Professor

Amazing Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man (#658-662) - I am not sure how I feel about Spider-Man being the new Wolverine, ie being on every team. That said, Spidey does feel like a logical fit with the Fantastic Four. His reactions to being on an FF adventure are just how they should be: a kid living out his fantasies. I mean, zombie pirates. C'mon. Amazing Spider-Man: The Return of Anti-Venom (#663-665) - The end of Mr. Negative is really anti-climatic. Set up in the first BND trade and ended here 100+ issues later and it went over like a fart in church. DC/Marvel: Crossover Classics IV - Shit. That is all. Comics: 2 Trades: 113 (641)

Austin Aries is the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Kinda shocking to be honest. More due to the slow burn Roode/Storm story they seem to want to tell than Aries himself, who has been on a roll for a while now. The PPV overall was kinda a let down. I think I looked at things on paper and overhyped it in my own head. Joe/Angle was not on par with their classics, but still a really good match and probably best of the night. The X-Division tournament matches were TV specials, which I had no problem with due to the Ultimate X match. Then that happened, and it was really, really lame. Don't know if Sonjay's injury was real or not (seemed to be) but that just killed the match. Daniels/Styles has been done a lot. And since I don't see this as the end, I never really got invested. The main event never got out of 2nd gear. Maybe it is me, but I cannot say that I have seen the appeal Bobby Roode or James Storm. Every match that I have seen them in seems stiff. Maybe not fluid is a better way to say that. I am always aware that I am watching a match, rather than getting wrapped up in the action.

Will: I am interested in who you think I have to have on my team. Since I have no ideas, we shall see if this turns out to be true. Kinda surprised that Molly was on people's lists.

With the 29th pick in the 2012 X-Men draft, the New Mutants select: Molly Hayes

The usb ports on my laptop are dying or dead. This is an issue that I would rather not have, to say the least. My ethernet, card reader and HDMI ports all still work. Anybody know of a converter type cable? I tried to google it, but all I got was everything being converted to usb, which is useless.

Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time (#648-651) - Finally. Finally the get Peter off of the Daredevil 'life is shit' train. Not sure if I like the new Hobgoblin tho. Seems kinda a random choice. Amazing Spider-Man: Matters of Life & Death (#652-657, 654.1) - And right back on the 'life is shit' train. Not a fan of these costume changes. They make logical sense, but seems a little 'Iron Man'-y for my tastes. Stick to the Red & Blue. I think I am more intrigued by Flash being Venom than anything else. Comics: 2 Trades: 110 (629)

Young X-Men: Finial Genesis Young X-Men: Books of Revelations Everything falls flat. I have a feeling I cannot go back through the X-books like I did with Spider-Man OMD/BND as I never seem to know between what events books fall. I am given little context about that and less characterization. Even three New Mutants running around couldn't hold my interest. Spider-Man: Origin of the Species (#642-647) - Not a fan. All the villains attack? Didn't I just see this with Gauntlet/Grim Hunt? The art did nothing for me either. Comics: 2 Trades: 108 (618)

With the 19th selection of the 2012 X-Men Draft, I select: Cloak

My (late) first round pick Cannonball. Side Note #1 - Cannonball has had some horrible costumes. Even by 90s standards, they are complete ass. Side Note #2 - I am gonna be late on all my picks I believe. C'est la vie.

Runaways (Vol. 3) - And this is where the series takes a noise dive. I never got the sense that Terry Moore got these characters. Klara is a total non-character and the rest are written based off a bullet point list that didn't go past one. Also, Victor is Hispanic. I do not think the artists got the message. Avengers Academy #27-28 - This is closer to the Runaways that I liked. I think this was a bit hampered for me not knowing the Academy kids. Wolverine: The Reckoning (Origins #46-50, Dark Wolverine #85-87) - I have no idea. I have no idea who these people are (sans Wolverine) and thus I do not care. Granted, this could be part 4 of 4, but as a trade I randomly pulled off a shelf, I had no warning of that fact. So, this fails. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Chameleons (#7-14) - Nice to get back to the Ultimate universe after a long break. However, this is really similar to an Amazing trade I read with the Chameleon. Nice to visit these characters, but the story did nothing for me. Comics: 2 Trades: 105 (599)

New Mutants

X-Men: The End - Started off strong and just fell completely off the rails at the end. Also, I think this suffers from the 'not in cannon so lets kill people' line of thinking. Sure, death would happen in books like these. Even so, less is more. Runaways (Vol. 2) + Civil War +Secret Invasion - I enjoyed most of this. The event tie-ins are useless and I was not a fan of the time travel story. Otherwise, I like the little corner of the Marvel Universe this team inhabits. The turnover in the team does not annoy me as much as it should, and I think that is a good thing. I do not like the covers tho. They, in no way, reflect the main artwork. Plus, the characters all look off. Trades: 101 (569)

Ha! I forgot that I have been a member for that long.

My sister shows me the alumni page of our high school. I had no idea such a thing existed. Now, beyond the website looking like 2001 geocities, something made me laugh. They have pictures of every student that has graduated from the school. 1917-2012. Pretty big list and kinda nifty. Except I am not there. I can only think of two possible reasons for this. 1) I am the center of some conspiracy that is erasing any trace of my existence. Or the much less likely, 2) I did not turn in a photo at whatever point I was do so.

I'm in.

I have no power. This is not unheard of, but the five day waiting period seems a little excessive. The reason for that is I can see the pole that was knocked down. It is clear as day. Now fix it. In a related note, I didn't notice anything yesterday. Yeah, wind, but nothing overly harsh. Yet driving around this morning looking for a place to charge the essentials (ipod & phone), shit got fucked up hardcore. Lots and lots of trees down, fences destroyed and something at the fairgrounds fell down. Yet, I was able to either sleep through this or block it out with a podcast. Weird.

I watched all the Marvel Animated Movies on Netflix. Next Avengers - Not horrible, but if you are going for a kids team, why not go for Power Pack. I want a Power Pack movie damn it. Also, the Wasp kid is annoying. Doctor Strange - I thought this was solid. The plot is predictable, but I enjoyed getting from A to B. Animation of the magic was really good. Invincible Iron Man - This was ass. Animation was poor and the story was shit. Also, don't put the classic 'Red & Gold' on the cover if he never wears that armor. Thor: Tales of Asgard - By far the best of the lot. I find myself liking Thor a lot more than I ever thought I would. I specially love the teenage Thor; out to prove his worth to Odin. It reminds me of Thor: Son of Asgard which I loved as well. Good stuff. Hulk vs. - I think this one was hyped up a bit too much for me. The Thor half dragged a bit and I wasn't that engaged with the Wolverine half. Planet Hulk - This was pretty decent, but had a big flaw from the start. What Hulk is this? 'Hulk Smash' Hulk, 'Smart' Hulk, 'Jaded Punk' Hulk, ect.? As I never read the comic, I have no idea. I mean hell, why is he not changing back into Banner? Thinking as a casual Hulk reader, I know 3 things about him and this doesn't follow two of them. Ultimate Avengers - This was too short. Way too much time gathering the forces, not enough time using said forces. Also, the big terrible threat? Very weak. Ultimate Avengers 2 - Kinda odd watching this and seeing some parallels with the live action movie. But really, this is not good. And the animation is okay, but Black Widow just has a horrible design that is not animated well in the least. I'd say that these ended up with a record of 1 Great - 2 Good - 3 Average - 2 Ass.

Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt (#364-367, Web 7) - As a payoff for the last five trades, it is a bit of a letdown. Not a fan of Kraven being back either. As for the trade itself, I hated the intercut Kaine portions. Put it all at the beginning and it wouldn't annoy me as much. Kinda like reading two books at once, which I am not a fan off. Amazing Spider-Man: One Moment In Time (#638-641) - I would say a much needed look into what OMD/BND did. Still, I feel it was a bit late, but in reality, this is the type of story needed after 'grim & gritty' of the last trade. Trades: 91 (514)

Amazing Spider-Man: The Gauntlet Vol 4-5 (#626-633, Web 6) - I stand by what I said previously, these have nothing to really tie them together. Yeah, setting up the next trade, but still. Maybe a page in each. Vol. 5 is horrid, and I am not a fan of this new Lizard. Trades: 89 (505)

Amazing Spider-Man: The Return of The Black Cat (#606-611, Web #1) - Should just be call "Spidey Gets Some". Also, not sure I like the idea of bringing back Kaine. Execution was fine, I'm just not sold on the idea. Amazing Spider-Man: The Gauntlet Vol. 1-3 (#612-625) - My main problem is in the name. This doesn't really feel like a 'gauntlet' at all. This entire 'one thing after another' idea would be fine if it were happening faster. It just seems like problem solved, next case like usual. Highlight of this so far has been Rhino. First time I have ever like Rhino. Trades: 87 (496)

Runaways: Teenage Wasteland (#7-12) Runaways: The Good Die Young (#13-18) - Nice little story I would say. The swerve actually worked and made sense, so that is nifty. Amazing Spider-Man: Died In Your Arms Tonight (#600-601, A36, Family #7) - This was so much filler. Way too much for my liking. Amazing Spider-Man: Red Headed Stranger (#602-605) - Like the newer take on The Chameleon. Slightly hampered with him being tosses in the Obama issue for no reason. Trades: 83 (475)

Amazing Spider-Man: American Son (#595-599) - I am really noticing the thirce monthly shipping. Things somehow feel rush, yet drawn out at the same time. And side characters seem to not exist, as I swear Flash came back from War, yet I don't think I've seen him for more than three panels. Trades: 79 (455)

Amazing Spider-Man: New Ways To Die (#568-573) - Not sure how I feel about this one. At the end of the day, not much real seems to happen, even with things happening if that makes sense. Also, not sure I like Venom/Norman not knowing Spider-Man's secret identity. I know OMD/BND fixed these things, but I like when at least one villain knows. Makes them more dangerous. Amazing Spider-Man: Crime & Punisher (#574-577) - Given what came before and what will come after, this is a weird trade. It really has nothing to due with anything and could easily happen at anytime during this run I am on. The Flash issue is the best of this bunch, but totally skippable. Amazing Spider-Man: Election Day (#584-588) - I liked that some of the long term storylines gets wrapped up. Good read. Although, the big reveal was not shocking. They went way too hard one way that the actual swerve would have been to go that way. To swerve was the anti-swerve. Kinda Russo booking, to use some wrestling vernacular. Amazing Spider-Man: 24/7 (#589-594) - This one comes down to one thing: a time jump. I am not a fan. Otherwise it is fine, but the time jump just kills any momentum the plots had following the end of Election Day. Trades: 78 (450)

Runaways: Pride & Joy (#1-6) - Nice set up/introduction trade. Interested in seeing where they go with it. Will say tho, four days later and I cannot remember most of the characters' names. That might be an issue. Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol. 1-3 (#546-563) - You know, for making a deal with the devil to save your Aunt May, you would expect her to actually be relevant in the next eighteen issues. One would assume. As for the retcon, I didn't mind it, but I think that is because it happened long ago real time. As for the stories, mixed bag. I liked that fact that new villains were used and things are always in the background. I did not like that of the background things, some seemed to be dropped altogether. Trades: 74 (429)

About 2-3 weeks ago, I get a phone call stating that my credit card has had some fraudulant charges made on it in Maryland. Since I have no let Ohio in over a year, that is indeed an issue. They reissue my card and take care of the purchases I did not make. I am confused about how this would happen as I have not used that card in over six months. Earlier today, I cannot use my debit card. Turns out, I had a fradulant charge on it in from a Texas Walmart. Again, this is an issue. Again, reissue my card. Now I am left without a card (and since I never have cash, an issue) for 3-5 business days. Went ahead and had my other credit card reissued as if 2/3 have been hit in under a month, I am not taking my chances. Add in the fact I have to cancel all the automatic bill-paying that goes on with the debit card and this is just a massive headache. Really. I have had a massive headache since leaving the bank. Granted I am not out of any money, but this is just massively pissing my off as I still have no idea when/where/why my card numbers got stolen. I mean, they stay in my wallet and that never leaves my sight. I haven't order anything online in well over a year. So, seriously, what the fuck?