THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN FEBRUARY

We’re sixty-six days into 2021. I wish I could say it feels like a brand new year, but we’re still dealing with so much of the trash left behind by Trump and the Republican Party. We’re also dealing with the additional garbage they are tossing into our government, media, social media and streets. I can’t even begin to understand how someone can consider themselves a decent human being and still support those vile people. Perhaps the real viruses plaguing us are the diseases of bigotry, greed and ignorance.

There’s a pattern to these monthly “happy” columns of mine. I talk about what’s making angry, anxious, depressed and frustrated. But, perhaps it’s my learning so many of values from the core values of the greatest comics characters back when they were actually great comics characters and not the twisted versions of themselves produced by folks who don’t understand heroism and that the super-hero genre is, by its very nature, supposed to lean towards optimism.

I long for that day when I can start one of these monthly “happy” columns by telling you how my country and my industry and my world are being their best selves. Until that day, I hold on to my hopes for the future. Until that day, on every day, I seek something that makes me happy.

Here are the things that made me happy in February...

February 1: God Country by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw. Fantasy is a hard sell with me, but this tale of an old man, his family and an alarmingly powerful sword touched my feels. A done-in-one graphic novel that I recommend most highly.
                                                                                 

February 2: I’m being name-dropped Pab Sungenis’ New Adventures of Queen Victoria comic strip. I have no idea where this storyline is going, but I am...quite amused.

February 3: I appear ever so briefly in the official trailer for Marvel’s Behind the Mask, a documentary debuting exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, February 12. I was flown to NYC a few years back to be interviewed for the feature.

                                                                                  

February 4: Cowgirls Vs. Pterodactyls. Currently streaming for free on Amazon Prime, this low-budget movie is 73 minutes of good goofy fun. Feisty heroines, stop-motion pterodactyls and narration by the legendary Martine Beswick.

February 5: Casa Isabella Renovation. We’ve started clearing out my son’s old bedroom. Needs painting, carpet removal and new floors. It will become my new and more efficient home office.

February 6: All-Father Tony has decreed that my son Eddie is worthy to wield the power of...the Marvel Thor Mjolnir Meat Tenderizer! I imagine his future grilling will be the stuff of legend!

February 7: Saintly Wife Barb signed me up for a Covid-19 vaccine shot at Discount Drug Mart in Medina. Now the wait begins.

February 8: The Black Scorpion. I watched it again on Svengoolie. Budget woes aside, it’s a fun feature starring Mara Corday. Yes, I have a crush on her. Yes, I’d love to do an expanded graphic novel adaptation of this movie.

                                                                              

February 9: Black Lightning’s back. No spoilers, but the fourth and final season premiere made Saintly Wife Barb and I gasp. Can’t wait to see where this leads.

February 10: Rumiko Takahashi’s Maison Ikkoku Volume 2. Rereading one of my favorite manga series, I’m struck by how much individual chapters rank with our best sitcoms. If there’s an anime or, better yet, live-action version, I need to watch them.

February 11: Getting a fan message from a 13-year kid from Dublin, Ireland. So nice to know my dedication to my craft has impacted a young man across an ocean. I hope I get to meet him and his father someday.

                                                                               

February 12: Raspberry creme Kit Kat miniatures. Early Valentine’s gift from Saintly Wife Barb. Do not read anything sinister into her giving a bag of candy to her (type 2) diabetic husband. Just think about the deliciousness.

February 13: Switching gears thanks to a link from Bob Ingersoll’s daughter, I’ve an actual appointment for my first Covid-19 vaccine shot at the local Rite Aid pharmacy. Next Wednesday starts my road to someday attending conventions again.

                                                                               

February 14: Marvel’s Behind the Mask (Disney+). A fine documentary that covers a lot of ground in its slightly over an hour running time. My thanks to the filmmakers for including me. It was a true
privilege to be a part of it.

February 15: Marvel’s Behind the Mask. I enjoyed seeing the foreign translation credits for the actors who did my voice in their own languages. It’d be cool to connect with them in the future.

                                                                                  

                                                                       

February 16: Clarice. Rebecca Breeds was great in the first episode of this series, which picks up the story of FBI Agent Starling a year after Silence of the Lambs. Looking forward to more.

February 17: I got my first Moderna vaccine shot at our Rite-Aid in Medina. Quick process. Sore arm. Nasty side effects showing up late in the day. Still a lot better than getting the Covid-19 virus or, y’know, dying from it.

February 18: Houston’s Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, sheltering and feeding people without power and head at his furniture store. He’s even providing entertainment for the kids.

                                                                                  

February 19: “Yardi Gras” in New Orleans. Since the pandemic made holding the usual street parade and celebrations unwise, folks took to decorating their homes in the style of those wonderful floats. Creativity and determination rule the day.

                                                                                 

February 20: The Phantom is the newest addition to my ever-growing Social Justice League of the World. For adding one of my favorite comics character to its line, I thank Funko Pop!

                                                                            

February 21: Cool Beans Café. Medina’s annual Ice Festival is going on this weekend and this popular eatery has one of the greatest ice sculptures in the history of the festival.

February 22: This Twitter wisdom from Heather Antos: “Men need to stop seeing therapy as emasculating, or else the people closest to them are going to bear the brunt of their trauma.” I responded: “A thousand times this. Even indirectly.”

February 23: Sgt. Clean Car Wash in Medina. This veteran-owned and operated business isn’t the least expensive car wash in the city, but they do great work quickly. Tina Fe (my Hyundai Santa Fe SUV) has never looked better.

                                                                                      

February 24: Mike Richards, executive producer of Jeopardy and its current guest host. He’s doing a great job. As much as Saintly Wife Barb and I are Team Ken Jennings, we’d have a tough time choosing between these two hosts for the permanent spot.

February 25: On The Daily Show for February 23, Roy Wood Jr did a fascinating segment on groundbreaking Black journalists. I’ve got to learn more about these writers.

February 26: Fly Me to the Moon by Kenjiro Hata. Boy meets girl. Boy gets hit by truck. Girl saves boy, then shows up at his home with a marriage contract. Three volumes in, I’m totally loving this funny and heartwarming manga series.

                                                                                 

February 27: Flash Facts. Edited by Mayim Bialik, PhD, this spiffy book offers ten tales of science and technology in comics form and narrated by DC Comics characters. Fun and informative for all ages.

February 28: Rediscovering an old favorite in David Hine’s District X. The early 2000s series was a police procedural with Bishop and a non-mutant detective investigating crimes in a NYC neighborhood with a high mutant population. Great stuff that should be adapted for television.

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

© 2021 Tony Isabella