Captain America Omnibus, and how do you pluralize that?

So, the first book that I read was the Captain America Omnibus, and the first TPB of the Death of Captain America. Let's break down what that entails...

Captain American Omnibus, which has the first 25 issues of Ed Brubaker's run, followed by an annual of sorts, and a one-shot called Winter Soldier: Winter Kills just to round out everything. This book is MASSIVE. It is novel sized, unlike other normal TPB's. Thank goodness its hardcover or this thing wouldn't survive a few years with me.
Then there is The Death of Cap America vol 1, which covers issues 25-30. So yes, I ended up getting one issue twice, I didn't see any other omnibuses(that sounds weird...omnibi?)at the store so I just went with it. They were cheap anyways over at HPB.

So yeah, over 32 issues, read within a day. Let me tell you, they were even more amazing now than they were when I first read them! I think Ed Brubaker's stories read better in one huge sitting, since each issue continues right after the other. So, when reading thirty issues at once, many subplots and references stay fresh in your mind so that when they are shown again later on you can actually catch them. Let me tell you, I missed a LOT when reading this issue by issue. In fact, I can now see where they are going with Captain America: Rebirth thanks to re-reading these issues.

The story is densely packed, each issue has a lot of information to process, and its definitely not standard Cap America fare. There isn't as much action as you'd have seen in the old stories, but when its there it really shines. The book has become a spy-thriller, and I think it works for Cappy these days. Ed Brubaker is a great writer, when he latches onto an idea that works, so thank goodness it works well in this book. The artists Mike Perkins and Steve Epting are also really good, providing a dark 'realistic' world for Cap and friends to play in. I'm just glad they found two matching artists here, otherwise this book would have been massively delayed due to Epting.

All I can say is, while I won't stop reading this book issue to issue, I will probably make a conscious effort to read the trades all in one sitting from time to time to catch things I once missed.

Next up is a two-fer! Grant Morrison's supposed epics, Batman: R.I.P. and Final Crisis.

Here's a little teaser, I hated them originally, but after reading R.I.P. I'm starting to see why a lot were enjoying this. All I can say is, Zur En Arrh!

Comics Galore

So thanks to my large disbursement from Sam Houston, I have bought a large collection of trades. Well over 300$ worth in fact from various places such as Hastings and Half Price Books. I may even go to Barnes and Noble soon, and possibly online to buy a few more. All of these books I have already read at one point or another, but after I finish each one, I'll give a quick review. I'll talk about how I felt about it when I originally read it, and how I feel about it now after the re-read. Some of them, though, won't have a prior portion as I just can't remember how I liked them, which usually means I hated them. So why did I buy ones that I didn't like? Eh. Many were cheap. $6.99 for a hardcover Vol. 1 of Ultimate Fantastic Four is a great buy, even if the series is underwhelming. So I thought, why not?

Anywho, here is just a small list of what I'll be talking about in the next month or so:
Captain America(current series) Issues 1-30
Ultimate Fantastic Four
Ion
Superman Batman: World's Finest
Superman: Last Son
Y: The Last Man

And that is only a fraction of what I have purchased recently!

Be seeing you in the next couple of days with the first 'retrospective,' Captain America!

The Rant About Action Figures.

Ok, guess I’ll start with something far into the section of ‘geek-dom.’ Now for a few that really know me, I’ve bought action figures since I was a little kid. For me, they only really started to get good around 2000-2001 when Toy-Biz started making the Spider-man movie and Marvel Legends toys. They had awesome articulation, and just looked cool. While they were awesome, it was another obscure Toy-Biz action figure that claimed the title of my all-time favorite, Goldberg. Yes, for a time I was into wrestling and WCW was quite entertaining. Goldberg was a random buy for me, and it has become the best figure in my bunch.

I guess I should explain just a little before continuing, I don’t buy action figures to collect them. As a child I bought them to open them up and play with them. Then, I bought them to open them, and let my younger brother play with them. Now, I buy them and open them because they look cool and help me with story ideas.

Anywho, Goldberg had the perfect amount of articulation, wasn’t too much but was enough to move him in real-looking poses. He was stiff enough to actually stay in poses when in use. All around the figure was awesome. Now, the problem with almost all of my other figures was two-fold: too much (or not enough) articulation, and being too loose. Most of my other figures, especially the Marvel Legends (both Toy-Biz and Hasbro versions) have way too much articulation. You’d think 36 points of articulation is a good thing, but not when those points cause problems for other joints, and are too loose to keep the figure from standing on its own.

I just find it strange, that seven or eight years after buying the figure, and after buying countless others, it is still the best of the bunch.

But there is promise with Mattel’s DC Superhero line! In fact, save for the cumbersome plastic capes, most of the figures I have bought have been quite amazing. Superman, despite his weird purple-ish coloring that they chose for the first wave, and Batman look and move great. I just wish Hasbro would have done the same with the Marvel line. Unfortunately, they have decided to make their figures 3.75” which don’t mesh well with their old 6” lines. Oh, and at 8-10 bucks a pop for those small figures they have insured that I’ll never buy one. Ever.

And now we get into the second part of my rant, the price. Yeah yeah, inflation, rise in costs of everything to make said figure means rise in price, la dee dah. What I am so confused about is why they decided to shrink their figures, and raise the costs exponentially. As a worker in the retail industry I know how much of a hike these figures have, and it is crazy. What’s worse is they actually sell! So what does that mean? 8$ 3.75” figures for all thanks to Hasbro! Makes me pine for the Toy-Biz days.

It is funny, back when I started buying action figures, the DC figures sucked something fierce, while the Marvel ones were awesome. Now, it’s the exact opposite, for some reason they both can’t be good at the same time. Oh well. More money to Mattel then and less to Hasbro.

Welcome to the Fair Side

Well, I now feel like talking randomly about geek-y things again. I was about to create an account until I realized I still have one on here, so with a little retooling this will be the place I wax poetic on all things nerdy.

For those that are just now tuning in, my name is Zachary Davis. I am currently SHSU student getting my degree in English Literature, and preparing to become a teacher. So yes, I am wordy.

Mainly, what you will find here are random rants about movies, music, video games, and comic books, along with the occasional review of said items. Not much to start but I will try to update weekly, as long as my schedule allows.

So, thank you for reading, and any and all comments are welcome.