I recently went to the movies and saw American Gangster (which kicks ass!) and was blown away by the amount of advertising that we are subjected to before the movie or even the trailers play. Is it just me, or does anyone else resent paying $10 and having to sit through the same ads you have to sit through on 'free' tv?

Then, when a three minute national guard recruiting video came on I almost lost it. We come to the movies to be entertained, and I don't know about you but most ads are annoying not entertaining.

Most of you probably don't remember when cable television was commercial free. Thats the way it starts. A little at a time.

Is it me or is Dennis Miller more of a horse's ass now than he has ever been? Sure he's always been this smug wannabe intellectual, but I kinda remember him being slightly amusing at one point.

So I'm watching Leno tonight (I love headlines,what can I say?), and this fucker comes on to plug his radio show or whatever, and just starts spewing this pro Bush, pro Iraq war, pro Iran invasion bullshit that just left me speechless. Oh well, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

I just found out today that Mike Wieringo , one of my favorite artists passed away over a week ago.
This saddened me a great deal because we have lost a truly unique illustrator and storyteller.

I remember meeting Mike at a motor city con a few years ago. He and Todd Dezago were promoting Tellos which was Just coming out. I forget what the subject the panel was discussing but it was a pretty light turnout and they had an hour to kill. Everyone, especially Mike were so kind and patient. I was there with my little photocopied mini comics and Mike took time to give me an in depth critique of my work. Not just blowing smoke, but giving meaningful heartfelt suggestions that I feel helped me a lot. At the time I thought wow, what a nice guy. I had not really heard of him but if he was this cool the least I could do was buy one of his books. Turns out I loved his art and Tellos is a great story.

Over the years I follow his work on other books and rejoice when he gets the Fantastic Four gig.
I still have the Tellos preview issue that he signed for me and will treasure it always.
Thanks Mike. I will never forget you.

I finally got around to seeing Grindhouse and I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Being from the old school I was looking forward to this movie that dared to try something different. Unlike a lot of you guys I can actually remember when movies of this genre were popular.

The Rodriguez film Planet Terror was gory, over the top and filled with action. Shit would just blow up for no apparent reason. But I saw what the director was going for, and I loved the grainy look.

Deathproof Tarentino's half of the deal is what was the letdown. Theres some witty dialog as most of his movies have but not much else.Kurt Russell's character should have been a little better defined, and the ending was really lame. It's like he just said fuck it, it's over.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has seen it or what you think.

They got Don Imus ,yay. You know I really don't give a rats ass about him because he's probably a jerk but I will say this: I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it. When someone decides what we can or can not say, freedom of speech becomes a slippery slope. This concerns me because being in the publishing business I am bound to offend someone at some time because I don't believe in censorship. At any time the decency police might say, "I don't like what you said, so I'm going to go after you until your sponsors drop you." I have a problem with that.

To those of you who have tried to buy comics on alternativecitycomics.com and had a problem with the paypal 'add to cart' buttons, I apologize. I promise to have that taken care of within a few days. To make up for it, the free shipping deal will continue until further notice. Thanks for your patience.

After seeing marvel kill captain america I really feel like this is the beginning of the end of super heroes dominating the world of comics. It may surprise some of you guys, but until the rise of marvel in 1961, the most popular comics were non-hero titles

All us fanboys (and girls) know that some how marvel is going to fill the blue suit with another hero. Probably one younger, cooler and more edgy. But I won't
be reading his title.

I love comics from the silver and bronze age, and even some of the modern stuff
(Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Powers, Preacher,etc) but it has all become a soap opera. The same shit happens all over and over again. No major characters ever stay dead they just return played by a different actor. God forbid you should have to create a new character that might not be as marketable as the one that got killed off.

In the age of the internet we are all comic book publishers, directors, and recording artists. All it takes is hardware and software. The web is going to play a huge role in the future of comics. We have to get new readers, younger readers, female readers.

One way to do that is to stop supporting super hero books feeding us regurgitated pap from the same 'roided up basketballs for breasts stiffs with nothing new to say, and buy a good indie title instead. Theres a lot of good well written stuff out there (complicated hair for instance, which is available at alternativecitycomics.com) so check them out.

Random thoughts as I watch the academy awards....Ellen is pretty funny. That Jennifer Hudson/Al Gore joke was killer......I was very happy for Jennifer Hudson, she seems like a down to earth person and they can use a lot more of those in the entertainment industry.....Seinfeld, still funny, has not lost a step.....was Clint Eastwood a little buzzed?......happy for Forest Whittaker......sorry for Peter O'Toole. I loved 'My favorite year'.....Scorsese FINALLY....

What is going on with pro basketball? These officials that call NBA games are the worst in all sports, including pro wrestling. They dictate the outcome of games by calling fouls on rookies and less popular players. That the same an fixing a game in my book. And the league is such a dictatorship, no player or coach better not think of saying even one critical word about it in the media.

You can be arrested in Alabama for having a dildo?What kinda shit is that? Unfortunately there is nothing in the constitution that guarantees sexual freedom. An Alabama circuit court recently upheld an outdated law that prohibits the sale of sex toys, even they are going to be used by people in the privacy of their own homes. This is the mindset of the people who helped put George W into office.