RedLighter.

Reviewing something written by a friend is like walking a tightrope. You have to be honest and you want to keep your friendship, which sometimes can be difficult to do. Fortunately for me, I am able to do both and make everybody happy.

I recently purchased a comic book from my friend John Simcoe. It was a self published book titled RedLighter. John describes the book like this:
"Welcome to RedLighter, a comic that tells the story of Captain Denny Amberjack, a lighthouse keeper for the 'U.S. Light House and Rescue Corps.'"
Captain Amberjack is warned that Pirates are coming and he rushes to warn the town. Unfortunately for him, they are already there. It was fun watching him match wits with the Pirates. I enjoyed this adventure and look forward to reading more. Well done John.

John was also kind enough to send me a little booklet about the hamsters he has owned. If you'd be interested in getting this you can contact John here. John has an interesting blog that he calls Comics on the Brain. Check it out while you are there.

I also wanted to respond to a comment left yesterday by my friend Brian. Nothing is wrong. I've been a little busy trying to to get organized. It's quite an effort for me. Posting should be almost daily from now on. Just remember, you asked for it.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince.

The world of Harry Potter is getting darker. Muggles, ordinary people to those of you who aren't Potter fans, are being killed. Evil is running rampant and must be stopped. The fate of the world now rests on the shoulders of a teenager. The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series is in my opinion the best yet. Harry is almost ready for the final confrontation with Lord Voldemort. There is a lot of action packed into this movie. It runs for almost two and a half hours and to me it flew by. I was impressed with the job that Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. The Malfoy story was one of my favorite parts of the book and it was well done here. Felton did an excellent job as he becomes a reluctant pawn in Voldemort's plans.

So much goes on here that a lot of familiar faces are reduced to practically cameo roles. My only complaint is this book should have been split in two like they are doing with the Deathly Hallows. However, if you haven't read the book all the major points are presented and it is a cohesive story. It is excellent set-up for what is coming. To lighten the movie a little we get to see cast act their age. After all, they are 17 years old and hormones are coming to the fore front. It is a lot of fun watching them deal with love, especially when a love potion is involved. IMDB currently rates this movie a 7.9. I gave it a 9.

In a related Harry Potter story, actor Jamie Waylett, who plays Vincent Crabbe, one of Draco Malfoy's goons, was arrested for growing marijuana in his bedroom. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service. At least he didn't try to claim Voldemort made him do it.
Travis was right. An apostrophe is used to form a contraction.
Today's question is Grade 3/World Geography.

The Alps are a mountain range located primarily on which continent?
I knew this one. 113-20.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

I am just going to do a quick movie review. I saw Transformers:Revenge Of The Fallen three weeks ago. I liked the movie, but it is one that you just need to sit back and enjoy the ride. There are plot holes big enough to drive Optimus Prime through. (In case you are not familiar with Transformers, Optimus Prime transforms into a Semi.)

I knew I should have written this sooner. I am trying to recall my impressions about the movie and am coming up blank. Actually, I think that does say a lot about the movie. I went expecting to enjoy it and I did. However, when it comes out on DVD, I probably won't buy it. It was fun watching it once, but I really don't have any desire to see it again. On the IMDB it rates a 6.4. I gave it a 6.
Travis was right. There were 6 pieces.
Today's question is Grade 3/World History.

The Punic Wars were fought between whom?

• A) Rome and Athens
• B) Rome and Carthage
• C) Rome and Alexandra

I wasn't sure and made a guess. It was a wrong guess. 111-20.

Star Trek Part 2.

After watching this movie yesterday I felt like Oliver Twist, holding up my bowl and saying "Please sir. I want some more." This is not exactly the Star Trek universe that Gene Roddenberry created. Some alterations have occurred which will upset the hardcore Trekkie's. Based on this movie some episodes of the original series never happened. If you can't handle that remember this. This is a fictional universe. Get over it.

The characterizations were fantastic, especially Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. About the only thing missing from him was the classic line, "He's dead, Jim." Chris Pine did a great job as James T. Kirk. I mentioned yesterday I am not a big William Shatner fan because of Shatner's habit of being overdramitic. Pine showed that Kirk is a natural born leader. Zachary Quinto showed the Spock that we like so well. He is half human and has to struggle to keep his emotions in check. The rest of the cast was equally as good, and Leonard Nimoy's appearance was not only logical, it was also the icing on the cake.

Eric Bana as Nero was perfect as an over-the-top villain, like Khan. The story here is secondary. There are a few minor points that made no sense to me, such as throwing an inexperienced crew in a new ship against an unknown enemy, but that is nit picking. In a movie like this sit back and enjoy the ride. IMDB rates this an 8.6, #58 on their list of the top 250 movies. I ignored my minor point and gave the movie a 10.

Not only did I see a great movie yesterday, The Cubs beat the Padres at Wrigley Field 6-2. Rich Harden is now 4-1 on the season.
Travis was right. Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy.

Today's question is Grade 2/Cultural Studies.

The mythical creature called the centaur is half human and half what other animal?

• A) horse
• B) dog
• C) bull

I knew this one. 95-17.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

There was some concern from the producers of X-Men Origins:Wolverine when somebody put the movie online. What was available was about 20 minutes short. I had the opportunity to watch it and I passed. I wanted to see it on a large screen.

I enjoyed this movie more than any of the three X-Men movies. I like the first two and the third was hurt by trying to do too much. This one is set before the first one. I am not a big Wolverine comic book fan. I was reading them when he first appeared in The Incredible Hulk 181. I do not care for the X-Men comics. To me there is too much history and unless you have been reading for awhile it is a little hard to follow. That said, I enjoy Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine. This movie shows us how he acquired his adamantium skeleton and claws. We meet more mutants, including one X-Men fans either love or hate, Gambit. Personally I like him but I don't really know a lot about him. What I saw here I liked. Most of the mutants I had to look up when I got home. If you like movies based on comic books, this is a great one. I rank it third behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man. I hope we see more of Wolverine. IMDB rates this a 6.9. I gave it a 9.

Next Tuesday, Star Trek.


The Cubs win streak ended at four as the Giants won yesterday 6-2. The Cubs head for Houston and play tonight.
The Mound Builder's mounds were for burials.
Today's question is Grade 3/Geography.
True or false? The Volga is the longest river in Europe.

I missed this one. 90-17.

Dragonball Evolution.

Yesterday Winthrop J. Quiggy commented about, well instead of summarizing, let Mr Quiggy's words stand for themselves.

"I personally have a problem with this penchant in Hollywood of making live action movies from manga, anime, video games and the like. They are usually mediocre at best and some are downright crap. It is a shame that a great actor like Raul Julia's final movie was that stinker "Street Fighter"."

I understand where he is coming from and that is a great idea for another day. Just don't hold your breath waiting, unless turning blue and passing out is your thing. In that case, go for it.

With that as an introduction, Dragonball Evolution is a good adaptation of the manga and the anime. Of course there were changes, but they were logical ones. Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragonball, is credited as an Executive Producer. I am more familiar with Dragonball Z, which is the later adventures of Goku, than I am with Dragonball, but I know enough of the story to follow what was going on in the movie. The elements I was looking for were there.

There are seven dragonballs. When they are gathered together they will summon a dragon who will grant one wish. Goku and his friends are trying to get them before the villain Piccolo can gather them so he can conquer the world. This is not an academy award winning movie, but it is an entertaining ride. A knowledge of Dragonball helps, but the movie is enjoyable without it. A sequel is set up in a scene after the main credits. Since Dragonball has only done $8 million I will be surprised if they do a sequel. IMDB rates this movie a 3.2. I gave it an 8.

Winthrop J. Quiggy was correct with yesterday's question. Interrogative sentences do end with question marks.
Today's question is Grade 3/Science.
What are the four inner planets in the solar system?

They needed an editor on this calendar. I corrected the question. On the calendar they say four inner plants. I knew this one. 79-16.

Mad 499

One issue to go until number 500 and then Mad goes quarterly. I wish I could say this was a great lead-in for number 500, but I'm not going to lie. Here is what I am talking about.

The Fundalini Pages by various writers and artists.
This was the worst one I have seen. It was a total waste of 3 pages. LOSE.

What The Heck Is The Difference?
I always like seeing this. I enjoy puzzles and they do make these challenging. The cover they used was from Mad 213. WIN.

Botchmen. Writer Desmond Devlin. Artist Tom Richmond.
I have read the comic book and watched the movie. This parody captures all the right elements and is hilarious. In my review of Mad 498 I said I really like Tom Richmond's art. I forgot to mention I also read his blog. You can check it out here. WIN.

Sergio Aragones Presents A Mad Look At Trade Schools. Writer and artist Sergio Aragones.(You were expecting Picasso?)
As I have stated before Sergio rarely disappoints. My favorite gag is a look at nursing school. Three students are talking why they are there. The first wants to work with newborns. The second in an operating room. The third wants to meet a doctor for marriage. WIN.

Digital TV FAQs. Writer Jeff Kruse.
Out of 10 questions I thought 2 of them were funny. The best I can say about this is this is funnier than the Fundalini Pages. LOSE.

The Decided Disadvantages Of An Online Education. Writer and artist John Caldwell.
Out of 8 cartoons 6 of them worked. My favorite is basically a recycled gag about the dangers of online dating. Predictable but still funny. WIN.

The Darker Side Of The Lighter Side. The Lighter Side writer and artist Dave Berg. The Darker Side writer unknown. (I wouldn't claim it either.)
I have previously stated this is a bad idea. The good is you get some classic Dave Berg panels. If that is all there was it would be a winner, but since they don't want to do that it loses. LOSE.

Untitled. Writer Dick DeBartolo.
This is a letter written to the American People from the financial institutions concerning the bail out money they just received. This is brilliant and very funny. It probably is closer to the truth then those involved and Congress would ever admit to. WIN.

Mad's Unheroic Watchmen Outtakes. Writer unknown. Pictures from The Watchmen.
I have read several of these through the years and this one ranks in the top 5. It is hard to pick a favorite. An example is Dr Manhattan when he reappeared in the cafeteria saying "Whatever you do, don't eat the Salisbury steak!!! Win.

The Story Of Deathbed Donkey...And The Rage Of Sorrow. Writer Brian McConnachie. Artist Rick Geary.
I have no clue what the purpose of this story was other than to fill two pages. I would rather have seen two blank pages. They would have made more sense. LOSE.

Unabridged Sports Cliches. Writer Jacob Lambert. Artist Paul Coker.
This gives you the cliches, then what is really meant by it. They had 11 cliches. I didn't smile once. LOSE.

The Strip Club. Various artists and writers.
There are seven comic strips printed here. One I found mildly amusing, the rest were bad. LOSE.

Spy Vs Spy. Writer and Artist Peter Kuper.
There are two different little tales here. Neither was funny. LOSE.

President Obama--The Promise vs. The Reality. Writer Desmond Devlin. Artist Leonardo Rodriguez and Kevin Pope.
Another seven gags that gagged me. LOSE.

Mad Fold-In by Al Jaffee.
At least the issue ended on a high note. WIN.

Mad had been on a roll. This was definitely a step back. I liked seven articles, but that was overshadowed by the eight I didn't. Final score 47.
My friend Mike was right. A shamrock is also known as clover. Also quoting Bugs Bunny shows just how truly classy Mike is. You can't beat Bugs. Incidentally, I have two friends named Mike. This one lives in England. That is one thing I like about the internet. You get to meet interesting people from all over the world.
Today's question is Grade 2/Cultural Studies.

The leaf of what tree is on the Canadian national flag?

I knew this one. 53-12.

Across The Universe.

Have you ever really wanted to like a movie, but after you watch it you find yourself very disappointed? I love The Beatles music, and I had read good reviews of this movie. When I looked Across The Universe up on the IMDB it was rated 7.6. So what disappointed me so much? The first was this is an anti-war movie, using Vietnam as the background. It could be because of my age, but I don't need any more reminders that war is bad. Not many people find glory in it. Even Robert E. Lee was quoted as saying, "It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it." The second problem I have is when you are making a musical the songs need to fit the story. I didn't feel the selection helped tell the story very well. I listened to the commentary track to see if I had misinterpreted anything. Sadly, I had not. I got what writer/director Julie Taymor was trying to tell. (Taymor wrote the story along with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Clement and La Frenais wrote the screenplay.) The music was pleasant enough. They didn't butcher any of the songs, but there only 2 songs that I felt came out well. Bono did a great version of I Am The Walrus, and Eddy Izzard's For The Benefit Of Mr Kite was my favorite of all the songs. This movie is better than 1978's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but that isn't saying much. My score on the IMDB was a 3.

Al was right. Athens is known as the birthplace of democracy.

The weekend question is Grade 3/Canadian History.

What province in Canada used to be called New France?

American History I am good at, Canadian, well...... I took a guess and missed. After I looked at it I kicked myself. 39-11.

Mad 498

I am getting behind on my Mad entries. Since I already have number 499 I figured I had better get this one done. First there has been some news from Mad. They have cancelled Mad Kids, which I never bought, and Mad Classics, which I did. Classics reprinted old stories. Mad has let a lot of the staff go and will be publishing every quarter instead of monthly. The name Mad is worth too much to let it die so it will be around in this form. Mad's Editor claimed that since only every third issue was funny, they were eliminating the non-funny ones. I felt Mad had been improving, but a quick glance at 499 was not impressive. Anyway on with the review.

This issue has a great cover by Mark Fredrickson.

The Fundalini Pages are worse than usual. The only thing I liked was a "rejected comic strip" called Borrowsville. LOSE.



Lame Attempts By TV To Explain The 2008 Presidential Vote by Writer Barry Liebmann and Artist Ward Sutton. This is simply a lame article. LOSE.

A Mad Look At Snow. Written And drawn by Sergio Aragones. Sergio rarely disappoints and here is no exception. WIN.

Mad's 12 Surefire Tips For Stand-Up Comics by Writer Jeff Kruse and artist Rick Tulka. Howard's one surefire tip for Mad writers: Make it funny. LOSE.

Mad's Sucky Twilight Outtakes. No writer listed, pictures from the movie Twilight. I can understand why no writer wanted to take credit for this. LOSE.

The 2009 Al Jaffee Calendar. Of course all months were pictured folded. It is a two page spraed covered with the months plus a lot of Al's drawings. WIN.

Mad Exposes Who's Thinking What At The Obama Inauguration by writers Desmond Devlin, Jeff Kruse, Jacob Lambert, Frank Santopadre, and Dennis Snee, art by Tom Richmond. In some cases where you have this many writers it helps because you get the best lines, instead of a few good ones and too many lame ones. Another plus for this is the art by Tom Richmond, whose caricatures are the best I have seen since Mort Drucker. Tom has a blog and you can visit it here. The best line is Oprah thinking "Look at him--the second most powerful African-American in the country." WIN.

Spy Vs Spy, writer and artist Peter Kuper. I think they should retire this feature. It is no way as good as when Antonio Prohias did it. LOSE.

When Adults Say...Remind Them... by writer Jacob Lambert and art by Peter Bagge. Out of the 8 featured I only thought 2 were funny. LOSE.

The Mad World Of Pets by writer Stan Sinberg and artist Marc Hempel. I liked 9 out of the 10 gags. WIN.

Monroe And The Plane Trip by writer Anthony Barbieri and artist Tom Fowler. Have I mentioned before I totally dislike this. Add another one to the pile. LOSE.

What The Heck Is The Difference? They print 2 old Mad covers side by side and make 9 changes to the second one. I like these. WIN.

Mad's All-Inclusive Do-It Yourself Celebrity Scandal Blog Posting by writers Frank Jacobs and Bill Fibbers and art by Mort Drucker. Mort turns 80 next month. His skills have not diminished at all. Mort is not the oldest artist featured in this issue. Al Jaffee will be 88 next month. WIN.

Tell-Tale Signs That You've Got A Really Bad Psychic by writer and artist Teresa Burns Parkhurst. I liked it, especially the line you know the psychic is bad if she uses baseball cards instead of Tarot cards. WIN

The First 100 Minutes Of The Obama Presidency by writers Bill Fibbers and Frank Santopadre and artist Drew Friedman. As with most long articles like this there are a few clinkers, but overall it hits. WIN.

Fold-In by Al Jaffee. WIN.
Totals are 9 wins, 7 losses, plus one extra win for having both Mort Drucker and Tom Richmond in the issue. Final score:59.
Not great but not bad either.
Al was right. Ivan the Terrible was the Czar of Russia. Actually, I think Russia is the only country to call their leader a Czar. One of my favorite lines from Fiddler On The Roof is when the Rabbi is asked if there is a proper blessing for the Czar. He responded "There is a blessing for everything. May God bless and keep the Czar.....far away from us."

Today's question is Grade 3/Science. True or False? A spider is an invertebrate.
Even though that was a science question, I actually knew it. 38-10.

The Addams Family.

Last month I bought Season One of The Addams Family. I remember watching this when I was young and it has held up very well. There were a couple of episodes I didn't care for but most were very funny. I think the show was a little head of its time. Some of the foods they ate are not quite as odd today. In one episode Gomez commented about not understanding how people wouldn't like octopus. Now you can order that in some restaurants. They were delightfully odd. Gomez loved to wreck his trains. Morticia would literally smoke. Uncle Fester was a human generator. There are commentary tracks with Ken Wetherwax (Puggsley), Lisa Loring (Wednesday), Felix Cilla (Cousin Itt), and Stephen Cox (author of The Addams Chronicles). One comment Lisa Loring made comparing The Addams and The Munsters, which was on during the same years as the Addams family, was the Munsters were more like the 3 Stooges and the Addams was like The Marx Brothers. It was pointed out one of the writers of the series had written for Groucho.

I had never seen the entire movies, so when I started watching this DVD I decided to watch them. I did not like them. The first movie, simply called The Addams Family, was not that good. They changed several things, Fester being Gomez's brother for one. That didn't bother me as much as the characterizations for the movie. Where the TV family was charmingly odd, the movie family was more mean spirited. IMDB rates the movie a 6.5, I gave it a 4. Then I tried to watch Addams Family Values. Note the word tried. I watched about half an hour and turned it off. I didn't find anything the least bit funny. Where I saw the first movie as mean spirited, here they were cruel. IMDB rating was 6.2, I gave it a 1.
My friend Travis answered yesterdays question and your spelling was right, Travis. The answer was the Tigris. Today's question is Grade 5 History.

Who led the first journey around the world?
A) Christopher Columbus
B) Ferdinand Magellan
C) Vasco da Gama

History is one of my strong suites. I got this one right and am now 14-5.

Disappointing But Still Enjoyable.

I am not a big sitcom fan. In fact I rarely watch network television anymore. My all time favorite sitcom is, in case you haven't guessed by now, WKRP In Cincinnati. A couple of days ago I picked up season one on DVD. I knew they had trouble getting the rights to the songs which is why it took so long to get this out. I was hoping that they at least had got the rights to some of the original songs but it appears that they didn't. My biggest disappointment was in the episode called A Date With Jennifer. The shows newsman, Les Nessman, played by Richard Saunders. Les is the shy type and Jennifer, the secretary played by Loni Anderson, agrees to go to a banquet with Les where he is to receive an award. Les gets dressed up and the original tune was the Foreigner song Hot Blooded. Considering Les' reputation and the way he had carried himself made that song extremely funny. It is still funny watching him get dressed but the song they use hjust doesn't have the same punch. I am glad this is available, and it is very good, but not as great as it was originally presented.

The Dark Half.

I am a Stephen King fan. I like most of his work, but for me this novel fell flat. I think I would have liked it better except for the fact I am also A Dean Koontz fan, and this novel reminded me a lot of Koontz's writings. The premise of the story is an author, who has written under a pen name, reveals his true identity and "buries" the pen name, complete with a tombstone. If you can't figure out what happens next you haven't read much Stephen King. Of course the pen name comes to life and the story is on. The book is very violent and the ending was confusing. The violence doesn't bother me, but that ending was a disappointment.

This book was inspired by the revelation that King wrote books under the name Richard Bachman. Overall this is not a bad book bit not spectacular, either.

The Killer Angels.

Last month I talked about how much I like the movie Gettysburg. I just finished listening to an unabridged version of The Killer Angels, on which Gettysburg is based. If you are at all interested in the Civil War you will find this novel fascinating. Michael Shaara spent 7 years researching this book. He portrays both sides fairly and equally. In the forward he explains he did modernize the language a little. The words they used then, in Mr. Shaara's words, was more flowery than we use today. He felt if he had used it exactly it would have made it a difficult book to read. If you are looking for a full account of the three days at Gettysburg you won't find it here. What you will find is a fascinating look at several men who shaped the events of those three days. The main men followed are Robert. E. Lee, James Longstreet, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. You feel a better understanding of what these men went through and some of their thought processes.

This book came out in 1974. At the time of publication it was not a best seller. The Vietnam war was winding down and people did not want to read about war. It won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1975 and people then took notice. While it is a book about war, it humanizes it's characters and gives you a different perspective on them and what the war was all about. I find the Civil war a fascinating period of our history, and this book helped give me a better understanding of what happened in that small Pennsylvania town on July 1,1863 through July 3, 1863.

A Mad Review

I promised some time ago I would do a review of Mad Magazine. I am not sure who I told that to. I believe it was my friend Travis, but I could be wrong. Mad is not as funny as it used to be, but it has its moments. This issue, number 496 is actually funnier than most of the issues.

I have been debating how to rate the issues. I decided to use a won-loss system, with good articles as winners and bad ones as losers. Then I will give a percentage for an overall rating. I subscribe, which is the greatest value. If I was buying it off the newsstand I probably wouldn't buy it. At $4.99 an issue it isn't worth it to me. For my subscription I got 12 issues for $14.00. They vary the subscription rates. Currently it is 12 issues for $19.99, which to me is a fair rate. On with the review.

The Fundalini Pages are found in every issue. They are written and drawn by various people. It usually is very uneven and usually to me it is a loser. This one however is one of their better efforts. The best one is called Signs Your Dad Loves Football More Than Your Family. There are 5 lines there. My favorite is "He always complains it's 'to cold' to build a snowman with you---yet goes to every Bears home game in nothing but face paint and a thong." WIN

The Rise And Fall Of A Rap Star written by Desmond Devlin, art by Hermann Mejia. This was very funny. It follows the life a rap star "Yung Carl" from his beginnings, his fame and his untimely death. I don't care as much for Mejia's art, but the story carries it. WIN

What The Deal Or No Deal Models Are Thinking. Written by Ross Garmil and Matthew A. Cohen, over a picture of the models. When dealing with 23 one-liners there are going to be a few clinkers, but over all I liked it. WIN

The Horse That Knew The Way. Written by Brian McConnachie, art by Leonardo Rodriguez. This is a short story that I simply thought inhaled vigorously. LOSE

A Mad Look At Road Trips. Written and drawn by Sergio Aragones. Sergio very rarely misses and he is on target here. WIN

7 Periods Closer To Death. Written and drawn by Ted Rall. This is an on going strip that deals with life in high school. I rarely find it funny and this one is no exception. LOSE

Monroe And The Natural Disaster. Written by Anthony Barbieri, art by Tom Fowler. I never have liked Monroe. His family makes the Simpsons look like Ozzie and Harriet. LOSE

Comments You'll Never Hear No Matter How Long You Live. Written by Darren Johnson, Art by Tom Bunk. I like this. My favorite is a lawyer telling his client "Sir, it was obviously your own stupidity that caused this accident and there's absolutely no grounds for a lawsuit." WIN

Spy Vs Spy. Peter Kuper has taken over this feature. He is not as good as Antonio Prohias but I like it. We also get two different tales in this issue. WIN

Planet Tad. Written by Tim Carvell. This a blog from Tad, who is in 9th grade and according to his blog his height, expressed in Vern Troyers, is 2.3. This, along with Sergio Aragones bits, is consistently the funniest thing in the book. You are given a week of Tad's activities, this time he joined the debate team. He practiced for the debate by arguing who is lamer, Aquaman or the Sub-Mariner. His opinion is they are both equally lame because they hang out with fish. WIN

The Darker Side Of The Lighter Side. Written and drawn by Dave Berg, new wording by ???. This would have been better if they had simply reprinted old Dave Berg strips. The new gags simply don't work. No wonder no one put their name on it. LOSE

Using Kids Books To Explain The Awful Bush Years. Written by David Shayne, art by Gary Halligren. They parody two Shel Silverstein books that I am not familiar with and The Little Engine That Could, which I do know. I might have found this funnier had I been familiar with Silversteins books, but I am tired of all the Bush jokes. If you can't stand him you might find this funny, but to me it was too mean spirited. LOSE

Al Jaffees Fold-In. Written and drawn by Al Jaffee. Al Jaffee is an amazing man. At the age of 87 he is still doing these. He has appeared in every issue since 1964, over 440 consecutive issues. He rarely misses and this one is another winner. WIN

The totals, out of 13 articles 8 were winners, for a winning percentage of 62%.

I will start reviewing each issue as I get it. Soon I will review an older issue from the late 80's to the early 90's to see how they compare.