Just thought I’d drop some Thanksgiving cheer before I go on vacation for the next couple of weeks. As a current resident of Chicago, I have to say that I can’t wait to return to Chicago with a sweet-ass tan, because I’m visiting family in Phoenix, Arizona! Not exactly the locale one immediately pictures in a traditional Thanksgiving Day setting, but I’ll cope. Poolside, baby! That’s where I’ll be. J Just some quick notes on some things, some thoughts and comments before I leave the cyber world for a few days:

1-For those who were aware, and for those who hadn’t heard, I was recently banned from DC Comics’ Message Boards. Months ago, the boards were the place where I got my start when I decided to commit my thoughts on matters ranging from arts & entertainment, to sports to politics, to comic books and related media. The column took off, but I always kept the faithful over at the DC boards in the loop because their feedback has always been the most gratifying. Then a funny thing happened recently. The boards started becoming numbingly dull for a couple reasons: One, the product DC Direct has committed to for the next year or so has desensitized many of the fans that date back to DC Direct’s inception since a renewed commitment to the A-list characters like Superman, Batman, and even Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern have buried the product once lusted after by hardcore fans, from the JSA and the Teen Titans, to the Legion of Superheroes and Silver and Golden Age obscurities (the idea of a month that features Uncle Sam, the Question, Phantom Lady, and Blue Beetle seems like years ago); and Two, someone at DC Comics decided that the messages from posters were straying from the specific material that the forums were created for, and the webmasters had to start deleting off-topic material on a consistent basis. No more debates on the “JLA/Avengers” boards on who would win a fight, Thor or Britney Spears. No more Medicare discussions on the Aquaman boards, and absolutely no discussions on the parallels of the media’s handling of the respective stories between Jessica Lynch and Elizabeth Smart. I committed the ultimate sin on that last subject recently. I posted my last column over on the DC Direct boards as always, and within a few days I discovered that every bit of content unrelated to DC Comics was strategically deleted, along with every response by other readers regarding the off-topic material. I cried foul on this blatant act of censorship until the predictable response came from DCComics.com webmaster Rob Kamphausen: message board suspension for violation of terms of use. So the message boards that I have diligently supported for the last three years turned their backs on me. The suspension is just that, a suspension. I will likely be back in December. But I lost any respect for this powerful communication tool , as it is painfully apparent that no matter how much quality creative material is produced by DC Comics, they are driven by a corporate behemoth that discourages politically driven discourse among its consumers. “Shut up and buy our stuff,” they’re trying to say, I guess.

2-One thing I’ve missed with my suspension is the ability to comment on one particular message board poster’s ramblings. For the last several months, someone who has repeatedly hidden behind the third person guise of a DC super-villain (Sinestro, Lightning Lord, and now Count Vertigo) has made some bold assertions regarding the output of DC Direct. What made this idiot stick out is his assertion that he has done the artwork on some of DC’s most popular series for the last few years. Hilariously enough, this guy is quick with the insults to other fans with racist and homophobic remarks, so it goes without saying that he could kiss his professional career goodbye if his true identity was revealed (this is of course on the condition that he’s not lying about his line of work), because the word would spread faster than southern Californian wildfires that he was insanely misogynistic and delusional, and that he’d so easily bite the hands of the people who have paid his bills over the years. “Count Vertigo’s” main claim to fame, besides consistently referring to himself in the third person, is providing scoops about what action figures are going to be produced, and what concepts are dead. Underscoring these pathetic ramblings is the fact that no one takes him seriously, and that he has no recognized record for success with these assertions. I’m not even going to cite any examples of his scoops (because I’d sooner refer to Jayson Blair for my facts), but he’d have everyone believe that all he needs to do is fire off e-mails to DC employees who readily forward insider information on the company’s output for the next couple of years. Riiiight… Oh, Count? Maybe when you get around to another alias, like Irrelevant Man, Klueless King, or Ann Coulter, will I give your “scoops” due credit. This is the last bit of space that I will ever waste on my column regarding this twisted fuck.

3- The Onion, which aside from being available as a free weekly paper in places like Chicago and Milwaukee (and I assume New York since they moved offices there) is also available online. In their entertainment section, “The Onion A.V. Club,” the interview of the week (of Nov. 19th) was with American Music Awards (the ultimate corporate handjob for the music industry) producer Dick Clark. I’ve never really had a problem with Dick Clark, that was, until I saw his appearance in Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. In that excellent comic documentary, Moore confronts Clark over his chain of Rock & Roll restaurants and their hiring practices that completely screw employees who are lucky to pull in minimum wage. One such Flint, Mich. employee was so overworked in a pathetic welfare program that she, as a single mother, was unable to give her young son the necessary attention that may have prevented him from taking a gun to school and fatally shooting a little girl. When I saw that an old square like Dick Clark was being interviewed in the Onion, I immediately perused it for mention of this encounter with Moore to no avail. I wasn’t alone in this interest in that a friend of mine brought it up to me. A darn shame that Moore’s guerilla journalism wasn’t brought up in this interview, and I have to wonder if this subject was ruled off limits by Dick Clark, Inc.

4-Speaking of the irrelevance of the American Music Awards, I highly recommend to any fans of quality music that you buy or rent the DVD from Wilco, I am Trying to Break Your Heart. Never mind that it documents the making of one of the best albums of the last few years, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it is an indictment of the music industry that does just about everything it can to stymie quality music from getting released. It also shows the best breakdown of the family unit in a rock band since Let It Be. Oh, and the recording sessions and live performances are sublime. People interested in Chicago will also want to take notice since the majority of this is filmed in the windy city (as was the cover and all the sleeve work on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot).

5-I caught a preview of the current issue of Uncanny X-Men, and I have to say that if this is one of Marvel’s top-selling books, then X-Men fans are the most undemanding, easy-to-please comic book readers out there. How is this book a success?

6-I finally got my copy of Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross this week. If you are any kind of fan of the work Alex Ross has done for DC you need this book. A plus for me was the design contributions of Chip Kidd. For size, beauty, vividness, and sheer comprehension, this is it. If Ross put down his pencils and brush tomorrow and say he was moving on to other pursuits, I’d thank him for doing it all in superhero art. I would always encourage more, but he has said all he needs to on the amazing array of heroes and villains of the DC Universe. Alex Ross has always done his best work for DC, so I’m glad the folks at Pantheon Books were able to assemble this in time for the holidays.

7-QUESTION: Would somebody please explain to me how Britney Spears gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame??? I’ve always heard it was a big deal, now they apparently hand them out to anyone who gets on TV to tease cocks everywhere.

8-1-Michael Jackson. Was there ever any doubt it would come to this?

As we approach Thanksgiving, I just want to take this opportunity to thank the folks who in the last year have encouraged me to pursue my artistic endeavors. Since last Thanksgiving, I acted in my first ever play here in Chicago, and I got enough attention from my writings (or ramblings, depending on your taste) to label myself a bona fide columnist. I am very blessed and thankful to those who contributed to this as well as those who continue to support me. I am very aware that I could not do this alone. Take care, and be mindful of the turkey intake before getting behind the wheel. J.