A Post!

So I managed to type up 8 “reviews”(and I'll explain the quotation marks in a few...) at work earlier today/last night. But here's the thing, I was pretty bare-bones with the actual reviewing due to, you know, limited time and only having an hour and not having the comics on hand and such. I also won't be able to post any scans for said comics, due to the fact that I didn't have my scanner with me at work. I MIGHT try to scan every comic I read and then just do a post(or two) of scans towards the end of the week(on one of my two days off), but we'll see how it goes. Consider the reviews I post later on today(say in about 12 hours) the beta test for what the blog will look like going forward. Naturally, comments and recommendations are appreciated on the upcoming reviews, as I'll use them to try to continue testing things out until I'm happy with what I post. That's it for me, the sun is out, therefore I have to go to sleep. Until later, Vampire X out.

The Great Comic Depression?

Okay, I just polished off my final review of the week and I have to admit, it was much better than I had expected. But still, it only came away with a 7, which is, by my loose definition, an average comic book. That 7 actually got me thinking about how lackluster this year has been for me comic-wise... So far in 2012 I've given out ONE perfect score. We're almost 1/4 of the way through the year and that's it. At this rate I'll have given out 4 perfect scores by year's end, which would make my decision for Favorite Single Issue of the Year really easy at my year end awards, but would cap an incredibly depressing year! Since I was off from work today and had some extra time on my hands(and am a huge numbers nerd...), I decided to compare 2011 and 2012, through March 27... In 2011 I reviewed 173 new comics through March 27th. In 2012 I reviewed 167 new books through the same date, so the numbers are pretty similar. However, in 2011 I handed out 7 perfect scores during that timespan(an issue of Children's Crusade, two issues of Captain America: Man Out of Time, Hawkeye: Blindspot #1, two issues of Captain America and an issue of Batgirl), as opposed to the aforementioned one in '12(Avengers Academy #27). So what's the difference? Is it me? Have I become more critical of the books I read? Is it the comics themselves? Are they just not up to par this year? Are the comic companies waiting until the spring/summer to bring out their really good books? Is it the fact that I'm reading less mini-series now than I did then? Four of those seven perfect scores from 2011 were mini-series... Is it some combination of those reasons? Something different? I really don't know what it is... Before I go any further here, I do want to say that I've read a lot of damn good books this year. I have handed out a fair share of 9's and 9 1/2's, so I have read a lot of great books, just not a lot of “perfect” books... I guess I'll finish this post with a question... Is it just me? Have you also noticed the quality of the books you've been reading lately to have been slightly more disappointing than last year at around this time? Eh, it's probably just me... Anyway, until tomorrow and New Comic Day(as well as hopefully 7 perfect scores!), X out.





And now, in the grand tradition of DC, here are some previously posted scans of Batman beating up Dick Grayson! What, if it's good enough for DC, it's good enough for me!

MIA.

Old X is going to be kind of MIA for the next few days... In other words, I probably won't be able to respond to comments in my regular expedient fashion... On top of that, I'm going to forgo my regular reviews for some super-brisk reviews. You'll know I'm busting out one of my quickie reviews by the titles of the posts. So, I will continue to get “reviews”(and I use that in the loosest definition possible) up, but other than that, at least until Sunday, my appearances around here may be sparse. But hey, as I always say, half-assed reviews are better than no reviews at all! X out.

X's Official Pull List Post! Take Two!

Since I have some extra time on my hands and felt like doing a second post tonight, I figured I'd fill you guys in on what good ol' X's pull list looks like. You see, back in September when the DC reboot occurred I did a post where I listed every single ongoing series I was picking up at the time. It was a way to let people know what to expect to see here on the blog. However, in the four months since I posted that list, my pull list has REALLY changed up... So for kicks let's go ALLLLL the way back to September of 2011(I know, that was ages ago!!) and see what's still on my list, what's not, and why. As always, feel free to let me know what you guys are getting/enjoying/what you think I should add to my own pull list. First things first, let's see what stayed the same...

Marvel:
Amazing Spider-Man
Avengers
Avengers Academy
Daken: Dark Wolverine(although this one's getting canceled soon)
Deadpool
Invincible Iron Man
Journey Into Mystery
Mighty Thor
New Mutants
Secret Avengers
Thunderbolts
Uncanny X-Force
Venom
X-Factor
Wolverine
Ultimate X-Men
Daredevil
Captain America
Captain America and Bucky

DC:
Batman
Batman and Robin
Nightwing
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Green Lantern: New Guardians
Voodoo
I, Vampire
Justice League Dark
Teen Titans
Grifter
Stormwatch
Superboy
Supergirl
Hellblazer(Vertigo)

Image:
Invincible
Morning Glories

Boom!:
Irredeemable

Next, let's see which comic books I dropped in the past few months, and why...

Marvel:
Iron Man 2.0- Canceled.
Uncanny X-Men- I just couldn't bear reading about Lord Summers and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants anymore!
X-23- This series just didn't do it for me, and I guess I wasn't alone as it's since been canceled.
X-Men- I like Victor Gischler and all, but $4 was just too much for this series.
Heroes for Hire- Canceled.
Ultimates- Just too confusing for me... Plus the $4 price tag didn't help.
Ultimate Spider-Man- I wasn't paying $4 to read ANOTHER Bendis series!
Generation Hope- After one issue I remembered how much I hated Our Lord and Savior Hope and as such re-dropped this series...
Incredible Hulk- This was another one that was dropped due to it's $4 price.

DC:
Detective Comics- Tony Daniel can't write a coherent comic book, in MY opinion, to save his life. That's why I dropped a series I never expected to drop.
Batman: The Dark Knight- Yeah, once I saw One-Face I knew this one was headed towards the scrapheap!
Catwoman- I was never able to get into this series.
Static Shock- This comic did a horrible job introducing Static Shock to a new comic book audience... It's no surprise it's being canceled.
Legion of Superheroes- This series wasn't even rebooted! That's why I dropped it! It just continued on like Flashpoint never happened!!
Legion Lost- I actually enjoyed this series, but it didn't seem like the type of series that was going to have a long shelf-life
Deathstroke- Two words: Rob Liefeld.
Suicide Squad- I was never able to form a connection to any of the characters in this one. Solid story, boring characters.
Superman- The first issue was just terrible... Plus I don't like Bad-Ass Superman.
Action Comics- See above, but add “and confusing” after the word terrible.
Wonder Woman- I hardly knew who most of the characters were....
Fables(Vertigo)- I was only picking this up for my sister. She said to drop it, it got dropped.

So there are the books I dropped and why, now let's take a gander at the comic books I've added...

Marvel:
Wolverine and the X-Men
Defenders
Winter Soldier
X-Men Legacy
Avengers Assemble

DC:
American Vampire(Vertigo)
... And that's it... Ouch...

Image:
Saga
Thief of Thieves
Hell Yeah
Whispers
Fatale

And now for the fun part, adding everything up! Back in September I was picking up 55 ongoing series. Now? That number is down to 47. Back in September I was picking up 26 Marvel books, 26 DC books, 2 Image books and one Boom! book. Now? I'm picking up 24 Marvel books, 15 DC books(OUCH!), 7 Image books and one Boom! book. So obviously the big winner in the battle for my money is Image, while DC is the HUGE loser. Damn, I can't believe I dropped 11 DC comic books! I am legitimately surprised by that. But then again, the reboot made it REALLY easy for somebody like me, who has been collecting DC books for about 4 years or so, to drop that many titles. Sure, it may have been a good jumping on point for new fans, but it was a great jumping off point for older fans! As for Marvel, I stayed basically the same, although I'd probably have more Marvel books on my pull list if they weren't double shipping and pricing so many of their titles at $4.

Now, let's look into the crystal ball and predict what my pull list will look like 6 months from now... I'm not expecting any more changes to my DC list. The titles I'm currently reading are probably safe, and I don't expect to add any DC books going forward. Marvel is funny, because I'll probably start picking up more of their books during the summer due to the Avengers vs X-Men event. The question is whether or not I'll KEEP picking up those extra books AFTER the AvX event is through... With Marvel's annoying sales tactics(the double shipping in particular), I don't see myself adding all that many more Marvel books. If anything, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Marvel number fall just a tad due to cancellations or high prices. And that brings us to Image and the other third party publishers... I can seriously see myself picking up even more books from that group. For the most part the price is right(almost all of the third party publishers price their books at a reasonable $3), which should lead to me trying out more titles. I'd much rather try out a $3 comic and hate it than try out a $4 comic and hate it... Which is something Marvel doesn't seem to get... Well, this was a fun little waste of time! As I stated before, feel free to drop me a comment or e-mail(at xman75@gmail.com) telling me which books you pick up and why. That'll do it for tonight, until tomorrow, and New Comic Day, X out!

It begins...

All I'm gonna say is I am very pleased that Grifter and Voodoo survived... For now...

"Men of War, Mister Terrific, O.M.A.C., Hawk and Dove, Blackhawks and Static Shock are all coming to a close, with DC editor-in-chief Bob Harras quoted as saying, "These characters' stories will continue. It's all part of that world building we're very keen on here."

Source: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-new-52-new-titles-120112.html

As for the new series DC is putting out? I won't be picking up any of them.

The return of the Retro-Reviews!

Yep, you read this post's title correctly, since I've already finished up my new comic books this week, I get to do something that I hardly ever get the opportunity to do here at the blog, post some back issue reviews! See, besides my new comics, I usually read a good 20 or so back issues every week. On top of that, I have a comic collection that HAS to be well over 20,000 singles and trades by this point. In other words, I have A LOT of back issues laying around my place! Unfortunately, I can't review those back issues here on the blog due to time constraints... There are only so many hours in the day, and I can't spend all of them blogging... Yet. However, I CAN pull out some back issues and give them reviews since my new comics are out of the way! So until Wednesday I'll be pumping out Retro-Reviews in the place of my regular reviews, four a night, starting tonight. Same sucky reviews, but with older comics! Kick back and enjoy the trip through comic book history. Who knows, if these go over well, maybe I'll make them a staple here at the blog. Until later, X out.

A good question...

Hey, here's a great conversation starter from Alien!

"mm off topic..

What do yopu think about this and what would be your proposal?

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-marvel-crossover-picks-110914.html"

Oooo, fun!! I do love those Marvel vs DC questions! Out of all of these ideas, I'd spend the most money to see the Avengers take on Darkseid. Now I'll happily pick who I would see winning!

10)Iron Man over Sinestro. I'm sure Tony could easily use sonics or something to break Sinestro's concentration and then smack him around.

9) I love the Skull as a villain, but WW would trounce him!

8) Wow, this is a REALLY tough one... I'd probably give Brainiac a SLIGHT edge over the FF.

7) I'd go Thanos over the Green Lanterns, no matter which GL you pick. Hell, Thanos could probably beat a whole mess of GL's at the same time!

6) THIS would be the story I'd most want to read. I'd go with the Avengers if only because I've seen Supes defeat Darkseid, so I'm sure Thor and company could as well.

5) Yipes, I honestly don't know... I guess I'd go with the JL simply because Bats would probably figure out a way to convince Galactus to leave.

4) I love Lex, but there's no way he's beating Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men. Wolvie would be Lex's Kryptonite.

3) Batman in a few seconds.

2) I've gotta think Spidey can take Joker.

1) I'd say Doom would squash Supes like a bug! Doom is a terrible villain for Supes to take on. Not only is Doom as smart as Lex, he's a master sorcerer, and we all know how weak Supes is against magic...

So I'm going Marvel 6-DC 4, even though there are a few that are almost too close to call(FF vs Brainiac, GLs vs Thanos & JL vs Galactus). But those are my thoughts, feel free to add your own thoughts in the comment section.

X's Official Pull List post!

Hey all, X here with one of those, “I don't really have anything to post...” posts! With no new comics left in my pile, I've been happily sifting through my plethora of unread back issues, which is funny in a way since so many of my unread DC back issues hold zero interest for me now... I mean I had like the first 25 issues of Supergirl, the full JSA Classified run, most of the JLA Classified run, the GLC mini-series that tied into the main series, as well as some other books that I actually put away even though I never read them, all thanks to the great DC Reboot of '11. It's hard to work up interest in the stories from the 1990's and 2000's since DC has basically said the stuff from those time periods(unless written by Grant Morrison of Johns the Destroyer) don't matter. So yeah, I put those comics in boxes and put them away in the closet unread. It's sad in a way...

Anyway, with the DC reboot upon us, I figured I'd list all of the comic books I collect on a monthly basis, Marvel, DC or other, so you guys can get some idea of what you can expect to see here on the blog during the coming weeks and months.

Let's start with Marvel:
Amazing Spider-Man
Avengers
Avengers Academy
Daken: Dark Wolverine
Deadpool
Invincible Iron Man
Iron Man 2.0
Journey Into Mystery
Mighty Thor
New Mutants
Secret Avengers
Thunderbolts
Uncanny X-Force
Uncanny X-Men
Venom
X-23
X-Factor
X-Men
Heroes for Hire
Wolverine
Ultimate X-Men
Ultimates
Ultimate Spider-Man
Daredevil
Captain America
Captain America and Bucky

These are the rebooted DC books I'll be getting:
Detective Comics
Batman
Batman and Robin
Batman: The Dark Knight
Catwoman
Nightwing
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Green Lantern: New Guardians
Voodoo
I, Vampire
Justice League Dark
Static Shock
Teen Titans
Legion of Superheroes
Legion Lost
Grifter
Deathstroke
Stormwatch
Suicide Squad
Superboy
Supergirl
Superman
Action Comics
Wonder Woman
Hellblazer(Vertigo)
Fables(Vertigo)

Closing things out are two Image comics:
Invincible
Morning Glories

And one Boom! Title
Irredeemable

So that's 55 regular monthly series, not counting the various mini-series and assorted spur of the moment pick-ups. So yes, that's a lot of comics, and that's not counting books like Wolverine and the X-Men or Generation Hope that I'll be picking up/restarting down the road. On the plus side, I will be dropping some books soon(like Uncanny X-Men), and most of those DC books will be on a VERY short leash. The rebooted DC titles are interesting in that I WON'T be picking up ANYTHING that isn't on that initial list(there's no chance in Hell I'll start collecting Flash, JL, JLI, Aquaman, GL, etc) no matter what I hear about the other books, but I WILL be willing to drop comics after two issues... Honestly, out of the DC books, the only titles I never see myself dropping are the Batman family of books(all the main Bat-titles plus Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood), Action Comics, Superman, Superboy, Stormwatch, Grifter, Teen Titans and Justice League Dark. All of those other titles could be lopped off the pull list come October/November depending on story quality. So come November, there's a chance I'll have halved my DC pull list if things go REALLY bad, which is a distinct possibility with THAT company...

So there you have it, a post about pretty much nothing that only took me a couple of minutes to type up. Feel free to drop me any comments on which comics you pick up monthly or go ahead and recommend some comics to me. Trust me, it doesn't take a lot of convincing to get me to start collecting comic books! Or hell, drop me a random comic comment or e-mail me at xman75@gmail.com and leave me a comment or post topic idea for tomorrow... As it stands right now I MAY post a review of some sort or I MAY just post some random comic scans come tomorrow, but I can be swayed to do something else. Well, that's it for me tonight, enjoy the rest of your night/day/whatever. Until next time, X out!

Let's Talk About... The DC Reboot!

Hey X-Maniacs, I think it's time for me to do something I really hate doing... You guys don't know how hard this is for me... *sigh* Okay, here it is... I was wrong. Yep, your humble servant, comic book malefactor and Shaman to ALL Mutantkind was wrong... I erred. What brought this on? What am I talking about? What did I do? This post from the end of May is the problem... I'll admit, when I typed my So Long to DC post, I was angry and did something that's never that smart a move... I posted my reaction to the DC reboot before ANY real information came out. All I saw was, “DC rebooting entire company, all issues starting over at #1, All Hail Saint Barry Allen” and naturally was incensed. But then DC started to release their new books in drips and drabs, and I've got to say, when I saw some of the titles, I was intrigued. Hell, intrigued isn't the right word... Some of these books look so good I was practically doing backflips! See, THIS is why I don't have a Twitter account... Because you say something on the spur of the moment like I did last week, and then you can't take it back!

So now that I'm interested in the DC reboot, I figured it was time for a nice long post on the subject. And here we are. I headed over to the DC blog and went through it, typing down the new comics as well as who'd be writing each one. What I'll do for this post is list each book, and then give it one of three marks... Yes, which means I'll be adding this comic to my pull list, Maybe, which means I'll pick up the first issue, and No, which means there's NO way in HELL I'll be getting it. I'll also give a short reason as to why I made each decision... At the end of it all I'll throw in a few closing thoughts, and we'll call it a wrap. Okay, let's get this show on the road!

1) Justice League #1: Geoff Johns. NO! If I see Chairman Johns name on the cover, there's NO way I'm picking it up. Plain and simple.

2) Wonder Woman #1: Brian Azzarello. Maybe. I've stuck with Wonder Woman through one of her worst storylines EVER(The Odyssey stuff), I'll at least give this series a shot.

3) Aquaman #1: Geoff Johns. No. Yeah, the Chairman Johns rule applies here...

4) Flash #1: Francis Manapul. No. If this was Wally West in the Flash costume, I'd be picking this up no matter WHO was writing it. But I'm sure it's Saint Barry, so no deal.

5) Fury of Firestorm #1: Gail Simone & Ethan Van Sciver. No. Meh. I didn't care for Firestorm in Brightest Day, why would I pick this up?

6) Savage Hawkman #1: Tony Daniel. No. I've hated Daniel's Batman work, so there's no way I'd be picking THIS one up!

7) Green Arrow #1: JT Krul. Maybe. That's a very shaky maybe actually. I'm really on the fence with this one. I think the Oliver Queen character has run it's course, and I'm actually a fan of Ollie! It's way past time for a new GA(Connor Hawke anyone?).

8) Justice League International #1: Dan Jurgens. No. Since it'll probably be tied closely to Chairman Johns' Justice League title, I'm not interested.

9) Mister Terrific #1: Eric Wallace. No. Wow, Mr. Terrific has his own series... That's... unexpected...

10) Captain Atom #1: JT Krul. No. Wow, Capt. Atom has his own series?! That's just plain bizarre!

11) DC Universe Presents #1: Various. No. I'm not really interested in reading about a mess of c-list characters who weren't good enough to score their own books.

12) Green Lantern #1: Geoff Johns. No. As with the others, the Chairman Johns rule is in effect here.

13) Green Lantern Corps #1: Peter Tomasi. No/Maybe... I'm totally conflicted about this one... On one hand I'm sick and tired of Guy Gardner's stale act, but on the other hand I've always been a fan of John Stewart... This might be a spur of the moment pick up at the comic shop...

14) Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1: Tony Bedard. Yes. It's written by Tony Bedard, one of the few writers left in DC I still like, and it stars Kyle Rayner. The premise sounds terrible, but with Bedard and Kyle, I HAVE to buy it...

15) Red Lanterns #1: Peter Milligan. No. It just sounds too one dimensional to me. I've never thought any of the Red Lantern characters were interesting enough to carry an entire series.

16) Batman #1: Scott Snyder. Yes. It's Batman. 'Nuff said.

17) Detective Comics #1: Tony Daniel. Yes... I hate Daniel's writing, but it's Detective Comics... I can't rationalize NOT buying it...

18) Batman & Robin #1: Peter Tomasi. Yes. It's Batman. AND Damian! So yeah, this is a definite buy for me.

19) Batman: The Dark Knight #1: David Finch. Yes. With Finch writing and doing the art, I don't expect this to actually be on time, but it'll be on my pull list.

20) Batwoman #1: JH Williams III. No. I still haven't read the Batwoman stories that ran in Detective a while back, so it makes no sense picking this up.

21) Batgirl #1: Gail Simone. No. If this was Stephanie Brown in the Batgirl role, then it's an EASY yes. But I refuse to buy this comic with Barbara Gordon in the lead. I HATE the idea that Babs isn't going to be Oracle anymore...

22) Catwoman #1: Judd Winick. Yes. If it was any other writer, this would be a firm maybe. But I trust Winick enough to add this one right to my pull list.

23) Birds of Prey #1: Duane Swiercynski. No. Sorry, but not even Black Canary is enough to get me to give this one a try.

24) Nightwing #1: Kyle Higgins. Yes. It's Dick Grayson. Of course I'm getting it.

25) Red Hood and the Outlaws #1: Scott Lobdell. YES!! THIS is the comic that made me realize I couldn't leave DC! Jason Todd AND Roy Harper? On a team together?! That's pretty much a dream come true for me!

26) Batwing #1: Judd Winick. No. I may really enjoy Winick's writing, but even I have my limits...

27) Voodoo #1: Ron Marz. Yes. My sister is recommending this one to me, and I ALWAYS listen to her recommendations.

28) I, Vampire #1: Josh Fialkov. No/Maybe. I don't really WANT to buy this one, but if I hear enough good things about it, I COULD be swayed.

29) Resurrection Man #1: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. No. I love Abnett and Lanning, but this series looks really bad...

30) Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #1: Jeff Lemire. No. What the hell was DC thinking with THIS title?!?

31) Demon Knights #1: Paul Cornell. No. If this series was set in the present, maybe. But set in the Middle Ages? Nope.

32) Animal Man #1: Jeff Lemire. No. Sorry, I've never been a fan of Animal Man, and I don't expect to become one now.

33) Justice League Dark #1: Peter Milligan. Yes. John Constantine's on the team? Count me in!

34) Swamp Thing #1: Scott Snyder. No. After the whole Brightest Day fiasco, I never want to see Swamp Thing again...

35) Hawk & Dove #1: Sterling Gates. NO! First of all, it's about Hawk and Dove... Add the fact that Rob Liefeld is drawing it(or trying to draw it...), and this just has EPIC FAIL written ALL over it!!!

36) Static Shock #1: John Rozum & Scott McDaniel. Maybe. Eh, I'll at least give this one a chance.

37) Teen Titans #1: Scott Lobdell. Yes. Tim Drake, Bart Allen and Superboy? Of COURSE I'm there!

38) Legion of Superheroes #1: Paul Levitz. No. After the way DC treated the Threeboot Legion, I'm not getting attached to any Legion ever again...

39) Legion Lost #1: Fabian Nicieza. No. Same reasons as with the Legion of Superheroes series apply here.

40) OMAC #1: Dan Didio. NO!!! My god, I'll NEVER read anything written by Didio! Horrible...

41) Grifter #1: Nathan Edmondson. Yes. This is another book recommended by my sister.

42) Deathstroke #1: Kyle Higgins. Maybe. I'll give this one a shot...

43) All-Star Western #1: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. No. Don't care about western stories. Never did.

44) Men of War #1: Ivan Brandon. No. Meh.

45) Blackhawks #1: Mike Costa. No. Once again, meh.

46) Stormwatch #1: Paul Cornell. Yes. Yet again, my sister recommended this one, so I'll be getting it.

47) Suicide Squad #1: Adam Glass. Maybe. I'll give this series one chance. If the first issue is decent, I'm on board. If not, adios!

48) Blue Beetle #1: Tony Bedard. No! I can't believe they're going to let Barbara Gordon walk again, but not bring back Ted Kord... I'll never read a Blue Beetle comic starring the horribly annoying Jaime Reyes.

49) Superboy #1: Scott Lobdell. Yes. What can I say, I've always been a fan of Superboy. Although I see DC is testing me with this weird, “Robot Superboy” stuff I've been seeing...

50) Supergirl #1: Michael Green and Mike Johnson. Maybe. The writers of this series are the only reason I'm giving this series a shot, because that Supergirl costume looks flat out awful...

51) Superman #1: George Perez. Yes. It's Superman... How couldn't I buy it?

52) Action Comics #1: Grant Morrison. Yes. Once again, it's Superman, but this time it's written by Grant Morrison... That means it'll either be great, or a train wreck of epic proportions... Either way, I'm there!

There we go. All 52 DC series, as well as my insignificant thoughts on each title. So all in all I'll be collecting 16 of these comics, and giving 8 a try... So that means I plan on picking up 24 of these comics... Jeez, that's almost half of the 52 right there... That's pretty bad for somebody who swore off DC a little over a week ago. There you have it X-Maniacs, the end of my gala DC post. If you feel like sharing, let me know which of these titles you're most looking forward to/plan on buying. Until next time, X out.

A quick update and a legitimate excuse!

So two nights ago I posted that I wanted to do a few reviews, and that I'd try to have them up by Wednesday night. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men... See, I'm currently halfway finished with my summer Spanish course(only 11 days and 3 more tests to go!), and while I've been doing GREAT(so far I've gotten a 94%, 98% and a 96% on my first three tests!), the current topic is REALLY tough. For those of you who have taken some Spanish classes, I'm dealing with the preterite and imperfect tenses, and when each should be used. Going into this course, my professor warned us all that this would easily be the toughest topic, and it sure as hell is! It took me a good hour and a half to just do the homework, and then I spent an extra hour or so trying to study this stuff. So what this all means is that with the test on Thursday, there's NO way I'm going to be able to get any posts up until Thursday night at the absolute earliest, with sometime Friday being way more likely. Sorry, but getting an “A” in this class is more important then comics. Trust me, that line surprises me too! :-) I'll still make sure to check the blog out nightly to respond to any comments you guys leave, as well as frequenting my favorite blogs, but don't expect to see any substantial new material up until after I'm done with this test. I'll throw up a VERY quick New Comic Day post on Wednesday, but expect it to be pretty brief, since I should be studying like a madman come Wednesday afternoon/evening. So there you have it, my legitimate excuse for not doing those reviews anytime soon. Just so this post isn't a complete waste of time for whoever decides to read it, I'll end it with another scan of an alternate Batman costume. That's it for me, my tank is empty, and I NEED some sleep pronto! X out!From Batman: Knight Gallery(1995).

You want reviews? Here's your reviews!!!

Hey X-Maniacs, X here with another batch of Friday reviews. I did all of the comics requested of me, with the glaring exception of Flash #3... I just don't want to read that comic! It's sort of like New Avengers #1... I have it, and I know I should read it, but I just can't bring myself to open the cover because I'm almost certain I'll be let down. So instead of Flash #3 I figured I'd review Red Robin #14, which arrived in the mail yesterday. Honestly, I think I made the right choice, since Red Robin was actually a VERY good read. So that's it for tonight, I might try putting up a new Let's Talk About: or a Versus type post Saturday, but that all depends on what plans I have and how heavily I plan on studying. Okay, enough babbling, here's hoping you guys enjoy the reviews, X out.

The Return of the Blog Posting Machine?!

Well, there ya have it, I managed to post all 7 requested reviews tonight! Red Hood #2, Steve Rogers #1, Shadowland #1, Brightest Day #5, Children's Crusade #1, X-Men #1 AND Avengers #2, all posted and done! Whew... And I have to say, with the exception of Brightest Day, all of the comics I listed were good to excellent, with a few of them coming in at 9 to 10 out of 10! Reading comics I actually enjoyed sure made doing reviews for them a lot easier! Anyway, feel free to leave me any comments on those books(or anything else), I'm going to give my typing fingers a break for now! X out!

New Comic Day!

Hey X-Maniacs, X here with some good news! First off, it turns out that I DON'T have classes tomorrow after all, as there was some kind of mix-up with the Registrar's office. That means my first Spanish test isn't tomorrow, but is Monday, which means I have the whole weekend to study. With those three extra study days, I should easily ace that test(fingers crossed!).

On the comic book side, the good news continues, as I went to the comic book shop and picked up 11 new books. Before I go any further, let me list them, so you guys can let me know which ones you are interested in hearing about.

Young Allies #2
Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1
Shadowland #1
Hawkeye and Mockingbird #2
Brightest Day #5
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1
JSA All-Stars #8
Red Hood #2
X-Men #1
Avengers #2
Fantastic Four Annual #32

So yay for me, I've got me some good comics to read! If you guys give me your picks by tomorrow, I'll probably have a post with a couple of reviews up ala JT's Rantings and Ratings(or my old Best of the Rest post... Ehrm...)tomorrow night. Anywho, I think that'll do it for today, drop me your comments to let me know what you'd like to hear about so I can get to reading! That's it, X out.

Wednesday Thoughts.

Hey all, X here with a little post. I just got back from the comic book shop, and unfortunately I only came back with a measly 3 comics... Those comics would be The Death of Dracula #1, Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 and Captain America: The 1940's Newspaper Strip #1. I also got Streets of Gotham #13 and Superman #700 in the mail today, so that's a grand total of 5 comics. Most of the comics that I'll be receiving this week(Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Captain America, etc)are subscription comics, so I'll be waiting a good week or two for those books... Man do I have to find a way to cancel those subscriptions! So anyway, if anybody has any interest in a review for any of the 5 aforementioned comics, drop me a comment and I'll try to get a review up and posted soon. X out.

Talking about tomorrow, TODAY!

Hey X-Maniacs, just wanted to say that I won't have any reviews up for tonight. I have four coming up(Zatanna #2, Detective #866, JL: Gen Lost #4 & Thunderbolts #145), but I probably won't be able to put the finishing touches on them until sometime tomorrow. See, the old me would have rushed to get those reviews up and posted, but the new me is just going to sit back and post 'em at my leisure! :P As for the Killer Croc comic, sorry JT, my sister wanted to read that one, so I won't be able to give it a read/review until she gets it back to me, and who knows when that'll be!

Besides that, three comics came in the mail today, Birds of Prey #2, REBELS #17 and New Avengers #1. If any of you guys want me to put up a post for one of those comics, drop me a comment. If I had to guess, I'd bet that BoP will get a few recommendations. I doubt anybody is interested in a REBELS review, and I HOPE nobody wants to hear about New Avengers #1!! Man am I DREADING that comic! Anyway, thanks for reading and remember to check back here tomorrow for a few new posts. X out.

It's a new day!

Hey gents and gentettes, after taking a (in my opinion!)well deserved break from blogging, I'm back with a rambling post. First off, I didn't go to ANY blogs Friday and Saturday, I just completely disassociated myself from the whole blogging world, and I think that did me a whole lot of good. Sometimes the best way to recharge ones batteries is to take a step back, and I think that's something I've been needing to do around here for a while now. With that said, let me just come right out and say this, I sure as HELL won't be going back to my old insane schedule of posting upwards of 4 new reviews a night! Although I won't be blogging at that rate anymore, I think I can handle posting 3 or 4 times a week. That'll give me some down time, as well as more time to check out what my fellow bloggers have been diligently working on, which is what I'll be doing once I publish this post! I can't wait to see what I've been missing!

I think the scan blog is going to suffer the most now that I've decided to take a bit of a blogging breather, and by suffer, what I really mean is die a cold, lonely, quiet death! Yep, I don't see myself doing much of anything over at the pic blog any time soon... Yeah, it's kind of sad, but the payoff for the scan site doesn't match the work I put into it. So until further notice, rest in peace Uncanny Comic Book Scans... You WON'T be missed! :D

Okay, now onto the comic front... Since I didn't do any blog related things for the past few days, I have FINALLY managed to read EVERYTHING in my new comics pile!!! For the first time in months(years??)my nightstand is free of unread recent comic books! Granted, I still have a plethora of back issues to get through, but I can read those at my leisure. The new book pile was like the sword of Damocles hanging over my head, and it's finally gone. Speaking of the aforementioned back issues, I've read up to Robin #47 as I continue trudging through the entire Robin series. So far it's been pretty good stuff. Nothing spectacular, but definitely pretty good.

Before going, some AWESOME news... Today, I FOUND A COMIC BOOK SHOP IN MY AREA!!! A real, live, honest to god comic book shop! And no more then 10 minutes away from my place! Seeing as that I hadn't stepped foot in a comic book shop in over 5 years(since I've been living in Binghamton)it was as if I had died and gone to heaven! I spent an INSANE amount of money on back issues(I'll just say over $100 and leave it at that...), and after speaking to the owner of the shop, I learned that they do the whole weekly pull list thing! So I gave him a list, and I'll now be able to get all of my non-subscription titles the DAY they come out! No more waiting days/weeks to read a new comic for me anymore! Well, except for the titles I have subscribed to through Marvel and DC's subscription services... I REALLY wish I could just cancel those subscriptions now... Anyway, I managed to snag Detective Comics #866, Thunderbolts #145, Zatanna #2 and Justice League: Gen Lost #4, so if anybody has a strong urge to discuss one of those comics, let me know and I'll throw up a post sometime over the course of the next few days. You know, I have to say, I've enjoyed doing this post WAY more then those monotonous reviews I've been doing day upon day for years now... I've got to try to do more stream of consciousness type posts. Anyway, I think that'll do it for me tonight, I've got a lot of blogs to do some catch up reading on. Thanks for reading, X out.

Talking Titans and changes.

Hey guys, X here with some splainin' to do. I wound up reading 4 issues of the Teen Titans last night(issues #80-83), as well as Titans #24, and I have to say, not one of those comics left me wanting to bother doing a review for them. Sorry, but I HATED all four issues of the Teen Titans, which surprised me, because I figured the return of Kid Flash and Superboy would have me doing back-flips, but alas, that was not to be. The Static story was painfully dull, and the current Search for Raven story makes me want to bash my head into the wall... How many times will we have a Search/Hunt/Quest/Wild-Goose Chase for Raven? First off, I don't even like the Raven character, and secondly, the writing in this series has just been barreling downhill since GEOFF left the series years ago. As for Titans #24, it didn't do anything for me. I mean, it was okay I guess, but it definitely wasn't anything special. I'd call it vaguely interesting, which is bizarre for a comic that had two of my favorite DC villains(Lex Luthor and Deathstroke)in it.

To be honest, when it comes to blogging, I go through some very distinct peaks and valleys. I can feel myself heading into one of those dreaded valleys... I'm just not feeling the whole blog thing right now. Maybe it's the lackluster comics I read last night, maybe it's the lackluster comics I have waiting for me on my nightstand(4 issues of Secret Six and an Outsiders?!), maybe it's the fact that I've posted almost 60 posts this month(which is a bit much), but I just don't feel that burning desire to review the comics I've been reading. So what to do... I think my best bet would be to try to just post reviews for comics I know my few readers would want to read about. I mean, why bother posting reviews for Nova, Daredevil, Superman, etc, if nobody is going to bother reading/commenting on them? That's just a waste of my time. So I think I'm going to change some things up a bit here, at least until I get out of this valley and hit a peak again. Instead of reviewing EVERYTHING I read, I'll probably just list what comics I've read during the week on... let's say Saturday, and if any readers are interested in discussing one of those comics, cool. If not, whatever. Besides that, I'll just review stuff I know you, my loyal X-Maniacs want to read about. Or better yet, since I'm always listing what I'm reading during my Comic Gazing posts, if you want me to review something, drop me a comment, and I'll do a review. I think that'll be it for now. So no new reviews tonight, and tomorrow will probably be the first time since last year that I won't bother posting anything new at all(unless something interesting comes in the mail that is!). Good-bye all.

And thus ends the blog vacation that never was.

This was supposed to be the final day of my alleged blog vacation, which turned out to be not much of a vacation at all actually! Tomorrow I'll be going back to posting full reviews for some comics, although I have to say, I DID enjoy doing these past few reviews in three sentences or less. I think that format may be sticking around. As a matter of fact, since I have 4(!)issues of Teen Titans to catch up on, I plan on doing those reviews in three sentences or less. Who knows, maybe I'll just keep doing short reviews! They may be short and crappy, but they do save me lots of time, and with school looming in just 13 short days, I can use every spare minute I can get!

I'm still on vacation... Kind of...

Well, as you can see by the 6 new mini-reviews I posted tonight, I'm still on my vacation. Feel free to comment on any of the comics I posted about tonight, especially if you want to know more then the few brief words I posted about each. I'm not going to be posting anything new to the picture site tonight, but I promise I'll definitely have a new DC theme up for tomorrow. As for my vacation, I think I'll continue doing mini-reviews tomorrow(Tuesday)and Wednesday, and come Thursday I'll end my little blog vacation and return to doing full reviews(although I did notice that my mini-reviews are getting longer and longer as I go along!). Okay, I think that'll be all for tonight, thanks for reading, and Avengers Assemble!!!I've been meaning to post this image for a while now... There's no time like the present I guess!

A few more thoughts on the Thanos Imperative.

So I just wanted to say a few more words about the whole Thanos Imperative mini-series, since I recently finished the start of it, and it deserves more then just three sentences. The idea of an alternate universe where death has lost, and there is only life(the Cancerverse)is really inspired, and the fact that the co-writers(Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)picked the alternate version of one of Marvel's most vaunted heroes(Captain Marvel!)to serve as the leader of the Cancerverse was a stroke of genius! So basically this series is pitting Death(led by Thanos)against Life(led by Mar-Vell), with the added twist being that LIFE is the force of evil!!! The Cancerverse, with no concept of death, is overcrowded with life to the point that it is nearly bursting at the seams, and is full of bizarre creatures and mass stagnation, and seems to be a truly horrid place. I can't say enough good things about this concept, and I'll be MORE then looking forward to seeing how this storyline plays out.Awesomeness!!!