I finally finished SMLMJ 15 last night. I have a few covers to finish still but it feels odd being un-monthlied. For the past 3 years I've been fortunate enough to have steady work and I'm finding it somewhat wierd not worrying about the next issue now that it's all over. In a good way, I guess.

Sean just shot me this link to a Slate article talking about good superhero books for non-superhero fans. SMLMJ was spotlighted with images on their front page even so that was mighty cool. Go me. Go US!

Speaking of superheroes... I was in a used bookstore today just peeking around and flippin' through the rows upon rows of comics and came upon this:

No, it's not David cosplaying as Spider-man. It says it was published back in 1996 but the look of the art harkens back even further. Like, the 60's and 70's. I'm assuming by the Marvel logo up top it's legit. Anyway, I haven't given it a good read yet but it's nice to see it not following standard Spidey lore.

It opens with a Japanese high school student named Yu Komori standing alone in a school science lab griping about how he's made fun of by other students. He's surrounded by big radioactive machines and then this happens:

It must be advanced science 'cuz I sure as hell didn't get to play with alphas or betas back when I was a student. The powers kick-in soon after and he's bending iron bars and clinging to walls but, oddly, no web skillz. So, naturally, this:

I gave the book a quick scan and saw Electro, Lizard and some dude hopping around like a kangaroo but I don't know if that was made up or not. I have #2 here as well and got them both for 2 bucks so it was quite the steal. Says there's a total of 5 so I'll make sure to keep an eye out for the rest. Here's hoping I don't get sued for putting these up.

TAK