The Ineffable Me

Give The Gift Of Comics

2011-12-05T13:59:00.001-05:00

The twenty-ninth installment of my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

The front page...

The jump page...

Comic Book Road Trip

2011-11-08T14:25:00.001-05:00

The twenty-eighth installment of my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

Assessing The New 52

2011-10-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

The twenty-seventh installment of my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

DCU Reboot - Week 1: Redux

2011-09-17T14:57:00.045-04:00

Eh, I don't think that's the right use of the word "Redux."

But regardless, before I begin writing about DC's second week of rebooted releases, I figured I'd follow up on my last blog post with these thoughts:

Action Comics #1

ACTION COMICS
Action Comics #1 was better than I expected. It kept me interested in Superman the whole way through! And I'm not a Superman guy! I am, however, a Grant Morrison fan, as well as a sucker for anything about journalists, which has always been that one tiny little hook to hold my interest when it comes to Clark Kent, Lois Lane and The Daily Planet.

Anyway, Action Comics #1 did not disappoint. It was interesting to see another take on Superman's early years by Grant Morrison. The character's still kind of a pompous dick, but his motives seem a little different here. He's more an antihero, caring not for the proper channels and instead doing things his way as he believes they should be done.

I think what I liked the most about the comic was the twist on his powers. He hasn't fully come into them by the start of the comic. He can't fly, but he can leap tall buildings. He's not impervious to pain, but he can stop speeding bullets. Oh, and he's just about as powerful as a locomotive.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Men Of War was one of the last comics from Week 1 that I read and I was pleasently surprised with it. I didn't realize it was a Sgt. Rock comic. I know little of the character, other than the Sgt. Rock story in DC's Wednesday Comics collection. It reminded me a little bit of Vertigo's Weird War Tales. Although, maybe that was just due to the inclusion of an unnamed superhuman in the lead story and the fact that there was more than one story in the book. Sadly, this is not something I'll probably end up buying. And admitting that fact's painful because, surprisingly, this is something I really enjoyed reading despite not being a military guy or into war comics in general... This was just an all around decent, really well-written comic that I'd like to read but probably won't ever pick up again. Same goes for so many others of the DC Reboot so far: Swamp Thing, Stormwatch, Animal Man... I really enjoyed these first issues (and might have to buy them in trades), I just can't afford them as monthly titles. I mean, I've really become a fan of Jeff Lemire's work, but I just had to cancel my monthly subscription to Sweet Tooth. I looked back and realized not only do I have the series's entire run so far in comics, but I've also got all the trades (which I don't regret owning the double format, I just can't afford to keep buying so much every week).

DCU Reboot - Week 1

2011-09-13T16:06:00.004-04:00

As my last post explained in great detail, there have been some changes at DC Comics.

Detective Comics #1

DC is in the midst of relaunching its comics line with 52 new number 1 issues, the first 13 of which came out last Wednesday.

What follows are some thoughts on a a few of those first 13 titles to come out.

DETECTIVE COMICS
Tony S. Daniel began his Batman work as the artist for Grant Morrison's "Batman, R.I.P." run... which... was pretty awesome. After "Batman, R.I.P." came "Battle For The Cowl" which Daniel both wrote and drew. The news that he'd be taking over Detective Comics as a title from Scott Snyder didn't have me as excited as the fact that Snyder was still staying on as the writer for DC's Batman title. I liked "Battle For The Cowl" alright and everything, but it just didn't have the same heft as Snyder's recent work on Detective Comics. Maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact that "Battle For The Cowl" was a bridge between two points and so Daniel was a little limited in the story he had to to tell.

This first issue of the new Detective Comics shows a much different Daniel than I remember from those "Battle For The Cowl" books he wrote. He knocks it out of the park here. I thought I'd be sick of reading joker stories after everything Grant Morrison's done in recent years and the Batman/Joker imposters which was in Detective Comics and the movies and all the canonical Joker stuff and blah blah blah. But I was wrong. This first issue of the new Detective Comics is a serious success.

BATGIRL

Batgirl #1

Barbara Gordon is back in the Batgirl costume. And she's walking! And, honestly, for all the pre-release blah blah blahing everyone did about taking Barbara Gordon out of the wheel chair and putting her back in the Batgirl costume (and even though I understand those thoughts and concerns)... this turned out alright. And why wouldn't it? It's got Gail Simone writing it. And that's an Adam Fucking Hughes cover, which, as long as the quality of this first issue continues (cover and story-wise. I realize Hughes isn't the inside artist.)... I'm on board as a regular reader.

I thought there'd be more of an explanation as to why Barbara's walking again, but I really like that Simone sort of sidestepped the issue. Maybe I have to go back and re-read the book, but it seemed like this is taking place on an alternate timeline separate from the path she'd been on in recent years in the DCU. This is three years after the shooting and apparently the wound wasn't so bad that a little time and physical therapy couldn't get her up and walking. Unless I'm missing something. She obviously spent years in the wheel chair, but this first issue finds Barbara moving out from living with her father and into a new single life -- which holds some promise of conflict, such as keeping her quirky new roomate from finding out she's Batgirl. Plus there's the seeds of a lot of unresolved issues she's still yet to deal with as a result of the Joker shooting from "The Killing Joke." Maybe most of all, the thing I loved about this first issue is the little nod Gail Simone threw in to the fact that this is an adult Barbara Gordon reprising her "Bat-girl" role. The opening scene where she's saving a married couple from killers and the woman says: "Thank you Batwoman!" That was priceless.

BATWING

Batwing #1

This first issue of Batwing was better than I thought it would be. Of course maybe that's just because, with all the many thing's DC's had to promote of late, the Batwing character and this new title really hasn't been on my rader all that much. Here's a character who has roots in Grant Morrison's "Batman, Inc." idea, but really wasn't a major player in that comic at all (from what I remember). So, going in, I really didn't have any expectations for Batwing #1, which is maybe why it seemed exceptional to me. More than likely though it was equal parts that and Judd Winick.

This first issue offers an easy introduction to the character as well as an interesting and compelling first storyline. Winick not only expertly crafts an easy-to-get-into first issue introducing us to this new character, but also gives us a flavor of his world, introduces us to his supporting cast members and creeps us out with an original new villain. Batwing's world feels both familiar and new, coming across as essentially an African continent version of Gotham City. A lot of the familiar elements present in Gotham are here in Batwing's world, the names and faces are just different -- the game's still the same.

If I had one criticism of Batwing, it would be Batman's presence throughout this first book. Of course, if Batman were absent entirely, I'd surely be making the opposite argument.

DC Wants You!

2011-09-07T15:01:00.000-04:00

The twenty-sixth installment of my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

The front page...

The jump page...

Glorious Time For Geeks

2011-09-02T19:16:00.001-04:00

Last month's August column marked 25 installments of "Nerding Out" for The Post-Journal:

The column printed Sunday, Aug. 7, but I'm just getting around to posting it now because I just finished up this Sunday's September installment.

Hello, World

2011-08-01T01:06:00.004-04:00

Why Not Be A Writer?

2011-07-25T15:34:00.001-04:00

Heh. Yeah...

All Fired Up

2011-07-20T21:47:00.000-04:00

Finally fired up the Char-Broil last night:

Kind of wishing I would've taken pictures of the dinner I cooked.

My lady picked up some pre-made burgers from Wegmans, two-packs of jalapeno cheese burgers and mushroom swiss burgers. Plus she bought some chicken and veggie kabobs which came out decent, but not as good as the burgers.

So, all-in-all, the grill's inaugural cook-out was a success.

I think I'm going to call her Big Black.

Now all I need to do is get some financial backing from either Char-Broil or Wegmans for all the free promotion I'm going to be doing on this blog.

All Finished And Ready For Fire

2011-07-18T15:53:00.000-04:00

Finally got around to finishing this last night:

My Wife Bought Us A Grill

2011-07-12T15:40:00.003-04:00

It's a combo grill and smoker:

It's almost assembled.

Serious Business, Motherfuckers!

2011-07-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

Mondaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Nerding Out Over HBO

2011-07-10T15:46:00.023-04:00

The July issue of "Nerding Out" was published in both The Post-Journal and The Observer last Sunday:

Oh, and did I mention it was the twenty-fourth installment of the monthly column? No? Well, that's two-year's worth, bitches!

Double Rainbow At The Mall

2011-06-23T18:37:00.006-04:00

Forget everything else I've said today. I just saw a rainbow:

James Brown/Jamestown

2011-06-15T19:49:00.001-04:00

So, I was just on Twitter (killing time instead of working)... And someone posted about how the words "James Brown" and "Jamestown" sound similar.

Rather than actually get to work, I decided to dig this out of the archives:

CONTINUED

This might be the start of a massive archival project that I don't really have time for, but would be fun (and probably should do anyway).

Good Advice. I Think I'll Take It.

2011-05-24T17:26:00.000-04:00

This Is How I Work

2011-05-09T13:23:00.000-04:00

Yep.

Nerding Out With Roger Stern

2011-05-02T15:37:00.001-04:00

The twenty-second installment of “Nerding Out With Nick Dean” ran yesterday in both The Post-Journal and The Observer:

Last Month's 'Nerding Out'

2011-05-01T14:34:00.001-04:00

The twenty-first installment of “Nerding Out With Nick Dean” ran in both The Post-Journal and The Observer last month:

Yep. Just... Yep.

2011-04-26T00:52:00.001-04:00

Yeah, You're In It

2011-04-19T17:56:00.001-04:00

I've got one of these books in my desk here at work:

And I keep another 'on my person' when I'm up working the other job two nights a week.

Following up on yesterday's post...

2011-03-31T09:01:00.005-04:00

I just have to say this:

So, this just happened...

2011-03-30T16:34:00.001-04:00

Truthfully, the possibility of having to work Saturday reared its head yesterday, but I was hoping against hope that the meeting I've now got to cover was going to get scheduled for Friday. Ah, well... All such news is best delivered by kittens in ties.

Another Day...

2011-03-29T12:58:00.000-04:00

Not really feeling all that bad today. This is just priceless and I want it saved here for future use:

And I know today's not a Monday, but I'm labeling it as such.

Just Another Manic Monday

2011-03-21T20:04:00.002-04:00

Yep.

Following Up On Yesterday's Post

2011-03-16T10:50:00.018-04:00

Had the urge to post something like this after putting that video of my lady up on YouTube the other day:

A reblog here on Blogger from someone on Tumblr. Comically Vintage, I think.

My Lady Knows More About 'Star Wars' Than I Do

2011-03-15T15:30:00.006-04:00

My lady and I went to Fan Expo in Toronto last August.

I posted about it at the time, but had forgotten about this video until I found it yesterday and uploaded it to YouTube:

I think this may have been from the first day we were there. We were overwhelmed. It was pretty crowded and crazy and colorful and a whole lot of other things.

Writing About Zombies

2011-03-08T14:26:00.002-05:00

The twentieth installment of “Nerding Out With Nick Dean” was published this past Sunday in both The Post-Journal and The Observer:

I really do wish I had the time to write more intensive blog posts. But I don't... 'cause I spend that time writing massive columns like this.

Hello, Monday

2011-03-07T10:03:00.011-05:00

Another week of chasing that ever uncatchable red dot is here:

Yeah, That Happens Sometimes

2011-03-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

Poor reporter. Not gonna lie, I've typed jibberish a time or two:

Another Show Poster For Escape Tower

2011-03-04T19:40:00.001-05:00

I'm not an artist or anything. I just like designing shit like this for people I like and causes I support (such as rock 'n' effing roll):

Plus I just recently plowed through the first four trade paperbacks of The Walking Dead, so... Y'know... That was a factor in this.

Also, Dude, Chinaman Is Not The Preferred Nomenclature

2011-02-24T15:12:00.008-05:00

That's some practical joke!

Escape Tower's Got A Website Now

2011-02-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

Goddamn, I feel like their promoter or something.

The site is EscapeTower.com.

At right is the cover of their CD, which will be released Saturday, March 12 at Mojo's.

A Flier I Made

2011-02-22T12:39:00.001-05:00

For a show coming up:

Today Is Monday

2011-02-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

And it snowed last night:

Another Workweek's (Almost) At Its End

2011-02-18T10:43:00.015-05:00

Now if I can just make it through today, then tending bar tomorrow night...

New Review Up At Skyscraper

2011-02-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

I logged onto Twitter today to see that Skyscraper had tweeted a link to a new CD review of mine for the magazine's newly-relaunched site.

The review's of Male Bonding's Nothing Hurts out on Sub Pop. It's a 2010 release, but was one of my favorites from last year... hence the late review.

The link's above and right here: LINK!

Poor Reporter

2011-02-10T09:46:00.004-05:00

I can see how he mixed those two up...

Saw it on Neil Gaiman's Twitter the other day.

A Tale of Two Press Releases

2011-02-09T13:45:00.002-05:00

The nineteenth installment of “Nerding Out With Nick Dean” was published this past Sunday:

In The Post-Journal: Link

In The Observer: Link

Marvel Movies And Super Bowl Commercials

2011-02-08T08:52:00.015-05:00

I posted this yesterday over at my two newspaper blogs (at both The Post-Journal's and The Observer's sites):

FORGET FOOTBALL:
The fact that there was a game on last night took backseat to pizza, wings, adult beverages and commercials (as it always does and should every year).

And as is expected of the Monday morning following the Super Bowl, there's a great many round-ups online today of all the ads that premiered last night.

Suspiciously absent though are two in particular: Marvel's "Thor" and "Captain America" trailers.

The best things about last night? Probably not, but they were definitely up there.

THOR:

CAPTAIN AMERICA:

And in terms of actual commercials though, this one was pretty good:

Writers vs. Readers

2011-02-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

This is a little something that sits framed on my desk here at the newspaper:

A gift from the mother-in-law.

Portrait of a Man with a Newspaper

2011-02-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

Today's Friday. The work week continues for me today (and tomorrow). The second day in a row of double shift (newspaper and bar) today. Not complaining, just recording the details for posterity's sake.

And now for a little French Fauvism on this Friday:

Portrait of a Man with a Newspaper, 1911-1914. André Derain.

Three More From The H&N Council

2011-02-03T11:01:00.017-05:00

Last week I posted about The H&N Council.

What follows are three more fake public service announcements from my co-worker Heather Felton and I.

Well, the first one was a collaboration between her and I like the last three I posted, but the other two, about V8 and back hair, are all pure Felton genius.

Quality stuff. It's a shame though, I don't think that first one will ever make it into print now.

The P-J TV Club: Mike Frank Watches iCarly

2011-02-02T09:40:00.006-05:00

The third and final (at least so far) episode of The P-J TV Club, wrapping up my posts from yesterday and Monday:

The P-J TV Club: Mike Frank Watches iCarly

The P-J TV Club: Sallie Doesn't Like Oprah

2011-02-01T10:48:00.008-05:00

Following up on yesterday's first post about The P-J TV Club, I figured I'd post the second episode today:

The P-J TV Club: Sallie Doesn't Like Oprah

The P-J TV Club

2011-01-31T14:01:00.004-05:00

Downtime does sometimes happen in newsrooms.

Not sure if it happens more here at The Post-Journal than other newsrooms, but I've been lucky enough to capture a couple of our many random conversations on video in the last few weeks.

And thus was born The P-J TV Club. This one's called "Obama Ruined TV" and was the first one to be made. For most of the regular visitors to my blog here, I'm sure this is a repeat as it's been on YouTube and was already posted to Facebook. More to come as the week progresses:

The P-J TV Club: Obama Ruined TV

The H&N Council

2011-01-26T22:53:00.005-05:00

The Scene is a bi-weekly entertainment magazine published by The Post-Journal.

I used to write pretty regularly for it when I was the entertainment reporter, but my output's been pretty infrequent since I took over the county beat.

In lieu of written work lately though, I've been helping create fake P.S.A. announcements with my co-worker Heather -- who's the person in charge of actually putting the magazine together every other week.

Here's this issue's, which should be out in bars and businesses around Chautauqua County tomorrow:

One day a few months back, I had a whole bunch of ideas of things to do for The Scene. Of those ideas, this is the one that really hit the ground running, so to speak.

Heather came up with the first few, which are amazing and which I'll post here sometime if I still have 'em around. But like the one above, these next few stem from a collaboration of my suggested text and her art/design/layout skills:

As the logo on each implies, we're the H&N Council -- The Heather and Nick Council. For the duration of The Scene's life up until this point, when there's been ad space to fill with public service announcements, the space would always just get filled with stuff from The Ad Council, which is always pretty straight-forward, moral, positive, logical, uplifting messages. Then one day we realized we could make the same sort of stuff with a little bit different of a bent... And thus was born The H&N Council... Though up until now, we've been kind of anonymous.

Blog Poll About Entertainment

2011-01-25T15:37:00.001-05:00

I posted a blog entry and entertainment poll today on The Post-Journal's website.

The blog can be found here and the poll can be found here.

2011's already been so busy in terms of entertainment news, I figured I'd post a poll with some of the news that broke this month... From Christopher Nolan's casting choices and Stan Lee's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to today's Oscar nominees.

That's Catwoman at right, drawn by Adam Hughes. I keep flip-flopping on how I feel about Anne Hathaway getting cast as Selina Kyle, though I fully trust Christopher Nolan. Tom Hardy's gonna be bad ass, though, that much is for sure.

This bird was outside the office the other day...

2011-01-21T15:44:00.000-05:00

It's a hawk, maybe? Neat shit though...

Skyscraper Magazine

2011-01-11T15:10:00.005-05:00

The new website for Skyscraper Magazine is officially online.

I've got two pieces currently up on the site, one a review of the CD "King of the Beach" by Wavves and the other a review of Dash Shaw's graphic novel "Body World." I've attached links below.

If you check the "Staff & Contributors" page, I'm listed as Graphic Novels Editor... which is awesome and exciting. I'm looking forward to generating some quality reviews and features about current graphic novels as well as some interviews with creators and publishers.

Wavves, King of the Beach: Link
Body World, by Dash Shaw: Link

Buyer's Remorse

2011-01-04T12:56:00.002-05:00

The eighteenth installment of “Nerding Out With Nick Dean” was published this past Sunday:

In The Post-Journal: Link
In The Observer: Link

So You Want To Be A Journalist?

2010-12-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

Hobnobbing With The Hobgoblin

2010-12-08T10:17:00.004-05:00

The seventeenth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in the Sunday, Dec. 5 edition of The Post-Journal:

Thinking About Big Julie

2010-12-07T13:51:00.002-05:00

It's been almost two years now since Julius died.

Julius was a cat I had for a couple of years. He was big and fat... and a hell of a bastard. But I loved him. And I hated him.

He passed away in December of 2008. I blogged about it at the time, at the old Ineffablog, back before I re-did the layout and colors and everything.

Just saw this pic from "Pineapple Express" and he came to mind:

The Office's 3-D X-Mas Tree

2010-12-05T22:04:00.003-05:00

Another pic of our office's 3-D X-mas Tree!

Now in 3-D 3-D!

2010 Office Christmas Tree

2010-12-02T15:49:00.001-05:00

Now in 3-D!

Beware Of Attack Bartender

2010-11-24T16:05:00.003-05:00

Watch Out!

Nice People

2010-11-23T15:05:00.002-05:00

The Theory Of Hipster Relativity

2010-11-18T15:11:00.000-05:00

That unicorn's fucking killing me. Every time!

Bruce Wayne Is Back

2010-11-08T15:26:00.013-05:00

The sixteenth installment of my monthly comic book column, "Nerding Out With Nick Dean," ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

The front page...

The jump page...

Wednesday Night Noise Show

2010-10-21T14:26:00.001-04:00

Went to BJ's in Fredonia after work last night to see AIDS Wolf.

This is what it looked like:

That picture, though, makes it seem more subdued than it actually was.

The show sounded more like this:

So, I guess this is probably the better visual representation:

Can't wait to see what Goetz shot.

My last post about WOMEN (for a while at least), I promise

2010-10-14T15:08:00.003-04:00

Justin Goetz is awesome.

More so, maybe, than the last time I posted (if that's possible).

Dude's got a bunch more pics from the WOMEN show at Mojo's up at his Flickr:

To see the others up at his Flickr, click HERE.

Justin Goetz Is My Hero

2010-10-07T02:15:00.001-04:00

Justin Goetz has two photos up at his Tumblr from the WOMEN show Monday at Mojo's.

Lavish attention upon him.

Spider-Man, A Standoff And Stickers

2010-10-06T16:49:00.000-04:00

The fifteenth installment of my monthly comic book column, "Nerding Out With Nick Dean," ran in this past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

Very Good Show Last Night

2010-10-05T15:08:00.005-04:00

After what felt like months of waiting, Women played Jamestown last night:

It was the band's second time playing Mojo's. It was a very good show. Much different from their first locally.

Continuing To Count The Days

2010-10-01T17:36:00.009-04:00

I talked with Pat Flegel of Women for a few minutes the other day.

From the interview I pieced together the above YouTube video, as well as the following print stories:

CD Review: Link
Interview Article: Link

And here's articles as they appeared on the Thursday entertainment page:

Less Than A Week Away

2010-09-28T20:05:00.000-04:00

Janelle Monae at Town Ballroom in Buffalo

2010-09-21T15:31:00.001-04:00

This is not my photo.

Nor is it a photo from the show Sunday.

It felt like my lady and I had been waiting for this concert all summer. That's probably because we bought tickets way back when the show was first announced. First tickets bought. Last show of the summer.

Amazing time.

We bailed only a couple of songs into Of Montreal's set and had a late dinner at J.P. Bullfeathers. Got home 'round like 2 a.m. Got up for work at like 7:30 a.m. Worked like 12 hours yesterday for some odd reason and then started The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus. Should've taken a mental health day today.

Logos for the band Escape Tower

2010-09-16T17:38:00.002-04:00

Instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour last night, I stayed up until like 3 a.m. drinking Southern Tier Harvest and designing logos for the band Escape Tower, which they can use or not use... I just wanted to try my hand at it.

The results:

OBEY: Freedom of the Press

2010-09-15T18:50:00.002-04:00

Anyone looking for a birthday present to get me this Halloween need look no further than this OBEY print which Shepard Fairey just tweeted about:

16 x 11″ Screen Print. Signed and Numbered Edition of 300. The official poster of “Printed Matters” a solo exhibition featuring the work of Shepard Fairey at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles from Sept. 16th through Oct. 9th. To be released Sept. 17th.

Nerding Out: Geeks Go North

2010-09-14T12:25:00.003-04:00

The fourteenth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in the Sunday, Sept. 5 edition of The Post-Journal:

Fan Expo 2010: Pics And Criticism

2010-09-02T15:08:00.003-04:00

I updated my blogs at The Post-Journal and The Observer yesterday about Fan Expo. Click those links to read the posts.

Truthfully, they're the same post (and will be the basis of my column this weekend), but the pictures are different on each site.

And just for posterity's sake, I figured I'd post some more photos from the weekend here:

Robin, the not-such-a-boy-anymore wonder.

A steampunk dude.

Some She-Hulks.

The autograph area.

The DC booth.

Fan Expo 2010: Jeff Lemire

2010-09-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

Jeff Lemire was kind enough to pose with one of my "Nerding Out" stickers while at Fan Expo this past weekend:

Lemire is an award-winning Canadian cartoonist who both writes and draws the comic Sweet Tooth for Vertigo each month.

He's also the author of the Essex County Trilogy and The Nobody, but Sweet Tooth was my introduction to his work.

I wrote about Sweet Tooth way back when the first issue hit store shelves. You can read that column by clicking HERE!

Fan Expo: Here Comes The Criticism

2010-08-31T13:58:00.005-04:00

I said it last post and I'm sure I'll say it again, Fan Expo had its ups and downs.

So it was really no surprise when I read on Comic Book Resources today that "fans are fuming over the mismanaged event."

The Toronto Star has the story HERE.

Sadly, I couldn't get a very good shot of the Sunday line to get in. Taking a pic of the Saturday line never even occurred to me, as I was more focused on trying to pick up my lady's ticket and find the media entrance in:

Fan Expo 2010

2010-08-30T16:15:00.009-04:00

Spent the weekend in Toronto for Fan Expo 2010.

So much awesomeness. So much lameness. So much money spent. Not to mention the so very, very many smelly people and awkward/angry/annoying situations. But there were some Fan Expo Miracles, as my lady called them. So, all-in-all, I guess it was a success.

More to come as I finish processing it all. The trip will be the focus of my "Nerding Out" column this weekend. It was a whirlwind few days, driving up Friday night and coming back Sunday afternoon.

I took a bunch of pictures, but not as many as I had thought I would. Such is the reality of being practically immobile in the middle of so many people:

Preparing For Fan Expo

2010-08-24T18:54:00.001-04:00

Everything is coming together.

My application for press credentials was approved last week. My Saturday shift just got covered yesterday. Plus now my wife’s Deluxe Pass is paid for.

All that together means I’m going to Toronto, Canada this weekend for Fan Expo:

Nerding Out Stickers!

2010-08-23T17:55:00.004-04:00

Tim Garvey of Suburban Blend just dropped off some stickers I ordered from him late last week. Great turnaround time!

The Palace Theatre in Lockport, N.Y.

2010-08-18T23:07:00.004-04:00

Saw "Scott Pilgrim" Tonight

2010-08-15T23:53:00.002-04:00

Enjoyable, but a little bit of a let-down.

Everything the previews and advance press promised, but little else.

Plenty of colorful eyecandy moments and sweet action sequences, I just felt it lacked something. Don’t know what exactly, though. Something more than the inevitable conclusion it built to, I guess.

I enjoyed it for all its quirks more so than the straightforward “boy-goes-after-girl” plot — the gaming noises, the sitcom noises, Kieran Culkin, Johnny Simmons and all the interesting scene changes and whatnot.

Tears For Fears in Lockport, N.Y.

2010-08-14T17:21:00.005-04:00

So what if The Buffalo news got better shots of the Tears For Fears concert last night.

Those stage shots don't reflect my experience, hanging out near the beer truck amongst a great many and diverse peoples:

Here's the writeup they published today.

We were walking down the sidewalk to the show as the band started with "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." They later closed their set with "Head Over Heels" and then came back out to do "Shout" for their encore.

Middle Finger At Mojo's

2010-08-11T15:36:00.003-04:00

Probably the best picture of the 300-and-some-odd shots I took at Mojo's the other night.

Thankfully, I only took a total of two liquid shots. Both Jameson. Stupid me kept changing up my types of drinks throughout the night. That's always a recipe for disaster.

Nerding Out: One Year Later...

2010-08-10T14:41:00.010-04:00

The thirteenth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in the Sunday, Aug. 8 edition of The Post-Journal:

How Not To Make Friends In Bars

2010-08-09T15:52:00.003-04:00

What follows is a short video I made with footage I found on my camera Saturday morning. I didn't remember shooting this (or getting slapped) until I woke up the next day and checked out everything that was on my memory card.

Yeah, it was one of those Friday night's:

Focus On Escape Tower

2010-08-05T16:46:00.007-04:00

Today's edition of The Post-Journal has a feature I wrote about the band Escape Tower.

It's been a long while since my name has appeared in the paper's "Focus On Entertainment" section, which I kind of created a few years back. Or, more precisely, which I kind of badgered my editors into creating for the paper.

Either way, I was responsible for the weekly page of content for a while. Now another writer named Dave Emke is doing it.

It felt good to write the piece about Escape Tower. Ever since Geek Monthly folded and I switched from the entertainment beat to county and state government, I haven't been doing much entertainment writing -- other than my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column.

The full text of the article is online HERE at The Post-Journal's website.

I also mentioned it in my last "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column for The Dunkirk OBSERVER , which can be found online HERE. It's different from the column which ran in The Post-Journal, as it usually is each month. One would think they'd be the same, but I send the column up to Dunkirk a day earlier (a week in the case of this month's column), so, as is my style, I usually re-write my stuff almost entirely upon second and third review. So, sorry to Dunkirk-area readers... You get the rough drafts.

Best Coast - Crazy For You

2010-08-04T22:12:00.009-04:00

Everything about Best Coast's full-length debut was instantly familiar.

Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind for it, binging recently on a diet of doo wop and women like Linda Scott and Connie Stevens.

Even now, a week since its release, I'm still listening to it obsessively. Still choosing it over the scruffy, distorted EPs I've come to love in the recent months leading up to this full-length release.

Sure, it can be somewhat annoying trying to fall asleep with Bethany Cosentino's voice singing "I wish he was my boyfriend" over and over in your mind. Then waking up to it. But it's a small cost. The album's great. And that's how catchy it is.

UPDATE: 2/9/11
A review I wrote of this album is online at Skyscraper Magazine's website: HERE.

Billy Corgan's Still A Dick (No Surprise There)

2010-07-31T15:10:00.006-04:00

Just read through the new issue of Rolling Stone with Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover.

Andy Greene has a short piece about The Smashing Pumpkins having kicked off their new world tour at the House of Blues in Cleveland.

The piece ends with this choice quote:

As they get ready to leave, (new bassist Nicole Fiorentino) reminds Corgan of a girl propositioning him all night. "I've never fucked a girl in a bandanna," he said onstage. Corgan chuckles at the memory: "Hot girl in Cleveland is definitely not a hot girl in L.A."

Sure, there's probably some truth to it. And I'm not going to lie, I can imagine my friends and I saying similar (and far worse) stuff. But still, the dude's a dick.

I think my real issue is that quote taken in conjunction with this one from earlier in the article:

"Half of those fucking jerkos would have my playing all of Siamese Dream," he says. "They're stuck in 1993."

Now, I hate people who are stuck in the past just as much as the next guy. But just because you've changed since Siamese Dream, doesn't mean you've changed for the better, Billy.

I don't think the dude was as much of an asshole a decade ago. I mean, sure, he had the ego. But there's also a reason those early albums resonated with so many people. The age of everybody in the band. Where they were from. What was happening in the world. The state of music. I don't think Corgan could write Siamese Dream these days. Or anything able to speak to any subset of music listeners like he once did. He's been too famous for too long. He's apparently traded in who he used to be for gold-digging L.A. girls.

Quit touring (or at least, quit bitching about touring) and just go back to the West Coast and Jessica Simpson.

On Seeing Rasputina For The Third Time

2010-07-28T16:19:00.006-04:00

Drove to Pittsburgh to see Rasputina play Mr. Smalls on Sunday.

People need to stop shouting for "Wicked Dickie."

Seriously, it's a waste of all our time and Melora's talent. She's got much better songs in her repertoire.

Now if the rest of her new band could just pull 'em off, that would be great.

The show was decent. The trip as a whole was a great time, with some minor annoyances thrown in. But all in all, a great time.

Show highlights: Rose K., High On Life, Melora playing my request (Hunter's Kiss) and their cover of the song "Teenange Kicks."

Hayley Williams on the cover of the new SPIN

2010-07-22T14:26:00.006-04:00

The first issue of a gift subscription to SPIN (which my lady and I were given as a wedding present) came Tuesday night.

I haven't cracked it open yet, but Hayley Williams of the band Paramore is quoted on the cover saying:

"Sexy doesn't have to be a tan blonde girl showing off her goodies."

Of course it doesn't, Hayley. It can also be you leaking a topless picture of yourself to the Internet. That was awesome.

Nerding Out: June 2010 - Part 2

2010-07-20T15:29:00.004-04:00

The second of two YouTube videos I made from my June "Nerding Out" column. I think, in the future, I'll make sure to keep 'em under 10 minutes so I don't run into this problem again.

Nerding Out: June 2010 Video

2010-07-08T16:23:00.007-04:00

What follows is my first attempt at a video version of my "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" column, which runs monthly in both The Post-Journal and The Dunkirk OBSERVER.

I've been playing around with Mac's iMovie program in recent months, making news videos for The Post-Journal... and eventually decided to try my hand at something more interesting (to me at least) than county committee meetings.

Wednesday Comics

2010-06-30T21:01:00.013-04:00

The eleventh installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in the Sunday, June 6th edition of The Post-Journal:

I Don't Ever Want To Be Right

2010-06-10T14:47:00.002-04:00

A Comic Book Wonderland

2010-05-03T16:18:00.012-04:00

The tenth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" was published this past Sunday in The Post-Journal:

The front page...

The jump page...

Free Comic Book Day 2010

2010-04-26T15:00:00.004-04:00

From Saturday's edition of The Post-Journal:

Not exactly "Nerding Out With Nick Dean," but it's still a full weekend page focused on comic books. The 10th installment of my monthly book/comic book/entertainment column comes out this Sunday.

Undead, But Still Everpresent

2010-04-05T16:04:00.003-04:00

The ninth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

Dissecting Subculture Commentary In The Pages Of "Amazing Spider-Man"

2010-03-17T17:05:00.004-04:00

What follows is the bulk of the text from my March "Nerding Out" column, which ran in The Post-Journal earlier this month:

February was full of "big deal" comic book news.

Copies of Action Comics and Detective Comics set sales records, DC made some high-profile management changes and Comic-Con announced it might leave San Diego for Anaheim.

But rather than add my words to the many which have already been written about those topics, I'd rather rant about a one-page scene from the Feb. 24 issue of "Amazing Spider-Man."

What was so special about issue number 622? Well, in it, writer Fred Van Lente sends Peter Parker to a vampire bar.

Trendy, I know.

But it's not the plot point that's interesting in and of itself. It's what someone says to Peter as soon as he enters the club.

Wearing fishnets on his arms and other cliche goth accoutrements, Peter gets criticized for looking like he's just stepped out of 1992.

"Myths change," a character says to him. "They evolve with the times."

Observing the other clubgoers, Peter realizes this. Gone are the heavily-makeuped children of the '80s and '90s, those vampire wannabes who fashioned themselves after characters from Anne Rice novels. In their place are a new breed of vampire fans.
Though hard to believe, it's now been more than a decade since that goth trend hit its fever pitch — when shades of Trent Reznor and Type O Negative were visible in every community even remotely close to a Hot Topic store.

For those kids, painting their fingernails black and wearing crushed-velvet cloaks to school was a means of choosing difference. Alligning their personal styles with the goth chic of the day was an adamant stance against the mainstream. Sure, it was a manufactured and commercial rebellion, but it served that purpose nonetheless. Amid a sea of khaki pants, polo shirts and baseball caps, they were small islands of monochrome.

In the space of a few panels, Peter realizes "vampire" isn't synonymous with "goth" anymore — let alone "freak."

The kids on the club's dance floor more closely resemble the jocks and cheerleader's of his teenage years than the bookworms and other social outcasts previously drawn to the subculture.

"And is that glitter?", Peter poses rhetorically.

It's a direct reference to the "Twilight" books of today. It's also the best part of the issue, which is funny considering that it's really just a small aside. Regardless of his intent, the observations which Van Lente forces from Peter are interesting ones — ideas which had me thinking long after I'd put the comic down.
That's more than can be said for the comic's other 32 pages.

The Feb. 24 issue of "Amazing Spider-Man" was an especially awful one.

For months now, writers have been building an ongoing narrative which has some of Spider-Man's oldest foes returning to fight him. Issue number 622 is a respite of sorts. Rather than continue the current story arc, two self-contained stories are told.

The first has Peter visiting the aforementioned vampire bar in search of a vial of his blood which his current flame, Black Cat, sold to wannabe vampires (long story). The second is a somewhat sappy piece about Flash Thompson coming to terms with having lost his legs in Iraq.

Neither story delivers on the promise of the cover.

Issue 622 could have been a great story about Spider-Man and Morbius, Marvel's "living vampire" which the cover depicts in battle with Spider-Man. However, shortly after Morbius enters the story, everything gets pretty ham-handedly wrapped up. Everything about the story felt rushed — the exposition to get Peter to the vampire club, the seemingly random antagonist who puts him on a path to Morbius and all the backstory crammed in at the end.

But for a few thought-provoking panels, the Spider-Man comic raises issues about subcultures and the mainstream.

Many have complained about the resurgence of vampires in fiction, television and movies — criticizing the current mania as not holding a candle to the work of years past. Such comparisons of quality are boring to me. If someone's interested in "Twilight," let them have their fun.

What's more interesting to me is what it means for vampires to be so extensively popular today.

If every girl in my high school had been swooning for moody introverts in the late-'90s, where would that have left me? It's likely I still would've been an oddball, but what sort of identity would I have adopted?

In youth, our interests sort of stand in for our still developing personalities. What once was synonymous with a certain subculture in the '90s has since become mainstream. But what if it had been of mainstream interest back then as well?
It's a question I more often consider in relation to music. Films like "Garden State" made it cool to like little-known bands. However, when I was a teenager, indie rock was an oddity to the legions who listened to Dave Matthews.

How fragile are our identities? How different a person would I have become had Danielle Livingston lent me Loverboy and Def Leppard tapes instead of Sonic Youth CDs? What subcultures are bookworms identifying themselves with these days if the macabre has become mainstream? Or is the underground dead?

Heady stuff to take from a comic book. And some people still consider them kids stuff.

DARK HORSE COMICS

There's a series of YouTube videos from a few years back that parody the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" computer commercials.

In place of the hipster and suit-wearing businessman are toy superheroes, representing their respective publishers.

The first of the videos features Spider-Man explaining that he's a Marvel and Superman explaining that he's a DC. Batman then chimes in with an "I'm Batman," but that's beside the point.

The Marvel versus DC distinction is a question which often pops up when my lady and I discuss comic books.

Of course, such "discussions" truthfully consist of me prattling on about characters' histories and current storylines while she curls her hair or washes the dishes. Every so often though, she'll stop me for clarification — asking: "Deadpool? Is he Marvel or DC?"

This usually helps steer the conversation toward its end, as, regardless of the answer, we usually end up professing our mutual preference for DC Comics before promptly moving on to some other topic.

But there's more to the industry than just its two best-known publishers.

Comic book buyers surely know names like Image, Dark Horse and Boom! Studios, but this column isn't only for fans — it's for the uninitiated alike. So let's discuss Dark Horse, who sent me a box of comics to review mid-last month.

From a quick Google search we learn that Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book publisher. Thanks, Wikipedia!

Founded in Oregon in 1986, the publisher grew out of a successful comic shop business — as owner Mike Richardson began investing profits from his stores into printing.

In terms of comics, Dark Horse publishes many licensed comics — such as comics based on "Star Wars," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Aliens," "Predator" and others. It also publishes creator-owned comics, such as Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" and both Frank Miller's "Sin City" and "300." It's a comic company that flourishes despite not having its own universe of superpowered characters.

There's obviously much more to the company, its history and its place in the industry (let alone the industry itself), but I figure that's enough background for me to begin blathering about one of Dark Horse's newer releases.

LUNAR LYCANTHROPES

There are those creatures that only come out at night, and others which only appear when certain natural conditions are right.

It's somewhat surprising then, after thinking those two facts through, that the premise of a recent Dark Horse comic series hasn't already been done to death.
Released in trade paperback form on Feb. 24, there's a new publication which collects the three-part story of writer Dave Land and artists the Fillbach Brothers — a story entitled "Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires."

Yep. Werewolves. On the moon. Fighting vampires.

If the name alone is not enough to make you a reader, there's likely little else in the book that's going to excite you.

However, for those of us who like to see the familiar put in new and different contexts, "Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires" proves a worthwhile read.
More sci-fi than folkloric, the story is a blend of action and comedy — playing on genre stereotypes from the hot-headed cop and reluctant hero to the conspiring minions of an oblivious villain. There are elements of everything from Robert Rodriguez's grindhouse film "Planet Terror" and Kubric's "Dr. Strangelove" to more straightforward sci-fi and fantasy similarities.

All in all though, as I wrote a paragraph ago, "Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires" proves a worthwhile read for most anyone with even some interest in space stories, vampires or werewolves.

True to the point of my Spider-Man rant, myths don't die — they evolve with the times. This Dark Horse series is interesting to read with that idea in mind. Moreover, it makes one wonder what stories we'll invent when humans have actually colonized the moon.

In terms of criticisms, the dialogue in the book was a little stiff in spots and some of the exposition felt sort of forced — though I can't hold that too much against the comic. Unlike titles which have decades' worth of material to draw on, Land and the Fillbach brothers are tasked with introducing new characters and situations quickly — while also trying to craft both a cohesive ongoing story as well as per issue stories.

Some of it's groan-worthy, such as the book's end (spoiler alert!), when the werewolves and remaining vampires are attacked by Mayan moon mummies. But even that's a good groan. That's the tone of the book. And whether you enjoy "Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires" will depend wholly on how you feel about such stories.
Other parts of the comic serve to open up interesting possibilities, such as the eight-page back story tacked on at the end of the book. In this afterword of sorts, we learn how the werewolves got to the moon and what they were running from — a vampire-run mob which framed our hairy heroes for murder.

All in all, I'm looking forward to future issues. There's a lot of possibility to develop on.

Is Oberon Sexton Bruce Wayne?

2010-03-11T01:53:00.001-05:00

I dunno. I think maybe. Though I also think maybe the preview panels at the end of Batman and Robin number 10 are there to foster that thought, which makes me think... maybe not.

Myths Don't Die

2010-03-08T23:10:00.001-05:00

The eighth installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal:

Griping About The Grammys

2010-02-08T22:57:00.007-05:00

The seventh installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean," from the Feb. 7 issue of The Post-Journal: