Four Day Geekend 2022: Space Cadet!

Space Academy, USA, in the world beyond tomorrow. Here the Space Cadets train for duty on distant planets. In roaring rockets, they blast through the millions of miles from Earth to far-flung stars and brave the dangers of cosmic frontiers protecting the liberties of the planets, safeguarding the cause of universal peace in the age of the conquest of space!

Introduction: Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

As part of my last trip to Toronto, I did a chilly February tour of bookstores that left me just a little too overextended to visit the BMV Books outlet that I passed on my way back to the hotel at the end of my day. This time I plan to start with BMV - albeit not the same one - and see where I end up.

I have a choice of locations to visit because BMV has three outlets in Toronto, which is a strong indicator of a more than successful used bookstore - I've always felt that most used bookstores are constantly one step away from having to hock the family silverware to keep the doors open.  However, BMV is not just about books, their mandate includes magazines, comic books, DVDs, CDs and vinyl albums, and similar vintage media. The downtown location is a convenient couple of blocks from my hotel, so I start there.

I find a few books of interest in their science fiction section, including a couple of replacement texts for my collection, but I'm not overwhelmed by the selection - which happens, I do have a large library to compare against, and this wouldn't be the first used bookstore that has had fewer genre books than I do.  With a bit of a mental shrug, I decide to do a walk around the store just out of curiousity to see what else they have on display.

At the back of the store is a solitary bookshelf of what appears to be selection of older and more collectable books, where I'm intrigued to see a trio of Tom Corbett: Space Cadet novelizations with printed case wrap covers, like a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew book.* They're not in perfect condition, there's some minor scuffing and wear at the top and bottom of the spines, but other than that they're in excellent shape, and if they're original copies from the 1950s I would consider them to be a bit of a find.

However, they could easily be reprints, so I spend the next fifteen minutes burning some of my cellular data allowance trying to nail down the printing history of Tom Corbett adaptations, without finding anything definitive.  I finally decide to have some faith in the flyleaf publication info, and buy all three for a total cost of about $35.00 - which, sadly, would probably not quite buy me a single new hardcover at the current market rates.

Although Tom Corbett, Space Cadet has dropped off the cultural radar over the years since it first appeared on the airwaves in 1950, it was in many ways the Star Trek of its era, both in terms of popularity and spin-off marketing. 

The term "Space Cadet" originate with the 1948 novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein, one of the dozen** juvenile/young adult SF novels that he wrote for the Scribner's publishing house after WWII.  Space Cadet moves the Horatio Hornblower concept into the future:  young Matt Dodson becomes a cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol, makes new friends and foes at the training academy, then undergoes challenges and perils while serving on a Patrol ship with his fellow graduates. 

Although an early version of Tom Corbett had been in unsuccessful development as a radio play and daily comic strip using the name Tom Ranger, Heinlein's novel inspired creator Joseph Greene to change the character's name (and title) and relaunch it in 1950 as a TV series starring Frankie Thomas in the titular role of Tom Corbett.***  It was an instant hit, and spawned a wide selection of merchandise: toys, books, a daily newspaper comic strip, comic books, and finally, in 1952, the radio version that was the concept’s origin, using the same cast as the television show.

Eight Tom Corbett novelizations were published between 1952 and 1956, and I’ve purchased the first three: Stand By For Mars, Danger in Deep Space, and On the Trail of the Space Pirates.  My copies of Danger in Deep Space and On the Trail of the Space Pirates are from additional print runs in 1953, but the first book, Stand By For Mars, appears to be a first edition from 1952. (Pro tip: if a book lists all the novels in a series, including the ones that come after it, it’s not a first printing.)

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction web site confirms that the Grosset and Dunlap editions of the Tom Corbett hardcovers were only printed in the 1950s, so the oldest of my acquisitions is in fact 70 years old, and all three are in pretty good shape for their age.  I’m pleased to have found them, it’s like discovering a little piece of science fiction history – although it’s a little sad that being a space cadet is no longer something to be proud of.

- Sid

* Apparently this is not the obvious description that I think it is - my friend Colin, aka Cloin of the Campbell Brothers, said that he has never seen a Hardy Boys book, which I find to be surprising.  It's less surprising that he's never heard of Tom Corbett.

** The thirteenth novel was Starship Troopers, which was rejected by Scribner's.  You can probably make a case for Heinlein's 1963 novel Podkayne of Mars being a YA novel, but apparently Heinlein didn't consider it to be one of his juvenile works.  Come to think of it, I don't own a copy of Podkayne of Mars, I originally read my mother's copy many years ago and haven't seen it since.

*** For anyone in search of extra credit,  you can watch a couple of episodes of the show on YouTube™:

Assignment Mercury
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uOeGK6zuiE 

Mystery of the Missing Mail Ship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6E3_A2A7uY

Four Day Geekend 2022: Is The Snail Slowing Down?

Every time I visit Toronto, I’m surprised by the degree to which Queen Street has remained fundamentally unchanged over the decades. It’s gotten a bit gentrified in terms of its shopping options, and a couple of tall buildings have crept in, but it’s still very much the two and three story street that I first encountered in the 1970s.  The old Silver Snail location near Spadina is still a vacant lot – surprising that prime real estate on a central Toronto thoroughfare could remain undeveloped for so long. 

I walk on past the empty spot, and eventually arrive at the new location, about halfway between Bathurst and Ossington. I’m a bit early for their Good Friday hours, so I take advantage of the lack of walk-in traffic to take a picture or two of the storefront. The current branding is substantially different from the slick presentation of years gone by – more cartoon, less comic book.  

Waiting on the doorstep for the door to be unlocked is a bit of a fanboy thing, so I decide to do a lap around the block instead. When I get back, the store is open, and I head inside. 

I’m a bit surprised to see that the new Silver Snail footprint is considerably smaller than their previous location – logic says that moving to a location on Queen West West* would have let them at least match the square footage of a Yonge Street address. The front counter is just a stand with an iPad on it, the number of used comics bins seems much reduced, and the range of action figures and other toys seems to be a bit crammed in and cut back. It also appears that their coffee shop has fallen by the wayside.** However, there’s still a comprehensive selection of graphic novels and specialty publications on display, and the new comic racks are in good shape.

I would never leave the Snail without buying something, but my online subscriptions to DC Infinite and Marvel Unlimited are taking care of all my comic book reading needs - which may go a long way toward explaining their reduced footprint. It’s possible that online reading may be starting to push out paper-based purchasing, although I’d expect that collectors would still want the real thing. 

As I browse the store for alternatives, I'm a little tempted by the Jack Kirby Fourth World**** boxed set - after I see the price tag, not $180 tempted, but tempted nonetheless. Price aside, it probably weighs more than all my carry-on luggage together, so it’s with only minor regret that I keep looking.

I finally settle on an action figure: a McFarlane Toys Sister of Battle from the Warhammer 40K universe, to compliment the Space Marine that I purchased last year.  It will take up some of the empty space in my luggage, but certainly not as much as the Kirby collection.

As I head back to my hotel, I notice that the original Bakka Books location at 282 Queen West is vacant. I suspect the prohibitive rent situation that pushed them out is still in place, but it would please my sense of balance to have them move back to Queen Street as well. Well, I’m headed to their current Harbord Street home on Monday, if I see anyone I know perhaps I’ll suggest it to them and see how it goes over.

- Sid

 

* Not a typo - Queen West West is a thing.

** Some follow-up research indicated that the Black Canary Coffee Shop has unexpectedly gone solo and set up shop over on the other side of Yonge Street at Sherbourne and Adelaide.  Hmm, maybe they should change the name to Nightwing.**

***Batman joke.  Well, Robin joke, really.

**** It’s funny - when Kirby originally introduced the Fourth World in 1971 with the publication of Mister Miracle, The New Gods, and The Forever People, even his stellar reputation in the comic book industry wasn’t enough to sustain sales of the comics. But over the years since then, Darkseid, brutal ruler of fiery Apokolips and grim master of the Anti-Life Equation in the Fourth World, has become the de facto main villain of the DC Universe. Trust Kirby to recognize the need for an ultimate evil to balance out all the good guys. 

Four Day Geekend 2022: GothAM.

Friday morning, and I'm heading down to Queen Street West in hopes that Toronto comic book icon The Silver Snail is in fact opening its doors to shoppers on Good Friday as promised on Twitter™. 

As I finish successfully jaywalking across University Avenue, I casually  notice that there's a TV production vehicle parked in front of the Superior Court of Justice building - but wait, what program is that on the side of the van?

Ah, right, Goth A.M., ha, I see what you did there.

But what is a Gotham (or GothA.M.) remote broadcasting van doing in Toronto?  To the best of my knowledge, Vancouver has been the city of choice for shooting the various DC Comics television series, and I'm confident that we're not quite at the point of starting filming the next Robert Pattison Batman movie.

A little research after the event revealed that the Teen Titans production team - sorry, just Titans, I gather that we're not dealing with teenagers -  has chosen Toronto to stand in for Gotham (and is apparently willing to pay holiday rates to shoot on Good Friday in order to get access to empty courtrooms).

It's understandable that I wouldn't have done the math on that at the time. I haven't followed the live action Titans* series at all, and the landmark 1980s comic book series by writer by Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez that has provided much of the framework for the show** had the Titans based in New York City (in a sharp departure from DC's standard alternative superhero map of Metropolis, Gotham, Coast City, Smallville, etc.)

All of that aside, it was kind of fun to see the van, but honestly?  I was really hoping to run into someone from Star Trek: Discovery.

- Sid

* Although I was a regular viewer of the popular Teen Titans animated series that ran for five seasons in the early 2000s - I still have an nostalgic affection for the show's distinctive theme song as performed by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi.  In that version, Titans Tower was located in Jump City, somewhere on the west coast of the United States.

** Along with a dash of the Young Justice animated series, in the form of Conner/Superboy, the Superman clone.

Four Day Geekend 2022: Apocalyptic?

Mathew Borrett, HYPNAGOGIC_CITY_II

In the wake of our successful trip to England last month, I've decided to double down with a four day trip to Toronto over the Easter weekend. (My workplace is conveniently closed on both the Friday and the Monday.)  It's a bit of a gamble: because it's Easter, there's a chance that not all the places that I want to go will be open, but I'm reasonably certain that I won't have any trouble filling the time no matter what happens.

In addition to spending some time with my friend Colin (the pretty Campbell Brother) I'm hoping to visit my traditional shopping favourites: the Silver Snail, newly returned to Queen Street West, for comics, graphic novels and action figures; Bakka-Phoenix Books for, well, books; and whatever other shopping opportunities offer themselves.  I'm travelling light, with just carry-on luggage and my shoulder bag, so if for some reason I should hit the jackpot for shopping, I could always buy a cheap bag and check in my purchases, although I doubt that things will get that far out of control.

However, it's been over two years since I last visited Toronto, and let's not forget that there's been a near-apocalyptic pandemic event since then.  Maybe an extra bag for books is the least of my concerns - it's possible that I should be planning for the traditional post-apocalyptic challenges of finding clean water and evading roving bands of cannibals.  Or even without that, it may just be a very different place...

- Sid

Infinite.

When I saw a press release announcing that DC Comics was finally expanding their DC Infinite online comic books subscription service on a limited international basis, with the service finally going live in Canada on March 28, I was instantly interested.  Marvel Unlimited has been a frequently visited addition to my iPad apps, and DC's decision to let other countries access Infinite is somewhat overdue.

In order to pull in subscribers, DC Infinite is priced at $59.99 Canadian for an annual subscription* if you sign up within 30 days of the launch date, after which it will jump to $99.99.  By comparison, the Marvel Unlimited service runs at $69.99 USD annually (about $80 CAD), although there's also an exclusive option at $99.99 USD with some additional perks.

Five dollars a month seemed like a reasonable price point - I think it's fair to say that most people spend more than on a daily basis for Starbucks - so I signed up immediately to lock in the introductory price, downloaded the app, and took a look around to see how it compared to Marvel's offering.

The app formats are slightly different, but not in any major way - after all, there are only so many ways to read a comic book on an iPad.  Both companies offer the reader the option of full page or panel-by-panel reading, both have event/storyline reading guides, and so on.  Interestingly, DC's home page defaults to a gallery view of all the available comics, which I found to be a browser's paradise in terms of seeing comics that I had long forgotten and never would have thought to search for.  I'd love it if Marvel took a similar approach, it's just such a great way to find hidden treasures.

As with Marvel , the quality on DC Infinite is excellent, even with old comics like Jack Kirby's original Kamandi series from 1972, the classic Murphy Anderson Superman comics from the 1960s, or Alex Ross' painterly take on Batman.  

Surprisingly, both apps suffer from similar problems in terms of navigating out of comics and managing full page versus panel viewing - perhaps they hired the same programming company.

Regardless of minor navigation issues, I'm very pleased to have added DC Infinite to my subscriptions.  Unlike my mild collector's mania regarding vintage science fiction (Ace Doubles and so on) my interest in comics has always been primarily as a reader, and as such I'm quite happy with virtual access to DC's catalogue of content.

Now I just need someone to digitize all the First! comics from the 80s.  Until then I'll just make sure to take very good care of my Grimjack and American Flagg! comics. Speaking of which, I wonder where that box of comics ended up after the move last year?  Ah well, just another reason for switching to online comics...

- Sid

*Monthly memberships are $9.99.

01.04.2277

This year, WestJet chose April 1st to proudly announce WestJetX, its new affordable orbital passenger service, on Twitter™:  "Taking payloads without making you pay loads."

It's quite elaborate and fairly clever, featuring videos and stills with quite high production values featuring space planes, floating pretzels, and a convincing looking spacesuit, along with some well-written copy regarding pressurized cabins ("for breathability and comfort") and the option of one-way tickets to "cut the cost of spaceflight in half".  

However, I can't quite give it full points as an April Fools event, because it ultimately just becomes a commercial for WestJet, albeit a somewhat tongue-in-cheek one.

By comparison, Ian McCollum's video review of Fallout 3 weaponry has that perfect combination of absolute seriousness and complete randomness that makes for a good April Fools gag.

McCollum, aka "Gun Jesus", is a gun collector, researcher, author, and the genial host of Forgotten Weapons, a YouTube™ channel where he knowledgeably discusses rare and unusual firearms as well as historically significant weapons.  This odd niche has been ridiculously successful, accumulating almost 2.5 millions followers on YouTube.

For April 1st, Forgotten Weapons took its usual detailed look at the Type 93 Chinese Assault Rifle, familiar to anyone who served in the campaign against the Chinese invasion of Alaska and Operation Anchorage, which freed Alaska's capital from Chinese occupation.

I'm just a little disappointed that he didn't feature something more exotic like the Fallout 4 plasma pistol or the M42 "Fat Man" mini-nuke catapult launcher, but I can see how choosing the Type 93, which is in the style of a conventional automatic weapon, makes it less obvious that it's a joke. The casual viewer might not notice at all, although the additional of radiation signage in the background is probably a strong hint. 

I have to give Mr. McCollum full points for earnestly delivering the same degree of scholarly historical detail and in-depth analysis for the Type 93 that he provides for any of the weaponry that he profiles on his channel.  He glibly explains how the Type 93 probably first sees production during the mid 2020s, looks at modifications for enhanced hand to hand combat due to reduced ammunition availability during the Resource Wars of the 2050s, 60s, and 70s that precede the global thermonuclear exchange between the US and the PRC, and even discusses the different versions of the Type 93 that are chambered for 7.62x39mm, for domestic Chinese use, and the 5.56 version covertly smuggled into the United States as part of the planned Chinese infiltration of the Washington DC area.*

The most surprising part of the video is that the sample weapon appears to be a fully functional rifle (supplied to Ian by Elder Alex of the Brotherhood of Steel) to the point that Ian is able to break the weapon down and apparently try it out on the shooting range.  Wow - now I REALLY want to see him do a feature on the mini-nuke launcher.

- Sid

* And the resulting need to modify the original curved magazine to accommodate the straight-walled 5.56 cartridge as opposed to the tapered 7.62 - it really is impressively detailed.

Happy birthday, Jim.

"Most legends have their basis in fact."

– Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: And the Children Shall Lead

Today we wish a happy 91st birthday to William Shatner, a man who, as they say, needs no introduction.  And, in one of those odd moments when art imitates life, we also extend best wishes to James Tiberius Kirk, whose date of birth is also March 22 - albeit in the year 2233.*

This odd overlap between reality and fiction dates back to 1968 and the publication of The Making of Star Trek, written by series creator Gene Roddenberry.  It can't have been a coincidence that Kirk and Shatner share a birthday, but I wasn't able to find any kind of statement from Roddenberry regarding his choice of dates.

The small Iowa town of Riverside doubled down in 1985, decided to proclaim itself the future birthplace of Star Fleet's most illustrious officer, and contacted Gene Roddenberry for permission.  Roddenberry rewarded Riverside for its audacity by confirming their claim - he may well have felt that it was that kind of boldness and audacity that would characterize the career of Riverside's favorite son.

- Sid

* This date comes from Memory Alpha, the official Star Trek database.  Other sources say 2228, but at least they all agree on March 22nd.**

** That is, unless you're talking about the Abramsverse James T. Kirk, in which case he'll be born on January 4th, 2233 aboard a medical shuttle fleeing the destruction of the USS Kelvin, which results in the death of his father, Lieutenant Commander George Kirk.  Welcome to fandom: you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Thwip!

“The stories are all about Peter Parker, mask on or mask off.”

J. M. Matteis, Spider-Man writer

"I don't want to think of a thwipless world, Maureen."  

Dan Slott, Spider-Man writer and inventor of the Spider-Verse

Thanks to my Marvel Unlimited subscription, I'm attending Beyond Amazing: Celebrating 60 Years of Spider-Man, an online event celebrating the anniversary of Marvel’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.  (To be completely accurate, Peter Parker’s alter ego makes his first appearance on June 5th, 1962, in Issue 15 of Amazing Fantasy, so we’re a bit early for his actual birthday, but what the heck, everyone loves a party.)

The event is competently and cleverly hosted by Marvel Creative Content Director and social media personality Lorraine Cink, and overall it’s certainly the best produced event that I’ve attended since the world made the move to virtual events two years ago.  

The theme music and sound effects are effective, the animated screen graphics are well designed, the format for the trivia questions is cleverly done, almost all of the presenters have good webcams, the audio is excellent, and Ms. Cink keeps the event moving along smoothly and professionally.  That being said, it's also just a fun and entertaining discussion, and the various participants - writers, artists, and editors - are uniformly dedicated, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and involved.

Spider-Man is arguably one of the best known Marvel Comics characters, and certainly one of the most popular.  Ignoring his movie career and his various animated television appearances*, there have been multiple comic book treatments of Marvel’s favourite web-slinger since his creation by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in 1962:  The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, The Avenging Spider-Man, The Sensational Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man, Giant-Size Spider-Man (the comic format, that is, not Spider-Man himself), Spider-Man Unlimited, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, The Superior Spider-Man (and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up), Spider-Man's Tangled Web, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, Spider-Man Family, Spider-Man/Deadpool, and just plain Spider-Man.**

Radioactive spider-bite victim Peter Parker has undergone every possible change in his life:  he's been orphaned, married, divorced, rich, poor, cloned, mutated, vilified, hunted, hated, killed, reincarnated, possessed by an alien symbiote, turned into a cannibal zombie, made a deal with the Devil, gone public with his secret identity, and had his mind swapped with a dying Doctor Octopus.  Poor guy, no wonder he's a bit neurotic.

And yet, at his core, he's remained the same person: a bit clumsy, a bit socially challenged, concerned about doing the right thing, worried that he’s not the person he should be, and terribly, constantly aware that with great power comes great responsibility.

It's this aspect of the character that the first segment of the event addresses, as Ms. Cink questions Marvel VP and executive editor Tom Brevoort, editor Steve Wacker, and Spider-Man writer J. M. Matteis (clockwise from top left) about Spider-Man’s origins and their perception of what makes the character tick.

For Matteis, Spider-Man is a profoundly personal character.  “The essence of Spider-Man was right there in that first Romita story that I read. Huge story, but the stakes were personal - it was about Peter Parker.”  

Wacker comments that it was Peter Parker’s youth that resonated with him, that he wasn’t a sidekick, but the main character, and that in spite of his youth he was responsible for his Aunt May.  Breevort found that the relatability of the early Spider-Man stories are what made the connection to the character for him, that Spider-Man was the first superhero who was the audience. “Peter Parker was just this stupid kid trying to make something good out of this weird accident that happened to him.”  

The other panelists agree that the story isn’t really about Spider-Man, it’s about Peter Parker, his problems and his struggles, which made the comic an intensely personal experience. Wacker adds that Spider-Man’s well-known tendency to make jokes is anchored in his back story:  “Comedy is the way we deal with tragedy.”

When asked to sum up Spider-Man in one word, Tom Brevoort says, “Amazing”, Steve Wacker chooses “Everyman”, and J. M. Matteis simply says, “Human”.

There’s a brief break for some trivia and a give-away (sadly restricted to the US attendees) and we’re back for Part 2 – Spider-Man Beyond, featuring Spider-Man artists Joe Quesada and Humberto Ramos, and the legendary John Romita Jr., son of the equally legendary John Romita Sr., whose signature artwork on Spider-Man defined the character and his world.

Romita Senior’s artwork is in some ways the basis for the conversation, as the artists discuss the classic look of the Spider-Man costume and the way in which it’s changed (and remained the same) over 60 years.

Quesada and Ramos concur that the most distinctive thing about drawing Spider-Man is the character’s ability to emote through his mask.  For Romita, it’s the character’s lack of grace – as Quesada points out, there’s a kind of creepiness to the way that original Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko drew the character.  Quesada also adds that whenever he draws the the original costume, he curses Ditko for his use of the webbing pattern  - "It's like a math problem, I hate that."

John Romita Jr. is very much the focus of this portion of the event.  Cink asks what keeps drawing*** him back to Spider-Man, and he replies that, “It reminds me of family. He felt like a family member.”  As a second-generation Marvel artist, Romita has a unique legacy: he relates how when he was young, his father would explain what Stan Lee was doing that morning to describe a story, and remembers actually seeing Ditko drawing Spider-Man. 

He describes Spider-Man as “...the greatest character. He's Stan Lee’s antithesis to Superman - he's not perfect.  He gets beaten up, he catches a cold, he loses. It’s the greatest character of all time.” He adds  that Stan Lee once said that the balance of fantasy and reality is what makes a character great.

To conclude their segment, Cink asks the artists who their most influential artist is.  For Ramos, it's the two men he's sharing the screen with; for Quesada, it's John Romita Sr., who "took Spider-Man and made him an icon." Romita not surprisingly also says that it was his father. “I saw all of his work, but when he did Spider-Man, it sang to me." 

The third segment lightheartedly looks at the Spider-Men (and Women) who are spinoffs (no pun intended) from the Peter Parker storyline, as represented by Maureen Goo, who writes the Korean-American character Silk, Spider-Woman writer Karla Pacheco, and Dan Slott, inventor of the Spider-Verse: or, as Cink cheerfully describes them, the trouble-maker group, a sentiment that they eagerly echo.

Cink asks this group what they think makes for "a truly great Spider character?" For Dan Slott, the answer is simple: "They're like you and me - they screw up all the time!", with the subsequent obligation of then fixing their mistakes.  Maureen Goo feels that it's "their heart (that) stands out - it may lead to good or bad decisions, but that's their compass."

Karla Pacheco agrees with both of these observations:  "There's a very human and relatable aspect to Spidey-characters - the most fallible in ways, the most "normal" if that makes sense. That's why the character has endured so long."

The final question for this group is what sound effect they would use if Spider-Man's distinctive webshooter "thwip"**** was banned. After they earnestly discuss options like "Weeebbbbbbb", Dan Slott wraps up the conversation by saying, "I don't want to think of a thwipless world, Maureen."  

 

In the final section of the event, we take a look at what's next for Spider-Man under the guidance of Nick Lowe, Vice President of Content and Executive Editor at Marvel Comics, and C.B. Cebulski, Editor in Chief.  Lowe brings a sort of exuberant over-the-top Stan Lee energy to the conversation, which is probably not the worst reference for a Marvel Comics executive.

It's a bit of a marketing moment, but that's understandable under the circumstances, and fans do like to know what's coming up for their favourite characters. 

Based on the catalogue of publications that Marvel has planned, 2022 is very much Spider-Man's year:  several new comics, including one drawn by John Romita Jr.; and Issue 900 of Spider-Man, which will essentially be a graphic novel featuring Spider-Man in combat with with all of his traditional enemies as combined in classic Marvel villain the Adaptoid. 

C. B.'s final statement provides the perfect summary of the character of Spider-Man to end the event:  "Under that superhuman mask is the human."

- Sid

* The less said about his failed Broadway appearance the better.

** Not including Spider-Man 2099, the Miles Morales Spider-Man, Mary-Jane, Spider-Gwen, the graphic novels, mini-series, one-offs, guest appearances, or any of the Marvel Age/Marvel Adventures comics aimed at a younger audience, which I gather aren't part of the standard continuity.

*** Apparently no pun was intended.

**** In the Spider-Verse animated movie, Peter Parker also uses this word as a verb when attempting to teach Miles Morales the fundamentals of web-slinging, it's obviously a key term in Spider-lore.

UK 2022: Snapshots.

Some bits and pieces from the UK 2022 trip:

Browsing the Fanasy section at the Notting Hill Comic Exchange – which may even contain some myffic fanasy*, if I’m lucky.

Dear Hamleys' Toy Shop, I was wondering what a three meter Optimus Prime with glowing eyes would cost?  Asking for a friend.

To my surprise, Jelly Babies are COMPLETELY different than Gummy Bears!!!  How could I not know this after so many years of Doctor Who?

I'm sorry to say this, but I saw far too many ten-year-old English boys who reminded me of Edmund Pevensie from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe:  sullen, pouty, a little spoiled, and inexplicably red-cheeked.

All the tables were all numbered 42, apparently it was the pub from The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Shopping again at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore - the geek equivalent of drinking out of the firehose.

...where I bought a couple of books, a 2000AD comic, and a long LONG overdue TARDIS pin!

As we wandered along the South Bank on our last day in London, our unplanned stroll took us into a branch of Foyles Bookshop.  Until that moment, I was completely unaware of Foyles, let alone the almost cult status conveyed upon it in the past due to its archaic (and anarchic) business practices for much of its lifespan. 

It's now owned by Waterstones, and whatever its past sins, I found it to be a well-stocked and pleasant shopping spot - as well as offering one final opportunity to spend money on books before heading home.

All in all, our first pandemic trip went surprisingly well, although we sadly decided to forgo our usual restaurant research in favour of take-out - and one cautious afternoon visit to an almost empty pub for a pint and some onion rings.  As always, Karli was the ideal travel companion for a week of Britannic shopping and sightseeing: Sherlock Holmes, Albert's Hall**, Brompton Cemetery, the Beatles***, Marks & Spencer, West End theatre, Jack the Ripper, Portobello Road, and, of course, Doctor Who.  Thank you again for agreeing to join me, my love!

- Sid

* “But I was thinking, you're in trouble now, Mrs Ogg, 'cos it'd all gone myffic.'

'Mythic?' said schoolteacher Susan.

"Yep. With extra myff. And you can get into big trouble, with myffic.”

Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

** Apparently I'm the only person in the world who remembers the line about "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" from A Day In The Life by The Beatles. 

*** I bought a mug and a T-shirt, it's not always about science fiction.