Tomorrow is the defining moment of the century

So I've been following the reboot/relaunch whatever thing of DC's, but it became hard for me to keep track of all the titles they were coming up with.  For my ease and for everyone else, here is the complete list of the announced DC titles with their covers, writers, artists, and blurbs.  The GL Corps, Red Lanterns, and The New Guardians never released their #1 covers.

( The big list under the cut )

Someone wanted to know what happened in JL:GL, so I put together an outline for them.  Wall of text and massive JL:GL spoilers under the cut.

( JL:GL Outline )

I waited until Saturday because my comic book store was having a sale again (why do the good issues always come out the week of the sale?)  Anyway, when I finally went I got:

- Avengers Fairy Tales 1-4
- Booster Gold 35
- Dark Wolverine 89
- Justice League: Generation Lost 7
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 13
- 52 1 TPB
- Blue Beetle: Reach for the Stars TPB
- Blue Beetle: End Game TPB

The quarter bins were gone (thank god) so nothing from there.

I have to say--I LOVED the Avengers Fairy Tales.  Originally I was just going to just buy the Young Avengers one, but I figured "why the hell not" and got them all.  I was not dissappointed.  I especially liked the Pinocchio one with Vision and Pym (#2).  If you haven't read them, you should check them out.

A lot of good comics came out today; I had no idea until I got there.

- Age of Heroes 3
- The Avengers 3
- Batman Beyond 2
- Dark Wolverine 88
- Darkwing Duck 2
- Deadpool 25
- The New Avengers 2
- Time Masters: Vanishing Point 1

I've already barrelled through all of them.  I had to.  If you like Darkwing Duck and you aren't reading the comic do it.  It's the closest thing to getting a new cartoon as anything.  Dark Wolverine was satisfying because Daken finally stopped feeling sorry about himself and went back to what he does best--be a dick.  And he does it so well.  Time Masters was great because we got to see some little!Rip, daddy!Booster time, and those two pages alone are worth the cost of the comic.

The Avengers was... eh.  I'll rant about it later.


Also, I promise I'll do some sort of personal journal update soon.  Hopefully tomorrow.  I've been busy with other stuff.

I know I'm posting this at an ungodly early hour, but I'm going to the zoo today with my parents (I feel 5 again, but in a good way) so I'm up early.

----

I consider myself a decently savvy shopper, however sometimes the temptation to spend money gets me, and gets me hard.  Luckily for me I just had my grad party on the 12th, so I didn't wind up spending much of my own money.  Part of me thinks thats the only reason I spent so much, whereas the other part of me wonders if I would have bought it all regardless.

It started on Friday, when I walked into a Borders for the first time in a long time with a $35 gift card (well a $25 gift card and a $10 one) and walked out with the DC Enclycopedia.  I was originally intending to buy the Marvel one, but then I realized I am far more familiar with Marvel characters, so I picked up the DC one for now.  I'll get the Marvel one eventually.

Saturday was the real kicked.  My local comic book store had an invitation-only sale.  Everything in the store was 20% off, supplies and back issues were 30% off.  My inner woman came out at the word "sale" and I spent $130 when all was said and done.  Granted $120 of that was in gift cards, but still.  I picked up:

- Darkwing Duck 1
- Dark Wolverine 87
- New Avengers (Vol. 2) 1
- Avengers Academy 1
- Batman 700
- Age of Heroes 2
- Return of Bruce Wayne 2
- Deadpool 24

Then I moved on to the trades section, and picked up:
- Formerly Known as the Justice League
- Justice League International 1-3
- Blue Beetle - Shellshocked (aka Volume 1)

I also picked up bags because I ran out and box dividers.

I actually went to the sale immediately before a 3 hour road trip to a friends house in PA, mainly because I didn't want to miss this sale.

And if that isn't reason enough to show that I shouldn't be spending money...  Barnes and Noble was having a clearance on graphic novels the 22nd (it's still going on now, but a lot of the marvel titles are gone by now).  One of the comic book writers (Dan Slott, I think) mentioned it on twitter, and well... $34 later I'm waiting on the following titles:

- Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Volume 3: The Man Who Bought America
- Mighty Avengers, Volume 1: The Ultron Initiative
- Mighty Avengers, Volume 2: Venom Bomb
- The New Avengers, Volume 7: The Trust
- New Avengers, Volume 5: Civil War
- New Avengers, Volume 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1
- New Avengers, Volume 9: Secret Invasion, Book 2
- New Avengers: Illuminati
- Ultimates 2, Volume 1: Gods and Monsters
- The Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game: Guide to the Hulk and the Avengers

I tried to pick up Ultimates 1, Volume 1, but it sold out like immediately before I hit send.

So yeah, not spending a lot of money in a while.

I skipped a week, so I have a bit more than usual.

• Booster Gold 33
• Justice League: Generation Lost 3
• Red Hod: The Lost Days 1
• Batman/Superman Annual 4 (it's got Terry in it!)
• Ultimate Spider-Man 11
• Young Allies 1
• Nemesis 2
• Avengers: Prime 1

And, at the suggestion of the boostle community:

• I Can't Believe it's not the Justice League TPB

Formerly known as the Justice League is up next, followed by the JLI Trades (I'm doing this by price).

I also decided to pick up something I've been contemplating about for a couple weeks now.  I picked up Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, figurine:


Here he is with his best bud, Booster:


( More pictures under the cut )

Dodging spoilers until I can get to my comic book shop (for the last time :( ) is proving increasingly difficult.  Why must issues for everything I'm a part of fandom in come out this week?  And major events no less T_T

cjspooks , aka my wife.

Comment and I'll give you a letter, then you have to list ten people/places/things you love that begin with that letter, afterwords post it on your journal and fill out letters of your own.
1) Bailey.  She's my puppy, who coincidentally turned 1 today (happy birthday, puppy!).  She's a ball of adorable, and although we had ourselves a rocky start in the beginning (she didn't listen too well and she was very fond of biting), she quickly grew to be an inseparable member of our family, and along with her sister, Zoe, have stolen my heart.  She enjoyed sleeping in bed with me, and the hardest part of coming back to college was to not be able to take her with me.


2) Billy Kaplan (aka Wiccan).  My repreentative from Marvel Comics.  Billy is a member of the Young Avengers, who were brought together by Iron Lad from the future to try to become Avengers in a time when the world had none.  Billy's codename was originally Asgardian (as he was pretending to be a kid-like version of Thor), but later changed his name to Wiccan.  He can perform spells, but only if he can concentrate on them (and hear them).  What's probably the most notable thing about Billy is that he is openly gay, and is dating his teammate Teddy Altman, aka Hulkling (and no, I don't like him just because he's a gay character--I liked him and Teddy long before they revealed they were  gay).  Billy is not only an amazing character on his own (he's strong, powerful, and level-headed), but his relationship with Teddy is absolutely adorable.
3) Bartowski,Chuck.  Yeah, yeah, I had to cheat on this one, but I don't care.  Chuck is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.  I watched all of season 1 of Chuck in one sitting.   Yes, I watched all 13 episodes in one sitting.  And I usually don't like the title characters of a show, but Chuck is adorable.  He's geeky, smart, and funny and he knows how to treat a lady (even if he often fails--he gets points for attempting!).  He makes me wish I had a little brother like him, and I spend at least one time an episode wishing I could give him a hug.

4) Booster Gold.  99% of you are going "who the fuck is booster gold?" and the other 1% have seen either the Booster Gold episodes in Justice League, or less likely, the episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  For the uninformed, Booster Gold's real name is Michael Carter, and he's a disgraced Gotham University football star from the 25th century, who got kicked out for betting on his own games.  With no prospects, he got a job as a night janitor at a Superhero museum.  Wanting the fame and fortune he got from playing football, he steals some superhero artifacts, a security robot named skeets, and travels back to the era of the Justice League to market himself.  He used his knowledge of events in "history" to become famous and get endorsement deals and such, much to the chagrin of the Justice League (and like every other superhero in the DC universe).  That's the Booster they've portrayed in Justice League and Batman: the Brave and the Bold.  The booster that I like is a protector of the timestream.  Basically, after he pulls all that shit he gets roped into restoring the DC multiverse by "time master" Rip Hunter (later revealed to be Booster's son, unknown to everyone but Hunter).  With this new gig, Booster can finally be a real hero, the hero he grew to realize he wanted to be.  There's only one problem: he can't tell anyone what he's doing, or else someone might kill him off in his crib, or something similar.  So now Booster is forced to be the laughing stock of the superhero community as a front for his real job.  He's now going by "The greatest hero the world has never known."  Booster is completely likeable as a character; he's honest, and at the heart of it a really good guy.  He honestly wants to be a hero, a real hero, not the hero he used to be, and he cares more for his friends and family more than anyone.  I've quickly found him to be one of the most likable, relatetable, and most importantly REAL characters in the DC universe.  Sorry this was so long, but Booster is relatively unknown and so there was a lot of explanation needed.


5) Bill Compton.  Oh Bill, Sookie's vampire suitor from True Blood.  Sure, you're not the most attractive vampire on the show (Eric wins that one), but you're way more interesting.  You legitly care for Sookie, and you'll do damn near anything to protect her, even...  well that's a book spoiler, so I shall leave that part out.  We'll keep it between us, Bill.  More than anything, really, I just like the way he says "Sookie."  cjspooks And I love yelling "Sookie" in his accent at each other.  It's a sick hobby of ours. (Edit: cjspooks would like you all to know that it is NOT a sick hobby, simply a hobby, and that there is absolutely no blood letting sacrifices involved.  Those are her words, not mine.)


6) Batman.  I don't think I can be a comic book nerd (albeit a fledgling one), and not put Batman on this list.  He is THE superhero  (I like to pretend that Superman doesn't exist).  Ask anyone, comic book fan or not, "name a superhero" and 9 times out of 10, Batman will be the first thing they say.  I love everything about Batman, from his origins to his detecting to his manner in which he takes on criminals.  And let's not forget that Batman: The Animated Series was only one of the top ten shows from the 90s.  I grew up on Batman, and I still can't get enough.  My current favorite show is Batman: the Brave and the Bold because, not only is the show absolutely hilarious (I miss a show that's intelligent but completely lighthearted), it's introducing me to a lot of B-list DC heroes that I've never heard of like Kamandi and the Blue Beetle.  And it has "Mayhem of the Music Meister," an episode that's not only a musical, but one that I've watched well over 100 times.  I'm also a bit fan of the new Batman and Robin comic book series because, as much as I love Bruce as Batman and Dick or TIm as Robin, I'm really liking Dick as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin.  Their dynamic is enjoyable, and I like watching Damian slowly grow into the role.


7) Brian Michael Bendis.  (For the uninitiated, BMB is a comic book writer.)  Growing up, I'd always been interested in comics, but I didn't want to have to sort through the years and years of backstory, and I was afraid that if I just tried to jump in, I'd be completely lost and it would cause me to lose interest.  Then this man penned Ultimate Spider-Man, which is not only a reboot for the webslinger, but an alternate universe.  I was able to pick up the trades and not have to worry about what villain x's backstory was in the past, because it would be different.  After about 3 or 4 trades, I stopped picking them up.  I don't remember why, but it definitely wasn't because I wasn't interested.  Anyway, fast forward a few years and a good friend slowly gets me into comics again.  The first comic book (not trade) is Dark Avengers, and lo and behold, it's written by Bendis.  So not only do I like this man for helping me get into comics, I like him for his unique style of comics, one where he's not afraid to write an entire page full of dialogue off one image.


8) Bad Romance.  I know I shouldn't like Lady GaGa.  I didn't want to like Lady GaGa.  But goddamn I love Lady GaGa.  Her music makes me happy from the first beat.  They're catchy and fun and she's absolutely out of her mind crazy.  And Bad Romance is definitely my favorite song of the bunch.  It gets bonus points for having it's own fan created mathematical equation ((RAH)²(AH)³ + [ROMA (1+MA)] + (GA)² + (OOH)(LA)² = Bad Romance), and for driving my dad insane (he hates this song with a passion).  This video is crazy, and it's by the director who directed "I Am Legend."  What's not to love?


9) Black Jack.  No, not the card game (although that's fun too), the anime doctor.  Black Jack ,like Booster Gold, isn't very well known, so bear with me while I go through a short explanation of who he is (preferably a length shorter than Booster's).  He was created by Osamu Tezuka, the grandfather of anime.  He's a genius surgeon, the best in the world, but there's just one catch--he doesn't have a license.  So instead he works underground, asking exuberant sums of money for his services.  Yes, I realize this summary of him makes him sound like the worlds biggest asshole, but I assure you, he's not.  He became a doctor to help people, but the medical board revoked his license because he failed to obey his boss' orders not to perform a considered impossible surgery, despite saving the person's life (he didn't fight it because he didn't believe that a license made him any more or any less of a doctor).  And yes, he may ask crazy amounts of money for his services, but he seems to do that more as a cover than anything.  He's more interested in seeing the human side of the patient, and if that moves him he'll perform the surgery for nothing or next to nothing.  He lives by a complex moral code that you have to see to believe.  He's a character that I admire because he's skilled but not prideful, but at the same time he's not stricken by complete humility either.  He's jaded by humanity as a whole, but is moved whenever one or more individual's shines through.  He abides by his own rules and principles and he won't let anybody convince him to stray from them.  And that just makes him a badass.


10) Billy Joel.   Long Island's native son, and one of my father's favorite singers.  Growing up, I listened to what my parents listened to, and Billy quickly became one of my favorites.  Throughout the years I've figured out that he only sings about three things: Women, Growing up/self-discovery, and History.  Don't believe me?  Women: Only the Good Die Young, She's Always a Woman, You May Be Right, Uptown Girl, All for Leyna, Sometimes a Fantasy, Great Wall of China...  Growing up/self-discovery: Captain Jack, Piano Man, The Stranger, Second Wind, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Second Wind, New York State of Minds... History: We Didn't Start the Fire, Downeaster Alexa, Allentown, Goonight Saigon, Leningrad...  And even though he tends to focus around those general topics, they're all unique and have a distinctive flair that sets it apart, yet each has the Piano Man style.  All the songs he has are catchy and fun and they make me happy.  I don't care if the man crashes his car into trees or marries women only 10 years older than me, I have nothing but respect for this man and his work.




I know this was a novel-sized post, but I was bored and have a lot to say.  So thank you for sitting through it all, and if you'd like your own letter, drop me a comment :)