I live in Newbold, which is one of those fancy “revitalized” Philly neighborhoods. It used to be part of Point Breeze up until a few years ago, when nice families started moving in and local business owners stopped getting shot. One of my favorite parts about living here is walking past the Drexel School every day. It’s a big old 19th century elementary school. I think it’s been abandoned for as long as I’ve been alive… there are trees growing out of the top. It’s like something out of Jumanji, except I never have to see Kirsten Dunst’s stupid face. It adds a very cool touch to the neighborhood.

But the Drexel School’s days are numbered! The historic site is being destroyed. Workers appear to be doing it brick by brick, as if they want the ghost of Francis Drexel to slowly suffer. I can understand why it’s being taken down. I mean, the place is a total death trap right now. The interior is in shambles and it would take tons of fifty dollar bills to fix it.

You can check out many more great photos at this Flickr page. The big question is: what new structure will replace this awesome old building?

Luxury townhomes. Yay! That’s so much better than a grocer or a restaurant or a park or any of the other things my neighborhood could use. I will be calling these townhomes Douchebag Village.

There is a new Grant Morrison book. I like Grant Morrison. The book is called Joe the Barbarian. Let’s talk about it!

I’m of the opinion that every limited series works better when collected in trades. This is a first issue, which means it’s more or less a 32 page teaser for the rest of the series. Morrison’s concept of a kid having fantasies inside of a diabetic coma is solid, I just need to be patient and see where he’s going to take it. Sean Murphy’s layouts, though… man alive! I want more. The last spread in the issue is one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen in a mainstream comic. There are like a thousand awesome little things that made me say “I hope your diabetic coma lasts forever, Joe!”

Vertigo is claiming to offer the first issue as a free download on their internet web site, but don’t be fooled: the only link I could find is for a nine page excerpt. Maybe the webmaster is very lazy. No matter, because this the first issue of a new Vertigo series, which means there is a one dollar cover price. One dollar! You probably have one dollar’s worth of change rattling around in the cup holder of your fancy Lexus, you jerk. Take a ride down to the local comic shop and convert that change into magical storytelling.

Secret Bonus Tip! You can download the first issue of the Unwritten (the actual whole issue) for free. It’s low resolution and in PDF format… but it’s free, and I think everyone should give this series a try. Vertigo also has a page detailing every free issue hosted on the site, if you want to a reason to spend more time in front of a computer.

Three reasons why I immediately connected with John Layman’s Chew:

1. It takes place in Philadelphia. That’s where I live!
2. It’s some sort of alternate reality where avian flu has killed 22 million people, and as a result chicken is now contraband. I hate bird flu… and chicken!
3. The main character, Tony Chu, is a detective who gets psychic impressions from the things he eats. So he feasts on murder victims to discover what happened to them. I eat murder victims in order to solve crimes all the time!

I remember a lot of kids talking about this book when the first issue came out. After reading the trade paperback — uproariously called Taster’s Choice, collecting the first five issues — I can understand why. It is weird. Weird in a good way! These are bold ideas, the sort of “What If?” stories that were prevalent back when comics were fun. What if chicken was outlawed, and the FDA gained too much power, and then there was just this dude who could get psychic impressions from tasting things… oh and he works for the FDA, and people are convinced that the chicken thing is a ruse? That’s a weird concept, and I love it. Maybe weird isn’t the word I’m looking for… imaginative, perhaps? Whimsical?

The setup is solid, but it’s Rob Guilory’s art that really brings it together. He uses simple panel layouts, but his characters are so elastic and full of life. They’re fun and goofy, which works very well to have the violence read as “over the top” instead of “gory.” And there is quite a bit of violence. It’s a book about eating people, remember?

I enjoyed the trade paperback enough to move Chew into my pull box. That’s a fancy nerd way of saying that I’ll be buying the individual issues every month. If we said things that everyone could understand, then this hobby wouldn’t seem nearly as cool.

Here’s my official endorsement for the Unwritten trade paperback: “Run, don’t walk, to a new browser tab and purchase this fine collection immediately! There are illustrations that are pretty! It’s ten dollars! There is an entire chapter about Rudyard Kipling battling the forces of evil! This is a labyrinth of literary references that will make your head spin… figuratively!”

Feel free to quote any of that on the back of the next volume, Vertigo.