Best DVR Week Ever

This had to be one of the best weeks for my DVR ever. The Game Show Network has started showing the old black and white What's My Line at 3 AM weeknights. The Sundance Channel has gotten all Bravo and Logo-y with Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, a docu-series about straight women who are best friends with gay men. Batman had two of the campiest episodes ever--Hizzoner the Penquin, wherein the wily bird runs for Mayor of Gotham City; and The Devil's Fingers, the highest-rated Bat-episode ever because it starred Liberace. And to top it all off, the BEST Big Bang Theory yet with Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Raj, and Howard headed to the comic book store for a New Year's Eve party dressed as the Justice League of America. New regular Zack, Penny's current hunky substitute for Leonard, is drafted into playing Superman. The scene at the end was priceless with the comic book store owher dressed as Doctor Who No. 4 (Tom Baker) announcing the winner of the best costumed group as the JLA--and there are THREE JLAs.

Where to begin? WML is like taking a time machine back to the 1950s when Broadway and movie stars would drop by to fool the blindfolded panel who were in formal wear to play sophisticated parlor games. America knew what was playing on Broadway then and cared. Not like now when the only show people know about is Spider-Man.

The Sundance series is fun and growing on me. But the hot guys in the ads on the sides of the bus aren't even on the show and they are way hunkier than the regular subjects.

The Batman episodes were a hoot. In the Penquin show, the pompous waddling kingpin of crime runs for mayor of Gotham and the script satirizes Barry Goldwater, polls, TV commentators, debates, etc. At one point game show hosts like Dennis James and Allen Luden play political TV anchormen as the Dynamic Duo and Pengy fight a mob of crooks at a jeweler's convention. The commentators cover the bat-fight as if it's a political convention--get it?

The Liberace segments were beyond absurd with the swishy maestro romancing Aunt Harriet and flirting with a trio of gorgeous lady crooks.

Oh, and DADT was repealed. So it was a perfect week.

Scenes from the Life of an Amateur Comic Book Collector (18)--A Pro at Two Cons

It's been too long since my last blog post. A lot has been happening--there was a major event I had to organize for work followed by one of my collegues taking a long vacation, then me getting a sinus infection, etc. But enough whining. There were two bright spots--Big Apple Con Oct. 2, followed by Comic Con on Oct. 9. Last year, these two cons threatened to be held on the same weekend this year, but Big Apple Con backed off on that game of chicken and was a week earlier. Holding it in the Penn Plaza made it seem small compared to last year's huge event at Chelsea Piers. There was the usual washed-up celebs selling their autographs and photos to make their Medicare payments--Lee Majors, Adam West, Burt Ward, all three of the Brady boys, one of the kids from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Richard Anderson, Majors' co-star from 6 Million Dollar Man, even Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell.

The comic book pickings were pretty lean, I hoped a lot of dealers were waiting for Comic Con the following week. There was one dealer from Virginia who has some good deals with lots of Silver Age books at about $4-$5. One guy had plenty of stuff for $1; it was all Bronze Age and I was able to fill out the Fantastic Four holes.

The following week I got to Comic Con at the Javitz Center and there had to be at least 20,000 people. There weren't as many people in costume or as many interesting panels as previous years. I did see some repeat costumed people, like the same Batgirl, Black Canary and Green Arrow as at last year's Big Apple Con.

My friend Diane was there and she turned out to be a MacGyver when her sandal broke and she fixed it with a paper clip. The only celeb we saw was Carroll Spinney who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.

There were plenty of familiar superheroes including lots of Catwomen, Supermen, and Spidermen. There was one guy who had a giant inflatible TARDIS from Doctor Who on his head. But the coolest outfits had to belong to two fellows we encountered once we left the con and started to head to Ninth Ave. in search of a restaurant. They were Unemployed Man and the Master of Degrees, promoting their own graphic novel (pictured above). I asked if the guy in the college grad gown if he was supposed to be Mastermind, a villain from Justice League of America # 28 The Case of the Forbidden Superpowers, who dressed in a college cap and gown to denote his superior brain.

There were lots of great buys at Comic Con and I didn't spend any more than $3 on a book. I did buy Action #368 without realizing I already had it and that the copy was damaged with a rip through all the pages. On top of that I thought I was going to pay $1 for it, but the dealer said "That's a $2 book, it wound up in the $1 box." I should have said, "But it's in the $1 box, so I should have it for a buck." Too late now. The highlights were finding lots of Jack Kirby Capt. Americas, and some good Jimmy Olsens and Lois Lanes.