UPDATED BY MICHAEL:  I added the link to the story, categorized it and tagged it “Star Trek”.  (And I did it while I’m at the User Interface conference.)

Hey… they have a Rocketeer costume!  How cool is that!

Interspersed between the music are newsclips and other pop culture tidbits.  They just played a campaign jingle for Nixon while I was writing the above.  It’s a boon for guys like me, who have an interest in modern history and like to get a feel for the zeitgeist of a given era.  For instance, when you think of November ’68, the height of the civil rights movement and the unrest over Vietnam, protest songs automatically spring to mind—but Andy Williams also had a hit with the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  That was also the dawn of disco and glam rock, two forms that most people equate with the late ’70s. 

I tend to equate my geek status with the music I like.  Namely for me, Progressive Rock and New Wave.  All the stuff they don’t play on the “classic rock” stations anymore.  So I eagerly await the next two weeks, The ’70s and ’80s.

If you don’t have and XM subscription, you can still listen online at AOL.  It’s FREE!  How about that, AOL is still good for something…

Anyway, he’s cute as a button, and at ¼ scale he won’t take up as much space as the real deal.  He’s more of a toy K9.  that’s somewhere between a miniature and a teacup.

But he’s not a “toy”.

Neal has been promoting his theory for some years now but no one seems to care because he doesn’t have a bunch of initials after his name.  It probably doesn’t help that he worked in comics, either.  But all theories are equally valid if you think about it, kind of like opinions.  And I kinda like what Neal proposes.

You can find more segments of his video on YouTube as well.

I’ve recently found a sci-fi podcast called Escape Pod.
Hosted by Steve Eley,  it dramatizes SF short stories by both
well-known legends (Asimov) and unknown writers (they’re unknown, i.e.,
no parenthetical name).  The stories range from hard SF to something
close to fantasy, and Steve always ends the podcast with reader’s
thoughts on a previous story, which is the real reason I keep coming
back.  Kind of like the lettercol we hardly ever see in comics
anymore.  The stories range in age-appropriateness as well, and some
are not safe for work, but the introduction of each story on the site
includes a rating and description or what the story contains to earn
the rating.  Very helpful if profanity hurts your ears.

Another recent find is the video podcast associated with the iFanboy
website.  The podcast stars Ron, Josh and Conor, three geeks gushing
over their favorite artists and writers and reccommending titles they
find interesting.  Every now and then they do a nifty remote episode
from ComiCon or WizardWorld Chicago.

There are a lot more I haven’t gotten to, but I gotta save up for my next post.  If you have any favorite comic or geek-type podcasts, let us know and we’ll give you props for the tip.

Meanwhile, dolphins have been trained to sing the theme song to the show. Believe it or not. Dolphins sing ‘Batman’ theme

Metropolis may be more like Smallville, but they sure know how to put on a local festival. The best way to relate our visit is to get right to the pictures, though.

The Giant Statue of Superman is Metropolis’ main attraction most days, but today it was just a cool backdrop.

The crowd at 9:30 was pretty sparse, and there were a few booths that were unoccupied. This would change.

This was the first Superman we saw. I call him “hollywood” because that’s where he was from. We discovered over the course of the day that a foreign (german?) film crew were filming him all day, interviewing him and his girlfriend “lois”. I can only assume it was for a documentary. We were standing behind “lois” at the costume contest when the crew came and got some soundbytes from her about his “portrayal”. He was obviously playing not Superman, but Chris Reeve playing Superman. He also needed to lift some weights.

We went from walking the sparse midway area to the kiddie tent, dubbed Smallville, where we met Metropolis’ “official” Superman, Scott Cranford. He’s a local, and does work out.

And here’s Jason and Jessica with Superman. He really was a nice guy.

A funny little episode happened while we were at the Smallville tent. This little girl, who obviously loved Superman and wanted to meet him, was also extremely nervous. She was visibly shaking, no– quaking. Her dad had to keep her steady and she wouldn’t look up at the Man of Steel….

…so he got down to where she was and talked to her face to face. After a few seconds she brightened up and started talking to him. She was so cute. It was a great moment, and Scott played the part very well.

After that we separated so I could go to the Community Center to check out the comic art gallery. It turned out to be a couple of airbrushed paintings of stills from the ’78 Superman movie and and a couple Universal monsters. I drew a quick Superman sketch for the sketch contest and moved on. The Celebrity Q&A was about to start at the main tent. On the way I was passed by Mark Waid. Keeping the fanboy in me to a minimum, I caught him and asked for a picture. He aquiesced. Then for want of anything intelligent to say, I asked him what he thought of Chuck Dixon. He said “He’s a little right-wing for my taste, but he’s a good guy.”

At the Celebrity Q&A There were a couple real celebrities. The only one in this pic is Noel Neil, who played Lois Lane on the old Superman TV show. On either side of her are pro comics artists Steve Stanley and Lin Workman, and we all know Len Wein there on the end. Len was kinda stiff all day for some reason.

Noel Neil though, was bright and talkative and wonderful. She talked about George Reeves and the old days (she called it National Comics…how endearing is that) and when asked about her part in Superman Returns she would only say that it was a scene with Kevin Spacey. Turns out that Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen on the TV show, is also in the movie.

After a while Superman Scott Cranford came and sat down. I wondered why he was allowed on the panel, but as a local celebrity he got quite a few questions.

Then the real celebrities sat down. Namely, Margot Kidder (Lois Lane to Chris Reeve’s Superman) and Bo Duke–I mean Pa Kent from Smallville, John Schneider. Funny thing I noticed: John Schneider doesn’t take a bad photo.

I thought it was cool that they got Santa to MC the Q&A. And this is the best head-shot we got of Margot, unfortunately. She looked like she was having fun, lots of smiling…but also lots of blinking.

The crowd at the Q&A. I would say they were about 70% there to see John Schneider. Actually they could have called it Superman-and-Dukes-of-Hazzard Celebration 2005….

…because there was just about as much Dukes stuff there as Superman. Heck the town itself looks more like Hazzard County than Metropolis.

This is one of three General Lees at the festival. This one had the best spot. It also had a “hazzard county” liscense plate, though I failed to get a closeup of that.

Another, different General Lee had signatures of Dukes stars. Noticeably absent…John Schnieder.

Here’s that second one, with a Hazzard County Sherriff vehicle. And for a clue as to how far into fly-over country Metropolis is, check out the sign in the background: AMERICANS, LET’S ROLL! They haven’t forgotten 9-11 here in Metropolis.

My wife Sherry and our niece and nephew at the General. Sherry had a lot of fun, I must say.

Back to Superman…there was a cool Superman pickup truck, though why it was all black and silver is beyond me.

by afternoon the crowd was substantial. I went to the community center for an “artists workshop” with Steve Stanley and Lin Workman, but they never showed. *edit* I’ve since been informed that the whole shebang was running a little late, and something had to give. Thanks to Steve Stanley and Lin Workman for this information! No apologies needed! */edit* I did notice though that my sketch of superman had been taken down. Did I win $50?

Those Red Hat Society gals are everywhere down south.

The costumes had started coming out by then, in anticipation of the big costume contest. Here’s a Golden Age Green Arrow (known hereafter as GAGA), and a young Starman. This was right before I stopped some skate punks from stealing an arrow from GAGA’s quiver. He would later give me one for my heroic actions. Actually, I just got between him and the little hoodlums…I didn’t do anything special.

GAGA again, with Supergirl. Arent’ they cute! All superheroes should have dimples.

Here they are again, joined by the Starman from two pics ago, and a new Starman and a very nervous looking Stargirl.

A Clark Kent, the only one (of several) that didn’t have a breakaway suit with a superman costume underneath.

Here’s Batman and Catwoman, a married couple from Mississippi. Notice how effective the rubber cowl is at channeling sweat down the front of the costume.

Black Cat and Doctor Octopus. Black Cat won Second place in the contest.

Doc Ock again. His arms actually opened and closed! He didn’t win anything though.

Another Supergirl. Obviously store-bought.

Here’s most of the Supermen in the contest, with Batman behind and a very cool Spidey up front. He shoulda won…he even had a high voice!

Okay, I take it back. Michael Lee Galloway, a Tom Welling lookalike, shoulda won. He sounded like Tom Welling too. It would have been cool to see John Schneider’s reaction to this guy (if John’s handlers had let him out of whatever secure location he was in all day).

Not in the contest, but he woulda won. Looking good, gramps.

Green Arrow and Black Canary, copping a ‘tude. I saw this couple earlier in the day, and let me tell you, in costume they were TOTALLY different people. It was kinda scary.

We had a blast, and I’d like to think we’ll go back next year.

Superman Celebration at Metropolis Illinois, highly reccommended.

*EDIT* It has just come to my attention that I didn’t say who won the costume contest. It was a 72 year old retired state trooper, local of course, who dressed as Batman. I didn’t think he’d win, so I didn’t get a good pic of him…here’s what I’ve got:

He won, in my opinion, because the judges were local. I knew something was up when the “crowd favorite” went to Clark Kent–the old guy got the biggest applause by far. sorry I didn’t get a better pic.

The story according to ABC News

Frank’s own website has not been updated yet as of this posting.

Today’s nationwide openings:
Crash (TomatoMeter = 80% Fresh)

Kingdom of Heaven (TomatoMeter = 38% Rotten)

Suitably out of focus. It adds to the mystique.

From Fox Searchlight Pictures

For your perusal.

The Alamo, opening today, has the critics opening up their goody bags full of quips, as read on Rotten Tomatoes.

They are being auctioned off in June. I’m sure it will make news again then when the going prices are revealed.

Please register on the SPA forum and vote for us! Without your vote you won’t know what’s going on in the pic! Don’t you want to see it in COLOR? Voting is the only way….

To sum up: 8 of the top ten are Marvel, two DC. only the top three topped 100k in sales, all Marvel. The first non-Marvel/DC title is Transformers Generation One (Dreamwave), at #17.

The first Crossgen title is way down at #37–Sojourn #32.

Well… if, like me, you clipped a coupon out of a less-favorite comic and sent your $3.50 for one of these games–or if you wanted to and never did–The New Helen of Toy, CO. is taking pre-orders for re-issuesof these classic games!

Judging from the photos of the Fighting Ships game (which I still have, somewhere) I can say they’re heading down the right track with these new issues–keeping the nostalgia intact. The major difference between these and the originals are that the old top-like spinners are replaced with modern 12-sided dice.

I personally hail from the southeast, and I scored 80% Dixie, but I messed up on the questions about what you call athletic shoes and what you call it when you sell old stuff in your front yard. How did I learn to call them “garage sales” (southeast not favored, according to the quiz) and “sneakers” (stong northeastern bias)? Could it be the influence of…TV?

After the initial court case found in favor of Gaiman, the appeal engine started up. But the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has finally resolved the case: Gaiman wins.

Check Gaiman’s site for more details, plus a tidbit about Miracleman‘s future.

WAIT….shouldn’t that have been the headline?

There are a lot of names on this list of critics that make me want to go out and get this book. And of course I’ll do anything to help Crossgen succeed, including posting this item!

The features page has all the details, but here’s what I’ve experienced:

The option to add multiple comics is a big help if you have lots of long runs where the basic info (writer, editor, penciller, etc.) doesn’t change.

But if you’re like me and want to include an anal amount of information on each comic, this software has a box to type it in–publication date, number of pages, plot synopsis, even whether or not you have loaned it out. You can also input a missed issue and uncheck the “In Collection” box! I’m assuming that you can also use “In Collection” as a filter and print a “want” list to take to conventions and such.