backstroke of the west

I thought that this and this were good enough to share. It's the English translation of the Chinese script for Revenge of the Sith. It's possibly one of the funniest things ever. Silly Asians (yes, even you Paolo).

Speaking of that film, Blake, Paolo and I went and watched it at the dollar show this evening. The presentation was fuzzy and dark and there were lots of kids in the theater, but it was still a good flick. Ewan McGregor owns the majority of that movie.

My father should not have the ability to ruin my evening the way he did on Friday. I only spoke to him for half an hour, but he was in an inebriated state and I just don't think I deal with that anymore. He called about five minutes before seven o'clock, so I missed the best part of the Firefly pilot as well as the first half of Stargate SG-1. I know that sounds silly, but I'm easily excited. After he bitched about his life, he started getting mad at me for no apparent reason. He's upset because I don't call enough, when he never answers the phone when I do. And then I told him about my new car that I'm getting a couple of weeks (or so), and he got pissy that I didn't call him. Because we all know he's so good at keeping me in a car. I've dealt with this crap sinceI was fourteen. I'm used to it but I don't like. But one person should not be able to ruin my evening and make me depressed. Lacey made me feel better. And Blake and Paolo. It's good to have friends. I miss hanging out with those guys. But we grow up and move on. They're both doing well. Seeing them again yesterday and this evening made me realize how luck I am to have so many great friends and how grateful I am for each of them (except for you, Daniel. You scare me).

Conclusions I've come to this weekend include: Red Sonja is a horrible movie, but a cool comic; robots can have babies in comic books; Ben Browder can be easily placed on any show and fit in nicely; Earth 2 is as good as I remember is when I was a kid; DVD Shrink can be weird sometimes; Battlestar Galactica is the best damn show ever; I'm still excited about seeing Serenity even though I saw a rough cut in May; and Unbreakable is still a good movie, even though I just saw a fraction of it towards the end.

I'm going to seriously start writing again. I was going strong and got bogged down with the last semester of school. It's hard to get back in a schedule after you stop for a while. I had two issues written of a comic I want to do. The first half of the story was in a detailed outline, and I had the rest planned out. I was writing an article last weekend for an online newsletter, and I got an itch in my head. It was that good kind of itch, and I sat down and wrote for close to four hours one night. And it felt terrific. I felt like me again, for the first time in a while. It was wonderful. So I'm going to get back into a schedule and finish the scripts for this comic. It really will make me feel great.

This was a longer post than I expected. I did nothing today but hang out with my best friends in the whole world. Before that I watched Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, all from last night, two episodes of House, which is fantastic, and the last two episodes of Monk, which is always fun. I even got to hang out with my mom for a little bit, which is always enjoyable.

At this particular moment, life is grand. Although it might just be really late.

comics for october

Long Friday post. No one cares. So, comic book companies put out what books they are releasing about three months in advance. And in the sake of killing time and being a true obsessive compulsive, I bring you a rather long post of what I'm going to be buying in October. With some short comments and whatnot. You might even see something that perks your interest.

DARK HORSE
B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame #3 (of 6) written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Guy Davis. I'm loving all of these mini-series. Mignola is at the top of his game I think, especially with the just released Hellboy: The Island mini-series.

Conan #21 written by Kurt Busiek, art by Cary Nord. This brings out the metal in me. Lacey doesn't care for it, yet she refuses to read it. I'm working in it.

Conan and the Demons of Khitai #1 (of 4) written by Akira Yoshida, art by Paul Lee. This should be grand. A King Conan story set in Japan (or the Robert E. Howard equivalent, rather) from Yoshida should be great. And Paul Lee is just plain fantastic.

Revelations #3 (of 6) written by Paul Jenkins, art by Humberto Ramos. This should also be grand. The first issue hasn't shipped yet, but these two creators are fantastic on whatever they do, so I'm looking forward to this original work from them.

DC
Batman: Gotham County Line #1 (of 3) written by Steve Niles, art by Scott Hampton. Niles on a Batman book is close to a dream come true. This should be really cool, although I wish it wasn't a prestige format book.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #3 written by Frank Miller, art by Jim Lee. Miller and Lee with Batman make everything good.

Detective Comics #812 written by David Lapham, art by Ramon Backs. Not digging this. But it's almost over and we can move onto greater things.

Gotham Knights #70 written by A.J. Lieberman, art by Al Barrionuevo. The most under-rated Bat-book right now. This team is doing great with this.

Batman #646 written by Judd Winick, art by Doug Mahnke. This is fantastic as well. Winick is one of my heroes. And we're going to start seeing Infinite Crisis tie-ins more and more, which is fine by me.

Legends of the Dark Knight #196 written by J.H. Williams III and D.C. Johnson, art by Seth Fisher. Lovely arc this time around.

Batgirl #69 written by Andersen Gabrych, art by Pop Mhan. This is the best Batman-spinoff book right now. I love every inch of it. Gabrych is going to be huge someday.

Batman: Journey Into Knight #3 (of 12) written by Andy Helfer, art by Tan Eng Huat. This hasn't started yet, but it has to potential to be fantastic.

Catwoman #48 written by Will Pfeifer, art by Pete Woods. Ed Brubaker is going to be a hard act to follow, especially with the genius that was featured on this book. Pfeifer's first issue was very nice, but he's going to need to step it up a bit. I hope that happens soon.

Gotham Central #36 written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, art by Kano. This is the last Brubaker DC work we're going to see in a while. But this book is still one of my favorites. It's the cop show lover in me.

Nightwing #113 written by Devin Grayson, art by Cliff Chang. Chang as a fill-in artist should be fine, although Phil Hester is the best. Grayson is fantastic on this book, and I hope she keeps up the good work.

Robin #143 written by Bill Willingham, art by Scott McDaniel. Willingham is one of my favorites. This book is nice and keeps getting better. There is to much set up and not enough follow through, however. I'm sure something huge is coming in the wake of Infinite Crisis, though.

Superman #222 written by Mark Verheien, art by Ed Benes. This is a great time, in which all of the Superman book are of a very high quality. This book is no exception, and I must recommend it to all three of you reading this.

Action Comics #832 written by Gail Simone, art by John Byrne. I'm still ashamed that I like Byrne's work on this book. And this issue has the Spectre, so I'm there.

Adventures of Superman #645 written by Greg Rucka, art by Karl Kerschl. Rucka provides the best Superman stories in years, and all this stuff with the OMACs, Batman, Lois, and Luthor make for a fantastic book.

Shazam/Superman: First Thunder #2 (of 4) written by Judd Winick, art by Joshua Middleton. This should be great. Winick is a fantastic writer. Middleton does wonderful artwork. I'm looking forward to this.

Supergirl #3 written by Jeph Loeb, art by Ian Churhill. I'm also looking forward to this. As much as I loved Peter David's Supergirl book a few years back, Loeb is another one of my favorites out there. This should be interesting, if nothing else.

Superman/Batman #24 written by Jeph Loeb, art by Ed McGuinness. Loving this. I'll be sad when Loeb leaves this book with issue #25.

Infinite Crisis #1 (of 7) written by Geoff Johns, art by Phil Jimenez. This is it. Something that will change everything and all that. But I'm excited. I love what DC has been doing lately, and the outcome of this should be fantastic with Johns, Winick, and Rucka leading the reins.

Birds of Prey #87 written by Gail Simone, art by Joe Bennett. This is another highly under-rated book at the moment. It's as good as it's been in a long time.

Firestorm #18 written by Stuart Moore, art by Jamal Igle. I'm a bit behind on this book, but it's very good. I have three or four issues in my to read pile that I want to get to this weekend.

The Flash #227 written by Joey Cavalieri, art by Val Semeiks. Don't know these guys. But I think they're supposed to be the new creative team on this book. I'll give it a shot, of course.

Green Lantern #6 written by Geoff Johns, art by Ethan Van Scriver. Wonderful book. Scriver should be the regular artist, I think, instead of alternating with Carlos Pacheco. But both are fantastic.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #2 (of 5) written by Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons, art by Patrick Gleason. This should also be fantastic. Rebirth really reignited my interest in these characters. Gibbons is kicking ass with Rann/Thanagar War, so I'm excited to see what he can do with this.

Green Arrow #55 written by Judd Winick, art by Ron Garney. I hope they change the artist to Raney or someone similar perminatley. Winick continues to kick lots of ass. Ollie is my favorite.

Hawkman #45 written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, art by Joe Bennett. This is also a fantastic book that I'm a few issues behind on.

JLA #120 and #121 written by Bob Harris, art by Tom Derenick. More tie-ins to Infinite Crisis. This should also be great. Harris is one of my favorites who doesn't work that much.

Jack Cross #3 written by Warren Ellis, art by Gark Erskine. Ellis on a DC universe book will be grand. Erskine will only make it better.

JLA Classified #13 written by Warren Ellis, art by Butch Guice. The first part of this arc comes out this week. I'm really looking forward to it.

JSA #78 written by Geoff Johns, art by Don Kramer. I'm also behind on this. I'm going to take a weekend here soon and get caught up with a bunch of stuff.

JSA Classified #4 written by Geoff Johns, art by Amanda Conner. This book proves that there is such a thing as to many boobs.

Justice #2 (of 12) written by Jim Krueger, art by Doug Braithwaite. Alex Ross co-writes and paints over the pencils. I wasn't going to pick this up until I saw the beautiful preview pages, which look fantastic. This should be grand.

Outsiders #29 written by Judd Winick, art by Matthey Clark. Wonderful book. Not much else to say. I love all the characters featured in this book.

Legion of Super-Heroes #11 written by Mark Waid, art by Barry Kitson. Also behind on this. But I love it.

Manhunter #15 written by Marc Andreyko, art by Javier Pina and a lot more. The history of the suit. By a bunch of different artists. I can't wait.

Son of Vulcan #5 (of 6) written by Scott Beatty, art by Keron Grant. I dug the beginning of this. And I love Grant. Beatty usually writes good stuff, so I hope this series keeps up.

The Rann/Thanagar War #6 (of 6) written by Dave Gibbons, art by Ivan Reis. One of my favorites. It's fantastic.

Solo #7 written and art by Mike Allred. Yay! Mike Allred rules. It should be silly and awesome.

Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy #4 (of 4) written by Grant Morrison, art by Frazer Irving. Weird, crazy little Puritan witch boy. Why are you so cool?

Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #4 (of 4) written by Grant Morrison, art by Ryan Sook. This is also cool and weird and strange.

Teen Titans #29 written by Geoff Johns, art by Carlos D'Anda. Red Hood and Donna Troy in this issue. I say yay.

Villains United #6 (of 6) written by Gail Simone, art by Dale Eaglesham. This was also cool. I'm kind of sad all the mini-series are ending. They were all really nice.

Wonder Woman #222 written by Greg Rucka, art by Rags Morales. Loving this book so much. Rucka is fantastic.

The Intimates #12 written by Joe Casey, art by Alé Garza. Another book I'm behind on, but I always enjoy it when I get around to reading it. Garza is one of my favorites.

The Authority: Revolution #12 (of 12) written by Ed Brubaker, art by Dustin Nguyen. This was fantastic. I'll be sad when it's over.

Ex Machina #16 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Tony Harris. One of my favorites. And Lacey's too. They're making a movie about it. Read it now. A guy talks to machines and runs New York City.

Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles #1 and #2 (of 5) written by Tommy Yune, art by Omar Dogan. I love Robotech. There's a sequel movie coming out, and this is a prequel to the sequel. It should be cool.

Matador #6 (of 6) written by Devin Grayson, art by Brian Stelfreeze. This was nice. I thoughroly enjoyed it. Grayson is one of the best.

Silent Dragon #4 (of 6) written by Andy Diggle, art by Leinil Yu. Yu is fantastic at whatever he does. Diggle very rarely misses. Ninjas in the future sounds great. The first issue of this comes out today, so I'm excited.

The Winter Men #3 (of 8) written by Brett Lewis, art by John Paul Leon. Russian super soldiers sounds cool. I don't really know much else.

Loveless #1 written by Brian Azzarello, art by Marcelo Frusin. I dig Azzarello. I dig westerns. There are no more comic westerns. So this should be great.

Fables #42 written by Bill Willingham, art by Mark Buckingham. Love this book. Read it.

The Losers #29 written by Andy Diggle, art by Jock. Also behind on this, but it's good.

Y: The Last Man #38 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Pia Guerra. another of my favorites. It's ending with issue #60, as that's the end of the story. So it's great and fantastic and I can't say any more.

IMAGE
Battle Pope #5 written by Robert Kirkman, art by Tony Moore. The first issue of this was hilarious. I dig Kirkman. And Moore.

Fell #2 written by Warren Ellis, art by Ben Templesmith. Ellis is at the top of his game right now, I think. Templesmith is grand. Both of them on a cop book, with a strange sixteen page format is something I definatley have to check out.

G0dland #5 written by Joe Casey, art by Tom Scioli. The first issue of this came out this week, and I'm looking forward to getting around to read it. Casey is wonderful, and anything creator owned and original is something I have to check out.

Invincible #28 written by Robert Kirkman, art by Ryan Ottley. Wonderful book. That's all I can say about it. It's one of the best.

PvP #20 written and art by Scott Kurtz. A wonderful cover. I love this book. Kurtz is one of my heroes.

The Stardust Kid #3 (of 4) written by J.M. DeMatteis, art by Mike Ploog. The first issue of this was a lot of fun. It reminded me of how much Abadazed will be missed.

The Walking Dead #24 written by Robert Kirkman, art by Charlie Adlard. Another fantastic work from Kirkman. He is grand. This is the zombie movie that never ends, and I love every issue of it.

Hunter/Killer #6 written by Mark Waid, art by Marc Silvestri. This is a Top Cow book that is actually coming out on time, for the most part. It's nice. Good Waid stuff. And I kinda like Silvestri. Especially on this.

City of Heroes #6 written by Troy Hickman, art by Wilson Tortosa. I might drop this since I don't play the game anymore. But I like the story. That's one of the reasons I stopped playing the game, was because the story was so hard to find. We'll see.

MARVEL
House of M #8 (of 8) written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Olivier Coipel. I will make Bendis bear my child some day. This book is brilliant. And beautiful.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 written by Peter David, art by Mike Wieringo. David's new Spidey book also kicks off The Other crossover event, both of which I'm excited about. David's my favorite right now, I think. Or one of them, anyways.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19 written by Peter David, art by Pat Lee. Part two of The Other, also written by David. I don't really care for Lee, unless he's drawing giant robots. Or the X-Men.

Amazing Spider-Man #525 written by Peter David, art by Mike Deodato. Part three of The Other.

She-Hulk #1 written by Dan Slott, art by Juan Bobillo. I picked up the trades of the first series of these at A-kon. I haven't gotten through them all, but what I've read is close to brilliant. And I never even really liked She-Hulk before then.

Nick Fury's Howling Commandos #1 written by Keith Giffen, art by Edu Francisco. I don't know if I'm going to pick this up. I like Giffen. And with characters like Warwolf, the Living Mummy, Frankenstein, the Zombie, and Vampire by Night, I might have to check it out.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #24 written by Mark Millar, art by Greg Land. Yay. Namor. I love Millar. I love Land. This book is fantastic.

Ultimate Secret #4 (of 4) written by Warren Ellis, art by Tom Raney. I'm sad Steve McNiven isn't doing the art anymore for this book, but I still love it. Ultimate Captain Marvel is swell.

Ultimate X-Men #64 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Stuart Immonen. I love Vaughan. Magnetic North should shape up to be fantastic.

Ultimate Spider-Man #84 written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley. This book has quickly picked back up in a big way. It's lovely.

Spider-Man: House of M #5 (of 5) written by Mark Waid and Tom Peyer, art by Salvador Larroca. This might be the last Waid Marvel work we'll see for a while. It's nice. Larroca never disappoints with art.

Wolverine #34 and #35 written by Daniel Way, art by Javier Saltares. Way is very under-rated. This should be really cool, as it's Logan's history in House of M universe. I'm looking forward to it.

Ghost Rider #2 (of 6) written by Garth Ennis, art by Clayton Crain. This should be great. Ennis is wonderful. Crain does beautiful stuff. I'm also looking forward to this.

Daredevil #78 written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Alex Maleev. We're nearing the end of the fantastic Bendis/Maleev run on this book. It's sad, but I'm sure someone cool is replacing them. We'll find out at Wizard World Chicago in a couple of weeks. But this book is fantastic, and I wish they were staying on.

Black Panther #9 written by Reginald Hudlin, art by David Yardin. This book slowly grew on me. I was such a fan of Christopher Priest's run on the previous volume of this book, and this version is so completely different and doesn't really take that run into account. And the crossover with X-Men looks interesting, as well.

Black Widow #2 (of 6) written by Richard K. Morgan, art by Sean Phillips. I'm excited for this. The previous series was a fantastic spy story. Morgan is on my list of authors I want to read more of. Phillips is just amazing.

Daredevil: Father #4 (of 5) written and art by Joe Quesada. I'm glad this is finally coming out. Quesada is amazing.

Marvel Knights 4 #23 written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art by Valentine de Landro. This is a great book. I'm glad there a two really good Fantastic Four books out right now.

Daredevil vs. Punisher #5 (of 6) written and art by David Lapham. This is surprisingly awesome. It's what a crossover with these two characters should be.

New Avengers #12 written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by David Finch. Finch is leaving this book with issue #13, but we're getting someone cooler, I hear. This book is awesome.

The Sentry #2 (of 8) written by Paul Jenkins, art by John Romita, Jr. This should kick all kinds of ass.

Secret War #5 (of 5) written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Gabriele Dell'Otto. Finally. I'm sure it's worth it.

Incredible Hulk #87 written by Peter David, art by Adam Kubert. I think this is David's last issue, which is sad. But he's doing some other really cool stuff, so I'm happy for that.

Amazing Fantasy #13 and #14 written by Karl Kesel, art by Carmine di Giandomenico. The current arc of this is surprisingly good. I hope the quality keeps up.

Iron Man #5 written by Warren Ellis, art by Adi Granov. This is late too. It should be good though.

Defenders #4 (of 5) written by Keith Figgen and J.M. DeMatteis, art by Kevin Maguire. The first issue of this was great, as expected. I'm sure it will keep up that way.

Hulk: Destruction #4 (of 4) written by Peter David, art by Jim Muniz. This should be a good book, as well. The first issue came out this week, but I haven't read it yet.

Young Avengers #9 written by Allan Heinberg, art by Jim Cheung. This is one of the best books out there right now.

New Thunderbolts #13 and #14 written by Dabian Nicieza, art by Tom Grummett. I'm digging this book, despite the fact that I'm behind on it. It's another one of those I need to get caught up on.

Captain America #12 written by Ed Brubaker, art by Steve Epting. This is an incredibly awesome book, as well.

Marvel 1602: New World #4 (of 6) written by Greg Pak, art by Greg Tocchini. I'm looking forward to this, too.

Thor: Blood Oath #2 and #3 (of 6) written by Mike Avon Oeming, art by Scott Kolins. This should be very metal.

Runaways #9 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Adrian Alphona. Grr. My favorite right now, I think. Or one of them.

Gravity #5 (of 5) written by Sean McKeever, art by Mike Norton. This is shaping up to be a fun little series.

Marvel Team-Up #13 written by Robert Kirkman, art by Paco Medina. This is a bad ass book, all in all.

Fantastic Four #532 written by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Mike McKone. Lovely book.

Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan #1 (of 4) written by Zeb Wells, art by Seth Fisher. This should be nice.

Uncanny X-Men #465 written by Chris Claremont, art by Chris Bachalo. They should really get rid of Claremont. But keep Bachalo. He's shiny.

Exiles #71 written by Tony Bedard, art by Paul Pelletier. Yay. Another of my favorites.

X-Men Unlimited #11 written by Chrisopher Yost and David Hahn, art by Billy Dallas Patton and David Aja. These are always surprisingly good each month. As long as they are I'll keep buying them.

X-Men: Colossus - Bloodline #2 (of 5) written by David Hine, art by Jorge Lucas. This should be great.

X-Men #176 written by Peter Milligan, art by Salvador Larroca. Part of the crossover with Black Panther, which I'm actually looking forward to checking out.

Nightcrawler #11 written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art by Darick Robertson. Wonderful book. Always great.

X-Men: Kitty Pryde - Shadow and Flame #5 (of 5) written by Akira Yoshida, art by Paul Smith. This is surprisingly enjoyable so far. I hope it keeps the same thing going.

The Punisher #26 written by Garth Ennis, art by Leo Fernandez. I'm behind on this, but I always enjoy it when I get around to reading it.

Supreme Power: Hyperion #2 (of 5) written by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Dan Jurgens. Looking forward to this immensly.

Supreme Power: Nighthawk #2 (of 5) written by Daniel Way, art by Steve Dillon. Looking forward to this, as well. I love Dillon.

The Book of Lost Souls #1 written by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Colleen Doran. This should kick all kinds of ass. Straczynski is really at the top of what he is doing right now, and I'm loving it.

Powers #15 written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Michael Avon Oeming. This is always fantastic.

ASPEN
Cannon Hawke Prelude written by J.T. Krul, art by Marcus To. I'll check this out.

Cannon Hawke #1 written by J.T. Krul, art by Marcus To. And this, of course.

Cannon Hawke #2 written by J.T. Krul, art by Marcus To. I'll be surprised if all these ship actually ship in October.

Soulfire: Dying of the Light #3 (of 3) written by Michael Turner and J.T. Krul, art by Micah Gunnell. I don't know if this is actually three issues, but I'm guessing. Dragons and faries are awesome.

Fathom #4 written by J.T. Krul, art by Koi Turnbull. Water princess super-heroes are awesome too.

IDW
Transformers #0 written by Simon Furman, art by E.J. Su. I like robots.

Shadowplay #2 (of 4) written by Amber Benson and Christina Z, art by Ben Templesmith and Ashley Wood. I love all of these creators. Benson was Tara on Buffy. Templesmith does 30 Days of Night and a ton of other fantastic books. Wood is great, as well. Z brings out the fourteen year old goth child in me, which is bad.

Angel: The Curse #5 (of 5) written by Jeff Mariotte, art by David Messina. To which I say yay and do a dance of joy.

Shaun of the Dead #4 (of 4) written by Chris Ryall, art by Zach Howard. This was a lot of fun. It has fantastic art.

DYNAMITE
Red Sonja #5 written by Michael Avon Oeming and Mike Carey, art by Mel Rubi. Boobs. And red hair. And swords. This really is a great book.

Army of Darkness #4 written by James Kuhoric, art by Sanford Greene. I'm sure this will be a lot of fun, too.

MIRAGE
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #16 written by Steve Murphy, art by Doug Rice. I'm behind on this because I missed an issue somewhere along the way.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #24 written by Peter Laird, art by Jim Lawson. This is such a great book. More people should be reading it.

Wow. That took like three days to get through. All off and on at work. I feel like I accomplished something. I have my MRI today at 3:30, finally, so I'm excited about that. Updates to follow, I'm sure.

it's freakin' july

Doctors can not communicate. MRIs were not done. Because different doctors think I have different things that certain test say that I don't. But because other doctors can't send these test to said doctor, he won't believe me. So nothing happened. I'm pissed off. I'm trying an orthopedic next. And I'm thankful I have really good insurance.

It's raining outside. It's July. In west Texas. That's the desert. And it's raining. I'm wearing a jacket. I'm confused and scared because of this. Sometimes when the weather changes I get scared.

Comics later today. Nothing much else is happening.

comics for this week (the pain!)

I'm recovering from my horrible weekend. Last night I did something horrible to my back. I couldn't move for an hour or so. I can not wait until tomorrow when I have this MRI done and I can figure out what the hell is wrong with me. I'm almost certain it's some kind of slipped disc. We'll see.

Here's comics for this week, as always. Amazing Spider-Man #522, which has gotten really good the past few months; Batman/Ra's Al Ghul: Year One #2 (of 2), which was a little disappointing, but still beautifully drawn; Black Panther #6, which is growing on me slowly; Catwoman #45, which was really good last issue, considering the quality the new creative team has to live up to; City of Tomorrow #4 (of 6), which is excellent; Daredevil vs. Punisher #2 (of 6), which had a fantastic first issue; Fantastic Four #529, which is excellent; The Flash #224, which is penultimate chapter of Rogue War; G0dland #1, which I hope is good; Giant-Size Spider-Woman, which is cool, because I know next to nothing about Spider-Woman; Hellboy: The Island #2 (of 2), which is beautiful; Hulk: Destruction #1 (of 4), which should be full of Peter David goodness; JLA Classified #10, which is the first part of a Warren Ellis story; Legion of Super-Heroes #8, which is nice; The Losers #26, which I'm behind on; Neil Gaiman'’s Neverwhere #2 (of 9), which is beautiful and fun; Nightcrawler #8, which is so fantastic words can not describe it; The OMAC Project #4 (of 6), which is fantastic; Otherworld #5 (of 7), which is beautiful; Outsiders #26, which starts a fill-in two part; The Pulse #10, which should be fun; The Pulse: House of M, which should be interesting; Runaways #6, which is the last part of True Believers; Silent Dragon #1 (of 6), which should be really cool; Superman/Batman #21, which is fun; Wonder Woman #219, which is last part of the Sacrifice crossover; and X-Men #173, which is slowly getting better.

And some nice covers.





All for now. I'm exhausted.

maxi

My mom came home from work last night and found Maxi gone. She was on the floor on her blanket, almost as if she knew that would make it easier for us. If I had any pictures of her scanned, I would post them to share. She was a brown half dachshund, half mutt dog that we found when I was around ten years old roaming around an intersection by our house on the way to church one Sunday night. She was sweet and incredibly weird and we called her the Biscuit because of her strange little personality. But she was also somewhere between twelve and fifteen years old and had gotten sick last week. She lost four pounds very quickly (somewhere within a week) and was lethargic (although she was a lazy dog anyways). The veterinarian said just to keep an eye on her and gave us some medication to give and told us she would be okay. Which pisses me off, because I'm starting to think they knew she was to far gone and just didn't want to tell us.

She wasn't in any pain and had been being her same weird self for the last week. The only thing we could with her last night was take her out to the overnight cages at the pound (or at least that's what the fire department office told us to do). She was on her blanket in a way that made it easier to pick her up, as if she thought of that when she died. My mom's backyard is basically a rock pit after one foot of dirt, so putting her out there wasn't an option. It's doable, but not the physical condition (my arms, and my mom's back) either of us are in. We dug holes for Mork, Ollie, and Jesse when they died, but all of those were over two years ago. It doesn't really matter. It's not them anymore. But it's what you do. They'll cremate Maxi, which I actually think is better and more fitting of such a warrior.

Yes, a warrior. A warrior worthy of entry into the great kingdom of Valhalla. If I could I would have set her body on a burning boat and set it out into the ocean. Because she protected me as a kid and watched over any of the younger animals we ever brought it. So, in a way, all our pets are warriors, protecting us from the weird evils of the world that only they can see. It seems to be all they ever want to do is protect us and be close to us.

I'm babysitting Kima this afternoon for my mom. Molly (who is older than Maxi was) and Bobby (who is about the same age as she was) are over at my mom's. Whatever Maxi had (Lacey thinks it might have been cancer, which is what took one of her dogs had), none of them had. They are their normal selves through and through (although Molly and Bobby are old and sweet).

It's sad. I've lost three other animals (two cats and a dog) over the past three years or so. It never gets easier. But it was her time. I really do believe that when you go wherever you go after this, all your stupid animals will be there waiting for you. It doesn't get easier when they go. But she went before she was in pain and before she got so old she couldn't move.

Perhaps I can find some pictures somewhere along the way. She really was a precious dog.

a small amount of comic thoughts and other things

They poked me with needles and listen to my muscles. It wasn't fun and hurt and was uncomfortable. And all the doctor could really tell was what I don't have, but not what I do. I'm going to have an MRI next Tuesday. So I'm hoping that will tell them something helpful. Pain gets old.

I got lots of comics yesterday, getting bags and boards as well as a lot of stuff that was sitting in my pull box. My store was also getting rid of a bunch of toys for a dollar, so I got eight of those Kevin Smith inaction figures (the four girls from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dante and Randall, and the Dogma versions of Jay and Silent Bob). Those were all he had that I don't already have, but I was a little excited.

I was tired yesterday and overslept this morning, despite going to sleep reasonably early. But here's what I did get to read, which wasn't a lot (basically all the Bendis books and one other).

Daredevil #75 - An excellent anniversary issue, and possibily this creative team's best issue in a while. I really, really enjoyed this. From the idea of a support group like the one featured in this storyarc, to the idea that Matt himself needed to come to this group, it's just so greatly executed. I can't wait for the next arc, even if it is the writer's last. But I'm sure something really cool will come of it.

Ex Machina #13 - Fact vs. Fiction continues, and we learn that even Superman has to build robots. This is such a great book, and Brian Vaughan has created a great little mystery here, and a great character with the Automation. It's wonderful to see Kremlin again, as he is definatley the best supporting character in this world. Such a great books. The flashbacks are the best.

House of M #4 (of 8) - Now we're talkin'. This was cool, in all amounts. We get Hawkeye. And a little girl. And Emma. I love Emma. We start to see something of why all of this has happened, and I know for sure that this is so immensibly cool it can not be argued with.

Ultimate Spider-Man #80 - This is picking back up quickly. I loved the hell out of this issue, because this is what I dig. Talking heads. Two completely different characters having a real conversation. Ultimate Moon Knight is cool, and the humor in this issue is top notch. Very good issue.

All for now. I want to be done for the day.

comics for this week

I forgot to do this yesterday, and at work today, but here are comics for this week.

Adventures of Superman #642, which is the third part of Sacrifice and should be really good; Astonishing X-Men #11, which has Joss Whedon-y goodness; The Authority: Revolution #10 (of 12), which kicks a lot of ass; Batgirl #66, which is really good; Batman: Jekyll and Hyde #4 (of 6), which switches to Sean Phillips as the artist instead of Jae Lee; Birds of Prey #84, which is as good as ever; Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy #5 (of 5), which proved to be very good; Daredevil #75, which is the last chapter of Decalogue; Day of Vengeance #4 (of 6), which has a talking chimp; Defenders #1 (of 5), which looks to be very cool; Detective Comics #808, which is the last part of City of Crime for a month; Ex Machina #13, which is all kinds of cool; Exiles #67, which is bad ass; G.L.A. #4 (of 4), which was a fun ride; Gotham Knights #67, which is one of my favorites; Hellboy: The Island #2 (of 2), which is just gorgeous; House of M #4 (of 8), which has broken the internet in half; Incredible Hulk #84, which should continue to rule; JSA Classfied #1, which has art from Amanda Conner, who is one of my favorites; Manhunter #12, which is excellent; Marvel Knights 4 #20, which is really good; Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16, to which I say "meh;" Red Sonja #1, which has boobs and swords and mead and other metal things; Rising Dead: Voices of the Dead #2 (of 6), which for some reason is late; Robin #140, which is really good; Spider-Man: House of M #2 (of 5), which is surprisingly good; Teen Titans #26, which I think features the vomit-inducing artwork of Rob Liefeld; Ultimate Spider-Man #80, which is always grand; The Ultimates 2 #7 (of 12), which is also completely bad ass; Wildguard: Fool's Gold #2 (of 2), which is always fun when it comes around; Wolverine #30, which I love; and X-Men: Kitty Pride - Shadow and Flame #2 (of 6), which had a very good first issue.

And here are some cool covers. I've decided to resize them myself and host them on another site rather than steal Newsarama's bandwidth and have them look crappy and over pixelated. While not the best quality still, you get a better idea of the artwork without taking up to much space on the blog itself.





All for now. It's getting late. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow that will consist of a nerve induction test, where electricity is shot through my body through small needles. I've had it done before. It's not fun and you fill violated afterwards.

comic thoughts

Here's some comic thoughts, so I can pass the time at work. I'm working on a list of typographical errors commonly found in library databases. I have to make lists and then search the database. Yeah. That's about as interesting as it sounds. So every once and a while I'm going to turn to my computer and type up something about comics.

Action Comics #829 - This continues the Sacrifice crossover, which ties into The OMAC Project, or is at least supposed to. What we see here is that someone is messing with Superman's mind, and making him to things to his family and colleagues while he believes he is fighting his greatest enemies. It drags on a bit more than that, as this is really a story that would easily been told as a part of OMAC (which is moving it's focus away from Batman in coming issues). It's nice, never-the-less, and I continue to feel ashamed that I like John Byrne's art in this book.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #1 - This is something I've been waiting for. One of my heroes Frank Miller coming back to this character. And Jim Lee drawing it. I think Lee is a bit overrated, but I generally enjoy his work for the most part. And this book is no exception. This is brilliant and beautiful all at the same time, and it must be read by everybody. Check this out if you enjoyed Sin City, which was also written by Miller.

Angel: The Curse #1 (of 5) - I love Angel. I love Joss Whedon. I love IDW. I hate the WB. This is as close to a continuation of one of the best television shows as we're going to get. It's supervised by Whedon, but writer Jeff Marriotte (who has written Angel novels and has a feel for the characters) does a very nice job of introducing the next chapter of Angel's life while bringing new readers up to speed as to the history of the character. If this sales well (which it should), we'll see more mini-series of this type, and possibly even some with more influence from Whedon. A wonderful job all around.

Battle Pope #1 - A color reprint of Robert Kirkman's first published work, which he self-published about six or seven years ago. It's funny. And offensive. So offensive it has to be funny. Tony Moore is a wonderful artist. My only complaint is in the lettering, which seems a little off. But it's funny none-the-less, and I'm glad it's being made available for us readers who had never heard of it before.

Desolation Jones #2 - Warren Ellis continues this beautiful and confusing series. It's wonderfully imaginable and to lovely to look at. It's a little odd to get into, but once you're into the book, it is so worth the effort. Which is something I've found with most of Ellis's books. It's wonderful and should be picked up.

Fables #39 - Bill Willingham takes a break from his ongoing storyline (which is reminiscent of The Sandman) to show us what is going on back in Fabletown. We get the writer's version of characters from The Jungle Book, which is absolutely intriguing. A lovely issue and an actual welcome break from the Boy Blue storyline that has been going on. This is such a fabulous book.

Green Arrow #52 - Judd Winick shows us the fallout of issue fifty, and we start to see Oliver's reaction to the things that are going on in the rest of the DC universe. I love how Winick writes the relationships in this book, especially how Ollie and Conner deal with Mia. Zatanna's appearance is welcome, and the return of Black Lightning has been a long time coming. I'm predicting that he's going to play a big role in the upcoming Infinite Crisis, as it was said long ago that there her big plans for the character. This book is still as good as ever, if they could get a new artist. Tom Fowler isn't doing it for me.

Invincible #24 - Robert Kirkman continues this fabulous title. A lot happens here, mainly a big push in the subplot about the guy collecting all his doubles from alternate universes. There's a great scene between Mark and his mother on how many people know his secret identity. A good issue all in all, and I can't wait until next month's installment.

JLA #116 - The second part of Crisis of Conscience brings some great character moments, as the division between these superheroes becomes greater. Zatanna is great. Batman is great. Green Arrow kicks ass. All of this is very good, but it's just a chapter in a greater story that's still being told.

New Avengers #7 - Steve McNiven is so fucking great. This issue has some of the best art I've ever seen. It's so great. The end makes me think Bendis is going a very different direction with this book and his treatment of the Sentry. Which is fine. Not much to say about this issue, other than that it's beautiful.

Nightwing #110 - Devin Grayson continues with her Dick-in-the-Mafia storyline. Phil Hester continues to kick ass. Dick returns to Bludhaven, and there's some great moments between him and Tim Drake. I love the differences between these characters, and we can really start to see the anger that Dick is feeling about what happened to him. This is such a great book, and I hope it continues with this quality.

NYX #6 - The coolness of this book has really died. It's still good, but issue five came out in November, I believe, and it's hard to keep momentum with a schedule like that. And Josh Middleton isn't even doing the art anymore, so it loses a lot of points there. I love Joe Quesada. He draws wonderfully. His writing is lovely. But he can't do it anymore. He's to busy as the editor-in-chief to take on projects like this. The story is still good. I want to go back and re-read all of them once issue seven comes out.

The Rann/Thanagar War #3 (of 6) - Dave Gibbons continues to rule. Lovely moments with Kyle, Kendra, and Sharon. Adam Strange kicks ass. I love Ivan Reis. Top notch on all accounts. Nothing more to say about this. It's wonderful.

Serenity #1 (of 3) - Let me say again that I love Joss Whedon. Above all, I love Firefly. I got to see Serenity back in April. It's fantastic. This comic book series, the story of which was originally planned as a short direct-to-DVD animated feature back when the movie was supposed to be released in April, bridges the end of Firefly and the beginning of Serenity. Which is great. The story is nice. The art is nice. I love the covers. Some of the elements from the show don't transfer well to the movie (River, for instance), but otherwise it's a very nice book. Brett Matthews, who has worked with Whedon many times in the past, does a fantastic job. It's worth picking up.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - We've all been had. And I love it. Greg Land is amazing. Mark Millar is wonderful. Pick this up. For the art alone. This isn't what it was publicized as, a crossover between the regular Marvel universe and the Ultimate universe. It's something far cooler. And there's dinosaurs.

Ultimate X-Men #61 - Brian K. Vaughan starts his Magnetic North storyline, which picks up a lot of threads from Brian Bendis's run on the title a couple of years ago. We see the return of Polaris, Havoc, and Emma, and they are all welcome. It's going to be very cool to see where this is going. Stuart Immonen continues to impress with the art. It's all grand.

Wonder Woman #218 - A bit of "the calm before the storm" issue, as Diana settles back into the world around her. There are some great moments between her and Cassie, and Ares continues to maneuver his way through the world of the gods. Loved the ended, which ties back into Greg Rucka's first issue of this book a couple of years ago. I'm really enjoying this book.

Last Friday was excellent. The season premieres of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica all came on, and they all were mighty in their coolness. SG-1 featured new cast members Ben Browder and Beau Bridges, who fit in very nicely. Atlantis nicely tied up their cliffhanger from last season and opened up some cool storylines for this season. Battlestar Galactica continued on a high note, although it seemed like a first part. There is so much going on in that show that it's hard to keep up with everything. But they were all fantastic. BSG is the best show on television right now.

Sci-Fi Channel starts showing Firefly next week at 5:00. They are airing it in order as originally intended, and airing the episodes that FOX never showed. If you're to cheap to pick up the DVDs, watch this. And watch it even if you have seen it, because it's the best show ever.

All for now. I have about half an hour of work left. And then I get to see Lacey. And relax. Read comics. Play Guild Wars. Watch Dallas.

san diego comicon news

San Diego is the home to the country's biggest comic cook convention each year. It's gigantic and overwhelming and I wish I could go. Alas, there is the issue of money (I would have to fly out there and get a hotel room), but one of these days I'm going to do.

Companies make some pretty big announcements here, and this is a roundup of the news that I find most interesting. I compiled these from Newsarama and a number of other websites, all of which are linked on the side.

DC
-Infinite Crisis will change the DC universe indefinitely (which I pretty much already guess). There is a lot of hype for it coming up.
-There might be an ongoing Checkmate book after The OMAC Project is completed.
-Oliver Queen shows up in Green Lantern #7.
-Green Lantern Corps: Recharge might lead into an ongoing Corps series if it does well.
-Steven T. Seagle is working on a book for Vertigo called American Virgin which should be incredibly interesting and offensive.
-Howard Chaykin and David Tischman return to Bite Club with a new mini-series called Vampire Crime Unit.
-Vertigo is going a Deadman book with Bruce Jones that I might have to check out.
-Bill Willingham is writing a Fables original graphic novel called 1001 Nights of Snowfall.
-There is also a Fables spin-off book called Jack of Fables coming out soon that features Jack.
-Scottish novelist Denise Mina is taking over Hellblazer sometime soon.
-The Losers ends sometime early next year.
-Brian K. Vaughan has a new original graphic novel coming out titled Pride of Baghdad, which is about lions.
-Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke are working on a Batman/The Spirit one-shot, which paves the way for a new The Spirit ongoing series from Cooke to be released in early 2006.
-Tom Fontana, creator of Oz and a prominent writer on Homicide: Life on the Street is working on a graphic novel called Batman: Hopelessness and Faith with art from Cliff Chiang.
-Matt Wagner is working on a project called Batman and the Monster Men.
-Paul Pope is doing a four issue mini-series called Batman: Year 100.
-All Star Superman, from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is scheduled for a November release.
-Sam Loeb, Jeph Loeb's late son who recently lost a battle with cancer, wrote Superman/Batman #26.
-It was announced that Mark Waid signed an exclusive contract with DC, and will be working on a new The Brave and the Bold series.
-The Red Hood (Jason Todd) and the newly returned Donna Troy appear in Teen Titans #29
-Jimmy Palmiotti will replace Geoff Johns's as the writer on The Flash after Darwyn Cooke's fill-in story.
-Jonah Hex is a new western series from Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray (both of whom seem to be getting around a bit).
-Loveless, a spaghetti western from Brian Azzarello, sees its premiere in October.

Marvel
-Peter David is not continuing his run on The Incredible Hulk. He is completing the current House of M tie-in and one issue after that, and then moving onto a new X-Factor book with artist Ryan Sook that spins out his Madrox mini-series a while back.
-Peter David is also writing a Fantastic Four novel and a Wolverine novel, both of which should kick lots of ass.
-Thor is eventually coming back sometime in 2006.
-More Sentinel and Mary Jane mini-series are in the works.
-She-Hulk returns soon, with issue #3 reverting back to #100. Because Marvel is full of a bunch of whores.
-Novelist Charlie Huston and David Finch are working on a new Moon Knight mini-series called The Bottom.
-Because of this, the Ronin arc of New Avengers will be Finch's last. Frank Cho and Steve McNiven will work on the book, with a new regular artist coming on soon.
-A new writer for Iron Man will be named soon. A new mini-series is also in the works from someone big.
-Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are working on a new book called Daughters of the Dragon.
-Marvel Team-Up #14 will feature Spider-Man teaming up with writer Robert Kirkman's creator owned character Invincible. The character's co-creator Cory Walker will do the art for the issue.
Secret War #5 will see release in November, where we'll finally learn why Nick Fury isn't in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore.
-Joss Whedon and John Cassaday are working on Astonishing X-Men until at least issue #25.
-Brandon Peterson will be the artist for the upcoming Ultimate Extinction, which will feature the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Ultimate version of Silver Surfer.
-The new creative team of The Ultimates will be announced soon.
-The Other is a major Spider-Man crossover event starting in October that will feature all three of the character's creative teams (Peter David, J. Michael Straczynski, and Reginald Hudlin) writing each act of the event. The first three issues of Peter David and Mike Wieringo's new Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be devoted to the event. It will deal with the idea of animal totems that Straczynski introduced during his first storyarc with the character.
-Amazing Fantasy will have stories from Karl Kesel and other prominent Marvel writers in the future.
-Stan Lee and Alan Davis are both working on separate Fantastic Four: The End projects.
-Zeb Wells is working on a mini-series called Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan.

Other stuff
-TokyoPop is producing manga book sequels to Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. They are also producing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's Mirrormask movie.
-Slave Labor Graphics has signed a deal with Disney that allows them to publish books based on Tron, Alice in Wonderland, Haunted Mansion, and most excitably Gargoyles. Series creator Greg Weisman will be the book's writer and will continue the story after the end of the second season. The book will be Weisman's true vision of his world, without interference from Disney, and if it does well we might see the many spin-off ideas he had planned for the series.
-Disney bought J.M DeMatteis and Mike Ploog's Abadazad from the ruins of Crossgen, and a series of twelve young adult novels are planned. While not a comic book series, the novels will feature heavy illustrations from Ploog and "comic-like" pages.

I think that was most of the big stuff. I'm really excited about the Gargoyles book. And a new Brave and the Bold series. That's all for now. I'm tired and hurting. I get to see Lacey again tomorrow. I missed her greatly over the weekend.

television emmys (and how doctors suck)

I took yesterday off. I went to the doctor in the morning, and basically had my whole day fall apart after that. Something is wrong with my arms. I have immense pain in them that goes down into my hands and other joints. It's kind of like arthritis, but not. I'm in a lot of pain. All the time. There are degrees, but it is always there and I'm really starting to get worried about it.

It's been going on for about a year and a half now. I don't really remember a time when my arms didn't hurt. I don't want to bitch, though. It's a part of life. But doctors are here to fix things like this. I went to a neurologist, who did a carpal tunnel test and figured it wasn't that. He basically said that he didn't know what it was and the only thing to do was medicate me. This was a year ago. I hate medication. I don't like taking pills. So I tried another doctor, not a neurologist, but more of an internalist, thinking that he could at least refer me to a better doctor. On my first visit he basically said that he could keep me medicated with better stuff and that there really wasn't anything anybody to do. But it's bullshit. I've never had a serious injury. I've don't do anything that should cause me to feel pain like this. I'm starting to become resistant to these pills, though. So I went to the doctor yesterday, and he got mad that I was coming to him for this problem and referred me to a whole bunch of other doctors. There are a number of problems here. I have to work. It's a necessity. So going to a bunch of different doctors, when I really don't have a car in the first place, isn't really an option.

And the honest truth is that none of these guys he wants to send me to have names that tell me that might be able to speak English. This sounds bad. And I don't mean it to. But when there is a drastic lack of communication between doctor and patient, stuff like this happens. If I knew that this guy really couldn't do anything for me three months ago, I would have done something about it then. The lack of communication is what made me think that he could do something. So the plan now is to find a neurology center up in Lubbock. I know there's at least one. I can take a day and have all these test done without having to take four months going to ten different doctors and testing centers, while I don't get better and continue to hurt. So, updates coming for sure.

Onto far more geekier matters, the Emmy award nominations were announced the other day. Here's a rundown (and who I think should win), of the nominees, at least those that I think are important.

Outstanding Drama Series
Deadwood
Lost
Six Feet Under
24
The West Wing

I can't stand Six Feet Under anymore. The West Wing is awesome, but not the excellence it was three or four years ago. Deadwood is great. 24 was as good this season as it was the first year. But I have to go with Lost. Because it kicks all kinds of ass every week.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Arrested Development
Desperate Housewives
Everybody Loves Raymond
Scrubs
Will and Grace

Desperate Housewives is not funny. Ever. Arrested Development is great, but I don't watch it enough. Scrubs is the best half hour show on television, so I have to go with that. All the way.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
House - Three Stories - David Shore
Lost - Pilot - J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Jeffrey Lieber
Lost - Walkabout - David Fury
Rescue Me - Pilot - Peter Tolan and Denis Leary
The Wire - Middle Ground - George Pelecanos and David Simon

Some excellent choices here. The pilots of Lost and Rescue Me are awesome. David Shore is great, and that particular episode of House was very nice. But I'm torn between Walkabout (the first episode that flashes back to Locke's backstory), because the reveal at the end is just so grand and David Fury deserves props, and Middle Ground, which is the greatest episode of The Wire ever. I want to say The Wire, because it deserves so much more recognition, but it will probably go to Lost.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Boston Legal - James Spader as Alan Shore
Deadwood - Ian McShane as Al Swearengen
House - Hugh Laurie as Gregory House
Huff - Hank Azaria as Craig Huffstodt
24 - Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

This is a tough choice. All of these actors are great, and I don't even really like House, although I'll be the first to admit that Hugh Laurie is great in it. James Spader stands out as one of the great television characters of are time. Ian McShane is amazing as a villain that you love. Kiefer Sutherland continues to be great as Jack Bauer, especially in the later part of this season. But my choice has to go to Hank Azaria, who plays so many facets of a character in his show. He's so awesome in that show that it's almost indescribable.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Arrested Development - Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
Everybody Loves Raymond - Ray Romano as Ray Barone
Monk - Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk
Scrubs - Zach Braff as J.D. Dorian
Will and Grace - Eric McCormack as Will Truman

Arrested Development continues to get props, which is good. Tony Shaloub should win, because he is excellent. Zach Braff is also a funny bastard. But it will probably be Ray Ramano, who's show I really don't care for that much anymore (it's funny, but not they best thing ever). I vote or Shaloub or Braff.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Alias - Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit - Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson
Medium - Patricia Arquette as Allison Dubois
The Shield - Glenn Close as Monica Rawling
Six Feet Under - Frances Conroy as Ruth Fisher

Frances Conroy is the only part of Six Feet Under I can stand anymore. I don't think Jennifer Garner really deserves an award for this year. Patricia Arquette really surprised a bunch of people with Medium. So did Glenn Close, I think. But I have much love for Mariska Hargitay, and I gotta go with her as a pick.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Desperate Housewives - Marcia Cross as Bree Van De Camp
Desperate Housewives - Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer
Desperate Housewives - Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo
Everybody Loves Raymond - Patricia Heaton as Debra Barone
Malcolm in the Middle - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois

What the fuck? Desperate FUCKING Housewives? I tried to like this show. I really did. I stuck it out for a good while, too. But it's a semi-interesting plot wrapped in horrible writing and really bad jokes. Although when I was a kid I had a crush on Teri Hatcher. Because she's Lois Lane. Patricia Heaton will probably get it. This once again proves my point that female comedians are few and far. Where's Julia Loius-Dreyfus when you need her?

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Boston Legal - William Shatner as Denny Crane
Huff - Oliver Platt as Russell Tupper
Lost - Naveen Andrews as Sayid Jarrah
Lost - Terry O’Quinn as John Locke
The West Wing - Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick

Naveen Andrews is a really odd pick here. Not that I don't love Sayid, but I would have thought they would have gone with Dominic Monaghan, or someone a bit more popular on that show. Terry O'Quinn should win, because he rocks hard and kicks lots of ass, and did a fantastic job on Lost. When he's sitting on the hatch door with the rain around him, and yelling at whatever is inside, and that light comes on... that's some powerful, powerful storytelling and acting. Oliver Platt was great in Huff. I dig Alan Alda, but I don't know if his name should be here. And William Shatner is... William Shatner. He sings songs and is my hero. I gotta go with Terry O'Quinn, though.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Arrested Development - Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth Sr.
Entourage - Jeremy Piven as Ari Jacobs
Everybody Loves Raymond - Peter Boyle as Frank Barone
Everybody Loves Raymond - Brad Garrett as Robert Barone
Will and Grace - Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland

Meh. I really don't like Entourage, but Jeremy Piven was a really good part of it. I hate Will and Grace. Jeffrey Tambor should win, because he rocks on his show. But again, it will probably be someone from Everybody Loves Raymond.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Grey's Anatomy - Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang
Huff - Blythe Danner as Isabelle Huffstodt
Judging Amy - Tyne Daly as Maxine Gray
The Shield - CCH Pounder as Claudette Wyms
The West Wing - Stockard Channing as Abigail Bartlet

This is rough, too. I never watched Grey's Anatomy. Blyth Danner is amazing in Huff. Tyne Daly is uber-cool. CCH Pounder kicks ass in whatever she's in. Stockard Channing had a bit of a downplayed role this year on The West Wing. I want to go with Pounder, but Danner was so damn good on Huff.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Arrested Development - Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth
Everybody Loves Raymond - Doris Roberts as Marie Barone
Two and a Half Men - Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper
Two and a Half Men - Conchata Ferrell as Berta
Will and Grace - Megan Mullally as Karen Walker

Huh? I really don't know. I say yay for Arrested Development. But Doris Roberts reminds me of my grandmother. A lot. That's all I can say, really. What the hell is Two and a Half Men?

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
CSI - Grave Digger - Quentin Tarantino
Deadwood - Complications - Gregg Fienberg
Grey's Anatomy - A Hard Day's Night - Peter Horton
Huff - Crazy, Nuts, and All Fucked Up - Scott Winant
Lost - Pilot - J.J. Abrams
Rescue Me - Pilot - Peter Tolan
The West Wing - 2162 Votes - Alex Graves

Quentin Tarantino? That's so awesome. I'm glad that got some attention. I love CSI, and the finale episode was great. At the same time, the season finale of Huff was simply amazing, especially in the direction. The pilot episodes of Lost and Rescue Me should also get some props. I call Quentin.

Outstanding Animated Program (less than one hour)
Family Guy - North by North Quahog
Samurai Jack - Episode XLIX
The Simpsons - Future Drama
South Park - Best Friends Forever
Spongebob Squarepants - Fear of a Krabby Patty

What's funny about this is that the episode of South Park that was nominted is the Terry Schiavo/PSP/Keanu Reeves episode, which is incredibly offensive and hilarious. That episode of Family Guy is also riddled with prostitute jokes. And jokes about Jughead. I call South Park, although I hope for Family Guy.

There's a costumes category that Alias, Deadwood, and Carnivale were all nominated for. Deadwood should really win that one, because the costumes in that show are downright amazing. And why the hell is there a "best hairstyle" category? That's just silly. The 4400 was nominated for best mini-series, both in writing and overall. Which is odd, because it's not a mini-series.

There were a lot of things that should have been nominated, most notably Battlestar Galactica, which should, at the very least, have gotten a special effects nod. Edward James Olmos should have gotten a best actor nomination, and the show itself should have gotten a best drama nod. It's so sad that show went overlooked. Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, and Katee Sackhoff all deserved some kind of nomination. Jimmy Smits needed a nomination for The West Wing. The Wire should have gotten a best series nomination, especially for this last season.

Good choices, none the less, even without any Battlestar Galactica nods outside of the special effects category.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes out today, but I'm waiting for Lacey to get back in town. I still need to see Fantastic Four. I think I'll probably go with Blake to see that this weekend, as he's in town this week. Should be a good weekend.

crazy people are funny

There are reasons the internet is around. It's so that we can look at things like a charming, Shakespearean trained captain of a starship sing a song using the Canadian alphabet. I don't know the story behind it, but the fact the it exist makes me love Star Trek ever more. Although I'm still a Kirk man, myself.

Blake showed me this. I spent two hours last night reading about this guys and the weird, disturbing following he has. It makes me laugh that some computer science and physics geek who played a lot of pen and paper RPGs can do something like that and actually amass a following of people that believe him.

It's good for a laugh. Comics in a little bit.

comics for this week

Nothing much is going on. Wal-Mart is the bane of our existence.

The Inside got cancelled. It makes me sad, because it kicks so much ass. There will eventually be a DVD set, though, just like all the other superior Tim Minear television shows.

Misty was in Dallas this weekend and picked up a couple of comics for me that my local shop didn't order. She got the first issues of Angel: The Curse and Battle Pope, which makes me happy. I'm easily excitable, apparently.

Here's comics for this week: Action Comics #829, which is the second part of the Sacrifice crossover; All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #1, which should kick all kinds of ass; Angel: The Curse #2 (of 5), which I'm getting the first issue of today; Batman #642, which I believe is a fill-in issue; City of Heroes #3, which is the last issue of Hard Crash; Desolation Jones #2, which is awesome; Fables #39, which is always good; Gravity #2 (of 5), which is fun; Green Arrow #52, which starts a new story; Hawkman #42, which is very good; Hero Camp #3 (of 4), which is a fun little book; Invincible #24, which always kicks ass; JLA #116, which continues Crisis of Conscience; New Avengers #7, which starts a new story arc with art from Steve McNiven; New Thunderbolts #10, which continues to be good; New Warriors #2 (of 6), which should be fun; Nightwing #110, which is excellent; NYX #6, which was almost forgotten; The Punisher #23, which is good; The Rann/Thanagar War #3 (of 6), which I love; Serenity #1 (of 3), to which I dance happily; Seven Soldiers: Guardian #3 (of 4), which has subway pirates; Spider-Man: Breakout #4 (of 5), which is intersting; Toxin #4 (of 6), which is gorgeous; Ultimate Fantastic Four #21, which starts Mark Millar and Greg Land's run on the book; Ultimate X-Men #61, which begins Magnetic North; The Walking Dead #20, which is always good; Wonder Woman #218, which is also always good; and X-Men: The End Book Two #5 (of 6), which I'm enjoying for the most part.

And covers:





All for now. I need to sleep.

comic thoughts (and DVD purchasing)

Lacey is sick. It makes me sad.

I want to waste my money and get a DVD set of something, but I'm torn on what to get. I wandered around Best Buy yesterday trying to decide what to get. I was torn between the following.

Miracles: The Complete Series - An, from what I remember, excellent quickly cancelled show from ABC that was created by David Greenwalt (who used to work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and co-created Angel) about paranormal investivators. It starred Skeet Ulrich (Scream, Into the West). I think only four or five episodes aired, but thirteen were filmed, so there's over half of it that I've never seen.

The Job: The Complete Seres - Another series from ABC that actually had all the episodes aired, but at such weird times that no one ever got to see them. It's a cop show from Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, who went on to create Rescue Me. It has the same type of humor as that show, and much of the same cast. I remember it being a really good show, but it's been so long since I've seen it I really want to see them all again.

The X-Files Mythology, vol. 1: Abduction - An odd collected of episodes from the first three seasons that presents the main story episodes in order. It's something I want to check out, as the main full season box sets are so expensive. I'd like to see the shows in the this particular order, if anything else. And it's relativley cheap. There are four sets planned that cover all nine seasons, with volume two coming out August 2 and volume three coming out September 27.

Any one of the those would be cool to get. But looking at what is coming out in the next few weeks, I'm tempted to just wait and get one of these.

Earth 2: The Complete Series (07/19/2005) - This was one of my favorite sci-fi shows when I was growing up, I remember it being on of the first shows I watched that had a real ongoing storyline. It was also another one season show that never really ended. It starred Clancy Brown (Highlander) and Rebecca Gayheart (who was one of my first crushes).

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete First Season (07/26/2005) - Apparently this is Best Buy exclusive, but this is one of the best shows ever. Seriously. I have never seen a show like it. It is up there with shows like Firefly and Angel in its greatness. Edward James Olmos is so the fucking man. Season two starts on the fifteenth, which is next Friday. From what I understand, this set features the UK versions of the show, which I believe are a bit longer and feature a different opening credit sequence that what aired in the US.

Dallas: The Complete Third Season (08/09/2005) - Yeah, I know. You can all go to hell. I dig the shit out of this show. It's Larry Hagman. I think this is the season where he gets shot. I've watched my first set twice through now. It's bad ass.

Lost: The Complete First Season (09/06/2005) - This was probably the best new show from last season. It'd from the creator of Alias, and you can really tell from the structure of the show. Some people were upset by how not a lot of questions were answered, but I think it fits perfectly with how the show is set up. The acting alone is great, especially Terry O'Quinn and Jorge Garcia. This si definatley worth picking up, and this is promised to have a ton of very cool DVD extras.

Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season (10/11/2005) - This is probably my other favorite new show from last season. It's a mix of Twin Peaks and Gilmore Girls with the Log Lady taken out. The season features one of the best television mysteries since the death of Laura Palmer, and some of the best characters to come out of television in long time. And Alyson Hannigan. So it has to be good.

So, decide for me which one I should get.

Some of those don't come out for a while, but I'm trying to kill some time. I want to get all of those. But that requires money, all of which goes to comics. Which I got to read a lot of last night as I was trying to copy The Commish. This was a really good week for comics, even though I didn't get my copy of Battle Pope. Which made me sad. So, here's what I got to read last night.

Fantastic Four: House of M #1 (of 3) - I really wasn't sure what to expect from this. The main mini-series of House of M has mentioned that there is no Fantastic Four, so here we get the equivalent of the Fearsome Four, lead by Doctor Doom. It's a group made up of his family, as Reed Richards is dead, where they do Magnus's dirty work. It's very well written, and the art is nice, but it's nothing that blows anybody out of the water. It ties in well with House of M, and it's the first glimpse of Magneto that we get to see in this altered universe. It's worth picking up if your into what Marvel is doing this summer.

Gotham Central #33 - This is part one of Dead Robin, which features: 1) Ed Brubaker's last work on the title; 2) the premiere of new artist Kano; and 3) one of the best cases to come up so far. Brubaker and Rucka have been writing the book in rotation, each focusing on a different shift of the Gotham City Police Department. A boy dressed up as Robin is found dead, and Batman seems to be the top suspect in some of detectives's minds. What's great is all the different mind sets of these detectives and how they are clashing with one another. This is one of the best books out there.

House of M #3 (of 8) - Now this is more like it. We finally start to see what this series is supposed to be about. Wolverine wakes up in this odd new world as the only person with memories of what the world was like before. As he searches for Xavier to try and piece together what has happened, he is pursued by Mystique and her team of Rogue and Nightcrawler, all of whom work for the same organization in this world. He's then brought into Cloak's cape and meets the human resistance, and we get a very cool last page. I loved the appearance of all these different characters, and the art continues to impress. I hope the rest of the series continues to be like this.

Incredible Hulk #83 - Peter David starts his second story arc with his return to this character as a tie-in to House of M. It's a pretty good story too. We get to see what Bruce would be doing in this altered world, basically secluding himself from society because nobody really wants anything to do with him. We also get to see the Scorpion character featured in Amazing Fantasy, and how her life is similar to what she's doing in the regular universe. The art is nice, and this promises to be one of the better tie-ins to the big summer event.

Iron Man: House of M #1 (of 3) - And yet another tie-in, this one from one of new favorite writers, Greg Pak, and Pat Lee, who can draw robots really well. There's some interesting stuff here, but I really don't know a lot about Iron Man. The gladiator stuff is nice, and it's good to see Johnny Storm pop up. Again, it's worth checking out if you're into what's going on.

Marvel Team-Up #10 - This is the conclusion of Master of the Ring, which had some of the biggest build-up I've ever seen. Robert Kirkman throws in every character he can think of inot this, and there are some funny moments throughout. This whole arc didn't really know what it wanted to be, it seems. I'm looking forward to the next story, though.

Superman #219 - This issue features the first part to Sacrifice, which runs through all the Superman book and Wonder Woman this month, and also ties into The OMAC Project. It's very odd with what is going on here. Someone is messing with Superman's mind. What he is seeing isn't what everybody else is seeing. There's some stuff with Braniac (which obviously isn't really Braniac). The art is beautiful. The last page is really nice.

Ultimate Spider-Man #79 - This is the first part of the Warriors arc, which has the Kingpin coming back into the game. This is probably the best issue of this series I've read in a while, as I wasn't really digging the Hobgoblin story (it wasn't bad, but I didn't like how it was split up). But this is really nice. It feels like a full issue, which has been lacking for some time in this book. Great art, as always. I'm glad this is picking back up.

Villains United #3 (of 6) - Gail Simone continues her story here, and it's surprising how good it is. There's some great character moments her, especially with Deadshot and Ragdoll. I love all the interrogation scenes, and the change of artist isn't that jarring. The scene with Lex and Black Adam is also excellent. I want to see where this is going.

Y: The Last Man #35 - The last part of Girl on Girl continues to push the series further along, and Yorick and his companions gets closer to the end of his story. The Whale goes down, and our main characters are saved by an Austrailian submarine, promising to take them to Japan to rescue Ampersand, who holds the key to curing the virus. It's all very cool, as always. This is another one of my favorite books, and I think it will go down as one of the best ever.

That's all I got to read last night, which is quite a bit. I need to get caught up on Guild Wars, which I've gotten further ahead on this week. Lacey has been busy with school, and now she's gotten sick, which is sad. I'm hoping she feels better today.

Back to work. Only a little bit left.

nothing is really going on

Lacey started the summer semester, so I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with her.

I'm trying to copy the first season of The Commish, but my computer is being stupid with it for some reason. I copied the first disc last night, and it will play back on my computer, but not on any DVD player. It might be the stupid DVD+Rs that I have, which I bought because they were cheaper than the DVD-Rs, which is the better format apparently. So I'm going to try the second disc tonight and see what happens.

I didn't play Guild Wars much last night and went to bed early. It was quite nice to get a full night's sleep. I watched and episode of Dallas and fell asleep happy.

I can get comics in a couple of hours. I'm confused because the two lists I use to compile what I get each week don't match up this time. There are some inconsistencies, which I guess I'll figure out when I get to the store.

I also get to test drive my new car, which will be mine in a couple of weeks. I'm excited. It's 1992 Geo Prizm, which is pretty much exactly like I need. It looks a lot like my old Mazda that died.

A few months ago, one of my favorite comics series, Fallen Angel, was cancelled. It was published at DC, but was creator owned. It didn't take place in the DC universe, carried a "mature readers" label, and wasn't under one of thier imprints like Wildstorm or Vertigo. It made it to twenty issues before it ended, with the last two acting something as a coda to the excellent story the first eighteen told. As a creator owned property, the writer, Peter David (who is one of my favorites), could take the book anywhere else he wanted. So IDW picked it up, who does such books like 30 Days of Night, Singularity 7, and the new Angel book. The original artist, David Lopez, isn't on this new book, but the guy they got, J.K. Woodward, looks amazing. Here's a promo piece. It looks beautiful and debuts in December.



Anyways, back to work. The day is almost over.

tuesdays are like mondays

I did nothing on my day off other than sleep in, hang out with Lacey, and play Guild Wars. I got to level 13 and did a dance of joy. But today feels like Monday, which goes incredibly slow.

I made a down payment for a car this morning. Which means it will be mine within a couple of weeks. I'm excited. And it's such a nice car too. I'm so happy.

I have to go check on Blake's mother's animals after work this week. Nothing I haven't done before, just something more to do.

My cable modem has been acting weird the past few days. It works fine when the signal is coming directly from the wall, but when I use a spliter, so that I can also watch television, it goes on and off throughout the day. So the pretty much tells me I have a bad spliter, which is easily fixable.

I was going to do some comic thoughts but I really don't feel like it. Go read Planetary. And Batgirl. And Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight. All of those were really, really good. Especially Planetary.

Here's comics for this week, which are a day late because of Monday being a holiday. Amazing Fantasy #10, which has actually been really good; Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead #4 (of 4), which is fun; Catwoman: When in Rome #6 (of 6), which is beautiful; Daredevil vs. Punisher #1 (of 6), which I'm a little hesitant about, but will check out none-the-less; DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #2 (of 4), which I'm hoping gets a bit less confusing (and might be after last week's Outsiders); Exiles #66, which is really good; Fantastic Four: House of M #1 (of 3), which I'm curious about; Fathom #2, which I'm not sure why I'm getting; Firestorm #15, which is pretty good; Gotham Central #33, which is still one of my favorites, and begins Ed Brubaker's last stint on the book; House of M #3 (of 8), which promises to be really good; Hunter/Killer #3, which I'm already behind on; Incredible Hulk #83, which should be really good, as always, and starts a tie-in to House of M; The Intimates #9, which is curiously good; Iron Man: House of M #1 (of 3), which I'm also curious about; JSA #75, which kicks all kinds of ass; Legends of the Dark Knight #193, which is beautiful; Marvel Team-Up #10, which is a really fun book; Matador #3 (of 6), which is interesting; Ocean #6 (of 6), which is late; Shanna the She-Devil #6 (of 7), which I'm behind on; Son of Vulcan #2 (of 6), which had a decent first issue; Superman #219, which is excellent, and kicks off Sacrifice; The Twilight Experiment #6 (of 6), which I'm behind on because I couldn't get the issues; Ultimate Spider-Man #79, which is always good, and I believe starts a new story arc; Uncanny X-Men #462, which begins a tie-in to House of M; Villains United #3 (of 6), which is good; Wildguard: Fool’s Gold #1 (of 2), which should be fun; and Y: The Last Man #35, which is always excellent, and now one of Lacey's favorite books.

And here are, of course, some covers. The red and white lines are books that tie-in to House of M. While I'm not the biggest fan of company wide crossover/tie-in things, I read most of these books in the first place, so it's not that big of a deal. And I'm not going to pick up any books I don't get normally (like New X-Men or District X). They seem to be spread far enough apart that you aren't going to have to read all of them to get the full meaning, but if you do read them all you get something pretty cool out of it. Anyways, covers.





Back to work. It's not fun.

some comic thoughts and guild wars

I got my character up to level 11 last night on Guild Wars. I did a little dance and then went to bed. This is such a great game in so many ways. I'm still having trouble typing correctly, because I have to type in shorthand on that game. And I really don't like typing in shorthand, as anyone who has ever talked to me in an IM program has come to know.

Lacey continues to amaze me in all aspects of what she does. Her birthday is this weekend. I got her something very cool, although I can't say here because then it would spoil it.

I didn't get the first issue of Angel: The Curse. It made me sad, because my comic shop never ordered it the first place, even though I've been preordering things for the past four or five months. I'll get it in a couple of weeks, I'm sure.

But here are some thoughts on what I have been able to read this week. I haven't done this in a while, so it'll kill some time before the work day is over. I'm back to counting all the orders we've have come in from the past year again, just like I did last summer. It's long and boring, but at least it's something a bit different. Basically, I have to sort through all the orders for books from the past year and sepearate them by the call numbers of the books, and then put those into an Excel database I developed last year. It'll take me a couple of weeks, so I won't be dealing with any books, which tends to make my arms hurt more than normal, especially the big oversized art book. So, there's actually a lot more good in it.

Anyways, here's comic thoughts.

Batman #641 - Here we get the last part of Family Reunion, and what is possibly the best issue of a Batman comic in a really long time. This is what we've been building up to for a while, and it's absolutley amazing. We get the big revelation that we've already seen, but we get to see Batman's reaction to it. The writing and art are both top notch, and I can't wait until he returns to the book after a short hiatus next month, as they do a follow-up to War Games called War Crimes that crosses over with Detective Comics.

Fantastic Four #528 - J. Michael Straczynski's second issue continues, and we get to see what aspects of these characters' lives he's going to be focusing on. We get some excellent character moments with Ben, some real life story plots with Sue, and what seems to be a very interesting development for Reed. I love the idea that the event that created this team might not have been random, but some cry for help from another culture. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Green Lantern #2 - Geoff Johns continues his revival of Hal Jordan, and I have to admit that I'm really enjoying it. It's not so much the Manhunters returning, which is fun, or John Stewart investigating the strange space mystery. The strongest part of this series so far is Hal trying to reinsert himself into the world, into his old life and family. It's all very well done so far, and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite books.

The OMAC Project #3 (of 6) - Greg Rucka continues this very cool mini-series, which picks up on the plots from recent DC events and his run on Detective Comics some years ago. The highlight of this issue is the scene tween Booster Gold, Wonder Woman, and Guy Gardner. Sasha Bordeaux remains one of my favorite characters, and Rucka demonstrates that he has a deep understanding and feeling of these characters. This is all very good, and I'm looking forward to the tie-in to the Superman books next month.

Outsiders #25 - Judd Winick finishes up The Insiders crossover with Teen Titans, and I'm still left a little wanting. We lose a character, gain a character we already knew was coming back because this issue shipped late, but we get some great character moments, especially with Nightwing and Starfire. The Shift and Indigo relationship never really hit it with me, because we never really learned to love those characters. But things progress towards whatever it is they're progressing towards. It's a decent issue, all in all.

Runaways #5 - Oh my God. This is the best book. Ever. There's nothing else I can say. Except that the art is exceptional. I loved every page of this. And I'm pretty sure I know who is funding Excelsior. Read this. Now.

Young Avengers #5 - This was another "Oh my God" issue. I want to dance the dance of joy for hours. This was simply amazing, and I really can't say a lot more about it. Other than, once again, the art just blows me out of the water. Loved the bits between Iron Lad and Cassie. And the Vision. Just bad ass.

All for now. Work is almost over.