Todd Klein's Blog, page 277

Pulled At Random From My Files #8

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Here are two more letter-column heading logos, for when most comics had actual printed letter columns.

Often the request was to have these titles follow the style of the cover logo, and both of these do. FILLER mimics my own logo for the comic THRILLER…

…while OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE uses the style of my logo for ADVENTURES OF THE OUTSIDERS, which itself used Gaspar Saladino’s original OUTSIDERS logo as a starting point, then added telescoping. Gaspar’s logo is the better one here, in my opinion! Letter-column logos were fun to do because the hard work of coming up with an original style was usually not required, you were simply adapting something already created.

Birding and Gardening

That’s what I was up to this week when I wasn’t home working. Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings I helped lead field trips in Belleplain State Forest for NJ Audubon’s Cape MAYgration festival. The weather was great, and so were the birds, all three trips got good looks at many beautiful species.

Scarlet Tanager is usually a favorite for participants, and Summer Tanagers were seen all three days, too, as well as many of the dozen or so nesting species of warblers, several kinds of Vireos and Flycatchers, and lots more.

Favorite spot on the trips is usually this one, looking into overgrown fields where we often see Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole, White-Eyed Vireo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird…

…and lots of Prairie Warblers like this one. We also had good looks at Blue-Winged Warbler today, much harder to see. I feel privileged to be able to have a nature preserve like this close to home.

Speaking of home, I’ve also done a good deal of gardening this week. The bed to the outside of the stone walkway has for years been planted each May with annuals. I’ve grown tired of the labor involved in that, and decided to try something different this year; I’ve put in several kinds of ground cover and just a few annuals in pots.

We’ll see how they do, and which ones survive the voles and squirrels and our poor soil. If some don’t make it, I’ll add more of the ones that do next spring.

Oh, and here’s my entire vegetable garden: one Poblano Pepper plant and some herbs—oregano and thyme. Not quite true, there’s a rosemary bush in another pot. I used to have a real vegetable garden when we first moved here in 1989, but the trees have grown in so much there isn’t enough sun now. Besides, we have great farm stands nearby to supply us.

The larger Rhododendrons are beginning to bloom behind the Azaleas, something which doesn’t always happen at the same time. Looks good.

Rhododendron blooms are quite impressive up close, like a rosette of orchids.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN CORPS 19

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

The seemingly endless crossover storyline is almost over, and there isn’t much to say about this issue. Even writer Peter Tomasi doesn’t have a lot to add, there are seven pages with no lettering and a few more with one or two balloons. What there is is lots of fighting, between the First Lantern and the Corps, the First Lantern and a resurrected Mogo, the Corps and Mogo’s constructs, and so on. I found the battles emotionally uninvolving, and the issue generally uninteresting. Yes, the art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna is realistic and detailed, the action is full of energy, but I know the good guys will survive, and the bad ones will meet their end next issue, very likely, and I’m not invested in the storyline at this point. Ready for something else on a smaller and more personal scale between a few characters I’m given reasons to care about.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH 19

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Perhaps I should mention that all the DC comics I’ve reviewed recently have a double-size cover which folds out from inside, so each is a kind of tease and reveal. Works better on some than others. I wonder if the extra cost is worth it, though the larger art is nice to see.

There’s a lot going on in this issue. Barry Allen is powerless, due to events in DIAL H FOR HERO apparently, but he does have a bag of weapons from his old Rogues Gallery, and uses them effectively in an attack on a prison for dangerous characters like the new Trickster. The group of ordinary folks who were trapped inside the Speed Force are no longer ordinary, and trying out the superhero bit, not too successfully. Flash himself does appear eventually, and in a move I’d like to see more of, interacts with the Justice League in a small way that makes sense. Finally, we see the larger threat that’s teased on the cover just at the end.

Those final pages are by Francis Manapul, and I’m hoping he’ll be back for more soon, I miss him, though Marcio Takara did fine on the rest of the issue. The story is going in too many directions this time for me, but looks like it will be more focused soon.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 19

Image © Dark Horse Comics.

As evident on the cover, Dark Horse is relaunching some of their superhero titles from years past, and sampling them in this anthology. I don’t buy many Dark Horse Titles other than the Hellboy-related ones, but I do continue to enjoy this sampler of what’s going on at the company. Nice to see that logo again, I believe it’s one I designed for the character in 1992. The story excerpt is one where crime bosses have been targeted by this vigilante assassin, and are sure their defenses will keep them safe…until they don’t. Well done, if violent by writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Eric Nguyen. (Glad I don’t have to letter those names!)

Part 2 of “Alabaster” by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Steve Lieber continues the story of ghosts and evil entities in a small town diner that makes the best BLTs ever. Even so, I don’t recommend eating there. Great stuff.

In Part 3 of “The Deep Sea,” the survivors of a deep dive have been unexpectedly rescued after decades under the sea, and the vessel that found them is under attack by huge, scary creatures. The story by Palmiotti and Gray is good, but the art by Akins and Mounts seems to have gone off the rails this time, very loose and sketchy, and confusing layouts and storytelling, leaving me unsure of what exactly happened in places.

Part 2 of “Gamma” is an odd mix of cute animals and monster hunters. Didn’t work for me.

Part 2 of Captain Midnight by Joshua Williamson & Victor Ibañez worked great on all levels, smart writing about a smart character who shows why he was a hero back when, ready to take advantage of the situation when the modern-day military underestimates him.

A segment of “Mind Mgmt” by Matt Kindt is well told, though I don’t care for the art style.

Part 4 of “Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses” is well told and well drawn by Phil Stanford and Patric Reynolds. Crime fiction is not very appealing to me, but this story carried my interest anyway.

Part 2 of a new “Resident Alien” storyline by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse is great stuff. There’s something intriguing about this soap-opera approach to the characters with only the reader aware that one of them is an alien, as seen very clearly in the art. Kind of the opposite of the old twist ending, here we start with the reveal, and then the story rolls along as if it wasn’t there at all, mostly. Looking forward to more.

Part 1 of “Station to Station” throws us into a disaster of epic proportions and then begins to unravel how it happened. Looks like scientific experiments gone wrong so far, but what’s that weird creature? Interesting opening by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman.

“The White Suits” is a spy vs. spy story set in Russia that doesn’t appeal to me much, but the art looks good.

Overall, not a bad issue. I have to say the variety of material is less than in the past, and the number of continued stories make it hard to recommend this issue as a starting point for new readers, but in general this is a great anthology and recommended.

 

And Then I Read: AQUAMAN 19

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Arthur Curry is still having a tough time as king of Atlantis. A group of former king Orm’s friends are working secretly to return him to the throne, an old friend refuses to help Aquaman in his effort to track down dealers in Atlantean weapons on the surface, and then there’s this guy on the cover, who certainly looks the part of Atlantean King! Meanwhile, Mera has her own problems, not only with the guy above, but someone from her past. Geoff Johns continues to deliver a great mix of action, intrigue and character development in this title. The art by Paul Pelletier and Sean Parsons is fine, too.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: SNARKED! Volume 3

Image © Boom Entertainment and Roger Langridge.

While the characters in this book have their origin in the work of Lewis Carroll (The “Alice” books and “The Hunting of the Snark”), it’s a Roger Langridge comic all the way, and that makes it a great one. Roger has a talent for writing and drawing funny stories, and an equal talent for appealing characters. Even the supposed villains of the piece are appealing, including the famous Snark, which finally shows up in this third and final collection. Scarlett, the daughter of the lost Red King has come with the crew of the ship “Hope” and the Walrus and Carpenter to Snark Island to find and rescue her father. She has pursued this path with singular resolve, despite all kinds of funny and frustrating twists and turns in the plot, and finally the King is found. Trouble is, he doesn’t want to be rescued! He’s quite happy in the Snark’s cave, avoiding all his kingly duties for the first time in his life. Meanwhile, everyone else other than Scarlett has their eyes on the Snark’s vast treasure and are making plans to get some of it and bring it home, if they can avoid being eaten first!

Great stuff, and a book all ages will enjoy. Highly recommended, though of course you’ll want to read volumes 1 and 2 first.

My World Series of Birding 2013 Report

Our big day of birding to raise needed funds for the Cape May Bird Observatory began at 5 AM in Cape May at “The Meadows,” also known as the Nature Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge. The group was about 20 people including about six leaders. (I’m a little vague on this partly because I didn’t do a head count, partly because a few people left early and one started late.) After our initial pep talk by team leader Mike Crewe (his wife, Megan was our van driver and co-leader), we began our list. All species count when heard or seen, as long as they are clearly identified by at least three members of the group. Most were heard and/or seen by all or nearly all the group. Each participant had pledged a minimum of $1 per species seen. It was still pitch dark as we began, counting the weird buzz of American Woodcock calling, and as first light grew, we were out on the path at The Meadows just making out a few birds on the ponds like Mute Swan and Canada Goose, and hearing the calls of Common Yellowthroat and Carolina Wren. We didn’t spend too much time here, opting to head for the woods and fields of Higbee Beach WMA with about 10 species on our list.

We walked the trails at Higbee for about two hours, adding quite a few more birds like Yellow-breasted Chat, Baltimore Oriole and White-eyed Vireo. There were local residents and some migrants, though many of the migrating songbirds I’d seen Friday were not found, and had moved on. Such is the luck of the draw. If the World Series had been held on Friday, everyone’s totals would have been considerably higher. It had rained overnight, and the skies were still cloudy as we made our way out to the beach. More species like Red-throated Loon and Herring Gull were found by scanning the water and skies and shoreline. As we left Higbee, our total had reached about 60 species. It’s always great to see the number climb quickly early in the day, but we know that won’t last!

Here are our two vans at the Cape May Point State Park where we stopped next for restrooms and another 20 species. The weather continued to be a mixed bag all day, times of sun like this, then a wave of thunderstorms and heavy rain, gradually clearing again. By around 9 AM we were in the vans and driving to the northern part of Cape May County (our targeted search area for the day) to Belleplain State Forest with about 80 species on our list.

Belleplain is the local nature area I know best, as it’s close to our home, and it’s a great place for nesting birds not found further south in Cape May itself. Here’s my wife Ellen on the right, and some of the team getting ready to find more birds.

This was when the skies opened up and we were deluged by rain. We tried to bird in it, but soon had to give it up as it was raining too hard to see or hear anything! This process was repeated several times: the rain would slow, we’d all get out and start walking, and it would pour again.

Finally we took refuge in a picnic pavilion at the Lake Nummy campground inside Belleplain where at least we would walk around and try to see birds. We found a few.

Nothing I could get a picture of, though Mike Crewe did find this cool Rosy Maple Moth on the wall of the restrooms there.

Finally, after losing about an hour due to the rain, the skies began to clear again in earnest, and we were able to get out and find quite a few great local nesting birds like Blue-winged Warbler, Summer and Scarlet Tanagers, Hooded Warbler and Wood Thrush. It was after noon when we left Belleplain, and our species list had reached just over 100. We had made our “century mark,” from which the team gets its name, but of course were hoping for a lot more! Once you’re over 100 species, new ones get increasingly difficult to find, but we had quite a few more places to look.

Heading south toward Cape May again, we stopped on the Delaware Bayshore for birds like the endangered Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone and Dunlin, among the birds on this small sandbar. We returned to the Cape May Point State Park for a late lunch break, then spent some time looking for birds around Cape May Point itself.

This Orchard Oriole was one, giving me my first good bird picture of the day. It seems to be finding bugs in a Wisteria flower. At another stop we found a Brown Pelican, a hard one, the first of the year. At The Beanery (The Rea Farm) we added Black-crowned Night-Heron and Prothonotary Warbler, among others. Next we were in the van again to Cox Hall Creek WMA, where we found White-breasted Nuthatch and Downy Woodpecker. At around 4 PM we had 120 species, and picked up another good find, Horned Lark at the Cape May County Airport.

As the afternoon waned, we were looking for more birds at Nummy Island on the eastern shore of Cape May County, feeling weary and dragging a little.

We added more species like these Whimbrels and Black-bellied Plover. But the next round of thunderstorms was approaching, and as we drove north along the coast to Avalon, it drummed on the van tops and made visibility difficult.

This was one place where advance scouting helped. We were able to see nesting Yellow-crowned Night Herons from the windows of our vans, one row of seats at a time, through a small “window” in the trees alongside the road! We all had great looks at this rare species, bringing our list to about 126.

A few more stops as we once more headed toward the west side of the county, picking up Bald Eagle (at last!) at Beaver Swamp, and arriving at Jake’s Landing to this unusual sunset with the dim glow of the sun barely visible through the clouds.

As dusk fell at Jakes we rounded up a few more species like Clapper Rail, Marsh Wren and Northern Harrier. It was after 8 PM, and it would soon be dark. Our plan was to try to hear the calls of a few more night birds like owls and Whip-Poor-Wills, but another round of thunderstorms put an end to that plan! We began the drive back to Cape May, but the rain did let up enough so that we caught the call of a Chuck-Will’s-Widow before we ended our long day of birding back at “The Meadows” at 9 PM, once more in full darkness. My unofficial list put us at 133 species, but I knew I had missed some.

All that remained was to drive in our own cars to the official Finish Line at the Grand Hotel in Cape May, where an army of volunteers was waiting to welcome us and all the 50-plus teams with a round of hearty applause, good conversation, and a tasty hot meal provided by the hotel staff.

Everyone looks tired and perhaps a little dazed, and no wonder. Most of us had been up for at least 16 hours, and birding for 14 of them! In addition to our meal, team leader Mike Crewe had to make our official tally sheet and turn it in. We all went over our own lists and compared notes. When everyone had added their memories and records, we found our official tally came to 137 species. Not as good as some years, well behind our impressive total of 146 last year, but considering the weather, not bad! We all felt good about our effort.

It’s for a good cause, and it’s good fun, too, if you like birds and being out in nature, not to mention the thrill of the chase. Telling stories at the Finish Line, and having a laugh with birding friends is part of that. And as we sat, other teams came in and we joined in the hearty applause for them.

This morning the winning teams are listed on the CMBO site HERE, and a full list of all the teams and their tallies will be up soon, probably by this evening. We’ll be somewhere in the middle of the pack as usual, and that’s fine. I’m very happy to report that, at 137 species, Ellen and I will be contributing $274 to CMBO’s continuing worthy efforts in environmental education, land preservation and research, and thanks to generous pledges from SHAWN GALDEEN, CARL RIGNEY (both repeating yearly pledgers), SUSAN DAIGLE-LEACH, MARTIN B. MILLER, KEVIN ELDRIDGE, and AL B. WESOLOWSKY, we will also contribute another $685! I can’t say how much I appreciate their support.

Today we’ll be resting and getting caught up with things at home, but I know some birders will already be making plans for next year’s WSB. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the event created by Pete Dunne, long may it continue!

 

World Series of Birding Tomorrow!

I’ve been out birding as much as possible this week, getting ready for the WSB. Tomorrow our team the “Cape May Bird Observatory Century Run,” will assemble at 5 am and bird non-stop until around 9 pm. Every species we see or hear will raise money for CMBO, and their mission of nature education, land preservation, and research. Thanks to some very generous pledgers to Ellen and myself, each species we tally will raise $6, which is wonderful!

The last two weeks, the weather has been lousy for bird migration along the eastern US coast: east winds, lots of clouds, fog and rain. Thursday the skies finally cleared and the wind shifted to the southwest. This morning there were songbirds everywhere! I spent two glorious hours at Higbee Beach WMA enjoying dozens of warblers, tanagers, vireos, woodpeckers, and more. We hope this will hold true tomorrow, though we are expecting more stormy weather, so we’ll see what happens. We can always hope for luck, like the turkeys crossing the road in Belleplain above.

I was too busy looking to take pictures today, but Wednesday I was scanning across a field for distant birds, then looked down at my feet to see these tiny Eastern Tailed Blue butterflies getting some minerals from a muddy spot.

At Beaver Swamp, there were lots of turtles out enjoying the sunshine, just like me. These are probably Painted Turtles.

Wish us luck tomorrow, we’ll be working hard but having a good time birding all around Cape May County, tallying species one by one in all kinds of places and habitats. If you’d like to pledge a donation toward our efforts, there’s still time if you act today. Our usual total is around 140 species. A pledge of 10 cents per species would be a donation of about $14. If you’re willing to donate 50 cents per species, a donation of about $70, I’ll send you any one of my signed prints. Or any two for $1 per species. Email me HERE if you’d like to help raise money for this worthy environmental organization and our team effort, and thanks for considering it!

Needless to say, I won’t be blogging tomorrow, but should have a report on our day up by Sunday afternoon. And, if I have time, I might post brief reports on our progress on Facebook tomorrow.

And Then I Read: A HAT FULL OF SKY by Terry Pratchett

How foolish of me it was to not have read more Terry Pratchett books over the years. This second book about Tiffany, a young witch in training, is every bit as good as the first, “The Wee Free Men.” I have some catching up to do!

Tiffany came into a partnership of sorts with a group of tiny Picties in the first book, showing she had powerful magic when she really needed it, but now is ready to leave her small friends and her home in the chalk hills behind and begin studying witchcraft for real with an older practitioner. While the girl heads off to get started with that, she accidentally unleashes a very powerful magic force into her world, one that will follow Tiffany and try to take over her body and soul. Meanwhile, the group of other young witches she finds herself among is not welcoming to the new girl, and her teacher turns out to be more of a local herb doctor than anything, rather disappointing. The Wee Free Men have been asked to leave Tiffany alone, but their leader is troubled, and aware of the dark power on her trail. If he doesn’t act, it could be the end for his friend.

That synopsis sounds pretty dark, but Pratchett’s work is full of humor and wisdom, wise cracks and smart ideas. I have decided he’s a new favorite fantasy writer, and I’ll be looking for the other two books about Tiffany, and more. This is great fun! Highly recommended.