Chocolicious Thoughts on Chocolate and Comic Books

The Chocolate Show is back in NYC this weekend, according to The Gothamist. I once tried to go with my boss during lunch hour, but it hadn't opened yet and there was a line and we never would have gotten out in time for me to take the reference desk on schedule. And thinking about it, it cost $20 to get in just so I can drool over chocolate I can't eat, or maybe for the privilege of spending yet more money on chocolate I can buy. It's so much easier and cheaper to just open one of those huge bags of M&Ms hubby picks up at the Price Club (or whatever it's called now) and just, you know, graze.

The final issue in the Kara Supergirl arc in the Superman/Batman comic finally came out. She's the original version of Supergirl who was killed in the mid-'80s in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline/maxi-series (that led me to boycott DC Comics, which meant all comics for me then, for 10 years in protest) though updated a bit with her new arrival in the DCU (DC Universe). After a couple of poor attempts at a new Supergirl, this was a most welcome return for this fan. Supergirl was the closest female character in age to me when I was growing up and she was one of my all-time favs. I thought the story was well handled and she's poised to play a real role in the DCU now. But what brought a tear to my eye was the dedication at the end: "Dedicated with love and admiration for the memory of Christopher Reeve." The darn issues were coming out so late, they had time to add that in. The story was worth the wait, though, as was Michael Turner's amazing art.

I finished reading the "gym" book and now have to pick something to read there next. Too many books, not enough time = a tough decision, as usual. I'll try to get a review up on Shelly's Book Shelf in the next day or so.

The penultimate issue of "Identity Crisis" by suspense/mystery writer Brad Meltzer came out too, and with one month to go, I'm still in the dark as to who the killer is, even though it looks bad for one of the heroes. Supposedly, the clues are in there, but I don't have time to reread all 7 issues before the 8th and last comes out. Reading this one issue per month makes is hard for me to keep up and remember the details. I should've waited til I had the whole series here and read it in one sitting as I usually do with mini- and maxi-series, but this one had so much publicity and folks were really talking about it online, I didn't want to risk running into a spoiler. So I've been reading as they come out. The speculation of the fans has been wild and it's amazing (no, not really, cuz I'm used to comic fans blowing things out of proportion and not waiting for the whole thing) how quickly they think the writer screwed up. Brad Meltzer writes bestselling suspense/mystery novels; I doubt he's making mistakes. So I'm reserving judgment til I've read the whole thing. And I've got another month to wait for that.

And now Green Arrow is getting socially relevant, just like the good old days of the "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" comic of the late-60s/early-'70s when Denny O'Neill and Neal Adams tackled the subjects of pollution, over-population, and drug addiction, the latter being the famous (in comics circles at any rate) 2-part story focusing on Roy "Speedy" Harper's heroin addiction. And now, in the new "Green Arrow" book, Judd Winick has written an HIV-positive storyline for GA's ward, Mia. Some people don't like to read about socially relevant themes in comics, but I love it. I prefer a mix of super-hero action, character-driven stories, and social issues. So today's purchases made me a satisfied reader.