When people ask me about my influences, one of the names I always forget is Maurice Sendak. Sendak, who turns 80 today, and his seminal work Where the Wild Things Are, if not created my love for monsters, certainly fostered it. The tale of childhood rebellion and unconditional love fed directly into my childhood psyche and reality. My mother always encouraged me to debate, to wonder, to question. All the while, I knew she would always love me. When I began writing, the fact that my family would always love and respect me lent me the confidence to write what I felt and believed, regardless of what others thought. And of course monsters have always been a huge part of my creative reality.

Over time I read the vast majority of Sendak’s works but nothing stuck like Wild Things and for Halloween 1997, I was Max. You really have to love a children’s book to dress as the main character when you are thirty.

Thank, Mr. Sendak, for everything and a happy 80th birthday!

This bit comes from Media Bistro:

This is better than other more traditional LoA "heavy-hitters" such as the first collection of Jack Kerouac novels (shipped just under 15,000 copies in its first year, with a return rate of 10 percent), two-volume collection of Edmund Wilson’s critical writings (9250 and 12%) and the American Poetry: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries anthology (4200 and 8%).

And the trend should continue with the second PKD volume (Five Novels of the 1960s and 70s which includes Martian Time-Slip, Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb, Now Wait for Last Year, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, and A Scanner Darkly). The book is not due out until July 31 and pre-orders already exceed 10,000.

It’s a good time to be a Dickhead!

It’s too bad Kirby didn’t live long enough to see his epic Fourth World reviewed in The New York Times.

[  Mood: Happy ]
The third season of The Venture Bros. starts tonight at 10:30 CST. For those that can’t or won’t wait, the fine folks at Adult Swim offer the ENTIRE episode for FREE!

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a new list of Brock’s Ten Best Beatdowns.

DC recently announced this fascinating gem.

As a well known ape aficionado, this collection interested me as I began wondering how many of these stories I’ve actually read.

Superboy #76 "The Super-Monkey from Krypton!" I’ve read this cute tale. It’s an odd choice to start with.

Superman #138 "Titano the Super-Ape" Perhaps the most famous Superman-Titano story of them all. The second appearance of Titano with the classic King Kong-homage cover of Titano climbing the Daily Planet building. This is often reprinted, most notably in the classic DC Super Special #16: Super-heroes Battle Super-Gorillas.



The Flash (VOL. 1) #127 "The Reign of the Super-Gorilla!" Perhaps the finest Gorilla Grodd story ever. Another one reprinted in DC Super Special #16.

Detective Comics #339 "Batman Battles the Living Beast-Bomb!" The oft-reprinted tale that introduced Carmine Infantino’s new look to the Batman franchise. This one was in DC Super Special #16 as well.

Detective Comics #482 "Night of the Body Snatcher" I’ve never seen this one, but with story/pencils by Jim Starlin and inks by P. Craig Russell, I’m looking forward to it. I only wish they were reprinting the entire double-sized Batman Family issue. Luckily the Michael Golden-drawn Bat-Mite adventure was reprinted in The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told (another great collection).

Hawkman #16 "Lord of the Flying Gorillas!" One of the inspirations for my story "I Was the Bride of Rothro, King of the Giant Flying Vampire Gorillas From the Earth’s Core" (Negative Burn #47, drawn by John Lucas).

Wonder Woman #170 "Wonder Woman… Gorilla!" THE Wonder Woman-gorilla tale. Reprinted in the classic DC Super Special #16.



Strange Adventures #201 "The Mod Gorilla Boss!" This odd cross of DC’s poor understanding of sixties pop culture, apes, and mobs lead to one of the most unusual Animal Man stories of all. I actually own this. I’d be a tad ashamed for me.

Shazam #9 "The Day Captain Marvel Went Ape!" Surprisingly, this is not even the best Captain Marvel ape story. That’s reserved for the delightful Marvel Family #85 "The Marvel Family Battles the Primate Plot", reprinted in both Limited Collector’s Edition #C-21 and The Greatest Shazam Stories Ever Told.

Super Friends #30 "Gorilla Warfare Against the Humans" I’ve never read this one but it features a tale using Grodd and Giganta (in apparently her first Earth-1 appearance).

The Flash (VOL. 2) #151 "Territorealis" Another story I haven’t read. Apparently, a Teen Titans flashback story.

Of the eleven stories, I’ve read all but three. I’m both proud and ashamed.

[  Mood: Amused ]
According to Dwight Schrute in his blog, manga featuring shokushu goukan (tentacle rape) is not only repulsive but actually pointless.

He goes on to defend the poor octopus.

Turns out Dwight is a big fan of Ranma 1/2, because "there are no horny vindictive creatures with tentacles."

Observations such as this are why The Office is one of the funniest shows on TV.

According to the New York Times, the "Tales of the Black Freighter" segments from Watchmen will be released as a direct-to-DVD release.

The Times sees this as an attempt to boost lagging DVD sales. Of course to us geeks, it’s just cool that the pirate story will be shot at all.

Not only did I write the RevSF review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but over at The Austin Chronicle I contributed the review for Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection.

While I realize not all of you are sports fans, I know most of you are comic book fans. I figured I’d share the latest Sports Illustrated super-hero-inspired cover that many of you would never see.

Illustration by Mark Bagley, Karl Story, and Alex Sinclair.

In addition to my Iron Man review, there are two additional Klaw pieces to mention.

The latest edition of "Graphica Nexus" appears at SF Site.

Steampunk with my original essay "The Steam-Driven Time Machine" should either be on the stands or out any day now.