Thursday – 02 August 2007
The back half of yesterday was good. Jason and I went to lunch at La Puente; Perry met us there. After lunch, we paid a visit to the good Doctor’s, where I fed my four-color fever. Then it was back to the workday grind for a few more hours.

I started to watch Dark City last night. For the first time. Interesting movie. Unfortunately, I started it far too late in the evening and wound up nodding off about 30 minutes into it. I will finish it tonight or tomorrow.

This morning, I slept in. A bit unintentional, but it was nice, all the same. And, once I finally got in gear, I was able to have a brief conversation with , which is never a bad way to start the day.

Unfortunately, one of the code monkeys didn’t get the memo about today being NBN Thursday. I walked into the office to find that this person decided to do something stupid. Actually, it was a couple of things, but we can lump them all together into one homogeneous item for this case. (A coworker pointed out that the issue in question happened on Wednesday, so it’s not really a Thursday problem and I can still enjoy the rest of NBN Thursday.) And, apparently, the person-in-question had asked other people about the same issue before deciding to take matters into his own hands. And, I just found out that the person was told where to look to resolve the problem… which means that he either ignored the person who told him that and/or is a complete idiotstick. After talking with a few others about this person, I’m going with Option 2.

Today’s workout went well: Three sets of 205 pounds on the bench press (10 reps/set) followed by 2½ reps of 250 pounds. Apparently, Tuesday’s warm-up set – and the extra weight on the first set – just took any extra UMPH I may have had… and let it dribble out of my ears.

Four-Color Coverage

  • Action Comics #853 – Countdown tie-in issue. This issue was another Jimmy Olsen issue, showing him – as Mister Action – going up against The Kryptonite Man. And, Superman does put in an appearance or two in this issue.
  • Astro City: The Dark Age – Book 2 #3 – This issue continues the story of Charlie and Royal Williams, two men whose parents were killed during a superhero/villain battle. Charlie became a police officer; Royal a criminal. The series looks at Astro City through their eyes… and their estranged relationship.
  • Avengers: The Initiative #4 – “World War Hulk” tie-in issue. Justice and Cloud 9 go on a field trip. Hardball is… moonlighting? And, what happens when you throw heroes-in-training up against Ol’ Jade-jaws and his extraplanetary band of rebels? Um… hello?! You did catch the “World War HULK,” up there, right? Do the math. I also have to give Marvel credit for something: They have brought back a few teen characters that had fallen off the map in recent years. In fact, one of the characters, Ultragirl (1, 2), had her own mini-series about… ten years ago… only to completely disappear until Civil Bore War.
  • Countdown: 39 – Karate Kid and Una (the former Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel) want an audience with Oracle. Oracle is a bit busy and doesn’t want visitors. The Legionnaires don’t think that “Come back later” is an acceptable response. Throw in a few pages of the new Suicide Squad, Batwoman and The (new) Question and you have a full issue.
  • Justice Society of America #8 – “Bells & Whistles” This issue fleshes out the backstory of Jesse Chambers,the new Liberty Belle. Most of the issue is done in flashbacks, showing her as a young girl and a fledgling heroine. But that’s not where the issue shines. It shines when we see a modern ‘Belle acting as negotiator to Damage, who has Hutner Zolomon – better known as Zoom, the Reverse Flash – hostage… and is looking for a little payback.
  • The New Avengers: Illuminati #3 and #4 – The behind-the-scenes powers-that-be shaping the Marvel Universe for a better tomorrow. First, they go up against The Beyonder – think Star Trek: TNG‘s Q, but without the impish qualities – who is apparently undergoing a retcon. *sigh* And then, they take on Kree hothead, Noh-Varr, would-be world conqueror… and Namor whoops his ass a time or three… and, then they make Noh-Varr a proposition.
  • Supergirl #20 – We have finally moved past “Finding My Way” Kara and on to “Taking a Stand” Kara in this “Amazons Attack” tie-in issue. And we get to see “Getting My Butt Kicked” Kara, as an added bonus! While I enjoyed the writing – and it’s notably darker-than-usual tone – I wasn’t terribly enamored with Renato Guedes’ interior artwork when I first read through this… but I went back and looked at it again, later. Some of it may seem… simplistic… but there is a lot that is conveyed in the body language. And, some of the close-up shots convey emotion very well: Anger. Pain – physical and emotional. Anguish. Determination. All-in-all, a very solid issue.
  • Uncanny X-Men #489 – What happens when the news gets out that a band of mutants is attacking and disfiguring people in the general populace? Oh, and while they may live in the tunnels and sewers beneath New York, they aren’t technophobes – they harness the power of the Internet and “We2UBE” to spread their message of hatred. Yep, the flames of mistrust and hatred just got fanned. And, let me just say that Salvador Larroca can draw Storm any day of the week – and twice on Sunday – as far as I’m concerned.
  • World War III #1 – #4 – I finally got around to reading “Black Adam vs. the DCU.” After reading it, I’m not sure that I really needed to spend the money on it, but the deed’s done.
  • X-Men: First Class #8 of 8 (limited) – The X-kids go on safari! Their quarry: Professor X. Their guide: Ken Hale, Gorilla Man. Hilarity ensues. (No, really… it does, at times.)
  • X-Men: First Class #2 (ongoing) – The X-Kids go up against the rather carnivorous flora and fauna of… Island X.
  • X-Men: First Class Special #1 – This book contained three short stories, featuring the fledgling X-Men. The best of the stories was “A Girl and Her Dragon,” a story told by Scott Summers to Kitty Pryde and Lockheed. It started with Kitty chasing Lockheed through the mansion and running into Scott. He then tells her that she is not “the first mutant girl with dragon” and recounts a story about Jean Grey and (the retconned history of) Dragon Man.

Stray Toasters

/lunch

Namaste.