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Current TMNT DVDs

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Walt

I’ve long since given up ‘hope’ of any “full season” DVD release, so I’ve tried to “keep up” with the partial-season releases for the current TMNT series.

So far, the latest Casey Jones one has been the best ‘bargain’ for something like $7.99 plus I got a free box of TMNT Kraft-brand mac ‘n cheese with it.

tmnt_dvds_so_far_july_2014_b

While I don’t like the partial-season releases, I have to say I prefer these ~6ish episode releases to the 3-4 episode releases of the 2003 series. Having missed a bunch of those a decade ago, I would be quite THRILLED for them to re-release that series, whether as a full series, in full seasons, or even in ~6 episode increments.

tmnt_dvds_so_far_july_2014_a

Still…now having five of these, they’re starting to look rather cool as a mini-collection within my larger dvd collection…

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Bargain Bin Haul – Week of July 23rd, 2014

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Walt

Along with this week’s huge new issues haul, I also bought quite a few quarter-bin issues.

I picked up a number of Vampire comics for a friend, as well as most of the Call of Duty minis from Marvel from 2002 or so (The Precinct, The Wagon, The Brotherhood) for another friend.

quarter_bin_ultraverse_1

I was pleasantly surprised to find copies of the Ultraverse Premiere issues of Hardcase and Night Man, as I want duplicates so I can file Ultraverse Premiere as its own thing in my Ultraverse collection rather than having the series only dispersed as the flipbooks to all the others. I also snagged Night Man 22, and since the Hardcase issue was part 1 of the 3-part NM-E rematch, I picked those issues up as well.

quarter_bin_superman_1

I love the cover of Man of Tomorrow #1, and much prefer this “newsstand edition” cover to the Wedding Album. And for a mere 25 cents I wasn’t about to leave Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow there.

quarter_bin_superman_2

I was rather surprised to find this first-print newsstand edition copy of Superman #75 still there, so snagged it, as I’ve made it a point to snag all first print copies of the issue I come across in 25-cent bins. Wasn’t til I got it out at home that I noticed the huge crease down the center like the issue was folded in half–perhaps this had been a subscription copy where the postal delivery person folded it around envelopes when sticking it into a box. I’m also a sucker for chromium covers, so snagged yet another copy of Superman 82; and since they were there, snagged #100 and Adventures of Superman #505 for the shiny cover.

All in all a very satisfying bargain bin haul!

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The Weekly Haul – Week of July 23rd, 2014

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Walt

As new comics go, this week is definitely one of the biggest in quite awhile, with a pretty significant haul just FOR the new-this-week comics!

batman_day_free_stuff

This was ‘Batman Day’, so there’s a free special edition of Detective Comics #27, reprinting the original first appearance of Batman, as well as a couple other features/reimaginings/retellings of the story, it looks like. The Vertigo Preview is the way I prefer my “previews”–a separate comic-sized thing, rather than several pages of “padding” in regular issues. The Portfolio of upcoming action figures and statues is interesting…and if I had the space/finances I’d definitely be interested in several of the statues!

masks_of_the_bat

While I was content to go simply with the Adam West mask, the store owner told me to go ahead and take one of each, so…got all four of the masks offered. Dark Knight, Original, New 52, and Adam West.

doctor_who_premieres

Two new Doctor Who series have begun, one focused on the Tenth Doctor, one on the Eleventh. I haven’t been particularly enamored with other Doctor Who comics, but was certainly interested enough to give these both at least a try for the first issue. And continuing my collection of the new Valiant chromium covers…

valiant_stuff

Two new Valiant issues including the regular edition of Armor Hunters: Bloodshot. And though the Gold Key line from Dynamite is not Valiant, they’re in the same vein and I’m filing them in my Current Valiant box.

tmnt_stuff

Latest Letter 44 and two new TMNT issues this week…

dc_stuff

And the latest of both of DC‘s current weeklies and the new issue of Superman. While I still loathe the Superman title moving to $3.99, I’m tentatively (case-by-case/issue-by-issue) onboard for the current arc with Johns on the writing.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Catching Up A Bit

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Walt

Unfortunately, I’ve managed to get quite a ways behind on some of my reading the last few months, with a number of personal things going on in life. This week’s been a bit of a catch-up week as I work on resolving the issue…I don’t like being behind, especially when it means I’m buying stuff “just because I’ve BEEN buying it” rather than an actual interest…and typically, once I’ve gotten to about 6 issues of anything built up that I’ve not read, that’s usually a sign it’s time to drop the title and move along.

catching_up_serenity_leaves_on_the_wind

I’d read the first three issues of this year’s Serenity: Leaves on the Wind mini as they came out. I then got backed up on them due to not getting to #4 the week it was out, then misplacing that so it created a bit of a ripple effect until I was able to get all the issues back into one stack. Now I’m looking forward to the hardcover, though I don’t think it’s due out until December or so…and of course looking forward to further Serenity story(ies).

catching_up_letter_44_dream_police

In the same sitting with Serenity, I also read the first issue of JMS’ Dream Police. This was a series that–not having gotten around to the first issue, I didn’t buy any further issues. I’ll probably wait for a collected volume, as it was juuust interesting enough I’m curious what comes next.

With the next issue of Letter 44 due out this week, that’ll put me exactly at 6 issues I’m behind on, so hopefully I’ll get caught up, or at least read enough to determine if it’s time to cut this title. After all, a $1 first issue thoroughly impressed me into immediately adding the series to my pulls…but having trailed off since then and gotten so backed up, obviously I haven’t missed it exactly, even if it’s good.

Of course, along with the various single issues I’ve amassed, I still have a couple “$10 Volume Ones” to get to that I’ve already bought, and there are quite a few others that have come out the last several months that I’ve yet to acquire. And those tend to be a much better value than single issues, even if I never buy a later volume.

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Monday Blasts From the Past

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Walt

Quite a few years ago now, I picked up–finally–a collected volume of the Man of Steel. It was a new edition as a first volume in a series collecting in order the ’80s “reboot” of the Superman franchise.

blast_from_the_past_man_of_steel_tpb

However, it’s only just in the last couple weeks that I’ve finally acquired a copy of the older edition of the book. It’s not in great shape, unfortunately…but for $2.60ish (less than the price of a rare $2.99 single-issue!) it was a purchase I couldn’t quite bring myself to pass up. I’d talked myself out of it a week or so earlier, but since it was still there, I took is as a sign that the volume was destined for my collection, if only temporarily.

I’d picked up an anniversary edition of Dark Knight Returns at some point, though it was not the edition I’d remembered originally reading a copy of from a local library. And then when DK2 was put out and a similarly-trade-dressed edition of DKR released, I picked up both.

blast_from_the_past_dark_knight_returns_tpb

Somewhere along the way in the last few years, I’d found this copy of the older DKR volume and bought it for about $7, in surprisingly good condition given its age and that I found it at a used books store.

In this modern day ‘n age where it’s virtually a “given” that every arc will get its own volume…it’s interesting to me to look at these two “classic” editions of “classic” stories from a bygone era where such volumes were relatively extremely rare and truly special, and not just the latest collected edition of the latest renumbering/reboot of the latest iteration of a character or run.

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Seasons Spinnin’ ‘Round Again–The Years Keep Rolling On

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Walt

seasonschangeii001Sometimes it seems odd to me that people ever have any trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. I’ve made such a distinction, internalized it so, that even in my dreams I cannot fly–if ever I have some fantastic dream where I’m in the role of something or someone that can fly, it’s a clinical knowledge, but when it comes time TO fly, I’m at a loss.

But that’s really neither here nor there at the moment.

I’ve neglected this blog lately. Oh, I’ve tossed up a couple reviews and several other posts the last few weeks, attempting to get back into the swing of things. But real life’s been in the way. So much going on even as–at times–it seems like NOTHING is going on.

For years now, I’ve periodically taken photos and made comic cover style images of them, creating a very loose chronicle of the years, going back to when I first wen off to college. If my life were a comic, it would be The Life of Walt.

In the spirit of the ’90s rebooting and such, and actually being worthy of it for the huge status quo change of Walt going off to college, it would have relaunched with a new #1: The Life of Walt: BGSU Student. And that would have followed the college years. And then, though graduation would be a huge shift, it would keep its numbering, but with a slight change to the subtitle, a label thingie modifying it to read The Life of Walt: BGSU Alumni but otherwise maintain that numbering for another 15 months after graduation. And then when I went off to Kent State for grad school, that would have qualified for another reboot. The Life of Walt: Kent State Student. But after a couple reboots, upon graduation, rather than yet another renumbering, it would revert simply to The Life of Walt, as it had been before college–but maintain the numbering from the Kent State years.

Which is really probably all just a bunch of gibberish to you reading this, though there’s a logic to it in my own head.

lifeofwalt1to100

And in keeping with the comics analogy, going a bit deeper…there’s that gradual shift that characters may be put through. Maybe it’s a few small jolts, that mark a subtle change each time without being anything huge. And then something happens that causes the character to reach out to a number of past companions and allies, seeking answers based on whatever this instigating event is.

And maybe it’s just some clichéd “plot point,” or maybe it becomes something rather defining for the character. Maybe the character is changed, something about them tweaked a bit, adding some sort of strange complexity or nuance, or just making them more annoying to the readers for some sort of stupidity, following along some sort of chain of events they should know better than to chase.

Seasons change–seasons of life. One might compare life to a SINGLE cycle of seasons–spring and summer representing childhood and young-adult stuff, with autumn suggesting midlife and heading toward old age, with winter representing the latter years of one’s life.

But I look at seasons not quite so literally in this sense, not as a mirror of the typical “four seasons” but as periods of life–perhaps denoted by certain overall atmospheres, conditions, environments.

“Things change.  Sometimes the air itself is heavier, the weight of our sorrows collecting until the sky can hold no more and lets them fall as tears of rain…to return tot he world as flowers.  Everything changes, sometimes in seasons…more often in sudden squalls.”

~ Sephie [narration] (Barbara Kesel, Meridian # 43)

And earlier in the Meridian series:

“You can tell when some things are about to happen–you can feel it.  Others slip by.  You just don’t realize things are about to change.  Forever.”

~ Sephie (Barbara Kesel, Meridian: Flying Solo)

Fitting, in its own way. Even if no one else sees the sense in this post…for me, it’s fitting.

Yet, like a (perhaps) well-crafted solicitation…it maintains a careful vagueness. The details are in the experiences themselves, the pages. Or there’s always the great philosopher River Song:

“Spoilers…”

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Leonardos – July 2014

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Walt

Seems there’s a new TMNT movie (or should I say NT movie, based on the toys’ packaging) coming out soon…

leonardosjuly2014

And so while I don’t like variants on figures within the same line, I’m willing to get the same character from different lines.

The new 2014 Movie Leonardo is front ‘n center. Current (2012-) cartoon Leo on the right. 2003 cartoon Leo 2nd row left, “classic” Leo in the middle, and the oversized deluxe Leo in back.

While trailers make it seem that the movie turtles are huge, frankly, based on the toys, it looks like any of the other Leos could take this one, easily…

I’ve also got the Raphael, and will likely also go ahead and snag Donnie and Mikey at least; probably April and the Shredder, thoguh I don’t like the look of Splinter (movie unseen) and not sure I’m all that inclined to try to get multiple Foot, and one lone Foot hardly seems worth it to me.

Time will tell, though…

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Bargain Bin Haul: GI Joe and Quantum & Woody

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Walt

This week proved to be another fantastic week for bargain finds, as the local shop had just recently bought a huge collection.

Having bought a large run of GI Joe comics recently, I was offered another SIGNIFICANTLY larger run…

gijoe150_155

The “gem” of the run is easily the final few issues of the original Marvel-published series. If I were to attempt to purchase these off eBay, these six issues alone–#s 150-155–would cost more than I paid for what (in today’s single purchase) is an instant major “subcollection” in my overall collection.

quantumandwoodyTPBs

The store owner also–though putting most of the collected volumes out for general sale–pulled these four Quantum and Woody Acclaim Comics volumes for me. These worked out to about $2.50 per volume, and seem to have at least 4 issues’ content each.

gijoelongbox_sideview

All told, the GI Joe collection more than filled a longbox, and what didn’t fit–when combined with what I bought last month and allowing room to fill in a handful of minor “gaps” in the collection–will surely almost fill another. This collection is: Original Marvel #s 21-155, Devil’s Due 1-43 and America’s Elite 1-36, IDW‘s first volume 1-24, Origins 1-18ish, Cobra 1-13 and Cobra II 1-4, plus a bunch of other mini-series, specials, one-shots, etc.

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X-O Manowar #26 [Review]

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Walt

xomanowar026Tall Tales

Writer: Robert Venditti
Penciler: Diego Bernard
Inker: Alisson Rodrigues
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artists: Clayton Crain and Trevor Hairsine
Assistant Editor: Josh Johns
Executive Editor: Warren Simons
Published by: Valiant
Cover Price: $3.99 ($5.99 Chromium Cover)

I’m not often a fan of the main character not being in a book, and for those solely reading this title, that could be a problem this issue. While this IS an issue of X-O Manowar, there’s no appearance or mention of Aric in this issue. Of course, technically, “X-O Manowar” is the armor’s designation whether Aric’s in it or not, but that puts us pretty close to “splitting hairs” territory for the moment. However, as one reading both this and the Armor Hunters mini (the whole ‘event’ for that matter), I have no problem with it, and at worst would liken it to a Marvel event where an ongoing book suddenly becomes “background detail” for a separate “event book.”

I’d said about Armor Hunters #1 that it felt like an issue of this title, and this issue feels like it could be a standalone Armor Hunters issue–even a #1 for an ongoing or such. This issue shows us the “origin” of Malgam and Reebo’s involvement with the Armor Hunters. We find them in a bar seeking their next job, where they stumble across one no one else will touch. Reasoning that if they take on what no one else would they could quickly make a name for themselves, they take it on. Of course, things don’t go at all as they’d planned, and they find themselves in the fight of their lives–for their lives–against a lone Armor…a fight that leads THEM to being the ones in the position of crazy-story-tellers others would mock.

As said, this issue feels to me like it could easily have been a #1 issue of some ongoing Armor Hunters series: we’re introduced to a couple characters, given some context of what they’re about, presented with a challenge, and given an epilogue after that chellenge that leads into What Comes Next. In that regard this would have been a very good first issue, leaving me interested in reading the next in order TO find out what comes next.

As such, as a 26th issue of an ongoing series, it would be easy to say this is misplaced. But for my own background, that’s about all I’ll give on that.

The art for this issue is consistent, clear, and easy to follow. I actually enjoyed the visuals–credit to the entire art team–and never found myself distracted or taken out of the “reading experience” due to anything funky with the art. While Malgam looks different–younger and not yet in a partial/beat-up armor–Reebo is quite recognizable and while the name isn’t as familiar to me yet his appearance IS. Suffice it, then, to say that I liked the art and found no particular fault in it this issue.

The story is quite good, offering us an origin story of Reebo and Malgam AS Armor Hunters, showing their first encounter with an Armor and their introduction to the Armor Hunters group. Since I’m “all-in” with the Armor Hunters event, I have little particular interest in what title contains what story elements in general as long as it has some sort of relation to the overall AH saga. But then, even if one is attempting solely to read X-O Manowar, given that Armor Hunters comes out of this title and holds significant bearing on this title, I see no great problem with this story falling in this issue. While this contextualizes the Armor Hunters mini, I also do not figure it’s any far cry to suspect this will play into later events within X-O Manowar itself, despite Aric not even appearing in this issue.

Though the cover usually doesn’t hold much bearing on my buying an issue when it’s part of something I’m getting “anyway” or that’s on my pull-list…this has gotta be one of my favorite covers of this series, and quite iconic to me of the Armor Hunters event in general. There’s just something to this imagery–of the planet about to blow, the armor racing away, its wearer obviously not happy–that just totally fits for me. That this is a larger than usual image (being a wrap-around cover and all) adds to the whole, and is a nice ‘bonus’ for holding the standard $3.99 cover price. (The chromium edition cover is $2 more at $5.99).

While I’d had no real intention of buying any of the chromium editions after my disappointment in the chromium edition of Armor Hunters #1, I’d forgotten that I’d requested ’em with my local comic shop, so this is the 3rd of the 6 for me, so while the chromium aspect does not–for me–hold up to the quality and appearance of chromium covers from the 1990s, I’m gaining a grudging appreciation for these, in and of themselves.

I really enjoyed this issue on the whole, and while I’ll admit there’s something to be said for its freshness and simply being “the latest chapter,” I think I can safely say it’s one of my favorite issues of the series so far, and another great part of this Armor Hunters epic.

Readers seeking to avoid Armor Hunters will likely have a reasonable disappointment in this issue, while those picking this up BECAUSE of Armor Hunters should find this to be a great piece of the overall picture. While having read earlier X-O Manowar stuff and certainly Armor Hunters #1 will lend further context and significance to this issue, one really does not have to have read any previous issues of X-O Manowar to jump in with this issue if one has read Armor Hunters #1.

I’m very much looking forward to what we get in the next issue, as well as further tie-ins to the overall Armor Hunters event, thanks to this issue!

xomanowar026wraparound

Filed under: 2012, 2014, Armor Wars (event), Valiant, X-O Manowar | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Superman (2011) #32 [Review]

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Walt

Superman #32

Men of Tomorrow – Chapter One: Ulysses

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colorist: Laura Martin
Lettering: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Romita Jr., Janson, Martin
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

I wasn’t going to buy this issue. I’d been annoyed by the ads the last couple months, and wasn’t a fan of the art from previews…to say nothing of being annoyed AT the previews themselves (having never been a particular fan of the 5-page or so previews masquerading as chosen content in any given issue).

But at the shop, the coloring of the cover caught my attention: It’s not an image I recognized from the ads (the ads’ image I’d thought for SURE was the COVER IMAGE for this given its use all over the place!). While I’m not a fan of the linework, the image caught me–the red of the cape, the blue of the main suit, and maybe all the more, the orange and yellow background. It’s reminiscent of two VERY familiar covers in my mind: the Kryptonite Nevermore issue, and Adventures of Superman #497 from 1992.

Where usually the cover and art are not the primary influencing factor in my buying a comic, in this case, it definitely “sold” me on at least this issue alone.
I also quite like the fact that the visual style fits the interior; it sometimes feels like the covers can be a distinctly different thing, giving one impression while the interior is a completely different visual style.
I recall liking Romita‘s art some 12/13 years ago on Amazing Spider-Man, JMS‘ run, but as I’d noticed from the previews and now having been through the actual issue, I’m not terribly thrilled with the style with Superman. It’s certainly not bad–and loads better than anything I could ever dream of being able to draw myself–just that for this first issue it doesn’t fit with my preferred visual take on Superman (a la Dan Jurgens, Jim Lee, Ed Benes, to name a few). The art certainly does its job…I’m never really left wondering what’s going on, and there’s nothing that jars me out of the story scratching my head at anatomy or some other quirks that different artists’ styles sometimes have done to me. If you’re a fan of Romita‘s style, this would seem to be a solid example of that, except it’s with DC characters instead of Marvel.

While Janson‘s name sticks out quite a bit to me, I’m honestly not one that particularly consciously notices inking–linework tends to go together as one thing, with the penciller getting much of the credit. In this case, given just how recognizeable the art is to me as Romita’s style, I’d say the inking maintains the style, complimenting it quite well…it certainly doesn’t detract in any way I notice.

If I’m correctly recalling, the last time Johns came onto a Superman book was in Action Comics, beginning the Last Son arc with Donner, and I was none too thrilled with elements reintroduced to the Superman story during that run. I was also not all that thrilled with the Secret Origin arc and what THAT reintroduced.
However, this is an entirely different DC universe, an entirely different Superman, and as such, I’m along for the ride and whatever elements are brought in. I’ve not been particularly invested in the New 52 Superman, at this point having read barely 1/3 of the run.
Johns introduces us to Ulysses, a boy sent from his dying world by his parents to another place in the hopes that he would live…an origin quite parallel to that of Kal-El. Years later, Superman takes down Titano, a giant (mechanical) ape troubling Metropolis. Not long after, we spend some time at the Planet with Perry, Jimmy, and a visiting Clark. Perry offers to bring Kent back in, and offers a bit of a ‘speech’ that will surely impact the young reporter/blogger/super-hero. A new threat hits the city, and though Superman intervenes, it takes the intervention of a new  figure to temporarily resolve the issue, as the man believing himself to be the Last Son of Earth discovers he’s not nearly as alone as he’d thought.
Frankly, I don’t want to be interested. I don’t want another $3.99 book on my slate each month, especially with the title being what seems to me arbitrarily bumped to the higher price, when Superman started as a $2.99 book and Action Comics was the $3.99 book.
But Johns has done it–I’m interested in spite of myself. I may not be enthused with the art, but the story more than makes up for it. I haven’t a clue how LONG Johns will be on the book, and this strikes me as likely “graphic novel” fodder (without getting much into the issue of stories “written for the trade”) so it remains to be seen if I pick up the next issue.
I’m not ready to add this to my pull list by any means…but I’m not disappointed in having spent the $3.99 that I did, I’m interested in what comes next within the story, and it’s highly likely that if I don’t pick up the rest of this arc in single-issue format I’ll definitely look at picking up the inevitable hardback.

adventuresofsuperman497      superman233

superman0032

Filed under: 2014, DC, New 52, The, Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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