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Post by G on Jan 16, 2012 14:14:22 GMT -5
My first entry will be about where I currently am with comics and when things happen to me or things affect me related to comics, I'll update it.
As it stands, I'm sitting here on January 16th, MLK day and I'm contemplating where I stand. I've decided to give my board one last shot in the arm and try and drum up something here and see if I can get anything going.
At the same time, I'm currently out of new comics and find myself only wanting to be a collector, filling in pieces of my collection and adding key pieces. That being said, I went to the Richmond Comic Convention yesterday and it was a complete disaster. It was so bad I thought about quitting comics altogether. I seen nothing that I even really desired. It also didn't help that the place reeked with copious amounts of funky body odor and nerdy looking people. I often wonder why I ever associate myself with these kinds of people. My wife on the other hand got a good smattering of less than $1 comics and at least she had something to go home with. But even she agreed, the show sucked. I left with absolutely nothing and a feeling of hopelessness about me and my hobby ensued as I drove 140 miles home empty handed.
I'll need something else to get me going. We'll see how it goes I guess.
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Post by G on Mar 8, 2012 21:53:32 GMT -5
Wow! Nearly 2 months later and I have absolutely almost nothing to talk about comics related.
Lets see, in the last 2 months I put my board in Maintenance Mode for roughly 4 weeks. To be honest, for the 1st time, I didn't miss it like I had previous times I walked away but a feeling that I should just open it back up came over me at the beginning of this month. I had absolutely nothing to add to it. When I closed down before back in 2009, I totally revamped the board and changed it from Gotta Start Somewhere to Comic Crack. Changed the skin and even purchased Comiccrack.com. I went out to make changes and try and do things. This time? I didn't do a damn thing. I let it sit and then I reopened it. Simple as that.
Comics wise, have had nothing that interests me. At best I am vaguely looking at cover and interior art shots of the new Valiant line that is apparently launching real soon. The interior art I seen looked way better than anything I seen by the Dark Horse Valiant line. I'll give it that but I was left unimpressed with the X-O cover and QR voice and mouth animation. Does the QR code have potential? Yes.....I can see where it could be cool. But in this case, I thought it was corny as hell.
Nearly went and seen Ghost Rider about 2 weeks ago but while looking up ticket and time info looked at reviews and most people was saying it sucked. So I didn't go. Instead I seen Wanderlust which was enjoyable but nothing special.
Other than that, I've got a $40 LCS gift certificate for Xmas I haven't used and my wife is bugging me to go spend it. I might do that this weekend. But otherwise, I haven't done a damn thing with comics.
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Post by defiant1 on Mar 9, 2012 2:59:09 GMT -5
Wow! Nearly 2 months later and I have absolutely almost nothing to talk about comics related. Lets see, in the last 2 months I put my board in Maintenance Mode for roughly 4 weeks. To be honest, for the 1st time, I didn't miss it like I had previous times I walked away but a feeling that I should just open it back up came over me at the beginning of this month. I had absolutely nothing to add to it. When I closed down before back in 2009, I totally revamped the board and changed it from Gotta Start Somewhere to Comic Crack. Changed the skin and even purchased Comiccrack.com. I went out to make changes and try and do things. This time? I didn't do a damn thing. I let it sit and then I reopened it. Simple as that. Comics wise, have had nothing that interests me. At best I am vaguely looking at cover and interior art shots of the new Valiant line that is apparently launching real soon. The interior art I seen looked way better than anything I seen by the Dark Horse Valiant line. I'll give it that but I was left unimpressed with the X-O cover and QR voice and mouth animation. Does the QR code have potential? Yes.....I can see where it could be cool. But in this case, I thought it was corny as hell. Nearly went and seen Ghost Rider about 2 weeks ago but while looking up ticket and time info looked at reviews and most people was saying it sucked. So I didn't go. Instead I seen Wanderlust which was enjoyable but nothing special. Other than that, I've got a $40 LCS gift certificate for Xmas I haven't used and my wife is bugging me to go spend it. I might do that this weekend. But otherwise, I haven't done a damn thing with comics. You should check out this messageboard and tell me what you think: www.comicscorral.comI think it's more suited to your taste. They do have buying and selling which can be a turn-off for me. df1
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Post by G on Mar 10, 2012 16:43:45 GMT -5
I've taken a look at them. They don't seem bad. I might stop by from time to time. Unlikely I'll join though. I haven't been too into message boards of others for awhile. But, I did decide to put it on my Quick Link Menu at the top of the page for easy access both for myself and others. They do seem like a decent board. Better than most. Not all rah, rah and stuff which I can't stand. My biggest complaint would be the plain white skin background. After awhile, that page could be hard to look at in my opinion. Even for short periods I didn't care for the color scheme. Too bright. Needs contrast.
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Post by G on May 28, 2012 10:35:47 GMT -5
Decided to change the name of my blog since I never have much to report about comics anymore.
I will say the recent Gay surge in comics to me at least is kind of sickening because in the past, the comics themselves and the well written storylines would have made the headlines. I am sickened by the fact that the leaders at Marvel and DC seem to be on a slant to make sensationalism the story and not stories and the comics themselves. I feel like this is how comics would be if Obama ran a comic company. Is it me or are all comic creator's Democrats with liberal agendas? I am really tired of going to twitter and every creator having the same public opinion. I have yet to see one creator say they were not happy with the current state of comics or did not think the Gay storylines were not what comics needed. I even asked Stan Lee what he thought and he never responded to me. Instead, Im seeing every comic creator saying they are proud of it and its a milestone for comics and when the so called Million Mothers protested, every comic creator tweeted how they were stupid. I could give a shit about these Million Mothers or whatever they call themselves. But I know just like in every story, not every creator is agreeing with what is going on. But no one with an opposing viewpoint has the balls to say anything negative about it. Back in the day, if someone didn't like the direction or the principal of something, they would have stood up and said something. Today it is just one big circle jerk. They're all masturbating over the same thing. I can't respect comics like this.
Personally, 2012 has been a year that has put me in shambles. Not that I need to confess anything to anybody, but this is my board and sometimes I need to just speak as a way of moving on. I'm no longer at my job. Lets just say I was thrown by a coo. I tried fighting it but I really never had a chance. It had absolutely nothing to do with my performance and everything to do with politics.
Also of note, it looks like my marriage of 6 years is going to soon be over too. All the steps are in motion for us to separate in the next month or two. With me not having a job, it appears I will be in dire straights to save my house. I'm kind of scared what is going to happen to me here soon.
One thing I did was go to Facebook and eliminate about 70% of the people I had listed as friends. When you have people on your account and the only thing is they are a number that never says anything to you or has ever cared about your own well being in any fashion, I really don't see the need to keep them on my Facebook and let them have access to my own personal business. So I deleted them and I only have people remaining that I feel deserve to be listed as friends. I feel better about that move.
In other news, I continue to take great care of my physical well being. I've lost 35 lbs in 15 months. I'm 18 lbs away from my ultimate goal. Ive worked out continuously and Ive not felt better about myself and my body in years. At the age of 45 I am in better shape now than I was at 35. Maybe even 30. But 15 months ago, I felt 60. And I looked horrendous. I feel much better about myself now.
Anyway, you guys are all caught up. Will update my no life blog as items warrant.
-G
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Post by defiant1 on May 28, 2012 12:29:00 GMT -5
Decided to change the name of my blog since I never have much to report about comics anymore. I will say the recent Gay surge in comics to me at least is kind of sickening because in the past, the comics themselves and the well written storylines would have made the headlines. I am sickened by the fact that the leaders at Marvel and DC seem to be on a slant to make sensationalism the story and not stories and the comics themselves. I feel like this is how comics would be if Obama ran a comic company. Is it me or are all comic creator's Democrats with liberal agendas? I am really tired of going to twitter and every creator having the same public opinion. I have yet to see one creator say they were not happy with the current state of comics or did not think the Gay storylines were not what comics needed. I even asked Stan Lee what he thought and he never responded to me. Instead, Im seeing every comic creator saying they are proud of it and its a milestone for comics and when the so called Million Mothers protested, every comic creator tweeted how they were stupid. I could give a shit about these Million Mothers or whatever they call themselves. But I know just like in every story, not every creator is agreeing with what is going on. But no one with an opposing viewpoint has the balls to say anything negative about it. Back in the day, if someone didn't like the direction or the principal of something, they would have stood up and said something. Today it is just one big circle jerk. They're all masturbating over the same thing. I can't respect comics like this. Personally, 2012 has been a year that has put me in shambles. Not that I need to confess anything to anybody, but this is my board and sometimes I need to just speak as a way of moving on. I'm no longer at my job. Lets just say I was thrown by a coo. I tried fighting it but I really never had a chance. It had absolutely nothing to do with my performance and everything to do with politics. Also of note, it looks like my marriage of 6 years is going to soon be over too. All the steps are in motion for us to separate in the next month or two. With me not having a job, it appears I will be in dire straights to save my house. I'm kind of scared what is going to happen to me here soon. One thing I did was go to Facebook and eliminate about 70% of the people I had listed as friends. When you have people on your account and the only thing is they are a number that never says anything to you or has ever cared about your own well being in any fashion, I really don't see the need to keep them on my Facebook and let them have access to my own personal business. So I deleted them and I only have people remaining that I feel deserve to be listed as friends. I feel better about that move. In other news, I continue to take great care of my physical well being. I've lost 35 lbs in 15 months. I'm 18 lbs away from my ultimate goal. Ive worked out continuously and Ive not felt better about myself and my body in years. At the age of 45 I am in better shape now than I was at 35. Maybe even 30. But 15 months ago, I felt 60. And I looked horrendous. I feel much better about myself now. Anyway, you guys are all caught up. Will update my no life blog as items warrant. -G Sorry to hear all that. I do believe the job market is getting better. It doesn't matter how good of a job you get, someone will screw it up and make it shitty. I guess I'm more disappointed at the marriage troubles. You've been through so much already and it's held together. I read an article that said relationships have a better chance of lasting when couples tend to relive and talk about the circumstances when they first met. One of my friends was having trouble in his marriage years ago. His wife wanted to leave him. I didn't know her because they'd met in Texas. Something in his voice told me he was giving up, not her. I could tell he was shattered because her words had shattered his confidence. I told him not to give up and that she may change her mind. She did change her mind, on the day they were supposed to sign the divorce papers. They've been together ever since. The hardest pill to swallow is that if someone really and truly doesn't want you in their life, you are better off without them. I'm old-fashioned and won't make that choice so it takes the other person giving up, not me. df1
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Post by bigw1966 on Jun 17, 2012 9:06:57 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about the job and marriage issues. That is never easy to deal with. Jobs are opening up daily though so I doubt you will be out for long. Regarding the Gay trend in comics. I don't know why you are letting it bother you so much. I mean, you do not have to read the books. None of the characters are lead characters in any title. So really, even though it has been going on for a while now, it has not had a signifigant impact. I don't have any use for the "Gay lifestyle" because, I am not gay. However, I know a number of gay people. Family and otherwise. My opinion, is that I think people would serve themselves better if they would simply admit that they have hangups regarding sex, and have a hard time seeing past what those people do in their own homes. When ever someone talks about gay people, it usually only takes a minute before the subject is gay sex. Like gay people are some deviants that live to fuck everything that moves. Have the comic companies handled it well? Sure, in some cases, like Batwoman. It is part of the character, but not overt and it doesn't take away from the story.
Now, Alan Scott is another story. They make this big public media blitz about his being gay. Ecxept, the media latched on to the recognizable portion of his name. GREEN LANTERN. Now, the uninformed public assumes, that Green Lantern, the character in a weak sci-fi superhero film, is gay. I have actually had arguments with people because of this. So bad that I no longer wear my Green Lantern t-shirt out in public, because I almost got into a fist fight with some dumbass at the grocery store.
Bottom line, Gay equal rights are the big thing in society right now. So, you should expect to see a lot of stuff out there that makes people more aware of that.
Good luck with whatever happens with the marriage.
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Post by G on Jun 17, 2012 16:53:06 GMT -5
I continue to hear how I have a problem with the whole "Gays in comics" thing. But I don't think I'm saying that so much as I'm saying HOW they are doing it. I have already said we passed the gay bridge with Northstar some 20 years ago. It wasn't too much of a big deal then same as him getting married today is. His progression from out of the closet to now is not a bad thing and part of his personal storyline. What I have gotten a bit offended by is seeing the near kissing wedding cover and for it to be on a title like Astonish X-Men which the X-Men have a big appeal to children and yes I believe this is an adult themed moment. I dont have too much of a problem with Northstar and the storlyline is okay. Im just think Marvel could have labeled it as adult or toned down the alternate cover a bit. In contrast, Marvel wins this battle over DC hands down. DC just felt left out and is trying to cash in on the craze and be there alongside Obama's gay marriage remarks. Perhaps its popular to say these things now to show how we as a society have progressed. Hey look, Black President. We've progressed. How about, Hey look. Marriage and Gays, it should happen. We've progressed. I personally don't have a problem with Gays getting married each other. If two people love each other than what the fuck? Who am I to say that its wrong. But DC, they couldn't let the train pass without cashing in (and lets be honest, that's all this is, its not progression with comics, its cashing in). DC takes Green Lantern, albeit not the Modern One we think of, but nonetheless, the Green Lantern name is attached to him so I can see why wearing your t-shirt in public might elicit gay responses. Like, you know he's gay right? Or....You showing off your gay pride wearing Green Lantern? Yeah, the comic geeks know the truth but to the outside, the general public only sees the word Green Lantern. And so, Green Lantern is now outed as Gay by the General Public. It's funny. I seen Joan Rivers tweet right after it that Green Lantern has come out of the closet as being gay and now wants to change his name to the Green Chandelier. I thought that was funny as hell. No DC has to tarnish the whole deal. At least Marvel made it seem real from the get go. Had a character and outed him pretty quick. Been gay ever since. And now he gets married. DC has to take a character with a 70+ year history who has had no thought of being gay all these years and decide they want to make him (or one of his pseudo hims) gay. Oh, so now DC trumps Marvel (in their minds) and does it to a character with all this history and its not a B rate character. No, Green Lantern is a big name. And yes, they tarnish THE NAME Green Lantern. But you know, it just makes the story that much bigger and for DC hopefully that much more money. Which it is what it is all about here really. Its not about progressing as a society. Its a money grab. And to top it off, they get even more blatant than Marvel on the imagery and post promotional pics like this... Eww! God!! Yuck!!! What the FUCK!!! It's true I don't have to buy the comics (and I won't) but I don't want to see this shit as an adult. Much less, I wouldn't want prepubescent young males seeing this as part of their comic collection. I'm not homophobe. But, I don't have to like it either. And just reading an article on it subjected me to images such as this. At least Marvel stopped short. DC just had to go there! It's not me against gays. And its not me against comics. But I do think comics can be a bit more responsible about what its doing. And like I said. I can progress with comics. I bought Kelvin from Archie (yeah I bought it) and there was absolutely nothing offensive about it. Marvel and DC are going through a Jerry Springer in the 90s phase because they finally realize they can do stuff like this to shock (and mostly to sell) and they're going to do it because THEY CAN!!! To me, I just have more respect for those who can and DON'T. Comics were never about who is gay or not. It was always about heroes and villains. And now the change is in. Its not about good stories and so much anymore. Its about shock. BigW. Glad to see you back. But you've never had 1 problem with anything comics does up to now. Which reminds me of how Twitter is where all the creators praise the subject and not one of its kind says they don't care for it. So I wouldn't expect you to take issue with them now either.
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Post by defiant1 on Jun 17, 2012 23:11:12 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about the job and marriage issues. That is never easy to deal with. Jobs are opening up daily though so I doubt you will be out for long. Regarding the Gay trend in comics. I don't know why you are letting it bother you so much. I mean, you do not have to read the books. None of the characters are lead characters in any title. So really, even though it has been going on for a while now, it has not had a signifigant impact. I don't have any use for the "Gay lifestyle" because, I am not gay. However, I know a number of gay people. Family and otherwise. My opinion, is that I think people would serve themselves better if they would simply admit that they have hangups regarding sex, and have a hard time seeing past what those people do in their own homes. When ever someone talks about gay people, it usually only takes a minute before the subject is gay sex. Like gay people are some deviants that live to fuck everything that moves. Have the comic companies handled it well? Sure, in some cases, like Batwoman. It is part of the character, but not overt and it doesn't take away from the story. Now, Alan Scott is another story. They make this big public media blitz about his being gay. Ecxept, the media latched on to the recognizable portion of his name. GREEN LANTERN. Now, the uninformed public assumes, that Green Lantern, the character in a weak sci-fi superhero film, is gay. I have actually had arguments with people because of this. So bad that I no longer wear my Green Lantern t-shirt out in public, because I almost got into a fist fight with some dumbass at the grocery store. Bottom line, Gay equal rights are the big thing in society right now. So, you should expect to see a lot of stuff out there that makes people more aware of that. Good luck with whatever happens with the marriage. The real issue has nothing to do with whether a character is gay or not. The issue is that they are just doing more "shock and awe" tactics to get a one time surge in sales and they aren't doing anything to win and build readership by listening to their critics and fixing anything. A large number of fans have stated "here are the reasons why I'm not buying comics". The reasons involve all aspects of production. The publishers are deaf to constructive criticism. They are unwilling to nurture positive changes through storytelling techniques and production methods. Instead, they look at a sales chart and panic. They toss is some left field bullshit every other month. It isn't entertaining. It's a fucking freak show. It's not even an interesting freak show. To make things worse, all the creators in the industry stroke each other's ego every month on social networking sites reveling in their mediocrity and inadequacy. df1
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Post by G on Jun 18, 2012 10:36:41 GMT -5
They toss is some left field bullshit every other month. It isn't entertaining. It's a fucking freak show. It's not even an interesting freak show. That sums it up right there. I don't get why there is so much to defend here. This isn't a great storyline. This isn't a work of art in terms of comic talent. This isn't some epic arc in the history of comics. This is a lack of talent. This is not knowing how to make great comics. This is the kind of shit some 15 year old kid with no experience writing comics would come up with. Its not like we have something great to treasure here. It's a money grab fronting as a political and social statement. It's not the Dark Phoenix Saga. It's not Watchmen. It's not Pre-Unity Valiant launch. It's nothing like that. It's fluff. It's no talent bullshit being paraded as heroes. It's sheepherding. BaaAaaaAaa!
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