I love my fiancee

I just got my anniversary present from her. It's fucking awesome and I'm going to brag a bit right here. Every year The New Yorker does a series of classes, discussions, and such with prominent artists, writers, and thinkers. Lisa bought me tickets to three of the events this year. First, Anarchy and Animation, with Tad Friend, Brad Bird, Matt "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" Maliellaro, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Dave Willis. Awesome, right? Well, next comes Tony Ellis, Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and Charles Wood talk with Steve Martin: A Conversation in Music, about the banjo. I love banjo music. AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER! Next is the Master Class for the Graphic Novel with Charles Burns and Chris Ware.

Of course, I found out in a weird way. She took the pages that list them and ripped them up, putting the pieces for each in a different envelope. I got to put them together while Korean barbecue filled my nostrils. Dude! In two days I'll get to see Steve Martin and Chris Ware! How awesome is that?

I'm so pumped. It'll be in about a month. She's going with me to the first two. Yay for Lisa! Yay for me! Yay for the New Yorker! Yay for everything!

Finishing it in Pen

So I haven't talked much about the very bad comics being put out by DC for a while. Just don't see much point. The people that like it are so convinced that they like it (sometimes as a reaction to the people that don't like it) that they're not going to look at it critically, and the last thing I need is to slap high five with the rest of our pathetic little world. BUT, I was just browsing through Newsarama's interview with the great Dave Gibbons whereupon he said the following:

There were certain things that DC wanted to have happen, so it was a question of coming up with a framework that accommodated everything and then fleshing out the details. Things were crowded and intricate, and it often felt like compiling a crossword puzzle!

Which gives me the opportunity to say, "And reading their editorially-driven crossover books is about as fun as reading a finished crossword puzzle."

Exception to the Rule

You know I hate message boards. A more annoying group of people you'd be hard-pressed to find. But, lo and behold, CBR has had an ongoing thread about Seven Soldiers that has featured some interesting analysis. I don't necessarily buy into some of the layering they're talking about, but thinking about only enriches your experience. So enjoy one of the only good message board things ever.