Posts by Manco:
Cleveland Is a Fat Chick and You Know It
April 25th, 2007I’ve spent a lot of my life in about three cities. Philly, my hometown, was my first eighteen years. Since then, I have spent several semesters of school at the illustrious University of Pittsburgh. The aggregate time adds up to something close to two years. Other than that, the major metropolis that has enjoyed my company the most would have to be New York.
And to be honest, New York is the worst of the lot.
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There’s More Than One Way To Skin A Cat Analogy
April 18th, 2007You know a comic is good when you see a stream of Lemmings careening down a crowded street caught up in the paranoia and defeatism of Nuclear hysteria.
Blacksad is what would result if Looney Toons and Phillip Marlowe had a baby. The gritty world of a private detective populated by anthropomorphized animals. Blacksad himself is a black cat with a white muzzle. This seems to be the perfect species for him, the avatar of a noire private eye’s complicated code of honor. The choice for the protagonist to be a cat, an animal known for its own warped ethics and policies, makes Blacksad the consummate gumshoe. He is strong, conflicted and constantly at odds with society over his own personal brand of light-handed justice.
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Knick-Knack, Paddywhack, Go Out And Buy A Bone
April 13th, 2007Imagine you are at a relative’s house for a winter holiday. Imagine everyone has to get one other member of the extended family one present. Imagine that you drew names out of a worn Phillies cap (it might be old in Age, but it is young in Love ). Imagine that you pick out the name of your cousin Norman, who is ten years old. Imagine that your cousin Norman loves comic books. Imagine that you recently received forty dollars for giving that old man at McDonald’s a hand job in the bathroom. What do you buy your cousin Norman?
Answer: the recently released collection of the entire series of Bone written by Jeff Smith, priced conservatively at $40.00. He will fucking love it. Read the rest of this entry »
An Ode To My New Apartment
April 9th, 2007This is an ode to my new apartment.
I am no poet, else this would be a poem. It is not a soliloquy . It is certainly not a sonnet. Tragically, I could not even produce a ribald limerick. And I know everybody loves a good limerick. So, sadly, please settle for this small ode, composed mostly of prose.
My apartment and I have flirted for a short while. We’ve met twice, under certain auspices so as not to appear too interested. We would probably be together soon, but I must return to the coast for the summer. Most likely, my apartment and I will pick things up again in August when I return to Pittsburgh.
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The Amazing X-Title
April 5th, 2007Marvel loves the X-Men in the same way that a father loves a son who will eventually be a high-paid professional athlete. Everybody loves Marvel Comics’ favored son and as a result, Marvel pimps that son out like my uncle, Slick Willy Rickards, pimps out his hoes back on 10th and South in Philly. Walking into a comic book store I often feel like the United States gradually losing the war on drugs. I see dozens of X-branded titles written by people who have no business writing the complex characters X-men’s mutant heroes have become. Somewhere in Colombia, the secret king of Marvel Comics sits back in a shadowy chair and quietly chuckles, puffing his giant cigar and signing off on several new mutant-driven series: Unbelievable X-Men, X-traordinary X-Men, X-ceptional X-Men, InX-plicable X-men and (most critically acclaimed of the lot) Adjective X-Men.
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Superlative Super Bowl Stories - Part 1
January 31st, 2007I would have to say Bears all the way, but for different reasons than most people. I haven’t told this story to that many people…but I think it’s something I can finally come to terms with here…in the warm, loving cradle that is the Spacepiratesltd forums…
Many moons ago, on a road called the Pennsylvania interstate, I was driving with my favorite teddy bear…who I called Buddy. Read the rest of this entry »
