free download from dire life records

http://direlife.bandcamp.com/album/livin-the-dire-life

kickass comp put out by abstract artimus! features bands from all across america and the world. just all kinds of goodness at a price you can't beat! support d.i.y. and real rock and roll.

Dire Life Records strives to help those bands affiliated from all different genres procure a wider range of fans and more all around publicity through united promotion via this comp and future releases alike. We truly think there is something for everyone on this compilation and we hope you enjoy. We are a diy label

released 11 December 2010 all songs were written and recorded by the specified artist. please visit the web sites provided for more information about specific artists.

COMICS I STILL COLLECT AND WHY I DO SO

30's to 80's horror comics (with some minor exceptions in the 90's)

Charlton/D.C./Marvel/Timely/Atlas/AMG/Gold Key/Creepy/Basically any Magazine or Horror Comics:

Sure i know it'll be a twist ending. Sure the cover is almost always cooler than the stories. These knockoff titles gave a lot of the best artists ever a beginning job. I'm sure you have heard of Kirby/Ditko/Colan but you may have not ever seen Alcala/Sutton/Corben/Wrightson if someone didn't give them a 6 pager anthology shot in a horror rag. i've always been a sucker for monsters/demons/witches especially if they are my pals and telling me stories. Cain and Abel, Dr. Death, the whole E.C. gang, D.C.'s 3 witches, that cool green/blue Hippy Ghost in Ghostly Haunts are all lifelong friends. No matter how mature I get I will never outgrow these babies nor would I want to.

Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu!!!!:

What started as a joke has quickly an obsession. And might I add I have never paid more than a dollar for any issue ever. Pure reading monetary value, my friends. This is the 1970's in every way it possibly could be. Slanted racism countered with Eastern religious insights slapped together with KUNG FU!!! Throw in the fact it's super spy and he is the son of Fu Manchu and you almost have an idea of what is going on. Hippy/Ninja/Noir/Violence/James Bond/plus 70's NYC and London and a host of other exotic locales. The art was so weird and cool--Jim Starlin started it up in the first 2 parter and it was insane. After that Gulacy and Moench ran wild and it was all over the place. I won't lie and say all issues were awesome--nobody bats 1000% on any comic that goes past 50, haha. I feel it was ahead of it's time and yet instantly dated. Probably why I like it Because I am that way too.

Marvel 70's Black and White line :

I have full runs of Haunt of Horror/Monsters Unleashed/Tales from the Zombie/Vampire Tales/Dracula Lives. I still buy Savage Sword of Conan/Tomb of Dracula/Marvel Preview/Savage Tales/Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, etc. etc. Something about these strikes the perfect blend of scary and cool. They let Tom Sutton unload in Planet of the Apes. Pablos Marcos and Tom Sutton's respective runs on the Morbius stories in Vampire Tales is grade A awesomeness and off the creative charts. The 'zines were not only comics but also prose with histories of Vampirism/Voodoo/Exorcisms/Kung Fu tips/ and critiques of movies/books/and television series too. Gabriel Devil Hunter was a good Exorcist type character as well--he was mainly in haunt of horror. These are going up in price but they can be had cheap if you dig a little my friends.

more coming soon mein fiends!! thanks for reading.

Me and comic books sitting in a tree.......

"CROMICS, CROMICS, CROMICS"!                   trevor anderson  1980

I like comics again. We have an open relationship-so sometimes i take a break. I usually buy records or books or toys, or entertain myself other ways (muhahahaha). However, I always come back and there will always be alleys i have missed for as long as i live ( plus when i am gone). It's how I learned to read and has always made me happy-even reading Archie one way comics and Yang, hahaha.


This recent resurgence is due to my using (and not abusing for once) my Indianapolis public library card. Right now I am as poor as I have been in years, so my conventionalizing and back issue digging are pretty limited. Warning!!! I am a cantankerous coot when it comes to comics so this is a good way to not feel ripped off. Especially when they change the origins on a 50-60 year old character. Plus I love 70's art the best-sorry-I am an ageist as well! But mainly I like a good story and characters I can give a crap about.

 When I go to my local comic show i buy cheapies to read now (and old magazines, and records, and etc.-you get it). The days where i had to have a mint copy are loooong gone. They lasted about as long as Dazzler #1 (or Spawn #1 for you noobs)  was worth over a dollar. Anyhoo, comics are for reading--not finance. You end up with 25 longboxes and 2 rooms of stacks--believe me--I KNOW!!! A whole box of #1 issues--all crap--all hype= Big Whoop! Buy them because you like them or they are cheap. Any other reason than a gift is posing! 
 
 I make obscure comic references in every aspect of my life (friends/folks/bands/drunken exhibitions). When someone gets "IT"-they share an instant bond or kinship with you. The coolness (nerdiness?) factor also goes sky-high. This also works for music and cinema and what have you--but this is Comics rant, suckas. Never talk to me about comic based movies unless you like volcanoes of hate erupting in your ears.

The next blog will be comics i actually still collect and why i do so. see youse fellas in a minnit.