Question: is it just me, or does everybody out there notice really bizarre changes to their routines when they're gone for no more than five to six days? Like you find enough changes on TV and other media, not to mention in your daily life that you're wondering if you were gone for six MONTHS rather than six DAYS. I got back to Chicago this week to find two restaurants on my block closed down. Then in an empty lot across the street from me, there's a huge Christmas tree depot all lit up, 24-7 (it's like a spotlight is aimed directly into my window right now). I swear, I was barely gone a week…

**********

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS: DC Direct is ending the year in fine fashion with some releases that'll have many fans overjoyed AND overspent this holiday season. I'm personally looking forward to picking up the last two deluxe sets DC Direct produced for their SuperFriends line: Batman with Scarecrow, and Robin with the Riddler. I have had a lot of fun putting together a Legion of Doom collection that has mixed what DCD has produced in the last three years to create a facsimile of the original Challenge of the SuperFriends lineup. I don't know if they're Silver Age or Modern, but I have Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, and Sinestro. Plus I have the first Cheetah figure they did in 2001, along with Bizarro and Brainiac (I have the Silver Age Pocket Hero Brainiab standing underneath the MA action figure since it became available - he's so cute!). The SuperFriends line has been a Godsend in getting me the only Luthor figure I ever really wanted, along with Black Manta (Finally!!!), Riddler and Scarecrow. Unfortunately it looks like the SF line is through, so the chances of getting Toyman and Giganta have to come from somewhere else. Speaking of Giganta, I want to thank Phil Jimenez, Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuiness, and anyone else at DC Comics who has been responsible for making Giganta a relevant fixture in the DC Universe. Now requesting a figure of her doesn't seem to be as tall an order as that for the Wonder Twins.

While I have been personally thrown a bone on some of these characters by TPTB at DC Direct, I am still waiting for solicitations for the following action figures: Firestorm, the Golden Age Atom, the original Star Spangled Kid (and I'd really like to get a Courtney Whitmore version too), Johnny Thunder & Thunderbolt, the Earth 2 Robin and Huntress, and, of course, Toyman and Giganta. I speak for many when I say that seeing genuine signs of these figures, whether they're released or merely solicited, by this time next year is going to keep the most diligent DC Direct fans happy. Make me proud, Mr. Brewer.

**********

JAMS OF THE YEAR: November typically sees the end of new music releases for the year. By this time, anything that comes out is probably Christmas-related, or of the "Greatest Hits" variety. That being said, this is my Top Ten of the 2003 that rocked da hizzouse:
1. White Stripes, Elephant. Monster guitar solos! I thought they were extinct!!! Guess not. Oh, and if Meg White was any cuter, she'd have to start hiring armed protective services.
2. The Darkness, Permission to Land. I totally get them. Plus this disc is chock full of catchy jams. Good luck trying to get "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" out of your head if you hear it (plus the video is twin hype). The best cock rock album since Whitesnake's Slide It In.
3. Led Zeppelin, How the West Was Won. Between this 3-disc set, and the superlative DVD, 2003 was a great year for Jimmy Page & Co. to reclaim their position as the mightiest of all hard rock acts. Any contemporary act needs to diligently review these discs before ever making a bid to rule the world.
4. Junior Senior, D-D- Don't Stop the Beat. THE party album of the year. It's all over the place and it works, and I'm always a sucker for acts that bring FUN back into music.
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever To Tell. I'll never forgive myself for missing these guys last year at a place ten minutes away from my crib.
6. Northern State, Dying In Stereo. Recommended to anyone who digs old school Beasties and misses the jams of Luscious Jackson ten years ago.
7. The New Pornographers, Electric Version. An outstanding live act (caught 'em in July), and an album that will have you singing along in under three listens. And I am so in love with Neko Case.
8. The Beatles, Let It Be… Naked. Like I'm going to pass up a chance to include a "new" Beatles release. The two songs that were noticeably draped with Phil Spector's Wall of Sound are sublime in this stripped down disc ("Across the Universe," "Long and Winding Road")
9. Pelican, self-titled EP. If you like your proto-Sabbath jams sludgy as the thickest tar with nary a vocal track to be found (i.e. all instrumental), gentlemen, I offer you metal bliss.
10. Cat Power, You Are Free. I don't know what's more enchanting, listening to this CD over and over, or staring in Chan Marshall's eyes for hours. It's win-win, though.

HONORABLE MENTION: Outkast, "Hey Ya!" - The Donnas, "Take It Off" - Beyoncé (Knowles) with Jay-Z, "Crazy In Love" - Anything to do with Johnny Cash.

**********

I DID NOT MAKE THIS UP: "It is particularly fitting to honor the Freedom President on this particular piece of coinage because, as has been pointed out, President Reagan was wounded under the left arm by a bullet that had ricocheted and flattened to the size of a dime." Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., introducing legislation that would boot the Democratic architect of the New Deal in the Great Depression from all future 10-cent coins to make way for the conservative icon. < www.dailynews.com - 12-01-03>

**********

OKAY, SO I DIDN'T ACTUALLY SEE IT… Was there any doubt, judging by reviews, NOT THE GROSSES, that the Cat in the Hat motion picture was going to be an abomination to Dr. Seuss lore in the same manner of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Theodore Geisel is a fraternity brother of mine (seriously), so I take particular offense to what Hollywood has done. Oh, the humanity…

**********

JLA/AVENGERS #3: Potential spoilers to the heathens who have not picked this book up -- you have been warned. The last time Blue Devil and Black Lightning graced a comic book cover drawn by George Perez? That would be Who's Who #3, back in 1985. I thought that was cool. Tell me that there wasn't one Hal Jordan or Barry Allen fan out there who wasn't knocked out about this issue, especially Jordan fans. Truth be told, this has been a pretty good month for said fans, what with this issue, and Alex Ross and Paul Dini's excellent JLA: Liberty & Justice. The Silver Age never looked so good.

I have a steel-trap memory on minute things like where I was when I grabbed certain comics throughout my life, and getting comics was always huge when I was on vacation because it meant hitting new and different comic book stores. I picked up JLA/Avengers #3 when it came out last week at a Glendale-area shop. On the way, I recalled other times that I bought comics in Arizona. I remember buying New Teen Titans #31at a 7-Eleven in 1983 - the climatic Raven vs. the Brotherhood of Evil issue where the bad guys totally got their asses kicked. Years later I remember getting Who's Who #s 13 and 14, when George Perez made a glorious return to doing the wraparound covers for the limited series. Yes, I realized last week on the way to Hero Comics in Glendale that George Perez has been a constant in my comic book purchasing for more years than I can remember - AGAIN.

Kurt Busiek and Perez are certainly keeping me on my toes with their mini-series, and that's a good thing. What I sincerely hope is that there is some creativity in the two superteams' solution to ending the threats of Krona. If it's just a matter of the Justice League and Avengers winning an endurance test with Krona in a big slugfest, I am going to be disappointed. I'm not expecting a change in the status quo with the end result of this series, but I'd sure prefer a good final statement on DC/Marvel crossovers (seeing as a moratorium on these are due, and looking to be enforced - >fingers crossed<). That would be sweet.