Happy Thanksgiving!

Depending on your point of view, I suppose, all the pilgrims might be seen as bringing peril. But not in the histories they wrote, of course.

This has been an up and down year for us, although much appears to have turned around, at least for the moment. I don't have to look very far to see a number of things for which I'm grateful, and that's what I'm trying to focus on—for this weekend, at least. Life doesn't always go well for everybody, but if you find yourself in a position where that's happening for you, I hope it's at least in your power to affect that situation for the better in some way.

And after today, I guess, we can no longer complain about Christmas starting too early. Don't eat too much!

Respect on Veterans Day

We're 97 years on from the armistice that ended World War I, the war to end all wars, which, unfortunately, failed miserably to live up to its own hype. But it provides a reason for me to post comics covers featuring biplanes, and that's something I enjoy immensely. The Balloon Buster was a short-lived series that provided a bit of a twist on normal WWI dogfighting stories. Interestingly enough, though, of the four covers that featured the Balloon Buster series, this is the only one in which a balloon figured prominently. The rest? Dogfighting.

I also need to give a shout out to one of my former history professors who always comes to mind each year when Veterans Day comes around. For a number of years after the First World War, this day was called "Armistice Day." As a boy, Dr. Paul Armistead misheard that name and thought that everyone in his small town was getting together to have a parade in honor of his family. He later realized his error, of course, but that's why I never fail to think of him on Veterans Day. This year, though, there's even more reason. He passed away a month ago, so there's a part of me this year that really is celebrating Armistead's Day.