I’m sitting here staging a boycott of nothing in particular. I woke up at 6:30 or so, didn’t start moving until 7 am, started reading comics at 7:30 then got out of bed by 8. My first act of walking around? Walked straight into cat barf with my bare feet. I decided at that point not to do anything today.
I took the morning off so I could throw wood. At this point it’s foggy and I feel crappy so I’m not going outside.
I’m watching “the Blues Brothers,” probably the best John Belushi movie ever made. I know, I just said that about Animal House, but Animal House really wasn’t a Belushi movie. Sure he starred, but the story had little to do with him. Neither was my beloved 1941. As much as it pains me to say that. Blues Brothers? Fantastic. Just go out and rent it. I didn’t discover it until well after my mind was warped by Bill Murray in “Stripes” and god knows what I would have become if I had found this movie earlier …
While I’m doing recommendations: “Crisis on Infinite Earths” the trade paperback. $30 for 12 issues of a DC Comic from nearly 20 years ago. THIS is the comic book that shaped my comics influences. I was 14 years old and it came out each month. I remember turning 15 and (SPOILER WARNING) nearly crying when I brought the book home from 7-11 and read how Supergirl gave her life. It was probably the most compelling comics reading of all time.
Background: There were many, many, many worlds. That’s explained how Batman and Superman were active in both the 1940’s and the 1980’s by putting the originals on a world called “Earth-2.” That was a world of experiments. Batman had retired and become police commissioner (the later died, I believe), his daughter with Catwoman was called “the Huntress” (yes, they based the character from the short-lived “Birds of Prey” TV show on this incarnation of that character) and she was the Batman of that world in the modern age. Superman had married Lois Lane and both still worked at the Daily Star (the original name for the Daily Planet), Robin was an adult and a congressman, Supergirl in this world was Power Girl (oh frigging HUBBA HUBBA!) … I could go on and on.
The point of the story was merging the Earths. There are hundreds of characters on a massive scale. The art is fantastic, by George Perez (the same guy who is doing the current JLA/Avengers mini-series), and the trade paperback’s new coloring and crisp paper actually showcases the art A LOT better than the original comics (though the Blue Beetle doesn’t look quite as cool as he did in the original comics — but who cares? Only I care about the Beetle). The story was compelling and it was THE comic that set the tone for things to come.
There wouldn’t have been Batman: The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen without Crisis.
In other news, I’m kicking the Monopoly addiction. Stef said “No more Monopoly for you” and I listened. SHE HITS HARD. She’s 14 hours away by car. I know if I get her pissed off enough, she’ll get in the car and beat the hell out of me. So there’s been no more monopoly since yesterday morning.
Though I almost bought it for GameCube for my niece and nephew …
k9