Pop Snark Hooligan!

So I had this long, overly complex post all prepared about how much I love AIT/Planet Lar, and about how cool Larry Young is and all the sage advice he's given me over the years. I even had a few rants ready to go about all the bad mouthing he gets on the fan boards, and what I think of those people, then I decided I'd rather accentuate the positive, so I threw it out. Instead, I decided to post a listing of every AIT/Planet Lar graphic...

No joke, time goes by and people continue to do stuff even when you aren't constantly checking up on them. The review of Raven's Children was written several years ago, and in preparation for revising it, I did some checking up on Ms. Lawlor. She has in the intervening years literally exploded onto the internet, publishing work for Girlamatic and putting up her long running science fiction epic Kismet, as well as several other works in...

Being a review of the movie Kung Fu HustleI hate to come across as an obvious cliché, but I just love Hong Kong action movies. I think most guys do, really. We're programmed for it as small children. While I wouldn't consider myself obsessive about the genré (unlike pretty much every other aspect of pop culture), I am fairly well versed in the Hong Kong action movie canon. It started with Bruce Lee, for certain, but it soon spread to Sonny...

SPACEMAN One-shotMike Allred/Lawrence MavritUS $2.95Oni PressEvery Saturday morning my little brother and I would get up at five thirty and sit with our noses plastered to the television screen, consuming massive amounts of cocoa frosted sugar bombs and watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. Six hours later, our mother, "God bless her," would peel our hyperactive little bodies off the ceiling. Twitching with massive sugar buzz and phosphor...

THE PROGarth Ennis/Amanda Connor/Jimmy PalmiottiUS $5.95Image ComicsThe Pro is a one-shot that deals primarily with classic themes of honesty, and what it takes to be a true hero. It's a sweeping, grand "widescreen" tale that packs in wall-to-wall action, a large cast of supporting characters, and artwork by one of the best teams producing comics today. It's also the story of a foul mouthed, ill tempered, cut-rate prostitute that gets super...

Little White Mouse Open Space #1 By Paul SizerBlue Line Pro ComicsUS $2.95It drives me absolutely fucking insane when I have to take extraordinary measures to find things that by all accounts should be easily accessible. In a perfect world, Paul Sizer would be recognized as the creative genius he is, and LITTLE WHITE MOUSE would be at my comics store, stacked ten issues deep every Wednesday and sold out by Thursday. I wouldn't have to tear...

*** Retro A GoGo!***Intro:This is a piece I wrote for SAVANT a few years ago, right around the time the first Spider-Man movie came out. At the time Marvel had a man named Bill Jemas as its president, who they wisely promoted to somewhere other than spokesperson. I have to admit that under Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics has prospered. Right now, they are enjoying the current upswell in comic book movie popularity. I doubt their business practices have changed much since this was written, and I still have a sneaking suspicion that...

***Retro A GoGo***Intro:This was a recruiting piece I did for SAVANT. When I stack it into the whole "Dan Traeger" cannon, I think it still reads okay. It definitely accomplished what I wanted it to, at least within my limited sphere of influence. I still really like the anecdotal part of this one.******IDIOTS AND SAVANTSby Dan TraegerA special note before I start on this tear. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author. Savant magazine and her editorial staff have nothing to do with this, other than the fact...

RAVEN'S CHILDREN: SHADOW OF THE SNOW FOXLayla Marie LawlorSusitna MythographicsUS $14.95, 144 pagesISBN: 0971734003AUG022326When I was living in Champaign Illinois, there was this mini comic that was written, drawn and published by a local creator, Layla Lawlor. The book was called RAVEN'S CHILDREN, and to this day it is still one of my favorite mini-comics series. I had always wanted to meet her if for no other reason than to just say...

***Retro A GoGo!***This was my introductory editorial when I took over editing duties for SAVANT's Toolbox section. Toolbox was a bunch of printable stickers, t-shirt designs, and viral marketing inserts designed around movies, DVDs and other cross promotable books. I had big plans to revamp and expand the whole section... ooh the plans I had. Before I could accomplish anything with it though, SAVANT imploded, and it seems the idea of comics activism went with it. Too bad, it's still a viable idea. As an article, this really...

I'm probably being paranoid about this, but I think it's time to grab all my stuff that's still floating around in the old SAVANT ghost town. For those of you that don't know, I used to write for an internet webzine called SAVANT. It was a fun time in my life, and I turned in some really good work for them. Eventually, SAVANT collapsed under the weight of hubris, petty squabbling, and disinterest, but for a long run there, it was one of the best Comics Webzines going. There's probably a post or two about SAVANT, and how not...

THE METABARONS Volume 1"Path of the Warrior"Jodorowsky & GimenezSTAR13289Humanoids Publishing$14.95 THE METABARONS Volume 2"Blood and Steel"Jodorowsky & GimenezSTAR15080Humanoids Publishing$14.95Okay, I'll admit it. I'm not perfect. I'm human just like everyone else. But I've tried to be open, understanding and liberal my entire life. I don't consider myself a racist or a sexist or really any other "ist" for that matter. Most of...

I try to stay fairly current with these movie reviews, but sometimes for one reason or another, one slips through the cracks. My wife and I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha when it first came out in theaters. She had read the book and was anxious to see how it translated, and I had liked Dion Beebe's cinematography on Chicago. Even though I hated Chicago's directing and editing, I was still willing to give Memoirs of a Geisha a go. There...

There are some movies that are just so terribly, terribly bad that right from the outset you want to claw your own eyes out so that you're no longer capable of witnessing the ongoing twenty car pileup that is unfolding in front of you on the screen. If by some miracle of intestinal fortitude you manage to stick it out until the closing credits, you have to repress the nearly overpowering urge to grab the greasy little teenager behind the...

It was inevitable that I'd go see this movie. I've been a fan of The X-Men since 1975 when I picked up a copy of Giant Size X-Men #1. It sported a cover by the great Gil Kane and interior artwork by Dave Cockrum who I knew and liked from his run on Legion of Super Heroes. I suffered through another fifteen issues of mediocre plotting and insufferable dialogue from Chris Clairmont on the core title, until issue 108 when magic happened. For...