kevin you don’t need to be a geek, you just need to love cool stuff.

This month, Kevin gives the audience a Holiday Grab Bag; an evening filled with surprise video entertainment. Eight Special Guests give the gift of weird, wonderful movie and TV clips, with topics including Godzilla: History, Biology and Behavior of Hyper-Evolved Theropod Kaiju; How He-Man spends the Holidays; Gratuitous Shark Scenes in post-JAWS Cinema; and using the Socratic Method to debate whether or not Oceans 12 is the greatest movie ever made. Guest Speakers/Presenters include:

Professor Geoff Klock (author of How to Read Superhero Comics and Why)
Shyaporn Theerakulstitb (actor/writer/director/D-List YouTuber)
R. Sikoryak (author of Masterpiece Comics)
Sara Reiss (occasional blogger and self-described “hater”)
M. Sweeney Lawless (writer for The Lowbrow Reader)
Noah Tarnow (host of Big Quiz Thing)
Craig Wichman (writer-director-actor of award-winning radio dramas)
Nick Nadel (blogger for Comics Alliance and American Movie Classics

All this, plus holiday cupcakes, trivia prizes and video tributes to Chanukah and Christmas and other secret surprises that will not be revealed until the night of the show.

CLICK HERE for directions/tickets.