Wednesdays and Weekends #2

#2 Issue

I thought this was going to be a small pull week for me this week and it turned out kind of middle ground. For once my karma worked for me as this is a in between payday Wednesday, well I treated myself with a variant cover for Green Lantern, usually the variants are gone by the time I get there. Which is too bad because Lee’s is one of the coolest shops not only for the great people that work there but the fact that they do not corn hole you on variant prices and usually just charge a couple bucks more. I love going to this store and mentioned this to Ryan and MP and they said to call in the morning on Wednesdays and they can put one in my file. Part of what I look forward to about picking up comics is chatting with the guys as I mentioned before.

It is good MP is a wrestling fan as well and we got to talking about the new bullshit rule of no chair shots to the head and no blading. We began talking about the joke of a Wellness Policy and such when Ryan asked what we were talking about and I responded with shame and hushed tones of “wrestling.” It got big chuckles and he said we looked embarrassed and we had the look of being caught. As I was thumbing through my pulls I noticed sure enough there was the illusive #6 issue of Anchor. I was kind of bummed as I just purchased it off Ebay for a good deal but hey I will just have both covers of this fine comic.

Anchor #6: I am not sure what it is about this comic but it is in the same vein as the Great Ten for me as in I am not totally wild about the art but the story is fantastic. Actually I like the Anchor’s art work a little bit better as it has a certain charm to it. The covers for the Anchor have been phenomenal and that is part of what drew me to this book. I love how the story progresses giving you a little more each issue and this issue and #5 had huge events happening at the end. Clem is one of the most interesting characters to come along in some time, sure people keep comparing him to Hellboy but I imagine someday he will be as big. This issue gives us the most extensive look into Clem’s past and I loved seeing him as a young lad and how even with people using him for his strengths to do their bidding he still had a good heart that only needed some guidance.

One thing that I really like about this comic and all credit to Boom! Studios is their really is a punk rock community feel to this title. I can honestly say I enjoy the letter section as much as the rest of the book. Phil Hester’s passion about this character comes through, and not too sound too hokey but it makes me want to work harder on my writing and characters. There is a letter when he says he knows $4 is a lot to spend for a book and he will try to make it worth your time and money.

Believe me this is a fine book and you can get caught up with the previous 4 issues in trade at a super reasonable price. Oh and my second copy showed up today and the cover makes me think I may need to buy each cover each month…wow.

Favorite Part: Page 13 After the raiders have killed Isemay they are fleeing by boat and Clem chases them down and the dipshit raiders think he is wanting to be on their ship and one actually tells him to keep the anchor they tied to him to drown him. Clem throws the anchor and it all turns bad for the raiders from there.

Green Lantern #52: I think White Lantern Sinestro may be my new favorite looking character, he just looks great in the uniform (whew I sound like I have some Sinestro sugar in the tank). That being said I liked this issue but was not wild about it. I really do want to try to be positive when writing about comics because I think there is more than enough shit talking in the world. The last few Green Lantern issues have been good but not blow me away good.

The return of Parallax was not really that much of a welcome one with me as I felt like it was a case of déjà vu. But oh brother did I get even more than I ever wanted with Ion, Parallax and the other ring colors power animal, what the hell is this a Chinese take out menu? The Nekron parts were good and man alive I love how he is drawn, especially after picking up his early (maybe first?) appearances in Captain Atom. Not a bad issue and I think I will get more out of it after a re read after reading tomorrow’s conclusion to Blackest Night.

Favorite Part: Page 12 Nekron literally slices Sinestro down the middle and is splashed and an odd purple blood.

The Rise of Arsenal #1: I think I have only read one Green Arrow trade and enjoyed it. On a whim I have picked up the Green Arrow Rise and Falls and have loved it. Several people I have talked to have marveled (no pun) that these issues have actually really piqued their interest in the Green Arrow character. Now keep in mind I am no expert on comics and just a fan who does not feel the need to know every single fact by heart so as a semi newbie I will write about this one. This book hits the ground running, really there is only about one page of peace when Arsenal is talking to his kid. I do not know a lot about Prometheus but what I can gather he is sort of a minor villain and that is what I love about this story. A minor guy commits a heinous act that sets so many things in the DC universe into action.

The scenes with Roy in the hospital are pretty intense and maybe it is just me but there is a little bit of acceptance in Roy about his arm and then her presses further about things to find out what must be his worst nightmare came true why he was out cold. And enter Ollie who is one of the most real characters currently in comics. He has finally had his limit and does not give a fuck about the hero’s way of justice and only cares about the satisfaction of making Prometheus and others involved pay. It is really gripping and emotional towards the end as Roy talks to a junky ghost of a friend and shuns everyone and kicks some muggers asses and pops pills. The scene in the morgue is powerful and I believe I have heard a variation of it from a movie, but the idea of a child crying out for a parent to save them and they don’t is a nightmare for sure. I will for sure be picking up the rest of this series.
Favorite Part (feels weird writing favorite with such a heavy book): Pages 12 and 13 that have no words and just show the Justice League’s reactions.

Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way #2: The first issue just came out a week or so ago, yeah I could look it up but am lazy, and I loved it. I am a big fan when Marvel does a short story collection. For awhile I was picking up Amazing Stories or something or another. It had the Arno Stark stuff and a great short of Spiderwoman as a private detective and stopped due to lack of a job last summer and never got back on track (have a feeling I can pick the missing ones via cheap o bin) but enjoyed it.

Last month’s had that certain intangible quality where I was still thinking about it that night as I went to bed and thinking that was way better than I expected. This second issue had some heft to it and I for once did not roll my eyes at the price… $3.99 seems fair. I wish this concept book had more to do with unknown writers more than artists though but that is just me being selfish in hoping for tips and advice for writing as my drawing has barely improved from the 3rd grade. The Fantastic Four story was pretty good but pretty standard although I liked the part with the Thing strapped to the teeth rushing the monster. The Thor story was a nice fable but I was not too fond of the art work as for some reason I cannot get into that odd blocky Magma art. My favorite was the Hulk which told a dream story mixed with reality with no words (wait a minute wasn’t I just complaining about this being an art centric book, walking contradiction I am). I liked the dream sequences of gladiator Hulk fighting his enemies while a hot chick is being chased in the woods in reality. The two X Men tales were ok, I didn’t like the art work for either and for different reasons.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I am pissing on it as I respect anyone who can draw and do this kind of work it is just not my favorite. The Dead Pool short that closes out is really entertaining and has a nice twist. I have friends who say that Dead Pool is the best comic going but I there are several reasons that keep me from picking it up (call me petty, no not Tom), such as I hated the ad where he is saying “X X Baby!” yuck and I hated the spoof on the Blackest Night with Dead Pools Corps. Yeah I may just be a communist for not liking this and Kick Ass comrades.

Favorite Part: Page 21: In the Hulk dream story the hooded killer is chasing the girl and she does the classic horror trip, well to be honest they draw her super hot. Oh and I guess she spits up at the killer and the splatter on his cheek looks like chew, what is she from the cast of Hee Haw?

Secret Warriors #14: I was kind of shocked that we are already on issue 14. I have really enjoyed this title, it is not a blow away title that I come away from just shaking my head in awe but it has been a good consistent title that has covered a lot of ground, commandoes, children of gods etc. This title has really made me a fan of Daisy and I enjoy the banter between her and Fury, I just wish there was more Dum Dum Duggan. One of these days I need to pull out all the back issues and re read them, at times I get confused with the different organizations (excuse me again all powerful and mighty comic fans). At times it feels a little like a G.I. Joe title with the secret organizations and military ops but then they add some great work with the gods. This issue started out with some great banter between Daisy and Fury and switched into a different gear with Viper pleading, the Viper scene did a great classic set up of suspense and the trail off dialogue into a shocking full page reveal. This is another issue that I think is part of a larger story puzzle. It may not seem like a lot on its own but full realized it will all make sense with Orion, Leviathon and Hydra.

Favorite Part: pages 13-14 When J.T. and Daisy have a drink and J.T. tells Daisy the only reason he is sticks around is to be around her. Hey look at that the romantic in me is just on life support, what a great line of dialogue “Whatever it is that a woman doest to a man … you do that to me."

If I had to put the Wednesday list in order (wow this is a tough one except for the #1 slot):

1.Anchor #6:
2.The Rise of Arsenal #1
3.Secret Warriors #14
4.Green Lantern #52:
5.Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way #2

I ended up doing my usual perhaps compulsive second go around pick up Sunday. I had a little cash in my pocket as the guys paid me for the UFC fight tickets so I figured I could maybe pick up a few things I was on the fence about on Wednesday. I really needed to get some air as I saw my opening for some short relief from yet another marathon play date. This one involved an egg drop at the bridge which should have been fun but I tell you 8 to 9 year olds can argue and ruin almost anything. Times have changed for youth in so many ways, the scheduling of playing is just the beginning. One of the ones that bothers me is the bargaining factor and the toy/ rewarding for no reason other than being on a plane of existence. Remember when you only got toys on your birthday and Christmas and maybe for a good report card? Anyhow, I need to shut my Dr. Phil cake hole and write about the Sunday pick ups. I only picked up 3 books and thought about doing the random pull from the cheap o bin and reviewing it but I think I have some from a random $3 bag from Rasputins which will work perfectly for that, now if I can just find those. So here be some mo’ ramblings on comics:

Hellblazer: #265 Part 1 No Future: Hellblazer is something I pick up now and then, usually if I am aware of a new story arch I will pick it up or if I see a collection like the Christmas one. I have the first trade and really liked it but have not followed up due to time constraints and having to work for 8 hours at least a day rather than read comics and day dream… drat. The Sid cover was pretty interesting and I remembered enjoying the issues about Constantine’s old punk band days and thought this may tie in nicely. It is odd that this arch is only 2 issues. This seems like a story that could be fleshed out a little more, I mean come on the Chas spin off was what 4 issues. The art work does a great job at showing the aging Constantine, if I recall he is one of the few characters that ages in real time hence the pot belly and wrinkles.

Constantine’s old buddy Faeces calls him up for some help with Sid Vicious which is a creepy doll/ statue and he warns him that the conservatives are coming. The Faeces character is one I am too familiar with the aging punk, and the section where Constantine gives him some tough love is interesting as suddenly something comes out of the nasty statue. His relationship with Epiphany is interesting as you are not sure if he actually likes her or if he simply sees some use in her, is he really jealous or is he the same grumpy walled off person. Something is in the Sid idol puppet and it made Constantine feel young but what is it? Since it will only cost me $2.99 you bet I will find out the answer.

Favorite Part: Page 10 When Faeces reveals the Sid shrine and Constantine says he feels a little quesey. The shrine has some nice small touches and one of my favorites is the child hood picture of Sid.

Nemesis: #1 OK so I am waaayyy beyond burned out about Kick Ass. It is not the fault of the comic, but I feel like a communist saying this but the comic just didn’t appeal to me. I think I got on board around issue 1 but just kind of got tired of it and hell how else was I going to afford those tasty upcoming Blackest Night issues? I skipped over this on Wednesday and almost picked it up. I am not sure why I do this. Maybe my sub conscious is trying to create an out or something to look forward to on the weekend. The way this was explained is what if Batman was a bad guy? I read mostly positive reviews but a lot of them said it was too short or it was like coming into a movie that had been going for 15 minutes or so.

I found this to be a great first issue. I love the look of the Nemesis, I think I just dig all white costumes such as the new Sinestro White Lantern. But it was fairly true to its description, yup evil Batman rules. The Bizzaro world opening is fantastic, where Nemesis talks with the police chief that even resembles Jim Gordon. I always forget how violent comics can be sometimes and how harsh the language can be. I seem to get a lot of DC comics so it is nice to get that shock factor of vivid violence and blue language. The baby face Chief of Police is kind of a cool Sam Elliot customer (maybe Tom Berringer in his prime?) that I am afraid is doomed. I like how you think Nemesis is going to go straight for him but he zig zags and goes up even higher on the hit list to prove a point. I am not sure how many issues this is going to be but I am in even with the lame statement on the front that says Makes Kick Ass Look Like Shit.

Favorite Part: Page 17 Where Nemesis is running around on top of Air Force One and we see the shot from the barrel of a gun and the words “Don’t even think about it, fuck-head”. Classic and it made me laugh at loud.

Vengeance of Moon Knight: Marvel Must Have Collecting issues 1-3: Now this is more like it, if Marvel is going to bend me over for $3.99 an issue then let me enjoy the girth, ugh I just made myself a tad ill. I was unsure about picking this issue up as I was disappointed with up the Moon Knight Down South story arch with the Punisher, ok not disappointed but at times disgusted with the Bro talk between the luchadores and pissed with the bait and switch of the Punisher. And really to be honest I only know one guy who reads Moon Night and he likes it but is by no means a champion for it.

So what pushed this into the weekend compulsive buy stack is they had a great creepy scare crow guy (ok if any comic guy is reading this yeah yeah I apologize for not knowing everything from his name to his favorite smoothie flavor I just like scary scare crow men) giving lobotomies and creating an army of brain dead zombies. For the most part this was a good read, I did get a little tired of them continuously brining up the concept of Moon Knight did not murder the bad guys. OK we get it he is fighting the urge or compulsion to skin and maim his foes.

I was really excited to see the Sentry while flipping through the issue but upon further read I felt like that angle kind of went nowhere. Sure it was interesting to see him pulling Moon Knight along with him while running his super hero errands but where is the action? At least the parts with The Hood paid off, I love the Hood and am glad he is involved with the task of building a gang and going after someone. The last issue with the Bushman resurrection was the best of them but I found the Spidey part odd and out of place, he is making jokes about Facebook and then once again we are reminded how amazing it is Moon Knight didn’t eat their skin and drop kick their entrails. I saw issue 4 out but passed… well for now. In these rough times I am going to take my changes in the fifty cent bin.

Favorite Part: Page 61 Where the scare crow climbs into the asylum through the gates and says soon the inmates will be running the asylum.

Sunday’s pick- ups in order:
1.Nemesis #1
2.Hellblazer #265
3.Vengeance of Moon Knight: Marvel Must Have

First and Ten... The Journey Begins... again

When I am on my deathbed, or shall I say if I am lucky enough to have some time to reflect my life before I die I wonder if I will regret all the time I sat at the keyboard or with notebook writing about silly things like wrestling or comics. Will in those last moments will I wonder what possessed my mid 30s self to watch all 80 episodes of the HBO series 1st and Ten.

I had been on the fence about picking this up and then one day at a Walmart in Mountain View I said what the fuck. I am not sure but it might have been one of the first days that I found the Wal Mart. And I know that sounds bizarre in many ways as they are everywhere but out here it is a little harder to find one. A good Saturday that makes me homesick out here is if I go to the Wal Mart and then have Chiles for lunch. Many enlightened ones in my general vicinity would look at this as hill billyish and the epitome of what is wrong with this dumpy German kids from Western Kansas but hey I say it is the chunks of sausage in the mother fucking gravy. So I braved the people circling the five dollar DVD bin and glanced at the shelf to see for $5 1st and Ten the full show.

I have fond memories of this show and many times when I see certain actors I still associate them with their 1st and Ten characters. Donald Gibb will always be Dr. Death and Delta Burke will never be a Sugar Baker to me but the owner of the Bulls. I have scanned the disc and think I finished most of the first season but I decided I needed to go back and watch with notes. An interesting thing I noticed is around the third or fourth episode they got rid of the laugh track and added nudity. I dare you to find a better trade off in the history of television, canned laughter or beautiful natural eighties boobies?

I also hate how everyone was always so on Delta Burke in later years for being so big. Hey she was always somewhat of a thicker gal but who cares. When I was a young lad in Haysville I remember thinking she was dreamy and I realized I preferred black or brunette hair over the blondes. In one of the early episodes she said “You want some chicken Bob?” and I just thought wow that sounds dirty, so I guess that was the beginning of me reading into things. But then again I recall on an episode of Cheers when Sam and Diane were trying to figure out whose house they would go do it in Diane says about her place “It’s dirty” and Sam says “not if we care about each other”. What my young mind thought Diane was talking about at first was her vagina. So yes the seeds of my depravity began at an early age, thanks Ma and Da for not being so uptight about movies and such, Animal House at 6 a little iffy but it helped warp me to who I am today.

So without further ado I present the 1st and Ten Run downs. I am not sure how I will format this so it is an easy read, it will be a journey back in time. This is the run down of episode one and I should have the notes for 2 done soon. I have a long way to go, about 79 more episodes to be exact.

Episode 1: The Pilot

I saw the name Leslie Easterbrook in the opening credits, is that the blonde sex cop in Police Academy? I should go and look it up on IMDB but I had to unplug the internet cable doo hickey to set at the table. You gotta write about important shit like this at a table, oh and I have a big glass of water and a tumbler of Kamikaze shot mix as I try and make sense of my notes. Holy shit strike that from the record, Delta looks pretty slim and good in the first episode, but sadly episode 2 she starts wearing frumpier outfits. Delta Burke was Kristie Alley before their was A and E and all to do shows about her.

Now I broke one of my rules and did research a little bit about the show. This pilot I guess was for HBO which was trying to appeal to people making television to come over so they could be edgier and not have to worry about FCC regulations. That being said I was shocked at the beginning when Diane catches her husband greasing up tight end Todd Taylor. That is pretty risqué for the eighties I would say. Now days no one would blink an eye. I remember being at my grandma Minnie’s house and HBO had some movie on with Harry Hamlin questioning his straightness and he starts making out with a man and my Grandma jumps up and says “No not in front of the children!” It didn’t really startle me and no not because I have sugar in the tank but I would like to think I was an enlightened young lad. I wish they would have expanded a little more on the story, was Diane being neglected, did her husband still hump her? Did they fire Todd Taylor?

There are a lot of similarities to North Dallas Forty in this episode. The pool party, the new younger QB who is super religious (“Why do I smell like strawberries? Is one of the greatest movie lines, maybe not top ten but top 50) and the aging superstar. Which in this pilot it looked like the new QB star was played by Kent from Real Genius. They seemed to make the Bob Dorsey character a mesh between Nolte and Mac Davis and you sir are no Mac Davis. By the way Mac Davis should have been Burt Reynolds huge in my mind.

This show has that weird 80s thing where it is a comedy but suddenly the music is somber and there is a serious moment. Now it is not as bad as say Family Ties with Alex Keaton and the diet pills but it seems a little out of place when Dian is talking to Roger about how afraid he really is of the Arcolas. The plan is to plant coke and give it to the Bulls and tell them it was from Diane disgracing her and making her sell the Bulls back to her oily filter cigarette smoking butt pirate of a husband (not that there is anything wrong with that matey). So they get a greasy guy that looks like a cross between Taylor Negron and that Gremlins spin off Critter coming out of the toilet to plant coke. But Ernie the disgraced coach that Diane fired comes to the party, keep in mind the wild party with the typical generic keyboard music and no boob showing, and finds the coke saving Diane and his job. All is well with the world and Diane and Ernie are going to take the Bulls to a 500 season ha ha. I am not sure how Ernie getting a tip negates how the whole show they were building up how shitty a job he was doing falling asleep and not knowing players. But hey what did I expect from a pilot.

Laugh out louds for episode: 0

Cringe Worthy moments for episode: lower scale 2-4

Laugh Track: not on for first half of episode, then appears

Observations:
1. All the white guys on the team are good ole country boys, the only difference is slim country white boy or fat lineman country hick deluxe

2. The star wide receiver Witherspoon is in negotiation for 1 million a year and his agent is very Johnny Cochron. Maybe a young Johnny Cockroach was a fan of this show and after a long night of disco dancing took of his platforms and saw this show and thought hey I should base my whole legal persona on this guy.

3. One of the country boys who I think is a tight end named Mason runs a route to impress Diane and after he runs off she is told how he is a flasher and likes to expose himself. It got me thinking how you almost never hear about that crime anymore. I mean I know it happens but when have you ever heard of a pro athlete doing that, and no I don’t think Big Ben counts. Very original to have that be his celebrity weirdness. Wouldn’t it be funny if instead of pro football players welding guns and punching strippers they had a problem where they mooned people and played the unsuspecting game of is that gum on my pants?

Quotable Bulls:
Diane: “How are your knees?”
Bob Dorsey: “Not as pretty as yours”

Wesley Mania this past weekend...

The following is from my journal dealy i keep, it was done late at night and tends to ramble and all about Davey Richards and my thoughts on him. Bottom line the Evolve show was pretty friggin dope. Not sure how i am writing about all my troubles and turmoil leads to a Davey Wesley Mr. Belvedere kid rant but hey i just steer this husky German kid's brain.

I should think of some positive things, uhhh the Evolve is good. I started watching a bit of the main event with Davey Richards. I wonder if he is still married to Miss Natural or what the hell her name is from Missouri. He just seems so much like a little jerk, who knows maybe he is a good guy with a good sense of humor but he seems a little too Benoit for me. I mean before Benoit did his thing I dug his matches but from what I could see and hear they guy had no personality besides wrestling. Just bland, which when you think about it is so odd. You have a wife and kids and really wrestling was more powerful than them. I am not sure if I have anything in my life that would over rule loved ones or even friends. It is odd thinking of how fake fighting and drama can consume everything, but I guess any hobby could get their claws in the right or wrong minded fella. Somewhere there is a guy obsessing over shuffle board to the point where he ignores everything else. But I wonder if Davey knows about Natural’s past which I guess is somewhat shady. But maybe he just really dug her and thought hell the past is the past and on my first NOAH tour I went to that bath house and got a tug.

So I have a feeling I may nod off a tad tonight and then do the wake up and be up until two or so. The show had a fresh new feel and lo and behold Gabe did it again with Evolve. I actually found myself giving a shit about the roster. The Evolve show has been great as I started to say, it reminds me of one of my favorite days with Tiesel. I want to say it was a Monday holiday but I am not sure. He was working at the Krispy Kreme in a grocery store and had a box of about a million of them. I brought over some wrestling, more in particular the first ROH show. We watched it as a PPV and dug it. I remember a lot of cracks of Bryan Danielson’s tights how they were all white and he looked like the bigger asshole brother in most 80’s movies who does a lot of curls and swings numb nut chucks and drinks a lot of protein shakes.. Granted some of the shoot interview in character segments were a tad cheesy but I have to say at least they are taking a somewhat new approach. It really makes me miss booking and who knows maybe I can still get my foot in the door somewhere or help with the Metro company that is starting. I need to order last year’s Super 8 which I finally got a lead on. I want to watch and review and try and find some good indy stuff.

So to continue on the Davey Wesley Richards issues in a free form way I did watch the main event with him last night and it was ok. Not a blow away and I thought there were several matches that were better. Not everything has to be a long strong style macho dick docking fest. Early going ons included Davey having psycho eyes and yelling come on and harder, wait come on me harder? I do have to say he was more animated then I remember. I often thought of him as a bland create a wrestler with no emotions on his face. I did semi watch his match with Drake Younger in the Peterson Cup and remarked to Tim on the phone (what don’t we all watch TV and discuss with our friends who live far away?) how Richards was doing the sell of checking his teeth with the ref after he got hit by a strike.

I am big enough or husky enough to admit that if someone else would have done that I would have thought it was great selling, IE Dick Murdoch often did a similar act getting miles out of a simple jab. But for some reason I thought I bet this is schtick he does often, well sure enough he did it in the main for Evolve. But he did have a busted lip and there was a little bit of blood so that gave it some weight. It is weird how my brain works because I started thinking about Dynamite and how I guess he often would saw his head off for good color and I thought to the more recent pics of him in his book and how gigged up his forehead looked and I got to thinking does Davey do that? I guess he almost has to if he is falling in the line of the Benoits and such where wrestling is everything to them and that is just part of the job.

I am going to rewatch the match with Drake Younger who I do enjoy for the most part. In the hot days of Facebook I remember him posting about breaking up with a girl who he cared about because he just wanted to wrestle and I imagine the death match look bothered her. Who knows what kind of a cat Drake is, but in that short nano burst in the internet I thought of him as a pretty classy guy. A guy who probably works a day job and is slowly gaining weight and knows Vinny will not come a knocking but still continues to do what he enjoys. I guess he is coming to Evolve which should be interesting, I am sure it has happened but Drake vs. Arik Cannon or Brad Allen could be good.

Ibushi took a beating for sure and did some great stuff. In an odd coincident I happened to randomly watch a DDT show I had on VHS and he was in a match against Ryuji Ito. Ito for some reason I really hate, well not for some reason I can list three off the top of my head:

1. Mortal Combat theme he comes out to. Come on what are we in middle school?
2. The slow motion involved in his kicks. His spin kicks look just slow and awkward and make me think of a guy in black dress socks throwing kicks at his younger cousins trying not to slip and fall on Grandma’s hard wood floor.
3. Those damn jean shorts with the 7th grade art club sharpie doodles of dragons, come on maybe if it was an acid washed jean jacked but they are shorts, buy some gear you look silly.

Ibushi did look pretty good in that match, a little green and I understand the idea of a pecking order and paying your dues I hated to see him do it to Ito. He looked a little more bulked up in this match and I started thinking about his pay for this show. You come to the US and do a really physical match you should get some scratch but I have to wonder with this being a new promotion and all.

One thing I find odd about Davey and the fandom thing is he was trained by Tony Kozina who I enjoy a lot more. He has a more unique look, kind of like a cross between Deniro and Carmichael from Laverne and Shirley but keep in mind he is a mini. One of my complaints about wrestling is most shows especially indies do the head lock drop down spots to start a match. Tim and I watched this old from the 50s black and white match and fuck if those headlocks didn’t look painful. Well Kozina is one of the only guys I have seem slap on a headlock and think fuck that looks all kinds of nasty. Kozina did a show for CSW and it was before I worked for them. But I romanticized the story, he was moving across country and was picking up shows on the way. Imagine that life, out on the road wrestling, meeting new guys eating late at Applebee’s or Old C’s. Believe me the after dinners are some of my fondest memories of my short time in the biz. Oh Eddie Money your song is so true I wanna go back and do it all over again (yeah I hate me now too but you mix about 5 Kamikaze shots from a bottle with Sprite into a tumbler after taking care of 2 sick people and you tell me you don’t get a little memory happy).

Kozina just does not get the love, I think ROH might use him a little here and there but the guy is good. Really early on we had an offer to use Davey and he was billed to us as Kozina’s guy and we said sure, not sure but it didn’t pan out. Years later after I had moved to this poop state they were set to use him but he no showed saying he heard the guy he was wrestling was reckless and hurt somebody. No I am not naming names but that is and was not true. I think he maybe just wanted to stay home and give Ms. Natural the ole’ DH driver. Which I imagine being close to home it would be easy to call in sick and stay home and watch TV with your gal.

But I felt good about actually buying the disc from Evolve and it was money well spent and I can say I will get the second show as well. Davey is gone and I feel like Gaber was getting a little dig in on him by calling him Wesley, and that name always makes me think of the ugly little boy in Mr. Belvedere. Gaber was hurt by Wesley not finishing the dates and responded by leg slap kicking Bob Eucker. So I will order the second show even if I am in a weekly hotel or sleeping in the car and showering at work because sometimes a guy needs a little screen to watch little guys in little pants wrestler in a little building in New Jersey.

Weekends and Wednesdays

I am not sure if it was Geoff Johns that said no matter how bad his week was going he always looked forward to Wednesdays. Lately it seems like I have been testing this theory to the hilt. A few summers ago I was having a rough go (which these days seems kind of like a cake walk, red velvet cake if you please) and thought well at least I have my new titles to pick up. Comics for some reason can center me and I can actually focus on the content. Television is trickier, I just flip thru and my mind wonders. So lately I have been enjoying that small relief that I get for oh say an hour or so. I was thinking about how there must be a million and a half comic blogs and reviews so why not one more! No I just wanted to write as I am home from work and had to do something to combat the stir crazies of taking care of a sick kid on a sunny day. Don’t get me wrong there is a chance left to my own devices I would be inside reading and such but this way I can feel like I am making the best of being stuck inside, yeah I would probably just read outside.


I seem to have this weird pattern of behavior pertaining to comics. I have my weekly pull list and once a week I look up the week’s list on Deathvalleydriver.com and copy it into a word program at work. I then while on hold or on break I high light what I am getting and my maybes. In my old age I often forget to print my list but more times than not I pick up my titles and end up back in the store on the weekend to pick up one or two things. Usually this second trip either involves a recommendation from my buddy Tim (who I partially blame for my Green Lantern fandom), a good review or sigh… the column the Buy Pile. The guy who writes that is a bit of a snot but I have to admit he has pointed me in the right direction on a few titles such as Dingo and a few one offs or one and dones. So usually after reading some reviews I end up making some excuse to run an “errand”. Comics are not very popular in our house and I am glad I have a storage space to store the long boxes that are native to my move here, it is hard to answer and skirt the question of “Did you read comics in Kansas?” Well uh yeah but I wasn’t obsessed with Blackest Night then.

So this week I ended up making not one but two trips for uh errands. I have my weekly pull at the delightful Lee’s Comics in San Mateo, where two really great guys work MP and Ryan. It also helps they are both football fans, one for the Saints and one for the Redskins, sorry MP about your team ending up with Larry Johnson. But they are good with the recommendations and are also not too into the realm where they cannot talk about anything else. This week I got my lighter than usual list and almost used up my $100 gift certificate. I am not sure if I am proud or ashamed that it lasted about 3 weeks for my pull list plus one new box and in the midst of talking I forgot to pick up the Siege and they were all out of Booster Gold #30. So MP got them transferred for me and put a Siege in the folder.

Saturday after a waaay too early wake up and a ton of house cleaning and a trip to Home Depot I made my escape to buy groceries and pick up the 2 issues I missed. It was a rough busy day and picking up these two issues and a steak rice bowl with extra rice from Chipotle were about the only good things in a long night.

Siege #3: I groaned and complained to Tim when I saw the check list for the Siege. I read the Secret Invasion and a few of the spin offs and really only one issue of Secret Invasion was great, the rest were very blah. I do have to say I have been enjoying all the Norman Osborne drama and really love the Dark Avengers title, although I heard it will not be around much longer. I really like the Sentry character as he is one of my favorites in the Marvel universe, one of the others being Bob from Agents of Atlas (I guess I enjoy your more troubled heroes). So a few times Tim and I talked about the Siege stuff and we both decided to take a pass. Late one evening I called him and had to say damn it I think I am going to have to get the Siege due to the preview in the back of a Marvel title. I refused to get the million other titles but I thought I could do a 4 book series, and I do not feel too lost in the going ons. So issue 3 is pretty good, it may sound funny but it is a bit of a slowed down issue. It sounds crazy to say that while there is so much action in this issue, Norman gets hit with Cap’s shield, Thor and the Sentry fighting, but I tell you I was absolutely floored and shocked with the Ares ending in #2. I was surprised it was not discussed at all in this issue but I am sure it will be or maybe it is in one of the cross overs. I enjoyed how many story lines are going on. It was cool to see Fury materialize and I enjoyed how the president is hedging his bets on the outcome of the battle. I am looking forward to seeing how they wrap this one up but I am also dreading that Marvel will probably just spin it into another series and truth be told I do not make that much money and well Brightest Day is on the horizon.
Favorite Part: Page 22 Norman showing his Goblin face and several panels of “Toldja.”

Booster Gold #30: This has been a nice little story arch and I am a big fan of Cyborg Superman. I loved the one off origin in the Sinestro Corps. Wars and feel he is one of those characters you really feel bad for and understand why he is pissed off to some degree. Booster Gold has become a big favorite of mine (damn you again Tim) and I often find his stories filled with a lot of heart and they are often bittersweet. The dilemmas he faces are great not wanting to alter history but not wanting to have horrible things happen. There is some pretty gripping stuff in issue 30 and the Sonora and Gracey interactions with both Booster and Skeets are great. The only problem I have and sorry not to sound Comic Book Store Guy nit picky but towards the end after Michelle and Booster leave and Drew is left behind to perish Michelle seems fairly calm about it. Maybe she is not melting down because she thinks they can go back in the time stream and fix it so he does not die but I would think your immediate reaction would be to as they say scientifically to lose your shit. The end had a nice twist that I read several times, damn the time travelling and all can get complicated. Not sure if everyone would dig this but I am glad to be on board.
Favorite Part: Page 7 When Sonora Crain is holding Gracey Greene and Skeets scans their names in the records of the dead from the Cost City disaster and Sonora says “My god how sick can you be?” She is angry and just appalled but then he helps save them.

So on Sunday I woke up early with even less sleep than the night before. I was up a good bit of the night playing nurse maid and felt like an old time man sitting in a chair beside the bed to keep an eye on any odd breathing or requests for water. The house was being shown from 2 to 4 so I had my window of opportunity to make a trip down south to another comic shop. I never remember the name of it but I want to say it is called R and K or something and it is in Sunnyvale. I am not sure when I came across it in the phone book but I spent a long long Sunday trying to find it. I even had my trusty co hort Tim on the phone in KC giving me directions and Google earthing the location, “Ok it is buy a car lot and a Burger King.”

This is a pretty good shop as they have a lot of good cheap back issues and they are super close to an In and Out Burger. I love having a day of fat man decadence when I scour through back issues and then have a gut bomb. I even planned my last birthday around one of these stops, however that Saturday I had a super shit morning and when I got there one of the clerks was so damn annoying. He just kept talking and talking and had this high pitched voice and kept talking about how he worked in the iron industry and blah blah. Now keep in mind he did not say one word to me but it was enough to drop a giant stink bomb on the usually pleasant event.

It made me realize how much I loved Lee’s and would only go to this place when it was really really warranted. Well I had a reason to go, Lee’s did not get Anchor #6 and they were out of Scalped #35 which I had read rave reviews about. So I figured I would hope bad tattoo iron man weasel would have the day off to organize his Molly Hatchet records and made the journey. I was pleased that the Giants cactus league was on and actually enjoyed the drive over. Sadly they did not have the latest Anchor (had to go on Ebay damn) but I picked up a few things. Iron Weasel was not there and I actually heard what I think is the owner complain about the mess he left. By the way the owner has a giant grey pompadour and big glasses, he is straight out of a Crumb comic. The guy who rang me up was super nice and said good choices on the 3 issues I picked up. He even recommended another shop that may have the Anchor. So I picked up a few things and picked up some Arby’s on the way to a short work session, by the way if I was more tech savy or had a better phone camera I would have taken a pic of the Arby’s bag that said never greasy that had… you guessed it a big grease stain on it.

Spirit #1:back issue for 3 bucks: They had quiet a few issues of the 2007 Spirit. I was hoping for more dollar issues but oh well. I have weird feelings towards the Spirit. I saw the movie and thought it was ok (gotta love Red Box) although I did like that Samuel Jackson kept talking about eggs. I always thought of it as pretty old timey and was not that into it. However, First Wave has really piqued my interest and I really enjoyed the first issue of that so I figured I would check out some Spirit, the more recent mind you. I do really like the look of the character and I have added the re launch of this series to my pull list. This issue was pretty decent, probably the lesser of the five weekend pick ups but it was not bad. You gotta love the heavy duty cover that is on a thicker stock. I was not too fond of the art work but it was not to the degree where I would not buy it because of that. I try not to be too snobby but really certain styles will make me just not want to buy a book. The art in this looks more like a Johnny Test style cartoon which kind of makes it look slap sticky and takes away from what could be a really great gross piece of work of a villain like the Pill. I do have to say I was shocked at some of the language used as well, I guess this is not the old Spirit. This was a nice one and done and it sets up a lot of characters and I imagine I may look into picking up some more.
Favorite Part: Page 7 where the Spirit digs out of the back seat of the Pill’s limo.

Justice Society of America #36: I have recently picked up some cheap used trades of Geoff John’s work on the JSA and loved it. I haven’t added this to my pull list as of yet because to be honest there are just way to many damn titles to pick up. I remembered thumbing through this at Lee’s and thinking I could pick up right in this arc and hey Nazis, I love heroes fighting Nazis. I made a Saturday second run and they were fresh out. I always kick myself when I do that as I know I will be making a longer drive or hitting up Ebay. The cover of this issue is just fantastic, you can see the age lines in Jay and Alan and the bloody flag is just incredible. The start of the story with the interview process and retelling is great, it leaves some mystery and I was wondering what the hell happened? I am sure it will all unfold and we will know why Mr. Terrific is being held and possibly about to be executed. I forgot how much I liked the odd little twist with Liberty Bell where she says an equation to get her speed and loved even more the crafty nasty use of rubber bouncing balls used to stop her. Damn I always knew those things were dangerous. When the Nazis swoop in I kind of rolled my eyes, some of the names seemed a little forced and obvious but once they get rolling they are kind of scary and I think the Shadow of War character was genius. The scene with Flash losing his mind and going off was just tremendous. I have to say I was tired and worn out and dreading a 5:15 AM alarm but this issue just made me go out on a high note for the day. I really enjoyed this and am glad I did not let this one slip through the cracks.
Favorite Part: Page 12 Where Alan finds the crate and Jay is in tears. The narration explains why it did what it did and I had to think wow what a clever way and evil way to do that (sorry trying to be somewhat vague so not to be a spoiler, yeah probably Tim is only reading this).

Scalped #35: I hate to admit but I heard about this one and done story in the Buy Pile column. Glad it exists but I hate to see the butt kicking he gives almost everything Green Lantern related. That guy I think his name is Hannibal described this issue as life affirming and damn if he was not right. I have only read a sample issue of Scalped and it is on my ever increasing things I need to check out list. First off the cover is fantastic and after reading the story it is both fitting and haunting. I am not a big fan of how most stories these days end up in happily ever after but I was really pulling and hoping for it with this story. I didn’t really dig the art that much, it had that odd jagged line look but the story is what really carries this issue. It tells the tale of Mance and Hazel and how they are struggling with life. It was interesting for me to read this on this day as we had our first open house and there was just this sense of sadness around here about selling the house and how tough the economy is. But you read something powerful like this and it puts things into perspective and hell I know it is just a comic and many people look down on them but this had some great storytelling in it. So many issues are dealt with in this book, true love, guilt, environment, social issues. I don’t want to give away too much but I would say this is one of the best things I have read recently.
Favorite Part: So much to choose from, I guess page 11 when Mance is driving home and he turns his guilty thoughts into appreciative thoughts.

So I would say a pretty good weekend pick up, it was kind of nice to actually spend a day writing and re examining the comics I bought. To tell you the truth I got more enjoyment out of them by doing this, so stick that negative comic book dudes. If I had to rank them it would be:
1. Scalped #35
2. JSA #36
3. Siege #3
4. Booster Gold #20
5. Spirit #1