ComicBookHarriet

Dark Phoenix Saga

Yes Crazy, it’s been so long since we’ve seen unfettered enthusiasm expressed. It intrigued you so much your eyes are slipping down your face. I’m surprised that the very sight of it didn’t drive you completely blind.

Okay, so is it the Sponge Guy or Starbuck that is getting a rebooted comic book? My vote’s on Spongy, since the Clone Arc went over about as well as Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal. And why do I feel like this is Tommy Boy’s way of getting more comics storylines to juggle now that Starbuck Jones: THE MOVIE has been kind of played out. A movie that we never saw, nor even got the general reception of. What was it’s Rotten Tomatoes score? Did the public even like it? We’ll never know.

I think the colorist has never been into a comic’s store, since he keeps coloring the bagged and boarded comics a opaque shade of tan, like every comic is stored in an unlabeled manila envelope.

Or it’s a sad reality of the way DSH and Crazy sell off their backstock. $1.00 each, mystery special! No swapsies tradies! It’s the best way of hiding the fact that their entire inventory is back issues of The Death Of Superman arc and Image comics Youngbloods #1, by Rob Liefield.

Discrete Depravity.

Link to Today’s Strip.

Weird how in the Sunday strip Chester was asking both Harry and John, but in the Monday replay he appears to be attempting to keep Harry out of it.

After reading today’s strip, I’ve realized just how Komix Corner stays in business.

There’s a joke about cheap kid’s cereal or candy having to spell every word in the name wrong for legal purposes. Chackolote because it contains no chocolate… Frooty because it contains no fruit. Komix Korner so named because it barely contains comics. In the tiny conservative Westview, Komix Korner has become the only place for ‘discrete’ customers from, adolescents to the elderly, to purchase their adult materials.

Whatever happens in Komix Korner stays in Komix Korner, indeed. DSH John and Harry know that the backbone of their lascivious moneymaker is anonymity.

The giveaway is the last panel, where John whispers softly to Chester. His eyes are closed, lips parted, and he sniffs his hand. His pose is frankly erotic, and utterly shocking for a strip that chose to symbolize lovemaking as a darkened window on a rainy day.

Shadowy Agenda

Link to Today’s Strip.

Someone decided to rip of Frank Miller in exactly one panel today.

Actually the art on looks pretty good, bravo to the colorist for the gradient shades on Chester’s bald head. And you can actually tell that it is supposed to be a Hulk poster in the background. Much better than the weeklies. If you look at Saturday we have a brown Green Arrow, and a nearly black Spider Man. I know that there is a black Spider Man now, but I don’t think he’s gone for a suit the same shade as his skin.

In one entire week of strips, we’ve learned exactly HALF of why Chester is here. I’m guessing that at the end of next week we will finally learn why he wants to contact Mopey Pete.

Sadderday

Link to today’s comic.

Now we’ve devolved to a single panel, setting up a joke that could have been between any two Batiuk cardboard cutout mouthpieces. Both Crazy’s animosity and Chester’s condescension have been tossed aside to make a ‘topical’ reference.

According to BingeClock, it would take 2 days and 15 hours to watch all of Game of Thrones released so far. So is this running for a month of Saturdays? How do they decide where to start? I’m guessing they fast forward through any sex or gratuitous violence, thus getting the series down to 20 hours plus potty breaks and pizza runs downstairs. And who is attending this? Where are they sitting and watching? Spending 24 hours upstairs from Montoni’s, crouched on folding chairs in the dark, huddled around a flickering 1994 Trinitron TV, with Bernie, Bernie’s black friends, DSH and Crazy, eating cold pizza and drinking flat Mt Dollarstore, sounds like a recipe for Red Wedding levels of horror.

Also. This is a comic book store. Obviously they should have been watching The Walking Dead.

Kuaint Kartoon Referenz

Link to today’s comic.

Stepping down from yesterday’s soapbox and removing my ‘The Defender’ disguise, I revert back to my normal Comic Book Harriet moniker. And holy cow will Tom Batiuk just get on with it! It’s Friday! We still don’t know why The Chiseler has graced us with his presence. We’ve had two days of standing outside, and three days of passive aggressive insults. Nothing is happening and we’re not learning anything that will progress the plot.

We have to dig to get ANYTHING from this bland wryness. What did we learn today?

1.) Chester lets other see him pretend to read Wonder Woman, because that movie was good AND progressive, and he loves jumping on bandwagons.

2.) Chester has been there so long that John and Crazy have gone back to work, and are now giving him dirty looks for reading an entire comic book in the store with no intention of buying it, a serious faux pas.

3.) Chester is nicer than I gave him credit for. He said ‘oddly quaint’ where I would have said ‘flat out asinine.’

4.) DSH John has watched the cartoon Batman Beyond. I will now hypocritically call him a pathetic regressive man-child while I slide my Beast Wars DVDS out of sight.

5.) Batman Beyond had some good moments, but never reached the artistic heights of Batman: The Animated Series.