Jon Sable is NSFW
In today’s brand-new episode of Jon Sable: Freelance, by Mike Grell, Maggie the Cat lives up to her reputation. With diamonds — and other things — size matters.
Author: Martha Thomases
The Black Lamb meets the Steel Maiden
In today’s thrilling installment of The Black Lamb, Timothy Truman continues his tale of the vampire from space, The Black Lamb. Good guys, bad guys, magicians, scientists, bounty hunters, double-agents — what more could you want in a full-color, free comic?
Brothers team up on EZ Street
Want to watch the birth of a comic? In today’s brand-new, totally free episode of EZ Street, Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell show brothers Danny and Scott starting their project, with the hopes that soon it will be a Major Motion Picture. 
GrimJack gets furry
John Gaunt confers with Goethe, the Fat Man, over absinthe, rot gut, and a beautiful pussycat in today’s episode of GrimJack. Written by John Ostrander, drawn by Timothy Truman, it’s a look into the freak side of Cynosure’s dark underbelly.
Look to your loins!
In today’s brand new, full color Demons of Sherwood adventure, Robin of Locksley is pushed into greater heroic adventure.
Fires! Swordplay! Attacks and rescues! All this, and more, as Robert Tinnell and Bo Hampton tell you what happened to Robin Hood, Maid Marian, the Merry Men and the rest of Sherwood recovered from their happily ever after.
The Rules of Travel, by Martha Thomases
You can tell it’s January by the seed catalogs in the mailbox. No matter how dark and gloomy the day might be, Burpee and other seed spreaders assure you that someday, soon, the sun will shine and plants will grow.
I’m thinking about a vacation.
“But, Martha,” you say. “You’re a glamorous, successful woman! You have an exciting career that takes you all over the country, where you get to hang out with interesting creative people, all expenses paid. Your job is comics. Why should you need a vacation?”
It’s true that I’m extremely lucky. I get to work in my chosen field and get paid for my work. I get to live in New York City, the veritable Center of the Universe™. Every time I get up in the morning, I have the opportunity to see masterpieces of the visual, audio and kinetic arts. Some of the finest merchants on the planet have their flagship stores within a few miles of my apartment, easily accessible by inexpensive mass transit. Restaurants compete to see who can offer the most exotic, the most exquisite, the most yummy of foods. Why would I need a vacation?
All of this is true. I spent most of my adolescence scheming of ways to visit New York. As soon as I moved here, I met people in the comics business, and exploited them to the best of my ability so that I could learn how to get into the business (thanks, Denny!). I’m livin’ the dream, baby.
Legends of the Dark Fleece
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of ewes? It’s the Ovine Princess, the Dark Fleece Detective. We were lucky enough to meet this secretive heroine at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. She seems to be a big fan of ComicMix, pausing in her contemplation of villainy (and the straw in the stall) to notice the logo on our t-shirt.
Oddly, we never seem to see glamourous socialite Lani Lind (LL!) when this dominoed dare-doll puts in an appearance.
(Editor’s note: Martha, we told you we wanted you to work on promoting our online edition of The Black Lamb by Timothy Truman, formerly published by Helix/DC Comics. This ain’t what we had in mind. –Glenn H.)
Leader of the Pack, by Martha Thomases
As I start this column, the Iowa caucuses have been going on for less than half an hour. The 24-hour news channels, however, have been covering them, intensely, all day. The early returns aren’t in, but, since I don’t expect to finish this until the totals are final, we can keep talking.
Every four years, we go through primary season. This year, with neither party having an incumbent who can run for office, nor a vice-president who wishes to run, there is an especially large field. The network anchors assure me that, by next Wednesday, the field will have narrowed considerably as the trailing candidates drop out.
This is important stuff. We’re at the end days of what I hope will prove to be the worst presidency ever (as in “we will not ever elect anyone worse”). We have a huge deficit and trade imbalance, a tattered reputation among other countries, and people are dying in a war we didn’t have to start.
Unfortunately, if you watch the American news, you wouldn’t know this. You would think it’s all a horse race, a matter of who wins and who loses. Some say the Democratic choice is between Obama and Clinton, ignoring the fact that John Edwards seems to be getting more support than at least one of those people. On the Republican side, they seem to be willing to include John McCain in the battle along with top vote-getters Huckabee and Romney, but that might not last past Tuesday.
It’s Different for Girls …
Via the Occasional Superheroine website, we find this survey:
Poll Results for Worst Gender Related Comic Incident of 2007
Amazons Attack 35%
Batgirl’s Entire Personality Change 12%
BC/GA Wedding 12%
Starfire’s treatment in Countdown to Adventure 12%
Black Canary Wedding Planner 6%
MJ Statue of Evil 6 %
Donna’s weakness in Countdown 3%
Wonder Woman relaunch 6%
Cassie continuing to play Juliet to Kon 3%
It disturbs me that so much of this is DC — when I worked there, we seemed to be the more progressive publisher of the Big Two. The Editor-in-Chief was a woman, and there were several women editors who had some authority.
While I’d quibble with some of the selections here, that’s really not the point. The point is that the publishers of the largest-selling American comics would appear to go out of their way to alienate half the population. And that half of the population seems quite happy to buy manga, in bookstores, where they find themselves appreciated as valued customers.
What are you doing New Years Eve? by Martha Thomases
When I was a girl, I’d spend New Years Eve watching my parents get dressed up to go out. My sister and I would be in our pajamas, and my mom would put on her make-up with extra care. Lipstick and perfume. We’d wave as they went away, and then try to get the baby-sitter to let us have extra popcorn, or stay up until midnight. In the morning, we’d go downstairs to breakfast and find noise-makers and gilded hats made out of cardboard, souvenirs of the party. It seemed so glamorous. At my parents’ suggestion, my sister and I would make New Year resolutions. I’m not sure if this was to better ourselves, or to keep us quiet on a hung-over morning, but it was fun.When I was a teenager, I was miserable on New Years Eve. I would be home from school, hundreds of miles away from my friends, usually alone. My parents would still go out, but I wasn’t so interested in watching them get dressed. I’d stay up, watching people on television having fun. In the morning, I’d resolve to kill myself before I’d ever be so miserable again.
As an adult, I’ve gone to some fabulous New Years Eve parties. One year, John and I went to five parties. After all, we live in New York City, the center of the known universe, and we know Very Important People. You, a mere reader, cannot possible imagine the things I’ve seen at these veritable happenings. (Okay, that’s not in any way true. You can imagine what I’ve seen. I’ve seen adults – some of whom are dressed in very expensive but unflattering clothes — having a few drinks, eating and talking, usually about real estate prices.) For a few years, I’d make resolutions, if only to please my therapist. Lipstick and perfume? Not so much.
