Comics Roundup for 2/20/13

Indestructible Hulk #4 - I've been a bit torn with this series, but the end of the last issue really started to get my attention.  With this one, I was interested in the beginning but didn't care as much for the end.  I guess I'm interested enough - especially now that we know why the Hulk has armor on him - to at least get the next issue.  I don't know, maybe Peter David's run on the character has spoiled me for all time.

Savage Wolverine #2 - While the artwork is really nice on this, the story just isn't interesting enough to keep me on board for another issue.  I'm hoping that the new, adjectiveless Wolverine story will be more interesting.  This one though feels like it has little consequence in the life of the character - kinda like it's a fill-in, and I have a feeling that it's either going to end when Frank Cho leaves or they'll get some second-tier creative team after that, which will mean that it will end shortly after that.

Daredevil #23 - This was pretty good throughout the whole thing, as Matt Murdock helps his friend, Foggy Nelson, deal with his cancer diagnosis.  The last page had me pause on it for several minutes before I finally closed the book.

The Superior Spider-Man #4 - Fun stuff, as usual, and I really like the fact that the original Green Goblin is back.  I suppose it would be too much to hope for things to get even more interesting with the original Hobgoblin mixing things up as well, but that's probably not going to happen.

Avengers #6 - I really have to wonder how accessible this book would be to anybody unfamiliar with the Marvel Universe.  And even with an old hand like myself, this certainly isn't the Captain Universe that I recognize.  I'm still intrigued, but this book had better start paying off soon, or I'm done.

Captain America #4 - The main story is wacky and just interesting enough, but the flashbacks are getting to be even more compelling, just as I hoped.  While it's nothing groundbreaking, it's cool seeing the life of a young Steve Rogers.  I wonder if any of this terrain has been covered before or not.  Still, I'd like to see a return to good old Earth 616 soon.  Oh, and I do think that John Romita, Jr. is producing some of his best artwork in a while, even if he might be channeling Jack Kirby just a wee bit.

Green Lantern #17 - Turns out Geoff Johns is leaving this book - not that it has any bearing on my enjoyment of this issue.  Anyway, as usual, I liked this installment.  I'm not sure that I'm going to stick around after Johns leaves though, as I don't have the same attachment to this character as I do a lot of other ones, and it was Rebirth that got me on board with this stuff in the first place.

Thor:  God of Thunder #5 - Easily one of my favorite books right now - great art, great story.

Wonder Woman #17 - This was a bit of a weak entry, but I've seen those before with this series only to find it get really interesting again - especially when the original artist comes back.  I'm not too worried about it all.  I'm still wondering exactly who the mysterious guy in the ice is supposed to be - not to mention how Orion is still breathing after slapping WW on the butt.

Comics Roundup for 2/13/13

Star Wars #2 - I'm not loving this as much as some of the online reviewers are, but I'm finding it interesting enough to keep with it.  Some new characters are introduced, and it leaves off with Han Solo about to get into some shenanigans on Coruscant.  I really have to wonder now though if the Expanded Universe is starting to contradict itself multiple times by now.  Seems like the era between "Hope" and "Empire" is pretty well-worn by now.

Batman #17 - This was a good ending, but it was pretty anticlimactic after the excellent "Court of Owls" story.  Still, it answers a good question - if the Joker is such a mad genius, why hasn't he ever figured out Batman's secret ID?  It's because he has absolutely no interest in it, which makes sense considering the whole "mad" part.

Uncanny X-Men #1 - I don't think that I liked this as much as Bendis's other X-book, but it was entertaining enough and left off with a pretty good cliffhanger to make me want to check out the next issue.  Is this going to be a long-term return to the X-books for me?  I have read them off-and-on over the years, but I haven't gotten them regularly since high school.

Secret Avengers #1 - This was a fairly amusing setup.  I'm curious as to how The Hulk is going to fit into a team that's supposed to be a stealth one, but I guess we'll find that out in the next issue.  If it's another slow week, I might just pick it up.

Comics Roundup for 2/6/13

Winter Soldier #15 - I figured I'd give the new creative team of Jason Latour and Nic Klein a shot.  It certainly reads like a Winter Soldier book, and they're definitely sticking true to the basic concept behind the character.  Bucky Barnes continues to look for redemption - this time while trying to apologize to those whom he has wronged.  Of course, all sorts of high-stakes shenanigans ensue.  I didn't love it, but I just might be intrigued enough to pick up the next issue.

New Avengers #3 - This was good - really good.  It basically demonstrates why Captain America wasn't a member of the Illuminati in the first place, and it shows that he's going to be a problem with it if they let him stay.  Definitely some good character interaction, and it's interesting to see something defeat the Infinity Gauntlet.  Still, this series has no business being called New Avengers no matter how good it is.

All New X-Men #7 - Good stuff, as usual, from one of my current favorite books.  I still wonder how long they can run with this concept, but so far I'm still intrigued.  Eventually there's going to have to be a reckoning between the young and old Scott Summers.  I wonder how much it will be necessary to read the other Bendis X-book that's coming out soon in order to follow what's happening there, 'cause it looks like Cyclops is headlining Uncanny X-Men.

The Superior Spider-Man #3 - The plot thickens, and Carlie Cooper is finally starting to serve a purpose beyond "post-MJ girlfriend".  So long as this series can deliver a new wrinkle in the current situation every issue, I think that this book will have some traction.  In this one, we find out that the "ghost Peter" is able to view the memories of Otto Octavius.  Perhaps somewhere in there lies the answer to fixing all this again - that, or the fact that Carlie seems to be hip to what's going on.

Hellboy in Hell #3 - I was a bit more puzzled as to what was going on in this issue than the last one.  Satan has brothers?  Is that what it is?  Either way, I'm still digging it, and I can only imagine how much it would have freaked me out if I read this back when my family was under the influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses.  My comic with Jack Kirby's Demon would seem like a children's book of Bible stories.

Avengers #5 - We get introduced to one of these mysterious Avengers who's been hanging around the book for the past couple of issues.  I'm not sure who she is, exactly.  I read a review, and apparently she's "Smasher".  I don't know much about her or if I should know about her.  I'm kind of interested in her backstory, and I want to see how she'll fit into the greater plan, but I think that greater pains could have been taken to make things a bit clearer in this issue.  (Apparently the original "Smasher" debuted in some old Chris Claremont/Dave Cockrum X-Men comics.  He doesn't ring a bell.)

Hit-Girl #5 - This issue is delightfully violent, and the panel where a little girl uses a sledgehammer to turn a guy's skull into pulp is a thing of macabre brilliance.  As I always say, this works better as a comic than it does live-action.  Dammit if this twisted book isn't entertaining, and I'm looking forward to the grand finale in Kick-Ass 3.

Comics Roundup for 1/30/13

The Superior Spider-Man #2 - I'm not sure how long this storyline can hold up, but it's pretty interesting now that we get to see Peter Parker reacting to everything that's going on as Doctor Octopus continues to control his body.  I think that one good thing that Dan Slott has done with all this is that it's clear that he's been setting stuff up long-term.  In this issue, Mary Jane is getting suspicious, but Peter's other ex-girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, has even more reason to be.  I'm hoping that all of this will play out in the issues to come.

Avenging Spider-Man #16 - I figured that I'd give this book another shot since it looks like it's getting a regular writer.  Plus, it will be interesting to see Ock-Spidey interact with the rest of the Marvel Universe.  I'd be disappointed if Wolverine didn't notice that something was amiss in this team-up with the X-Men, considering that they're fellow Avengers and the two are friends, albeit unconventionally so.  Anyway, I buy it that Rachel Grey wouldn't violate Spider-Man's privacy to see what's going on in his head, but I'm thinking that the new Spidey needs to run into Emma Frost.  It would be hard to imagine her having such reservations.  Overall, I liked this one, and I'm glad to see that it's going to have an ongoing story, as although the team-up concluded, it set things up for the next issue.

Hawkeye #7 - This issue is Matt Fraction's response to Hurricane Sandy, if you will.  Basically, it's got Hawkeye and his friends dealing with what happened.  It doesn't feel too much like a superhero story, but this series is barely your standard superhero fare in the first place - which is part of its appeal.  Anyway, I didn't like this one as much as I've liked the past issues, but it certainly has its place as an important comic along the same lines as the 9/11 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Avengers #4 - Glad to see that this whole Hyperion guy gets explained in this issue.  Plus, it's not like the story from the first three issues is actually complete.  I'm not sure what to think of this series.  It's different, that's for sure.  I'm not entirely convinced that I'll be sticking around for some time, but I'm at least interested enough to check out the next issue.  I'm just hoping that I won't have to wait too long for some payoff.

Batman Incorporated #7 - This certainly is the oddest Batman title around, which is what keeps it interesting.  I'm not sure where Grant Morrison is going with all this, but it's nice to see that he's following up on ideas that first came up in the initial Batman Incorporated intro book.

Better Bible Stories: Job

Some time back, I wrote the first of my "Better Bible Stories".  It was a retelling of the story where Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son and somehow, agreeing to do it was the right thing to do.  Today, I thought I'd write my own version of the Book of Job, mainly because it gets to the heart of pretty much everything that I think is wrong with religion.

In the land of Uz, which was not too far from Oz, there was a fella named Job.  The dude was hella rich and stuff.  He had sheep, oxen, donkeys and camels.  Man, did the guy have some camels.  He was also really faithful to his God, which in this case is Yahweh, the god of the Jews, who also  happens to be the one, true god, unlike that Huitzilopotchli asshole.

One day, Yahweh was bragging to Satan, who may or may not take the shape of snake from time to time, about how swell Job was and how much Job loved Him.  Satan pointed out that it was only because of the fact that Job had a really great hedge, the kind you'd see on the front cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

Then Satan had an idea, and before he could speak, Yahweh replied:

"Forget it."

"What?"

"What you're about to propose."

"I didn't even get to say it!"

"Yeah, well, I'm omniscient, remember?  I know everything."

"Oh yeah, then what was I going to say?"

"You were going to suggest that if Job didn't have that really great hedge, he'd start to curse me.  Then you were hoping that I'd be all: 'Go for it.  Take it away.' And then you'd take away the hedge and do all sorts of nasty things to him like make him sick and kill his family.  And his camels.  You were going to kill his camels.  Your hope would be that he'd then curse me."

Yahweh paused as Satan sat there, astonished, which was stupid of Satan, because by now he should be aware of the fact that Yahweh was omniscient.  But then Satan explained that he only pretended to be astonished as the reader needed some kind of a reminder that being omniscient was an impressive thing.

"That about right?"  Yahweh asked.

"Yeah.  So, let's give it a go then, okay?  I bet that he'll curse you if you let me completely ruin his life."

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Omniscient, remember?"

"How do I know that you're not lying?"

"What do I give a crap what you think?  You refused to bow down before Adam, according to one major branch of the Abrahamic faiths."

"You're just scared that I'm right."

"No, you're wrong.  I know you're wrong, and being that I'm not only omniscient but omnipotent, I'm now also going to make it so that you know that I'm right in the same way that I do."  Yahweh then said the secret, magic word that he uses when he does all of his tricks.

"Whoa."  Satan said.  "You're totally right.  He could go through totally unimaginably awful stuff and still be faithful."

"Kind of messed up, isn't it?"  Yahweh said.

"Messed up?  How do you figure?  Seems reasonable to me."

"Reasonable?  I let an evil being ruin his life and kill his children, and yet he still remains loyal to me?  He's like one of those abused children or spouses who makes excuses for their tormentors.  Can you imagine if a parent let some guy beat the crap out of their kids just to see if the kids would still love them?  How messed up would that be?"

"Messed up, I guess.  But I'm the devil, and I'm evil, so I dig that sort of a thing."

"Figures."  Yahweh sighed, which is bizarre because he's an incorporeal being who doesn't have lungs.  "I'm going down to talk to Job to give him a bit of a lesson on how to respect himself.  Geez...he'd still worship me after his kids were killed.  His kids!  It's like they're just props in some kind of sick farce.  And don't get me started on the camels.  I like camels."

Comics Roundup 1/23/13

Uncanny Avengers #3 - This is a bit late, isn't it?  That's okay because it's a nutty good time, and John Cassaday's art is in top form.  Rick Remender is also making good use of each team member, and it's certainly interesting to see Captain America have to defer to Havok.  How the heck can somebody give orders to Captain America?  Well, Havok seems confidant enough to pull it off.

Green Lantern #16 - I'm hoping that I won't have to buy all the other Green Lantern books to be able to follow what's going on, because I'm enjoying this story, and I like the new Green Lantern.  This issue also gives us a reason why he carries a gun, and it's a pretty reasonable one.

Wonder Woman #16 - This is becoming another one of those titles where I don't have much to say simply because it's an entertaining read and I have not much else to add to it than that.  I guess I could point out that I like the new look for Orion, and the story gives a pretty good reason for introducing the New Gods into the mix.  I still think that this would make for an interesting team-up with Jason Arron's Thor:  God of Thunder.  Oh, and I love the bit when Hera reminds Ares that he's her least-favorite child.  Mythology nerds like me eat that stuff up.

Avengers #3 - Apparently Jonathan Hickman is the kind of writer who thinks long-term, which he'd better be doing here or else that was really anti-climactic.  I also have to wonder just how new-reader friendly this is.  Apparently that's Captain Universe who saved the day there, right?  Doesn't the Captain Universe power only attach itself to a person in times of great need?  And what's the deal with Hyperion?  Not a whole lot is being explained here, but I'm intrigued enough to check out the next issue.

Winter Soldier #14 - Ed Brubaker goes out on a pretty high, albeit melancholy, note with this series.  I'm not sure if I'm interested enough in the character to see what happens to him with the new writer, but it's certainly been fun following his adventures ever since Brubaker introduced him in Captain America's book.  Hopefully the movie will do him justice.

The Secret Service #5 - Another installment of another Mark Millar book, and I'm entertained and surprised that I don't have to re-read everything that came before since it's been a while since the last issue.  

Making my brain work better

Over a year ago, I wrote an entry that I entitled "Not Depressed Enough to be Depression".  What I really liked about it was the response that I got.  A couple people, both on my blog here and on Facebook, told me that they could relate to what was going on.  I think that it was one of the few entries where I ever really got personal - instead of writing about my thoughts on beer, comics, religion, etc., I was writing about me and what was going on in my head.  While I figured it would have been a bit of a form of therapy to write that stuff down, I guess the real therapy was in knowing that I wasn't alone.  I tried the same thing with "Got Guilt?  Kill a Hydra!" but I think that my mythological reference might have gotten lost on some people.

I've been thinking for the past few weeks that I should follow up on what I wrote because I have some good news - I've been feeling really good lately.  Oh, sure, there was a moment of depression when it looked like Prop 30 wasn't going to pass in California, but I think that even in that awful scenario I'd find a way to bring my mood back up to what it is now.

Perhaps the biggest sign is that I've been sleeping really well.  One problem that I'd often have is that I'd fall asleep quickly enough, but then I'd wake up in the middle of the night with my mind spinning on something.  This isn't happening anymore.  I guess the trick that I learned is that much of my sleeping experience depends on the thoughts that are going on in my head when I go to bed.  This became really obvious when I'd either read or watch The Walking Dead right before retiring for the evening.  It was inevitable that I'd have bad dreams about zombies.  So, what did I start doing instead?  I'd read something light - oftentimes some Uncle Scrooge Stories by Carl Barks.  That really did the trick.  Now, not everybody has this exact same situation, or a collection of Uncle Scrooge stories handy, but the basic principle is the same - go to bed with good thoughts.

However, I have an even better control over it lately.  When I have some negative thoughts, I just push them out.  This is easier said than done.  I remember telling my therapist that I wished that I could just shut my brain off and stop thinking about things.  She told me that I had to just keep working at re-focusing my mind.  It's not that I didn't believe her, but I resigned myself to the notion that this was simply the reality that I was dealing with - I had a brain that went places that I didn't want it to go.

But like most long-term solutions, it takes a bit of time for it to finally work.  Does my brain still start to dwell on things that drive me nuts?  Sure, it definitely goes there.  However, now I'm able to push it out of my head with just a little bit of effort.  It's not even so much that I have such excellent control, but I'm just TIRED of thinking about things that bother me.  It's like I get annoyed with the fact that those thoughts are even there because I finally understand that dwelling on them solves nothing.  Of course, I had always understood that on a conscious level, but it's like my subconscious level finally understands as well.

I'm not sure what other factors have played a part in all of this.  I think that much of it has to do with the fact that my wife and I finally moved out of our house, where we were ridiculously underwater - literally, if literally means figuratively, which it doesn't, so we weren't.  The stress of that situation finally being gone is a big plus.  Also, I seem to have adjusted to condo life.  The sheer fact that I don't have lots of yardwork is fantastic.  Would it be nice if it was a little bit bigger?  Yeah, but do you know what I'm also tired of?  Not being satisfied with what I have.

Part of me thinks that being a dad has adjusted my outlook a bit.  It's possible that I just don't have as much time for my brain to go wandering off places.  I pick up Logan right after work, and then I take him and the dog on a walk once we get home.  Then it's time for dinner and a bath (wifey usually does the bath) and then bedtime for him.  After that, I'm pooped.  Maybe it's that, but maybe some sort of instinct has kicked in where my brain simply won't let me go off into a dark cloud.

Part of it too is that at 39, I'm probably closer to death than I am to my birth.  Yeah, that sounds depressing, but it isn't to me.  I have no plans to kick off anytime soon, and I hope that at the very least, I grow old enough to see Logan become a man.  But as for death itself, I have no fear of it.  (I do fear dying though - at least, a painful experience.  Once it gets here though, I'm fine with it.)  And unlike the Egyptian Pharaohs, I realize that I can't take stuff with me, good or bad.  Perhaps some people might think it's morbid, but often I get rid of those negative thoughts by just thinking as to how much it will all matter when I'm dead.  It may sound strange, but it cheers me up.

All of these unimportant things that I stress over won't matter, and the only thing that will matter is that I've left this world in a slightly better place, as that will no doubt be my final thought.  While I certainly don't think that I'm a Martin Luther King or somebody along those lines, I think that I've done all right.  Here's hoping that I'll be around plenty long enough to pad the resume some more.