Ultraamann

Doesn't really bother me much since I didn't have any use for Statesman in either of his incarnations, but to go out to a complete unknown D-Lister without even getting off a punch or a lightning strike or some eye beams...

Maybe its good that he got put down, cuz man, thats like Lebron James in the fourth quarter of a Finals game level embarrassing.

...or did anyone else find Statesman's death to be rather paltry and ignominious? For the face of the franchise, the signature character, he kinda went out with a whimper...

Good turnout to start 2012! Got things started off right with 3 Pallys for the ceremonial Stomping of Something Bigger Than You. Couple of ITF teams, a mission team, a DFB team. Great to see everyone as usual, even though I couldn't stay long.

Too many tankers? Pffft... does one go to a bar and say "oh, I'm sorry, you have TOO much good scotch here." or go to a strip club and say "oh I'm sorry, there are just TOO many boobs here." No! And thus it is with tankers. There is no such thing as too many.

Another great Tanker Tuesday last night. After the ceremonial Stomping of Something Bigger Than You (a Pally and a poor random Eochai), we headed off for even more stomping. Very good turnout last night. I think we had a full ITF team, a full respec team, and two full mission teams running. I got to run with some old-timers like me (Dinah, Pep, Kilo), and put some nice levels on my wee SR/StJ. Thanks for coming out every one (and thanks to Witty for picking up the reins and organizing)

Stryker Was Right...

"I'll take Least Heard Phrases in the History of Mankind for $600, Alex"

Mike Judge making fun of MTV's programming. Yeah, this is gonna be pure gold...

Very fun contest. ACE's zombie MJ was an absolute riot.

I'm mainly just tired of these "epic" event mini-series, that go on way too long, and spread too far out in various crossovers for books. I don't need the Civil War/Secret Invasion/Siege/Fear Itself logo stamped onto every damn Avengers book, and half the damn X-Books every month for seven months. Its getting ridiculous.

What I find really annoying is this constant need to manufacture these event comics. Let's decide on a huge event, then figure out how to shoehorn all of our comics into it! Yeah, thats a brilliant idea. I remember when the real event comics just grew naturally out of the stories that were being told. They weren't EVENTS for any other reason than that the story being told was that damn good. The Kree/Skrull War in the Avengers, The Hellfire Club/Dark Phoenix saga in Uncanny X-Men, Byrne's Fantastic Four run, Simonson's Thor run, Wolfman/Perez on New Teen Titans, I could go on and on.

All of those were epic stories that were done solely within the bounds of the single monthly book that they were working on. They didn't need to cross over into nineteen other series, didn't require a separate special mini-series so you'd know this was supposed to be huge. They became events because they were just that good. You didn't want to miss an issue. THAT is what irks me most about comics right now. Stop with these giant, pre-planned, bloated, endless, momentum crushing events and just turn your best creators loose on things and let them tell good stories. Those are what will be remembered in the end.

Giant-Size X-Men #1, in remarkably good condition, which I found in an estate sale that my dad was overseeing when I was a teenager. I about had a heart attack, because they had ZERO idea what it was.

My whole early "new" X-Men collection from GS1, and then 94 up into the 120s has a special place for me. Not just because they are some amazing and ground-breaking stories, but because I first got hooked on the X-Men just at the start of the Hellfire Club/Dark Phoenix story, and then I HAD to go find all the stuff that came before it.

This was the early 80's, well before e-bay, online comics stores, etc, so there was a lot of time spent cajoling my mom into taking me to this or that comic shop, hitting the San Diego ComicCon waaaaaay before it became the monster it is today (i genuinely miss the grimy, kind of back room geekiness of the con in the old days), and using every ounce of my allowance and youthful enthusiasm to fill out my run. Finding GS #1 was just the cap to the whole thing.

Zombie U-Mann is all ready to roll. Should be fun to see what people come up with for this.

Personally, I'm a bit disappointed in Taylor. If I was the first one there, I'd have been out stealing me a dinosaur egg, hiding out safe in my bunker until that thing hatched, then I'd raise that little sucker as my personal pet and ride. Once it was full-grown, we would be out kicking *** all over the place. Forget those silly rover vehicles. I'd be out riding a freaking Tyrannosaurus like a horse, with one of those big *** sonic-cannons mounted on the front of my saddle, with a dual laser cannon headpiece slipped over Dino's head, so everywhere he turns to look, we're blowing **** up. Then let's see about the Sixers and their little cars...

http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/parade_071402.html

That link is one of my favorite discussions on the topic.

Particularly this section:

Yeah, this show would do well to ditch the focus on the kids. I could see if you were aiming for a "family" type audience, but let's be frank, that's really NOT who's going to be interested in a show like this.

The kids are just horrible cliches anyway. We've got:

1- Angsty, petulant, semi-rebellious son who happens to be a musical talent. Check.
2- Super genius science nerd girl. Check.
3- Mega-cute youngest daughter. Check. Plus, since she's a third (nice Ender's Game ripoff by the way), and technically isnt supposed to exist, I'm just waiting for her to develop some kind of super powers, some unique tie to the Terra Nova world or creatures that no one else has. That would pretty much complete the trifecta.

This show has potential, and some pretty decent leads. They would be well-served by sticking to a more adult, action-related show, since they have some good roots laid down for quality conflict.

I enjoyed it very much. The Wolfman/Perez Titans run has always been among the highlights of my comic collection. They make a wonderful team, even 30 years later, and they know how to tell a great story.

That's something that all the rebooting and refreshing in the world can't help. When you have the right writer and the right artist handling the right characters at the right time, you get magic out of it.

To paraphrase the illustrious Groucho Marx, I wouldn't join any super-group that would have someone like me as a member.

Seriously though, the Pillars rock.

Welcome back Cim. Always good to see returning faces.

Three words: Not my DCU.

I'm sure they'll pick up some new readers. But, I know for a fact that they've alienated a great many other long-time readers and buyers. I've glanced through the new issues as they've come out, and seen a handful that were good (that's mostly due to having a good writer/artist combination, not to any "reboot"), but many more that barely even resemble the characters I knew and followed.

I have yet to spend a dime on the DCnU, and don't see that changing in the foreseeable future.

Enjoyed the first episode. Got a kind of Quantum Leap-ish vibe from it, though with a much more kick-*** problem solver. They set it up well, leaving lots of dangling lines to pick up on, such as the loss of Cavaziel's relationship, why Finch limps, and just what is going to happen when someone in the government clues into what they're doing, because you know they will. I'll keep watching.

If i ever actually hear someone say "shipper" in real life in that context, I swear by God and sunny Jesus, I'm going to punch them in the brain.

Ah, I had forgotten how much I missed crazy Walter. Good to have him back.

Interesting concept, but given Fox's track record, I don't see this series having a long life.

Without having seen the series, I do have one fundamental issue with it. Other than wanting to have dinosaurs on the show, and steal all the Jurassic Park-y vibe that they can, why on earth would you jump back 85 million years to "restart" human society? Did they completely forget that if the dinosaurs are still there, then that means that the extinction level event that wiped them out hasn't occured yet. Which of course means that any new society they do manage to create will be wiped out as well, completely negating the entire point of their return to the past. Plus, the world would change so much physically in 85 million years even without any such event, that it would render their jump back through time moot.

Why would they not instead jump back say 10-15 thousand years, or at least something a HELL of a lot closer to the "dawn" of human civilization, where the world pretty much resembles the world they already know, and try to pick things up from there?

Anyway, thats just my pre-show nitpick. They may explain it completely when the show airs, but it just seemed kind of silly to me.

No. F**k Exalted. Even the name is ridiculous.