Saturday, November 28, 2009

New Comics Day (Belated)

I'm sure the delay is understandable - this week's comics haul :

  • Guardians of the Galaxy #20
  • Fantastic Four #573
  • Incredible Hercules #138
  • Madame Xanadu #17
  • Tarot #59
  • World's Finest #2
  • The Web #3
  • Justice League : Cry for Justice #5*
  • Gotham City Sirens #6
  • Superman #694*
  • Detective Comics #859
  • Justice Society of America #33
  • Wonder Woman #38
  • Superman : Secret Origin #3
  • Teen Titans #77
  • Justice League of America #39
  • Green Lantern #48
  • Blackest Night #5
* So, James Robinson produces the worst comic moment and best comic moment of the week. What the hell, man? (That would be Arsenal and 'Mitch', respectively.)

Blackest Night continues to entertain. And I think I may be back on Fantastic Four for the long haul.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Toy Hunting, Addendum

Well! I found a great little site with good visual representations of the figures from two of the three lines I collect! Infinite Heroes, sadly, does not have pictures on the site, but Marvel Universe and DC Classics do!

DC Classics : http://comicfigs.net/Line/DCUC.htm
Marvel Universe : http://comicfigs.net/Line/MU.htm

So those are excellent resources for people who'd like to see the scope of the toylines in question.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Toy Hunting

I made thr rounds at the local Wal-Marts, Targets, and Toys 'R Us this weeknd, looking for new toys, after managing to score DC Classics Wave 1 Batman and Penguin from Amazon for decent prices.

One Wal-Mart had a new set of Marvel Universe figures - Wolverine (Blue and Gold costume, no mask); Jean Grey; Vision; Sunfire (listed as 'Marvel's Sunfire', perhaps for trademark reasons?); and Warpath (in X-Force garb).

And a Spider-Man (House of M variant). I admit it, I was weak.

Another Wal-Mart had four of the seven members of DC Classics Wave 10 - the Imperiex Wave. Picked up Batman (Black costume); Robotman II; Beast Boy; and Power Girl. Still need Forager, Joker, and Man-Bat.

All in all, good hunting.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

New Comics Day

Pretty good week!
  • Invincible #68
  • Irredeemable #8
  • Azrael #2
  • Supergirl #47
  • Batman : Streets of Gotham #6
  • Brave and the Bold #29
  • Justice Society of America 80 Page Giant #1
  • Outsiders #24
  • Superman/Batman #66
  • Adventure Comics #4
  • Flash : Rebirth #5
Wow. Brother Power the Geek! Outsiders and Adventure come with Violet and Blue Lantern rings, respectively. Azrael is really on the bubble for me, but it's not bad, just not terribly engaging. And of course, Flash : Rebirth continues to be awesome.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Venture Brothers 4.05 - The Revenge Society

I had to clean brain matter off the blinds behind my couch Monday evening, because my mind was officially blown. 'The Revenge Society' gives us our best insights yet into the Guild of Calamitous Intent since 3.11 - "ORB". As a matter of fact, this episode directly sequelizes :
  • 2.12-2.13 - Showdown at Cremation Creek
  • 3.01 - Shadowman 9 : In the Cradle of Destiny
  • 3.03 - The Invisible Hand of Fate
  • 3.11 - ORB
Fun bits :

We see the faces of two members of the Council of Thirteen - Councilman 3 "Red Mantle", and Councilman 8 "Dragoon". Phantom Limb returns. We learn the original purpose of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. We learn who is considered to be the rightful heir to the title of Sovereign. We learn the (well, one) secret of ORB. The peculiar genesis of the Guild's association with musicians is revealed. Most entertainingly, we get thirty additional seconds of the flashback featured in episode 3.11.

I didn't pick up on it when I watched the episode, but Wikipedia confirms - Councilman 3 and 8 are supposed to be Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, respectively.

Things I liked, especially :
  • Rusty gives Dean an effective motivational speech.
  • Lloyd Venture's little secret.
  • The other members of the Revenge Society.
  • David Bowie screws with Dr. Venture's head.
  • Fantomas's musical inclinations.
  • Phantom Limb's new look.
Three more episodes until the mid-season break.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

I roused myself from playing video games this weekend to attend a somewhat unique event. There's a group of guys working to bring a new comic and gaming store to Morgantown, and in advance of that, they're doing some thing to build.. buzz, or hype, or whatever MBA's and ad execs are calling it these days.

To that end, they'd arranged for space at the local public library to demonstrate the new Warhammer Fantasy RPG on Saturday and Sunday. I opted for Sunday, as parking is free on Sundays. The guys running the event seemed nice enough, though the Sunday event was more sparsely attended than was the Saturday, I understand.

I'll try just about any game once, and Warhammer wasn't bad. They have a novel compound dice pool used for resolving actions. The game has extremely high production values, too. There is a *lot* of kibble, though. Tokens, chits, cards, smaller cards, bigger cards. A lot of things waiting to be swatted off the table by a cat, or vacuumed, or stained beyond legibility by spilled soda.

We ran through a short combat encounter, and it was certainly novel. I'd probably play it again, but there's relatively little chance of me dropping $100 on the core rules set.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

New Comics Day

Decent haul this week. Big surprises with Blackest Night stuff!

  • The Incredibles #2
  • Sword #1
  • X-Babies #2
  • Fables #90
  • Batman / Doc Savage Special #1
  • Titans #19
  • The Shield #3
  • Green Arrow / Black Canary #26
  • R.E.B.E.L.S. #10
  • Red Robin #6
  • Batgirl #4
  • JSA vs. Kobra #6
  • Batman and Robin #6
  • Batman #693
  • Action Comics #883
  • Green Lantern Corps #42
  • Booster Gold #26

I picked up the first issue of Sword on the recommendation of my comic store owner - said it was reminiscent of Giffen-era Justice League. I can see where he's coming from, but it's too soon to tell what the overall tone of the book will be.