OK, this week's comics:

I need to sit down and read the whole set, but while the last issue or two picked up, I kind of wonder if maybe this shouldn't have been a four-issue series instead of six. Still, the conclusion of Mad Rupert's Regular Show: Skips is a lot of fun: Skips gets out of his Groundhog Day predicament, but now has to face the menace of the monstrous Destruction Lord. Which is slightly less destructive than Mordecai and Rigby, even on it's best day.

In most crime comics or even movies, the mob planning to hit ten vaults in one night would be a dramatic conclusion; in Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster #3 it's the midway point, and not the main focus! The cops are intensifying their manhunt for the vigilante Lobster Johnson, his friendly reporter Cindy is starting to get fed up with burying stories, other foes haven't forgotten about him; and Lobster isn't going to take a break or lay low. But he may be pressing his luck too far this time. This may be the best of the Mignola-verse books right now, and B.P.R.D. hasn't been bad lately either. (Story by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Tonci Zonjic, colors by Dave Stewart.)

After the four issue Winged Victory story, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson are back to stand-alones with Astro City #11, "The Sorcerer's Assistant." The young magician Silver Adept may be "the savior of more living souls than you can possibly imagine," but it's her assistant that has to answer the emails, schedule her appointments, reschedule her appointments, and occasionally save the day herself. Fun, well worth reading.

Lastly, Chris Claremont and Todd Nauck's Nightcrawler #1 is a good start to the series: back from the dead, Kurt's adjusting to the changes he missed--Wolverine has a school, lost his healing factor, and seems to be losing his grip; amongst others. After visiting his adopted sister/occasional girlfriend Amanda, they are attacked by an armored creep calling himself Trimega. The Bamfs are still following Kurt around too, which seems like it doesn't match up with the end of Amazing X-Men, but it's still neat: not reinventing the wheel, but I quite liked it.

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OK, this (last) week's comics:

I haven't done one of these in a bit, but here's the stuff I bought last week.

First up, Amazing X-Men #5, "The Quest for Nightcrawler, conclusion" Written by Jason Aaron, pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Dexter Vines. A number of plot threads Aaron had brewing for some time come together, as the Red Bamfs and the Blue Bamfs battle at the Jean Grey School, Nightcrawler's regathered the X-Men to fight the demon hordes of his dad Azazel and save heaven. The late Professor X tries to get Kurt not to go through with his plan to stop Azazel, but Kurt feels it's his responsibility, and pays the price for it. It's a pretty, pretty issue; but feels a bit rushed, and slightly grimmer than the art would indicate. Also, I know Wolverine doesn't have his healing factor currently, but I thought he did at the start of this one!

Somewhat conversely, we're up to the seventh issue of Satellite Sam, and the question the book started with--who killed Carlyle White, the actor who played Satellite Sam?--is seemingly no closer to being answered. It's still a fun, smutty ride, though I wonder: does it need closure on the murder, or will that wrap up the book? This issue will probably read better collected, a common trend for today's books. (Written by Matt Fraction, art by Howard Chaykin.)


The end of the world continues in both B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #117 and Abe Sapien #11. (B.P.R.D. written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by James Harren, inks by Dave Stewart; Abe written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, art by Max Fiumara, and colors by Dave Stewart.) This issue of B.P.R.D. is the third of a five-parter, but still feels like there's some forward progress; as Liz Sherman and her team, along with the freaky Iosif of the Russian Special Sciences Service, fight through the monster-infested New York City to get to the mysterious Zinco Corporation and the Black Flame. Meanwhile, in Abe's book, a former Satanist makes some progress in Seattle, while Abe seemingly fails to save the small town of Payson, Arizona. Abe's book seems to be spinning it's wheels a bit, but still works as part of a larger tapestry.

The twelve-part crossover concludes in Transformers: Dark Cybertron finale, written by John Barber and James Roberts, with layouts by Phil Jimenez, pencils by Brendan Cahill, inks by Brian Shearer. The wrap-up is to come and will set up a new status quo for the two Transformers books, but not one but two former villains may have found a measure of redemption here. It remains to be seen how much it sticks, and if the death from the previous issue (which I still need to find!) does either.

Brandon Graham does most of the art for this week's Empowered: Internal Medicine one-shot, written by Adam Warren. Empowered and Ninjette race to help an alien living spaceship deliver it's baby, at a somewhat-deranged superhero hospital. It's cheesecakey fun! Except there may be more than a bit of foreshadowing for later issues.

Dark Horse Presents #34 was purchased mainly for the conclusion of Nexus: Into the Past. It's not Baron and Rude's best on the book, but seems to draw a line under thirty-three years of stories. (On and off!) I may have been better off waiting for it to be collected, because aside from the recent short Hellboy serial, there hasn't been much else in the anthology that's grabbed me, and it's $7.99 a pop. Still, it only has two issues left, so we'll probably ride it out.

Another book I may not keep for much longer: Regular Show, since this issue finds the gang at the park fighting the 90's for the second straight issue, and it's been moving a little slowly. For four bucks an issue, it wasn't enough.

Speaking of four bucks, I did splurge for Silver Surfer #1, written by Dan Slott, art by Michael and Laura Allred. Marvel's pricing seems a bit steep, but it is a good start to the series, as the Surfer is recruited to save the massive alien city the Impericon, and a young girl is placed in jeopardy to motivate him. Only, the Surfer has no idea why. Doctor Who may be an influence this time around, but both the story and the art place the book far and away from the usual gloomy, soliliquy-spouting Surfer. I may be in for at least another issue at this rate.

All this, and I missed Warren Ellis's Moon Knight! I'll have to hold out for a second printing.


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OK, this week's comics:

A good batch of comics this week, and my store was shorted Ballistic #3! Well, still a nice pile.

There is a far more objective review of Amazing X-Men #1 at CBR, but the reviewer points out that storywise, the issue coasts a bit on "Woo! Nightcrawler's back!" and the general swellness of Ed McGuinness's art. But those two points carry it quite a ways for me, too. I think this is supposed to be a five-issue storyline, so Aaron's got time for more plot later. You all know I'm on the hook for this one: the Comic Book Shop even got me to buy a spare with the variant cover, too!

Baltimore: the Infernal Train #3 is the conclusion of this limited series, but sets up the next one nicely. (This is three of three, but really #18 in the series.) The titular train is powered by vampires, burning them instead of coal, as a series of sacrifices to awaken a dark god; but even that is only a roadblock to Baltimore in his quest for vengeance against the vampire Haigus. So is the insane inquisitor Duvic, who is determined to destroy anything he feels is contaminated by evil--Duvic would be better served going after the vampires than Baltimore, for a number of reasons, not the least of which being Baltimore is bad ass. Killing vampires seems like an easier target. A well-executed book: even though I've read the novel, I'm still enjoying the journey here.

I've also been quite enjoying Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye--just in time for it to start a massive twelve-part crossover with Transformers: Dark Cybertron #1. D'oh! Being a relative newcomer, there are some points I'm probably not completely up on--the name "Jhiaxus" sounds familiar and I feel like it should mean something, but I don't know the character. And in an already somewhat sprawling cast, I was surprised to see Rattrap and Waspinator, two characters from the Beast Wars cartoon. (Putting that in superhero terms, it would be like Legion of Super-Heroes members just wandering into the scene of All-Star Western: they might exist in the same universe, but not the same time, usually.) Still, the book does feature Autobots being heroic and snarky, in the right measure, so we'll see if I go all in.

Since I don't have cable right now, and there's only a few episodes on Netflix, the comics are my primary source for Regular Show, and issue #5 and the first issue of the Skips miniseries were out Wednesday. There's a Blake Babies song, "Nothing Ever Happens" that I think Mordecai and Rigby would probably agree with: they probably feel like nothing ever happens, even when facing a mad hair-cutting robot, infestations of freegans, or a visit to a geyser-covered national park. The latter is from Skips' series, which looks like it is going to go with a Groundhog's Day story, and looks like it's going to be fun.

We're three issues into the George Lucas-rough draft version of the Star Wars, and while it's interesting in a "what could've been" sense and the art is nice, the characters still don't really feel fleshed out, even for Star Wars characters. I think if I sat down with the previous issues and read them together, it would hold together a little better. Itty Bitty Hellboy #3 is also from Dark Horse, and likewise not a bad book, if I kind of feel like I'm buying it out of Hellboy completionism. (And I don't have a complete Hellboy collection...not quite.)

And with that, I'm out for the weekend! Already got my tickets for Thor: The Dark World, too!

Scans from Amazing X-Men #1, Tradd Thomas Moore Deadpool variant cover, written by Jason Aaron, pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Dexter Vines.

Baltimore: the Infernal Train #3, written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, art by Ben Stenbeck, colors by Dave Stewart.

Transformers: Dark Cybertron #1, written by John Barber and James Roberts, layouts by Phil Jimenez, finishes by Andrew Griffith, with prologue art by Brendan Cahill.

Regular Show #5 written by K.C. Green, art by Allison Strejlau; with "Freegans" written by Brandon T. Snider and art by Wook Jin Clark. Regular Show: Skips #1 story and art by Mad Rupert.

The Star Wars #3 based on a rough draft by George Lucas, script by J.W. Rinzler, art by Mike Mayhew.

Itty Bitty Hellboy #3 story and art by Art Baltazar and Franco.
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"Seeing Fireworks. By any means necessary..."

Click to enlarge this time around!

In terms of Regular Show, Captain America is probably like Pops this time around; while Iron Man falls into the Benson role...

Anyway, if you've seen Iron Man 3, you probably remember "Operation: Clean Slate," where Tony blows up a ton of his old armors, symbolically showing his devotion to Pepper and that he doesn't need the armor to protect himself from the new post-Avengers world he's in. Symbolically, it's a pretty good scene, even if I really don't think the suits would pop! like fireworks. Because each suit is full of weapons, which alone could have toxic repercussions for the area; along with the metals in the suits, and whatever their individual power sources were. And each one was crazy expensive, full of proprietary technology that probably needs to be more destroyed than just blown up, and Tony is probably going to need some armor again sooner rather than later...

Hope you have a good Fourth of July, and a good weekend! We're off here tomorrow, even though I have to work tomorrow. Am I the only one? That sucks so much...
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"Empties."

Dale made me think of this one. Sort your recycling! Unless you're still drunk.



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"Gamma Show."

Red Hulk is a recent arrival, sort of; but we'll talk about him on Friday.

We last saw Mordecai and Rigby interviewing for jobs as groundskeepers for Avengers Mansion. I'm sure nothing ever happens there, except maybe rotating in and out the memorial statues for whoever is currently dead. Actually, that sounds like a full-time gig.



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The Seventh Annual, Random Happenstance, Year in Toys!

No Mayan apocalypse this year, just another pile of action figures! Time once again for one of my favorite posts to do, the Year in Toys!

For new readers: next to my desk at work is a little yellow notebook, in which I have been keeping a running total of every action figure or toy I buy. I started December 2005 and haven't filled it yet, so apparently I'm not buying enough figures. Hopefully, each entry has the figure, the line, the price, and where I bought it; and possibly a link to a cartoon or strip that toy was used in. (Unless that figure's unloved or unphotogenic, I guess.) Totals will usually include postage and tax. Usually. This is by no means a "Best of" list or anything, just what I bought.

As always, most of this list was kept up at OAFE.net, and here's links for 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. Seven years of data...of my spending habits, which probably tells you nothing, but still.

1-5 GLC Manhunter, $8.80, Toys R Us.

1-13 Batman Legacy Catwoman classic, $16.99, Hastings.

1-20 Loose DCUC Timber Wolf, $13 w/free shipping, eBay.

1-23 Nightcrawler figurine, $7.16, eBay.

1-24 Battlestar Galactica Tigh and Gaeta, $9.99+.97 postage, Hastings.com.

2-8 DCUC Samurai, $9.74, Wal-Mart.

2-16 Lego Minifigures 6 Mechanic, $3.24, Wal-Mart.

2-17 Marvel Legends Steve Rogers and Ghost Rider variants, $14.99 each, total $32.43, Target.

2-23 Lego Alien minifigure, $3.23, Walmart

2-24 ML Constrictor and Hope Summers, $14.99 each, $32.59, Target.

2-27 Lego Astronaut Girl, $.99 + $1.50 postage, $2.49, eBay.

3-2 DCUC Toyman, $5; Winter Combat Captain America, $3; total $8.72, Walmart.

3-6 ML Stealth Iron Man, $16.29, Target.

3-7 ML Klaw, $16.78, Wal-Mart. (Completing Terrax!)

3-9 DC Heroics Superman, $.97, Wal-Mart.

3-14 DC Direct JSA Starman (Legion), $7.50, Hastings.

3-16 ML2 Captain America (Bucky-Cap), $16.29, Target.

3-20 Thundercats Cheetara (six-inch), $7.58, Wal-Mart.

3-25 ML Fantomex, $16.29, Target.

4-11 DCUC Hawk and Dove, $15.99 each, Target, total $34.63.

4-17 Two DC Action League Martian Manhunter/Deadman packs, $1 each, Wal-Mart, total $2.19.

5-1 DCUC Indigo Tribe Atom, $8.84, Fred Mayer.

5-13 DCUC Star Sapphire Wonder Woman, $6.79, Fred Mayer.

5-17 DCUC Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, Sinestro Corps Scarecrow, $6.79 each, total $13.58, Fred Mayer.

5-19 Green Lantern MM unmasked, $4.31, Ross.

5-20 (?) Anti-Monitor head, crotch; $.99 +$6.87 postage, eBay.

6-15 Movie Masters Jim Gordon; Wal-Mart, $16.50.

6-16 or so: DC Direct Saturn Girl, $1.99+$2.45 postage.

7-2 Anti-Monitor left arm, $4.00+$5.00 postage. DC Direct Nite Owl (modern!) $8.50+$7.99 postage.

7-13 Watchmen Rorschach--masked and unmasked! $1.38+$5 shipping, eBay. Toy Biz Marvel Legends Venom, $7.99, eBay. (AKA "Dinner Jacket Venom.) Spider-Man Venom (Gargan), $7.99, Grocery Outlet.

7-24 Batman Battle Shield Robin, $1, K-Mart.

7-26 ML Drax, $10, Wal-Mart.

8-6 Movie Masters Batman, Bane, $12.79 each, K-Mart. ($25.58 total.)

Red Azrael Batman, $15.50, eBay.

8-10 Batman: Power Attack Two-Face and Mutant Assault Batman; $8.97 each, $17.94 total, Wal-Mart.

8-16 HALO Cortana, $2, Wal-Mart.

8-10 Aztech Toys Silent Screams Graf Orlok, $7.50, eBay.

8-22 DCUC20 Sinestro, $8, Wal-Mart.

8-24 Young Justice Red Arrow, $10.80, Ross.

8-31 Young Justice Aqualad, $10.80, Ross.

9-20 DCUC Shark (loose), $3+$3 postage, eBay.

9-26 Movie Masters Catwoman, $16.99, Fred Meyers.

9-28 DCD Hal Jordan/Spectre (loose), $0.95+$4.50 postage, eBay.

10-1 DCUC Blue Lantern Kyle Rayner (loose), $9.99, free shipping, eBay.

10-4 DCUC Elasti-Girl (loose), $16.99+$13.99 postage, eBay.

10-9 MM GCPD Blake, $8.99, Fred Meyers.

10-11 Regular Show Mordecai & Rigby, $21.67 w/postage, Toys R Us. (Website.)

10-23? DCUC Uncle Sam (loose), $11.03, eBay.

10-30 TMNT Metalhead, $8.88, Wal-Mart.

10-31 ML USAgent, $17.99, the Comic Book Shop.

11-20 MM R'as al Ghul, $17.99, Hastings. Completing the Bat-Signal!

12-5 MOTUC Battleground Teela, $13.09, $18.96 shipped, mattycollector.com.

12-14 Rorschach (loose), $9.99 shipped, eBay.

12-14 DCUC Azrael/Battle-damaged Batman, $12.99, $14.04 with tax, Ross.

12-22 NECA Robocop (with holster!), Christmas present from my girlfriend! (She also got me Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden's Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, which I've wanted to read for some time. My girlfriend rocks!

12-24 Power Attack Total Destruction Batmobile, $14.99, Fred Meyers.

12-28 ML Iron Man (90's Neoclassic), $5.90 shipped, Amazon.

2012 total: $706.32. 2011: $564.71. 2010: $966.10. 2009: $558.16. 2008: $555.16. 2007: $426.00. 2006: $620.00.

Although I'm usually pretty solid in my record keeping, I know this year I didn't keep track of garage sale purchases; like the as-yet unidentified robot seen with the DCUC Manhunter. I know I didn't spend a ton on yard sales, either, but still. Likewise, I bought multiple Hot Wheels/Matchbox Batmobiles, Bats, Mystery Machines, and so forth; both for myself and the boys and my nephews. And the same for the Avengers Chibis, Marvel Bonkazonks and Squinkies, vending machine toys: little things seemed to fall through the cracks, then.

Still, I'm mildly surprised the total was up a little this year; since there seemed to be long stretches where there weren't a lot of figures floating around, and the usual gloom-n-doom about the action figure market collapsing or drying up or imploding or whatever. Somehow, I still managed to come up with a ton.

eBay made a bit of a comeback in terms of my purchases as well; partially because I picked up several figures loose directly from China: Azrael-Batman (although I bought him domestically as well), Uncle Sam, Blue Lantern Kyle, Timber Wolf, Rorschach, and possibly my favorite figure of the year, Elasti-Girl. "Dinner Jacket" Venom was an older figure, but also loose from overseas.

eBay and happenstance also played a part in completing one of this year's three Build-a-Figure/Collect-and-Connects, the Anti-Monitor: four figures bought at various degrees of clearance plus two parts from eBay, for a total of $46.07. The other two, Terrax and the Bat-Signal, were finished from retail purchases. The six figures needed for Terrax were a combined $98.25. The Bat-Signal's math takes some walking-through: you needed the six Movie Masters figures to build it, but a seventh, broken piece came with Commissioner Gordon! And Dale hooked me up with Alfred! Out of the seven figures, one was a gift, three were marked down, three full price, for a total of $86.75.
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