Oh, those silly comics...

You all should check out Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Panels from YesButNoButYes. Good stuff. Like this gem -->

Of course this guy has been at it for a while now.

Speaking of comics: Back in the day, as it were, I was a big fan of all the Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean Sandman stuff that was counter-culturally popular in the early '90s. After a while, though, I lost interest in Gaiman and that whole gothy-comics thing. I thought Gaiman's writing was going down hill, and the majority of similarly themed comics weren't very good. When Sandman ended, I wasn't too upset, and I picked up The Dreaming for a while, but soon lost interest. Gaiman edited a collection of short stories that I thought were pandering and dumb, so I pretty much gave up on him. McKean was a similar story. He sort of got in a rut, and most of his art looked so similar that I couldn't tell one piece from another for a while.

About a year ago, somebody sent me a link to his blog, which I have been reading off and on ever since. I was surprised to find out that he'd forsaken the gloomy streets of London for a family life in Minnesota. People I respect were telling me that his novels were really good, and I did enjoy Good Omens, but that was because it is really witty and funny which I assumed was the Terry Pratchett influence.

So a few weeks ago, at the urging of my curiosity, I rented Mirrormask, the movie that McKean and Gaiman made together. I hadn't heard of them collaborating on anything very big for a while, so I thought I'd check it out. It's a bit of an Alice in Wonderland rip off, but It looks gorgeous, and was way better than I thought it would be.

So then I decided I'd give in, and I picked up American Gods, used, with a gift card. I have to sat that I am impressed. All the stuff I used to love about his writing is in there with out all the gothy trappings he fell into way back when. I'm only about half way through it, due to my obsession with Lego Star Wars, but so far, I likie. The boys redeemed themselves.

I am currently listening to The Violent Femmes first and best Album. Everybody go dig that album out and listen to it very loudly right now. You won't be sorry. I have memories flooding back of lazy high school afternoons driving around wasting time till dinner.

-JP