Thursday, July 17, 2025

Missouri is the Midwest, Why Say Otherwise?

Missouri is a part of the Midwest, right? Why do some say otherwise? We're smack-dab in the heart of America. We border some Southern states and Northern states. Back in the Civil War, Missouri sided with the Union and was important beforehand with the Missouri Compromise (which obviously failed, hence the war). We have the Saint Louis Arch, which we know as the gateway to the West. Now, the Bootheel has some Southern flavor to it, but the overall State isn't the South. Politically, Missouri has, at times, been a bit of a mish-mash of politics. The rise of Trump and MAGA resulted in the overall state skewing more to the right-wing, but it still has shifted left at times, like voting for abortion rights and workers' rights as recently as the 2024 election (with our GOP-led Congress and Governor working hard to undo the people's will). 

We have some unique food items that aren't, "North," or, "South," so much as, "Interesting." Gooey butter cake, Provel cheese on pizza, and toasted ravioli are all beloved around Missouri (and in the case of Provel cheese, hated most other places). We aren't the South, although when I took my now-wife and then-girlfriend, Samii, to upstate New York to meet family and friends years ago, everyone did ask her where her Southern accent was. Then again, New York is so far North I've heard people there claim Ohio is Southern...so yeah. In closing, Missouri is in the Midwest, obviously. Also, it is pronounced, "Missour-E and not Missour-Uh," although in the aforementioned Bootheel, you will hear the latter more than the former.

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I Accidentally Spoiled a Comic to Someone and Feel Bad

I was on Reddit and in a comic group, saw someone asking if, "Kraven's Last Hunt," was a story worth checking out, and if they needed to read anything else to understand it. I commented it was a fantastic story and Marvel should have let Kraven stay dead afterward instead of bringing him back (he dies by suicide at the end, having defeated Spider-Man in a fight and thinking he accomplished his goal of being the best hunter ever). They commented something along the lines of, "Oh, thanks for the spoiler, I guess," and I suddenly realized, despite the title and the fact that the story is decades old, they didn't realize what happened, and I'd wrecked any surprise. I felt bad, even though one could argue that when a movie/comic/show has existed for years, folks shouldn't be surprised to stumble upon spoilers. The thing is, I kind of made them trip over the spoiler by putting it right in their way--to stick to the metaphor. 

I apologized, and they said it was okay. They still plan to read the popular Spider-Man versus Kraven story from the 1980s, which I would argue is the best Kraven storyline ever--they should've let him stay dead after it for real. Still, I do feel guilty for destroying any element of surprise. It reminds me of a film class where we all were assigned a popular movie to view and report upon. I picked, "Citizen Kane," as it was incredibly ahead of its time and still an impressive piece of cinema. I was going to discuss at the end of my report how the flick reveals what the mysterious, "Rosebud," mentioned at the start of the movie by Orson Welles' character is, but the whole class erupted in people yelling, "Don't spoil it!" Really? You all are going to run out and watch a movie from 1941, now, because my report got you so interested? 

In that situation, I was a bit amused by how reticent people were to have anything revealed as if they were going to go see, "Citizen Kane," right away. That said, the situation with, "Kraven's Last Hunt,' is clearly a bit different, and I am somewhat the bad guy in this case. I'm sorry, fellow Reddit user, I didn't mean to spoil it. "Kraven's Last Hunt," or, "Citizen Kane," are both worth checking out, however.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Philbo Distribution Has Launched With an Independent Publisher Focus

Diamond Comic Distributors is being broken down into nothing and has enraged everyone with plans to liquidate consigned inventory without paying the owners of said inventory (lawsuits have resulted). That has put a lot of indie publishers in a rough spot as they aren't always meaty enough to interest PRH or Lunar. Massive is a publisher at Lunar that has a sub-distribution option for indies, which is one option. A new distributor with an indie focus and some decent-sized (but still pretty independent-level) clients has emerged. As was previously announced, Phillip Russertt has taken Philbo Publishing and expanded to Philbo Distribution.

Philbo Distro--as I like to call it for short--has an online catalog for July that has an FOC (final order cutoff) of September 1st to receive product in October. Notable indies such as Zenescope, Fairsuqare, Antarctic Press, Devil's Due, and Advent are represented, along with smaller publishers I'm not as familiar with, but whose books look fun. Considering Diamond will most likely have completely folded by the end of this year, having three solid distributors of monthly comics (and Universal is entering the scene, but with more of a trade paperback focus) sounds pretty good to me. I wish Philbo Distro great success!

Monday, July 14, 2025

Music Monday: "Let God Sort Em Out," Shows Clipse is Still at the Top of Their Game All These Years Later

Clipse has not had an album come out with the brotherly duo of Pusha-T and No Malice since 2009. They've both done some solo projects (and No Malice outright quit rapping for a while) but outside of a featured track here and there, nothing. Hence, I was extremely excited when I heard that Clipse was reuniting for a new LP with production by Pharrell and some guest appearances. On Friday, July 11th, "Let God Sort Em Out," dropped, and I have listened to it now multiple times. It is great, to put it simply.

Outside of those who love the LP like myself and many others, I have seen a review here and there observing that Pharrell's production sounds almost a little too finished and glossy for the at-times grimy style of Clipse. I think enough tracks still hit just right and hard enough that I wasn't thinking Pharrell hindered the album at all. Oh, and this album starts hard. "The Birds Don't Sing," kicks things off forcefully but balances it all out with John Legend adding some vocals too. Then, "Chains & Whips," is straight fire with Kendrick Lamar's verse already a, "Lyrics of the Year," contender. It is funny to think Lamar having a guest spot was so controversial for the original record label Clipse was signed to (Def Jam) for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. Jumping ship and keeping the song intact was a good choice, clearly. "P.O.V." with its beat-shifs and Tyler the Creator joining in on the fun is a hoot as well, and as the album continues with such bangers as, "Ace Trumpets," and, "M.T.B.T.T.F." it all flows so well from track to track. The final two tunes, "Let God Sort Em Out / Chandeliers," and "By the Grace of God," close everything out wonderfully as well, with Nas and Pharrell appearing on each track, respectively, and helping bring it all home.

"Let God Sort Em Out," shows that Clipse ages like fine wine, and despite it being over 15 years since their last LP they haven't lost a step. We're all a bit older and wiser, and that makes this album all the better. Everyone had to wait quite some time for Clipse to return, but if we get an album like this, that's perfectly okay with me!

5 out of 5 Stars.

Sunday, July 13, 2025

The July 2025 ToyMan Was Such a Blast!

Today, I attended one of my favorite shows, ToyMan! It was a delight where I saw a bunch of friends, and I picked up some fun comics. I started the show chatting with my friend Spike of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles. I also enjoyed seeing John from Bigfoot Comics and Collectibles as well as Tim Metzger, whom I bought a couple of inexpensive comics from (I have a soft spot for Death's Head 3.0 and the Marvel Illuminati):

I continued walking around the show, where I saw a ton of toys, Lego, Funko Pops, and some sellers with cool paper ephemera. You really can find almost anything at ToyMan! I caught up with Tom Millister and had a lovely chat wth my chum, Brian Lan, as well. I was pleased to run into Bruce Reynolds and look over his comics. We did some trading, and I acquired a fun, "Batgirl," comic as a result. Observe:

As I continued exploring the show, I went to the upstairs section to browse more wares and see such awesome individuals as authors Jessica Mathews and Lindsay Hornsby. They are both always a treat to speak with and buy items from! I interacted with the stellar people of Heroes for Kids and discussed their own upcoming show next weekend in Perryville. I'm unsure if I'll be able to make it out there due to some assorted obligations, but I hope it goes extremely well! I also ran into Dustin and Tammy, who sold me a gorgeous copy of, "Detective Comics, "#880 for a stellar price. Here it is:

Yet another superb ToyMan show has wrapped, and I look forward to the next one on August 24th at the Machinist Hall--12365 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044. You know I plan on being there as long as I'm able to make it over!

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Happy Second Birthday to Gibson!

Two years ago, today, I blogged about the birth of Gibson. Then, I wished him a happy first birthday last year. Now, here he is, a big two-year-old boy! It is wild how quickly he went from a little wrinkly and sometimes-stinky lump to a peppy and often-stinky wildman. Gibson loves to run around, climb on things, play pretend with kitchen toys, and adores anything related to Daniel Tiger--books, the show, toys, etc. It is funny to think how particular of an eater Clarkson is because Gibson eats/drinks almost anything food-related he's offered. He seems to dislike green olives and raisins, but will eagerly devour anything else. He's working on his words, and he has a great time dancing around to music. Having people blow bubbles for him to pop is a favorite activity, too!

I love both my boys so much, and it makes me happy how they (generally) get along quite well and clearly love each other! Samii and I are thankful we get to celebrate Gibson turning two today; he's already celebrated his birthday with one of his favorite treats--some doughnuts! Happy second birthday to Gibson!

Friday, July 11, 2025

Publishers Are Teaming Up to Sue Diamond Comic Distributors. Good!

The saga of Diamond Comic Distributors is decades long, but the tale of its rapid decline officially starts in January of this year, when bankruptcy was announced (apparently, trouble started some year ago, but things weren't really bad until 2024). From that point, Diamond attempted to survive, find a buyer, told that potetial buyer to shove off, got new buyers, and around May the company that took over the comic-book aspects of Diamond (Ad Populum) made the, "New," Diamond awful to work with to the point anyone who hadn't already fled the company quickly did as Ad Populum seemed to be trying to sink the corporation and sell its parts/assets for pennies on the dollar. 

It only got worse when it was revealed that over 100 publishers with stock on consignment could have that inventory liquidated, with Diamond using the money to pay debts--zero profits would go to the publishers who had those books there on consignment with the understanding it was their property. It's incredibly scuzzy, and now a number of publishers are teaming up to fight Diamond in the courts and stop all the B.S. being pulled. I say this is good to see publishers working as a group against the remnants of Diamond. When it was the, "Old," Diamond it was anything but perfect, with plenty of people griping. The, "New," Diamond that Ad Populum has created is a travesty, however, and I'd be shocked if any comic stores still are using Diamond in any capacity for comics considering almost everyone has left Diamond or plans to for other distribtuion methods (PRH, Lunar, direct-to-store, rumored new distributors, and so forth). To see Diamond is now little more than a shell/husk being stripped for metaphorical parts by Ad Populum is sad to witness--at least comic companies are going to fight against being screwed over further by Diamond!

Thursday, July 10, 2025

"Grow a Garden," is Popular, Fun, and Infested With Thieves

"Grow a Garden," is a massively popular game within Roblox. For those unaware, Roblox is an app that lets you design and play games for free. Developers of games usually have ways to monetize what they've created in Roblox and this results in Roblox and the developer getting a cut. When a game is a hit and makes money the developer can be happy and Roblox is pleased with its income, too. "Grow a Garden," is completely free if you're willing to take the time to--as the title says--grow your garden. I played it a bit and found it quite charming. My wife has played it a lot and loves it. Either style of playing works as you can dabble in it or grind away at making some amazing plots of land. There is one huge problem, however, that the developers have zero incentive to fix: stealing.

If you are willing to use the Roblox currency of Robux that works in any game, and which you buy portions of with real cash, then, "Grow a Garden," allows you to steal items from other gardens. Someone could spend a week growing an impressive and magical plant only to have some jerk on a public server come and snatch their work. Even if you're on a private server (which are thankfully free) you could have someone pose as a friend for a bit, steal from you, and then block you from trying to get revenge. The developers of, "Grow a Garden," have no reason to fix any of this because, as I mentioned, it costs real money to steal. Whenever someone drops a stack of cash to steal, the developers and Roblox get paid. Either you play completely by yourself or run the risk that at some point you could be a victim of theft. My garden is awful because I don't play a ton and have little risk of a thief, but my wife has had people she thought were her friends steal some impressive items and then vanish with her garden's wares. She loves growing her garden, but hates folks she thought were nice stealing from her.

It isn't like there is a lack of ways, "Grow a Garden," could make money without the constant risk of stealing. It could be as easy as having a monthly subscription for hardcore players that makes it impossible to steal from them. That, or you could let people pay a small fee to, "Steal back," an item once and then that original person can't steal it again ever or for at least 24 hours. A number of options exist that would allow, "Grow a Garden," to make plenty of cash, but the system right now--if anything--encourages stealing to be a big thing so the developers and Roblox can make bank. If you look on social media sites, you will find that at least half the posts regarding, "Grow a Garden," are from players distraught about having something special to them stolen by a jerk. Something has got to give, or eventually a lot of people could quit until only the theives are left--and if there is nobody to steal from, then they'll quit in the end as well. I hope players like Samii, who are actually honest and work at growing their garden, can do so around other folks in a server without constant fear of theft, someday. For now, I'll keep my garden unimpressive so that there is nothing worth stealing!

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

"Chuck's Arcade," Sounds Fun, But the Original Locations Have my Heart

 

"Chuck's Arcade," is a new interpretation of Chuck E. Cheese. It is designed for grown-ups as a sort of Dave and Busters with a huge slice of nostalgia. It has classic Chuck E. Cheese animatronics you don't see in the regular locations anymore on display, features cocktails, a bunch of arcade games, and has zero food at most locations. I suppose I get the appeal if you're a childless GenX or Millennial who would feel awkward at a regular Chuck E. Cheese, but why would you go otherwise? The regular Chuck E. Cheese has the food that I will continue to defend as delicious. A normal Chuck E. Cheese (in most states) does have alcohol available if you need to drink whilst your kids run wild. The general locations have tons of arcade games too, and while the animatronics are gone, there is plenty to enjoy. 

I have zero problem with Chuck's Arcade opening as I want the Chuck E. Cheese brand to succeed--I'm a fan! That said, I can always just take one of my kiddos to a regular Chuck E. Cheese anytime I want to play some games, eat some pizza, pick out a prize, and dance with my zero rhythm alongside Chuck E. Cheese when he emerges to greet everyone every hour or two. I'd check out Chuck's Arcade if one opens in Saint Louis (to my knowledge, the only one in this state is currently found around Kansas City which does have food), but at the end of the day a visit to a Charles Entertainment Cheese just doesn't feel authetnic without at least one child screaming in terror at the sight of Chuck's umoving, grinning face.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Television Tuesday: "Doctor Odyssey," is Cancelled and I'm Disappointed

Jeez, we really can't have nice things, can we? "Doctor Odyssey," was a show with solid ratings, a dedicated fanbase, and even John Oliver did a segment on his show about how silly and fun it was. Plus, I loved it. Still, it was not renewed for a second season--without officially being canned. However, the contracts of everyone involved with the show have now been allowed to expire, so the show is good and truly cancelled, even if ABC wants to insist otherwise for an unclear reason. 

Perhaps ABC wants to combat the risk of another network or streamer picking up the show and signing everyone to new contracts--it was popular, after all, regardless of a behind-the-scenes issue with staff resulting in a lawsuit. I would love it if we got more, "Doctor Odyssey," somehow, but for now it will just be a single-season fever dream--kind of like one popular theory about the program that refused to quit (sadly, unlike the show itself). I'm sorry, "Doctor Odyssey," your beautiful big deck energy was wasted on us.