Announcing the winners of the Be a Hero in the Fight Against Cancer raffle!

I’m not mad … I’m just disappointed (OK, I’m a little mad, too)

You’ve probably noticed that this blog has gone nearly silent over time.

I was telling myself it was because of things in my personal life that had to take precedent. I told myself it was because my freelancer’s budget didn’t allow for regular trips to the comic shop. I beat myself up, berating myself for what I perceived as a natural tendency toward laziness. And all of these things are true, to one degree or another.

But, I recently realized, a lot of it is because I just find it hard to get excited about comics lately.

To be specific, I find it hard to care about new comics; even more specifically, superhero comics from the Big Two. A constant reliance on Big Event leading into the Next Big Event has worn down my enthusiasm for both publishers. The tone-deaf missteps from DC (most recently Dan DiDio’s fiat against characters being married, the sudden dismissal of the Batwoman creative team, and the Harley Quinn-in-a-bathtub/suicide drawing contest) has pretty much crushed it. And, as a confessed DC guy, this kills me.

I know there are good comics being put out by both companies, but frankly, it’s hard for me to give a shit. I’m at a point where I’d rather spend the time, energy and money on finding titles I like from smaller publishers and independent creators (though my growing distaste for DC and Marvel has unfairly bled out to new comics in general). Finding good comics from other publishers is something I’d be doing anyway, but now I’m COMMITTED to doing it. This is comic reading as spite as much as fandom. And that kills me, too.

I’ve been planning on getting serious about blogging on a regular basis again, and that’s still going to happen. I’ve been wanting to expand the focus a bit, so expect my rambling to start encompassing movies, books, TV and whatever else catches my flitting attention.  And I’ll still be reading comics, mostly revisiting back issues and original graphic novels. But — fair warning — don’t expect reviews or much commentary on new books coming from DC or Marvel.

I just don’t have the heart anymore.

And then there was the time I remembered I have a blog

Yeah, I know.

But look, all I can tell you is that things have been pretty crazy around these parts, and unfortunately that has meant the ol’ Post here had to fall to the wayside. I’m hoping that won’t continue to be the case, but things might take a while to ramp back up to full speed – thanks in advance for your patience (and cookies – I love cookies).

Now then – old business!

OK, there isn’t actually a whole lot of old business, but just before falling off the map I had announced the latest pick for the Great Caesar’s Movie Club and that still stands. If you didn’t get around to it the first time, we’ll still be watching and reviewing A Boy and His Dog, starring a young Don Johnson and his psychic dog Blood. It promises to be big fun, so get to it! (And if you already did when I first announced it, I hope you’ll send it along). Let’s call the deadline … ooooh, let me consult my Mayan calendar here … huh, 2012, eh? … OK, let’s say Deadline: Sept. 27!

New Business!

Sigh. You caught me – there isn’t much new business, either. I haven’t even been able to read many comics lately, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I did manage to pick up a copy of Phonogram Vol. 1 for three bucks, so that was exciting.

I also saw Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World and loved it so much that I went out and saw it again. And I’ll probably see it again this weekend. Obviously I dig the movie, in spite of my serious misgivings about Michael Cera in the lead. Luckily, I found Scott Pilgrim to be pitch-perfect, and if you didn’t like it you have no soul.

Now that we’ve gotten THAT out of the way, thanks again for your patience and I hope you’ll stick around. Really.

And never forget:

Adventures in Sound #22

Some noise from your host: If you’re not already familiar with Fight!, I hope you’re ready for some full-on,  knuckle-dusting action from Agreeable Comics and writer Kevin Church and artist Tracie Mauk. Fight! promises to be a lot of fun and since it’s only up to its second installment now is the perfect time to get in the ring.

Start at the beginning and support independent comics! And if you’re going to be at the San Diego Comic-Con, be sure to stop by and say hello to some of the Agreeable creators (they’ll be at N-11 in Small Press).

News from the front

As you might have noticed (since I’ve been mentioningit at every opportunity), I’m in the middle of moving. Specifically I’m moving from Austin, Texas to just outside Wilmington, Delaware in just under a week.

If you’re picturing rooms filled with boxes, stacks of furniture and piles of random stuff, you’re not far off.  And if you think this has kept me from posting lately – actually, from doing anything much beyond cramming things into cardboard boxes – you’d be right on the money. In the meantime, I hope you’ll hang in there.

See you in Delaware!

…

Speaking of comics, I picked up Superman #700 this week and was left … underwhelmed. I don’t have it on hand for reference (things in boxes, remember?), but the impression I was left with was feeling a little lost in the story. I wasn’t keeping up with the War of the Supermen-slash-Fall of Krypton stories, and the chapters definitely felt like continuations of plots that were a mystery to me. The J. Michael Straczynski storyline begins here, and having Superman walk across America is fun in a Hard Travelin’ Heroes kind of way, but the clunky heavy-handedness of the introduction in this issue makes me a little leery. Also, can Superman get a strong, distinctive artist? Please.

Pleeeeze?!

…

Don’t forget, the Great Caesar’s Movie Club due date is July 19! Superman III! Do it!

Announcing – Great Caesar’s Movie Club!

Here’s something the average person might not realize about comic book geeks: We’re usually geeks about a lot of other things, too.

For instance, I’ve noticed that a lot of my fellow comic bloggers are also big movie fans, with passions ranging from genre films to black-and-white classics and including everything in between. I’m no different – I love movies, and just like with comics, I love to talk about them and hear other people’s opinions. So, with that in mind I give you a new feature here at GCP:

GREAT CAESAR’S MOVIE CLUB!

Here’s how it works:

Once a month I’ll announce the current movie club selection, along with a due date. If you’d like to participate, write a review and post it to your own website on that date (with a link to Great Caesar’s Post), drop me an e-mail telling me about it, and I’ll link back to it here. It’s so easy an actor playing a caveman could do it!

Of course, there’s no obligation to play – if you do a review one month, you don’t have to review the next month’s selection if you don’t feel like it (jerk).

What kind of movies can you expect? Well, I’m a fan of the Swedish school of postmodernism as much as the next guy, but in this case I’m going to try to keep selections in the sci-fi/cult/Weird category. Superhero movies probably won’t show up too much, just because those are a well-covered subject already, but in honor of this blog’s inspiration the first movie club pick is:

SUPERMAN III

Oh, yeah – the one with drunk Superman.

It’s also the one featuring a weirdly cast Richard Pryor, a fight between Superman and Clark Kent, and Annette O’Toole as the One True Lana. Superman III is available on the Netflix, so get to it!

Here are the details:

Great Caesar’s Movie Club!

Now showing: Superman III (1983)

Due date: Monday, July 19

Clothing: Optional

By the way, if you get around to the horror movie part of Blogger Town you might notice that this is very similar (some might say identical) to the format used by Stacie Ponder over at the excellent, you-should-be-reading-it Final Girl. Stacie has given me the very generous thumbs-up (seriously, you should see the size of her thumbs) to crib the format, because she’s cool like that. Thanks again, Stacie!

Like a Phoenix rising from Arizona …

Hello, and welcome to the newest, shiniest version of Great Caesar’s Post!

Moving the GCP to its own domain name was something I’d been thinking about for a while, and it feels great to finally put on my big boy pants. Also, there will be some new features coming soon, a hopefully less irregular schedule and generally everything you’ve come to expect from your ol’ pal Maxo (er … don’t hold that against me). I’m still moving some furniture around, so don’t be surprised if you see some tweaking along the way.

I’ve been doing this blog for a while now, and I hope you know I’m being completely sincere when I say you, the readers, have had a lot to do with that. Your feedback, comments and general support are like the blogging air I breathe, and you truly are the winds beneath my wings. Thank you, and I hope you’ll stick around.

Finally, big, big ups to Kevin Church, without whom the new Great Caesar’s Post would not have happened. In spite of what he may want you to believe, he’s an incredibly nice guy and his amazing generosity and continued patience with grade school-level coding questions cannot be underestimated. Read his blogs, buy his books and give him a big sloppy kiss for me when you do. If I may delve into an archaic, yet fitting phrase, Kevin is “da man.”

Before I get misty, let’s get this show started! Be sure to hitch a ride on the RSS feed, put the new address in your bookmarks and update your sidebar links – the all-new Great Caesar’s Post is go!