Thor’s Day Salutes: The Thor Comics I Fell In Love With

I’m back with another installment in this (clearly random in occurrence (but c’mon…the school year is back (and that means grading and lesson planning (so blogging itself becomes more random (to make room for other obligations))))) series saluting my love of Thor as I continue to get excited for Thor: Ragnarök.  As makes total sense to yours truly, there’s really no better day of the week to celebrate Thor than on the day named in his honor.  So let’s celebrate Thursday by remembering it literally means Thor’s Day and looking at why Thor comics captivated me as a kid!

A “Weird Al” Yankovic Fan For Life…and PROUD Of It!

My brother David is an incredibly talented musician.  He’s played the guitar for years.  He sings.  He writes his own songs.  And recently he decided to teach himself the drums.  Turns out he’s a great drummer too.  He plays a few set open mic gigs around town each week.  I’m always impressed to see not just him but all the local musical talent we have spend the night jamming together on originals and covers.  Recently one musician performed his rendition of the Kink’s “Lola.”  The crowd was digging it and the bar was singing along…only every word I sang came from “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Yoda” instead.  “Lola” is one of those songs that’s completely lost to me.  Al’s version is the only one in my heart and mind.   And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hits A Milestone…and I Get Nostalgic

Congratulations IDW!!!  You did it!!!  With the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue #73 last week, IDW’s TMNT series became the longest running Turtles comic of all time.  Yay!!!  Archie Comics’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures held the record at seventy-two issues running from August of 1988 to October of 1995 and, for comparison’s sake, the Turtles’ original Mirage series ran for sixty-two issues, ending in August of 1993.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I wanted to talk about why IDW’s Turtles series has captured my heart and mind as well as how growing up with the Turtles for nearly thirty years has allowed my appreciation of their story to evolve.