Longbox Junk - Arak, Son of Thunder #1

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where the comics are cheap and the reviews are FREE!

Let's return for a bit to a little something I was getting into last year. . .comics that you are pretty much guaranteed to find in just about ANY bargain bin you may find yourself digging through.  The bread and butter of cheap comics. . .the Longbox Junk of Longbox Junk.

At hand today is the first issue of a series that, if you DON'T spot at least one issue of  the run in the bargain bin, somebody already bought it.  As far as I can tell, it's a REQUIRMENT that any bargain bin has to contain at least ONE of these comics.

I'm talkin' about ARAK, SON OF THUNDER!

That's right. . .DC's very own version of Conan, even written by the man many consider to be THE Conan writer, the legendary Roy Thomas.  But is that ALL Arak is? An 80s Conan knockoff?  Is it any good? Why are so many of these comics in the bargain bins?  I have questions.  Let's get some answers!

ARAK, SON OF THUNDER #1

DC (1981)

COVER: Ernie Colón

The Sword and the Serpent!


SCRIPT: Roy Thomas
PENCILS: Ernie Colón
INKS: Tony DeZuniga


THE COVER:

I absolutely LOVE the gigantic ARAK title on ALL the covers in this series! But other than that, this cover is a bit "meh". The central figure of Arak is done nicely, but if you look in the background, especially over on the right, the figures are sketchy, giving the cover a sort of unfinished look. 

I'm not sure that this cover would have caught my eye on the comic rack. A bit of a disappointment because Colón's work inside is really very nice. Let's get to the story!


THE STORY:

We begin our tale aboard a Viking ship. . .far to the West of anyplace that's been explored by Norsemen before. Driven before the waves during a fierce storm, the hard-bitten crew of reavers has barely survived the night.

As they survey their situation, a small boat is spotted adrift. Aboard it is a young boy with strange, reddish skin.

The Vikings rescue the boy, but as they try to revive him, he attacks the leader of the band, Sigvald.  To keep Sigvald from killing the boy, a Frankish raider named Hermold claims the boy as his slave.  

In the weeks that follow, Hermold begins training the strange boy in swordplay, so that he may join the rest of the band in their violent life of raiding.  He also gives the boy a name. . .Erik, but the child pronounces it Arak, and that's what the crew comes to know him as.

Arak proves himself to be a natural fighter with sword and bow and ax.  The seasons begin to pass as he becomes one of the raider band.

We move forward eight years. . .

Arak takes part in his first raid.  The band invades a peaceful Christian monastery  on the coast of Northumbra.  As the battle rages through the monastery, Arak comes upon his leader, Sigvald, as he kills the Abbot and claims the monk's treasure, including an ornate jeweled cross.

Arak is confused as to why the monk refused to defend himself, and as he tries to comfort the dying Abbot, he is surprised to find himself being cursed by the dying man and called a devil.

Leaving the Abbot's quarters, Arak becomes sickened by the raiders who have become his family when he sees them tormenting the defenseless monks. . .inflicting violence for no reason other than their own amusement.  

When he's finally had enough, Arak steps in to save a monk being tortured by a Viking named Hrolf.  He is mocked for being soft and Hrolf attacks, but he's no match for Arak, who swiftly kills him.  The leader of the band, Sigvald, tells Arak that his actions prove that he's no real Viking any more than a wolf is a shark.

As winter falls and the Vikings rest in their longhouses and prepare for the next raiding season, the raid on the monastery weighs heavily on Arak.  His former master and now friend, the Frankish Hermold, tries to ease Arak's mind by telling him the tale of Jesus Christ and how the monks follow His example of pacifism.

Arak is intrigued by the tale, and by the tales of the Frankish Christian Empire his friend speaks of.  In return, Arak tells Hermold what he remembers of his own land. . .far across the sea to the West.

 He belonged to a tribe called the Quontauka, who worshipped a Thunder God called He-No.  His mother told him that he was He-No's son.  Truth or not?  Who can say?  He claims his people are all dead except for him.

We move forward.  Winter is gone and another raiding season comes.  Arak and Hermold try to convince Sigvald that no good can come of raiding defenseless monasteries.  Such attacks will only rouse the anger of the Anglo-Saxons who rule Northumbra. 

Sigvald ignores them and sets his sights on another monastery.  But as they approach in the darkness, a strange sight comes into view. . .a white-haired woman standing alone on a rock in the sea!

As the Vikings ponder the strange encounter, she chants words of dark magic and a giant serpent rises from the depths to smash the raider band's ship!  Only a few of the Vikings make it to shore, along with Arak. . .where they are greeted by armed and enraged monks.

Hermold tries to appeal to the Christian monks, throwing down his weapon and surrendering in the name of God. . .but the monks leap on the Frankish raider and kill him, driving Arak into a berserker rage!

But even in his rage, Arak is soon overwhelmed by the strangely-aggressive monks.  When he wakes, he finds himself being tended to by one of the monks.  The only survivor of his band beside him is their leader, Sigvald.  They are both being held prisoner, along with the monks who had killed their companions.  Arak is confused.

The monk explains that they were forced to fight by a brother and sister named Argalia and Angelica (the woman who summoned the serpent), who appeared with a pair of giant Oriental bodyguards two days earlier and took over the monastery.

It's not long before Angelica comes to meet Arak.  She's intrigued by the strange red-skinned man and offers him his life in exchange for service as her personal slave and bodyguard.  Arak agrees, claiming any deal is a good one if the second offer is death.

When Angelica takes Arak to meet her brother, Argalia, she reveals that the reason they have taken over the monastery is because of a magic ring hidden among its relics.  A ring that not only makes the wearer invisible, but also protects against all enchantments.  

Angelica mentions that she will be using the ring against Malagigi. . .court magician to King Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne), a name Arak recognizes from Hermold's tales of the Christian kingdom of the Franks.  Now curious about traveling to the Frankish kingdom, Arak leaves the monastery with his new mistress and her brother.

As they set sail, Arak sees the remaining monks, as well as Sigvald, marooned on a rocky island.  Angelica once again casts the spell summoning the giant serpent to kill the prisoners.  As the monks pray, Arak begs his new mistress to spare them.  She refuses and reminds Arak of the oath he swore not to take up arms against her or her brother.

Arak proclaims that he will keep his oath, but that doesn't prevent him from killing the serpent!  He leaps overboard and swims to rescue the monk who tended to him, leaving Sigvald to his fate.

  Arak spots the wreckage of the Viking ship and grabs the jewel-encrusted cross  Sigvald had lashed to the mast.  Using it as a sword, Arak strikes down the attacking serpent!  

In the aftermath of the battle, Arak sees that Angelica has left without him.  He declares his intention to travel to the Frankish kingdom to meet King Carolus Magnus, and to perhaps gain some answers about the gods.  Who saved him during the battle?  The Christian God, or He-No of his lost tribe?  Either way, he sets forth on a new journey.

The End. . .To be Continued.

THE REVIEW:

There it is. The first issue of Arak, Son of Thunder. Let's break it on down!

It was. . .better than what I expected. Like I said in the introduction, I see issues of this series CONSTANTLY in bargain bins. But now I wonder why. This first issue was pretty dang good!

First off, any time I see Roy Thomas' name as writer, I KNOW the story will be solid. Thomas is one of the most reliable writers in comics, and has been for a long time. The man is a comic legend in MY book for the sheer amount of good stories he's given us over the decades. I'm not sure why he's not mentioned often when fans talk about great comic writers, but I think he deserves to be.


Thomas gives this tale his signature sword and sorcery swagger most well known from his MANY Conan stories. . .but Arak gets a little twist in that it's set in the actual dark ages world we know from the history books, but with some magic and mystery thrown into the mix. A little dark ages "What If?" if you will.

I think what caught me by surprise the most in this story is the amount of Christian imagery to be found. The Christian faith is definitely front and center, and a big part of this story. It's a pretty bold move to have a comic from 1981 really leaning into an existing religion like this one does, especially for a mainstream title put out by one of the "Big Two".

To ME, the setting of this story makes it great. Not the prehistoric Hyborian Age of Conan, but a world of Vikings and Native Americans and Christian Monks and Frankish Kings. Really more along the lines of Solomon Kane, if you really want to make a comparison to R.E. Howard's works that were the more familiar stomping grounds of Roy Thomas.

That said, this first issue DOES read like a Conan story. Later issues lean into Arak's Native American heritage as the son of Thunder God He-No, and Arak becomes more of a Hercules character. . .half man, half god. But at the start of the series. . .yeah. . .it's sort of Conan for DC.

But that doesn't make it bad. If there's ONE thing Roy Thomas does well, it's sword and sorcery in the Conan style. You get that here in full measure. Seafaring raiders. . .mysterious sorcery. . .giant serpents. . .a burly outcast hero in a strange land. If you like Thomas' Conan, you're gonna like Arak!

On the art side of things, the Ernie Colón/ Tony DeZuniga art team do a fantastic job of bringing this dark ages fantasy world to life! I really think that DeZuniga's inks are the magic touch here. Colón's pencils are very nice, but DeZuniga's dark, bold inks lend to the individual panels a lifelike sense of motion in his signature style that has long made me consider DeZuniga one of my favorite Bronze Age comic artists.

That's not to say that Ernie Colón's pencils aren't just as good. I really like how his backgrounds are either sketchy or not existent at all. . .providing more of a backdrop than a background where the characters and action in the foreground push forward and grab the eye! It's a style I really enjoy, especially for this kind of story.

CONCLUSION

This was a surprisingly good read for a series that is pretty much bargain bin fodder. Roy Thomas provides a solid story with a great dark ages setting, and the Colón/ DeZuniga art team make it come to life in a big way.

If you're looking for some great Bronze Age sword and sorcery that ISN'T Conan, then don't pass Arak by next time you spot it in the bargain bin. I have most of this series (30 issues) and can tell you that the story just gets better as it goes along and leans more into Arak being a sort of Native American Hercules.

There are some similarities to Conan, but trust me when I say that they are just sort of on the surface. This is most certainly not a Conan comic. Unfortunately, I have the feeling that those surface similarities to Conan is why this series lives in the bargain bin. Frankly, I think it deserves better.

This series has never been collected, for some reason (probably those surface similarities to Conan) but the issues are very easy to find. I Highly recommend Arak, Son of Thunder for comic fans looking for some Bronze Age sword and sorcery comics that don't revolve around R.E. Howard's grim Cimmerian.


Up Next. . .

It's a comic tie-in to a movie that never got made.
AC's BLACK DIAMOND!

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Xenobrood Part 2 - Issues 4 - 6

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic reviews even though nobody asked me to!

Let's keep this introduction sort of short.  What we have here is the second half of my review of the entire ill-fated and practically forgotten series featuring DC's version of a an X-treme 90s mutant superhero team meant to compete with Image and Marvel. . .Xenobrood.

In the first half ( ISSUES 0-3 ) I determined that the main reason this series is forgotten is ALSO the very reason it came to be.  As a potential competitor for 90s powerhouse Image, DC was barely on the playing field. 

Not that they didn't give it a decent try.  DC brought on a solid writer with some good fan credit in Doug Moench.  The team's origin had a pretty interesting hook in the "ancient astronaut" theory.  And the art. . .well. . .it was about as 90s as you can get without bringing in Liefeld on the job.  

Unfortunately, none of it was enough and Xenobrood turned out to be just okay.  And in the 90s when you're competing against the new bully on the playground named Image, okay wasn't going to cut it.

Worse, you can literally see DC giving up on Xenobrood.  It was originally supposed to be an ongoing series, spinning out of DC's soft 90s reboot, Zero Hour.  Instead it was quickly and quietly downgraded to a mini-series like that was how it was supposed to be the whole time. 

To make the slide even steeper, a new art team came in on just the THIRD issue, which ALSO featured a hail Mary Superman crossover sales stimulant (which apparently didn't work).

And now we're on issue four of this failed and forgotten experiment.  It's pretty clear that this thing is headed for disaster, and I COULD have just stopped with the first part of this review.  But I've said it before, and I'll say it again. . .I ain't a quitter, son!

Xenobrood Part Two. . .issues 4-6.  Let's do this!

XENOBROOD - PART TWO

ISSUES #4 - #6

DC (1995)

 ISSUE FOUR

COVER: Chris Hunter

CREATURES OF CRYSTAL

SCRIPT: Doug Moench

PENCILS: Chris Hunter

INKS: John Lowe

THE STORY:

Picking up directly from the cliffhanger in the previous issue, Superman and the Xenobrood are wary of each other as Doctor Leight fills his team in on Superman's origins and also tells Superman about the Xenobrood. 

As tensions ease between Superman and the Xenobrood, we learn that Vimana has managed to quickly process a few crystals stolen from the ancient Babylonian dig site.  Unfortunately, their improper storage has tainted them.  They are powerful and capable of following orders, but are otherwise mindless crystalline husks.  Still useful, but not what Vimana was hoping for.

Back at the dig site, the Iraqi army discovers the entrance into the ruins and attacks!  Superman leaps to action, but Doctor Leight convinces the hero to stand down and observe as the Xenobrood takes care of the threat.

As Superman warily watches, the Xenobrood manages to hold their own against the massing troops, especially Astra, who uses her powers to possess multiple targets for the first time.  But it soon becomes clear that there's too many of them and Superman starts taking down the heavier targets as they approach.

But while Superman is distracted, Vimana sends his tainted crystal warriors into the battle!  A desperate fight breaks out between the crystal creatures and the Xenobrood.  Superman hears their struggle and returns to help, using sonic waves to destroy the crystal warriors and the ship that brought them to the battle.

The grateful Xenobrood and Doctor Leight agree with Superman that the secrets hidden in the prehistoric ruins are too dangerous and powerful to remain available to ANYONE.  And so the Xenobrood and Superman work together to close and hide the entrance forever.

Afterward, Superman leaves the Xenobrood after telling them that he can relate to their difficulty finding their way and their place. . .after all, he's an alien just like they are.  He tells them to keep up the good work and flies off into the sunset.

Doctor Leight decides to return home with the Xenobrood and face whatever comes next.

The End. . .To be continued.

 

THE REVIEW:

Superman does NOT save the day, as far as this issue is concerned.

It just seems ridiculous that the Xenobrood don't know who Superman is when they've gained most of their knowledge of Earth through television.  This is a world where superheroes are ALSO superstars!  I expect better writing from Doug Moench.  At this point he seems like he's also giving up on the whole thing.  

This whole issue is pretty disappointing.  Superman's part is a pretty obvious attempt at propping up sales of this series.  The biggest thing he's there for besides a "You guys are great! No, really!" pep talk meant just as much for the reader as for the Xenobrood is to move this title away from attempting to be an "X" title entirely by making sure to firmly establish the Xenobrood as aliens, not mutants.  He also punches a few tanks. . .so there's that, too, I guess.

Setting the DC mutant angle aside is a move that makes DC giving up on this series painfully obvious.  It looks to ME like they figured out pretty quickly that they weren't going to be competing in the overcrowded mutant comic space after all.

And then there's the art.  I've already said that Hunter's art seems flat and that his heart wasn't in it (he left comics entirely not too long after this series) but this issue has some pretty bad. . .almost embarrassing. . . Superman illustrations.

One would THINK that if you were a practically unknown comic artist thrown onto a failing series to push it over a rapidly approaching finish line and you were given the opportunity to draw one of DC's biggest Superheroes. . .no. . .one of THE biggest Superheroes of all. . .you would put your best effort in.  You would think.  But no.  

Two more issues to go.  Let's do it!

ISSUE FIVE

COVER: Chris Hunter

ENDTIMES

SCRIPT: Doug Moench

PENCILS: Chris Hunter

INKS: John Lowe

THE STORY:

Upon their return from the Middle East, Doctor Leight and the Xenobrood go into hiding while they try to figure out how to get the government off their back.  Leight enters into a secret deal with a television producer who is willing to pay Leight a million dollars for exclusive footage and interviews with the Xenobrood.  More than enough to find a new hidden base of operations.

But once he actually meets the producer, Leight gets uncomfortable with the level of exploitation he's agreeing to put the Xenobrood through for money and calls off the deal.  As they leave the studio, Leight is unaware that one of the crew has alerted the authorities and Leight and the Xenobrood are ambushed and captured by the mysterious heavily-armed government agency that has been hunting them!

Leight finds himself at Area 51, in the hands of "Project Aquarius".  The Xenobrood are prisoners, Lorna is nowhere to be found, and he is being interrogated.  In exchange for his life, Leight tells the government interrogator everything he knows about the Xenobrood. . .their powers, their prehistoric alien origin, the implications of their very existence on human history!

Unknown to Leight or Project Aquarius, the Xenobrood's capture was witnessed by agents of Vimana, who dispatches a strike team to Area 51 to release the Xenobrood and capture them for his slaves.

As alarms blare through Area 51 and Vimana's strike team penetrate security, the Xenobrood manage to free themselves and rescue Doctor Leight and Lorna.  Astra takes over the mind of the pilot of the strike team's aircraft and discovers that the ship has an autopilot that will take them back to it's home base.

Leight and the Xenobrood decide to escape in the craft and find out who their TRUE enemy is.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Surprisingly, this was actually one of the better issues of the run.  We get more of the Ancient Alien/ Annunaki background of the Xenobrood from Doug Moench, and I can also see a definite improvement in Chris Hunter's art, compared to the last issue.

It's still not great.  You can easily tell Moench is pretty much phoning it in and spinning the wheels waiting for the finale, despite a healthy dose of the concept that made this team at least a bit different than your average "X" team (Oops. . .sorry.  They're strictly aliens now).  It's too little, too late. . .and honestly, it's a rehash of small bits from other issues compiled into one place. 

Still, with the overwhelming mediocrity of this series as a whole, I'll take a halfway decent issue when I get one and give credit where credit is due. 

And FINALLY. . .

ISSUE SIX

COVER:  Chris Hunter

MEETING THEIR MAKER

SCRIPT: Doug Moench

PENCILS: Chris Hunter

INKS: John Lowe

THE STORY:

Continuing directly from the previous issue, Doctor Leight, Lorna, and the Xenobrood manage to capture the ship used by Vimana's strike force and they use it to escape the hidden government "Project Aquarius" laboratory at Area 51.  

They are shocked to discover the ship's autopilot takes them deep under the sea to a high-tech hidden base.  Immediately after docking, and before they can even get their bearings, the base's guards attack!

As Doctor Leight and the Xenobrood fight their way through the alien base, they discover the lab where the rest of the crystals from the archeological dig in the ancient Sumerian temple are stored.  

There is a debate over whether or not they should destroy them, but the renewed attacks of the undersea base's guards decide it for them when a stray shot destroys the container the rest of the crystals are held in.

When the crystals are destroyed, Vimana himself finally steps in.  But instead of fighting, he uses his mental powers to open the minds of the Xenobrood and show them the fantastic, highly-advanced civilization of their homeworld.  As the Xenobrood marvel at the sights, Vimana offers them the chance to join him and leave Earth behind.

But the Xenobrood know from Leight's research that they were created as slaves and breeders, and that they would be used as such on their homeworld.  They would rather be free outcasts than slaves in a gilded cage.  They refuse Vimana's offer.

And with the Xenobrood's refusal, Vimana flies into a rage and an epic battle to the finish ensues!

Ha-Ha. . .just kidding.

Vimana gets depressed and decides that life in exile isn't worth living any longer.  He triggers the base's destruct sequence and tells Doctor Leight and the Xenobrood to get out before it explodes.

And so, while Vimana patiently waits for death, Doctor Leight, Lorna, and the Xenobrood run for the craft that brought them, barely escaping with their lives as the base explodes behind them!

After their craft also self-destructs, Leight, Lorna, and the Xenobrood find themselves washed ashore outside of New York City.  Now that the threat of Vimana is gone, and in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Leight tells the Xenobrood that they are free.  It's not right for him to be their "master" any more than it was for Vimana.  

As the Xenobrood leave for parts unknown, Lorna tells Leight that she's rediscovered her feelings for him and wants to give their relationship another chance.  All's well that ends well.

EPILOGUE:

In the months following Leight freeing the Xenobrood, he and Lorna move in together.  They have made a deal with a television producer, revealing the government's secret Project Aquarius in exchange for public protection for both them and the Xenobrood.

And then, one night, unexpected visitors arrive. . .the Xenobrood!  They have decided to remain with Doctor Leight of their own free will.  What will the future hold?  Who knows.  But for now. . .a happy ending.

THE REVIEW:

And there it is, folks. . .the big ending to the short-lived adventures of the Xenobrood! 

The end of Vimana's threat actually came as a big surprise to me.  Doug Moench shows that he wasn't entirely phoning it in with a most unusual end for the main villain.  Just giving up and killing himself was something I was NOT expecting.  It's either one of the laziest final boss battles I've seen in comics, or one of the most brilliant.  I don't even know what to think!  Thumbs up to Mr. Moench for taking this last issue down a most unexpected path.

Other than that, this final issue was. . .well, it was okay.  Not bad, not great.  Just like every other issue in the series.  Except for the unusual end for the villain, pretty much forgettable.  The sort of thing you don't even really remember the next day. . .or maybe even the next hour.  

Everything is wrapped up nicely, with the only loose end being the Xenobrood themselves, who are never seen again or even mentioned beyond one single lousy sentence in JLA #4 a few years later in 1997.  All's well that ends well?  I guess so.

CONCLUSION

After reading and reviewing the seven issues of this forgotten attempt by DC to jump on the mutant bandwagon, I think I can sum it up in two words: Wasted Potential.

There WAS potential here.  Doug Moench is a good comic writer, and the "Ancient alien/ Annunaki" hook for the team's origin set it apart a little bit.  This SHOULD have been better than it was.  Doug Moench ALONE should have been the key here.

But no.  

What we GOT was an utterly forgettable and borderline bad comic series that flopped so hard that it's practically forgotten today.  How did this happen?  As I said above, in MY humble opinion this series was doomed from the start. . .just like almost anything else written for a specific purpose or to fill a specific pigeonhole. 

DC wanted in on that sweet, SWEET mutant money.  So instead of letting Doug Moench write in his usual introspective style, we got a pretty weak attempt at an X-Treme Action comic.  Kind reader, if you know anything about Moench's writing, it's pretty plain to see that he's not really an X-Treme Action writer.

He's not my favorite comic writer, but he's a modern comic legend.  When you think of Doug Moench, you think of Moon Knight. . .Batman. . .Master of Kung Fu. . .brooding, introspective character pieces crafted in a unique style.  NOT what we find here in Xenobrood.  

A lot of what I'm writing here is just my OWN speculation (because there is amazingly little information to be found on this series), but it seems to me like DC took a good writer with a good idea and interfered enough trying to grab a piece of the mutant comic pie to make it fail.

Consider this. . .A dark series about an archeologist who discovers a shattering secret, hidden for thousands of years.  A secret that redefines human history itself.  Part of the secret is a group of human-like creatures from another world. . . powerful, but childlike and obedient.  Created as slaves and breeders for an alien race, they have the potential to become heroes or to become dangerous.  Hunted by a secret government agency, they are forced into hiding while they try to make sense of the world around them.

See that?  Now THERE'S a comic I want to read!  That's the idea underlying Xenobrood.  THAT'S the potential.  That's the WASTED potential.  This was an idea, a concept, that could have worked on its own instead of trying to cram it into the "X-Book" craze. 

Can I recommend Xenobrood?  

Honestly, it's not a great series.  It was a bit of a grind to make myself finish reviewing these last three issues.  Like I said above, there's a LOT of wasted potential here, and what we get is pretty forgettable and right on the edge of bad.  

I wouldn't recommend Xenobrood as anything other than a strange and somewhat interesting little relic of the time when Image stomped onto the comic scene and everyone was scrambling to keep up.  To ME it's a master class in how to waste the potential of a good writer with a good idea on a blatant cash grab.

Up Next. . .

Longbox Junk 2024!  How about we start off the new year with a little something you can find in just about ANY bargain bin you find yourself digging through?  I'm talking about ARAK, SON OF THUNDER!

Be there or be square.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM LONGBOX JUNK!

 Another year gone, another one yet to come!  I thank each and every reader of Longbox Junk for taking a bit of their precious time to visit.  I know I've been getting off track and somewhat random with the timing of posts, and I resolve to try and swing back the other way at least a little bit in 2024.

But more importantly, I wish each and every one of you a very happy healthy, peaceful, and prosperous new year in 2024!

THAT SAID. . .

Now, as I do, I'd like to take a few moments and think a little deeper about the year to come.  If you're not the kind to enjoy a "message" then just stick with everything above the picture and consider this your disclaimer.

Everyone in that's staying in?  Okay, then. Let's do this.

You know it.  I know it.  EVERYBODY knows it.  

2024 is gonna be a rough year, and don't let anyone tell you different.  It's an election year, and, as usual, a lot of people are acting like the United States is going straight to hell in either a Commie Liberal OR a Fascist Conservative handbasket. It doesn't matter WHO wins the election, nobody's going to be happy about it.  

But before that even happens, we're going to be treated to a pretty solid year of wall to wall political screeching from every direction.  God, I hate election years.  They bring out the absolute WORST in people.  Politics is ALL that gets talked about.  The divisions plaguing our nation just get magnified to the point that one would think we're on the verge of a shooting war, if you watch too much cable news.

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying politics aren't important. They ARE important.  I'm politically involved.  If you don't know, I'm an Independent voter leaning conservative.  I'm educated on what's going on, and I'm politically active in various causes.  But that doesn't mean that I think politics are the ONLY thing.  And THAT'S what 2024 is going to try and convince each and every one of you. . .that politics are the ONLY thing.

Listen. . .no matter what ANYONE says, politics aren't all there is.  They're important, but it's also important to step back and relax sometimes.  Take a breath.  Look around.  Try to find something else for a little bit.  Don't let politics consume you. 

Whether it's comic books, games, time with the family, or WHATEVER else you like doing, I want you to do it.  Don't let politics take over.  I know I need a break now and then, and I want you to do the same.  It can be hard, with everyone just SO focused on politics, but just do me a favor and take a time out sometimes.  

You know what you COULD do, right? Longbox Junk is right HERE!  Just a suggestion.  Take five or ten minutes to read a comic review nobody asked me to write.  Even if it's NOT Longbox Junk, do SOMETHING every day for a few minutes to clear your mind a bit and keep the perspective from narrowing until politics is the only thing in view.

But enough of that.  I don't want to seem like I'm trying to tell people what to do.  I'm just concerned with how politics are becoming a bigger and bigger part of life, and I HAVE seen people who have become consumed by them to the point that they don't even seem like the same people I once knew.

And so, once again I wish all of you a healthy, happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2024!

Up Next?

LONGBOX JUNK!!

Be there or be square.