My Haul

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.

DC

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,

TJ

Good Starting Points For the DC Noob

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, 

TJ

My Haul and my Surprising Read

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

Superman

and

and

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,

TJ

Music I like that might shock you

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

TJ

JLA 8 & 9

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,

TJ

My DCBS Order for shit coming in September

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

DC

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

TJ

My top 5 semi recent Batman Tales

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,

TJ

My haul Flash and Guardians of the Galaxy

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

TJ

Last weeks Haul

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,

TJ

Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2

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,

TJ 

Dark Times #12 (Vector part 6)

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,

TJ

JLA Vol 1 New World Order

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,

TJ

My new level of Geek and my hatred of Borders

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,

TJ

My haul

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,

TJ

My Movie taste and Someone I just don't get

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,

TJ