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Super-Blog Team Up: Immortal – TMNT & Highlander

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Walt

super_blog_teamup_immortal_header

One of my first thoughts on the topic of "Immortal" was Highlander…owing largely to a Queen song lyric: "I am immortal!" (continuing into "I have inside me blood of kings…I have no rival! No man can be my equal! Take me to the future of you all!"

And of course, IN Highlander, you have this tale of immortal beings who have lived among the mortal population secretly for centuries, no one knowing about them (except another group called The Watchers who observe the immortals but generally don’t interfere). So…Immortal. Check.

But in my participation with the SBTU, I’ve managed to go with TMNT stuff so far:

And as it so happens, in the current ongoing TMNT comics from IDW, the turtles and Splinter are the REINCARNATED Hamato Yoshi and his four sons, who originally lived and died in feudal Japan. And if they were reincarnated together once, nothing’s been obvious to indicate they couldn’t again, and if any of them were to be actually killed off in the comics, I’d imagine someone would note in-story that hopefully they’d meet again in the next lifetime…or some such. So, maybe not the same sort of immortal, but…check.

Still…what is "immortal?"

The dictionary definition–in this case, dictionary.com for ease of reference—IMMORTAL includes: "not mortal; not liable or subject to death; undying; remembered or celebrated through all time; not liable to perish or decay; imperishable; everlasting; perpetual; lasting; constant; of or relating to immortal beings or immortality; an immortal being; a person of enduring fame."

Much of my thought–my initial thoughts–with the word gravitates to Highlander, and that franchise’s use of the term; that the Highlanders (primarily Connor and Duncan Macleod–"Same clan, different vintage") and others of the series’ focus are "immortals."

That is, left to their own devices…they will live forever. They cannot die "naturally." But what keeps them from being gods; what keeps them fairly mortal-ish and relatable is the fact that their being "immortal" is basically a perpetual resurrection. They actually can be killed–albeit for a short while–but that’s in the physical, bodily sense. They physically die, but "get better" pretty quickly.

Sort of like Magic: The Gathering‘s planeswalker "spark," an immortal in the Highlander universe is born naturally, grows and ages naturally…and it takes an inciting event to "activate" their latent status. One who would be immortal must be killed violently to "activate" their immortality; else they will live, age, and die (permanently) a mortal.

Once activated, the way such an immortal can die permanently is by separating the head from the body. Other deaths don’t "stick." If an immortal is killed–their head separated from their body–and another immortal is present (and often, it is this immortal that removed said head from its body), the felled individual’s memories and essence is transferred to that other by way of "The Quickening." In that way, an immortal who has taken the head of numerous other immortals grows in strength and ability.

One of the "taglines" is "In the end, there can be only one." The immortals all come to learn of this notion; a prophecy of sorts; that by nature they are to battle one another until only one who remains, and to that individual goes "The Prize," which comes off to me (offhand) has a bit nebulous. But essentially, "The Prize" is a sort of godhood; and ostensibly this immortal would have the power/essence/etc of every other immortal from all history.

Highlander

Given it ran six seasons, much of the "Highlander Lore" as I think of it seems to have been expanded on throughout the tv series, though the "basics" were introduced in the original 1986 film.

highlander_dvds_filmsMy personal "head canon" slightly retcons the original film to mesh it with the tv series and excludes the 2nd and 3rd films. The fourth film sort of works in context with the tv series, coming after its conclusion, albeit not a perfect fit. The fifth film doesn’t really exist. And the 1994 animated series (Quentin MacLeod) and 2007 anime (Colin MacLeod) are just sorta out there, alternate realities or such.

The tv series follows Duncan MacLeod, and basically shows us his life in "present-day" (1990s) initially trying to live outside "The Game" (what the immortals call the active participation in killing one another and whittling their population down toward that one-in-the-end). He’s quickly brought back in, and then much of the series is (especially early-on) an "immortal-of-the-week" thing. Duncan in present-day, an immortal "villain" shows up, we get flashbacks to how Duncan’s crossed paths or otherwise has a "history" with that immortal, before (often) Duncan’s forced to take their head.

What always struck me was the exploration of someone who has lived hundreds of years living in present-day society…all that they’ve seen, all that’s changed in the world around them (all that they may have been part of as well)…and the perspective their immortality would bring them. Especially in terms of life, and lives, and phases of life. That one could live multiple "lifetimes" all over the world in varying situations over time.

And the way Duncan seemed to have this "history" with SO VERY MANY people who whatever they WERE to him, were not necessarily an active, regular part of his everyday 1990s life.

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And my thoughts would condense this down to what I could personally relate to, not actually being immortal…and all the more as I get older. So right now, 2019, that goes to the way I had friends and people I regularly interacted with in middle school, in high school, in college, in grad school, at a particular job.

Many–most–of these people may not be a regular part of my everyday life. But when our paths re-cross, it can be pleasant, or negative. Nostalgic or bittersweet. Even if I’ve not seen or talked to someone in 20 years, we had a time of life that we were a regular part of one another’s lives–say, in high school–so seeing them again would bring back memories, and though I may have never said one word about them to someone "newer" in my life now, it doesn’t change the importance of both people to my life.

TMNT 

I was introduced to the TMNT property in 1988 or 1989…it was after the cartoon had premiered, but ahead of the 1990 movie; and I recall that period where so many of the action figures were available (such as at Toys R Us) but the turtles themselves were nigh impossible to find. My own very first figure was a Rocksteady, as a result; and I recall "discovering" the villanous Slash because Dad spotted that one and it WAS a turtle…but not one of the main turtles. (And while I don’t recall if he bought it for me then and there or if I got the figure after, Slash is one of the original vintage TMNT figures I still own FROM when I was a kid. He is, however, re-outfitted with a 2017-acquired replacement belt).

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I quickly got into the TMNT–tv, comics, books, movies, the figures…big-time. This lasted til 1993/1994 or so, fading from all, down to the latter issues of the Archie TMNT series. While in that series’ run I had also found and gotten a few of the Mirage issues (including #50 and 51–the start of the original City At War story) I missed most of that, and then got the first issue of the "volume 2" series, but missed the rest of that run as well, and entirely missed the Image "volume 3" series until 2000/2001.

After several years "away," I got back into the TMNT with Peter Laird‘s second issue of "volume 4" showed up–I lucked across that, and happily enough, the comic shop (JC‘s in Toledo, OH) had a copy of #1 still available as well. I followed vol. 4 into the 2003 animated series, into the second volume of Tales of the TMNT, and while vol. 4 eventually lapsed, Tales continued. We also had the 2007 film. But then at the 25th anniversary year, Laird sold the property to Viacom, and for over a year (as I recall) there just simply was no TMNT. No cartoon, no comics.

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Though somewhere in there was TMNT Forever which brought the 2003 TMNT universe into contact with the 1980s’ TMNT universe, as well as touching on the various comics (primarily the original Mirage series). In its way, it was a sort of capstone to the first 25 years of the TMNT brand.

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Then in 2011, IDW launched their ongoing TMNT book (which is still going to this day–I believe #97 is out this week!) followed by Nickelodeon launching a new animated series in 2012, supported as "always" by a toyline from Playmates. That series ran til 2017 before (apparently, it seems to ME) being shelved in favor of a shift toward yet another new series, trying to reach a much younger audience with a Teen Titans Go style of animation in Rise of the TMNT.

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I’ve followed the IDW series for 96 issues so far–I’ve bought every issue of the series as a "new issue" since 2011’s #1, as well as all of the various one-shots, specials, annuals, and mini-series in that time. I’ve done that with no other comics series ever.

So the TMNT have been through a number of major iterations:

  • Mirage Comics (vols. 1, 2, & 4)
  • 1980s cartoon
  • Archie comics
  • 1990s films (loosely includes 2007 film)
  • Next Mutation live-action tv series
  • Image comics
  • 2003 cartoon
  • IDW comics
  • 2012 cartoon
  • 2014/2016 films
  • 2018 cartoon

That said, these don’t all line up exactly with one another; they’re not all strung one after another; there’s quite a bit of coexistence between versions. But I would say that to a certain degree, one could see them at their most "mainstream" by looking at their presence in the mass market toy aisles, which puts us (as of this typing) into the 4th (re?)incarnation (1980s/2003/2012/2018-present).

They’ve come through in different forms, making their own splash, and lasting. While none of the iterations have–in the mainstream–necessarily remained in a continuous "immortal" state, the rise/boom/fade cycle has enabled the general notion of the TMNT to survive, albeit living different lives down through time.

Highlander Memories

highlander_tpbsAs I’ve generally recalled it, I was introduced to Highlander in the summer of 1996–the summer after my freshman year of high school, ahead of sophomore year. I believe a friend had introduced me to the animated series, and talked about a live action series, that I then found in syndication on the USA network, I believe. When I found out new episodes were also airing–albeit around 11 at night on Saturdays–it wound up being something I got to share with my Dad, and became a regular thing for us for awhile: we’d watch Highlander, and sometimes whatever the show was that aired after it. And I’m sure that shared experience was one of the things that made it stick so much with me, and hold it as I do to this day.

Another important memory I have associated with the tv series is watching a couple episodes with friends back in 2005 or so after a Gen Con visit, as we assembled new miniatures we’d bought, an activity that lasted us a number of hours and episodes and movies but remains one of my favorite memories together.

Unlike TMNT, though, there’s not been much in the way of merchandise for Highlander…at least not affordably (for me). So it’s been more of a cerebral thing for me, and experiential thing…something that has mattered a great deal to me over the years, without having much to "show" for it.

highlander_novelsThere have been a couple of comics series over the years. Dynamite had the license for a short time, and I believe produced 12 issues and a mini-series, amounting to 4 TPB collections.

More recently, IDW published a 5-issue mini-series but I’m not aware of any further forthcoming Highlander comics (though I’d certainly be interested in more!)

I’m also aware of the property in games–there was a collectible card game at one point, and more recently some miniatures produced with at least two different games, though I’m not overly familiar with those.

And it seems like quite a few years now that there’s been a rumor of a reboot of the property…something I’m curious about and potentially interested in, for SOMEthing, though it’s seemed to me that the BEST of Highlander has been the tv series.

TMNT Memories

I have far more general memories with TMNT over the years; more than I can reasonably try to share in one blog post.

Whatever other toys and such I was into as a kid…it was TMNT that ruled them all. It was TMNT toys like Rocksteady that I even took to school to show off. It was the toy line I actually wanted the vehicles for–having at least the "Party Wagon" (van), the Blimp, and a "Pizza Thrower" that shot projectile pizza discs.

I remember "playing turtles" with my friend Zack for hours at a time as kids; between the two of us, having most of the figures available at the time (with plenty of overlap as well). And he had a Nintendo, and we often played the various TMNT games, particularly TMNT II: The Arcade Game when that came out. We’d even built our own playsets, and "customized" several of the figures. I especially recall our creating some sort of shirt for the barechested Shredder.

tmnt_dvds

I had the toys, storybooks, junior novels, the cereal, bedding, plush toys, the Burger King BK Kids Club edition of several of the VHS tapes, and so on.

And even as others drifted away from the property, parts stuck with me in such a way that I was easily "brought back" even as a college student and beyond.

Abrupt Concluding Thoughts

This feels like one of my least-organized blog posts. Perhaps I could have gone in-depth on the modern IDW TMNT series and details on the turtles and splinter as reincarnated entities. Perhaps some detailed synopsis of favorite Highlander episodes or specific memories of episodes of the series (Comes a Horseman particularly).

But I decided–and then backed myself into a corner time-wise–to be a bit more informal than I might otherwise have preferred. And though the comics are certainly parts of things, this is more of a general brain-dump with quasi-stream-of-conscious rambling, taking the topic "Immortal" and running with it.

If you’re reading this on my blog itself, you can type "Highlander" or "TMNT" into the search box up top and find the various posts I’ve written over the last 11-ish years and tagged with either term. Far more TMNT than Highlander, though…but you’ll find at least a review of Dynamite‘s Highlander #0 that I believe was originally published at cxPulp/Comixtreme back in the day.

Though my earliest TMNT toy pre-dates the 1990s…I’m still getting new ones! Below are my latest…TMNT Shadow Ninjas.

tmnt_newest_toys

(They’re intermixed with some other recent-ish toys and such!)

Super Blog Team-Up

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It’s been my privilege the last couple years to be part of the Super Blog Team-Up. As much as this is a blog "event" or "crossover" every now and then, the group has been a great community, with year-round nearly-daily discussion on topics related to comics and just about anything else as well as real-life topics.

It’s been a great group, brought together by shared interests, but everyone maintains their own views, topics, and so on.

For this outing, please check out these other fine blogs and podcasts as they cover their own topics from the "Immortal" heading!

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, Super-Blog Team-Up | Tagged: , , , , | 10 Comments »

The Weekly Haul: Weeks of March 13 & 20, 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Walt

Personal life once more got in the way of even a simple, weekly haul post…so here’s a double-up from the last couple weeks! As such this also includes some Walmart, Half-Price Books, and Mac’s Backs books!

Week of March 13, 2019

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New Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Twins.

I decided to try the new Transformers series. If IDW is rebooting the continuity and such and starting wholly fresh…fine, I’ll check stuff out. I’m not interested in following a ton of spin-offs and tie-ins or gigantic shared-universe stuff. But a contained universe, starting small, and seeing how much/if it grabs me…that I’m open for.

$4.99 for 100 pages of The Maxx is certainly worthwhile on principle…I’m more than happy to support such huge issues at great price points!

And speaking of…$7.99 for Annotated Marvels is still a great price and quite worthwhile to ME for my own nostalgia with the series. To get the cardstock covers, the reprint of the original issue (which I want to say–someone can correct me if I’m wrong–were $5.99 25 years ago) and the annotations for "only" $8 new is perfectly ok by me!

Then we (finally!) got the SECOND issue of the IDW Spider-Man series…I’d begun to think I’d flat-out MISSED this (and maybe the 3rd issue as well)! Not sure why it’d be so long since the previous issue, but it’s definitely something that if I miss an issue, that’d be that–I’m not gonna go way outta my way to hunt it down, but I’ll support it for several issues to check out and treat as its own relatively self-contained thing (I hope!)

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Then there were the release of the new issues of the six Walmart-exclusive (apparently only exclusive for a bit longer) 100-page Giants. I definitely dig the Superman cover most of all…the "iconic" Flash/Superman racing thing is quite nostalgic for me, going back to a 1989 issue of Adventures of Superman and its cover (which I eventually learned was itself an homage to a silver-age issue).

Though these are out, apparently there’s a "surprise" Detective Comics #1000 100-Page Giant due, but I’ve yet to find that one…and these six issues pictured above have probably been THE most spotty I’ve seen for the issues since last summer in availability–like the vendor cleared out all the previous stock and is only sparingly stocking these.

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Along with the Walmart comics, Half-Price Books had another one of their week-long sales via coupons, with Monday & Tuesday 20%-off-one-item coupons, Wednesday & Thursday 30%, Friday & Saturday 40%, and Sunday 50%-off coupons. I went to HPB on the Friday and snagged these Dragonlance novels.

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On the Saturday, I was in the area and visited a used-books store called Mac’s Backs, and scored a couple of Highlander novels I was missing, as well as 3 of the early Myth books by Robert Asprin.

I also visited another HPB location and wound up getting a pack of Justice League: New Frontier figures with a comic…alas, I neglected to get a photo of it, so perhaps that’ll be another post later.

Week of March 20, 2019

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Batman, Nightwing, and Naomi hit this week. The Batman issue is probably THE most disappointing issue I’ve read in ages–VIRTUALLY a "silent" issue that can be flipped through in moments and summed up as "Batman chases someone, and the identity might be a surprise." It includes a scene that references the Batman/Elmer Fudd issue from a couple years ago if you know what you’re looking at…but that’s hardly worth $3.99 on its own!

TMNT has its 92nd issue–we’re a "mere" 8 issues away from the first-ever TMNT #100 at this point! The new issue of Criminal is out. And I was juuuuust curious enough about Spider-Man: Life Story to get it…and it’s by far THE single best Marvel comic I’ve read in ages! A lotta personal stuff to it with personal nostalgia and such, but even so…I’d highly recommend it despite the $4.99 price!

I gave in on some "hype" over the Immortal Hulk issue and decided to check it out…it’s #15, and it’s the first Hulk comic I’ve bought as a new issue in YEARS and it wasn’t actually all that bad. It has be curious about the series, and maybe I’ll check it out via Marvel Unlimited…and maybe I’ll get the next issue. We’ll see.

Finally, the IDW iteration of Avengers has its 3rd issue–now an issue ahead of Spider-Man despite starting after that one.

weeklyhaul_20190320b

And since I was getting a splash of Marvel and didn’t hate the Captain Marvel movie, snagged the preview thing of CM stuff. And the usual Comic Shop News stuff with a spring 2019 preview I may or may not actually page through.

Depending on what personal life holds, I’ll hopefully "catch up" and actually get stuff posted for several other recent acquisitions in the toys-arena…as well as some new shelving arrangements.

And though I’ve been saying it for years now, perhaps this spring I’ll actually, finally get around to a full showing-off of my "comic cave." Though the space has come to resemble a cramped comics/dvds/games/toys store.

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of June 28, 2017 (part two)

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Walt

The weekly haul became a massive weekend haul due to logistics! I already posted about the books I got, since I didn’t have "regular comics" to pick up this week. Though I neglected to recall how many I had had pulled and would be picking up…plus some bargains!

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While I’ve yet to sit down to actually READ any of these, I’m absolutely very much behind the $1.50 price point Alterna is able to achieve with these"newsprint" comics! (And actually, The Chair was only $1!) I believe these are basically serialized versions of previously-published graphic novels…but for the price, I’m all for it…and I love the corner-box stuff for nostalgia and whatnot. THIS is the way "legacy" and "nostalgia" SHOULD run, while being "new" and different and all that. For "only" $1.50/issue, if the thing sucks, it’s still a small investment and I won’t feel cheated the way I would at a Marvel issue costing me nearly three times what one of these cost!

weeklyhaul_06282017d

Granted, Marvel does the occasional wave of $1 issues…but these are reprints of prior issues, and only a "first" issue, without the subsequent issues. Still, for the $1 price point, I like getting these True Believers issues, regardless of whether or not I already have the original or a prior reprint.

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Given it seemed everyone sold out quickly of Batman/Elmer Fudd I’m quite glad I requested the issue be pulled ahead of time. Newest Superman comic in Action Comics this week; the halfway issue of the Kamandi Challenge, the 275th (!) issue of Spawn, and I believe the final issue (#12!) of Aliens: Defiance (the longest Aliens series ever, I believe, though at least one Aliens vs. Predator series in the ’90s ran about 12).

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IDW was a big splash this week with two new TMNT issues for me (though I could not swear as to whether or not both shipped this week or not!); the conclusion of the Highlander mini-series, and "trying" two new #1s in Kull Eternal and Clue (cuz hey, really…a comic about the board game? And there was a movie in the ’90s? I’ll bite…)

weeklyhaul_06282017f

Quite unexpectedly and on top of the massive new-issues haul, I found a bunch of issues in the 50-cent bins that grabbed my attention. A couple of Untold Tales of Spider-Man, 3 of 4 issues of Mars Attacks Savage Dragon that seems amusing enough, and a couple shiny issues in The Ray and Shadowman #0 (along with the non-shiny variant).

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Then a handful of Magnus Robot Fighter issues from the Acclaim run. I may already have some of these, may not…for 50 cents, I figured I’d snag ’em anyway.

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Then the gem of these: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #s 18-36! Quite a run of the title from when Supergirl joined the book (I believe #18 was the first) and whether or not #36 was the last issue, that’ still a good 19-issue run to add to the collection!

weeklyhaul_06282017i

Also quite unexpected was a 90%-off bin of trades. For mostly under $2 each (I think the Thor volume was $3.50!) I was happy to snag a bunch: much lengthier than a 20-page single issue, and at mostly half the price OF a standard single issue! Even the more expensive one was still less than a standard new issue!

The primary drawback was that yeah, everything individually was a great bargain-price (aside from the new issues)…but man, did they add up fast! This would’ve been a hefty haul even before the new issues…added together, the "sticker shock" led me to cancel a couple of other stops I was going to make. I’d spent quite enough, and that was that!

Now we’re on to (in the U.S.) a weird sort of "holiday" week, where (for me) there is NOT an "extended weekend," but rather coming off a "regular" 2 day weekend, I work Monday, have a day off Tuesday for the holiday, and back to work Wednesday through Friday.

Fun stuff, no?

As usual…hopefully the coming week’s new issues will be a smaller bunch. I have a lot more reading to catch up on than I’ve gotten done lately, which is starting to get a bit into the realm of the ridiculous, unfortunately!

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Weekend Haul – Weekend of June 2-4 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Walt

While everyone else is covering Wonder Woman‘s opening weekend (I saw the film and thought it was fantastic, far more enjoyable and such than Man of Steel or Batman v Superman, and above Suicide Squad) I’m gonna continue on for now. Maybe I’ll write up lengthier, more in-depth thoughts, maybe not.

Prior to seeing the film, I made it to Kenmore to pick up my pulls, and after earlier in the day seeing a staff photo with the statues in the background (and still annoyed that someone bought the Robin statue I had intended to buy a week or two before I went to buy it) I opted to splurge big-time (for me) on this Superman statue.

superman_icons_statue_00

This is my first statue, at least as I’d consider stuff to be statues. I suppose the Super Powers Robin and Super Powers Superman that I have might be considered some sort of statue, but I don’t count ’em as such.

The box for this Icon Heroes Superman says "collectible statue paperweight" and I don’t quite get where "paperweight" comes in, but whatever. This is larger than any other Superman I’ve yet got, heavier, and has a base, and is very much a statue in my book!

superman_icons_statue_01

Though the face is a bit generic, and the "S" seems to be more New 52 to me offhand than not, it works (and the costume is more the classic–including the trunks!). I like the pose, and the "movement" of the cape…that it’s not just "flat" hanging off him.

superman_icons_statue_02

The "detail" of the yellow S on the back of the cape doesn’t seem to be a sticker, but does not seem to be "painted" on…probably some sort of transfer. No bother, though–it looks good to me!

weeklyhaul_05312017b

Comics-wise, had Letter 44, Highlander: The American Dream, and TMNT Universe on my pulls, and couldn’t remember if I’d had Aliens: Dead Orbit but managed to grab that from the shelf. And seeing this other Spawn cover (an updated take on the classic, original #1 issue cover), I bought it to pair with one of my copies of the original first issue for my wall. I’m treating it functionally like buying a small print, and not as a variant cover; regardless of nitpicking on words, though–it’s going to be displayed and not just simply be filed into some box o’ variants or such.

weeklyhaul_05312017c

I also snagged the Wonder Woman Day issues–a reprint of the first issue of the Rebirth run, and a chapter of SuperHero Girls: Summer Olympus. (Then on Saturday, I also snagged the cardboard tiara and bracers for a friend’s daughter from Comic Heaven along with an extra copy of the comics to go with ’em.)

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I spent a whopping $1 from the 25-cent bins on a couple older comics–The Flash and Brave and the Bold, then a ’90s Justice League Quarterly and the newsstand edition of Batman #500.

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Attending the Lake Effect Comic Con on Sunday, I completed my (now-vintage) original set of TMNT: City at War for the same price as some Marvel contemporary #1 issues. And got the X-Men Forever 2 volumes as a 3/$10 deal.

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I also snagged this Marvel Treasury Edition of Superman and Spider-Man for a whopping $5.

This is a bit of a "novelty" for me–I believe the only other "treasury" type issues I have are far more recent–a reprint of GI Joe #1 a friend gave me, and an IDW edition of TMNT #50.

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I got this Batman at a Barnes and Noble, and a Wolverine I had ordered arrived.

While at the Lake Effect Comic Con, I found a dealer than had a large selection of these Pop! figures…but they all seemed to be marked up quite high–far above anything I was willing to pay. I feel "vindicated" (so to speak) on having ordered this Wolverine, and I bought the Batman in a foolish sort of passive-spite, being able to get it at a "regular" price.

Overall, an extremely expensive weekend, particularly with some other stuff I’d ordered (and forgot about).

Here’s hoping this week’s new comics are another very light load!

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of May 24th, 2017 (part two)

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Walt

I ordered The Untold Legend of the Batman vintage mmpb via Amazon last week.

What arrived is considerably more beaten and battered than the condition described in the 3rd-party listing…for which I solidly blame Amazon itself and its disgustingly-shoddy packaging! (and which was FOLDED to jam into a mailbox rather than being BOXED so that it could actually be protected in shipping).

untold_legend_of_the_batman_mmpb

But having this at all now re-unites a two-book Batman set from my youth:

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These were two key books for me as a kid in informing my knowledge of Batman and illustrating some of the villains and whatnot (as well as being BOOKS and not JUST single-issue comics!).

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Meanwhile, Half-Price Books was doing a 20% off sale, and I made it to a location I hadn’t been to in a couple months, and after being horrified at a $250 pricetag on an X-Men hardcover, and outrageous extreme-prices on a couple other hardcovers, I opted to "complete" my Batman Eternal paperbacks collection. I already had vol. 1, and snagged vols. 2-3. Now I’m just missing Batman and Robin Eternal vol. 2 from the 5-volume run of the two series!

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I also found six vintage Highlander mmpb novels and figured that–for the price of 3-4 Marvel comics, I’d pull the trigger on them. I know I’d owned Scimitar at some point and possibly one of the others (can’t remember which) but never in the past had this many of the books!

I snagged some other stuff this weekend as well, but I’ll cover that in another post, as my phone is presently busy transferring almost 90gb of photos to backup! (And this post is itself rather late, all things considered!)

Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Some Thoughts On the Week’s Comics (Week of April 19th, 2017)

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Walt

This week involved a lot more comics than previous recent weeks…and of course, that meant a higher quantity of immediate-reads, too. As I’ve been doing the last few weeks, since I’m not getting to full-on single-issue reviews, I’m just offering some of my immediate thoughts related to given issues, even if it’s more meta-textual than about the actual issue.

Batman #21

batman(2016)_0021I’ve been looking forward to this issue for months. Though I’m a good 19 issues behind in READING the title, I had no real problem jumping in…this feels sort of like checking in on a tv show that typically has a lot of slow episodes, where I can jump in after awhile and know I have missed stuff, but not have any trouble coming up to speed with the current episode I’m actually watching.

Essentially, it seems Batman is finally ready or able to "get serious" about this button he found waaaay back in DC Universe: Rebirth #1.

However, he faces an unusual threat over the course of the one minute it takes Barry to get to the Batcave.

For a detailed synopsis and coverage of the issue, check out Chris Sheehan‘s review at his blog, Chris is on Infinite Earths.

This seemed to be more action than substance to me…but darn was it pretty to look at! (Despite the physical violence). I got the "lenticular" cover–quasi-3-D with a shift from Batman to Flash; though I really dig the standard cover, too! This is one of VERY few issues that have seemed actually WORTH a $3.99 cover price (the "enhanced cover" justifies the cost, much as such covers did in the ’90s.) Also AS an "enhanced" cover, where it’s basically still the same image as the standard cover (except the standard one does a "splitscreen" thing), it’s not "just" slapping another artist’s stock image on the thing to sell more issues. It’s a story that looks to be central to the throughline of Rebirth in general, and thus–with ’90s logic–is ok with me to have this as an extra cover, where I do NOT care for variants in general.

I’m very much looking forward to the next few issues of the story, and really hope the Flash issues hold up to the visual quality and story quality of this issue…if not delving deeper story-wise!

Superman #21

superman(2016)_0021I’m much more interested in Superman Reborn: Aftermath stuff right now, so this Black Dawn stuff isn’t really doing it for me. Despite that, I’m actually enjoying the heck out of this title in its own way, especially with Batman and Damian guest-starring, seeing Damian and Jon interacting, and the whole "family element" that seems strong in this title.

We get some development of stuff with the Kents’ neighbors, we get to see the Super Sons in action along with Superman, and even have a returning element from the beginning of this iteration of the Superman book.

I’m sorta anxious to get along to the "back to Metropolis" stuff that I believe is coming up…but at the same time, I’m glad that it wasn’t something that was "just there because now it’s always been there" with zero explanation except that it’s how it is.

I’m wondering what developments are going to mean for certain supporting cast characters that I was starting to like with the pre-Reborn status quo, and hope they get handled well/believably, as roughly 20 issues seems far too short a time for their presence.

I’m quite enjoying the character-sharing going on, and that even without having read the main Batman book or most other titles lately, I still get a dose of them here.

As good as this title’s been…even a less-than-thrilling issue of Superman still beats the heck outta most other titles out there for me!

Highlander: The American Dream #3

highlander_american_dream_0003I was not sure what to expect from this series, and in a way, still don’t. But I actually read #s 2 & 3 back to back, and I’m enjoying it. I think I’d much prefer this as a full singular story than issue-sized chunks, but it’s cool reading Highlander again, and really feeling this is a solid prequel to the original film.

The art feels rather "off"–if I was just looking at this, I would not recognize Connor MacLeod as himself…he doesn’t really look to me like he does as portrayed in the films, in whatever time he’s shown. I get more of a Casablanca Humphrey Bogart vibe here than I do Connor MacLeod or Christopher Lambert.

Story-wise, though, this holds the feel of the original film’s continuity and does not feel like it strays into the tv series’ continuity. In this case, I’m liking that. I like(d) the tv series quite a bit, but it seemingly "retconning" the films is one thing…this holding to them is a welcome change…especially on the understanding/assumption that this is a limited series, hence the subtitle The American Dream.

Whatever the case, this far in, I’m pretty much "stuck" with the singles, now, barring a full-blown double-dipping. Given the price of IDW‘s collected volumes, though, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. All the more with having no idea if they’ll hold the Highlander license long enough or "bother to" put out enough for any significant collection(s). I do definitely look forward to the next issue(s), though I’m tempted to stockpile ’em til the 6th issue to read all at once.

Spawn #272

spawn_0272This is my 16th issue (17 if we count the Spawn Kills Everyone #1 from last year when there seemed to be a delay) keeping up with this title…doubling my prior "longest run" with the title.

This is, though, a title where I’d be hard pressed to really summarize an issue, or retain many character names "consciously," though I’m getting to occasionally recognize characters in the title.

But I’m enjoying the series enough and able to follow along each issue pretty well–or well enough–and so I stick with it.

Of course, with this not being a "favorite" or anything, if they manage to annoy me with variants or a price increase straight from current $2.99 to $3.99 or such, I’ll almost surely drop it cold-turkey. At the same time, I’m kinda hoping to just stick with it to #300…though that’s a good 2 years (at least) away.

Time will tell, but between "jumping in" around #257 and just sticking with it, along with the $2.99 price point when so many others have climbed on to $3.99, this is a welcome monthly-ish title to me. I also greatly appreciate the high number, as it is now THE highest-legitimately-numbered series out there, as far as Marvel/DC/Image/Archie and such go (and excluding the iffy-ness of some of the Disney titles that have not been in constant ongoing production).

It’s nice having an assortment of titles from an assortment of publishers to go through in a given week. Also to have shorter, weekly, compact "event" stories that are "just" crossovers between titles, and not full-blown separate mini-series with tie-in mini-series and entire tie-in story arcs in other titles [The Button]. I’m certainly looking forward to the next chapter of that, as well as the next issue of Action Comics, and figure we’re due for new TMNT stuff.

That said…looking forward to a considerably smaller week as far as new issues at full price go!

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Filed under: 2017 Non-Review Posts, 2017 Posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of April 19th, 2017

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Walt

Much as expected, this was a huge week for me, in quantity of NEW comics, in PRICE, and having looked forward to stuff in general!

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I’ve been looking forward to The Button for months now, pretty much since it was announced, and to finally have the first chapter leaves me anxious for the next, now!

I had not even realized that I missed an issue of Highlander; so I believe NOW I’m actually caught up. And I decided to try the Riverdale Digest #1 half thinking it was going to be original material. Nope…it reprints the first issues of several of the "new" Archie titles. For $6, not a bad thing…and I’d be happy to pay $6 on a continuing monthly basis for a digest like this cycling through "monthly" issues of each series it contains! (Beats the heck outta $3.99 for one issue, and wading through two-DOZEN variant covers!)

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I’m WAAAAAY behind on READING Letter 44, but haven’t wanted to give the title up. Of course, I just found out that it apparently will be ending at #35 in July…so hopefully life will be such that I’ll be able to dedicate some serious reading time to re-read what issues I actually HAVE read, and then on through the whole run!

I’m definitely into the "habit" or "groove" of following Spawn, though I’ve no clue where it’s going or whatnot. As long as it stays at $2.99, I’ll probably keep up. However, it’s one that I definitely WILL drop on principle if it jumps to $3.99! The price point is one of its high selling points for me, and what helped get me onto it over a year ago.

Despite being quarter-bin fodder, I snagged a number of these True Believers editions/reprints of key X-Men premiere issues. Though I’m sorta (morbidly) amused at having paid $1 for the X-Men "Blue" issue, considering how many copies I have of it, and that I’ve bought copies of the "deluxe" edition (that this reprint’s cover is a panel from) just to rip the cover off as a poster.

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I also raided the bargain bins…though I found a lot more in an expanded 50-cent bin than the 25-cent bin that I was interested in. Knowing I’m already looking to fill in some 49-50 issues of Action Comics and nearly as many Superman as-is from the New 52 era, I figured with these issues of Superman Unchained, I think now I just need to snag #9 to have the whole series.

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Then there were some 25-cent issues of Detective Comics; at least 2 of which I don’t think I already had.

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And continuing my general trend…I’m happy to get ’90s Marvel comics from bargain bins. 50 cents on these, though I know I already had the Marvels issue, and 99% certain I already had the Amazing Fantasy 16-18 run. Still, for the convenience and all, and the four issues combined being still only HALF the price of a contemporary issue, not bad.

It’s also proving to be an interesting week with a convergence of release dates and such for several things I’d pre-ordered and/or had on my "radar" that I finally realized were out!

Definitely hoping next week will be a lot smaller at least price-wise, but we’ll see!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 22, 2017

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Walt

This week in comics is probably my most expensive in awhile…or at least, it sure feels like it! But then, multiple $3.99 issues and two $4.99s will do that! (Ugh!)

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Actually, the only $2.99 of the week was Action Comics. I’ve been looking forward to Highlander for awhile, though other than knowing that there was a new (mini?) series coming, and something giving me the notion it’s a prequel to the original film, I know virtually nothing about it yet. I’m giving Curse Words and Kamandi Challenge a second issue, and of course, keeping up with the Prometheus/Aliens/Predator/AvP: Life and Death arc. And with TMNT being just about my favorite property, a bit eager on that new issue despite the price point (again, with TMNT remaining my conscious exception to pricing that’d put me off of other properties).

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And a second-for-the-week $4.99 TMNT book in the "Director’s Cut" of Batman/TMNT Adventures #1. I knew I’d ultimately regret it if I didn’t get the thing…and rather than waste time/money later in extra-hunting to get it, figured I’d just nip that right in the bud (so to speak).

And then the Dr. Strange keychain and Outcast #25 were "free" bonuses at the shop (along with a full-size Dr. Strange movie poster that I may photograph later once framed!).

Next step is getting stuff actually read!

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Highlander #0 [Review]

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Average
Story Title: Untitled

Russell Nash–AKA Connor MacLeod–gets called into events springing from the death of the Kurgan, tying his story in to the Chernobyl disaster.

highlander000 Writers: Brandon Jerwa, Michael Avon Oeming
Artist: Lee Moder
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Letters: Simon Bowland
Cover Art: Gabriele Dell’Otto
Special Thanks to: David Abramowitz, Peter Davis, Sharon Jenings
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

For as much as I consider myself a Highlander fan, my first reaction to this is not quite knowing what’s going on. I’m sure there are nuances I’m not picking up on, or missing, for not having recently watched the original film, nor knowing exactly what sort of continuity this is, given the confusing "continuity versions" throughout the Highlander universe: Movie, TV Series, Cartoon, Endgame…

This zero-issue takes place shortly after the events of the original Highlander film, and sets us up to see that there may have been more to the struggle between Connor and the Kurgan than was let on. I’m not familiar with the other characters offhand, and the flashbacks–assuming that’s what they were–left me confused, not entirely certain if they’re flashbacks or what.

However, I think this might need to be approached both from the angle of one approaching a new tv series–things and characters may be shown that don’t make much sense yet, but will later on, and a later re-reading will let the earliest chapters make far more sense in context of what’s discovered as the arc progresses. This should probably also be approached with the realization that it’s based out of a story two decades old, a core that has seen multiple different continuities sprung from it.

I’m most familiar with Duncan MacLeod–the starring character of the live-action Highlander: The Series. However, through watching the original Highlander film several times the last few years and seeing/reading things discussing how great that film was, I’ve been swayed a bit to have a further interest in Connor.

All that said, this series seems geared to the Connor MacLeod fans, who want more of the character than just the trilogy of films, a guest-star role in a tv-series and a debatable role in a fourth film.
The art seems to work well for the issue, though it doesn’t feel overly detailed–which is NOT a bad thing. Everything’s clear and visually not hard to see what’s going on–confusion there comes simply from not knowing certain characters and such terribly well. Visually, we get a Russell Nash/Connor Macleod that is recognizeably based on Christopher Lambert, but given his own "feel."

Having been excited about this series since it was first announced (last year?), I may be judging this a little too harshly for "just a zero issue." After all, this is just a 12-page introduction, for a single shiny quarter (U.S.), and doesn’t begin to have room to flesh much of anything out or get into any meat of a story. It’s a definite teaser, showing us a couple characters that presumably will be focii in the series itself, and teases the motivation for what the story itself presumably entails.

Perhaps just from looking at it in solicitation/advertising materials so much, the Dell’Otto cover is an awesome Highlander image–if there’s not a poster, there should be one with this image. We get a nice, iconic image of Connor and the Kurgan; the two ready to enter combat, all divided by Connor and The Quickening.
This probably has the most appeal for Highlander fans who’ve been into things for awhile, but certainly doesn’t rule out new readers. There’s a lot that’s steeped in Highlander continuity, but at the same time, one has to start somewhere, and should quickly be able to pick up on things. Again, 12 pages is hardly enough to truly judge any story–or creative team–on.

If you’re a fan of Jerwa (former writer on G.I. Joe) and/or Oeming (Thor: Disassembled/Ragnarok, Stormbreaker: Saga of Beta Ray Bill) or just Highlander in general, for a mere quarter this is NOT one issue to miss (plus, there’s a 5-page Lone Ranger preview and ads for other Dynamite books).

We’ll see how things go once the series proper begins–I anticipate enjoying that more than this preview issue.

Ratings:

Story: 2.5/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews, Highlander (Dynamite), INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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