Independence, Exploding

This is going to be the first 4th of July in several years where I have not personally blown up something. Not even a couple of bottle rockets or Roman Candles. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify that this weekend. To keep me from getting the shakes, I've tagged and labeled a set of photos of oddly named fireworks I took in New Hampshire last summer. I ended up buying "New York Street Legal" and a little "Pinball Madness" fountain, and they were both a satisfying part of 4J2K6.

Of course, looking at these pictures led me to find the manufacturers' websites for these bootleg, non-Black-Cat pyrotechnics -- Brothers Pyrotechnics and Phantom Fireworks, where you can see higher quality images of most of these and many other fine explosive devices. Personally, I am a huge fan of Phantom's current sales promotion:
Speaking from experience, a little coffee can full of gasoline (or paint thinner) mixed with tossing "Water Dynamite" or other waterproof-wicked firecrackers makes for some truly awesome little mushroom clouds, and now with this coupon, you've got an excuse to stock up on the gasoline!


And what's more American than gratuitous usage of petroleum products? About the only thing I can think of is an unlicensed Captain America fireworks display. I used to think this was only an awesome hypothetical, but the fine folks at Brothers Pyrotechnics have proven me wrong; in death, Captain America's unauthorized fireworks are a reality!

So let's all forget about what a mess, both domestic and worldwide, shit is right now, stop worrying about how we don't have an iPhone, and kick back and enjoy watching things blow up in situations where they don't harm people. You know, like in Judd Winick comics.