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Post by The Captain on Apr 15, 2022 8:54:25 GMT -5
Well, it's early April, which means it is time for Eide's Entertainment's annual Anniversary Sale. Eide's is the oldest comic book shop in Pittsburgh, and even though founder and owner Greg Eide passed away last May at the age of 69, two of his long-time employees took over the shop and run it now, allowing it to reach its 50TH YEAR in 2022. Greg was a mainstay in the shop and an all-around great guy, and he is certainly missed in the Pittsburgh comics community. They used to do 40% off all back issues $40 or under, but this year brought something I'd never seen before. Marvel back issues were 30% off, while DC and other publishers were all 50% off. I'm wondering if they realized that Marvel was more in demand and they didn't have to deep discount things to move them, or maybe they aren't getting as many Marvel books in on sale/trade due to the success of the MCU and people holding onto them in hopes they go up in value. Anyway, big discounts all around the store, lots of great stuff to be had, so let's dig in. Picked these up to move me within just two issues of having the whole run of Killraven stories: These finish the run from #12 up. Will go back and pick up the earlier ones if I can find them cheap: Moved closer to completing my Jonah Hex run with these, as I now only need three issues; I know where at least one of them is in the wild, and I will be near that store next week, so I'll be down to two provided it's still there. They had a couple of rows of used hardcovers, so I got these for 50% off cover, then another 50% off that. $10 for the Captain Britain book, $31.25 for the GA Cap Omnibus: The big purchase of the shopping trip was this Doctor Strange Omnibus. I haven't seen it in the wild anywhere else, and as it was 30% off cover, $70 seemed like a pretty good deal on something not readily found elsewhere.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 12, 2022 20:23:09 GMT -5
My Bluray came today can't wait to rewatch it! My wife just picked this up today as a birthday gift for our younger daughter, who turns 14 next Wednesday. I'm sure we'll be rewatching it the following weekend, probably multiple times; she went to see it three times in the theater, both with the family as well as various friends.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 11, 2022 9:04:57 GMT -5
Daredevil, imported from Netflix, is a brilliant comic-turned-into-a-TV-series. I started rewatching it on a lark, and it hooked me after five minutes. I had watched S1 and S2 when it was on Netflix, but never got around to finishing it. Just started S3 last week and am up to Ep3. Such a good show and really taking the sting out of the suck that was Iron Fist, JJ S3 (and S2, if I’m honest) and Defenders. I might even finally finish Luke Cage S2. I think I’m two eps from the end. Never did watch S2 of Punisher. The first was brutal and I while I could appreciate the craft that went into making it, I didn’t enjoy watching it.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 10, 2022 12:56:49 GMT -5
Finally bought my first one of these over the weekend, grabbing the Captain America from Target. Keeping an eye out for Falcon so I can hang them together on the wall.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 10, 2022 12:54:51 GMT -5
I like the show, but I don't love it yet. Oscar Isaac is doing a fine job bouncing between the awkward Steven and confident Marc personas, and Ethan Hawke is fine as the "villain", not chewing scenery and actually having a understandable motive for his actions. Not sure how I feel about Layla yet, although my younger daughter immediately disliked her; the actual statement was "she's super sus". {Spoilery Thoughts}I wasn't bothered by the general goofiness that Steven Grant displayed in the first couple of episodes. Guy thinks he only has a sleeping disorder, then finds out that he has DID and he isn't sleepwalking but literally living another life, one that is as the avatar of an Egyptian god. That's probably not something where you react well to it.
As for how they treated the Mr. Knight persona in Episode 2, again, it makes sense that Steven doesn't know how the whole "Khonshu's avatar" thing works. He hears "suit", he thinks formal wear, not mummy wrappings with a cowl; he isn't a mercenary but a shop boy, and he fights as such. I'm betting by the end of the show, he gains much more control over Mr. Knight.
I'm interested in seeing how this ties into the MCU overall, as I doubt they do it as a stand-alone (NOTHING Marvel does is a stand-alone). It's not really a Multiverse thing, so maybe it's a Marvel Horror thing with Blade, Werewolf by Night, etc.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 5, 2022 12:50:05 GMT -5
Basically, Marvel since the 2000's... scramble up characters' powers, identities, etc. OR just outright kill them. Or both. At any rate, just make sure that when someone accidentally stumbles into the comics store, looking for the characters they sorta know, it's as confusing as possible. It's not confusing at all, if you've actually been reading comics since the 2000's. I think that is his point. IF you’ve been reading comics for 20+ years, it isn’t confusing, but for someone who came to comics later, maybe due to liking the MCU, it isn’t quite as easy. Take Iron Man, for example. You had Tony as a person, Tony as an AI, Riri Williams, and now Tony as a person again, all serving as that character. What about Cap? Is it good Steve before “dying”, Bucky, good Steve again, evil Hydra Steve, good Steve again, Sam, or Steve and Sam at the same time? For you and me, probably not an issue to keep up, but if I were a new fan coming into this monumental fudge-up, I’d walk out of the comic shop and go find something easier to follow.
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Post by The Captain on Apr 5, 2022 11:18:47 GMT -5
I just started Captain America: Reborn, and there's something called the Dark Avengers. Norman Osborn is alive again and wearing some sort of Iron Man outfit. Bullseye is wearing Hawkeye's costume. Hank Pym is the Wasp. My head is reeling. Basically, Marvel since the 2000's... scramble up characters' powers, identities, etc. OR just outright kill them. Or both. At any rate, just make sure that when someone accidentally stumbles into the comics store, looking for the characters they sorta know, it's as confusing as possible. I actually liked the concept of Dark Avengers. After Civil War, Norman Osborn capitalizes on the chaos and brings back his own team of Avengers, giving the public something familiar yet ultimately sinister. Bullseye as Hawkeye, Karla Sofen as Ms. Marvel, Daken as Wolverine, and Mac Gargan as Venom, along with Ares and Sentry. His own team of super-“heroes” working his agenda while garnering public trust and adoration.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 31, 2022 9:54:35 GMT -5
Have no opinion on either one of them, so No to both.
I grew up solely with Marvel books, both superhero and licensed properties, so I never even saw any of the Barks Disney books until I was much older and they had little impact on me.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 31, 2022 9:52:00 GMT -5
Mormel, so sorry for your loss. Your grandmother lived an interesting life, and the love you have for her is so clear in your touching tribute to her.
May you find peace in the coming days and weeks and months as you adjust to life without her, but it certainly sounds like you have wonderful memories to carry you through and on.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 30, 2022 13:02:11 GMT -5
Never read anything by either of today’s artists, so going to have to say NO to both.
Missed yesterday’s question about Neil Gaiman, who is definitely a YES for me. There’s a reason why I spent last year buying one TPB of The Sandman every month and it has to do with the writer entirely.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 28, 2022 18:10:03 GMT -5
As many of you know, I am utterly devoted to my daughters and will tout their accomplishments any chance I get. Last week was a HUGE week in our house, so I waited until everything was done to make a post.
Last Tuesday, my older daughter participated in a vocal competition through the Gifted & Talented Program at our HS. She and two of her best friends did a group number but didn't place in the competition (even though they sounded AMAZING), but on her solo piece, she finished 3rd overall (technically 4th, since two girls tied for 1st, but she still got the 3rd place award). Then, jumping the gun a little bit, she is all but guaranteed to be awarded her second letter for HS swimming this upcoming Wednesday, keeping her in line to letter all four years.
My younger daughter participated in the same vocal competition, in the middle school portion of it, on Wednesday. She didn't do a solo piece, but she and a few of her friends did a group number and placed 2nd overall; the reason she didn't do a solo piece was because she had one of the leads in our MS musical performance this past weekend, and she wanted to save her voice for the three shows. For someone as lacking in musical ability as I am, both of my girls blow me away with their skill (they both play multiple instruments as well, although they don't focus on that in lieu of concentrating on their vocal work).
Third nine weeks ended last Monday and for the who-knows-how-many-times in a row, both of our girls got straight A's. My older daughter has only ended a nine weeks with a B in any class once in 10 years, my younger one only twice in eight, and our older girl is currently 9th in her class out of 325 students with a 4.5+ GPA, due to taking multiple AP and Honors classes both last year and this.
The biggest news of the week came on Friday when we got a call from the middle school to inform us that our younger daughter had been named "Student of the Month" for April. The principal said she was nominated by one of her teachers and when they held the vote among all of the nominees, it "wasn't even close" in her favor according to him. This is the first time either of our girls won this award, and for her to finish her MS career getting it (they don't do one in May) is just an awesome way for her to wrap things up as she heads to the HS to join her sister next year.
#DadBrag #GirlDad4Life
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Post by The Captain on Mar 28, 2022 17:51:37 GMT -5
No.
His work on Daredevil reinvigorated a hero that was falling into mediocrity and added layers of richness to the Hell's Kitchen universe, and he rightly deserves all of the accolades for that.
I read DKR once. It was OK, but nothing that changed my life or how I looked at comics.
Everything else I've read of his seems to fall flat.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 25, 2022 13:53:02 GMT -5
Snagged this earlier today for a reasonable price in store. I've seen people asking twice as much on eBay glad I found it. I had no idea you have The Exchange out in Pennsylvania! I thought it was a Cleveland thing. Yup, got a bunch of them around here. I usually go there looking for Funko POP figures, either boxed or loose. Got my younger one a Nico from Runaways, unboxed, for $5; they go for $40 with the box on eBay, and she takes them out and displays them anyway, so it was an easy decision to pick it up.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 25, 2022 8:23:31 GMT -5
I think a lot of artists are happy when you ask them to draw something a bit more obscure, especially if it shows you are a fan. (If I ever get the chance to get a Chaykin sketch, I'll probably go for Dominic Fortune.) I was thinking about asking Chaykin to draw a certain green rabbit, because who would ask for that, and who else on earth would have that? I’ve also found that creators like to sign different things than usual. Herb Trimpe was blown away by the books I brought him to sign (Hulk 124 & 142, Marvel Spotlight 12) instead of the recent variant cover he’d done. Ron Frenz asked why I brought him ASM 260, instead of 252, and Thor 411 instead of 412 (first New Warriors); in both cases, I told him because the ones I had him sign were favorites of mine. Bill Sienkiewicz was thrilled I brought the Thor cover he did with Dracula and Lady Sif on it (331, IIRC) instead of the same things he always saw. They appreciate fans who are interested in their entire catalog, not just the “money books” that are likely to wind up on eBay that evening.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 24, 2022 19:27:32 GMT -5
Oooooof. I just read an article on the current high level plot of the X-books, and...wow. Granted it's just a summary, and the actual issues might be better than the Cliff's notes, but it sounds awful. Comic books are one of the reasons I don't read comic books right now. There, I said it. I'm not up to speed on the most recent books, but a good friend of mine strongly recommended House of X/Powers of X written by Jonathan Hickman when that came out. I actually DID like Hickman a bit on his FF run, as far as modern comics go. More his ideas, his character dialogue I thought was flat. The X-books were terrible though, I couldn't even recognize what he was trying to do with the characters. Any sense of nobility was just completely lost. I actually think it was the worst X-Men I have ever read, and I've read some pretty bad X-titles over the years! I read House/Powers and they weren't bad. When the ongoings came out, I picked up X-Men and Marauders. Dropped X-Men after issue #10, as it was horrible, but did keep up with Marauders until the end, as Emma Frost and Kate Pryde are two of my favorite characters. .
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