Sunday night, I went to a concert with my mother.  That’s right, I&Nmates: it was just the two of us: Mom and #1 son–well, and about twenty-five other obviously enlightened folks–average age of dying–who knew the names that brought not a little bit of culture to the marquee and, as it turned, not a bunch of people through the doors below it.  (I’m pretty sure that even the marquee was scratching its bulbs every time the names flashed.)  See, we saw John Gorka and Michael Johnson–the former one of my favorite folkies–a major influence, really–and the latter my mother’s musical crush; oh, and she was crushing hard–from the first row and from the very first song.  Yeah, she was giddy as all get out.  Good thing she didn’t get out her undergarments; but she was leaning that way–especially after elbowing me once she recognized the first few bars of “Bluer Than Blue,” the song that Johnson said helped him make the down payment on his first house.  (You know you know it!  Sing along: “Because I’m bluer than blue, sadder than sad/you’re the only light this empty room has ever had/life without you is gonna be/bluer than blue…”)  My mom sang along like she was in church, with her signature insistent vibrato nearly drowning out the Johnson’s amplified voice!  Even God was like, “Hey, c’mon, Pat: I paid to hear him!”  Wouldn’t you know, despite Gorka’s playing my request–the still oh-so-relevant “Where the Bottles Break”–and our meeting both artists after the show, my mother’s getting lost in the once-in-her-lifetime moment was my favorite part of the night.

This week, I’m paying to read these:

• BPRD: Hell on Earth #134 (Dark Horse)
• Death Head #2 (Dark Horse)
• Astro City #26 (DC/Vertigo)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #49 (IDW)
• Stray Bullets: Sunshine And Roses #7 (Image)
• Wolf #2 (Image): I&N Demand I, too, love myths–and I’m loving Ales Kot.  Wolf, wow, offers a lot of food for thought–hell, it’s a food fight in the collective unconscious!  Kot borrows and invents, showing he’s Jung at heart but so much more in every other part of his body.  He’s the present and the future of comics–and I can’t wait, month after month, to see what he comes up with next. 
  

• Archie #2 (Archie): I&N Demand Re: #1: This serious reinvention of the Riverdale gang never for a minute lost its innocent spirit: it was fun without being goofy; it was sweet yet didn’t sugarcoat the classic Archie Andrews conflict, which just popped off the page–thanks to Fiona Staples’ best work to date (in part, thanks to Andre Szymanowicz’s colors)–and reminded of the best moments of Mark Waid’s Daredevil reboot.  Gosh, I hope they can keep this up.
  

• The Disciples #3 (Black Mask): I&N Demand So far, The Disciples is everything you might expect from a space-horror comic.  Instead of feeling played out, however, it feels frighteningly fresh. Re: the end of #2: I haven’t gone to church in like forever; but Niles and Mitten have me brushing up on The Lord’s Prayer.
  

• Giant Days #6 (BOOM!)
• Oh, Killstrike #4 (BOOM!)
• Oxymoron #1 (Comix Tribe)
• Welcome Back #1 (BOOM!)
• Young Terrorists #1 (Black Mask): Just I&N It’s Fun with Titles Time!  Who are the real young terrorists?  It’s Black Mask, baby–because they are blowing up the industry with some great, great books.  Make sure you head down to the shop early to strap this one on–before it sells out!
  

Avery’s Pick of the Week

• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic #33 (IDW)

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott