That was Transformers #5, the first non-Richie Rich comic my parents ever bought me, from an old-school newsstand in Miami called The Front Page, which has been gone for over 30 years. My mom was worried it would be too scary, from the cover.

Bulletproof Coffin! So weird and good. I forgot I read the first TPB years ago, and also forgot there's a second one out there.

TWO-TANK-OMEN!

Have you read Ed Piskor's brilliant Hip Hop Family Tree? Those volumes have brown pages, so they look like old faded comics too. They're also huge, designed to look like Marvel Treasury Editions from the '70s. I think Scioli and Piskor are friendly, which makes a lot of sense.

Ruins is nihilistic garbage.

David's mid-'00s X-Factor series was so great, at least until that terrible Secret Invasion crossover that Larry Stroman drew. Ugh, one of my least-favorite artists ever. After that, David expanded the roster (I loved the addition of Longshot but could have lived without Darwin and Shatterstar), changed the setting…

Did anyone read Booster Gold/Flintstones? I have NEVER liked the Flintstones. As a kid, it was one of my least-favorite cartoons. But Booster Gold is one of my favorite characters of all time, Mike Allred is my favorite artist of all time, and the cover is the first time he ever drew Booster. I'm somewhat tempted,…

Psylocke's pre-ninja costume that was a purple armored one-piece over pink long sleeves and tights, with her purple hair flowing out of a pink mask, completed with a purple hood and cape, is one of my favorite costumes of all time. It was feminine and sexy without being a skimpy bathing suit, still very superheroey…

And they need to cast Adam Scott as Beetle and Joel McHale as Booster. Look into your heart, you know it to be true!

If I'm ever back in Philly, totally.

You're not wrong. Our best hoagie shop in Orlando is LaSpada's, a mom-and-pop operation run by lifelong Philly natives, hidden from most in an ugly and run-down strip mall. There's one in South Florida too that doesn't seem to be affiliated, but it is also fantastic.

The classic Philly Italian hoagie, with genoa salami, spicy capicola (gabbagool!), ham, mortadella, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickled peppers, some kind of vinaigrette (the house dressing from Salumeria in the Reading Terminal Market was the best I've ever had), and they also used some amazing hot pepper…

DOES THIS MEAN WE'RE BEST FRIENDS NOW?

L.A. Confidential in my top three favorite movies of all damn time, along with Casablanca (always #1) and Ghostbusters.

Ciara Renee is one more Broadway actress, who played the Leading Player in Pippin. This was one time when the barista would have actually been useful!

Ave Maria School of Law. Not the best legal education money can buy…

When we were little kids in the '80s, K-Mart had an actual cafeteria AND a snack bar, and my brother and I were obsessed with them. By the '90s, it replaced the cafeteria with a Little Caesar's as well. I've always been intrigued by the old-timey concepts of restaurants, cafeterias, diners, and luncheonettes inside…

I work at a school, and we used to get free food for on-campus events, special classes, training sessions, workshops, etc. all the time. It was almost always Domino's Pizza due to its nearby location, but it was the worst, even by Domino's standards. Always tasteless cardboard with no discernible tastes of…

I hope that isn't setting you up for disappointment, but it reminded me a lot of The Big Lebowski, in that a mundane setup spirals into this dark, twisty noir mystery, with a protagonist completely out of his element.

I watched Girlfriend's Day last night and loved it. It was a darkly comic deconstruction of neo-noir that felt like it took place in an alternate universe. Imagine a Charlie Kaufman/Coen Brothers team-up, and you'll be close.