Final Comics Haul of 2019

After a month or two, I ended my New Comics Wednesday drought I purchased my weekly comics haul at my favorite local comics shop. When I left, I was struck by the realization I would not set foot in there again until the New Year. Short of any orders arriving from prior online purchases, I won't be buying anymore physical comic books or trades until the New Year. These are my final purchases and Comics Haul of 2019.

Rather sublime in a way...

Here they are:

Conan Serpent War #2 (Robert E Howard characters team up with Moon Knight!), Doctor Who 13th Doctor Holiday Special #2 (I had given up on Doctor Who comics and trades for the most part but am making an exception for this two-part Holiday Special. Closest I will get to a Doctor Who Christmas Special I will get this year, I suppose), Watchmen Companion HC (Normally, I would pass on this book; but it collects the Watchmen material for the old Mayfair DC Heroes RPG! If only DC Heroes or Blood of Heroes were easily acquired. Perhaps DC should release more of the RPG material sitting stagnant in a vault somewhere?)

Guardians of the Galaxy #12 (The final issue of Donny Cates run on GotG and my final GotG issue for awhile. I will NOT be collecting the next volume.), Shazam! #9 (Out finally!), New Mutants #4 (Only two more issues left on my pull. Dropping with issue #7.)

John Constantine Hellblazer #2 (Ultimately, I decided to keep collecting Sandman Universe titles because of Constantine's return to the imprint/universe.), Doomsday Clock #12 (The End has arrived! In hindsight, I should have waited for the super duper trade.), Excalibur #4 (Same situation as with New Mutants.)

He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse #2, Invaders #12 (Final Issue), Marauders #4 (Only collecting two more.)

Aquaman #55, Lucifer #15 (Still collecting for the time being. Constantine's guest appearance helped the title's cause.), Wonder Woman Giant vol 2 #2 (I collect the Giant 100 pagers from my FLCS and not at Wal-Mart now. Thus, reducing the chances of my purchasing any more comics and trades during the remainder of 2019 substantially.)

X-Force #4 (Only two more to go., The Last God #3, Justice League #38 (I decided I would buy until the conclusion of Snyder's run. It's also a twice-a-month title, which as I stated during my first December 2019 blog entry I was abstaining from.)

My final Comics Haul of 2019./

Three blog posts during December done. Will see how close to twelve total (as in the Twelve Days of Christmas) I get this month.

Next time.

A Quartet of Classic Macys Thanksgiving Clips

Another Thanksgiving and Cyber-Monday has come and gone. Over the years, I would occasionally watch the annual Macys Thanksgiving Parade. One thing I always enjoyed was the balloons, floats, and performances that would pertain to this blog such as Peanuts and Spider-Man. Recently, while perusing Youtube I discovered that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had a float during both 1985 and 1986 parades.


So I went on a Macys Thanksgiving Parade clip binge.


Around that time, I decided to do something I have never done on this blog before. Share video clips.  So I researched how to do so. Learned out embedding. Then, I discovered blogger has an insert video function that pretty much cuts out that step if the video is from Youtube.


So without much ado, here are the clips of both He-Man and Marvel floats from 1986, 1985, 1989, and 1987.


Here's Dolph Lundgren (who portrayed He-Man in the live-action film from the 80's) narrating the He-Man float during the 1986 Macy's Thankgiving Parade. His narration is kind of wooden but the story the performers convey is decent given that its a float.

I liked the previous year's He-Man float better as well as appearances of the evil Horde. Strangely enough, characters that didn't appear until later are among the characters used...

Vividly recall as a kid enjoying the Marvel from 1989 which much in the same vein as the Masters of the Universe floats. Would spend the next decade watching ensuing Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for a repeat performance to no avail.

What I didn't know and didn't learn until recently was that Marvel had a similar float back in 1987. Captain America is the featured hero. Got to say watching Captain America manhandle the Hulk is hilarious!

Hope you all enjoyed this belated touch of a Thanksgiving tradition from the 1980s!


Next time.

Geeking over SDCC 2016 Unveilings

As August dawns, I figured I'd catch up on all the news and unveilings from SDCC 2016. There will be much geeking out:


Note: I won't include any of the trailers as I figure most will have seen or will see them.


Justice League: In one trailer, everything that BvS:DoJ did wrong was remedied. There was comedy. DC long held the reputation as the place where its super-heroes got along. I got that vibe. Based on the trailer, watching Batman assemble the heroes should be a hoot. Loved the music. Finally, as a DC fan, I am not looking forward to Justice League simply because it's the Justice League. My inner child who watched the Super Friends while playing with Super Powers toys is delighted.


Doctor Strange Trailer #2: I'm even more excited for this film than I was before! The purist within me accepts the changes. Still not sure whom all the characters are aside from the Ancient One and Strange. Based on my guesses, Wong is now no longer Asian and wields magic and Baron Mordo is nuts...


Flash Season 3 Trailer: Flashpoint it is! Looking forward to seeing Wally as Kid Flash (or should we say Flash). We'll probably see more of the real Reverse-Flash than we've ever had before. Is Dr. Alchemy the Big Bad? Something tells me Barry won't like this new world...


Jim Gordon assuming an iconic DC Character ID: You can read about it HERE. Gotham has shaken Bat-mythos enough that Gordon could become any character. GordonBatman would be quite a twist. I'd find it rather hilarious if Jim Gordon was the first Batman. Would fit the show too as Jim Gordon had been playing that role anyway - albeit not as effectively. He could also be The Question or The Vigilante.


Kurt Russel is playing Star-Lord's Dad. It's Ego the Living Planet?! For those that want to read the news, one can do so HERE. Hmmm, I'll reserve judgment until I watch GotG 2.


A Captain Power reboot series! Absolutely loved this show as kid! Consider me excited. Here's some info about it HERE. Don't know what was mentioned at the con though...


80's-style He-Man Cartoon aired at the Con: Details HERE. Con goers got to see a brief He-Man short done in the old Filmation style. He-Man is another childhood favorite of mine; and I have many fond memories of watching the Filmation show as a kid. Would loved to have seen it the con. May have to check out on Google Play some day...


Ghost Rider on Agents of SHIELD - Well, we now know the next Marvel character to appear on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. It's Ghost Rider! For those whom want to take a gander at which one and the vehicle itself, can do so HERE. And its... the All-New Ghost Rider... The one with the car... The one I don't know so much about. Well, at least, I won't have any preconceptions...


Richard Ryder is Back! - That's right, the original Nova has returned! Apparently, Marvel decided to what I had guessed about the current Marvel book back when it was previewed: pair Richard Ryder with new Nova, Sam. You can read the story itself HERE. May continue to buy the book now.


More IDW/DC crossovers: Recently, Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles teamed up.  They'll do so again except this time it'll be the TAS and Nick versions. Cool. Cool. Also there'll be sequel to Green Lantern/Star Trek: Spectrum War. Also, cool. Future trades! Here's a link.


Ragman on Arrow!: For pics and sizzle reel for Arrow Season 5, here's a link. Ragman was among my favorites from the short-lived series Shadowpact. Loved how he was more of street-level Spectre. Judging by the pictures, the Ragman's depiction is faithful to the comics although it must be tough to translate the character from the comics to the screen. As for the sizzle reel itself, I am as pumped as I am for the Flash. Should be neat watching Ollie train a new batch. Wonder how long they'll last though before the old crew returns...


Justice League Dark - JL Dark adaptation to animated movie is finally upon us. Plus Matt Ryan reprises the role of Consantine! One can check out a video discussing the movie HERE.


Unlike previous years, I didn't pay too much to SDCC this year. I'm sure I missed plenty of news and unveilings. Oh well. They'll be new for me when the next round of Con Coverage occurs!