Spy magazine’s influence on my writing, my sense of humor, my career, my life cannot be understated. From that fated day I stumbled upon a 1988 issue in a Buy for Less grocery store in Oklahoma City of all places, I was hooked. Never before had a magazine been created seemingly just for me. Never mind I had spent a grand total of 10 days in New York, which served not only as the magazine’s home but the recipient of most of its well-aimed arrows – its unique mix of satire, investigative reporting and design went straight to my heart.
So why, then, did I hesitate to read SPY: THE FUNNY YEARS, a warts-and-all account of its dozen years of existence? Because the chintzy powers that be at Miramax Books ignored my two requests for a review copy? Perhaps.
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Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!
THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #1 (Marvel) I don’t care who it is – give a D-list Marvel character a new book, and I’ll be first in line to try it out. You can have your Spider-Mans and Captain Americas, but for me, the best, most intricate, most interesting characters are the ones that tend to stay in the shadows of the biggies. In the past few months, we’ve seen the returns of Blade, Moon Knight and now, after about six failed relaunch attempts in the past decade, it’s time for Danny Rand – aka Iron Fist – to get a gritty new feel, courtesy of writers Ed Brubaker and Matt Faction. Seamlessly interweaving the history of the Iron Fist lineage with the current Iron Fist whipping a whole army of Hydra operatives, this is a great start to the series. Wisely, they are going for a darker, Daredevil-esque style that works very well with the character.
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Our monthly depressing look at the search terms that bring pervs to BOOKGASM!
Tim Downs’ latest thriller, HEAD GAME, begins like no other: Its first chapter is almost entirely wordless, rendered as a six-page comic-book story, in which a man draws his own suicide note – what we’re reading, ostensibly – before taking his own life.
That man, we learn, was named Kirby. Along with pal Cale Caldwell and Capt. “Pug” Moseley, he was part of a propaganda mission for the United States in the first Gulf War, charged with creating and dropping surrender-style leaflets over enemy territory. They did their job well, but Kirby’s untimely, tragic death suggests it was not without a price.
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Finally! I got my hands on a scanner, with thanks to my landlord Jon. What this means for you, dear reader: No longer do I have to search around online for covers. This opens up a whole new world of content, since there has been a stack of books for which I could not get covers. It also means we’ve hit a real low point in this column’s storied history; just look at book numero uno if you don’t believe me.
THE BOUNTY HUNTER #1: THE DEADLIEST PROFESSION by Tiny Boyles and Hank Nuwer – Here it is, folks: the classiest book in my whole collection. When I purchased this fine tome, I knew this was bottom-of-the-barrel material. Was I far off in that assumption? In a word: nope.
The 1981 novel is a low-rent aggressor-type, based on a real character – that would be said Tiny. Our hero Tiny – that’s really him on the cover – is a hulking, 380-pound bounty hunter. He’s no religious freak like a certain TV bounty hunter with a really awful haircut. The hard case that Tiny and his crew have to bring in is a Charles Manson-esque leader of a outlaw Mormon death cult in Utah. Let that sink into your heads, people.
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