A bit late, but all things considered....

Better late than never.

Hey gang. Some random comic thoughts for you to ponder.

-BLACKEST NIGHT was terrific. Geoff Johns created a masterpiece that will go down in the annals of DC comics as one of the best mini-series ever. Was self contained, had a beginning, middle and end, some real surprises, and most of all, established Ivan Reis as an artist to watch in the coming years. His work on this was consistent from start to finish. This elevated him to George Perez-like territory.

-Marvel has ended an era that, myself as well as others (right Jim and Rusty?) went on far too long. It ended OK, withe the SIEGE mini being a period on the long plan of Bendis. I don't know if he had this whole thing thought out from the beginning, as Johns did over at DC, and I'm not sure if this whole HEROIC AGE thing will last.

- I think that I am suffering with something called "event fatigue". I just want to enjoy the books I have and not have them constantly interrupted with some sort of tie-in to something else. It is really frustrating to have good storytelling stopped dead in it's tracks by some sort of editorial mandate. Plot threads left dangling for months at a time with little or no resolution just to satisfy sales tends to make hardcore readers of those titles angry and feel like they are being taken advantage of by the companies. Why can't these guys just keep their hands off a book when it's going good? Do they feel they have to justify their existence by meddling? I mean, how many people rolled their eyes when they saw the solicit for that Spider-Man mini being written by Quesada? Considering he's responsible for the mess the books became, is this his way of atoning? Probably not. And I love how these guys can't leave something alone, either a character (Deadpool is this generation's Wolverine) or a line of books that they consolidate only to expand in a few months. Cancelling a title only to pick it back up with a new number is just lazy to me. It smacks of desperation and makes me wonder if the "creative" minds at the top are really creative at all. If you want to restart a book, fine. But for God's sakes, at least let it have been gone for a minimum of a year. I wish there was a governing body that could oversee these companies and say "no, that can't happen. You must abide by these rules." Yes, we can always vote with our wallets. In this economy, now more than ever we can do that. But still it seems to be happening. One shots that replace ongoings, "specials" instead of the more traditional "annuals" and so forth are clogging the racks these days.

OK, that's enough for now. Have more to get off my chest, such as Buffy and Batman, but that will come later.

Be good!

News and comments

Hey there all.

First off, I think that I owe you all an apology. After reading over some of the old posts, it appears that I've made the proclamation "I'm back" a bunch. So I promise not to do it again, no matter how long I'm gone.

When I left, the wife and I had just come through the ordeal of losing one of our beloved cats, Penelope. I still miss her and feel her presence from time to time. A month after that, we lost our oldest, Spice. She passed quietly in her sleep during the final big snowfall we had. I took the wife out in the early morning during the beautiful silence that happens during most snows and told her about it. She was upset, but we both felt at peace because we did not have to go through the dilemma of putting her down. There was the plus of the fact that she met the newest additions to our family.Meet Burt & Benji.

These two boys are our new kids. Seeing as we can't have kids of our own (too long a story to go into), we tend to view our pets as our children. We don't do stupid things like putting clothes on them and other inanity, but still they are our kids. We got them a few months ago when they were about 2 months old. They have already chosen who belongs to who. Burt is a mommy's cat and loves her up for treats and such. Benji, the daredevil, is mine. He comes and loves me up when it's time to eat, sleeps with me when he's tired and loves my feet. No, wait. He REALLY loves my feet. He walks with me everywhere I go. He is usually waiting for me at the door when I come home from work. They are still newborns and have a ton of energy from time to time. That can be helpful, but when you're trying to sleep and they want to play, it's a pain in the butt. Still, we love them and are thankful to have them in our lives.

Well, I think that will do it for now. I have things to get off my chest about comics, but that will wait for the next post.

It won't be six months, I promise.

After some consideration...

I've decided not to totally blow this blog up.

First off, hi there. It's been awhile since I've done this. To say that things have been hectic is a bit of an understatment. Suffice to say I have been preoccupied with other things rather than throwing my thoughts out into the internet for all to digest. I haven't even looked at this blog in about 2 months (judging by the comments, most of you haven't looked at this at all) so you can imagine my surprize when I saw that I haven't posted in almost half a year.

At first I thought of just flushing the whole thing. I mean, does anybody really give a damn about my opinion on anything? I get tired of hearing my voice from time to time so I know everyone else does. I have said that I am a font of useless information. So why does that need to be added to the already crowded chorus of idiots who patrol on blogs, Facebook, Myspace, etc.? I think I will use the space to try and do a few things. First, to flush the feelings and sometimes hopeless out of me so that I can give a more positive energy to my family and friends. Secondly, I do want to express my feelings about things I do care about, like sports and comics. The fact that it is not as insightful as my friends like Jim, Rusty, Matthew and Shawn should not deter me from my feelings and opinions.

So, in summation, I will be out here. Probably alone, but here nonetheless. I will post in a day or so about the losses and additions to my family. As well as some thoughts on comics.

Thanks for checking in and stopping by.