Polite Dissent

I’ve been sick with a nasty sinus infection most of this weekend (and there’s nothing more pitiful than a sick doctor), so I’ve been watching a lot of movies on tape and DVD. On Friday, I mentioned the worst science-fiction I’ve ever seen (Robinson Crusoe on Mars). Despite what I said on Friday, it’s probably not the worst one ever made, but certainly the worst I’ve seen.

Since I had too much time on my hands and couldn’t get up enough energy to move, I decided to compile a list of my favorite films and the worst ones I’ve seen in 3 different genres. I’m sure there are worse movies than the ones I mention, but thankfully I haven’t seen them. My definition of “favorite movie” doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best in that genre, but it’s the one that speaks to me most.

The worst science-fiction movie I’ve seen: Robinson Crusoe on Mars. They stole the plot from Dafoe and still couldn’t make a decent script. Bad acting, bad effects, and horrible science (don’t forget to take your “oxygen pill”).

My favorite science-fiction movie: Logan’s Run. Considering that it came out in the same year as Star Wars, the special effects are pretty bad (especially that robot in the freezer scene). However, there’s something about this movie that just grabs me (besides Jenny Agutter). The premise is clever, and carried off well. This was the first movie I bought on DVD. (Forbidden Planet is a close second to Logan’s Run)

The worst fantasy movie I’ve seen: Legend. There are simply too many incomprehensible special effects, an unintelligible plot, a day-glo bad guy and wooden acting by Tom Cruise. It all adds up to a big bleah!

My favorite fantasy movie: Excalibur. Still the best King Arthur movie ever made. Gotta love Merlin’s metal skull-cap.

The worst super-hero movie I’ve seen: Supergirl. Even Helen Slater couldn’t save this one, and I was a big Helen Slater fan at that time.

My favorite super-hero movie: The Phantom. It was fun. The script was a little pulpy at times, but the characters and acting was good. True to the source. (Loved the Phantom Cabbie in the last issue of Smax. “Slam evil, not doors.”)

My favorite movie of all time? Easy, that would be The Thin Man. Made in 1934 and starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, it’s the great-granddaddy of today’s detective comedies. It’s still funny (and suspenseful) all these years later.

Nothing much to say about Hector Reeder’s article on comics blogging at Ninth Art that hasn’t been said elsewhere better. Overall, I found the column to be lacking because it’s fluff; there’s no substance to it. While vaguely amusing, nothing new or specific is said and old stereotypes are rehashed. It’s not offensive because there’s no weight to it.

I’ll just point to my response to Heidi McDonald’s comic blogging column from a few months ago, and shut up:
10 Reasons I Like Comic Blogs

Here’s the complete list my friends and I were able to come up with for the Justice League Unlimited:

Aquaman, Atom, Atom Smasher, Aztek, Batman, Big Barda, Black Canary, Blue Devil, Booster Gold, B’wana Beast, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Commander Steel, Creeper, Crimson Avenger, Crimson Fox, Demon (Etrigan), Dove (the first one), Dr. Fate, Dr. Light (the second one), Elongated Man, Fire, Firestorm, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Gypsy, Hawk, Hourman (the robot one), Huntress, Ice, Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt, Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho, Mr. Mircle, Mr. Terrific (the current one), Nemesis, Obsidian, Orion, Power Girl, Question, Red Tornado, Rocket Red, Sand, Shining Knight, Starman, Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E., Steel, Supergirl, Superman, Vibe, Vigilante (the cowboy one), Vixen, Waverider, Wildcat, Wonder Woman, Zatanna.

One of the more unusual diagnoses I have seen as a physician is delusional parasitosis. In this condition a person is convinced that they are infested with parasites such as insects, spiders, lice or worms. As the name of the condition suggests, no such infestation exists; it is all a delusion of the patient.

This is an extremely difficult condition to treat. The patient is absolutely convinced that they are infected and there is nothing a physician can do to convince them otherwise. These patients go from doctor to doctor trying to find someone who believes them and can cure their infestation. They have repeatedly sprayed and bug-bombed their house in an attempt to get rid of the insects. They have had several exterminators inspect and treat their house. Often, they will scrub themselves raw with harsh chemical such as bleach or cleanser in order to get rid of the bugs.

A common aspect of their delusion is the “matchbox sign.” The patients will bring the doctor “proof” of their infestation. They will show the physician their evidence convinced that it shows insects, worms or eggs. In reality, their proof is nothing more than flakes of dried skin and other normal detritus. This is known as the matchbox sign because the evidence is usually carried in a matchbox or other small container. The last patient I saw with this condition brought in a zip-loc bag with a couple pieces of sweater lint convinced that they were “cocoons.”

Another interesting feature of delusional parasitosis is folie deux, or shared delusion. Not only is the patient convinced that they are infested, but they’ve managed to convince their significant other of the infection as well. Therefore both people share the same delusion that the patient has parasites. So not only do you have to convince the patient of the truth, but their spouse as well.

Rarely, delusional parasitosis is due to an underlying physical condition such as low thyroid or vitamin deficiency. In these cases, correction of the underlying condition is the best treatment. In most cases, however, delusional parasitosis is a purely psychological condition. Because of this, and because the patients refuse to believe that it is psychological and not physical, treatment is very difficult. Psychiatric counseling is key, as are antipsychotic medications.

What does this have to do with comics?

I was re-reading some of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, and came across this lovely picture by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben from Saga of the Swamp Thing #29.

These panels are the perfect example of delusional parasitosis. Abby is convinced that she is infested with bugs, and has scrubbed herself raw and bleeding with wire brushes and nasty chemicals. She’s even tried to burn her clothing.

Admittedly, her situation goes a little deeper than just delusional parasitosis because she is having olfactory hallucinations (the smell of burnt insects) and a sensation of being unclean, but her main condition is still delusional parasitosis. (In this case we know what the inciting cause was: sleeping with your husband who was really your back-from-the-dead evil uncle).

More information on delusional parasitosis can be found here.

Dave Barry is the only author who consistently makes me laugh out loud.

His weekly column and his books are always good reads and a great way to pass the time.

A particular favorite is Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs, which includes such delightful chapter titles as “Weenie Music”, “Songs Women Really Hate” and “Teen Death Songs”.

His first novel, Big Trouble, was brilliantly plotted and hilarious. The movie it was made into, with Tim Allen and Renee Russo was only so-so, but don’t let that scare you away from the original book, it’s well worth your time and money.

Finally updated the blogroll, adding some blogs that were long overdue.

I finally added a second medical blog, the Lingual Nerve. This is a group blog by a variety of physicians from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. At times pretentious and at times self-deprecating, it’s always an interesting read.

Speaking of medical blogs, Michelle at the Underwear Drawer now has her Scutmonkey mini-comic available.

When I was a wet-behind-the-ears medical student, a wise intern taught me the Four Rules of Medical School. The genius of these laws is not limited to medical students or residents, but can easily apply to everyday life. I now share these words of wisdom with you:

1. Eat when you can
2. Sleep when you can
3. Pee when you can
4. Don’t screw* with the pancreas

*originally this rule contained a more colorful verb. Use your imagination.

Stories and novels about alternate history have always intrigued me. They have what I call the “what if” quotient. What if this happened, or what if that happened? What if Robert Kennedy had not been assassinated? What if England won the Revolutionary War? What if Alexander the Great had not died young? What if Al Gore had won Florida?

Alternate histories tend to raise a lot of questions that cannot easily be answered. A small divergence in the facts can lead to massive changes years later. For this reason, I prefer novels to short stories in this genre. Short stories tend to only tackle the deviation itself or give a superficial “history.” Novels, on the other hand, can address the changes in more detail or show the outcome years later.

The Civil War seems to be a favorite source of inspiration. There are several collections of short stories just about alternate Civil Wars, and Harry Turtledove has written an extensive series starting with the South triumphing in the Civil War and continuing for many years after.

I find that my favorite alternate history novels are those that are set many years after the divergence. The change in history is used to set the stage rather than being the center of the story. I recommend Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle and S. M. Stirling’s The Peshawar Lancers as good alternate histories of this variety

The written word is not the only source of alternate history. Comic books are a unique forum for alternate history stories because they can involve either a divergence from actual history or a deviation from comic-book history. Comic book alternate histories are an extensive topic and deserve an entire post of their own…come back tomorrow.

UPDATE: How could I forget H. Beam Piper’s Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, another excellent alternate history. It ties into his Paratime series of short stories which deal with an entire system of alternate histories.

Given that the majority of comic books exist in fictional worlds, it can be difficult to define what constitutes an alternate history and what doesn’t.

I define alternate history as a deliberate retelling of established historical fact, not counting retcons.

There are two important variables in comic book alternate histories. First, what history does the story deviate from? Second, is it part of continuity?

Alternate history can exist as a deviation from actual historical fact or as a divergence from the history of that particular comic universe.

In Ex Machina, only one of the twin towers was destroyed on September 11, so it is an example of an alteration of actual history. On the other hand, in the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, history diverged when Charles Xavier was killed. This was a change in the historical facts of the Marvel Universe, but not a change in actual history.

Secondly, alternate histories can occur as part of continuity or outside of it. When the Sphinx remade the world in the image of Ancient Egypt in New Warriors #47-50, that was a retelling within continuity. Rarely, events in these alternate histories can effect continuity in the originating universe but usually “time resets itself”. In contrast, the Elseworlds and What If ? comics occur outside of continuity.

Over at the Howling Curmudgeons, there is an interesting discussion going on regarding Atlas Comic’s list of the 25 All-Time Greatest Covers of American Comic Books. I agree with the many of the comments that the list shows a decidedly Golden Age bias. (I for one am upset that Uncanny X-Men #141 has been overlooked. That is a great cover.)

There is a better way to define the greatest comic book covers, and that is: Which covers have been imitated and copied the most?
Those are the greatest covers because they are the ones that readers are expected to recognize offhand.

Here’s a few off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are many more:

• Fantastic Four #1 (Craig Shutt lists 9 imitators in his book Baby Boomer Comics)
  
• Crisis on Alternate Earth #7
  
• Dark Knight Returns #1
  
• Amazing Fantasy #15
  

NOTE: I’m not counting covers within the same titles or a family of titles that are imitations of each other, such as Tom Strong #1 and #20, or the various covers of the Justice League America/Europe/International that show the group staring out at the reader.

Sources: several of these cover scans were obtained from the Grand Comic Book Database.

How much have things changed in the past twenty-plus years I’ve been collecting comics? How much has stayed the same? And were the changes good, bad, or useless? Decide for yourself…

When I started collecting comics:

1. Comics cost 35? or 40?.
2. Trade paperbacks were few and far between. I think Origins of Marvel Comics, Son of Origins, and Bring On the Bad Guys were the only choices.
3. There were not may independent comics, and the ones available were hard to find.
4. There were no limited-series or mini-series.
5. Covers routinely featured dialogue.
6. There was no direct market.
7. In the back of each comic was a letter column with a catchy name.
8. Chris Claremont was writing the X-Men.
9. Stan Lee was editor in chief of Marvel Comics.
10. There were no creator credits on the cover.
11. Jean Grey was still alive (the first time).
12. Three words: Ben Day dots.
13. Dick Grayson was Robin.
14. There were no extravagant multi-part super-crossover “event comics”.
15. Micronauts was a popular comic.
16. Comics were purchased in pharmacies, grocery stores, and bookstores.
17. Gwen Stacy and Bucky were dead.
18. There was no e-Bay.
19. The Fantastic Four cartoon featured Herbie the robot instead of the Human Torch.
20. There were no multiple covers or gimmick covers.

Since I’ve graduated from Medical School:

1. Rezulin, Baycol, Hismanal, Seldane, Trovan, and any drug containing phenylpropanolamine have been withdrawn from the market.
2. Powerful new threrapies for rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes have become available.
3. Federal laws have been enacted limiting resident work hours and restricting pharmaceutical company gifts to physicians.
4. Several new diseases have emerged worldwide including SARS, Avian Flu, West Nile, Hanta, Ebola, and Necrotizing Fasciitis.
5. Antibiotic resistance has increased.
6. Medical education on bioterrorism is common.
7. Hormone replacement therapy has gone out of vogue.
8. Three new childhood vaccines have been introduced.
9. The number of herbal “medications” available has sky-rocketed.
10. More woman have been graduating from medical school.
11. Fewer people have been opting for primary care (including Family Practice) as a career.
12. The target value for cholesterol has been lowered twice.
13. Prescription drugs can be advertised on television.
14. The average lifespan of a patient with AIDS can no longer be counted on just one hand (in the US and Canada, anyway).
15. The blood supply is tested for Hepatitis C.

The Polite-Wife is back from her trip out west to visit her family. In addition to spending some time visiting with friends in Las Vegas, she spent several days at the beach (I should point out that she traveled to California to go to the beach as Nevada is not known for its good coastline).

While relaxing on the beach, she finally read some books I’d been suggesting to her for about five years: The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron, both by Lloyd Alexander. She is an elementary school teacher and always looking for good books for her classroom. Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series was one of the highlights of my childhood (find the editions with the Jody Lee covers).

Here’s my list of good fantasy or science-fiction for elementary age kids. I admit to being several years out of the loop, so feel free to add any other good ones:

• Harry Potter series by Rowling (you know the books; I’m not listing them)
• Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer and The High King.)
• The Hobbit by Tolkein
• Harper Hall of Pern by McCaffrey (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragon Drums)
• Wrinkle in Time, A Wind Through the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and Many Waters by L’Engle
• Tom Swift series by Appleton

Now that she’s back in town, the Polite-Wife and I will be heading over to Indianapolis sometime late Saturday or early Sunday for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. We haven’t decided when to leave yet, but I know we need to get there early. I used to live about a mile from the Speedway and I learned not to leave the house on race weekends unless it was a dire emergency.

And for those of you who think NASCAR and comics don’t mix…

Not only are comic books advertised on NASCAR vehicles, but there have been comic books about NASCAR:

Vortex published a series of NASCAR titles in the 1990’s. The longest was Legends of NASCAR, which ran for 16 issues between 1990 and 1993. Each issue featured a biography of a particular driver, told in comic book format.

Simultaneously, Vortex also published NASCAR Adventures in 1991. The series ran for 2 issues, then stopped. It was revived a year or so later for its third issue (inexplicably numbered #5) then stopped again. A final issue was published some months later, #7 of course. So the four issues of NASCAR Adventures are numbered 1, 2, 5, 7. Like Legends of NASCAR, each issue featured a biography of a famous racer.

Vortex also published The NASCub Adventures (sometimes titled Adventures of the NASCubs). This children’s comic featured the “Official Mascots of NASCAR”, and Richard Petty too. The cover shows a bear, a koala, a panda, a female racoon, and (I think) a lion (or it may be a beaver with a birth defect). This comic lasted for a single issue in 1991.

Despite NASCAR fans being collectors of over-priced merchandise, these comics can still be found for cover price or (usually) much less.

While here at the Brickyard 400, I’ve uncovered some exciting new comic book news!

From MARVEL Comics, the publisher of such exciting sports titles as NFL Super-Pro, MLB Super-Pro, Jai-Alai Super-Pro and Synchronized Swimming Super-Pro comes a new exciting comic book:

NASCAR Super-Pro

Click here for a preview of the first issue!

The Comic Treadmill may have the best air force, and ACAPCWOVCCAOE may have the sheer numbers (and longest name), but we at BWA-HA-HA (Bloggers With A Home Address in Heartland America) have the fastest cars:

The Red Green Show is a Canadian import shown on PBS. It concerns Red Green, a usually inept handyman with a fondness for duct tape, his nephew Harold and all the other members of Possum Lodge. Set in a small town in rural Canada, the show covers everything from fishing to appliance repair to forest fires and everything inbetween. The show consists of about seven or eight skit-like scenes connected with an underlying backstory. Sometime in every show, Red tries his best to build a useful contraption out of discarded junk and duct tape. Always duct tape.

Like many of the shows on PBS, the Red Green Show is only carried by the whim of the local stations. Luckily, our local station shows it (unlike the station in Las Vegas), but at seemingly random times.

Given the storyline in Identity Crisis #1 (and Michael Hutchison wondering about “pregnancy-related threats” in his excellent annotations to the story), it seemed like a good time to post the updated list of Pregnancies in Comics.

Any additions are welcomed!

Heroes:
ADAM STRANGE
Alanna dies during childbirth.

AQUAMAN
Dolphin and Garth (Tempest) had a son, Cerridan. Mera’s pregnancy happened “off camera”.

AVENGERS
Scarlet Witch’s pregnancy was shown in the Scarlet Witch and the Vision mini-series, though her twins were later ret-conned out of exsistence.

BATMAN COMICS
Spoiler was pregnant and gave her shild up for adoption in Robin.
Francine (Man-Bat’s wife) was pregnant in Batman in the 1970’s.

KILLRAVEN
Carmilla Frost discovered she was pregnant in a Killraven graphic novel.

FANTASTIC FOUR
Sue Richards had Franklin, then lost her second pregnancy. A magical/time-stream induced third pregnancy recently gave the Richards a daughter, Valeria.
Lyja Storm was pregnant and gave birth to an egg.
Crystal and Pietro (Quicksilver) have a daughter Luna.

INCREDIBLE HULK
Betty Banner was pregnant, but miscarried.

IRON MAN
Pepper Potts was pregnant, but miscarried.

FLASH
Iris was pregnant with twins at the time that the silver age Flash (Barry Allen) died.
Linda West lost twins recently in the current Flash.

INFINITY INC.
Hippolyta Hall was pregnant a *long* time, and ultimately gave birth to Daniel.

MIRACLEMAN
Liz Moran gave birth in Miracleman #9.

ANIMAL MAN
Annie was pregnant and gave birth in the last issues of the series.

JLA
Sue Dibny was pregnant when she dies in Identity Crisis #1

JSA
Hawkgirl was pregnant as a teenager and gave the child up for adoption.

SABRE
Melissa Siren was pregnant and gave birth in Sabre.

STARMAN
Jack fathered children with the Mist (see below) and his significant other, Sadie.

LOSH (1)
Garth Ranzz (Lightning Lad) and Irma Ranz (Saturn Girl) had twins. (Twins are the usual on Garth’s home planet Winath; however, twins are determined maternally and Irma come from Titan. Plus are the twins fraternal or identical? Both have been shown on Winath in the series.)

LOSH (2)
In the “five years later” Legion, Night Girl was not only married to Cosmic Boy, but also pregnant.

LOSH (3)
Apparition (Tinya Wazzo) and Ultra Boy (Jo Nah) have married and had a child (Cub).

L.E.G.I.O.N.
Stealth had a child by Vril Dox.

MR. MIRACLE
Beautiful Dreamer was pregnant and gave birth.

AVENGERS
Ms. Marvel was pregnant*

TEAM TITANS
Donna Troy was pregnant at the beginning of this series. Her husband and child died in a car accident, then she died in Graduation Day.
Mirage was pregnant at the end of the series.

X-MEN
Madelynne Prior was pregnant with Scott Summer’s child (and gave birth to him) in the Uncanny X-Men.

Villains:
Punch & Jewlee
They showed up in Hawk & Dove toting a toddler, but I don’t know if the pregnancy was ever mentioned or shown in Suicide Squad or elsewhere.

Chesire
Gave birth to Lianne, fathered by Speedy/Arsenal (Roy Harper), but I don’t know if the pregnancy was shown.

Mist
Had a child by Jack (Starman). Do not recall if the pregnancy was shown.

Non-Super-Hero:
STRANGERS in PARADISE: Francine recently miscarried.

ELFQUEST is chock-full of pregnancies and births. I’m not conversant enough with the series to comment.

Characters UNABLE to become Pregnant:
1. Black Canary - Sustained tortue injuries in Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters that rendered her sterile. Her recent dip in a Lazarus pit may have reversed this.
2. Firestar - Using her powers will cause her to become sterile.

*Explanation per Matt Rossi: “Ms. Marvel was impregnated originally by Immortus’ son, who used the devices of Limbo to draw her to him, make her fall in love with him, and then implanted himself into her via some freaky Limbo technology. She then was sent back to Avengers mansion where she gave birth in an extremely short amount of time and the baby was Marcus, Immortus’ son (the one who impregnated her, remember) and then the baby, too, grew up rather remarkably quickly while time itself went ape because Marcus, concieved and born in Limbo, was a being out of time and his mere presence, not to mention the twisted nature of his self-conception into our world and the rapid time displacement, was shattering causality. Eventually Marcus agreed to go back to Limbo but pledged his love for Ms Marvel and asked her to come with him to Limbo, which she agreed to do and the Avengers let her (this was later pointed out to have been a really dumb move.) …I’ve simplified this immensely.”

Thanks to Laura, Johanna, Matt, Shane, Marc Laporte and Kevin for their assistance in adding to the list. All help is appreciated!

In the Giffen/De Matteis Justice League, Guy Gardner’s personality changed from unpleasant to Mr. Sensitive after a bump on his head that knocked him unconscious.

Looking under the monitor desk in the Justice League cave for his ring, Guy instead encounters a mouse. Startled, he jerks up, striking the back of his head on the underside of the desk and knocking himself out. In the next issue, he’s humming Debbie Boone songs and reading an issue of Cosmopolitan. He remains this new sensitive character until another head injury restores his original personality.

Head injuries can certainly cause changes in personality. The brain is made up of different lobes and each lobe has several different functions. Among its duties, the frontal lobe controls personality. Therefore, a substantial frontal lobe injury can cause a significant change in personality.

NOTES:

1. Unlike Justice League, a change in personality due to a head injury is anything but light-hearted. It is caused by brain damage – damage that is nearly always permanent. Additionally, the new personality is almost always an unpleasant one. Changes in personality are not an on-and-off switch that can be reset by another head injury.
2. Even though Guy struck the back of his head, he had to have injured his frontal lobes. This is consistent with a mechanism of injury known as contre coup. As the back of the head hits the counter, the brain keeps moving until it smashes against the inside of skull, damaging the back of the brain (the coup injury). The brain then rebounds inside the skull and moves forward, impacting the front of the skull and damaging the frontal lobes (the contre coup injury).

With the addition of David Lawson, the ranks of midwestern bloggers known as BWA-HA-HA (Bloggers With A Home Address in Heartland America) has swelled to two! Soon we shall be mighty enough to take on even Milo’s squirrel army.

I am on vacation this week and until next Wednesday! No big plans, I just needed to burn some vacation. I’ve been here in Central Illinois almost one year and had some vacation I needed to use. That means it’s also time to start thinking about future plans. I signed a two-year contract with the option to buy into the practice after two years. I like it here, but the Polite-Wife is not entirely certain she does. I’m a small town Midwest boy, so I feel comfortable here while she is Las Vegas born and bred.

While she may be ambivalent about the town, she loves our house. We moved into this two-story house a year ago, and it’s now three years old. I call it the 90% house because it’s clear that the previous owner ran out of money when the house was almost completed. The front porch is primed, but not painted. The light post by the driveway was never collected to electricity. The hallway and room light fixtures cannot support any bulb stronger than 40 watts. There are two piles of rocks by the front culverts, but they were never cemented into place. The foyer and front hallway have some nice tile, but the kitchen floor is this awful linoleum that matches nothing.

Since moving in, most of my effort has been in fixing the remaining 10%. I installed ceiling fans and new light fixtures in every room. I installed the porch and garage lights (wired, but never installed). The Polite-Wife has done a remarkable job on landscaping and working on the yard.

Monday, I finally got the chance to tackle the back porch. Never let anyone tell you that power washers are not fun…they are! I power washed the back deck and discovered that what I thought was weathering was in fact a grime-encrusted cheap wood varnish. That became a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the re-finished porch will look a lot better than I ever expected, but the bad news is that it’s now going to take about three times as long because I need to sand all the old coating off. So far, this project has taken three days just for the washing and sanding. It’ll look nice, right? Right? (I better finish soon though, the Polite-Wife is becoming less-than-polite about the barbecue grill now residing in the kitchen).

Friday we head up to Chicago for the weekend for the Wizard World Chicago. I haven’t been there since 1991 when it was called the Chicago ComiCon and held at the Rosemont/O’Hare Ramada Inn but I’m looking forward to it.

Plans for the rest of the vacation include:
1. Re-finish the back porch.
2. Cement the rocks around the culvers.
3. Spackle the nail holes in the front porch.
4. Enter this month’s and last month’s comics into Comic Base (I not usually this much of a procrastintor, I just haven’t decided whether to use Comic Base 9 or stick with version 8).
5. Finally getting around to reading some review comics (sorry, Larry).
6. Sit down and play Beyond Good and Evil on the X-Box.
7. Read this month’s Comic Buyer’s Guide (Hush, Best Story? grumble grumble) and the first issue of the new Amazing Stories.
8. Finish reading A College of Magics by A Scholar of Magics by Carolyn Stevermer.

I’ve found the “Sub Diego” storyline in Aquaman to be one of the better arcs in recent memory. I know I’ve questioned some of its science a few times, but that’s only because the story is actually making me want to think about it, a rare commodity. The characters are interesting and Arthur is truly acting like a ruler for the first time in years.

The art is quite nice and detailed and full of lots of fun little bits in the panel backgrounds. I particularly like the big fish eating the medium fish eating the small fish picture on the page with the TSCO (Top-Secret Conspiratorial Organization).

I still have concerns about some plot points, though…
1. Are dogs the only animals (beside Man) who converted? Surely other animals were fed tap water too.
2. I just realized that all the health-freaks drinking bottled water would have died. Only those people who actually drank tap water would have survived. Is that selection good or bad though?
3. Can all of the denizens of Sub Diego communicate with sea-life now too? The end of the issue seems to suggest that.
4. The electric eel is a freshwater fish, not salt water.

(In repsonse to Tim’s concern last month about Lorena’s top staying on:

Does is not seem that if someone were really swimming that fast their skimpy yellow tube top would, um, slide off?

He’s absolutely right. It was originally her headband.)

The Polite-Wife and I should be on our way to Chicago now (or there already, depending on when you’re reading this.) Like Rick Geerling, I find myself enjoying the information parts of the con, but I do plan on some shopping as well (I need to track down some Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare comics).
The Polite-Wife will probably take root in the Anime room, emerging occasionally for food, sunlight, and the swimming pool.

I’ll bring the laptop and try to blog while there, but my dial-up experiences have always been spotty. We’ll bring back some good pictures though!

Everyone have a good weekend!!

I. Arriving at WizardWorld
Despite a slight delay to our starting time, Polite-Wife and I crawled into our rental car and made the 3-hour drive to Chicago. Our room was at the very nice Hotel Sofitel, conveniently connected to the convention center by a covered walkway.

As it had been over a decade since my last visit to Chicago ComiCon (or WizardWorld), I was impressed by the fact that the show had at least quadrupled in size. The Exhibitor Area was large and DC, Marvel, Aspen, WizKids, Dark Horse and Tokyo Pop all had large displays (though Marvel’s was very plain). The Dealer Room was impressive and Artists’ Alley was large enough that I was able to see both familiar and new names and faces.

The “freebie bag” handed out to advanced-ticket holders had special editions of Ultimate X-Men #50 and Humankind #1. It contained a free Hero-Clix, but it was the ubiquitous Checkmate Agent (#009). There was also a TokyoPop sampler and a Mighty Beanz trading card game sample pack in the bag.

We circled the exhibition area first, deciding what booths to hit when the crowd died down. In the back row, Gil Gerard, Erin Gray and Lou Ferigno were signing autographs. I don’t think they were very busy because they kept announcing overhead that they were “available for autographs.” Marc Singer was back there too and I just had to laugh, well, because it WAS the beastmaster (unlike this guy).

Next we ventured into the dealer’s room and began hunting for comics missing from my collection. Demo #7 and #8 were found easily (thank you Mostly Independents), but Spider-Girl #50 and my missing issues of Xombi took longer to find. I found some nice copies of Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare, but unfortunately they were too nice (and too expensive) as I’m pretty much just looking for reading copies.

II. The Cup O’Joe Panel
We had intended to go to the Phil Noto art demonstration but it had been canceled, so we decided to stroll into the main ballroom and see what Joe Quesada and Marvel Comics had in store for us.

Quesada took center stage and went through a brief slideshow of some of Marvel’s comics, both old and new. There was a brief Q&A session, and then he introduced the “young gun” artists of Marvel. Finally, there was a second Q&A session. All told, the Marvel session lasted about an hour and a half.

In the slide show presentation, Quesada talked about the Marvel Knights line, the Ultimate line, the Supreme Powers universe (alternately referred to as the Supreme-verse and the Supreme Power-verse) and other Marvel titles. My favorite comment was when he stated that the Ultimates and Supreme Power were the “best team books” being published by Marvel. This seemed ironic given that there hasn’t been a new Ultimates issue published in the past year and there is no team in the Supreme Power book (unless you count Hyperion and naked-woman, or Doctor Spectrum and undersea-naked-woman as a team.)

He showed some finished pages from the Frank Cho illustrated issue of Marvel Knights Spider-Man and all I could think was “Look – Brandy with red hair! (Oops, it’s Mary Jane.)” They also showed a Shanna splash page and the Polite-Wife was amazed by the way the contents of her bikini top defied gravity.

The pages from Darrick Robertson’s Nightcrawler series looked spectacular and I hope the writing is as good as the art.

Quesada did announce a new series of What If? Specials. This will be a series of seven comics done as a fifth-week special in December. Regular readers will know that I am a fan of alternate histories, so I look forward to these books. While previous What If? tales often suffered from poor writing and art, it seems they’ve got it planned right this time with the regular writers and artists of the books involved on the specials. Titles include What If Jessica Jones joined the Avengers? (by Brian Bendis), What if Karen Page Had Not Died? (by Bendis and Kevin Smith – and Bendis promises to finish writing whatever Smith cannot.), What if Thunderbolt Ross became the Hulk? (by Peter David), What if Aunt May has been killed instead of Uncle Ben?, What If Magneto and Xavier Formed the X-Men Together? , What if Victor von Doom Became the Thing? and a special comedy issue.

Quesada was generally well-spoken, though Dan Buckley seemed to detract from the presentation as a behind-the-scenes comedian. The “young-guns” are all good artists, and many I enjoyed at CrossGen and DC, but I wondered if Marvel was putting as much emphasis on their “young gun” writers?

III. The Bendis Panel
After the Cup O’Joe panel, I meandered next door for Brian Bendis’s panel. He is the only comics creator I have seen who brought his own “posse” with him to his panel. I believe they were members of his online board, but they pretty much just sat or stood behind him on the stage and contributed next to nothing.

There has been a great deal of internet discussion regarding Bendis’s approach to writing dialogue. Let me just say that he talks exactly like he writes: short bursts of phrases with pauses in-between. Listening to him was like reading one of his comics.

As undoubtedly reported elsewhere, his “big announcement” was more of a statement of intent than anything else. He says that he would like to do a Daredevil/Batman crossover in a “noir” style. He states that he has lined up other big-name writers and artists for the project. He says that when he mentioned his idea to Marvel they said “fine.” The initial people he talked to at DC also agreed, but when it got to Paul Levitz he vetoed it, essentially saying that DC would not agree to another Marvel/DC crossover as long as Joe Quesada remained Editor-in-Chief of Marvel. Before you think this is just Bendis hyperbole, DC VP Bob Wayne showed up at the panel unannounced, reiterating that DC would like to do crossovers with Marvel, just not if Quesada is still at Marvel. In the military, we called what Bendis was doing “going outside the chain of command” and it was a good way to accomplish nothing other than peeve people off. I’m not sure it accomplished anything worthwhile here either.

Otherwise, he answered questions about his upcoming plans including what’s in store for Powers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Daredevil. He spent more time on his plans for the Avengers and going over the new Avengers line-up. He also talked about the upcoming What If? specials and a possible Nick Fury series.

Arriving early for the second day of WizardWorld, the Polite-Wife and I were amazed at the incredible number of people who had clearly gotten there much earlier than us. Given the sheer size of the line for the “special event” tickets, we decided to forgo obtaining a ticket to Joss Whedon’s Q&A session (and we had no intention of attending Kevin Smith’s sessions). Instead of wasting time in line, we got a head start in the dealers’ room and were able to scour the 50-cent boxes before the crowd arrived and I managed to fill out my runs of Fate and Hourman. We also found a single not-too-expensive nice condition issue of Dr. Kildare I was missing and picked up some Christmas presents for the Polite-nephews.

At eleven, we settled into our seats for the DC Universe talk and watched DC VP Bob Wayne emcee a show highlighting a variety of ongoing and new DC projects. The biggest announcements were a new ongoing Hal Jordan Green Lantern series and a new Demon series by Pfeifer and Byrne. Many DC creators were there as well. Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns provided comedy relief, but the highlight was Brian Azarello who had a wonderfully dry sense of humor and deadpan presentation. There were several quips about Bendis, with Wayne at one point saying they would need to remove an introduction he had penned for an upcoming trade paperback. The last portion of the DC presentation involved David Goyer who discussed his role in writing the upcoming Batman Begins film. It was also announced that a “special guest” in regards to the Batman movie would be at the Green Lantern panel later in the afternoon. Due to this, a special wristband would be needed to attend the panel and this band could only be obtained at the DC booth. At the end of the DCU panel, we swung by the DC booth, snuck through the mob, and escaped with two prized green wristbands.

After lunch (and a trip to Artists Alley to obtain a copy of Forsaken signed by its creators – extremely nice people), we attended the Marvel Universe panel. Hosted by Joe Quesada, the panel included Mark Millar, Brian Bendis, Robert Kirkman, Dan Buckley, Sean McKeever, Brian K. Vaughn and others. The news was essentially a repeat of the previous day’s Joe Quesada panel but seemed to focus more on the Ultimate line. An announcement was made of Peter David’s upcoming Hulk mini-series, though Quesada deftly avoided the question when asked about a new ongoing Hulk series. There was a pause when Bendis’s birthday was celebrated and the members of his board presented him with a gift: a grammar guide.

Immediately following the Marvel Universe panel was what was originally scheduled to be the Green Lantern panel. Now, however, it was a Green Lantern/Batman Begins panel. Due to the Batman Begins aspect, the audience had to be severely limited and so only attendees who acquired a special wristband from the DC booth were admitted. Unfortunately, this was a late decision and not noted in the program; the only way to find out was to have attended the DC Universe panel earlier in the morning. This led to quite a few upset Green Lantern fans who found out much too late about the wristbands.

Dan Didio, Peter Tomasi, Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Carlos Pacheco and Alex Sinclair each spoke about either the upcoming Green Lantern Rebirth or the new ongoing Green Lantern series. Johns was fairly close-mouthed, telling the audience that the Rebirth mini-series would “explain everything”. He did mention that the Green Lantern Corps would be reborn (including Killowog, though he seemed reluctant to admit anything regarding G’Nort); John Stewart would remain with the JLA; Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner were all said to “play an important part” in Rebirth, though nothing was said about any role in the ongoing series.

Van Sciver was more open, sharing other information about the Rebirth mini-series such as the involvement of Batman as “almost a villain” (much to the chagrin of Johns). Pacheco gave a moving speech about how important Green Lantern was and how much he looked forward to doing the series with Johns.

After a brief Green Lantern Q&A session, the doors were locked and Paul Levitz took the stage. The Batman Begins teaser trailer was shown. He introduced the three special guests: David Goyer, writer of Batman Begins, director Chris Nolan and Heidi Thomas, one of the producers. Nolan spoke about the film and all the thought and work that went in to getting Batman right. A good Q&A session followed, with surprisingly good questions and some excellent answers from Nolan before he had to leave to return to the film set currently shooting in Chicago. Next, the teaser trailer was shown again (third time today) and some “never before seen” clips from the movie were shown. Goyer stated that the scenes shown were just randomly collected clips, but they seemed a little too polished to me and I was wondering if we were shown an early cut of the next trailer.

The scenes shown included several training scenes, mostly of a martial arts nature. There was one involving training with Liam Neeson (Qui Jon?). There were several scenes showing a battle with a couple of thugs inside a warehouse. One scene showed overhead lights being put out by batman-symbol shaped darts. Another scene had Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) riding inside a military prototype vehicle with military style camouflage. Lucius turns to Bruce and asks him if he likes it. “Does it come in black?” replies Bruce and there was an immediate segue to scenes of the Batmobile racing through the city streets. There were several scenes of Katie Holmes, the last involving her chracter being knocked out by gas blown in her face by the Scarecrow (in a good scarecrow-style mask – but no hat). The movie clips looked very well done, and the eloquence of the director spoke well for the future of the film.

We arrived early again for the final day of WizardWorld as we learned that was the best time for hitting the Dealers’ Room and Exhibition area. I picked up some copies of Invincible and had Robert Kirkman sign them at the surprisingly small Image Comics booth. I also gave him two words of advice regarding his upcoming Marvel Team-Up series: Brother Voodoo.

We swung by the NC Soft booth and I managed to win a copy of City of Heroes and the accompanying strategy guide by proving that I know way too much about Black Goliath (thanks to a misspent youth of reading Marvel Two-In-One). I had been hinting that I wanted the game for Christmas, but now I get to play it sooner. We also picked up some Love Hina and Princess Ai at the TokyoPop booth for the Polite-Wife, and Planetes for me.

The first panel we attended today was the Marvel X-Men panel. Joe Quesada was emceeing and most of the X-creators were there including Mark Millar, Chris Claremont, and Joss Whedon. There were no real surprises at the panel: Wolverine is everywhere and Phoenix is returning. There was a promise that inter-universe continuity will be stressed more not only in the X-titles, but the entire Marvel Universe.

The Vertigo panel was fairly brief, since much of it was taken up with an extended clip from Constantine and a Q&A session with its director. There was mention of a new Grant Morrison Bollywood-based mini-series to be illustrated by Philip Bond. Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere story will be out as a nine-part mini-series adapted by Mike Carey. Lucifer will apparently end at issue #75, with the third of three “acts” just starting now. Issue #30 of Y: The Next Man will explain why Yorrick survived the plague, and then the characters will travel out of the United States. Several Hellblazer projects were announced to coincide with the February release of Constantine, including a Papa Midnite miniseries and an original graphic novel.

In terms of Constantine, the movie definitely has style. The clips certainly intrigued me, and Keanu Reeves actually held his own. The only part I really didn’t like was the scene when Constantine was shooting a combination cross/shotgun at a roomful of demons; the Constantine in the comics would never get his hands dirty in actual combat and the scene was too reminiscent of a first-person shooter. Otherwise, the clips mostly focused on his encounters with demons, conversations with Papa Midnite and his coping with the realization that he has lung cancer. In addition to the variety of demons shown (including one composed of swarming insects), there was also a scene with a slightly-feminine-but-mostly-androgynous archangel (I don’t remember which one. Michael? Gabriel? Airwolf?). While there were a few too many instances of monsters popping into the screen suddenly to startle the audience, there was a genuine feeling of dread and suspense instilled by the movie. It surprises me to say that I am now looking forward to seeing this movie, but I don’t think it will be for everyone.

Overall, we had a very good time at WizardWorld. I was able to find some hard-to-find comics and meet some nice people. I wish the panels had been more mixed and topically diverse rather than company presentations and I wanted to see more independent publishers in the exhibition room and on the panels. Still, it was a well-spent weekend and we’ll undoubtedly be back next year.

With apologies to Johanna, WizardWorld Chicago Panel Chick Check:

• Cup O’ Joe Panel - none
• Bendis Panel - none (sure, some of his “Bendis Board” entourage was female, but that hardly counts)
• DC Universe Panel - none
• Marvel Universe Panel - none
• Green Lantern/Batman Begins Panel - Heidi Thomas, one of the producers of Batman Begins was on the movie half of the panel. No comic professionals on the Green Lantern half.
• X-Men Panel - none
• Vertigo Panel -none

Panels not attended: Wildstorm Panel , Avengers Panel , Devil’s Due Panel .

True Story: At the Cup O’Joe panel, one of the audience asked about female creators. The reply: Fiona Avery is writing a book (Amazing Fantasy), and Samm Barnes is writing Doctor Spectrum and co-writing Strange. Another panel member chimed in: The cover artist of Runaways is female - and she illustrates manga covers too! (what does that have to do with Marvel?). Buckley added “7 of our 15 assistant editors are female; that’s half ” (and he was aware he was rounding up). Finally someone on the panel mentioned that Jill Thompson had worked for Marvel at one point, and so had Gail Simone. Examples given for Thompson’s work: Scary Godmother, and Death: At Death’s Door (hardly Marvel books). No examples were given for Simone’s work.

Was it only me, or were Marvel’s Quesada led panels all too remniscient of frat-boys discussing “booze and broads”? I thought I left all that behind in college.

And if I failed to mention it earlier, make sure to check out Steve Pheley’s (day 1, 2, and 3) tales of WizardWorld too!

The Tomorrow People was a British science fiction show that ran in the UK from 1973-1979. It was later shown in the US on Nickelodeon (long before they became a popular cable station); I remember watching the show daily after school in 1984-5.

The show was about a handful of young men and women who were the next step in evolution from Homo sapiens (hence the Tomorrow People name). They had mental abilities such as teleportation, telekenesis and telepathy. They lived in a secret undreground hideout run by a sentient robot named Tim. They had adventures not only on Earth, but across the galaxy as well.

The Tomorrow People was similar to Dr. Who in that each storyline consisted of a handful of 25-minute episodes. Each episode tended to have a cliffhanger ending. The production values were much worse than Dr. Who. There was one particular episode where the Tomorrow People were dealing with alien ambassadors — one looked like a cheap rubber bug suit and the other looked like a giant ice cream cone.

Most of the episodes were simplistic and full of science-fiction cliches, but still fun to watch in that automobile accident kind of way. There are two episodes that I remember best. The first dealt with the Tomorrow People traveling back to the Roman era to stop another time traveler from teaching the Romans steam power. Time paradox tales are always fun, and very hard to screw up (and they did OK here). Another episode dealth with the return of Hitler, who convinced British school boys to start a new Nazi party in England. Turns out that Hitler was really a mind-controlling alien. Thankfully the Tomorrow People stopped him (whew!).

Nickelodeon started their own version of the Tomorrow People in the mid-90’s, but I was in medical school thenand free time was just a dream to me (I once read an article that reported that the average third-year medical student gets 20 minutes of sunlight a day, and I remember thinking “When?”)

A new flier came in the mail today from the Science Fiction Book Club. Flipping through it, I see that S.M. Stirling has a new book out: Dies the Fire. It is the first book in a projected trilogy. Three of his previous books (Island in the Sea of Time, Against the Sea of Time and On the Oceans of Eternity) deal with the Island of Nantucket, which has been thrown back in time to 1250 B.C. Dies the Fire is set in the world that Nantucket left behind when it slipped back in time.

Stirling’s books are always fun reads, particularly those that utilize an alternate history. His plots are always complicated but historically sound. While I recommend all of his books, I particularly recommend The Peshawar Lancers and Conquistador. The Peshawar Lancers taked place in a world where the British Isles were destroyed by a meteor and India has become the heart of the new British Empire. The plot deals with the British Heir Apparent, the Royal Princess and her French suitor. The main characters, though, are an aristocratic brother and sister. He is a captain in the Peshawar Lancers and she is a brilliant research scientist. Together with the Royal Heirs, plus friends — both savory and unsavory — they ateempt to save the Empire from a Russian plot and assasination attempt.

Conquistador takes place in two worlds. The first is essentially identical to ours (except Pocohontas lived to bear children to John Rolfe). The second is an uninhabited Earth discovered by a member of the Rolfe family after World War II. This family and their friends have been slowly increasing their wealth by using the resources of the second world. Two game wardens stumble onto the secret of the alternate earth and are kidnapped to it, only to find themselves in the middle of an armed rebellion on that world.

Stirling has an informative, if bland, website here.

As it’s the last night of my vacation (sigh), I’m going to take it easy by watching the Olympics and reading some of the books I bought at Wizard World (Invincible, Planetes and Princess Ai for starters).

This weekend I’ll tackle City of Heroes so that I can add my name to list over at Ringwood.

And remember if anyone talks or corresponds with Robert Kirkman: Brother Voodoo. If Bendis can start his own grass-roots movement, then so can I!

Family Matters collects issues #1-4 of Invincible, published by Image Comics. Invincible is an unapologetic super-hero tale. It doesn’t aim to take the genre in a new direction. It makes no pretenses of deeper meaning. It simply aims to tell an exciting and compelling super-hero tale, and in that it succeeds brilliantly.

Invincible takes place in an already populated super-hero universe. The world is protected by several groups of heroes such as the multi-national Guardians of the Globe. The most powerful single superhero is Omni-Man, who just happens to be the father of Mark Grayson, the protagonist of Invincible. Mark is a high school senior; he does well academically and flips burgers after school because his father tells him that it builds character. Then one afternoon his super-powers kick in unexpectedly while taking out the trash at work. This is no real surprise to him as his father talked with him years before about this (in a hilarious scene where his father explains not only super-powers but also puberty to a young Mark).

Mark takes to the streets and breaks up a robbery. Chuckling at his son’s costume, his father takes him to a special tailor to get a better costume made (a costume that he wants to be “iconic”). Soon after, he encounters the Teen Team and helps them break-up a robbery (in another good scene where he’s wearing only his pajamas).

Teaming up with his father, he defeats an alien invasion. Later, working with Teen Team members Atom Eve and Robot, he succeeds in discovering who has kidnapped students from his high school and turned then into living bombs.

Writer Robert Kirkman understands the conventions of the genre and uses them to his advantage. While his story will appeal to all readers, it is tailored to the experienced super-hero readers as they will get the most from the unspoken aspects of the story.

There are no unnecessary long explanations or expositions. When Mark’s father realizes he has to write a book for his publisher during the weekend, he tells his wife to pick up some extra keyboards. The reason is never explicitly stated; it is left up for the reader to understand why. (Imagine if Claremont had written that bit of dialogue: “Given that my typing my best-selling novels at super-speeds wears out and breaks ordinary computer keyboards, I will need you to journey to Best Buy and purchase a dozen keyboards that can withstand the blazing speeds of my powerful fingers!”)

Kirkman writes excellent dialogue. Each character speaks in a unique voice. He captures the voice of teen-agers without coming off as an adult trying to sound hip. Mark’s parents speak like parents when talking to each other as well as when speaking to Mark. My favorite is the high school principle at the student assembly who sounds just like my high school principle as he explicitly enumerates where everyone is to go after the assembly.

The art is simple, clean and bright and complements the story perfectly. Cory Walker’s pencils are accented by the bright colors of Bill Crabtree. Watch for character cameos in the background, including Charlie Brown and Bill (from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure).

The extras included in the trade paperback are nice. There are pages and pages of preliminary sketches, all nicely annotated by Kirkman.

Eight is Enough, the second volume of Invincible, continues with some story threads started in the first volume (and has another title based on an old TV show). In the first story, Mark heads to space to defeat a menacing alien as his father is tied up with another mission. In succeeding, Mark shows that his brains are at least as good as his brawn.

Next, after a round-the-world game of catch with his father, Mark and his friend William visit a nearby college they are considering attending. At the Teen Team headquarters, Robot has been invited to try out for a bigger team, and Atom Eve makes an uncomfortable discovery about her boyfriend, Rex Splode. We are introduced briefly to the Guardians of the Globe, a transparent copy of the Justice League. My favorite is Aquarus, the fish-headed hero of Atlantis.

The art changes in the third issue of the collection. It is noticeable, but fits in well as a different artist draws the pages for each member of the Guardians of the Globe. A new penciler takes over in the final issue, but the transition is smooth.

Like the previous volume, Kirkman’s strengths as a writer of dialogue and master of understated action are apparent here. The only major weakness of this collection is that it is “all middle.” There is no underlying storyline connecting these issues, in fact most of them are clearly setting up events to come later. Even with that flaw (readily acknowledged by the writer), this is remains good book to read. I look forward to Book 3: Perfect Strangers.

And remember, everyone tell Robert Kirkman: Brother Voodoo in Marvel Team-Up!

Starjammers is a surprising fun comic that does a good job of telling a classic space opera tale. There is the beautiful and determined princess, the evil royal advisor and the brash young space cadet. There is the splendor of the royal courtiers contrasting with the rough and tumble Starjammer pirates. In traditional space opera style, battles are fought with swords and side arms and erupt across the entire ship. While battle and political intrigue run rampant, a loyal retainer does whatever she can to save the princess’s life. As I said, classic pulpy space opera.

Kevin Anderson’s script, while not spectacular, is fun in a B-movie kind of way. The art does a good job of conveying the action and is well drawn, if a bit two-dimensional. Ale Garza’s art on the first issue is superior to Jorge Lucas’s in the second (due mostly to cleaner inking in the first issue). While Raza and Ch’od are present, they are the only Starjammers I recognize; the rest of the pirate crew are sentient plants known as Thorns.

If you enjoy old-style space opera, you’ll find much to like in Starjammers. If this sort of science fiction romp is not your style, then it wouldn’t be worth your money…borrow the trade from a friend or library.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 “Down Among the Dead Men, part four”
Mark Millar, writer
Terry Dodson, penciler

In Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4, Peter Parker is lying bruised and beaten in his hospital bed as an enraged Vulture stalks toward him. Peter starts hallucinating and his subconscious, in the form of Aunt May, tells him “This is just the Midazolam the doctors prescribed inducing mild hallucinations.”

Midazolam (also known as Versed) is an injectable sedative in the same family as Valium. It certainly can cause hallucinations, though the narcotic painkillers that Peter is on would be a much more likely cause of his hallucinations (or they could be due to the head injury he suffered). However, he should not be on Versed in the first place. It is a strong drug that is only indicated for sedation during surgical procedures and in patients being carefully monitored in the ICU. It requires continuous oxygen monitoring, frequent vital sign checks, and an IV drip. Peter is not in the ICU and is not undergoing a procedure. The only IV in the room is running blood. Though there was a nurse in the room, there is no indication that Peter’s vitals and oxygen levels are being checked. If sedation is required, there are much better choices in his situation than midazolam.

As a nitpick, I would point out that hallucinating a person who isn’t there talking to you is not a mild hallucination; it’s a pretty significant one.

Later in the same issue, the Owl and his “associate” Dr. Winkler have captured Electro. The Owl informs Electro that the doctor has injected him with haloperidol in order to neutralize his shocks. He also informs Electro that the drug has neutralized all his motor functions but that his brain can still register pain.

Haloperidol (also known as Haldol) is an antipsychotic drug in the phenothiazine family; it is also a major tranquilizer. I have no idea how it would affect superpowers, but it seems reasonable that a drug acting on the brain would could suppress them. In th