Dread

Finished Homecoming season 2. What a great show. I hope they end it there. I don't see going anywhere that won't be cliche after this. Finished Lucifer season 5 with the girlfriend. It's about as lacklustre as the show usually is, but I did not expect them to go where they went. Season 6 should be interesting. Four episodes into The Kominsky Method and I've cried at every episode. It's also a great comedy and a blast to see Douglas and Arkin with each other. Nancy Travis is great too. Started Black Summer despite it being a zombie show. We'll see. One episode in and (other than the fractured storytelling) it's pretty bog standard. I'll give it another spade or two before deciding.

Rogue State #1: the art is definitely not for me. Savage Sword of Conan #1: the second series Marvel started. This was good, but I think I'm passing. Sharkey the Bounty Hunter #1: terrible Shatterstar #5: what a great ending. Great little miniseries. Most people didn't give it a shot because the character is the worst. But he's actually quite great in this. Stronghold #1: intriguing The Last Space Race #3: yeah, this is not good. Sarvane vol 1: a halfway decent erotic fantasy/sci fi GN elevated by Jordi Bernet's art. DC's 1st Issue Specials:This collects all 13 1st Issue Specials. I've written about the three by Kirby before. I really loved The Creeper (and I don't usually like Ditko), Metamorpho (I could look at Ramona Fradon's art all day) and, surprisingly, Lady Cop. It's a weird one. It feels like it was cropped to fit the page count. Like there are missing pages. But the idea is cool and the character is great. I've never even HEARD of The Outsiders before (not the Batman team, this is about circus freaks) and it's as awful as Starman. The Green Team is the most ridiculous idea ever for a title. I'll talk about Gerry Conway's New Gods in 3...2...1... New Gods by Gerry Conway: sigh...the superheroification of the New Gods. It's a little brutal to read at times. While I disagree with a lot of the art choices (who decided to color Kalibak purple with dark blue clothes?), but Don Newton penciled so many of these issues it should say "by Gerry Conway and Don Newton." Newton's artwork is stellar. So is Rich Buckler's. The crossover with the JLA and JSA is pretty solid though. Wolverine by Claremont and Miller: this is good shit. Say what you like about either of those guys, but this miniseries is fantastic. Also, the Uncanny issues where they go to Japan for Logan's wedding are great. Beautiful stuff. Warlock by Jim Starlin The Complete Collection: this collects all the 70s stuff with Adam Warlock. Spectacular. Starlin LOVED his LSD and this really shows it. Haha! Some of these issues, Starlin wrote, drew, inked and coloured. The Flash by Mark Waid vol 7: man, this is getting really rough. Is there one more to come? Two? The quality of this part of the run is really testing my obsessive collector's mentality. Deadly Class vol 9: this book is still excellent. Issues: 132 Trades: 8 Omnibus: 11 Graphic Novel: 9

Back to normal for me! Thanks!

Almost finished with Homecoming season 1 and it's great. It's one of like three things I've enjoyed Julia Roberts in.

It's all concept. The art is great too, from what I recall. The story idea is fantastic. The connections to the wider Wildstorm Universe is what really made it special. It felt like it was culminating something. But, when that part of the whole deal is taken away it loses its punch. It's a bog standard miniseries as far as story delivery. That's just my opinion.

High Level #1: more sci fi I don't like. Hulkverines #1: really fun. Incursion #1: I'm a simple man. Give me Eternal Warrior protecting a Geomancer from an existential threat, and I'm happy. Even if it's an alien invasion, which is lower tier. Justice League Dark #8: still really great. Looking forward to where they take this insanity. Low-key one of the best books DC has. Love Romances #1: another 80 years of Marvel book that misses the mark almost completely. Marvels Annotated #1: haven't read this series since it first came out. It's slow-going. Murder Falcon #5: still fucking rad. Old Man Quill #2: ok, this is better now that they're on earth. I LOVE the OML universe, and seeing the GOTG in it is pretty cool. Return of Wolverine #5: this was great. Issues: 126 Trades: 6 Omnibus: 7 Graphic Novel: 8

Well, HACKS was fucking excellent throughout. I'm bummed it will be a year before I see a second season.

Apparently Archer is returning. Jessica Walter recorded all her lines before she passed away. One more season would be nice.

Love Death Robots season 2 was great, but ten episodes shorter than 1. Which is lame. HBO's HACKS is fantastic. Really, they should just keep casting Jean Smart in series and I'll keep stealing my girlfriend's Crave account login to watch it.

I just had to change my certificate of trust to visit the forums.

Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep #1: this was a lot more fun than it had any right to be. Black Widow #2: This is still just...not bad. Crackdown #1: log this in the Des Doesn't Like Sci Fi Comics Apparently column Criminal #2: this was pretty great Dead Man Logan #4: this is pretty fun. Still a worthy goodbye to OML. Still, no other alternate reality version of a comic book character has ever had a run this substantial. Guardians of the Galaxy #2:This was good. I like this team, but I want the next issue to wow me. Issues: 117 Trades: 6 Omnibus: 7 Graphic Novel: 8

So my actual next choice to watch for lunches has been a split between Letterkenny (when I'm lazy) and Love Death and Robots (when I'm industrious or stoned). Both shows are great. LDR debuted the second "season" today, but I still have a few from season one to watch. It's not so much an anthology series as it is a set of animated sci fi short films between 10 and 15 minutes long. It's fucking excellent.

Pantheon #5-7: I'm still enjoying this. Age of X-Man Next Gen #1: ok, I loved this. Age of X-Man The Amazing Nightcrawler #1: I wanted more from a first issue of this. Good to see Meggan again, though. Anthem #1: I guess this is based on a video game? It reads like it. Pantheon #8-13: This went places and said some interesting shit. It sugared from having to establish a comic book world and a grand conspiracy and civil war to be played out over 13 issues. This is not something you expect from Bill Willingham. I want to say it's better than Ex-Mutants, but that isn't the greatest compliment from my recollection. I keep meaning to reread that. Issues: 111 Trades: 6 Omnibus: 7 Graphic Novel: 8

Man and Superman 100 Page Super Spectacular: Wolfman says this is the best Superman story he's written and puts it in his top 5 scripts period. I just find it so boring when writers go back to young Clark/new Superman to tell stories. I feel like it's top 3 go-to story tropes. Old Man Quill #1: Not bad. Just an excuse to tell a future GOTG story (Imagine that!) with a joke title. Intrigued. Red Sonja #1: Already don't like this iteration. Suicide Squad Black Files #4: Same old, same old. The supernatural story is GREAT and the Katana story is boring. C'mon. When ISN'T the Katana story boring? Sword Daughter #6: Nah... The Gunhawks #1:another Marvel 80th thing. Not bad. Uncanny X-Men #11: Did they miscalculate when they were doing the Age of X thing? This seems out of place. Vampirella vs Re-Animator #2: not great Vindication #1: Nah... Wolverine The Long Night #2: I'm really enjoying this series. X-23 #9: same as last time. This is running on empty for me. Pantheon #1-4: ANOTHER 90s Bill Willingham superhero series. Funny, for a famous comic writer, he's never been famous for superheroes. That's not for lack of trying. I was about to give up at issue two but didn't.t and three and four have been good. I'll probably finish it.Interesting way to introduce a whole superhero universe. and from the bedside table: Savage Dragon #253-7: Still killing it. Man, I should pitch a North Force miniseries to Larsen... Graphic Fantasy #1, 2: These issue reprint the first comics that Dragon appeared in when Larsen was twenty or so. Look, they aren't fantastic, but his visual storytelling at that time was en pointe. Predator vs Magnus Robot Fighter #1,2: I've wanted to reread this for a long time. I forgot how early it is in the Valiant universe. Turok and X-O Manowar hadn't debuted yet! Lee Weeks' art on this is gorgeous. Captain America Epic Collection Blood and Glory: this is a bit of a dark spot in Gruenwald's Cap run. This begins with parts 1, 8, 15 and an epilogue to Operation Galactic Storm. You can tell that he isn't too happy about derailing his long-running storyline he probably thought Cap had little reason to be there. He plays with the epilogue as a seed to remove Cap from the Avengers. THEN it's the six-part CapWolf saga which features Wolverine, Cable, Doctor Druid, Wolfsbane, Werewolf-by-Night, three brand-new villains and other cameos. Really feels like a directive to use Wolverine or another X-Man to spice things up and Gruenwald said fuck it! Let's throw them all in! The long-running thread of Crossbones, Diamondback, D-Man, US Agent and Falcon is really the only stuff that keeps this in the realm of Gruenwald's run. For as little page count they got. Then it's rounded out by the godawful Cap/Punisher miniseries, Blood and Glory. Definite mixed bag here. I kind of dug Capwolf. Mister Miracle by Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber: this features five issues written by Englehart, three issues written by Gerber, and seemingly absent from the cover, three issues written by Bob Haney. None of them are particularly good. Tales of the Batman Marv Wolfman volume 1: this is a tale of two stories. It starts with an issue from 71 and ten issues from the early eighties and none of it is good. Then, there is a fun two-part crossover between the Outsiders and Teen Titans from 83 which is delightful. Finally, it's rounded out by one of my favourite Batman stories: the four-part Year 3 from 1989. It's the middle part of the best Batman story continuum after Death in the Family and before Lonely Place of Dying. Late eighties, early nineties is my Golden Age of Batman comics. Issues: 99 Trades: 6 Omnibus: 7 Graphic Novel: 8

Mike: you're a fucking machine!

Holy shit! How didn't I know that?

And tonight we've binged the first half of Made For Love, which is great and has my new favourite actress Cristin Miloti (from Palm Springs, and that Black Mirror episode about toxic geek fandom as a Star Trek spoof). Good stuff. I'm also halfway through season 2 of Creepshow and am NOT liking it. I know Barbara Cramton shows up, so I'm watching that for sure. Otherwise, I'd probably bounce. I think my next "working from home lunch viewing" now that Archer is done will be the Spawn series. Got that on DVD a while back. Them is also on the docket.

Run: girlfriend and I just finished Ratched and Sarah Paulsen is in this one, so we went for it. Pretty bog standard horror thriller elevated by some great performances from Paulsen, Kiera Allen who plays her daughter and Pat Healy as the hapless mailman. Haha! Decent. All Hail the Popcorn King: review forthcoming Barb and Star Go To Vista del Mar: this was a wild, weird comedy. I really enjoyed it. A couple lines that will stay with me. More than you can expect from most comedies. Next update: Savage Dawn: review forthcoming but holy shit! I Care A Lot: This is an excellent movie. On my year end list for sure. Everyone in it is a putrid person, but there's a shit-ton of great performances. The King of Staten Island: youngest suggested this for the movie tonight, and I'm glad he did. I don't really like Pete Davidson, but I liked him in this, a little. But I also loved Marisa Tomei and Bill Burr and the Apatow kid who plays the sister. Good movie. Semi-Pro: dumb fun for movie night with the boys. Next update: Woman in the Window: this is a pretty rote and obvious rip of Rear Window with the added mental health issues of the unreliable narrator. Not the worst. Not very good. Army of the Dead/The Hand/The Reckoning/Witchfinder General: reviews forthcoming. Canada's Wrestling Elite: not quite feature length doc about an Canadian indie wrestling company and them doing a tour in the winter. It seems miserable. The Trade: the summary said this was a documentary about deathmatch wrestling, but it's specifically about Sick Nick Mondo from CZW and his retirement. It starts to veer into a promo and then once it ends, it's absolutely just a promo piece, but it's still entertaining. He's a compelling character and a narcissist. I've seen a lot of shit in death matches, but I've never seen a weed whacker used on a guy and this movie has it twice. Dracula 2000/Dracula II: Ascension/Dracula III: Legacy/Dracula 3000: reviews forthcoming. Yikes. Am I the only person who's watched a movie in the past two months? C'mon guys! Wacken: a feature doc about the German metal festival of the same name. Decent. Bo Burnham: Inside: I don't usually like Burnham. I have always found him a little too...petulant? Is that the right word? I don't know. This was a cool exercise though. He certainly got really good at using his equipment to film his own "special." Some funny songs poke through the pretentiousness. "White Woman's Instagram" is the best by a mile. Boys from County Hell/Skull: The Mask: reviews forthcoming Still nobody else? Jeez you guys! Planes, Trains and Automobiles: a perfect film Deadpool: weirdly picked up on a lot of things I never did in the three or four times I've already seen this one. All gags, but I don't remember hearing them before. Thor: Ragnarok: really fun movie. One of the MCU's very best and I don't care what Ian says about it. Climate of the Hunter/Fried Barry/Day of the Beast/The Amusement Park: reviews forthcoming Features: 71 Shorts: 0 Documentaries: 10 Rewatches: 0

Just finished my watch-through of Archer. It took me about three years, but - having just finished it - it was absolutely worth it. I don't suppose it will ever return, but it ended on a great dumb joke, and that's perfect. More to say at another time. Until then: Does anybody have weird incomprehensible fictional crushes? No? Me neither.

Jason vs. Leatherface #1-3: This mini from the mid-nineties is written by Nancy Collins, who knows exactly what a Jason vs. Leatherface movie would look like. She made this work. Dumb fun. Immortal Hulk #26: This is so obviously the definitive run of the Hulk. It's wild. Like, it's not even a question. Issues: 75 Trades: 5 Omnibus: 5 Graphic Novel: 8

The Untamed/Kiki-di, Kiki-da: reviews forthcoming Features: 47 Shorts: 0 Documentaries: 5 Rewatches: 0

Yeah, for as much respect that DC treated Kirby with, fucking him over on an ending to the Fourth World was a shitty move. In my recollection, they cut the page count when he was half finished with it, too.

They are NOT GOOD.

Me and Joe Priest: a nigh unreadable DC graphic novel from 85. Awful Metalzoic: another awful DC gn from 86. Art from Kevin Eastman is the only saving grace. Space Clusters: yet another DC graphic novel from 86 that is also terrible. Trying REALLY hard to be Heavy Metal here. And failing big time. Bang Bang 1-3: Carlos Trillo and Jordi Bernet's erotic graphic novel series. The stories aren't great, but Bernet draws sexy women like few others. Immortal Hulk #20-5: Still playing catch-up here. This went from vague cosmic horror to actual dead centre definition of cosmic horror real quick. Issues: 71 Trades: 5 Omnibus: 5 Graphic Novel: 8

Stacy and I finished Ratched (which was great and contains some of the most intense shit I've ever seen in a TV show) and we're on to The Good Lord Bird (which is also awesome).