Boughts and Thoughts - January 27th, 2010

Holy crap, I bought comics!

Chew #8 - Aw, I was hoping to see some illegal cockfighting... these issues just seem so short, but still enjoyable.

Green Lantern #50 - So many Lanterns... hard to fit them all into the issue, but I guess there's something bigger going on. Parallax! (Seriously, the cover gave it away).

Kick-Ass #8 - Finally, this mini-series comes to an end. Brutal battle, then back to somewhat reality.

New Avengers #61 - Okay, once this series is done, I doubt I'll be buying Avengers #1.

Comics... What's going on?

"Dear Internet..." (had to start it off with this, after Conan O'Brien's last episode of The Tonight Show).

- Three weeks into 2010, and I have only purchased two comics. Well, one comic, but two different covers of that book (Adventure Comics #6). Yes, my buying habits have changed quite a bit, but it's pretty sad that two out of the three weeks, I had no books to buy.

It'll be a little different this coming Wednesday. I will be picking up 3-4 different books... and possibly a variant, if I can get my hands on it at cover price.

- Look what happens after I say I'm dropping New Avengers. It comes to an end with issue #64. The power that I have. :p

With this news, I'm actually thinking of just sticking around for the remaining four issues, just to have a full run of the series (with the exception of most of the variant covers). The completest in me... damn you Marvel, you have me for another $16.

- Sticking with the Marvel books, I made a comment about this on Twitter during the advanced preview of Marvel's solicitations for April 2010. Deadpool Corps #1 was just solicited, how the f*ck does Marvel solicit a 2nd Printing Variant, when most retailers have yet to place an order for the first print? Am I missing something? Is Marvel jumping the gun a little? This really cheapens any announcement of sell-outs for this book, or frankly, any book from here on out, IMO. Way to go Marvel!

- On a brighter note, still on the Marvel front, I am quite excited about the solicitation of Girl Comics #2. Check out some of the talent involved. Agnes Garbowska, Faith Erin Hicks, and Kathryn Immonen. Yeah, I'll be buying a copy of this.

- TCAF has released the list of creators exhibiting at TCAF, and I am quite excited about this year. I gotta send out an email. :)

- Been getting a lot of emails about my opinions of the Wizard World: Toronto Comic Con. All I'm going to say on the blog is that it appears I'll probably only attend this show for one day. Still, there's a little over two months to go, so that may change. But as it stands right now, it's only one day for me.

- And finally, I haven't made mention of it since I decided on the change, but for those that don't know, I have stepped down from the Executive Committee of the Joe Shuster Awards. I am still involved in an Associate Member role, since I still love what the Awards represents.

Boughts and Thoughts - January 13th, 2010

No books for me last week, and one this week. Yeah, I'm actually going through with my cutbacks on comics.

Adventure Comics #6 - Picked up both covers. Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul's final issue of Adventure Comics (for the time being?). Might even be my last issue of this book, for now. Great issue, but with Johns/Manapul leaving, I don't really want to continue.

New to the Zatanna Collection

While I was in LA, back in November, I noticed a blog post by Josh Howard, stating that he was accepting commissions at his convention rates, to be done in time for the Christmas holidays (with the exception of International orders, which were not guaranteed to arrive by Christmas).

Danny and I jumped at the chance for something by Josh Howard. It was Danny that introduced me to Dead@17, and I really took a liking to it (though I haven't followed it too much, because most stores I went to, never ordered from Viper Comics).

Almost seven weeks later, I finally received the piece, and I'm just blown away by it. Definitely one of my favourite Zatanna pieces, in my collection.

Joe Shuster Awards: 2009 Eligible Works for Consideration (English Language Publication) List Released

Just informing everyone that the 2009 Eligible Works for Consideration List (English Language Publication) has been posted on the Joe Shuster Awards website.

Finding the time to blog

I have found some time to blog a bit more. Sadly, blogging these days, feels like a chore to me. Maybe it's because of the time of year, and just wanting to relax. Or maybe, I'm just losing interest in it. I don't know... whatever...

Last week (last Sunday), was my 27th birthday. Normally, I usually take the day off on my birthday, just because I like having it off, along with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Decided to work it, this year. Boring shift that day, which part of it was spent on BBM, chatting with a friend from middle school.

Came home that evening, to a nice little surprise.

Noah

My family decided to get a puppy. They've been thinking about it for years, because my little siblings wanted one. I guess, this year, they got their wish. In a way, I wanted a dog, too. I used to have two, but this was many years ago.

Noah, is our new puppy's name. He is a Shih Tzu.

The rest of Sunday, was spent at home with my family, and our new pet. Had a great dinner, and some birthday cake.



The next day, Danny and I headed to Vaughan Mills, for some Boxing Week shopping. I avoid malls with a passion during Boxing Week, after working at one during that time.

But this year, Danny was getting me my birthday gift, which is a new suit, so we went. Eventually, the mall got packed, and I wanted to get out of there.

Later that evening, I went out with a few of my friends, for dinner first, then to watch Sherlock Holmes. That movie was great. I liked the story a lot more, than I did Avatar (though, I'll still say it, Avatar was visually stunning... just beautiful... though, the story was lacking... it wasn't bad).

Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely brilliant in this movie.

Hero Burger to cap off that evening.

Tuesday, after work, went out to dinner, again, with friends. Some I haven't seen in a little while, so it was good.

Wednesday, I went out to try and find a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, at a Toys R Us, for their sale price of $44.97 (marked down from $59.99). Was unsuccessful.

Went out for breakfast/brunch with a friend, since I was borrowing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, from him. We ended up heading down to my workplace, to play some games, before I had to pick up my suit, that Danny bought, and I had altered.

Came home, made plans for New Year's Eve, and then went out shopping for champagne.

Thursday, the plan was really just a dinner gathering, with a small group of friends. The night was really just dinner, watch a movie, play some Guitar Hero, do the countdown, watch some more TV, and then head home.

I haven't spent New Year's Eve with my friends, in such a long time. Last year, was spent at a family gathering. The previous three years were spent at work. Actually, in the last decade, I worked NYE 6-7 of those years.

New Year's Day, was really just another Friday for me. Got up in the morning, went to work. Glad it was slow. Got home, and finally started playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Saturday, was a relaxing day for me. Just continued through Uncharted. I'm about 65% of the way through the game. I'm enjoying the game, more than my bro is, but we do agree that the game is kind of a pain when it comes to shooting... and that it's stupid that it takes so many body shots to kill someone.

And that's my last week for ya.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to All!

Apologies for not blogging after Boxing Day. Just been too busy this past week.