I promised myself that I'd try to get three batches in before the reveal this year, and I certainly aim to try! There's certainly enough excellent stories this year to warrant it. I'm always impressed by the overall quality of Yuletide, but this year has really been outstanding, IMO. Here then, are some recommendations for:

( The Handmaid's Tale, Big Bang Theory, Blackadder, Spaced, American Gods, Sherlock Holmes, Jem and the Holograms, Back to the Future, Shaun of the Dead and Logan's Run )

Somethin's happenin' in the sanitarium, the fish are swimmin' backwards.

kylling gave me these:



Please tell her how awesome she is!!

Oh La La! Check out what Bloomingdales have exclusively released to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of DC Comics!

A JOKER TIE!


The Laughing Warlock has also been doing a Top Ten Personal Favourite Joker series in his blog. He's down to number six. Look to the right to see the entries!

Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciller: Kano
Inker: Marlo Alquiza

I decided that for my final review of 2009 – LDJ's second (and atrociously quiet...) year, I wanted to end on a note of explosive and delicious joyous fun... a story that is non-stop in energy and humour, that hits the mark over and over even if it isn't in the annals of the 'greatest comic book stories EVAR'.

And, after I bounced and giggled within seconds of opening this comic to assess for review, I decided this story was it!

Mistah J and Harley high-kick their way to Metropolis to bring a little mayhem and mirth to the life of Lex Luthor.

Joker has made intermitten appearances in other DC titles over the years, sometimes with Batman in tow and sometimes – as in this story – not. Usually he goes after the heroes of these titles, but not so in this story – he's got a bone to pick with Lex and goes about it in typically spectacular and perverse fashion!

It's a one-shot but not particularly a stand-alone as it references the events of No Man's Land as well as deals with current goings-on in Clark and Lois' relationship – the honeymoon is over, kiddies!!

If you're unfamiliar with NML, Lex Luthor planned to take over Gotham by acquiring property in the wake of the earthquake that ravaged the city. At the climax of that entire arc, Joker kills Sarah Essen-Gordon and Gordon retaliates by shooting out Joker's knee (he's healed by the point of this story though he was depicted in a leg-cast in a Birds of Prey storyline by Chuck Dion).

Mistah J has decided it was very naughty of Lex to get sticky fingers in this way and decides to engage in a little tit-for-tat.

Harley, of course, came to be during the NML run and so here she is in union with her Puddin' and the two of them are locked, loaded and rearing to paint Metropolis red!

Being a lifelong devotee of the JokerxHarley ship, one of the things I think works best in this story is how well Joker and Harley play together here. It's one of the few really excellent examples of their partnership in the mainstream titles and exemplifies what the unique point of their relationship is – for the first time, ever, Joker has someone with whom to really share the joke. Someone to have fun with, who's completely behind his madcap schemes – who is, in fact, participating in them whole-heartedly.

See, some writers do get it. Why didn't they work on the actual Bat-titles? :P

Harley is a delight in this issue. She's completely herself as we all know and love her and replete with the deadly edge suitable to the mainstream comics. She gets into a battle royale with Mercy which is presented in three “rounds”, complete with header-announcement and lightning bolts – and salivating fanboys gathered around to look. This match is hilarious as Harley bounces off Mercy's screaming apoplexy of rage with comedic comebacks. Furthermore, although Harley even refers to herself as a 'sassy sidekick' she is demonstrated as very active in the scheme and taking intiative in the action. She certainly isn't inept and doesn't goof up at all, and her and the Joker are working well in unison together. She's unhesitant in her behaviour and gleeful in her action and overall this is one of the best and truest depictions of Harley in the mainstream comics.

As for the Joker himself, he is delicious. This comic is page after page of hilarity and yummo Joker moments as he quips and quashes his way through Metropolis in a manner most unusual.

Using COMIC BOOK SCIENCE, Joker and Harley are employong a gizmo in the shape of a camera that, when it goes off, bestows instant baldness and an endless stream of 'Luthorisms' from whoever it is directed at. “Blah blah blah... my head is so big it outgrew my hair...” and the like. Childish, bizarre... very entertaining! :D

But of course, Joker doesn't limit himself to the supervillain scheme equivalent of poking out one's tongue and going 'neener neener' – the mockery takes a decidedly nasty turn when the memory of Luthor's recently deceased child is conjured up in a perverse and completely over the top way. But even THAT isn't the crux of Joker's plan and when it IS finally revealed it's one of those 'ha! PWN!' moments any Joker fan should experience when J has been his most dastardly self to an opponent. It's Jokerlicious.

There are many great interactive moments between Lex and Joker and Joker and Supes, who's somewhat worse for the wear in this story. edit to add: Of special note is the beautiful dynamic between Joker and Lex. It is my staunch opinion there are exactly three people in the whole universe who Joker respect and one of them is Lex Luthor. No prizes for guessing the other two. And what is so charming here is that how, even though Joker and Lex are fighting, they still have frequent casual, even friendly, exchanges throughout the action. There's no love lost between these two but somehow they have a strange buddy-sort of friendship even still - and it's wonderfully depicted here.

The laughs came out fast and furious, page to page, with non-stop action in a hedonistic, maniacal outpouring of Jokery-goodness. It's madcap, it's frenetic, it's nasty, it's funny, it's pure A-grade Joker!

I love how animated this story is, how palpable its energy. The Joker is so quick and so gleeful, rolling with every punch and countering with a punchline, often lethal, seeming childish and silly but being immensely deadly, enjoying himself fully by wrecking unspeakable mayhem yet seeming so flip and playful about it. The story is nasty – people die or are horribly injured – yet it's also so much fun. That's what any good Joker story should be.

He and Harley also make a superb and perfectly matched team, even down to their hilarious 'thematic garb' for this caper. Joker is wearing a baldcap and Harley is in a chauffeur jacket and hat – complete with balloon boobies crammed in beneath the jacket.

About the only low point is that whole 'diplomatic immunity by acting as a representative of Qurac' thing Joker had going for a while. 'Qurac' is the DCVerse's obvious and highly racist version of Iraq and, as in A Death in the Family, the idea that the Joker would really team up with a foreign country in opposition to the US... look, the Joker is many things and one of those, I really believe, is a pretty staunch patriot.

And yes, I think Joker driving off with the two chickie-babes while Harley gets flattened by the limo is in-character. For one thing, he knows Harley is preternaturally robust and for another, he's the Joker. It's just a joke! It's still early in their relationship here - I think it was a deliberate taunt.

The art is also beautiful. I love Kano – he is amongst the best renders of both Joker AND Harley around and he seemed to take an especial glee in this story, depicting them both with loving hilarity in a range of dynamic expressions and attitudes. Oh and he did the rest of the book pretty neat, too. ;)

Given that this is a reasonably recent book and an issue of an ongoing series, it's cheap and easy to pick up at any big online comic book store. It's not a must-have-or-die but it's a really entertaining and enjoyable story and worthwhile picking up if you're keen to pad out your Joker collection.

It's that most wonderful time of year again - the opening of the yuletide archive! I've been submerged in it for days now, with the aid of a prolonged Christmas break and a crippling flu, and it is my pleasure to present my first recommendations from this year's collection!

( Hot Fuzz, Isaac Asimov's Robot Stories, She-Ra, Peep Show, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Alien Resurrection, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Mystery Science Theater 3000 )

I've just come home from spending Christmas at my mom's - Christmas Eve being when our main Christmas celebration takes place - and I'm about to comment on the lovely Yuletide story I got. Meanwhile - I don't have any recordings of my choir from this year, but here's one from a couple of years back. Have a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you're celebrating!

..Oh, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Solstice..



Because nothing says the holidays like Kenneth Anger ;) (Or gay outlaw bikers set to 1950s music).

Thankfully my Gran should be alright.
Apparently Dot had a silent heart attack instead of a stroke, and her confusion was caused by some elevated protein. She's actually back home now, so now we no longer have to worry about her missing Christmas.

♠ I feel so drained and down and just completely un-fabulous. For the past three days, just whenever I take a pencil to paper I can't make anything come out properly. I've tried leaving it, I've tried powering through it, I've tried to take things in a different direction - but nothing. If I actually manage to finish what I'm working on, I just end up thoroughly displeased with it and I have to struggle to not destroy it out of frustration. And since I'm stuck here, I've just been dallying around on the internet and playing videogames and essentially wallowing. The opposite of what I should be doing.

♠ I'm also thinking about shaving my sides and running with a quiff haircut, but as a female I have to deal with the the rounded hairline vs the male M, but my flat, fem forehead should give the front a little more push - making it look taller (but the apex will sit further back). However, I'm not quite sure about what I should do about getting the actual look of sideburns. Either I could shave a high patch over my ears, or, I could do twigs off the side and tack them down with light hairspray. I'm not rightly sure, but if I do it I have to commit to giving up 30-40 minutes a day, everyday, just to do it properly. I may also just want to do this so I can imitate Jerry Lee Lewis at least once in my life. But don't tell anyone.

♠ Lions & twinks & bears, oh my!

I just read what might be the best holiday fic ever:

Through the Wire by Vulgarweed

It's a Good Omens story. What makes it the best? The evidence:

At the moment, Crowley was spending some time at the studios of a cable news and commentary network supervising the finishing touches on a masterwork—a fictional “War on Christmas” that did a brilliant job of pushing people of all faiths and political leanings into a grumpy, dodgy, slow-burn state of holiday-coloured paranoia. From the Christian inspired by the martial rhetoric into bellowing “MERRY CHRISTMAS” oh-so-defiantly at the cabdriver with the turban and the Q’uran verses, to the mild-mannered Wal-Mart greeter so paralysed with fear of offending someone that he said nothing and got a black mark for unfriendliness, to the atheist convinced that the school holiday pageant had subliminal indoctrination, to the taxpayers’ time spent so freely debating the issue in Congress, Crowley knew he had a gift that would keep on giving, and every bratty teenager who ever stole a baby Jesus doll out of a yard nativity scene was his ally...

Proof at last, the whole "war on Christmas" is a demonic pastiche designed for amusement. Delightful.

And now that I've spent the entire weekend painting, decoupaging and making silver and gemstone jewelry for my friends and loved ones, my serotonin and epinephrin are both up and I can feel those neurotransmitters firing on all cylinders again. It's nice.

For those of you who don't know, I've spent the past week losing my shit over a variety of things in the news, the biggest of which is the anti-gay legislation in Uganda that will include execution for gay citizens caught "having gay sex often."

I'm still avoiding the news through Xmas, but someone posted a comment that caught my eye:

sekai:
With all the persecution we suffer, I think it's high time we talk about creating our own homeland like that Jews did. Scoff if you want, but it worked for them.

It's a nice hypothesis. The flaw in that logic though is that Israel had the support of other solvent nations in carving out property rights, establishing borders, building an economic base, etc.

So the question then becomes: who would support a gay nation?

It's a short but interesting list:

1) Spain probably would. They have marriage equality and hate crimes legislation (though they do not keep records and report statistics on bias crimes).

2) France would front a loan for the sole purpose of irritating both America and England (and any fundamentalists that linger within their own borders).

3) Italy would probably offer up land both to satisfy Dolce & Gabbana and to irritate the little city-state they got saddled with centuries ago.

4) Norway. Like those Nobel Prizes they've been handing out the past few years (Carter, Gore, Obama...), their donation to a gay nation would be a kind of (completely justified) wrist-slap to America for all the ills of the past ten years.

5) South Africa. The former colonized nation recognizes both same-sex marriages and civil unions (couples can choose which kind of partnership they want), open immigration channels for bi-national couples, adoption for same-sex couples... Wow. It's amazing what 20 Apartheid-free years will do.

Minor players: if we really pushed it, we might get some spare change from India, Nepal and Cambodia.

But Rebecca! Where's your beloved UK? And Ireland?

Nowhere in sight sadly. The UK have civil unions but as the center of the Anglican Church (Uganda's largest supporter and co-owner of 'Ugandan Gold,' the coffee that hates), it's doubtful they would risk alienating even more of their base. Also, let's not forget the former prime minister's little Opus Dei faux-pas just a few years ago (proof that a public official will campaign for one thing and then do the opposite when others aren't looking). Ireland decriminalized homosexuality more than 25 years after Great Britain (and ten years *before* America) and forbids bias crimes, but they can't even agree on the abortion issue or whether gay and lesbians should have joint adoption. No way we'd see a penny from either of these gorgeous countries.

Altogether, the donated coffers would buy Gay Nation the five blocks in San Francisco that we already own. Not a lot, but it's better than nothing.

I am just completely screwed when it comes to Paypal. I had the email sent to me that they were gonna make a deposit... and I can't find that deposit anywhere on the date their email stated.

I want to be able to use it damnit! Maybe this is a good thing though. I am probably not meant to use it! Which is exactly why I don't have a credit card anyway, I refuse to allow myself to think of money that way.

NO.

BUT OH MY GOD I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE ONLIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE.

Wow listening to Hans Zimmer's Dark Knight Theme song while typing this out was making the experience intense. LOL.

Still procrastinating from writing my yuletide story, and what better way to do so than to present y'all with this years Christmas in Norway Quiz!

If anyone else wants to share their local Christmas traditions in a quiz, I would welcome the distraction. ;)

Claustrophobia is kicking in again.

I was not meant to live with this many people in my fucking space, asking if they can use my stuff (or Aubrey's stuff). Certainly not when two of them are unemployed, 27-year-old fanboys who blush at female underwear and girls kissing.

And I can't even enjoy my coffee, because Starbucks gets most of their product from UGANDA, which is about to launch an era of gay genocide in February.

Hate everyone today.

Hope they all eat shit and die.

*crawls into a hole-built-for-one to hide*

"Sure, I'll rearrange the presents."

I have damned myself for a week because of this sentence. This willful communication where I admit that I am willing to help the room to be more cosmetically pleasing. Mainly because we wrap stuff in the room with the tree, and when the package is finished we just plop it at the base of the tree and let it be. The breakables we sit down gently - and then we throw shit down on top of it as well. So it's a mess. Why am I telling you this?

Because about halfway in I came across this:

WHY IS GUY ON THIS PACKAGE? WHY IS HE WITH HAL'S NIECE AND NEPHEW? HOW IS THIS RELEVANT? ARGH, THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR NOT REALLY BEING CURIOUS ABOUT PRESENTS UNTIL IT'S TIME TO OPEN THEM ISN'T IT? GOD DAMN YOU, godsavethequim. GOD. DAMN. YOU.

Never have I ever been so curious and I want to cheat and nnnnn I feel like I'm five is it Christmas yet?

I'm betting the picture has nothing to do with the gift, and this is revenge for the string and duct tape wrapped present from last year. My god, she's a genius. It took me three hours to wrap that thing, and she's done something so terrible in, like, five minutes. Stop working smarter. WORK HARDER.

Also, IT'S SNOWING. :DDD It kind of freaks me out because the house is always so much warmer while it blankets. My only regret is that don't have any shitty gloves. Damn my love for nice leather gloves that will NEVER TOUCH A SNOWBALL. >/