Routine Maintenance in the Hayfamzone

Happy New Year!

Yes, that was a cool wind you heard whistling through the castle. And in place of the nova-bright bath of fluorescence, a precious few candles at isolated outposts. Though the hayfamzone in its entirety has been intentionally dark these past two weeks, still there are some odds and ends bellowing to be thrown against the wall.

All four of the hyperlinks in the "Links" section of this page now work properly. If you tried one of the links when I first added them to the page and were discouraged after being sent nowhere, please try again! You are but one click away from seeing my beautiful Jack Kirby artwork or even some artwork that I drew myself back in the day. And of course you'll want to regularly check my current ebay auctions; new items will be listed in a day or two if they haven't been already!

Did you ever click into the hayfamzone and get accosted by a digital version of the song Linus and Lucy? Well, that was my fault. SORRY ABOUT THAT! I was trying to simulate for you the experience I had when I visited the Milwaukee Art Museum and they had that song playing in the background. Interent professional Charlie Meyerson suggested that I turn off the music, and I definitely am able to heed good advice. Anyone else with good advice for me, please write!

Last week I wrote how I had paged through the new Spirit #1 and had seen the beautiful artwork and color. Maybe you wondered why I hadn't mentioned the story. The answer is simple enough: as of my last posting I had yet to read the story. I was afraid to read it. I set that comic book aside in a pile of its own for a week or ten days, shuddering to think that it might be a Crash and Burn Moment for DC Comics and the world of comics in general. I hold the Spirit in high reverence, and other attempts by modern day artists to capture the essence of The Spirit had been less than memorable. The time I had been dreading came last week, and I nervously sat down to read the new comic that I already knew was beautiful to look at. Those of you who have already read the issue won't be startled as I exclaim that THE STORY IS EXCELLENT! I needn't have worried! Darwyn Cooke was absolutely the perfect choice to helm this rejuvenation of The Spirit, and the gentleman has even more solidly cemented himself in my mind as a Modern Day Master of Comic Books.

I mentioned also last week about the brilliance of the coloring by Dave Stewart gracing that superb Spirit story. I meant to add that another of my favorite colorists is Lee Loughridge. So amazing is the craftsmanship of Mr. Loughridge that I have been known to buy comics he colored just so I could luxuriate in the hues.

Oh, and I have another Gift from the Hayfamzone for you. It's not a valuable hyperlink like my earlier presents, but rather a great comic book recommendation. If you're not reading DC's Mystery in Space, please take this paragraph as an emphatic encouragement to amend your ways. It is one of the best written current comics, and the artwork is among the best also. Not only does his dialogue sparkle, but writer Jim Starlin earns even higher marks for one of the most cleverly constructed of current comic stories. You see, each issue has two parallel but somewhat-related stories (one featuring (Captain) Comet and the other featuring The Weird drawn by Starlin himself), and in an issue or two the two tracks will converge. It's a limited series, so time's running out!

That just about empties my bag of Odds and Ends. So, you ask, what does 2007 hold in store for the hayfamzone? I hope you'll keep checking back here every week and we'll find out together.