How Creepy Is Simon Stagg?

Some of you may be wondering who Simon Stagg is - he's the closest Metamorpho came to a recurring villain/archenemy character.  Stagg is the father of Metamorpho's wife Sapphire and in the second issue of Metamorpho from 1993, he displays his true colours:

That is wrong on so many levels - she's his daughter but he wants to "hold" and "touch" her . . .

How creepy is Simon Stagg? Very.

Who'd LIke A Cocktail? #31

No preamble this week, just straight into the comics. Oh, wait - this is a preamble. Damn it!

• The Boys #29 - "Let's give them a f****n' spankin'." Oh yes.
• Justice Society Of America #25 - why is Green Lantern giving the big address at the end? Am I the only person who remembers that Power Girl's the chairman of the JSA? I feel like Psycho Pirate at the end of Crisis On Infinite Earths!
• Masquerade #2 - I really like this series - it's making me think, damn it!
• Seaguy: Slaves Of Mickey Eye #1 - Da fug?!
• Strange Adventures #2 - "Lady Styx will then stand supreme!" Talking hair piece of evil!
• Teen Titans #69 - Man, how many off-colour remarks can the Face make in a single issue?
• Teen Titans Annual #1 - Deathtrap cross-over? Ah crap, this means I've got to buy Titans. Is Winick still writing that?
• Trinity #44 - Ha! Kanjar-Ro's going to tape everything and sell it on the internet!
  

And what made me chuckle this week:

You gotta love that Tyrone.

Friday Night Fights - Payback Is A Bitch

Spacebooger continues to demand One Panel of Pain so that's what you're getting.

I admit last week's somewhat weak panel was simply so that I could use this one:

That's Jason Todd getting his revenge on the Joker some twenty years later, smacking him around with a crowbar.

Remember to head over to Spacebooger and vote for your favourite fight over the weekend.

This slap in the face with an iron bar appears in Batman: Under The Hood Vol 1 trade paperback, written by Judd Winick with art by Doug Mahnke and Tom Nguyen.

Free Comics: The Sandman - Brief Lives

Here we go, folks - time to get yourselves some absolutely free comics straight from my shelves to you.

If this pans out, I may do this on a semi regular basis but this is a first go so we'll see what happens.  Here's how it works:

I'm offering you issues 41 to 49 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the Brief Lives storyline where Dream and Delirium head off to find their long lost brother.

What do you have to do to get your hands on them? Simply leave a comment on this blog post AND send me an e-mail.

That's it; there's no catch (well, see below) and you don't have to come up with some witty remark or break a code or anything like that. Leave a comment simply stating something simple - your name/nickname/favourite colour/pet's name/favourite book or whatever then send me an e-mail at jigsawmen [at] googlemail [dot] com with the same info you put in your comment and you're in the running.

Each of the comments have a number. As long as the minimum number (see below) of comments are left, I'll use a random number generator to select one of the posts - the winner gets the comics, simple as that. All you have to pay for is postage from the UK.

Okay, I hinted there might be a catch. For each batch of (hopefully) desirable comics I offer, I'm going to include a mystery booby prize: another batch of comics that, perhaps, you won't want; the price of posting these won't be included in the postage for the main prize so you won't end up paying for something you don't want! I promise they'll be nothing risque or the sort of thing you wouldn't show your grandmother, but they won't be of the highest caliber either!

Free Comics Rules:

1. One Comment Per Person - if the same person posts more than one comment, they're instantly disqualified. I don't have sophisticated software to track I.P. addresses so you could feasibly create half a dozen accounts and post under each one but come on, let's just play fair and have a bit of fun, eh?
   
2. You MUST e-Mail Me - Post a comment AND send me an e-mail with the subject line of "Free Comics" and the body of the mail MUST be the same as your comment. I can't identify I.P. addresses which is why I need your e-mail; if I announced comment number 1 from Joe Bloggs had won, there would be nothing to stop a dozen people getting in touch claiming to be Joe Bloggs. I promise that no e-mail addresses will be given to anyone else and will solely be used to contact the winner; like I said, this is just a bit of fun.
   
3. Minimum Number of Comments - if, at the end of the competition, there are less than 10 comments, the competition will be declared null and void and I will hold on to the comics. As long as there are 10 or more, you're in with a chance of winning.
4. Payment is by PayPal Only - I'll send you details of postage costs once the competition is over; I'm based in the UK so will be using the prices you can find in this link.
   
5. Duration of the Competition - this is posted on 1st April 2009; comments posted up to midnight GMT on the 14th April 2009 will be included in the draw; anything posted after that will not be included.
6. Winner Announced - the winner will be announced on this blog on Sunday 19th April and I will e-mail them asking for a postage address; they will have 48 hours to reply with the address. If I receive nothing within that time, I will draw a second comment number and contact them.
   

I apologise for the slightly complex nature of the posting/mailing side of things but I need to be able to identify commenters with e-mails.

In summary - leave a comment on this post then mail me so I can link comments with e-mail and remember: no multiple comments; Mr. Terrific is watching you:

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #30

The cocktail post was delayed this week due to a drunken weekend away with some friends. Still, least there was more than last week.

• Battlefields: Dear Billy #3 - Dear Garth Ennis. Thank you for this story; it showed a level of warmth and heart that proves you're not all about zombies and child killing.
  
• Crossed #3 and #4 - Dear Garth Ennis. Thank you for this story; it showed that part of you is about zombies and child killing.
• The Death Defying 'Devil #4 - oooooh, Bart's not Bart!
• Justice League of America #31 - wait, why is Zatanna calling Wonder Woman "Dinah" on page 1? And why are we reading about the repercussions of something Hal Jordan's doing in a few months time?
• Top Ten Season Special #1 - Judge Death, Dr Manhattan and the judge from Pink Floyd's The Wall all in the same comic!
• Trinity #43 - delusions of grandeur from the big three.

And what made me chuckle last week:

One of the best court room dramas I've ever read.

Friday Night Fights - How To Use A Crowbar

Spacebooger demands One Panel of Pain for these fights, so that's what you get.

Twenty years seems like nothing in the world of comics; events that happened on a four colour page still seem fresh today to my mind. Browsing through some old trade paperbacks I came across something that I thought was worth putting into the FNF - the beating, and subsequent death of Jason Todd aka Robin:

Ah, that Joker - even when inflicting mortal wounds, he still can't help cracking wise.

Remember to head over to Spacebooger and vote for your favourite fight.

This piece of child brutality was taken from the Batman: A Death In The Family trade paperback, published in 1988, written by Jim Starlin with art by Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo.

Free Comics

That's right, folks - I'm going to give away some comics in a few days time.

Come by on 1st April (no, this isn't an April Fool joke) to see what's on offer and how you can win issues of a multi-award winning comic series by one of the best known writers in the industry.

No catch, no cost (except for postage) - enter the competition at the start of April and I will send you some free comics.

I'm too good to you people.