Number 600

What better way to show a 600 off than
with art by John Byrne AND George Perez!

Man, it's crazy when I realize I come up on these huge even numbers for the posts I've produced on this page. Imagine how high it would be if I managed to keep my updates five days a week over the last year or two! But no matter how long it took us to get here, let's look back at some of the highlights from the site over the last few years! These are some of my personal favorites and a few of the ones that you, dear readers, have visited more than others, all complete with a bit of commentary from yours truly!

• Halloween Review: Stories From the Grave: I reviewed Cynthia Celeste Miller's super-innovative RPG designed to emulate a EC Comics horror story two Halloweens ago. It's a great little game designed to make innovative shocks a real possibility. Designed around a usual two person structure, it seems like the ideal way to scare a few friends on a chilly autumn night! If this sounds intriguing, you can buy the book at DriveThruRPG.
• The war with the fraud police never ends: When I read Amanda Palmer's The Art of Asking, I realized I really needed to be more honest both with myself and with my readers. As I have started to reignite the engine of Super Powered Fiction, I wanted to look at the struggles of an indie author trying to eke his way towards a safe living wage with his writing. And a major component of that is the feeling that it's never good enough. She talks about the Fraud Police, as did the late Mark Gruenwald in a Marvel Age column I shared in the post. Be sure to check this one out if you've ever doubted your creative self. 
• Great Art: Cloak & Dagger by Adam Hughes: By a fair margin my highest ranked Friday image on the site goes to this gorgeous piece by Adam Hughes. I mean, it is Adam Hughes, folks. Dude can draw. Why haven't you clicked already? 
• A few thoughts on a good Fantastic Four cast: When Disney started their discussions with Fox, everyone couldn't wait until the FF returned to the House of Ideas. With a new comic launched and the deal slowed by months of red tape, we still aren't there yet. But I do hope someone out there sees some of my suggestions for actors that could make a great FF cast. I even kept the budget in mind by selecting mostly stars without a huge price tag, so you're welcome, penny pinchers at Disney. 
• Unsung greats - Superman: Panic in the Sky: I will argue a hundred times over that Panic in the Sky is one of the best crossover events ever. Sure it didn't bring in any books but the four main Superman titles, but it did bring in numerous DC heroes to write a really amazing story where a bunch of disparate figures have to work together before Warworld destroys Earth. It's even got Superman going to Deathstroke of all people for help! Where else can you see that? 

I feel vaguely bad for not featuring anything about my work outside one tangentially related to the production of said stories. But I do think these five posts that you and I have selected are some of the best examples of what makes this site so great. Go have a look at them all, let me know what you think in the comments section and stick around as we start the road towards a thousand posts on Super Powered Fiction! 

An almost labor free Labor Day

Last week, I worked way too hard. This weekend, outside a short shift at my second job, I had a full three day weekend and it was a glorious feeling to have time to spend with family. A visit from my brother, a mutual visit to our mom and dad and a whole lot of grilled chicken and brats made up a significant part of my relaxed weekend.

Piskor even gave his first FCBD cover the
Marvel 25th Anniversary treatment.

The rest of my time was spent either with a book or with a movie. I watched a couple flicks I'll talk about more in the next couple days, but I also finished a few books, including the second volumes of the Rebirth Superman and Wonder Woman.

Superman: Trials of the Super-Son was disjointed by multiple stories, but co-writers Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason clearly have a handle on what they want to do with the character and his family. Doug Mahnke stepped into the art chores for the majority of this volume, even returning to Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE. It made for an overall fun if not particularly eventful book.

Wonder Woman: Year One continued Greg Rucka's seemingly pointless reboot of the character for the umpteenth time. I found the need to retcon the Azzarello/Chiang history with the book distasteful enough, but the over-wrought path to her full powers and the annoying need to have her unable to speak English for most of the book just seemed like unnecessary additions to an already unnecessary story. I frankly cannot understand why this run drew such praise. It feels like a rehash just for the sake of pleasing a writer, even as several of the retcons he made are being fully embraced by the DCEU. I will sing the praises of Nicola Scott and Bilquis Evely however. Both artists did stupendous work trying to bring to life a rather flat storyline.

The best book I finished however was Hip Hop Family Tree Volume 2. This series is the first I've ever read by Ed Piskor, but he's taken the old Peter Sanderson / Mark Gruenwald tales of Marvel history to heart when he produced this series. Told in the same style as Gruenwald and Sanderson's historical back stories in numerous late eighties Marvel Annuals or the very similar Marvel Saga series, he brings an era of music to life I only had limited knowledge about until I've worked my way through these books. This volume gives the origins of Run DMC, Ice T and others, while also showing the rise and fall of several other talents in the New York Hip Hop scene and beyond. It's compelling, well drawn and makes me terribly excited for Piskor's upcoming X-Men histories from Marvel. Pin ups in the back by the likes of Michel Fiffe and Benjamin Marra just make the package pretty much perfect.

So that's what I did this Labor Day weekend. Tell me what struck your fancy about this long weekend in the comments below or on Facebook.

What's Up for May 12, 2017

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

Crazy Is My Superpower | Carnage | Wolverine Max | Superman: Son of Superman | Cracked Rear View

What's Up for December 9, 2016

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

Sick Day

I appear to have the flu weeks ahead of schedule, so I'll be offline for most of the day.

I will be back to regular programming as soon as I can sit up regularly.