fair is fair

I’m somewhat pressed for time today, plus I have a second, time-sensitive post I want to put together for later, but I would like to draw your attention to some projects by various friends of mine.

Rachel Nabors is a very talented cartoonist who has a weekly strip published online at gURL.com and also at her website, Subculture of One. I especially appreciated her strip from a couple weeks back, having been a late 80’s punk rocker who had to deal with the ugly fallout from the grunge/alt-goes-mainstream explosion firsthand, when every Tiffany, Trent, and Krystal swapped their BK’s and Benneton gear for a pair of Doc Marten’s and a biker jacket.

This week’s strip exposes the hidden truth behind manic kitten syndrome and its links to late 90’s pop music. For those interested in hearing the song referenced in the comic, here it is:

Len – Man of the Year (from You Can’t Stop the Bum Rush, 1999)

Speaking of webcomics, pals Kevin Church and Benjamin Birdie debuted the first installment of their “super seekrit” project today, and it’s a mighty fine effort. The Rack is a silly, seedy expose of the inner working of the nightmare world of comics retail, complete with puking children, a classic X-Men cover homage, and a reference to the most underappreciated Marvel character of all time. Well worth bookmarking, and I await the inevitable fanboy backlash with unconcealed glee.

The Yardbirds – Rack My Mind (from Roger the Engineer, 1966)

Last, but not least, this week saw the release of The Official Handbook of the Invincible Universe #2, featuring several entries written by the esteemed Dave Campbell of Dave’s Long Box fame. Dave was given a bit of latitude in fleshing out the backstories for some of the characters, so it’s a perfect chance to check out Campbell’s zany skills as applied to something other than Power Girl’s…ahem…endowments or a television series where Jan-Michael Vincent gets out-acted by a rotary-wing aircraft.

Pat Benatar – Invincible (Theme to The Legend of Billie Jean) (from Best Shots, 2003)

(Side note: Why hasn’t The Legend of Billie Jean been released on DVD yet? In an era where even the most marginal, niche appeal movies and TV series have been given the Criterion deluxe box set with a side of fries treatment, it’s an inexcusable omission.)