Spring Break? NOPE!

Dear Wal,

After a brief lapse of faith in this blog, I have returned, with the belated news that spring break has officially began. Supposedly. But instead of frollicking in the woods with Buzzy (when I say frollicking, I really mean fleeing in terror, because that's the only thing that Buzzy knows how to do) or petting my cat with evil plans to take over (Save. I mean save.) the world on my mind, or about a dozen things I would much rather be doing, I have to write four papers. No wait. Five.
Blarg.
Also, I'm going skating with Watson and company on Thursday. I'm really bad at skating. Then comes Adam's birthday party on Saturday, where we will eat lots of junk food and chase each other around with foam swords. It will be awesome. But mostly this spring break, I'll be looking forward to lots of sleep and a little peace and quiet. School can be maddening sometimes, so it's nice to have a break every once and awhile, and a weekend never seems to be long enough to detox.
I had a train of thought a minute ago, then Dad came and interrupted it. Ah, well. This pen is cool. I've never seen one like it before. It's doesn't work very well, though. Isn't that just heartbreaking? When you have the coolest looking pen, and it's all out of ink, or it just doesn't work because the universe said so.
This is the most random post I think I've ever written.

/endrant

My Comicon Loot - The Spectre #2-6

Dear Wal,

One of the many comics I bought at comicon included the Spectre-post-Crisis, circa 1987. Yes, I mean directly after the original Crisis. I picked it up because I thought it looked interesting, and I've always had a soft spot for characters who aren't as well known outside of the comics. (I would say B-list, but I wouldn't consider the physical incarnation of the wrath of God a B-list character.) Like I said, the Spectre is essentially the wrath of God incarnate. We're talking Old Testimate, vengeful and fearsome. In this particular retelling, the Spectre has been bound to a mortal because of his failure to stop the Crisis. The mortal in question is one Jim Corrigan, P.I. The two are locked in a symbiotic relationship-neither spirit nor mortal man can survive separated from the other for more than 24 hours. After that, they both steadily weaken until they die. In as much as the wrath of God can die.
As you can imagine, being bound to a spirit who basically spends his days hunting down and killing the guilty isn't fun for Corrigan. He spends most of the time arguing with the Spectre and trying to get him to give his victims a little mercy.
I wasn't really sure what I was getting into-but it turned out to be fantastic. This particular run of Spectre is fantastic. This book is creepy, disturbing and fascinating. I'm totally addicted.
That's why I was extremely disappointing to find out that this run apparently wasn't popular enough to deserve a trade. As you may or may not know, I don't live near very many comic book shops, and so the only way I can get them is through Amazon as trades or through Comixology. Sorry, but I'm not paying six bucks to have an individual issue shipped to me. And Amazon and DC apparently had a falling out, so now I can't get digital DC comics on my Kindle.
I was able to find a reprinting of pre-Crisis Spectre, which sounds like fun. Anyone have any ideas where I could find more solo Spectre stories? I haven't seen him in the new 52 except for being in and out of Phantom Stranger, which I'm currently reading, and the trades are limited. I'm probably going to end up digging through lots of bins, which is sort of awesome but also slightly frustrating. It's like a treasure hunt.

/endrant

Charlotte Comicon

Dear Wal,

I went. You might have seen me. I was the Fourth Doctor, with the fantasy warrior and the dude in the Guy Fawkes mask following me around. It was freaking awesome. I met all sorts of wonderful people, and bought a ton of wonderful comics. This post isn't going to go in any kind of logical order, because right now I'm too excited to focus.

I met Roland! And Jake! And Oy! Oh my gosh! He even told me: "Long days and pleasant nights" when I said goodbye. They were both awesome, and their costumes were fantastic. Jake's coat even said: "Nothing but strikes at Mid-World Lanes" on the back. They were both in character the whole time. I kept seeing this guy dressed up like a cowboy around, but I couldn't figure out who he was, then my mother finally told me he was the gunslinger. She recognized him instantly. I'm profoundly disgusted with myself, that I didn't know who he was instantly. After all, I sat through all of those books and Mom only read one. 

It just occurred to me I should have asked him if he had the revolvers. Ah well.

Austin was completely delighted to meet some Star Wars people. He saw Vader from across the parking lot and nearly had a stroke from excitement. He's a total Star Wars geek, he's read the books and everything.

All of us with the gunslinger again. Can you tell his was my favorite costume?

Me with the Eleventh Doctor and another Fourth Doctor.

Me and Austin with Batman. This guy's costume has to be the best homemade Batman costume I've ever seen. Plus, it was the New 52 design, which I'm a huge fan of.

Me with Bug. Totally delighted to see someone dressed up like him. He was in character the whole time as well.

All of us together with Mom. 

All the stuff I got. I got a variety of books, mostly from characters I'm curious about but know nothing or very little about. Particularly happy to have found some Midnighter comics. Watson bought a bunch of X-Men comics. We're both going to be very busy reading for a long time.

We stopped at a gas station for a pit stop on the way there, and when I went to pay for my Yoohoo and Doritos the cashier handed me this. There are no coincidences. 

/endrant

P.S. Ugh, I still have a paper to write. I don't know how I'm going to be able to concentrate enough to finish.

Arrow Review: Episode 19, Unfinished Business Indeed

Dear Wal,

I have to say, right off the bat this episode was dissapointing. Here we are, back with Vertigo again. I realize this show is basically just recycled plots with different faces. We have the supervillian takedown, the rescue of whatever imperiled party, and then the resolution/continuation of the personal drama between the main characters: Oliver, Diggle, and Tommy; and Laurel and her father. In the past two episodes, (I fell behind; I had to watch those episodes recently on Hulu to catch up-shout out to Adam, for letting me use his Hulu plus) Tommy has been dealing with his discovery that Oliver is the vigilante known as the Hood. Now, I understand that this realization has to be a big change in Tommy's life, but the drama between Oliver and Tommy was getting tedious. I wanted to step into the show, slap Tommy and go: "He kills people, I know. Get over it."
In this episode, Tommy finally does. He tells Oliver exactly what he thinks and leaves. I won't reveal where he went after that, because that would be spoiling. All I'll say is that it's a game changer, and brings a very different drama back into the show.

Other than Tommy's decision, this episode seemed to wander almost pointlessly. The plot was loose, and Oliver's behavior was as usual erratic. The one thing this episode had going for it was the internal conflict within Oliver. Is it really alright to kill? Who is it alright to kill? Apparently, not the Count, who has officially lost his mind. Personally, I would like to see more of the Count. Seth Gabel is wonderful in that role.

/endrant

P.S. I defeated this thing the other night:

It was one of the most epic battles of my life.

All Writers Have One of These

Dear Wal,

I have this one character you may have heard of, if you've been reading since this blog began a year or so ago (wow, has it been a year?). His name has Tom Burdock, and he can't make up his mind about what story of his he wants me to write. First it was his beginning, his origin. But origins are a pain and pretty boring, so of course I screwed that up. Then he decided to go galavanting through every story I've ever written.
The Black Dog? Check.
Batman fanfic? Check.
Random western that failed? Check.
Torchwood fanfic? Check.
Original superhero story? Check.
All of which he was absolutely brilliant in, of course. Most of the time he was the best part of the story. So, naturally I tried to write him into his own story. My logic was this: well, this dude is freaking awesome, I bet he would rock as the main character in a quest to save the universe. Simple, right? Nope. The story of Tom's life, with him ducking randomly in and out of story out of story, looked like this before I tried to give him his own story:

And I stupidly tried to add in something even more exciting: Tom in his very own story!

Then my artfully created timeline became a horrifying monstrosity that looks like it was written by (gasp!) middle school me:

Now I don't know what the heck to do with him. His story is entering it's teenage years. Anything could happen, and I don't have any control over any of it. Not that I ever did in the first place. Writing his story is like riding a runaway train filled with screaming, homicidal circus animals. I'm doing my best just to stay alive.
I think every writer has one of these characters. Even if you're a planner, and you outline every tiny detail of your story and you have every plothole neatly filled before you start writing (sometimes...I wish I was one of these people) there's always this one character who just won't cooperate. They turn everything they touch to the equivalent of writing gold, while somehow managing to screw up your plotline and destroy what's left of your story. Your first thought is that they want attention, but they don't. In fact, they refuse to be in the spotlight of anything. The moment you even hint at bringing them forward from something other than a minor existence in the background, or even from second to lead character, they pitch a fit and stomp out of the room shouting obscene things. Leaving you wondering which story of yours they'll pop up in next, and secretly longing for them to be in everything you've ever written, because they are quite possibly the greatest character you have ever had the honor to write.

/endrant

P.S. Mat Smith on a motorcycle.

This Could Be The End

Dear Wal,

I can hear them outside. The windows are double-paned and boarded over but I can still hear them. I don't know how long the defenses will hold. I haven't dared move, in case they get in. In case they hear me. I'm writing this now because people need to know. People need to know that there's a secret invasion, a threat that came through time and space just to bully little old Earth. Whatever you do;
Don't blink.

/endrant

P.S. April fools. If you hadn't guessed already.

Wolverine: Coming Soon

Dear Wal,

I'm excited. I'm much more excited about this movie than I am about Man of Steel, although I'm going to see both when they come out. Naturally. This is a chance for redemption after the disaster that was Origins. I will never forgive that movie's existence, and what it did to Deadpool. I mean, come on, such a waste of a great character. Deadpool's dark humor coupled with his tendency to break down the fourth wall could be such a great movie. The guy is hilarious. He's at the top of my list of X-Men that need their own movie.
And that brings me to what I know will be most critic's problem with Wolverine: another Wolverine movie, really? But, the fact is, Wolverine is pretty freaking awesome. I don't think I've met anyone who doesn't like Wolverine. Plus, Hugh Jackman is amazing.
Wolverine also has a rich mythos to draw from, and this movie I think is doing exactly that. Although I've never read any Wolverine comics (he's on a very long list, and keeping up with the New 52 is eating all my spending money) I know he spent some time in Japan honing his fighting skills, and some of the most important events in his life occurred there, including meeting the love of his life (besides Jean *cough*). Wolverine is based off a miniseries by Chris Claremont of the same name. It revolves around a love story, and the personal conflict that exists within Wolverine. Claremont paints Wolverine as a man not driven by animosity and memory loss, but one who is driven by a strong sense of honor. Claremont's interpretation of Wolverine basically defined the Wolverine of the 80's and 90's, making him a much more complex, dynamic character. Or so Wikipedia and a helpful reviewer on Amazon tell me. This sounds like an amazing book, and possibly a good jumping on point for someone who wants to start reading Wolverine comics (me).

Excited? Not excited? Afraid it's going to suck? (Let's face it, we all are.) Comment below.

/endrant