Cemented while staring into space and stuck on the current thing: that the only two Shadow toy lines (Madison's oddities in the mid-70's and Kenner's '94 movie line) ever made both feature weird vehicles lends my collection an interesting - if perplexing - cohesion (which is the best kind of cohesion, IMHO):
At least the Kenner ones are moderately less anachronistic (and "side-swiping swords" are a now requirement for my next car)…
As much as I love the current NECA Universal Monsters line and Sideshow's figures from 20 years back, I'm confounded that we don't yet have a Gloria Holden / Dracula's Daughter figure. Love that film.
"You are directing your thoughts outwards, and that above all is what you should not do at present. No one can advise and help you. No one. There is only one way. Withdraw into yourself... ask yourself in the stillest hour of the night, 'Must I write?' Dig deep into yourself for an answer. And if this answer should be in the affirmative, if you can meet this solemn question with a simple strong 'I must,' then build up your life according to this necessity. Your life right down to its most indifferent and unimportant hour must be a token at a witness to this compulsion."
LightBoy advertisement, 1990 (and yes, I had one – they were great, actually).
Every Wednesday morning, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 20 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-) read it, write about it, and publish the resultant review/memory/whatever. Earlier installments live here.
(Box09): Probably not the best narrative to channel switch into 21 issues in but fond memories of DC's post-INFINITE CRISIS continuity experiments (One Year Later was mostly a success, IMO – mostly) and scrapped ideas nonethless manifest: in addition to Ralph Dibney and Dr. Fate's helmet looking for an entrance to hell and some mechanic in the middle of nowhere rebuilding Red Tornado, I'd forgotten that Lex Luthor had his The Seven in Infinity Inc ("The Everyman Project": in addition to Natasha Irons's "Starlight" codename, we get Lex in full LexCorp/Vought mode – Giancarlo Esposito's already playing him in THE BOYS, might as well make him Lex in SUPERMAN LEGACY because he'd be perfect); we even wade into anti-nepo-baby ("blood brat," excellent term) superheroics – before Lex kills one of them for ratings.
As for the 52 series as a whole (its sequel, COUNTDOWN, left much to be desired; think I made it a few issues in before giving up), my fondest memory is it being both the debut of Batwoman and Renee Montoya's The Question, two of my favorite characters of that era. In Rucka I trust, always; the GOTHAM CENTRAL omnibus beckons.
Always thought that weekly comics would make a great digital comics exclusive: how would 52 worked in today's iPad / DC Universe Infinite world? Given how piss-poorly mainstream comics are adjusting to and making use of digital possibilities, probably not as swimmingly as it should.
As someone who accepts Stoicism and Shugendō, I can see that both have their place. On the surface, Stoicism may appear to be more suited to the struggles of our modern lives. But Shugendō is the more practical of the two. Stoicism relies on thought experiments and reflection; it relies on rational thinking. Shugendō relies entirely on learning from the world, from nature, from the mountains. As yamabushi, we are not tasked with rationally escaping our problems, but simply accepting the vicissitudes of the Universe as it inexorably moves between life and death. For me, these embodied lessons of nature – indescribable through human language – have provided the most solace.
Current reads; my complete reading list, from 2013 to the present, lives here.
