The New Year

A hearty Happy New Year to you all. I've got a number of changes planned for myself and my life, but there's one thing in particular that's been running through my mind when I think about 2006.

Tim was a great buddy of mine back when I was living in Washington. Had lukemia when he was a kid, nearly died, but got over it with pure fucking guts and heart (and a lot of luck) and grew up into one of the biggest motherfuckers I ever met - like 6' 5", and brawny. Looked like a lumberjack.

I met Tim at a party on campus. Big, crowded party, no room anywhere, and I see a spot open on the couch. Part of my brain asked, "Why is THAT exact seat empty at this crowded-as-fuck party?", but the question didn't register before I sat my tired, drunk ass down. I look over and there's this big fuckin' dude, shaved bald with a big red beard and heavy earings tugging his earlobes down.

"Hey, what's up man, I'm Sean."

"I'm Tim, nice to meet ya. Hey, have you ever seen a Prince Albert?"

Tim's sitting on the couch with his pants unzipped and his dick hanging out. He's showing the piercing to everybody. THAT'S why the seat was open. I got up and left it for the next patsy.

So Tim and I ended up being really good brothers-in-arms after that, and he'd always come by our apartment with his eyes wide and say, "Hey! I found out about a party! Let's go!"

We'd all ask him, Hey, whose party is this? Is anybody we know gonna be there?

"No, I just heard some people talking about it, and I think we should all go."

"But, dude, why don't we just have our own party?"

"That's what I'm saying, Sean! Let's just go over there and MAKE IT OUR PARTY!"

And that's what I want to do with 2006. It's already all set up - they've got the keg, they've got the music playing. Let's just go and make it our party.

***

So, Elk's Run #4 was splendid. The story's really taking shape perfectly - the issues are incredibly well paced, and the epic structure is beginning to be clear.

But what struck me most about issue #4 in particular was the coloring. Scott A. Keating has been doing great work on the series already, but I thought he shined especially bright in this issue, with the colors really bringing out story elements and just plain making the pages feel good to look at. Take a look at the palatte he builds in the first three pages here:







Just excellent. I can't wait for more.

***

I was also really happy with The Thing #2, after being slightly let down by issue #1. Slott picks up the pace with the second issue and blasts into the adventure at full tilt. This is old-school as fuck, but with the "sophistication" (please forgive the arrogance) of modern storytelling techniques. Andrea DiVito is making everything rich and kinetic and fun to read (though I'm getting tired of comics artist digitally blurring their art to imply motion). This might be my new favorite Marvel book, if it keeps up the pace this issue sets.