I accompanied the wife to a discount store to shop for some gifts for the kiddies. I guess she’s a much better person than I am because, for the life of me, I cannot see how is it beneficial to get so much crap in such a short period of time. It doesn’t make one a good or descent human being, quite the opposite, and it certainly doesn’t help the financial situation around the house. Alas, that is a fight I lost to my wife and society. However, one must always look at the silver lining and look what I found. Some very cool gift books which look like books – they run from $2 to $6 and look very cool. I tried to look for them online but could not find them. If interested, I saw them in Amazing Savings on Rt. 18 in East Brunswick, NJ. If you see them anywhere else, please leave a comment. And no, we didn’t buy any. Most of the gifts we bought were under $5 so to put them in a $5 box didn’t make any sense; it’s like those guys driving around in a $300 car with a loud $500 muffler….

Scott Tracy Grif­fin (web­site) has written and compiled a wonderful coffee table book called Tarzan The Centennial Celebration, which I thought was marvelous, a feast to the eyes and a great gift to any Tarzan, comics, movies or pop-culture fan. Mr. Griffin was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. | Q. Tarzan has been a beloved figure since its inception to this day. Why do you think thae story has such a grep on kids and kids at heart for generations? A. Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs tapped into a primordial fantasy that speaks to many of us: the desire to return to nature and be free of the conventions and restrictions of civilization. It’s wish-fulfillment and empowerment on the most basic levels—Tarzan, a mental, moral, and physical superman, embodies the person we would like to be, living the life we’d love to live. | Q. What prompted you to write the book? A. I’ve been a Burroughs fan since childhood, and his writing has always inspired my artistic pursuits. After years of waiting, I finally had an opportunity to create the manner of illustrated Tarzan book I would have loved as a child—or an adult. The timing of the Centennial…