The New Reality

So for the first time since it began in 2002, I did not participate in Free Comic Book Day.

I really hadn't kept up with the event.  There was some hype last week, but then suddenly on Saturday it seemed like every blog out there that I read was talking about FCBD.

I remained strong, and Jennifer and I went for a bike ride to Piedmont to check out a local bead store.  And for those not in the know, one of the best comic book stores in the SF Bay Area is located on Piedmont: Dr. Comics and Mr. Games.  And the route we took T-ed us right on Piedmont at the store.

I have to admit that at that point, I was tempted.  However, I remained strong.  There really wasn't any reason to go in.

And instead, after the bead shop, we hit a new burger restaurant called Sparky's.  And while we were there, we watched the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby.  That had to be the wettest track I'm ever seen for the Derby.  Jennifer noted that all the horses were the same color by the end of the race.  At least from the front.

Everything Ends

So recently, I have come to a conclusion: I really dislike DC Comics New 52.

I don't care for the changes in the costumes.  The lines and such that have been added to most of the heroes are reminiscent of the plethora of belts that were given to heroes and villains in the 80s and 90s.

I don't like the stories.  They aren't grabbing me like they used to.

And it really bothers me that DC got rid of so much of their history.  I know that some of these complaints may echo the feelings of others after the Crisis in 1985.  Then, they rebooted most of the heroes, got rid of a few, and moved on.  But I had been reading the old comics of and on before that, and I enjoyed the new stuff which eventually shifted back tot he old stuff again.  Kind of.

So, I've stopped collecting.

If there is another big change, I may look into it, but I'll read the reviews before I decide.

I am continuing with some of the hardback stuff.  I just got Batman: Earth One, and really enjoyed it, and I've preordered the second volume of Superman: Earth One.  Some might say that I'm contradicting myself because of the added lines in the costumes in these books, but the lines are seams and such that show up with the higher detail of the art.

Jennifer is curious to see what I'll do with the extra time now that I used to put into reading comics.  It's a good question.  Maybe, I'll get back into painting miniatures; I haven't really done much of that since the move.

Mogo Doesn’t Socialize

Yeah, it’s the little thing s that get me.

So I’ve been working out of town this week, and will be until about the end of April. Friday I came home and was sitting around looking to just relax, but then I read this.  Now I’d been suffering through near freezing mornings, and two days of cold rain with just a picnic type canopy to shelter under.  I decided I needed to get outside.

Friday afternoon, I did 14.7 miles on my bike, making it to the radio towers out near Costco-Richmond.  Today I made it all the way to Craneway for 24.1 miles.  and while I’m tired, I feel really good.

you see the hotel I’m staying at has minimal exercise facilities.  There’s a recumbent bike, a treadmill, and a machine that allows very specific workout positions.  Plus I’ve got a big exercise ball to do crunches on as well as some other things.  But nothing beats being out for an hour or two on a bike.

Now, because I’m gone for so long, Jennifer needs some other forms of entertainment, so I shifted all of our Netflix DVDs to her queue.  But one had gotten through before I did that, so I had a movie to watch this weekend: the DC animated feature Green Lantern – Emerald Knights.

Now this is reminiscent of the old Tales Green Lantern Corps quarterlies that used to tell stories from the Book of Oa.  This DVD tells tales related by Hal Jordan, once again voiced by Nathan Fillion, to the rookie Lantern Arisia.  they are well told, and for those in the know of Corps mythology, most have an underlying story that makes them that much deeper.  Not that a lack of knowledge takes anything away from the telling.

Add to this that I’ve had a lull in books, so I’ve been catching up on my physical comics reading, and I was pretty psyched by this DVD.

As for the title… it’s from the DVD, and had me howling with laughter just like the Lanterns that said it as a joke.

Why I Read Comics

Today after doing my allotment of job hunting, I took some time and watched a movie from Netflix: "Superman-Batman: Apocalypse".

It's an animated adaptation of the story arc from the "Superman-Batman" comic book where Supergirl was reintroduced to the DC Universe. It begins with her arrival on Earth, and her discovery by Batman. Then goes into her training with the Amazons on Themyscira, and her capture by Darkseid. Then it continues with her rescue by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda, and ends with Superman and Supergirl alternately fighting Darkseid at the Kent Farm in Smallville.

I've re-read the books many times. The story is fun. It allows the heroes to let loose. And good triumphs.

The conclusion in the movie has Superman presenting Supergirl in her uniform to the Amazons and she makes a speech about how she does not yet feel worthy of the uniform. But she promises that she will.

It's a little sappy, but it made me smile and actually tear up a bit.

***

I've fallen a bit behind on my comics lately. The comic store in Livermore that I go to was closed for a long time for some unknown reason. I haven't been back to see if it has reopened. there was just a note on the door saying it would be closed until further notice. I had to do something to continue and catch up.

When I went to WonderCon last year the LICD/LFG booth had business cards for this webpage called Comic Pull. I was happy with my store at the time, but I began trying them out in December.

All orders are 10% off and large enough orders are free shipping. You can also get bags and boards for a very minimal price.

What I've had to get used to is the arrival in a box. There's a bit of fun in going to the store and picking the books off the shelf. In checking the covers and seeing other books you might want.

I think this is why I'll be so resistant to going digital with comics. It seems pretty stupid.

But I've got about a month and a half of comic books stacked up waiting to be read. I've had books come in from the library that I've had to read, and I've been really into the Discworld books.

After watching this movie though, I'm going to get back into reading more regularly.

Organization

I've spent that last two days re-organizing my comic book collection.

I've resorted my collection, and have been entering the issues into a spreadsheet.

Then today, I ran out of bags for the comics and then I needed a few boxes to make things a little easier. So I ran to Flying Colors Comics. I had less than half an hour to get there, and when I got there they said they were out of both bags and boxes.

I left and just kept thinking why kind of comic shop runs out of bags and boxes? It's like a restaurant running out of syrup for Coke. Not that it doesn't happen, I think it just shows poor planning.

So, I'll be calling my shop in Livermore tomorrow, and find out if he has any supplies.

Wondercon

Well, it was quite the weekend.

I took Friday off (balanced with working the previous Saturday), and Jennifer and I attended three days of Wondercon at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

Friday, we arrived and wandered a bit. We saw some good panels. I got to see Lisa Coleman of Wendy and Lisa who do the soundtrack for "Heroes", and the two guys that did the music for the animated "Avatar, The Last Air-Bender." We got free music at the end including music from the finale of the series. Then Friday evening we saw Kevin Smith doing his Q&A.

Saturday, Jennifer dressed up as Donna Troy, we wandered the floor, and she got interviewed by some guys working on a documentary. Then saw two really great panels. One was led by three psychologists and they analyzed Batman's rogues gallery. Then immediately after we saw a presentation by an archaeology professor on the factual and fictitious archaeology in the Indiana Jones movies. Both were really fascinating.

Today we split up again and I watched an interview with the writer of the comic books Superman and The Justice League of America. He was fascinating to listen to. Then I went to a panel on cover art with artists from the sixties through the present.

Jennifer and I got some great shirts and other memorabilia, and had a thoroughly wonderful time.

Row, Row, Row Your Mind, Gently Down the Stream of Consciousness.

Oh, what a fine weekend it has been.

Friday I spent with my wife and a good friend of hers at the beach., Jennifer and I started out early, and got to her favorite beach just south of Stinson around 10:45. We went on to Stinson and bought food, and then waited for her friend to arrive. When Sydney arrived (with tiny Sky the dog in tow), we headed down the trail, and on to the beach. i was thrilled to see that the trail had been recently cleared and you could have almost driven a truck down the trail.

No fear of poison oak that day.

We spent the day lounging around, enjoying the sun and the water. Sydney ended up leaving around 2:30, and Jennifer and I stayed for a couple more hours sleeping and reading. we had intended to wait until sunset, but were getting too hungry. So we headed out and got to our favorite Indian restaurant in Sausalito about 5:00.

Then we wandered around burning off the beer we had each drunk, and ended up buying a beautiful flower arrangement for her, and a Dischidia pectenoides for me. I had one a few years ago, but it died. this one is budded out to bloom, and I am very excited to see what the flowers look like. I'll be taking it to work where it can get better sunlight than what we get at home.

***

Saturday, we cleaned house. We'd been a bit lax on cleanliness lately, and we picked up, wiped up, straightened up, and folded up. The house looks great now, and we made some decisions about Jennifer's sitting room. In a few weeks, we'll probably be going to IKEA again. And then I'll have some major assembling to do.

***

And today has been my day. Jennifer stayed home and eatched footall, and I went on a multi-space shopping spree.

Kind of.

I bought my comics, and had a chicken Philly cheese steak. I got a shirt, and jacket for myself, earrings for Jennifer, and basic supplies for the house. I had a wonderful time out, and Jennifer had wonderful time in.

***

Now I'm sitting watching Inside the Actors' Studio featuring Danny Devito. He and Rhea Perlman have been together for over 35 years.

That's pretty awesome.

Life is not Fair

And this story is a perfect example of why.

Although with my luck, I would end up doing as mediocre in this class as I did in music appreciation.

A Little After Midnight

So today was a day of little things.

I slept a little later than normal (8:30).

I made a little drive to Livermore for my comics, and got a few free ones for Free Comic Book Day.

I came home and read for a little bit, then I got ready to visit the Sorrells.

We three and Adam went to BJ's in Vacaville, and spent a little while eating and drinking in the bar.

Then we went back to the Sorrells' place, and watched a little Vin Diesel in Pitch Balck.

Now I'm a little tired, and am going to read for a little while before I put myself to bed.

Sunday Painty Sunday

Today Jennifer and I helped a friend of hers paint his loft. This is the guy whose bed we're storing until he can move in. It's nice that he's getting to work on the place before moving in.

I went over and helped in the afternoon after making my run to Livermore for comics. Now we're both very tired after climbing up and down ladders and step stools all day.

Of course we listened to football while we painted, and were amazed at ow poorly the Chargers did against the Steelers. Next week should be good with Eagles vs. Cardinals and Steelers vs. Ravens.

More Books

This weekend I also finished a lot of books. I had planned to read while convalescing from the tattoo, but well...

Anyway, I got through my stack of comics and am thoroughly enjoying the "New Krypton" arc through the Superman titles, and Alex Ross' continuation (or actually interlude) of his Kingdom Come tale in Justice Society of America. And The Joker by Brian Azzarello is absolutely amazing. It's done with the Joker and others in the style of "The Dark Knight" movie, but in regular Batman style continuity. Azzarello's take on Harley Quinn and the Riddler are really cool. And you don't even see Batman until the last few pages. It's going to be up there with The Killing Joke by Alan Moore for me.

I also finished The Hero of Ages by Brian Sanderson, which was a very good closing of his trilogy. I look more and more towards his conclusion to "The Wheel of Time."

Jennifer is still reading Terry Pratchett's Nation. I'm on it as soon as she's done, and she's loving it. She says it's like Pratchett's trying to get all of his thoughts out of his head and on paper before the Alzheimer's can take them away from him.

You have been warned...

Hello my name is Erik, and I'm a comic book fan.

I have been reading comics for most of my life, and mom considers a contributing factor in the speed of my learning to read. I used to have a grocery bag of comics that had been given to me by a friend of Dad's who used to run a drug store. They had the titles ripped off because they had not sold, but I read them all. I had Archie, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Mickey Mouse, even others.

Comic books fascinated me, and in conjunction with the Super Friends cartoon, I always wanted more. Then there was the Spider-Man cartoon, and "Superman: The Movie". I read all the books I could find at the library, and became adept at the alter egos and origins of everyone.

But slowly things became polarized. I didn't enjoy Marvel like I did DC comics. As a kid there was no X-Man or Avengers animated series, and so the DC heroes were the ones I liked the best. Spider-Man was still cool, but none of the other Marvel heroes really hooked me.

Then it is 1985, and I discover that the local book/magazine shop is carrying comics in the back. That was when it started: the real collecting. The year 1985 was DC's 50th anniversary, usually measured from the first Superman comic, but there were a few other heroes who didn't quite last that came before him. And for the anniversary, DC had decided it was going to clean-up its continuity in a year long Maxi-Series. Two primary points in the Crisis on Infinite Earths was that Barry Allen as The Flash and Kara Zor-El as Supergirl died. Dead, gone, it's new continuity. I felt for the heroes with Barry's death, but Supergirl's sacrifice actually made me cry, and I can still get in touch with that feeling when I re-read the tale.

That meant lots of crossovers and an introduction to many new heroes. Moving to Maryland the next year nearly cut me off, but I found a small drug store that carried the mainstream books, but I was still missing out. I saw ads for The Dark Knight Returns and wanted to get it, but could never find it. And there were the occasional ones that sold out, and I never found.

Maryland was also where I saw my first real comic book store. It was little more than a booth in Baltimore's Inner Harbor (designed by the same guy who did San Francisco's Pier 39), but it had back issues. Oh, the wonder of first seeing long boxes of bagged and boarded books.

Then we moved to California, and I quickly found a tiny comic shop, that was unsatisfying, but then I found Land of Nevawuz (LoN). Sadly, LoN is no more, but that became my regular weekly hangout for the new books. And there I picked up issue number one of the Wally West as the Flash series. The Flash was always one of my favorite heroes. The running fast without getting tired, and the vibrational associated powers amazed me as a kid. He was a regular in the 70s "Super Friends" series, but like Green Lantern appeared occasionally as a supporting cast. I had read about Barry Allen dying, and had some of the back-issues, but Wally sounded interesting. Wally West as The Flash quickly (sorry) became a favorite. He grew, he changed, and he became more powerful. He even fell in love and got married. Linda Park became his anchor, and that was powerful for me.

Soon DC killed off (kind of) Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and replaced him with Kyle Rayner. And this was cool too. Hal was okay, but It was great to experience someone learning the ring.

But eventually, the outcry was too much and they brought back Hal Jordan. And while DC kept Kyle he has been shunted aside, and I got bummed.

It seemed that everyone could come back from the dead for a while in the DC universe. Even Superman. But you could count of six major players to remain dead: Barry Allen, Kara Zor-El, Jor-El and Lara, and Martha and Thomas Wayne. Before the Superman re-boot there were eight with Jonathan and Martha Kent, but they were made not-dead through not having died in continuity, one of the few things I can thank John Byrne for. And I could accept that.

A few years ago, DC reintroduced Kara Zor-El, and now we have a teenage Supergirl. I was able to accept this also as she wasn't replaced (that had been a weak series then DC tried that), but simple introduced for the first time in this new single Earth.

But still Barry Allen was dead. Wally was safe.

Recently, DC in Final Crisis brought back Barry Allen from being trapped in the Speed Force (or maybe it's the Time Stream, I'm still not sure), and essentially nerfed Wall West by making him unable to break the speed of sound like he was as a teenager. And while he is still a hero, and they have future plans for him, I am depressed.

The story writers say they brought back Barry because they loved him as a kid. But you didn't see the guys who wrote the old JSA crying because Barry had replaced Jay Garrick (the Flash from WWII).

DC says there will be a future tale dealing with Wally. I can only hope they do him justice (sorry), and ... I don't know, just leave him with his dignity.

Hello my name is Erik, and I'm a comic book fan.

Oh, and you don't want to know how much I spend every month on comics.

Really.

Don't even ask.

Sunday night

Once we got back from the football game, there was a feeling around the house of Sundays before returning to school. There was just a thick feeling of "SCHOOL NIGHT", but there was still so much light left with things to do.

I checked the hours left at Fantasy Books and Games, and seeing they were open until 7:00, I got in the car and drove down to get two weeks' worth of comic books. This includes the new Joker hard cover which I'll describe when I get a chance. One of the nice things about Saturday was that John brought the second book of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy (and today he told me the third book is coming from him this coming Saturday) and the third book in Greg Keyes' Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series. I'm not needing the library for a while.

The thing that amazes me is the speed with which some people on the net read their comics. Granted they're reviewing the books for their blogs. Intensely reviewing. I'm just reading them for enjoyment. I've considered reviewing things more officially, but I can't quite get into it. But anyway,these people post pictures of from the books, and I almost have to skip the posts when I haven't read the books yet.

And Sunday night, I finished Mistborn. It was a fun read with good tension, exciting twists, and very little predictability. John told me, and you can see for yourself, on Sanderson's site that he is writing the conclusion to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. After reading this first book, and John's continued (never waning) raving (truly, raving) about the trilogy, I look forward to strong ending of the Wheel of Time. Of course the Wheel never stops turning, but you get the idea.

Reading issues

I tried to read The Omivore's Dilemma, and I got through about a third of it. The first section on corn was good, but I think I just got tired of the author writing style. The narrative of things stopped carrying me through the book and instead frustrated me.

So now I'm reading My Life As a 10 Year Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright. It's been fun, and is interspersed with stories from her journal while she's been recording. There's her first meeting with Phil Hartman; how she met Jonathon Winters; everyone's reaction to Elizabeth Taylor when she recorded Maggie's first word. All in all lots of fun little bits.

My next book in my stack is The Botany of Desire which is by the same author as Omnivore's Dilemma. It's smaller, so I hope I can get through it.

Then I've got the next Ilona Andrews book Magic Burns from John.

And on a Fucking Finally note, I got over the fire in Portal, and am now dodging the smashers. I'm in the room where they are going in all kinds of horizontal directions above me, and I have to find a way up. (See Picture at Top) Have I mentioned before how much I hate jumping games? And they do kind of remind me of the bit in "Galaxy Quest" where Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver have to go through the smashers room. Again in Portal, they serve no purpose whatsoever.

General Randomness - (Geeking Out Warning)

So we'll see if this ends up going anywhere.

When we last left our hero, he was working in Sacramento installing groundwater monitoring wells. I finished all of the work associated with that site (for now), and am now back in the office. I'll be going to Redwood City next week to install some vapor monitoring wells, and then (hopefully), I'll be back in the office for a while.

Sunday, Jennifer and I toured Martinez, Pleasant Hill, and Concord looking at houses that will be going up for auction due to foreclosure. We saw about 15 and will go back to (I think) 7 when they are open next weekend.

Saturday, I got this week's batch of comic books. I'm now two weeks behind in my reading, but I'm looking forward to reading the latest Action Comics with the conclusion of a Superman/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover story. Now, just about anyone who knows me can tell you that Superman is my favorite superhero, but there aren't many who could tell you that the Legion runs a close second.

The Legion of Super-Heroes is from 1,000 years in the future, and is made young people from around the galaxy with special powers. The Legion Constitution states that a new member must have a genuine (or unique among the Legion) superpower. It has to be inherent and cannot be based on a device, and the candidate must have complete control of it. This has brought forth some great new powers, and interesting characters to go with them. The Legion has had several members and many incarnations. My favorite version was the one from the 80s and 90s, and my favorite members are Mon-El, Wildfire, and Elemental Lad/Alchemist.

The 80s and 90s Legion was the same Legion from the 60s, but the characters had grown up, some getting married, and one couple having a child (actually twins, but that comes out later). The characters were well established, and before 1985, the first Crisis had not yet taken place, so you still had the occasional Superboy and/or Supergirl visit from the 20th century. Even after the crisis, the writers worked in the death of Supergirl and (thanks to wanker John Byrne) the non-existence of Superboy. The death of Superboy story arc was incredibly touching, and is right up there with the Great Darkness Saga for powerful storytelling. Now this isn't to say that I haven't liked all of the Legion stories, but those are my definite favorites.

Element Lad (whose real name is Jan Arrah, and was known as Alchemist for a while) has the power to change an object's chemical composition. His typical attack was to bind a villain in or change their clothing into "inertron" the densest and strongest material known to the 30th century. Jan Arrah is the sole survivor from the planet Trom, a world whose population was killed by the mercenary Roxxas who was holding them hostage so that they would make him the richest man in the galaxy. When Jan is not on monitor duty in the Legion Headquarters or on a mission, he returns to Trom to create crystal memorials for every member of his race who was killed. For a while, his romantic interest was Shvaugn Erin who was the Legion liaison from the Science Police, and always caught hell when the Legion would fall out of favor.

Wildfire, real name Drake Burroughs, appeared first as ERG-1. He lived in a red containment suit because an accident had turned his body into pure energy. Various incarnations of his suit let him do different things, but he was mostly known for his energy blasts. His greatest weakness was that if anyone managed to breach his suit, his energies would slowly leak away leaving him disembodied until a new suit could be found for him. Wildfire had a crush on Dawnstar who was an American-Indian (this was before Native American was used), was from another planet, had wings, was immune to the vacuum of space, and could track anyone or anything across the void of space. Wildfire's love went unrequited because he could not leave his suit.

And then there's Mon-El. He started as a one shot character in the old Superboy comic. His ship crash landed on earth while Sueprboy was still living in Smallville, but he had amnesia from the crash. He looked similar to Superboy, had Kryptonian-like clothing, and possessed superpowers under the Yellow sun, so Superboy named him Mon-El. That's El because they thought he must be Superboy's older brother, and Mon because he crashed on Monday. The bad news was that Mon-El was actually from Daxam, not Krypton. Daxam is still believed to be a lost colony of Krypton, but the race had changed slightly. They were immune to Kryptonite, but vulnerable to lead. Mon-El and Superboy learned this when Mon-El was shot. The shock of the lead brought Mon-El's memory back, and he recalled his history, and his real name Lar Gand. Because lead was a permanent poison to Daxamites, Superboy put Mon-El into the Phantom Zone swearing to come up with a serum to return Mon-El to health. Unfortunately Sueprboy/Superman never came up with a cure, but Brainiac 5, the twelfth level intelligence from Colu, used a kryptonite irradiated serum made from Superboy's blood in the 30th century to cure Mon-El. Then he was essentially invulnerable to all things except magic and a red sun. Mon-El's romance was with the blue skinned Shadow Lass/Umbra who could cast rays and areas of darkness.

As you can guess, the comic is like a big soap opera with the turmoils and hormones of youth and the arguments, rivalries, and romances. It has been a fan favorite since its inception, and we are all frustrated by the cancellation of the animated series after only to seasons. It has been running off and on since its introduction in 1958.

And yes, everything I wrote was from memory.

Croce II - The Wishening

And then there's the topic of wishes. What if I got three of them. Assume the basic restrictions of not wishing for more and not being able to directly affect other people.

What to wish for?

Money is good, but how not to run out? How about a wallet that always has the exact amount needed for any purchase for any amount up to $1,000, and anything over $1,000 a credit card that is accepted anywhere, and never needs to be paid off. And perhaps a checkbook with unlimited checks for purchases that won't take a credit card... Like a house.

So that's one.

Now I've been reading comic books for most of my life, and collecting seriously for 20 years. And so who wouldn't want a Little super-power? Then there's the whole question of what power. Or powers. But let's make this easy, and limit to one power per wish. So then what to choose. Now a book that really affected me is Jumper by Stephen Gould. Please don't think of the movie. I haven't seen it, but I won't see it either. Read the book. But the way the Davey teleports in the book is the way to go. Anywhere he can see, has been recently or can picture with the help of a video and sound recording, loss of relative momentum, and teleportation by castling. Castling is the best method I can consider. Essentially he trades places with an exact Davey sized portion of air or water. There's none of the popping, or air displacement, or even the stupid visual effects of the movie. Yes, please.

So that's two.

And then I'm stuck. Perhaps I'll just save Wish #3 until I really need it.