Author: Graeme McMillan

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The Movies of February 2024

February really didn’t start well in terms of movies, thanks to going to see Argylle for work — it’s really not a particularly good movie, although I’d argue it’s also not as bad as some made out to be; it’s simply “fine and dull and overly glossy,” which feels like the very worst thing a movie like that could be. Thankfully, I made up for it elsewhere in the month, with rewatches for Out of Sight and M, the latter of which I hadn’t seen in decades and appreciated in an all-new way this time out. It really might be close to a perfect movie in so many ways — it’s visually stunning at multiple points, fast-moving for the most part, and morally ambiguous in a way that feels thoroughly contemporary when watched today. It left me wanting to rewatch Citizen Kane again, which feels like the most appropriate comparison, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet. Hopefully soon.

Anyway: here are the movies I watched in February.

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The Comics of February 2024

What was behind the re-read of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, you might ask? Was it the movie that’s due out next year? Honestly, no; instead, I just remembered that I hadn’t read that much of the original series past that first year, and was in the mood for a solid, B-level superhero comic read after binging Louise Simonson’s New Mutants run. Thankfully, those Thunderbolts stories really hit the spot, even if they’re objectively rarely any better than “good.” There really is a comfort food quality of unspectacular, but good-enough superhero comics, isn’t there…?

Also on the list below: I read through basically all of the Massive-Verse, Image Comics’ creator-owned superhero universe run by Kyle Higgins, thanks to a Humble Bundle purchase, and it remains a fun take on a lot of classic superhero tropes… and something that led me into re-reading a lot of recent Green Lantern comics, as well; one of the strange things about reading quite the volume that I do is that you can overlook how solid something is until you binge-read, which is what I think happened here: the current state of DC’s two Green Lantern books is far, far healthier than I think I’d realized…

  1. Dial H for Hero (2019) #s 4-6
  2. Jennifer Blood #s 1-6
  3. Jennifer Blood #s 7-12
  4. Dial H for Hero (2019) #s 7-8
  5. Dial H for Hero (2019) #s 9-12
  6. Green Lantern (1960) #s 193-200
  7. Rom Spaceknight (1979) #s 1-4
  8. Infinity Inc. (1984) #s 3-4
  9. 2000 AD Progs 2368-2369
  10. Green Lantern (1960) #s 78-82
  11. Green Lantern (1960) #s 83-87,89
  12. Marvel Zombies: Resurrection (2019) #1
  13. Marvel Zombies: Resurrection (2020) #s 1-4
  14. Jennifer Blood #s 13-24
  15. The Ninjettes #s 1-6
  16. Rom Spaceknight (1979) #s 5-8
  17. Ultimate Universe #1
  18. Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #1
  19. X-Men (2021) #28
  20. The Avengers (2023) #7
  21. Doctor Strange (2023) #s 8-9
  22. Scarlet Witch (2023) #s 9-10
  23. Rom Spaceknight (1979) #s 9-13
  24. Venom (2021) #27
  25. Magneto (2023) #s 1-4
  26. The New Mutants (1983) #s 54-61
  27. Green Arrow (2023) #9
  28. The Flash #217-219, 226 (Green Lantern back-ups only)
  29. Green Lantern (1960) #s 90-91
  30. The New Mutants (1983) #s 62-67
  31. Spellbound #4
  32. The New Mutants (1983) #s 68-75
  33. Batman: The Brave and The Bold (2023) #10
  34. Amazons Attack (2023) #5
  35. The Penguin (2023) #7
  36. Jay Garrick: The Flash #s 1-5
  37. Green Lantern (1960) #s 92-93
  38. The New Mutants Annual (1984) #4
  39. The New Mutants (1983) #s 76-77
  40. Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #s 5, 16, 23
  41. Green Lantern (1960) #s 94-95
  42. World’s Finest Comics (1941) #s 301-302
  43. 2000 AD Prog 2370
  44. World’s Finest Comics (1941) #s 294-297
  45. The New Mutants (1983) #s 78-86
  46. Infinity Inc. (1984) #s 5-10
  47. Green Lantern (1960) #s 96-100
  48. The New Mutants Annual (1984) #5
  49. Dark Ride #s 5-8
  50. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 13-18
  51. Superboy (1949) #s 222-227
  52. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 19-22
  53. Avengers (1998) #12
  54. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 0, 23-25
  55. Superboy (1949) #s 228-230
  56. DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days #1
  57. X-Men Red (2022) #17
  58. X-Force (2019) #46
  59. Thanos (2023) #1
  60. The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #37
  61. G.O.D.S. #2
  62. Punisher (2023) #1
  63. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 26-30
  64. Future Quest #s 1-3
  65. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 31-37
  66. Fielder #1
  67. Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #s 83-84
  68. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 38-49
  69. Green Lantern (1960) #101
  70. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 50-52
  71. Thunderbolts: Life Sentences #1
  72. Thunderbolts Annual (1997) #1
  73. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 53-59
  74. COWL #s 1-5
  75. Thunderbolts Annual (2000) #1
  76. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 60-66
  77. Thunderbolts (1997) #s 67-75
  78. Avengers/Thunderbolts ## 1-6
  79. Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1
  80. What If…? (1989) #108
  81. New Thunderbolts #1
  82. COWL #s 7-11
  83. Teen Titans: Earth One Vol. 1
  84. 2000 AD Prog 2371
  85. Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 2
  86. New Thunderbolts #s 2-3
  87. The Invisibles (1994) #s 1-4
  88. New Thunderbolts #s 4-18
  89. Thunderbolts (2006) #100
  90. Batman (2016) #145
  91. Birds of Prey (2023) #7
  92. Shazam (2023) #9
  93. The Invisibles (1994) #s 5-12
  94. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #s 1-12
  95. Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 3
  96. Alpha Flight (2023) #4
  97. Children of the Vault #4
  98. The Immortal Thor #4
  99. Uncanny Avengers (2023) #4
  100. Fantastic Four (2022) #13
  101. Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1
  102. Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 2
  103. Amazons Attack (2023) #s 2-5
  104. Wonder Woman (2016) #759-769 (Mariko Tamaki run)
  105. Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #s 1-6
  106. Superior Spider-Man (2023) #1
  107. Daredevil (2023) #s 2-3
  108. Jean Grey (2023) #s 2-4
  109. Dark X-Men #s 1-4
  110. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #s 13-24
  111. Knight Terrors: First Blood #1
  112. Knight Terrors #s 1-4
  113. Knight Terrors: Night’s End #1
  114. DC Universe: Lazarus Planet Alpha #1
  115. Titans: Beast World #1
  116. Justice League of America (1960) #147
  117. 2000 AD Prog 2372
  118. Justice League of America (1960) #148
  119. DC Universe: Lazarus Planet Omega #1
  120. Titans: Beast World #s 2-6
  121. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #25
  122. Action Comics #1063
  123. Suicide Squad: Dream Team #1
  124. Batman/Dylan Dog #1
  125. Green Lantern (2023) #9
  126. DC Ape-Ril Special #1
  127. Green Lantern Corps (2006) #s 29
  128. Detective Comics (1935) #425
  129. Green Lantern (2023) #s 1-8
  130. Duke #3
  131. Cobra Commander #2
  132. Radiant Black #s 1-6
  133. Radiant Black #s 2-12
  134. Radiant Red #s 1-5
  135. Inferno Girl Red Book One #s 1-3
  136. Supermassive 2022 #1
  137. Judge Dredd: A Better World 
  138. Conan the Barbarian (2023) #s 1-4
  139. The Cull #s 1-5
  140. Rogue Sun #s 1-6
  141. Radiant Black #s 13-18
  142. Radiant Pink #s 1-5
  143. Radiant Black #s 19-24
  144. Supermassive 2023 #1
  145. Radiant Black #s 25-26, 26.5
  146. JLA/Avengers #1
  147. Green Lantern: War Journal #s 1-6
  148. Green Lantern (2021) #s 1-4
  149. Immortal X-Men #17
  150. Wolverine (2019) #39
  151. Invincible Iron Man (2022) #12
  152. Incredible Hulk (2023) #6
  153. Avengers Inc. #3
  154. Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #1
  155. It’s Jeff! #31
  156. Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #38
  157. JLA/Avengers #2
  158. Titans (2023) #9
  159. Justice Society of America (2022) #9
  160. Wonder Woman (2023) #9
  161. Green Lantern (2021) #s 5-9
  162. Green Lantern Annual 2021 #1
  163. Green Lantern (2021) #s 10-12
  164. John Stewart: The Emerald Knight #1
  165. JLA/Avengers #3
  166. The Great British Bump-Off #s 1-4
  167. Brilliant #1
  168. Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #s 39-41
  169. Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War #1
  170. Luke Cage: Gang War #s 1-2
  171. Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #s 1-4
  172. Nightwing (2016) #112
  173. The Flash (2023) #s 1-6
  174. Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #s 1-2
  175. Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #s 3-5
  176. Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #s 6-8
  177. Big Game #s 1-3
  178. TMNT: The Last Ronin II #1
  179. Big Game #s 4-5
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Sweat Out That Angry Bits of Life

“I remember thinking murder in the car.”

For all manner of reasons, I’ve been revisiting a bunch of music from the late 1990s recently, and have zeroed in especially on Blur’s self-titled album from 1997. That was a big year for me, in terms of what I was listening to: the trinity of Super Furry Animals’ Radiator, Primal Scream’s Vanishing Point, and David Holmes’ Let’s Get Killed took me outside of my indie kid/Britpop era and into more interesting areas thanks to my curiosity in hunting down the originators for all three of those albums, each of which wore different (but overlapping) influences on their sleeve. Without those three, my self-mythology goes, I doubt I’d be so eager to find new sounds even today, and to be willing to give almost anything a listen for a few go-rounds before deciding if I’m into it or not.

Looking back now, though, I’m probably shortchanging Blur in that version of the story. Of course, I loved that album — it’s still my favorite Blur album, I think, even now — and I remember getting a copy of it early through a record mart or something similar, someone selling a pre-release review copy for a tenner and me going “I loved ‘Beetlebum,’ and I think Blur’s a great band,” because I was 22 and it was the start of ’97 and of course I did. What I wasn’t ready for was what the album sounded like, all the sonic gruffness and stutters and self-conscious attempts to do something different from the pristine, over-worked Britpop glory of The Great Escape.

It’s still very much a pop album, but one that pulls from a different lineage of pop music than what the band had previously stolen from, even if the hooks remained admirably intact. It was those hooks that brought me into the obsessive re-listens immediately (“Song 2”! “Movin’ On”! “I’m Just A Killer For Your Love,” with that bassline!), but within days, it was the more awkward stuff that I found myself playing over and over again.

For weeks after, I’d find myself walking through Aberdeen streets at night on the way home from being out with friends, or visiting folk, or whatever, listening to “Essex Dogs” on repeat — the sound of this 6+ minute spoken word track with grumbling, discordant guitars squealing as backing feeling just right for the headspace I was in at the time; I was transfixed by the possibilities the song suggested not just as music, but as storytelling and narrative. It felt like there was something more out there to find, if I knew where to look.

I got distracted by other bands, other sounds, other things happening in life before I really had the chance to look; it would be years before I started listening to things like the Last Poets, Gil-Scott Heron, or even John Cooper Clarke. But I can see a through line there that I hadn’t before, stretching back to Blur. Maybe I should give that album more credit, in retrospect.

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When You Think You Know, You Know What

Whatever the reason, February always ends up feeling like a curious rush by the time the second half of the month rolls around. It’s something that happens every single year, so there would be a sense that I’d be on some level used to this rhythm by now, and yet… nope. Every single year, I feel taken by surprise and thinking to myself, where did all the time go?

There’s a cheap answer to this, of course: I get lured in by the fact that February is shorter than the average month, which I remember intellectually and forget in every other way every single year. That’s hardly an explanation, though, especially given that it’s not that much shorter; it’s two or three days, which isn’t really any kind of amount of time that should make that much difference, especially year upon year. (As proof that, occasionally, my brain decides not to work properly, I submit the evidence that upon starting this paragraph, my brain went, it’s only 28 days normally, that’s five whole days shorter than the usual month, almost an entire week. I then… well, realized how bad my math was, if nothing else.)

I blame all the fault at the feet of January. January, my regular enemy, is such a difficult month every single year that, when February rolls around, I’m just so grateful to make it there in one piece that I almost lose track of time and common sense. Sure, there might only be four weeks in February to do anything, but those are four non-January weeks, and that means everything: they’re going to be less cold, less dark, and less shit merely by not happening in January, and therefore the sky is the limit. Or, at least, that’s what I end up telling myself in that way that our beliefs are spoken without any words.

I like to think that, if I did use words, I’d realize how ridiculous it sounded at the time. But then, I like to think that without using words as well, so what do I know?

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The Ghost At

Since we got divorced, the ex-wife and I have spent the last few years sharing custody of what was once our two dogs, and has been one dog since 2022. Every month or two, we meet up and hand off the little guy, Gus, and get used to the reality of the next few weeks: he’s here, or he’s not.

What that means, in practice, is what I’m going through as I write this: spending the evening of the handoff by feeling as if I’m haunted. He’s not here, but I feel as if he should be, I keep looking around to find him, to see where he is. When he is here, he’s almost certainly almost underfoot or somewhere close by, asking to cuddle or at least find somewhere to sleep nearby; almost immediately, I get used to that, to the sound of his snoring and the feel of him lying against my side when I’m sitting on the couch or lying in bed. I get used to the rhythm of the house when he’s here, which means taking him out the back to piss or shit, and also checking for him when I don’t know where he is, in case he’s decided to piss somewhere inside the house because he’s 15 years old and dumb. (It’s happened.)

It’s those first nights when he’s gone that feel so odd; the sense that he should be here, should be underfoot or leaning against me. Even though I know he’s going to be back in a month, there’s a sense of loss and disorientation that I find myself pausing, having to take a mental step back to think about what’s happening for a second. It’s like a surprise sadness every single time I remember.

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The Anniversary Waltz

Something I’m all too aware of right now is that 2024 is the year I turn 50 years old. Ever since the year started, it’s been playing in the background of my head, as if something changed on January 1 and I started some kind of special anniversary year. Technically, that anniversary year began with my last birthday, of course, but this awareness of that big birthday didn’t dominate my subconscious until the new year; such neuroses are rarely logical or practical.

It’s not as if my brain really knows what to do with this half century information; I’m not planning anything grand to mark the occasion just yet, beyond finally taking my health more seriously — something that, let’s be honest, medical professionals and loved ones alike would have rather I started a decade earlier. Nonetheless, it’s a fact that just lies in the background, hoping for purpose and giving significance to whatever is happening around me. As I clean the house, it asks, perhaps this is a sign that you’re going to be more ordered for your 50th? I read more books, and it suggests that maybe you’re finally settling into this elder reading statesman thing. Really, I’m just trying to do whatever to make it through and have some fun in the process. Maybe that’s a notable thing in and of itself, who’s to say?

(Is the second-guessing everything also something that happens as you approach the half-century mark, I ask myself in some kind of parodic, more-serious-than-it-should be, metatextual moment of almost self-awareness. There’s a moment of falling down the rabbit hole, and I worry that I passed that some time back without even realizing. Alas.)

I think the problem is that, somewhere along the way, my head decided without conscious thought that 50 is a Big Deal that Has To Mean Something. I went through the same thing at 40 — a quiet existential crisis that resolved itself with a shrug long before the birthday actually arrived. The same might be true of my 50th, in the end; I hope so. There’s something overly exhausting about this feeling that absolutely everything in your life has some additional significance just because of what the calendar has to say, especially when the feeling of the day-to-day says something entirely different.