Thank God Its Wednesday

Moving Shop

2009-04-01T15:16:00.003-04:00

OK Folks, I don't know if you all know this but I have a weekly podcast. It is called the F BombCast and it is a vile thing, full of pop culture, music, movies, and lots of comics.

We are up to episode 29 and you can get it on iTunes as well as at http://fbombcast.libsyn.com or at http://www.fbombcast.com.

I am going to keep this site going by my twitter feed, but all my reviews will now be on the F BombCast website.

I just did one today so check it out. Flash Rebirth #1 (i wonder if i liked it.) again head on over to www.fbombcast.com and click on the reviews link, there is a bunch of other shit on there too, and don't be afraid to comment.

My haul

2008-08-13T12:30:00.003-04:00

Well folks another Poor week for TJ. Yep Daycare and rent is getting into the old comic funds.

Who would of thought that having a kid was so damn expensive. Oh Wait... everyone?!? OK, i knew it was going to be expensive but Jesus really can't get my comics on a weekly basis. Man she must be important to me, especially in a week where the next issue of Batman RIP comes out.

Oh well this made me a little sad so i decided to do something comic related anyway. i put in my August order for DCBS.

Here is what I Ordered

Ambush Bug #4

Green Lantern Corps #29

Tor #6

Action Comics #870

The Authority #3

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red lanterns #1

Final Crisis: Resist #1

Final Crisis Submit #1

Final Crisis: Revelations #3

Kill Your Boyfriend

Batman Ego and other Tales TPB

Marvel

Astonishing X-Men Ghost Boxes #1

Uncanny X-men #503

Guardians of the Galaxy #6

Punisher #63

Immortal Iron Fist Vol 3 Book of Iron PHC

Punisher From First to Last TPB

Indie (and yes i put image and Dark horse in here)

Star Wars Legacy #29 (vector 10)

Golly #3

Sword #12

Terry Moore's Echo #7

Welcome to Hoxford #3

Crossed #1 (and i went for the edition that comes with a poster of the Cover of #0 signed by Ennis and Burrows)

Hatter M The Looking Glass Wars Vol 1 TPB

And of course previews.

Sorry i have been a lazy blogger these last two weeks but the way i look at it it gives some of you slackers a chance to get caught up. Plus i am getting over a horrible cold and don't really feel like typing.

Talk to y'all later

My Haul and Final Crisis

2008-08-06T14:15:00.003-04:00

Ok Folks, My list of shit to get this week was only three comics so how the fuck did i leave the shop with 7. kev for once i am blaming you for at least one of them.

Anyway my haul this week is:

Final Crisis #3 (yeah Bitches)

Detective 847

Nightwing 147

Robin 176(yes i bought into the whole RIP scheme)

Green Lantern 33

The Boys 21

The Authority Worlds End #1 (This better be good Kev)

Ok folks i will give a shiny canadian nickel to the person that guesses the first thing i read.

You better fucking believe it was final crisis 3.

I was a little disappointed in the coloring of this issue. the colorist was Alex Sinclair and for some reason he decided to make this issue very drab. I have read plenty of things that are colored by him and usually he is very vivid and the colors just pop off the page. I felt like i was reading this issue through a fog. I almost wanted to break out the colored pencils myself here and brighten some of the pages up.

This story was like Grant Morrison saying to Geoff Johns. "OK Bitch! I see you silver age and raise you with a heaping dose of the Golden age! What the fuck you got." (and kevin really does not want that question answered). I mean we have fucking All Star Squadron, Alan Scott enacting shit from Roosevelt, fucking Streaky the Wonder Cat. Holy fuck i think i am about to cum.... Wait for it... please last.... ok there is Dinah in her panties... ok release is done now i need to clean up.

The possibility of tow holders of the anti life equation and Mokari being able to build a computer virus that will infect the fucking world. Jesus Grant a man needs to rest after that last explosion i can't go twice so fast.

Add on top of that Frankenstein from 7 Soldiers and the Question. Grant, JG there is only so much in a man please let me take a nap.

Well i really need to relax or my heart is going to explode.

Talk to y'all later,

My Haul

2008-07-31T12:28:00.003-04:00

Well This week I actually only had one book at the shop so i decided to be a good boy and wait till next week to pick this up. I know that i have no self control so i would pick up a trade or two and spend way more then i would normally spend if I had a bunch of comics.

My one and only book was the new Green Lantern

Anyway What i will post here is what will be in My DCBS box that is coming this Friday.

Tor #3

Final Crisis Requiem #1

Action Comics #867

Boster Gold #1000000

Reign in Hell #1

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #1

Ambush bug Year None#1

Green Lantern Corps #26

Justice LEague #23

Marvel

Astonishing X-Men #25

Captain America #40

Invincible Iron Man #3

Thor #10

War is Hell #5

Punisher #59

Criminal Vol 3 Dead and Dying

Indie

Sword #9

totem #6

Echo #4

Zorro #5

Star Wars rebellion #15 (vector part 7)

Liberty Comics (CBLDF One Shot)

Ultra Vol 1 Seven Days

Magazines

Previews

Back Issue #29

Toys

Mantle/Marris two pack from McFarlane Toys

I am really looking forward to the Reign in hell series. I am hoping that they re introduce Etrigan in a big fucking way. I really see no other reason for them to go crazy and release the omnibus for this character otherwise. i mean i really think that I am one of six people that have actually asked for it because we are Demon fans. This character was left a shambles but the cock sucker that is john byrne. I am also really looking forward to Ambush Bug because there is nothing better then a company that has the ability to poke fun at itself. And lastly, I cannot wait to read the trade Ultra. This is the first book that the Luna Brothers put out for Image and a lot of people have told me that if you like Sword you will really like ultra. Well I love the sword so I think i amy need a change of pants after Ultra.

Thats all for now Folks

Talk to y'all later,

Good Starting Points For the DC Noob

2008-07-29T09:40:00.009-04:00

OK Folks, Yet another plug for my show. I am part of a fucktastic Podcast called the F BombCast. You can get it by going to www.comicbooksavant.com and clicking the link on the bottom right of the home page.(i like putting all differnt ways you can get tot the show in each thread.)

Well we have a very loyal listener named Becca. She is also a very loyal Marvel reader (don't judge people she has to start somewhere). But she has expressed a willingness to broaden her horizon in to the Wonderful World Of DC Comics. She made a little mistake though. She decided to pick up a random issue of Green lantern and start there. Now if there is one main stream character i would never suggest starting randomly on it is probably Green lantern. his history i a slight bit convoluted and he is a little unknown, not like superman or batman where you would have to be a complete waterhead not to know their back history even a little bit. I mean sure you may not know what robin we're on or if this is Pre or post Crisis Superman (or even what the hell pre or post crisis even means) but the essence of the character is still the same. Not so with characters like Green Lanter, Flash, and don't even get me started on Hawkman or Legion.

So here is what i will do for all you marvelites that want to try the real capes company. You know the one that doesn't hold your hand with the "previously in" page and expects you to do a little homework to understand what the fuck is going on. I have put together four tra

des that i think would kick start you into a life of good comics. I should and probably will do more eventually but i do these at work and it really does take me a little bit to put these post together. So here we go:

Emerald Dawn-This is the retelling of Hal Jordans origin for only the second time. This book is masterfully written by Jim Owsley, Keith Giffen, and Gerard Jones and drawn pretty well by MD Bright and Romeo Tanghal. This was released in 1988-1989 and was s six issue mini series to re introduce people to the character that before this point was relegated to the horrible Action Comics Weekly series. This was suppesed to be a post crisi reboot just like Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and Satan's... oh i mean John Byrne's Man of Steel. This is a really great read and will fully introduce you to Hal. Also pay attention to the name of his lawyer he

happens to be a fave of mine (i think that is in this one but it may be

emerald dawn 2).

Identity Crisis: This is probably my favorite book that has come out in the last five years. This Is written by Novelist Brad Meltzer and Drawn by fan favorite (but i hear writer hated) Rags Morales. This book is basically a murder mystery and love story all tied into one demented bow. So Much that is happening now in the DCU is related to this book, be it the mind wipe of Batman, to the spoiler of who the killer is, this book is awesome.

Next up is Superman For all seasons- This is a Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaboration. As much as i am not really a superman fan, i love this book. This book deals yet again with the origins of superman but relates all eras of his life with a particular season. the writing is simple yet beautiful and the line work by tim sale can be described the same way. A little side note about this book, this is the Trade that I gave Kev that got him to start buying comics again. So some would say i am to blame for his lack of money but I would blame Loeb and Sale.

Last up for today is Flash: Born to Run. This is by Mark Waid and drawn by Greg Larocque, Jim Aparo, Pop Mhan, and others.This story is about Wally West. it begins with his time as Kid Flash and learning how to be a speedster from Barry. It follows his life up until he actually takes the mantle as the Flash. really

humorous and dramatic book of an adolescent not knowing what to do with his life and searching for the people that can help him.

So there are four books to start you on your way folks. i didn't put a batman title because i already gave you five good ones last time out. I may have to do one on Batman Year one and Dark Knight Returns Eventually but to be completely honest with you i don't hold those in such high regards as others (shhhh don't tell the DC Gods)

Talk to y'all later,

My Haul and my Surprising Read

2008-07-24T09:15:00.002-04:00

Ok Folks it was an extremely light week and i didn't have much to read but here it goes.

Superman

and

Uncanny X-Men 500

I also got the first Morrison New X-Men Trade.

OK Folks if you know me at all then you know I am not a fan of team books nor am i a fan of Marvel or of things in marvel that are laden with huge amounts of continuity.

So why did i pick this book up? Well my good bud Kevin is a X-man guy and i love talking comics with him so this gives me something to talk about. One of my listeners, Becca, is also an x-geek. so I would like more to talk about with her. Plus she is going to give DC a shot so i feel it is only fair.

This book was written By Bru and Fraction and drawn by Greg land.

The art was really good. I am a big fan of Greg Land and feel that he is too criticized among the fanboy community. The only problem that I had with the art is sometimes when Land is drawing characters into the background he sometimes leaves off their faces. C'mon man you want to leave some details off a building OK but Faces are a little important, especially when you are drawing a character whose powers are in His eyes.

The writing was great, if you know Bru and fraction (and by know i mean heard interviews with) then you can kind of tell who is writing which character. Cyclops is all Fraction. The wit, the humor, it was almost like listening to Matt on a panel.

The thing that was great about this book is that even though it is #500 it is a great starting point. I didn't feel like i was missing out on anything having not read anything really before this. The characters were well introduced and the villains were very well placed. I know some of you(kevin) had a problem with way that Scotty boy was characterized. Sorry if he had a little personality now but this is something that always drew me away from the book, now i have a character that i can like (god help you Bendis if you make him a skrull).

So i am on for at least three more issues, but i may need your help Kevin and Becca, if things get caught up in continuity I may have questions.

Talk to y'all later,

Music I like that might shock you

2008-07-22T15:43:00.004-04:00

Hello all, Well for those of you that don't know i do a podcast. It is called the F BombCast and it is so fun i hope that i comes through on the "air." Get it Here

Well one of the segments we do is "Flashback" where we pick a year and talk about our favorite Movie, Music, and Television that premiered that year.

I've been told that i have a very eclectic Musical Selection so i am going to put up some of my favorite albums for y'all with a brief write up on each

Dr. Dre The Chronic: This album came out when i was a junior in High School. This is Melodic rap at its best. Between the Jazz undertones and the George Clinton drops and the sultry rhymes this is quite possibly the greatest rap albums ever produced.

George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars: Greatest Hits. Speaking of the atomic dog here he is. Talk about an awesome band. The greatest Funk you will ever here. I saw him in concert last year at a very small venue and man was it enjoyable. i was surprised that i was not the only white boy in the lounge.

Phish A live one: OK folks I was a pothead. I would smoke every chance i could. College was a real earth shattering experience for me because i could smoke whenever i wanted to and not be hassled about it.(well except for the law). One day i was walking and someone had this album playing and i stumbled into their room. They whipped out a huge glass piece smoked with me and put on a twenty minute version of You Enjoy Myself and I was hooked. They are probably one of my top five favorite bands.(hmm thats a list for the show)

Beatles Abbey Road: Fuck Sergeant Peppers, White album go fuck yourself. This is the album. I believe this may be one of the finest things ever put on vinyl. From the wacky Ringo songs to come together to all the songs at the end intertwining with each other, this is pure musicianship.

Radiohead OK Computer: This is the album where radiohead stopped being a pop band and went with their artistic side. The songs told a dismal future and the tale was amazing. There is a story in the music and this is concept albums at its finest. Karma Police is the hit but man you really need to listen to this album from beginning to End.

Pink Floyd Animals: This is by far my favorite Pink Floyd album. The story that is told is great, Yeah it is only four songs but this 50 minute album really is one of the greatest things that my ears have heard.

Well thats it for now folks, I was going to look for the album art for all of these but i am getting lazy as it is the end of the day so deal.

Obviously there is a lot more that i like besides this and i will post that too eventually, probably another day that i am bored and need something to post.

talk to y'all later

JLA 8 & 9

2008-07-21T14:37:00.006-04:00

OK Folks the mind is a little foggy today so decided to go as straightforward as Morrison can go. The Reviews for today are JLA 8 & 9.

This is a two part story that is written by Morrison and Drawn by Oscar Jimenez.

The art is so so for me. There are panels that art great but then there are

whole pages that are very murky. ( i am so pissed at fucking blogger right now because i cannot re size the image to the cover of 9. I don't know why this little shit pisses me off so much but i just want this to look semi professional. BAH!!!!) I was happy with the return of Howard Porter in the next arc but this wasn't so bad that it took me out.

The writing is well Morrison. I don't feel like typing this again so please just look down a couple of Posts to the JLA Vol 1 TPB one and it is all there.

This story is about Green Arrow (Connor Hawk) being brought into the fold of the JLA. When he arrives he is confronted by a villain called "the Key". This guy has taken all the Justice Leaguers and and put them into containers and initiated viruses into them that makes them see alternate realities of the past and future. Superman is presented a ring with the death of Tomar Re, Batman is married to Selina and Tim is now Batman (please note this for Batman RIP) and Bruce Jr. is now robin, Flash was presented a speed ring from the death of a new god but his city becomes fast for an hour each day (everyone has flash like powers), Wonder woman is much like Lara Croft and is battling Nazi Zombies with Steve Trevor. It really was interesting stuff. Plus we get the interludes of Conner having to use his father's trick arrows in order to help the league get out of the Jam. This is such a fucking fun read. I got it in the second trade of the Morrison JLA run.

Like i said before, The JLA feels like Morrison for beginners but man is it getting very damn good.

Talk to y'all later,

My DCBS Order for shit coming in September

2008-07-19T07:31:00.003-04:00

OK Folks just put my DCBS order together for this month and man was it a little big. If i got everything i wanted then it would have been around $180. Well i realized that i like being married and there is no way that this would be acceptable. So Cuts had to be made. I kept it under a hundred with shipping but this is still my highest order with just comics on it.

So here we go, On my order is:

Dark Horse

Star Wars Legacy #28

Final Crisis Revelations #2

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #3

Ambush Bug #3

Secret Six #1

Reign in Hell #3

Tor #5

Action Comics #869

Green Lantern Corps #28

Jack Kirby's The Demon Omnibus

Crossing Midnight Vol 3 TPB

Image

Golly #2

Dark Ivory #4

The Sword #11

Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy #5

Thor #11

Astonishing X-Men #27

Punisher #62

Marvel Boy PHC

Indies

Echo #6

RASL #3

Welcome to Hoxford #2

So all in all, a pretty fucking big month for me. 19 comics, 1 Hardcovers, and 2 Trades.

The things that i cut are : Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus, Absolute Watchmen, and Camelot 3000 HC.

I cannot wait to get that Demon Omnibus. My Favorite Character with his begin tales all in one place. if i knew one thing about this order it was that book was untouchable.

So there's my list folks,

Talk to y'all later

My top 5 semi recent Batman Tales

2008-07-18T11:48:00.010-04:00

OK Folks, I posted this on my forums over at the Comic Forums but decided to post this here as well. (BTW you can read our forums at http://www.thecomicforums.com.)

I am really psyched for this new Batman Film. Since i began reading comics he has been my guy. I love all thing Batman, Flash and Green Lantern, and from the early reviews this movie seems to be the bomb yo. (that little shout out is to Kevin)

So that got me thinking about different Batman stories that I have read through the yea

rs and there are five that stick out to me. Oh I will be spoiling so shit in them so if you want to avoid the list and just look at the titles go ahead (I'll let you this time.)

So away we go (in no particular order because that would be too much fucking work.):

Arkham Asylum: This is the First Trade I ever purchased. i was a wee lad (well i never really was wee) of 13 and bought what i thought was a straight up Batman Joker story. Man this book should not be read by children under the age of 25. this is a scary ass book. Written by the master of Mind Fucks Grant Morrison, this deals with the Joker taking over the asylum and dragging batman down the road of mental despair. Beautifully illustrated by Dave McKean (most famously know as a collaborator with gaimen) this book will screw with your mind and should probably have the vertigo label slapped on it.

The Long Halloween: This is basically a Bruce Wayne/Batman and Harvey Dent Story.

This is the book that introduced me to the Potential of Tim Sale Art. The first Loeb/Sale collaboration i got was Superman for all seasons which a great story but I have never been that much of a superman guy so it didn't drag me in like a lot of other people. There is on full page picture of the Joker Just smiling

that i think is one of my favorite panels in comics. And the twist at the end of this book Blew my mind apart. What great shit. I really hope that Captain America White brings Loeb back into his A game because what he was and what he has become are certainly two different people.

Knightfall: Now I know that this is the one I will probably take the most shit for. This book has a lot of sentimental value for me. See i wasn't like a lot of you that started to read comics when you were little kids. i started when i was 13 and only because i had a buddy whose aunt was a colorist for DC. he would get her box of Comped comics and give me a lot of them. Knightfall was the first comic that I sought out to buy. This is the story of Bane and his plan to take out the bat. What happened afterwards was atrocious (and yet another stinky ass thing that Joe Q was attached to.) The one issue that really stands out for me is the One that has Tsasz terrorizing a girls school and holding them hostage by knife point. Really well written and scary.

Detective Comics #826 "Slayride": Now I may catch some heat for this one too because this is not really a Batman story. This story centers around Robin and the Joker, and it is in this issue we get to see some of the most demented Joker scenes of the past couple of years. The one that always stands out to me is where he pulls up to a fast food drive through and they screw up his order. Instead of complaining he simply pulls out a gun and shoots the window attendant in the face. Plus he has funny quips the whole time.

The Killing Joke: OK I know i said that these are in no particular order but This one is I think the greatest batman story ever crafted. yet again Very little Batman involved but the back story of the Joker and the torture and torment that he puts the Gordons through is astonishing. This is the book that has set the status quo for a lot of characters. The joker had a history that was comprehensible (DC still has not confirmed the cannon of this history but i like to think it is the definitive origin); This story is the creation of Oracle; This is the story that give Jim Gordon a reason beyond that of just a crime fighter to hate the Joker. The art is amazing and the story is two shades of awesome. I think if there is one batman story that all comic readers should read, this is the one.

OK Folks, Thats my top five list for now. I'm sure as i hit the publish post button some other story will pop into my head but as of right now these are the first five i can think of.

Talk to y'all later,

My haul Flash and Guardians of the Galaxy

2008-07-17T09:48:00.003-04:00

OK Folks I made it to the shop this week and actually picked up some books.

I got (and surprise surprise i still have the note on my iPod so the numbers will be here):

Spiderman 565 & 566 (and officially told my dude that i am done).

Detective 846

Spawn 180

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Flash 242

Pretty good week. Must tell you it was kind of sad telling my guy to stop putting spidey in my box. Maybe I will still pick it up afterwards but now I am not obliged.

Anyway the first book I read over my Italian sub from Jersey Mike's was Flash 242. man was this book awesome. Freddie is really amping it up with the art here. There was one page that showed half a flash face with half a disintegrating face of another character. Really good. Don't know if he will make this page available but if so I really want it. This is the penultimate issue of the Spin/Grodd. We meet a character that has to be based on the Morloch Leech in looks and in Power (sort of). In stead of leaching powers this character he takes their emotions and sends them out to everyone around. he had used this power for happiness but now the news organization is using him for fear. Shit i am getting long winded but overall we see Iris (the daughter not the Grandmother) rapidly age... Get a great set of cans... and ***SPOILER*** she dies in a very horrific manner (well maybe but the coming up section has the unfortunately cryptic Did She?)

Second book was Guardians of the galaxy and man was this book great. Not going to spoil to much but there is a couple of panels between Mantis and Major Victory. Major Victory has just come out a coma and Mantis is questioning him. She says to him "So you were part of a group called Guardians of the galaxy?" MV says "Yes." Mantis returns with "So what did you do?" His response "Guard the Galaxy?" I don't know why but this had me laughing. I really enjoyed this book a lot and can see myself getting this till its canceled. ( and lets not kid ourselves folks this book will eventually be cancelled so i am saying maybe 24 issues if we're lucky.)

Well thats all for now.

Talk to y'all later

Last weeks Haul

2008-07-14T12:29:00.003-04:00

Well, Well, well looks like I missed a Haul post and no one noticed ( sort of a zen thing; If someone forgets to post to a blog that has no readers does anyone care)

Well there sort of is a good reason for the no Post: I didn't get any fucking comics.

i only had three coming out so i decided to save them for this week. but on the other hand i made a comics related purchase.

I shot down to best Buy (man good thing i put that "to" in there otherwise the meaning is completely different and I may have police looking for me. On that note has anyone here seen the great Gene Hackman movie "The Conversation". Seriously if you have not then go see it. Such a good movie based on the importance of infliction.)

Anyway at Best Buy I got:

Batman Gotham Knight

Batman: TAS Volume 3

Batman: TAS Volume 4

and a pink Ink Cartridge (well that's not comic related but I'm sure they use pink ink somewhere)

So i sat down with my Seven Month old on Saturday afternoon and watched Gotham Knights. I know... i know PG 13 and seven months not right, but hell she has more fun playing with me on the floor while we watched then i think she has had yet.

Gotham Knights was very good. I loved the animation of the backgrounds and the lines were great. The face models had a little bit to be desired and some had Bruce way to fucking young.

I seem to be in the minority here as a lot of people thought it was very boring. i on the other hand loved the drama that was in each of these 20 minutes shorts. Yes the first three were a little slow moving but the character profiles that were made here were great and the last three made the movie totally worth the purchase. The Deadshot one alone was so good i may have paid money for it. I Can't wait to delve deeper into the second disc that has a boss Bob Kane Documentary on it.

OK That's it folks, Go get this disc,

Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2

2008-07-09T09:28:00.005-04:00

Well as promised last wednesday here is my anticipated review of Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2.

This is written by Abnett and Lanning and drawn by Pelletier (sorry about that if those are spelt wrong but you guys know i don't spend a lot of time researching this shit)

Wow i started this fucker this morning and it is too hot for me to put a coherent thought together.

Well the art is very good. Yeah thats all i got to say there.

The writing reminds me a lot of the Giffen DeMetteis (sorry wrong spelling but don't care) JLA/JLI/JLE. Very Witty and some characters i feel are spot on. Rocket Raccoon is worth the price of admission alone. He a fucking demolition expert raccoon that has a friend that is a fucking twig people. Come on why not give this a shot. I don't know enough of the other characters to know if they are being written well or not. i am a big fan of the Dog though. I mean A&L really know how to write dialect and it shows in the dog that is left over from the russian space program.

Here's what i don't like (which is very little). And this is a problem i have with a lot of team books. Some of the characters are very similar (again i do not have any background in these characters at all so if I'm wrong please tell me.) In battle scenes sometimes i feel like i get a quip from Rocket then some dialogue that could be from anyone. then something else from rocket and then something else that could be from anyone. When a large splash occurs that involves all the characters plus whatever baddie they are fighting sometimes that writing gets very muddled for me.

Well I am continuing on with this series. I did enjoy it but I loved the first issue more then the second.

Talk to y'all later,

Dark Times #12 (Vector part 6)

2008-07-08T09:07:00.004-04:00

So today's review is of the sixth part of the Vector Story line interweaving all the star wars titles in Dark Horse.

This issue is Dark Times 12 and is written by Mick Harrison and pencilled by Doug Wheatley.

The art is very good. I'm not going to say it was amazing but after the art in Knights of the Old Republic anything would be good. Man was that bad and cartoony. It almost dragged me out of the story. I felt like i was watching anime... wait i was supposed to be talking about this one. The art was good.

The writing was great. The evil beneath Vader and the good and anguish behind Celeste. All the characters are very different from each other and you can tell their personalities by the way the react to each other. Good Stuff.

The story her deals with the (and i am not going to check the spelling on this shit) Muur Talisman, a sith artifact. This talisman has the ability to change living creatures to RakBeast. The controller of the talisman also has control of the beasts' minds. This is why the talisman is very sought after by Jedi. Well coming out of KotOR, Celeste had control and she was put in a hibernation chamber to wake up in the future in which she hope the jedi have won. man was she wrong. Vader has unearthed her chamber and is trying to mind control her to get it himself. Now she is faced with a decision, Give in to Vader, give in to her old master, or kill herself. We are left with her making the decision (which i am not going to spoil for you fuckers because i want you to read this shit).

Here is the thing that really pissed me off about this book. I really liked it. Part of the point of a crossover is marketing. Lets try and get people who do not read these books reading them. Well it worked , I was all up to continue Dark Times. This is an era in Star Wars lore that really rocks my world. Well at the end the last page has Vector Continued in whatever the fuck the next book is, and then it says Dark Times will be continued in 2009. Fuck you Dark Horse. i am not going to wait five months to start a new series. You can suck it.

Talk to y'all later,

JLA Vol 1 New World Order

2008-07-07T12:20:00.004-04:00

OK people today's review is for the First volume of the Morrison JLA run "New World Order"

This book is Written By the Sober Grant Morrison and drawn by Howard Porter.

The art is great but a little early 90's. That makes sense being that this is when this book came out (well 1997 but its still the 90's right). All the superheroes are a little bulky and muscular and everything is a little over the top. That being said it is still very pretty to look at and it is done better then some that were famous for this style did it.

The writing is a little different then the Morrison then I'm used to. Very straight forward. Not anything like Animal man or definitely nothing like the Invisibles (but i don't think my brain can take another invisibles). But man can Morrison right superheroes. His batman is great and his Martian Manhunter is amazing (and i hate the martian manhunter so that is saying something). The only thing that killed this volume for me was the version of supes being used and this is more art then writing. Whoever decided to give superman a mullet should be shot.

This story centers around the formation of the new Justice league and there first mission together. A new superhero group is on earth and is giving the people what they want; death to super villains. Supes tries to explain that death is not always the way to do things but the human culture doesn't want to hear it. We learn more and more about the back history of these new "hero's" and what they really are (how's that for not spilling the beans on anything.) The beauty of Morrison's writing is that he gets who is who in the group and you can tell it by the first four issue arc. He has Batman as the brains and he is the one who first figures out who everyone is. you can tell by this initial story the love that Grant has for this character.

If you like the JLA then i would definitely suggest giving the Morrison run a whirl. If you are a Morrison fan then this may not be for you. like said before this is not Morrison's normal writing style and it straightforwardness may be a little of putting. I find that after reading a lot on his stuff, when you are reading him, you are constantly trying to find the meaning behind things. There is no meaning behind this stuff. Just a good old fashioned superhero story. Morrison for beginners is what I like to call it and I found it fantastic.

Talk to y'all later,

My new level of Geek and my hatred of Borders

2008-07-03T14:14:00.004-04:00

So first let me tell you about my new found level of geek.

You all know that i like fantasy shit (at least i hope you do since you read this motherfucker).

You all know i love comics.

Well back when i was in HS i used to play so D&D and man was it fun. I haven't played in like 14 years and the opportunity has come up for me to join a game. So what the hell i did it.

Now this isn't the normal sit around in the basement get fucking high as shit and pretend your wizards kind of deal. No we are playing over a forum. That's right folks What used to be a great time of imagination and human interaction has now become: DM post part of story: You react to story: others react to you reacting. And never will we talk about that. You can follow our game if you like at callofcthulhurpgfun.blogspot.com. My Character is Jonathan Kellerman.

The Game I am Playing is called "Call of Cthulhu" and it is based in Lovecraftian (is that a fucking word) mythos. A lot of people actually do not like this game because there really is no winning or losing. your character will either die or go crazy eventually. There is no avoiding it. The main goal is to stay sane as long

as you can.

Now here comes something that some of you may be shocked at (if you can be shocked by a faceless entity on the Internet). I have never read any Lovecraft. So in searching the borders website they said they had a book that was the complete Lovecraft in stock at the one by my work. Well this has happened to me the last six... yes i said six... times i went there. i look for the book, can't find it, go to information desk, they look for the book and can't find it. They say that the computer inventory is wrong sometimes and offer to order me the book. What the fuck. How can your inventory be wrong so many god damned times? I'd hate to be the guy who has to catalog all these errors. Now the woman that helped me was great. And i know that it is not her fault. She looked everywhere for this book. I mean she even looked in the arts and crafts section because she realized how dumb some of the people that work there are.

So I ended getting a different book that had a bunch of stories in it:

So these are the stories that are in the book:

The Outsider
The Music of Erich Zann
The Rats in the Walls
The Shunned House
The Call of Cthulhu
The Colour Out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
At the Mountain of Madness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Shadow Out of Time

So have any of you read any of this shit before and did i get what would be called as a good starter in Lovecraft. What stories would you recommend me getting that are missing?

Help a brother out reading some good psychological Horror.

Talk to y'all later,

My haul

2008-07-02T14:26:00.002-04:00

OK Folks this is one of those great holiday weeks where the Holiday doesn't fuck up comic releases.

Here's what I got:

Batman

Spiderman

The Boys

Guardians of the Galaxy 1&2 (yes Mike and Kevin i do listen to you assholes sometimes.)

I will blog about Guardians of the Galaxy later (most likely tomorrow). But i feel i need to talk about Batman 678.

Holy Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought Grant Morrison was firing on all cylinders on Final Crisis but this shit is blowing me away as well.

First the Covers! I may be alone in this but I am getting really fucking sick of Alex Ross Covers. I mean yeah they are beautiful but they all seem the same to me. I wish they would let Daniel do a few or more if he had been doing them before this.

The Interior art is a masterpiece. Daniel really knows how to capture the spirit of Batman and combine that with the craziness of the Morrison writing. Well Done sir!

The writing. Grant Fucking Morrison. (yeah that's all I need to say)

Bruce Wayne homeless? Check! Addicted to Crystal meth and Heroin? Check! Dick Grayson given so much Thorazine that he has gone crazy and is foaming at the mouth? Check! Jason Todd being chased by a Mime and a guy that looks like the Black Knight of Monty Python Fame? Check! Morrison bringing back a concept that was first introduced in Batman 113 in 1958? Check! All I can really say is Holy Fuck! What a motherfucking read!

Oh and to check out the Zur-En-Arrh shit from 1958 read this site: DC Encyclopedia

And to understand what Grant is doing to the character, his interview with Comic Book Resources sums it up. In that interview he said that what will happen to batman is "so much better than death. People have killed characters in the past but to me, that kind of ends the story! I like to keep the story twisting and turning. So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to see happen to these guys at all."

Well, like I said, I will blog about my experience with Guardians of the Galaxy either later today or tomorrow.

Talk to y'all later,

My Movie taste and Someone I just don't get

2008-07-01T08:43:00.003-04:00

OK all. Let me preface this posting by letting you all know what type of movies i like. i will put them as a list.

Drama

Godfather 1 & 2
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
and recently No Country for Old Men

Action (and a lot of these are not straight up action)

Reservoir Dogs
A Clockwork Orange
Full Metal Jacket
Batman Begins
and recently Iron Man

Comedies ( and for the rest of this post this is the most important category)

Night at the Opera
Monte Python and the Meaning of Life
Dodgeball
Anchorman
Blazing Saddles

OK so you can see that i have very eclectic taste. I love screwball comedies as well as movies that make you think. Sometimes i want to escape reality and sometimes i want to be engulfed in it. Well, that brings me to a Director/writer/producer that i just don't get and it is pissing me the fuck off.

The wife and I sat down last night to watch Wes Anderson's newest flick "The Darjeeling Limited." Now that is two hours i will never get back. This movies follows three brothers on a trip of self discovery through India as they are trying to get to Tibet to meet up with their mother. All in all this is something i can wrap my head around. But the writing goes fucking no where.

Know "cool" "hep" people that read my blog, please explain to me why this motherfucker is so highly regarded in your circles. His writing is wooden (much like David Mamet but don't get me started on that one). Nobody talks like that. Not one person i know talks in such short witty fucking quips. I know if any of my friends ever talked like this i would slap them across the face.

The Directing is good i guess because he is directing his own words that are shit so he knows how it is supposed to go.

Now i have see three of his movies and couldn't stand any of them. Rushmore is quite possible in the top ten stupidest movies I have ever seen. The kid is annoying, Bill Murray is annoying, and what was supposed to be funny i found myself giving the "heh" courtesy laugh. Royal Tannenbaums was not very good. better then Rushmore but gay porn with all bears would be better than that. and now this.

There was one point in this "look how smart I am" film that i turned to my wife and said, "I enjoyed that what a good ending." problem was i looked at the time and we were only 40 minutes in. i still had an hour to go and there was no point to that other hour.

So if any of you like this jerk off please let me know why. I won't criticize you (unless your name is Kevin because it is fun to be critical of his choices.)

Oh well talk to y'all later,

Y: The last man Vol 7 Paper Dolls

2008-06-30T09:14:00.002-04:00

OK all the Monday review for you is Y: The last man Vol 7 Paper Dolls.

This book is the opus of Brian K Vaughn and Pia Guarra (sorry if i spelt that wrong but i am feeling lazy hence no name checking and no cover art)

The art is amazing. IT is a little different then most vertigo books that seem to make the art an afterthought. Pia is on top of her game. (There is also a fill in artist but again feeling lazy and whoever it is meshes so well with Pia that it is hard to tell the difference.)

The writing is amazing. Next to preacher i think this is the best thing that Vertigo has ever put out. This is a great science fiction political satire. Vaughn really now how to mesh high drama with humor and not let political ideals get in the way of the story telling. Through all seven volumes the reader really begins to feel for the characters and learn their motives (you think).

The story in this one was just OK. Vaughn has a way with playing with the time stream where each section takes place at a certain point of time but is not necessarily linear. If you go into the book not paying attention to the section where he puts "5 Months Ago" or hell even "30 Minutes ago" you really can get a lost feeling. There were points in this volume that i found myself getting a little lost but that may be because of my mind set going in. We learn a lot of the back story of 355 which was great and we also meet a character that we haven't seen in a while and boy has she changed. There is church allegory (more specifically catholic allegory) that is kind of witty and not off putting if you are a strong believer in that faith. Anyway this volume was good to move the story forward but not nearly as good as Volume 4 which is still my favorite.

No a little side story. My wife is a big reader (big as in reading a lot not as in size because my wife is a little thing). She is a fan of Jodi Piccoult and Lifetime (you know guys the channel we try to block on our cable list) put on a movie of her latest book "The 10Th Circle." Like the good husband i am I DVR'd it for her and she watched it last night. As she was watching I read this trade. In the background i get the gist of her story. A HS student is distraught over her boyfriend breaking up with her. She then get drunk at a party and gets raped by said ex boyfriend. The police are investigating it and this guys life is ruined to the point where it looks like he kills himself. We later find out (do you all mind if i spoil this chick flick) that the mother pushed the kid off the bridge but it was an accident and nothing happened to the family.

No here was the mistake i made. After the show was over I turned to her and said "Man you sure read a lot of Drivel." Mind you I said this while i was reading a science fiction book where all males are destroyed by a virus except one and his pet monkey and we come to find out that the monkeys poop is what is the savior of mankind. man was she pissed. Oh well

Talk to you later,

New Feature on side

2008-06-29T09:47:00.004-04:00

So I was reading Living Between wednesdays today and i was looking over some of the features she has on her blog. One was a pull list... well... list. I thought this would be a great edition to my site so yet again i copied her and added it to the right.

Oh and you guys should read her blog. She is very witty and funny. (and she was at heroes con. Fuck I forgot to go say hi to her.) You can either reach her by going to the link on the right or going to http://livingbetweenwednesdays.blogspot.com.

Talk to you later.

Final Crisis 2

2008-06-27T14:13:00.003-04:00

OK Today's review is Final Crisis 2

Written by God and Drawn by his son.

JG Jones is an amazing artist. His pages are great. I know there was some people who were questioning his ability of doing sequential art after years of doing mostly covers but man this guy has not lost a step. Each page is great. The only pages that kind of had me scratching my head was the semi-splash page that involved the Japanese super team.

The writing is amazing. Each character moves into each other and you can read the words even if the art is jumbled (which it is not for the most part) and still understand what is going on. I know , I know usually people use this as a way to judge the art but i am saying the opposite so fucking deal with it.

I am not going to go into the story much but holy fuck. Remember what i said before (way back about a month ago) that if you are not steeped in DC knowledge then you may want to jump off or read this with wikipedia open... well I take that back. Fuck the DC Universe if you are not aware of the small little section of the DC Universe that I like to call the Kirbyverse then get the fuck off. (or you can still drool over all the pretty pictures.) There is so much New gods shit in here that I am sporting a chubby reading the whole thing. I mean Glorious Godfrey shows up. We learn about Granny Goodness, Simyan and (one of my personal favorites) Mokari, we meet sonny samurai who is being speculated to being the most famous of the sons of the new gods. And there are rumors flying around about the Police Detective that is sort of our eyes for part of the story. And to end it all we see a certain speedster out racing the Black Racer. Fuck what a good book.

So that is that. Go get the book and read with your wiki.

Talk to you later,

My Haul and DC Continuity starting to piss me off a little bit.

2008-06-25T14:40:00.004-04:00

OK Folks First My haul:

Amazing Spiderman

Superman (looking forward to see what James Robinson does to this title)

Green Lantern (please end this origin retcon and get on with your fucking story Johns)

Flash (yes I'm still reading this)

and that's it

Yep Nothing else

Did anything else come out?

FUCK Y"ALL OF COURSE I GOT FINAL CRISIS 2.

This book was so crazy that i need to read it again and then dedicate a whole blog posting about it.

No what i am going to blog about today is all the wacky shit going on with DC Continuity.

Most specifically i am going to be writing Justice League of America, Booster Gold, Death of the New Gods, and Grant Morrison.

OK so I'm sure you read the interview with Grant Morrison where he came out and said Final Crisis was done before (or at least a good part of it) before countdown and death of the new gods even started. He also said that the continuity he is going with is the continuity from before either of these "events". OK i am willing to put these two things aside and just go with Morrison Continuity because we all know "In Morrison I Trust." Well here is a little problem because DC can't decide which they are going with.

This weekend i read Booster Gold 10 and Justice league 21 (i think, its whatever one had the fucking sightings shit on top) In Booster gold He is rounding up the old JLI crew. When talking to Mister Miracle he is apologizing for Barda. OK in this book Death of the new gods happened. In Justice league The trinity are talking about expanding the roster and Dr. Choi is brought up. Bruce doesn't want him because he believes the the spot should be open for Ray who hasn't been found... i repeat who hasn't been found yet... What the fuck you assholes. Weren't you there in the Darkseid/Orion battle where Ray was coming out of Jimmy. Wait a minute in your mother fucking world this battle never happened because Orion Dies in issue one.

I don't care if Morrison wants to ignore the continuity of these two things (hell i think i even prefer it) but can you please have your other fucking books tie into this and not let your writers pick it all willy nilly (yes I said Willy Nilly)

Oh well more posting later probably tomorrow.

X Factor PHC Maddrox

2008-06-13T10:51:00.004-04:00

Been a long time for one of these motherfuckers huh?

Well today My review is for the first X Factor Premier Hard Cover : Maddrox Multiple choices. (seriously did we need that much in a fucking title this book has two fucking subtitles)

This is written by Peter David and Drawn by Pablo Raimondi.

The art had a classic crime movie feel. This is perfect because that is what this is. Well its not a fucking movie people its a comic Follow me people Jesus. While I feel that this art wouldn't fit a book like (holy shit i don't think marvel has a light hearted book, what gloomy dark motherfuckers they are over there) Superman. It is perfect for this one. A little scratchy at times but not too much and great faces.

The writing is pretty good. I am not ready to anoint Peter David as the next coming of (insert great writer here) he is definitely adequate. ( i think i just heard 1000 fanboys' mouths gaping open). He writes Maddrox very well and gives each dupe such a distinct personality, you know it isn't the original but not so different that it becomes distracting. i just re read that and my writing is very confusing oh well I'm paid to edit not write. (and you can tell by the grammar in my blog that i have duped the fuck out of these people at this job).

The story centers around Jaime Maddrox and his forming of the XXX Mutant investigators. He is basically getting the band back together when a dupe that has been knifed shows up and dies. maddrox , having the ability to get the memories of the dupe, see flashes of Chicago and the murderer and decides he needs to investigate. Well not to spoil to much he finds the killer and all is good including the Cheesy as ending where someone (sorry x folk way to many people for my corroded mind to remember) says "Jaime we changed the name of the agency to something a little different" and we see them closing the door and it says "X Factor" Almost made me throw-up in my mouth a little bit.

The one thing that annoyed the fuck out of me and actually dragged me out of the books sometimes is You could tell that David was going for a film Noir style with the title. You can not only get this by reading the book but David has Maddrox say every fucking moment he can " This is so film Noir." I mean come on man, if your fucking readers are too stupid to not get what you were going for leave them behind. There was one specific issue where it seemed like in a two page spread maddrox says that 5 times. Don't treat your readers like an idiot, i can get it and don't care if someone can't.

Would i recommend this book, Hmmmmmm. Well it is right on the fucking cusp falling towards the good read side. If you can get it at a really good price it is definitely worth the read.

My Weekend of fun

2008-06-03T08:59:00.004-04:00

So this past weekend was spent with the in-laws (yes all of them) and good time were had by all (can you sense the sarcasm in my typing)

All four of my wife's sisters and her parents came over on Saturday and we headed out to long island on Sunday for her grandfathers 80th birthday party.

This is going to be a rant on a couple family members. First off my Father-in-law. This is a man with no social skills whatsoever. He is truly an asshole and i can't stand to be around him. i am not alone in this as his whole family feels the same way. Even his parents questioned my mother-in-law whens she was going to marry him. We were all sitting around BS'ing and doing family shit and all the man could do was look at my book case and pick up books to read. Then after looking around and noticing that there were no seats in the living room, instead of bringing over the folding chair that he was seated on and joining the conversation, he went to his car and went to sleep. He probably would have stayed there all night if my mother-in-law hadn't woken him.

Let me tell you some stories of my father-in-law. In my first trip to Maryland (a 5 hour drive mind you) with my wife to visit them (i had met them before at college but this was going to be the first "sleep over" visit), we drove down there and went to the zoo, he met up with us at the zoo and asked me where we were staying. When i said me and Melissa had a hotel room nearby he proceeded with the "when did you guys get married" rhetoric. I simply walked away my wife walked up to him and said "we're leaving". That's right folks i drove five hours was there for less then an hour and we turned around and went home. (this is a mild story and there are a lot more that are worse but i will save those)

This shit happened all the time. man do i hate this guy. And he gets joy out of being an asshole. He likes causing people pain psychologically. This man couldn't die fast enough (did i just type that). (i just found out what i put there originally might have been construed as a death threat so i changed it. Don't want to go to jail and all)

So they stayed the night at my place. (yay!) Next morning we all plan to leave 9:30 but her sisters are not there yet so surprisingly her parents are ready to go at that time (did i mention that they are notoriously late for everything). I tell him the best way to go. For all of you who don't know the geography of New Jersey and New York, to get from my house to long island is pretty much a straight line if you take the GWB. So anyway we leave a half hour after her parents leave and show up at her aunts house. No parents to be seen. They show up an hour and a half later because he decided to go south and drive through Staten Island and then through Brooklyn. A fucking triangle when you could have gone in a straight line. Fuck what an ass. I believe that is was all done to avoid a $5.00 toll.

And to cap a beautiful trip off my daughter decided all of a sudden to not like Car rides anymore and screamed for an hour and a half each way. Man is that fucking draining. When you go over the GWB there is a sign saying to report suspicious activity. i was going to call on my daughter because at that fucking moment i truly thought that she was some kind of terrorist that used Sound Diversion techniques.

What a fucking hassle.

Well talk to all you fuckers tonight on the show.

My Podcast

2008-06-02T15:32:00.004-04:00

Well it has been out a couple days and I just realized that I didn't plug my own fucking show on my blog.

ME and a couple of buddies decided it would be a good idea to get our opinions out there. My new podcast started last Wednesday with episode negative 3. Yeah you heard that right negative three. That should explain to all y'all the irreverence of the motherfucker.

The show is called the F BombCast and it is released by my good friend James of The Comic Book Savant. IN the first episode we explain the show a little bit, talk about beer, comics, movies, porno, and whatever our little vulgar hearts desire.

I will warn you now thought that this show is definitely NSFW (or for all you jerk offs that don't speak in letters Not Safe for Work)(i used to be part of that crowd and still am. I hate shit that are just acronyms. is our lives that fucking busy that we cannot say the whole words. Then you come across One that you don't know and spend 20 minutes just thinking what the hell the letters can stand for.)

Anyway. Please give it a listen.

You can get it at: www.comicbooksavant.com/cbs/fbcindex.cfm.

Fuck that was annoying, blogger changed the format on how you put links in here and it took me more then the 5 seconds that it normally does.

I am so tired today because my Daughter decided to be an asshole yesterday but just to me and my wife. She was pleasant as can be to the rest of the fucking family. Oh well such is being a parent.

Oh yeah before i forget the podcast also has a blog. it is fbombcast.bogspot.com (there we go back to under five seconds). On this blog you will not only find my ramblings but also the rambling of the co host Mike and Kevin. (Which i am told write a lot like me. Mike writes like me when i am going on a tear and Kevin when i am taking this a bit more seriously).

Anyway, Talk to you all later.

My haul

2008-05-29T14:06:00.002-04:00

What a great week. Nice four issue haul, sun is out, Final Crisis Begins, Podcast coming out tonight, Baby gets up at 5 every morning. Well 4 out of 5 is not bad.

What i got this week:

Final Crisis 1 (my shop only had the Lantern Cover so the decision was made for me on which i would be getting)

Batman

Green Lantern

Action Comics

Well you all know that i needed to get right into Final Crisis as soon as i got into the Fucking deli next store to get my sandwich

This book is written by the holy spirit of my Comics Trinity Grant Morrison, (Would he be anything other then the spirit) and was extraordinarily, beautifully, exceptionally (can i though any more superlatives out there) drawn by JG Jones.

Holy Fuck was this the most fun i have had reading a goddamn comic in a long time. Morrison is starting off in the red (any car junkies read my blog). We start with Anthro just as Morrison said but who the fuck could have expected Metron to be there. OK I now just realized that if you are new to DC Jump ship now because you will have no clue about half the shit that is on this book but you can still look at the pictures like a waterhead a drool so whatever buy it anyway. We then Get into Dark Side (yes that is spelled right motherfuckers) from his Mister Miracle mini in 7 soldiers. We see some demented kids that have learned the anti life. Stewart and Jordan come across the dead body of Orion. The Hall of Justice and the Legion of Doom juxtaposed beautifully. We even get some tattooed man but Not Abel Torent(i think i spelled that right) but i think it was the guy the torant inked in prison during the vertigo series that came out in 1993 (or around that time). I mean holy shit you have had to have been reading everything DC for about 15 years just to wrap your head around any of this shit. We see Martian Manhunter being tortured by the villains. and it ENDS (you see the big fucking word ENDS there that means i am Going to SPOIL the shit out of this. SPOILERS ASSHOLES TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW THAT MARTIAN MANHUNTER IS DEAD)(i guess i shouldn't have typed that last part in big letters. Oh well you know what they say about hindsight).

We are in for a hell of a fucking ride and I am going to enjoy each and every step.

My Haul

2008-05-22T06:43:00.002-04:00

Pretty Average Size week for me. Have I mentioned that the great guy that is My LCS owner has decided to skimp out a little bit and stop including Bags and Boards to Subscribers. He now charges you 25 cents if you want it. He doesn't know it but that has caused me to order more and more on line. Oh well for him.

Anyway. I got

Flash

Spawn

Spiderman

With my hour lunch back i now get to go back to my normal routine which was Get my Books. Bullshit for a little bit with the owner and then go to Jersey Mikes Sub shop and get a roast beef sub and read a book. This week I chose flash.

No everyone I think is in agreement that Flash has been Fucking Horrible lately and if you do not agree with that then you are a fucking retard. (Just kidding... kind of). Well these last two (maybe three) issues have to deal with villain named Spin. All issue this motherfucker keeps saying that he needs to report to Dark Side. I was pissed. I mean not only were they bringing Dark Side back but they are doing it in a shitty book where the author can not even spell the fucking name right.

OK Folks Follow me here. I just Finished Seven Soldiers of Victory by Grant Morrison about a week ago (i would of reviewed it but i am still trying to figure out who and what i read).

In there one of the soldiers is Mister Miracle. No Not Scott Free but some Black Man named Shilo Norman (again i think that is his name but that is the extent of the research you get on this blog). It seems that in the not too distant Future in that book the New gods have Died and been reincarnated as thugs and gangsters. I really don't know it confused the Fuck out of me. But the reason i am bringing this up is that the Big Bad and Controller of the Sheeda from the Mister Miracle series was A big black man named Dark Side. And in this Flash Issue The same black man is there Named Dark Side.

Morrison is a writing genius. So who gives a fuck if you don't understand 7 soldiers that was really just ht e fucking prologue for what is about to happen in the DCU. Morrison had this event fucking planned for something like 5 years and everything else that has happened in the DCU is just to fill time and help people connect the fucking Dots.

Holy Shit i just realised in the puny little brain i have that the Same Artist was on both of these motherfuckers. Freddie Williams II is the artist on Flash and Mister Miracle. My mind is beginning to get blown.

This is going to be a great ride.

My New Job

2008-05-21T06:28:00.003-04:00

Well people i got a new Job.

I am still working for the same company but in a much different capacity..

For those of you that didn't know, I worked (and still work for) a cigar company. I have had a love of tobacco since I was fourteen and when i lost my Job as a stock broker i thought it would be perfect (plus they would hire me which is more then I can say about some Banks). Here's the problem the only job they had open was for a sales associate. Well i took it; got paid shit; worked horrible hours; got very bored. So the next logical progression was customer service. man I thought order-taking was a piece of shit of a job this was horrible. Not only was I still talking to customers but now i was talking to the assholes with problems.

Again Got very bored doing this. So the owners assistant was leaving to open his own store and i was thought of for the position. Flattered, i thought it was great at first. I dealt with the million dollar and international customers. This was great for three months and then Bored again. the problem i was having is that everything i was doing was the same shit just with different people. Well now a job opened up for the magazine, Cigar Magazine, that i didn't even think to apply for.

My supervisor came to me and said (paraphrasing of course) , I need a writing sample because i can tell you are bored there and i submitted your name for the editorial assistant position of the magazine. Well i was shocked. I had no skill sets for this job. My degree is in Finance for Fucks sake.

Well i Interviewed and got the job. This means a raise, working exclusively on a mac, and most importantly the return of my hour lunch.. Yeah remember the post i had a while ago ranting like a maniac about my half hour lunch and all that shit. Well strike that reverse it. I started the job on Monday and for the past two days I have been able to read three comics at lunch as well as eat. Holy shit is this great. I am four issues from being caught up. Good times are ahead for me and the Blog and The podcast. Oh Wait i wasn't supposed to say anything about that yet.

Talk to you later.

My Haul

2008-05-15T09:14:00.003-04:00

Well sorry for this being a day late but i promise you that you will be happy for the reason why:

What I got this week:

Batman
Spiderman

Yep that's it sorry that is was kind of uneventful.

Also on a side note i decided not to buy Secret Invasion. i will wait for all you Zombies (and that is an affectionate term) to read it and let me know if it was any good. I got the Prelude "Infiltration" in trade so i think that getting this in trade would be a good idea.

And i Urge all of you to Subscribe to the Comic Book Savant Podcast because big things are coming my friends. Not only was I on the last episode but there is a lot more on the way.

That is all i will say for now.

Talk to you later,

TJ

My Haul

2008-05-07T13:52:00.002-04:00

Well people yet another week of Nothing. i am so piss poor i cannot think to spend the $12 to get my four books this week.

But here is what i would have gotten if I didn't order online and if I actually had money

DC
Detective Comics 844
Action Comics Annual 11 (i can't believe i am finally getting an end to this fucking story)
Countdown to Mystery 7
Tor 1

Marvel
Amazing Spiderman 558
Secret Invasion 2

Indie
The Boys 18

I am deeply saddened by the Countdown to mystery title. Not because it is bad but quite the contrary. I love the way Steve Gerber put his spin on the Doctor Fate character and his untimely passing will prevent me from getting and end to this tale. Well let me take that back because DC is finishing the story and i think (if i read it correctly) the way they are doing it is classy as shit. From what i have heard is DC is bringing in a whole bunch of guest writers to complete this story as a tribute to Steve.

And for those of you that are completely unaware of Steve i would highly suggest getting the Howard the Duck essential (its only 16.99 at full price people) and give it a read. In my opinion it is one of the few perfect comics.

Talk to you later,

TJ

Penance #5 and Thunderbolts #119

2008-05-04T08:49:00.008-04:00

Todays books are somewhat related.

Lets start with Penance Relentless #5 ( of 5)

This Book is written by Paul Jenkens and the art is by Gulacy.

The art is pretty good. Nothing that says wow i want to spend way too much money so that i can own a page from this book. But is is good.

The writting I thought was great. This is a character that Jenkins "invented" during the bullshit that was Civil War Front line. This is one of the only threads from that story that i enjoyed. A lot of people disliked this story because of the characterization of speedball from the new warriors but i never knew that character so i couldn't give less of a fuck about that.

This story is about Penance defecting from the Thunderbolts after the beginning of his psychological profile. WE come to learn that he is on his way to Latveria and to the Prime person that is over there, Doom. Doom has been holding captive a certain person that is the cause of all Robbies pain and suffering and he wants his last licks at this person. When he gets to him a battle ensues and man what a fucking licking Nitro gets. Really great action scenes.

Next up is Thunderbolts 119

This is Written by one of my Trinity, Warren Ellis and the art is by Mike Deodato.

The art is ok. It is a little too phot realistic for me but man can he draw the shit out of action sequences. Some of the panels with swordsman in this are simply beautiful. On the other hand His Venom looks fucking ridiculous. I mean Venom has more back fucking muscles then is possible even if you are infested with an alien Symbiote. Come on man what happened to the clean look of this villian from the McFarlane Michelenie( i really can not spell). That was a villian that almost every one loved. Now he is just a muscle bound freak that is trying to feed his hunger.

The writing is great. I mean it is Warren Fucking Ellis so you know i was going to like it. He just knows how to write. Each character is unique. I also think it helps that each character on this team is a little crazy. If you ever followed Warren Ellis you know he falls on that side of the crazy line as well.

This story centers around the Swordsman and his growing angst against being controlled by Norman Osborn. In the background of the story is Doc Samson's psych profile of Penance. This story culminates with Swordsman getting his sword back and battling his way through thunderbolts mountain. Great Battles and especially great art in his battle with Venom. If you are not reading this book i would look for the back issues of the ellis run becasue sadly he is leaving the book soon becasue (his words) "he is getting bored by it".

My only problem with this and this is a problem i have with a lot of comics is when the hell is the Penance Mini taking place in regards to this thunderbolts arc. For gods sake it seems like Robbie is the sane one in this story while in his mini he is off the fucking deep end. I love in the beginning of stories a little editorial direction. A nice note like "this takes place after thunderbolts 119" would have been nice. I know that this is a little fan boy of me but Fuck that is what i am and I like my continuity in place.

That little problem didn't stop me from enjoying the fuck out of these issues though and I would suggest that y'all pick this up in trade.

Talk to you later,

New DC Chalkboard

2008-05-02T09:21:00.003-04:00

OK People We have a new chalk board to discuss. This was found on the top of the DC Nation page in this weeks DC comics. One of the most fun things i did during 52 was look over and over again at Rip Hunters Chalkboard in issue 14(i think) and try to analyse everything on there.

OK so this is what is on the board: (i will put my guesses in parenthesis)

In Red on the board is:

Submit (obviously has to do with Darkseid or Mongul)
Evil Won ( see above)
Resist (someone will be tempted but who)
3 Reborn (Barry, Bart, Crispus Allen)

In Black:

Who is Wonder Dog? (unfortunately i think this may be the reintroduction of the wonder twins)
100% Alien (superman going back to his Kryptonian Roots possibly superman of Earth 1)
I Am batman? (Bruce questioning himself or Possibly Dick taking over the mantle)
Girl Fight (Battle between Supergirl and Mary Marvel)
1000 / 3 = 1 (obviously the Legion)
There is no one Yet (i have no clue)
The Traitor among us ( i think that there is some bad dude in JSA)
The Son Rises (Damian or possibly the one Supes adopted or maybe Tim taking over the role of Batman)
He is the Force (Bart Allen)
Mercy Ruling (Monguls Mercy Plants or possibly libra)
The Dead Shall Rise (Black Lantern Corps)
Sightings all around us (no clue)
Who Questions the Question (Libra)
No 2 For you (Someone trying to get to earth 2 but failing)
You can go home again (possibly Prime actually getting to his home again)
He never left hell (Neron or dare I say it Etrigan)
TT Have no Reception (Titans losing a member possibly Tim to become Batman)
First Boy/Last Boy (morrison has already said that the first panel will have Anthro and the last panel will have Kamandi)
4 Times as red (Wally, Bart, Barry and Jay together again)
Murder/Suicide Father/Son (hmmm this one intrigues me alot. I have a feeling it has to do with Damian but not sure)
Post no Bills (no clue)
Rocket vs satellite (could be Rocket Red Returning to take out Brother Eye)
Paper not Plastic (we all need more Plastic Man)
He Wakes the world ends (Black Hand)
No Glory No Gold (could mean a return to his old ways for Booster because he sees that there is no way he can do good without screwing with the time stream but i have a hope because of the Signing of Giffer that this may be a return of General Glory)
Best Woman for the Job a Man ( the introduction of the Olympian)
I Am Bruce Wayne? (Bruce realising that he can never retire because he is really batman and bruce is the facade)
Superman : Red or Blue? ( i only hope that this is not anything to do with what it sounds like)
JSA/1=2 (A traitor in the JSA will divide the time in half)
The long equation on the bottom is the Anti Life Equation.
52-1=0 (one earth is the lynch pin to the whole multiverse)

Well those are my guesses for now. They can change at the drop of a hat.

please comment on what you think.

Talk to you later,

my box from DCBS

2008-05-01T08:42:00.002-04:00

From the comment on my last post it seems that some may have forgotten that i do a lot of my comic Buying on line. Why the hell would i pay full price for something when i can get up to 75% off of it. Also if it is something that i want to make sure i read the week it comes out but i also notice that it is coming the last week of the month then i will order it online because that is when my order is shipped.

Here is what is shipping out for me today:
Single Issues
DC
Booster Gold 8
Green Lantern Corps 23
Batman and the outsiders 6
Salvation Run 6
Gotham Underground 7
Suicide Squad 8
Action Comics 854
Justice League 20
DC Universe Zero (of course i am getting this fucking book you tool but from here it was only 12 cents)

Marvel
Punisher 56
Captain America 37
Thor 8
War is Hell 2

Indie
Zorro 2
Echo 2
Sword 7
Gnome -One Shot-
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 27

Trades
Secret Invasion Infiltration
Faker
Queen and Country Definitive Edition Vol 2

I can't even begin to tell you the savings that have gotten since i began using this service.

Just did a spreadsheet on everything that shipped to me so far excluding the above and if i bought it all in the regular Comic shop it would have cost me $884.07 but with all the discounts that i get from DCBS my total came to

Drum roll please

I don't hear you drum rolling in the back motherfucker

$466.34

That is a savings of $417.73. Can you believe that shit? I mean why the fuck would i buy anything from the LCS that i don't mind waiting for.

Seriously people go to http://www.dcbservice.com and look around. I will post how it works if anyone is interested or you can email (email in the contact me or profile or whatever the fuck it is called on the top right hand side of the page.)

talk to y'all later,

TJ

My Haul

2008-04-30T13:49:00.003-04:00

Well for the most anticipated blog posting of the week.

This week i got

Nothing
Not a fucking thing.
The only thing coming out today that i was going to get was Green lantern but that can wait till next week. (as long as none of you fuckers spoil it for me).

I did read at my Lunch however Dark Ivory #1.

This book is written my Linsner and Eva Hopkins and drawn by Linsner.

The art blew me away. Man can Linsner draw a set of tits. beautiful. The Kind you want to bury your face in and just move your mouth back and forth. So realistic and perky. (at least in my fantasy world). The only problem i have with linsner is that all his eyes are the same. If you are not looking at the actual page you would have a hard time telling if it is Claws, Dawn, or Dark Ivory. But fuck is it Hot.

The writing is pretty good. Every character has a distinct voice. It was a little EMO for me but you know what you are getting when you buy a Joe Linsner book.

The story is about a goth Kid who does not get a long with her family and sneaks out to clubs at night. On one of these occasion she encounters a girl that seems to have her neck sliced open and is screaming about someone trying to bite her. We are also introduced to a couple of other ancillary characters as well as Esque the Vampire(who was one of linsner's original characters from the Angry Christ Comics).

If you like Vampire Tales, Goth kids, or nicely drawn tits this book is for you.

Talk to you later,

TJ

Cousin Oliver Theory

2008-04-25T12:34:00.003-04:00

OK here is something that I see going on.

If you don't read Lying in the Gutters then some of this may be spoilers for you. (That is if you believe anything that lying in the gutters puts out.)

We all know Grant Morrison is a crazy Fuck. Well Rich Johnson in his Lying in the gutters rumor column on comic book resources reported that Grants original plan for Final Crisis was to Kill all of the Heroes and make them into legacy characters. The original heroes would become the new gods of the Fifth world and there mantles be taken over by the legacies. Supposedly DC went a little nuts and said "Grant please stay off the acid for a minute."

Well I just realised that sort of subtly DC has added kids to the mix of three of their big characters. First Damian is brought into continuity for Batman also at the end of one year later he officially adopts Tim Drake. Next we have superman and the boy he found in the Johns Donner action issues. I believe there was talk of him adopting the kid but who the fuck knows because that series came out a year and a half ago and is still not fucking finished. And lastly we have the Flash Retard twins. Add these five to Roy (Green Arrows Kid) and i see the potential for the original storyline.

I mean why go the pains of giving these people family unless you are going to give me the joy of reading these families getting torn the fuck apart. Maybe the report of DC going crazy was just put people off the trail and this may still be their plan. Fuck what a crazy idea this would be.

Then again we all know what a debacle the atom/monarch story line became once that got leaked so maybe DC is trying not have that happen again.

Well just some food for thought.

TJ

Batman 675

2008-04-25T09:53:00.003-04:00

Today's Review is Batman 675

I really feel like being lazy so you can forget me going and finding the cover art, saving the shit and then posting it here.

This is written by Grant Morrison and the (ahem) art is by Ryan Benjamin.

Holy shit is the Art fucking bad. Bruce Wayne looks like he should be in an old persons home. I truly believe that this motherfucker got bored drawing for the night and decided to play tic tac toe with whoever he lives with. They must not of had paper so he decided to use the latest batman pages he was working on. Forgot to erase the lines from the game before he sent them to the inker and that is who they got in the book. Or maybe he is just that fucking bad. Either way thank god Tony Daniel is back next issue.

The writing is great and really saved the fuck out of this issue. i mean it is Grant Fucking Morrison. You either love him or are Nancy Reagan. ("Just say No" god i stretch for jokes sometimes and i bet they aren't even funny to most people.) I think my buddy Kevin Summed up Morrison in a recent call we had. When asked if he liked the issue he said "It was great." I asked if he like the writing and he said "I never understand Morrison but i know i like it." Again i am paraphrasing because i fucking feel like it (you gotta problem with that the next blog button is right on top of the page.) (I don't really mean that but i feel Feisty today.)

In the issue Bruce is out to dinner with his love interest. a Fucking Great Villain that has Eyes in all his Fingers comes in and decides to Fuck shit up. Bruce lets his batman persona come through even without the cape and cowl. His new love interest realises what we all know. Also some shit goes down with Talia and Damian as well as with robin and Nightwing.

Next up Batman RIP and if lying in the gutters is correct (which is almost never) then we are in for a helluva ride.

Just had a little revelation and will post on that later.

Talk to y'all later,

TJ

Twitter

2008-04-24T08:59:00.003-04:00

So I signed up for twitter now.

I truly have no clue what the fuck it is or what i am doing.

You can follow me by visiting http://twitter.com/gardnerisgod. (man that sounds creepy).

I think that when i have shorter condensed thoughts i can put it on here and it will be sent as a txt message to everyone who subscribed but really I have no fucking clue.

(great salesman aren't I)

Can you tell i haven't drank my coffee yet this morning.

Talk to you later,

TJ

My Haul

2008-04-23T13:49:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone. Sorry about no post last week. Kind of hectic and wasn't in the mood.

Anyway this is what i got this week:

Countdown 1
Batman
Spawn

Now Last week i got Countdown 2 (obviously) and i loved it. I mean of course there were little things to question but sometimes i think that people get too hung up in continuity and forget we are basically reading fantasy Fiction. The battles scenes were great as was everything else in the issue (IMHO)(god i hate that initial shit sometimes i am on forums and spend more time wondering what the fuck those letters stand for then reading the actual post). The last battle between Orion and Darkseid was fucking unbelievable and I loved the art.

I thought this was going to a universal consensus so i posted on the CGS Forums "holy fuck was that a great issue" (actually i could give two shits what others think i would of loved it either way) but i was very surprised when the thread turned against me. Man did people hate that issue. The best reply to me was From VinceB (former host of the Bullpen Bulletins Podcast) who wrote (and i am paraphrasing because i am too fucking lazy to find the quote and use the hyperlink to the thread) "You must have got the special incentive Variant where they take the cover of countdown and put it around a comic that is actually good. Bag that shit fast because it will be worth something". Hilarious indeed.

So this week i open my bag and pull out countdown 1 which i expect to start off right where the last issue left off. Not a fucking chance. What a piece of Shit of a comic. Motherfucking DC has done it to me. This issue felt like the little credits you see at the end of a movie that tells you what the characters are doing now. (and this has only worked twice ...Fast Times and Animal House). The Art Annoyed me because every fucking guy had the same damn hair. I mean the only difference between looking at Olsen and Palmer was that Palmer had slightly Browner hair.
Fuck i bought 52 Motherfucking issues to get left with this bullshit. Oh one thing it did do is set up a new series with the five characters i couldn't stand in this shit. Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Forager, Ray Palmer, Jimmy Olsen are know the Watchers who Monitor the Monitors.

So let me get this straight; The gay Artist Lantern, The Wonderwoman that isn't wonderwoman but is sometimes still in continuity but not always, The new god that no one knows, an Annoying sidekick with catch phrases like "Golly Superman", and the fucking atom. Fuck man what a waste of good paper. i think Al Fucking Gore should be all over these assholes for wasting the energy and paper resources that it took them to come up with this.

Good thing you have some commodity built up with me DC otherwise i would cut you out like i did Marvel after Civil War. (i know they were shaking in their boots over that one).

Fuck I'm Pissed,

Talk to y'all later.

TJ

Echo #1

2008-04-20T08:14:00.003-04:00

For the rare Sunday review I will be talking about Echo #1

This is Terry Moore's First big project after he ended is Legendary indy run on Strangers in Paradise. He does everything in this book.

The art is Pretty good. It didn't make me proclaim him the next Kirby or Jeff smith Even but it was serviceable. Some people act this man

god among indy creators but i Hope it is not for the art. (then again i am judging this off of one issue, I am a judgemental fuck aren't I)

The writing was pretty good. The story moved along at a decent pace. People had there own voices but if it wasn't paired with the art i sometimes wouldn't been able to distinguish a few of them.

The story starts out at a military out post where it seems they are testing out some sort of war suit. The last test comes in and it is a missile test. The person in the suit needs to be hit with a missile out check the durability. Things go awry and next we are focused on a photographer that happens to be in the area of this test. She notices an explosion in the air and little metal pellets dropping all around her. The stick to her and she goes home and the seem to assimilate back into the suit but this time on her.

I say seems because this is one of the problems i have with the book. I understand it is indy and most indy books are black and white. This helps cut down on cost (and stays true to the art form , Man). But when you are dealing with Black and white you sure as shit better be drawing the fuck out of the book so i can distinguish different things. Towards the end of this book the Photog picks something up and it seriously looks like a Snake that a elementary student would draw. I had no clue.

My second problem with the book is the choice of paper stock. I know i am being a nit picky bastard right now but i seriously thought that DCBS sent me a coloring book by mistake when i picked this up. My wife thought that too and actually asked me "Are they doing Color your own comics now". Again i understand when you have a smaller print run Economies of scale come into play and you sometime need to cut somethings but Holy shit was this bad.

I have the next two ordered and will let y'all know if i stay on it or not (because i know you live a die by my pull list)

Talk to you later,

My Haul

2008-04-09T14:36:00.004-04:00

Pretty Good week this week at the LCS:

Countdown 3

Amazing Spiderman

Doktor Sleepless #6

And From last week: Action Comics.

So last night i had a conference call with a bunch of friends that we disguise as talking about previews. We actually talk more about our lives then the actual comics but thats cool.

Through the conversation my one buddy Mike mentions to me and James (comic book savant) that he feels like we are taking ourselves a little too seriously. He said to him (and i am paraphrasing because i cannot remember what i did five minutes ago never mind what the fuck was said last night) we were not having fun reading our books and seemed like it was a job. I blew this off thinking "no fucking way".

Well today at lunch i was reading Action comics. As i was reading i found my head nit picking all little things. Thinking in my head how campy this thing was and how there is a million ways i could put this book down in a funny way. Here's the Rub: I was smiling the entire issue because i was loving the campy goodness.

If i start to view this Blog as a job and not fun then damn it i need to hang up the keyboard. I have a motherfucking job that i get paid too little to do ill be damned if i am going to have one that i don't get paid for.

Mike (redjakk),

Thank you for pointing this out to me. i actually enjoyed my books like i haven''t in a while.

TJ

Raging Bullets

2008-04-08T14:33:00.003-04:00

As you all know I am a big fan of podcast.

One of the Podcast that i listen to and love is Raging Bullets. This is a DC Centric Podcast that is hosted by Sean and Jim. I met them for a very brief time at episode 300 for CGS. Truly two of the nicest guys you will ever come across. Also two of the most positive guys you will ever come across.

This takes me to today's post. If you read yesterdays you would know that i am really down on the Flash series that is currently coming out of DC. Well I was listening to Episode 64 of raging bullets and they were also talking about the same series and the exact issue i was.

These positive fuckers (and i am saying that as the highest praise because really do like these guys) were praising the book left and right about how they are focusing on the family aspect of the book.

Now this is how good these two guys are. As they were reviewing the issue i began to doubt my own review. For Christ sake maybe the book is good. I must be missing something. These guys were having me doubt my own opinions. Holy shit i didn't think that was possible.

I don't know if you two read my blog but Holy shit you guys are two of the most positive people when it comes to titles but I know that you are not blowing smoke up your listeners asses because You always have well thought out reasons as to why you like a book.

I love your show and will always be a listener. And i also suggest to all my readers that are not listening to this show at least give one episode a shot. You can find it at http://www.ragingbullets.com/.

More later,

TJ

Salvation Run #'s 2, 3, & 4

2008-04-07T15:33:00.005-04:00

Todays second batch of reviews are Salvation Run #'s 2, 3, & 4

Salvation Run #2 is written by Bill Willingham and the art is by Sean Chen.

Sean Chen is hitting it out of the ballpark with the art on this book. Man can this man draw his fucking villains. It really is fantastic.

Willingham writing is OK but sometimes I think the man is in love with his own words. I mean he by far not into the self love as much as a Claremont (i mean christ sometimes i think chris claremont has a bottle of KY that directly comes out of his pores) but i feel like he doesn't trust the artist to complete the story for him.

The story is getting there. I really didn't love issue one but it was already preordered up until 3 so i though i would keep trying it. This issue centers around a lot of B listers still finding there way on the prison planet. The saving grace of this book is the Characterization of the Joker towards the end which i think is spot on.

Issue 2 and 3 are written by Matt Sturges and the art is still by Sean Chen.

The art seems to be getting better and better here. I truly think that issue four was amazing.

Now the writing i was expecting to be lackluster. I mean Willingham is an established writer and Sturges i never heard of. ( then again until a few years ago i never really paid much attention to art or writer so I'm sure there are tons of people that i never heard of). Boy was i wrong. Sturges seems to be just as good if not better then willingham in this book. he really lets the art do its job.

The story now shifts the villains into two camps. Either Jokers semi Psychopathic group that want to control the island or Luthors scientific group that wishes to find a way off. It really is a great analysis of the two villains groups. Plus issue four is a monkey battle Royale and how the fuck can you go wrong with that.

I was kind of hoping that this book would be as bad as Gotham underground because then i was going to completely stop buying any mini and if i heard anything good then i would later buy the trade.

Oh well it is not like i wouldn't buy Reign in Hell that features Etrigan on the cover of #1.

Talk to you later,

Flash #238

2008-04-07T11:28:00.003-04:00

Todays review is Flash #238

This book is Written by Tom Peyer; Art and Cover by Freddie Williams II.

The art is great. IF you have seen and FEW II art you know what i am talking about. There are some pages I would love to buy if i had the money. I wish Freddie was doing more books in DC because i would buy them in a heartbeat and this is why the ending of this review hearts so much. (more later)

The writing is ... well it is there. I guess it is OK. I fell asleep reading it. I thought maybe i was just tired when reading so i decided to give it another go today. Yeah same result. I was almost late for work because i found myself nodding off in my car.

The story centers around a new villain. To tell you the truth i don't remember his Fucking name that is how good this book was. Earthquakes happen the Fucking kids are worried. Wally is worried about money. He lets that slip to the media and now everyone hates him. Some other shit happened but to tell you the truth i truly did not give a shit.

No those that know me know that the flash is my guy. Between him a green lantern ... well as long as these two books are good everything else DC could be utter shit and i would not care. Why can't anyone write good flash stories anymore. It seemed like a great idea to bring Waid back on but that was complete nonsense because it felt like he had an agenda to push the Fucking twit twins down our damn throats. It was like he was saying "I wrote all the flash stories i wanted to write. This is just a gimmick anyway having me write this again. Lets make this more about the kids". Then i found out he wasn't going to write this anymore and i was actually happy. Then the fill in writer was Keith Champagne. This man is quite possibly the worst writer in Comics next to (and maybe equal to) Chuck Austen. Now Tom Peyer and I am this fucking close to not reading Flash anymore. My only hope is that in Final Crisis that crazy fuck that is Grant Morrison decides to sacrifice the kids and also the spoiler about the leader of the Black Lanterns. (read LITG on comic book resources if you want that info)

Flash i have almost tapped out. Please come back to me.

My new toy

2008-04-03T11:18:00.010-04:00

OK folks as i hinted at yesterday i finally got my new toy.

Here is my brand new 24" 2.4 ghz iMac. This thing is fucking gorgeous. I've had to wipe the drool off the keyboard many o fucking time. (OK maybe it wasn't drool but that is what i tell my wife).

I know i mentioned this before but let me state again, when it comes to tech shit i am a complete moron and i truly was expecting on setting this up all night long.

First it came at the worst possible time. Tuesday. This is the night that my wife works late so i have to look after the kid for the evening until bedtime. Let me just say that she went to bed a little early this night.

So the first thing i do is take out the monitor and attempt to install the RAM that i purchased. My buddy Dave left me his small screw driver set for this because not only am i a tech moron but i cannot even do the simplest DIY stuff. You know how a lot of you had fathers that taught you how to build things well my father taught me how to pay someone else to do it. I didn't have a fucking screwdriver in the house. Well none of the screwdrivers fit exactly and i kind of had to rig a flathead to fit in there. I got the ram in no problem and was amazed at myself.

So next i set it up and turn it on. Check system profile and it says 4gb RAM installed. Great job done. Next thing i do is check the Hard drive because i heard of a lot of people getting HD upgrades on the refurbs. Well i paid for 320gb and they shipped me the 500gb. This shit never happens to me. i was truly expecting that they would have forgotten to put the HD in or something fucking wacky to comp for all the people getting the bigger ones.

Next i plug in the Ethernet and it automatically finds the network. great. Next step plug in the printer. Luckily i found the mac disk for the printer and was holding it in front of the screen ready to put it in. As i was going towards the drive the damn computer tells me that it found my printer and had already downloaded the proper drivers. Holy fuck in heaven nothing works this easy for me.

Since this is going so smoothly i say what the fuck and try to transfer files over my network from my Windows laptop to iTunes and iPic. I read a lot about how to do this and how i need to find the computers ip address and input it into some fucking menu and then hit transfer and then (wow i am typing and then a lot) find the appropriate folder on the mac. Well i set up file sharing on the laptop, go to the mac, open finder and the fucking folder is there already. i simply drag the folder into itunes and all of my music is imported . The same with the photos.

Seriously people. i think everyone should have one of these. This is the greatest computer for someone who knows nothing about computers because (get ready for the cliche..... Ready......Are you really ready) "it just works".

Now before i got my iMac i heard of this thing on youtube called "unboxing porn". i thought it was the stupidest thing in the world. Why the hell would people watch a video on people just unboxing there new macs. Yeah well after watching these for a day straight i was amazed that i was getting that funny feeling in the nether regions. So here are some of the components of the iMac for anyone that would be interested

Keyboard. Look at how thin this motherfucker is. I mean yeah I am a fat fuck with huge sausage hands but still this thing is fucking thin. Amazing shit. In fact the only problem i have with the computer is that they made the cord on this bastard too short so i cannot have it on my slide out drawer Oh Fucking well

The Mouse . Yeah nothing i can say about that. Just a plain old Mouse. Fuck that man this is the Mighty Mouse. Yeah i know just marketing but i feel for it.

The remote. This thing is beautiful. You can control slide shows, movies, music and (man i just tried to think of something funny to say and was failing miserably in my own head so i will spare you the ridiculous humor). Great little thing.

And the screen shot. 24" of beauty my friends.

Lastly here is the complete shot of the whole thing yet again.

Sorry about such a long post and if you got through the whole thing may the lord Jesus bless you and all your heirs.

I know it is funnier when shit goes wrong for me but Fuck a man can get lucky sometime.

Talk to you all later,

My Haul

2008-04-02T13:37:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the no Hy haul posting last week.

I'm sure you will get over it.

My Haul this week was OK:

Spidey 555
The boys 16
Countdown 4
Detective 843
Secret Invasion 1

Now to all you marvel Zombies out there I have a question. I ordered Secret Invasion Prologue from my online source. I have read nothing of this. I still want to see what is happening in the marvel U so i thought i should get on this event. I won't be getting my prologue until the end of the month. Do you all think that i should wait to read that before i read issue one of this?

I also refuse to buy any of the tie in that i am not already getting. Civil war is one of the reasons that i no longer buy a lot of Marvel. I purchased 93 comics for that fucking event. I also love how Marvel put on the cover of the main book. "A marvel event in 6 parts" Fuck you. Man i am getting fucking pissed off all over again.

So here is my plea to all of you Marvel Zombies. Every week in my haul I will end with a question about what happened in the Secret Invasion tie ins. If you could please answer me in comments that would be great. Please do not spoil the books i already get.

The marvel books i get are:
Captain America
Amazing Spiderman
Thor
Punisher Max
Thunderbolts

Thats it pretty much. So if you can help me out it will be great.

Thank you.

TJ

Gotham Underground 4 & 5

2008-04-02T10:58:00.006-04:00

Sorry about the long break between post. I have been busy at work and god knows i don't do this in my free time. Actually busy at work is sort of a misnomer. I have been busy at work studying all things Mac and Apple as my computer arrived last night and what a fucking machine that is. Well let me do some comics things and possibly tomorrow i will post some pics of my new sweet ass computer.

Lets start today with a two for one. Gotham Underground #4 & 5

This book is Written by Frank Tieri; Art by J. Calafiore & Jack Purcell (yeah i just copied and pasted that because that is the type of mood i am in.

First i will do the basics then i will go into a fucking rant.

The art is very good. i really like how the characters are drawn. (how is that for basic.

The writing is OK. Each character does have their own voice (and there are a ton of characters). There is nothing that keeps me going though other then i have ordered till 7 and i feel like i am pot committed.

The story is about the criminals of Gotham trying to figure out who is in charge and Batman going underground to try to find the same answer. A concept that should be great but i feel like it is not being executed as well as it could be.

Now the things that are pissing me off. Take a quick look at the two covers that i posted. Robin and nightwing right. Can you guess what role they had in these two issues? I bet you can if you know me. Not a fucking thing. I feel like Calafiore said to editorial "i can draw the fuck out of nightwing and Robin. This story is based in Gotham. How about we make those two the covers?" Hopefully editorial came back with "Well Jim those two characters play rather minor roles don't you think a pic of the criminals that play a role would be better?" Calafiore would then come back with "I guess" and then go crying and pouting into the corner until they allow him to draw the covers he wants. I don't know if that is exactly how it went but in mind it is.

The other thing that pissed me off is that in issue 5 they decided to make all the panels into little puzzle pieces and to be fucking coy with me by removing the puzzle piece that would be in front of the face of the character that would be the big reveal. Fuck you this is a gimmick that belongs in a child's book. it is not original and it drew me so far out of the story that i could have been reading the greatest book over all and would still have been saying to myself "why are all these fucking puzzle pieces all over the place". Very sloppy and very annoying.

I would not recommend this book. i would not recommend the trade.

Well I will talk to you all later.

TJ

My Haul

2008-03-20T08:35:00.003-04:00

Yet another very slow week,

Countdown
Spiderman
and
and
and

nothing else (do you like the build up for the word nothing.. Damn i love the drama the intrigue the fucking anxiousness).

Actually i was supposed to get The Flash but Diamond forgot to send them to my LCS. Seriously If i was a company that just filled this very small (lets admit it folks our hobby is not this huge thing anymore) niche market i would really try not to fuck up as much as i do. This is why competition is good. I am sure that if there were two distributors a good number of LCS's would jump ship (i truly am speaking out my ass here but i have a keyboard in front of me so that means i know what I am talking about). The amount of times that Diamond has Fucked up my stores shipment is amazing. I was also talking to a friend that gets his comics his comics from Midtown in NYC. This is one of the biggest comic shops in the country. One week Diamond seriously shorted them on Countdown. I mean if you cannot get your major accounts right how the fuck can the little guy expect to get things when they come out.

Oh Well

Talk to you later

TJ

My Next Major purchase

2008-03-19T09:13:00.004-04:00

OK Folks being that this is my blog and i can talk about anything i fucking want i am going to talk about the next major purchase in my life.

I am jumping off the PC bandwagon folks. I am going to be getting an iMac once my refund check arrives. (the tax credits you get for having a kid are amazing).

Here is my dilemma. I could get a bright shiny new iMac with a 320 gb HD, 256mb ATI 2600 pro Video card, 1gb RAM (more on this later), and a 20" screen for5 $1499 plus tax and i think i will get the applecare as well. Or I can get a refurb 24" with the same configuration for the same price.

My buddy Dave and I were in a mall on Sunday looking at the two screens and he convinced me that there was no reason to buy the 24". I really just looked obnoxious. But the more i think about, i am an obnoxious type of guy. i love to have bigger (fuck man I'm Irish i need to compensate for small with all my major purchases)(in case that flew past your head yes this will be an extension of my penis). I can Upgrade the Ram (still more info to come) I can upgrade the HD with an external one but you cannot really upgrade the screen size on an imac unless you want to connect a second screen (which even for me would be bawdy and excessive).

So i ask all my readers which would you go with? Are there any mac users in my reading audience (Ali i know you are) that can give some advice. Also would any of you recommend any of the dummy books for switching from PC to OS X. I truly have no clue what i am doing.

Now to the teased RAM bit. Apple only puts in 1GB sticks in the machine. I really want at least 2GB and was going to have apple do this as I am all thumbs when i comes to this shit. So i was looking at their pricing and saw that they were charging $100 bucks for a 1GB stick. OK what ever if i want it i want it right.
Well after a little research i find that i can basically get a 4GB kit from reputable online sources for Roughly the same price. What the fuck does apple think i am a fucking moron. Who the hell would pay for them to put in a 1GB stick when you can get 400% more for the same cost.

Oh well if any of you have nay advise please let me know.

Talk to you later,

TJ

All Star Batman & Robin #9

2008-03-17T12:29:00.002-04:00

Today's review is All Star Batman and robin #9

In case you live under a fucking rock or don't read comics (why the fuck are you reading my blog) this book is written by Frank Miller and Drawn by Jim Lee

The art is amazing. Seriously i have a lot of anger towards Jim Lee. The man is never on time. He cannot do more then one book at a time. I mean holy fuck WildC.A.Ts #1 came out in November 2006 and we have yet to see #2. A sixteen month delay fucking blows and not the good type of blows that you pay $100 for in the meat packing district (i believe it is now known as Chelsea so the fucking yuppies will buy real estate and make all of NYC out of the price of any normal human being). This is the type of blows you get for putting you foot under the bathroom stall (unless you are in to that sort of thing). Where the fuck was I, oh yeah the art. The art in this book is amazingly good. Jim lee can draw a fucking book. Is it worth the wait? Probably not but i have waited and i am going to finish this book to the end.

The writing (and i am writing about this issue only) was great. it seemed a little less edgier. Miller has finally shown that Batman has some sort of heart. He didn't write the Green Lantern as a Huge Vag like he did in previous issues. This time he was just a small teen vag.

The story for this issue centered mainly on robin. Batman and robin are interviewing Green lantern and Hal says somethings that offend Marv...oh shit I mean Batman... and Robin goes crazy on his ass, putting him inches to death. It is at this point that batman seems to realize that he has gone about things a little wrong. He then stops robin and begins to teach him that this is not how we should do things.

The one thing that made me ecstatic about this book was the omission of the word God Damn (i guess two words). Every other issue has batman calling himself "the God Damn Batman" repeatedly almost to the point that you think that Miller has forgotten to write any other word. The simple Leaving out of this phrase in this issue was a breath of fresh air and made me want to read it again.

I cannot recommend this book to everyone but if you are up to this issue then why not stick around for the last 3. i mean we will probably see them in 2012.

Talk to you later,

My Haul

2008-03-12T13:54:00.003-04:00

This could quite possible be the smallest post in my short history

My Haul this week is

Spiderman
Countdown

yep thats it folks. i couldn't spend money even if i tried.

I am not currently buying trades because of the wildpig sale going on at the end of the month and i really didn't need anything else.

Oh well i will try to spend more money later

Talk to you later

TJ

My problem with countdown

2008-03-12T09:50:00.002-04:00

OK People. i know a lot of you have jumped off of countdown. i have convinced some to stay (kevin I'm looking at you big guy) and they are happy they did.

The writing has been fantastic. The story is really picking up and i believe editorial has listened to everyone and really changed the pace from "the spine of the DCU" to the 52 style "here are some b+ character that are very important to this story and we are just going to talk about them". OK fanboys don't get you superman undies in a bunch. i know Kyle Rayner, Darkseid, Ray Palmer, et al are not the b listers we saw in 52 but they are still not the cream of the crop characters. Hell Rayner is not even the third best GL. (i know i will take a beating for that one but my fucking forum name is gardnerisgod).

My problem lies withing the art (and sometimes editorials decision with it). I have liked not loved the art in almost every issue (except i think maybe 10(?) where i threw up in my mouth a little bit). What my problem is is that it seems to me that the artist have a grasp on most of the characters but there is always one that when i first see them i have to ask myself "who the fuck is that?".

I just finished issue 8 in the car at work this morning and jimmy olson looked fucking ridiculous. I am a fan of Magno's art for everyone else. That motherfucker can draw a mean Ray Palmer but holy fuck this guy is one of the main artist on this book and he still cannot grasp how to draw Olsen. When i saw the first panel with him in it i was thinking to myself " I am reading an old issue of the Newsboy legion and Olsen is 12". He truly looked like a pre pubescent little boy. I mean for Christ sake this guy is one of the Top photographers of a Major Newspaper. There is no way he just hit puberty last week.

And before any artist get mad at me i know ding group books like this are hard and especially if you are not the only artist. I don't expect everyone to look the same as each artist has their own style and That is something i love. Hell if each artist looked the same then we wouldn't go crazy looking for sketches and original pieces. But for fucks sake can you at least make the kid the right age.

Well that is my rant for now. Back later with my haul. (I've checked what i am getting already and that post should be very small.

TJ

RASL #1

2008-03-07T12:48:00.004-05:00

Today's Review (hopefully first of a couple but lets not get ahead of ourselves) is RASL#1:

This book is written and drawn by Jeff Smith.

First the Art. Man do I love Jeff Smith's art. It has a simple style that is amazing. One of the things that i noticed in Bone and also somewhat in this is that his character images are a little simplistic (I'm sure that they are not easy to draw but they seem that way) but the contrast of these simple lines with the backgrounds that he draws is amazing. I have not read Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil (i heard there is some allegorical political stuff in there that really would not mesh with my ideals) but i am still thinking of picking it up just to look at his art.

The Writing is pretty good for a first issue. Not a lot of dialogue and it is mostly told in narration boxes. For some reason i am always drawn to books like this. It gives you a little info on the main character and it is enough to draw you in. The only complaint i have (and man is it minute) is i think a little more could have been offered to the reader. I was left wondering a little too much when i finished this story. for a first issue of a completely new story you really need to through the readers a bone on what kind of story you are going to tell.

The story is centered around an art thief named RASL i think ( i don't believe they ever actually come out and tell you that). He is talking about how all this thievery used to be hard before he tapped into the drift. The drift is kind of explained as a way to jump through inter dimensional worlds. (again a little more info would have been nice). We next see him on what looks like a normal world and entering a bar where he needs to combat how tired he is after the "Jump". While in the Bar he see something strange in the Juke Box that makes him realise he is not on the right dimension. After this a lizard creature comes in and begins to shoot at him. He runs and goes to a roof top where it is kind of explained that Drifting takes a lot out of you and there is no way you can do it twice in a day.

This book Just misses being perfect. I am looking forward to the next one and hopefully things will be explained.

Talk to you all later

My Haul

2008-03-06T08:34:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone. Well after my huge apology and saying that i will be more active on the blog i go away for another three weeks. Truth be told i was on vacation for three weeks to spend time with my daughter. I found out the great thing about babies. they sleep a shitload and that means daddy can play a ton of Video games. I am now addicted to Call of Duty and Halo. Online play is quite amazing and addicting. More on this sleeping thing later first to the comics I bought this week.

I didn't get to go out the the shop last week so this is two weeks worth of shit.

Action Comics 862
All Star Batman 9
Batman 674
Detective Comics 842 (anyone think i will be sick of batman after this week is up)
Countdown 9 &8 (i was so tired when i was reading these that i almost read them out of order Fuck you DC with your backwards numbering)
Green lantern 28
Amazing Spiderman 552
The Boys 16

Well so my wife Was home with Katie for 12 weeks. My child likes to scream a lot and i was very stressed out about watching her. We were following this book called the happiest baby on the block that insisted that we needed to do these things called the 5 S's (Side, Swaddle, Sssh, Shake, Sucker punch oooops i mean Suck). The thing is Katie seemed to hate this but would calm down eventually and fall asleep. We thought it was because these 5 S's were working. So my wife had to put up with this like i said for twelve weeks. Oh have I mentioned that when My child is unhappy there is no crying just all out screaming like we were ripping her arm out by the socket. My wife was stressed and actually happy to get back to work.

No Comes my first day with her. I'm taking acre of her all morning and holding her and feeding her like any good papa would do well fast forward to noon and she is screaming bloody murder at me. I am hungry and decide I'm not putting up with this shit any longer I'm going to put her in the bed screaming and Have a Cigarette and make myself a Tuna Sandwich.

About half way through the Tuna Sandwich i sense something that i haven't sensed all morning. Quiet! Turns out she put herself to sleep. I am happy about this (after checking on her of course to make sure she is OK). She then proceeds to sleep for three hours. i tell my wife and she doesn't believe me. So that night instead of destroying our nerves we put Katie Down without any S's (well that is a lie we still swaddle her.... the moron doesn't realise her arms are at her sides and sometimes she will punch herself in her sleep and wake herself up. I mean c'mon Katie you act like such a baby oh wait!!!) So she resist for a little bit but me and my wife go into the living room and low and behold 5 minutes later the crying stops she is asleep and she actually sleeps for 10 hours through the night. It has been like this ever since.

So I am a happy father and Life was fantastic during those three weeks.

Talk to you all later in the day probably

TJ

My Haul

2008-02-06T14:22:00.000-05:00

OK People I have been very lax in getting things up here. I just have not had the time to read that much and i try not to review to many things because i do not want to spoil that much.

Anyway here is my pick up this week:

Countdown
Amazing Spiderman
Detective Comics
Spawn
Doktor Sleepless
The Boys

Those last two are anbelievably good comics. If you don't read indie books i would suggest you gave those two a try. if you only like capes books then pick up the boys for a whole new take on the genre. If you like science fiction then Doktor Sleepless is something that you will want to read and re read every month.

I also got my DCBS box yesterday and it was the biggest one yet.

The highlights out of this box for me is:

Thirteen Steps (one of my top five books in a while)
The Sword (this takes another top five spot)
and Comics Now Magazine (I mean come on there is a 20pg article on Crisis on infinite earths in it)

I plan on reading a lot more and peosting a lot more in the coming weeks because i will be off from work until the beginning of march. I know i will be spending a lot of time taking care of my daughter but there are naps thank god and i will try to pry my hands off of the XBox controller.

Talk to you later,

TJ

My Haul

2008-02-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Hey all This has been the week from hell:

What i got this week:

Countdown
Batman
Green Lantern
Superpowers
Action comics

Well this week started off with Me being sick on monday Tuesday i found out about Brother Mikes Death, Wednesday was the wake, Thursday the wife threw out her back so i had to go home early to take care of the kid, Today we had an ice storm and i fell at work but not good enough to go home and in the process spilt my starbucks all over myself. Yeah thank god this weeks over.

Oh But the best thing i have ever purchased came yesterday. XBox 360. I want to explain my laziness to all of you. I have been debating to get this system for a while now. I really didn't have the money but i am not responsible so that did not matter to me as long as i could hide the expense from the wife. After talking it over with a bunch of friends who have the system i was still slightly on the fence (but my fat ass was slowly falling towards the side of buying it). Well my birthday came and went i a got enough money to actually buy it and what threw me over the fence was my friend Joe explaining to me that you can turn the console off and on from the controller. Man what a useless fuck i am. It wasn't the great games, The graphics, The sound that sold the system to me but the fact that i didn't have to pick my fat ass off the couch in order to turn the system on. If that is not the epitome of laziness that i don't know what is.

Oh yeah if any of you want to join me on Live my gamertag is mrpalmer420.

Talk to you later

TJ

RIP Brother Michael Dwyer

2008-01-30T08:45:00.001-05:00

OK Everyone; For those of you looking for my normal vulgarity laced diatribe on why i can't stand the world, you should look away. This is going to be a very heartfelt post.

Many of you just know me as an avatar on a forum; some have met me face to face and all of you I consider friend. Let me give you a little glimpse into my past.

I went to High School at an all boys pseudo-prep school in Lincroft NJ named Christian Brothers Academy. The time I spent at this school I consider the best moments of my life. I have met friends there that I will consider my closest confidants till the day I die (Kevin I am looking at you, you big lug). It was also during these years that i met my best friend even though he didn't go to school there (Dave please take a bow). It was also during these years that I learned all the life lessons that made me for better or worse the man I am today. This school helped me learn the morals and ethics that i still use today and realise things about myself that no where else in this world has been able to teach me.

The two main influences on my life in this school were (and this may surprise even those closest to me as I keep a lot about myself very close to the vest) my sophomore English Teacher Sean Nunan and Brother Mike. Sean Nunan taught me to look outside the exterior of things and really see things for what they are. He taught me not to be afraid to search out the true meaning of things and also that things can mean different things to different people. But this post isn't about him it is about a larger then life individual named Brother Mike.

Brother Mike was the Assistant Principle of Student Affairs at the school while i was there (but i think that title has been changed to sound better because i always knew him as the Dean of Discipline.)

He was always the one you were sent to if you were found doing things that were not good for your image or the image of the school. When I say large then life I mean just that because Brother Mike was a towering individual. He was at least 6 foot something and had to weigh close to 400lbs, but this man seemed to float on air. There were a lot of jokes among students about how Brother Mike didn't have feet under his vestments because it seemed like he just glided to where ever he knew there was going to be trouble. If you were doing something that you ought not to be Brother Mike always seemed to be standing over your shoulder right at the conclusion even though he was no where to bee seen at the beginning.

He was also known for giving very flowery speeches and talking in a lot of metaphor. There was a time when a lot of my fellow classmates where letting their studies fall to the wayside and Brother Mike gave us a speech about how when we entered the academy we were flowers waiting to bloom but how he saw the flowers dieing around him. Over and Over again he would say "Do you remember the beautiful flowers". There was another funny story from the beginning of that semester when he first noticed the drop in grades and he ended his long speech with " There were 69 failures Gentleman ... 69 of them" And he repeated that over and over and being the sophomoric morons that we were all our class could do was crack up every time he would say the word 69.

During my Junior year i started to hang out with the wrong crowd more and more. I was acting like a moron. Getting deeper and deeper into a world that I had no business being in. After Lunch one day Brother Mike took me aside (more like pushed me to the side against a locker) and said to me "Mr. Tunnington.... I would watch the company that you 'hang' out with. People will begin to judge you against those people and i know you are better then that." For this man to take that special interest in me before i was even in deep trouble (at least in the schools eyes) was very moving to me. It was after this point that i began to hang out with the people that are my friends today and left the others behind. It took me awhile to completely rid myself of them but I eventually did and now I have stronger relationships because of it.

Brother Mike,

You may have died not knowing how influential you were to me (hell you were probably influential to every student that walked through those doors.) But I will miss you, big guy. Please know in death that you were loved and highly thought of. Without you I would be a completely different person.

My Prayers go out to your family and to you. May God take you into his arms.

I love you,

TJ

PS If any other readers have brother Mike stories (i really only know of one reader that would) please post them in the comments.

My Haul

2008-01-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

Well this is my haul this week (if you can call it that)

Countdown
Amazing spiderman

I was amazed that i only had two issue waiting for me. I would of loved to shop around as these are the weeks that i usually like to buy some trades but thanks to my limited lunch i could only get what was in my box. So not only is my work hurting me but it is now hurting the economy.

Lets look at it like this. If i had a full hour i probably would have picked up two trades that i want. For examples sake that is $40. Now lets say my LCS owner goes to a poker table (he is a bit of a gambler) with that $40 and parlays it to $1000. Now he takes that $1000 and decides to put that in a savings account for his daughter for College. His daughter now takes that money and uses it on a medical degree. With that medical degree she then finds the cure for cancer. My work is in essence stopping the cure for cancer.

(on the other hand what if he loses that $40 to a crackhead at the table who then needs more so he holds up a liquor store. During the hold up he shoots the owner of the store. i guess you can say my work has stopped a murder)

Fuck it it is my blog, My work is Pro Cancer (fitting that i work for a tobacco company).

TJ

My new obsession

2008-01-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

OK everyone i have a new TV obsession.

Those that know me know i am a reality TV Junkie. I have switched to a brand new obsession on my TV viewing habits.

GHOST SHOWS

Damn have been missing out on these fucking things. I started with the premier of a new show on A&E "Paranormal state". This show follows around the PRS which is a group out of Penn St. The leader of this group is a little weird but he seems on top of his game when it comes to this shit. They get cases and go to peoples houses and conduct what they call "dead time". The frequently enlist the help of other "professionals" such as Medium Chip Coffey and the freaky ass woman that was the demonologist that investigated the Amyttiville horror (i know i am spelling that wrong but i truly do not give a fuck). They also bring in psychologist and counselors for the families as relief for them but also to see if they are the real deal. The thing i really like about this show is the fact that they show them researching the house and the area and give you a little history of the things that went on there that can be causing these activities. The thing that is the negative is that this show and group seem to go into things already with the preconceived notion that the place is "haunted".

The other show that i love is "ghost hunters on Sci Fi network. This show follows and organization called TAPS as they too investigate the paranormal. This group seems a little more sophisticated then the last group with the technology they use. Although they do not go into the history of buildings a land what i do love about this show is the fact that they go into the investigation trying to disprove the paranormal. Grant (one of the founders of the organization) summed it up best when he said that if you go into a place trying to prove it then anything you find can be linked to that but if you go into it trying to disprove then you logically try to put reasons behind some of the occurrences and if you have no explanation then it must be something different.

Paranormal is on A&E on Monday nights and Ghost hunters is on Wednesdays (I think. To tell you the truth when you have a fucking tivo you never really know when the fuck things are on. the magic tivo elves magically deliver my shows to my hard drive .)

Talk to you all later

My Haul

2008-01-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

OK This week was a relatively light week

Countdown
Amazing spiderman
Spawn
Flash

Since it was light and my LCS was painfully slow (sometime i really feel bad for the guy because he is that nice of a guy) I picked up Justice league A New Beginning.

This is the trade that collect the first seven issues of the Giffen DeMatteis (bwahaha era) Justice league. This trade was 12.95. DC has decided to put this in Hardcover format for release later this year for the fantastic price of 24.95. Come on people are you that hard up for a fucking hardcover. Seriously, Double the price for a new dust jacket. What kind of asshole does DC think we are.

Oh well i will get back to my nothing day of work while i think about all the trouble i will have with my iPod later tonight.

TJ

Rant about my iPod Touch and iTunes

2008-01-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

OK people here is another rant about something that i do not know if anyone cares about but like i said before this is my fucking blog so if you do not care then "this is not the post you are looking for" (if you got that reference you are just as big a geek as me.

Yesterday was the big Mac World San Fran. This is where Steve Jobs makes his Keynote address and introduces all the new things going on at apple at the moment. The main thing that i was wanting to hear was the fact that they will be including the iPhone apps to the interface of the Touch. Well i got that but for $20.00. I am going to complain a little bit about that but please note that even though i am I will still be getting them. Come on Steve, $20.00 fucking dollars. I just paid $400 for this fucking thing and the goddamn update is $20.00. New ones that come into the store are going to have these fuckers right on them and i also just read (on www.macrumors.com) that existing ones in stores will be discounted $20.00 to account for the cost of the fucking upgrade. Why are you charging me if you are letting people buy it now for basically nothing. Fuck that pisses me off. Oh well i will pony up because this is what i wanted.(The mail app in particular is sweet so I've been told (more on that later).

So i get home from work yesterday with the intention of starting the whole process. I sometimes forget that i have a child and new responsibilities. Usually on days like this (read before Katie) i would plop in front of my laptop ignore the world including my wife's nagging and go to town downloading and updating. As soon as I walk into the house i am greeted by a fantastically horrible sound (it was the sound of reality crashing into my fucking face) of my baby screaming. To digress a little, much like her father, my little girl does nothing in moderation. there is never just a little whimper. It is always full out screaming like i was beating her with a bat. Seriously we have a cop that lives upstairs from us in our apartment complex and i am surprised that he hasn't called DYFS yet on us because it really does sound like we are doing horrible things to her. But anyway back to my day. So my wife hands me Katie and says "Do you want to change her" like it would be the highlight of my day (and it usually is because with a breastfed baby the most daughter/father time i get right now is on the changing table). So i put her on the table and start to clean her up and then she gets this big fucking smile on her face and shoots shit right into my fucking hand. I had a hand full of piss and shit and she is happier then i have ever seen her. It is quite an amazing sight. If there was a Olympic event for projectile shitting she would hold the World Record. I mean there are times when she can clear at least 6-8 inches with a stream of shit, I find it hilarious my wife not so much. Well back on topic.

So after the fun of changing my daughter i get started on the computer. I will time line this for you as i find it easier to type (and this is all about me):

5:30 Startup computer and load iTunes.
5:37 Wife comes out of the bedroom and states "You know i wanted to use the computer to email some people"
5:38 log off and give wife the computer. Go get Dinner.
6:15 Eat Dinner and make pouty faces until wife gives up the computer.
6:30 re open up iTunes and start the 7.6 update.
6:55 After 25 minutes realize that nothing is happening so i decide to stop that download and update the firmware on the ipod
7:15 iPod updates but the fucker states it encountered a problem and now needs to be restored.
8:00 after numerous cigarettes and much cursing i realize there is no way of getting around the restore and all my music will be wiped out and need to be resynced.
8:20 try again to update itunes before i resync
9:00 i give the fucking thing 40 motherfucking minutes and nothing.
9:15 Decide to try to download through apple.com and that seems to be working. (well at least it is giving me updates on what it is doing) I like when status bars are telling me what is going on for all i know though it is saying "Steve Jobs is masturbating to a picture of a 12 year old Brittany spears" but it is nice to see things change on the screen
10:15 I realize that this must be a huge fucker because shit is still going on
11:00 it get really close to the end of the progress bar and a message pops up saying "iTunes is now raping your mother" what no i mean "iTunes has not installed correctly CD's put into drive will not import correctly. To be able to do this please re install itunes" I am thinking I really do not need to import anything now so i will handle this later. All i want to do now is start the resync and go to bed (by the way my sync takes hours becasue i have a lot music and I am a phish and Grateful Dead fan so a lot of it is 20-30 minute jams)
11:15 it finishes and prompts me to restart my computer.
11:30 computer restarted and a new message pops up "iTunes is now done with you mother and is getting it on with your father" Which means "iTunes not installed correctly please reinstall"
12:00AM after much more cursing i try again
1:00AM nothing is going on
2:00AM i say Fuck it and go to bed.

Now I am at work with no podcast, no music, no new apps to play with. I have to listen to the droning voices of all the motherfuckers around me. Fuck Well i will try again tonight

Talk to you later

TJ

Amazing Spiderman #546

2008-01-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Todays review is of Amazing Spiderman #546

This is written by Dan Slott and the art is by Steve McNiven.

The art has blown me away. McNiven needs to do more work (as long as he can keep a schedule). He really knows how to draw both peter and Spidey. And i don't know if it is because of the last arc but I am loving the lighter tone to the art. Seriously does Joe Q have stock in a black marker company.

The writing was as amazing as the art. The only other Dan Slott book that i have ever read was Arkham Asylam Living Hell and i felt that was just Meh. (I just realized that an expression like meh should never have a exclamation point. I mean who would scream something like that.) Slott mixes in a perfect amount of comedy, action and drama into this comic.

OK The story. Man was a ready to hate this. I really wanted to despise this comic and run screaming to the internets telling people that jumped off of Spiderman that they made the right choice. I really wanted to be done with this comic after my preorders were done. Well ................................ I loved it (did you expect me to say anything else after that many ellipsis.) Thank god i had this preordered because after the mess that was One more day i surely would have told my retailer to stop putting this piece of shit in my box. What you need to do is go into this with a fresh outlook on Spidey. As long as you can forget the past to any certain degree then you should enjoy the Fuck out of this comic. Peter is back to being a lovable loser. he lives with his aunt with no job because he left (or was fired i don't remember) from the Bugle. Spidey has been out of commission for a while and without peter working there the Bugle is in a lot of trouble of folding. Harry is still alive and they explain his disappearance as him living in Europe and running a company over there. They go out clubbing and Peter is mugged as well as the roommate of Harry's super hot girlfriend. Peter cannot change to spidey fast enough and he ends up chasing the mugger into a soup kitchen the Aunt May is volunteering at. I know i am not doing this book any justice but trust me it was fucking amazing.

What i did is basically forgot the bullshit that was OMD and went into this with a complete fresh mind.

Detective Comics #840

2008-01-10T14:44:00.000-05:00

Today's Review is of Detective Comics #840

This is written By Paul Dini and the Art is by Dustin Nguyen

The art in this book is OK. I mean it is not going to blow your socks off but who would want that in the fucking winter when it is cold and most of you body heat leaves through your head and feet. i would want to keep my socks on as long as possible. For Christ sake maybe we need to get warmer socks. I live in the North east and it can get pretty fucking cold up here (not for that last few days but hey you know what i mean). So for keeping my socks on i say thank you Dustin. It is times like this in the frigid weather that i thank god for not getting an Alex Ross book or a Kubert book or even a chaykin. I need to stay warm people with my socks firmly in place.

The writing is fantastic. Dini has been very spotty lately. When he first started his Detective run (can i call it that even though this fucker has had so many fill in writers that it makes me sick(seriously i get ill and vomit whenever someone other the Dini is writing it)) everything that he wrote was so spot on that i think i was getting a little spoiled. The somewhere in the middle we would get the occasional good issue followed by pure mediocrity. Well this is not just good and it is not just great but it is Fucking great.

The story is the direct epilogue to the piece of shit that was "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul". God damn was that a horrible comic experience. And making me buy all those fucking other issues. I never want to read Robin and Nightwing again. Great plan DC lets have a crossover that is supposed to get more people buying other books but lets put some real shitty writers on them. Smart move. Anyway. Ra's is back and has decided set up shop in Gotham. This makes batman None to happy. A fight with ninja;'s ensues and i really don't want to say too much more because it would spoil what was an amazing ending.

If you like good Ra's stories or are a batman fan pick this title up. It will wash the bad taste out your mouth of the Resurrection story line.

My Haul

2008-01-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well today (with my new handy dandy 1/2 hour lunch) i had to make the decision Comics or Lunch. Yeah suffice it to say right now i am fucking starving.

Here is what i got this week:

Countdown
Simon Dark
Green Lantern Corps
The Boys
and ......(drum roll please)............ Amazing Spiderman

Yes OMD Sucked. I am preordered for at least the next six issues of this motherfucker so what the hell. I think them putting it out three times a month right after OMD was brilliant.

Joe Q is no moron. He has to know that a lot of people preorder their comics. so with the delays and everything that means you had to basically preorder two months worth of the comic after he destroyed Spiderman's Continuity. Normally people would say " Oh Fucking well I am now out $6.00 for something i could give a shit about." but no by making it thrice monthly now i am out $20.27 ( yes i am anal and added in the Tax).

Nice marketing plan. As much as i hate it it is fucking Brilliant.

Talk to you later

TJ

Umbrella Academy #4

2008-01-08T16:05:00.000-05:00

The next review for today is Umbrella Academy #4

This book is written by Gerard Way and drawn by Gabrial Ba.

The Art work is some of the best that i have seen in a long time. It is so perfectly matched to this story i can't even begin to think of another artist on this book. Ba has a style much his own but you can see some influences in it as well (Mike Mignola pops to mind).

The writing is also amazing. Let me start by saying that (in case you didn't know) Gerard way is the lead singer of the EMO band My Chemical Romance. I hate EMO. I can't stand all their whiny lyrics and how all the fucking music sounds the same. I went in on this book thinking that maybe i wouldn't like the first issue and i would be able to save myself the 2.99 monthly even though the concept is pretty cool. Damn if i wasn't wrong. This motherfucker know how to write a damn god comic.

This story takes place with a group of foster kids that were brought up by sort of mad scientist that brought out the special powers in all these kids. Collectively he referred to them as the Umbrella academy and individually he referred to the just by numbers. The last of them was thought to have no powers except for the ability to play a damn fine Violin. Well while the other six are being attacked she is basically pushed aside as she has been all her life. It is then that we learn that her musical talent has the ability to make a sound that will end the world (can we say brown note people). So in this book we see her kidnapped and transformed into something quite different.

Don't let your prejudices about the music influence your comic buys. This is a damn fine comic and something that is a lot better then some of the things that the "Big 2" are putting out.

Talk to you later.

Animal Man Vol 1

2008-01-08T13:41:00.000-05:00

Todays reviews start off with Animal man Vol 1.

This is written by Grant Morrison and the Art is by Chas Truog, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood.

First the art. It is OK. Nothing that blew me away but definitely serviceable. It is typical late 80's art. Kind of flat with very little shading. The hairstyles drawn will most certainly date the comic as I think it was a rule that every 3rd person needed to be drawn with a mullet back then. If i was going to give this any sort of rating then i would have to say a 6 out of 10.

Writing. Well you all know of the hard on i have for Grant Morrison and my wish that he would just put the ph# of his dealer in one of the letter columns. i mean he doesn't have to come out and say this is where i get the Primo LSD that helps me write this shit. Just a subtle hint in there for those of us who wish to en bide in that pleasure can get a hold of the man. Compared to the last book that i reviewed by him this is far less trippy (thank god my head would quite possible explode if it was more) but it is still amazing. He just knows how to pace a book.

The story was great. It is basically following the life of Buddy Baker, Former superhero now stuntman in California as he is trying to get back into the superhero game. This book follows a lot of liberal causes that i really do not agree with but Grant doesn't let politics really get in the way of great story telling. For his first mission he is hired by a lab because when the lead scientist came in he found all of the monkeys have been let out of there cages and not run away (no that would be far too fucking normal for a Morrison penned book) but have been fused together into a pile of monkeys. So now there is just a mass of monkey arms heads and legs in a giant blob. Truly freaky shit. The middle issue is the trippiest of all as it deals with a Wile E Coyote type character that dies goes to heaven and meets god. I really cannot wait to read more of this.

Pick this up just for pure enjoyment of things that can be done with the comic medium.

Just a rant about work.

2008-01-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

Well i was informed today that the execs in my office have decided to cut my lunch in half. For someone that has been trying to decide whether or not it is worth it for me to work after my wife goes back they are making my decision a lot easier.

Not that anyone cares about this but this is my blog so, what the fuck, i will get things off my fucking chest when i need to so i don't go postal on this motherfucker.

The only people to get 1/2 hour lunches in this jerk off of a job are the simple order takers and Customer service people. When I got my promotion a year ago i was given the hour lunch which was perfect. I was informed that since am still employed by the "order taker" department I should only get what they get. Never mind the fact that they are only talking to run of the mill assholes over the phone and the guys i talk to routinely spend $1mil + in orders or are from Europe and i have to broker the logistics of getting things shipped to them directly from Nicaragua or the dirty dirty DR.

I just took my half hour lunch and being that i didn't bring a lunch today i was left with the quandary "What can i get in a half a fucking hour"

Well here is the List of things i cannot do:

- go to Starbucks and get a coffee so i can stay awake in this boring motherfucker

- get McDonald's drive through without trying to eat it in the car and nearly kill all the other lemmings that are trying to get back to work on time.

- On Wednesday, go to the comic shop and get lunch (wonder what my decision will be there)

- get my wife's paycheck for her while she is out on Maternity leave because her work refuses to get into the 20th (yes i said 20th) century and use Direct Deposit.

- Go to the local diner and enjoy a greasy burger while i read my new trades

- Read more then one comic and wind down from a half day of dealing with assholes.

Well in protest i will be doing nothing today unless absolutely necessary. I am going to in essence be taking a 8 hour lunch and the worst they can fucking do is fire my motherfucking ass. that too would make my decision of staying home with my beautiful daughter that much easier.

Fuck everyone in the place especially the penny pincher assholes that are in the exec offices.

Oh and here is the clincher of the fucking thing. My direct boss is the owner of the place. i am sure that they didn't even go through him about this and most likely if i did it would be changed but then i will look like i am going over peoples heads and going right to him. Fuck why do i have any integrity at all.

Talk to you later

TJ

My Haul

2008-01-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

Well it has been fucking forever since i did this but Here is my haul for this week (and i don't know if you remember or not but i am lazy so i will not look up the numbers of what i got so if no number is listed it is the most current one.)

Countdown
Detective Comics
Doktor Sleepless
Ultimate Human

It was a very light week so i decided to give that last issue a try.

So Raise you hand if you stopped reading countdown.

Now Use that same hand and beat yourself senseless until you are now retarded and need someone to use a drool cloth for you.

This Book for the last couple of weeks has been amazing. I know that it took fucking forever to get here but this issue was soooooo fucking good.

The Juxtaposition of the two Jean Lorings was amazing. the art was perfect. Everything about this book was good.

Talk to you later,

TJ

the birth details

2008-01-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

OK Folks.... as you know by checking on this blog from time to time over the last month, the Birth of my Daughter has really rocked my world and basically has caused me to put my life into a standstill unless it involved her ( this unfortunately meant this blog and my segment on Comic Book Savant.)

I don't know if anyone cares about the details of the birth but hell i will give it to you. This will basically be a time line.

3:30 PM Monday 12/03- go into hospital for final ultrasound and bio physical. This was to prepare for the scheduled induction on Thursday

4:30 PM - We are about to be sent home when the tech says she wants a radiologist to check something out.

5:30 PM - The tech tells us that there seems to be a lot of Amniotic Fluid and we need to get a Non Stress Test done upstairs.

6:30 PM - I notice that instead of going into the NST room they are putting us in a labor and delivery room but think nothing of it. (hell maybe the the NST room is too small for two people)

7:00 PM - The midwife comes in and says that because of the abundance of fluid. "Why not just start inducing now". Well, My Wife and I are both procrastinators and we had nothing done, no packing or anything.

7:30 PM - I go home to pack and it begins to snow to only make things that much more fun.

8:30 PM - Get back to the hospital and while i was out they inserted a catheter into my wife and not into the bladder but into another fun place for her. (I am sure she loves me giving out these details good thing she doesn't read this)

5:00 AM - She finally gets to sleep after learning to deal with all the Pain of the catheter. This means that i finally get to sleep as well.

7:00 AM - We are woken by the nurse to start the induction (you heard right people 2 hours sleep...Good times)

8:00 AM - We decide to do laps around the floor to try to help things out but it seams like nothing is happening. She is contracting but not feeling anything and not dilating.

11:00 AM - She starts to feel contraction but the are not that bad she says "I think our plan for a natural child birth will work"

11:15 AM - After calling me an idiot and telling me to get away from her then yelling at me for not being next to her, she calls the nurse and asks for whatever drugs they have available. not knowing when the anesthesiologist would be able to get there the give her some narcotics. To their surprise the epidural guy comes in 15 minutes later but my wife is so doped up she sleeps through a needle being put directly in her spine.

12:00 PM - Wife falls asleep and sleeps through all the huge contractions. ( i begin to wonder if i could get an epidural for fun)

5:17 PM - The real labor begins

7:17 PM - My daughter is born. After being weighed they say that she is 9lbs 8ozs and are amazed that a 5'4" 120lbs women could deliver such a huge baby.

Well those are the birth details if anyone is interested.

More comic reviews probably Monday.

Talk to you all later

TJ

The Invisibles Vol 1

2008-01-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

The next review for my marathon of getting back on track is The Invisibles Vol 1 Say you want a Revolution

This Book is written by Grant Morrison and Pencilled by Steve Yeowell and Jill Thompson

The art is there. You know when you look at a Vertigo book you are expecting a different type of art then you would expect from a DC Proper book (or any superhero book). Well that is what you get with this book. It isn't the greatest but there are some panels that look very good. It is what it is standard Vertigo Art.

The writing.... well where do i start. Grant Morrison has either the greatest drug dealer on the face of the Earth or he makes his own acid in his bathtub. Either way i need to find out why this motherfucker is not sharing. For the things that come out of this mans head to be from a clean a sober gentlemen ... well then the mental institution must have a standing reservation. Wow what a fucking tangent. Back to the writing, It is great. As far out as this thing is i finished it in two days because it was paced that well.

Now the story. Again where do i start. Have you seen the Matrix. Well the Wachowski Brothers (they are still brothers right) should be paying Morrison something because they stole there premise from the beginning of this book. This book follows a Juvenile Delinquent who get put in the a Detention center. This Detention center is something out of Clockwork orange where they are more interested reprogramming then just helping. Now hold on to your seats because here is where it starts getting really fucked up. it seems that the head of this hall is in league with the evil spirits in the world. The Kid gets out and encounters a homeless man which leads him down into a abandoned subway tunnel. he introduces him to smoke a blue mold on the wall where the kid starts to see the true nature of the world (sound Familier) and learns that he is being recruited into a covert organization called the invisibles that is trying to get rid of this evil. He accepts after much questioning and the first mission they go on is to time travel out of a windmill to renaissance France to recruit the Marquis De Sade. I really do not want to go into much more but I will let you know that there are people in gas masks involved that eat human entrails and the decapitated head of John the Baptist (no i am not kidding).

I have already bought the next trade and cannot wait to read all of them

Action Comics #860

2008-01-03T09:14:00.001-05:00

Ok The first review after the baby hiatus is Action Comics #860

This book is written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Gary Frank

Holy shit it has been so long since i did one of these things i forget how to start the fucker.

The art is amazing. Finally someone is given the chance to put his own take on the superman "figure." I have never read anything that was drawn by Gary Frank before but fuck if i am not going to search this guy out now. The lines are so good and the facial expressions are amazing. I truly believe that i would be able to read a wordless story just drawn by Frank because his faces tell that much of the story.

The writing is very good. I am a Johns fan. I am enjoying everything that he is writing. There are some people (Jason in NC) that think that Johns is bringing back the silver age but i believe they are wrong. Johns is bringing back all the old continuity and telling great stories with it. He is not bringing back the campiness but just the old ways the characters act (and in some cases the old characters).

The story is about Kal-El being recruited by the Legion to go into the future where the earth has turning wonky (that is a technical term). The new earth hates everything foreign. The Justice league has spread propaganda that Superman was really Clark Kent and not a Krypton Alien. They have been told that everything the Legion has told them is wrong and they are to hate them because they are "different." Here is also the rub, in the future the yellow sun has been burnt out and has been replaced by a red sun so Superman that has been brought there has no powers. ***************SPOILER*************** The end of this book has Superman going to Brainiac's planet and it looks like all shit is going to go down.

I am not a superman Fan. In fact I avoid most Superman comics as I usually just cannot stand the way the character is written. That being said, I Love this book.

For all you people like me that really do not want to read a boy scout manual every month try this book.

An Apology

2008-01-03T08:42:00.000-05:00

I want to say a hearty apology to any readers that may still be checking this blog out. Since the birth of my daughter i have not posted anything.

This will be changing. i will go back to my regular schedule of reviews and rants in all my vulgar glory.

I hope i still have some readers and i promise to try to show you new content on an almost daily basis.

If you still are reading this Thank you for sticking with me.

Talk to you all later

TJ

Meet Katelyn Scarlett Tunnington

2007-12-05T01:15:00.001-05:00

Its a girl

Marvel Editorial Pisses me off as well

2007-11-29T15:01:00.000-05:00

Don't want to bash too much on DC editorial without bashing Marvel as well.

Just finished Sensational Cry baby (oops I mean Spiderman) this is part 3 of the One more day story line.

I know this Joke is cliched and I am no where near the first person to say or type it but they really should have called the Story line "One More Buck".

Why are they charging me one more dollar for this piece of shit. For Gods sake it is no extra Fucking Story a little OHOTMU entry and a reprint.

This last thing is what pissed me off today. They bill this as (and I quote) "Special Bonus: a classic reprint of the first appearance of (spoiler if i say character name)". This was a classic Silver surfer story and is great. I am really getting into this classic story and am looking forward to the end of it. But no they decide not to give me the FUCKING ENDING. The put nicely "For the Rest of this story please check out the silver surfer omnibus. This was nothing more then a fucking advertisement. Please don't call an ad a special bonus. YOU ARE A COCK TEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This reprint is just one step above the stupid Goldfish ad or the Ballpark hot dog ad.

The other thing that pisses me off is that not only is this an advertisement but it is an ad for the Most expensive way to get this other story. For the record I can get this story for the $75.00 that is in this omnibus, 49.99 in a marvels Masterworks, or even 16.99 in the Essential Silver Surfer. Fuck You Marvel. How about pointing to all avenues to read this fucking thing. maybe then you will sell a fucking book. After you just Bent me over and shoved your greedy hand up my ass you have the balls to ask me for 75 more dollars. Much like the DC thing if i had a life and didn't research some of this shit then I would have no clue and might think that the only way i can get this is for 75 bucks.

Well I am getting very angry now.

TJ

My Haul and why DC Editorial Pisses me off

2007-11-29T14:01:00.001-05:00

OK well the day is finally here ( no not the bay silly heads comic day)

Here is what i picked up at my LCS this week:

Countdown
Batman
Goddamn Batman (formally known as All star batman)
Green Lantern Corps
Sensational Spiderman
Criminal Macabre

If you read my last post about how stupid i am then you know that i read countdown already. being a creature of habit though meant that i could not have the Roast beef on a Thursday though (I think the world would end if i did this) i went with the tuna.

Countdown was fucking great. this title keeps getting better and better.

I would use this time to talk about the Virtues of this issue but instead i am going to bitch about this little thing that was in the end feature of the Villains.

The Villain Spotlighted in this weeks issue for the Backup was Deadshot. It was good but when you get to the end and it tells you Key story lines The second item it list is Showcase presents Suicide Squad. FUCK CAN EDITORIAL GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!!!!!!!!! I mean we all know that this book was taken off the fucking table to be printed sometime in 2008 (yeah right). When the book was supposed to come out they still had it up on the DC website as shipping that week. This pissed me off a little bit but i know that the DC website is quite possible the most out of date website on the net. Hell they actually had Green lantern as Coming out weekly a while ago when it was being delayed only because they had no fucking clue when it was coming out.

But this is a different story. This is in the pages of one of the "flagship" books. The Fucking Spine of the DC universe as they like to call it doesn't even know that DC is not putting this book out. If i wasn't someone who followed shit i would of asked My LCS "Gee Moose (that is the guys nickname) this Deadshot seems like a rollicking good read. They list the Showcase presents Suicide Squad as a good grouping of stories to read. Where can i Find it." I can't believe that they would point readers (and I have to believe that the people reading these things are mostly new readers that do not know of the characters) to a book that does not exist. Why not point me towards the McFarlane Capullo Batman Spawn as well.

Well that is off my chest.

Talk to y'all later.

TJ

Why don't I listen to anyone

2007-11-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

Well as noted in a lot of post (as well as the one right below this) I listen to a lot of podcast.

There were so many podcasts that were warning people that comics will come Thursday this week but i thought this couldn't be. How could a holiday the week before fuck up the schedule for the coming week. Mind you i work for a mail order company and know that UPS was not doing anything on Friday unless it was an air package.

I left my house this morning and did not bring a book. i went to the ATM to take out my comics and lunch money. (i have a ritual where right after i go to the comic shop i go to the sub shop next door and read countdown over a nice roast beef sub). When i first got into work i went to comiclist.com and printed out the Checklist of books i wanted to get from the LCS.(not looking at the top of the checklist with tomorrows date). and was already to go at lunch and pick up my books.

I was listening to Indie Comic Book Noise hosted by Bruce Rosenberger(sorry if i mispelt the name there Bruce.) which can be found at www.comicbooknoise.com. In this great podcast he started out by warning us of the delay. I thought Fuck I hope this isn't true. So i went back and checked the list and noticed the change of date on top.

FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!! this has thrown my schedule off for the week. i am a person that hates change in any way. No i am left here at work with no book to read a lunch or anything else to do but my actual work.

Guess i will have to blog more.

TJ

Hear my Grouchy Voice

2007-11-28T09:15:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

So you've read about podcast and my love of listening to them at work. (It is a great way to drown out the voices of all the assholes you work with and fill it with comic talk). But i don't think i have ever truly talked about my favorite podcast (and the one that I am a very minute part of).

The Comic Book Savant is James Harris. He does a single voice podcast that is based out of NC. He doesn't actually have a focus like raging bullets is DC or Marvel Noise is Marvel (duh) but more talks about the medium, what he is reading or watching, reviewing trades, and getting his community involved.

He is my best friend in podcasting and always has a supportive voice for anything that i am doing. I met up with James at the CGS 300 event and we got to talking about my blog and his show and how they can compliment each other. He came up with the great idea of me doing a segment on the show to help promote my blog. I don't know if he originally intended it to be weekly or not but i have made it so.

So if you like reading my blog then i know you will love his podcast. I started doing the segment on his trade your pick episode 10 and have gone pretty much weekly from there.(i missed one week but hey shit happens).

You can get all these episodes at http://www.comicbooksavant.com/cbs/episodes.cfm.

Please if you are reading this blog and have not given him a shot do yourself a favor and download an episode or two. you get to hear me and one of the best single voice podcast out there.

Talk to you later

Thirteen Steps #2

2007-11-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

The next review for today is Thirteen steps #2

This Book is written by Hester and Satterlee and Peciled by Mellon.

The art is great. It is in black and white and usually i am averse to this but this book has changed my opinion on this. The art is a little cartoony but it fits perfectly with the story. I love the facial expression and how distinct they are.

The writing is very well paced. I kept wanting to read the next page and I also found myself wanting for more when the last page was turned. What more can you ask for in a story.

The story is very unique. We have a small town Baseball player that is unhappy with himself. We follow his family and his love life as well as his interaction with his religion. Oh one thing i forgot to mention is that he is a fucking werewolf and after he does a kill he is incredibly remorseful about this. It is due to this remorse that he seeks out a step program for the unnatural. In this issue we follow our protagonist through his many tribulations and the end is an amazing scene that happens in the woods. Fuck i want to say more about this but i really don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Support an indie title, people. this book is really good. And if you do not like horror books then still give this book a try because i think it is more about the relationship of the hero (if a werewolf can be a hero) then it is a horror book.

maybe more later.

Brave and the Bold #8

2007-11-27T10:28:00.000-05:00

Today's review is Brave and the bold #8

This book is written by Mark Waid and Pencilled by George Perez

The art is amazing. it has that really clean George Perez style that we all love (or should love dammit). Very clean lines, very defined, not scratchy at all.

The writing is pretty good. Even though all of these stories do have a connecting arc they are all basically one and dones. In that vain it is written very well; meaning it does have a beginning middle and end. I usually like these types of stories as a change of pace from the long story arc's that we are now used to. Does anyone remember a time when the long arcs was an event and everything used to be this type of story.

Now to the story. I was not going to get this book any more because i am trimming my budget and unfortunately i am stuck in so many over reaching arcs that the one and done is the easiest thing to chop of the list. I go into my friendly LCS on that Wednesday with list in hand and notice that the title is a Flash story. Fuck i say to myself (quite loudly to the owners dismay), i really would like to read this. So 2.99 later i am the proud owner of this comic. Here were my hopes when i bought this: 1) a good one and done flash story 2) learn a little bit about the doom patrol because i have never read anything by them before 3)since it is sort of out of continuity i would be free of the baggage that is going on in the current Flash title. Well I truly didn't get any of these (except number one kind of). Let me start at the end; We have all of the baggage of the current flash run the Fucking retard twins are in this god damn book more then the Doom Patrol. This wasn't really about the flash or the doom patrol at all but about the Fucking kids. I hate these kids. i don't know if Waid is trying to get us to feel for the kids like we did for impulse but I don't think it is working and the death of these two would only make the reader happy. Please Mark. lets leave the kids at home and give us the FUCKING WALLY STORIES WE WANT. Sorry got a little angry there. i think i have touched on all three points by just going over the last one 1) more of a one and done Flash Kids story (minus) 2) Doom patrol just used a plot device to try to find out about the kids (minus there) 3) It seemed to fit right into the continuity of the current Flash Title (minus there).

Oh well i think i can now safely drop this book. What's that they say at the end; hawkman is going to be in the next issue. Well maybe i will give one more a shot.

Talk to you all later.

TJ

American Flagg! 1-3

2007-11-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

Okay for the Black Friday review I will be doing The first arc of American Flagg!

This is a series that was put out by First Comics starting in 1983.

It is Written and Pencil by Howard Chaykin.

The art is fantastic for the time frame that it was drawn in. If you compared it to some of todays art then you might find it a little lacking but if you remember that this is 1983 then i think you will be blown away. the thing that i think is so innovative even by today's standards is the way sound effects are drawn into the panels and this is a Chaykin staple. He will draw the sound effect as part of the art. i really wish i had a scanner to show you all if you have never seen it. For example one scene has a motorcycle pulling away and the screech marks are the word screech in stead of having that word somewhere else in the panel. (Fuck its hard to explain this.)
The writing is amazing. Each voice is incredibly different. The plot moves perfectly. It really was a page turner for me.

The story was weird but if you like futuristic almost apocalyptic tales then i fell you will really enjoy this book. It takes place in the year 2031 and life is not as what we would expect.(maybe it is if you see how things are kind of going now a days.) Television rules the country and has become its police force. The television company is called the Plex and the police force is the Plexus Rangers. Our main character is a washed up soap star name Ruben Flagg. He has been replaced on his show "Sexus Ranger" by a CGI version of himself because computer graphics do not age. In his forced retirement from TV Ruben decides that he will become a real cop and is the new rookie on the force. Through his training and first few days on the job he notices the high amounts of corruption that is involved in this form of government and he feels it is his job to fix it. There is a large amount of sex and violence in this book and it really should not be read by the younger crowd. For example as a gift for his joining the force he goes up to his room and is approached by a whore who is there as a gift to blow him. What a great first day present.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes chaykin or futuristic sci fi.

TJ

What I am thankful for

2007-11-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

Well here is the obligatory thanksgiving post of the things that i am thankful for:

In no particular order (well except the first one)

My beautiful wife who is due to give birth to my first child any day now.

Football

Comics

My podacsting friends (Geek Brunch, Dollar Bin, CGS)

All my other friends that are not related to comics podcast (Dave, Kevin, Barlo).

The Comic Forums where i found some great people that have become friends.

James Harris of the Comic Book Savant who gives me a forum to voice my opinions.

Beer

Wild Turkey (the drink not the meat. I actually hate turkey)

And of course all my readers. thank you for taking a minute out of your day and putting up with my ramblings.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

TJ

My Haul

2007-11-21T14:27:00.000-05:00

What a fantastic week for my LCS. 8 books. I don't think that I have bought this much there since i switched to DCBS for most of my shopping.

And I am so excited to read all of it:

Countdown
Countdown to Mystery
Brave and the Bold
Flash
Detective
Action Comics
Checkmate
The Boys

So far I have read countdown and The boys and I have been blown away by both of them. (as opposed to blown but wouldn't that be nice if after a good read a pair of lips came out. WOW can you tell I'm a little punchy today.)

Countdown focuses mainly on on Super thing Prime and he is still my favorite character in the DCU. What a fucking bad ass. he just loves scarring the shield into things. There is also a segue(is that how you spell that fucked up word) with Mary Marvel and Eclipso that helps people understand that eclipso is no ones bitch (well she is a bitch being Jean Loring but i think you get what i mean).

The Boys is just the boys. read this book people it is sooooo fucking good. Ennis really is hitting it out of the park here.

I am afraid to read anything else now because these were so good. Lets hope we don't fall into mediocrity.

TJ

Dynamo 5 Vol 1 TPB

2007-11-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

and the last review of the morning is Dynamo 5 TPB Vol 1

This is written by Jay Faerber and Pencilled by Mahmud Asrar.

The art is out of this world. It is perfectly matched for the light heartedness of this book. The lines are clean and the facial expressions on the characters are amazing. I don't know if Asrar has done anything else but i think that he would be so well suited for a mainstream superhero book.

I have never read anything by Faerber before but i will be searching things out. Eh really knows how to write teens. The dialect and the humor is spot on in this book. That being said this book isn't all fun and games and Faerber can switch the tone of the book at a moments notice and he does it really well.

The Story here takes a bit character in Faerber's other book, Noble Causes, and expands on him, sort of. You see captain dynamo is dead and he might not have been the nice guy that was originally believed. He was an adulterer and his wife finds out that he has 5 children with 5 other women. She recruits them and activates their powers. Each one of the children have one of the Good Captains powers. We learn this through a amazing plot device that i have not seen that often. One of the kids is kidnapped and through a truth serum he reveals what has happened. The only problem I had with this book (and it is so minute that i am almost ashamed even to mention it) no where in the beginning are there names laid out or their powers. It would have been nice to be able to look at characters and and not have to spend the time at first trying to figure out "Wait who is this and what can they do". I like things laid out for me. You can figure it out but Just give me the thing in the beginning.

I would suggest this book to anyone that wants in on the ground floor of a Superhero universe. You do not need to read Noble Causes to understand this book (hell, I didn't). And here is the kicker that should make everyone that reads this Buy this book. It is only $9.99. If you go through my favorite online TPB retailer In stock Trades (http://www.instocktrades.com/) you can get this for it is only $6.49. For 176 pg (issues 1-7) that is amazing.

Buy it people.

Captain American #31

2007-11-17T08:44:00.000-05:00

Next in the Weekend Slime Review a Rama Is Captain America

The is written By Ed Brubaker (like you didn't know that) and Penciled by Steve Epting.

The art is gorgeous. It so matches this book. It has a sort of photo realistic style but with the serious tones of this book. Now note that I said photo realistic not Photo reference. i really do not like photo reference and there is a distinct difference.

The writing is amazing. If Garth Ennis is my writing God the Brubabker is the Holy Spirit and Geoff Johns completes the trinity. He really knows how to pace a story. I know it has become cliche to say this but he has a ton(and that is a scientific number) reading this book and the main character is not even in the Fucking book. I don't even like Captain America but i have bee reading this book since issue 10. For a writer to get me to care about a character that I never had interest in he has to be pretty good.

The story follows along with the Death of Cap storyline. We are going along for the ride with Tony Stark, Agent 13, Falcon, Winter Soldier and a whole other bunch of characters. For me to reveal anything that is going on here would spoil the shit of the story and really do not want to do that.

Buy this book people. It is the best thing that Marvel is putting out right now.

The Sword #1

2007-11-17T08:25:00.001-05:00

For a glorious day of weekend reviews we will start of with The Sword #1

This was written and pencilled by The Luna Brothers

The art was great. I can see why some say that the Luna Brothers art is love or hate but i am definatly in the Like camp (yeah i know that is not love but let a boy get there).

The Writing was very good as well. I have heard that the brothers writing can be very cryptic and sometimes hard to follow and I like cryptic but this book was pretty straight forward. The pacing was very well done. And each character was voiced differently. really what more can you ask for in the writing.

The Story was really good for a number 1. We are basically following the life of an English Professor and his family, especially his daughter who is a handicapped girl in a wheel chair. The whole book is basically a day in the life of this family until we get to the end when two strangers show up at the end and we are left with a Question of Mistaken Identity or Is it? (insert creepy music here)

I would give this book a shot and i am looking to try the girls. if anyone can tell me anything about that series leave me some comments. i love reading them.

My Haul

2007-11-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

What a fantastic Week for comics.

I had to feel like a piece of shit though when in this huge release week i went to the LCS only got 4 and had to lie out my ass when he asked me sadly "Only 4 this week?".

Well The four books i got from the LCS:
Nightwing
Countdown to Final Crisis
Welcome to Tranquility
Simon Dark

Now here is the kicker that i can't wait for:

From DCBS this week(which i will et at the end of the month)
Totem #1
Batman and the Outsiders #1
Booster Gold #4
Salvation Run #1
Suicide Squad #3
Wonder Woman #14
Badger Bull #1
Circle #1
Mice Templar #2
Sword #2
Punisher #52
Thor #4

Wow that is the most i have ever received in the week. And here was my guy sitting with his hand out asking "Only Four?" what a jerk off i felt like. but then he made some comments against my political persuasion and i felt happier then ever that i am not giving this jerk off all my money. My how fickle i am.

TJ

My child is coming any day

2007-11-13T20:58:00.001-05:00

The last ultrasound of the baby

Punisher #51

2007-11-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

To start the Day i will review Punisher #51

This was written by God (i mean Garth Ennis) and penciled by Goran Parlov

The art in this book is very good but also a little jarring from the last issue of this arc. The last issue was done masterfully by Howard Chaykin. This issue was a lot more cartoony and in the beginning i didn't think it fit this book. It did grow on me though and i really did begin to like it by the end. I think this trade will be hurt by this though when the reader will be going straight from Chaykin to this.

The writing is Garth Fucking Ennis. 'Nuff Said.

This story continues along the story from issue #50 where Barracuda is showing Frank a Special package that he found for him. Frank is dealing with the turmoil in his life and this new found parcel is not helping matters. I really don't want to go to far into the story line though because if you are trade waiting it will really spoil your shit.

Read this book people. it really shows you the brilliance of Garth Ennis and how a Max line book should be written.

Talk to y'all later.

Robin #168

2007-11-09T21:10:00.000-05:00

Next on the menu is Robin #168

This Book is written by Peter Milligan and Drawn by Freddie Williams II (FEW II to those of us in the know).

The art is amazing. I love Freddie's art and I am so glad that he is replacing the Awful Acuna (IMHO) on the flash. Also Freddie is a great guy. i got to meet him at CGS 300 and he was so down to earth and amazing. If you see him at a convention make sure you check him out.

The writing was OK. It was not horrible but it didn't blow me away. There were things in this story that i couldn't tell if i didn't care for the writing or the plotting.

Now to the story. This is part one of the resurrection of Ra's al Ghul story line. It starts out with Robin alone in Wayne manor and Alfred trying to coax him to bed (his own bed you fools get you mind out of the gay pedophile gutter).
He feels a responsibilty to the city with the big dog away. Damian is away from the clutches of his mother and grandfather and is returning to Wayne manor. batman is away and doesn't seem to want to return to Wayne manor.

Now this is the part that i didn't care for. Robin is written like a spoiled brat. Now I haven''t read this book before but is this how robin is written in this book. is he just s sniveling little brat. if so then I am glad that FEW is no longer on this book. If this is the representation of the book I would never pick it up after this.

I liked this book though and would recommend it for anyone interested in the Ra's Al Ghul storyline because it does move the story along quite nicely but if you are looking for a good robin story then stay as far away as possible.

TJ

Booster Gold #3

2007-11-09T20:43:00.001-05:00

The first of todays reviews is Booster Gold #3

This Book is written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz and Pencilled by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund.

I can't remember if i blogged on any of these issues yet but if you are not buying this comic I can no longer be friends with you (Just Kidding)(sort of).

Holy Fuck is this book good. A lot of people don't like some of the things that Johns does because he is bringing some of the silver age campyness and continuity baggage with the characters he is writing right now (which is the whole Dc Universe). I am here to call these peoples Morons (Just Kidding)(sort of).

The art in the book is great. If Jurgans doesn't know how to draw this book he may as well quit the industry because he created this character. I can't tell you how much the art in this book matches the writing. It really is perfect.

The writing is top notch. Johns really gets the humor that is needed in this book. You can't have a writer on this book that would be grim or serious. this is a light heartedness that needs to be in a Booster gold title.

The story in this issue is more time travel goodness. The time line that Booster needs to fix in this issue is that of Pa Kents great grandfather. There is a bounty put on the Head of the Doctor that is supposed to deliver him. This brings Booster back to the old west where he meets up with Jonah Hex. we learn that the one who is screwing up the time lines is a new Supernova who we have yet to learn who it is.

If you like time travel please do yourself a favor and pick this book up.(Now I know i typed this before)

Museum Exhibit

2007-11-08T14:10:00.000-05:00

Last weekend me and my wife went to a museum exhibit here in the Beautiful Garden state.

It was at the Montclair Museum of Art and it was the evolution of superheros and superhero comics.

You can view the info here: http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/exhibitions.cfm?id=18

This was amazing. Right when you walk in you are greeted with a gallery exhibiting the Kubert family art. Next you make a turn then sitting right in front of you is the holy Grail of comics. Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27. I don't think the wife was impressed until i told here that we were looking at about $1 million in comics. On the next wall was a vintage copy of Seduction of the innocent and the explanation of the CCA. You turn the corner and we learn about Marvels origins and there was the Best copy of amazing Fantasy #15 that i have ever seen. Next we see original art from the Green Lantern/ Green arrow series that brought social consciousness into the medium.

Next room was the 80 and we see original Gibbons art from Watchmen as well as Miller stuff from Dark Knight Returns. All day they were showing the History Channel Documentary "Super Heroes Unmasked. I got this from netflix a couple of weeks ago so i didn't need to see it but i would also recommend this to anyone that hasn't already seen it.

Lastly, Downstairs they were holding a mini Convention. This the wife was not so impressed with. I think she got really scared when I started crawling around on the floor for 50% off books. She didn't understand that the boxes weren't in any real order and she would have to spend the time going through each box to find something she wanted. I also think she was unhappy that some smelly fat guy would be jammed next to here doing the same thing and that was me, nevermind a complete stranger.

At the Convention I picked up:
the spectre Eclipso trade from Infinite crisis (fucking pot there goes the memory i have no clue what this book's title is)
The Harbinger HC
6 issues of Hitman
And a Mad Magazine trade for her.

In all I spent $22 for all of that. Good times.

I would highly recommend anyone in the area go and see this exhibit while it is there.

TJ

My Haul and My Box(es)

2007-11-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

Very Light week for me this week.

From the LCS this week I got:

Countdown to Final Crisis
Robin
Spawn

But luckily my DCBS box came in Tuesday and in that was:

Indie
THIRTEEN STEPS #2
STREETS OF GLORY WRAP CVR #2
POTTERS FIELD #2
Dark Horse
UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #2
DC
ACTION COMICS #856
ACTION COMICS #857
BOOSTER GOLD #3
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #1
GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #1
JLA HITMAN #2
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14
SUICIDE SQUAD RAISE THE FLAG #2
TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS CYBORG SUPERMAN #1
TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS SUPERMAN PRIME #1
Image
DYNAMO 5 VOL 1 POST NUCLEAR FAMILY TP
SORROW #2
SWORD #1
Marvel
CAPTAIN AMERICA #31
MARVEL MAX SAMPLER 2007
PENANCE RELENTLESS #2
PUNISHER #51
THUNDERBOLTS #117

And I come home yesterday thinking of all the great reading i have ahead of me and sitting on my door was my first EBay purchase: 1-26 of American Flagg!

If i even think about buying another book then i need everyone here to find me and punch me in the nuts. i need to be saving money right now not spending like a fuck with no responsibilities.

I also went to a great museum exhibit this past weekend but i will blog about that later.

TJ

New Frontier Vol 1

2007-11-06T14:51:00.000-05:00

Todays review is New Frontier Vol 1

This book e was written and pencilled by Darwyn Cooke

First the art. Fucking amazing. Although I have read in some reviews that people think it is kirbyesqe that leaves me to wonder if said reviewers have ever looked at anything Kirby drew. That being said i think that Cooke has his own style which is astonishing. the splash [pages are beautiful to take in and the attention to detail in what seems (but most definitely is not) a very simplistic style. I have not read or seen anything else that Cooke has done but i will be looking for his spirit stuff after seeing the style in this book.

Now to the writing. It is very well written. You can tell each characters voice and see a definition in character by what they are saying. They way he writes wonder woman makes me hope that he would one day be a writer on the main wonder woman book. Well done sir! I applaud your writing ability.

Now to the shit oops i mean story. This is where this book fell apart. The story starts off on an island where dinosaurs still live. A military groups is marooned there and their leader saves everyone else and decides to take on the beast himself. We are then thrown into a superman and wonder woman story where they are in SE Asia trying to help people retake there home land from a horrible military group. We meet Hal Jordan who is getting employed by Ferris Air and the Martian Manhunter who is getting accustomed to living as a human. Later we meet Rick Flagg and the Challengers of the unknown as well.

Now here is the problem i had with this story. This is a $19.99 trade that is basically all set up and nothing else. We meet the characters; We see them interact a little; We see the beginnings of a Story; End of story go spend $19.99 if you want to see the whole thing. Now before you start ripping me a new asshole let me explain that I know this is Vol 1 of a two part story but i feel that for the price tag that is on this thing we should have gotten little more the a "how do you do" from the fucking characters. I hope this picks up. Although this was another instance where i am glad that my wife is a librarian because even though i do not get to look at the beautiful art for the rest of my life I was able to get it for free by checking it out of the library.

Talk to you later. Today was DCBS Box day

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 1

2007-11-01T15:42:00.000-04:00

Time to start of the New month with a bang

This book was written By Allan Moore and Pencilled by Kevin O'Neill

The art work is great. You can tell the O'Neill was in love with these characters. Each character is given there own unique look and the facial expressions he draws are beyond unbelievable.

The writing is Allan Moore. That is really all you have to say. if you walk up to a stranger and say Allan Fucking Moore you most likely will get one of two reactions. A) you will get slapped in the face because the person doesn't know who you are talking about and is highly offended that you walked up to them and used the f word (or they are Rob Leifeld) or B) you will get a smile as they recall the tales that this man has spun.

The story is a secret league that the British government has put together in order to collect a device to help with a flying war machine (at least that is what we are lead to believe in the beginning.) The league consist of literary characters Mina Murray, Allan Quartermain, Jekyll and Hyde, Captain Nemo, and Hawley Griffen (the invisible man.) In fact after reading the wiki page on this it turns out that even the background charaqcters in this book have some sort of literary bockground (this man is a genious.) The story has all sorts of twists and turns that i would be doing a horrible disservice too if i tried to describe it here.

If you see this review and think of the movie go an take a knife and stab yourself in the leg. the movie is a piece of shit that should have been destroyed. This book is amazing

Pick it Up

My Haul and Countdown

2007-10-31T14:13:00.001-04:00

A light week this week but that means I was able to read some and they were both fucking amazing. i love when i have a small week but each title so far is better then the last.

Here is what I got:
(don't feel like looking up the numbers this week)
Batman
Countdown to mystery
Action Comics
The comic formally known as Countdown

Well like i said up top i got to read a comic in my car during my lunch and i begrudgingly chose Countdown to final crisis.

Oh If you don't want you shit spoiled i would stop here. (by the way i love when podcast tell me they will be spoiling shit that I may not of read. They then go on to say put our cast aside and come pack once you have read your comics. I always intend to do this but what happens is that i listen to so many podcast that It gets so far away that i just end up deleting it. Yes i am a lazy fuck but i hate my shit too spoiled.)

This is Finally the book i was looking for. This is a catchup story to a degree that sort of explains everything that has happened so far (well they do not touch on piper and trickster and there is one line for Mary Marvel). this catchup is told through the eyes of the monitors. They all are discussing what needs to be done to stop the anomalies and after much coercion they decide to no longer sit back and watch but do to war.

We then are shown the Challengers and realise that Jason Todd is an asshole but not as much of an asshole as we were left to think last issue. Kyle is still being written horribly but Bob is a great read.

We are then shown earth 15 were that earths lex luthor is being grabbed by a superman on sorts. He is then told by said superman that he could have achieved order on his universe but he is gone and (i am paraphrasing) fucked things up.

The pacing, writing and art in this book was exactly what I have been looking for. i am so happy that I have not jumped of this book.

Talk to you later,

TJ

Seven Soldiers of Victory Volume 1

2007-10-30T15:29:00.000-04:00

Today is a trade review of Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol 1

This book was written (dreamed of(tripped about)) by Grant Morrison with Various artist.

First let me say that the art is amazing. Every single book holds a different style but each is equally beautiful. I can see this getting the absolute treatment because they tend to do that for this sort of artwork. Simone Bianchi, Frazier Irving, Ryan Sook, JH Williams and more. If you are a fan of any sort of art i would suggest that you pick this book up.

The writing is pretty good. i can't say it is great because i still have no clue what the hell i read after 2 days of thinking about it. It is very loosely put together and sometimes it doesn't feel as strong in some issues as it does on others. Very inconsistent. I am saying this as a fan of Grant Morrison. I like a lot of what he has done. But i also feel that i am judging this a bit too early because it is a four volume series and probably all needs to be read together.

Well now to the story. Volume starts of with the zero issue and focuses on The Vigilante. he is putting together a team of seven too take on a big bad. One of the heroes bows out and they are left with six. Here is a SPOILER******* because they are not seven they fail and die. Wow I am thinking Morrison starts us of with these great heroes and kills them all in a matter of 25 pages. The rest of the story of seven soldiers takes place in seven 4 issue miniseries and they are published in trade form in the order that they are published. This volume has Shining Night, The Guardian, Zantana, and Klarion the Witchboy.

Shining knight is a member of the Arthurian legend that is trying to recover magical items for Arthur and to do so has to battle the big bad that I think is the villain of the book. he get to one but is put through a time warp (its just a jump to the left) and ends up in modern day LA with his winged horse. The police capture him and his horse. Here's the trippy part of this story he speaks in old English so the reader has no idea what he is saying.

The guardian is an ex police officer that has been dismissed because he accidentally shot a boy who he mistook for his partners killer. he is down on his look until he sees an article in a gossip paper for a bodyguard of sorts. when he goes for the interview he is tested and is told that the job is for him to become a superhero. Now here is where the acid kicks in here, his wife and child are kidnapped by subway pirates who travel the NY subway lines with name like all beard and No beard. he spends the rest of his time in this volume on the subway trying to save his family.

The Zantana story is the one i was least looking forward too only because i like being introduced to new characters and I already knew about her. This story starts with Zantana in a paranormal 13 steps program saying that she is a spellaholic. She then goes into her history and her fathers. We come to learn that she has also lost her powers. At the end of the meeting she is approached by a young girl that wants to become her apprentice. The girl is somehow a backwards talker already and knows how to cast spells that way. They go to Z's friends place a business (you guessed it a magic store) where we learn that she is being followed by a phantom. A battle ensues where in the end (here comes the peak of the trip) Z says "GNIRB EM EHT NAM FO YM SMEARD" She is then presented with a snow globe sort of thing that has a man sitting on a sort of mushroom. He gets out and then the Phantom Stranger comes in.

Klarion is a pure acid trip that you all should experience on your own. it involves this Salem like town where they are all witches and it was by far my favorite.

Now here is the thing. All of these stories are supposed to connect somehow and maybe i am just too dense but i cannot see it. I was looking believe me i was really looking for anything but nothing was there for my mind to grasp on to. I will continue to read and let you know if it ever completes it goal IMHO.

Bye all

Phantasm

2007-10-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

Time for a movie review.

Well its Halloween time so that means it is time for some Horror movies.

I love the horror genre and there are a lot of "classic" horror movies that i have never seen. Phantasm is one of them.

This movie was very good. The majority of this flick takes place in a funeral home that is run but "the Tall man". He is also has an alter ego that is "the lady in Lavender". it seems to me that Don Coscorelli (the director and writer) wasn't very creative in naming his characters.

The Lady in lavender entices people to the cemetery for some good old fashioned grave fucking. Being that this is made in 1979 there is some boob shots that really don't need to be there but what the hell i am not complaining. There is even one scene the the lady in lavender is about to fuck this one guy and then he takes her top off. The camera is just a wide screen shot of just her boobs and it stays there for a couple of seconds with nothing else happens. God isn't gratuitous nudity great.

Anyway we come to learn that the Tall man is an alien type character that is taking the dead and shrinking them to midget size so that they can be slaves on his home planet. No i cannot make this shit up.

Anyway i thought the movie was actually well made for a low budget 70's horror flick and can see why it has such a cult following. (There is actually a guy at my work that spent $200 on a replica Sphere that has the spikes in it).

My wife on the other had looked over at me in the end and said "Why do you waste my time with this shit." Oh well guess different strokes, right Arnold.

Talk to y'all later.

TJ

An Addiction is born

2007-10-26T10:18:00.000-04:00

I have found a new addiction to go with my comics and DVD buying addiction.

let me describe this for you. You go searching around looking for the score you have always wanted but never realized you needed till the minute you see it. You tell the person how much you are willing to spend and then the waiting game starts. You watch the clock and your palms start sweating. You hope that no one wants this thing more then you do. The seconds are moving slower and slower as you see that you are still on top. The faceless being on the other end then tells you that you are tops and you feel like you just won Game seven and the World Series, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, and the lottery all rolled up into one.

Can you guess what I ma talking about. That's right heroi... I mean EBay.

I have always been weary of this little auction site because i am not the most tech savvy person in the world. I have heard a lot of horror stories about people not getting what they ordered and then people being impossible to contact to try to get your money back. I had no clue what Paypal was or how it worked.

Well i have gotten over any fears I had and started bidding on things a couple of days ago. I need a new computer printer you can recall if you remember reading about the Walmart Scam that I encountered. So i started with Printers. I have lost each and every one of these. i started to think that this was a lot harder then I thought.

I decided to move away from the tech and go for Comics. A friend of mine has told me how great American Flagg! was but mainly just the Chaykin stuff. i saw a listing for the first 26 issues. i put my bid in and it came up at $10.50. There was a day left in this auction so I thought "well I've seen what happened with the printers so there is no way this will stick. i put my high amount at 20 which would have made with shipping all the comics around $1.00 an issue. I was prepared to pay this. I start checking last night when there was only 30 minutes left on the clock and was surprised to see that i was still on top with my initial $10.50. The seconds began counting down and I am now the owner of the first 26 issues of Howard Chaykin's Masterpiece for the mere price of $10.50 plus a little over $5.00 shipping.

This is the greatest invention in the world.
Talk to Y'all later

TJ

My Haul

2007-10-25T08:35:00.000-04:00

Well this was one heavy week for the LCS.

I Got:

DC
Blue Beetle #20 (sinestro corps tie in)
Countdown #27
Flash #233
Green lantern Corps #17

Avatar
Doktor Sleepless #3

Dark Horse
Ciminal Macabre: My Demon Baby #2

I have found that i need to be in a certain mood to read my comics. Is this just me or are there others like me out there. If i am not in the right mind I can't use my comics as the escape that i like. Comics have always help me escape the real world and live in my little pocket universes (universi to you scientific fucks). Lately I have had so much shit on my mind that right when I start to read something would happen too bring me right the fuck back to reality. So of course it is only fitting that on a week that I am feeling this way my LCS has all these fucking books for me. Oh Well I guess i will have to trudge through. i hope one of these books is so good it gets me out of this funk i am in (why do we use this term. Funk is awesome. Ever listen to George Clinton and the P-Funk all stars. I saw them live last year in a very small venue and it was by far one of the best concerts that I have ever been to.. I think instead of funk we should use the term easy listening.) So anyway hopefully one of these books will be able to get me out of this easy listening that i am in.

Help me obi wan my comics your my only hope.

Talk to you later

TJ

Bomb Queen: Woman of Mass Destruction tpb vol 1

2007-10-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

Today's review is of Bomb Queen Vol 1 TPB

This book was both written and drawn by Jimmie Robinson.

First off I have to thank Mike Myers for Getting me this book. Mike is the Host of Geek Brunch with Heath Holland and it is a great Podcast. You can find it at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GeekBrunch. If you have any interest in Food, Comics and/ or movies (and lets face it if you are reading this blog you do) You should really check these guys out. It is basically a conversation show about the things we love.

Now to the Book. Where has this been all my life. What a fantastic Title. Great Art, Great Action, Great Writing. I cannot say enough good things about this.

The art is a little cartoony and is most definitely not for children. The main character is a villain that has a costume taht shows her nipples and pants that are probably the most impractical things drawn today. Even though the art is a little cartoony it is not that way in the anime style but much more Saturday morning style. The lines are very clean and not scratchy at all.

The writing is amazing as well. It is the perfect mixture of Raunch, comedy and action. You can tell the Robinson has a political agenda that is very much different then mine but i was able to put that aside and enjoy this book thoroughly. He wrote his characters extremely different from each other and was able to hit you over the head with some very raunchy things while doing it a lot subtler in others. Fantastic. Now you all know what a huge Garth Ennis fan I am. I would put this in league with "The Pro" . It is actually much more then that though because these characters have a lot more depth then that character and you can tell that Robinson is creating his own little universe here at Shadowline.

This story centers in a corrupt little town called new Port City. This city has a local government but they are all basically pawns of the Bomb Queen. We come to learn that she was part of a Four woman team of villains but she is the only one left and she now uses this town for all her vices. She is a tech expert and has wristbands that have bombs on them that she likes to use frequently. It is election time in new Port city and this book basically follows the incumbent who is a pawn for the Queen and the person that is trying to beat him who is most definitely against her. he tries to capture her with a superhero but through twist and turns, a lot of action as well as a few camel toe shots we realize that all these attempts are futile.

I loved this book if you cannot tell. I am really looking forward to reading the next Trade and will be picking up anything like this in the future.

Some Spidey News and My Thoughts

2007-10-18T17:45:00.000-04:00

New Spidey Mini Coming out. Read the news below

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=133036

Now this may be the greatest new mini in the world but i will not know because I am putting my foot down on this. This book is not only a retelling of Spiderman's origin ( and i think this will be retelling number one million one hundred and ninety tow but this is the retelling of a two panel segment of Amazing fantasy 15. This book is setting out to tell the history of peter as a wrestling star and doing the late night talk show circuit. Yeah that is a story that we really needed. Sorry marvel I think my $12-$15 can be spent on much better things.

Spidey 3 News

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=133304
Now this movie sucked. I saw it in the theatre and I could not stand it. I had to explain to some non comic fan friends (yes we all have them) about why this movie was so bad. It really didn't come out that long ago and now I am seeing the commercials and thinking "Damn this movie looks great." Stupid brain do not believe marketing. Then they do a promo like this where you know the completist asshole in all of us will want a Brand new Bendis and Bagley comic. The only reason that they do this is because they know that their movie blew and now they need to throw something in to get the Comic fan to buy it. resist my fine feather friends, Resist. (Fuck knows i will be getting it).

Oh well a double dose of Spidey news for you.

Back with some reviews later.

TJ