josheiserike.com - Josh’s Comics & Writings Online

On various message boards and music blogs people have been discussing the year’s best music for some time (especially now that 2008 is about half over). I’ve been quietly protesting this tendency to immediately categorize and rank music (or any other kind of art) as soon as it flies off the shelves. Instead, why not discover and enjoy the music on its own terms?

But I won’t be complaining, except for that preceding paragraph. Instead of getting nostalgic for the past six months (Vampire Weekend! Death Cab!) let’s look ahead to the future. Read the rest of this entry �

Yesterday the American Film Institute released a new series of lists, “AFI’s 10 Top 10.” It’s a pretty simple premise: Top 10 films across 10 genres: animation, romantic comedies, western, sports, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, gangster, courtroom drama, epic.

It’s also the most bone-headed series of lists ever produced by the AFI. It’s virtually impossible to divide all the different kinds of stories produced both inside and outside Hollywood into 10 genres. Why “romantic comedy”? Why not “slacker comedy”? Or “T&A comedy”? And by what logic is “Back to the Future” on the science fiction list, “Caddyshack” on the sports list and “Field of Dreams” on the fantasy list? Read the rest of this entry �

… so I do a weekly video feature for work, reviewing comic books. This is good because it a) is Web-based, which the editors seem to want, regardless of quality and b) lets me spend my billable hours on something I enjoy more than writing about bake sales. Here’s a link to the video… but the reason I’m even mentioning it is because of this is because the editor of our company-wide blog (entire company, all throughout the Southeast) just posted this, letting other papers know about the vlog:

“When I was a kid, I read around 10 titles of comic book each month. I thought I was quite a big fan, particularly of one or two. So when I got to college and saw there was a comic book club, I went. That’s when I learned that I was a piker, a dilettante, a rube in the world of comics. I had just fallen off the comic turnip truck. Josh Eiserike of the Potomac News/Manassas Journal Messenger is a comic book fan, and that, combined with his casual, easy on-screen manner, make his weekly comic book review video blog (vlog) very cool. Also, excellent editing, cutting in scenes from the comic books as he talks about them and ending the video with info about each comic reviewed for anyone who wants to buy one of them. For any community paper, this is proof you don’t need metro resources to do a great weekly vlog.”

 To paraphrase Jon Stewart, what say you, Ogre?

Indulge me with a favorite childhood memory: It’s 1989. I’m 8 years old, in third grade. It’s probably winter break. My father takes my 6-year-old brother Benny and I to the movies.

We see “The Wizard,” a 90-minute Nintendo commercial disguised as a Fred Savage movie.

First, the trailers: Dark ominous music. Thugs cheering. A familiar silhouette of a samurai-esque helmet and cape. A deep voice.

“It’s the new ‘Star Wars!’” I say to my brother.

“No,” he says. “It’s better.” Read the rest of this entry �

First, a big thank you to all who came out to the show in New York City this past weekend.

For everyone else, here’s what you missed:

Too bad I was in the 7th floor skylight ballroom without air conditioning. Still, it was a fun show. I didn’t do as well as previous shows (lack of air conditioning probably keeping people away), but still did fantastic for an independent creator with a no-name book.

I was planning on spending my hard earned cash on some mini comics and the new Alex Robinson book, but this caught my eye and I had to have it:

Yes, it’s been a while. But Zac has been hard at work to deliver the best comic possible… it might be a while yet before #4 is done (he’s thinking of penciling #5, our final issue, first). Still, I am blown away, as always, by Zac’s work. Check out more at his digital portfolio… and some teaser art from AbV#4, above.

Bizarro is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Yeah, I did a double take too.

Bizarro, for those not in the know, could best be described as “Superman on Opposite Day.” He’s a twisted reflection of the Man of Steel, down to the inverted Superman logo on his chest. Read the rest of this entry �

This past weekend I convinced my friend Ben to come with me to the Israel@60 celebration on the National Mall. I wanted to see Mashina, one of the world’s greatest Israeli rock bands. They delivered, but I was pleasantly surprised by headliner Regina Spektor. I’d heard her stuff before, was pretty indifferent– too many studio tricks, not enough piano. In concert it was a different story. She was fantastic.

Does this mean I have a vagina? Probably.

Here’s a couple pictures I snapped:

I also shot some video, which I’ll link to once they post it on our newspaper’s site.