Jesse's comic confessional

the golden age of sci-fi, a dimension of sight and sound.

2011-08-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

Who's seen the Twilight zone? *raises hand*

It's one of my favorite shows, and since It's now on netflix, Ive been able to enjoy it much more easily. Something I've noticed is just how much modern science fiction owes to that show. Since I'm a geek ideas like parallel universes, time loops, and intangible 5th dimensions cross my mind fairly often. Still, I can watch an episode of that show and feel intrigued by the story being told, while the effects are dated, a lot of the concepts hold up quite well. The show ran from 1959-1963 and helped usher in a major Sci-fi boom, mainly due to it's most prominent contributors; Rod Serling, and Richard Matheson. If you poll people on the street, 90% of them well know what the twilight zone is, and most of them will be able to describe an episode of two. It's had a lasting effect on popular culture. From gremlins on the wing of a plane, to little boys who can literally DO ANYTHING with their mind, With shows like lost and fringe exploring time travel and alternate dimensions, it's clear to see the impact it's had.
Art has to get it's inspiration from something, and I'm sure all of the advancement made in the 1940's and 1950's help ignite the minds of future twilight writers. Television, nuclear energy, space travel, how can you not help but continue to think "what if" under those circumstances?

and for the record, my favorite episose is season one's long live Walter jameson!

Tokyo S.O.S.

2010-11-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hey remember when I said I was starting a podcast? well we're up to episode 10 now. here's the URL: http://tokyosos.132productions.com/

We're reviewed up to Destroy All monsters, and while I'm still quite the newbie at podcasting, I'm pretty happy with my work so far. hope you listen, and enjoy!

oh the things I apprciate in my life.

2010-11-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

Being Thanksgiving and all, I thought I would compile a list of a few things that I have going for me.

*my job. I enjoy it a lot more then some, and in the current economy, that's a lot to ask for.

*my family, particularly my parents and siblings. I'm not always the easiest to be around, but they tolerant me.

*my friends, especially the ones I've met and re-met over the last year. I feel welcome in their presence and they are always entertaining.

*The entertainers who's books I've read, film's I've watched and games I've played. It made sound trite, but they've helped me stay sane.

*my boss. Shocker I know, but I have one of the few who offer assistance whenever i need it and positive feedback when I ask.

*Above all else, My best friend. She is a role model, a muse, and a inspiration all in one. I'm lucky to have her in my life.

Why I have hope in the Green Lantern film.

2010-11-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

I'll freely admit i'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds. I'm not in a hissy fit over his being cast as Hal Jordon. here are a few reason why I have a positive outlook on 2011's Green Lantern film.

1. Remember this picture?

The costume from the teaser looks a little different. does the CGI look a little off? Yea, but they have six months to hammer it out. and I can think of a few films that have had less then stellar effect in the trailers.

2. Ryan Reynolds can do dramatic roles. Look at his characters in the Amityville Horror, Buried and Smoking Aces. Not a whole lot of funny in them. sure the teaser showed us the hilarious Ryan all the women love. You know why? To get those same women to go see the film. It's marketing.

3. All that has been shown is a teaser trailer which was more then likely churned out in time for the holiday season. it was released to generate buzz, not to get people in the theaters right now.

4.Martin Campbell isn't Uwe Boll. the guy makes pretty decent movies. He made a reboot of 007 fly, that's pretty good to me.

5.Marvel has been owning DC in the theaters for the last ten years. how is this a good thing? competition breeds better products. DC wants their own Iron Man and I doubt their going to put all of their egg in a basket that will turn out like Steel.....

Of course, I could be completely wrong. The movie could suck monkey balls, but I this point I'm optimistic.

Marvel's heroic age

2010-11-25T06:46:00.001-08:00

Marvel's "Heroic age" has been going strong for a little while, and while I'm more or less digging it so far, I have to ask are they trying to go home again?
Starting with Avengers disassembled in 2004, Brian Micheal Bendis kicked off a dark, depressing ride. following with House of M, Civil War, Planet Hulk, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege the Marvel U. went from a relatively idealistic setting, to a dark and oppressive playground for the bad guys.

With the end of Norman Osborn's reign on the MU, we've been promised a return to the old status quo(more or less) and, honestly, I don't think it's possible. For starters, naming the banner above all of your books "the heroic age" is a tad pretensions. The golden age of comics wasn't a marking ploy, it was given in hindsight in reverence. Telling us we're reading the heroic age of marvel comics(all while insisting it isn't a crossover) is akin to telling us how the books should make us feel, and not letting the work speak for itself. If you want to move the line in a new direction, announce it and let the writers and artist do their thing, don't force feed us the premise and write the same despressing books you've been writing for the past six years. it shows a lack of confidence on marvel's part.

While I believe comic's should be enjoyed by all ages, I don't believe you can have supervillians eating their young and going on rape-fests all while insisted on a new, lighter, era. That's the problem I see with the heroic age. there has been too much done under the direction of a 14 year old's idea of "mature" I'm all for a book implying adult situations. but to out right show and state everything? that's bad judgment on marvel's part. it's like sex jokes being abundant in Disney movies, they fly over the heads of children, but the adults recognize them right away.

Having physical abuse of a male character by a female character being shown as comical (Amazing Spider-Man) and having a character literally being ripped in two by another(Siege) is going too far. these are not things you can just sweep under the rug and forget about, once you introduce concepts such as these, you can't go back to a more ambitious, all age appropriate type of story, the water is already tainted. the long time fans know this and new readers will either be turned off by the new ,lighter approach, or turned off by the the offensiveness of older books the first time they pick up a back issue.

a quick recap of spider-man in the last dew months.

2010-07-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

So a lot has happened in the spider-man books since I last posted. unfortunately, not a lot of it is good.

+Michelle has shown slight improvement, that is no longer trying to kill peter.
+Kaine has returned, and has been given good development.
-Kaine also got his ass handed to him by a 12 year old.
-Charlie has gotten no character development
BIG - the lizard story sucked balls. while I commend them for trying something different(as I wanted) they had him eat his own son. and the art hurt my eyes.
probably a -, but may work out: Kraven the hunter is coming back. I've loved the arc so far, but I just hope they can follow through with it, and make his resurrection worth while. but, really, was anyone clamoring for Kraven to return? give us Ben already.....

and unless O.M.I.T. retcons the hell out of OMD it is probably going to suck also.

Tokyo S.O.S. is live and running!

2010-07-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Episodes 2,3,4, and 5 of Tokyo S.O.S. are up......as you can tell, i've been neglecting my blog for quite a while.
http://tokyosos.podomatic.com/

Tokyo S.O.S. Episode 1

2010-03-12T15:25:00.001-08:00

www.tokyosos.podomatic.com

Episode 1 "the horror begins" is up. Thomas and I discuss how we got into Godzilla, our appreciation of the franchise, and the impact it has had on pop culture.

Also, from time to tim I may throw a few reviews of other Toho classics up on the blog. Such as Rodan, Mothra, the Mysterians. Stuff that doesn't fit into the godzilla series.

Hey, I have a Podcast!

2010-03-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

While not directly comic book related, I have started a podcast with my friend Thomas Matis titled Tokyo S.O.S.: a godzilla podcast. As you can deduce, It focuses on Japan's biggest export, Godzilla. Together Thomas and I intend to review every film in the franchise from 1954's Gojira, to 2004's Godzilla: final wars. Given my somewhat spotty record of updating this blog, I imagine one may be hesitant to believe this will actually get done, but fear not as Thomas will keep me on focus. I'll post the links to each new episode as they are relased. Peace!

Character appreciation: Dr. Curt Connors, the Lizard.

2010-03-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

Dr. Curt Connors First appeared in the Amazing Spider-Man issue #6, and has more or less been around in one form or another ever since. Connors, a gifted surgeon, was enlisted into the Army and lost his right arm during the war(Originally Korea, perhaps.) Upon returning to civilian life he began experimenting with reptile DNA in hopes to harness the ability to regrow limbs. He regrew his arm.....and this happened:
....not quite the desired effect.

Since his introduction the Lizard has battled Spider-man numerous times. While in his human form Connors has become a close ally to the web head. The character hasn't gotten a lot of love lately, and he's been called out dated and two-dimensional. I beg to differ. While the sympathetic scientist turned evil plot is one of the most well told, at the time of his creation it wasn't. It wasn't common for superheros to have villains they cared about. It was something new and fresh.

I believe with a creator that can give the Lizard motivation and direction, he can become an A list villain again. I'm tired of stories where Doc Connors gets turned and attacks spider-man, and that's the extent of of his appearance. No one knows what to do with him, and it's wasted potential. Give him more of a Jekyll/Hyde persona, rather then the Hulk syndrome. Have the Lizard consciously plot against Connors, He doesn't lose his intellect when he transforms, only becomes evil. A lot could be done with that. and please keep him out of purple pants......

Mini-Rant time!

2010-03-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

So one of the problems I feel is plaguing comics is the fact that the medium as a whole is simultaneously being marketed as both a more adult AND a more childish outlet then the books I grew up on. You have sex and violence in damn near every splash page, coupled with shallow writing and poor characterization.
Comics are a illustrative medium, equal parts visual and literature. One can't be crap or the book is going to be flawed. You have creators trying to shove two dimensional characters down our throats, or rehashes of old story lines, when they cannot bring anything new to the table. If you can't tell a story better, or at least from a fresh perspective do not re-tell us a plot line that has already been done to death, and please stop resurrecting characters without bringing anything fresh to that character.

case in point: The Amazing Spider-man.
I enjoy a lot more of the post brand new day Spider-man then most fans.........that being said, there is still a lot that I don't enjoy. Like Michelle Gonzales, and Black Cat, and Peter being a photographer, again.
Michelle Gonzales's one character trait is that she is a bitch. I'm sorry but that's all I've gotten out of her since she appeared. I'm assuming she is supposed to thought of as "independent" and "tough" but essentially taking advantage of a guy, getting pissed off because he regrets a one night stand, and punching him in the face are not ways to develop a character.
I like black Cat, I don't like how she's lost all of the character development she had from the past twenty years. She is being shown as someone who does not give a shit about Spider-man. selling his blood to the black market? how is that a smart move for anyone. And the "relationship" between her and Peter? I didn't mind it happening......but Peter should have realized his mistake and ended it....instead of bitching and whining after every roll in the spider sack.
That's my biggest complaint with his character: he's moving backwards. he's not learning anything, and he seems to have lost of lot of the lessons he's learned over the years. I understand that being a super hero is very taxing, but part of growing up is being able to manage more responsibilities, like a full time job, or paying your rent on time. Peter Parker being a teacher was believable and it fit the character. Making a character less mature is not how to relate to your readers. Give them something to look up to. I guess I just don't like a spider-man that's younger then I am.

some quick thoughts on Spider-man: the clone saga

2010-03-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

So the Clone saga mini has finished up. And It was good. Honestly, the best comics I've read in a long while. yes, I'm a little biased, but this book is just fun. And fun comics are hard to find lately.It had drama and intense moments, but overall it was not "dark and gritty". The spider-quipping is spot on, and the relationship between Ben and Peter was done very good and seemed natural. Plus it was just awesome to see Ben Reilly again.

Rather then give a summery, I'm going to list the major differences between the original series and the new mini.

*Peter and Ben bond a lot quicker.
*Mary Jane gets sick as well as aunt May, who doesn't die.
* Kaine kills the Jackel.
* Spidercide does not appear.
*Dr. Ock does not die.
*Ben fights Dr. ock, as Spider-Man.
*Ben and Peter both appear in costume, as Spider-man(men?)
*Alison Mongrain is a nurse, not a waitress.
*Harry is the mastermind, not Norman, who is a clone.
*Norman sacrifices himself to save Peter.....which oddly works.

A quick word on the Marvel landscape.

2010-02-06T18:07:00.000-08:00

Whether or not you like his work, you can't deny that when Brian Michael Bendis came on to avenger in 2004 that it changed the landscape of the book. All of a sudden you had Spider-man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage as prominent members of the team. While the Vision, Hawkeye, and Thor were nowhere to be seen, that was seven long years ago, and with Siege, Bendis promises to bring back the holy trinity of marvel: Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man. I won't lie, I'm excited, but with that excitement I feel a bit of hesitation. Marvel promises a new universe-changing status quo yearly.....and at this point it's old. For the most part, I've like the Marvel Universe of the '00. Avengers disassembled and house of M were well told stories that were fresh at the time. Civil War was entertaining and while some of the characterizations were.....odd, it is what got me back into heavily reading comics. World War Hulk was forgettable and where the cracks began to show for me. After that came Secret Invasion. The premise was interesting; it was just four issues too long. Bendis was buying time, and event fatigue was in full swing. I managed to hold a sense of optimism a lot longer than most fans, and I chalk that up to being new(er) to monthly collecting. With Dark Reign Marvel decided to do away with any semblance of a break between events. It began directly after secret invasion and will end with Siege. I like what they've done with Norman Osborn, but I want to be able to read a story that is self contained. You lose the majesty of the crossover if it is an everyday affair. Imagine if McDonald’s sold the MC rib everyday.....no one would want it. I hope Marvel will allow a breather after Siege. Allow the impact of the story to have resonance, allow writers to develop ideas without having to cater to the next event.
Jesse Garrett

A quick word of apology.

2010-02-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted an article since july.....it's now February. That's far to long, and I apologize. I've had a change of employment and other occurrences get in the way and cause the blog to fall to the wayside. Thanks to Mike Bailey of viewsfromthelongbox I've become remotivated and promise to have a new post up by the weekend's end.and unlike this post, it will not be typed on my Blackberry. My fingers are slowly cramping. Anywho ill be back in a flash.

A brief history of geek.

2009-07-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

I love comic books. I don't just read them, I analyze them, I contemplate them. If I'm not actively engaging in something else, I'm more then likely thinking about comics. At which point did this go from being a boy's pass time to an adult's love affair? While I can't narrow it down to a single moment, I can reminisce about some of the moments that helped cement my geek-dom.

As a child of the late 80's/early 90's era, comic books and superheros were not as mainstream as they are now. the comic boom helped usher in a new wave of Saturday morning cartoons, which I devoured: Batman: the animated series and X-men leading the way, with spider-man, superman, Fantastic four and others following. I was glued to my TV set on Saturdays. after the day's line up had ended I spent the remaining weekend imaging what's to come next week, and acting out epic battles in my backyard with action figures. these shows help perk my interest, I set out to the local video store to find more, mow as this was the early 90's....the pickings were slim, so to say. after watching all the Superman movies( and the animated shorts from the 40's!), the first Batman, Swamp thing, and even the Captain America movie.....which I'll admit as a youth, i enjoyed. After memorizing these films I found out there were books about these characters, lots of books. All I knew was that I had to learn to read better!
My parents have always been supportive of any thing I take an interest in and when there youngest son takes an interest to reading book, even if they have pictures, my parents were quick to help me. the way it worked was that if I behave all week and did my chores, I'd get to ride up to Eckerd's drug store with my mom. you see this was before I was aware of comic stores, and eckerd's spinner rack was heaven to me. on a good week, I'd be able to weasel two books out of my mom. then we'd sit on the couch and she'd help me read it. the first story I remember finishing was "the mark of Kaine" in spider-man #58 and I've been reading ever since.
I first met my future brother-in-law when I was 8 years old. I was a very impressionable 8 year old and he seemed like the coolest dude around. He took me to my first comic shop: Titan's games and comics. walking in, it blew my mind. Here was a store lined with comics, old and new, magazines dedicated to comics, action figures. Anything you could want. That's when I became aware just how big comic were. I'm pretty sure my brother-in-law regrets to trip, since my every waking moment was spent asking him "who do you think would win? ______ or ______, why?", "how strong is _______?" now that he has a 4 year old son, he's going to have to live through it all over again soon.
This brings me to my last memory, and no doubt the sadist. one summer when I was about 9 or 10 my cousin and I spent the a weekend at our great-aunt's house. the situation was: It was night time, we were the only two kids, and we were bored of our toys and Saga Saturn. the grown ups were scheming to find a way to keep us entertained when my great aunt brought out an dusty, old luggage case and told us to go in the other room and open it. we ran in there, slammed it down and popped the latches, flinging the case open. in that moment the aroma of golden age comic hit my nose. this thing was stacked full of my great aunt's kid's old comic collection. they were all grown now, and she had no need for them anymore. she said she was throwing them out, and thought we might enjoy looking through them. We did. we read those things for hours. I'm talking about golden age Sub-mariner, Captain America, Superman, the original Human torch. I remember reading the first appearance of the Hulk, and wondering why he was gray, instead of the normal green I was used to.For some reason the most vivid memory I have is of the fruit pie ads, I swear those things were on every other page! If I had to guess I'd say the entire collection ran from the 40's to about the early 70's.....now this is the sad part. neither my cousin or I had any idea the worth of the book we holding. to us they were just paper that way about to be trashed. so we rummaged through them with no regard, covers came off, pages were thorn, and when we were done, they all went into the trash can. I still kick myself for that one. the that was my first expose to the golden and silver ages of comics, and the rich histories behind all the character I've grown to love.
I can't remember the exact time I got into comics, because there isn't a time when I can remember not being into comics. It's just always been there with me, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. A friend told me the other day that he just can't get into them, I replied that you're either into or you've not. I can't explain to someone why they should enjoy a comic, they just have to.

-Jesse Garrett

Stepping into the wide world(s) of DC comics

2009-06-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm gonna assume the guy behind the desk at my local comic shop was a little shocked when I walked up to the counter this Wednesday. I had amazing spider-man #598 in my hand, which is nothing strange, but I also had Green Lantern: through the ages, and Flash: rebirth #1-3. I've been going to that store for three years or so, and have never once bought a DC book. I've gotta say, I like what I've read so far.
When I decided to give DC a shot this week I had no idea what to try out, I wanted to shy away from any of the Batman or Superman titles and go for something more unfamiliar. Having just read Green Lantern: rebirth i settled upon Flash:rebirth since it seemed like an appropriate enough place to jump on, and I threw the Green Lantern one-shot in there to get my fill of re-prints.
It's odd being so new to a comic universe. Ever since I can remember, I've kept up with spider-man books, and known all about the odds and ends of the Marvel Universe. Reading DC is almost like being a kid again. While I'm not completely clueless about the comics, I do hear about what's going on vaguely and will read a few wikipedia articles now and then, it's amazing how different just sitting down and reading one of these books felt to me, I never thought I would be able to have the perspective of a "new reader" again. So let's see if DC can manage to suck me in as marvel did all those years ago....

by the way, I do intend on review Flash: rebirth, once the mini series is finished.

the return of Ben Reilly??? UPDATED

2009-06-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

I don't hide the fact that Ben Reilly a.k.a. the Scarlet spider, a.k.a the second spider-man is my favorite character in comic books, and the hints of him returning that Marc Guggenheim dropped here have me jumping for joy. I find Guggenheim to be a hit or miss writer, some of his stories are just awesome.....and some are not. I'm hoping for the latter on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #36.
the prospect of bringing Ben back has been discussed by fans for years and now it seems it may become a reality. while I'm quite aware it could all be a clever bait and switch to draw BND-haters onto amazing, for the sake of the article I'm gonna assume it's Ben Reilly who's coming back and not one of aunt may's long lost relatives. Ben's return would be the biggest acknowledgment of the clone saga in years, marvel typically try's to sweep any mention of it under the rug, but maybe they feel it's been long enough that they can go back to it.
Do we really need two spider-men running around again? I think it could work. I always like the portrayal of Ben as Peter's "brother" and ASM is at the point where, while getting better, it still doesn't have the strongest supporting cast. and while there may not be room enough for two web-slingers in ASM, Avengers: the intuitive could make use of the scarlet spider quite well.
Of course, one of the biggest hurdles is how to bring Ben back. Even for a comic character, he's pretty dead. The guy is the consistency of kitty litter. Re-reading his death in Spider-Man #75, I've decided there are a few options they could use. 1. they could try to say that the Ben that was impaled by Norman was a clone. (of a clone) and that Norman had been keeping the original on ice, for future use. This seems fairly plausible, for a comic anyway, until you realize that Norman doesn't know who spider-man is any longer, and having a clone of Peter Parker in a lab would be kinda confusing. 2. which I think is a better fit, could be a whole new Ben cloned and given the original's memories. it's a comic, so I'm sure you can extrapolate memory RNA from clone-goo, right? Of course, this is brand new day, and while I am a fan, they might just decide to bring him back and not give you any explanation whatsoever for a year. At the very least I'm happy my favorite character is being mentioned again.

*UPDATE*....sorta.
While there has been no new information concerning Guggenheim's upcoming story arch.
I'm happy to say that a six issue mini series called SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA is set for september, writen by Howard Mackie(uh-oh) according to Tom Defalco it's "the clone saga: the writer's cut" and while it may be a huge "what if?" i'm jumping for joy. the clone saga hasen't had this much exposure in over a decade.

Why I don't hate symbiotes and Clones.

2009-06-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ah, maximum carnage. This is one of the first video games I remember asking for for Christmas. To this day one of my favorite comic book video games and I'll argue that the game is better then the story that spawned it. also, a damn hard game at that! it wasn't until I re-play it as an adult that I was able to beat it. I spent hours upon hours trying to finish this game as a kid, and always that doppleganger would whoop my ass. This game is also partially responsible for my getting into comics more heavily as a kid. with all of the cameo appearances and panels taken directly from the books, it left me wanting more. So any time I see Carnage or any symbiote offspring of venom in a book it brings back fond memories of this 16-bit beat em up.

This is the first comic i remember getting. sure I had no idea who the guy in the hoodie was, or who he and spider-man were fighting, but It looked interesting. and I managed to convince my mom to buy it for me at the local eckerd's. (The place to get comics before I found out they have stores dedicated to them) Talk about jumping in blind, this was in the thick of the clone saga, with not one, but four versions of peter parker appearing in this issue. but I read it and was completly enamored. From then on I bought spider-man when ever I could. Just a few monthes ago I was rumaging through the back issues at my local comic shop and found spectacular spider-man #224, "the mark of kain part 4." and was finally able to see how the story ended.

that other comic company....

2009-06-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

If you read superhero comics, the chances are you read Marvel or DC, and I've yet to find a comic fan who is not partial to one over the other. this is normal, some people like vanilla ice cream, some like chocolate. I don't think there is anything wrong with this at all, and I'm not one to think ill of you for what you like. but I wasn't always this way.
I grew up on marvel, reading spider-man and the X-men. and while I certainly knew who batman and superman were, they weren't my superheros. DC comics was the "other company" that sucked just because. sadly I held on to this view for a long while. It has been only fairly recently that I've been able to overcome this stubborn fanboy-ness I had.
I decided to really look at why I had the opinions I did. The only reason I had never read DC was because I was simply too scared to try something new. after all, I knew who spider-man and wolverine and Hulk were. I didn't want to jump into a whole new universe with characters I wasen't familiar with. So I continued to spout off at the mouth, claiming DC sucked because Marvel was "more realistic" and "for adults" while DC was "too complicated" and my favorite criticism was "superman is too powerful, he can do anything" keep in mind this is all without really reading any DC comics. So I had a very one-sided view of the matter.
Recently I've began to immerse myself into the comic community more and have gotten a much better understanding of "that other comic company" , I've also, ya know, read some of their titles. So I've tossed away much of my nonsensical prejudices and can say that while Spider-man is still my favorite superhero, I am looking forward to blackest night.

Earning one's geek badge.

2009-06-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here's yet another Blog I'm re-posting, it could fit vaguely under the category "geek lifestyle"

I'm a big geek, a nerd also(yes, there is a difference). this is pretty prevalent to anyone who's seen my myspace.(is that correct?) the geeky side gets my love of comic books, movies, sci-fi, and the macabre in general. on the nerdy slice of life you get: a never-diminishing interest in dinosaurs, planetology, a love of reading and to top it off "mad gamer skillz". I can tell you that venom first appeared in cameos in amazing spider-man 298 and 299 before making his first full appearance in 300 and that the "velociraptors" in Jurassic park were actually Deinonychus which looked a little more cinematic and deadly, velociraptor is a little easier on the tongue.

So we've established my geekdom. and this is where my point begins to show.The other day, I made a passing comment about comic-book Wednesdays, as I call them. A friend of mine seemed generally shocked to find out I collected comics, and even to my extent of geek ness. This, in turn, shocked me as I believed I wore it on my sleve like a badge. He said he never would have guessed me a geek. which made me begin to ponder and contemplate the status of "geeks". woo-hoo philosophy class is paying off!

Let's look at the facts, the evidence, if I may. I talk like a geek. On average 1 of every 7 sentences I speak during a day has a random movie, TV, or book reference thats just floating around in my brain, waiting to be plunked out and used. This tips off my brethren to my presence, and leaves everyone else scratching their heads.

I have geek hobbies, you will never see this guy at a so-called "sports" event, no not because I have a fleshy patch where my balls used to be*, but because I have absolutely no interest in watching sweaty men in tights tackle each other.(I still don't get how other dudes can use football as a confirmation of hetro status, I don't care how good of a game it was, I don't like my ass getting slapped) I spend my time watching movies, or reading , or playing games. If I'm not doing this I'm probably on the internet looking up something about movies, books, or games. See the pattern?

Perhaps the only field my obbse-, uh I mean interests fault is in my appearance. Most geeks are so enamored in their lifestyle that they could care less about the way they look, save for maybe which shirt to wear, Wars or Trek. this is the genesis of the current "geek style" the popular kids are trying to emulate. In fact, I don't believe there is any set style to wear. When you put that much effort into looking to fit into a mold, you should know you don't belong, I don't care that your converse's have writing on them. I prefer to dress in a style that is a little more "preppy" then the stereotypical geek, and maybe that's throwing people off. You know, we don't all look like comic book guy from the Simpsons.

have we learned anything today, true believers? .......I'm guessing no. All I'm saying is that my culture and lifestyle is such a big part of who I am, that I believed it to be stamped across my forehead. Others would love to be assumed as some type of frat boy reject, But not me, let me bask in the fact that I can name all five green goblin incarnations and quote Bruce Campbell during daily conversation.

* movie quote; The 40 year old virgin
(and yes, I do have balls)

How comics and Nintendo enrich lives.

2009-06-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

this is a blog I first wrote a few years ago, and I thought I would share it here.

I'm a big fan of comics, yes I'm a geek. I could spend all day reading them.monsters, villains and superheros with abnormal anatomy, especially on the female drawn in the 90's.I honestly believe comic books are good for you, and not by some far-fetched rationalization like when I tried to convince myself Twinkies were good for me. They just taste good.

The Greeks had Hercules and the Kraken, we've got the Hulk and Fin Fang Foom. Superheros are our greek heroes. A kid picks up a copy spider-man and he see a story chalk-full of lessons and moral guidance, not so much if he picks up Punisher, then he just gain a new understanding of guns.

People used to tell me that videos games were ruining my life, excluding the fact that I've never had a tan nor a steady girlfriend , I would tell them they're wrong.I mean you play the right games and you can get all kinds of benefits, great hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, not to mention the great story in some games. Now I'm no saying Double Dragon has a award-winning plot, but Final Fantasy 7 i could argue for.