Weekend report 0009

March 3, 2019March 11, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

Somebody 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.

I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend

January 16, 2019January 17, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

In reading Punisher #218, in where Frank Castle dons the War Machine armor, I couldn’t help but wonder about an entertainment industry where exclusive rights, ego clashes and bureaucracy do not get in the way of filmmaking. Imagine an MCU movie where Jon Bernthal gets hold of Don Cheadle’s armor in the Avengers/Iron Man movies and moves to bring down the government of a rogue state. That’d be awesome, even though, seriously, Punisher in a hi-tech armor is kind of weird. Still, a film industry without much legal restrictions could make the world a happier place.

Brian Velasco of Razorback was not thinking about a happy place today. In fact, he was in a dark corner in his head. And he sought escape by jumping off the rooftop of the condominium building where he lives. Publicly blasting him for livestreaming his last moments on Facebook is something no netizen would dare do, lest he or she gets vilified by Velasco’s many fans, friends and relatives. Clearly he was not thinking straight. We’re all just going to leave it at that.

I saw the video. People shared it on Facebook despite well-meaning appeals not to. It was sad as it was chilling. Some murmured final words, a “here we go,” then the lethal plunge. It left me feeling cold.

Depression. It’s really a bitch.

books · marvel · tv series · work

An invitation

January 8, 2019January 21, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

Read me some Thunderbolts today, starting with issue #152, the issue that kicked off the Violent Rejection TPB. I ended the day with two issues short of finishing the collected edition. What can I say? Life interfered.

A friend just off her graveyard shift invited me through Facebook to an early morning drink today. She may only be half serious — indeed, one can’t, or shouldn’t, take anything they read on social media lock, stock and barrel — but I had this feeling we could’ve made it happen. Anyway, I didn’t press for it, and she went home to catch some zzzz’s. Still, I nursed the beautiful thought until it died a natural death, and then got busy with work, and that was that. Morning drinks can wait for another day.

Down to the last 100 pages of Bill Bryson’s brilliant Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe now. Hopefully I can finish this before the week ends so that I can move on to the year’s Book No. 2, which I haven’t quite figure out yet (Neil Strauss’ Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is a strong candidate). Indeed, between the Thunderbolts TPB and Bill Bryson’s travelogue, I’m on a roll!

Also watched first episodes of Gotham S05 and Deadly Class S01.