First Meeting Meeting Minutes

Select here after yesterday's awesome Comic Book League meeting. Unfotunately, this may end the solo meetings for a while as now I have an obligation to make REAL meeting minutes. Nevertheless, these should suffice for your amusement. All you fine, awesome persons who showed up: you're the life blood of our club so thank you for attending and I hope that we've left an interest with you to continue to follow our club. If not, then I hoped you enjoyed yourself nonetheless...

EVENTS

First to get out of the way would be to note the events that are going on relating somewhat to the club. For those of us who like webcomics going printed, boy do we have something for you! The great webcomic Hark! A Vagrant is having a printed publishing event. The series is by the talented Kate Beaton. They're will be hard copy prints to sell and autograph signings, so be sure to check it out!
This event will be hosted at the Housing Works store located at 126 Crosby St. (located South of Broadway and between Lafayette St). The event will be on September 23rd at 7:00PM. And even if you don't want to go to the event, the Housing Works sells ONE DOLLAR COMICS, ALL THE TIME. So be sure to stop by anyway. More information an be found here: http://housingworks.org/

To follow up with that, the great Craig Thompson, who is promoting his latest creation Habibi, is going to be at the Strand near Union Square on September 20th 6:00PM.


While you are not obligated or forced to go to the event, bear in mind that it was Wendy who wants everyone to go, which translated to "Go or you will Die." More information can be found here: http://www.strandbooks.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/event.show/ID/2ec42e56-bcc6-4ba0-9fc0-53b9d0f7347c

Lastly, let's promote a fine artisan who went to our CBL meeting, shall we? One Maggie of NYU has made some webcomics on the tumblr and they are indeed good.

Go check it out if you can here: http://figureof8.tumblr.com/

MEETING MINUTES

7:06- something something beginning

7:07-PIZZA :D

7:08- "Mary Jane doesn't read the comments," Select think out loud...

7:09- Eat Pizza...

7:10- We have more people, new people in fact :D

7:11-7:26- Awkward Intros with the ice breaking are made

7:26- We propose to kill THE Batman.

7:27- Dan takes out notes from his iPhone for a speech

7:28- Some of us are cranky, but it comes with the position of seniority

7:28b- "Cut the shit, Aton" ~Dan

7:29- Macho Man, God rest his soul...

7:29b- We're scary at first, but we grow on you... we're really nice people.

7:30- Dan says people who don't come back to the meetings are like people from Jersey Shore.

7:31- "We may not be the club you need, but we are the club you deserve" ~Dan

7:32- Aton flashes everyone topless.... MUCH emotional scaring begins...

7:55- Maggie is NYU's Quidditch Seeker :D



7:59- The NYU board is discriminatory in that the Quidditch team isn't allowed due to it "Not being a sport or interest group"

8:07- Seth: If I drop out of NYU, will I be an alumni? Majority: YES

8:09- Mary Jane: can't think of something funny because you tell me to say something funny, Select.

8:12- I'm only saying that cause I'm Communist ~Select

8:14- Javier is Dead... to Me ~Select

8:15- Angry Birds the Movie: it will take place in New York City life-action style coming out of the sewers like all animated movies set in New York City nowadays.

8:28- President Mike does the Mario Jump.

8:35- We actually managed to maintain a good number of our freshmen interestees.

8:51- Mary Jane only wanted to be a lawyer because the law building in NYU is pretty and so are are the people in it (ala Legally Blonde)

8:55- It wasn't an ass because it was a horse ~Dan

9:05- "If Satan lived on Earth he would live in Jersey Shore because it's the Devil" ~Anonymous Jersey Shore resident

Well, that's all I got to say for now. Hope next week will be as exciting as this one.
~Select

Select here.

In my current state of madness as of Thursday September 1^st, being bored out of my mind with the lack of internet at my current airline location, the voices in my head sounding a lot like Mike and the others convinced me to write down the meeting minutes for yet another Emergency Comic Book League meeting since they wouldn’t stop pestering me otherwise. I do not know where do these abominations come from, but I am typing the meetings as they are happening so as to not drift into a more broken state of my psyche. So, with no further things to get in my way, let the second emergency CBL meeting commence.

7:00- voices in my head tell me to write down meeting minutes

7:01- Second emergency CBL meeting is called to order

7:03- Select is scared that Dan can summon demons

7:05- Was there REALLY a demand for OMAC for the New 52?

7:07- Shazam

7:08-Shazam

7:09- Select failed for the fifth time in trying to become Captain Marvel

7:11- Epic Kosher Time = and Falafel ball, and Falafel ball, and Falafel ball, and Falafel ball…

7:13- “Mike,” if that is really Mike, claims to descend from a long line of Italian kingdom saving plumbers

7:15- Wendy has a bloodthirsty look in her eyes, but this is normal even for the real Wendy

7:17- Fake Courtney can bench Aton, Select scared

7:20- Bob Marley is the cure for cancer

7:25- It is not called “Anime,” but “Japanime”

7:28- Aslan is on the move

7:30- Adam West is the best batman ever

7:32- The meeting minutes notes in two minutes are false

7:34- The previously stated meeting minutes notes two minutes ago are true

7:37- “Javier” is the spawn of Chuck Norris

7:40- Select is outraged that the so called “Human Centipede” movie doesn’t actually have a set of humans with 100 appendages (therefore a true centipede) and demands to be compensated for this poor state of affairs

7:43- Select realizes that Marvin the Martian is black

7:46- 1.21 Jigawatts

7:49- although manga is updated weekly and American comics are updated monthly (according to story arc), both ironically take about a year to finish up story arcs that no one likes

7:52- Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?

7:55- Spiral Knights is the best free-to-play MMO that Select has played

7:58- Select points out that Team Fortress 2 isn’t an MMO despite having a trade system and cash-shop system

8:00- Select pictures Crumb’s “Book of Genesis Illustrated” had it been done in Crumb’s normal style…

8:03- Will is somehow this Earth’s Ant-Man

8:06- Taimur is somehow this Earth’s Spiderman

8:10- Select is sad since he has no counterpart…

8:13- Select pictures Mike Tyson’s Punch Out if it was done as a Saturday morning cartoon

8:17- If you’re a murder who killed two parents and left a kid an orphan, realize that you just might have created Batman should you let the kid live…

8:20- Select realizes the previous statement is insensitive, and does not endorse the message. After all, it is the message of the crazy voices in his head as opposed to him.

8:24- Select wishes that Brentalfloss would do a “With Lyrics” about Castlequest.

8:27- Contrary to popular belief, the Comic Book League talks about other things than comic books…

8:30- If an animator makes cartoons, and a cartoonist makes comics, and a comic tells jokes, then does that mean one who animates is a “joke teller?”

8:33- Not real Mike is somehow the Dungeon Master of this reality

8:36- Laptop computers will literally burst into flames if not cared for correctly

8:40- All that the East Coast is missing now in terms of natural disasters is a volcanic eruption :D

8:43- No one remembers Bulletman

8:45- The voices in Select’s head finally gave up on tormenting him

So there you have it folks. By the time you read this, Select (I) would have been sedated and cared upon for the madness that happened. Hopefully, it won’t happen again. But, who’s to say?

Select+

Remembering Ending DC Comics

Select here.
Well, with September coming soon, there is something other than the return to college/school that is going to affect some of us Comic Book League people... With September comes the end of Flashpoint and the beginning of the "totally not a reboot" DC Comics - The New 52.

For those cool cats who aren't familiar of what's happening, apparently the Flash (a superhero that runs really fast) and his enemy the Reverse Flash (a super villain who also runs really fast) pulled some kind of Back to the Future on us all and jacked up the timeline of the DC universe. This makes it so that the most jacked up scenario could possibly happen in the DC universe did happen: like the Amazons and Atlanteans jacking everything up and Cyborg of the Titans becoming a major hero. Now, the Flash has to fix this by running really fast or going back to the future or whatever (1.21 JIGAWATTS!!!)

But enough of that, what's important is what's to come after that, the beginning and end of some comic series. Although I personally am looking forward to seeing some of the series they are to publish (Static Shock and Blue Beetle), the casualties are that of seeing some comics I actually liked coming to an end. And so, here's to commemorate the now ending comics DC decided to cancel. These are but some of the ones I've read (and I know that DC made a lot of other great titles as well but these are the ones I've personally read regularly):

Justice League: Generation Lost - Well, not to be a spoil sport, but I was kind of wishing to see some more conflict to come out of Maxwell Lord, since they bothered to bring him BACK FROM THE FRIGGIN DEAD and all. Granted, a lot of the characters from JL:GL will be showing up in the new Justice League International, but for me it feels like they're making a whole different comic with just the same characters. While it was true that the series ended on April 2011, it also holds true that the reboot will guarantee that nothing will follow from this. My guess is that the new JLI will feature nothing but "team spirit build up" for months. It'd take years for them to get back to the Justice League group I know and love. I could be wrong and I could like the new JLI more than Generation Lost, but as of now all I can do is bid Generation Lost a bitter farewell...


Zatanna - While there is magic to speaking backwards, there was also magic for me with how enjoyable the Zatanna comics were. I personally didn't read many sorcerer-based comics until picking up this comic series, so it's kind of sad for me to see a magic-based superhero book canceled right when I was getting into it. With this series, we learned so much about Zatanna besides being a friend of Batman and the daughter of father Zatara. For example, I found it interesting when they introduced Zatanna's crippling fear of puppets, which ultimately manifests when a cursed puppet tries to get back at her for what her father did to said puppet. (let's hope she never has to perform at the Muppet's theater...) While I don't have to worry about her disappearing into obscurity (Justice League Dark), it's kind of sad to see her loose the spotlight. Not to mention the unsatisfying end of her book was unsatisfying (the last comic wasn't supposed to be as New 52 was planned without most people's knowledge). The stories were mystifying and the humor great, so as I remember this series all I have to say is "Sknaht rof eht shgual, Annataz."

Power Girl - I was thoroughly surprised to learn that DC isn't going to have Power Girl show up in any of their titles (even the Superman-oriented ones), let alone let her keep her comic. It's one thing to cancel a character's book and then shoving them into a team-based comic, but what I feel sad about is that they decided not to show PG in any way. Granted, her back story was kind of hard to follow for some viewers (she's a Silver Age Super Girl or something) but I think that's the only reason why she's not back. Unlike the other Kryptonian comics, Power Girl's silly tales always seem to grab my attention more (and it's not because of her costume whole). For example, I remember a funny tale when some punk kid bribed her with embarrassing photos and all he wanted her to do was make him more popular with the kids at school. Granted, if I were given some leverage to bribe a super heroine, it would turn out much differently.................................................................................................................................
I would make her punch Bruno Mattei in the face. Her series, like Zatanna, ended with not much satisfaction but at least it ended better (in an ironic sort of way). But anyway, it feels as though Power Girl's constant stream of survival is indeed ended with her book ending and Power Girl loosing her spotlight as a stand-alone heroine. I just hope that we'll be able to see her again some time in the future.


The Great Ten (Issue 10 of 10) - Remember when I said that they would bring most characters back from JL:GL to JLI? I said most because they decided to drag characters from other books into the Justice League International title. One of whom is Augustine General in Iron of the Great Ten. What does this means to me? It kind of means that the Great Ten might possibly no longer exist in the new DC Universe. While I did find it slightly... biased in cultural direction, the Great Ten was one of the few Chinese superhero teams to come out so I readily embraced it (though let me say that not all Chinese heroes have to be based on obscure mythology or Communism or based on government control. Some can just simply be heroes who happen to be Chinese. Just saying...). As a Chinese American of all people, to see a Chinese super hero team taken away is sad. Granted, the reboot might have nothing to do with the fact that the tenth book of the series never got released (ending on issue 9 near the end), but mankind needs something to complain about from time to time...


The Justice Society of America - With the reboot comes DC's desire to make there only one...two Justice-based groups. Thus, the two Justice Leagues will be the only ones they plan to be the "first." What does this mean? It means that the old school Golden Age group that is the JSA make indeed be screwed over. Most recently, the last issue of JSA was released, but unlike Zatanna or Power Girl it seems like they actually planned an ending of some sort. Let's just say that they are emphasizing some aspects of the new DC universe over the others by...getting rid of some characters. Granted, in the continuity of things the JSA may still exist in the new DC universe, but it could also hold that they no longer are together as, you know, JSA has World War 2 super heroes in it. Worse case scenerio is that we don't see characters like Jay Garrick (Flash) and Rick Tyler (Hourman) in the limelight since they would be in their 80's or 90's by the reboot time. It's sad to see comic book history's first super hero team also to be the first to go in the reboot...


Booster Gold- Fittingly, Booster Gold seems to be treated with the same scorn and lack of appreciation with his series' handling as the hero himself as portrayed with close to all the times he's shown in any DC animated series. While Booster's intentions of being a super hero were indeed sketchy (to be rich and famous and stuff), he did eventually become a hero onto himself as his character developed. He's not a goody goody two shoe like Superman or Captain Marvel, but he's a hero when he needed to be. Plus, Booster's involvement with the DC time stream was always interesting to see for me. In fact, him being a time traveler is what made him keep his memory of the "old" DC universe in Flashpoint and maybe through the new DC universe. Ironic that he of all people would remember the DC universe as we knew it before. He's going to be part of the new JLI, so it's not like we're not seeing him anymore. However, to see his solo series gone due to Flashpoint boils my blood a little...


Ghost Sweeper Mikami- One of my favorite comics of all time. Ghost Sweeper Mikami was the closest thing to the Ghostbusters Japan had to offer, and with comedy and T&A to boot! After all, everyone loves Comedy! (and T&A) This in fact influenced my views on comic narration that episodic and character driven subplots could indeed carry a series for many years, and I find no other comic series did it better than this. The dramatic moments were tense, the comedy light and the romantic tensions between Yokoshima (the male apprentice) with Mikami (our misery protagonist) and Okinu (their ghost friend, who's the Slimer of the series) was indeed the best parts of the series. And- What's that? This has nothing to do with the DC reboot? In fact, this has nothing to do with DC and American comics in general? TO HELL WITH YOU, this is my favorite manga of all time and I'll be damned if I let anyone talk bad about it.

Well, that's all I have to say about now. Until next time...
Select

Summer Time Meeting Minutes (the meeting no one went to (8/25/2011))

Select here.
As I was impatient with waiting for the lame semester to begin, I decided to hold an emergency Comic Book League meeting in my own home. Granted, there weren't any CBL members in my general vicinity, so numbers were understandably... low. However, I made due and tried my best to keep the meeting together with the few members who were here (which numeric digit would be what you kids call some new aged number called "none")

7:00- Select decided to start CBL meetings

7:01- CBL meetings begin

7:03- Introductions are made, though this was short this year

7:05- Talk about publication or whatever, though understandably nothing is finalized

7:10- We realize that no one's going to talk about the publication even on regular meetings

7:15- Dragon Quest 6 was all Milly's fault, as with Dragon Quest Monsters

7:20- Thinking a way back from Mars

7:22- watched Wonder Woman's introduction to Batman: the Brave and the Bold 5 times

7:35- Tried to recite the Green Lantern Oath Zatanna-backwards style to see if anything cool happens

7:36- We accidentally summoned a demon from the infernal realms who wanted our marriage

7:37- We challenged said demon to a musical stand off even though none of us were married

7:40- Anti-climatic ending as the demon didn't know how to play an instrument (I guess vocals are more focused on in Hell)

7:45- Select realizes Oedipus was a tragedy

7:48- "Free to play games are the most expensive games out there in the market"

7:50- Select's drawing of Wonder Woman scares little girls

The horror! The Silver-Age based horror!

7:55- Select makes a horrible reattempt in recreating a failed web series he tried years before

8:00- the ghosts of Phil and Courtney and Taimur haunted the meeting even though all three people are alive and well (maybe it's some ghosts with identity issues)

8:03- Select begins reading passages from "The Quotations of Chairman Mao Zedong" for all to hear

8:07- Select is never to pick things to read out loud ever again

8:13- Doctor Strange is a proctologist

8:16- Select still doesn't believe Duke Nukem Forever is released even though he just saw someone beat it with his own eyes

8:20- They call him "Silent" Bob for a reason and this "but Deadly" reason isn't because he doesn't talk much...

8:24- In the upcoming 2012 elections, be sure to vote for Max for president

Most trustworthy candidate for President EVER

8:30- Manhattan Whale sends us his regards from his secret Whale cave in Lower Manhattan

8:33- There now lingers a deep philosophical question the CBL must tackle: do Werecats use Werecat litter in their litter boxes or regular cat litter?

8:37- Select gives up and decides to cancel the meetings then and there: thus ending the emergency CBL meeting at his place

Well, that's all for now folks. Hopefully, the real meeting minutes on the real meetings aren't going to be as ridiculous and what we've seen here (or maybe they're going to be more ridiculous, who's to say?)

Until later,
Select

First Post in a While

Hi all,
This is Selecthumor aka Michael Cheung. As Secretariot (Secretary) for the NYU Comic Book League for this year, it is my responsibility or whatever to keep this site alive somehow with random tidbits of info and the like. I hope you all had an excellent summer, as I indeed did. Can't wait to get the meetings back on track when the year begins.

First on the agenda is to let you all know that as Secretariot of the CBL, I will more likely go mad with power and abuse my democratically elected position to beat down any competition and to rule with an iron fist: but let me assure you that this phenomena is indeed normal and in fact inevitable with such a position. Now you may be thinking to yourselves "Select, that sounds silly. Secretary's can't go mad with power and rule with an iron fist." You know who people said the same thing about? Joseph Stalin. That's right. Stalin. Bet Trotsky didn't see that coming several kilometers away...

Let this serve as a friendly reminder to never underestimate Secretaries...

But a little about myself, I'm just your average Asian American who draws his own webcomic series. I guess this is the best time if any for my first act of abusing my power: so here's some adverts to my work


The above link goes to the Smackjeeves website. If you hate Smackjeeves for some odd reason, here's a link to the same thing by Drunkduck.com:

If you wish to see what other things I do, check out my DeviantArt account.

Well, besides that, more things are to come when the year begins. Hopefully to return are the meeting minutes of old: where the actions of the CBL are recorded for all to gawk, I mean admire. More cool things are to come.

Sincerely,
Select

The Comic Book League Remembers: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

If you didn't know by now, the "Macho Man" Randy Savage has tragically passed away. Yes, the world famous wrestling superstar and pop culture icon has left this mortal realm all too soon. His death came as a surprise to everyone, especially The Comic Book League. "Macho Madness", if you will, took The CBL by storm this semester and Randy Savage's presence is certainly noticeable in our Spring publication; unfortunately, since the publication had already been finalized by the time of Randy Savage's passing, we were not able to add a memorial page acknowledging his passing. Instead, we're taking it to The CBL blog -this impromptu memorial to the cream of the crop, "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

The Craig Thompson-inspired artwork comes courtesy of The CBL's own "Fancier" Dan Costales. It was drawn earlier in the semester when "Macho Madness" was starting to take over The CBL. "Macho Man" Randy Savage was to us, like so many fans, a truly fascinating and inspiring figure -an uninhibited, pure soul, riding the edge of a lightening bolt across the sky, launching himself from the heights of the top rope to deliver a "Macho Elbow" of excitement onto the lives of millions. He was a true showman and competitor in and out of the ring, sharing his unbridled energy and flamboyant liveliness with the public at large, whether it was his wrestling promos, his historic "Slim Jim" television advertisements, or his voice-over and film work.

I just wanted to take this moment to honor the life of a truly amazing man because we tend to take figures like Randy Savage for granted until it's too late. He lived his life to the fullest on his own terms and he always spoke from the heart. It's incredibly tragic to know that he's gone, but as long as we have our memories of him, as long as we take the time to really stop and listen to what he was saying, what he was sharing -his unique personal philosophy -his spirit will live on. We can learn to "spice up" our lives, to be the best person we can be and to live life without limits, letting go and doing it when the moment comes, disregarding the constraints of everyday expectations.

We can be comforted in knowing that the "beat goes on" and that "Macho Man" Randy Savage was our friend and he'll always be with us, looking down from the stars. That's what he was, is and will be -that one star shining in the night, brighter than all the others. Dig it, Oooooh yeaaaaah!

CBL- Now Endorsed by Greg Pak

Last Sunday April 10th at MoCCA, your intrepid and ever faithful CBL member for life (TAIMUR!) went to get the CBL name out there. And after a little "wheeling and dealing" proud to say writer/filmmaker/Rhodes Scholar Greg Pak whose credits include Incredible Hulk, Magneto: Testament, Hercules, has given his 'endorsement' for the CBL.