Man,I'm feeling really fucking crabby today.Maybe it's the fact that I couldn't sleep last night and was still lying awake at 4:30 AM.Hopefully that doesn't interfere with this and make me get get nasty.I've already walked away from the piano in total disgust after trying to practice.Ok, here goes nothing...
So I've been picking through DC comics trying to see if I can get into them in spite of the forbidding continuity issues.The results have been mixed so far.None of the problems I've had so far are continuity-related.Instead, they've usually had to do with me being underwhelmed by the characters themselves.Luckily,this week I grabbed some stuff I really liked.
1)All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder#7:I think I actually like this book.I've read many reviews online which are less than flattering,but I don't really care what they think.This book is just big, dumb fun.After three issues, it still has yet to fail to entertain me.Batman hands Dick Grayson the opportunity for revenge and he also gets a make-out session(a little juvenille in my description, but that's what it was) with Black Canary.I really think I'm going to add this to my pull list.(Wow.I think that's the first time in comic blog/forum history that someone has mentioned ADDING something to a pull list.I guess I'm really not in the club.)The art here is more than competent and Miller's characters are so over-the-top that I can't really can't see how anyone can get upset over them.
2)Action Comics #856:This continues the Bizarro storyline from the last issue.This issue gives out some history of Bizarro and Bizarro world(much appreciated info) and even references Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein.The Bizarro speak here is one million times easier to read than it was in All Star Superman.I love how even the JLA have Bizarro equivalents:Happy Batman,Green Lantern shooting himself in the face with his power ring, and a big, fat, hot dog eating Flash.I love the sense of humor involved and I also like seeing how Superman interacts with the everyday people of New Yo...I mean Metropolis.(Why can't Metropolis just be Manhattan and Gotham be the Bronx/Brooklyn?It's so obvious that is what they are supposed to be.)Bizarro is an almost sympathetic villain in that he's so childlike in his demeanor.I think even Superman realizes this as he seems to want to help him as much as he wants to protect everyone from him.I'll finish reading this arc and I'll try the first issue of the next one before I decide if this is something I want to keep reading.
3)Tales Of The Sinestro Corps:Cyborg Superman:I picked up the Sinestro War one-shot about a month or so ago,and was impressed enough to want to follow the story.I ordered everything I needed to get caught up from Midtown Comics (even the Parallax issue).This issue tells the origin and history of the Cyborg Superman.My only exposure to Hank Henshaw was in the fourth Marvel/DC crossover,where he dealt with Silver Surfer and Thanos along with Kyle Raynor as Green Lantern and Hal Jordan as Parallax.Coming into this issue, I really had no opinion of Cyborg Superman(now to be referred to as CS).I figured him to be another Superman knock-off, who just happenned to be part robot.Seeing how he came to be, which really is quite tragic, kinda turned me around on him.He really is/was a good man driven mad by the unfortunate turns that his life took and the losses he has suffered.It gets me thinking that so far I like DC's super powered villains more than their heroes.CS,Sinestro, and Bizarro have all surprised me by being something a little more than just the mirror image of their heroic counterparts.
Overall, I'd have to say that I don't think I'll be adding a bunch of DC books to my list.I doubt I'll read Final Crisis, but there's still time.I might change my mind there.I also got another Birds Of Prey trade(Blood And Circuits) since I liked the other one so much.I'll be reading that today during my lunch break.For now though, I'm quite happy getting an issue or two here and there.I still prefer the Marvel Universe.The characters, and just the whole MU in general, seem more believeable to me.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Please Be Good,Please Be Good
It's my comic book day today,so a short post only.I found this yesterday.I watched this show religiously when it was on.Some events NEED to still be there(atlas sphere).I know there will be new events and that's fine,but some of the classics should stay.I'd even take them with a modern "twist".Hulk Hogan as host?Whatever.They could have Carrottop host the show for all I care, as long as the show itself is good.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Falling Out Of Love(But Still Friends)
Some things in life you think will never leave you.There are interests/hobbies that I have now that I have maintained since before I hit puberty.I'm talking about video games and pro wrestling.They've always been there and they've always just fit right.However, in the past year or so,I've seen my interest in both of those things dwindle to nearly nothing.I never really expected that to happen.
Now, I'm not talking about fads or passing fancies.I tend to get interested in a lot of things,but only for a little while.It's sort of turned me into the "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" type of person,which I am OK with.It comes in handy as I'm rarely lost in any task.Video games and wrestling though were always both a given.I'm not sure where they lost me.
I think getting involved in pro wrestling may have killed that for me.The first thing that happened was that I lost interest in watching it on TV.I haven't watched wrestling on TV in about 2 years.It seems silly to watch when I can just do it on my own.I can't even sit through older matches,which I would assume would scratch some sort of nostaglic itch.I guess I assumed wrong.
Even participating has been something of a downer recently.When I signed up, I signed up as a manager.I weigh 160 lbs on a heavy day,so I felt that I would be too small to wrestle and that managing would allow me to be involved as a personality without looking too out-of-place.But as the years have gone on,I've realized that I am happiest when I'm getting tossed around and hit.It's invigorating.I could do it every day.
But I'm a manager, a "cowardly heel"type.I can do all the moves...very well.I can even put together a halfway decent match.Given experience I could do a whole lot better.In my position though, that doesn't happen very much.I'm there for "flavor."I'm there to work the crowd and get them into the match.And I'm getting tired of it.There are guys who wrestle who are my size and even smaller.So why don't I wrestle?Because I'd look ridiculous.Wrestlers should be big.They should look like they could kick the ass of nearly anyone in the audience.I do not look like that,not even a little bit.So now when I go to a show I just want to get hit.I want to do something that will end up with me on my back.I'm not afraid of getting hurt at all.Those opportunities don't come too often though.I'm usually left disappointed.I rarely go to practice anymore because I never get to use what I learn.
It's frustrating and I'm ready to quit.I never saw that coming.Here I am, doing something I have dreamed of since I was little and I'm about to voluntarily walk away.I know I'm a little frustrated at being too small to take the role I'd really like to take, but quitting?I don't know how it came to that.I should be glad just to be there,but it just hasn't been enough.I never saw this coming.
As far as the video games go, my thought is that maybe I'm just finally moving past them.I still play.I love my Nintendo DS.I'm currently playing the shit out of Guitar Hero.But I don't feel any need to move past that.The new systems do absolutely nothing for me.I put my money down for an Xbox360 when they were being released,but had to take the preorder back because it left me short on Xmas present money.(I don't really celebrate Xmas.My buying presents is more out of consideration for the people I know who do.)That was my last itch for any sort of video game.
I still follow what's being released, just so I'm not totally out of touch.And from what I see, the industry is focusing less on making new and exciting products and more on becoming a sequel factory for the few proven sellers.Come up with a great,original idea....then pump out 8 sequels to compete with the copycat games.I'm tired of racing games.I'm tired of first-person shooters and any game featuring the military.I'm even tired of RPGs.Shit's all the same now.
Also, the attitude around games has changed as they've become less of a geeky guilty pleasure and more of a mainstream pasttime.Companies no longer seem to be trying to outdo each other on games, but instead have turned things into some technological arms race.What good are all of those pretty graphics if the game underneath them is five years old?Better physics and more characters onscreen does not equal a new gameplay experience.And I've never been a tech-junky.I think a lot of the techy stuff is neat, but wholy unnecessary.
Gamers have gotten swept up in the madness too.It used to be that if someone you knew had a different system than you had, it was cool because you got to try some games you probably did not have the opportunity to play at your house.Everyone is taking sides now.People pick a console and stand by it like they're getting a royalty check.
Now there's a rift between "casual" gamers and "hardcore" gamers.Both are terms created in the media.Neither term existed even a few years ago.Everyone used to be just a gamer.Now if you like puzzle games, suddenly you're not playing "real" games.The game industry is now finally opening itself up and making this once almost shameful hobby acceptable and gaming nerds are doing all they can to keep the newcomers out.They're worried that their games are going to suffer in quality in order to be accessible to some fictional 50 year old woman just picking up a controller for the first time.It's stupid and makes me angry.I'm embarrassed to be even marginally associated with these people.They're getting a negative sterotype and I have to say that it is well deserved.
I am so grateful that comics have come back into my life to fill any potential void left by games and wrestling going bye-bye.Sure, the fans are harsh in comics too.But once you can accept that quality in comics is subjective and that only you can determine what you like, it becomes more bearable and even entertaining.There's an endless amount of material out there.As long as I like reading, I'll like comics.I'm also not the type to take the stories and characters personally, which helps since sometimes jarring changes are the norm.I hope I don't become one of those jaded, bitter, "I'm dropping Amazing Spider-Man from my pull list which now only has 2 comics on it because everything sucks so much." kind of people.I'm running out of places to get my geek on.
Now, I'm not talking about fads or passing fancies.I tend to get interested in a lot of things,but only for a little while.It's sort of turned me into the "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" type of person,which I am OK with.It comes in handy as I'm rarely lost in any task.Video games and wrestling though were always both a given.I'm not sure where they lost me.
I think getting involved in pro wrestling may have killed that for me.The first thing that happened was that I lost interest in watching it on TV.I haven't watched wrestling on TV in about 2 years.It seems silly to watch when I can just do it on my own.I can't even sit through older matches,which I would assume would scratch some sort of nostaglic itch.I guess I assumed wrong.
Even participating has been something of a downer recently.When I signed up, I signed up as a manager.I weigh 160 lbs on a heavy day,so I felt that I would be too small to wrestle and that managing would allow me to be involved as a personality without looking too out-of-place.But as the years have gone on,I've realized that I am happiest when I'm getting tossed around and hit.It's invigorating.I could do it every day.
But I'm a manager, a "cowardly heel"type.I can do all the moves...very well.I can even put together a halfway decent match.Given experience I could do a whole lot better.In my position though, that doesn't happen very much.I'm there for "flavor."I'm there to work the crowd and get them into the match.And I'm getting tired of it.There are guys who wrestle who are my size and even smaller.So why don't I wrestle?Because I'd look ridiculous.Wrestlers should be big.They should look like they could kick the ass of nearly anyone in the audience.I do not look like that,not even a little bit.So now when I go to a show I just want to get hit.I want to do something that will end up with me on my back.I'm not afraid of getting hurt at all.Those opportunities don't come too often though.I'm usually left disappointed.I rarely go to practice anymore because I never get to use what I learn.
It's frustrating and I'm ready to quit.I never saw that coming.Here I am, doing something I have dreamed of since I was little and I'm about to voluntarily walk away.I know I'm a little frustrated at being too small to take the role I'd really like to take, but quitting?I don't know how it came to that.I should be glad just to be there,but it just hasn't been enough.I never saw this coming.
As far as the video games go, my thought is that maybe I'm just finally moving past them.I still play.I love my Nintendo DS.I'm currently playing the shit out of Guitar Hero.But I don't feel any need to move past that.The new systems do absolutely nothing for me.I put my money down for an Xbox360 when they were being released,but had to take the preorder back because it left me short on Xmas present money.(I don't really celebrate Xmas.My buying presents is more out of consideration for the people I know who do.)That was my last itch for any sort of video game.
I still follow what's being released, just so I'm not totally out of touch.And from what I see, the industry is focusing less on making new and exciting products and more on becoming a sequel factory for the few proven sellers.Come up with a great,original idea....then pump out 8 sequels to compete with the copycat games.I'm tired of racing games.I'm tired of first-person shooters and any game featuring the military.I'm even tired of RPGs.Shit's all the same now.
Also, the attitude around games has changed as they've become less of a geeky guilty pleasure and more of a mainstream pasttime.Companies no longer seem to be trying to outdo each other on games, but instead have turned things into some technological arms race.What good are all of those pretty graphics if the game underneath them is five years old?Better physics and more characters onscreen does not equal a new gameplay experience.And I've never been a tech-junky.I think a lot of the techy stuff is neat, but wholy unnecessary.
Gamers have gotten swept up in the madness too.It used to be that if someone you knew had a different system than you had, it was cool because you got to try some games you probably did not have the opportunity to play at your house.Everyone is taking sides now.People pick a console and stand by it like they're getting a royalty check.
Now there's a rift between "casual" gamers and "hardcore" gamers.Both are terms created in the media.Neither term existed even a few years ago.Everyone used to be just a gamer.Now if you like puzzle games, suddenly you're not playing "real" games.The game industry is now finally opening itself up and making this once almost shameful hobby acceptable and gaming nerds are doing all they can to keep the newcomers out.They're worried that their games are going to suffer in quality in order to be accessible to some fictional 50 year old woman just picking up a controller for the first time.It's stupid and makes me angry.I'm embarrassed to be even marginally associated with these people.They're getting a negative sterotype and I have to say that it is well deserved.
I am so grateful that comics have come back into my life to fill any potential void left by games and wrestling going bye-bye.Sure, the fans are harsh in comics too.But once you can accept that quality in comics is subjective and that only you can determine what you like, it becomes more bearable and even entertaining.There's an endless amount of material out there.As long as I like reading, I'll like comics.I'm also not the type to take the stories and characters personally, which helps since sometimes jarring changes are the norm.I hope I don't become one of those jaded, bitter, "I'm dropping Amazing Spider-Man from my pull list which now only has 2 comics on it because everything sucks so much." kind of people.I'm running out of places to get my geek on.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Because I Have Nothing To Write About
My mind has been a blank the last few days as nothing has really happened and not much of any personal significance has passed through my mind.So I am going to do my usual list of random points to see if anything inspires me.
1) I can't wink with my left eye.So there.Wow!This has to be the most pointless sentence I have written here so far, and there's a lot of competition for that spot here.
2)When you work for the cable company,it is impossible to get away from your job.I can't watch TV or even go to the movies without seeing their commercials.(Sighs....)
3)Damn.I really am strapped for ideas.This entry is fucking worthless so far.
4)I picked up the vol 1 digest of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.(Aaah, comics.My fall back topic.)That's a really cute book.I think I'm a little outside of it's target demographic, but I still really liked it.Sometimes it's nice to read something light-hearted like this.I think I want to get Mary Jane vol 1 and 2 to catch up on the back stories.
5)The internet does not breed negativity.People are negative assholes to begin with.The internet just gives them a public forum to air their assholiness.(Is this a new word?If it is, I invented it.)Do you want to have fun with them?Call them out on it and watch them scramble to defend their right to be a troll."I'm not a troll.I have a right to give my opinion."We know jerkoff.We know.
6)Some moronic woman is suing Apple now for dropping the price on the iPhone so soon after its release.How fucking stupid are these people?That's the risk you take when you become an early adopter of technology.The prices are going to drop eventually.You pay the bigger prices to have the hot new item before anyone else.Like any of these asswipes really needed an iPhone for any reason other than to brag about how they had one.Either that or they want to gouge people on eBay by selling it for waaay over the sticker price.Get over yourself, you could have waited.Fucking vanity about personal possessions.Just one of many reasons I have so much hate for my fellow humans.I have news for you...the iPhone will not make your penis any bigger.Sorry.Someone had to say it.As for the women who bought one...I don't know.I just don't know.
7)Still stuck for ideas.I've erased about 7 things I was going to type because they just didn't have a point.I think I'll just quit while I'm ahead.I guess it's good that I at least wrote something.Right?
1) I can't wink with my left eye.So there.Wow!This has to be the most pointless sentence I have written here so far, and there's a lot of competition for that spot here.
2)When you work for the cable company,it is impossible to get away from your job.I can't watch TV or even go to the movies without seeing their commercials.(Sighs....)
3)Damn.I really am strapped for ideas.This entry is fucking worthless so far.
4)I picked up the vol 1 digest of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.(Aaah, comics.My fall back topic.)That's a really cute book.I think I'm a little outside of it's target demographic, but I still really liked it.Sometimes it's nice to read something light-hearted like this.I think I want to get Mary Jane vol 1 and 2 to catch up on the back stories.
5)The internet does not breed negativity.People are negative assholes to begin with.The internet just gives them a public forum to air their assholiness.(Is this a new word?If it is, I invented it.)Do you want to have fun with them?Call them out on it and watch them scramble to defend their right to be a troll."I'm not a troll.I have a right to give my opinion."We know jerkoff.We know.
6)Some moronic woman is suing Apple now for dropping the price on the iPhone so soon after its release.How fucking stupid are these people?That's the risk you take when you become an early adopter of technology.The prices are going to drop eventually.You pay the bigger prices to have the hot new item before anyone else.Like any of these asswipes really needed an iPhone for any reason other than to brag about how they had one.Either that or they want to gouge people on eBay by selling it for waaay over the sticker price.Get over yourself, you could have waited.Fucking vanity about personal possessions.Just one of many reasons I have so much hate for my fellow humans.I have news for you...the iPhone will not make your penis any bigger.Sorry.Someone had to say it.As for the women who bought one...I don't know.I just don't know.
7)Still stuck for ideas.I've erased about 7 things I was going to type because they just didn't have a point.I think I'll just quit while I'm ahead.I guess it's good that I at least wrote something.Right?
Monday, October 1, 2007
The DC Experiment, Part III
I am a regular reader of Marvel comics,but my appetite for comics has had me picking up some DC comics to see if I can get into them.I have come into this with the best of intentions.I do not share any of the prejudices and problems of jaded, long-time readers.I am just looking to find some good new books that I can pick up.Here's my impression so far:
1)I hate to start on a bad note, but I still do not like all of the multiple variants of the main characters in the same books.It just seems lazy to me.The only character whose many incarnations I understand is Green Lantern.Everyone else though...not so much.Isn't one Superman enough?When Kingdom Come Superman arrives do people say "Hey look!It's Kingdom Come Superman!"Even in the upcoming Countdown:Arena book, there are 3 Supermans and 3 Batmans?Why not one of each and four other characters getting a chance?I've said it before,it's almost as if DC has no faith in its staff to create any new original characters and would rather just put their flagship characters in slightly different outfits and call them someone new.
2)Also,some of the other character design seems a little weak.There seem to be a lot more characters whose only ability is being a really good fighter.Put a mask or garish costume on them and...voila!!Instant superhero!He might be the coolest character in the DC universe, but I can't get behind a guy who looks like a fry chef covered in boomerangs.I'd bet you could dress a guy in a chef's outfit,strap a pie plate to his head and call him The Pieman.He could throw cream pies at people gimmicked up with explosives,corrosive acid,broken glass,fire ants, etc.I'll bet he could find his way into Batman's rogues gallery.He might even get to go against Flash or even Superman.
3)Enough negativity for now.One thing I've liked is that having some characters with so much mainstream media exposure.They come with built-in familiarity,at least on the most basic level.I think newborn babies come out of the womb knowing Superman's origin and abilities.Learning the continuity is a small step to take when you don't have to figure out who the character is and what they can do.For me, something like having seen many episodes of Batman:The Animated Series has made getting into Batman books a snap.I think a new reader getting into Marvel could get the same benefit reading Spider-Man or Hulk comics.
4)I really like Birds Of Prey.I picked up the Perfect Pitch TPB and sunk right into it like I was reading it all my life.This was a fun,action-filled, high kicking blast.I know I said before that having so many martial artists was a problem,but that doesn't mean I don't have any appreciation for those kinds of characters.Even though it seemed to begin right in the middle of some situation I had no trouble getting a feel for the characters right away and figuring out exactly what was going on.That can easily be chalked up to the skill of the writer,Gail Simone.The whole reason I tried this book to begin with was to read something else that she wrote.She even took one of those self-perceived"weak" DC character designs, the Crime Doctor, and made him interesting to me.The fight scenes were very well drawn and put me right in the middle of the action.Even if this whole DC thing ultimately falls flat with me,I'll still pick up other trades for this series.
5)On the Monthly side, I have been enjoying Booster Gold and the whole Sinestro Wars saga.I'm looking forward to seeing the next part of the Bizarro arc in Action Comics and All-Star Batman And Robin has been pure fun, in spite of the whole "Goddamn Batman" thing being overused.I'll try Gail Simone's Wonder Woman.I'm still not sure if I like anything enough to add to my pull list, but picking up a few issues here and there seems to be working out nicely.
1)I hate to start on a bad note, but I still do not like all of the multiple variants of the main characters in the same books.It just seems lazy to me.The only character whose many incarnations I understand is Green Lantern.Everyone else though...not so much.Isn't one Superman enough?When Kingdom Come Superman arrives do people say "Hey look!It's Kingdom Come Superman!"Even in the upcoming Countdown:Arena book, there are 3 Supermans and 3 Batmans?Why not one of each and four other characters getting a chance?I've said it before,it's almost as if DC has no faith in its staff to create any new original characters and would rather just put their flagship characters in slightly different outfits and call them someone new.
2)Also,some of the other character design seems a little weak.There seem to be a lot more characters whose only ability is being a really good fighter.Put a mask or garish costume on them and...voila!!Instant superhero!He might be the coolest character in the DC universe, but I can't get behind a guy who looks like a fry chef covered in boomerangs.I'd bet you could dress a guy in a chef's outfit,strap a pie plate to his head and call him The Pieman.He could throw cream pies at people gimmicked up with explosives,corrosive acid,broken glass,fire ants, etc.I'll bet he could find his way into Batman's rogues gallery.He might even get to go against Flash or even Superman.
3)Enough negativity for now.One thing I've liked is that having some characters with so much mainstream media exposure.They come with built-in familiarity,at least on the most basic level.I think newborn babies come out of the womb knowing Superman's origin and abilities.Learning the continuity is a small step to take when you don't have to figure out who the character is and what they can do.For me, something like having seen many episodes of Batman:The Animated Series has made getting into Batman books a snap.I think a new reader getting into Marvel could get the same benefit reading Spider-Man or Hulk comics.
4)I really like Birds Of Prey.I picked up the Perfect Pitch TPB and sunk right into it like I was reading it all my life.This was a fun,action-filled, high kicking blast.I know I said before that having so many martial artists was a problem,but that doesn't mean I don't have any appreciation for those kinds of characters.Even though it seemed to begin right in the middle of some situation I had no trouble getting a feel for the characters right away and figuring out exactly what was going on.That can easily be chalked up to the skill of the writer,Gail Simone.The whole reason I tried this book to begin with was to read something else that she wrote.She even took one of those self-perceived"weak" DC character designs, the Crime Doctor, and made him interesting to me.The fight scenes were very well drawn and put me right in the middle of the action.Even if this whole DC thing ultimately falls flat with me,I'll still pick up other trades for this series.
5)On the Monthly side, I have been enjoying Booster Gold and the whole Sinestro Wars saga.I'm looking forward to seeing the next part of the Bizarro arc in Action Comics and All-Star Batman And Robin has been pure fun, in spite of the whole "Goddamn Batman" thing being overused.I'll try Gail Simone's Wonder Woman.I'm still not sure if I like anything enough to add to my pull list, but picking up a few issues here and there seems to be working out nicely.
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