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!

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!

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!

"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!

"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.

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.

"A Minecraft Movie," is a Lot of Fun

My family streamed, "A Minecraft Movie," on HBO MAX over the weekend while we were trying to relax in the awful heat permeating the Midwest region. I'd seen reviews that veered more towards negative and expected something mediocre. I actually found it quite delightful. I'm a fan of Jack Black and he turned his Jack Black-ness up to the max for this movie (so, I understand those who dislike him hating this), Jason Momoa is an absolute treat as a washed-up video-gamer, and the three other cast members don't get as much to do but still are fun--Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, and Danielle Brooks (she has a mobile animal farm that is a hoot). The secondary cast has some winners too (Jennifer Coolidge is a treasure, haters be damned). 

The plot isn't exactly complicated, with a bunch of folks ending up in the world of Minecraft due to a magic item that gets broken and needs to be replaced while dealing with an evil sorceress. The main selling point is that there are lots of silly jokes that make this movie work, even though you wouldn't necessarily expect a tie-in to a video-game with nary a plot to be good. As one review that does like the movie describes it--"Mindlessly dumb and incredibly fun," with a lot of credit due to how quirky and absurd it gets. One-liners get fired off fast enough that even though some miss, enough hit for a giggle. The town's potato chip factory hiring a social media influencer to get their follower count, "Above 75." A gigantic warrior pig who is supposed to look imposing, but is actually quite polite, even as he tries to squish you (voiced by the Director, Jared Hess, no less). Jermaine Clement in a cameo-ish role as a storage unit auctioneer desperate for a friend to help him pick up ladies while they go out wearing, "Matching unisex turquoise blouses." Some jokes fall flat, but some really had me chuckling.

Momoa is fantastic as a washed-up celebrity video-gamer with a failing retail store.

What of the, "Minecraft," world itself, however? Well, I've only barely ever actually played the game, but the movie sure does make it look beautiful in its blocky strangeness. Tons of references are present that die-hard aficionados are sure to appreciate, but even if you've never played the game, the whole flick is enjoyable. "A Minecraft Movie," made a ton of money and became a bit of a GenZ, "Rocky Horror Picture Show," with fans bringing props (even a real chicken) and shouting memes, so I'm sure a sequel will be on the way soon. I look forward to it, as this was a wacky good time!

5 out of 5 Stars.

"The Nobody," to be Republished by Dark Horse

"The Nobody," is a fantastic original graphic novel by Jeff Lemire (a favorite creator of mine) that has been out of print for some time. Originally released by Veritgo (when it existed) as a hardcover in 2009 and a paperback in 2010, it is a bit of a retelling of that horror classic, "The Invisible Man," but reimagined in a number of ways. It's a bit sci-fi, a bit horror, and features Lemire's gorgeous art along with his writing.

Taking place in a small fishing village in 1994, the town finds itself intrigued by the arrival of a man covered in bandages who claims he was a burn victim in the past, but seems to be hiding a lot of secrets. Some of my favorite work by Lemire marries everyday life with strange and surreal elements, so "The Nobody," was a book I loved way back before I even had this blog to write about it. Now, however, I have the blog and the book is coming back into print via Dark Horse. So yeah, preorder your copy of, "The Nobody," for its re-release in February of 2026!

"Tsunami," is a Sharp Examination of Adolescence

Being a preteen and teenager is often difficult. To be frank, it usually sucks. Your body is changing in weird ways, you both think you know everything, while the World reveals how little you truly grasp. Cliques and friendships seem like they matter more than anything in the microcosm of school and such--it is all a lot. "Tsunami," from Pow Pow Press, is a fantastic coming-of-age graphic novel by Ned Wenlock that examines how tricky teenage-dom can be. It isn't some grim-and-gritty yarn or overly schmaltzy. It instead focuses on a handful of characters and the highs and lows they experience over a chunk of the year. We have 12-year-old Peter, who is a misfit and headstrong, Gus, who acts tough to the point it could be his downfall, and Charlie, a new girl from the UK who puts up a badass front but has her own insecurities. By the end of, "Tsunami," they all find they've impacted each other's lives in a drastic fashion.

Set in New Zealand, Wenlock illustrates everything in a fascinatingly minimalist style that imparts exactly what is going on in the story but eliminates much extraneous visual information. It results in a vaguely cartoony style that at the same time allows a reader's brain to absorb a scene quickly and directly. I like it. Throughout the book, we get a lot of slice-of-life scenes that show how hard adolescence can be. One character's parents are clearly in an unhappy marriage (Peter), another hates having to move all the time and adjust to new settings (Charlie), and one isn't sure if they're tough and edgy or just miserable and putting up a front (Gus). Nobody is a villain or hero in this story--they're all just messed-up kids with little adult support.

"Tsunami," is charming with its unique art style despite some heavy thematic content. It has some funny moments interspersed with the heavy stuff too, and revisits the highs and lows of pubescence quite expertly. I'd highly recommend acquiring a copy directly from the website of Pow Pow Press or from your preferred bookseller/library/etc.

5 out of 5 Stars.

Flashback Friday: "Captain Atom: Armageddon," Was a Random Little Fun Comic

I like Captain Atom when he is written well. He most recently had a big role in the Black Label, "Jenny Sparks," comic where he was portrayed as a psychotic villain. I didn't like how he was written per se but did like that series. For a fun Captain Atom comic that isn't too old, however, you can always read, "Captain Atom: Armageddon." Originally published in 2005-2006 with writing by Will Pfeifer and pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, it is random, but enjoyable.

The gist of the comic is that even though Captain Atom thought he died saving Earth from a kryptonite meteor in, "Superman/Batman," he wakes up on Earth..but not his Earth! That's right, it is a fun alternate-universe yarn where Captain Atom finds himself in the Wildstorm Universe...you know, back when it still existed as a separate-ish entity from the main DCU. Captain Atom sees how things are done quite differently in the Wildstorm Universe, gets in some fights, has some fun adventruing, and eventually ends up back in the regular DC Universe just in time for, "Infinite Crisis," and then the, "Countdown to Final Crisis," comics that kinda-sorta led into, "Final Crisis," even though it (confusingly enough) disregarded parts of those series--comics, they're a gas!

Captain Atom attempts to get help from the President and fails.

When I went browsing around the internet, I found some old posts by other folks who really enjoyed, "Captain Atom: Armageddon," with one from 2007 and another from 2012. The series wasn't exactly consequential to either the then-"Regular," DC Universe or the Wildstorm one--although it did lead to a minor reset and some new series as a part of a, "Worldstorm," event. Then, Wildstorm itself would not last too much longer before a series of mini-series that led to its Earth literally being destroyed in 2008, some series following the ruined Earth, and then it got folded into the DC Universe in general with the, "New 52," in 2011. So yeah, "Captain Atom: Armageddon," is a minor footnote in the publishing history of DC/Wildstorm, but it is also a good time with nine issues that a review from 2017 (the most recent I can find) concludes makes it a bit overlong, but they still liked it too. You can probably find a paperback collection of it dirt cheap. Go give it a read, and have some universe-traveling adventures!

July 4th 2025/I'm Sorry, America, We've Let You Down

July 4th is a day of celebration, but with our nation a hot dumpster fire of narcissists, hucksters, and liars working to destroy our country, I feel little reason to celebrate. Between migrant workers being put in concentration camps, so-called, "Big beautiful bills," stripping people of resources so as to provide the top 1% of the top 1% a tax cut, wars we don't need, and more...it is a big mess. I want to apologize to the concept and dream of America for what has become of it. 

This isn't the nation people pictured when they would, "Pledge allegiance to the flag." No, we are quickly becoming a fascist regime that plots to strip people of citizenship and lock them up/ship them away for going against whatever the GOP has morphed into. It isn't a political party so much as a cult of personality for Donald Trump and his personal Gestapo, ICE. Things are bad and I can only hope enough people continue to rise up, fight back, or simply survive so that eventually, when the metaphorical dust clears, there is something left to fix. I'm sorry, America, we've let you down.

Comic Publisher Dynamite/Dynamic Forces in Dire Straits Due to Diamond Comic Distributors

Diamond Comic Distributors acquired a new owner after tons of drama in the form of Ad Populum. As soon as Ad Populum took over in May they proceeded to work their hardest to find the absolute best way to screw over comic publishers. Seriously, from ignoring communication, not paying people, and trying to liquidate stock on consignment to pay their own bills (so, basically theft), the new Diamond is so bad it makes the old Diamond look like a gem (no pun intended). Dynamite did join Lunar just recently, but is owed a lot of money by new Diamond (the old Diamond money that people were due is understood to probably never be paid back). One publisher, Dynamite/Dynamic Forces, did some emergency motions to get some money, but that was just denied. Diamond Comic Distributors was trying to do things right/ethically enough, up until mid-May, when Ad Populum acquired them. Everything quickly went to Hell in a handbasket after that. 

Consider how, if a sizeable publisher such as Dynamite/DF could be in big trouble due to the new Diamond's shenanigans, you can imagine smaller publishers could especially be at risk right now or in the near future. Diamond declared bankruptcy in January, just the start of this year. We're only halfway through 2025, and so much has developed since then. I can only imagine just how insane things are going to get before the year wraps.

Jim Shooter Has Passed at 73

Jim Shooter has recently passed at 73 from esophageal cancer. He started writing comics professionally at 14 (yes, really) and had a long career in comics that included serving as Marvel's Editor-in-Chief during its crazy-busy time period of the 1980s. He was invovled in the creation of a lot of great comics in some form or another, and many folks have a lot of stories. Some folks liked him on a personal level, some did not, with the phrases, "Strong personality/he was complicated," thrown around a lot online to describe Shooter. Tons of people give him a lot of credit--credit he is due--for his contributions to comics, however, and he is clearly going to be missed by a number of folks

"Hero Cave," is an Upcoming Clever Comic!

"Hero Cave," is a new upcoming comic by Syd Madia. It is to be published later this month by Silver Sprocket, which is currently feuding with TCJ, I should mention, as it is in the news, but that's besides the point of this review--I'll revisit that in the future as needed/newsworthy. I had a chance to read an advance digital copy of this comic, however, and loved this clever story! The comic is about a skeleton with no name--everyone just calls them skeleton. This skeleton is on the first floor of a dungeon and basically exists to be an easy challenge for all adventurers going into the dungeon. They meet the skeleton, defeat it easily, and proceed on their journey. Between quickly losing fights, skeleton hangs out with other dungeon-dwellers for meals, parties, and the like. Life is okay, but skeleton finds themselves having a bit of an existential crisis when given a so-so performance review by the Dungeon Master.

"Hero Cave," is very clever in how it focuses on an aspect of a dungeon people would rarely worry about--the easy baddie you kill early on in your heroic campaign. Madia's artwork is lovely too, a bit cartoony and loose, getting especially experimental later on when skeleton has a vaguely erotic experience with a candle that allows it to imagine what it would be like to have other body elements besides just bones. Plus, despite the comic being humorous, we never feel like the jokes are at the skeleton's expense. Yes, they lose easily, but that is their job, and they're arguably good at it! I really enjoyed, "Hero Cave," and would encourage folks to ask their comic shop to order the comic for them--that or they can preorder it from Silver Sprocket here!

5 out of 5 Stars.

That New, "Jurassic World: Rebirth," Continues to Look Intriguingly Weird

I have previously commented that the new, "Jurassic World: Rebirth," movie seems to be leaning more into body-horror and the scary aspects of dinosaurs--especially the failed experiments from when the park was first working at making dinos come back from the dead. A friend of mine saw an advanced showing via the surprise/secret movie thing AMC theaters do, and they confirmed that the flick brings a lot of scary elements to the forefront. It makes sense, as even the first, "Jurassic Park," could be argued as a bit of a horror movie with dinosaurs instead of monsters. 

If you really think about it, as this fantastic article by Martin Kessler points out, there are no dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, even. After all, as early as the first movie, these creatures are a mess of fragmented DNA mixed wth amphibians (and in later films, Indominus Rex has a bunch of various stuff blended in). It gives the movies a clever, "Out," if the dinosaurs aren't exactly realistic, the more scientists figure out regarding dinos--these aren't real dinosaurs! The latest movie emphasizes that, and it has me quite interested in checking the flick out--even if reviews are quite mixed. I mean, it can't be any worse than, "Jurassic Park III," I'd imagine.