MAFUS HITS THE LINKS

If you're looking for porn sites, I can't help you. While I have no real problem with porn, I don't think it belongs on the Internet and find it repetitive and, well, frustrating. (One caveat: I stumbled across porn star Asia Carrera's surprisingly pleasant and interesting (if horribly designed) Web page while reading about Boogey Nights on IMDB and, well, I'm a guy aren't I? A friend of mine told me he plays Unreal Tournament online with her and that she's a genius that's registered with Mensa. Her site confirms it.) What you will find here are all the sites I frequent, most of which I go to every day. As you might guess, most of them are comics or movie related. The sites I like come and go a lot, but I try to keep my links updated regularly.

COMMERCIAL SITES

Nostalgia Plus
Probably my favorite Web site on the Internet. Why? Because I designed it. It suffers horribly from a dire lack of content (we've been too busy to work up a database of 20 years worth of inventory) but the cartoons of the owners are cute. Marvin and Marsha are good friends of mine. If you're ever in Richmond, pay them a visit.

CNN
I haven't read a newspaper in years. This is where I go to find out who's killing whom. Sometimes I watch The Today Show when I'm too lazy to click a mouse button or Headline News when I want to stare at Robin Meade for a while.

FoodTV
The official site of the cable TV network. If you spend any amount of time on my site, you'll know that I'm a former fatty that has a real problem with food. It doesn't help that I spend an unhealthy amount of time watching The Food Network. Particularly the shows GOOD EATS and $40 A DAY. (Though I admit I'm more interested in host Rachel Ray than in the grub. I love a cutie who ain't afraid to chow down. Sorry, Suzanne. You know I dig you the most, baby.) Suzanne and I have picked up some good recipes here, but nothing particularly healthy. I made some pasta carbonara that I found on this site back in the days before my gall bladder tried to blow a hole in my abdomen.

Penny Arcade
My friend Don turned me on to these guys (Gabe and Tycho). They play games all the freakin' time! I can't imagine how they find time to post daily updates and and a daily comic strip by Gabe. They cuss more than I do and they're a hell of a lot funnier.

eBay
Holy crap, did I spend some money here! If you have poor impluse control, stay away from this place. I used to bid on 10 auctions at any given time. I had to take a break, though. Either I was going to break the bank or Suzanne was going to break me. A great place to pick up...just about anything. Watch out for the crooks, though. I got burned by some guy in Hong Kong selling DVD sets of the MILLENNIUM tv series. They were bootlegs and poor quality at that. Ninety bucks down the crapper.

The Onion
This faux news site is simply the funniest stuff on the web. Nothing is sacred here. With headlines like "Owls are Assholes," the writing will have you in tears. H-Dog is my favorite columnist, especially his fiery editorial "Keep Your Fucking Shit Off My Desk." Priceless. I have to admit, though, I thought they went a little to far with their "coverage" of the serial sniper case. I live in the area and, man, we were fucking scared. I found nothing humorous about it. That's just me, though.

NFL
I loves me some football, yo. Ever since I rode the pine in high school, I've been addicted to the pigskin. I love it so much, I've got two favorite teams: the Packers and the Dolphins. Someday, they'll play each other in the Superbowl and I'll have an emotional breakdown the likes of which haven't been seen since Captain Kirk confused that computer with all those logical parodoxes. I'll sit in the corner mumbling "...non sequitur...non sequitur..."

Quicktime Trailers
Screw Windows Media Player and Real Media! If you want to watch all the latest movie trailers without having to wait for it to buffer everytime you hit rewind, go here. Apple is da shiznit. (Did I just type that?)

FANSITES
The thing about my favorite fansites is that they're usually run by heartbroken geeks just like me who just can't let something go once the party's over. They seem to be an attempt to revive/maintain interest in something near and dear to their hearts. Mostly, though, they're probably a way to be a part of something they admire. I'd love to know what would have happened if Bjo Trimble had had the Internet at her disposal when NBC cancelled the first Star Trek series 35 years ago.

Nova Prime
This is a site devoted to my all-time favorite comicbook character, Marvel's Nova. Created by Marv Wolfman and Len Wein (with a visual revamp by John Romita), he debuted in his first series way back in the '70's. It lasted 25 issues. Marvel has tried twice now to revive the character but, after they screwed him up so badly, his fans just lost interest. Comic fansites are a dime a dozen but this one has a nice design and good content. Tell them Mafus sent you. They won't know what the hell you're talking about.

Futurama
The FOX network should have its collective ass kicked for scheduling FUTURAMA into oblivion. I understand their motives were political (some dispute with Matt Groening, maybe?) but what it boils down to is they let one of the funniest, smartest shows on their schedule slip away. Worse, they did it on purpose. This site keeps tabs on the remaining unaired episodes and tells you when Cartoon Network will be airing reruns. A real fun site. They have lots of interactive stuff and interviews with show creators.

Family Guy
Another great but badly-scheduled FOX show. I really loved it. It managed to offend just about everyone. Constantly teetering on the edge of good taste, then falling off, it was low-brow humor at its finest. Mistakenly thought of as a SIMPSONS clone, this show found its own voice quickly and built a strong following. Sadly, I missed working with one of the show's writers/voice talent, Mike Henry, by about 5 minutes. I started working at the ad agency at which he was a copywriter right around the time he left to work with FG creator Seth MacFarlane.

The Millennial Abyss
Though just a fansite, the Abyss is incredibly well-run and designed. It's dedicated to the television series MILLENNIUM (my all-time favorite TV show, which was cancelled a few years back) and looks like a professional e-commerce site. The guy running it keeps track of what the former stars are doing and keeps us informed as to MILLENNIUM rerun schedules and the possibility of a series DVD release.

FAVORITE WRITERS

John Steakley
He doesn't write much anymore, but what little he has written is pretty damn good. His only two novels are Vampire$ (which was made into a movie movie by John Carpenter) and Armor. This site is run by a guy named Dave Alpern who seems to be a pretty nice guy, even if he doesn't use a Mac. Steakley even pokes his head in from time to time at the message board and chat room.

Stephen King
If you don't know who this is, I'm certainly not going to tell you.

Richard Laymon
Before his premature death a couple of years ago, this guy wrote some of the grossest, most twisted, sadistic books I've ever read. They're also the most entertaining.

John Sandford
This is the writer of the Lucas Davenport and John Kidd series of books. He also wrote a neat book called The Night Crew.

Michael Slade
Slade is a pen name for an ever-changing crew of writers based in Vancouver, Canada. The only contributor that has participated in all of Slade's books has been Vancouver attorney Jay Clarke. Currently, the books are written with his daughter, Rebecca. The books all concern a fictitious division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police called Special X. The special thing about his books are that they usually mix in a healthy dose of history with the blood and mayhem.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS, RUMORS & INTERVIEWS

Ain't It Cool News
More of a movie-geek site, this site is run by the famous (or infamous) Harry Knowles. He and his network of code-named spies have Hollywood shivering in it's gold-plated booties wondering where they'll turn up next. The poor guy's hard work and passion are often rewarded by message-board dwellers whose only reason for posting, it seems, is so they can ridicule Harry's weight and admittedly horrific writing skills.

The Digital Bits
These guys take their DVDs very seriously. The usually get DVD release info before anyone else. They also post lots of DVD cover art well in advance. I go here every day.

DVDFile
Love these guys. Lots of early DVD release news, entertaining disc reviews and previews, interviews with creators and lots of giveaways. I've yet to win a contest, though.

TV Shows on DVD
The guy who runs this site is my hero. He started the site to try and get the show FAMILY GUY released on DVD. Not only did he succeed, but managed to score an in-depth interview with FG creator Seth MacFarlane. If you love watching old TV shows on DVD, this is the site for you.

COMIC BOOK NEWS, RUMORS & INTERVIEWS

Newsarama
This is a nice site that is updated throughout the day with up-to-the-minute, breaking news and good, in-depth interviews. Be sure to check in often.

The Pulse
 When Newsarama left Comicon.com for ViewAskew.com, Comicon replaced the site with this one. It has a lot of the same stories that can be found at Newsarama.com, but also has some nice interviews from time to time. It should be noted that The Pulse has been accused recently of being "in bed" with CrossGen Comics. They seem to be going out of their way lately to dispel the rumors.

Comic Book Resources
This is a great site. Updated at least once a week, often more, this site provides up-to-date industry news, interviews, and other fascinating stuff. Several comics professionals publish regular columns here. Most notable is the weekly rumor (or, rumour, for you Brits) column Lying In The Gutters, by Rich Johnston. This guy is the Harry Knowles of comics and is hated by more comics pros than Jim Shooter. In other words, the column is great fun...um...if you like that sort of thing. Ahem.

Silver Bullet Comics
Updated often, this is another news-centric site. It also features weekly columns by several respected comics pros like Marv Wolfman, Bob Rozakis and Tom Breevort. Alan Donald also has a weekly comics rumour column called All The Rage that he inherited from Lying In The Gutters' Rich Johnston. Check it out, but watch out for the Rumour Barrier!

4-Color Review
Though there is some news to be found here, the main focus is on reviews. A word of warning, though. Don't expect this guy to like your favorite title as much as you do. No punches are pulled here.

The Comics Continuum
This isn't the prettiest of sites, but it's very informative and user-friendly. The main page is broken into five sections, summarizing the headlines of each day, Monday through Friday. A single click will get you that day's full stories.

The Slush Factory
Another news site, this one is distinguished by the fact that also includes news about movies, television and anything else your average comic reader might find interesting. Scroll to the bottom of the homepage to find regular columns by comics pros John Byrne, Colleen Doran and Dwayne McDuffie.

The Crawlspace
A great looking site. There are lots of links here to your favorite comics creators' official websites (so we won't include them here). There's also lots of cool stuff to download, comics news & articles, and contests.

Comics 2 Film
Just like it sounds, this site has all the latest news about just about every comic book film project you can imagine, from the most high-profile to the most obscure. Updated frequently.

The Drawing Board.com
This one's for you aspiring professionals out there. It's chock full of tips on every discipline, from pencilling to writing to computer coloring and lettering. The site includes advice from real comics pros and has a gallery where you can display your art. A great resource!

WizardUniverse
By the publishers of the popular "Guide to Comics", Wizard Magazine. The magazine comes out on a monthly basis and, as a result, is usually scooped be most of the sites listed here. Hopefully, this site beats it's hardcopy cousin to the punch. WizardUniverse.com panders strictly to the speculators among us, so if you want to know what that complete run of Team America is worth, give 'em a look-see. (Note: This site used to be WizardWorld.com. It was shut down after the people running the site were found to be of, shall we say, questionable integrity. To their credit, Wizard has done an admirable job of trying to rebuild a new site.)

COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

DC Comics
 The official site of DC Comics, this is pretty much what you'd expect. Lots of sneak-peeks at upcoming issues, cool downloads and a message board.

Marvel Comics
'Nuff said. (No, really.)

Dark Horse Comics
This site is nicely designed and has some great features like movies and e-comics. A must-see for Dark Horse fans.

Image Comics
This site consists of one page which is a list of links to the sites devoted to each of the studios that make up Image. Look here if you want to find sites for Spawn, Savage Dragon orJudge.

News Askew
This one's just for you fans of Kevin Smith(Daredevil, Clerks).This is the official site of Smith and his film production company, View Askew. If you aren't familiar with Smith, you should be. Kevin Smith has taken probably the oddest route to breaking into the comics industry. He's gone from comics fan to Hollywood bad-boy to comics retailer to, finally, comics writer and publisher. Lately, his comics work has suffered because of his Hollywood commitments, much to the ire of his readers.

TwoMorrows
These are the guys who put out (among others) the wonderful Comic Book Artist, DRAW! and Roy Thomas' Alter Ego. They're also the people who, for many years, have kept alive the memory of Jack and Roz Kirby with their simply fantastic The Jack Kirby Collector albums. If you're curious about these books, the site includes excerpts from their latest issues.

CREATORS' VANITY SITES
It's fascinating how many vanity sites by comics creators there are out there. Especially when you think about how insular comics fandom has become. Are there really that many people out there who are interested in what these folks have to say? Sure looks like it. Then again, vanity sites are like cowboy hats. Sooner or later, every asshole has one. I'm living proof.

Mike Wieringo
In case you missed the the fact that we have the same last name, this is my brother. (And the guy who coined the word "Mafus".) His most recent work was on Marvel's FANTASTIC FOUR. He's been the penciller on some of the greatest titles in comics, including THE FLASH (my favorite of his books), TELLOS, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, ROBIN, SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN and the ROGUE miniseries. He's got a weblog and message board, so check in often. He was also nice (or foolish) enough to link to my site.

Digital Priest
This is the site for fans of Black Panther writer (Christopher) Priest. Until I visited this site, I didn't know that not only is Priest a comicbook writer, he's a web designer, photographer, musician and ordained minister! Included on his site is a detailed history of his career in comics that is not to be missed. Be warned, though. His views, while humorous, insightful and well-written, are often controversial. The man speaks his mind. And what a mind it is.

Peter David
The popular, prolific writer uses this site to talk about whatever is on his mind at the time. Usually, it's the latest episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, his kids or his latest feud with fellow comics creators Joe Quesada, John Byrne or Todd McFarlane.

Joe Quesada
Good ol' Joe. The Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief is Saint Joe to some and the living Satan to others. Together with good-cop-bad-cop partner, Marvel President Bill Jemas, Joe has turned Marvel from a floundering publisher to the powerhouse of the industry. Though his mouth tends to get him in dutch with both fans and creators, you have to admit the man is trying to put out some good comics, despite his boss.

Steve Bissette
The fan-fave former Swamp Thing artist moderates a comics-related forum here, hosted by The Kingdom.

Chuck Dixon
Wow. This guy is opinionated. He trashes everything and everyone imaginable here. He writes good comics, though.

John Byrne
Yep, that John Byrne. If you don't know who he is, you either stopped reading comics in the '70s or you only read Archie. This is his message board (though I understand he frequents others). He also posts some computer modelling (he's very computer literate.) His inanimate objects are terrific but I don't care much for the figure stuff. If you decide to post here, have your facts (and grammar) straight or be prepared to take some heat. (UPDATE: When I said I thought Byrne's best work was behind him to my bro, he said, "Think so, huh? Check this out." and sent me this link. It's some of Byrne's commission stuff that is friggin' amazing. I usually don't like him inking his own stuff, preferring his X-Men collaborations with Terry Austin, but I have to admit this stuff is suh-weet.)