Author: Karl

Just another geek with a blog
comics · DC Comics

Weekend report 0009

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hic_06_300-001_hd_5c66f9820ccce8.22957300Somebody on Facebook said he finds Heroes in Crisis “frustrating.” He’s not the first one I know to dis Tom King’s new miniseries, and frankly, I don’t know what these people are complaining about. I think HIC is brilliant. Sure, some issues are better than the others, but overall I still think it’s doing great.

And then issue #6 happened, and I was like, WTF!

Sam Stone of Comic Book Resources has nothing but praise about the issue in his review, calling it an “interlude of sorts, both narratively and visually” and a “calm before the storm” as the nine-issue run heads into its final stretch. To me these are just fancy words to describe what I think the issue really is: a filler.

Perhaps Tom King and Clay Mann are really just prepping us for a big climax. Perhaps that’s how they roll. Still, after I closed issue #6, I couldn’t help but feel that somehow the story’s momentum was lost, and that the issue was a missed opportunity to go full bore on the murder mystery. Here’s hoping that the last three issues would be worth the lull.

In other news, started watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix last Saturday. Whoa! Didn’t expect it to be this good. I feel guilty for not being familiar with the comics. I vow to rectify that oversight soon.

tv series

All about ‘You’

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you-1-920x518

Finally finished watching You on Netflix. Never thought I’d enjoy the show this much.

Admittedly, I had very little interest in the series when it started making waves early this year. Not even when Penn Badgley and Shay Mitchell came to town to promote the show. My impression was that it’s Riverdale with less characters. Something for yuppies and millennials to sink their teeth into.

Then one by one friends whose taste I trust started coming up to me to hype the show. “Try it,” they said. “It’s like Dexter.” The comparison with my favorite serial killer show got me. So I decided to give it a whirl. After all, if anything, I could always enjoy a couple of hours gawking at Shay Mitchell.

But then it turned out You, despite its short, decidedly simplistic title, is more than Shay’s pretty queen bitch-y face. As early as the pilot episode I knew my preconceptions for the show were unwarranted if not unjustified.

Sometimes, it’s good to be proven wrong.

DC Comics · weekend

Weekend report 0008

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81pttcwymqlThis one’s from my TPB read pile, which has significantly grown after my recent trips to Powerbooks. Punk Rock Jesus, by Sean Murphy, has been sitting on my shelf for years. I remember when I bought it from National Bookstore in late 2016, it came with a very curious freebie: a sachet of Breeze liquid detergent. Weirdest. Freebie. Ever.

Anyway, I wasn’t able to get far with Punk Rock Jesus. I was out of the house with the wifey most of Saturday, and had very little reading time on Sunday. I was also juggling two books: Zero Cool by John Lange (aka Michael Crichton) and American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton, the latter I’m reading on my newly refurbished Kindle.

Other things I wasn’t able to do over the weekend: Finishing You and watching my usual weekend movie. Also: biking and spending an hour or two in the gym. Seems like it was a weekend of must-do’s that didn’t pan out.

And all along the shadow of Big Bad Wolf Book Sale loomed large over me. People posting their “hauls” on Facebook almost convinced me to check it out. But I had neither the money to burn nor the patience to deal with the needed long distance commute from home to Pasay City, so I stayed at home instead.

books

Of books & man

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Seems like all the book fiends I know are excited about the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale set to take place this weekend and will last up to the first week of March. My workmate Badette, for one, is electrified that she was chosen as among the VIPs who will have first dibs on the books, a day before the event officially opens.

Me, I’m likely to skip the event (again, just like last year). First, the venue — World Trade Center in Pasay City — is far from where I live. Secondly, I’ve activities galore in the next couple of weekends. And thirdly, the recent sales in Powerbooks and National Bookstore have put a serious dent in my finances.

Speaking of the National Bookstore sale, my visit there last Friday had been fruitful. Check out my loot:

books

Indeed, books about such colorful characters as serial killers, rock stars, and an infamous Colombian drug trafficker. I’ve been to many book sales, but this one’s among my favorite haul, so far.

Meanwhile, I’m already on page 437 of this 461-page monster that is Enter Night, Mick Wall’s biography of Metallica. Finishing this before February ends is now a sure thing.

image · movies · tv series · weekend

Weekend report 0007

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nailbiter-vol-2-bloody-hands-tp_59e0dae728These days, it’s all Nailbiter. Finished Vol. 1 (“There Will Be Blood”) in one day, currently enjoying Vol. 2 (“Bloody Hands”), and looking forward to reading the succeeding volumes. Serial killers and comics, man. Welcome to my world.

So I missed several days last week, so what? There are really times when writing about how my day went seems like too much effort. A kind of dumb self-imposed pressure I can do without. Why force myself to write, when I can enjoy some additional free time instead? So I said fuck it and that was that. Who gives a shit, anyway?

Speaking of free time: I just had a three-day weekend where I just kicked back and relaxed after three long weeks of grueling shift and equally grueling commute. I don’t expect things to be better now, but at least I had that period of rest to nurse myself back to fighting condition. Hell yes, mentally and physically I am now ready for whatever curve ball life decides to throw at me.

And so much for that. During my three-day break from work I did the following (aside from reading Nailbiter, that is): started watching You on Netflix, caught up on the latest True Detective and Gotham seasons,  watched BlackKKlansman and Gimme Danger, and continued reading Mick Wall’s biography of Metallica. There was also a trip to the mall with the girls, and to the gym with the wifey. For all this I had to skip Komiket at ETON Centris. Still, it was a great weekend, all in all.

life · marvel

Bruised, battered & beaten

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cleanRead Man Without Fear #1 today. How apt. Lemme explain.

Some days I get home feeling like Matt Murdock after a hard night’s fight. I feel invisible bruises all over my body. I crawl, I limp, I stagger from one place to another. All I want to do, on times like this, is to throw myself to bed and sleep for 15 hours straight — enough time, I think, for my 40-year-old corpse to completely heal.

It was like that today. It was not only work; it was also the long and tedious commute home. First, there was the long line of passengers at the terminal. Took me more than an hour to get to the end of the line. The situation was so bad that even the senior citizens, who had a separate line, were bickering among themselves. I would’ve found this quite funny if I wasn’t in such a foul mood. Also, I was famished. Can’t laugh when you’re stomach is imitating Godzilla on speed.

Then there was the sluggish traffic, as the route home is peppered with notorious choke points, made worse by numerous road constructions. Still, despite the discomfort, I still found myself falling in and out of sleep inside the UV Express. Or perhaps I was fainting? Whatever. It was inside the UV Express where dinnertime found me.

Imagine nine hours of work and then that.

This happens so often that I’m sick and tired of hearing myself complain about it. Indeed, it is taking a toll on me both physically and mentally.

marvel · weekend

Weekend report 0006

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736612._sx360_ql80_ttd_I remember writing here what a disappointment Deadpool #8 was and hoping that the next issue would be a rebound. Turns out wishes still do come true, because #9, released last week, is better than I had expected. In fact, it was awesome. One of the, if not the best issue so far in the Skottie Young run of Deadpool.

In here, Wade Wilson goes around trying to find his heart — literally! He wakes up and there’s a big hole in his chest where his heart used to be. He then enlists Jessica Jones for help, and together they seek information from Daredevil and Brother Voodoo. Tombstone also makes an appearance, but only as a poor punching bag for the temperamental Jessica. There’s also another cameo but I’ll not spoil it for the clueless internet wanderer who finds himself reading this. But believe me, that appearance is the perfect high, hysterical note to end this helluva issue with.

Anyway, considering that I had to work on Saturday, at least there was this Deadpool issue to cheer me up during such a shortened weekend. Other causes of joy: a solitary dinner at Yoshinoya Megamall an hour before closing time on Saturday (after picking up my comics at Filbar’s), finishing Russian Doll on Netflix and starting with You, and watching this crazy-ass rock-n-roll-slash-monster-movie called Dead Ant (Tom Arnold still has it!). Come to think of it, the weekend — short as it was — wasn’t really that bad.

life · work

When Friday brings no joy

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deadpoolshrug_1024x1024

Cursed day. Needless to say, no comic book was read today.

No fun: Work was difficult, and commuting home was hellish. Spent an hour and a half in a long line — that’s an hour and a half wasted from my life! Time I should’ve spent resting, reading, mentally prepping myself for my weekend shift. Killed boredom by watching Russian Doll on my tablet. Thank heavens for Netflix and technology.

But still: today was a day worth forgetting.

Couldn’t even enjoy the fact that I earned over P5,000 dividend from my membership at the office cooperative.

life · marvel

Thursday snikt

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feb100624_1._sx360_ql80_ttd_For today’s comics I wanted something fierce and violent. Blood, guts, the works. Throw in some spit and grit for good measure. I thought a Wolverine comics would fit the bill. So I grabbed Vol.1 of Wolverine: Weapon X (“The Adamantium Men”), threw myself to bed, and pretended the world outside didn’t exist. Got as far as issue #3 before my body gave in to sleep.

Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. Work was slightly light, and commuting home was a breeze. There was still light when I arrived in Antipolo, though it was fading fast. When I emerged from a roadside eatery where I had dinner of cheap bacon (if that was really bacon), rice and soft drink, getting my eardrums brutally assaulted by corny music about love and longing all throughout, full night had descended.

At home I found my daughter having the blues. Her vacationing three-year-old cousin, with whom she is very fond of, returned to Hong Kong, and for her it was such an emotional blow. I tried to comfort her best I could, but I have no idea if it worked. Then she went online and I picked up my comics and that was that. Some dad I am.

marvel · work

So I had a bad day…

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venom_the_hunted_vol_1_1Read Venom: The Hunted today, which is part of the Venom: Along Came a Spider TPB, a 398-page tome I started reading way back last year but can’t seem to finish for some reason. Maybe because I find the stories, though entertaining, kind of dated. Or they lack darkness. What can I say? I dig dark stuff. Especially when we’re talking about Eddie Brock.

Terrible day today. Was neck-deep in work on account of sick office-mates. Then I was asked by the bosses to clock in about three hours of work on Saturday for a special assignment connected to the May elections. I doubt I’ll be at the office for up to three hours only, considering how rotten my luck is these days. I feel one of the Saturday peeps will call in sick that day and I’ll be forced to clock in a whole shift. I’m mentally preparing myself for that eventuality.

Aside from work-related shit, there was also that long line of passengers I had to deal with today coming home. Took me more than an hour standing in that goddamn line, sanity preserved only my the Metallica biography I’m reading. By the time I got home I was a stressed out ball of hate. Went to bed early.