All in color for two dimes

If you remember this entry, I bought twenty comic books for two bucks at Forbidden Planet. That's a comic for twenty cents. Since most of 'em origi'nly cost $2.99, that''s a savings of...uh...um...well...that's a savings of a lot. (I'll get my baby sister to do the math for me later, 'kay?)

What's really important, like always, is whether or not these comics were fun! So I'm gonna review these toot-sweet, fast-fast, and grade 'em each on three points: could I follow the story even just buying one issue, were they fun or not, and were they worth 20¢. I don't wanna give away the startling shock ending of this blog entry but [SPOILER WARNING] some of these comics weren't even worth 20¢!!!

Let's get this party started!

EXILES #72:

Could I follow the story?: I've never read this series. I don't know much about the New Universe, which the characters visit. There's a good story synopsis on the first page, but I guess the question is more "do I care if I follow the story?" Answer: not really. I kinda just flipped through this one.

Was it fun?: Not really. It didn't seem to go anywhere. I think I missed the "glory years" of Exiles, if there were any. This doesn't look like it: it actually looks and reads more like the comics it's referencing, generic 1980s mid-list Marvel quickly-cancelled superhero titles.

Was it worth 20¢?: No.

HAWKMAN #46

Could I follow the story?: Not too much problem. It's a prelude to Rann-Thanagar War so reading that helped. Lotsa weird stuff going on here and I'm sure I missed some plot points, though. Good summary of what's going on in a single dialogue bubble on page one, by the way.

Was it fun?: Sure. Big winged guy with a mace hittin' stuff, always decent fun to read! A little too much reference to Identity Crisis though, which is never fun. But I even liked the OMACs in this, and I haven't picked up a single OMAC Project issue.

Was it worth 20¢?: Yes.

NYX #7

Could I follow the story?: Not really. Not for trying, though. There's a good summary of the first six issues on page one, but I think it was harder to follow because these are all characters I don't know.

Was it fun?: Not really. Sad, disillusioned teens having no fun at all with their superpowers. Nice art, though. Subtract points for that awful Nick Fury's Howling Commandos preview that really killed the book before it had even been published.

Was it worth 20¢?: Eh, just barely.

MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 #19-22

Could I follow the story?: No problem at all. #19-20 was a two-part story. #21 and #22 were both done-in-ones.

Was it fun?: Ehhhh. Weird. To me there is at heart no more fun than the Fantastic Four, but all four of these comics seemed to have a kinda sharp, dull, very cynical edge which doesn't fit well with what I like best about the FF: the over-the-top adventure and wonder. Gorgon seems horribly out of character in the first storyline (although there's some nice bits with Franklin Richards), and Sue Richards' "girls' night out" storyline in #21 is just horribly creepy when it gets into her flashback temptations with the Black Panther. (Nothing against the Black Panther. But she loves Reed!) And there's no superhero I love more than the Thing, so #22 shoulda been a no brainer. Instead it's a sad and spooky golem story with no real satisfaction to the end. Only high spot in these four issues was a nice Kirby impression in the flashback of #21. Who drew it? Probably Ron Frenz, but who knows? There's no credits or title in the story! Bad Marvel! Bad! Bad!

Was it worth 20¢?: Nope. Even Stan and Jack would be bored by these four issues.

CATWOMAN #43 and 45

Could I follow the story?: Sure, even though #43 was the last issue of a storyline and #45 part two of a new story. No summary page at the front, but Catwoman sums up what's goin' on so far in her internal monologue.

Was it fun?: I'm surprised to say yes. Together these issues had a lotta some things I don't really like in mainstream superhero comics: sexual innuendo, over-the-top brutal violence, pointless dream sequences, threatening helpless animals with violence, and most of all, Hush. (I really really don't like Hush.) But #43 had a nice "justice is served" ending and #45 had a great cliffhanger that act'lly makes me wanna seek out issue #46 and see what happened next.

Was it worth 20¢?: These two issues were purrrrfectly worth forty cents. Hee hee hee! That's a Catwoman pun. ... Oh, like you've never made one.

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #65

Could I follow the story?: Oh, heck no. No idea what was going on here. Poison Ivy lost her powers or something. Who knows?

Was it fun?: Ick. More Hush. And looks like a major character died at the end, but I don't even have to bet that that character will be back in a few months at the most. Nice cover, though.

Was it worth 20¢?: No.

BLACK WIDOW: THE THINGS THEY SAY ABOUT HER... #1

Could I follow the story?: Even tho' it was a #1 issue, not really! Too much depended on you having to have read the last Black Widow series.

Was it fun?: Not really. Too much sex talk and violence without any real forward movement of the story. (I blame Brian Michael Bendis for making stories popular in which nothing happens for several issues). Also, points subtracted for that awful, awful "Bod" ad popping up in my memory again.

Was it worth 20¢?: Heck no.

THE HIRE #4

Could I follow the story?: Sure, no problem. It's a done-in-one story even though it's issue four. I guess this book is an anthology.

Was it fun?: Yes! Mysterious chauffeur in a souped-up BMW helps a tycoon evade his killers, with an escape twist at the end. It reminded me of the movie The Transporter, but no cute Shu Qi in this one! The cartoony art was an odd choice for this story, though. Bonus points for a great one-page Hellboy merchandise advertisment at the back.

Was it worth 20¢?: Yes. Not bad for a comic that's basically a commercial for a car company.

THE AUTHORITY/LOBO: SPRING BREAK MASSACRE

Could I follow the story?: I dunno...John wouldn't let me read it! (He said "yes; it's a done-in-one.")

Was it fun?: John says "Nope! None of the nano-anarchy of an Authority story, too many dirty and over-the-top Lobo jokes. And if you can't make Jenny Quantum look cute, there's something very wrong with the artwork."

Was it worth 20¢?: John says "NO!"

RANN-THANAGAR WAR #2-6

Could I follow the story?: No real problem, even though I missed the first issue and there were a million characters to keep track of. Five issues in a row helped.

Was it fun?: Actually, to my surprise, yes! I've been pretty much avoiding Infinite Crisis crossovers but this one was a lead-in so it didn't seem like it was dependent on a lotta the stuff I've hated seeing happen in IC (even tho' I'm not buying that series). Some cool moments, good visuals for sweeping galactic events and plenty of favorite characters in here including the Prince Gavyn Starman and a neat final issue defeat-the-villain plan. Points off for the non-conclusion at the end of issue #6: I really do think miniseries should have a definite end and not just trail off into another story. (That's the same problem I had with the Power Girl storyline in JSA Classified).

Was it worth 20¢?: Five-sixths of a trade paperback for a buck, and I enjoyed the story. Well worth a buck altogether.

DAY OF VENGEANCE #4

Could I follow the story?: Boy howdy, I could not really figure out what was going on here at all...

Was it fun?: ...and yet it didn't really matter, 'coz yes, this was big, noisy, bonbastic fun. The origin of Detective Chimp? Sign me up! Big giant Captain Marvel fighting colossal Spectre throughout the landscape? I'm in the front seat for that one. Blue Devil and Rook? I'm, so there! I have no idea what's goin' on here, no idea what happened next, and I don't really care. This was sorta anarchic comics in the vein of Rob Liefeld, but hey, it was big loud dumb fun to me.

Was it worth 20¢?: Oooooh yeah.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #640

Could I follow the story?: It's the kinda-end of a storyline that I didn't even know had been going on but it's easy to follow. Knowing all the characters always helps.

Was it fun?: Sorta. There's some really nice quiet characters bits in here I liked a lot, and the format is kinda clever and neat without being annoying: photographs, media reports, and surveillance of Superman takes up the top two-thirds of every page, and the ongoing storyline occupies a strip at the bottom. But the ending looks like something that's been building up a long time so coming in on the middle didn't have much impact for me, and the last page is kinda sour to me: definitely an un-fun revelation. (Doesn't the DCU have enough evil POTUSs?)

Was it worth 20¢?: Just barely.

So, in summary, Marshall has done the math: $54.50 worth of comics for two bucks. Out of twenty, eleven were well worth the twenty cents I paid for 'em. There's some kind of chart and graph Marshall is working up with my colored pencils and markers, but in the meantime I'll just say this: it was a great way to try a lot of different comics and get interested in some of them for just a little money. The biggest disappointment: four Fantastic Four stories that left a sour taste in my mouth. The biggest surprise: the Infinite Crisis books actually tickled me sense of fun.

Or, to put it another way:

Detective Chimp sitting on a sofa: 20¢.

Scary giant space villain trying to enslave Thanagar: 20¢.

The return of Tigorr: 20¢.

Blackfire being as villainous as she was the first time I saw her in New Teen Titans: 20¢.

Learning that the Infinite Crisis lead-in comics were a lot more fun that I ever expected? Priceless.

No lessons have been learned in the reading of these comic books.

FUTURAMA #23: This comic is fun. There's nothin' like a comic book story about evil twins! And this is nothing like a comic book story about evil twins! (Ha! Ha! Did you enjoy my little joke! Hmmm? ......................Didja? ............Hmmm? Hmmm?..........Oh, like you could do better!) Seriously, this may look like evil twins, but there's a twist even I didn't see coming! And I'm pretty savvy about comic plotlines in advance: f'rinstance, I knew, months before it happened, that Avengers: Disassembled was gonna stink. (Ha! That was another one. I'm tot'lly on a roll.) Anyway, more fun with Fry, Leela, Bender and company (with a big in-your-face Bender cover!), makin' me miss the cancelled TV series yet again, but fillin' a nice void with this story. What's more, FUTURAMA #23 features The Best Line of the Week: "Once Joss Whedon reads my online Buffy fan fiction novel, I know he'll want to go camping with me!"


SIMPSONS SUPER SPECTACULAR #2: This comic is fun. Here's more fun from the House of Bongo. This issue of the Simpsons-universe superhero title isn't as much fun as the first one, but it's still a highlight of this week. The first story is a kinda pedestrian Crisis on Three Earths crossover called "The League of Extraordinary Barts," but where this issue really shines is in the second story, Batton Lash's "Bongos," a parody of the comic series Marvels. Sure, Marvels is not the most fresh of parody topics, but nobody's done this in this way, and it's especially fun to see the Radioactive Man universe in a pseudo-photographic style. Fun stuff, even if a non-comics fan won't get a word of it.


FURY: PEACEMAKER #1: This comic is fun. Nick Fury: before S.H.I.E.L.D.*! Before the eye-patch! And, apparently, before the Howling Commandos! Garth Ennis has made a name for himself writing some fairly realistic and pretty darn good war comics in the last couple years. Now he puts Marvel's Sgt. Fury in the middle of one. Rather than fighting Baron Strucker and the Red Skull, Nick's heading a platoon in Tunisia in 1943 as the Afrika Corp bears down on them. There's a neat framing sequence that shows the foolproof plans the platoon trained for being shattered left and right, and I guess it's a good thing this book doesn't feature Dum-Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones and Pinky Pinkerton, 'coz Nick's platoon has about the same chance as a snowball in Tunisia. There's a great scene at the end of the issue where Nick faces off against a German Lieutenant General and we...and he...can't see how he's going to escape. The answer may, as Stan Lee used to say when he wrote Fury's adventures, shock and astound you! Seriously, this is good war comics in the vein of Joe Kubert and Robert Kanigher. It does kinda seem like one of Ellis's Vertigo war comics with Nick Fury shoehorned in, but I'll definitely be around for issue two to see what happens next. I bought this book because of my New Year's Resolution to Try Each Week to Pick Up One New Comic Title I Haven't Been Reading, and this week's choice of FURY #1 was definitely a good impulse.


X-FACTOR #3: This comic is fun. First off: when's the last time you saw an orange comic book cover? Pretty cool, huh? Well, I thought so. I like orange. Anyway, the fallout from a couple stories I didn't really wanna read ("House of M" and "Decimation") continues, with most of Mutant Town having lost their powers and bands of rampaging normal humans rioting in the streets. Time for Strong Guy to cut loose, M to dance in her bathrobe, and Layla Miller to do her thing, whatever the heck that is. I'm diggin' Peter David's new series: he clearly knows and enjoys these characters, his dialogue is sharp, realistic, and funny, and the ongoing storyline is compelling and makes me wanna come back for more, but I just have to say this: Enough with Layla Miller, already. The "I'm Layla Miller, I know things" joke is already pounded into the ground too many times, and she shows every sign of being plopped there as the series' resident deus ex machina. More to the point, PAD's trying to give her this whole River Tam spooky power chick vibe, and does the universe really need more than one River Tam? No, it does not.


JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #18: This comic is fun. Superman meets Space Cabby. Let me repeat that. Superman meets Space Cabby. This is not only fun, it's so brilliant I don't know why it hasn't been done before. This is a comic chock-full of oh, yeah! moments (amazing comics blogger Dave Campbell calls these moments something different, but I'm a little stuffed bull so I'll keep to "oh, yeah!"): Superman uses his super-breath; "It tickles!", and, oh yeah!: the cavalry arrives just in the nick of time! What's more, this comic avoids one of the problems I've had with previous issues of JLU: it doesn't end with a moral or a lesson learned of the sort that sometimes makes JLU read like an episode of G.I. Joe. No moral? No lessons? That's why JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #18 is the most fun comic of the week!


*Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division.

Inspirational Comics Retailers 2006, Part 1

Remember when I wrote about Delusional Comic Book Retailers? Well, as opposed to buying comics from that guy and his card table, there's still definitely some bargains to be found in expensive, expensive Manhattan for a little stuffed bull who loves comics but only gets a small handful of dimes each week for his allowance. And here's the best part: I learned a business lesson that was worth much, much more than even the best comic book (even one at full price).

I stepped into Forbidden Planet down off Union Square earlier this month to get my week's worth of comic books, and was very pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to their usual shelf of very-well-worn but frequently great-priced hurt bargain books they also were stocking several shelves of recent comic books, each stickered 25¢. Twenty-five cents! You should have seen me perk up and get all excited at that bargain. Why, I don't know if I could ever imagine a comic book only costing 25¢! These were all very recent books too that it looked like they had overstocked: Marvels including House of M, Hulk, Marvel Knights 4, Daredevil, Exiles, Araña and more, lots of DCs with many of the Infinite Crisis crossover miniseries, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Detective, Flash, Catwoman, Hawkman, plus a whole lotta independents: all from within the past few months, every floppy four-colored one of 'em two bits.

I gathered up a big stack of 'em and carted them off to the front register to pay for them with my weekly comics, where the very helpful guy at the counter pointed out to me I'd missed the sign above the comics: these were twenty for two dollars: so 20¢ each, not a quarter! He very kindly counted mine out and found I was one short of getting twenty, so I ran back, grabbed one more issue, and got out my two bucks to pay for 'em.

Now, I'm jus' a little stuffed bull filled with fluff, but even I know that Forbidden Planet isn't doing this just out of the goodness of their Doctor Who-lovin' hearts. As I think I have said before, I have helped John a lot with his job selling books to trade bookstores, and that's an industry where the books are returnable: if the bookstores don't sell 'em they can return them to the warehouse for credit, so there's very little risk in trying out a new title or a stack of 'em except that you tie up your capital for a while. The comic book industry is not like this.

(Bear with me here, folks: this is going to be kinda Comics Retailing 101--I know many of the people who read and write comics blogs already know this stuff, but I also know it's new to some Bully-fans out there.)

I repeat: The comic book industry is not like this. And I have to admit, I'm astonished that comic book stores stand for it sometimes. They must deal with one distributor: Diamond Comics, which is a monopoly in the comics industry. If Diamond doesn't ship what they need then there's no other place the comic book store can go to (unlike a trade book store, which can try the publisher or several different wholesalers in an attempt to get the books they want). Diamond sells their product non-returnable, so there's a lot greater risk on behalf of the comic book store owners and managers, especially on monthly products that they may have to have pre-bought the first several months before the first issue ever hits the stores. Why not order cautiously and re-order later? Because Diamond runs out of stock, the comic book companies seldom reprint, and Diamond charges 2% more for re-orders after your initial buy.

What does this mean for you and me, the comics fans and consumers? In a market that's not as large as New York, it could mean you're not seeing certain comics at all, especially small-press ones, because while the comic book shop might have customers for a small-press comic, they're much more likely to have copies leftover after that new comics week is over. Unsold, non-returnable comics means money lost for comic book stores, so they are less likely to order something different or unusual.

How does Diamond respond to this? In the trade book industry, you've got all sorts of incentives to buy and keep stock up, including backlist and frontlist discounted offers, extended dating (a longer period of time before you have to pay your bill), and marketing and co-op money made available for stores to promote or publicize books they like or feel they can sell. I'm not certain if Diamond has those options open, but I do know this: if Diamond does not receive pre-orders for a certain number of a comic book, they will not carry that book or make it available to comic book stores. Yikes! Talk about killing off small publishers in one swell foop! Not only is a small publisher lumbered with a wholesaler that makes it difficult and potentially dangerous for a store to risk trying their product, now Diamond actually makes it impossible for stores to buy certain small-press items, even if the store wants them!

So (you're asking) in what way, shape, 'n' form can this possibly qualify as an "inspirational comics retailer," as I titled this post. No, I'm not talking about Diamond (the Galactic Empire of book distributors), but about shops like Forbidden Planet that make lemons out of lemonade:

I told the clerk as he rang up my twenty comics for two buck that it was a great bargain, and thanks, but that I realized the section was made up on comic books Forbidden Planet had overordered on and were now stuck with (non-returnable, remember?) and that they could hardly make back their money sellin' 'em twenty for two bucks.

The clerk smiled and laughed, and said that sure, they were loss leaders...but better to get back a few bucks on a stack of comics than have them be worthless and not sell at all. And anyway, lots of people pick up the twenty cent comics, get hooked on the series, and come back to buy the regular, monthly series. We can convert some dead stock into potential future repeat business...

(And then he said...wait for it...)

Everybody wins.

"Everybody wins." Wow...that is an approach I would not have considered a comic book store to be considering when marking down useless stock and taking a loss on it. "Everybody wins." In a business where Diamond pretty much serves lemons with each and every shipment of comics, this store has taken them and not only made lemonade, they've made lemon Slushees and lemon meringue pie and lemondrops all in one.

"Everybody wins." Now, I realize this may have been a clerk talkin' through his hat--maybe in the back room the owner and manager are wringing their hands over the red ink in their balance books when they had to mark down their inventory to twenty cents an issue--but wow, that's a brilliant way to think about a deep-discount sale. Because I certainly do win: look at my stack of twenty cent comics! They win too, 'coz I'm certainly going to continue to shop there, spending my money on four dollar as well as twenty cent comics. And in that batch of twenty cent comics there were a few titles that I said to myself, "Self? This is a fun comic. You ought to read more issues of it." So I'll go back and spend more money. Next week. Week after that. Week after that.

I hope that game plan works out well for Forbidden Planet. I know all across the country there's some great comic book stores that are struggling to make ends meet in a tough market dealing with a tough distributor. Selling comics at a loss is no easy fix. You can even be cynical and say, sure, that’s easy for a big city store like Forbidden Planet to do: take the loss and smile about it, but it’s not so easy for a store in Topeka or Wayzata or Grover’s Mills. But my point is (and I do have one), that the good will and enthusiasm of that clerk, his helpfulness and cheer, make me wanna go back to Forbidden Planet week after week.

And that, folks, is an Inspirational Comics Retailer.

Okay, okay, another one...

Always remember:



Oh, like you've never thought the same thing.

The Dark Lincoln Saga

Of course, once Abraham Lincoln joins the X-Men, it's only a matter of time until, possessed by the spirit of the Phoenix, he goes mad and begins destroying the Marvel Universe:

Abe Lincoln can join the X-Men now!

From today's Yahoo News:

"Historians have long puzzled over whether Abraham Lincoln might have had a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome, but new research has members of the beloved president's family tree wondering if his clumsy gait may actually have been caused by something else. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in 11 generations of relatives who descended from Lincoln's grandparents. The gene causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 5, a degenerative neurological disorder that affects coordination, including walking, writing, speaking and swallowing. There's a 25 percent chance that Lincoln also inherited the mutation, said Laura Ranum, a genetics professor who led the research."

She then went on to explain that Lincoln would now protect a world sworn to fear and hate him, and that yes, he was indeed the best he was at what he did.

All the cool kids are doing it

I know, I know...I haven't been keeping up on my blogging, and I'm a bad little stuffed bull (please don't scold me!) I'll come out of my busy busy life pretty darn soon to post all about these and other subjects: "Inspirational Comics Retailers 2006, Part One", "All in Color for Two Dimes, Parts (One and Two)", "What Was Fun in 2005 (Second Half Only)", "I'll Trade Ya For That," and "You Don't Tug on Superboy's Cape (Because He'll Rip Your Freakin' Arm Off)".

In the meantime, I figgered I'd better leap on the new comics meme bandwagon jussssssst as it starts to grind to a halt. Always ahead of the curve, ain't I? So, always remember:



He may come late to the party but he always has something to contribute: yet another reason why Ben Grimm totally rocks.

Another reason Warren Ellis totally rocks your world

Hey, every comic I bought this week helps me keep my New Year's resolution to Try Each Week to Pick Up One New Comic Title I Haven't Been Reading!

THE THING #2 and 3: This comic is fun! Hey Bully!, you are likely to shout at me. "Hey is for horses!" I will shout back. But Bully, if this is Comics Oughta Be Fun, home of "Ben Grimm Totally Rocks," then why aren't you reading Dan Slott's new Thing series? Uh...uh...go away rude disembodied voice! Stop bothering me! Cos altho' I missed the first issue, and didn't pick up the second one when it came out, this week I bought two, count 'em, two issues of The Thing, and golly-wow, it sure is chock-full of Ben Grimm rockin' clobberin' time excitement! As y'all well know, I'm a big fan of Dan Slott's She-Hulk (well, except for the creepy cheesecake covers—even tho' I luv eating cheesecake at Junior's here in Brooklyn, I jus' plain don't like Greg Horn's cheesecake!). But that's not a problem with Ben Grimm. Even tho' he doesn't wear a shirt most of the time! Anyway, these are two action-packed, rollickin' adventure issues. Like in She-Hulk, Dan Slott knows a lot about the Marvel Universe and has a lot of fun working in popular and obscure Marvel characters (Nighthawk, Arcade, Iron Man, the Constrictor, and even Brynocki from Master of Kung Fu) without going completely over the top. The cliffhanger of #2 even features a whole horde o' Hulk robots! The plot's a roller coaster but there's still plenty of time for the traditional Grimm introspection. There's not many people who really "get" my favorite hero, Aunt Petunia's ever-lovin' blue-eyed nephew, but I think Ben is in good hands with Mister Slott.


NEXTWAVE #1: This comic is fun. How can I give away the award for The Best Line of the Week" to Mister Warren Ellis when very nearly every one of his lines in Nextwave #1 is the best line of the week? Really! Let's sample a few, shall we?

• "Hey, I'm from Brooklyn. I'm going to call myself Mr. Friendly? Hell, no. Captain %$@#^."
• "Every day I smoke two hundred cigarettes and one hundred cigars and drink a bottle of whisky and three bottles of wine with dinner. And dinner is meat. Raw meat. The cook serves me an entire animal and I fight it bare-handed and tear off what I want and eat it and have the rest buried. In New Jersey!"
• "Silence, fleshy one."
• "When her mother died, she went to Hell, and is used as a bucket by giant weasels dressed as cheerleaders. And that's what happens when you tell your kids to get a proper job."
• "Fin Fang Foom! Has been burning with the need to mate since 1956! Fin Fang Foom! Has absolutely no genitals whatsoever! Fin Fang Foom! Oh, you cannot imagine how annoyed he is."
• "Hello, I am a tiny insignificant particle. Put down your guns or I'll bounce off you undetectably."
• "I shall kick you to death with slippers on, so it doesn't hurt so much."
• "I hate broccoli. Let's kill 'em."
• "Oh my God. It's wearing underpants."

And none of these lines make much sense outside of their own context, but inside the comic they're outrageous and milk-snorting funny. Put together a half-dozen abandoned and forgotten Marvel superhero characters into an over-the-top team run by Dirk Anger (he's that much more a man than Nick Fury). This is The Authority without the social conscience, in full-speed-ahead take-no-prisoners and make-no-plans action that's the equivalent of taking your old Marvel Secret Wars action figures and blowin' 'em up with firecrackers just cos it's cool to watch. If I had any quibbles it's that it's harder to justify that this over-the-top approach actually takes place in the Marvel Universe, but that's prob'bly less of a worry in the twenty-first century where various corners of personal continuity seem to have broken out (beginning with X-Statix)...now writers like Ellis can play with the Marvel universe toys in his own sandbox and nobody's going to get mad if his plots don't merge perfectly with this month's issue of New Avengers. It revels in the joy of its own anarchy and Ellis reminds us that hey, it's jus' a comic book: don't take it so serious, bub. Be warned: Nextwave is not for kids (and prob'bly not really for little stuffed bulls). I'm not even certain Nextwave is for adults. But hey! It's got the best letters page since Mike W. Barr had Katana send everyone home with the lungs in a bucket, and it's got Fin Fang Foom in it! And that, as well as a million other little pieces, is what makes NEXTWAVE #1 the most fun comic of the week!

Funny pirate joke

This one's for Cristin:

Q: What is a pirate's favorite fast-food restaurant?
A: Arrrrrrrby's.

The one-millionth time the "it's not easy being green" joke has been used in conjunction with a Hulk character

Hmm, not much to buy this week at the local comic book store. Just as well! I'm tryin' to save my dimes and not spend so much money on non-fun comics. But I couldn't let the newest issue of Dan Slott's She-Hulk pass me by:

SHE-HULK #4: This comic is fun...sorta. Don't get me wrong: I think She-Hulk is almost always a heckuva fun comic. It doesn't take itself seriously, but it doesn't resort to storyline cheats like John Byrne's fourth-wall-clobberin' She-Hulk did: there's a straight, driven narrative that only just happens to involve time travel, characters coming back from the dead, comic books acceptable as legal precedent (brilliant!), a lot of great cameos by the second-stringers of Marvel Comics, and Awesome Andy!. This one issue takes a swing into drama territory, however, as Jen doubts herself and her life as She-Hulk while helping out the victims of a She-Hulk rampage from an issue of Avengers that I don't think anybody even remembers now 'coz we're so poisoned by Disassembled. Anyway! There's a couple extremely unbelievable plotlines in here (No one has ever been killed, even accidentally, in a Hulk rampage? I'm not buying that!) and the ending leans a little too close to "if you believe in yourself you can do what needs to be done" that makes me snort through my little ringed nose in sniffs of derisive laughter. Plus, there's some awful printing errors in my copy that blur several pages under a mess of ink. But most of all, I really, really can't stand those awful Play-Doh-looking cheesecake pose Greg Horn covers to this series. Snap out of it, Marvel! Stop hiring this second-rate Alex Ross! Stop giving him work on what should be one of your fun, light series! Just say no to Greg Horn!

(trotting away)

(trotting back)

Oh yeah. I guess, for the She-Hulk, it's not easy being green.

(trotting away)

The only lesson we need to learn this week is: Wildcat does whatever the heck he wants, baby!

I'm finally catching up on a couple comics from last week! Were they worth the wait? Heck yeah!

JSA #81: This comic is fun. I dropped JSA a couple months back in the middle of all the dark, gloomy Infinite Crisis crossovers, but I had to pick this issue up. Why? Stargirl! My favorite JSAer...hmmm, is JSAer a word? Anyways...Stargirl is my favorite member of the Justice Society, even more so now that she's got Starman's cosmic rod (one of the single best designs of equipment and weaponry in the last ten years in superhero comics!) Despite some kind of confusing continuing Infinite Crisis subplots, this issue is even better than I expected as it ties in elements from Starman (The Shade guest stars and it takes place in Opal City!) and continues some of the plotlines from Stargirl's first series, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., which is a difficult title to type but which was a pretty fun comic book. There's some sadness and tragedy in this done-in-one story but despite the not-too-subtle "lessons learned" aspect of the ending, this is still a fun comic. In fact, it's the most fun comic of the week and it's got the Best Line of the Week: "What did I tell you about the language?" "Blame Wildcat." Hah! As Pal Dorian could tell you, you can't rein in Wildcat...the man does what he wants! Coz he's Wildcat, baby! Yeah!


JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #17: This comic is fun. Here's the thing I love best about the JLU comics: they have more respect for the DC Universe than the regular DC Universe comics. In the regular DC Universe, Sheyera Hol is dead in Rann-Thanagar War. In the JLU Universe, she's had a more full storyline than Superman. In the regular DC Universe, Vibe is a joke. And he's dead. In the JLU Universe, he's not only alive, he's front and center of his own issue. In the regular DC Universe, The Freedom Fighters are dead. In the JLU Universe, they're not only alive and starring in this issue, but they kick the JLU's butt! Boo-yah! What's more, they look great in the animated DC style. (I mean...Phantom Lady..gosh, I don't know what to say about Phantom Lady.) If I've got any complaint, it's my usual one about JLU: the wrap-up with "a lesson learned" about how important a hero is and how he needs to believe in himself. We've seen this same ending again and again in JLU and it begins to feel like the end of G.I. Joe or a segment of "The More You Know." Despite what I said about the ending of JSA above, don't be afraid to just give us an exciting issue without a moral at the end, DC! Morals! Who needs 'em?!?

Delusional Comics Retailers 2006, Part 1

Out in front of 500 Fifth Avenue as we now speak (well, actu'lly, as I now write and, if you are reading this right at the time I'm writing it, as you now read...), a man has set up a card table on the sidewalk and is selling bagged comic books.

His table is filled with mid-eighties to mid-nineties Marvels: late 200s Avengers, Thunderstrike-era Thor, assorted New Universe titles, Micronauts: The New Voyages...all priced at a delusional three or four bucks a badly-bagged pop.

The most outrageously wacky price-to-value ratio? Planet Terry #10, priced at five dollars.

If you're in midtown Manhattan and want it, better rush down and buy it pronto before he unloads it on a guileless tourist kid.

Index sticky: London 2005

Hi hi hi everyone! Or maybe I should say, hullo hullo hullo! It's me, Bully, here in London. If you're looking to keep up to date with my London adventures, this index page is the best place to start! It will show you my photo and blog updates and takes you to new stuff at the click of a mouse.

I'm having a wonderful time here. The only thing missing is you...yes, you! Now at least I know that you can keep up to date with my fun adventures in London. Enjoy!

Photos

• Day 1: From Covent Garden to Thai Food
• Day 2: Down the Jubilee Line and off to Regent Street
• Day 3: A Lovely Day in Kensington
• Day 4: Happy Christmas, Everyone!
• Day 5: A Walk in the Park
• Day 6: Marylebone High Street is Pretty Neat!
• Day 7: A whole lotsa Londony things
• Day 8: All Around London town
• Day 9: A Rainy Day in Richmond
• Day 10: It is a very cheering thing to come into London

Blogs

• 20 December, 9:36 PM: I'm off to London!
• 21 December, 10:01 PM: London! London! London!
• 22 December, 12:08 AM: London by night
• 22 December, 8:16 AM: A short but excellent first day in London.
• 22 December, 11:24 PM: Three thousand words about London.
• 23 December, 7:40 AM: Covent Garden is not a garden. The Churchill Arms are not arms.
• 23 December, 8:00 AM: Have you seen this penguin?
• 23 December, 1:47 PM: A friendly warning to American publishers following British trends
• 23 December, 2:59 PM: Mary, Mary, quite Stuarty.
• 23 December, 3:25 PM: The Death of Mary, Queen of Scots
• 23 December, 5:30 PM: My holiday snaps are back from the chemist's!
• 23 December, 8:05 PM: The sort of day a trainspotter could appreciate
• 24 December, 8:39 AM: More photos, more fun!
• 24 December, 4:39 PM: Do they know it's Christmas?
• 24 December, 7:15 PM: Now I know how many Christmas carols it takes to fill the Albert Hall
• 24 December, 8:49 PM: Father Christmas is coming tonight!
• 24 December, 10:44 PM: Photos: Christmas Eve in Kensington
• 25 December, 8:05 AM: Wishing all of my readers a Happy Christmas from London!
• 25 December, 4:56 PM: Olivia loves London, too.
• 25 December, 9:24 PM: Fa la la la la, Christmas photos
• 26 December, 10:04 PM: Boxing Day: it's not what you think it is.
• 26 December, 10:48 PM: Seeing my new photos is as easy as a walk in the park!
• 26 December, 11:40 PM: Requiem for a pub
• 27 December, 11:15 PM: The perfect day starts with snow and ends with Shakespeare
• 27 December, 11:29 PM: Photos: Marylebone High Street
• 27 December, 11:56 PM: Bully's British Book Club #1: Egg Bacon Chips & Beans
• 28 December, 8:12 AM: Where In London Is Marshall?
• 28 December, 8:33 PM: Winston Churchill didn't like staplers, and other fun facts I learned today
• 28 December, 9:21 PM: Gosh! Comic book stores in London oughta be...and are...fun!
• 29 December, 7:58 PM: All around the town
• 29 December, 10:11 PM: Bully's London Book Club #2: Attention All Shipping
• 29 December, 11:48 PM: Five, seven, then five/I review comics like that/Once more, with feeling
• 30 December, 11:53 PM: If I Were a Rich(mond) Bull
• 31 December, 9:12 AM: Tube Strike!
• 31 December, 5:01 PM: I'll be back...you can count on it.

I'll be back...you can count on it.

Sigh. That is the sound a little stuffed bull makes when his holiday in London is so very nearly over. Oh yes, we may actually be still be in London technically as I type this up on my little atomic-powered bull-sized laptop in the International Departures Lounge at Heathrow Airport, but we'll be on our way home very very soon. Sigh.

Which is not to say today has been a sad and slow day, oh no sir, no siree bob's your uncle. To avoid the possible Tube Strike we were up and about, bags packed and checked at the front desk of the Copthorne Tara, our last complimentary breakfast of ham and buns and hot sweet tea under our belts (note: I do not personally wear a belt), and we were out into the bright clear morning, so much clearer and crisper than yesterday's soggy day. Our target: one of my favorite museums of all (and that includes everywhere, not just in London): The Victoria and Albert Museum.

There's a clever little "sneaky way" to get into the museum from the Underground tunnel, and we emerged towards the back of the museum, so even though our original intent was the gift shop, we were able to wander through a large portion of the V&A as we made our way to the front. I have a special fondness for the V&A that I probably can't do justice to in mere words; really, you ought to go there yourself! Go to see the amazing room of art forgeries that would probably impress even Lovejoy, or the extensive collection of fashions through the ages (Marshall was especially entranced by the moddy, Mrs. Peel-esque Mary Quant designs!).

But by far my personal favorite part of the V&A is the mind-bogglingly immense hall that houses the famous Raphael Cartoons. No, silly, these are not his drawings of Garfield and Blondie, but the fantastically huge full-scale designs for a set of Papal tapestries. I know very little about Papal things (except, perhaps, the Papal Bull), but I know what I like. You can stand in this cavernous room and gaze up at the billboard-sized art for hours; it's an illuminating and exhilarating experience. I highly recommend it.

As I do the V&A gift shop, which is almost as illuminating and exhilarating! Honestly, this is one of the best museum gift shops in London (second in my view only to the London Transport Museum gift shop), and whether you're in the market for designer jewelry based on famous pieces in the V&A collection or (on a little stuffed bull's budget) an amazing selection of postcards, you'll find wonderful souvenirs for yourself and gifts for friends back home here. There's a lot of replica Victoriana for sale here, and my favorite purchase today was a small pocket-sized set of picture cards which, when laid edge to edge, create a continuous and connected country scene no matter which order you put the cards in. I will be all the rage at home when I return with my Victorian picture cards...everyone will be jealous of me! Whee! But yes, I will let everyone play with them. Except for The Other Camilla, because she will steal or bend or eat them. (Shudder.)

John's endless worrying about if we might get trapped at the V&A due to the tube strike was completely foundless, and we returned to High Street Kensington in plenty of time to walk through the back streets of Kensington towards a familiar and favorite restaurant: like our first meal in London, our last meal would be at always-delicious, always-dependable Pizza Express. In celebration of the season we split the delectable Christmas Pizza, with hot sausage and savory herbs. I think I may have found a suitable replacement for turkey dinner on December 25th next year! Naw, on second thought I'd hate to give up turkey...so I will campaign to have them both.

We wander back along Kensington High Street, peeking in the windows and down the alley mews for the last time this trip: Look, there's Waterstone's! One more glance at W. H. Smith's! Oh, I will miss you, Boots the Chemists! And then the shuttlebus is there to pick us and our massive lumps of luggage up, and we're swept away, down the expressway towards Heathrow, and I stare out the back window at the receding silhouette of London and sniffle, just a little bit.

So I sit here now in the International Departures lounge, and that's not altogether a bad place to be: chock-a-block full of wonderful shops for last-minute souvenir buying, I at last empty my little change purse of the final few pound coins and buy some more presents for friends back home. And when I look longingly at the giant Toblerone bar in the duty-free shop and check my empty purse fretfully, John smiles at me and plucks up the chocolate, places it on the counter and pulls out a fiver. "This one's on me, Bully," he tells me, and the trip ends the way it began, but even better: with a yummy, yummy Toblerone, but better yet, with wonderful, joyful memories of a fantastic and fun holiday.

They'll be calling us to board our plan soon, and then the next time I set foot on the ground it will be in New York, and no one will be speaking in British accents anymore, and the soda pop will be Coke and not Lilt, and the subway announcements will say "Stand clear of the closing doors" instead of "Mind the gap," and I will be home, and London will still be in my thoughts and dreams, but not outside my window.

At the end of one of the Paddington books—an excellent series of stories about an intelligent and clever animal that goes to live with a friendly family—one of the characters comments quietly as Paddington leaves for distant shores: "He'll be back. You can count on it." And yes indeed, in the very next book he was back, and adventures continued, full of fun and excitement and delight. That's the way I look at London. I've been here before, and I'll be here again. I can't wait, of course, but sometimes the waiting, and the thinking, and the planning, and the dreaming are all fun too.

So cheers, London! I'll see you again someday. I'll be back....you can count on it.

Tube strike!

Aieeeeeeeee! Tube strike! Those of you stuck back in Manhattan while lucky lucky me (and Marshall and John and Camilla and Olivia and her parents) have been traipsing through London have just gone through an extensive transit strike that shut down the New York subway and buses for three days, starting the day we left Brooklyn! Now synchronicity (thank you Mister Sumner for teaching me that word) rules the universe as a tube strike is due to start today at noon in London, on our last day here! It's no great shakes as we need to catch the shuttle to the airport in the mid-afternoon so we won't be out and about all around the town today, but to you Londoners reading my blog (and I am sure you all are), this little stuffed bull is full of sympathy for you, because even though I know a lot of you don't care for the way the Underground is run, it's absolutely essential for getting about London Town, especially on busy busy New Year's Eve night. Well, I wish you all the best of luck: keep your chins up and the number of a minicab service already programmed into your mobile, and don't be shy about walking around to get home: I've been walking quite a bit over my holiday and it's really quite lovely to wander the streets! Or maybe do what we like to do when we're home in Brooklyn: hit the supermarket in the afternoon to stock up on piles of lovely, lovely snacks and then spend the evening at home watching Bridget Jones's Diary.

Off we go into our last (half-)day in London! John is a big worry-wort about getting stuck somewhere when the tubes shut down so I'm sure he will be obsessing about it all day even though we won't be going that far. Stop worrying, John! It's a beautiful day and if we get stuck somewhere and miss our shuttle back to the airport that means we can stay in London s'more! Hooray!

If I Were a Rich(mond) Bull

I am nibbling on my little hooves in a bit of overexcitement, because this is the last full day of our London holiday and I wanted to get the very most out of it. And I did! You know how that guy (you know the one I am talking 'bout, don't you?) said that when you are tired of London, you are tired of life? Well, I am not tired of London life one bit!



Today was the first day of "typical London weather" that we have had since we arrived—it was rainy for most of the day which actually made it an excellent day to hop on the Tube (via the District Line) to head for Richmond, a delightful little suburb of London. With only a slight pause to slide myself into my waterproof macintosh and pop up my little umbrella we ventured out on this grey morning and down into the Underground for a long but lovely trip out the final stop on this branch of the District Line, which required buying complicated extension tickets for our Travelcards. I tell you, I do indeed love London Transport, but they could take a hint or two from the unlimited ride aspect of the New York Subway's Metrocard, where you can go out to distant, exotic Coney Island for the same price as going into Manhattan.

But it was well worth the extra expense, even for a little stuffed bull watching his pence and pounds quite carefully. The tube emerges from underground as soon as you get only a little way away from the confines of the Circle Line, so there is plenty of opportunity to press your nose (whether it has a ring in it or not) up against the window and look at London's green suburbs. There are lovely little suburban towns with tangled wild back gardens everywhere abutting against the railway lines. I was looking very very closely to see if I could spot Tom and Barbara Good's back garden, with their extensive self-sufficiency garden patch plus a goat, but I guess I was not heading in the right direction to see Surbiton, where they lived. That's a pity, because (I will tell you this only if you keep it a secret, okay?) I have such a little crush on Felicity Kendal.

The tube train pulled into the Richmond terminal in the late morning, and we splashed out into the rain and down the long High Street, but not before pausing to gape in amusement and wonder at quite possibly the best store window sign I have ever seen here or back home:


I had better start drinking my cappucinos now if I want to get that free freakoid! (And oh my oh my, I really do!)

We were here with a double purpose for Camilla: there was a children's bookstore she wanted to visit, and since she had stayed in Richmond during her first visit to London years before, wanted to see if she could spot anything familiar. The first goal was of course an unqualified success, because if there's one thing that London does well, it's bookstores! After some short side trips into shops and a visit to the local post office, we found The Lion and the Unicorn Bookshop off a charming mews at the end of the High Street. Their friendly and knowledgable staff was quite patient with me while I raced around going "wheeeeeeeeeeee!" at all the exciting and delightful children's books, and we all came out of the shop with our purses a little lighter and carrying shopping bags stuffed of lovely books. (Don't tell Olivia yet, because she will be getting quite a few of them as presents!)

It was still raining a little as we emerged from the shop, and luckily around the corner was a little pub right on the Richmond Village Green where we had our lunch. There is nothing quite as delicious and satisfying as a hearty hot pub sandwich on a cold and rainy day, and if you still feel chilled to the bone, I do suggest sucking on a packet of that very very hot English mustard, which will fire you up almost instantly. The only disappointment about our lunch? We were too late to get any dessert. No sticky toffee pud for us! Boo!

Rather than walk back down the busy High Street, we wandered back slowly towards the Tube Station via Richmond's version of the Sneaky Way: alongside the Richmond village green for a while and then around the long line of charming houses and flats that I bet the tourists don't usually bother to see! We were searching for some sign of familiar memories for Camilla, who remembered staying in the Richmond College campus buildings on her first visit, but long studies of the faithful A-Z book and some lookin' around told us she was probably staying in completely the other direction at that time. Oh well! It is always good to explore a new part of the town, even if it is years and years later!

It was early evening when we arrived back at Kensington High Street, so we wandered up to the big house on Observatory Gardens to see what Olivia and her parents were up to! Of course she got to have some of her lovely new books right away, and Aunt Camilla cheerfully read many of them, in some cases over and over and over again, while the rest of us relaxed from our busy day.

Dinner tonight was quite an event for our last night together in London: we returned to the excellent British restaurant of our Christmas Eve's luncheon, Maggie Jones, down at the near end of Kensington High Street. Everyone had platefuls of lovely filling British food and there was much laughter and comaderie about how much fun our holiday had been, as we toasted the last night of our London adventure.

Now it is time to go to bed, but I am quite wide awake and staring out the window of our hotel room, just like I did on our first night here. Everyone else is snoring away happily, even Marshall, but I'm a little sad: I love London by night, and this is our last one. There's a light mist hanging over Kensington and just like it did on the first night, the last train of the evening rattles into the station below me. I like these moments: quiet and contemplative and relaxing, and soon I will close my little button eyes and even though I'm already in London, I'll dream of her rainy streets again. Tomorrow is our last day here, and I intend to make the most of it.

Goodnight, London! Goodnight, Bully-fans!

Five, seven, then five/I review comics like that/Once more, with feeling

I liked when I did
Comic reviews in haiku
Let's do it again.

Here's some comic books
I bought at Gosh! in London
Comics are fun there.

X-FACTOR #1-2:

I like P.A.D.
I didn't read House of M
But I like this lots.

Characters I like
Are treated seriously
But they still are fun.


SHE-HULK #3:

Wow! Giant issue!
One hundred fun-packed pages.
New tales and reprints!

Could be a classic
But I loathe those front covers.
Jeez. Greg Horn scares me.


BART SIMPSON #27:

Don't have a cow, man.
Cowabunga! Eat my shorts!
And other Bart things.

Again and again
Bongo puts out (like this one)
A most fun comic.

Bully's London Book Club #2: Attention All Shipping

If you're a regular listener to the BBC (and if you are, you can be my friend!), you've probably heard at one point or another the bewildering (if you're neither Jack Aubrey nor Popeye) Shipping Forecast. This several-times daily seafarer's weather update is one of the most delightful and mysterious bits on the BBC: for me it's an ultra-relaxing way to wind down a long exciting day. Its smooth signature tune "Sailing By"...



...and the relaxing and hypnotic rhythms of the actual Shipping Forecast report (you can listen to an example here, or the actual most recent broadcast here) put this little stuffed bull to a gentle and happy sleep, dreaming of smooth sailing voyages and faraway places.

Yes, but what are those places? The Shipping Forecast reports upcoming weather in exotic regions most people have never heard of: far-away places with strange sounding names like Fitzroy. German Bight. Fastnet. Doggers. I've been to Banbury Cross, but I've never been to Forties. Where in the world are these places, and why is the weather so important there?

For the answer let's go to the BBC Shipping Forecast Page or check out the official Shipping Forecast map below:



Ah ha! Or, as I should say over here, crikey! The map makes the mysteries of the Shipping Forecast a little clearer: each of the mysterious names mentioned so melodically over the medium-wave is a specific sea region surrounding the British Isles, an area of great importance to freight and shipping (and leisure) sea travel around Europe. That might address the mystery of the Shipping Forecast but not the magic: why does this short, pointless-for-the-most-of-us daily radio broadcast inspire so many thoughts of adventure and romance in its listeners? Charlie Connelly journeys to find out why in another fantastically entertaining book I've picked up on this trip, Attention All Shipping.

A tongue-in-cheek, light-humored, doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously travelogue that reminded me of Round Ireland with a Fridge (one of my fave travel narratives of the past few years), Attention All Shipping begins with Charlie's own personal infatuation with the romance and mystery of the Shipping Forecast since a small boy: where are these amazing-sounding places? As an adult he vows to discover exactly that: by visiting every single one of the Shipping Forecast's uniquely-named regions.

The book's light and fun—there's little grand social commentary and a lot of self-effacing humor—and is a wonderfully quirky voyage to various sea ports and communities around the various areas, visiting its peoples and places. A chapter on visiting the amazing Principality of Sealand is a stand-out, but he's just as chatty and entertaining popping down to Dover or Hamburg. Connolly doesn't take himself too seriously and in fact he's refreshingly casual about his goal: when a couple regions prove inaccessible, he settles for nearby areas that don't qualify "by the book" but certainly fill the bill thematically and spiritedly. In short, he travels the way I like to travel: with an itinerary in mind but the ability to change course at any time in search of something interesting. And in the end isn't that what the Shipping Forecast radio broadcast inspires in us all?

I give this book two hooves up; I could hardly put it down and if you like light armchair travel, you'll eat it up like saltwater taffy.

Gosh! Comic book stores in London oughta be...and are...fun!

Yes, comic book fans, you can buy comic books in London. There's many exceptional shops that stock American, British, and European comics around town. In the past I've been to the massive and somewhat overwhelming Forbidden Planet Megastore which is chock-full of SF, fantasy, and comics goodness but is a bit too crowded and busy for a little stuffed bull to be underfoot! So John and I took the advice of the good people at The Comics Journal discussion board and made it our quest not to miss the shop many have said is the best comic book shop in London: Gosh! Comics. And boy, was it worth the visit!


A very blurry photo of Gosh! with me in it.


A slightly less blurry photo of Gosh! without me in it.

(Here is a link to a much brighter and clearer photo of Gosh! taken by someone else. Nice job! That person is a much better photographer than I am. Thank you, STML!)

It's a small but well-stocked two-floor store of all the contemporary American comics plus a large selection of trade paperbacks and hardcovers, British and European comics, toys and trinkets and games and what-not, plus a very impressive assortment of British and London minicomics that John was very keen on! While I dashed about the store oohing and ahhing over all the goodies and checking to make certain I had enough pounds and pence in my change purse to buy those way-brilliant Asterix PVC figures, John had a nice chat with the store clerk about Fantagraphics Comics (which were very well-represented in stock at Gosh!) Seriously, the store's small but it's friendly and comfortable and has a lot of great stuff in it. I very highly recommend it not simply for the buying experience but because it's so darn friendly. Check it out next time you're there: it's easy to find, right across the street from the British Museum. (That's a great location, by the way—I hope they have solid strong foot traffic to match the location! That's the equivalent of a comic book store being located across the street from the Met in New York, which I bet would get it a lot of traffic!)

It was quite dark by then but still plenty of time to wander around the neighborhood and pop in another excellent store, the totally crowded but fantastic Playin Games, a wonderful game shop with board and dice and card and war games. Again, I was all around the shop, up and down stairs, pulling games off the shelves and seeing if they would be fun! I got a absolutely brilliant one that combines my love of board games and the London Underground in one: The Tube Card Game. It's a faster-paced, card-oriented twist on the old familiar "London Game" with nicely produced London Underground graphic cards, and it even comes in a cool plastic "tube." What's best about it is that there are also solo play rules, because as we all know, sometimes the hardest thing about playing a board game is getting someone else to play with you!

Finally, right down Museum Street, a few doors down from Playin Games, was the greatest restaurant in the world:



Pamcakes!

You know how much I love comics. You know how much I love games. And oh crikey, do I love me some pamcakes! So I'll leave you here with memories of me and my tall stack, ending the day with a hearty breakfast and plenty of syrup.

All around the town

Q: What's more fun than riding on the London Underground?

A: Nothing!

But the next best thing is riding on a London bus! And to be honest, London Transport has made it a lot easier to ride the buses these days with the addition of very clear and detailed route maps—much in the style of the famous Underground maps—at every major bus stop. That's why it was very easy to hop on the bus to Chelsea with John, Camilla and Christine this morning and head for London's best children's store, the justly famous Daisy & Tom. They have an amazing assortment of children's toys and books here, plus an enthusiastic, helpful, and child-(and little stuffed bull-)friendly staff, but best of all, they have an in-store carousel:



(Here I am riding on a chicken called "Tim!" I went around and around and around and around until I felt a little dizzy. Maybe I shouldn't have had that last biscuit at breakfast this morning!)

Camilla and Christine wanted to go baby clothes shopping then, but John and I had more excitement in mind than that! We wandered down the busy and trendy King's Road and finally hopped back on a bus heading back towards the centre of London. And from there we went everywhere!:

Trafalgar Square! This photo is by request of Chad, who wanted to see me with Lord Nelson. Here ya go, Chad! I am the one on the left.


St. Paul's Cathedral! Here is where I will get married to Keira Knightley someday. Mmmm...Mr. Bull Knightley. Sigh.


The Millennium Bridge! It is fun to be on and not nearly as wobbly as everyone says. Sadly, i did not spot Bridget Jones on it.


The Tate Modern Museum! It is not quite as spooky as this gloomy picture makes it look. They have a wonderful collection of modern art that i must admit I don't quite understand but the two gift shops were dead brilliant. I bought a pencil!


Shakespeare's Globe Theatre! Home to wonderful plays and dramatics but thankfully, no longer home to bull-baiting. Yikes! I'm glad that went away.


Greek food! Really, what better way to finish off a busy day wandering around London than with a hearty, juicy, lamb gyro?