New Comic Wednesday!

Now that work has died down a bit, I have time to actually leave my desk during lunch and walk around, rather than staying chained up in the office all day, feverishly trying to keep my head above water.

So, I walked down to my local comic shop (~10 minute walk from my office) at lunch to pick up the new books from both this week and last that I missed. I'm going home tonight with:

1. Batman #13 - The much-anticipated return of The Joker! Can't wait.
2. Walking Dead #103 - After seeing a main character's head bashed to pieces, how are the survivors going to respond?
3. TWD Michonne Special Issue - The back story of how Michonne became the kitana-wielding badass she is in the comics.
4. Star Wars: Agent of Empire, Hard Targets #1 - Beginning a new arc that combines James Bond secret agents with Star Wars. High hopes for this one!
5. Green Lantern Annual #1 - Back story on the Third Army and the coming war with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Filling in the gaps for me.

A pretty good haul, for me. And we're getting close to the release of some really great new books in December and January:

December

• Avengers #1, the new book of the iconic superhero group, is set for release on December 5.
• Blackacre #1, a post-apocalyptic story about a retired soldier sent out into the blasted wilderness for a mission, comes out on the 5th as well.

January

• The new Star Wars book, set between Episodes IV and V, comes out in early January.
• The re-launch of Wolverine is slated for sometime in January.
• The re-launch of New Avengers is also slated for January.

So, it should be a very good couple of months for my comic habit, and that doesn't even count the one-offs I'll pick up along the way and check out. Should be awesome. There arw a couple of books like Nowhere Man #1 and Justice League of America, which I want to check out before adding them to my pull list, too.

Bagging the 15K & New Comic Wednesday (Belated)

After some thought, I've decided to bag the Falls Road 15K next Sunday for a few reasons. To wit:

1. We haven't registered yet. So, not running the race won't cost us anything. Not the most important reason, but saving $60 on a race we don't want to run is non-trivial.
2. Both our training plans call for long runs greater than 9.3 miles (15K) next Sunday. A.'s plan calls for 10 miles, while I will try to drag myself 11 miles. So, we'd have had to run a good distance farther than the actual race.
3. No course map had been posted to the race's Active.com website. That meant that we had no idea what the course would be ahead of time. Not the end of the world, but if you're trying to plan to run an additional mile or more after the race, you need to know where the finish line is.
4. Our experience with these sorts of events is that they're typically not well organized beyond registration. The course may or may not be clearly marked and accurately measured. There will be water stations, but no way of knowing where (at what distance) on the course. While the fast runners will be at the front, no doubt, so will a bunch of slow joggers and walkers. Without clear instructions to pull their head out and get in the back of the pack, they'll block the other runners behind them.

Does that mean the race will be a miserable disaster? Definitely not. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. But it's just not for us. With just three weeks until the half marathon, neither of us wants to waste a Sunday morning running a race that's too short and too disorganized to benefit our training.

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 Obviously, today is not New Comic Wednesday. But yesterday was busy and I basically forgot to post, so there you go. Before getting to what I plan on purchasing this weekend, let me very quickly recap what I picked up last Saturday.

 

Manhattan Projects #6 - "Star City"

Image Comics

I haven't read this yet (probably tonight), but I was disappointed that this book got pushed back throughout August. As a result, they didn't release a MP book in August, so it feels like forever since I read it. I'm going to have to skim back through issue #5 to refresh my memory. But the book is outstanding, and I'm hoping the delays don't recur for #7 in October.

 

Batman #0

DC Comics

Like all the other "zero issues" coming out this month, this book puts a new spin on the origins of Batman. But what I most like is that you get to see bits and pieces of how other characters from the other Bat-books came to be. I very much liked that you were seeing the Bat-universe in its earlier stages; like the real universe maybe a half billion years after the Big Bang. I also really like the taste you get of the Red Hood Gang, given where the overall story is going in the book.**

 

Green Lantern #0

DC Comics

This zero issue got rave reviews all around, and I was intrigued by the first Arab American Lantern. The story is crisp; it moves along really well and I reached the end before I knew it. I'll have to go back and re-read it, no doubt. Simon Baz's character is going to be very interesting; I like that Green Lanterns aren't perfect when they're chosen and have to "grow into" the role, often the hard way. I'll definitely be picking up Green Lantern #13.

 

Star Wars: Blood Ties #1

Dark Horse Comics

This five-part series came out back in 2010, but I'm on a Star Wars comic collecting stint now, and found this at my local shop for $1.00. It's a good start to the series, and I'd say Boba Fett is one of my top Star Wars characters (I'm an Obi Wan man, myself). I'll be keeping my eyes open for the other four issues of this, of course, along with other series. I'm using this to get pumped for the Brian Wood Star Wars book coming out in January.

 

So this week, Alliance Comics is having their anniversary sale, and with A. gone all day Saturday at a rehearsal, I plan on going down and checking out what they've got. But I have two must-haves as well:

 

1. Walking Dead #102
2. Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, Part 5 of 5

In addition, I'll rifle through their back issues a little more and see if I can turn up any other Star Wars books (at $1.00 each, it's not a huge hit to swoop in and get a bunch). If the price is right, I'd like to pick up Batman: Knightfall or Arkham Asylum or The Dark Knight Returns graphic novels.

 

 

 

**My sleeper prediction for the new story arc is that The Joker used to be the leader of the Red Hood Gang. He and Batman face off during some robbery at a chemical plant, the Red Hood leader gets knocked into a vat of chemicals by Batman, thus creating The Joker. You heard it here first.

 

New Comic Wednesday: Batman and Picard and Zombies

First, running: I had meant to get up and get my 3 miler in this morning, but I guess I turned my alarm off without realizing it, because when I awoke, it felt later than 6AM. And indeed, it was 7:10, which meant no run this morning. But, I may head out for an ultra-rare evening run to make up for the lapse. Or I may go to the gym and do it there, as further punishment for oversleeping.

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It's not often I actually get to the comic book store on Wednesday to snap up that week's latest new offerings. Usually, I hit Alliance Comics once every other Saturday or Sunday to pick up whatever new issues off my subscription list are waiting for me. I have to do this for a number of reasons:

1. While close by, driving from the apartment to Federal Hill on a Saturday afternoon is annoying. Parking is a pain and you're dodging hung over college kids stumbling out of doors for the first time at 1PM. Like I said, annoying.
2. If I went to the store every week, I'd be broke. I inevitably see something I want and risk impulse buying far too many issues.
3. A corollary to #2: spending that much money on comics would almost certainly incur spousal wrath. As most married men know or soon learn, a happy wife means a happy life. Words to live by. 

But this week was different. I had meant to go this past Saturday, but it just didn't happen. The logistics of my Saturday were such that I would not have been able to go to Alliance without doing serious backtracking or going out of my way. Despite driving an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle, I hate backtracking and avoid it whenever possible. Moreover, while I had one new issue come out last week (8/8), I thought I had two coming today, so waiting made more sense anyway.  So, today at lunch I walked down to Alliance and picked up some reading for the rest of the week.

Batman #12

Source: DC Comics

I am unclear if this is the final entry in the Court of the Owls arc, or if it's the one-off between CoO and the Issue #0 installment that's supposed to come in September/October. As you can see from the cover, it doesn't say Court of Owls, but I had seen somewhere that this was supposed to be the wrap up for the story. I'm guessing this will be a stand alone issue with a little bit at the beginning about the Court and then a small lead in at the end with the new Joker story arc coming in October/November, which I can't wait to read.

Walking Dead #101

Source: Image Comics

It feels like it's been months since Walking Dead #100 came out, and I guess that makes sense. They really pushed hard to get to issue #100 right before CCI back in early July, which probably exhausted everyone. Then they actually went to CCI and did panels, autographings, interviews, etc. And even still, issue #100 came out the second week of July (I think), and it's only been a month. It just FEELS longer after two months of getting a TWD book every three weeks or so.

I typically re-read the previous issue of all the books I get before diving in to the newest issue, just to refresh my memory and get my narrative momentum up. I'll definitely do tat with TWD #100 and #101, too.

The Massive #3



Source: Dark Horse Comics

 The story concept for The Massive is compelling (check out the review of issue #1 from CBR for a run-down), and I really liked the art throughout most of the first two issues. But it has been plodding along a bit, with so many flashbacks interrupting the present-day action, the story has advanced very little. I'm hoping that changes in #3, which has gotten good reviews.

Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012



Source: IDW

 And a relatively last-minute purchase. I grew up watching Star Trek: TNG and caught wind of this book yesterday while perusing CBR in the evening. I have not really gotten in to the Star Trek comics, mainly because they tend to focus on the original series, or the recent re-make of the original series movies. And while there is a Star Trek: TNG/Dr. Who crossover book out there, I'm not a Dr. Who fan and the book has gotten only middling reviews. I'm waiting for Jonathan Hickman's new Star Wars comic coming in January and would consider something similar with a TNG book if one ever emerged.

Anyway, this is actually two stories in one: a TNG story and a Voyager story. I was never THAT in to Voyager (I'd rank them as TNG, Enterprise, DS9, Original Series, Voyager) but will always take a Star Trek story involving the Borg. I have high hopes for this and may look in to other IDW Star Trek books if this is really good.

Impromptu Tempo Run and Friday Misc.

My battle with myself over sleep schedules continued this week and impacted my running. I did well with getting enough sleep early in the week, but faltered on Wednesday night, going to bed after 11 PM with the intention of waking up at 6 for a run Thursday morning. Needless to say, it didn't happen. So, I needed to wake up this morning to make up for it.

Unfortunately, I awoke to a sky that was as dark as night...I got dressed and walked outside to see dark clouds rolling in overhead. I looked on the radar back inside and sure enough, a mass of heavy rain was moving in at 6:15 in the morning. I don't mind running in bad weather, so long as I don't start my run in bad weather. For instance, beginning a run with cloudiness that turns into rain a few miles in is no big deal. But it's demoralizing to begin a run when it's raining. By the time I did all that, it was nearly 6:30, so I decided t bag the outdoor run and hit the gym for a short tempo run. My 2 mile run got me finished about 7. Just in time to head back in pouring rain. Hooray! So, my tempo run was a little longer, as I ran home, getting soaked along the way.

An interesting side story: there were two people (one man, one woman) working out with a trainer while I was there. They were downstairs at first, but then ran up the stairs and did a jogging circuit around the gym. Then they came upstairs to the treadmills. At one point, they got on the treadmill and proceeded to run way faster than they were capable of running. The woman was beside me and I could tell she was going faster than her legs could carry her because her feet were pounding on the treadmill as the mill took her feet out from under her. Luckily, the trainer was there and slowed it down for her. Otherwise...well, you've seen the YouTube videos of people getting swept off treadmills.

This sort of thing continued for about 10 minutes and the woman would speed back up, only to start grunting, gasping, crying out and wailing until the trainer slowed it back down. Then she'd keep saying, "It's too hard! I can't do this!" and so forth as she walked to catch her breath. Then they chatted about preseason football and the Real Housewives show on Bravo. Then he'd speed her back up and the weird cycle would begin again. I kept thinking the woman would realize how much energy and breath she was wasting with the melodrama and chatting, but it never happened. Eventually, the shenanigans ended and they moved on to some other part of the gym.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

In other news, tomorrow is my bi-weekly comics run, and I'm looking forward to picking up this month's Batman issue, which has gotten strong reviews all around. I found the first trade paperback combining the first seven issues of the comic (this month is issue #12) at the local library, so I now only need to read issues #8 and #9 to be fully caught up. All the issues are strong, but I think issue #5 is perhaps one of my favorite comics ever. Full stop.

This weekend is Wizard's World in Chicago, which is their comic-con. Here is an interview with Greg Capullo (lead artist of Batman) from the Chicago Sun Times.

I'm also picking up The Massive #3. The jury is still out on this book, and the third issue will be pivotal in determining whether I continue to read the book or not. It got a good review on Comic Book Resources, but I feel they engage in grade inflation to maintain access to creators and artists, so I will see for myself.

Operation Cannoli Follow Up (also Running Stuff, Too)

Operation Cannoli was a great success, although we ended up going with Italian cookies over cannoli, simply because of the potential mess factor. But the overall plan worked like a charm. We had the cookies in a bag and got no trouble walking in with it. We also bought a large drink and soft pretzel, so the theater company got plenty of our money for the evening anyway. The only problem was that once the movie began, it was impossible to see the cookies to see what kind you were eating. Next time, as a logistical improvement, I'd arrange the cookies in a particular order so we knew what we were blindly eating. However, freshly made Italian cookies beat Twizzlers any day.

I won't bore anyone with a review of The Dark Knight Rises, other than to say I think it was a.) the best of the three Christopher Nolan Batman movies (although they're all great) and b.) the best superhero movie I've seen maybe ever, and that includes Superman II. But, I like Batman darker and grittier like Nolan envisioned him, so that has a lot to do with it. Plus, as I've noted before, I'm not a big Spider-Man fan. I will say that this movie and the first Iron Man movies are close in my book, but my affinity for the Caped Crusader seals the deal for me.

I also had a successful running weekend and managed to get both my intervals and long run done. No major problems, although the weather was very humid, so the long run was a tough slog and it was a challenge to keep my heart rate under control throughout. From here on out, I'm going to be focusing on ramping up my mileage as the half marathon in October approaches. So, this weekend will be a 6 miler, building up to 10-11 miles the week before the race, ideally. To supplement that, I'm going to be much better about cross training, stretching, etc. I need to improve my aerobic fitness, but also my flexibility, as I don't want to pull a hamstring trying to get through a long run.

Cutting out Italian cookies might be helpful too, now that I think about it.

And, in a brief follow up to Saturday's post: Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher came in 10th and 11th in Sunday's women's Olympic Marathon, respectively. They were up with the leaders for much of the race and, given the heavy hitters in the field, I think they did great. The winning runner set an Olympic record, so being the 10th and 11th fastest women in the race is nothing to feel bad about at all.

And the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars early this morning (in the east), without any problems, which is really unbelievable. The rover sent a few pictures back from the surface already and it's incredible to think that hundreds of scientists and engineers were able to put a car, basically, on another planet, after shooting it into space and building a computer to navigate the millions of miles from Florida to freaking Mars.

Here's a link (courtesy of The Atlantic and NASA) to the video of the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the minutes leading up to the confirmation transmission from Curiosity that it had reached Mars. I think I'd be jumping up and down ecstatically too, if I had spent years working on that project.

Dark Knight Cannoli Smuggling and Weekend Training Schedule 08/03 - 08/05

Another week is gone and another two days without having to sit at my desk are just a few tedious short hours away. I have no desire to work on the project(s) that sit before me, so I'll write this instead and kill some time. See? Positive thinking!...

Anyway!

It'll be a busy weekend, both running-wise (hoping!) and otherwise. I had meant to finally get back to my weekly interval training at the gym I pay to not go to, but staying up late to watch the Olympics on Tuesday night killed that ambition. So, I rescheduled my return to the treadmill for tomorrow, after a volunteer orientation at the Maryland SPCA in the morning. I'll start out modestly, maybe going for four or five 400m repeats and seeing how I feel. Then I should be able to get up early on Sunday and get a five-mile "long" run done, as we have no commitments to speak of.

"But wait," you say. "Interval training and a long run on back to back days? Is that wise?"

Well, maybe not. But hear me out. First, neither training session is going to be particularly grueling. I mean, 4X400 is very meager in the grand scheme of interval sessions. Second, a five mile run is not going to wear me out. Third, I do what I want. Taken together, this means it'll be fine.

Outside of running, we'll be going to see The Dark Knight Rises tomorrow night. I'm really excited to see this movie, as my previous comments about Batman will demonstrate. I've heard mostly good reviews and the bad reviews have generally gone with the "the movie is just too unrealistic." To which I say, it's Batman...a guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime. If you want realistic, I'm sure there's an independent movie theatre showing some French documentary on dissident Algerian poets nearby. If you pay to see a movie based on a comic book, well, you should try harder to suspend your disbelief, is all I'm saying. Nonetheless, I'm excited.

Even more exciting will be our theatre fare. We go to a theatre down in the Harbor East neighborhood of Baltimore, which is the super yuppified part of town. As in, you can buy Hagen Daaz for $10 and then go buy "designer" flip flops for $100 next door before buying a $35 "designer" T-shirt next to that. But the movie theatre is awesome! The seats are large and comfortable and because it's in a part of town made up mostly of young couples or old empty nesters, you get very few obnoxious people (i.e. kids and teenagers) messing up the movie. Plus they have a decently-enforced no cell phones and no texting policy. They throw you out if they catch you. And the tickets are just as expensive ($10) as any other theatre. So, win.

The theatre is also near the Little Italy neighborhood, so we're going to try to buy some cannoli to smuggle in to the theatre to enjoy. I think the "hiding in plain sight" tactic might work: get the cannoli and cookies in a nice box and put them in a shopping bag and just walk in the theatre. It might work.