Halloween 2009 - Time To Choose

I've pretty much decided to be one of the following. Since both costumes are almost identical (which I didn't realize until today), it really comes down to the accessories. Which is better, public?

BANSHEE

Pros: Banshee is an X-Man and I made a vow to always be X-Men for Halloween. I would love the chance to have red hair and sideburns on Halloween AND talk in an Irish accent. Plus that cape looks like a lot of fun.

Cons: It's overall not as exciting and hilarious as my other choice. Plus yellow boots are a pain and I'd probably have to do the converse and yellow knee socks again this year. And the less amount of time I have to wear yellow rubber gloves, the better.

Or...

IRON FIST

Pros: I'd get to wear actual shoes I could actually find somewhere. I wouldn't have to wear rubber gloves. I'd get to have a bare chest and capri pants, which is just hilarious to me. This is more iconic.

Cons: It's not an X-Man and it's actually a character I know less about. I love the recent Immortal Iron Fist series, but I have a bit of poseur guilt since I haven't read anything starring Iron Fist pre-2007. I could change my vow to always be a Marvel Character, which isn't that big a stretch. Also I could foresee that mask getting annoying...but if I wanted to go super authentic I could dye my hair blonde for the night.

I think Iron Fist is more fun just because he's probably one of the only heroes who DON'T have implausible gloves or boots. But Banshee is actually an X-Man and one I like. VOTE ON THIS.

Where I've Been

Yeah...don't know what I'm doing writing wise anymore. Here at least. I feel guilty about not updating this, especially since my main reason for having a blog is to keep track of my own life. I usually fear that I will forget everything. Yep! This has been a pretty stellar week, oddly enough. I started my new job as a page at The Late Show, and all the fears I had were pretty immediately silenced once I got there. It's fun, a fun job. And I'm back at Late Show in some capacity. And I got to see Rainn Wilson on my birthday, so that was awesome.

Tuesday I got to go to Six Flags with some great friends. I liked this. The day got 5.5 flags, the rain that came in knocking off the half a flag. We met costumed critters!
We also spent the weekend before at Matt Mayer's pool house, or Fort Mayer as I called it. I was reminded all weekend long how much fun my friends are, and how much I love spending an unstoppable amount of time with them. I didn't shower all weekend and slept on a hardwood floor one night, and it was still so awesome due to company. Here are eight of the minutes from the epic Fourth of July weekend.


I also got asked to submit to be a Maude writer (a.k.a a sketch writer) for UCB by the artistic director on Thursday morning. That was unexpected and completely mind-blowing, a big ol' pat on my back that I didn't really need (I had such a great time in 201 and I was already feeling good about myself) but it undoubtably heightened my outlook and mood and perception from feeling really good to feeling really great. Even if I don't get it, it's so flattering to have been suggested and gotten the opportunity. A world of wow.

So many good things are happening to me and my friends right now. Is 2009 turning around? Did I jinx it by writing this?

Comics: Uncanny X-Men #242

UNCANNY X-MEN #242
March 1989
"Burn!"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Wow, if ever there was a doubt about Marc Silvestri's artistic talent, that opening page shatters all of them. The closeup image of Wolverine kissing Jean Grey passionately has become quite iconic, and it makes for a doozy of an opening page. And then...there's the rest of this issue. This giant-size issue. Way too many pages are spent with the X-Men fighting X-Factor for...really no reason. Sure the X-Men are sorta under demonic control, but that doesn't seem to bother Storm whenever she's reunited with Jean Grey. And then everything is back to normal and both teams join up to defeat N'astirh. It's kinda ludicrous and I really could have done without all of it. Yeah the fanboys want to see the two teams fight, but when there isn't really any motivation besides petty name-calling and there's no resolution besides saying "hey, let's not fight," it's just silly. There are some cool moments during the fight to defeat N'astirh, like Iceman creating a slide to hurl a falling Colossus directly at N'astirh. The art is pretty great throughout, I just with this was a normal-sized issue with a lot less ridiculous in-fighting.

MY SCORE: 8.2/10

Comics: New Mutants #73

NEW MUTANTS #73
March 1989
"The Gift"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson & Mike Manley
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

This issue pays off Magik pretty well, as her character falls fully prey to her dark side and then goes back to the light in a final sacrifice for the greater good of the world. It's a fine story that's only hindered by being all mystical and seemingly nonsensical (I'm really getting bored with all this stuff). I love these characters, so that gets me through it. The art is highly kinetic, emotive and fun. They really did a good job of saying farewell to Magik. Her storyarc with the Mutants feels complete after this and it's a shame that she had to be resurrected last year. This issue sets up the new status quo of Magik being reverted to her six year old (right?) self, which she will maintain until her death in 1993. That will then be undone in 2008. Oh well.

MY SCORE: 8.1/10

Comics: X-Factor #37

X-FACTOR #37
February 1989
"A Matter Of Honor"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

The length of "Inferno" seems to have taken its toll on Walt Simonson, who starts to turn in some lazier-than-normal pencils with this issue. Proportions are off, faces are weird, it's not that bad but also not as great as he usually is. Plus the entire issue is X-Factor and Madelyne Pryor playing hot potato with baby Christopher. It gets old and definitely didn't need a whole issue devoted to it. Once again, so much mystical mumbo jumbo is tossed around it's all kind hard to follow. The last page has a decent cliffhanger, with Wolverine's hand plopping down on Marvel Girl's shoulder. Who wouldn't want to read Uncanny X-Men #242 with the promise of a reunion?

MY SCORE: 7.9/10

Comics: X-Factor #36

X-FACTOR #36
January 1989
"Transformations!"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is a fine issue. Beast and Iceman battle a demonized subway train while Marvel Girl and Cyclops re-enter Manhattan by mini-jet and fight their way through tons of airborne goblins. Beast and Trish Tilby face each other after Beast's re-furry-ization and deal with that (she's okay with it eventually) and the original five X-Men are once again reunited on the last panel when Archangel (or Angel...or Death...can't remember what he's going by at this point) swoops in. Trish Tilby is a well-rounded character with as many strengths and weaknesses as the main cast and there's a real sense of importance in that last panel when the core X-Factor unit is reunited after almost a year's worth of issues spent apart.

MY SCORE: 8/10

Comics: Uncanny X-Men #241

UNCANNY X-MEN #241
February 1989
"Fan The Flames"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Yeah, I'm about eight issues behind with these reviews. I'm going to try and speed through them and since they're all part of "Inferno," you can apply the following to pretty much every issue:

1. Including all the build-up, this story has gone on way too long.
2. I think Limbo and all the magic stuff is generally annoying and uninteresting.
3. It's cool seeing a lot of big and iconic plot points happening.

Okay, with all that out of the way I can say that this is another above-average issue of Uncanny. Even though the issue is essentially not much more than an extended fight scene between the X-Men and Marauders, the "not much more" involves Mr. Sinister telling Madelyne Pryor her origin. For that alone the issue is exciting, since as someone who came along way after Pryor's death it's interesting to see the beginning of her end. My biggest problem with this issue is the "demon" Colossus fights on page 19. It's...not a demon. It's one of the Right's armored goons from the pages of X-Factor that, well, looks nothing like a demon. It looks like a robotic egg with a smiley face and Colossus says that he's seen "his kind" before in Limbo. No, I don't think he has. Unless I'm missing something, there was some sorta miscommunication between editorial, Claremont and/or Silvestri.

So, a fine issue with a really weird error.

MY SCORE: 8.6/10