My week's been going all right so far. Saw the dentist, my therapist, got together with the guys a couple of times and went out for a couple of good meals. Didn't manage to get a copy of that Spider-Man comic book with Barack Obama on the cover, but I put the cash down for a copy of the second printing, which is just as good (since I'm not planning on reselling it or anything).
Still, I did find a copy of the latest issue of Final Crisis, the comic that would've been all over the news had the Obama Spider-Man not come out. It probably would've gotten more attention too, I suppose, had DC Comics not publicized Batman's "death" months earlier at the end of the Batman RIP storyline (spoiler: turns out he didn't die at the end of that story). It is curious though that the story actually featuring Batman's death got next to no publicity, but considering how underwhelming the whole thing was -- and really, it's not like he won't "get better" at some point down the line -- it's just as well.
Still, seeing Superman cradling Batman's emaciated corpse makes me a...
Unfortunately I've been grappling with a rather annoying computer virus of late. I seem to have it under control, but my computer was running ridiculously slow and my Internet was shut down because, as it turned out, the virus was sending spam out. Of course, now that it's running fine again (after I explained what had happened to my local cable/Internet provider), I have the problem of not being able to see anything further than a foot away since my glasses broke a week and a half ago while I was cleaning them. I have another pair on it's way, and used the opportunity to get my lens prescription updated since my friends have noted that I tend to squint at the television even when wearing my regular glasses. The bright side of things running fine though is that my back's been giving me problems lately and feels much better when I'm sitting. Apparently one of my lower vertebrates is twisted, which explains why it feels like I'm being poked with pins in my lower back. My chiropractor checked things out and it's been feeling better since I saw him, so hopefully it subsides.
Despite all of these annoying and painful bits going on, other things have been all right. I got down to Niagara Falls last week and won a Marvin the Martian plush toy at a midway. I was thinking of giving it away as a present, but I might hold onto it. Not that I'm into plush dolls or anything, but I like the character and I can brag about having won it to all of my jackass friends (I'm just kidding, they're great).
I got my copy of the Batman Animated Series soundtrack in the mail the other day. I missed the chance to get an autographed copy, but I'm still glad I snagged one before they sold out. The music is great, and the distributor did a great job with the insert booklet, offering all kinds of trivia and commentary by the composers and crew from the show. I was actually surprised by some of the music -- I knew the more familiar cues, but there was a lot of stuff I barely noticed with all of the visuals and sound effects and dialogue that sounds unbelievably fantastic. I'm thrilled they finally put out what hopefully will be the first of many releases, since it deserves this kind of treatment.
I finished my Christmas shopping. Got a few things for my brother and friends, sent some cards and stuff out to my mom, got espresso beans for my dad. I still need to make sure I get something to my grandmother, but even if I don't have the opportunity to get her a more personal card, I still have a few smaller cards from a multi-pack I can give her. But for all intents and purposes, I'm done and I'm glad I didn't wait to the last minute or half-ass it like I have in past years. I think I was actually at the 24 hour Walmart last December 25th at 2:00am. While I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun to go to Walmart in the middle of the night, it's nice knowing I won't have to worry about last minute shopping this year.
That's about all the interesting stuff I've been up to since my last post. Hopefully I'll get back soon to make up for the infrequent posting lately. I'd hate to disappoint my loyal audience, because, yes that's right, I actually have someone following my blog. And just in case this post didn't come across terribly thrilling, here's something to make up for that:
Yeah, according to yesterday's Lying in the Gutters they're not going to kill off Batman. Not due to fan outcry, mind you, but because when the brass at Time Warner, DC Comic's parent company, caught wind of the plans they stopped that plan cold. Turns out it's a bad idea to kill off the lead character of a franchise known world-wide and featured in films, television programs, and just about every bit of merchandise imaginable, from lip-gloss to underwear to wedding cake figurines. To say nothing of the fact making Jason Todd the new Batman would've just been wrong, but there you go.
"In June/July, DC are killing off Batman. Or rather, Bruce Wayne. Robin will inherit the Batman cowl. One of the Robins anyway. Tim Drake. Jason Todd. Or possibly Red Hood. Hey, maybe Jean-Paul Valley, it has been ten years since Azrael."
This makes me:
But here's the upside: "Either way, the book will relaunch with a nice shiny #1."
I stumbled upon the fabled Legends of the Superheroes special from the late 70s on Youtube about a half hour ago and it's every bit as terrible as you'd assume it to be. It was a comedy program featuring very comic-accurate versions of a lot of big name and lesser known DC Superheroes. Normally that would be enough to capture my interest -- there is something neat about seeing characters from the printed page come to life -- but it's really bad. Like Star Wars Christmas Special bad, except no one wants to see this, and DC isn't worried about people watching it because, quite frankly, who would want to.
I'd considered posting the "roll call" intro clip here because of how cool it is seeing characters like Hawkman, the Flash, Huntress and Black Canary in live-action, but once it got to the villain roll-call, cool as it is to see very comic-accurate representations of Solomon Grundy, Mordru, and Weather Wizard (plus Frank Gorshin as the Riddler), it just killed me. The dreadful performances and weak attempts at humor punctuated by repetitious laugh-tracks is just terrible. That alone would warrant a look... that is if that were the worst the special had to offer.
No, the worst part of the Legends of the Superheroes would have to be the appearance of Ghetto Man: black superhero and cheerfully racist stereotype. With jokes about how having Green Lantern on the team doesn't count as colored superhero, and how Hawkman's not so tough ("Let him walk through Harlem them wings on; by the time he gets to Lennox avenue, he'd be Kentucky Fried") you really start why NBC, DC Comics, Hanna Barbara, and about four dozen cast and crew members, thought this was a good idea. And it gets worse -- when I started writing this post I started checking around to figure out which network this bloody mess aired on and discovered that there were actually TWO Legends of the Superheroes specials that aired! The first was the one with the villains, the second was the one with the roast (featuring our old friend, Ghetto Man).
The bright side to this whole thing is that hardly anyone even remembers these specials, and those that do or those like myself who've stumbled on it years after the fact unilaterally agree that it's absolutely terrible and should be erased from existence.
That said, here's a clip. And yes, I am being ironic.
I came across this, killing time on deviantart.com. Cool, huh? I'd love to have something like that in my place, if only I had the art skills, wall space, and paint supplies to do it.
