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Messages - Vegan Jughead

#1
All About Archie / Re: Is It Just Me....
March 23, 2019, 08:39:43 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on March 23, 2019, 01:08:22 PMVulgar??  :tickedoff:

Yet when Lucey and DeCarlo did it, it was somehow okay, but if the Kennedys do it today... well, NOW it's just "awful and cheap". And what in bloody blazes does a page of Chic Stone drawing the gang making a snowman have to do with anything??

THIS (this kind of criticism) is EXACTLY what's wrong with comics today. Yeah, you really ARE a prude.


OK, guilty as charged I guess.  I don't mind the stuff being made. I'm first amendment ALL the way! Just not what I look for in Archie, though I admit I enjoyed this digest cover and I say that as someone that isn't a HUGE Fernando fan. This is one of his best IMO. Despite what I said, I appreciate the Kennedys paying tribute to Harry!
#2
All About Archie / Re: Is It Just Me....
March 22, 2019, 04:35:24 PM
Quote from: Mr.Lodge on March 21, 2019, 06:31:28 AMI've noticed that the newer stories drawn is the past several years in the digests look awful and cheap as opposed in the past.



I actually think this is the Kennedys trying to be Harry Lucey and it isn't too bad at that! Veronica's skirt is too short and her stance is pretty vulgar considering these are supposed to be teenagers.  I'm no prude but I don't really read Archie for that.  
#3
All About Archie / Re: Won't get fooled again.
January 19, 2019, 07:19:49 AM
My reaction exactly!
#4
Quote from: SAGG on January 02, 2019, 02:03:15 AM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on January 01, 2019, 06:52:35 AM
Quote from: SAGG on January 01, 2019, 02:30:01 AM
...Man, that is one dark, scary, and VERY good Netflix series! 😳


I agree. I don't even like horror but I'm digging this series.  I stopped watching Riverdale this season.  Two seasons was enough for me. We'll see if Sabrina can keep up the momentum since it's been renewed for seasons 2, 3, and 4.
Really? 😳 I know season two is coming on April 5th, but I didn't hear about any other seasons. Where did you get the information?


From Archie himself!  http://archiecomics.com/netflixs-chilling-adventures-of-sabrina-renewed/
#5
Quote from: SAGG on January 01, 2019, 02:30:01 AM
...Man, that is one dark, scary, and VERY good Netflix series! 😳


I agree. I don't even like horror but I'm digging this series.  I stopped watching Riverdale this season.  Two seasons was enough for me. We'll see if Sabrina can keep up the momentum since it's been renewed for seasons 2, 3, and 4. 
#6
This looks like it could be pretty good.  It's a five issue miniseries.  Written by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Veronica Fish and her husband Andy. I'm particularly interested because Veronica Fish was my favorite of the artists on the Archie reboot title. 


https://www.cbr.com/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-kelly-thompson/#leave-comment
#7
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 31, 2018, 06:57:34 AM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on October 30, 2018, 06:54:18 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 29, 2018, 08:17:51 PM
Nobody watched The Chilling Adventures of SABRINA on Netflix?

Wow, the apathy is mind-boggling. I mean, even I'M a little curious about this one, and usually I couldn't care less about this kind of stuff.

Can't believe Tuxedo Mark isn't all over this.


I've watched 8 episodes (of the 10) and am about to watch the last two.  I love it even though I usually don't like horror.  I enjoyed the first two seasons of Riverdale but I haven't watched any of season 3 yet.  Something is keeping me from watching it and I'm not sure what.

Love is a strong word, so that's got to count for something. I have not watched Riverdale after all this time, nor do I really feel any desire to. On the other hand, even though I don't have Netflix, I would consider watching Sabrina if the opportunity presented itself (like at someone else's house, or if it eventually becomes available on general-release DVD). I am interpreting your last comment as there being something about Riverdale that is annoying or disturbing to you on some level, something which has eventually put you off the show even though you already invested your time in the first two seasons.


Netflix gives you a free month if you sign up as a trial.  Even though I already did that once a couple of years ago, they gave me another free month so if you want to try Sabrina, it wouldn't cost you anything. 


As far as Riverdale, I really thought two seasons was enough and I was surprised when it was renewed for a third season.  I'm pretty sure I'll get around to checking out season 3 eventually but I keep reading snippets of reviews from people who liked the first two seasons suggesting that season 3 is not very good.  I don't usually implicitly trust other peoples opinions on such things since I have a high tolerance for cheese (which is why I probably was fine with seasons 1 and 2), but I think I read something about a cult leader or something and I don't know why but that's a bridge too far for me.  Again, I'll probably get bored enough to check it out eventually but I'm good for now. 


Also, a co-worker of mine who gave up on Riverdale halfway through season 2 said she was going to watch Sabrina (she's not an Archie Comics fan) and I always enjoy things more when I have someone to debrief with after it's over.  She's not as far along with Sabrina but she's enjoying it.  I finished it this morning and loved the ending, especially because it does have roots in MLJ history.  The penultimate episode (number 9 of 10) really affected me, but folks who watch and enjoy horror would probably find it pretty tame. 


If you check it out, I'll look forward to your review!! 
#8
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 29, 2018, 08:17:51 PM
Nobody watched The Chilling Adventures of SABRINA on Netflix?

Wow, the apathy is mind-boggling. I mean, even I'M a little curious about this one, and usually I couldn't care less about this kind of stuff.

Can't believe Tuxedo Mark isn't all over this.


I've watched 8 episodes (of the 10) and am about to watch the last two.  I love it even though I usually don't like horror.  I enjoyed the first two seasons of Riverdale but I haven't watched any of season 3 yet.  Something is keeping me from watching it and I'm not sure what. 
#9
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 02, 2018, 11:14:57 AM
BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #267 - Got this one in the mail yesterday, a week early. Usually I'm anticipating getting the newest B&V digest in the mail, so I'm hoping to see it every day when I look in the mailbox, but this time it was so early that I wasn't even thinking about it - a nice surprise. Nice Halloween cover by Jeff Shultz. Too bad there were only three reprints in here that were Halloween stories. One is "Monsterbash", a 12-page B&V story from one of those Halloween Comic Fest giveaways from some years back. The second one's a Sabrina story from the 90s, and the last one's a Cheryl Blossom story from the 00s (both 6-pagers). I'd read all of those before. The new lead story by Dan Parent didn't have a Halloween theme (drat!). In it, Betty gets a part-time job working for Lodge Industries. Mr. Lodge is impressed with Betty's work and gives her a raise the first week. Mr. Lodge really seems to like Betty (but why wouldn't he). Is it my imagination, or does she look like she's drawn a little bustier than usual in this story? Maybe it's that white shirt and tie. There are few stories that stood out from the rest, but I don't have it right in front of me at the moment. I always look forward to stories written by Kathleen Webb, and there were a few of those. In one of the best ones, she explains to the readers the differences between girls and boys (get your mind out of the gutter) and it's pretty funny. Apart from the handful of stories that were standouts, it's a fairly average issue. It came at a good time, because I really needed a fix of classic B&V.

DEATH NOTE [ALL-IN-ONE EDITION] - Started reading it yesterday, and read the first 22 chapters or 518 pages. This is a huge brick of paper with over 2600 pages. I don't think I have any other comic book with this many pages. It's kind of heavy, and because of the smaller paperback book page size, I have to hold it up closer to read it, because the artwork isn't as simple and the text is smaller than an Archie 1000 Page Comics digest. I'm going to see how much more of it I can get read today. A lot happens just the first 100 pages. It starts when a super-smart high school student named Light Yagami finds a notebook, which turns out to belong to Ryuk, one of the Japanese death gods. Anyone's name whose face he can think of when when he writes it in the notebook will die of a heart attack within 40 seconds - unless he specifically writes some other method of death. It gets more interesting from there, as he decides to make the world a better place by killing off known and/or convicted criminals. All of these criminals suddenly dying of heart attacks does not go unnoticed by law enforcement agencies, and soon he's the object of an intense manhunt, and becomes drawn into a cat-and-mouse game of moves and countermoves by "L", another teen genius detective who's assisting law enforcement by running the task force hunting "Kira" (sounds the same as "killer" in Japanese). It's a real page-turner, I have to admit.


Betty and Veronica is the last digest I'm subscribed to and I'm not sure why.  My subscription has another 10 issues or so and I'll probably renew it, assuming they're stiil publishing it, just to have a digest coming in.  I can't quite cut the cord all the way for some reason even though I've seen most of what's in all of them. 
#10
General Discussion / Re: What have you done today?
September 18, 2018, 08:46:03 AM
Quote from: Archiecomicxfan215 on September 17, 2018, 11:41:06 PM
Yes I have to do my chores too. Clean my bedroom on Thursday. Maybe grocery shop. I have work tomorrow and going to the college with my fiancĂ© (yes i got engaged  :smitten: ) to figure out how he can be readmitted and wednesday i got work, getting a mani and pedi (fiancĂ© said he would pay as an anniversary gift) and then get my mothers birthday gift.


Congratulations!!!
#11
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on September 07, 2018, 06:01:31 AM
MARVEL MANGAVERSE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION TP by Ben Dunn, Udon, C.B. Cebulski & Tommy Ohtsuka & various
MARVEL NEW MANGAVERSE: THE RINGS OF FATE (2006 digest/tankobon) by C.B. Cebulski & Tommy Ohtsuka

ASTRA: LOST IN SPACE VOL 04 tankobon - This is an amazing series. I originally picked it up knowing next to nothing about it, just taking a chance. It's been great so far, a nice balance of drama/sci-fi with more personality interaction and humor. At first it seems to set up huge mysteries based on seemingly improbable coincidences, but in this volume most of the mysteries are explained and all the pieces fall together in a neat way that I didn't exactly predict, and the answers are shocking, but just when you (and the protagonists) are getting used to this major revelation, a new HUGE plot twist is added as a cliffhanger ending to this volume (although in fairness, it's something that had some foreshadowing in previous volumes). It's a neat surprise to see how imaginative this series turned out to be.

VALIANT HIGH TP - I'm not a fan of Valiant Comics. Never really cared for that universe of characters. I followed the first version of the company, back in the 1990s, when they licensed the old Gold Key Comics characters Solar, Magnus, and Turok... but only for the first couple of years, until they fired Jim Shooter, who had been responsible for starting the whole thing (and writing the key titles SOLAR and MAGNUS) in the first place. After that (with the exception of Tim Truman's later work on the TUROK Dinosaur Hunter title) I pretty much lost all interest in Valiant. The first incarnation of the company folded up sometime in the late 1990s. When Valiant resurrected itself in the 2000s, it was run by completely different people, and they didn't license the old GK characters any more. I'd never been interested much in the newer characters created in the 1990s, which are all the IPs that the new version of the company retained. I'm vaguely familar with the ones who headlined their own titles back in the 1990s, but that's all. It's hard to tell whether "Valiant High" is just them having some fun with the characters, or if this is really supposed to be in-continuity as far as their mainline universe is concerned. It didn't matter to me, as the main characters in this four-issue miniseries were all ones I wasn't familiar with anyway. But it works, largely on the charm (you should excuse the pun) of Derek Charm's artwork, which is the thing that attracted me to read this in the first place. I kind of liked it, but am a little disappointed that that's all there is to is, just the four issues. Hopefully if it sold well enough it could become an ongoing title, or at least a once-every-so-often series of miniseries. It was fun, and not afraid to be humorous.

VAMPIRONICA #3 - Greg Smallwood's artwork on this title is pretty amazing. I'm not sure what medium he's using, but all the lines look really textured, like some kind of charcoal pencil shading, or maybe a grease pencil -- or maybe it's even a Photoshop effect created after scanning in the original raw pencils. I'd be curious to know how he does it. Anyway, it's a unique effect I can't really recall ever seeing in another comic artist's work. The story is pretty decent, too... I'm kind of mind-boggled by this short text piece in the "Riverdale Gazette" in this issue that gives a very concise (2/3rds of a page) textual summary of the of the very real historical personage Prince Vlad Tepes III, a.k.a. "Vlad the Impaler", otherwise known as Dracula (and it explains where that name came from). He may not have been an actual vampire in real life, but he was just as scary, if not more so, for all of that. Definitely the best of Archie's Horror titles so far.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #2
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP #5 (of 5)
ASGARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1
SILVER SURFER ANNUAL #1


GIANT ROBOT WARRIOR MAINTENANCE CREW TP - Collecting a short (3-issue) miniseries from 2014 about the trials and tribulations of maintaining the operating capabilities of a giant robot mecha. Funny.

NEW LIEUTENANTS OF METAL #3 (of 4)
UNNATURAL #3 (of 12)
BY NIGHT #2 & 3
UNITED STATES VS MURDER INC #1 (of 6)

MANGAMAN OGN TP (2011 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Barry Lyga & Colleen Doran - An interesting concept, where a manga character is sucked through a dimensional portal to become a character in a western-style comic book, and dealing with all the cultural differences between Japanese and western-style comics, to comedic effect. Colleen Doran has always been a talented artist, and it's too bad you don't see her drawing more mainstream projects for the bigger publishers.


I'm waiting for the graphic novel of "Vampironica" but I'm glad to see you like the art. I thought Afterlife With Archie was an absolute masterpiece and I say this as someone who is not a horror fan at all. Issue 10 about the origin of Josie and the Pussycats is one of my favorite issues of any comic EVER.


The fact that Archie Comics dropped the ball on Afterlife and CHAOS when they were their best selling titles is ridiculous. I can't imagine any other comic company being so horribly managed.  I admit I know next to nothing about other comic companies, but to not milk your best properties is just mind boggling.   
#12
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 31, 2018, 06:16:23 AM


   issue      cvr date       title      pgs      story      pencils      
   [LwA #  1]      Sep-58      Rise and Shine      6      Sy Reit      Samm Schwartz      
   [LwA #  1]      Sep-58      By Hook or Cook      5      Sy Reit      Samm Schwartz      
   [LwA #16]      Sep-62      Hi-Jinks and Deep Divers!      23      Sy Reit      Bob White      
   [LwA #23]      Oct-63      A Very Lodge Problem      23      Sy Reit      Bob White      
   [LwA #26]      Mar-64      The Great Carnival Mystery!      23      Sy Reit      Bob White      
   [LwA #27]      May-64      The Strange Case of Patient X!      24      George Gladir      Bob White      
   [LwA #30]      Oct-64      Power Play      6      Frank Doyle      Harry Lucey      
   [LwA #30]      Oct-64      Oh Poi      6      Frank Doyle      Harry Lucey      
   [LwA #31]      Nov-64      Rough, Tough - But Fair Enough!      24      George Gladir      Bob White      
   [LwA #33]      Jan-65      A Christmas Tale      13      Frank Doyle      Bob White      
   [LwA #33]      Jan-65      Me Tarpan, You Jane!      11      Frank Doyle      Dan DeCarlo      
   [LwA #34]      Feb-65      The Beatnik Caper!      13      Bob White      Bob White      
   [LwA #35]      Mar-65      It's A Small World!      13      Frank Doyle      Bob White      
   [LwA #35]      Mar-65      Plane and Fancy!      10      Frank Doyle      Bob White      
   [LwA #37]      May-65      Plane Crazy!      13      George Gladir      Bob White      
   [LwA #39]      Jul-65      Taking Up Space      5      Bob Bolling      Bob Bolling      
                     218                  

This is all classic Silver Age ACP material, so if rated by content alone, this collection would get an "A". We can note here that in the earliest stages of LwA, Sy Reit seems to be the default writer, while Bob White was (as indeed he continued to be until the later 1960s) the default artist of this title. I always felt that Bob White never got enough recognition for his contributions to the company, so hopefully this collection will go some ways towards rectifying that.

While not as spotty a collection as ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH VOL 1, this book still falls far short of being ideal (in other words, a lot closer to what BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR VOL 1 was). What I'm seeing here is just a rearranging of stories I recognized as having mostly read in digest reprints prior to this. They're good stories, and some of the wilder plots as far as Archie stories go. In sharp contrast to the ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH VOL 1, while these are also atypical Archie stories for the most part, comedy still remains central despite all the outlandishness, so big points for that. The single story which is probably the highlight of this collection is "Rough, Tough - But Fair Enough!" (the title given on the contents page doesn't actually appear on the story itself, and was taken from the -- here unreproduced -- cover copy). This is the one where Archie and the gang visit the 1964 World's Fair (and a counterpart to a similar JOSIE epic). The most amazing part of this is a 10-page chase sequence motivated by a randomly-introduced incidental character, a taxi driver at the fair. George Gladir had real fun with this one, but I almost think it reads more like a Frank Doyle story... I wonder.

Another thing to note is the first two stories in this collection. Read carefully between the lines of those first two short from LwA #1. In the first story "Rise and Shine", Archie seemingly misses out on an opportunity to attend a class field trip. The next story in this collection "By Hook or Cook", from the same issue, shows the students have just returned from the aforementioned field trip, and Archie is among them -- so in the four stories from LwA #1 NOT reprinted here that came between the two that ARE reprinted ("Please Be Seated," "Mummy Knows Best," "Water Boy," "U.N. Antics" -- story titles courtesy of GCDb), something has occurred which resulted in Archie getting to go on that field trip after all. Too bad the rest of issue #1 is not reprinted so we could see what it was. But what's notable here (as was typically the case with She's JOSIE stories) is that the individual stories in a single issue actually maintain continuity between them.

Overall grade:  B+ (would have rated much higher if they hadn't skipped so many issues, particularly between issues #2 and 15, and between #17 and 22).


Thanks for the review DCR.  I'm getting this.  I love this new format. Of course it could be better but it's a step in the right direction. I also agree on Bob White. I believe he was the artist on The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E stories from the 60s and I loved those. 
#13
I saw it and loved it.  Most people either hated or loved it.  Had no idea there was a soundtrack LP.  That's demented!  Ha ha.
#14
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 23, 2018, 12:40:40 AM
BACK ISSUE #107 - Archie Comics in the Bronze Age!



I got this one too. Just starting on it.  Cool stuff!
#15
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 16, 2018, 02:39:09 AM
Review: BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR VOL 01 TP



While I was hoping that this collection might start out by reprinting the older ARCHIE GIANT SERIES issue numbers which fell under the B&V Spectacular title logo - begininng with #11 (June 1961) and ending with #632 (July 1992), which was in fact the final issue of the entire AGS run - it actually begins with the #1 issue cover-dated October 1992. After the cancellation of the Archie Giant Series, it was replaced by a number of different ongoing titles, all of which had previously appeared under the AGS numbering. World of Archie and Betty and Veronica Spectacular were initially published quarterly, which was approximately the same schedule under which the titles had appeared in rotation under the AGS numbering. The other two titles (Archie's Christmas Stocking and Betty and Veronica Summer Fun) were published annually.

WORLD OF ARCHIE #1 (August 1992) - #22 (March 1999)
BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR #1 (October 1992) - #90 (September 2009)
ARCHIE'S CHRISTMAS STOCKING #1 [48-Page Giant] (November 1993) - #7 (November 1999)
BETTY AND VERONICA SUMMER FUN #1 [48-Page Giant] (July 1994) - #6 (July 1999)

Of the four ongoing titles born out of the former Archie Giant Series, B&V Spectacular was by far the most successful, lasting seventeen years - ten years longer than the other three titles. Just for reference, here are the issue numbers of the Archie Giant Series which were Betty and Veronica Spectacular issues:

11   21   26   32   [here the AGS title jumped 100 issue numbers]
138   145   153   162   173   184   197   201   214   221   226   234   238   246   250
[here the AGS title jumped another 200 issue numbers] 458   462   470   474   482   486   494   498   501   506   510   518   522   526   530   537   541   548   552   559   563   569   575   582   588   595   600   608   613   620   623   632

Okay, with that preamble out of the way, this is a pretty good collection. Compared to the previous volume in the "Archie Comics Presents..." series, ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH, which attempted to compile stories from issues #1-33, BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR VOL 01 TP only reprints stories from issues #1-11, so it is far more complete. The JUGHEAD'S TIME POLICE and COSMO trade collections were indeed "complete" in the truest sense, even reprinting the covers of the issues whose stories were contained therein. Here, unfortunately, we don't get the covers (which is a shame, because for the most part, they are great covers). However, we DO get MOST of the stories from issues #1-11 reprinted. Here's a listing of the contents of Volume 1 (number of pages follows the story title):

#1  Run For Glory   22
#2  This Looks Like A Job For Sugarplum!   21
#3  Genie Hi-Jinx   11
#3  BETTY in "The Big Slice"   1
#3  Flee This Market   5
#3  "Clothes" Minded!   5
#4  Fashion Fiasco   11
#4  Go Fly a Kite   5
#4  Triangle Trouble   5
#5  Wiener Wars   11
#6  Princess and the Pauper   11
#6  Chances Are...   5
#7  Love Notions   11
#7  Jersey City 07303   5
#7  Too Much Infomercial   5
#8  Fitness Fiasco   11
#8  Moody & Snooty   5
#9  Look Who's Watching   11
#9  Paper Route   5
#9  Yard Sale Of The Century!   6
#10  Here's Sand in Your Face   11
#10  S'more Trouble   5
#10  Vests For All Occasions (Veronica fashions)   1
#10  Boxer Boom!   5
#11  Teacher Torture   11
#11  Picture This!   5
#11  The Prodigal Daughter   5

Just to see what didn't get reprinted from those issues, I consulted the Grand Comics Database. Here's what's missing from those issues (excepting ads, letters pages, editorial pages, and puzzle pages):
#1-11  covers
#3  BETTY's Fantasy: The Music Maker (pin-up)   2
#5  No Contest   5
#5  The 60's In The 90's (B&V fashions)    1
#5  Opposites Detract   5
#6  A Fowl Scent   5
#6  Hot Roddin' in the "Fifties" (pin-up) 1
#8  Hold the Phone   5
#9  Rad Fad   1

So essentially, what BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR VOL 01 TP contains is "almost" the complete contents of issues #1-11 of that title, with the exception of all the covers and 25 pages of other stories or features. It could have been a little more perfect, but given that they had to fit it into a 224-page trade collection, not bad. If I had been the editor, I'd have left issue #11 for Volume 2, and reprinted the four 5-page stories from issues #5, 6 & 8 that they skipped, plus a 1-page feature. Or the two best 5-page stories, plus all 10 covers from issues #1-10. But that's me. All in all, not too bad. I rate it a "buy".

One small irksome point. There is a 1-page text introduction which had me wondering whether the (uncredited) writer of that page even read the stories in this collection. Said writer claims in the intro that "As time went on, the series introduced a few new female characters - one of which you'll see in this particular collection is Sugarplum, the teenage daughter of Santa Claus".

Okay, that's just plain wrong on two counts. Apparently the writer confused Sugar Plum with Noelle Claus (the teenage daughter of Santa Claus), a much later Dan Parent creation. They're two entirely different characters. And B&V Spectacular did NOT introduce the character of Sugar Plum (seen here in a story from B&V Spectacular #2, "This Looks Like A Job For Sugar Plum!", which is in fact her fourth appearance). Her FIRST appearance was in ARCHIE GIANT SERIES #580 (January 1988), which wasn't even a B&V Spectacular issue of AGS... it was a BETTY AND VERONICA CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR (a separate annual title) issue. You wouldn't necessarily have to know these details to realize that Betty and Veronica Spectacular #2 wasn't Sugar Plum's first appearance -- all you'd need to do is read the story. In the first panel of that story, where Sugar Plum appears, it's obvious that Betty and Veronica already know her. Since she wasn't in the previous issue of B&V Spectacular, it's easy to deduce that she couldn't have been introduced in that series. That makes the writer of the introduction look pretty dumb, even to a 10 year-old kid of average intelligence.
j


Thanks for the review, DCR!  I have all of the books (except Cosmo) in this new format so far and haven't gotten to them yet.  I'm looking forward to it, but I wish they were complete chronological runs.  Still, compared to some of the other things ACP is doing, these are a cool idea IMO.