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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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Post by The Captain on Jan 21, 2023 12:21:46 GMT -5
Based on recent events in my life, I have decided that I'm done waiting to buy books until a store has a sale or if it's "the right price". If there is a book that I really want for my collection and I have the money available, I'm going to get it, because who knows if I or it will be there when the "time is right"?
To that end, I made a trip to the Strip District in Pittsburgh this morning on my bi-monthly coffee and tea run to my favorite shop, and while I was there, I swung by Eide's Entertainment, which is Pittsburgh's oldest (and still best) comic book shop. Picked up the following books from my ever-shrinking Want List.
Jonah Hex #91 - first time I've seen this in the wild in a long time. It's in really nice shape considering it has a white cover, and it was the last issue I needed to complete the series, so I can finally mark this one off my list and close the book on Jonah Hex.
Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 - this one is in a little lesser condition than the Jonah Hex, but the price was something I was willing to pay without really thinking too hard about it. I THINK I only need one more issue to complete the run, which they had in stock, but I wasn't 100% sure about that (the cover looked really familiar, like I already own it), so I held off and will get it next time I'm down there if I do actually need it.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 14, 2023 12:26:17 GMT -5
Also of note, the new Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur book is amazing. It definitely skews younger with its audience so it might not catch everyone's fancy here, but I think the way it's skewering infulencer culture is pretty smart and fun. The Captain if you're looking for a new book to share with your daughters this is definitely it. I’ll have them take a look at it. My older daughter probably won’t take to it, as she likes but doesn’t love the whole “comic book” culture, but my younger one is fully immersed in being a geek and might enjoy it. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 11, 2023 11:43:36 GMT -5
I don’t mind time travel as long as there are established rules and they are adhered to strictly, even if they seemingly don’t make sense. If going back in time and changing something ends that particular timeline while creating a new one, that’s fine.
My wife, OTOH, absolutely hates time travel, mostly because she tries to apply “real world” logic to it despite it clearly being in a non-real world environment.
For what they did in Endgame, I was OK with it, and if they follow the rules that were established there in this movie, then I will have no complaints.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 10, 2023 7:09:50 GMT -5
This looks like it’s going to be much more serious than the first two movies, which is fine with me. I loved the first one and liked the second one because of the more light-hearted tone, but I want Scott to finally be taken seriously instead of being the “comedy” Avenger.
I completely geeked out at the 56 second mark when I saw MODOK.
Also wondering if we’ll see a certain God of Mischief show up at any point.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 9, 2023 11:17:46 GMT -5
Also, when did Luke Cage become mayor of New York?
It happened about 6 months ago in Daredevil when Fisk was thrown out as mayor and Luke Cage ran and won as the new mayor. Thanks for catching me up. I haven’t read DD in a while, so that’s why I missed it.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 8, 2023 16:06:23 GMT -5
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8This book had been so much better than the Sam Wilson-led effort recently, but this issue just left me flat for two reasons. The first is that while the book is oh so pretty, as Carmen Carnero has a very unique style, nothing actually happens in this issue. It's A LOT of talking and small moments, which would be fine if it wasn't all just exposition in place of activity. The book doesn't have to be all guys and girls in tights punching each other, but if it felt like there was any forward progress, that would be nice. The second is something I'll put behind a spoiler tag, although maybe it doesn't need to be: {Irritant #2}I REALLY dislike the implication of a sexual encounter between Steve and Emma Frost. While I haven't read a ton of recent Marvel and this might be completely off-base, the way that Steve hems and haws around how he knows Emma makes it seem as though they got together at some point.
Another book (one of the X-Men series from a number of years ago) came right out and stated that Tony Stark and Emma used to hook up, which I could see because Tony is a libertine and Emma is known to have been, at least at one point, a woman of questionable morals. Emma just doesn't seem to be the type that Steve would be drawn to, not because she isn't attractive but because she's not like him; he's more of a traditionalist, and she is certainly not.
Even more bothersome is Sharon's response that Steve "doesn't have to be a monk" when she's not around. Maybe I'm a romantic at heart, but I don't see Steve catting around behind Sharon's back, even if she is perfectly OK with it.
Now all you kids get off my damn lawn!! Also, when did Luke Cage become mayor of New York? I'll keep reading this, because it's the better of the two Captain America books right now by a decent margin, but they're going to have to do better than this.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 8, 2023 15:25:31 GMT -5
Started off the year finally pulling Maus off the bookshelf and reading it in full over three days. Obviously, it's a tough read based on the subject matter, but it's so human, so powerful, that you just can't put it down. Glad I took the step after having bought it probably 3 years ago but never taking the time to get into it.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 2, 2023 12:35:13 GMT -5
January Maus - will calculate pages-to-issues before end of month
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8
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Post by The Captain on Jan 2, 2023 12:34:16 GMT -5
Slimming it down this year to things I am pretty sure I can accomplish:
Buying Goals Jonah Hex #91 to complete the series Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 and 14 to complete the series Cheap (less than $3/each) Batman, Detective, and Weird Western Tales featuring Scalphunter issues Maybe some more Hellblazer TPBs, if I can find them used
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.
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.
That's it. If I give myself too many and don't achieve them, I'll be frustrated with myself, so I intend to keep a small list of things that I can do as long as I am diligent.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 30, 2022 7:01:11 GMT -5
This was the conversation I had with my younger daughter the other day while she was watching Star Wars. I pointed out all of the garbage CGI crap that Lucas threw into the Mos Eisley street scenes, the extra cantina aliens, Han shooting first, the Jabba scene, etc. At one point she asked me if there was anything I still liked about the movie, to which I bluntly replied “the original version I saw in theaters”. And yet, none of it altered the story or the characters I fell in love with as an 8 year old in '77. They are still there any and every time I watch the move no matter what edition. -M I can't get past how the movie itself has been altered. The CGI elements are so obviously out of place, like first She-Hulk trailer bad, that my eye is drawn to them immediately, taking me out of the story. The Jabba scene should have been left on the cutting room floor (or the original comics, albeit with a different-looking Jabba). He isn't well-integrated into the background, so he looks completely fake, and much of the dialogue is relaying information that was already covered between Han and Greedo in the cantina. As well, the Boba Fett cameo is cheesy, as he looks directly at the camera in an almost-knowing fashion; this is fan service at its absolute worst. I don't care if Lucas wants to monkey with the film until the day he dies, churning out endless new editions of it with just one more cool thing he thought of while sitting on his golden throne, but for the purists, for the people who loved the movie that was released in 1977 and don't care that he can do more now because of technology, just make that version available for us to enjoy. As others have pointed out, Lucas's changes alter the character arc of Han Solo pretty drastically. But there are lots of other smaller, but no less significant ways in which the changes alter the story beats and undercut the dramatic tension found in the original film. To give just one example, the whole seriousness and menace of the visit to Mos Eisley is completely undercut and spoiled by the new CGI additions. The spaceport is supposed to be a scary place. The scene on the bluff overlooking the spaceport, in which Kenobi describes it as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and tells Luke "we must be cautious", is there precisely to establish that the characters are about to go into a perilous place. But in the SE, this scene is immediately followed by a badly animated slapstick routine involving a droid hitting a floating remote and a Jawa falling off of a startled Ronto, completely destroying the dramatic tension set up in the previous scene. This is just bad filmmaking, pure and simple. Actually, the whole Greedo shooting first thing also contributes to this "defanging" of Mos Eisley, by making both Han and Greedo less dangerous characters. IRT the bolded portion, I say 1000 times yes! Those little things add nothing to the story; they're gingerbread that Lucas added only because he could due to technology. It's the same kind of silliness that infiltrated the prequels, like Jar Jar Binks' pratfalls and fart jokes, when playing it straight would have been so much better.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 29, 2022 13:17:25 GMT -5
I'd try and look for them unedited if you can (not trying to advocate piracy, but). The current versions (blu-ray/Disney +) incorporate elements from the special editions like Han shooting first etc.
I've heard stories that basically Lucas messed with the original negative of the film or something and it's now considered lost? IDK, it sounds ludicrous to me honestly
If they don't want them pirated they'll make the real versions available instead of the versions Lucas took his crayons to. This was the conversation I had with my younger daughter the other day while she was watching Star Wars. I pointed out all of the garbage CGI crap that Lucas threw into the Mos Eisley street scenes, the extra cantina aliens, Han shooting first, the Jabba scene, etc. At one point she asked me if there was anything I still liked about the movie, to which I bluntly replied “the original version I saw in theaters”.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 24, 2022 13:33:05 GMT -5
Proud dad moment yesterday for me. I came downstairs from reading, and my younger daughter was sitting on the couch watching Star Wars (the original). I asked her why, and she said it was about time she got around to checking it out. We’re going to watch the rest of the initial trilogy this week.
In the afternoon, she sat down with me and watched the first two episodes of Firefly. Said she liked it and would keep going with it, but only if I watch it with her.
The plan for tomorrow night is to finish rewatching Hawkeye, then all of us, at both of my daughters’ request, are going to watch my favorite Christmas movie of all time, that being Die Hard.
My daughters are awesome. #GirlDad4Life
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Post by The Captain on Dec 23, 2022 15:57:03 GMT -5
Currently -2 here in Western Pennsylvania, with a windchill of -28 or so, and winds are 25-30 mph, but on the plus side, it's going to warm up to almost 7 degrees by midnight, so we got that going for us.
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