A Matter of Time

I know Random Thoughts Escaping has been silent for a while now, and I wanted to take a moment to let the two or three people who actually stop by here know what’s going on. My day job is very cyclic, and I’m in a really high-churn time right now. I also have four writing projects/freelance jobs that I am ridiculously excited about, but that I can’t talk about yet. They are consuming all of my non-working, non-family, normally-when-I-would-be-blog-writing time.

I have plenty of new ideas to unleash and previously shelved ones I’d like to revisit on the blog. It’s just a matter of time. Of course, there will be Deus ex Comica related announcements, and I can’t wait to share some of the writing jobs I’ve been fortunate enough to land recently.

There is definitely more to come. I hope you’ll stick around for it…

Gone.

LeBron James broke my city’s heart a few hours ago on national TV. We all knew he was leaving the moment before he made his announcement when he had to stop himself and commented that it was going to be harder than he thought it would be. We all knew then the Miami rumors were true.

Initially, I was pretty numb. I watched the vitriol spew across Twitter with a sense of detachment, but have become more sad than anything else as the hours have passed. There were signs of LeBron being just a kid in his 20s here and there, but by and large this is a boy who grew into a man before our hometown eyes over the last ten years.

And this decade has been amazing as a sports fan in Northeast Ohio. After the wonder of seeing this high school man among boys play and watching the ping pong ball actually go our way at the absolute right time, pro basketball was fun. And we contended. The excitement of watching the Cavaliers compete and this player use his God-given talent was remarkable. Staying up late in May and June with Tracy to watch playoff basketball was worth every following day we spent in an exhausted haze. Getting to see the kiddo excited about watching LeBron and taking him to Cavs games are memories I’ll always carry with me. That sense of pride in being from Akron isn’t going to go away. I am so grateful to have had these last ten years. Even knowing what I do now about the ultimate outcome, I wouldn’t trade them.

This free agency was handled poorly, and LeBron’s reputation is damaged. There’s no way around it. The ESPN special was an embarrassing ego stroke, a bad decision designed only to serve his own sense of self. The way he divorced Northeast Ohio is what's so painful, maybe even unforgivable, but I keep thinking that if he’d never played a single game for the Cavs, if that ping pong ball had gone another way years ago, I’d have rooted for him in whatever other jersey he’d ended up in simply because he’s the local hero who made it big. So I guess I’m a little conflicted. Part of me feels bitter and betrayed and wants the Cavs to win a championship without LeBron, but I know that’s not likely to happen. He was our chance at greatness. And now he’s gone.

Larchmere Festival Author Alley

Just a quick reminder that I’ll be in the Author Alley at the Larchmere Festival in Shaker Heights this Saturday, July 03, promoting Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan with nearly 50 other local authors, including my good friend John Booth! Author Alley will be at Loganberry Books on Larchmere Boulevard from noon until 4pm.

There is going to be a wide variety of books available. Come out, meet some local writers, find something you like, and feel good about supporting local authors!

How to Spend an Early Summer Evening

We went out to dinner with friends to our favorite local watering hole the other night, the Winking Lizard. We got home around 8:30, and after the kiddo walked the dog, he and I went out back and threw the football around until it was almost too dark to see. As we were walking around the side of the house to head in, we were distracted by the lightening bugs just starting to make their presence known.

My gut told me to herd the child inside and get him into his ready-for-bed routine and settled in with a book. But something stopped me. I guess it was the sense of wonder I could see gleaming in his eyes even in the dusk. I watched him chase a firefly across the backyard. Then he told me over his shoulder that he has never caught fireflies before. With that, it was over. There was no other option except to toss the football aside and head back into the yard to catch fireflies with him.

As it got darker and darker, it became increasingly harder to find them when they weren’t lit up, but we caught quite a few over the next half-hour or so across our and our neighbor’s yards. The lightening bugs would land on us and crawl all over our hands and arms, lighting up now and again to make our skin glow.

After a while, we invited Tracy out to join us. The three of us wandering around out there must have looked pretty odd to anyone who passed by, but it was one of the best evenings ever. Soon it was too dark to catch the fireflies at all, so I collected the football and the three of us headed inside. And while the kiddo curled up with a book in bed, Tracy and I were left to remember a little bit of what it was like to be eight years old on your summer break, if only for a night.

The Karate Kid 2.0

Had a fun “guys” day with the kiddo Saturday. After a week of business travel away, it was great to have some one-on-one time together. He caught up on his Summer Bridge workbook pages while I mowed the lawn, then we headed over to the Metroparks for a three-mile walk. Afterwards, we came home and he helped me clean the interior of my car, then it was time for showers, lunch, and The Karate Kid.

The kiddo has been so excited about this movie for a good month now! I have a fond place in my ’80s heart for the original film, so there was no way I wasn’t going to indulge him in seeing this remake. I debated watching the original movie with him (it’s available on Netflix instant streaming) in the weeks before we saw the new film, but I decided to take a page out of my buddy John’s book and his Star Wars wisdom to recognize that “every generation has a legend.” And John’s absolutely right. Who was I to burst my son’s bubble of excitement over this retelling of the underdog tale? Did he need to know this was a remake of a movie that I probably think a little too highly of because of my own nostalgia and the fact I saw it through a young teenager’s eyes? No.

And where the protagonist of the original film is of driving age, the main character of the remake is 12 – a far closer and relatable age for my kiddo. So he went into the theater armed only with what he knew from the trailers and with zero knowledge of the original’s existence. And we both had a great time! The movie clocked in at two hours and 20 minutes, but hit all the right notes and never felt drawn out or padded. For those of us who remember the Reagan Era, there were nods to the original that were reverential without ever feeling like they were ripping anything off.

The arcs for both Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han were affecting and resonant. Smith carried the movie like a pro, indicative of his pedigree. Chan was beautifully understated, surprising me by plumbing some emotional depths I didn’t know he could pull off.

One thing I really admired about the movie is that, despite taking place in China, it never dumbed down the language barrier. Instead of going the route of something like The Hunt for Red October (a movie I love) where suddenly the foreign language is abandoned for English with the corresponding accent, the characters who spoke Chinese did just that with subtitles throughout the entire film. A bold choice for a movie aimed at adolescents.

I thoroughly enjoyed this remake of The Karate Kid. I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those movies that leaves an impression on my kiddo and this generation like the original did on me and mine. And that’s a good thing, because there’s always room for well-told underdog stories to inspire us.

Some Quick Thoughts on Annuals

I haven't read a lot of annuals since returning to comics in the last few years. Certainly not in the way I devoured them back in the day, but I read Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 earlier this week. I enjoyed the main story and art well enough. It was a fun, two-part tale of Spider-Man and Captain America taking place between Avengers #11 and #16. Karl Kesel’s writing really captured the sense of awe a teenaged Peter Parker must have felt meeting an icon like Captain America. And, in a lot of ways, hasn’t that always been the strength of Marvel Comics? The idea that, although these heroes inhabit the Marvel Universe, they are not necessarily commonplace and it’s still an amazing event when they are encountered. When Marvel does that, and does it well, they succeed in pulling kids and adult readers alike firmly into this world, making it all the more believable.

The first part of the main story finds Cap assisting Spidey against the Sandman, stepping in just the nick of time and leaving Spidey a bit star struck. The second half of the tale gets a little wonky as the heroes team up against the Rogue Scholars, but I rolled with it and let it take me where it wanted to go. Throughout, I really dug Paulo Siqueira’s art. It felt sketchy and rough, but in the best possible way, and Fabio D’Auria’s colors had a muted tone that served the story well.

The backup story was a bit of a letdown for me. As someone who was out of comics during the ’90s, I wasn’t familiar with Untold Tales of Spider-Man, and as much as I’ve enjoyed Pat Olliffe’s work on Peter Parker, I wasn’t really digging on his stuff here. The Kurt Busiek story starring Spider-Man and Stan Lee is the kind that sometimes works and sometimes falls flat. Here, flat. It was 15 pages I would have rather seen devoted to expanding the main story to something a little more epic. This is an Annual, after all.

Not to get all crotchety and “get off my lawn, you damn kids,” but I don’t remember backups that felt like filler in the annuals of my youth. I remember the annuals of the ’80s as king-size versions of the Spidey/Cap tale here. Like Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 from 1982, which tells the origin of Monica Rambeau’s Captain Marvel and guest starring the entire Marvel Universe! (That one had a couple of nice one-page pin-ups: “The Many Loves of Peter Parker” and “Imagine How Much Fun It Must Be to Work at The Daily Bugle” that felt appropriate and right at home.) Or Fantastic Four Annual #18 from 1984 with the wedding of Black Bolt and Medusa. On the other hand, this 2010 Amazing Spider-Man Annual felt kinda like a regular issue with a backup story tacked inside.

I think it's time I pulled out that '82 Spidey annual and give it another read...

A Cosmic Marvel Reading Guide

Recently on Marvel Noise, my friends Steve, Rick, and Tom did a two-part deep dive into things that serves as a great Cosmic Marvel history lesson. The second installment in episode 118 focuses on the events of Annihilation through the current state of things. (When listening to this episode the kiddo was completely enthralled with what Steve, Rick, and Tom were talking about. When I told him I had all the books we were hearing about, he immediately asked if he could read them! And another Marvel Cosmic fan is born.)

I have been really enjoying the space-based Marvel renaissance over the last few years. Written in 2008, I had this to say about Cosmic Marvel in the “Bound for Greatness” chapter of Deus ex Comica:

Beyond Star Wars, I’ve never been a huge sci-fi fan. (And my friend John would probably argue that Star Wars is more space opera than sci-fi in the purest sense.) No Roddenberry. No Bradbury. I was always more into Fleming and Spielberg, and that translated to my comic book reading tastes as well. The Original Collection has a few Novas and Quasars, and the first issue of the Bill Mantlo/Mike Mignola Rocket Raccoon limited series from ’85. But by and large I stuck with pure super hero adventures: Avengers, Alpha Flight, Defenders, X-Men. These were the comics I loved.

Even though Cosmic Marvel was never my thing, that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to give it a go, and Marvel’s 2006 Annihilation event came highly recommended... The initial story is collected in three books compiling nearly 30 issues of Cosmic Marvel goodness! This is followed by the Annihilation: Conquest event spanning 2007 and 2008, and the Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing series.

Beginning with Annihilation, Book One, the story immediately sucked me in. I love the way Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest are laid out. The collections are organized in a way that provides a coherent storyline woven throughout the books. They start with the prologues and tie-in miniseries, then go into the main sagas. The Cosmic Marvel Universe is a bit of a different animal than the Earth-based Marvel Universe. Tent poles like Civil War and Secret Invasion are all about trying to be huge in scope and having a breadth that influences even the far corners of the Marvel Universe. But I wish Marvel would: a) cut down on the number of tie-ins for those tent pole events, instead scaling them down to Annihilation-size, and b) package all their event collections similar to Annihilation. It’s really a model of restraint which, ironically, results in maximum impact.

While I was at Summit City Comic Con last month, I was chatting with my buddy Mike, telling him that I’d just finished up Nova, volumes 3 and 4, and Guardians of the Galaxy, volume 1. He said he has wanted to dig into the revived cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, but has been unsure of where to begin and what order to go through them. As a fellow stickler for continuity and reading chronology, I totally empathized and decided to share my take on things.

I’m reading it all exclusively in collected editions, and I’m pretty confident the reading arrangement I have cobbled together is correct. All books I reference here are the trade paperback editions, with the exception of War of Kings, which I couldn’t resist in that beautiful hardcover. (And, yes, I do sorta wish I’d picked up the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest books in that oversized format as well.)

What Keith Griffen began with Annihilation has only been improved upon by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Far-reaching and epic in scope, these are tales that stretch the imagination and mine the rich history of Marvel Cosmic adventures. So, to the best of my knowledge, for your reference...

Annihilation
Annihilation Classic
Bug (1997) #1
Tales to Astonish (1959) #13
Nova (1976) #1
Quasar (1989) #1
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #1
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #2
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #3
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #4
Marvel Spotlight (1979) #6
Logan's Run (1977) #6
Marvel Premiere (1972) #1












Annihilation, Book One
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #1
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #2
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #3
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #4
Annihilation Prologue (2006) #1
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #1
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #2
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #3
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #4












Annihilation, Book Two
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #1
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #2
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #3
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #4
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #1
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #2
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #3
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #4
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #1
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #2
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #3
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #4












Annihilation, Book Three
Annihilation (2006) #1
Annihilation (2006) #2
Annihilation (2006) #3
Annihilation (2006) #4
Annihilation (2006) #5
Annihilation (2006) #6
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus (2007) #1
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus (2007) #2
Annihilation The Nova Corps Files (2006) One-Shot

Annihilation Conquest, Book One
Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #4
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #4
Annihilation: Saga (2007) One Shot












Nova, Volume 1: Annihilation Conquest
Nova (2007) #1
Nova (2007) #2
Nova (2007) #3
Nova (2007) #4
Nova (2007) #5
Nova (2007) #6
Nova (2007) #7












Annihilation Conquest, Book Two
Nova (2007) #4
Nova (2007) #5
Nova (2007) #6
Nova (2007) #7
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #4
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #1
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #2
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #3
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #4
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #5
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #6












Nova, Volume 2: Knowhere
Nova (2007) #8
Nova (2007) #9
Nova (2007) #10
Nova (2007) Annual 01
Nova (2007) #11
Nova (2007) #12











Marvel Cosmic Ongoing
Nova, Volume 3: Secret Invasion
Nova (2007) #13
Nova (2007) #14
Nova (2007) #15
Nova (2007) #16
Nova (2007) #17
Nova (2007) #18












Nova, Volume 4: Nova Corps
Nova (2007) #19
Nova (2007) #20
Nova (2007) #21
Nova (2007) #22
Nova: The Origin of Richard Rider (2009) One-Shot

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Legacy
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #2
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #3
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #4
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #5
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #6












War of Kings
Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2: War of Kings, Book 1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #7
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #8
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #9
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #10
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #11
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #12












War of Kings (Hardcover)
Secret Invasion: War of Kings (2009) #1
War of Kings (2009) #1
War of Kings (2009) #2
War of Kings (2009) #3
War of Kings (2009) #4
War of Kings (2009) #5
War of Kings (2009) #6
War of Kings: Darkhawk (2009) #1
War of Kings: Darkhawk (2009) #2
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #1
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #2
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #3
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #4
War of Kings: Savage World of Skaar (2009) #1
War of Kings: Warriors (2009) #1
War of Kings: Warriors (2009) #2
Marvel Spotlight: War of Kings (2009) #1












Nova, Volume 5: War of Kings
Nova (2007) #23
Nova (2007) #24
Nova (2007) #25
Nova (2007) #26
Nova (2007) #27
Nova (2007) #28

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3: War of Kings, Book 2
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #14
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #15
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #16
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #17
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #18
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #19