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Post by The Captain on May 23, 2023 20:13:58 GMT -5
Hoping some New Gods fans can help me out here.
I've been reading Secret Society of Super Villains, and on the cover of issue #4, it touts an appearance by The Black Racer. Now, he doesn't actually show up in the issue until the last panel, as Darkseid is punishing Mantis, The Power Parasite, and threatens him with The Black Racer, who Mantis seems legit frightened of. In the next issue, The Black Racer shows up in the background of two panels, then zips off to not be seen again, so...
Who is The Black Racer, and why should anyone be afraid of a guy on floating skis, complete with matching ski poles and long flowing yellow cape, who doesn't actually seem to DO anything?
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Post by The Captain on May 20, 2023 8:58:53 GMT -5
She-Hulk #13 - I've been on the fence about this book the past few months, but it is one of the few things that I read that is fairly light and breezy, instead of having to be grim and gritty. This month's issue worked as they continue to explore Jen's relationship with Jack while dealing with a villain who might have bigger plans for her, as well as having Hellcat and Mallory show up for decent interactions.
Captain America, Sentinel Of Liberty #12 - I love Captain America and will support his book pretty much regardless, but WHY does Marvel make it so hard to enjoy the character? We have Steve, Sam, Misty and Sharon trying to get at White Wolf and Bucky (or New Revolution), who is dealing with Natasha as well, all in an attempt to recover Steve's "son" Ian, who has been kidnapped, but they've brought back Dimension Z, which is bad sci-fi, and the entire plot involving the Five-Pointed Star is virtually incomprehensible. This should be far better than it is, even taking into account the bad elements, but somehow, it's just not doing it for me. Hate to say that Issue #750, coming up this summer, might be the end for me if things don't drastically improve.
And from last week: Moon Knight #23 - Moon Knight helps Dylan Brock (Eddie's kid and the "new" Venom) deal with some bad guys hunting him so they can get their hands on the symbiote for their boss. MK shows Dylan that there are people out there who will help him and gives him some pointers on how to better take care of himself. Nothing world-threatening or universe-impacting, just a decent story about a guy who's been there lending a hand to a guy who hasn't.
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Post by The Captain on May 20, 2023 8:41:47 GMT -5
Rick Jones - No surprise here. Total luck-sack and whiny little punk. Wolverine - Best there is, blah, blah, blah, convoluted back story, blah, blah, blah... Deadpool - After he became an insipid cartoon, not the bad-ass mercenary that...shudder...Rob Liefeld created. Harley Quinn - Bargain store Deadpool, but hey, if it worked for Marvel, you knew DC would ape it somehow.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 28, 2023 13:34:59 GMT -5
Who remembers playing these back in the day? The bubble dome hockey table, I LOVED those things. Had an un-domed "home version" as well, not nearly the same as the real thing but still fun in between outings (except the puck would go flying out of that one all too often with "competitive play"). I love my video games too, but man, these are still the coolest to me. I had an undomed home version circa 1970. The players wore no helmets (nor the goalies masks) and the teams were Montreal and Toronto. I wanted the Bruins vs the Rangers, dammit! A few years later my cousins had a hockey table with swappable players; I think they had six teams available. Great memories indeed, even if I was pretty lousy. We had a undomed version from later in the 1970s when I was growing up. Teams were Philadelphia and the Islanders. My best friend had found one in the trash, while doing his paper route, with the Canadiens and Leafs, so he took all of the players off of the pegs and we had four teams total to play with. Much as we loved that, our preferred home hockey game was Strat-O-Matic. He’d gotten a set from the early 80s and we were forever scouring garage sales, flea markets, and newspaper want ads for older sets.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 21, 2023 20:39:18 GMT -5
Yeah, I know we’re less than a month into the MLB season, but man, it’s actually fun to be a Pirates fan right now. Winners of 5 in a row so far this week, they’re currently 14-7 and in second place in the NL Central, and they’re doing this without budding star Oneil Cruz, who fractured his ankle last week and is out until late July or August.
Is it going to last? Of course not, but I can honestly say I’ve paid more attention to the team this season than I have in probably half a decade.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 17, 2023 18:59:20 GMT -5
Our oldest and still best comic shop in Pittsburgh, Eide's Entertainment, recently held their anniversary sale, and as I had not bought very much in the first quarter of the year, I decided to go and pick some things up to fill holes in the collection. Marvel back issues were 30% off, DC's were 50%. Here's the haul, which ran me just under $33: Lots of Scalphunter books, as I'm nearing the completion of the run. Just a few more to go. More Scalphunter, as well as the last SSoSV issue I needed. The Kull leaves me just two shy of the run, those being #1 and #2. Some upgrades for books in my collection that weren't quite up to my usual standards, especially the Captain America.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 13, 2023 5:53:33 GMT -5
They are already trying. -M Of course they are. There aren't just one, but three, icky girls in the movie that are there for something other than to be ogled. I'm sure it's blowing their tiny little incel chud minds. And they should be completely helpless, needing to be rescued by big strong men. Big, strong, sweaty, manly men, shirtless if possible.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 13, 2023 5:50:25 GMT -5
I'm in the minority that really liked the first film, but it looks like they are taking a page from Thor: Ragnarok and going more silly this time, and I'm all for it. This looks like a lot of fun. Hopefully, the anti-anything-even-mildly-resembling-feminism detractors won't be able to kill this one's success. While I agree that this first trailer has some elements in it that seem a little silly (although Kamala’s reaction to Goose makes perfect sense in that she’s a teenager and has NEVER seen anything like that before), I was reading earlier this week that the movie has a more serious tone to it. I would bet that this will almost certainly deal with elements from Secret Invasion, but they can’t give away any of them without spoiling that show. I would anticipate the next trailer, coming after that show most likely, will reveal more of what they’re actually dealing with.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 11, 2023 16:27:54 GMT -5
My younger daughter watched it the minute it dropped this morning and came running to show it to me because she was so excited. Kamala is one of her favorite Marvel characters, so seeing her on the big screen is going to be huge for her.
I’m cautiously optimistic, but first impression is pretty solid.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 5, 2023 19:42:15 GMT -5
Heh, how ‘bout them Pirates?
Won’t last, but if the high point of the season is sweeping the “mighty” Red Sox in Boston, I’ll take it. The only sports fans in America more insufferable than Boston fans are those who root for Philadelphia’s teams, and my Pens just swept the season series (and officially eliminated the Flyers from winning the Stanley Cup for the 48th straight year with the final win last week).
It’s been a good week.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 31, 2023 18:32:30 GMT -5
At the 1/4 mark of 2023, let's see where things are at with my goals:
Buying Goals - Doing well. Only bought seven "Classic" comics this year so far. Jonah Hex #91 to complete the series - Got this back in January. One down! Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 and 14 to complete the series - Picked up #1 along with Jonah Hex #91 back in January. Another half of a goal down! Cheap (less than $3/each) Batman, Detective, and Weird Western Tales featuring Scalphunter issues - None of the titles listed yet, but I did get four old Captain Marvel issues (despite the presence of a certain Rick Jones) for $2.75 each. Maybe some more Hellblazer TPBs, if I can find them used - Picked up one so far.
Reading Goals Read more. I started last year off pretty strong, then fizzled out by May. Did pick up a little bit in the fall, but probably only read around 600 books or so, far off the pace of my planned 1000. Not doing great. Read almost nothing in January or February, although I have been reading (OK, re-reading) some things as "comfort food" in the evenings before bed. Just need to commit to a series and get to work on it.
Collection Goals Need to finally start thinning out the boxes. Going to focus on things I know I am never going to read again (I'm looking at a lot of 1990s Marvel here) and just get rid of things. Give them away, sell them, let my daughters have them; doesn't matter, need to clear them out. Got some plans in my head, just haven't translated that into action yet.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2023 8:05:34 GMT -5
I saw this with my wife and girls on the first Friday of release. It was fine for what it was, but nothing special.
The biggest drawback (no spoilers), IMO, is that it was just a stepping-stone. Establish Kang as the next Big Bad, introduce the “new” Cassie to build toward Young Avengers, and give Scott and Hope their swansong. It felt very by-the-book in that regard, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it made the movie feel far more slight than it should have.
Honestly, when the biggest “holy crap” moments are in the mid-credit and post-credit scenes, maybe more time and attention should have been paid to the actual film.
And MODOK is awesome, full stop.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 4, 2023 14:03:10 GMT -5
I am, but I’m not really enjoying it. The whole MODOC and AIM taking over NYC story is absurd, as though no other heroes would show up to do anything, so it’s up to just Cap and his little band of friends. Bucky joining the Circle is another weird one that I haven’t figured out yet. From the previews I saw this week, it looks like Bucky teams up with White Wolf and that is what causes the crossover between the two Cap books, but since I’m barely invested in the Captain Samerica book at this point, who cares? The ending of Strange was a disappointment and She-Hulk has been pretty to look at but boring to read, leaving Moon Knight as the only current book that I pick up that I really look forward to. That's what got me to drop Cantwell's Iron Man book.. Frogman was the best TONY STARK could do to help him fight Korvac? Really? That was part of my problem with Cantwell’s IM, although a bigger issue was the length of the Korvac story. It just went on and on and on... If you’re going to tell a story like that, with a singular “Big Bad”, do what a TV show like Supernatural did. Have your main season theme running at all times, so while Korvac is only plotting and scheming in the background over two pages of issue #X, have the primary story be Tony kicking the crap out of Spymaster or Beetle or Ghost while wondering what Korvac might be planning next. Otherwise, it just feels interminably long and boring dealing with the same threat, in a decompressed manner, month after month.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 3, 2023 20:07:48 GMT -5
Are you still reading Captain America The Captain and majestic ? I was enjoying the mystery of the run but since Bucky became a member of the circle it just really imploded for me to the point that the latest issue was nearly unreadable. Not sure I'm going to be getting the next issue. I am, but I’m not really enjoying it. The whole MODOC and AIM taking over NYC story is absurd, as though no other heroes would show up to do anything, so it’s up to just Cap and his little band of friends. Bucky joining the Circle is another weird one that I haven’t figured out yet. From the previews I saw this week, it looks like Bucky teams up with White Wolf and that is what causes the crossover between the two Cap books, but since I’m barely invested in the Captain Samerica book at this point, who cares? The ending of Strange was a disappointment and She-Hulk has been pretty to look at but boring to read, leaving Moon Knight as the only current book that I pick up that I really look forward to.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 31, 2023 19:46:00 GMT -5
This short documentary (20-25 minutes) on the current state of the comic book market was filmed at 4 shops here in the Miami Valley of Ohio (Super Fly, Mavericks; Bookery Fantasy and Bell. Book & Comics). Tony & Jared of Super Fly are my lcs but I frequent all of the others as well and they are all good folks. I know The Captain has been to Bookery as well. but it talks about the current state of comics, distribution, the pandemic, grading books, speculation, diversity in comics, manga vs. comics, and other issues facing the market today from a retailer's perspective. Well worth checking out. -M Yup, been to Bookery as well as Super Fly and Bell, Book, and Comics during my visits to west-central Ohio. All three of them are great shops with friendly people and I almost always find something there to buy.
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