Saturday – 30 May 2009
Yesterday was rather low-key. SaraRules and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s, so that I could get my four-color fix. From there, we headed over to Far West Comics – I wanted to say “Hello/Goodbye” to Matt and Emiliano before they close up the brick-and-mortar location; they are transitioning to an online-only presence: FarWestComics.com. Back home for a bit before heading to Clitorati and then home again, home again.  Jiggety-jig.

Four-Color Coverage
This week’s comics were, on the whole, good. Most of the books I got made it into today’s Coverage:

  • Dark Reign: The New Avengers #53 – Dr. Strange and the New Avengers follow the Eye of Agamotto to New Orleans… where the Eye chooses its new wielder. I have to admit that I’m a little surprised at the selection.
  • Green Lantern #41 – The build-up to Blackest Night continues. Readers finally discover why the Guardians did not allow Green Lanterns into the Vega Sector. Hal Jordan and Larfleeze (Agent Orange) have a heart-to-heart chat. Fatality puts in a timely appearance. Agent Orange gets a hand up in his quest for a blue ring.
  • Justice League of America #33 – Firestorm, Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Vixen and Zatanna search for Dr. Light, with a little assistance from Milestone’s Hardware. Anansi calls on Vixen. Dr. Light faces her fear of the dark. (Yes, I find that amusing, too.) This issue seems to serve to help… cement… more of the Milestone characters’ places in the DCU — we’ll see how that shapes up.
  • Justice Society of America #27 – Has Obsidian gone crazy… again? He kicks half of the JSA out of the brownstone while locking half the members in. Who or what is the “threat” he thinks he’s protecting them from? And when [SPOILER DELETED] shows up, you know that things are going poorly.
  • The Last Days of Animal Man #1 of 6 – I’ve been a fan of Animal Man since Grant Morrison’s run in the 90s. Buddy Baker. Working class guy, part-time superhero. Just a man trying to balance his family, his job, his “other” job, and the day-to-day happenings of life. This issue opens up with Buddy taking on a new villain, Bloodrage. Unfortunately, Buddy’s powers appear to take a powder on him in the middle of the fight.  That’s never a good thing.
  • Superman #688 – Mon-El’s powers are fading. A trip to S.T.A.R. Labs confirms that his powers are in conflict with the anti-lead poisoning serum that Superman gave him. What do you do when you’ve been handed a (second) death sentence… and the Phantom Zone – the only thing that’s kept you (nominally) alive for the past 20 years – has been destroyed?
  • Wonder Woman #32 – Diana takes on Genocide once more, and realizes that “…illusions are painfully shattered, right where discovery starts.” What will she have to give up or lose in order to win this fight? Gail Simone continues to push all the right buttons in her writing of this series.

Workout
SaraRules and I made it to the gym today.  We did a mixed upper body workout:

  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
  • Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
  • Dips: 3 sets/10 reps
  • Curls (dumbbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
  • Bent-over Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
  • Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
  • Overhead Tricep Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 40 lbs

Post-workout weight: 187.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

  • Wedding cake: Check.
    (SaraRules took care of this one on Wednesday. She went to another tasting and tried the cake that I tasted back in March. She liked it. That’s what we’re going with. “Because you have good taste in cake,” she says.)
  • Thanks to for pointing out the new Toy Story 3 trailer.
  • Last night’s episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold was… interesting. It featured Paul Reubens as Bat-Mite. They had references to many characters from the Batman mythos, including Ace the Bat-hound… and there was even a nod to the opening from Batman: The Animated Series that made me laugh.
  • Guide to some of the military’s rock bands
  • Classic Doom coming to the iPhone next month

Today: In the words of Will Smith: “We like a twig in the Nile – we just flowin’.”
Tonight: Bernstein’s Mass.

Namaste.