Currently Reading, Episode 4

Thor: The Warriors Three, by Various


http://www.amazon.com/Thor-Warriors-Three-Len-Wein/dp/0785144803/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311529104&sr=1-1



Cool little trade! The first story is an old Marvel Spotlight featuring the Warriors Three in New York in a fish out of water story. They save some woman from committing suicide and learn that her husband is caught up in some gambling racket or something so they go to save him. Misadventures and bar fights ensue. It's awesome how Fandral and Hogun are almost constantly ripping on Volstagg for being fat.

The rest of the trade is a four issue tale from Marvel Fanfare which takes place in Asgard. Really awesome '80s Marvel fantasy stuff. The art is pure '80s pulp, it looks like something that would be in Epic Illustrated or a Killraven graphic novel, perhaps. I loved this. Loki turns some woman's fiance into a goat, and if they don't get married at a certain point right at midsummer, Asgard will fall. Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg all go on separate quests where Loki tricks them into getting...trick goats. These are so much fun. In Volstagg's tale, we learn he has a wife and kids, which is hilarious. They neglect to mention that these days, but apparently, Volstagg's got a chick that stresses him out, possibly leading him to binge on food. Fandral's character is much like Pusha  T in that Kanye West song "Runaway":
24/7, 365, pussy stays on my mind.
Fandral literally asks like two females for their hand in marriage in the span of 26 pages. It's very entertaining. That guy has got Asguardian enhanced pimp juice.
Hogun the grim is just that, the no nonsenes, no comedy straight man who dresses in black. It's still good, but Volstagg and Fandral are just so much damn fun.

In the end, Thor shows up for two seconds and saves the day.

Good stuff.

Money In The Bank

So, I can cross off a couple things that i need to see as a wrestling fan.

A. Epic, 5 Star Main Event

B. Historic Pay-per view

C. WWE Title change hands

D. The chicago crowd proving why it is THE hot crowd

The main event was amazing. I got most of it recorded on my bloggie, and hope to put some of it up soon. It was everything you could hope for in a pro wrestling match. The stars don't align as often as they used to like that. A 33 minute title match is a gift. I've always been critical of WWE's booking during the last couple years...but this was a home run. It was a great Chicago moment, seeing our hometown boy beat Vince's golden boy, the new Hulk Hogan, John Cena. The montreal screwjob scare, many, MANY false finishes, and Punk finally winning was just....why wresling is an art form. They did so much using the ring as their canvas. Cena deserves credit too. Alberto Del Rio attempting to cash in his title shot and then getting shellacked by Punk, was perfect. That's GREAT booking and keeping the interest going, delivering above and beyond what we as fans bargain for. Punk disappearing into the crowd with the title was also, pitch perfect. He's the new People's champ. Fucking great match.

A couple sidenotes:

1. i wore a purple john cena shirt to the event, i also had a "PUNK IS DEAD" sign, just for shits and giggles

and i got some heat at the chili's by the allstate arena, where some guy called said "nice purple shirt, fag" and then started a loud "Fuck you Cena" chant, directed at me, cuz yeah, I'm John Cena. It was fun. Also, my buddy Jordan, a HARDCORE CM Punk fan, claimed he "didn't know if he could be seen with me." That's some heat, folks. Heat like that doesn't come around often these days.

 I look like a little kid.

2. I actually met CM Punk at Warped Tour '07, back when i was a stoner. It was the summer Chris Benoit happened and i was disillusioned and couldn't watch wrestling. CM Punk was the guy scheduled to wrestle Benoit..match never happened. Either way, Punk was coming out of the pit and i just kinda said "Hey it's CM Punk" He shook my hand, and we went our seperate ways.

So, I went to Money In The Bank last night...

Isn't the ring beautiful?

Jesus, it was red hot last night, i have the feeling that i've witnessed a historical pay per view and a great moment in WWE history.....So much buzz going into this ppv, and it delivered...

it delivered....LADDER COMBAT!

The ladder matches were both sick. Daniel Bryan winning is a plus. I didn't see the divas match or Mark Henry Vs. Big Show, as i was standing in line to get a t-shirt at that point. 

Randy Orton Vs. Christian was a clinic in ring psychology....awesome stuff...

I'll get to the main event later....that deserves it's own post...

Currently Reading: Episode Thr33

Captain America: The Captain Trade Paperback by Mark Gruenwald. (Collects Captain America #'s 332-350)

ahhhh, '80s Cap. This is the good stuff. Mark Gruenwald is an excellent writer who takes a somewhat basic and simplistic idea: (What defines Captain America-The costume, or the man wearing it?) and extrapolates that into a brilliant run of issues that are well plotted and have some great moments. '80's Marvel is really interesting to me right now, for a couple reasons. Some of the dialogue is goofy, and the villains are equally as corny (Flag-Smasher, anarchist supervillain with a cape.) The story is great though, and it brings John Walker, former Super-Patriot and future USAgent, as the new Captain America. They juxtapose his troubles living up to the Cap role as Stever Rogers goes on a vision quest with his close friends (Nomad, D-Man, and Falcon) to discover himself and re-evaluate his role in things. One thing that really intrigued me is the mention that Stever Rogers, in his spare time, was an ARTIST FOR MARVEL COMICS. They neglect to focus on that in the current storylines, and I always forget that Steve Rogers Is an artist. This is good stuff, i loved it

P.S. I just remembered, one of the funniest scenes is when Lady Viper poisons Washington DC's water supply, turning Ronald Reagan into a snake-like creature who battles a reluctant Steve Rogers. It's kind of awesome. The Serpent Society were a group of bad guys who were all snake themed, and they appear in many issues in this saga. I feel like there were so many snake themed villains in the '80s...like GI Joe as well. Diamonback was one of these characters, a woman who has pink hair and wears all pink, which is totally '80s. She's a bad girl, but she instantly wants to be Steve Rogers girlfriend as soon as she sees him in action. I'm not sure,but i think they go on to date in later issues, which is also awesome. Steve Rogers=Pimp Juice.

Currently Reading: Episode Two

I made the mistake of buying this for my brother, not for myself, as a christmas gift last year. (i think?) I mean, the mistake was that i didn't read it first. As it stands, it's probably the best christmas gift i've ever gotten anyone. I finally read his copy when i visited him in Philly this winter break, and dear god, it's a masterwork. Completely brilliant, poignant, stuff. As a cartoonist, Mazzuchelli is just schooling people. Literally. No, he like, teaches a class and shit. As a composition, it's entirely...stunning. It's the work of a master artist. Experience. He brings up some great questions and you can't help but feel inspired after reading it. I finally bought myself a copy last week and re read it and i'm ready to read it a third time. It might be the best thing i've ever read, quite frankly. It's definitely top 5 desert island.

Dear God it's good.

I've finally got NETFLIX

I can watch garbage like this:

Just watched this the other day cuz a coworker said it was okay....and obviously it's total politics. I find it funny that Hulk Hogan, the GUY THAT MADE PRO WRESTLING, was only at No. 23. I hate Hulk Hogan, but lets give the man some props. But yeah, not a total waste of time, but if anyone believes this list to be accurate at all, they're retarded. Top 5 was okay.....I do agree with Shawn Michaels being at No. 1. He is the best performer in WWE history. Yeah, i'm that much of a nerd.

oh yeah, Ultimate Warrior is not on the list....

here's the listing, my commentary is in red.

#50 – Killer Kowalski
#49 – Batista
#48 – "Ravishing" Rick Rude
#47 – Bob Backlund
#46 – Dory Funk Jr.
#45 – Jeff Hardy
#44 – Nick Bockwinkel
#43 – Kane
#42 – Sgt. Slaughter
#41 – Jack Brisco
#40 – Big Show
#39 – Jake "The Snake" Roberts
#38 – "Superstar" Billy Graham
#37 – Junkyard Dog
#36 – Gorilla Monsoon
#35 – "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
#34 – Kurt Angle    should be ranked WAY higher
#33 – Mick Foley   Foley @ 33? That's horse manure. This is a time man of the year candidate we're talking about. A qualified author! NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
#32 – "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
#31 – The Iron Sheik
#30 – Pat Patterson F$*& Pat Patterson! Actually, behind the scenes he runs shit...created the royal rumble...but as a performer? Eh....having him above Foley and Angle is kinda lame, but maybe i'm biased to wrestlers who were my favs as a youngin. Whatev.
#29 – Randy Orton
#28 – "Classie" Freddie Blassie
#27 – The Fabulous Moolah
#26 – "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
#25 – Chris Jericho
#24 – Bruno Sammartino
#23 – Hulk Hogan  Hogan is a scumbag, but he's surely better than Jerry Lawler, and most of the other guys ranked ahead of him. Hogan is at the very least, top 5. ARE YOU SERIOUS BRO
#22 – Terry Funk
#21 – Lou Thesz
#20 – Jerry "The King" Lawler
#19 – Edge
#18 – N/A
#17 – Dusty Rhodes/Ric Flair (Tie)
#16 – John Cena
#15 – "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
#14 – "Macho Man" Randy Savage  I like that Savage is so high on the list.
#13 – Gorgeous George
#12 – Triple H HHH is relatively low, Austin and Rock smoked him, and he didn't leave for hollywood
or have his career cut short with an injury....i guess headling more wrestlemanias than those guys and winning more world titles doesn't amount to much.
#11 – Eddie Guerrero I LOVE Eddie Guerrero, but he's a bit too high honestly.
#10 – "Rowdy" Roddy Piper Piper ahead of Hogan? With what World titles?
#9 – Rey Mysterio
#8 – Andre The Giant
#7 – Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  Love Ricky, but i'd have him at # 10 highest..
#6 – Harley Race
#5 – The Rock
#4 – Bret "The Hitman" Hart
#3 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
#2 – The Undertaker
#1 – Shawn Michaels  I actually agree with this, HBK is the best performer, without a doubt.

Currently Reading : Episode One

The Nightly News by Jonathan Hickman.
This is the second time i've read it, its been so long. I've leant this comic out to more people than i can remember. I've tried to get as many people as possible on the hickman bandwagon, because as it currently stands, i'd have to give him the title of lord and master of sequential art...and the stunning thing is, HE'S JUST GETTING STARTED. The first time i read nightly news it was like a thunderbolt, on this second go around, i'm stunned, again at how good it is. This is the future of comics. I've gotten many co workers to read it and some were smart enough to get it, and love it, and a couple others just couldn't get past the design. (And they were art school kids, ironically. Snickersnicker) but either way, Hickman's mastery of design, dialogue, and pretty much everything is on display in this vicious piece of work. Viciously compelling. Compellingly vicious. It's fucking amazing. It's a creative work i hope to achieve, not in the execution or copying, but in the tone that it takes...it's tailor made for a generation of kids that grew up on rage against the machine and system of a down. I would like to adopt a similiar body of work.