To buy or not to buy?

January 22, 2019January 24, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

chase_1 During my last visit to Filbar’s Megamall I saw this Chase collected edition TPB at their bargain section. Thinking of buying it, I considered the pros and cons. Pro: it’s 352 pages long and worth only a little over P900 (down from P1,300 plus); con: P900 is still too much. Pro: it’s a nifty looking book with a cool old-school cover; con: I know zip about the character and for all I know the story is shit. Pro: story looks interesting based on the synopsis; con: I still have tons of comic books to read.

It was a deadlock, so I stuck with the status quo and settled with the next best thing: free copies online. Turned out there are only nine issues, as Chase was a short-lived series that came out in 1998. Read the first two issues today and thought they were not bad.

Went to Megamall after work today with a mission: score the newly released Night Thrasher action figure by Marvel Legends. It was a plan hatched in the wee hours after I saw my brother’s private message on Facebook informing me that the Kingpin Wave is now available at Toy Kingdom. On the train en route to the mall I wasn’t optimistic. Between yesterday and this afternoon there was big chance that somebody may have already bought Night Thrasher. But Lady Luck was smiling on me today, and I went home a happy camper albeit P1,399 poorer.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m just fooling myself with all this cost-cutting shit I’m hyping about.

Weekend report 0003

January 20, 2019January 22, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

728906._sx360_ql80_ttd_ With me still in cost-cutting mode, I pre-ordered only one comic book this week: Marvel Comics Presents #1. It’s an anthology, and I dig anthologies, so why not? The first story features Wolverine fighting a demon summoned by a gypsy woman facing execution by the Nazis. Then it was followed by two one-and-done’s — one has Namor in WWII having moral dilemma over the Allied forces’ intention to nuke Japan to oblivion, while the other has Captain America bonding with a teenage daredevil over motorcycles and dreams. It’s a good issue, but whether or not I’ll pre-order #2 is still a big question mark.

Had another cool weekend. Saturday was spent with the wifey at Megamall. After submitting our visa requirements for our Planned Big Trip in April we considered watching Glass but changed our minds after reading negative online reviews. Instead we just loitered around the mall checking out comic shops and toy stores and the department store. For lunch we tried Sunnies Cafè and for merienda Zoo Cafè. Went home when our feet started to ache. Gone are the days when we can do this all day and still had the energy for hard drinks at night.

Sunday morning I went biking. Was 5 kms short of my 30-km target but what the hell. Weeks of physical inactivity have turned my body soft. Ugh.

image · weekend

Weekend report 0002

January 13, 2019January 15, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

criminal-1_85f90c7bc8 Read the first issue of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal over the weekend and was, for lack of better term, floored. Really, why can’t comics — or at least this one — be weekly instead of monthly? Methinks 30 days is too long to wait for Criminal issue #2.

And so my three-day weekend has come to an end. I like to believe it was productive — the thing I had to accomplish on Friday was accomplished, although it rankled me that my bank, unlike any other bank, couldn’t give me my certificate on the same day and had asked me to claim it by next week. And I paid P200 for that?! A pizza lunch with my mother and movies (Papillon, Hellboy) in the quiet afternoon helped calm my nerves.

Saturday was spent in Megamall attending the Manila Hobbies & Collectibles Convention 2019, my first toy event for the year. Scored two loose Marvel Legends figures (Sabretooth and the comics-version Vulture) for P1,900 — not bad. Delighted with the experience, I trooped to Yoshinoya afterward for my favorite beef bowl, and to Filbar’s for my comics fix.

Sunday was for rest and family, and reviewing the past two days, and mentally preparing myself for another predictably hectic workweek.

Listened to the Juliet, Naked OST, which is essentially an Ethan Hawke album.

comics

First for the year

January 2, 2019January 3, 2019 KarlLeave a comment

filbars

Pushed to Filbar’s in Megamall after work today for my first comic pickups for the year. Figured it was a good day for it as there were still fewer people out and therefore fewer vehicles on the streets — one of those extremely rare days when it can be said that commuting is a “breeze.” Reminded myself not to enjoy it too much.

Anyway, new comic books are in. Of the bunch I’m most excited to read Heroes in Crisis #4.

Back home I put my father cap on and helped the kiddo with her lessons. It was a difficult task as the subject was Math. Turned out passionate dislike for numbers and computation runs in the blood. Needless to say, I don’t think I did a pretty good job as a parent today. Fuck that shit.

Was actually feeling a bit sleepy today so I picked a rather aggressive jam: Metallica’s Hardwired… to Self-Destruct.