THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN OCTOBER

 

 

October sucked as bad as did September. Our country and democracy continued to be in dire jeopardy from the criminal organization known as the Republican Party and its crazed followers with known traitors campaigning for and even winning public office on policies that are anti-equality, anti-history, anti-science, anti-teacher. Crimes are committed daily with little or no consciences for the perpetrators. And, as we’ve come to expect, DC Comics continues to show no respect for or understanding of Black Lightning, its first  and most iconic headline black super-hero.

Decent-paying writing assignments continue to elude me, even as so many of you, online and at conventions, tell me how much you have enjoyed my work and how much it means to you. I would ask you tell that to those in a position to hire me, but they don’t respect you any more than they respect me.

Conventions? I had hoped to do a lot of them in 2022, but that may turn out to be wishful thinking. I can’t afford to attend them for a free pass or a free booth. At least one and maybe more of these events have stopped inviting me because of my political and social postings. I accept free speech has consequences, but I must remain true to the progressive values I learned from my decades of reading
super-hero comic books. I admired those heroes. It’s why I wanted to write those heroes and heroes of my own creation.  

I am determined to keeping fighting the good fights. Which is why I post daily affirmations of the things that make me happy. These are the things that give me courage and hope and strength to keep fighting.

Here are those things that made me happy in October...

October 1: Every day is another chance to get it right. That’s what I hold on to as leaders fail us, as fellow citizens go start raving mad and as I struggle with hardship and loss. Not the cheeriest one of these I’ve posted, but hope endures.

October 2: My Alcoholic Escape from Reality by Nagata Kabi. Every time I read one of her books, I want to give her a virtual hug for her fearlessness in writing about her pain. She’s become one of my favorite manga creators.

October 3: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for 10-1-21 aired the host’s apology to Milwaukee. Filmed at a Brewers game, this piece of non-political comedy gold included Colbert participating in the traditional “Sausage Race.” Thank you, Stephen.

October 4: One Shot: A Story of Bullying by Alex Bruorton. This is a gripping tale of a young man with a rare disease and how he took a proud stand against those who would demean him and how he became a champion to others.

October 5: An Empty Grave by Andrew Walsh-Huggins is the author’s latest Andy Hayes mystery. Disgraced football star and struggling private eye Hayes is a relatable characters and, hey, his favorite artist is Milton Caniff.

                                                                                 

October 6: Marvel’s Loki Omnibus. I’m having a blast reading these classic (and some not-so-classic) exploits of the God of Mischief.My glorious purpose (one of several) will be to write about these tales in my blog.

                                                                                

October 7: My Godzilla Advent Calendar. From across the seas comes the king of all advent calendars, filled with cool little stuff. I cheated and opened the first of the 24 boxes, but I’ll be saving the rest for December.

                                                                           

October 8: Fantaco’s Gorgo Attacks by Joe Gill, Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta collects their seven issues of the Charlton title from 1961-62. Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, this enormously fun book came with cool extras. I’ll write more about it soon.

October 9: Like no other TV show, The United States of Al’s second season premiere brought home the fall of Afghanistan as Al and his American family tried to get his sister out of that country. It was
award-deserving writing and acting.

October 10: Kim Kardashian was surprisingly entertaining as host of Saturday Night Live. No comedy genius, but save for a shockingly  inappropriate O.J. Simpson joke, she did well, cracking jokes about herself and her family and appearing in several sketches.

October 11: Glee star Amber Riley was nothing short of magnificent on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, winning nearly $250,000 for A Place Called Home. The actress, singer, author and activist is one of the best America has.

                                                                             

October 12: I have great friends. One of them sent me this Godzilla Super Diorama Theater book and two issues of the classic Japanese Giants fanzine. I’ll be reading them soon.

October 13: William Shatner aka Captain James Tiberius Kirk of USS Enterprise traveled into actual space. I don’t care how long or how short the trip was. It’s still one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Live long and prosper, sir.

October 14: I Think Our Son Is Gay by Okura. Mom is sure her son is gay, likely because he’s bad at hiding it. Told in short chapters, this manga delivers smiles at the son’s expense and warm fuzzies at his mom’s unwavering love and support.

October 15: I received a comp copy of The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ripley. The hardcover includes mine and Trevor von Eeden’s Black Lightning creator credit and a Katana creator credit for Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.

October 16: My final Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale of 2021 was successful, achieving 87% of my ambitious two-day goal. I have started planning for my 2022 sales and for online sales prior to that. Keep watching..

                                                                                     

October 17: On Sunday’s Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, actress Melissa Joan Hart won $1,039,800 for the charity Youth Villages, “serving families and children across 23 different states in every kind of level, going through foster care and aging out of foster care especially.”

October 18: Pops! With Purpose. Celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Awareness Month, this DC Comics Bombshells version of Wonder Woman joins my Bombshells Batwoman among the Funko figures facing me and inspiring me as I work.

October 19: The new Capital One commercial featuring a collector of action figures, Samuel L. Jackson and a Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Black Lightning action figure. So cool.

October 20: Add Supergirl (DC Comics Bombshells) to my collection of Pops! With Purpose Breast Cancer Awareness Month figures. She’s my third figure of this year’s series, following Wonder Woman and Batwoman.

October 21: Jimmy Palmiotti does the best Kickstarter updates and delivers outstanding material. I’m not backing many campaigns these days, but Jimmy’s always get my consideration.

October 22: The extremely cool Square Round Table Podcast recorded a long interview with me on Friday night. I honestly think it’s one of the best I’ve done. Sure to amaze and inform and piss off some folks. It’s now available here.

October 23: Michael Che from Saturday Night Live. Discussing Donald Trump’s planned social media venture Truth Social, Che said, “But most people know it by its former name: the National Sex Offender Registry.” Now that’s truth.

October 24: I’ll be on set Monday and protocols call for a Covid-19 test before then. A company called Drip Hydration sent a friendly, efficient young lady named Penelope to my home to stick a swab up my nose. I feel special.

October 25: My one-day secret mission to New York went very well. I am pleased I could be of service to mankind. Also, on my flights there and back, I had an entire row of seats to myself. That hasn’t happened to me in decades.

                                                                             

October 26: Nodoka’s Tokyo Fashion: A Comic Book is a fascinating and fun guide to Japanese fashion. I’m using it as a wardrobe tool for a supporting character I’ve been working on. This book brought me clarity on who this character will be.

October 27: I love my new Tigra action figure, part of the Marvel Legends collection. It comes with a variant head and fists, which would definitely be a serious choking hazard if I intended to open its packaging. I don’t. It will have a honored place on my office wall.

October 28: Add Catwoman (DC Comics Bombshells) to my collection of Pops! With Purpose Breast Cancer Awareness Month figures. She’s my fourth figure of this year’s series, joining Batwoman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman and Batwoman.                                                                        

October 29: Fanboy Expo Knoxville. My first day of the convention and my first time at the Bard’s Tower booth. Hanging out with old and new friends. Viewing wonderful cosplay. I’ll have more when I blog about it.

October 30: Florence Rose Isabella, my mother, celebrated her 95th birthday on Halloween while I was in Knoxville. But I still got a candy bar with a special wrapper. (I’m not a terrible son. I went to visit her before I left for Knoxville.)

October 31: That American Airlines cancelled my connecting flight to Cleveland didn’t make me happy, but the swiftness with which one (and only one) of their employees set me up with a hotel voucher, a meal voucher and taxi vouchers did. Thanks, James.

With 2021 turning out to be one of my worst financial years ever, I’ll be adding a “Donate via PayPal” button to the bloggy things. But, if you don’t want to wait until I can get one of my friends or kids to do this relatively simple task for me - Trust me, I would break the whole damn Internet if I tried to do it myself - you can send your PayPal donations to me at my PayPal email address, which is the same as my email address: tonyisa at ohio dot net

I’ll be using whatever funds I receive to help support my writing. Upcoming projects include the second volume of July 1963: A Pivotal Mouth in the Comic-Book Life of Tony Isabella, my first children’s book (with a kaiju theme) and my continued development of a brand-new super-hero universe unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Thank you for your donations, large and small alike.

I’m also hoping to get the bloggy thing back to its original nigh-daily schedule. I have two completed bloggy in my files with more to come. You can encourage me by actually commenting on my columns as they are posted.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with the first of what will be an ongoing series on the comic-book life and times of Loki, god of evil and/or mischief. See you then.

© 2021 Tony Isabella