JUST ANOTHER MANGA MONDAY

 

 

Given my love of all things Godzilla and giant monsters in general, I had expected Kaiju No. 8 Volume 1 by Naoya Matsumoto [Viz; $9.99] to ne right up my debris-filled alley. I liked the basic premise of an aging clean-up man seeking to become a member of the kaiju-busting Japan Defense Force, I loved that, in addition to his age, he has the impediment of occasionally turns into a kaiju himself. Yet this first volume didn’t reach my expectations.

Lead/title character Kafka Hibino, a kaiju-corpse cleanup man, is a likeable, relateable protagonist. I freely admit that part of why I relate to him is I’m a 70-year-old writer trying to get back into writing comic books. But I’ve also always loved heroes who seek to go beyond their seeming capabilities to achieve greatness. Sadly, I haven’t warmed up to the other characters.

The storytelling part of the series artwork also fails to interest me. It’s choppy and fails to tell the story clearly. I’m also not impressed by the kaiju designs. A premise this good deserves to be excellent on all levels.

I’m not going to recommend or not recommend Kaiju No. 8. I’m going to give this series a second chance. I’ll let you know how that works out in a future bloggy thing.

ISBN 978-1-9747-2598-4

                                                                              

Kata Konayama’s Love Me For Who I Am [Seven Seas; $12.99] concludes with its fifth volume. Non-binary high school student Mogumo must confront their parents: the father who pretty much disowned them and their ailing mother. They’re willing to return home to care for their mother, even if that means changing how they present to the world.  

From the start, this series has featured characters from all around the LGBTQ+ spectrum and treated them in a respectful manner. There are conflicts between some of them, but they are resolved with love and unity.

Cis-male high school student Tetsu is a role model for acceptance. Though he mistakenly thinks Mogumo is a crossdresser when he first brings them to his family’s maid café, he quickly accepts that they are non-binary and falls for them. Love is love.

Tetsu is there for Mogumo when they confronts their family. I think his presence helps Mogumo’s father slowly begin to accept his child as they are. It is a good start, though there will undoubtedly be ups and downs as the relationship mends.

Love Me For Who I Am isn’t a blockbuster, but it’s an interesting series with meaning for America’s current crisis of anti-gay and, especially, anti-trans legislation. I can only hope that the arc of history continues to turn towards the light and the opportunistic
Republicans behind this hateful legislation are forever consigned to the darkness they deserve.

Love Me For Who I Am is for older teens, age 15 and up.

ISBN: 978-1-64827-578-4

                                                                              

Rumiko Takahashi is one of my favorite comics creators. I’m a huge fan of her Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1&2 and more. I wasn’t aware of her Came the Mirror & Other Tales fantasy anthology [Viz Media; $17.99]  until recently. I got a copy from my local library system - which is an excellent way to enjoy comics for free and keep from adding  to my overwhelming Vast Accumulation of Stuff.

The anthology presents five “intimate magical-realist” stories and a bonus autobiographical story about the creator’s lifelong love of manga and friendship with fellow manga creator Mitsura Adachi. That last one was fun and makes me want to write some comics tales about my own half-century career in comics.

The other tales are more gentle fantasy than horror, though there are some frightening concepts in them. A supernatural mirror that reveals the evil in people. A bitter comics creator who gains the power to curse those he believes have harmed him. A cat possessing a human. An actress in hiding. A plant that creates illusions that can consume a person. Solid storytelling throughout.

Came the Mirror & Other Tales is rated “T+” for teens and older. I recommend to my fellow Takahashi fans.

ISBN 978-1-9747-2584-7

                                                                                    

The latest manga to delight me is the first volume of Sakamoto Days by Yuto Suzuki [Viz Media; $9.99]. Here’s the back cover pitch from that volume:

Taro Sakamoto was once a legendary hit man considered the greatest of all time. Bad guys feared him! Assassins revered him! But then one day he quit, got married, and had a baby. He’s now living the quiet life as the owner of a neighborhood store, but how long can Sakamoto enjoy his days of retirement before his past catches up to him?!

Time has passed peacefully for Sakamoto since he left the underworld. He’s running a neighborhood store with his lovely wife and child and has gotten a bit…out of shape. But one day a figure from his past pays him a visit with an offer he can’t refuse: return to the assassin world or die!

It’s like this series was made for me. Its protagonist is an older man with a loving family. He kind of looks like me, which makes me think about cosplaying him. And he has knack for reforming violent assassins and making them part of his family.

This first volume is hilariously fun and feature outrageous battles in which no gets killed. The art and storytelling are first-rate. Apparently, Yakuza comedies are hot in both manga and anime. I’d be up for an anime series. If they decided to do a live-action series, I’d love to audition for the part of Sakamoto. Yes, that might be culturally insensitive, but take another look at the cover. Get me the apron and the glasses. Uncanny, right?

The manga is rated T+ for older teens, but I’d rate it suitable for younger readers. Especially considering the non-lethal nature of the action sequences.

ISBN 978-1-9747-2894-7

******************************
That’s it for this edition of the bloggy thing. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2022 Tony Isabella

HONEST TO GODZILLA, THERE WILL BE GARAGE SALES!

 

 

Let’s try this again. As I have tested negative for Covid and have experienced absolutely no symptoms of the virus, I feel reasonably safe in launching this summer’s garage sales.

My first VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF GARAGE SALE of 2022 will take place Friday and Saturday, May 27-28, at 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio from 9 am to noon. I’ve been working on the garage sales one or two hours every day and am pleased with the results.

What will you find at this Friday’s garage sale? An assortment of comic books, trade paperbacks and other items written by me. Boxes of older comics priced to sell. Boxes of hardcovers and trades of al kinds. A never used toaster oven. Really.

                                                                              

                                               

I’ll also be selling the exclusive-to-me reprint of the very first appearance of Misty Knight. When my creation appeared on the Luke Cage TV series, Marvel reprinted that issue as part of the Marvel’s Greatest Creators series. The company also offered me the chance to have a special edition that only I would be selling. It’s limited to 1500 copies and features a cover exclusive to this edition. I’ve been selling these signed and numbered comics for $10 each and was planning to raise that price. However, after seeing how happy fans were to buy this exclusive comic book at Pensacon and Fantasticon, Saintly Wife Barb has asked me to keep that ridiculously low price a while longer.

As with all of my garage sales, whether you buy it from me or not, I’ll sign your Isabella-written stuff for free. However, since I’m anticipating lots of customers, I ask that you do not bring dozens and dozens of comics for me to sign. I will be having garage sales throughout the summer, so you can bring more stuff on your next visit to my garage.

                                                                                 

There is a full rack of t-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts and jackets, all priced to sell. Next to them are two card tables filled with an assortment of Superman memorabilia from the 1980s. I’ll also have a selection of manga, mostly priced at a buck a book.

I have several boxes of comics for sale at one dollar each. I have a box of magazines. I have a table or more filled with hardcovers and collections and coffee table books. My famous “mystery boxes” will be on available at ten bucks each.

I have several boxes sets of Another Rainbow’s Little Lulu Library, some so rare that I don’t see them being offered on sale on eBay or elsewhere. I have Funko Pop and other figures, including a bunch of political action figures. I have Black Lightning and other posters. Those are priced at $2 each for the full-sized posters and a buck each for the smaller ones.

What you won’t see at this garage sale are boxes of quarter comic books. I know customers love them, but my personal supply of such comics is exhausted. I have been trying to buy more, but I haven’t had any takers for the price I’m offering. However.

I’m buying short boxes and long boxes of comic books. I’m paying $15 for a short box and $30 for a long box.

The only conditions I put on these purchases are these:

The comic books have to be in decent shape. They do not need to be bagged and boarded.

I don’t want dozens of copies of the same issue. I can take up to ten copies of a single issue. 

                                                                            

You have to bring the boxes to me. That way, there’s a chance you will end up spending whatever I pay you and more shopping my garage sales. Insert evil laugh here.

The boxes can not contain sexually explicit comic books like, for example, Naked People Having Naked Sex Adventures. Yes, I totally made that title up. No, surprisingly, it’s not on my bucket list of over three hundred things I want to write before I kick the bucket.  If I write sexually explicit comics or prose, they will be ever so much more classy and filled with keen insight on why people enjoy rubbing against each other while, you know, naked.

If you want to sell boxes of comics to me, e-mail me so that we can arrange a date and a time for you do that. I will have to limit how many comic books I buy. A friend of mine once bought 13,000 comic books and they were delivered to his house on a pallet. I have had nightmares about that ever since he shared the story with me. Not to mention it would be hard to hide a pallet of comic books from my Saintly Wife Barb.

Am I afraid she’ll read this blog and find out I’m buying comics? Hey, she’s been listening to me through 37 years of marriage and the ten years we dated before that. Do you think she reads these bloggy things? “Saintly” only goes so far.

Moving on...

There will be signs on my front lawn advertising the garage sale. There will be a huge Tony Isabella banner hanging from our back porch next to our driveway. There’ll also be a small standing banner in front of the garage.

There is no parking in our driveway. There’s parking on Damon Drive across from our house and also on the Bradley Court “U”, which is where our garage is.

I won’t be wearing any political hats or shirts. I ask anyone who comes to the garage sale to leave their political garb at home. I ask my one asshole neighbor to stop shouting at me from across the street when he walks his dog.

Unless you are an on-duty police officer or other law enforcement worker, weapons of any kind are barred from my garage sale. That’s just common courtesy and sense.

You do not have to wear a medical mask to attend my garage sale. I have no problem with you wearing such a mask if that is your call. If you’re wearing any non-medical mask, you better be dressed as a super-hero or super-villain. Will be the year that Black Lightning or Tigra come to one of my garage sales?

Please feel free to spread the word about this garage sale on your social media and elsewhere. There are book and comics projects that I want to write and these sales will help finance them.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2022 Tony Isabella

COMICS AND STUFF

 

 

Thanks to churlish click bait assholes, I have become known as the guy who hates Batman. I readily admit to hating the toxic Batman of too many comic books over the past decade and I loathe that other terrific DC Comics characters are largely ignored in the company’s desperate need to squeeze every last penny out of the Bat. Sadly, nuance is lost on the afore-mentioned asshats.

Batman was once my favorite comic-book character and I remain fond of many of his incarnations. I even read many of the recent Batman trades in my unending hope to find a Batman I can enjoy and who I find reasonably represents the original core values of Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s creation. Sometimes I get lucky.

Not knowing it was the third in a series of collections, I enjoyed Batman: White Knight Presents Harley Quinn by Katana Collins, Sean Murphy, Matteo Scalera and Dave Stewart [DC Comics; $24.99]. It’s an alternate universe version of Batman and Harley that has Bruce Wayne behind bars, Harley (now a mother of two kids and two hyenas) working with the Gotham City Police Department and a villain who calls himself the Producer trying to usher a new age of villains to rival Batman’s old rogues gallery.

Published under the “Black Label” imprint and aimed at readers 17 and older, this volume has a Bruce Wayne I like and even admire. I have never been a fan of the “Bruce Wayne is the mask” incarnations of Batman. Wayne deserves better than that.

Harley? She’s a revelation. She struggles with her very complicated history and psychology, but she, too, is a good person trying to do her best to make things right. Her relationship with her kids, the GCPD and other familiar members of the Batman cast were convincing and welcoming.

The story and writing were top-notch. The art and storytelling was solid and vibrant. I liked this one enough that I’ve requested the earlier White Knight volumes from my local library system. I think you might like Batman: White Knight Presents Harley Quinn.

ISBN: 978-1-77951-014-3

                                                                           

I’m less enthusiastic about Basilisk Volume One by Cullen Bunn with Jonas Scharf and Alex Guimaraes [Boom! Studios; $14.99]. Though it is a decently scary and well-written start to an ongoing series and though it boasts appropriately unsettling art and color, it falls somewhat short of winning me over with this collection of the first four issues of the series.

Hannah is the sole survivor of the first appearance of the Chimera, a “family” of beings with supernatural powers are based on the five senses. The Chimera slaughter people wherever they go and have also picked up a cult of worshipper along the way. Hannah first kidnaps and then teams with Regan, a member of the Chimera who has fled the group and wishes to bring an end to them.

My main dissatisfaction with this first volume is that it promises to build to a confrontation between Hannan and Regan and the four remaining Chimera and never gets there. The battle is pretty much just the cult members getting blown away while the Chimera remain largely unscathed. To be continued. This feels like padding to me. One or two more issues could have easily finished off this series, which would have made for a tighter story.

I generally like Bunn’s writing, so I will request the next volume from my local library system when said volume is published. I hope he’s got something more to show me.

ISBN: 978-1-68415-748-8

                                                                        

Marauders By Gerry Duggan Vol. 4 [Marvel; $17.99] collects issues #22-27 of the series, which concludes the first incarnation of this title. I really wanted to love Marauders. I got a kick out of the political intrigue that was at the heart of the series. Ultimately, however my love was denied by how many of the stories relied on my having knowledge of other X-Men titles I had not read and had very little interest in reading. I always liked this title. I liked the main characters, especially Kitty Pryde. I liked Duggan’s writing on the title. The various artists who worked on these issues always gave us good art and storytelling. Yet, as the Marauders set sail sans Duggan, I continue to wish the title has been much more self-contained.

There is a second Marauders series, which is either already here or coming soon, to be written by Steve Orlando. I’ve enjoyed several Orlando comics in the past, so, as soon as the first collection of this new Marauders comes out, I’ll request it from my local library system. I hope it stands on its own without my having to read all those other X-Men titles.

Let me note that, from what I have read of the new X-Men titles, I think the whole Krakoa concept is brilliant. It was an interesting way to get the X-Men franchise back on track. Unfortunately, it’s just too complicated and vast for me to follow at this time. Maybe at some point in the future.

ISBN 978-1-302-92719-6

                                                                                    

When I first heard of Savage Avengers, I thought it was just about the dumbest concept for an Avengers spin-off imaginable. Indeed, it was such a stupid idea I knew I had to read it. That mania served me well. I love Savage Avengers.

Written by Gerry Duggan, Savage Avengers Vol. 5: The Defilement Of All Things By The Cannibal-Sorcerer Kulan Gath [Marvel; $17.99] is a wonderful finish to the first series of the title. The craziness of Conan and Doctor Strange more or less leading a team of some of the more violent Marvel heroes and villains against the Cimmerian’s ancient enemy is somehow delightful. The final resolution of that eons-old enmity is brilliantly unexpected.

A quick shout-out to artist Patch Zircher. I’ve been a fan of his for many years, but he hit new heights with his work on this title. It’s a shame I’m not really writing comics for Marvel or DC these days because I’ve love to work with Zircher.

There will be a new Savage Avengers series coming from writer David Pepose in the near future. However, with Marvel Comics having ended its license to publish Conan comic books, I’m not sure how long the character will be appearing in Savage Avengers. Still, even without Duggan, I’ll continue to follow this insane concept once the trade collections become available from my local library.

ISBN 978-1-302-92630-4

That’s all for today’s bloggy thing. I hope to back soon with more news, views and reviews. Stay strong.

© 2022 Tony Isabella

CANCELLATIONS AND OTHER UPDATES

There will be no VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF COMIC AND POP CULTURE GARAGE SALE on Friday, May 20. I also had to cancel my appearance at my dear friend Teddy Hanes’ BUFFALO COMIC BOOK FANCON on Sunday, May 22. I announced these cancellations online yesterday, but, due to my uncertain Facebook connections, I had to get them out without a lot of nuance.

A member of my family has Covid. This was someone I spent a lot of time with recently, so, even though I tested negative, I felt the prudent course of action was to exercise caution and cancel both my garage sale and my appearance at the Buffalo event.

There were a couple of other problems as well. My clearly not 100% right knee and leg were inflamed by all the bumpy riding around I did in a rented jeep on our family vacation in the Virgin Islands. I’m going to take it easy for the next few days in the hopes this condition will improve. It seems to be working.

The other problem was that “Tina Fe,” my beloved Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, was not going be back from the repair shop before next week. It was struck by an Uber on the evening of the Cleveland Guardians home opener. The latest estimate is I’ll get it back sometime next week. If it had not been for the Covid and leg stuff, I could have rented something for the Buffalo event. But, honestly, since I was making the trip solo, I wasn’t really comfortable making said trip in an unfamiliar vehicle.

I really regret having to cancel the Buffalo convention. Teddy is an old friend I haven’t seen in way too long and who always puts on a great event. I will make this up to him and to the Buffalo fans who were hoping to meet me. As soon as he gives me the dates of his upcoming shows, we’ll find a way to make it work.

If I continue to test negative, I will hold my first garage sale of the year on Friday, May 27, and Saturday, May 28, from nine a.m. to noon. I’m showing absolutely no symptoms of the virus, so I think
these sales will happen as planned.

Though I’ll have two more garage sales in June, I won’t be going to any conventions that month. I’m going to stay at home to work on my next book, launch some fund-raising plans and catch up on a host of odds and ends I’ve neglected too long.

My next convention appearance will be at G-Fest, the huge Godzilla convention, July 15-17, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. I won’t be part of the programming this year, but my son Ed and I are looking forward to enjoying all the wonderful things found at that convention.

Some other notes:

If you’re an editor or publisher who would like to hire me to write for me, you can email me to discuss such work. I’m not looking for back-end deals. I’m looking for interesting challenging assignments
where I can have fun and where my clients don’t micro-manage me. Offhand, I can’t think of any format or genre I wouldn’t be willing to take a crack at.

If you’re a promoter of comics conventions and other such events, including comic shop appearances and lectures, e-mail me and we can discuss them. I know times are tough for promoters, libraries and schools, but I will try to work with you. If yours is a three-day event, I’ll give you one day free. If I’m driving to the event and charging you mileage, I’ll ignore the rising price of fuel and hold to my current fifty cents a mile.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2022 Tony Isabella

CANCELLATIONS

There will be no Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale this weekend. Nor will I be attending my good friend Teddy Hanes' comics show in Buffalo on Sunday.

A family member has COVID. In addition, my right knee and leg are in bad shape...and my SUV will not be back from the repair shop until next week. I'm really sorry about this, but I think this is the only wise course of action at this time.

Please spread the word on this. My Facebook is having problems and I haven't been able to post this news there. Thanks for your help and understanding.

 

LO, THERE SHALL BE GARAGE SALES

 

 

My first VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF GARAGE SALE of 2022 will take place on Friday, May 20, at Casa Isabella, 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio from 9 am to noon. I wanted to give all my local customers first shot at all the new stuff I’ve added to the sale prior to my packing up most of the boxes for a one-day (Sunday) Buffalo comics show. I’ll tell you more about the Buffalo event tomorrow.

What will you find at this Friday’s garage sale? An assortment of comics, trade paperbacks and other items written by me. Several boxes of comics for sale at one dollar each. Boxes of older comics priced to sell. Boxes of trade paperbacks at approximately 30% off their original prices. My famous “mystery boxes” priced at just ten bucks each. And much more.

                                                                                      

I’ll also be selling the exclusive-to-me reprint of the very first appearance of Misty Knight. When my creation appeared on the Luke Cage TV series, Marvel reprinted that issue as part of the Marvel’s Greatest Creators series. The company also offered me the chance to have a special edition that only I would be selling. It’s limited to 1500 copies and features a cover exclusive to this edition. I’ve been selling these signed and numbered comics for $10 each and was planning to raise that price. However, after seeing how happy fans were to buy this exclusive comic book at Pensacon and Fantasticon, Saintly Wife Barb has asked me to keep that ridiculously low price a while longer. I’ll have somewhere between twenty and fifty issues available for this garage sale and my Buffalo event.

As with all of my garage sales, whether you buy it from me or not, I’ll sign your Isabella-written stuff for free. However, since this first sale is only one day, I ask you not bring dozens and dozens of comics for me to sign. I will be having garage sales throughout the summer, so you can bring more stuff on your next visit.

What you won’t see at this garage sale are boxes of quarter comic books. I know customers love them, but my personal supply of such comics is exhausted. I have been trying to buy more, but I haven’t any takers for the price I’m offering. However...

I’m buying short boxes and long boxes of comic books. I’m paying $15 for a short box and $30 for a long box.

The only conditions I put on these purchases are these:

The comic books have to be in decent shape. They do not need to be bagged and boarded.

I don’t want dozens of copies of the same issue. I can take up to ten copies of a single issue.

You have to bring the boxes to me. That way, there’s a chance you will end up spending whatever I pay you and more shopping my garage sales. Insert evil laugh here.

The boxes can not contain sexually explicit comic books like, for example, Naked People Having Naked Sex Adventures. Yes, I totally made that title up. No, surprisingly, it’s not on my bucket list of over three hundred things I want to write before I kick the bucket.  If I write sexually explicit comics or prose, they will be ever so much more classy and filled with keen insight on why people enjoy rubbing against each other while, you know, naked.

If you want to sell boxes of comics to me, e-mail me so that we can arrange a date and a time for you do that. I will have to limit how many comic books I buy. A friend of mine once bought 13,000 comic books and they were delivered to his house on a pallet. I have had nightmares about that ever since he shared the story with me. Not to mention it would be hard to hide a pallet of comic books from my Saintly Wife Barb.

Am I afraid she’ll read this blog and find out I’m buying comics? Hey, she’s been listening to me through 37 years of marriage and the ten years we dated before that. Do you think she reads these bloggy things? “Saintly” only goes so far.

Moving on...

There will be signs on my front lawn advertising the garage sale. There’ll be a huge Tony Isabella banner hanging from our back porch next to our driveway. There’ll also be a small standing banner in front of the garage.

There is no parking in our driveway. There’s parking on Damon Drive across from our house and also on the Bradley Court “U”, which is where our garage is.

I won’t be wearing any political hats or shirts. I ask anyone who comes to the garage sale to leave their MAGA gear and other bigoted or racist or treasonous garb at home.

Unless you are an on-duty police officer or other law enforcement worker, weapons of any kind are barred from my garage sale. That’s just common courtesy and sense.

You do not have to wear a medical mask to attend my garage sale. I have no problem with you wearing such a mask if that is your call. If you’re wearing any non-medical mask, you better be dressed as a super-hero or super-villain. Will this be the year Black Lightning or Tigra come to one of my garage sales?

If you can’t make Friday’s garage sale, there will also be garage sales on Friday and Saturday, May 27 and 28, from 9 am to noon and throughout the summer and into September. I can’t do any special appointments this time out, but, after I get back from Buffalo, I will do my best to accommodate you at other times.

Please feel free to spread the word about this garage sale on your social media and elsewhere. There are book and comics projects that I want to write and these sales will help finance them.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2022 Tony Isabella

UPDATES

I'll be going offline to prepare for our very early Saturday morning departure for our family vacation on St. John in the Virgin Island. I will not be able to receive your e-mails or online messages. I may be able to receive text messages via my phone, but I'm not betting the farm on that.

 

I return late Wednesday night (or very early Thursday morning), but have things to do on Thursday that will likely keep me offline until sometime on Friday.

 

I will be holding a sort of preview VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF garage sale on Friday, May 20, from 9 am to noon.

 

I will be a special guest at the Buffalo Comic and Toy Fan Con on Sunday, May 22. I'll be bringing a nice chunk of my garage sales stock with me.

 

There will be more details on the garage sale and the convention whenever I get back online after my vacation.

 

Happy birthday to all of you having birthdays between now and my return to the Internet.

 

 

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN APRIL

 

 

These monthly collections of joy usually start with a litany of the things that make me unhappy. I don’t have the energy for that this time around.

I considered talking about what I’ll be doing and working on this month. I’m very much looking forward to spending several relaxing days with Saintly Wife Barb and our kids. We’ll be on St. John in the Virgin Islands. I’m also looking forward to the Buffalo Comic and Toy Fan Con on Sunday, May 22.

However, when it comes to holding forth on May’s appointments and projects and such, I’m less enthusiastic. I generally like working, but I’d rather be working than writing about working. I’d need to stick the landings.

Cutting to the chase, here are the things that brought me joy and happiness last month...

April 1: The Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Çinar is my new favorite super-hero title. Heroes and villains pushed together like a comic-book Rubik’s Cube. I did this sort of thing as a kid and it truly sparks my sense of wonder.  

April 2: I’m late to the ball, but I absolutely love Doom Patrol on HBOMax. I wish I could spend a week on Danny the Street. Maybe do a signing at its comics shop. Because you know Danny is wonderful enough to have include a comics shop.

                                                                              

April 3: This Funko Pop! preview of our first day of summer mantle display. Amity, as you know, means “friendship.”

April 4: The force of love and nature that is Jon Batiste won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. If I ever write a film, I’d want him to score it.

April 5: Saintly Wife Barb’s outpatient surgery went very well. She is resting comfortably and will be doing so at home for the rest of the month under my loving care. I’m completely rocking the “Hello Nurse” outfit.

April 6: Hawkeye. Kate Bishop with Lucky the Pizza Dog. Yelena. My Funko Pop set of my favorite characters from the Hawkeye TV series is now complete. Funko should hire me to do commercials expressing the joy their figures bring me.

April 7: Geiger by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Three issues in, I’m loving this series with a radioactive hero and a post-nuclear war Las Vegas. Great writing and art from two of my favorites creators and the production values are just as stellar.

                                                                              

April 8: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. What a thrill to see the first Black woman, a justice clearly much more qualified to be on the Court than any of the Trump appointees.

April 9: Moon Knight. I had some doubts after the confusing first episode, but the second episode pulled it all together and has me wanting to re-read the classic Doug Moench stories and all those other MK comics I haven’t read.  

                                                                                

April 10: Encanto. The best animated film of 2021 didn’t disappoint  on any level. A great story with amazing animation, a whole lot of heart, fun music and wonderful voice performances. I am in complete awe of Stephanie Beatriz.

April 11: I took possession of the Casa Isabella garage on Sunday. With help from my son Ed and with Saintly Wife Barb supervising, I’ve started preparing for this summer’s Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sales.

April 12: I accidentally deleted my main bookmarks and, after a few hours of cursing the cruelty of the universe, I decided this was my online Maria Kondo moment. I’ll rebuild slowly in a way that will reduce my time on Facebook and online in general.

April 13: Fun coincidences. The Armstrong service technician who set up my new cable box met Trevor von Eeden at some sort of event in Atlanta. He was thrilled to meet me as well, so I “tipped” him a copy of Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands.

April 14: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah is back in the studio and with live audiences. I’d given up on the pandemic version, but the host and show are coming back to life. It needs to do more with its talented correspondents, but it’s back on my watch list.

                                                                               

April 15: Randy Reynaldo’s Rob Hanes Adventures. I’ve been catching up with one of my favorite comic-book series and it’s as amazing as ever. Classic adventure and espionage tales with great characters and humor. Highly recommended.

April 16: From the 4/18/22 edition of The New Yorker, the four-page “Collective Shame” by Victoria Lomasko and Joe Sacco is a look at Russians who oppose Putin but are virtually helpless to stop him. An impressive and thoughtful comics report.

April 17: The Octobriana With Love anniversary edition was lots of fun, but what I truly love is the creation of this wondrous public domain fraud. I’m beginning to think I might have my own Octobriana story to tell.

April 18: Guardians. This 2017 Russian knock-off of The Avengers is not a great movie. But it’s fun in its own wacky way and intriguing enough that I will write about it soon.

April 19: Newly arrived at Casa Isabella is my Vincent Price figure from Funko Pop! Come Halloween, he’ll share our mantle with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark! Two sexy icons to make the greatest holiday a little more comforting.

April 20: I received my second booster shot yesterday at the Medina County Health Department. The staff was friendly and efficient. I was done in 30 minutes, including the 15-minute post-shot wait time to make sure I wasn’t mutating.

April 21: Batman: The Caped Crusader Volume 1. While it’s not among my favorite Batman runs, I’m loving the art team of Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo. Outside of Aparo himself, DeCarlo might be the best inker to have worked with that great artist.

                                                                                   

April 22: Bob Hearts Abishola: I absolutely love Auntie Olu’s and Uncle Tunde’s heartfelt and hilarious striving to be good allies to their gay niece Morenike. These are real family values.

April 23: The American Wild Horse Campaign, fighting for the future of our nation’s iconic wild horses and burros and the public lands where they roam. Maybe by being kind to animals, we can learn to be kind to human beings.

April 24: Laguardia by Nnedi Okorafor, Tana Ford and James Devlin is an amazing graphic novel about aliens, equality, immigration and inclusion. It should be in every library: home, public and school. I’m in awe of it.  

April 25: Saintly Wife Barb and I watched the last four episodes of Only Murders in the Building. We love this incredible show and are eagerly awaiting the second season, scheduled to drop in late June.

                                                                                   

April 26: Current Jeopardy champion Mattea Roach is nothing short of astonishing. In a world of big lies and intolerance, Jeopardy continues to celebrate inclusion, intelligence and truth.

April 27: John LeMay’s The Lost Films Fanzine has become one of my favorite magazines. The quarterly digest magazine presents articles on movies that never came to pass. It’s fascinating stuff, which I recommend to all movie buffs.

April 28: Hogan’s Alley #23. The new issue of the “The Magazine of the Cartoon Arts” again delivers nearly 150 pages of cool comics articles and knowledge. Kudos to editor Tom Heintjes and an amazing group of columnists, cartoonists and contributing writers.

April 29: Making progress.   

April 30: Neal Adams. His almost unparalleled body of work and the inspiration it provided to so many of us. His being a champion of other creators. His readily shared wisdom. I’m going to miss him, but I’m so glad I knew him.

I’ll have more to say about Neal Adams in the near future, knowing all the time that I can’t possibly compete with all the wonderful tributes he’s already received from all around the comics industry and comics fandom. In the meantime, I’ll try to come up with some other bloggy things between now and my vacation. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon.

© 2021 Tony Isabella