WTF: Weekend Update

Catching you up on a few bits of previous bloggings, just to keep you as up to date as possible:

Obama last week (or perhaps the week before) actually had the words “geo thermal” hit the media from one of his speeches. Whenever these politicians publicly address our energy needs, and how badly we need to be self-reliant, absolutely none of them want to talk about, let alone USE the term “abiotic”, but every once in a great while you’ll hear them say “geo-thermal” probably just to screw with the heads of an energy corp or two- though I’m sure that part of making geo-thermal energy “practical” will be how much these corps can charge us a lot more than exactly how simple, cheap, and cost effective it could be.

I’d be more interested in what these politicians were spouting if they were actually trying to think a little more out of the box. Let’s see Obama start talking about real alternative energies- I mean here in Flint, we’re all excited about a bio-fuel plant that will actually take shit and turn it into fuel- literally. We’re losing our ass for being such a GM hub that when a few extra jobs for recycling shit starts to be whispered, we’re kissing ass grateful. Of course, our last three fast food franchises that opened here (Krispy Kreme, White Castle, and now Sonic- yes, we are in the “big time” now) they all had about a 10-1 application ratio. That’s 10 applications for each job. That’s one of many reasons why McCain never bothered to take Flint, let alone Michigan as viable. We’re too freakin’ poor for their elite asses to waste their time with us.


My “McSame” sign is still in front of my house as I type this. Guess the McCain folks who were stealing Obama signs around here are fooled. I did have my neighbor come over to tell me he appreciated my sense of humor. He’s a retired shop worker who’s VERY conservative, and he’s not fooled by all the negative campaigning- he thinks for himself. I’m almost looking at the election as a measure of intelligence for the country, which may be a problem on my end because I’m usually pretty cynical when it comes to folks being “sheeple”. I think the choice is too easy to make if you just THINK and look at the record, campaign, and demeanor of the candidates.

It is driving me NUTS that all the outcry over Obama’s socialistic tax hike on the rich works out to a lousy THREE PERCENT!! And it returns the tax structure to the same levels when Clinton was in office- BUT adds a deduction for every employee. Once you actually READ the fine print and look at the real percentages, then you realize that the folks screaming about “socialism” are the same guys shipping jobs and opportunities for employment elsewhere. These guys aren’t really worried about socialism as much as losing a lousy THREE PERCENT! That just means they MIGHT have to stop getting their coffee from Starbucks and get it from McDonalds every morning in order to maintain their exact standard of living. Either that or be a little more charitable, or actually do something else like invest in their business infrastructure, or hire an American employee or two to balance it all out. It’s SO ridiculous that it plain pisses me off! “Socialism” indeed!

Getting off the soapbox now and back to the updates… On the Flint front, the guy who hand spray painted “Isn’t Flint Great?” on his store front has now changed his tune…



I understand (and even show there from his little poster he’s tacked up next to his door) that he’s printing t-shirts out of the store front now. I was looking at getting a store front to print t-shirts out of not more than 2 blocks away from where he is, but was told I had to install an extensive sprinkler system into the building THAT I WOULD BE RENTING because those pesky shirts catch fire SO often (not!) that a fire extinguisher would not do the job properly. Needless to say I farm out any t-shirt print jobs I get now, which thanks to the economy are getting fewer and fewer.

One thing I can say I’m proud of for living around Flint right now is that we’ve had two crappy mayors, and now Flint’s about to have their second recall election for mayor within the decade- that’s kinda cool if you ask me. I’m making a shirt that says “2 Mayors- 2 Recalls, FLINT MICHIGAN, Making Democracy Work For US.” Seriously. Let me know if you want one.




On the comic front- the latest posting of Lying In The Gutters on the Comic Book Resource site: http://www.comicbookresources.com/ (a kind of comic book gossip column) makes mention that DC may soon be revamping the Paul Kirk Manhunter back into a full fledged series. If you look back a few weeks on one of my “Heroes I Miss” postings you can see more on what he’s all about. This is well past due to happen, I just hope they take their time with the property and DON’T FUCK IT UP! We’ll see.

On the blog front I’m still behind on those “Heroes I Miss” sections and I’ve mentally prepared a number of other postings as well, I just need to get off my ass (or more on point- get on my ass in front of this computer) and type them in. In the meantime I’m working on a couple of other fun things that MIGHT actually work out. Yep, more “obi-Wan Kenobi off on a wild crusade” kinds of things so they’re really not worth getting into.

Thanks again to all you folks sticking with this blog- I hope you’re finding it entertaining. As always, I encourage you to stop lurking at any time and comment, or drop me a line via my MySpace page if you’ve got anything you feel would be worth mentioning here. Doing so might inspire me to post more often. Thanks again and. As always…

WAKE UP!

HEROES I MISS: Paul Kirk Manhunter

One of the best things about doing the “Heroes I Miss” section on this blog is to go back through the old collection (those long boxes gathering dust on the pallet in the back corner of the basement) and “relive” some of each character’s appearance. Hopefully to re-enforce just why I miss them, and to remind myself of what made them great. That’s why Manhunter was a very easy choice for me as a hero that I GREATLY miss.

Originally a back up in Detective Comics created by Archie Goodwin and drawn by (at that time “newcomer”) Walt Simonson, the Paul Kirk Manhunter is one of the few properties that have not been directly bastardized by the so-called “talent” working in comics today. I understand that it is an unwritten “law” at the DC offices that THIS character will NOT be “revised” out of respect to the late Archie Goodwin, though I honestly have no idea why this edict would be followed when so few others ever are, it is undoubtedly his best creation, and one that holds up remarkably well over the last thirty years.

The character itself is a kind of “revamp” of the Kirby-Simon Manhunter from WW2, a smart and ingenious hook as the character is frozen shortly after the war (when the character had tired of chasing crooks and couldn’t bring himself to stop a rampaging elephant) and cloned hundreds of times, then given the opportunity to command an entire army of himself to do the bidding for an Illuminati style organization bent on world domination. The original of course rebels (in true hero fashion) and must not only reacquaint himself with the world, but fight off the evil organization, as well as the army of his clones. Along his short career he takes on a few partners, and after a too short run as a back-up (as well as a change in Detective’s editors) Manhunter goes out with a bang and a book length ending where he crosses over with Batman.

This is one of those all too rare instances in comics when both the art team and writer are not only in sync, but both are at the very top of their game. The back up stories are so packed with plot that most pages are crammed to beyond belief with panels and story that easily rivals Will Eisner’s Spirit in content, then, as if to totally flaunt the fact that the story was over way before it’s time, the book length climax is just as crammed with plot and characterization where you KNOW that this series, and this series of ideas, had MUCH more ground to cover, and much deeper character building than most any other comic before or since.

Forget the “revising” in comics; it totally dismays me why this property hasn’t been translated to outside media. This would be one HELL of a movie, or a great TV series that would not only be cheap to make (especially with CGI at the level it is, they could even layer in the same actor as all the clones), but has the RARE depth of character, action, and plot to keep an audience riveted for many, many seasons. Frankly, I’m shocked that none of the parasites in comics haven’t either convinced DC to allow a “revamp” or even a direct swipe of the treasure trove of potential this character has. Then again, this is one of those rare properties that is probably best left alone.

Sure, a couple of the Paul Kirk “clones” have reemerged, and the name “Manhunter” has ran through at least two series as well as a series of Green Lantern clones, but still nothing has come close to tarnishing this treasure, much and many kudos to whomever at DC is keeping this from happening.

This series was SO successful and such a favorite that DC “licensed” the series to be independently published in black and white in trade form long before they ever did such things themselves, then later DC collected the entire series twice and reprinted it in full color (once great bright paper, then again a few years later on white but slightly cheaper paper) all printings of which I still proudly own I might add. It is way overdue for another printing- if they haven’t already done so- just as an example of what great comics CAN be.

So, let the character stay dead if you can’t find talent equal to Goodwin to write it and Simonson to draw it, but let’s see the movie (franchise) or television series. The property is accessible enough for all to enjoy, and I would love to see the character translated to film. If left faithful to the original source material it would make for a gem in DC’s crown, showing that even their minor, forgotten characters have incredible potential for entertainment, even with today’s fickle audience. It’s a superhero with elements of De Vinci Code, James Bond, and Highlander all rolled into one.

This is one of those series that I cannot recommend highly enough, and it’s well worth whatever you have to pay to read it, truly a rare classic.

Paul Kirk: Manhunter, A Hero I’m glad I miss!