Scary Monsters and Superfolks

Love has that funny way of finding you when you look away. It happens every single day. Don't believe me look it up. Lima Research Society's "Magic Juice Box"

So I've been reading Robert Mayer's Superfolks and it is one of the most refreshing things I've read in a long time. For those not in the know, this book was published in the '70s. It is almost a prototype for the deconstruction of superheroes that would be seen in Watchmen and Miracleman. But this book is much funnier than those books set out to be. Our hero is from the planet Cronk. He is basically a Superman analogue who has all the powers but when he uses his x-ray vision for checking out women he always runs into something.

He can be weakened by Cronkite. Hilarious!

The book is riddled with little digs at movie stars and obscure pop culture references. Which, while it is a treasure trove for a junkie like me, frames the story so well. He lives in the same world as our favorite heroes. But they are dead and he is forty.

My friend picked up Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's Umbrella Academy recently. Originally, I was out off by a musician making a comic book. Even though I have a soft spot for all of MCR's albums (you chalk it up to some high school nostalgia but The Black Parade was a pretty fun exercise is raising glam from the dead). The first arc is pretty fantastic but I hate that there isn't more of this book. I want to know everything about the characters. It bothered me that I didn't know more. It was like coming into a movie halfway through. I suppose that that is just the literary device that is easiest to use for a rock star who is constantly on the road. Still, it's frustrating.

In other news, my band played it's first show. It went well. We played three songs in a black-lit room. Tons of bands played: Cameron Wisch, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, Math the Band, Lima Research Society, Landlords, Elemeno Pete, Santa Dads. It was a good day. Cameron Wisch really blew me away. He used to drum for Ra Ra Riot. Definitely one of the sickest drummers I've ever seen.

We have another show on Friday. Zombie-style.