Professor

Tom, I swear I had no idea who the hell you were talking about in your fantasy TNA/LAX scenario.

This week Lucha Underground introduced time travel and a storyline about undercover cops infiltrating the temple. Oh, and the dragon. I love this show so much.

It is sad. A great wrestler is forced to retire due to injuries. Seeing his peers show their appreciation has been nice.

The post match and press conference for Shinsuke Nakamura's last match in NJPW over the weekend. Interesting to see how well this goes.

Acapulco H.E.A.T. for no other reason than I stumbled upon this video. In case you missed it. H.E.A.T. stands for Hemisphere Emergency Action Team. Just awesome.

I think they did that last year with the, ahem, Rosebuds.

Not for nothing, but NXT has shown exactly what the point is. But then again, here I am talking about a Women's division when you are talking about a Divas division. Shame. As for the Rumble, the past two years have tempered my normal excitement. Only 3 ways I can see this going. And I see this as Triple H comes out at #30 (or #31 if that is to be believed) and win. At this point it all about surprise entrants and whatever crazy stunt Kofi has thought up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (Mini-Series) - Adaptations of the first five episodes of the cartoon. I choose to listened to the cassette along with the books. That was a mistake. 70 minutes with horrible voice actors. Not going to do that again. Comics: 9Graphic Novels: 1Trade Paperbacks: 1 (4)

Finished this morning. I'll echo Des, pretty fucking fun. The first episode was a slog, but every episode afterwards got better.

Spider-Man & The New Warriors: The Hero Killers - Collects the 92 Spidey & New Warriors annuals. Pretty much in line with the Spider Titles at the time. One thing I will give this trade is that they included all the back-up material. Granted, they are back-ups, but it is nice to see. Long Walk to Valhalla - Got this from the library because I had to kill time while getting an oil change. This was just wonderful. Maybe I don't get everything that is happening here, but it doesn't matter. Probably the best thing I have read in a long while. Surprised the hell out me. And now we are back... TMNT Prequels - Simple enough prequels. Would have worked better with one consistent creative team. TMNT Adaptation - So very bad, but in a 'made me laugh' kinda way. Comics: 6Graphic Novels: 1Trade Paperbacks: 1 (4)

What might be the best part of Christmas: The leftovers sandwich. That was so good.

Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) - The final series in the Mirage timeline. I liked this better than the main series (Vol. 4). I think that is due to the self contained nature of the stories. And it felt like a TMNT book, rather than four solo titles going on at once. Also, having changes in art made things interesting. Only downside is that each issue fills a gap in the continuity, but not in order. It doesn't really matter much (and a fair amount are evergreen), but it did hamper my enjoyment from time to time. Issue #5 might rival the original Donatello mirco series as my favorite TMNT single issue. The entire issue is just white silhouettes on a black background. It is unlike anything else in the series and I've gone back a read it at least five times. So good. Tales of Leonardo: Blind Sight - Which of course means that it needs it own four issue mini. Well, the art style stays for 2.5/4 issues, so there is that. But, sadly it just as good. Still, best of the solo minis by a far margin. Raphael: Bad Moon Rising - Again, spinning out of a Tales issue. I prefer my Turtles to be dealing with Ninjas. Magic and werewolves and mer-folk are not as fun. Comics: 752 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 25 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 4) - Back to Mirage and completely ignoring the Image series. Written solely by Peter Laird, this is set 15ish years past where Volume 2 ended. And that annoyed me, maybe more than it should have. The somewhat constant "remember that time X happened" got old. And maybe more than that, nothing seemed to have changed. Other than being older (and really, outside of Shadow, it doesn't matter) the Turtles, Splinter, Casey, April, and the Foot are the same. Why jump forward if the status quo remains the same? As for the story, kinda boring. First 11 issues were fun (and included another six month time jump). But afterwards, every character went into a solo story. Seven (or more) concurrent stories that don't really crossover. It just doesn't feel like a TMNT book. It feels like all their solo titles got mixed up at the printers and they said 'fuck it' and sent them out. First time a TMNT series 'ended' without something of a resolution. And I don't think I mind and that is sad. The other thing about this book that irked me was a random letter in a random issue. Talking about what happened to Donatello in the Image book, Laird shit on it. Then he does the same damn thing in the book. And the direction he takes April is worse than anything in those Image issues. Donatello: The Brain Thief - Filling in a gap that I don't think needed filled. And really light. Could have been a 48 page special and not a mini. Michelangelo: The Third Kind - Same thing really. Comics: 674 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 25 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

80s Mohawk Storm. The Red/Blue X-Treme X-Men Rogue. The Red/White Dr. Strange. Also, a Black & White Spider-Man 2099 was never a thing (I don't think), but it should be.

Twelve Reasons to Die (feat Ghostface Killah) - I don't know about this one. It is an average to boring mob story with a vastly more interesting back-up up about a collection death records. Then the two storied merged in issue 5, and I kinda like that. Yet that doesn't change the fact that the first half of five issues bored me. Comics: 635 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 25 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Blood, Shells & Roses - For a story about a rock band killing demons, this was incredibly boring. And poorly written. Brimstone - Hard to look at. So very dark. Zombies in the old west? Sign me up. But the art is so dark that I cannot see anything. Models, Inc. - Still waiting to get the point. I fancy myself a Marvel guy and I have no idea who most of these people are. Shotgun Wedding - Okay, in a bargain bin, direct to DVD action movie kinda way. Villains For Hire - I think reading Heroes For Hire first would have been a good move. Still, these are some H level characters and I struggle to care. Comics: 629 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 25 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

71 Yards - Remember that Hit Girl fight scene in Kick Ass? I laughed at the creator saying this was basically just his 'getting back in the groove' project and isn't anything special. It wasn't, but it wasn't horrible either. Bad Ass - Not entirely sure if I am missing something or not. Either way, this does a horrible job at world building. Good character building, but horrible world building. Kyrra: Alien Jungle Girl - I enjoyed this. The art has just the right amount of cartoony and it is nice and colorful. Only downside is that these are like 12 pages. Kiss Me, Satan - Werewolf crime bosses, angels, devils, guns, witches, zombie ninjas (or ninja zombies. Not sure which). Fun little supernatural action story. Comics: 610 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

TMNT intermission part 2: Bill and Ted's Most Triumphant Return - Took til the fourth issue, then I realized that this was Back to the Future II. Reading Bill & Ted is a lot less fun that watching them. I chuckled a few times, but I think I rolled my eyes at all the meta jokes more. I wanted to like this but no. Notti & Nyce - I got four issues before I quit. It was interesting for two pages. Would have quit sooner but it was the only thing left on the tablet. Comics: 592 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

An intermission from TMNT comics: 50 Girls 50 - Solid idea that was never realized. Went for too much cheesecake in the first issue and never recovered. And a pretty big storyline is never resolved, which is unforgivable when you know it is a 4 issue mini. Curb Stomp - Gang wars, focusing on a group of badass chicks. I say that because that is how they set it up. I didn't see any badassery in these issues. And the coloring really killed the art. Lunita - Crappy B.P.R.D. ripoff. And really inconsistent issue to issue in keeping the story focused. It feel like I missed of content. Comics: 582 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Dreamwave) - Based off of the 2003 cartoon. Fun and quick reads. A really good Raphael story is this standout of these seven issues. Creed/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Forgot about this one earlier. I have no knowledge about Creed and that makes this pretty much useless to me. The turtles look awesome tho. Green-Grey Sponge Suit Sushi Turtles - Also forgot this one. Wish it had stayed that way. Parody of the first movie. Horrible. Comics: 570 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 3)(Image) - I knew all about this series beforehand. I knew all about the EXTREME~! re-branding and had very low expectations. I pretty much expected to hate this. But I don't. Now. these are not good, but not the dumpster fire I had imagined. The characters are all off. Nothing has weight to it. Leonardo gets his hand bit off and it takes two issues for someone to say anything and he is all 'meh' about it. Donatello 'dies' like 17 times and no one cares pretty much ever. No weight. None. Raphael becomes the new Shredder and leads the Foot (which I really like the idea). You'd figure that would be a major thing. Nope, half an issue and they laugh it off. I get what was intended with this series. Yet, I don't think it worked. Some ideas were interesting, but execution was lacking. Comics: 561 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Any movie that has the Icelandic Junior Goodwill Games Hockey Team in it cannot have any other villains. You notice how you never saw their game with Trinidad & Tobago? Too graphic for a Disney movie.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - I had never read these before (for the most part). Seemed like something long overdue. For the most part, I enjoyed this (conditions do apply). The first 11 issues (12 if you add in Leonardo) are a fun little ride. Issues #Leonardo-11 are excellent and I can see why this was adapted for the movie. Kinda hits a lull, until the Return to NY story, which is decent. The River was a really great multi-issue arc. Then is hits a lull before Hedden and McWeeney drive the thing off a cliff and set it on fire. I hated anything they touched. After them, it is all rather average until the City at War 13-part story to end. I found City at War to be good, but really drawn out and slow at times. The random old guy storyline didn't catch me. Overall, I am glad I finally read these. I think there is a really tight 40 issue run hidden in these 62 issues. Also, the IDW Classics trades are hot garbage. They colored these B&W issues, which in itself is not a bad thing. I have one of the original color trades done by First Publishing and it good great. However IDW has colored them looks like just absolute garbage. Also, while I get what they were trying to do, is it too hard to get these collected in order? Now, to give IDW some props. The Ultimate Collection they have put out look awesome. The original B&W art, cleaned up on bright white paper looks great (I still prefer the yellow-ish pages of the originals). The real seller to me is the annotations by Eastman and Laird. The behind the scenes is almost more interesting than the comics themselves. Micro Series - I enjoyed all of these. Fun little stories with a single turtle. Leonardo's plays a big part of the main series, but the Donatello/Jack Kirby team-up is one of my top five comics of ever. Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - No idea why this had to be a second title. To make matters worse, these are better than the main book at the time. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 2) - Starts off good (if not really slow) and jumps off a cliff. From what I gather, the abrupt shuttering of Mirage really forced Lawson's hand to wrap up all long term plans in three issues. Still, wasted potential. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (I, II & II) - It is always interesting to me how these things are adapted. None are accurate, which I remembering pissing off seven year old me. I have two versions of all of these, and I found myself liking the plain Archie versions to the slicker Mirage versions. And the Mirage cover for the first one is one of my all time favorite covers. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Specials (Haunted Pizza and Maltese Turtle) - Meh and Shit. Next. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Flamming Carrot - Mystery Men? Never read any of them before. It was okay. Savage Dragon/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles + Savage Dragon #2 - Pointless. Even from a story perceptive, the Turtles do nothing. And they look like shit. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Savage Dragon + Savage Dragon #22 - A bit better, but still pointless. At least they look better. Plastron Cafe (+ Casey Jones: North by Downeast) - Anthology series that has a Casey Jones story, that is decent. But seeing as how it is reprinted (in color), this series is worthless. Only thing worth reading is a Donatello short set in the future. TMNT: Authorized Martial Arts Training Manual - These things are just awesome. I now am a master ninja. Turtle Soup (Vol 1 & 2) - Anthology series (shocker), but that actually focus on the Turtles. Better than the non-Turtles Anthologies. Challenges - Digest, that is an, wait for it, anthology. Decent enough. Shell Shock - A collection of all the back-ups and shorts. Some might call it an anthology. I call it decent. Goobledygook - An anthology (*sigh*), but a pretty decent one. Only one real stinker. Casey Jones and Raphael - Only issue of a planned mini. Think this gets reworked into Bodycount. Which I hated. Some TMNT Manga - Different, but who knows if the translation was at all correct. Action Zone - Promoting the CBS Animation block. I have no memory of Skeleton Warriors or WildCATS. This was what you'd think it would be. The Last of the Viking Heroes #2 & #3 - Seems like a could be a fun book (if not a rip off of Thor, Loki, Fandral & Hogun). But the TMNT part of this sucked so hard. Gizmo - Fun and lighthearted. Best of all the non-TMNT stuff by Mirage. Gizmo and the Fugitoid - More of the same. Fugitoid - Average, if not redundant. No idea when this was published, but I read this after the main series and this felt redundant. Grunts - Anthology, that I will be honest, I skimmed a lot of. Not very good. Bade Biker and Orson - There is nothing to these issues. And the art is very School House Rock-ish. Comics: 538 Digital First Comics: 65 Graphic Novels: 24 Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

I started watching the second batch of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentaries. Finished Broke, which I remember people going nuts over when it first aired. And I spent the entire run time thinking about how poorly this documentary was edited rather than any information it was trying to convey. That is the first time I have done that.