Not Another Great Escape...Really. No Escape.

Again, I fail to entertain the masses. There will be no Great Escape today, folks.

Sorry.

The shop is closed.

"No soup for you."

(And yes. That will be the only reference to that show on this blog.)

New Comics - August 29, 2007

Cover of the Week:
Countdown #35 by J.G. Jones
DC Comics

I’d been missing those weekly covers by Jones on last year’s 52. It’s nice to see his work up on the stands again. While not always the most exciting of covers, they are composed flawlessly. Everything from where the figures are placed to the colors used is perfect. If I could do art half as well as this, I’d be very, very happy.

This is a weekly list of the new comics I picked up at my local comic book shop, Mayhem Comics.

Amazons Attack! #6
Countdown #35
Wonder Woman #12
Five of a Kind: Wonder Woman and Grace #1
Batman Annual #26
Countdown to Adventure #1
Teen Titans #50
Local #10

Tangent Comics vol. 1 (TPB)

Watch for my opinion of this week’s comics in Comic Thoughts as soon as I finish the stack.

New Media - August 28, 2007

New media arrives in stores on Tuesdays, so once a week – I try to limit myself to once a week – I go shopping for new books, DVDs, and music.

Here’s a taste of what has been added to my collection in the past week.

Books:
Patriot Acts by Greg Rucka [Whoo! Favorite Author!]
Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston

DVDs:
Heroes: Season 1 (TV series)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Look for these materials to join The Stacks in the near future. Some might even sneak by The Stacks and end up mentioned here before you know it.

The Stacks - August 27, 2007

The Stacks, a weekly list of all I’m currently reading, or watching on DVD. New materials added are underlined.

Books:
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
The Dark Tower (Dark Tower book 7) by Stephen King
Nightwatch by Sergei Lukayaneko
On Writing by Stephen King
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories by Amy Hempel
Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton
I, California by Stacey Grenrock Woods
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
Bite by Richard Laymon
His Dark Materials – Book III: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Spook Country by William Gibson

Magazines:
Paste issue 32, June 2007
Corel Painter: Official Magazine #5

DVDs:
The X-Files: Season 6 (TV series)
Weeds: Season 1 (TV series)
Deadwood: Season 3 (TV series)
Futurama: Season 2 (TV series)
Black Snake Moan
The Replacement Killers
Spawn: The Animated Collection (TV series)
300
Rome: Season 1 (TV series)

Comics:
Blood: A Tale (TPB)
The Other Side (GN)
Beyond! (TPB)
Pearls Before Swine: Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! by Stephan Pastis (Treasury)
Grendel Archives (TPB)
Grendel: Devil by the Deed (TPB)
Alan Moore’s Complete WildC.A.T.S (TPB)
Fallen Angel vol. 1: To Serve In Heaven (TPB)

Look for reviews/thoughts of selected materials from The Stacks…when I finish something. Anything.

Comic Thoughts - Week of August 22, 2007

Short bursts of thought about comics I purchased and read the week of August 22, 2007. I have fallen so far behind that I am shortening my thoughts until I catch up on my new comics. I’ll simply rate the comics based on the writing and the art with the following scale:

Fantastic – Great – Good – Average – Mediocre – Poor

Birds of Prey #109:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Great

Countdown #36:
Writing – Good
Art – Average

Blue Beetle #18:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Green Arrow: Year One #4:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Batman #668:
Writing – Great
Art – Fantastic

Five of a Kind: Metamorpho and Aquaman #1:
Writing – Good
Art – Fantastic

The Immortal Iron Fist #8:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

And with that, I am current with my weekly comics. This week is shaping up to be sort of busy, so I may continue with these brief notes for another week. Thanks for the patience.

Comic Thoughts - Week of August 15, 2007

Short bursts of thought about comics I purchased and read the week of August 15, 2007. I have fallen so far behind that I am shortening my thoughts until I catch up on my new comics. I’ll simply rate the comics based on the writing and the art with the following scale:

Fantastic – Great – Good – Average – Mediocre – Poor

Amazons Attack! #5:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

Countdown #37:
Writing – Good
Art – Great

Catwoman #70:
Writing – Great
Art – Great

Black Canary #4:
Writing – Good
Art – Mediocre

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #55:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

Shadowpact #16:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

Robin #165:
Writing – Good
Art – Great

Five of a Kind: Thunder and Martian Manhunter #1:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

Checkmate #17:
Writing – Great
Art – Good

Casanova #8:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Booster Gold #1:
Writing – Wow! Fantastic
Art – Old-school Fantastic

Killing Girl #1:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Justice League of America #12:
Writing – Great
Art – Great

The Flash #231:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Shrinking the Pile - August 24, 2007

pile (pil) n. 1. informal A large accumulation or quantity. 2. A whole lot of Josh – more than necessary, or healthy. (American Heritage Dictionary)

Shrinking the Pile is a record of my attempt to become a more healthy dude by losing a large accumulation of weight through exercise and a healthy diet.
---
Weight last week: 247 lbs
Weight this week: 244 lbs
Change of: -3 lbs

Whoops! I fell asleep last night before I was going to make this post. My bad.

This is another week where I didn’t exercise or watch what I ate. I think the reason I’m still seeing some weight loss is because I’m not snacking constantly throughout the day. I’ve been eating only my three squares because of being busy at work. This might only work for a few more weeks – at most – so I better get started with that pile shrinking plan of attack: walking, running, dieting, weight lifting, and biking.
---
Rat: It’s called “Box Me In.” I will sell them a cardboard box and tell them to shove themselves inside it until they see results.
Goat: That’s ridiculous.
Box Me In insert: A few days after sealing the box, you will become hungry. DO NOT BE AFRAID. The box is WORKING!
(Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis)

Trapped! for Another Week

I am trapped again, not free to escape. Depending on the amount of work I have this weekend, I'll try get some of the escapes typed up ahead of time so that I can simply post them on Thursdays instead of skipping this feature all together.

Again, I'm sorry that I do not have an adventure for today. Thanks for being patient.

New Comics - August 22, 2007

Cover of the Week:
Zombies vs. Robots (HC) by Ashley Wood
IDW Publishing

Ashley Wood’s art and style have always fascinated me. And with a title like Zombies vs. Robots, it was a no-brainer of a choice. It’s an amazingly huge hardcover comic. I especially like the little crying baby the robot is holding in his hand. This was a purchase I hadn’t anticipated, but it was simply too cool a book to pass up. This was actually a great week for covers: Scott Morse had an art book released; Countdown #36 and Batman #668 also had nice cover art.

This is a weekly list of the new comics I picked up at my local comic book shop, Mayhem Comics.

Birds of Prey #109
Countdown #36
Blue Beetle #18
Five of a Kind: Metamorpho and Aquaman #1
Green Arrow: Year One #4
Batman #668
The Immortal Iron Fist #8

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus vol. 2 (TPB)
Ultimate Spiderman vol. 17: Clone Saga (TPB)
Scrap Mettle: Fast Art by Scott Morse (HC)
Zombies vs. Robots (HC)

Watch for my opinion of this week’s comics in Comic Thoughts as soon as I finish the stack.

New Media - August 21, 2007

New media arrives in stores on Tuesdays, so once a week – I try to limit myself to once a week – I go shopping for new books, DVDs, and music.

Here’s a taste of what has been added to my collection in the past week.

Books:
The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell

Comics:
Fallen Angel vol. 1: To Serve In Heaven (TPB)

DVDs:
Serenity: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition
House: Season 3 (TV series)
Dexter: Season 1 (TV series)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Collection
Galaxy Quest
The Rocketeer
Tremors: Attack Pack (1-4)

Look for these materials to join The Stacks in the near future. Some might even sneak by The Stacks and end up mentioned here before you know it.

The Stacks - August 20, 2007

Whoops! I completely forgot to post this yesterday when I was posting everything else. Sorry about that.

The Stacks, a weekly list of all I’m currently reading, or watching on DVD. New materials added are underlined.

Books:
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
The Dark Tower (Dark Tower book 7) by Stephen King
Nightwatch by Sergei Lukayaneko
On Writing by Stephen King
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories by Amy Hempel
Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton
I, California by Stacey Grenrock Woods
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
Bite by Richard Laymon
His Dark Materials – Book III: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Spook Country by William Gibson

Magazines:
Paste issue 32, June 2007
Corel Painter: Official Magazine #5

DVDs:
The X-Files: Season 6 (TV series)
Weeds: Season 1 (TV series)
Deadwood: Season 3 (TV series)
Futurama: Season 2 (TV series)
Black Snake Moan
The Replacement Killers
Spawn: The Animated Collection (TV series)
300
Rome: Season 1 (TV series)

Comics:
Blood: A Tale (TPB)
The Other Side (GN)
Beyond! (TPB)
Pearls Before Swine: Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! by Stephan Pastis (Treasury)
Grendel Archives (TPB)
Grendel: Devil by the Deed (TPB)
Alan Moore’s Complete WildC.A.T.S (TPB)
Fallen Angel vol. 1: To Serve In Heaven (TPB)

Look for reviews/thoughts of selected materials from The Stacks…when I finish something. Anything.

Long Live the Super Friends

Isn't this the cutest little toy you've ever seen? It was so adorable I simply couldn't pass up buying it.

This the DC Super Friends Green Lantern toy from Mattel's new line of kid-friendly action figures. I found mine at Target for around $9.

So very, very cool.

A Townhome of My Own

The townhome developer signed off on my purchase agreement today! I am now the new owner of a townhome of my own.

Granted, it will mean I now live a tight life, but at least I do so in a bit of style. It's a very nice home, indeed.

I'm off to deal with the mortgage Thursday after work. It's just a meeting to go over my financing. It should all be good.

Yay! A home.

Comic Thoughts - Week of August 8, 2007

Short bursts of thought about comics I purchased and read the week of August 8, 2007. I have fallen so far behind that I am shortening my thoughts until I catch up on my new comics. I’ll simply rate the comics based on the writing and the art with the following scale:

Fantastic – Great – Good – Average – Mediocre – Poor

Batman #667:
Writing – Fantastic
Art – Fantastic

Countdown #38:
Writing – Great
Art – Good

Green Arrow: Year One #3:
Writing – Great
Art – Fantastic

Black Adam #1:
Writing – Good
Art – Great

Punisher War Journal #10:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

The Incredible Hulk #109:
Writing – Good
Art – Great

X-Factor #22:
Writing – Great
Art – Great

Five of a Kind: Katana and Shazam #1:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

The New Avengers #33:
Writing – Great
Art – Fantastic

Comic Thoughts - Week of August 1, 2007

Short bursts of thought about comics I purchased and read the week of August 1, 2007. I have fallen so far behind that I am shortening my thoughts until I catch up on my new comics. I’ll simply rate the comics based on the writing and the art with the following scale:

Fantastic – Great – Good – Average – Mediocre – Poor

Justice League Unlimited #36:
Writing – Good
Art – Average

Countdown #39:
Writing – Great
Art – Good

She-Hulk #20:
Writing – Great
Art – Good

Nightwing #135:
Writing – Good
Art – Average

Black Canary #3:
Writing – Good
Art – Great

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #7:
Writing – Great
Art – Fantastic

World War Hulk #3:
Writing – Great
Art – Great

Five of a Kind: Nightwing and Captain Boomerang, Jr. #1:
Writing – Good
Art – Good

Justice Society of America #8:
Writing – Good
Art – Good