Time For Me To Pay It Forward

The first item is a DVD of Arise, Serpentor, Arise which came along with the item you see to your left. It isn't any of the figures, it's just the DVD that came along with it.  Any G.I. Joe fan will love this, perhaps even remember it from their youth.

I sure did.

The second is Power Man and Iron First #123. Written in 1986, it speaks to the problem reverse racism. Obviously this problem was prevalent then and it hasn't gone away.

So, tweet me @comicsnut and I'll send it out.

Please don't forget to Pay It Forward after you've had your fun.

Merry Christmas, God Bless, Be Safe, Warm And In The Company Of Those You Love

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Another Reason I Hate Living In Massachusetts

A little old lady who lives in Lynn Lynn the City Of Sin, MA likes to sit at a pond and feed ducks.  She moved there when her mother committed suicide in 1966.

She's 80 now.  Lonely and the town is up against her, it seems.  This is, Massachusetts, after all...there can be no fun had. (See previous post)

Says Claire Butcher, set to face a judge on January 13 who will decide if she'll be jailed for violating a "No Feeding The Wildlife" city ordinance.

"When I first moved here in 1966,” she recalled, “no one would complain. Now we have these new people moving onto the pond who don’t like it. They want to control the pond. I can’t understand it.”

“I turned to the animals to console me,” she says. “And they do.”

“They are the reason I get up in the morning,” she continued as the ducks surround her. “ They get me out of bed. I know they are waiting for me.”

But here in The Commonwealth, that can't be.  What if a child were to walk by and had wanted to feed a particular duck, but that duck chose Claire's bread crumb instead?  That could lead to hurt feelings, discrimination lawsuits etc.

However, according to lawyer Vincent Phelan:

“She’s making a mess out there, the neighbors have been complaining for years.”

Phelan says duck poop is “making it impossible for people to enjoy” the park.

Counters Butcher:

“Their love is unconditional,” she says. “They fill that emptiness in life.”

“Maybe,” she says, “if we had more love in the world, it would be a better world to live in.”

“Of course I am afraid,” she says. "I don’t think I would do too well in jail.”

Still, she says she's more afraid of life without her birds.

Attorney Phelan who works for the Lynn City Council can be reached here and here.

Why I Hate Living In Massachusetts

Or, as I call it, Kookachoosetts.

In Newton, by far the dumbest town in The Commonwealth we have this little nugget, reminding us how we ended up with a Generation of Gimmie Gimmies standing on the streets of America demanding someone pay their bills for them.

This is why this generation fails in the real world. When Mom and Dad no longer pay and they have to make it on their own, look back at things like this and you'll remember why:

From MyFoxBoston.com:

Newton schools are asking parents to have their kids leave so-called "celebratory" clothing at home.

They’re talking about accessories or clothes given out at a birthday parties or other celebrations that kids then wear to class on Monday.

School officials say this is becoming a trend at Oak Hill and other Newton middle schools.

They say it leads to other kids feeling excluded and reminded they were not included in the festivities. The school is urging to have their kids avoid wearing such items and even have a conversation with their kids about how wearing this kind of thing makes kids feel left out. Here is a copy of the letter:

Here is a copy of the letter:

Student Attire - Weekend Celebrations

Dear Oak Hill Families,

At Oak Hill and other Newton Middle Schools, we are experiencing a trend that has resulted in some students sharing with me that they feel excluded. I am writing to you to share an experience that some students have shared with me.

On many Monday mornings, students stream into the building, and other students begin to notice that they are not among a particular group. There is a group (or groups) of students who are wearing the same colorful article of clothing - a t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweatpants or leggings. Upon closer inspection, you can see the name of a student clearly labeled on the clothing honoring a celebration that took place over the weekend. While the students wearing the labeled clothing are all chatting excitedly about their weekend experiences, the students who aren't wearing the clothing tend to walk by, trying not to take notice while being reminded that they were not included in the festivities.

As educators we are concerned about the unintentional messages that are conveyed when groups of students wear the same celebratory clothing from weekend events. In order to reinforce practices that promote inclusion and community, we respectfully ask that:

* Your children refrain from wearing clothing to school that identifies a weekend celebration marked with a student name.

* We encourage you to have a conversation with your child about this trend and how it may make others feel who may have been excluded from participating in the event. Explore the idea of being inclusive and how one can resist the urge to wear the clothing right after the celebration as it make students who aren't included feel left out.

This will assist us in fostering a whole community spirit focused on education at Oak Hill. We appreciate your understanding and sensitivity to this issue. If you have questions or comments, please address these to the School Council...

Thank you,

Oak Hill School Council Members

So Newton MA is trying to put a ban on kids feeling bad.  As yourself this: What would your father have done or said to you had you come home from school one day and said, "Dad, some of the other kids went to a birthday party this weekend. They all made shirts and I don't have one because I wasn't invited. When I walked past them in the hall I felt sorry for myself and was sad".

What's particularly frightening is that most of the Newton parents see nothing wrong with this in any way.  After all, these are the idiots that built a $200 million high school.

Your Pull List for December 21, 2011

My pull list went from about $20-$30 a week to somewhere around $50.  I had to make some hard decisions to drop a few titles...but I managed.  I'm not going to name which titles I dropped, because I want them to succeed, and hopefully come out in trade format...but here's what I'm still getting.

If this book splits off into 16 different titles, Alpha, Omega, Potato, Potahto...I'm dropping it like a bad habit, which is EXACTLY what this type of behavior from Marvel is.

Pretty Funny Spam I Got

Every now and then I look through Google's spam folder to see what hilarity resides inside.

Along with the normal penis enlargement, random Spanish emails, super fantastic deals from stores I've never heard of and quite a few regular old "Someone has been trying to reach you" alongside a picture of some really hot chic and the billions of "There has been a reply to a topic you started for all the board administrators out there that keep that option on by default when all I did was log in to ask a single question two years ago...

This morning I found this one:

Received: from User ([74.63.227.228])
(authenticated user spam@onlineplus.am)
by mail.onlineplus.am (Kerio MailServer 6.5.2);
Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:55:13 +0400
Reply-To:
From: "US-ARMY (John Craig)"
Subject: Us military...could you be trusted.
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:54:58 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000

Hello,

I am Capt John Craig, an officer of the U.S Army. Based on the United States legislative and executive decision to pull our troop out of here I have decided to contact you for this business opportunity and relationship.

I want to inform you that I have in my possession 2 valuable boxes which I want to ship to you. Can you be trusted? If you can please contact me urgently on my private email by clicking the reply button with a code (2345). If you can't please delete this mail.

Thank You

coljohncraig104@rocketmail.com
coljohncraig103@rocketmail.com

That's funny, a COLONEL wants to send me two valuable boxes!  What do you think are in them?  Iraqi feces? IEDs?

Whenever I find a particularly offensive one, or one that is obviously trying to prey upon the elderly, I simply forward it off to the FBI at spam@uce.gov, per their instructions.  Very easy.

Kevin Smith Disses Robert Kirkman?

I will grind anything I make into dust.

Kevin Smith, you know that fat guy that played roles in movies where he doesn't talk because he's too stupid to remember lines, is into comics.  He's even tried writing a few but the one's I've tried to read like Green Hornet or Kato were pure shit.  Ok, his work on Daredevil was good, but take a look at who he was working with and what story arc he trailed.

Even he knew Green Hornet would suck, as did the movie, because every issue has about 20 different variant covers.  That is some hack bullshit right there.

Anything movie the guy makes he wants to write a comic about it too, so he can double dip on the profits from 16 year old stoners.

Anyway, I'm currently reading a real comic called Preacher by Garth Ennis.  It's widely regarded as one of the best graphic novels of all time.  Notice nothing from Kevin Smith is anywhere on any of those lists...he's a comic fan that got an in because he's a celebrity, and we all know how the comic world loves their moonbat Hollywoodland folk.

But that isn't the point, the point is Kevin Smith's foreword in the second Preacher trade paperback.

Here's the part that really made me LOL:

"Controversial," as we all know, is often a euphemism for "interesting and intelligent." Although the pages of PREACHER are filled with avant garde takes on the nature of God and the questionable manner in which religion is followed by the masses without thought (not to mention renderings of brutal bloodletting and graphic, often disturbingly funny violence), this is not a book full of sensationalistic crap writing or drawing. To me, sensationalistic crap writing is lopping off the hand of a time-honored character to give him a "new direction," and sensationalistic crap drawing is page after page of uber-nimrods penned with little regard for proper proportions, set against background deficient splash pages.

Time out for full disclosure:

• I'm Catholic.
• Last time I was in church I got married.
• I'm not particularly religious in any way.
• I don't care what religion anyone is, as long as their religion doesn't justify strapping bombs onto handicapped people and wheeling them down a ramp into a  crowd of people.
• Preacher is very critical of religion, and the religion used in the book is Christianity.
• I was not offended, the book is awesome.

First, he starts off by insulting people.  He changes the definition of a word to fit his argument of anyone that disagrees is "uninteresting" and "unintelligent"...typical Hollywood elitism.  Why is it the moonbats out in Hollywood are the first to take on any causes celebre like if some athlete uses the word "fag" or says something "controversial"...they all gather their pitchforks, toss on their PC club uniforms and march in unison against the oppression.

Of course, insulting Christians is always OK.  You'll never see the beautiful people get all up in arms for the constant attacks on Christians in this country.  Muslims, Buddhists, Hunduk etc.  (Again, I'm not particularly religious, just sticking up for those that might be).


Then he uses the term "avant garde".  People that say avant garde should be double punched in the colon.  Hard.

This should be on the cover of every Kevin Smith comic.

So. Anyone that reads good comics knows he's talking about Robert Kirkman and the main character of Rick in The Walking Dead, another book considered to be among the very best of all time.  You may have even heard of the television show that's blowing up the ratings.

Robert Kirkman vs Kevin Smith is like me vs Carl Lewis.  I'm lucky if I can run to the bathroom.  Kevin Smith is lucky if he can put a coherent story line together for 22 pages.

In closing, I'll use Smith's own words to insult him...

The last time I said something nice about PREACHER, the good folks who compile the trade paperbacks at DC pulled a quote from my gushing praise of the parties involved in bringing this fierce new book to life, and they printed it on the cover - along the top and above the title....the pull quote was "More fun than going to the movies!," complete with my name and then-filmography printed underneath (Clerks, Mallrats)...And - as with all easy targets - some zero took perhaps the easiest shot in the world at me.  Hiding within a then-current issue of The Comics Journal, at the bottom of the 'Viva la Comics!' section, was my quote and credits - over which was the oh-so-damn-witty headline "Well, maybe one of yours..."

I agree with the person Smith deems a "zero" (there's that moonbat elitism again, they just can't help themselves can they?) Kevin Smith and his movies suck.

Korn Sucks (Are They Still Even Around?)

This Is A Dork

I can't be arsed seeing if that whiney, Daddy-issue shit band is still putting out "albums".  But I used to date a girl that loved Korn.  I remember she used to play some album that had a song on it that sounded so damn familiar I had to call them out, but she refused to see it.

The reason this comes up now, is because a song called "Too Many Puppies" from Primus on the album Frizzle Fry (awesome) just came up in Winamp.  I set it to shuffle my entire collection all day and that song just came on...great tune.

So it reminded me of that old Korn song and how I thought it was a rip off.  I decided to do some Googling/Youtubing.

Here's the intro to Primus' "Too Many Puppies":



Here's Korn's "Blind":



Ain't that some bullshit?  That's a complete intripoff. I just made up that word.

People Need To Know How To Use Their Scanners Correctly

If you're using any kind of photo editing software to scan music album covers, comic book covers, comic pages etc onto the internet for databases like Encyclopaedia Metallum or comicbookdb.com, there is a very simple step you need to learn.

99% of the album covers out there suck. They suck because of a thing called "Noise Reduction" and people not knowing how to use it. (I guess that's what happens when most kids steal Photoshop and think that makes them an arteest, but it wouldn't hurt to actually read a tutorial or two.

I'm going to show you an example of the difference NR makes when making hi-res scans of album covers.

Let's pretend you have no musical taste and you're looking for the cover to Nicki Minaj's new album Pink Friday, go away.  I'm going to use the Talking Heads album cover Speaking In Tongues, because I do have taste.  While not my favorite band, the album cover is perfect to show you what I'm talking about.

Here is the album scanned by someone with no clue:

Click on them, yes one is bigger than the other and one is darker...but that isn't the point.  When you click on it and see the larger images...take note of those ugly ass squares and dots all over the album cover.  That means someone used their hi-res scanner and didin't do any touching up.

Now look at an album cover that was scanned by someone that used NR:

Notice all those ugly squares are gone?

Depending upon what resolution you scanned the image at, will depend on how much noise reduction you use.  To use Noise Reduction, go to the "filter" menu and select "noise" then "median".  Enter a value of 1 if you scanned an image to a smaller resolution...and enter a value of 2 if it's very high res.

You'll see a huge difference, and your stuff won't suck on the internet.

Here's another example that is even more obvious:

Can you figure out which Photoshop user used Noise Reduction?

My Pull List for December 14, 2011

Uhm, yes please. With more awesome. And some badass on the side please. More. Thank you. More. Christos Gage is a genius.  There hasn't been a single bad issue in his entire run.  In fact, I have never, ever read anything by Gage that wasn't good.

I don't give a shit what you say. I am so happy Cable's back. The device by which they use to bring him back is irrelevant. Cable is a badass and his most recent series was incredible.

Uh, OK...I guess. Might as well, right? Whatever. Hurry up and finish (and payoff) so I can stop feeling like a sucker.

My LCS claims I'm like 1 of the 3 people buying this book. Too bad, I don't take myself so seriously that I can't enjoy some gore and Baysplosions every now and then...and I don't need to read Crossed to get it.  I'm all set with women eating their own fetuses out of their stomachs...sorry fanboys, I'm not as cultured as you.

This book is a fuggin hoot!

Chugga chugga chugga chugga CHOO CHOO

You hate comics if you're not reading Ben McCool's book:

The first comic, and I'm talking issue number 1, to literally give me chills.

Whatever, I probably should have dropped this and picked up Carnage. But I like a book that doesn't make US military look like assholes like most comic book writers out there tend to do, since most want to be in Hollywood with the rest of the kooks.  So I'll support it.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good story, just not breathtaking.

The second incredible arc of this incredible book comes to its incredible close. This book is incredibly incredible.

The further adventures of Ramblin' Rick and One Eye.

A Trip Around The Web

A few excerpts from around the web:

The Big Feed - Obama: Flat out Dumb

Please tell me this is true and not photo-shopped. Couldn't find a story to accompany this photo on Drudge this morning... Did this clown really light all the candles on the Menorah while celebrating Hanukkah like two weeks early? File this away in the "Imagine if Bush did it" files... 

The Big Feed -These Hippies is Nasty

Or so that would seem to be the thoughts of this DC policeman as he watches a couple of greasy occupy protesters show their "love".

Obama And Belonsky, no?

Infidel Bloggers Alliance - An apologist for Obama's appeasement babbles to himself

Nasty moonbat Andrew Belonsky has opened his big mouth again to claim that Obama is doing a fully convincing job in the war on terror, which I'm afraid is just exaggerated at best: Republican presidential candidates shifted their focus from domestic affairs to foreign policy during the Republican Jewish Forum yesterday. And not surprisingly, almost all of them claimed President Obama has been too soft on Islamic militants overseas. Rick Santorum said Obama’s approach has “has been nothing but appeasement,” while Mitt Romney claimed the president “emboldened Palestinian hard-liners ... more »

Pundit & Pundette - Debatable

Rick Santorum has agreed to participate in the so-called Trump debate and has branded his opponents as hypocrites for turning it down: "Many of my opponents jockeyed to be the first to fly up to New York and use Donald Trump for a photo op and no doubt try and secure an endorsement," the former Pennsylvania senator said in a statement. "But when Donald wants to moderate a debate – they refuse...

Infidel Bloggers Alliance - Former FBI agent held prisoner in Iran

I just noticed this news, showing that hostage situations in Iran aren't over: WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished years ago in Iran, issued a plea to his kidnappers Friday and, for the first time, released a hostage video they received from his unidentified captors. The video message released on the family's website publicly transformed the mysterious disappearance into an international hostage standoff. Despite a lengthy investigation, however, the United States government has no evidence of who is holding the 63-year-old father of seve... more »

Betsy's Page -  A divider, not a uniter

Remember when the Barack Obama persona was about how there was no red America or blue America and that we should stop demonizing those with whom we disagree? I know, I know. That seems like a different century from today's view of three years of this man as president. Now he'll tell us that he isn't engaging in class warfare and then go ahead and do what he just said he wouldn't do. Peter Kirsanow has a wonderful post up with a non-exhaustive list of the phrases that Obama used during his Osawatomie speech. ‘This Isn’t About Class Warfare’ . . . President Obama said during (and abo... more »  

:Paul here, please read this for my opinion on Obama and his "Discourse Raising" bullshit.  The only thing he's raised is the warflag of classism, racism and sexism to plant his corrupt ass into the WH for another 4 years.

If you're in NYC, Boston, Oakland, Melbourne...look outside your window...those aren't innocent little college kids wanting to get in on a protest - they're Soros funded classism footsoldiers ready to do Obama's wetwork as soon as he lights the bat signal. It is of vital importance the GOP, TEA Party, Coffee Party, Hot Cocoa Party and the Earl Grey Party forget who's more grass roots than the other. The priority is getting @BarackObama, the active, Manchurian terrorist enemy of the state out of power, before he simply destroys the country and takes us with him.

Stop fighting each other! From Ron Paul to Rick Santorum to Mitt Romney. RINO, lil kooky or not...it's all trivial in comparison to getting this guy out of power and away from any kind of influence, global or domestic.

BasilsBlog.net - A calendar ain't nothing but a number

The president is celebrating Hanukkah. Not "planning to observe Hanukkah beginning December 20th" but IS. As in now . None of this silly waiting until the Festival of Lights actually begins, but now. Because, it's not like days ... or the number of days or anything ... really matter, right? And, so as to not drag it all out, the president went ahead and lit all eight candles. Because, well, you know, why not. It's not like you need to light one a day or anything, right? It doesn't, like, have any special meaning, right? While the Festival of Lights doesn't actually begin until Dec... more » 

Interested-Participant - Untitled

Guidance Counselor Fired for Inappropriate Behavior(Radnor, Pennsylvania) A 30-year-old guidance counselor at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Symantha Hicks, has been accused of inappropriate behavior with students.Symantha Hicks -- a first year guidance counselor at the boarding and day school for boys, grades 7-12 -- is accused of providing alcohol to underage cadets as well as ...

barbaylive - "Let them Continue", laughs Gov Christie; as whining, screaming #OWS disrupt his Iowa appearance (Video)











Zilla of the Resistance - Anti-Jihad Blogger Announces Official Endorsement for President of the United States of America

The 2012 Republican primaries will soon be at hand, and it is of utmost importance that the Republican nominee who will challenge Obama for the Presidency is not only cognizant of, but willing to fearlessly fight against the ever increasing force of islamic supremacist infiltration of the United States and the global threat presented by islamic supremacist conquest to freedom loving people...

Just a misunderstood culture, yes? We can't allow "Under God" in The Pledge, but how dare we interfere with religious freedom such as this? Liberals are evil. Liberals are what you see in the picture above, holding the guns, and America is the victim on the ground. That tuft of brain matter in front of the victim? That's the Utopian America liberals envision.

Rational Nation USA - Does a Leopard Change its Spots?

by: *Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny* Newt Gingrich is, to put it bluntly not the presidential candidate the republican party needs. Aside from carrying to much baggage like his three marriages, extramarital affairs, his well paid "historian" role consulting with Freddie Mac, his flip flops on healthcare mandates and climate change, and his delusions of grandeur, he is not a leader than individuals like to follow. In fact he is a rather divisive figure. When he was Speaker of the House, before his colleagues replaced him for his ineptitude, his lack of princi... more »

My Pull List for December 07, 2011

Yesterday was a huge day, lots of awesome comics on the shelves.

Milpundit: Trace Your Lineage at no Cost

Milpundit: Trace Your Lineage at no Cost

DEAR ABBY:

'I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Any suggestions?'

Sam in California.

DEAR SAM:

'Register as a Republican, and run for public office.'

Abby

Ba-doom-tsss...

First Words Children Hear

Hello, America? Is it safe to come out?

The first words I said to my son when he was born, after, "Hello", were, "I'm so sorry you were born during the @Barack_Obama administration".  My son then puked and urinated upon himself.

My next son has a due date of Jan 27.  Officially Obummer will no longer be president by 7 days.

Then I'll be able to tell him he just barely made it past the four worst years in American history.

Of course, he'll be obligated, even 20 years from now, to clean up the big fucking mess the fool made.  But at the very least he wasn't brought into this world with that soft-touch jackass at the helm.