Wednesday, January 30, 2008

RIP Brother Michael Dwyer

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.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

My Haul

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

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

My new obsession

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


TJ

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

My Haul

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

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

Friday, January 11, 2008

Amazing Spiderman #546


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.

TJ

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Detective Comics #840



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.


TJ


Wednesday, January 9, 2008

My Haul

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

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Umbrella Academy #4


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.

TJ

Animal Man Vol 1



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.


TJ

Monday, January 7, 2008

Just a rant about work.

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

Friday, January 4, 2008

My Haul

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

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

Thursday, January 3, 2008

The Invisibles Vol 1


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

TJ

Action Comics #860


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.

TJ

An Apology

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