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I wish my reason for missing FCBD 2024 was so productive.
Yeah, I missed out on this year’s Free Comic Book Day, but in my case the monthly shopping trip wiped me out. I think I did something to my knee. So I was too tired to go, hence no live-tweet readthroughs. I’m hoping the ones I wanted are at least available digitally at some point. In fact, one has and I’ll review that on Tuesday. And it will be a short return of Ninja Turtles Tuesday!
Meanwhile, in this week’s Clutter Report I discussed the Fraggle Rock Classics volume 1 trade I used to review Star’s Fraggle Rock the past few weeks. It’s a retool of the original review I did here, with some extra comments so if you read the original version there’s more to see here.
In addition to Teenage Mutants returning, we have another chapter of Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders for Chapter By Chapter, and the last of the rookie police version of Dan “Blue Beetle” Garret. Really hoping it ends on a high note before we transition to archeologist Dan Garrett. Otherwise we’ll just see what happens. Have a great week, everyone!
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WARNING: Tonight’s Showcase contains swearing and a couple scenes of brief upper female nudity, though not by our characters. You’ll understand when you see it. This one is NOT for the kiddies, folks!
In an article earlier this week I mentioned an anime series called Gokusen, the rare case of a story involving gangsters–specifically the Japanese Yakuza–I actually enjoy. Remembering that sent me searching for a place this was streaming. It doesn’t appear to be streaming anyplace legally, not even behind a paywall. I can find the movie and a recent live-action series, but since I was talking about how animated productions can be good and not just for kids, that was the version I wanted to check out. It’s also the one I was introduced to the franchise with when it aired on Starz many years ago. Deciding more eyes should be on this show, I decided to make this tonight’s Showcase.
Based on the manga by Kozueko Morimoto, Gokusen follows the story of Kumiko Yamaguchi, a rookie teacher and one of two assigned to an all boys school of delinquents from the looks of things. She comes off as a bit of a bubblehead, but it’s an act. Yamaguchi is the “ojou” (translates to “young lady”) of her family business…which just happens to be a Yakuza clan. Her dream is to be a teacher, but she tones down the fact that she can kick your butt into next Tuesday if you mess with her students. Her clan is supportive, her classroom and the vice-principal not so much. Also she has a dog that doesn’t necessarily talk but we do hear his thoughts.
Tonight I bring you episode 1 in two forms, as I like to do because some people prefer the dubbed to the subtitled. The dubbed is up first, but you can watch the subtitled version (that’s the second video down) to get a handle on the text that isn’t translated later. Either way, it’s Yamaguchi and her fellow teaching lady’s first week at the school. With a vice-principal who clearly spent too much time in the defense force, a teacher with a sexy side, her issues at home as the ojo as her brothers want her to take over when grandfather dies (the parents passed away), and a bunch of upper classmen run by an expelled student wanting to beat up one of her students, can she keep her identity a secret from the school, when one of them is already suspicious? Enjoy.
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Today is Free Comic Book Day, an event run usually by Diamond Comic Distributors to make up for all the crap they pull the rest of the year on smaller comic stores and to small publishers and even the big ones. I still haven’t forgotten how they talked a number of big publishers into an exclusive contract and killed Advanced Comics, which was actually a good distributor. However, there’s another killing going on this year, the last year the origin place of Free Comic Book Day is being forced to move.
Joe Field, columnist for Comics And Games Retailer first proposed the event in 2001, with the first event happening the following year and now takes place on the first Saturday in May. He’s also the owner of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, California. Well, the owners of the property his story is currently located wants to replace his store with a bagel shop and is keeping the landlord from renewing his lease. I guess they just really like bagels or really hate comics. Possibly both. It’s a sad bit of news, but this may be his last Free Comic Book Day unless he finds a new locale for his store. Kind of a jerk move.
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Think how the store owners feel.
May the fourth is once again Free Comic Book Day. Tomorrow as this goes out comic book stores will have special free comics (don’t be like that guy) available. The intention is to get more people reading comics by showing comics are great…though given some of the offerings lately it sometimes feel like they used to be great. Let’s just say under writers, artists, and editors who actually care about what they’re doing comics have been great and could be again if we ditched the activists and the people who think Cocomellon needs to be more grimdark, more violent, and less for kids because @#$% kids, they want gore and titties! Except breasts are evil these days or something.
Remember, your local comic store pays for those free comics they make no money off of. This is why I encourage any of you going each year to BUY SOMETHING! Bags and boards for your free comics, something off the shelves, something out of the back issue bins, the dollar bins, the collectables…just try to make this day profitable for the comic stores, dang it! They’re hurting right now because there is so much mediocrity to crap they’re having trouble selling. It’s like the video game burst of the 1980s. And just like those games, the corporations who see these as nothing more than IP to the “important” media of movies and television/streaming don’t really care. So give your local comic store–if you have one anymore–a helping hand this Saturday.
Which is why I’m not sure if I’m going to go given my current lack of finances. If I go it will be more to get advice on selling the comics in my Clutter For Sale list over at The Clutter Reports and just getting out of the house for something other than a doctor. Still, I have gone over this year’s Free Comic Book Day catalog, which sadly has fewer previews than usual, and while the list of what I’m interested in is short, here’s what I’ll try to get if I go.
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Dan’s side gig as a home renovator did not work out very well.
Blue Beetle #59
Fox Feature Syndicate (June, 1950)
The penultimate issue in this run. It’s too bad because since the comic’s return it’s been more like what I was hoping for when Fox regained the license last time. Not perfect, but the doc is back (with the wrong name but Kranz is meant to be our long missing pal Dr Franz, who gave Dan his superstrength), Dan’s powers aren’t all over the place, and the trio is still together. No Sparky/Spunky. No “true crime” segment. And no Otis, which means the stories were fair to actually good. I’m all for that. Let’s see if this issue continued that trend.
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I posted the previous video they mentioned, the Police Box’s actual history.
BW Media Spotlight 