If even Thunderbolt Ross admits "yeah, that was a bad decision," you KNOW it's bad.

During the Red Hulk/Thunderbolt Ross era of...Thunderbolts; there's an issue--#7--where the rest of the team--Deadpool, Elektra, the Flash Thompson Venom, and the Punisher--decide they've had enough and try to jump him. And get clobbered, just shellacked. And Ross even had a secret weapon in reserve, one that even worried him, as he discusses today with Flash: from 2013, Thunderbolts #13, written by Charles Soule, art by Phil Noto.

On this team's first mission, Mercy had slaughtered a band of armed rebels, effortlessly and somewhat thoughtlessly; and Flash finally confronts her on it. She tells him, he no longer interests her: maybe once, when he had lost his legs and wanted to die, but now that he had "this creature," the Venom symbiote...testing a theory, Mercy tears the symbiote off Flash. Although he wants it back, Mercy can see he no longer wanted to die, so swipe left, bored now. Taking the symbiote back, Flash stomps into Ross's office...is it weird that even as vigilantes, Ross still has a desk and files like he was still a general? Ross downplays Flash's accusations of him "keeping a monster," since hey, what was one more? But he was unaware, and mildly dismayed, to hear Mercy had taken out those rebels, even if they probably weren't good guys. The amount of control Ross had over the rest of his 'team' was largely contingent on if he, as the Red Hulk, could currently reach them; but that didn't work on Mercy; and he tells Flash her story, as much as he knew.

Mercy had fought the Hulk--"the other Hulk"--and lost, going into a dormant, coma-like state. (Ross describes it like she had lost a punch-up, like she was the Abomination or something; but I believe it was more that Mercy wasn't able to 'help' the Hulk by putting him out of his misery, and she didn't know how to deal with that.) The Army had tried to study her, but learned nothing, and basically walled her up and left her. Ross describes the Army as like a "hoarder," and says he himself hung on to stuff like that...just in case. He had taken a couple soldiers with him, but didn't know one had just been left by his wife, and was pretty wrecked by it: enough that Mercy could feel it, killing him, then disappearing. Much later, as the Red Hulk, Ross investigated a report from the Himalayas, of a strange temple, where travelers went not in search of wisdom or healing, but to die. Mercy had taken a Kali-like form, and was pretty happy with her set up: people that wanted to die came to her, she killed them. So, what's the problem? Ross was still mad over the loss of his soldier: he was depressed, sure, but he probably would've come out of it. He thinks he can stop her, but killing everyone that come there to die, Mercy picks up enough juice to launch the Red Hulk off of her mountain. It was a good hit, but he recovers, climbs back up, and causes an avalanche to crush her temple.

Appearing as a young woman with purple hair--fairly normal looking, not alien or distorted like she maybe did back in her early Hulk appearances--Mercy tells him, now she had to go back out into the world, probably killing all willy-nilly. Ross makes a judgement call, that he admits to Flash was not a great decision; offering her "all the death you need" with his Thunderbolts. Mercy agrees to stay...for as long as she was interested. Neither Ross nor Flash now, had any idea what to do with Mercy: they couldn't control her, the best they could do was maybe point her at targets that deserved to die. Although, if said targets didn't want to die, did Mercy have any power over them? I can see the creative team maybe wanting a player on the team that Ross couldn't just Red Hulk over, but Mercy was a wild card with vague rules. And there would apparently be some reveals for her later, that I think make even less sense? She seemed possibly alien in her first appearances, or perhaps a metaphysical manifestation like Death; later in this series she would be neither. And I think Ross might make more bad decisions regarding her then... Read more!

The current Space Ghost book from Dynamite? Pretty good! The current Green Lantern books...um. Hmm. I know I had picked up one recently with a fun cover that wasn't as fun inside, so I'm not as sure. Today's book: back on the fun side, mostly! From 2017, Green Lantern/Space Ghost Special #1, "The Wonders of Space" Written by James Tynion IV and Christopher Sebela, art by Ariel Olivetti. Olivetti had done other Space Ghost stuff for DC and did the main cover for this one, but this is the Doug Mahnke/Christian Alamy variant.

Coming from their respective dimensions, Hal Jordan and Space Ghost land on a world in a darkened void, that believed it was alone in the universe and that there was no other life anywhere. They were becoming dicks about it, and the paid have to team up to help a scientist and his niece prove there was more to the universe (no Prime Directive for them!) although the scientist dies after getting to see the stars for the first time.

Also this issue: a deep cut from Hanna-Barbera, and a lesson in television history, from Howard Chaykin: Ruff 'n Ready! The pair had been the first color Saturday morning cartoon, Ruff the smarty cat and Reddy the dimmer dog; but they were pals instead of foes. In Chaykin's version the pair were stand-up comics, who find out their former partners were stealing their bits, which inspires them to team up themselves. It's not like the pair were Tom & Jerry, so there's probably more leeway, but there are jokes I'm surprised Chaykin got away with!

Read more!

"Busywork."

Part of the notion of this one is maybe from a book that's aged like milk: Warren Ellis's Ultimate Fantastic Four run. Instead of being from the Negative Zone, Annihilus was from the universe below ours...however that works...a universe nearing the heat death Mobius describes. So, Annihilus and his buggos were a little anxious to move up to a dimension that was warm! (That is one of the few things I recall from that run, except for the Ultimate FF being squarely in bed with the military-industrial complex: U-Reed, later the Maker, gets out of trouble by mentioning all the military applications for what he had just discovered, and T-Bolt Ross changes his tune right quick.) One of the last episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks also mentions multiversal travel being a wash: in that theory, if you open a hole into another universe, another hole will open somewhere else to balance the equation. ("Fissure Quest.") Of course, in comics, particularly Marvel comics that maybe try to explain the physics of the impossible, I think sometimes the explanation just leads to more questions.

For instance, I forget where exactly the Time Variance Authority is: it's not at the end of time (that's Vanishing Point over in the DC universe!) but somewhere outside of it, right? Pretty sure there are rules regarding relative time at the TVA, to keep people from leaving, then returning before they left and creating paradoxes all over the place.

Read more!

The "serious breach of galactic law!" isn't on earth. At least not yet.

My local Comic Book Shop does a great job of presentation, and has two other locations that are hubs for card gaming; but you know me: I'm there for the cheap comics, and those they can throw in a pile and I'll root through them like a raccoon through your trash. Recently, they've even had some bona-fide quarter comics: old boxes full of them, pulled from storage, ready to be dug through again. Although, I find something like this, and I wonder why I missed it before: I haunt the cheap books! Was...was I sick? Anyway, at least we finally get today's book: from 1981, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1, story and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer.

The GCD calls this the first creator-owned comic: that might not be strictly true, since Joe Kubert retained rights to TOR back in '59, and Simon and Kirby himself owned Fighting American as well. But this was new, in a retro sci-fi way: in deep space, Captain Victory and his crew discover another earth-like planet has suffered a "takeover," stripped of resources and ruined by invaders. Although he calls his executive officer Klavus a hothead, the Captain still straps a "portable command unit" to his head and gets up to the bridge, despite repeated warnings that it would come under heavy fire, since the enemy "hated his guts." The portable command unit might seem a bit silly and dated now, but you know, it was probably solid-state, resistant to jamming, decent head protection--eee, maybe not, Captain Victory is killed like nine pages into this thing, but the crew fights on, since this maybe wasn't an unusual happening. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the Lightning Lady makes her escape: she seems somehow sad to have had to kill Victory, and wants to create a hive somewhere the Rangers won't find them. Her regent has found a planet, out in the proverbial sticks, that might suit them...

Meanwhile, as you might expect, Captain Victory is revived in a new clone body--his tenth! Klavus mentions he could run out of them, but the doctors seem to enjoy the idea that now "our idols can die with magnificent regularity!" Kirby may have been on to something there. After deploying a "world-killer" to destroy the hive planet, Victory and crew take off after the Lightning Lady, catching up to them on earth. Which isn't a big dramatic reveal there, since we already knew that's where the Insectons were headed, but it's still like a page turn and Victory's on earth, talking to a couple highway cops in Colorado, as his dreadnaught "Tiger" fires into the hills at the unseen enemy. I think the cops serve a narrative purpose: somebody for Victory to talk to there, that would need explanations and be suitably impressed by the goings-on; as opposed to Klavus, who might be a bit of a buzzkill. I hadn't read this series before, but got like six or so from the quarter box. Kind of hoping more turn up! I had seen Captain Victory before only briefly, in the tail end of the abortive Kurt Busiek/Keith Giffen Kirbyverse crossover Victory #1. His uniform (and hair!) seems less bombastic there, almost like fancy navy; kind of like the transition from original Star Trek to the Star Trek II uniforms. Victory is also seemingly taking over earth, but also perhaps without malice: it's for our own good, we're stupid baby primates. Can't really argue with him there. Read more!

A week or two ago, I picked up a batch of McFarlane DC figures, which I don't always since I don't usually love the scale, but he was doing a Metron and I didn't have the DC Universe Classics version. It would've been more expensive, but I wonder if I shouldn't have held out for the DCUC: McFarlane's Metron doesn't sit as well, the chair feels a smidge small, and is open/unfinished on the back side. Now granted, McFarlane probably figures who's going to open that thing, and who would even display the back side; but it still feels like you're getting about half of the Mobius Chair. (There is a chase version in black, for reasons.) Also, for those of you keeping track, this is like the third bald McFarlane figure I've bought largely for their chair, after Black Adam and Lex Luthor, although they were both seriously marked down--wait, is Metron bald under his little hood-cap-whatever? Also, I forget why Lex was in, as Vixen put it in a year-end post, "Darkseid-Superman cosplay", but he's got at least part of that going in today's book, which was sitting in the blog pile for some time because I had five issues and no goddamn idea what order to read them in, if any. From 2016, Justice League: Darkseid War: Lex Luthor #1, "The Omega Judgment" Written by Francis Manapul, art by Bong Dazo.

I'm really not up on New 52-era Justice League, but I think this was from a stretch where Lex was, at least in practice, a member of the League: I could be wrong on the reasoning, but I think his argument was, earth was his home and he could defend it just as well if not better than any stupid Kryptonian, especially since he wouldn't be encumbered by stuff like "morality" or "laws," so nyah. I don't know if they fully committed to the bit, and made Lex an official, card-carrying member; or if they left it open so when the inevitable backslide came they could say he was never "really" a Justice Leaguer. This issue, with Darkseid allegedly dead, Lex had the Omega power; and was being instructed by a woman named Ardora, who may have been one of the "Lowlies." She wanted Lex to use the power against those still enforcing Darkseid's rule, but also makes it clear she would stand beside Lex, but not beneath him. Lex then wonders if others would follow him, what did he need her for, and tries to use the power to murder her. Not being in control of it yet, he blows up most of a rock face, leaving him hanging off a cliff.

There are several flashbacks this issue, that try but maybe don't quite explain why Lex is the way he is: his dad leaves him to get himself out of a dry well after he falls in, telling him only the weak ask for help, "the strong find a way to succeed." Later, Lex tries to browbeat Perry White into killing a story, and is furious at Perry's defiance. (Luthor also says he had asthma as a child, which I'm not sure has been mentioned before or since?) Later still, Lex lets himself fall, rather than let Superman save him: I'm not sure how Lex made it out of that one, unless Superman still saved him regardless. Ardora tries to get Lex to simply ask for help, but ultimately has to go a step further, and jump off the cliff and fall with Lex, which ultimately gets him to accept help and opens him up to the Omega power, saving them both. Ardora tells him, gods need not be alone, and introduces Lex to his army...of Parademons! (They look impressive, but remember, as usual, conservation of ninjutsu rules apply: one Parademon is a terrifying, implacable ogre. An army of them are creampuffs.)

I grabbed four other Darkseid War books from the dollar bins, but didn't get the Darkseid War Special, which is probably the conclusion--no, looks like it ran in the regular book from #46 or so to #50. Shoot, I think I have some JL #50's, but not that JL #50? Oh, comics. Read more!

I have no idea what's happening here, but it's retconned anyway, so just enjoy the sentiment.

There's two more Legends of the Dead Earth annuals next to me, and I have to dig the Aquaman and Starman ones out of my garage--yeesh, that'll be a job! But I found this one in a great haul today, in a fancy archival holder, that I went ahead and popped open so I could cram it in the scanner: from 1996, Sovereign Seven Annual #2, "Memento Mori" Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by Rick Leonardi, inks by Klaus Janson and Steve Mitchell. 

I know I read the first issue of Sovereign Seven back in '95, and I'm pretty sure DC getting Claremont was a coup at the time. Before that, I know I had been reading his Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species, which was hindered by being a bimonthly limited--twelve issues over the course of a little over two years--as well as hitting some tropes he had already used in his X-Men years. Anyway, I'm going to compare S7 to a book from one of his former collaborators: Marc Silvestri's Cyberforce #1. Both those first issues are polished-looking, throw a ton of new characters at you, that already have their own history and team dynamic, as well as bad guys that have seemingly been fighting them for years: both of those books wanted to be X-Men, right out of the gate, without doing the tedious business of years of setting up. Neither would get there, although to be fair, Cyberforce has run sporadically in the years since; while Sovereign Seven would wrap after a three year run, and be retconned away from the DC Universe. (The book was creator owned, so it couldn't be used elsewhere, which may or may not have hurt it.) 

This issue, at the Crossroads Coffee House, it's the end of the universe, and one of the proprietors, Lucy, watches the last star burn out. Well, they had a good run; and she reminisces over the night they first met the heroes of Sovereign Seven, which, in linear time, depending on what theory of the end of the universe you subscribe to, could've been several trillion years ago!...you might hope something else memorable happened in that time.

But, the house band shows up, then more and more, as various memories of events readers wouldn't have seen yet pass by: Aquaman dueling Fatale, for reasons not yet known. The wedding, and death, of Cruiser. Rampart defending Christians against his fellow Muslims, then later becoming President of the United States! Cascade, enslaved in the future, by Network, which somehow involves Saturn Girl of the Legion! (Cascade is either telepathically forced out of her armor, or cybernetically hacked, and forced to kneel like a dog before a dominatrix-like woman: even in a Claremont book, that's a really Claremonty bit!) Nightcrawler-lookalike Indigo shows at the coffeehouse to try and cheer up Daisy, who knows he was long dead, but he seems to think not. Likewise, in the 30th Century, a Kitty Pryde-type rescues "Summer Grey" from the government, and she really looks like Rachel Summers! (By that point, 'Network' seems to be a resistance group against an oppressive government; although having not read the other 35 issues or the Sovereign Seven Plus The Legion book, I could be wrong!)

The overall effect, for me anyway, is like the Simpsons episode "Pygmoelian," where thinking he's going to be written off of the soap opera he was starring in since becoming handsome, Moe conspires with Homer to get even, by spilling a ton of the soap's "top secret storylines." I find it weird when writers do that, you might be able to use some of that stuff later.

In the end, after a night of memories and friends, including cameos from Deadman, Lobo, Enemy Ace, and more; the cosmos appears to be starting up again, a brand new day. "The world will end but love and music endureth." Hey, nothing wrong with that.  

Read more!

You have to have a pretty good relationship with the cops, if you can put on your special aggravated assault gloves on with the commissioner right there in the room.

Seriously, I'm not sure Batman could get away with that. This is one I knew of, and I knew one of the surprises going in, but it still won me over! From 1985, the Shadow War of Hawkman #1-4, written by Tony (now Jenny Blake) Isabella, pencils by Richard Howell, inks by Alfredo (P.) Alcala. 

I usually give Hawkman a bit of the business on this blog, because his continuity has been wrecked so many times it feels deliberate now--Geoff Johns had it pretty much shored back together in JSA, and I think it's been broke two more times since then! And he had some unflattering moments in various Justice League turns: he was often the conservative, authority voice to play off the more liberal and rebellious Green Arrow; then in the DeMatteis/Giffen era he had a brief stint as a humorless prig, not even good as a straight man. To be fair, he's hardly a jokester, but he's in a good place at the start of this mini, which was tying into most of Katar and Shayera's continuity to that point. Earth is invaded, subtly and quietly, by an unknown number of shadowy men from a shadowy planet (not those ones!) who seem to start by forcing a small-time cat burglar to rob the Emmett house, home of the former police commissioner, where Carter and Shiera Hall were currently staying, in order to steal the Hawks' anti-gravity devices.

For their part, the Hawks are about as happy as can be, although Katar is a little grumpy after beating up some thugs after senior citizens; since by earth standards he was twice those seniors' age. (Which might explain why he sometimes seems a bit stodgy! And it's given as a roundabout reason why Shayera kept the Hawkgirl monicker for so long.) They had come to earth so many years ago on a case, then stayed to "study earth policing techniques," but earth had long since become home, partly because Thanagar was a mess. An alien had "equalized" the populace, averaging them out and making them all the same; then the alien tyrant Hyathis had taken over, just on the promise of a partial cure. (Hyathis is the third of three alien tyrants typically seen in JLA books; Despero and Kanjar Ro are probably better known.) When they arrive to finish setting up an exhibit at the museum, they overhear art director Mavis Trent getting into an argument, where she blames Shiera for the Halls being late, because she wants Carter, bad, married or not. Carter gets called away by the burglar alarm he set up at their new place, where he fights the shadowy men, who disintegrate the cat burglar, burning a negative shadow into the wall. The shadow men don't think they're a match for a furious Hawkman, and retreat when they receive word that their second squad destroyed their objective, which doesn't seem to have been their goal.

Hawkman quickly realizes, the shadow men had wanted his anti-gravity belt; and races back to the museum...to find the horrifying shadow of Hawkwoman, burned into the wall! (Spoilers after the break, or at least that's where I tried to put them, the blog's not playing ball today!) 

You've probably guessed they weren't going to kill Hawkwoman there, but it's still a solid ending, and largely fair-play. Hawkman, brutally grieving, destroys a lot of his Thanagarian/alien stuff, to prevent it falling into the wrong hands, while matter-of-factly bringing police captain Frazier into his confidence, and putting on a pair of spiked cestus gloves. (Actually, that looks like just a strap with spikes, but I don't think I'd want to be on the business end of that.)

Katar uses some tech, to trace the shadowy men's weapons, and is dismayed to discover, they were from Thanagar! Thanagar had recently decided to conquer the universe, and what better place to start than earth...also, they had lost their anti-grav tech, and needed to steal it back from the Hawks, so...But, they did have some tech of their own, as well: the Absorbascon, with which they could read the minds of anyone on earth, except the Hawks. So, Carter isn't even able to get help, since anyone he told, the Thanagarians would know. They also hook one of their own up to the Absorbascon, as punishment for failing, which is a fair bit of horror, since it chews that guy's mind up. 

Anyway, there's the double meaning of the "shadow war," which I can't remember if I knew before; and I'm also not sure if this was the first heel-turn for the Thanagarians, who previously were fairly bland victims that always needed saving, like Adam Strange's Rannians. While the Hawks have stayed cool, the Thanagarians are by-and-large dicks when encountered since. (I don't know if this is supported by the material, but it feels like the Thanagarians got hurt once and have been lashing out ever since.)

Read more!

"Back."

The saying goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now," but for the TVA they can do both! Read more!

She kinda got a glow-up for the cover.

I have a few trades of the prior Dark Horse series, Empire, but I don't think I had read any of this one. So of course, let's hop in mid-stream! From 2007, Star Wars: Rebellion #9, "The Ahakista Gambit, part 4" Story by Brandon Badeaux and Rob Williams, script by Rob Williams, art by Michel Lacombe. Cover by Ryan Sook.

This issue is the point in the mission where everything goes wrong, but when the leader has a bomb in his head from a crime boss, you're already starting on the wrong foot. Their Imperial contact hasn't lowered the force field, as she managed to drop Vader's name and bluff her way past a brutish officer, who then follows up on sexually harassing her and holds up the works. (I wonder if there wasn't a disconnect somewhere, or someone was thinking of another character: the Imperial officer Bex is a modest brunette inside, and a blonde model on the cover?) While waiting for the field to drop, the two party members with lightsabers have turned on each other: one had killed the other's master, yet in a reversal of that usual trope, it's the bad guy trying to avenge his fallen master! The leader's love interest and gun girl admits she knows about the bomb in the leader's head--she put it there, she had been working for the crime boss for years, but was still trying to get him through this one.

But, chased by Vader and Stormtroopers, a local resistance leader manages to get off a shot with a rocket launcher. He stands up to Vader and is immediately killed, but might have turned the tide: the force field had dropped, and the lightsaber fight is interrupted as the fallen Jedi is forced to use the Force to keep from being crushed by a statue, and Vader senses that. Which might have just pointed him at all of them...

It's pretty obvious not all of the cast here was probably going to make it out alive, but the next issue might still have some surprises. I lucked into those other trades on the cheap, I'll have to see if I can get all of this one. Read more!

Two Hodges and two Podges, in the same year? In this economy?

 

1. So there's an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where Hal wants to take the boys out for a fun excursion before Lois has the new baby, but because nothing ever goes right there, instead of a monster truck rally they arrive at a bridal fair, and they already paid for parking, so...the whole episode, there's a subtle running gag where every time we see a musician or hear music, it's a version of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration." Anyway, I could probably set something up like that with covers of Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love." I don't think I heard it before like a year ago, and it's been covered about 18 million times. Tough to get wrong, really, it's that good.  

2. Sometimes I just want to do a post of random nonsense; and I always liked the style of 70's era Marvel Bullpen Bulletins, although I'm not going to shout "ITEM!" at the start of each point. The last time I did one of these I was mired in overtime and foggy; now I'm back to regular hours and have a ton more free time...and am starting to miss the overtime cash, since I've recently gone way off-budget: I ordered an extra the Prisoner figure from Wandering Planet's Kickstarter, the fancy new Conan figure, I had to get a loose Marvel Legends Shanna since I missed the set in August, I bought a batch of McFarlane figures. (The latter was a little disappointing, but we'll maybe see some later!) Huh, I pre-ordered Rachel Summers, that shiny pinless Surfer, and Man Without Fear Daredevil. Ugh, I might have to get back to work... 

3. Well, I could probably save some money by dropping Disney+ and Paramount Plus, since the corporate heads of both seem bound and determined to pre-cave to whatever the Trump administration vaguely threatens to do, or to smooth the path for yet another merger so maybe only two entities have all the IP and all the money instead of three. It's just galling that a lot of things I love--Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel--are in the hands of people that aren't going to fight for them the way you might prefer. Actually, it seems like they're going to take the policy of "give the baby his bottle" for the foreseeable future, and just keep their heads down and hope they aren't noticed. Of course, another good reason to drop Disney and Paramount is that I think I can count on my thumbs how many times either of them have had two new shows I wanted to watch running at the same time: really feels like I'm paying the sub fees for one show a week at best. (In fairness: I don't think a lot of viewers liked the most recent Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episodes; but I did? All the continuity doesn't seem like it's going to line up right, but after years of comics god knows I'm used to that.)

What is actually decent value for the money? Tubi!...since it's free and all. Actually, I think I'm enjoying it because it has a surprisingly deep roster of forgotten and obscure movies, kind of like Disney and Paramount both did at first. Those two would then clear out about everything except the new crap they were pushing incessantly, and the occasional franchise they were somehow caretakers of. (I mention this while making eye contact with Paramount: their horror selection is terrible, but they've got all the Paranormal Activity movies, a franchise that's best known not for the movies or the scares, but for being stupid profitable because each installment was made for about forty bucks, figuratively.) The other day on Tubi I watched Gunbus, which had also been called Sky Bandits, where a couple dynamite-happy bank robbers end up as pilots in World War I: it's cheery, agreeably dumb viewing that the streamers you pay for wouldn't know what to do with, but a fun throwback to the kind of afternoon movie that used to be on TV. The downside is, of course, like TV you're at the mercy of ads: during A Better Tomorrow III there was a David Spade sporting goods commercial at an inopportune time that I cursed out like it owed me money, and not just because I hadda see David Spade. Later, I watched a lesser Chow Yun-Fat number, Rich and Famous, and was trying to remember where I'd seen this meme: 

 (20 minutes into any Hong Kong action movie, when they intro the 'comedy relief') 

 STINKY DICK: H-h-h-hello, my name is Stinky Dick, I stutter, and sexually harass women. 

 Boo, get outta here. 

 (90 minutes in, Stinky Dick gets stabbed 37 times and explodes) 

 Bastards! They got Stinky Dick! 

Swear to god, I don't know if it just in the subtitles, maybe somebody just insulting him, but I swear the sneezing comedy relief was actually called Stinky Dick! And he's useless through most of the film, then totally redeems himself in the end!  

Chow Yun-Fat is not in that one as much as the trailer implies: he's the "good" mob boss, and two adopted brothers start working for him, Goofus and Gallant style: one is loyal and reliable, the other a bigmouth suckup. Anyway, the fact that Tubi has even got a decent batch of Hong Kong action flicks is impressive: Hard Boiled and the Killer are both on there, and if you haven't, drop this and go see them now. Oh, and I couldn't sleep the other night, so I watched the oddball Motivational Growth, and whatever they pay Jeffrey Combs, they should pay him more.

4. I haven't had as good of a summer biking as I did the last couple years, but that's probably on me, since I've been a big baby about getting too far away from my house: I don't want to be fifteen miles out and blow a tire or rupture a testicle or something. That said, I might do something I've wanted to forever, and take my old bike into the shop and have it fixed back up. It won't be cheap, except as compared to buying a new bike. I'll still have my current bike for riding around town and such, but if I get that baby going again I swear I'll treat her like a princess: I'll only ride it on the pristine bike trails, not the filthy glass-ridden streets. (The tires are more narrow on that one, which will be mildly perilous at first but feel a gazillion times faster.) Something to look forward to then, although I probably still have another month and a half, two months, this season; before it's indoor bike trudgery again. 

5. This one, I was worried was a warning sign of depression: I have zero interest in football so far this year. That might be because it's well over 80 degrees out even still and it doesn't feel like football time; but I also thought the NFL would be a bit too rah-rah America for me right now. And I'm eating lower-carb, and don't need to be exposed to a ton of ads for stuff I'm not eating right now. And I hate gambling ads: I've been doing this blog long enough that it remembers when the NFL's official line was "gambling is bad" and the NFL doesn't even pretend anymore. And I've never paid to watch a football game, and I'll be cold in my grave before I watch a goddamn game on YouTube or Amazon. And the Cowboys are going to be awful: I don't blame the players or general staff, but somehow Jerry Jones is going to continue making a ton of money off the team even if they never win two playoff games in a row again in his lifetime, or mine. Prove me wrong, guys! Prove me wrong. Maybe I'll feel differently before the season is over, but for now if I'm in on Sunday, I'll think I'll put on DVD's. Or, like I did this Sunday, go on a downloading spree over at Internet Archive! That and I fell off Nine Inch Nails like, um, almost thirty years ago? An ex...actually, a couple exes ruined them for me; but I was listening to the new Tron: Uprising soundtrack, and saw some others I liked, so back I guess?  

6. I'm getting older--which, admittedly, is generally how it works, and obviously, if I remember when Nine Inch Nails was a new band--but I still don't take any medication or anything regularly. Which I mention because I'm somehow still exposed to a seemingly dangerous amount of ads for assorted drugs. If you live outside of the U.S.--first of all, congratulations--but in this country, and maybe only New Zealand, "direct to consumer" drug advertising is allowed. This is in the hopes that you the viewer will then decide that such-and-such will cure your specific ailments, and that you'll hound your doctor to prescribe it to you, as opposed to maybe letting your doctor figure out what you need? God, I hate business. This is also a downside to an aging population: if you're young and hip enough that you don't watch TV with ads like a medieval peasant, you probably aren't seeing them, but rest assured they're annoying as hell and have set both society and musical theatre back like two hundred years. I have no goddamn idea what my "A-1-C" is and I don't care to learn, and Jardiance could taste like pumpkin pie and friggin' cure death, I still won't take it: I hate their ads that much. (OK, a generic, maybe; presumably it tastes like pumpkin pie without whipped cream.) Also, it's cool cool cool that this country's trying to roll back birth control and abortion rights, but sanitized generic Viagra spots on TV are acceptable. Raise the double standard!

That said, I am going to schedule Covid and flu shots. I'm curious, if they'll ask if I "need" them because of a pre-existing condition. Yeah, I'd die of guilt if I didn't do something easy and instead got somebody else sick; how's that? RFK's lunacy has worn thin for me--like New York's current Mayor Adams, he was amusing in a guy-yelling-on-a-street-corner fashion, but definitely not somebody that should be making decisions like he is. I'm pretty sure he has some opinions--and, god forbid, plans--about autism, that I find beyond reprehensible. I gotta admit, he worries me.

7. OK, a more cheerful point: Dark Horse is collecting Nerd Inferno: the Essential Evan Dorkin! Milk & Cheese! Dork! The Eltingville Club! Dead serious here: I have probably 95% or more of that already and I am so buying this one. How to put this...there a lot of creators and storytellers out there that I like, or I enjoy their work. Dorkin might be one of the few that I genuinely admire. He's always been up-front about his shortcomings and failings--I don't think a lot of people would be as open about projects that didn't work as he is, or his anxiety problems. And through it all, he has done stuff that just makes me laugh, even years later. Get it, get it, get it.   Read more!