Bit of a quandary...

This week DC published DC Comics Classics Library: Justice League of America by George Perez. It contains Justice League of America (volume 1) #184-186, and 192-194. This is all well and good, but I find a quandary on a couple counts.

1. Justice League of America #184 is the second part of a three part epic co-starring the Justice Society of America and the New Gods, all fighting against the Fiddler, Icicle and Shade, and big-bad Darkseid. The first part of the story, issue #183, was the final issue penciled by Dick Dillin, who passed away after being on the book for about two decades. Granted, Dillin is not the subject of this retrospective, but I think DC should have included the issue with a caveat saying they are presenting the "entire" story, giving readers the whole magilla, the majority of which is graced by the amazing pencils of Mr. Perez.

I wonder if this was contractual with George, in that nothing that does not bear his mark is to be found within the hardbound pages, but I cannot see that, as George Perez is among the most gracious, giving and modest of today's creators, so that can't be it. Heaven forefend, someone at DC would not want the world to see the fantastic work of the under-appreciated Dick Dillin. Or it could very well be sticking to the subject of the book - George Perez.

I hope there was much debate as to what went into the book.

And now, my first digression:

I note that the spine of the book has a number one , and the cover does say in smaller print that this is Volume 1.

Which does lead to my second point...

2. Where are Justice League of America #195-197?

These are perhaps the best three issues of a comic book I have read in my life, and being penciled by George Perez made them even more special. In this three issue mini-epic, the Justice League teams, as they did each summer, with the Justice Society, and attempt to defeat a newly reborn Secret Society of Super-Villains, replete with members from both Earth-One and Earth-Two. When I first read these issues, I was introduced to villains I had never seen before: Ultra-Humanite, as the white gorilla (first time in that guise?), Rag Doll, Monocle and the Mist from Earth-Two, and Signalman from Earth-One. And I ate this shit right up. From the first panel to the final, I was hooked. I have reread the issues many times and while in San Diego at the ComiCon this summer, I purchased all three issues and gave them to my nephews.

I think I have the answer(s) to why these issues were not included. First, it would make sense that DC is holding those issues for a second volume, which would make sense, but what else would they include to flesh out a new hardbound? New Teen Titans #4 comes to mind, since the JLA met the new team and the art is, of course, Perez. But what else? The only other thing I know of is a two page center spread of the JLA and JSA with analogs corresponding to one another in a mirror-like image. Or the original JLA/Avengers artwork he did that never got published. Otherwise, I am at a loss. But there is a second answer that comes to mind.

DC has twice now canceled orders for two announced Showcase Presents volumes. The first is the Super Friends. I have no idea why this has been solicited and then canceled twice, but I wonder if it may be legal issues with Hanna-Barbera, who produced the cartoons. However, Warner Bros. owns H-B and its library, and DC Comics, so what is the deal?

But the important cancellation is the Showcase Secret Society of Super-Villains. Again, twice DC has announced and then pulled a first volume of this series. I wonder what the snag is here, and I have couple of ideas. Could it be that DC is having a hard time trying to figure out which stories to include in what will probably be a minimum two volumes? First, there is the Secret Society of Super-Villains title which ran for 15 issues, but there is also the little known story that appeared in Amazing World of DC Comics #11 , an SSOSV origin story featuring different characters than in the main series. Then there are the two issues of Canceled Comics Cavalcade, which feature the unpublished SSOSV issues 16 and 17. Throw those in with the several issue of Super-Team Family and the DC Special Series one-shot appearances as well. And we have the two appearances of the SSOSV following the cancellation of their main title, in Justice League of America #166-168, and 195-197, which brings us back to point #1.

There must be some sort of hang up regarding the logistics of where a certain issue or issues should be published. I would have included them in both, for sure the Perez retrospective, but I wonder how that would be filled out to get a complete book. Not having it in the SSOSV Showcase would make sense and also not include issues 166-168, but I would definitely include the Canceled Comic issues. They were never colored, so they would fit right in with a Showcase volume.

Guess I'll find out when a second volume of the JLA Perez is published, or a Showcase SSOSV volume comes out.

Either way, I will get both.

Randoms

Random thoughts rumbling through the mind...

Sarah Palin has, once again, opened her mouth and said things that are 100% false. She says that Obama's health care plan calls for "death panels" to decide on the life/death of the elderly, infirmed and handicapped (like Bristol's first child, the one with Downs Syndrome). There is no such thing, yet Palin keeps perpetuating it, and the reason is that it keeps her relevant. Without a camera or a news crew in her face, Palin is a non-entity. She needs and craves the spotlight so badly that she will do and say anything to get a soundbite out of it - including lie to the American public.

I theorized before that Palin, a pageant queen who was second runner up (which means there were two others who were more talented and looked better in a bikini), is so desperate for attention, she will say whatever gets her on the news. And now that she has a national stage as opposed to the 35 people who live in Alaska, her chances for recognition are even greater. And with her fan-base shrinking like Todd Palin's cock in January, she is apt to tell the greatest whoppers she can to get that focus on her.

There are two sides to attention deficit disorder. One is where the victim cannot focus for any length of time on one simple task or chore. Conversely, there are those who crave attention so badly due to it being deficient in their lives that they will go out and create situations wherein others must give attention to them, such as what Palin suffers from.

However, if she does continue these blatant antics to get on the evening news or at least Fox, she will be the best thing to happen to the Democrats this century. More and more people are realizing what a complete idiot dingbat this woman really is and are turning away from her in droves. When she makes her bid for president in 2012, she will have effectively thrown most of the voting public to the Democrat side of the spectrum.

Keep it up, dipshit.

********

Madonna recently said that she will no longer perform the hits that made her career, and specifically cited Borderline, Lucky Star, Holiday and Like a Virgin. UNLESS! Unless she is paid $30 million to sing them.

And she does not want to be called the Material Girl. How about Money Whore? Or just plain Whore?

Those that do not believe getting old is a bitch should look at any current picture of Madonna and see that the bitch is getting old. She turned 51 last week, and I began to wonder if somehow the two zero's were left off the end of her age. She looks like an ironed-over sack of white concrete.

Here is a 50+ year old woman parading around on stage and in her personal life as if she was 22, and looking like a skeletal freak doing so. I would think that by age 40 you would be able to command respect and dignity. Not this bitch. And who are her fans? Old troll fags who remember her from the 1980's and still think she's fabulous? Wrinkled old queens who look for new material? I cannot imagine anyone under 30 purchasing her music and videos.

She should go away for half a decade and come back with an album of mature music and look like a lady - not some destitute whore that was thrown out of the Chicken Ranch in 1990 for having too many STD's.

*****

The so-called "birther's" need to go away. If Obama was not eligible to run for president due to his citizenship, wouldn't the vetting body of government not have allowed him to run? It makes sense. But since he is a legal citizen, then his presidency is legitimate, and those who keep saying they have "proof" (Sarah Palin, Lou Dobbs, et.al.) need to bring this proof to the forefront of America, so we can oust this lying bastard who, according to Palin, is trying to make America just like Russia - Communist. Hey, Sarah, you uneducated twat, Russia hasn't been Communist for about 20 years now! Read a newspaper, you fucking idiot! Or at least get caught up on the past 20 years of world history.

And this woman wants to be president...?

TTFN

The Death of an Icon

I preface by saying that I have never liked or cared for Michael Jackson or his music. I never understood the big deal. People cried when they listened to his songs, and fainted when they heard his voice. Certainly, he was not a deity, but to the black community, he was akin to God, and, in some cases, God himself.

There is no doubting his legacy. Though I do not understand it, he is worshipped for being the greatest pop singer of all time. Apparently, he gave himself the moniker of "king of pop." I rather tend to think that such a sobriquet should be bestowed upon one by the general public, such as Aretha Franklin being the Queen of Soul, or Elvis being the King of Rock 'n' Roll. I should then like to fancy myself the "King of Comic Books," since I own nearly 40,000 comic books and related paraphernalia and I read comic books daily.

I never bought a Michael Jackson record, never cared much for his music, except the old Jackson 5 stuff from the early 1970's. I would even go out of my way to change the radio dial when his songs came on. I never wanted to give him my time. MTV played the fuck out of all his videos, and today, the day after his reported death, the Thriller video has been playing on continuous loop on every news source on the planet.

I remember the Thriller video from the 1980's and the already apparent changes Jackson was beginning to put himself through. The difference in the color of his skin from Thriller to Bad is jarring and sinister looking. In the early 1990's when allegations of Jackson molesting a boy came forth, I knew my suspicions of him were truly founded. I always thought he was freaky and creepy and that he was hiding something. Settling out of court for $20 million is as near an admission of guilt as can be found. If Jackson were truly innocent of the charges, he should have fought vigorously to clear his good name. The second occurrence in 2005 was more of the same, but suddenly, Jackson was destitute. I always surmised that his fortune was drained because he had so many people to pay off to get out of another sticky situation and bankrupted himself keeping mouths shut and judges happy.

His change from an afro-ed black kid to a white, straight haired living cadaver was a marvel to behold. He continuously denied having had any procedures done at any time, except for a tweak in his nose so he could sing better. He got lighter skinned as the decades wore on, his face undergoing so many transformations that, after a point, he simply stopped looking human and instead became a walking zombie. I hear pundits and Jackson sycophants say that he did what he did to himself because he never got to be a normal kid, and this was his way of showing the world that he was a Peter Pan-like man-boy, perpetually young and innocent. Child abuse allegations dashed that theory.

I don't know when he last put out an album, but I bet it hasn't been in at least a good decade or thereabouts. Jackson has been more known lately for his public antics and lawsuits. I wonder where all that money went, though? On Fox News last night, they said Jackson was in debt nearly half a billion dollars. How did he get that far in debt? Again, I suspect he burnt out his savings by paying off jurors and other officials during his last child abuse trial. There's also no doubt in my mind that he kept his dubiously talented family accustomed to a life of leisure and debauchery. They weren't making any money (Rebbie, LaToya, Randy, Marlon, etal.) and they figured they could put the touch on Michael and share in his vast wealth.

So, to those who worshipped Michael Jackson, sorry for your loss. To those like myself who never really cared for him, no big loss.

I have a feeling that his death is only the beginning of the revelations about Jackson and his life...

Women of the Week

Wow! It's been quite a week for two controversial women: Sarah Palin and Carrie Prejean.

Palin is using the media to promote a false screed about David Letterman. Seems Letterman made some off-color remarks about Palin and her family. I have seen the Letterman speeches. I have seen the Palin rebuttals, including the several that keep getting issued by Sarah's husband, Todd. The Palin's intimate that Letterman wants to rape their 14 year old daughter Willow. Again, having seen the remarks made by Dave, he NEVER NEVER NEVER once said anything even remotely like pedophilia. And, again and again, over and over, on and on, ad nauseum, Sarah Palin is on every news source that will give her a moment under a Klieg light, to push this ridiculous accusation. She has done every show from the east to west coasts that she can promoting her outrageous claim against the talk show host. I saw her interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show and when he alleged that her charges were false, she adamantly stuck by them and, at one point, read an email from a women's group from her cellphone. Class all the way. Letterman has publicly apologized for any harm done and invited the Palin's to his show to air their grievance, to which Palin declined, saying she would never want to expose her children to a child molester. I rather think Letterman did not invite her children - just mommy and daddy.

I believe that beauty queen reject Palin is so hungry for media attention, she will do anything to get a microphone and an audience, including using her own children as bait and lures. And with the flurry of press statements coming from Todd Palin, it seems rather apparent on his end as well. The press has been unkind to Palin from the beginning, granted, but she has done more damage to herself by actively seeking out the press and controversy. Her actions come across as desperate and starved for the national spotlight, as if she would simply whither and die if not for the light of the camera. However this whole stupid mess plays out, and with Palin clamoring for more press time, it is not likely to go away for a while, David Letterman has at least taken the high road and not given any more air to this situation. It will only antagonize Sarah Palin and keep her in front of our nation until the next stunt she pulls. Maybe next time, she will intentionally endanger her own children for the sake of a press conference.

Woman #2 is Carrie Prejean, the Miss California cunt who lost Miss America but sparked controversy a few months back by being a bible thumping bimbo who posed nude with her pageant-bought tits. Now, she is being stripped of her title of Miss California due to breach of contract. According to pageant officials, she has failed to show up for different functions and reneged on her engagements. What could she possibly do as a beauty pageant winner? Attend the opening of a new strip mall? Wave from a parade float? Appear half naked wearing a tiara and sash at a grocery store? Such intense work.

Prejean says she was let go because she had an opinion about gay marriage. While she did express herself, thereby causing her to be thrust into the national spotlight, Donald Trump, owner of the pageant, originally decreed that she keep her crown while every one in the US was clamoring for her bleached blond head. Her firing now has nothing to do with her opinions. It has to do with her not fulfilling her duties as head ditz of California. I watched her on the Today Show, and she claimed to have been told of her dismissal by a radio deejay, and was never informed by pageant officials. She also claims that she begged officials to send her to things such as the Special Olympics and they would not take her calls. I think that is a load of rubbish. Her body language in the interview was tense and I could see that she was obviously lying, but I got the impression that she truly does believe she was let go for having an opinion, and that her truth is all that matters.

My future prediction for Prejean is a couple more times in the public spotlight, maybe during an arrest for drunk driving, or being caught in a love triangle with an older wealthy man, or marrying a decrepit old geezer moments before he dies so she can get his money. Either way, she will not be retiring from the spotlight any time soon. Like Palin above, I think Prejean has found that she adores the news camera, and that kind of attention is the highest you can get in this country.

Both Palin and Prejean share so very much in common. Both are beauty pageant veterans, both crave the attention from the media, and both will do anything and everything to get that constant focus. They are desperate women, slaves to their own ego. Palin will mortgage her own family to get a moment on a newsfeed. Prejean, I think, really has no idea how to go about grabbing media attention, but has been lucky so far. I think her thirst for attention is so deep that in the coming years, we will see an Anna-Nichole type slide into pop culture obscurity, and years from now, when she is a footnote to a footnote, we will be surprised to read her name in an obituary and realize we thought she had already died.

Hubris

Madonna is on her way back to London after being rebuffed in her attempt to adopt another accessory - er, child - from Malawi.

Following this story has made several things quite apparent about Madge the Vadge:

1. She is using her celebrity and money to bypass the laws of the country to obtain what is essentially another accessory or commodity for her. Interview after interview has established that the Material Vagina has little to nothing to do with her children - real or adopted - unless it provides a photo-op or gets her some ink. Nannies and butlers take care her diseased progeny.

2. Virtually every potential parent who is attempting to adopt must go through rigorous amounts of paperwork, legal wrangling and personal scrutiny. Mom-donna, in her attempt to simply throw around her name and cash as her cache, seems to believe that she is above all others, and that the rules and regulations that apply to regular folk, simply do not apply to her.

3. In an attempt to recapture her relevance, the currently irrelevant Esther is trying to become the elder version of Angelina Jolie, by buying and swapping children like they're handbags.

I find it reprehensible that celebrities such as Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Gay-Clay Aiken and others use their notoriety and money to obtain children for publicity purposes, when real people, people who genuinely want to be parents, are left to fight through miles and miles of legal red tape and personal abuse, usually waiting years to adopt one child, while these has-been, irrelevant and poorly aging wash-outs get what they want in a matter of days because they have the cash to plunk down right then and there.

I am glad the Malawi court denied Madonna the adoption, but I see that she is going to appeal. Of course, she is. What kind of mother would she be if she didn't get her batallion of lawyers involved in this.

Money talks and Maddie surely has some cash on hand. It is only a matter of time before she holds a press conference, or is seen carrying her new armful of child, fleeing from the paparazzi - the child she purchased like groceries, the child she is using to get publicity for her sagging, waning career.

My heart goes out to the poor little girl who becomes Madonna's new tool for keeping her relevant, since her fan base consists of aging drag queens who only remember her 80's music.

So sad...

Two Thoughts...

Two thoughts:

1.) Roland Burris, the Illinois state senator named by impeached Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, has stated that he will not resign after releasing new documentation that he misled a congressional body when asked about his association with Blago. His story keeps changing, but one thing is clear - Burris perjured himself before a congressional hearing. No matter how you look at it, Roland Burris is a liar. A LIAR!!! He lied before his peers, and now says he didn't mean to. Still, Burris is a liar, and he will continue to be. One can break it down and deconstruct his actions as much as one wants - into black and white racial terminology, but no matter how it breaks down, Burris lied.

Plain and simple: Roland Burris is a liar.

2.) The pope came out swinging against President Obama's lifting of the Bush ban on stem cell research, saying that it is unacceptable to kill human beings. Hmmm. Didn't stop the pope from gleefully ushering Jews and homosexuals into an incinerator during World War Two when he was a hardcore Hitler fanatic Nazi. Suddenly he values all human life. Guess the old adage is true when it comes to Catholics: they're not perfect, but they are forgiven their sins - all others are not. Hope to see the day the pope is led into a room that has a placard that says "Showers" but really isn't. And, besides, he has no business commenting on what is going on in our country. Stick to your little patch of land and SHUT THE FUCK UP, you rotten Nazi!

Christmas Wishes

Today is Christmas morning, and I have been thinking about the gifts I would like to receive. Herewith are some thoughts:

• Madonna will finally hold a press conference to inform the world that she is retiring and therefore holding her last press conference. And she stays out of the public spotlight until her funeral.
• Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will be abducted by the alien warlord that is the symbol of the Scientology cult and taken to a planet far away from Earth where Tom can finally be an out homosexual and Katie can have birth more demon-spawn siblings for the hideously deformed Suri.
• Robert Pattinson, Taylor Kitsch, Ian Sommerhalder, Milo Ventimiglia, David Archuletta, and Cam Gigandet start doing gay porn
• Britney Spears and her family, including her knuckle-dragging father, slattern mother and sister-whore, Jamie-Lynne all meet at a restaurant in Redneckville, Arkansas and are arrested for public incestuous fornication. The judge so orders that they be locked up forever with no chance for release.
• Alicia Keyes, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey and all the other rotten pop tarts who cannot hold a tune get a medical procedure that prevents them from ever singing another note.
• George W. Bush is murdered by Laura Bush - just like the guy she murdered a few decades ago. And then, in a fit of rage, Laura takes out her drunken, drug-addict daughters, the Cheney family and Condoleezza Rice while attending the gay marriage of Alberto Gonzalez to a seven year old boy - whom she also kills before committing suicide.
• Lindsey Lohan and her man-friend, Samantha Ronson are thrown out of every club in the United States and the motion picture industry as well.
• Angelina Jolie's lips finally explode.
• Sarah Palin and her family - all 4,000 kids and her husband - are swallowed whole by a massive crevice in the Alaskan wilderness, never to be heard from again.
• Every Republican is exposed for the liars and cheats that they are.
• Joe Lieberman, BFF of John McCain, travels back to Israel and is shot dead before his feet hit the hallowed soil
• Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia finally drops dead.
• Paris Hilton, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Nicole Ritchie, Amy Winehouse, P. Diddy, Kanye West, Jeb Bush, Kathleen Harris, Rudy Giulianni, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Cardinal George of Chicago, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Rev. Michael Pflegger are all trampled or gored to death at the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
• Barak Obama reforms Washington to such a degree that there is no more political partisanship, and everyone works for the common good of the American people instead of stealing from us and lying to our faces.
• American Idol goes off the air and Ryan Seacrest is free to pursue his true dream of being a drag queen in a West Hollywood gay bar.
• Osama bin Laden is finally caught (since Bush refused to do it), and is vivisected on public television by the families of the 9/11 tragedy.
• Hannah Montana is cancelled, forcing Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus to admit to a torrid incest affair and banishing themselves to the hills of Kentucky to raise their retarded offspring.
• The Jonas Brothers finally come out of the closet.
• Oprah balloons up in weight and explodes on the set of her show.
• Guy Ritchie tells an already suspicious public that Madonna is really a man.
• Hate-mongers like Rush Limbaugh, Hannity and Combs, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Larry Craig, the entire Bush family, Tucker Carlson, Donald Rumsfeld, the entire Cheney family, Nancy Grace, and Ann Coulter are rounded up and penned in an escape proof jail where they cannibalize each other.