Month: May 2024

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Mumble Gripe Moan

Secrets behind the blog: There was, originally, an entirely different post here that you’ll never see. I wrote something that was, reading it back weeks later — yes, sometimes I manage to write these weeks in advance (and sometimes I really don’t; the former is what I prefer, being the particular brand of deadline-obsessed weirdo I am) — nothing more than a rant about a work thing that, while I still entirely agree with it, is of zero interest to most people and probably pretty unprofessional to boot.

Re-reading it, I started to think about the idea of “quality control” when it comes to this place — wondering about the extent I think about other people reading what I write here, and how much (if at all) that colors what I write here. It’s a strange thing, really; I write for “an audience,” because that’s what I think I’ve always done, everywhere and everything I write, stretching all the way back decades by this point — but that audience is a different thing in my head in different places that I write. (When it comes to work, I am keenly aware of the audience and when I’m writing to them or not; it’s debilitating sometimes.)

Here, though, the “audience” I’m writing for has always been a strangely amorphous thing. I think of this place as more self-indulgent and, to an extent, “just me,” but then I get rid of a post because it feels too meaningless and too self-indulgent, so there’s some other bar(rier) at play here, although I’m not sure I could articulate that if pressed. Perhaps it’s simply my way of confessing that there are parts of my life that I think are too boring to share with the world…?

(Oh, friends, just be glad I don’t share my love of doing the dishes as self-care here. No-one wants to know about that.)

Sometimes, I think that I should give more thought to what I’m doing here. Other times, I just remember how necessary this space — and venting here, with these streams of consciousness — has been, and how it feels when I don’t give myself that opportunity. All of which is to say: if you’re reading this, thank you. I don’t understand why you’re doing it (and I’m not asking! Please don’t tell me, I’ll get in my head about it), but I appreciate that you’re here so much that I’ll delete a ramble about work to save you from my worst impulses.

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The Movies of April 2024

If there’s a takeaway to be found in the weird batch of April movies, it’s that Shane Black does really good buddy comedies. (I put The Nice Guys on, on a whim, and immediately thought, “Oh, I need to rewatch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang next.” That was not the wrong idea.) Oh, and also, No Hard Feelings was far more enjoyable than I’d expected — everything from Immaculate onwards was watched during an 8-day stretch of work with no days off, and I needed things to distract me. Please note that they kind of got dumber as the time went on. (The Fern Brady stand-up special is really great, though; I’m a big fan of her’s, I admit.)

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The Comics of April 2024

I cannot tell you why this happened, but it really looks like I read a bunch of comics in April. I’m not entirely sure how true that really is, because for some of the month, I was reading a lot of crossovers, instead of runs of one single title, but… well, take a look at the number for yourself, and know that I got over the 100 mark before the middle of the month arrived.

  1. Avengers, Inc. #4
  2. Marvel Super-Heroes: Secret Wars – Battleworld #2
  3. X-Force (2019) #48
  4. Immortal X-Men #18
  5. Fall of the House of X #s 1-2
  6. Timeless (2023) #1
  7. Sensational She-Hulk (2023) #3
  8. Justice League International (1989) #s 56-57
  9. Action Comics (1938) #675-676
  10. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #10-11
  11. Superman (1987) #66-67
  12. Adventures of Superman (1987) #489-490
  13. Justice League America (1987) #s 52-54
  14. Justice League Europe (1989) #29
  15. Justice League America (1987) #s 55-56
  16. Justice League Europe (1989) #30-32
  17. Superman ‘78 #s 1-6
  18. Superman ‘78: The Metal Curtain #s 1-6
  19. Green Arrow (2023) #11
  20. Justice League America (1987) #s 57-60
  21. Justice League Europe (1989) #33-35
  22. Justice League America Annual (1987) #9
  23. Justice League America (1987) #s 61-77
  24. Star Trek: Day of Blood #1
  25. Star Trek (2022) #s 11-12
  26. Star Trek: Defiant #s 6-7
  27. Star Trek: Shaxs’ Best Day #1
  28. Justice League America (1987) #s 78-83
  29. Guy Gardner #15
  30. Justice League America (1987) #s 84-85
  31. Justice League America Annual (1987) #7
  32. Justice League Quarterly #s 4-8
  33. Justice League International (1989) #s 58-60
  34. Justice League International (1989) #s 61-62
  35. Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Echoes #s 2-4
  36. Justice League America (1987) #s 86-88
  37. Justice League America (1987) #89
  38. Justice League Task Force #13
  39. Justice League International (1989) #s 63-65
  40. Total Justice #s 1-2
  41. Justice League America (1987) #s 90-92
  42. Justice League Task Force #14
  43. Justice League International (1989) #s 66
  44. Total Justice #3
  45. Justice League America (1987) # 93
  46. Justice League Task Force #16
  47. Justice League International (1989) #s 68
  48. Extreme Justice #s 0, 1-4
  49. Marvel Feature (1971) #s 11-12
  50. Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #1
  51. Void Rivals #8
  52. Supergirl (1996) #s 1-10
  53. 2001: A Space Odyssey #s 2-7
  54. Extreme Justice #s 5-15
  55. Transformers (2023) #7
  56. Extreme Justice #s 16-18
  57. World’s Finest Comics #s 215-216
  58. Rise of the Powers of X #s 1-2
  59. Captain America (2023) #5
  60. Fantastic Four (2022) #15
  61. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #s 1-2
  62. Justice League of America (1960) #144
  63. Justice League (2018) #1
  64. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #s 3-6
  65. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 35-36
  66. Hardware (1993) #s 17-18
  67. Superboy (1993) #s 6-7
  68. Icon (1993) #s 15-16
  69. Steel (1994) #s 6-7
  70. Blood Syndicate #s 16-17
  71. Static #14
  72. Superman: The Man of Steel #37
  73. Superman (1987) #93
  74. Action Comics (1938) #703
  75. Adventures of Superman (1987) #516
  76. Superman: The Man of Steel #0
  77. Superman (1987) #0
  78. Action Comics (1938) #0
  79. Adventures of Superman (1987) #0
  80. DC’s Spring Breakout #1
  81. Superman: The Man of Steel #38-40
  82. Superman (1987) #94-96
  83. Action Comics (1938) #704-705
  84. Adventures of Superman (1987) #517-519
  85. Superboy (1993) #s 1-5
  86. Zero Hour #s 4-3 (Series counts down)
  87. Zero Hour #s 2-0
  88. Superboy (1993) #s 0, 8-9
  89. Superman (1987) #s 41-42
  90. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 464-465
  91. Action Comics (1938) #s 651-652
  92. Superman (1987) #s 49-50
  93. Adventures of Superman (1987) #472
  94. Action Comics (1938) #659
  95. Superman: The Doomsday Wars #s 1-3
  96. Green Lantern (1990) #s 48-50
  97. Green Lantern (1990) #s 42-43
  98. Green Lantern (1990) #s 1-3
  99. Thanos (2023) #2
  100. Doctor Strange (2023) #11
  101. Guy Gardner: Warrior #s 18-21
  102. The Flash 2024 Annual #1
  103. Nightwing 2024 Annual #1
  104. Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1
  105. Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1
  106. The Penguin #9
  107. The Flash (2023) #8
  108. Green Lantern (1990) #s 4-8
  109. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 41-44
  110. Superman (1987) #s 97-100
  111. Action Comics (1938) #s 706-709
  112. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 520-522
  113. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 523-525
  114. Action Comics (1938) #s 710-711
  115. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 45-46
  116. Superman (1987) #s 101-102
  117. Superboy (1993) #s 10-19
  118. Steel (1994) #s 1-5, 8, 0
  119. World’s Finest Comics #221
  120. Superboy (1993) #s 20-24
  121. 2000 AD Progs 2377-2379
  122. Superboy (1993) #s 25-30
  123. Aliens: Colonial Marines #s 1-2
  124. New Year’s Evil: Gog #1
  125. Superboy (1993) #s 49-56
  126. Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #s 2-3
  127. Daredevil (1964) #s 110-112
  128. Superboy (1993) #s 57-65
  129. Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #s 1-2
  130. Wolverine (2020) #41
  131. Avengers (2023) #9
  132. Superboy (1993) #s 66-69
  133. Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #4
  134. The Power of Shazam! (1994 OGN)
  135. The Power of Shazam! (1995) #1
  136. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1
  137. Action Comics (1938) #712
  138. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 47-49
  139. Superman (1987) #s 103-105
  140. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 526-528
  141. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #2
  142. Action Comics (1938) #s 713-715
  143. The Nice House on the Lake #s 1-12
  144. Superman: The Man of Steel #50
  145. Superman (1987) #106
  146. Adventures of Superman (1987) #529
  147. Action Comics (1938) #716
  148. Sensational She-Hulk (2023) #4
  149. Thunderbolts (2023) #2
  150. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 51-52
  151. Superman (1987) #s 106-107
  152. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 529-530
  153. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #3
  154. Action Comics (1938) #s 716
  155. Batman (2016) #147
  156. Birds of Prey (2023) #9
  157. Avengers West Coast #s 63-65
  158. Aliens: Colonial Marines #s 3-10
  159. Aliens: Salvation
  160. Avengers West Coast #s 66-69
  161. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 53-55
  162. Superman (1987) #s 108-111
  163. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 531-534
  164. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #4
  165. Action Comics (1938) #s 717-721
  166. The Spirit (1977 Kitchen Sink series) #30
  167. Superboy (1993) #s 70-74
  168. 2000 AD Prog 2380
  169. Batman and the Outsiders (1983) #s 1-4
  170. The Brave and The Bold (1955) #s 194, 200
  171. Batman Special (1984) #1
  172. Batman Family #1
  173. X-Men (2021) #30
  174. Daredevil (2023) #5
  175. Batman and the Outsiders (1983) #s 5-10
  176. Batman and the Outsiders Annual (1984) #1
  177. Superboy (1993) #s 75-79
  178. Avengers: Twilight #2
  179. The Invincible Iron Man (2022) #14
  180. Seven Soldiers: The Bulleteer #4
  181. Superboy (1993) #s 83-84
  182. Batman and Robin (2023) #9
  183. Green Lantern (2023) #11
  184. Superboy (1993) #s 85-89
  185. Absolute Power Free Comic Book Day 2024 Edition #1
  186. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 56-57
  187. Superman (1987) #s 112-113
  188. Adventures of Superman (1987) #535
  189. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #5
  190. Action Comics (1938) #722
  191. Shazam (2023) #11
  192. Suicide Squad: Dream Team #3
  193. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 536-538
  194. Action Comics (1938) #s 723-725
  195. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 58-60
  196. Superman (1987) #s 114-116
  197. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #6
  198. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6
  199. Duke #5
  200. Avengers West Coast #s 70-74
  201. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 539-540
  202. Action Comics (1938) #s 726-727
  203. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 61-62
  204. Superman (1987) #s 117-118
  205. Superman: The Wedding Album #1
  206. Cobra Commander #4
  207. Dick Tracy (2024) #1
  208. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #s 25-34
  209. Adventures of Superman (1987) #541
  210. Action Comics (1938) #728
  211. Superman: The Man of Steel #63
  212. Birds of Prey (1999) #s 56-59 (First Gail Simone issues)
  213. Space Ghost (2024) #1
  214. Secret Six (2006) #1
  215. Superman (1987) #s 119-120
  216. Adventures of Superman (1987) #542-543
  217. Action Comics (1938) #730
  218. Superman: The Man of Steel #64-65
  219. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7
  220. Excalibur (2004) #s 1-4
  221. X-Force (2019) #48
  222. Action Comics (1938) #1065
  223. Superman (2023) #14
  224. The Immortal Thor #6
  225. Resurrection of Magneto #1
  226. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #27
  227. Titans (2023) #11
  228. Wonder Woman (2023) #9
  229. The Mirage
  230. The Maze Agency (2023) #1