newnumber6

This is year 3 of my Runaways Alternate Volume 3. See that post for explanations of what this is all about. Last chunk is here. A bit rushed due to trying to get it out before NaNo month, so excuse typos.
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Here's a good time to break, since LJ won't let me post stuff too long.
Next Post, issues #31 to #36, back to the main plot of the year.

Well, for me it was, at least. Why? Because as I was walking from work to the comic store, and reading my book while walking as I normally do, my attention was caught by something on the sidewalk ahead of me. There was, lying in a tiny puddle of water (it'd been raining) was a $20 bill! Woot! Nobody around who looked like they might have dropped it, so I picked it up and used it to buy my comics.

This week I got two books:

New Mutants #4 (not bad, maybe a tiny bit lacking punch as a conclusion, but solid)
Runaways #13 (Worst of the Immonen arc so far)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Also, since I had the extra cash and was hungry, on the way home, I bought a gyro. A Lamb gyro, because it was the only store I've seen in a while that advertises it as an option on the sign outside (I'm sure more offer it, but if I can't see it outside I wouldn't go in to look). It was pretty good, only problem is the guy considered lettuce (and, oddly, a few french fries) as part of the standard gyro build. Lettuce does not work with a gyro, IMHO, it kind of dilutes the flavour. Fries wasn't bad, it just soaked up tzatziki juice. But anyway, it was still a gyro, just not the best I've had.

Work was okay, but rainy a bit which isn't the funnest to work in.

Okay, so here's a continuation of my last WIDW, which was what I'd do with if I was writing Runaways

Vol 3 (in outline form, rather than full script or anything. Read the first post for my general rules of play and explanations for this, and of course for the first batch of issues. We'll start here with the next 12 issues, #12-24 (spread over two posts)
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Continued here.

This week I got one book:

Captain Britain and MI13 #15 (sigh... last issue. But it went out pretty well, great issue)
Runaways #12 (okay... I think the magic may have left some, though)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Speaking of Runaways, had a dream with them in it. Them and zombies. Not the ones they fought though, these were actual undead. Although they weren't traditional zombies exactly, they had some variations ( Read more... )

Work was okay. They moved it to earlier in the day now so that I'll be getting comics after instead of before, but the time it'll take to do both works out about the same, and, on those weeks when I don't have comics (I'm only reading 2 books a month now that Captain Britain's gone, so that means at most I need to go every other week on average), I get home a lot earlier. Some other stuff happened that is a bit more mehhy and urge-to-kill risingish, but I don't particularly feel like talking about it, and it's still in a "see where it goes" stage.

Yes, it's time for another big long post that probably only entertains me, and I don't really expect anybody to read. But I've mentioned it offhandedly in a few posts, that I've been writing down my own sort of "alternate Volume 3 of Runaways", sort of a what might happen if, in some alternate universe, I was told to write Runaways instead of Terry Moore. Well, I've finished up to issue #12, and that seems like a good place to take a break and start posting it.

General introductory comments:( Read more... )

We begin:( Read more... )

continued next post, i write too much for LJ apparently.

Haven't done one of these in a while, and don't remember ever doing these particular questions, so what the hell. Stolen from angelophile...

What's the last thing you did, where you technically broke the law? ( Read more... )
Edit: Whoops, forgot to cut. Sorry about that.

Damn, just heard that the local Tori Stafford case was solved and, well, it's the worst case scenario. Man. I was kinda hoping, since it was presumed that a woman led her away, that it was one of those freaky, "I want my own kid" situations, which is good in the sense that the kid may be treated okay or maybe even a ransom. But no. Some messed up people in the world.

Anyway, no comics today, but work was okay. Came on time and not too heavy, so I got out pretty early. A bit warm though, and hungry now.

Oh, and I am amused by small and immature things sometimes. At the local large chain grocery store, I was checking out the flyer to see if they had any good deals. One of the advertised special, was those little dried-soup-in-a-cup, selected varieties. Except, the sample picture of it proudly proclaimed C*CK FLAVOUR (no censoring, and of course, meaning chicken). Now, since there are presumably multiple varieties, somebody had to have said specifically, "Okay, for the sample pick, we're going to use this variety." It gave me a giggle, anyway.

And just a brief rant. Now, I generally don't agree with the Conservative Party (of Canada, which is still usually less conservative than the US one) on issues. But there's one thing that inspires my rage in them like nothing else - their ads. Specifically, their negative campaign ads. THERE'S NOT EVEN A $#!!ING ELECTION SCHEDULED. STOP PLAYING YOUR ADS SLAMMING THE LIBERAL LEADER REPEATEDLY. We get enough of that crap during an election. You might have had a fair point had you played them then, but now all I get when I see the ads is more hatred for you.

And while I'm on a rant, is it just me, or have the standards of Lucky Charms fallen in recent years? Before, the rainbow mushroom actually looked a little like a rainbow, like it does on the box. Now, it's just a rainbow shaped marshmallow with either random splatterings of cover, or with horizontal bands of color rather than arcs, so it doesn't really look like a rainbow at all. Is a little pride and craftsmanship in the field of mass-produced tiny consumer marshmallows too much to ask?

On to TV and other entertainment media. Since it's nearing the end of the season, I've been saving my thoughts on show episodes for my big 'end of year wrapup'. So I'll just talk about Renewals and Cancellations. Old news to most, but I haven't posted about it.
The good news: Dollhouse is renewed. A bit surprising, actually, but good on them. I hope, if nothing else, this will cause the kneejerk FOX-haters to reconsider their "I will never watch anything on FOX because they don't support good genre shows" (they follow the money, and approve more genre shows than most, and in some cases, like this, where the ratings do not support renewal, they STILL give it another shot? What more do you ask? Especially when you won't watch the shows they put out.). It has gotten a lot better since the first ep, although I don't think it'll ever be a favorite.

A couple other renewals of course, but nothing I personally care about all that much that wasn't already pretty well certain.

Now the bad news. In comics, Captain Britain and MI13 is coming to an end, which will bring my monthly list back down to 2 (it went up to three when New Mutants started. Runaways is the other one). That's sad, it was a pretty fun comic. How can you not like a comic with Dracula living on the moon and launching an assault on Britain using ships that shoot vampires?! Bah, people have no taste.
Also cancelled, officially although most of us knew it was coming, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Damnit. I say again, Damnit. Seriously, I would have traded Dollhouse for Sarah Connor in the cancellation stakes in a heartbeat. I also would have traded all those shows I don't watch that were bubbled and saved. Sorry, fans of those shows for my hypothetical callousness. Anyway, Dollhouse would likely have been the only theoretical 'if only one could be saved' situation might have existed. Dollhouse, I enjoyed, and would have liked to see where it went, but I really WANTED to see how SCC would have dealt with their cliffhanger, and of course more Cameron and all the issues there. But at the same time I can't entirely blame Fox, based on the ratings. Frankly, I'm surprised they got the back end of Season 2 pickup, and I'm thankful for that, because at least they ended strongly (albeit on a cliffhanger) than on the weak stretch of eps that made up mid-S2. And of course I won't hold the cancellation against Dollhouse. How could I?

Oh, and speaking (a ways back) of Runaways, I had a Runaways-related dream. All I could remember was a) We were running cross country, I think in something like the Steinbus instead of the much cooler Leapfrog.
b) Chase had a girlfriend who was rather cool but not really connected to the Runaways, and he broke up with her on the way and we left her behind.
c) Klara was running a three-card-monte style game (can't remember the specifics, but it was some sort of gambling-related 'cheat the unsuspecting') to help earn money, but was secretly thinking of leaving the group and not meeting at the rendezvous we'd set up.
d) The only actually Runaways to appear were Chase, Klara, and Molly, with the dream 'set' sometime in the future after the rest had been rotated out, I think. Which is odd because if I was going to rotate out, Klara would be an early choice.

I guess Runaways dreams will happen when you have Runaways plot-bunnies running through your thoughts regularly. Seriously, it's getting out of hand. In my idle times I've been noodling around a sort of 'what I'd do with if I took over the book after Whedon's run/the Secret Invasion crossover' (I ignored Moore's and beyond, not only because I'm not all that happy with it but because I need a specific break or I never get anywhere beyond updating my plans because of whatever happens in the book). I've got decently fleshed out 3 arcs with loose plans for something like 6 or 7 beyond that, creating subplots, new supporting characters/recurring and/or one-shot villains/initiative members, and long term character arcs for everybody. Bah. The world will never know the genius of MONOK (Mental Organism Now Opposed To Killing), an attempt by an AIM offshoot to recreate MODOK, thwarted when he converted to the Mormon faith and joined the Utah initiative! (The Runaways have to pass through Utah on their way back since when we left off they were still in New York). And that's only one of many ideas! Okay, it's silly, but I have fun with such things.

Happy Easter to all of you that celebrate it. I don't celebrate it religiously (that is, as a religious event), but I do enjoy the familyness... however, for me, Easter is _next_ weekend, the awesomeness that is Greek Easter, and so this weekend I didn't do much different than what I normally do, and so this is a fairly normal update.

So, today I finished Fallout 3. Mildly fun, althoguh I was somehow expecting more from the reviews I'd heard and hype about it being the best game of the year. (minor spoilers behind the cut, but mostly just discussions of specific issues, and good points)
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TV. Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead was on last night, and... ehh, it was okay. Felt like an average episode (and really, with normal episodes being something like 50 minutes, and this one being a whopping 58, lets stop calling these 'extra long specials'. It barely qualifies. When they said instead of a full season we were getting 4 extra long specials I would have hoped that they were at least 1.5 times a regular ep), and nothing really all that special. On the other hand, it didn't make me want to throw things at the screen, so for a RTD-written episode, that's a success. (Minor spoilery comments behind cut) ( Read more... )

And the other big TV is the last 2nd season episode of Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronciles, and possibly the end of the series entirely. And if the last part is true, then DAMN YOU. DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL. I so want to see where they go from here. Good ep, and giving me a lot of what I wanted to see when the series was announced. (spoilers) ( Read more... )

Dollhouse was also pretty good. Only other thing I've been watching lately besides Heroes (which is still lame, but getting a _tiny_ bit better at least in the general writing category) and a few "whatever's on" shows is Lost, and it's pretty good this season but I don't find myself with a need to talk about episodes in my updates. I dunno why. *shrug*. So that's it for TV.

Finally, a meme, several installments worth. I've put off these for a long time, usually because I didn't want to post _just_ them, or a post I was already posting just got too long. But, it's about time, so here we go...

Interview Me Meme
1) Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2) I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3) You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4) You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5) When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on...


Btw, if I asked for questions from you and you gave them but they're not here, it might have been one of those instances where LJ didn't send me the comment notification. If you're really interested you'll have to reply to this and either ask them again or link to them. So, here we go...

From thebitterguy...

1. Were there any comics of note in the '90s? I mean, was the entire decade not a wasteland of graphic novel mediocrity? ( Read more... )
2. If I shot Ben Browder in the face, would you cry? ( Read more... )
3. Do you consciously not use tags on your LJ? Or is it just something you never got around to doing? ( Read more... )
4. I see you just re-read the Wild Cards books. Have they aged well? ( Read more... )
5. Is runaways readable in floppies? I've only read the first run as hardcovers, and got the Whedon series as floppies. I found the Whedon's not very engaging until I read them as a single story. ( Read more... )
From soleta_nf...

1. What do you love about Toronto? ( Read more... )
2. What do you dislike about Toronto? ( Read more... )
3. Is the current economic situation affecting you personally very much? ( Read more... )
4. What's your favourite comic book movie? ( Read more... )
5. Who is the next Canadian Barack Obama? ( Read more... )

From calliopes_pen...
1. If you had the chance to travel with the Doctor, which Doctor would you want to travel with? And where would you want to go first? ( Read more... )
2. Are you superstitious at all? If so, about what, in particular? ( Read more... )
3. If vampires were real, what would you do? ( Read more... )
4. What is the one job you would never want to have? ( Read more... )
5. If you were trapped on a deserted island, what one book would you want
to have with you? ( Read more... )

And that's it. See you all out there in Post-Apocalyptica, people.

Edit: Oh, and this seems to have exploded everywhere since I originally posted this post, but I figure it deserves spreading even more since I'm against censorship and bigotry and this has elements of both: Amazon.com is censoring it rankings and search results, specifically targetting non-pornographic GBLT books as 'adult' content (while leaving things like Playboy fully searchable).

This week I got one books:

Runaways #8 (a few plotty issues, but actually more enjoyable than usual)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Speaking of Runaways, they announced the new creative team. With #11 (probably) it will be written by Kathryn Immonen, with art by Sara Pichelli. I've seen some of Pichelli's work before and thought it not bad, but never read any of Immonen. I'm willing to be cautiously optimistic. And hey, if Christina Strain stays on colors, that may be an all-female creative team (well, if you don't count letterers and maybe not inkers), which is kinda cool. Less thrilling is the spoilery hint about what would happen in that run. I'll just link to it, if you're interested. A few art samples there too, and looks much improved to me over recent efforts.

And yesterday was my birthday. Another year older and deeper in debt. Actually less deep in debt because I'm gradually paying off loans and still make more than I spend, but why quibble on details. Another year older and less likely to be happy, anyway. Ah well, another year down, X-1 left to go. As is my tradition, I do not have to accept my new age until the other half of my birthday, on Good Friday. Still, thanks to all those who wished me happy birthday, and to the rest of you, YOU ALL SUCK. J/K, really not that big a deal. If it was, I would have dropped hints regularly before it came.;)

Didn't actually do anything on my birthday, spent a quiet day at home. Last weekend I went to my grandmother's for a 'birthday dinner' which was quite nice, though. Roast beef, rice, scalloped potatoes, corn, and for desert, cheeeeeesecake tarts, some of which I took home and ate on my actual birthday. (I also got my traditional bag of salt and vinegar chips to devour).

In other news, apparently SF channel will be giving the Riverworld concept another go. I always loved the concept (even though the books themselves were only soso), and thought their first attempt at a movie was only okay, so I look forward to another try.

Let's start with Battlestar Galactica. I've come up with a theory about what's going on, and, since it will be spoilery for the newest eps, and theoretically if correct, might (but probably not) spoil upcoming stuff. Some of you may have heard some of this before.

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On to cartoons. Over the weekend, I watched several (mostly because my net was down sunday morning but I had them already).

Wolverine and the X-Men, ep 14. Another Wolverine centered episode. Some interesting choices, and a smile now and then, but as always, I don't much care when he's the focus. Introduction of an expected character, too.

Hulk vs. Thor. This actually seemed more like an episode of a hypothetical, lost, Thor series than a true crossover. (minimal spoilers) ( Read more... )

And, Hulk vs. Wolverine. This one is supposedly a prequel to the Wolverine and the X-Men series. I'm not 100% sure it works (a few potential continuity blips). But really, it's only okay. (Some minor spoilers, characters that appear). ( Read more... ) If you do watch this, be sure to watch past the end of the credits.

And, the first Book Foo of 2009!

Finished: Wild Cards, Vol 6: Ace in the Hole, edited by George R. R. Martin (reread)
Started: Wild Cards, Vol 7: Dead Man's Hand, by George R. R. Martin and John J. Miller (reread)

Some brief comments on AitH behind the cut, some spoilers.
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On to the last WC I'll probably be rereading (unless I happen to stumble across the next volume I haven't read, but that's unlikely)

Finished: Ilium, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Started: Olympos, by Dan Simmons (reread)

Minor spoilers (mostly back of the book stuff) in a few brief comments behind the cut. ( Read more... )

Oh, and an interesting trivia note you might not be aware of. Today, US President George W. Bush left office and President Barack Obama officially became the 44th President. "Former President George W. Bush"... that has a nice ring to it somehow.

Oh, and Marvel released its April Solicitations. Some quick thoughts:

Man, I know he's got a movie out, but 10 Wolverine books this month? That's just crazy.

Looks like the rumors of a new old-school New Mutants ongoing series is pretty much fact, because they're releasing "New Mutants Saga #1", one of those prose-recap-lets-get-you-up-to-speed-on-past-continuity-for-cheap issues that they often do right before a relaunch with some history. I might have to try that out, despite my lack of interest in mutant titles.

And really, the only surprise? A relaunched Exiles series, written by Jeff Parker. He's behind the First Class comics, and since I always liked Exiles basic idea, just couldn't stand to read it under certain authors, I might actually pick it up. The cast leaves a little to be desired, but in Exiles they can change quickly.

End of Ultimate Spider-Man... probably just for a relaunch. But really, the Ultimate universe died for me the day they assigned any of it to LOEB.

A new major event effecting every other title starting in the regular Spider-Man books? Please, I've had enough of your events. Unless it a) repowers mutants, or b) reverts the crap of BND, I'm not interested and am plugging my ears with my fingers and shouting la-la-la. (Okay, there's a c... adds oldschool New Universe characters to the MU proper. But that's like a million to one shot).

Dark Reign: The Cabal? Eegads, that means in my imaginary Runaways fanon universe I toy with from time to time I can't use the Cabal as the name of the new villain group that wants to take over the Pride's territory! Damn you Marvel for messing up with my imaginary runs. I suppose I'll have to ignore you!

Moore's last issue on Runaways, hope they announce a new creative team, and a good creative team, soon. Maybe Jeff Parker might be an idea, he seems capable of multiple titles and I've liked what I've seen of him short term in Scans of hisbooks.