Last one...

Walking through Target and saw these and wished I was a kid again. Man.

On the Comics Tip

As 7Soldiers has been running late (hopefully Klarion #4 is out this week), comics have been a little light as of late. Mister Miracle #1 was a decent read. A little underwhelming at first glance, as I was really looking forward to this series especially, but time will tell if I end up digging it a smuch as I did Guardian.

Gødland's shaping up to be lot more enjoyable than I thought it might be. Still haven't read issue 2 thanks to the slacker kid at the local comic shop (not really "local" as I have to drive a half hour south to get there, but you get the drift) who still hasn't ordered it after a month and a half. The villains so far, Freidrick Nickelhead and Discordia, have beena hoot and the main character's shaping up to be pretty interesting. There was a moment in the last issue (#4) where he's fighting a giant robot in the North Pole and starts wondering why he can't stop engaging in stereotypical superhero battle banter. I keep waiting for it to get too cut for it's own good, but it hasn't yet, so I guess I on board for the forseeable future. Oh yeah, and Scioli's art of Kirby-riffic. Marvel is smoking some serious crack to not take him up n a Black Bolt mini.

Bought the current run of Waid's Legion Of Super-heroes off a seller on ebay, so I'll review those when they get here.

But the comic I dug the most as of late is this bad boy here:

Seriously, genius stuff that reminded me why I've been fascinated with the Marvel Universe. Devil Dinosaur, Moonboy, the Hulk and a couple of sucky Celestials - what more do you need?

Of course, the mention of Celestials sent me on a fact-finding mission to decode the bits of remembered Marvel history I've accumulated over the years. I tore through the Wikipedia entries fo Kirby's 70's work at DC (the Fourth World books, Kamandi, O.M.A.C.) and Marvel (Eternals, 2001, Machine Man) and somehow stumbled on this brilliant site:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7160/wicksint.html

Wow. Some serious stuff goin on there. I spent s good part of a weekend hacking away at that. Got through the Middle Ages so far, but just a genius compiling of the insane morass of Marvel chronology. Like I said, this is whay I read comics, all the passing references to stuff it seemed like you should know (Celestials, High Evolutionary, Watchers etc.) that mad eyou feel ike you were somehow on the outside of an inside joke. Dang, I love comics.

Aaaah, Late Nights.

Up working on a project that's sorta due tomorrow, but I'll take a minute or so & post a couple of quick thoughts.

Watched a few movies lately.Harold & Maude - It'd been YEEEEars since I last saw this movie and remembered next to nothing about it. Enjoyed it, but could have done without the semi-creepy sex scene. Still, an enjoyable, funny and well-crafted film.

David Byrne: Live @ Union Chapel Hall - We'd seen him earlier in this tour & I just remember the unbelievable energy that was in the room. That energy is somewhat lacking in this recording, whether it just didn't transfer to the recording or whether the crowd/venue proved a little too somber for the music to really take off. I dunno. Still it's worth it to hear his version of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," and "Lazy," with an eight piece orchestra.

Also watched the first season of The Office, and while it was funny, it tended to be a little too crude for the likes of me. I know, I'm becoming a prude, but a little too much for little old me.

Finally, Dear Frankie. Chris was going nuts over this movie when we were down in Vegas last time, so I made a mental note to check it out. I remember seeing a preview for it before another film and thinking "Wow, that looks like a good movie." My immediate follow-up was "Would I even be thinking about watching this film if it were an American Hollywood film?" Luckily, It's anything but. It's a somewhat predictable view, but there's enough real human feeling and an undercurrent of sadness that it manages to avoid coming across as cloying or saccharine (unlike the imaginary American version I picture in my mind).

Batman Begins is next. Yay.