Random Thoughts #31 - It's Getting Weird Out There

Well, Spring has finally come. The cold air is trying to leave, but it’s still trying to stay around like that annoying bee that won’t leave. There isn’t much going on in my life. Work’s fine and WOMEN are women. There’s not much to say there and even if I had something to say, my mouth would still stay shut. Also, it is getting weird out there. We have rumors of wars, earthquakes, planes disappearing, and folk losing it. It’s like Someone’s trying to say something, ya know? Now all we need is some cat/dog pairings and you’ll know that something's coming. Whatever happens, just know that I’ll remember to do that one move. Anyway, let’s get away from all of the weirdness of the real world for a minute and look at a couple of random thoughts.

Star Wars/Star Trek Month

Most may think this is sacrilege, but I actually don't care what most think anyway. The month of May will be devoted to both Star Trek and Star Wars. I tried to do something involving Star Wars a long time ago, but I think it fell apart because of school and other interests. This time is different. I know what I’ll be doing and what to talk about this time. I decided to put the two franchises into one month for two reasons: I shockingly don’t have a lot to say about Star Wars and I’ve already done most things involving Trek. I may even put the two franchises into mortal combat and see which is greater… or maybe not. You can’t be too sure these days.

Batman Month

Batman: Go back to September, Man of Steel!!!

For June and probably some of July, Batman will be finally making a return to that space. Superman will be pushed back to September where it used to be. I’m basically going to do the same thing I did with Superman last year. It’s Batman’s 75th birthday, so I’m going to try to look at all of the eras of Batman from his beginnings to now. I’m also going to look at all (and I mean ALL) of the direct-to-video movies that heavily featured Batman. Everything from Mask of the Phantasm to Batman and Son will be looked at.

Well, that’s all I have for today. I want to wish all of you a Good Friday and a Happy Easter. Also, be careful out there in these hectic times. Peace and God Bless. 

Somthing about this pic always puts a smile on my face.

Music Retrospective: Michael Jackson - Bad

Well, it’s another day and another Michael Jackson album. So, what can I say about Bad? I mean it… wait, I did that joke last time. Bad was released in 1987. It produced nine singles which was pretty much the whole album. Jackson also wrote the majority of songs on the album. Bad was nominated for six Grammys and won two of them in 1988. It’s definitely one of Jackson’s best-selling albums. The thing came after Thriller, so you know it probably sold well.

Most of these songs were also featured in the movie called Moonwalker. That’s right, folks. Michael had a feature-length movie about him. Let’s just say that it’s a piece of something. The Nostalgia Critic did a review of it a few years ago and it was pretty hilarious. As for my experience with the album, I think I got this one back in college. It was also one of my old CDs that didn’t get lost. Well, with all of that out of the way, let’s see if Bad is truly bad.

Bad

Graphic Novels - Ultimate X-Men Vol. 3: World Tour

Well, it’s time to look at what the students at Xavier’s School for the Gifted are doing. When we saw them last, they had gone through a pretty crappy experience at the hands of Col. William Stryk… Wait, wrong piece of media. I meant to say that they were forced into service by Col. John Wraith. Because of some help from Brotherhood and Agent Nick Fury, they were able to head home. Today’s volume is their third one. It contains Ultimate X-Men #13-20, so you can tell this might be a long post.

The creative team for this volume is a little different. Mark Millar isn’t the only one writing this time. Writer Chuck Austen provides a little two-part story involving a fan favorite. The only things I know about Austen is that he is pretty infamous for his runs on Uncanny X-Men and Action Comics in the 2000’s. This should be fun! For the pencils, Adam Kubert does four issues, artist Chris Bachalo does two issues, and artist Esad Ribic does the two-parter written by Austen. The inkers are Danny Miki, Livesay, and Chris Bachalo.

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Captain America #250

So, a movie about some American soldier on magical human-enhanced drugs is coming out this weekend. I probably won’t be seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier till next weekend because I’m an adult who has bills to pay. Boo hoo. Still, it looks like it will be a fun watch and I can’t wait to see it. I don’t have too many comics featuring the star-spangled hero. I have some of Ed Brubaker’s run, some random comics from the late 80’s (during Steve’s “Cap no More… Again!” phase), and the tpb called War and Remembrance. I’ve decided to look at single issue from that trade that features the work of Stern and Byrne… Ooo, that rhymes.

Captain America #250 was released in 1980. Roger Stern provides the story. John Byrne (one of my favorite classic artists), provides the pencils. Joe Rubinstein provided the inks.  It’s interesting to know that these guys eventually work on a Superman book though not together. I just had to throw that in. So, let’s see what happens when someone tries to strong-arm Steve Rogers into running for President. Yes, this actually happens. Yes, comics are weird.

Captain America #250

Writer: Roger Stern

Pencils: John Byrne

Inker: Joe Rubinstein

Colorist: George Roussos

Letterer: Jim Novak

Editor: Jim Salicrup