Friday Night Fights: Chimpanzee Bar Fight!

From Creepy Magazine #95 (1978). Story by Bob Toomey. Art by José Ortiz. (click pic for larger)

A classic? No monkeying around!

Yahweh, Mon.

This Bizarro is brought to you by Lowest Common Denominator Productions.

I particularly like this cartoon because it deals with two of my pet peeves: "reality" game shows, and Bible nuts. (By "nuts," I don't mean everyone who finds good in the Bible. I'm talking about the ones who take it literally, think Harry Potter is Satanic training for children, and believe God sent Hurricane Katrina to kill the homos in New Orleans.)

Leaving the "Bible nut" issue aside for the moment, honestly, I completely do not get the attraction for these game shows. On the other hand, several of my coolest friends are seriously into them. (Al and Pat in Pittsburgh, Oliver in Kansas City, to name three.) Obviously, I'm missing something.

Given the rising national mania for both "reality" game shows (what could be less like real life than these shows?) and NASCAR, I am beginning to feel like another species, living among humans clandestinely. Is there something cool that I'm missing about rednecks in logo-saturated jumpsuits and cars, driving in circles?

I'm not saying it isn't difficult, I'm sure it is. I can barely drive more than six blocks without falling asleep and ending up in a ditch, so I'm sure I wouldn't last in 200mph, bumper-to-bumper traffic. But just because something is difficult doesn't mean I want to watch it happening. Solving Fermat's Last Theorum was difficult, but the mathematicians working on it didn't gather millions of viewers – and theme hotels, apparel shops, restaurants, posters, calendars, seat covers, toys, colognes, hygiene products, religious gifts, etc.

I sometimes wonder if I'm the lunatic, that millions of Americans can't be wrong. But then millions watch Fox News and voted for Bush, so there goes that theory.

I suppose a lot of people are mystified by pop culture from time to time and even more are mystified by the things that I like. If you're a big fan of these kinds of TV shows or that circular-car-driving sport, I hope you aren't offended. It's all in good fun. But seriously, stop watching Fox News – except for the camp value.

Five to Read for Friday, May 2

* Detroit Free Press: POW! Comics still pack a punch

* Topless Robot: The 5 Best and Worst Comics Blatantly Designed to Sell Toys (via Kevin Melrose)

* Rome News-Tribune: A comic-book hero (also via Kevin Melrose)

* Newsarama: Faith Erin Hicks on Zombies Calling

* Salon: Comic relief

FCBM4 Day 2

It's day two of the fourth annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Asif Badar. The five comics that Asif listed are:

1. Hellboy
2. X-Men
3. Legion of Super-Heroes
4. Batman
5. Perhapanauts

For this Legion of Super-Heroes fan we go way back into the 1980s for:

The first issue of the Cosmic Boy mini-series, in which writer Paul Levitz and artists Keith Giffen, Ernie Colon & Bob Smith bring the titular Legionnaire back to the 20th Century.

For Asif's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Iron Man ashcan.

Asif's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
4 free comics sent so far
29 days remaining