I’ve always loved a good comic book cover. They say a picture paints a thousand words. When you get your comic on the stands with hundreds of others, the cover should set yours apart, set the world on fire, or just lure the reader in. 

But a good comic cover can tell part of the story in itself. Set a tone, show off the main threat, you name it. I don’t have much use for generic pin ups. If you see the latest issue of Spider-man and it’s the 14th issue in a row where they have a guest artist draw him just webslinging over New York, again, they’re doing everyone a disservice. 

So I wanted to tell a whole bunch of stories with *just* covers. I created a Superhero team called The Battalion and presented their adventures through *only* the first 100 covers of what would have been their comic run. Thus, “100 Covers”.

The reader would take in each cover and they’d be presented with a certain scenario. Then, their imagination would take over. There was usually enough moving parts in most any cover to get the wheels turning. For those who were already comic fans or those who are just acquainted with superheroes in some form, there are certain bits of shorthand– things you already know, like the good guys would always win. Certain bits you might automatically mentally add, but once again, we go back to that picture painting a thousand words. The cover opens the door, your imagination can open it wider.

It had the virtue of never having been tried before and I thought it would be an interesting challenge. I tried to fill out a decent sized, well balanced team. We had “Rockefeller”, the stone-skinned leader, “C-4”, the munitions expert, “Malator”, a woman bonded with and alien shape-shifter, “Mataak”, making a return to my universe, “Rush”, the team speedster, “Whipcord”, the hand to hand combat expert who could also handle a whip and “Elof”, Asgardian Prince (formerly Steve Steel back in the day).

I chose to present a team’s adventures for the project for a couple reasons. First, variety. Since the bulk of the story would be getting represented in the covers only, I wanted to be able give a wide variety different villains for different individual heroes, mix and match team ups, you name it. And if you’re working with a team, if there’s some transformation or threat, showing three or four team members on a cover, you can show the stages of a threat or the effect on one member while another reacts, etc. With a single hero, it’s a little tougher to tag team an added dimension to the narrative. It’s all about the quick read, getting the message across. I had one cover where the threat was the members being transformed into condensed balls of energy. With the team, all in one cover, I could show each member hitting the next stage of the transformation. Member #1 had no effects yet, while member #7 was shown in the final stage of the transformation.

So plenty of possibilities. And I had a lot of fun coming up with villains and monsters as well. One of the most enjoyable parts of the exercise was coming up with interesting names for alien races, like The Obsidian Pride, a lion race with an extremely dark blue skin tone. I also did several multipart stories. Quite often, big teams have big scale adventures, so a six part or eight part adventure gave me the excuse to show six or eight major beats or cliffhangers from a big story.

There was an eight part alien invasion story that I really sunk my teeth into over one weekend. Immersed in the ambient music of author Eric San Juan, I feverishly drove on, presenting the first several parts of the invasion all in red, as things got worse and worse and the Battalion was on its last legs. When the tide shifted and the team got the upper hand, the colors shifted back. 

Side note, the invaders were the Duvaari, the invisible, reptilian monsters originally mentioned way back in Mataak. 

There was also a Seven part “Father’s Day” story spread out amongst the main members, showing their interactions with their various fathers or kids. Finally, there were also a series of covers showing each member’s origins.

Most of my books up until now had been black and white but this was a 100 page color graphic novel. So there was absolutely no chance of being able to afford a standard print run, going through Diamond. 

And although everyone who saw the book gave it high critical praise, it took some explaining to everyone else. It was hard for a lot of people to wrap their minds around the concept. 

So, I went with Print on Demand for this one. Both 100 Covers and it’s sequel, The Second 100 Covers are still available in both digital and print formats HERE. 

I had a notion about doing a third volume, “The Last 100 Covers” but, although I’ve got 25% of it done, I’m not sure when or if it’ll see the light of day.

Under normal circumstances, I’d list the excellent, powerful, extremely significant episodes (or all of the above) and then honorable mentions for those that were still well enough above average to warrant viewing. To be honest, taking all of Series 11 and 12 into account from the Chris Chibnall/Jodie Whitaker era, I cannot give you a list of stellar or magnificent episodes. At best, I can give you three that were a cut above the others in this era. As for the rest, the best I can do is honorable mentions because this era, —I’ll be generous: This era has not been good. So, the eps of this era that were a cut above the rest:

1) The Woman Who Fell to Earth. This first ep seemed to show some promise. Showrunner/writer Chibnall makes an attempt to introduce the companions, but sadly, never really bothers to follow up with his creations, to continue to develop them. Their evolution basically begins and ends here. Jodi does well enough post regen to think she would improve. 

2) It Takes You Away – beautifully directed and written mostly by someone other than Chibnall (who’s the anti-Holmes, the anti-Moffat), this was an interesting tale, dealing with an interesting concept. Decent character development and outing for all the companions too. Thank you, writer Ed Hime.

3) Fugitive of the Judoon. Shocks, surprises, and amazement occur when the Doctor shows up and kicks ass. This was the one ep in this whole era that got me excited about DW again, for the first time since Capaldi. A shame they couldn’t follow it up properly.

Honorable mentions:

*Rosa deals with Rosa Parks and the part of the ep co-written by Malorie Black was quite good. The filler crap by Chibnall is what busted it down to HM.

*Demons of the Punjab was quite an intense, educational and enjoyable story that could and should have been a pure historical, but all the sci-fi elements intruded and watered down an otherwise top notch story so, busted down to HM.

*Skyfall began S12 and although the first half was quite good, the second half consisted of Chibnall stealing more and more bits and ideas from his predecessors and rehashing them poorly. Second half drags it down to HM.

*Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror is simply a good story, well told and educational to boot. It earned the HM. 

This is just a humble blog to recognize 50 years of wedded bliss for Lynn and Dave Horwath. I think it’s a testament to true love when an assassin with such a kill record, and checkered past, with so many haunted memories, can leave the life behind to sweep a dancer off their feet and give up the stage, the fame, the glitter.

Full disclosure: I never did see Dave dance. But I’ve heard stories.

Ely. Always just have to say….. Ely. They say a picture paints a thousand words. Well, say Dave and Lynn, then add Ely and you’ve really rambled on. 

In this era of social distancing, it’s a bit difficult to have a huge shindig for the happy couple but holy moly, Ely is one long damn drive, so these remote means will have to do. And hey, clean up is a lot easier!

But what ho, you might say, “Usually, you find a way to make everything about you, Rick. Kudos for stepping out of the spotlight to–“

OH, they couldn’t have done it without me… the actual marriage. Oh no, no, no, I had the rings. 

I was the ring bearer in the ceremony. Had I made a break for it, nothing would have been legal and they’d still be dating, have no kids, because, you know, “not married”–wink wink, so no grandkids, etc. wow.

Ah just kidding, the rings I carried on the pillow were decoys for presentation. 

I remember very little of the event (I was only 8 years old). 

I remember Lynn looking quite lovely in her dress, Dave looking dapper–when doesn’t he? (ex-dancers are always in shape)

What else… lots of people there, I remember my cousin Renee… danced with her. Yeah, from what I remember, a great time! 

Dave and Lynn, best of all wishes and congratulations on 50 years!

And remember…….

Ely…..

The day was like any other day in lockdown, or in my case, like any other day. 

Until I opened the fridge. 

I saw what looked like perhaps a sticker you’d find on a piece of fruit at the store, say a Chiquita banana sticker, or some such faldaral.

But it wasn’t a sticker. Somehow, someway, a sign hath been delivered unto my humble refrigerator. 

Yes, it is a picture of a Weeping Baby Jesus Pear. 

See the leaf that is akin to a tear.

All those that line up to see it, please, please social distance and wear masks. 

I won’t ask for money, not to see a blessed miracle. No, I won’t ask for it but I wouldn’t necessarily want to insult the Weeping Baby Jesus Pear. If I were you. 

Frankly, I’m surprised a priest hasn’t shown up. No idea what this all means.

But one thing is for certain, I can’t clean this fridge. I don’t think so, anyway. Hmmmm.

WWWBJPD?

This was another bizarre entry that fell into limbo, only being available on print in demand at Comixpress while they were in business.

Maybe that’s for the best. (?)

This one was odder than most. Loki, trickster god of Asgard, put a curse on a whole village, turning them into fruits and vegetables. Man sized, anthropomorphized fruits and vegetables that survived in this new bizarre village. The vegetable people represented one faction, the fruits, the other.

We got to briefly look at what kind of life this was, a bit of the culture. We also got a twist ending and of course the tomato makes a cameo but where do his loyalties lay? 

I gave fruits and vegetables some semblance of emotion. Love, menace, loyalty… I had two pineapples spar in a match. I might be most proud of the carrot. Just sayin’. 

This was my first full scale color project, as since the only place it would be produced was print on demand, I didn’t have to worry about the usual conventionally high print costs of an initial run elsewhere, so the Food of the Gods were in color. 

Aside from the digital files, I think there was only ever one physical copy printed up. I’m sure it’s worth a million!

Talk about dark. This book never really saw the light of day. It, like so many other of my older comics were available at a certain print on demand service called Comixpress, until it went out of business. The difference was, this one never got solicited to Diamond for whatever reason. That might have been when Diamond shifted around the goal posts and made it tougher for independents to get their books in there– but don’t worry, they charged more than ever for ads if you did get in. That was probably the end of me soliciting through conventional means and The Middle Man was the first casualty.

It was originally called the Middle Man because it told the stories of the one moment right after death for several people in different circumstances. One guy who got offed in a mob hit and thrown in a trunk, one old woman who died of old age surrounded by family, one man who just jumped off a high rise to his death. In each instance, one second later, all time would stop and this gentleman would materialize and have chat with the recently deceased. 

The gentleman was based physically on John Cleese, not any of his many funny character’s personalities though. In my mind, this would have been akin to a fairly serious Cleese in the acting job of a lifetime. 

The chat was mostly the gentleman assessing how and where to “place” the person after death. We’re given the idea that there are more destinations than we think for those who’ve passed. 

It’s about 30 pages like the majority of my work back then, black and white and quite often very somber obviously.

In the end, I think I lacked the writing confidence to really dive in and see this through to even a second issue. A combination of me not being a capable enough writer to handle the content, along with it being– in addition to sometimes lovely or amusing– a very depressing book at times. Case in point: Of the various types of people he visits in that second, the last we see is time frozen as the gentleman walks into white. The camera backs up more and more, eventually seeing he’s walked into the heart of the explosion when the second plane hits the World Trade Center. 

That was about as far as I was willing to go. I didn’t feel up to chronicling whatever discussion the gentleman would be having one way or another or even who it should be with.

So, I ended it there. 

Creative side note: since cable tv started showing a tv show based on a comic I’d never heard of called The Middle Man, I obviously had to change the name, so it became “One Last Moment”.

I’ve talked a bit about this one before, as it was the first comic to ever lampoon the reality tv craze back in the day. The “show” begins in a cargo plane thousands of feet over New York, filled with contestants. One by one they jump through the opening of a giant device that alters their molecular structure, giving them powers with which to survive the fall and become superheroes.

But the villainous Eel (Lee spelled backwards and a playful nod to Stan Lee) has sabotaged the machine to give them mostly useless powers like turning into fragile glass, so at least half don’t survive the fall and the show has to make do with who’s left.

What follows is a very messed up reality tv show that I would love to see them actually create, especially the challenges. My favorite was placing everyone up on top of the George Washington bridge, and pushing the heroes significant others off the edge, forcing them to save them without snapping their necks.

Yes, I went a long way for a somewhat obscure, dark Gwen Stacy/Spider-man joke. 

Willis, the villainous star of “So, You Want to be a Super-Villain?” even makes an incompetent cameo.

I also got to indulge in my passion for creating heroes and villains and naming them, including a giant gang of villains at the end. 

Memory’s murky as to just how well this one did. I’m guessing the numbers on this one and the previous one weren’t great… I think. 

Both funny and dark, this was my last pure solo creation for a few years regarding comics—which is why I tend to think I wasn’t getting good orders. Why stop if things were going well? Moving on…

I’ve talked a bit about this one before, as it was the first comic to ever lampoon the reality tv craze back in the day. The “show” begins in a cargo plane thousands of feet over New York, filled with contestants. One by one they jump through the opening of a giant device that alters their molecular structure, giving them powers with which to survive the fall and become superheroes.

But the villainous Eel (Lee spelled backwards and a playful nod to Stan Lee) has sabotaged the machine to give them mostly useless powers like turning into fragile glass, so at least half don’t survive the fall and the show has to make do with who’s left.

What follows is a very messed up reality tv show that I would love to see them actually create, especially the challenges. My favorite was placing everyone up on top of the George Washington bridge, and pushing the heroes significant others off the edge, forcing them to save them without snapping their necks.

Yes, I went a long way for a somewhat obscure, dark Gwen Stacy/Spider-man joke. 

Willis, the villainous star of “So, You Want to be a Super-Villain?” even makes an incompetent cameo.

I also got to indulge in my passion for creating heroes and villains and naming them, including a giant gang of villains at the end. 

Memory’s murky as to just how well this one did. I’m guessing the numbers on this one and the previous one weren’t great… I think. 

Both funny and dark, this was my last pure solo creation for a few years regarding comics—which is why I tend to think I wasn’t getting good orders. Why stop if things were going well? Moving on…

Capaldi was 5 years old when Doctor Who premiered in 1963, so not only is he a huge fan, but he watched it from the start. Another dream come true.

1)Deep Breath. Powerful, well written, acted, directed. A very good start for this new Doctor starting his whole new life-cycle. This one has just about everything from dinosaurs to cyborgs, to a Doctor who’s not that polite. It’s a breath of fresh air.

2)Listen. A masterwork from Moffat that keeps you guessing and off balance the entire time. An entire alien species who may, or may not be there listening to you. Incredibly well done, with Capaldi at his best. 

3)Kill the Moon. This will not be on many people’s list, because it either made them feel uncomfortable or they’ve got severe limits on their imagination. An insane situation with just as crazy a debate

4)Mummy on the Orient Express. A wild concept, an almost incomprehensible threat.

5)Flatline. Two dimensional aliens discover our 3D world and start killing people in horrific ways and with the Doctor trapped inside an ever shrinking Tardis, it’s up to Clara to be the Doctor. Excellent stuff. Both Mummy and this one written by Jamie Mathieson.

6)Last Christmas. Dream Crabs. Santa. North Pole. Face huggers. Terror. Excellent.

7)The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witches Familiar. Series 9 starts off with a bold tale by Moffat and the relationship between the Doctor and Davros, but with Missy, Clara and the Daleks on Skaro all added in. 

8)Face the Raven/Heaven Sent/Hellbent. Some bold storytelling here on a grand scale stretching out over billions of years. Three very different settings servicing one huge story. You’ll gape, you’ll cheer, you’ll cry. Highly recommended. 

9)The Pilot is a breath of fresh air in many ways, as we catch up with the Doctor after him having been teaching for 50 years at university and he meets Bill Potts. Almost a soft reboot of the show and well done at that.

10)World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. This one is worth it for the further story of Bill, Missy, and the return of the Mondasian Cybermen. Originally was to be Capaldi’s swan song but ended up being the penultimate story.

Honorable mentions:

*Time Heist. Just what it sounds like and executed nicely.

*The Caretaker. Off balance, smart, funny ep.

*Dark Water/Death in Heaven. A very good story, soured slightly by some choices made at the end and some questionably horrifying choices at the beginning. But containing some in excellent writing in between.

*The Husbands of River Song brings Alex Kingston’s character to the end of the road and with some humor, some revelations and some real heartwarming touches, she and the Doctor live happily for quite a long time.

*Smile. Good, solid story developing the relationship between the Doctor and Bill.

*Thin Ice. –and this one strengthens their bond even more with a rich, interesting setting. The last, great Ice Fair in London.

*Oxygen. An interesting concept, well written and acted, where we end with the Doctor permanently blinded. 

*Extremis/Pyramid at the End of the World/Lie of the Land. An up and down story with the monks, who seek to take over the world but need to be asked, while the Doctor is blind. Even with the weaker sections, a worthy watch.

*Empress of Mars. An imaginative tale and a worthy watch with some nice surprises.