Now, after discussing comic books, back to my regularly scheduled blog. See my earlier postings for Part 1 of the report on our New York trip (see also the "Spamalot" photo above).

On Wednesday, 20 June 2007, Janice and I had lunch at "Burger Heaven" before meeting my family at our hotel in Manhattan. I miss the diners, delicatessens, and pizzerias of my hometown. My younger brother Peter had rented a van to drive his wife Kelly, their young daughters Ava and Lili, and our parents from Virginia to New York. We stayed at the Belvedere Hotel, and my parents were at Essex House.

After getting settled, we walked around a bit before settling on "Serafina," an Italian restaurant, for dinner. My nieces were still adorable, and the weather cooled down from the previous days, but was still pleasant. At the moment, Lili is a better eater than her sister.

On Thursday, June 21, we spent the first official day of summer in Central Park. Toddler Ava enjoyed the Central Park Zoo (but Lili spent most of the time in her stroller/baby carriage), and we walked to the Gapstow Bridge, where my father proposed to my mother. Peter had proposed to Kelly elsewhere in Central Park.

My parents went to a fancy French restaurant for dinner, while Peter, Kelly, the girls, Janice, and I walked around the West Side before eating at "Ariba, Ariba," an upscale Mexican-American eatery. Crossing busy streets with two strollers was a challenge, but we managed.

The next morning, we met at the Essex House for a nice brunch in a back area of the Art Deco dining room. Peter and Ava presented my parents with an engraved plate to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. We then walked through Columbus Circle to the Upper West Side, where my parents and I had lived in the late 1960s and very early 1970s.

We walked past Roosevelt Hospital, where Peter and I were born; St. Paul's Church, where my late great-uncle Albert baptized me; and to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. My parents barely recognized their old neighborhood, which has grown vertically and in population in the past four decades! The blocks north of what used to be known as Hell's Kitchen have also gentrified, so it's unlikely that a nurse and a graduate student of history, recent immigrants to the U.S. both, would be able to afford even a small apartment in that area anymore.

Peter had originally suggested driving down to the Village, Chinatown, and Little Italy, but rush hour traffic and fatigue changed everyone's minds. Janice and I stopped by a store called "The Amish Market," hoping to find Pennsylvania Dutch specialties from Janice's home state, but we instead found a nice gourmet grocer. We returned to our hotel to find that the rest of my family had taken naps.

Peter & Kelly and Janice and I took Ava and Lili to the FAO Schwartz and Disney Store near Pete's old Godiva workplaces in Rockerfeller Center. Ava, who is already a little princess, had fun with all the stuffed animals. We then met my parents for dinner at "La Bonne Soup," another nice French restaurant. On Saturday morning, Janice and I took Amtrak from New York back to Massachusetts, and I plan to see my family again in Virginia in early August.

Work was busy the following week, as CW prepared to shift from tabloid newspaper format to magazine size. In truth, the copy desk is reading more stories for our Web site than for print, and a productive staff meeting discussed this shift and other editorial issues. CW is proud to celebrate its own 40th anniversary this year.

My D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains," "Holy Steel," and role-play by e-mail teams all resumed, as did the "City of Heroes" online game. On Friday, June 29, Janice and I tried the "Rice Barn," a new local Thai restaurant. I also had follow-up phone calls with the metropolitan New York crews and watched some BBC America, which Janice and I now get thanks to our Verizon FiOS and DVR.

The latest television iteration of "Robin Hood" was decent, taking as much inspiration from the campy "Hercules: the Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" as from the 1980s neoPagan "Robin of Sherwood" or Kevin Costner's execrable "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." "Hex" was a soapy supernatural "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" ripoff, in the style of "Charmed."

On the SciFi Channel, "Stargate SG1's" 10th season finale was bittersweet and was clearly not intended to be a series finale, which it was. Let's hope that Amanda Tapping/"Col. Sam Carter's" move to "Stargate: Atlantis" will strengthen that space opera spin-off.

Speaking of space operas, while I believe that the subgenre is in hibernation at the moment, I'll be curious to see what "Wizard of Oz" riff "Tin Man" and the latest "Flash Gordon" are like. On the one hand, the SciFi Channel has cut budgetary and creative corners lately with schlock horror and even professional wrestling (don't get me started about live-action movies on Cartoon Network or Animal Planet).

On the other hand, that cable channel's adaptations of "Dune" and even the revisionist "Battlestar Galactica" demonstrate a devotion to production value. In many ways, Ben Browder's marooned astronaut "John Crighton" was a modern-day Flash Gordon on "Farscape," so reusing those themes might be entertaining if done well. Of course, that leads this veteran speculative fiction fan to ask, "Where's the updated Buck Rogers?"

The postapocalyptic, swashbuckling, planet-hopping romance, best remembered with stars Buster Crabbe or Gil Gerard, could be fascinating if set in a 25th century solar system that has been colonized without the benefit of "Star Trek"-level technology. Like the newer "Galactica," it could also provide allegories for commenting on modern international politics and popular culture. Anyway, I'm off to prepare for Needham's annual Independence Day celebrations, so have a safe and happy holiday!

Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. Janice and I spent several hours sorting through my comic book collection, which totaled about 26 short boxes. I transferred some from long boxes to short ones, and I had lost about three or four long boxes, or six to eight short ones, during my basement floods of two years ago.

Since co-worker Brian F. asked last week, I've given some thought to which titles I'd recommend reading right now. My top 10 are below, in no particular order:

-"Detective Comics:" Since Paul Dini, one of the creators of the excellent 1990s animated series, has been writing short storylines, this has become the best of the Batman family of comic books, although I've also been reading "Batman," "Robin," "Nightwing," and "Catwoman," all of which have been strong lately.

-"All-Star Superman:" Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quietly have returned to Superman's science fiction roots with weird and whimsical stories, making this and "Action Comics" (which "Superman: the Movie" director Richard Donner has been co-writing) among the best of the "One Year Later" books.

-"The Spirit:" Brian is a fan of Darwyn Cooke's "New Frontier," which will be an animated direct-to-DVD release later this year, and Cooke's take on Will Eisner's classic masked gumshoe has been consistently entertaining. I wish that Cooke rather than the often over-the-top Frank Miller was in charge of the planned "Spirit" movie. Honorable mention: Mike Mignola's pulpy Goth goodness in "Hellboy."

-"Conan:" O.K., this sword and sorcery book isn't strictly a superhero title, but Kurt Busiek, Tim Truman, and others have done an excellent job of reaching back, past the Marvel comics of the 1970s and '80s, to Robert E. Howard's original short stories. They were tinged with horror from Howard's fellow author H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the "Cthulu" mythos. Their success has led to another revival of the subgenre, including books for "Red Sonja" and others.

-"The Lone Ranger:" Again, as a fan of the pulps of the 1920s and '30s, it's hard to ignore the strong artwork of John Cassaday in Dynamite Comics' well-done updating of this Western legend. While some prefer Vertigo's fantasy and horror, I'm also a fan of some of "The Phantom," "Highlander," "Xena," and "Battlestar Galactica" work from this publisher.

-"Astonishing X-Men:" Cassaday and "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon know how to handle this ensemble, which has mostly stayed clear of the "House of M," "Avengers: Civil War," and other Marvel crossovers. Their lines are clean, and the dialogue is snappy, even if some of the plots (fighting aliens and robots again?) are sometimes a bit cheesy, not unlike Whedon's "Buffy: Season 8" comics.

-"Captain America:" Even with its title character dead, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting have managed to continue the relatively realistic political intrigues and paramilitary action of this title going strong. I prefer this version of the "616," or main, Marvel Universe even to the popular "Ultimates."

-"Mythos:" Paul Jenkins and Paolo Rivera tell out-of-continuity tales featuring classic Marvel superheroes. This is how D.C. handled "Elseworlds" and how it should have approached its "All-Star" line. For all-ages readers, especially my younger nieces and nephews, I recommend "Marvel Adventures: Avengers," "Mouse Guard," and "Justice League Unlimited."

-"Birds of Prey:" Departing writer Gail Simone has managed to take a bunch of B-level female characters, led by former Batgirl Barbara Gordon/Oracle, and make them interesting. (For cheesecake art, I recommend Frank Cho's "Liberty Meadows" and "Mighty Avengers.") While not at the power level of the Avengers, Justice League, or even the Titans/Outsiders, this is by far a more interesting look at good intentions gone wrong and amusing team dynamics. Of course, as a longtime fan of Black Canary and Green Arrow, I look forward to seeing their eventually unified title…

-Tie: "Astro City/Powers:" Busiek's "Astro City" is the natural heir to Alan Moore's "Watchmen" and Alex Ross' "Marvels/Kingdom Come" as an exploration of how the various ages of comic book heroes (Silver, Iron, etc.) would map against a realistically complex world. Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming have made the homicide detectives in "Powers" the equivalent of an HBO series about less-than-perfect metahumans. As much as I usually prefer four-color, idealistic superheroes, these postmodern examinations of the responsibilities of power and of how power corrupts are must reads, IMHO.

O.K., so I cheated and included more than 10 titles in these capsule reviews. On the other hand, I didn't list the usual Marvel and D.C. "events," such as "World War Hulk," "X-Men: Endangered Species," "Amazons Attack," and "Countdown." While I've been following them, these books are more for fans of continuity and its changes than for fans of particular characters or good writing and art.

Looking back on my collection, I have some excellent "Silver Age" stuff — George Perez's run on "Wonder Woman" and "Teen Titans" (also, soon to be animated) or Marvel's original "Secret Wars" — as well as some bad, such as the X-Men meeting the characters of "Star Trek: the Next Generation," and what was with the mullets, pockets, and chains on costumes in the 1980s and 1990s? Let us hope that this decade eventually brings us new highs to match those of past eras!

With all the cinematic (and role-playing) adaptations of comic books lately, it's worth looking at the source material. Also, I've found comic book shops and fans to be more welcoming than those of other subcultures, such as speculative fiction fans or gaming shops.

What comics and superheroes, if any, do you follow? In my next posts, I'll finish my update for my New York trip and look ahead to more games, music, and genre television!

On Sunday, June 17, Janice and I took an Amtrak train from the Route 128 station near Boston to New York's Penn Station. I caught up on newspapers on the way. We then walked uptown through bustling Time Square to the Belvedere Hotel, where our room was small but comfortable.

After settling in and starting to explore the neighborhood between the theater district and Central Park South, we met Brian D.H., Steve A.L., and Carlo R. I've known Carlo for 25 years, since our time at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, and I've been friends with Steve and Brian since freshman year of college at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Steve's wife Michele and son Nathaniel, but we hope to get together when they come to New England in July.

We went to dinner at Daisy Mae's Barbeque on the West Side. While crowded and pressed for time, the food was good, and it was nice to catch up with old friends. At Brian's suggestion, we tried dessert at "Kyotofu," a Japanese restaurant. We also walked down to the Hudson River, although the U.S.S. "Intrepid" aircraft carrier/museum was away for renovations.

On Monday, June 18, Janice and I walked downtown. We ate lunch at Two Boots Pizza in the architecturally impressive Grand Central Station and visited the Compleat Strategist, a gaming shop. Janice had expressed interest in going up the Empire State Building, but the potential expense and time in line changed our minds. Although we hiked as far south as Union Square, next time we're in Manhattan, we hope to get to the Village and/or South Street Seaport.

That evening, we met Carlo, Dexter V.H., and Erik B.L. & Wei T.L. at our hotel. College chum Dex had visited us a few weeks ago, and Carlo was a good sport in spending more time on the train from Westchester County to see us.

Wei and Erik, a friend from grad school who was recovering from a chest cold similar to what Janice and I have been suffering from, called my cell phone so that we could rendezvous a bit early. Erik & Wei's adorable daughter Emma stayed home with a babysitter. Thus, Erik & Wei, Dexter, Janice, and I walked down to Carmine's, a "family style" Italian restaurant. (See group photograph above.) Dex and I ran back toward the Belvedere to pick up Carlo, and there was more than enough food for everyone.

Carlo pondered philosophy, Dexter discussed various role-playing games, and Erik & Wei chatted about family and genre television. The restaurant was a bit loud for conversation, and since everyone else had to go to work the next day, we called it an early night. I did watch some of HBO's lineup at our hotel.

On Tuesday, June 19, Janice and I walked uptown to the Museum of Natural History, which had a special exhibit on cryptozoology. The full-scale mockups of dragons, a unicorn and a gryphon, and other legendary creatures were well-done, although we were already familiar with most of the books in the gift shop thanks to our interest in comparative mythology and religion. I had originally hoped to meet former Boston-area gamer Ted A.H. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but his wife Sarah D.S. had just given birth to their second child.

Janice and I ate a nice New York dinner at the Olympic Diner, changed clothes, then walked to Broadway for "Monty Python's Spamalot." I've been a fan of the British comedy troupe since watching reruns of the 1960s and 1970s episodes on PBS in high school. Friends who attended our wedding in rural Pennsylvania in 1995 even watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on video!

The amusing stage show also incorporates elements of other Python skits and makes fun of melodramatic musicals in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber. While we missed "Spamalot's" first run in Manhattan and Boston, we did run into former cast member and "Frasier" co-star David Hyde Pierce, who's now in another show, while browsing in the Borders Books at Columbus Circle before dinner!

The actors gave fine performances, reminding us of both the original "Holy Grail" spoof and of the more recent initial cast, which included Tim Curry ("Rocky Horror Picture Show"), Hank Azaria ("Birdcage"), and Alan Tudyk ("Serenity"). Attractive showgirls, prancing knights, insolent Frenchmen, and flying cows — what more can one ask for?

I did notice that theatergoers ranged in the formality of their attire, from shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers to suits and gowns. However, by the time Janice and I walked around Time Square to find dessert, most of the tourists and pedestrians were dressed less casually by evening. On the one hand, the crowds and bright lights energized me, and I felt safe as a tourist in the family-friendly atmosphere. On the other hand, I miss the seedy and slightly more artistic than commercial tone of the theater district prior to Rudy Giuliani's administration.

Next time, Part 2 of our New York trip!

Friends, I hope you've had a good fortnight. On Friday, 15 June 2007, Janice stayed home to supervise the installation of Verizon FiOS high-speed Internet, telephone, and cable television service. The good news is that we now have access to more channels and a better connection to the World Wide Web. The bad news is that we lost phone service for a week, although we were out of town for that time anyway.

On Saturday, June 16, Janice and I met my co-workers Brian F. and Ken G. for an early matinee of "Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" at the AMC Framingham 16 near CW's offices. The latest Marvel superhero sequel was fairly entertaining, in keeping with the lighter, more family-friendly tone established by the first "FF" flick.

Ioan Gruffud (whom I first saw in the BBC/A&E's excellent adaptations of C.S. Forster's "Horatio Hornblower") seemed more relaxed as stretchy genius "Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic," whose engagement to "Susan Storm/Invisibile Woman" (played by "Dark Angel's" Jessica Alba) faces numerous obstacles. I'll try to avoid "spoilers" beyond what has been shown in commercials and trailers.

"The Shield's" Michael Chicklis continues to have good chemistry as "Ben Grimm/the Thing" with Chris Evans as "Johnny Storm/the Human Torch," especially in the scenes where they temporarily swap powers as a result of an encounter with the "Silver Surfer" (played by "Hellboy" and "Pan's Labyrinth's" Doug Jones and "The Matrix's" Laurence Fishbourne). The herald of planet-devouring Galactus never looked better.

Sure, Alba's blonde wig and blue contact lenses are distracting, and Chicklis is still a little short as the ever-lovin' Thing, but even "Charmed's" Julian McMahon is more convincing this time around as the megalomaniac "Doctor Victor von Doom."

Unlike the angst of "Spider-Man 3" or "Batman Begins," the cosmic comic book plot of "FF2" more closely reflects the four-color "Silver Age" writing and art of Stan Lee (also in a small cameo), Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Humor, the threat of global disaster, and a fast-paced script tread the narrow line between camp and solid superheroic action.

I'd give "FF2" a 7 or 8 out of 10, and I found it to be more satisfying a comic book adaptation than "Spidey 3," if not as adult as sword-and-sandals "300" or as spectacularly stylish as the recent computer-animated "Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles."

After the movie, Brian left for a Boston Red Sox game, and Ken, Janice, and I went to a new "Boloco" burrito fast-food restaurant for lunch, followed by ice cream. I then returned home to take advantage of double-experience weekend in "City of Heroes." My Scrapper, "Scarlet Saber 2" attained Level 20 in the multiplayer online game, but I expect the rest of my virtual team to again surpass me soon.

Next time: New York trip, Part 1!

Friends, I hope you're having a good week. Last week, college friend Stuart C.G. took the Acela train from New York to Boston and went sightseeing for a few days before meeting Dexter V.H., Janice, and me. He also met Thomas K.Y. for dinners and to screen the anime movie "Paprika," which has gotten good reviews.

On Friday, 8 June 2007, Stuart got a ride with Thomas to my second duplex in Needham Heights, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, Dexter's Fung Wah bus was again stuck in traffic, so we had to pick him up from the Riverside "T" station and ate a late dinner at the Ground Round.

We stayed up much too late that night, and Dexter went to meet a friend at the nearby Sheraton. The next morning, Janice cooked a nice breakfast, and we gradually got ourselves organized for Saturday's D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero scenario.

Dex and fellow role-player Beruk A. have had problems with overlapping characters in the past, since they're both attracted to grim vigilantes of the night. In fact, the D20"M&M"2e: "Drake's 7" one-shot was a compromise choice, since several of the local gamers wanted to do a higher-level D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" fantasy mission but couldn't decide on just one. The danger with any compromise is that nobody is pleased.

Still, even with Beruk/"the Stranger," Byron V.O./"Arcturus," and James B./"Sid the Kid" absent, I hope the assembled group had fun. The existing team (Paul J./"Capt. Oblivious," Greg D.C./"the Electric Slide," Thomas/"the Righteous Fist," and Brian W./"Le Cafard") managed to integrate new metahumans: Dexter/"Mayonaka/Ara," Stuart/"D3/Triple-D," Alex J./"Crowley," and Serena/"Bellatrix."

Although the plot device of evil cultists has been overused lately, it did bring together the costumed metahumans fairly quickly. Since Stuart, Alex, and Serena are big comic book fans, they had little trouble getting into my setting, which features some "named" characters and storylines from recent D.C. and Marvel comics. See the Yahoo/eGroups Web club for more details: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

I also had some constructive criticism from and for Dexter, who'll likely swap his Dark Elf Beastmaster back to a human ninja next time. He did run a scene in a museum, which I hope will help satisfy his desire to serve as Game Master until he can help me with the D&D3.5 "Temple of Elemental Evil" module.

Speaking of gaming cohorts, at least two groups were represented this past weekend. "Falcon's Nest" included Dexter, Stuart, and my former roommate Ken P.S., among others, from 1988 to 1990. In the latter half of my undergraduate years at the State University of New York at Binghamton, we mostly played "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" 2nd Ed., but we also tried numerous other rules systems and genres.

Then, as now, I ran my "Vanished Lands" heroic fantasy campaign setting, and Dexter had a parallel campaign with his "Land of Lost Souls," also inspired in part by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the "Dragonlance" novels, and in his case, "Palladium Fantasy."

Stuart collaborated with us on various superhero games, including "Champions" (now Hero System 5th Ed.), "D.C. Heroes/Universe," and "Marvel Super Heroes." After I graduated, they also played the complex "RoleMaster," as well as numerous video games.

Dex and I tried running the espionage game "Top Secret: S.I.," and we had many misadventures in John Z.G.'s AD&D2 "Gwynedd in Greyhawk" and Bill A.R.'s AD&D2 "Dragonlance/Kara-Tur" groups. Our circles of acquaintances at that time provided a big pool to recruit from, and our shared interests in folklore, heroic tales, and some horror informed our fictional world-building.

Ken tried his hand at dark fantasy "Warhammer," and he and I had some successful "Shadowrun" cyberpunk/fantasy sessions. As you can see, we had the benefit of free time for weekly role-playing, plus a balance between long-running parties (mainly in AD&D2) and experimental games. Board games and wargames were among our other options at the time; collectible card and miniatures games became popular in the 1990s.

More recently, the "Seekers of Lore/Broken Chains" arose from the remains of the "Liberators" and "Dragonslayers" in the Boston area during the past two or three years. Thomas, Brian, James, and others joined Paul, Alex, Beruk, and Greg, who have played in my game since the early 2000s.

Play by e-mail with Carolyn M.P. has become play by teleconference with Byron and Dexter. At the same time, the "City of Heroes" online multiplayer game has renewed connections with college friends in Upstate New York and Northern Virginia.

Most of the current gamers strongly prefer "Dungeons & Dragons" Edition 3.5 over other systems, although we have tried the Generic Universal RolePlaying System (GURPS) Fourth Edition and the aforementioned D20"M&M"2e.

The most recent "Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy sessions have gone well, as the former slaves explore the dangerous ruins of Tel Silat in search of a lost temple of feline goddess Bast… While I've missed the occasional rule because of fatigue or distraction, I think the current party has been challenged and entertained fairly well.

Back to my weekend visitors: On Sunday, June 10, after Janice got back from volunteering at the animal shelter, we took Dexter and Stuart into Cambridge, Mass. We stopped at Pandemonium Books & Games and had lunch at Border Café before dropping them off at the train station.

In other news, fellow role-players and Game Masters Tim M.B. and Ted A.H. each became parents for the second time, Steve M.R. has moved, and Robert A.S. and my brother Peter are preparing to do so! Of course, I'm trying to talk friends into moving to New England, but the cost of living is a big deterrent: http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_162094519.html

Work has continued to be busy, and although my new caps are finally in my mouth, I have yet another follow-up dental appointment scheduled for early next month. In addition to my family's gathering next week in New York City, Ron J.K., Steve A.L., Steve M.R., and Byron have all expressed interest in visiting the Boston area in the coming months! Coming soon: "Fantastic Four 2," summer genre television, and Manhattan…