Batman: You can come back now. I'm tired of the plot twists.

Okay, let me start off by saying, that I am fairly behind in the Batman Series, but from what I know, I am not a happy person.

To begin with, they killed Bruce Wayne! WTF. Seriously guys, I know comics are noturious for killing off main characters and bringing them back, but I can't believe you did it. I'm still in shock. I hear he'll be back in the summer of 2010. Don't make me wait to long. But really, why did you do? To get more readers? I haven't picked up a single issue of Batman since I heard he was getting offed. I bought the trades, but not the singles. So I'm fairly behind in whats going on. In fact, I haven't even read the 'Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader' storyline yet. That's how far behind I am. I've seen the insides of maybe two issues of the Battle of the Cowl story arc. But I'm waiting for the trade to hit the shelves before I really dive into it.
However, I know that Dick Grayson is the new Batman, and Daiman is the new Robin. Brownie Points for you guys. For one, I love Daiman, that little prick is adorable, but I kinda hated him when he tried to kill Robin. And Dick Grayson deserved to be Batman, no one else would have been fit for the spot. I have read issue #1 of the new Batman series, #1 of Red Robin, and #1-2 of Batgirl. And #1-3 of Gotham City Sirens.

Let's start with Batman: I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm a fan of the more well known villians even a few of the lesser known ones have my vote. But I don't know who they are up against because I lost interest half way through the first issue and decided I would wait for the trade. I love the art, but the story has clicked with me yet. I like to read Batman Arcs all at once. I've always been that way with certain comics. The Boys is another one I love but won't get the single issues of. I'd rather read the whole arc at once, so I don't have to wait to see what's going on. Sometimes a month is the longest period of time ever. So I don't know what's going on with Dick Grayson aka Batman right now. Shame on me.

Red Robin. Who the hell is this guy? Someone please tell me. I don't know, I only read issue number 1. I guess I should have read Battle of the Cowl before I tried to jump into the other series. I suppose I'm about 6 months behind on all things batman related. But I didn't get another issue of Red Robin either. Trade please.

Okay. Now to the points I'm serious about. Let's talk Batgirl. Who decided Cassandra wasn't going to be batgirl anymore? Hmmmm??? Come on, fess up. Cause I'm coming for you. I love Cassandra Cain as batgirl, I know she went all bad and everything for a while and she was raised to be a killer, but I think it makes it harder for her to be a good guy. I really liked the series she had out last year. Only 6 issues though. Come on guys. I'm working on back tracking and finding the trades of her first series. Like I've said I didn't start reading comics till College, I kind of have lots of catching up to do everywhere. I'm making lists though, and trying my hardest. And so instead of Cassandra, we have Stephanie Brown, who once was dead, but now is Batgirl. She was also Robin and also Spoiler. I'm going to keep reading this one and have faith that Cassandra will come back at some point and kick some ass. I'm not completly turned off of Stephanie Brown being Batgirl, so I'm not going to give up on the series just yet. I'll try to stick with it, no promises.

And besides Bruce Wayne being dead, this is my biggest concern: Catwoman forgot who Batman was? Oh hell no you didn't. This makes me want to act a fool up in here. For one, Catwoman loves Bruce Wayne! She rememebered in the Faces of Evil Arcs! And Bruce Wayne loves her! I am a girl! I love this part! I love Batman and Catwoman! Why did you do this to me? How could you do this to me? I want an answer DC!! Who is in charge of these awful changes? Who can I bribe to make them set things straight? I can't beleive you guys would pull a trick, that Zatanna, who also liked Batman, would help Catwoman forget who Batman was. No this is not acceptable. Not at all. I'm going to keep reading Gotham City Sirens for the simple reason, that Catwoman aka Selina better start remembering things, and she may have only forgotten it for the ten minutes Ivy was interrogating her. Understand? Good.
Now on the good side of things, I'm very happy to see Hush has returned. I love Hush. He's the best. I'm very pissed he wasn't included in Batman Arkham Asylum, from what I've heard. Like I said, I'm behind on Batman. Ever since I layed eyes on Batman: Hush. I knew this was my villain. Sure, I love the Joker, who doesn't but I only love certain versions of the joker. Frank Miller's verison in All-Star Batman and Robin is my favorite. I wish they would finish that series. I would give up so many things to have an ending to that series. Come on guys, 20 issues is all i'm asking for. Hell, I would settle for five more. Just finish the story. Tell me what happens. Please. I beg you.

Basically Batman has taken a dreadful turn as far as I'm concerned. But I hear rumors on the wind that some things are going to happen next year, and I can only hope that's it will become reality. I'm just going to re-read Batman:Hush over and over again, until I hear good things have been printed and are on thier way to the shelves.

I don't know how everyone else feels about these things, or even how any of the guys reading the series do, because for one, no one else I know reads comics. So I don't have much of a audience to poll.

I'm going to work on getting caught up with Batman, now that I have a job, I can start fueling my addictions for comics once again. Really I can't do much until the Battle of the Cowl storyline comes out. So it's basically a stand still. I'll just keep reading on Wikipedia and various other sources to navigate my way through the maze they call Batman and the dead ends I keep hitting.

And then maybe I will feel better about the whole deal. So maybe I'm completly wrong on this whole deal. I suppose we will find out soon enough.

HickoryCon Aftermath

I did pretty well. I stayed well below my limit, but got alot of cool stuff. It didn't seem like there were as many tables filled this time as there were in the spring, but there was a good turnout from what I saw. There were alot of people in costumes. Which was pretty awesome. My favorite ones were, of course, the storm troopers. You dress up like Star Wars, you get my vote for everything. It's a classic ( the original 3) you can't go wrong there.

I got three new prints and a sketch. The prints were Wonder Woman (who I don't even like, but I love this print), Poison Ivy, and Batman. The sketch was also of Batman. Billy Fowler did the sketch and the WW and PI sketch and Adam Goudelock did the Batman Print. Both those guys are really nice. And very talented. They're on my facebook. I'll add them on here later.

I also got some comics I had been trying to locate for a while, so it was a pretty good day. It would have been a good day anyway.
So I'm dead-set on going to Baltimore now. I just hope the crew from Zenescope will be there. I know some of the guys from Aspen will be there, which I'm excited about that. Aspen was the company that got me started into comics. Ah, back in the day, where it all began. And now I'm an addict. Okay, so it's not that bad, but I do like to talk about comics a bit.

But I can't decide if I want to go to Baltimore for just the Saturday or stay overnight and leave out sometime on Sunday. It wouldn't be much more to stay one night. I guess it'll give me something to think about when I'm bored at work.

Which I have to go back to tomorrow. We're starting 6 12's tomorrow. Which sucks, but the money's going to be choice.

To finish a pretty decent day full of a good amount of geekiness, I decided to watch Fanboys. I love that movie. If you haven't seen it, go rent it right now, or buy it. Better take a crow-bar just in case the stores closed....or if you encounter zombies.
I'm trying to think of some commissions for some artists right now. I was thinking about seeing if Billy Fowler would be interested in doing one and maybe Josh Howard. There are a few other artists I was thinking about looking into as well, but those two guys have more unique and eye-catching styles than other artists out there. As well as Jamie McKelvie. These guys are super-talented. I know it sounds stupid, but I mean, they are like celebrities to me. I'd rather go to a Con than a movie premiere any day.

I can't help it. There's just something about Art and Comics that fascinates me. Well, after a long day of comic searching and laughing and talking, I'm worn out. I also havent slept since Friday. It was just easier to stay up and go to Hickory. Crazy Mandar. What a rebel! Alright. To bed. It's back to work tomorrow. And I need some sleep before I attempt to stay awake on Night Shift watching everyone else work.

HickoryCon and Baltimore Comic Con

Thanks to the fact that things never finish on schedule at work, we've had a major change in days off and such. I now have Saturday nights off. One day! What? Only two good things have come out of this:

1.Money.
2.HICKORYCON!!

That's right. I know no one cares, but HickoryCon is tomorrow and now I get to go! I am really excited. Two of my favorite artist will be there: Billy Fowler and Randy Green. Not to mention a ton of comics, ripe for the buying. I love this show. It's the second time I will be going. They have a spring and a fall show. They guys that host the show are the owners of the comic shops I go by. Time Tunnel Comics and Timmy Mac's Comics and Games. They do an awesome job, so make sure to stop by.

And not to mention I am praying that I will be off on Oct 9th - Oct 11th. The Baltimore ComicCom in Oct10th-Oct11th. Plane tickets are around $100 for round trip. If the job allows, you better believe this cat is making a day trip to Maryland. I'm not even kidding. AspenComics will be there, a million artists and writers that I love and maybe even Zenescope. I can only hope Zenescope will be there. Those guys are awesome.

Well, it's back to work now. Have to make money so I can afford my addictions.

The Boys

My Absolute Favorite Quote from the Graphic Novel "The Boys" by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson:

"I hear you're a conspiracy nut. Well, This is the conspiracy, kid. It's ain't ancient gods an' aliens an' coded shit on the dollar bill. It ain't even a secret, it's something ordinary folks do for a livin' every day of the week. It's Business." -The Legend

Read The Boys. Probably one of the best Comics to hit the shelves this decade.

Catching up on the Motion Pictures. I love you Man. Adventure Land.

After a long week at work, I've decided it's movie catching up time. So I rented a few tonight. And it begins....

I love you, Man. A Bro-mance by any other name, would probably be called something along the same lines. It was an okay movie. I didn't laugh hysterically. It was funny, it just wasn't as funny as some of the other movies I've seen. I love Jason Segal, but he was much funnier in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. As for Paul Rudd, his character was a bit toned down from the other movies I've seen him in. I really liked Role Models ,Knocked Up, and Anchorman. Back to I love you Man. It was basically about a guy that's the girlfriend type. You know the ones, they have more girls that are friends than guys. But he sets out to finds friends basically because everyone is giving him shit about it, including his gay brother played by Andy Samberg of The Lonely Island. He was the best part of the movie. And I enjoyed JK Simmons (Juno, Burn After Reading) as well.

Like every other romantic comedy movie, the plot goes something like this. Boy is sad because he has no friends. Boy finds friends through series of humorous adventures. Boy becomes close to friend, until an event comes between them. (This could be anything, in this movie it's money). Boy has angry moment with friend and they are not friends anymore. Boy's life is a bit sadder due to no friend. In the end Boy forgives friend, all is well! This is the classic romantic comedy plot. It's rather boring. Thus the reason, I'm not all to impressed with the movie. It gets really old after you've seen a thousand movies with the exact same plot with sligtly different jokes and small changes made in what sets events about. In other Rom-Coms, you would just replace boy with girl and friend with boy. It's a vicious cycle and it needs to end.

I'm not big on romantic comedy's for just that reason. I thought Funny People did well with not having Adam Sandler ending up with Leslie Mann's characters. About the only ones I can really stand to watch it Because I Said So and Failure to Launch (I love Justin Bartha and Zooey Deschanel, I hate SJP, not a MM fan either).

Next up: Adventureland. Now before I even watch the movie, I'm going to say I picked this up because it looked funny and has Jesse Eisenberg who will be in Zombieland in it. I've not really seen him in much. He was in The Village, but not a major role from what I can remember. Kristen Stewart (of Twilight fame) is also in the movie, but I'm less concerned with her. So here it goes. And we press the X button on the ps3 controller because I killed my DVD player when it dared to betray me and stopped working.

And....the end credits rolls. I now have the song Pale Blue Eyes by Velvet Underground stuck in my head. As well as the White Lines Zombie version from Shaun of the Dead. Or Freeze!

Back to ze movie. Before the Germans get here. I liked it. Between Eisenberg and Cera, I choose Eisenberg. Although Cera has points for playing Scott Pilgrim. Adventureland was pretty good. It was a cute movie. I love when he gets held at knifepoint over a giant panda. It was basically about a group of twenty-somethings and what they did with their summer. Which was work at Adventureland. And Drink. And Smoke Pot. And Be unruly. Oh. And there was a Disco Club (?) involved. I was kinda confused as to when the events in the movie were supposed to take place. Perhaps they gave a time placement at the beginning of the movie and I missed it. Either way, I despise side ponytails and jean jackets. Despite it having the above mention romantic comedy plot seeping through the drug usage and carny rides, it was a nice way to spend a few hours. I would put this in a category with Waiting. A Work related Comedy more than a romantic comedy really. Also I was impressed with Kristen Stewart. I think she did a pretty decent job in this movie. So did Jesse Eisenberg.

The part I laughed the hardest at, is when he returns home high to eat dinner with his family and his mom is telling him about other grad schools and things he could consider. They start talking about internships on Mister Rogers (I believe Mister Rogers is one of the reason our generations is so messed up) and they talk about the characters are hands puppets. Then his dad does this hand puppet impression and Brennon's like "That's a horrible impression." I thought that was hilarious for some reason.

It's kinda like Employee of the Month(in the way it's work related), which only had two funny moments. One at a party or something with the guy in the coke bottle glasses and the other is when the guy falls on the checkout register. The rest of the movie was shit.

I may purchase Advetureland, when it goes on sale. While enjoyable, I suggest renting it before buying it. So I've created a new category for movies: Work Comedies. Maybe this exists already. Probably. There's nothing better than making fun of something that you hate. And there's nothing most people hate more than their jobs.

I was hoping to catch a few movies in the theater this week, but I don't think I am going to be able to. On the list right now: Whiteout, 9, and Gamer. And I'm probably going to head back to blockbuster tonight and grab a few more movies. It's been a while since I rented anything, so I'm fairly behind. But you gotta do what you gotta do. And some days, playing with my cats is more important than watching a movie. Besides, the cats actually do funny things once in a while.

Real Life Mutants?

Magnetic Man

Real Life Superheroes

Ahem, I have a superpower as well. But it's secret.

I'm not going to say, I'd have to kill you if I told you.

But I will.

Thanks goes to Tyler for sending me the Links.

Zombies And Cigarettes

Everyone knows I love Zombies. Here's a short foreign film I found on io9. It's subtitled. I still enjoyed it. Only about 13:50, after that it's the credits. Also included is the Red Band Trailer for Zombieland.

Zombies and Cigarettes

Zombieland

Star Wars/Thriller at DragonCon 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMksF7E6lyw

Needless to Say, I've added DragonCon to my list of ComicCons I will be attending next year. So right not it stands at San Diego ComicCon, DragonCon, HickoryCon, and HeroesCon. There's nothing I love more than hanging out with people who are just as geeky as me. And meeting my favorite artist. :)

Also featured are a Quidditch team, Green Lanterns, Storm Troopers, Indiana Jones, A Disco Storm Tropper, Star Trek Personel, Princess Buttercup and The Dread Pirate Roberts , an ALIEN!, Pirates, People in a Parking Garage, a predator, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. plus a few assorted ones i dont know.

Phonogram

I want to talk about Phonogram. And Kieron Gillen. And Jamie McKelvie. And a bit of Suburban Glamour. And how I'm addicted. Cause I am.

Phonogram started out as something I might eventually pick up one day. This was before it was in a trade paperback. Oh, I saw it, and it looked interesting, but it had something to do with Britain and there were other comics out there that I was more into at the time. Shame on me. I can't believe I didn't follow my instinct and buy it out of compulsion like I do with so many of the comics I've come to love. I would say, on average, a good 60 percent of the comics I read with certain enthusiasm these days were impulse buys. I would be like, well that looks kinda cool, or I would only buy it because of the art. But on that day, I did not buy Phonogram out of compulsion. I think the first time I saw an issue was about he time I started reading comics, which wasn't until I got into College. The first issue I ever bought was when me and Sarah went into a thrift store in Hawaii, It was an Alien vs. Predator #1, I believe.

So Phonogram sat in the back of my mind, waiting. Then I found Suburban Glamour. This book was the key. It opened the door to the greatness that would ensue. Suburban Glamour, with the well defined art style, the colors, the edge to it. It was something new. At the time, I think I might have had less than ten comics I was reading, Fathom, Witchblade, Iron and the Maiden, the Darkness, and TombRadier were about as far as I had adventured into the comics world. While those comics might have not been as mainstream, as say, oh Batman or Xmen, they were still pretty big names already. They had established writers and well-known artists. Suburban Glamour kinda threw opened the door for my love for more...indie type comics, I suppose. The ones that are printed by the smaller companies, no less amazing though than the big guys.

But there I was mesmerized by the characters in the book. The art alone...even without words, would have been enough to get me to buy it, but the story was just as original. Just as likely to pull you in. It was only four issues long. I wanted more. I googled Jamie McKelvie and guess what I found- Phonogram, the Brit-Pop comic I had passed over so long ago. I gave in. I bought all six issues in the single form off of eBay. I read through them. They deal with music mainly. Music I had never listened to. It was all based around the premise that music was magic and could change your life. The first time I read through it, I didn't understand half of what was going on, mainly because I had no idea what the bands sound like. (I'm still trying to find a few Kenickie songs.) I'd never heard of Kenickie before. Who the hell was Tim Eastwood. The Manics? I read it any ways. I didn't read the glossary. Big Mistake. All my questions would have been cleared up. But I was so anxious to get to the next issue I gave the glossary a miss. It stayed like that too. Shame on me again.

I bought the trade: Phonogram: Rue Britannia. I read it again. Like it says, you don't have to know anything about the bands to make it through. Its an outstanding story. David Kohl is my hero. And I love Kid-with-Knife. Emily Aster was just as likable in her unlikeable ways. I loved it. Almost the entire thing. The Story. The Art. The Characters. Not the glossary. Too many words. I wasn't that concerned with who these people were they talked about.

Then, a second volume came out- Phonogram: The Singles Club. This time in color! I was ecstatic. I tried to hold off, and wait for the trade. By the time the second issue had found it's ways onto the shelves of Parker, Banner, Kent, and Wayne, I have given in. This volume was different. It's 7 issues, each detailing the events of a single night from different perspectives. I can't decide who I like more, Silent Girl or Emily Aster. Silent Girl and Seth are awesome. The art is just as beautiful as before and the storyline just as brilliant. I believe we stand at issue 4 right now. I'm dying, waiting for every issue to come out.

I can't do it justice. And something changed, I read the glossary. I know who Kenickie is, I know who the Pipettes are. I really like Robyn. And Girls Aloud. Ice Cream is one of my favorite songs right now. I may not understand Brit-Pop, but I know about it now. I'm learning. I re-read Phonogram: RB again today. Every time I read it, something new catches my eye. If there's not a third volume, I am going to have both the first two volumes memorized.

Gillen and McKelvie have also created a comic together for the Playstation Magazine, called SavePoint. Its really good. Although, not being an avid gamer, I do miss a few of the things they are talking about. Gillen writes an excellent storyline. I can't give enough credit to the guy's originality.

I think if it wasn't for Jamie McKelvie's stunning art, however, I might have never known the greatness of Phonogram. His art caught me like a few others have. ( Micheal Turner was the first, but Talent Caldwell, Josh Howard, Ebas, Tim Sale, and Brett Booth have all dragged me into their worlds with the allurement of their visuals.) I can just flip through his books and do nothing but look at the art. I also have Long Hot Summer, which he worked on with Eric Stephenson. I am currently looking for a copy of Four Letter Worlds, with no luck.

I'm well aware that barely any of my friends are enthusiastic about comics as I am. Not many of them share my love of movies or books. It makes for alot of things I want to say that no one wants to hear. Which is why I write these. It's like, hey, I want to talk about this stuff, here's a way I can, and if people want to listen that's fine, if they don't, I'll remember that when I'm famous.

I don't know. I woke up on the wrong side of the cool bed according to some, but that's fine. I enjoy the things I do. I still participate in reality. I have a job. I have friends. I'm just a little in the strange side of normal.

Here is an article from Comic Book Resources about Phonogram: Rue Britannia, they do more research than I do.

To-buy List for Books:

Sense and Sensibility and SeaMonsters (Release Date: Sept. 15th)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahme-Smith (Release Date: N/A)

Monster Island by David Wellington

Monster Planet by David Wellington

Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton

Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton (Release Date: Dec. 2009)

Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton ( Release Date: Early 2010)

The Island by Peter Benchley

The Southern Vampire Mysteries aka Sookie Stackhouse Novels (Living Dead in Dallas-Dead in the Family) by Charlaine Harris

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Prodigal Son [Frankenstein Book 1] Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson

City of Night [Frankenstein Book 2] Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman

Dead and Alive [Frankenstein Book 3] Dean Koontz

Extinct by Charles Wilson