After an unexpected vacation (of sorts) I’m back.

Here’s what all went down: I was planning on posting a usual “Collected Edition Blog browsing on a…” well, Sunday night, but we were rocked with thunderstorms, but not just any thunderstorms. Something called a Derecho, which has tornado like symptoms and was and basically be described as a wall of wind (80-100mph). It was 5:00pm when it hit. Patrick and I were inside a CVS drugstore picking up some water and chewing gum for his baseball game. As we walked in the sky was getting dark and I wasn’t sure if we were going to get the 6:00 game in – we knew that we would get wet and the game may be even delayed or called off. As we approached the cash register the lights in the building started to flicker and then BOOM! Thunder, lightning, torrential rain and the lights went black. Not knowing just how bad it was, we jumped in the car and drove a short distance to the ball field were the other coaches and players were. Along the way we saw several trees and power lines already down and flooding was starting to occur. The game was, of course, canceled and we started back for home. When we got there, the power was out all over the area and sirens from fire tucks, police and ambulances were blaring. By now the rain had let up and Patty and Erin were in the front porch accessing the damage, which wasn’t too much on my property considering what some of, my neighbors went through. Uprooted trees, smashed cars and damage to their homes. The whole ordeal was over in 20 minutes – that’s how quickly it came and went. You can see some pics on my Flickr page.

Now the real crappy part is that I have a residential generator and it was fried during the storm. When the storm hit, Patty says that our lights flickered and then the generator kicked on. About 5 minutes later a lighting hit tress and a few transformers and blown all around our subdivision and thus creating some sort of sonic boom and knocking the generator totally useless. I tried to work on it Monday and Tuesday calling people and getting parts, but it turned out to be no good. I think something is wrong with the ignition switch – at least that’s what Home Depot tells me. I’ve called my State Farm agent to make a claim on it.

We got power back on Wednesday night and everything seems to be back to normal. I really didn’t miss the TV or Internet much while I was down. I did have my Moto Q, so I was able to get e-mail and keep informed here and there. I would have liked to of done a podcast for Thursday, but nothing was truly prepared. And I had more clean up to do anyway. I’ll back on track for next week’s podcast. It will be my Incredible Hulk show. Should be a good one!

I was able to update the New Release List and all the Checklists just now. I see that I missed a lot in the news department while I was away so let’s get to it:

• Amazon is listing Secret Wars Omnibus (October) and Secret Wars II Omnibus (December). OK, I I can handle but II sucked big time!!!
• Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth told us at Book Expo America that the company has acquired (or in one case, re-acquired) the rights to reprint two classic adventure strips with long and illustrious histories: Prince Valiant and Wash Tubbs & Captain Easy. Prince Valiant will be presented in an oversized color hardcover format, with two years per book, beginning in 2009. If you didn’t get these the first time around get them now! And I hope this paves the way to republish the old Tarzan Sundays and NBM did a while back.
• Star Wars.com has a slew of news: Obi-Wan and Luke get new books; you can build the The Ultimate Indiana Jones Bookshelf; and you can see the cover art to some of your favorite Star Wars novels – the Japanese editions! Part 1 Part 2 and Part 3
• What to learn how to write comics? Here’s the online course for you: Comic Book and Graphic Novel Writing. 4 weeks, June 16 – July 14 Chats Mondays, 9-10 pm ET $350.
• DK Publishing, which scored a major (and enduring) hit with The Marvel Encyclopedia in 2006, is back with Marvel Chronicle ($50), a deluxe, full color, 352-page, year-by-year survey of the history of the “House of Ideas” from its “superheroes with hang-ups” origins in the early 1960s to the present era of major events such as Civil War and Secret Invasion.
• Marvel by way of their Masterworks site has announced that Fantastic Four Volume 11 (Variant Vol. 103) will be out September 17 and collect Fantastic Four #105-116 and Atlas Era Heroes Vol. 3 – Featuring Sub-Mariner and Human Torch (Variant Vol. 104) will be out September 24 and collect Sub-Mariner #33-42.
• Matt Wagner donates artists proof copy of Batman vs. Grendel Hardcover to Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for auction on eBay.
• Fantagraphics will release a 200-page hardcover collection of the brilliant comics from Warren Publishing’s short-lived war comic anthology magazine, Blazing Combat, in December. The collection will feature reproductions from the original film negatives.
• Coming this September, all twelve issues of Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s Local are collected in a beautiful hardcover bookshelf edition from Oni Press; $29.99.
• See what Timothy Callahan will be reading this summer – thanks to me
• Following the successes of its first two deluxe hardcover edition releases, Harbinger: The Beginning and X-O Manowar: Birth, Valiant Entertainment will release its third hardcover edition, Archer & Armstrong: First Impressions, on September 24.
• Review: Don MacPherson, Eye on Comics, on X-O Manowar: Birth HC
• Review: Richard, FPI Blog, on The Facts In The Case Of The Departure of Miss Finch
• Review: Ben Crofts, Fractal Matter, on The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home 1 (Marvel)
• Reviews: Collected Editions Blog on 52 Volume 4 TPB (DC Comics) and Nightwing: The Lost Year TPB (DC Comics)
• Reviews: Tom Spurgeon, Comics Reporter, on Tim Sale: Black and White, Expanded and Revised and The New Yorker Book Of Mom Cartoons