I'm Going to Have My Own Table at a Local Comic Show!

The Spector Club puts on a comic show in the event space of the VFW located at 7300 Lansdowne in Shrewsbury, Missouri. They do it every couple of months and I asked about getting a table so that I could sell a bunch of my dollar comics and some that I would label with prices. They said there would be space for me to have a table so I'll be there from 10AM-2PM this Sunday, June 12th! I will have some shortboxes full of comics I'll be selling for just a dollar as well as some more notable stuff. If you happen to live in the region I'd encourage you to stop by and check out the show. It is only $2 to get in and the room is always full of vendors selling cool comics. See you there!

Infamous Troll, Elon Musk, Lied About Wanting to Buy Twitter? I'm So Shocked!

Elon Musk is very rich but seems to be very unhappy. He gets in arguments with random people on Twitter and generally makes what the kids call, "Shitposts," in the hope people will like him. He has some successful businesses but often seems to be his own worst enemy due to public statements he makes, many on Twitter. Musk acted like he was going to put forth a serious effort to buy Twitter and make it a private company, but it looks like he was doing what he does best, trolling people. Musk previously claimed if the UN gave him information on how his money could help with World Hunger he'd donate a bunch of cash. They provided data and he did nothing. Musk said if Twitter could give him a bunch of info on how it runs he would buy it. Now he's trying to go back on that too. 

Musk is like that kid who claims he could totally do all kinds of crazy stunts on his new BMX bike, but it's currently locked in the shed and only his girlfriend from Canada who was visiting last week but just left happens to have the keys due to a mix-up. It just lies after lies and trolling after trolling with Musk. Did Musk ever truly want to buy Twitter? Maybe he did, but I am not surprised it turned out to be another grift.

Television Tuesday: "The Sandman," Has a Release Date

I read a chunk of, "The Sandman," which was written by Neil Gaiman and had a variety of fantastic artists. It is considered by many to be among the best stuff to come out from Vertigo (may that imprint rest in peace). The television show adaptation on Netflix was announced what feels like forever ago but now we've got a trailer with an official release date--August 5th. The comic was a great blend of fantasy, horror, and general weirdness. The bit we've seen advertised looks pretty snazzy too. Here is that trailer with the release date:

I'd be open to checking it out! Gaiman has been heavily involved in the show's creation and it has a fantastic cast. Guess we'll see come August 5th how it is!

"The Collected Prairie Pothole," Offers Great Slice-of-Life Comics

John Porcellino is a comic creator known for his long-running, "King Cat," series. He's a talented guy and for a short time, he contributed a comic to, "The Chicago Reader," known as, "Prairie Pothole." It featured fun slice-of-life stories with his great artwork but only went for 16 entries before the paper changed its formatting and didn't have a section for him anymore. Still, all the comics are collected here in, "The Collected Prarie Pothole," along with other entries Porcellino created and put on Patreon--for a total of 28 and some other fun bonus material. 

The four-panel strips are insightful, clever, and often humorous. Porcellino's art is a little minimalist but he'll stick some detail to the main elements of whatever he's drawing. These strips take little moments in life and spotlight them in fun ways. "The Collected Prarie Pothole," is a lovely little read and I'd encourage you to ask a comic shop to order it for you/for you to buy it from the publisher, Uncivilized Books, at this link.

5 out of 5 stars.

They Still Publish, "Penthouse," in 2022?--An Essay on Print Magazines, the Internet, and the Evolution of Titillation

Before we embark on this big essay I want to clarify I am not a doctor or professional anthropologist/sociologist. I simply have a Master's Degree in Public Health and worked in various positions including one focused on sexual health before I left the workforce to be a stay-at-home parent. I continue to be fascinated by how the media impacts our lives and sexuality, so I created this big article. Now then, here we go...

Playboy magazine quietly stopped existing as a printed publication in the Spring of 2020. It released its last issue with little fanfare and now exists more as a brand of the bunny rabbit logo on merchandise than anything else. I mean, there is an online archive of articles and pictorials people can subscribe to so they can look back on the glory days, but for all intents and purposes, "Playboy," is a shadow of what it once was. The Comics Journal's R.C. Harvey did a retrospective on, "Playboy," and Hugh Hefner himself that wasn't overly critical or fawning of the complex legacy the man and magazine left behind for better or worse. It wasn't just Playboy that existed, however. It had competitors in the form of the much more raunchy and edgy, "Hustler," and the somewhat tamer, "Penthouse." What happened to them, though?

"Hustler," still puts out some magazines (like the niche-style, "Taboo," and, "Barely Legal,") that are pretty much just pictorials of hardcover pornography with DVDs sometimes included because I guess it helps promote their internet sites although the company itself admits that soon its print iterations will be kaput. "Penthouse," must surely be dead or not putting out anything especially, "New," beyond best-of pictorial compilations, right? Nope, much to my surprise when I Googled it, "Penthouse," releases new issues.

I didn't realize, "Playboy," stopped much how R.C. Harvey was surprised to learn it after the fact. Hence, when I wondered about the fate of, "Penthouse," I was utterly shocked it still is putting out issues every other month or so. Back in 2016 it was rumored it would cease releasing a print magazine, but that was denied by the company and here it still is, against all odds. Perhaps it gets enough advertisers that the magazine can be released and offer cheap subscriptions. Maybe the website with more explicit content helps pay for the magazine potentially operating at a loss. I honestly do not know. 

The final issue of, "Playboy."

It is no secret that, "Playboy," had some amazing articles, comics, and short fiction. I honestly would sometimes read the magazine for its great writing, as nerdy as that sounds (I was eventually able to get one of the later issues that featured a Simon Hansenlmann comic I was after when I posted about the struggle that turned out to be). "Penthouse," never was really known for its articles. As for how raunchy it could be, I checked Wikipedia and from 1998 to 2005 it could be pretty, "Hardcore," but then softened itself back up and became a bit tamer like, "Playboy," again. This leads to the question of if, "Penthouse," is any good, still?

I picked up the May/June 2022 issue on eBay (eBay banned most adult material a while ago but allows tame magazines) as I didn't immediately see it at my local Barnes and Noble. It arrived in the mail and I opened it up. There are some little mini-articles with news tidbits, a feature on that Canadian trucker shitshow that happened, an article about billionaire Mark Cuban, and a number of softcore pictorials. The articles are fine but not fantastic like the literature, "Playboy," put out and the images are, well, half-naked to mostly-naked women posing. If you caught your teenage son or daughter reading this in their bedroom you wouldn't be shocked so much as you'd look at them quizzically and say, "You do realize stuff 100X raunchier than this can be found with a quick search on your phone, right?" I mean, unlike with the departed, "Playboy," you aren't reading this for the articles. To answer my question of if, "Penthouse," is any good still, I have to ask if it was ever that great?

Arguably what, "Penthouse," is most known for.

"Penthouse," lacked the insightful journalism, short stories, comics, and so forth of, "Playboy." It didn't have the lowbrow rabble-rouser vibe of mischief that Larry Flynt brought with, "Hustler," along with some really edgy content. "Penthouse," just always kind of existed and if it was known for anything it was perhaps the supposedly real letters they received full of outrageously impossible sexual encounters, Still, somehow in 2022 it still exists. It maybe wasn't better than, "Playboy," but it's still here, so I guess it wins by default when compared to its closest competitor in terms of content. There are plenty of other adult magazines, but they are just pictorials full of explicit sex--with, "Hustler," being the most well-known. The vibe (no pun intended) of, "Penthouse," is one of, "We're naked and will talk about sex, but we also want to be classy." That's perfectly fine, even if when I ask who this magazine could be for I can only reason it appeals to folks who want to see naked women without using a computer or buying anything too raunchy. As I doubt, "Penthouse," will provide me their exact circulation numbers I am unsure how many people like that exist, but enough for it to give us six-or-so issues a year.

The concept of titillation has evolved. You can watch everything from moderately tame sex to really extreme and over-the-top pornography for free now with the stroke of a keyboard (that time I intended the pun). We as a society like to act like we have modesty, but the sex genie is out of the bottle, and few people beyond the most extremely religious/prudish/etc. would find much offense to a printed magazine with some breasts and a little bit of vulva compared to the hot trending video of the day on a popular adult streaming site. "Playboy," used to shock and arouse people, bringing with it the concept of a lifestyle of someone who reads insightful articles, short fiction, and likes sex. Now it isn't a lifestyle so much as selling a crazy erotic fantasy for a few minutes at a time on a website--with some fantasies being quite far out there. This leads us to the biggest thing that has changed our idea of arousal and sex in recent history--in my opinion. Yes, I'm talking about Onlyfans and other sites of its ilk.

If you're an adult and have a decent internet connection you can now be a small-time or big-time porn star. You don't need to fly out to a big city and pose for some pictures or film an adult movie for a studio. You can just create an account, film yourself doing whatever you're comfortable with, and potentially make money. With a good enough, "Hook," and some social media savvy you can get a solid following and make money. Are sites like Onlyfans at this point basically saturated with men and women who probably only get enough followers to afford some weekly groceries compared to a small percentage who make a ton of money? I say, "Probably?" Still, if you can appeal to the right kink or niche, you can do pretty well, as plenty of articles about these sites discuss. People don't really want to buy a generic adult magazine if they have something really specific they are into. If you're a furry, want to watch people stomp on food, or anything else that is out-there but legal, I'm sure an Onlyfans/Clips4Sale/whatever exists to turn you on.

 Titillation has evolved thanks to the internet and society becoming more open about sex in general (not all parts of society, but enough for there to be a seismic change). Many of us shrug at the idea that our friend is showing their genitals online to get some extra cash whereas even just 20 years ago learning someone you knew had created adult content would most certainly register a reaction. We get horny for something specific and the internet supplies it, "Why would we read a magazine to get turned on now?" people say. Yes, "Penthouse," exists, somehow, but it is more of an exception standing against a relentless tide trying to knock it over than anything else. This metaphorical tide is bringing in all the camgirls and camguys the World could ever handle, and it is changing the landscape of how we view arousal and get aroused for the foreseeable future. Again, the sex genie is out of the bottle, and they are clearly sticking around.

I'm an extremely progressive and open-minded person. As long as what turns you on doesn't hurt anyone and is purely consensual between adults I support your kink. I have zero problems with people making an Onlyfans as a job or working as a server in a restaurant if they'd rather do that, they're both work. I merely am astounded at how the way we view sex and sexuality has changed some much in the past couple of decades. Titillation has evolved, and what the future holds for our views on sex and arousal is bound to be quite interesting.

Mini-Run Review: The Latest, "Ghost Rider," Series Has Been Surprisingly Horror-Filled

I've been reading the new, "Ghost Rider," comic from Marvel and if I may say, it is shockingly dark and gruesome for a mainstream comic. Considering this doesn't have the (mostly defunct) MAX label you get a lot of horrifying content and some shocking gore in a, "Hero," comic. I ain't mad about it though.

Written by Benjamine Percy with art by Cory Smith, the series kicked off with Johnny Blaze living in a seemingly perfect town, his memories a bit of a mess after a nasty motorcycle accident. It was revealed to be a secret Hellscape that was keeping him contained and he broke out so that he could start hunting down the demons causing a mess in the World while he was distracted--and he wants to figure out who tricked him too. The second issue involved a hotel run by a man who was killing people to feed to a demon and the third issue just came out this week. It involves a highway with a demon truck of sorts causing all kinds of death and destruction. It's been good stuff.

This run of, "Ghost Rider," leans heavily into viewing the Ghost Rider as a terrifying force that destroys anything it feels deserves vengeance--Blaze outright refers to it as a weapon in the third issue that he only can hope is pointed in the correct direction. It sounds a little like the Hulk, but the Ghost Rider isn't a rage monster, it is a fiery source of power that judges and dispenses justice without mercy. Percy gives each of the three issues so far a stark degree of dread and terror with Smith's artwork being grotesque in the best way possible. Johnny Blaze doesn't so much transform into the Ghost Rider in this series so much as he melts or rips off his flesh to reveal the Ghost Rider burning its way out. Again, how this managed to make it past Marvel's editorial team in an era where they hesitate to do anything too edgy astounds me, but I like it. There are some other subplots with the FBI apparently trying to track down the Ghost Rider and a team of magic-users possibly helping Blaze, but for me, the main draw is seeing the Ghost Rider just be plain scary.

The current, "Ghost Rider," run only has three issues out so far but I'm quite impressed with what Benjamin Percy and Cory Smith have given us so far. The amount of horror content they've injected into the series is surprising but I definitely appreciate it. Should you like your superhero comics with more of a monstrous bent then you ought to check this current, "Ghost Rider," out.

5 out of 5 stars.

Taco Bell Brought Back the Mexican Pizza and Promptly Sold Out of It

I enjoy some menu items at Taco Bell--I will substitute chicken in my burritos or cheesy gordita crunch meals and often find that tasty. I know people make fun of Taco Bell for not being, "Real Mexican food," but it isn't like our American take on Chinese food is that accurate either. This leads me to discuss how the, "Mexican Pizza," that folks loved at Taco Bell was finally brought back only to promptly sell out and be nearly impossible to find.

Our nation is going through a lot. We've got soaring gas prices, supply chain shortages of baby formula, a friendly country under siege (Ukraine), and now people can't even enjoy a Mexican Pizza. I'm being a little silly about how serious a problem this is, but folks are legit angry on the internet (you may have heard of it) and want their beloved Mexican Pizzas. Hopefully, this nightmare can be resolved and Mexican Pizza will be back for all who desire it to enjoy in a short period of time.

Bill Jemas Founds, "Be Good Studios," and Leaves AWA

I was just talking about Joe Quesada leaving Marvel and now it is time to discuss good ol' Bill Jemas. He's always up to something. Whether he's working at Marvel, attempting to launch a storytelling universe for Double Take out of an old zombie flick (those honestly weren't bad comics), or creating AWA with another former Marvel employee, Axel Alonso. It seems Jemas is ready to move on again, leaving AWA to found Be Good Studios. This break may not be as cordial as Quesada's with Marvel, as Jemas seems to throw some shade at AWA in a press statement about how Be Good Studios will be an, "...entertainment business owned and operated by the artists, writers, and artisans who show and tell the stories and work for the business." 

Apparently, this new business will involve NFTs  (everyone knows I am not fond of those) and Web 3--whatever that actually is. Seeing Jemas get involved with these buzzword concepts gives me pause, but when Bill Jemas is doing something it is bound to make waves even if I'm not the target audience for it. I've previously said, "Bill Jemas is a man who seems to either achieve incredible success or astounding failure. No matter how things go they are always interesting, and he always has plans." This latest news further illustrates that and I wish Jemas the best in his newest venture.

The Hardcover Collection of, "Squeak The Mouse," is a Fascinatingly Strange (and Very Extreme) Read

Back in the 1980s, an author by the name of Massimo Mattioli created, "Squeak the Mouse." Mattioli created all kinds of amazing works and was a huge figure in Italian comics. I read a review-of-sorts of his work, "Squeak the Mouse," on The Comics Journal, however, and after seeing what Sean McTiernan had to say about it, wanted to check the hardcover collection of the series out myself. It starts out a bit like an extreme version of, "Tom and Jerry," and arguably could be seen as the inspiration for, "The Simpson's," well-known Itchy and Scratchy. However, after just a short number of pages, the cat kills the mouse, and the one-note joke ends...but the comic doesn't. Oh boy, it does not.

The remaining pages of the first issue/volume of, "Squeak the Mouse," feature him repeatedly coming back from attempts to kill him like some sort of slasher monster. It gives the book a fun horror vibe. Then in the later issues collected in this big hardcover, the joke of the cat and mouse seems to kick off before morphing into something else strange and weird, be it the mouse killing the cat and then living large, or the cat and mouse having a crazy space battle. The thing that made, "Squeak the Mouse," most controversial was not actually the violence. The comic--as like many underground comics/comix in the past--has some really raunchy moments. 

You see, whenever the cat and mouse aren't fighting each other the odds are good they'll be engaging in some quite explicitly rendered sex with other cats/mice that look a little like animals but have very human-style breasts and genitals. These anthropomorphic x-rated moments in each issue had the comic seized in the 80s when it was flown into the United States and accused of being obscene. It was quickly ruled that the comic was protected by the first amendment even if it was quite saucy, but being able to claim the issues faced any trouble definitely boosted sales at the time.

"Squeak the Mouse," features some fantastically illustrated vignettes be they as simple as a cat and mouse fighting, riffing on horror movies, mirroring sci-fi pulp books, or morphing for some segments into really detailed pornographic scenes. Underground comic/comix are an acquired taste for those who don't mind sometimes explicit violence or sex intermingling with surreal and often quite clever stories. Should you not be easily offended and enjoy trippy and gorgeously drawn comics, "Squeak the Mouse," might just be right up your alley.

5 out of 5 stars.

Happy Pride Month 2022!

It is now June so I want to wish anyone who is LGBTQ+ or an ally a happy Pride Month! Some things people forget about Pride is that the first pride was literally a riot against police brutality when they demanded to do a, "Sex check," of Transwomen (Stonewall) and that corporations changing their logo to a rainbow for a month is an empty performative gesture. After all, LGBTQ+ people exist the 11 other months of the year and deserve the right to be acknowledged and exist. It both cracks me up and annoys me when ignorant people talk about, "The GAY agenda," because apparently wanting to be treated as a human being who can live and love in peace is an agenda. Happy pride month, let's keep fighting for the rights of our LGBTQ+ friends and family.