Fare thee well, O Smallville

Friday is the final episode of TV's Smallville.

What does one say about a show that's been on the air so long?  That's about 220 episodes of Superman-related broadcasts (and without commercials, I'd guess about 170 hours of Superman-ish material).  Moreover, what does one say when they are a die-hard Superman fan who has watched the program out of a mis-placed sense of obligation and stuck with it just to see it through to the end, like a pet goldfish you know is on his last legs so you need to keep feeding it...?

many, many episodes involved Clark talking at rocks

In truth, the show became so bad it, at some point it became hilarious.  Watching week after week, you can see that the production team simply could not get their @#$% right, no matter how hard they tried.  It's adorable, and it became part of why I tuned in: to see just exactly how this was going to go wrong this week.

Not a ringing endorsement, but it takes on a life of its own.*

One last FCBD pic - Comic Book Joy at Austin Books

Jason took this picture.

I thought I was photo-bombing a pic of Jamie, but Jason was actually just trying to get the front of the store and Jamie was just standing there.

Signal Watch Watches: THOR

There are going to be plenty of straight-up reviews out there of the first really big offering of the Summer Movie Season, so I'll spare you an attempt at all that.

1) Like many Marvel movies, I've only a cursory knowledge of Thor as he exists in comics. As a kid, the character just didn't work for me at all (I thought the same thing about Superman, so, natch), and never really grew interested in Thor. I'm not much of a swords'n'sorcery guy, and I just wasn't interested in the mix of faux-Shakespearean dialect and modern interpretation of myth. I would look at Thor in Avengers, and he always seemed oddly out of place, like seeing Chewbacca show up in an X-Files episode because it's all sci-fi.

2) I think my Kirby-adoration has given me a better understanding of Thor these days, and I've spoken some with CanadianSimon about Thor, and, frankly, I am trying to free up my budget to get my hands on some of the Walt Simonson Thor. It just sounds too good.

Happy Mother's Day - in song!

Happy Mother's Day to the Moms out there! This Mother's Day my own mom is in Kenya wrestling lions or something, and Jamie's mom is in Trinidad and Tobago. So, no formal Mother's Day business for us.

But, hey... I assume somebody out there who reads this might be a mom. So, you know, we tip our hat. Its the hardest job out there, and there's not a lot of room for screwing up.

Anyhow, let's celebrate the holiday... in song!

From our friends in Pink Floyd:



From Dumbo:



From our friend Glen:

FCBD 2011 at Austin Books

Hey! Today was Free Comic Book Day all 'round the world!

As has become tradition, Jason, Jamie and I headed down to Austin Books and Comics to see what was going down.

The line wrapped around the building from about 8:00 AM until sometime into the very late afternoon.

This goes on just all day long on FCBD at Austin Books

Jamie is a sport. I don't know that she actually likes FCBD too much, but she goes pretty much every year.

Jamie is cos-playing as Super-Jamie's alter-ego, Jamie

Signal Watch Housekeeping Updates

1)  I have started working on the Summer 2011 Signal Watch movie-watching and events calendar.  With this calendar, I'm letting everyone (especially Jamie) know where I'll be this summer when it comes to some of the fantastic offerings going on at various Austin cinemas (The Alamo, The Paramount and the newly opened Violet Crown Cinema).  I will also be adding a show or two in San Antonio thanks to TPR's Summer Film Series.

The calendar is only a guideline, so if you want to join me for a movie, please email to make sure I will actually be there.

Keep your eyes peeled.  We'll be updating the calendar regularly.

2)  I hit that point where I'm online too much and not reading enough.  I will be ratcheting back posting a bit (until I start posting too much again). 

3)  Please keep the comments coming.  We love to hear from all of you!  And if you're a reader who never comments, please do so!  This site works best when people comment.  For example, who is the mysterious stranger from Pepsi Co who keeps reading my blog?

Oh my God, The Alamo is doing a POTA Marathon!

A while back I announced my intention to host my own Planet of the Apes Marathon prior to the release of the new POTA movie.

Apparently, the stars have aligned and The Alamo Drafthouse is planning a spectacular Planet of the Apes Day-Long Marathon.  If you aren't following the Bad-Ass Digest, you're kind of making a mistake.  But that's where I heard about this shindig.  

So, Jamie, sounds like May 29th you'll need to recruit someone else to entertain you.  I'm looking at the opportunity for an absolutely amazing Day of the Apes!

only 2 movies of the 5 star Cheston, because only 2 could handle the Cheston-ness

Free Comic Book Day is Saturday

Hey kids, this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Its an annual event wherein comic shops have a selection of comics you can pick from at absolutely no cost. Not all stores participate, and not all stores do it well. My local comic shop both participates and does it very, very well.

Many stores will have special events, signings by artists and writers, and all kinds of stuff going on. I believe at Austin Books and Comics they've chosen to shackle writer Chris Roberson to a table for seven grueling hours of signing comics whether he wrote them or not. They don't even care if he gets hand cramps.

To find YOUR local comic shop, click here.

For a rundown of what might be available at your local comic shop (totally free!) you can click here.

I'm excited about a lot of these comics, including:

• Mickey Mouse
• Chris Roberson written Elric (which is why Roberson is doing a signing)
• The Young Justice/ Batman: Brave and the Bold sampler
• And, hey! A Dark Crystal comic!

Also at Austin Books this week, creator David Mack.  That's pretty cool.

So, I encourage you to drop by your local comic shop and see what's going on.  I'll be heading down to Austin Books on Saturday around lunchtime. 

Jon Hamm and a small, blue Yeti hang out in Central Texas/ Austin

I believe my old work colleagues David and Justin worked on this video during SXSW.

Herman Dune "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" from Jon Hamm

Today, I leave you to ponder Big Barda, one of my favorite comic characters

not known for a light touch, Barda is, nonetheless, pretty effective

Kirby's costume designs (and characters, and dialog, and plots...) during this era were just crazy and amazing