Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On... Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Part VII)

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #4056 -   I'm back from seeing Part VII of the Star Wars film series.  I haven't blogged or posted about this latest installment of the Star Wars films before.  Sure, I was interested in going to see it on the Big Screen, but nothing made me want to go until last night.  

Last night I saw some TV spots where people were going to see it Thursday night.  Which got me to thinking... I'll see it Friday mid-morning.  So I did.  At my local Regal Cinemas theatre.  Here's My Take on the film:

The opening was similar to the earlier films with the large font opening as to what had happened since the last film. Okay...

Then the first few minutes ran.  Nothing exciting there for me.  Actually it was kind of slow for me, even though there was a lot of action going on.

It took several minutes before my interest picked up.  Then there he was!  Hans Solo and Chewbacca!  Allright!  Now the film picked up for me.

I won't go in for spoiling for those of you that have not already seen it.  I went not knowing much about the film.  I wanted to be surprised this time.  And I was!

Besides Hans & Chewbacca there were:  R2-D2, C-3PO, General (Princess) Leia and Luke Skywalker.  It was fun seeing them all again.  That was for sure!  As each character was re-introduced, my interest in this film continued to grow. It turned out to be a couple of hours of fun viewing.  Plus this film is just the first of two more films to be added.  I'll be back for sure to see those!

Like I said above, I'm not going to give away the storyline of this film.  Just that if you have seen all of the previous six films, you gotta see this seventh one!

For those of you that want to know a little more about the film, please see this link to the Wikipedia entry for the film.

As for my grade for this film, I'd give it a VF/VF+ (Very Fine/Very Fine Plus) 8.25 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade.   It was a fun film, but just a little slow at the beginning of the film.   As for the new cast members, I'd have to give a Near Mint Minus (NM-) to Daisy Ridley who played Rey.  Her character development in the film was handled nicely.  Looking forward to seeing more of her in the films to follow.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 4,000 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to my blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to me for possible review, just contact me. 

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Mentions Whom He Is...   Thankful For On This Thanksgiving Day

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #4055 -   It is time for my Annual Thanksgiving Post!

Well... Almost Annual, as I missed posting last year during my divorce.  I guess I just wasn't thankful enough during that time!

Anyways, this 'Annual' post has been around for several years.  Here's a link to the 2013 Post which shows all of those I've been thankful during my lifetime. 

Those persons included, (in order of year posted), Stan Lee, Engineer Bill, Sheriff John, Fess Parker, Howard & Marge McIntosh, Jack Kirby, Tina LoSasso, Francis & Lois Hamersky, Annette Funicello, Shel Dorf, Elvis Presley, and Leo Carrillo.  Whew!   That's a lot to be thankful for!

This year's choice is... (drumroll.....)... Creedence Clearwater Revival! (Or CCR for short.)

That's because it was this band's albums that got me to collecting what was then 'current' music, back in the late 1960s.  You see, I graduated High School in 1970, and lived at home till the 2nd year of Junior College.  So my choice of records was somewhat limited to what would be acceptable to my parents.  I did have a pair of headphones, but it wasn't until I moved 'out of the house' that my choices of music started to widen...

I had been listening to Elvis Presley and other rockabilly artists and some country music as my Dad had a few country music LPs.

But CCR was the first 'band' that I remember buying their albums at the Navy Exchange, straight off the record stands. 

I was able to catch the band live, but only once, after Tom Fogerty had left the group of four.   So while nice seeing 'CCR' in 1971/72 it wasn't the same band whose records I had been listening to for a few years.  Actually the band broke up with the release of the 'Mardi Gras' album, whose cuts the trio played in concert. 

I did buy the individual records of John Fogerty (aka Blue Ridge Rangers), Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and Tom Fogerty.  But it just wasn't the same for me after the breakup of the band. BTW, CCR existed from 1967 - 1972. There were earlier incarnations of the band, with two other names, but CCR ran for just those years listed.

Yes, I did see the other 'CCR' - Creedence Clearwater Revisted, the band that Stu & Doug ran with a soundalike lead singer sounding close to John Fogerty's style years later at the San Diego County Fair.  But still it wasn't the same for me.

The purchase of a new turntable / record player, (as mentioned in blog #4054), has had me pulling out my collection of CCR LPs that I had not sold, (unlike my Elvis & Annette collections).  I'm almost at the end of listening to them all over again, although its been years since I've done so.

However, just a thought... It's the Creedence Clearwater Revival band that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, which was the nucleous of my once large LP & 45 records collections.

My thanks to the Band for what will be an ongoing relationship now that I've purchased a record player to hear them like I did in the late 1960s.

Links for further reading:

Wikipedia for Creedence Clearwater Revival

Wikipedia for Creedence Clearwater Revisted

Wikipedia for John Fogerty

Wikipedia for Tom Fogerty

Wikipedia for Stu Cook

Wikipedia for Doug Clifford

Note: There were only seven studio albums, released from 1968 - 1972, see this link for details on them, plus other albums released after the breakup of the band.

Additional Note: I mentioned that CCR had two names before using CCR.  They were the 'Blue Velvets' and then 'The Golliwogs'.  Here is a link to their history courtesy of Wikipedia.  I have some of the music that was released, when I first became aware of CCR's earlier history.

Plus a Final Note:  There is actually a one page story of CCR in a comic book!  See this link from Comics.org.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 4,000 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to my blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to me for possible review, just contact me. 

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Mentions That He Is...   Kicking Off The Holiday Season

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #4054 -   I'm sitting here in my office pulling orders and listening to music coming from my brand new turntable/record player.

You see, I gave my very old turntable to my youngest son a few months ago.  Actually we came across some LPs at a store which he wanted to have.  He had mentioned to me his interest in 'Swing' music a few months earlier and we compared notes on what we both liked and / or disliked in swing music.

Well, we bought those LPs and proceeded to search for my old turntable from many years ago. We found it, fixed it up, and he took it home with him.   He has since listened to those LPs, and enjoys his purchase.  I let him keep the turntable, but on a 'borrow' basis.

This past week I received the seasonal flyer from Bed Bath & Beyond.  In the circular there was a turntable for sale.   At an inexpensive price!  Well, that got me to thinking...

I've sold most of my LP collections, including almost all of my Elvis Presley collection and Annette Funicello collection.  I still have my Creedence Clearwater Revival collection, and some others, (Paul Revere and the Raiders, etc.). 

 The urge to hear those collections again got to me... I broke down and searched online to see what other retailers had those cool looking record players.  

After checking online, I went to Target and picked up a Crosley CR8500A-Cruiser turntable/record player.  Surprisingly the sound is pretty darn good!  I've been playing this record player, switching between CCR, swing, jazz, female vocalists etc.   This is the only 'Christmas Present' I'm buying myself this Holiday Season.   It is really nice to hear my vinyl LPs again, and I've even picked up a few more in the past few days.

Here's the link to the Crosley Radio web site so you can check out all the turntables / record players.  The Company has a long history in music.

So what's the connection to comic books?

There are many films that have soundtracks and also have comic book adaptations as well.

Plus several rock bands have unauthorized biographies written on them in a comic book format. The above link will take you to Revolutionary Comics listings.

Comic Books & Music has a long history together... Check it out when you get a chance!

Excuse me now, as I go to dig out those Christmas albums to play after Thanksgiving Day!

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 4,000 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to my blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to me for possible review, just contact me. 

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Is Sad To Hear...   Of The Passing of Murphy Anderson

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #4053 -   Yesterday late afternoon I read of the passing of famous comic book artist Murphy Anderson...

He was well known to comic book fans, as he was in the comic book industry for many years...

I had met him at the San Diego Comic Con International before, but it was at the ignaural San Diego Comic Fest back on October 19th of 2012 that I got to know him and his wife Helen a little bit better.  

I saw them at the Comic Fest location and they needed a little help in finding their bearings on the convention.  I took them to Cafe Frankenstein, where they were to meet David Siegel, who had arranged for them to attend the Comic Fest.

Well, after guiding them to the Cafe, I sat down with them and David, and we all had a great visit!

I saw them a few more times during the convention, and attended the special program that Gary Carter interviewed Murphy at.

All in all, it was a great time seeing Murphy and Helen on a more intimate visitation, than I had before at the larger convention.

So I was a little sad to hear of his passing yesterday and thought I would share these photos with you all today...

My condolences to Murphy's family & friends.

Here are the links for you to read more about Murphy Anderson and his published works:

Wikipedia entry for Murphy Anderson

Grand Comics Database entry

The Comic Books Database entry

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 4,000 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to my blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to me for possible review, just contact me. 

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Mentions...   Comic Book People 2 The Second Book By Jackie Estrada!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #4052 -   I've been attending what is now known as Comic-Con International: San Diego for many years.

In fact, I set up as a comic book dealer back in 1972 when the convention was known as San Diego's West Coast Comic Convention.

So I've seen it grown from a mini-con to a Mega-Con over the decades.

So has Jackie Estrada, who has attended since the beginning of the convention! 

Jackie has taken many photos over the years for her personal collection and recently published a book with many of those photos she had taken over the years included.  That was Comic Book People 1, which covered the 1970s & 1980s.  That book was published September 10th of 2014.

Now she has published Comic Book People 2, which covers photos she had taken during the 1990s at San Diego Comic Con / Comic-Con International, as well as at  the Chicago Comic-Con and WonderCon to the Small Press Expo and APE in the San Francisco area.  Actually yesterday was the 'Official Release Date' of the latest book, but I was out of town and missed blogging about it. 

So I'm letting you know today of this new book here in my blog and also at my Facebook Fan Page where I will be posting a link as well.

But before I do, I want to provide a more detailed description of the book for you as well as a few links.  Here's the details:

Jackie Estrada’s Comic Book People 2 Provides Unique Peek at the Comics Industry in the 1990s

The 1990s were a transitional era in comics: Image emerged, lots of other new publishers got into the mix, the direct market flourished, and the self-publishing and indie comics movements really took off. The number of comic conventions also increased all around the U.S. And Jackie Estrada was there, capturing the scene in candid images, hundreds of which will appear in Comic Book People 2: Photographs from the 1990s.

The high-quality hardcover coffeetable book is officially being published on September 10. It features some 600 candid photos taken at comic conventions in the 1990s, along with commentary and anecdotes about each image. The book is 176 pages, mostly with black-and-white images but including a 16-page color section. The Kickstarter-funded project is a follow-up to last year’s well-received Comic Book People: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s.

“The 1990s were a great time for new faces that are now familiar fixtures, such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Garth Ennis, Colleen Doran, David Lapham, and Paul Pope,” says Estrada. “But even as these new creators came on the scene, a number of Golden and Silver Age greats were still with us, and I was fortunate to be able to photograph many of them.” Among the venerated artists in the book are Frank Frazetta, Carmine Infantino, Gene Colan, Al Williamson, Sheldon Moldoff, Nick Cardy, and of course Will Eisner and Jack Kirby.

It was during the 1990s that Estrada and her husband Batton Lash formed Exhibit A Press to produce his comics series Wolff& Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre (aka Supernatural Law). Many of the photos in Comic Book People 2 were taken at shows where they exhibited, from the Chicago ComiCon and WonderCon to the Small Press Expo and APE, as well as the San Diego Comic-Con. The book covers the full spectrum of creators, from mainstream superhero writers and artists to small press cartoonists, as well as people behind the scenes in the industry, such as publishers, editors, retailers, and distributors. Among the events of the 1990s featured are the foundings of Milestone and Friends of Lulu and activities of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Jackie has been both a comics fan and a photographer since the 1960s, and she has been to every San Diego Comic-Con. Her involvement in comics has included editing publications for Comic-Con, being the administrator of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards since 1990, serving as president of Friends of Lulu, and being the co-publisher of Exhibit A Press, which has produced Comic Book People 2. Her photos of comics creators have appeared in numerous books and publications, from Paul Levitz’s 75 Years of DC Comics and Julius Schwartz’s autobiography Man of Two Worlds to Alter Ego and Comics Buyer’s Guide. Most prominently, dozens of her photos were used in Dark Horse’s Comics: Between the Panels and in Comic-Con: 40 Years of Artists, Writers,Fans, and Friends. Most recently, her photos could be seen in the PBS special on the history of superheroes.

Here's the links I promised:

Where you can buy the book directly from Jackie Estrada, at Exhibit A Press. 

Wikipedia entry for Jackie Estrada

Sample page from the book:  As shown to the left. 

Oh, and here's just a small sampling of who is pictured in the book:

Golden/Silver Age:

Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Julie Schwartz, Marty Nodell, Sheldon Moldoff, Irwin Hasen, Vin Sullivan, Harry Lampert, Ramona Fradon, Bob Haney, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, Russ Heath, Joe Kubert, Nick Cardy, Bob Oksner, Gene Colan, John Buscema, Dick Ayers, John Romita, Al Williamson, Frank Frazetta and more!

Writers:

Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Alan Grant, Louise Simonson, Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Kurt Busiek, Elaine Lee

Writer/Artists:

Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, John Byrne, Eddie Campbell, Mike Allred, Stan Sakai, Matt Wagner, Walt Simonson, Howard Chaykin, Dave Stevens

Artists:

Bill Sienkiewicz, Bernie Wrightson, Michael Kaluta, Dave Gibbons, Jill Thompson, P. Craig Russell, Jon J Muth, Art Adams, George Perez, Mike Ploog

Indy/Alt Creators:

Hernandez Bros, Dan Clowes, Peter Bagge, Art Spiegelman, Ellen Forney, Chris Ware, Jessica Abel, Grass Green, Joe Matt and more!

Plus: s/f fantasy authors, TV/Film/animation people, and behind-the-scenes Comic-Con people

 My thanks to Jackie Estrada for bringing her latest book to my attention. And congrats on this second volume!

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over 4,000 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to my blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to me for possible review, just contact me. 

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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