I am so ready for this year to be over. I doubt I’m the only one who feels that way. I don’t think I need to remind everyone why.
As awful as it has been, we should take some comfort that we made it all the way to December. We have both the holidays to look forward to, as well as the start of a new year. That’s promising. It’s an objectively good outlook to have.
We still have to make it through December, though. There’s still plenty of time left for something awful to happen. Aliens may or may not invade, but if an asteroid struck tomorrow, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.
In the meantime, the best we can do is find a way of making it through this final month. For me, comics have always been a great way to endure tough times and extract a little basic joy from life. They helped me get through high school. They also helped me get through some dark, unpleasant times in my life.
For that reason, and many others, I’ll always be grateful. Given how much my spirits have been crushed and maimed by 2020, I’ll need them more than ever to make it through this final month. Thankfully, the fine publishers of the industry are still hard at work and I gladly patronize them every Wednesday. I encourage others to do the same.
To that end, here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy and hang in there people! We’re on the final lap.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is always extra special. For me, it’s like an appetizer before the appetizers. It’s a mini-holiday before a major holiday, which only serves to make both holidays even better.
Does that sound complicated and weird? I don’t doubt that it does.
Does it make me love it even more? Absolutely!
New comics are a like a hot meal for my soul. They inspire and invigorate me like my mother’s famous pumpkin pie. Knowing I’ll be able to dine on actual pumpkin pie the next day only makes them more delicious. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Whatever your Thanksgiving plans are this year, tempered they might be, today is a good day to work up an appetite. Before you start slaving away in the kitchen, take a step back to enjoy a nice stack of new comics. It’ll make you feel like a hero when dinner is served.
To that end, here is my pull list and pick for this beautiful Thanksgiving Eve. Take care and I wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
I feel like the week before Thanksgiving is always one of the busiest weeks of the year for me, regardless of whatever work I’ve got going on. In high school and college, this was usually the week when most projects were due. In most of the jobs I’ve had, this was usually the week where most major deadlines fell.
In terms of timing, it makes sense. Most people want to get stuff out of the way so that they can enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday in peace. I’m certainly like that. I don’t want to have any lingering work looming over my head while I indulge in turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It makes this week extra stressful. It also makes new comics extra necessary.
When I get stressed, I tend to rely heavily on the things that bring me joy and comfort. For most of my life, that’s exactly what comics have given me. They’re a simple, concentrated dose of pure joy at a time when everything around me is going too damn fast. For that, I thank every major comic publisher, comic shop, and Comixology.
I need a nice influx of awesome comics more than usual. As a result, my pull list is a bit larger than most weeks. I make no apologies for that. I’ve got a rough couple of days ahead of me. Here are my pull list and pick for the week. Quality comics will help me get through and I hope it helps others in the same way. Enjoy!
Today is a uniquely special day. Yes, it’s New Comic Book Day, but it’s also Veterans Day. I find that wonderfully fitting. That means we can spend part of our day appreciating our favorite fictional heroes and the rest honoring the real heroes who serve in our armed forces.
There’s a lot to appreciate on a day like this. Fiction heroes, after all, are embodiments of our highest ideals. Things like honor, duty, respect, loyalty, comradery, and altruism are all qualities we cherish in our favorite heroes. They’re also traits that our brave men and women in the military aspire to uphold.
It’s a beautiful thing and certainly worthy of a holiday or several. Even if you’re not a fan of comics or superheroes, it’s still something to celebrate. If you can, try to do more by either volunteering for a Veterans organization or donating to a veterans charity. Both real heroes and those in comics need and deserve our support.
Keep that in mind as you read about and admire your favorite heroes today. I certainly will. For much of my life, comic books and superheroes have given me a strong appreciation for these high ideals. We may think they’re impossible to achieve in the real world, but they’re still worth striving for. As part of that effort, here is my pull list and pick for the week.
To all the men and women out there who have served their country or are currently serving, I salute you. Happy Veterans Day to all and here’s to a very special New Comic Book Day.
We made it through Election Day. I understand that can still change, but we still made it. That’s progress, in my book. I also doubt I’m alone in being relieved that we’ve finally made it through.
Now, I realize that there’s still plenty of post-election drama to unfold here in the United States. I may end up talking about that at some point. For now, I’d rather focus on something that brings objective joy to the world, namely comics.
The day after such a contentious election is the perfect day to indulge in some comic fueled awesome. I am not just ready. I need this and I suspect many others burned out on politics feel the same. The real world has been objectively awful on so many levels in 2020. An escape has never been more necessary.
That’s exactly what comics provide us. They are a simple, inexpensive joy that takes us out of this crazy world for a brief moment and into one full of wonder. I love every New Comic Day, but this particular day has never been more cathartic. To that end, here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy!
The week of Halloween is a fun week. I don’t care how old you are. If you can’t have fun on a week dominated by candy, cheesy horror movies, and women dressing in slutty costumes, then you’re just being difficult. Even if you don’t go out trick-or-treating, Halloween has a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Add a stack of new comics to the mix and it’s like adding an extra layer of icing to a cake. It just makes everything so much sweeter. Now, it used to be that comic companies would often create Halloween special issues. While that still exists for some publishers, namely Zenescope, most have moved away from that.
Even without those specials, you can usually find a few comics that fit right into the Halloween spirit. Sometimes, it’s a simple Hulk comic. Sometimes, it’s Blade or John Constantine. It doesn’t have to be horror themed, but if it’s bloody, brutal, and has lots of elaborate costumes, it’s often close enough.
New Comic Book Day is festive enough. Add a little Halloween candy and a pumpkin latte to the mix and you’re really in the spirit. This year may suck, especially for Halloween parties, but there are still ways to celebrate. Comics and candy are as good as any.
In that spirit, here is my pull list and picks for the week. It may still be a bit premature, but I’ll say it anyways. Happy Halloween!
The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It’s a brief rundown of the recent rumors surrounding the upcoming She-Hulk show on Disney Plus. I discuss the recent news surrounding the casting of Tatiana Maslany, as well as my hopes, fears, and predictions for this show. Enjoy!
I love the internet. In general, I think it does more good than harm. Our lives are objectively better because of it. I know it has its share of baggage and drawbacks. Like anything, you take the good with the bad.
However, there are times when taking the bad is just annoying as hell. I’m fine with challenges and struggle. Those help us become stronger, in the long run. The same can’t be said of annoyance. That helps no one. It just makes you want to bang your head against the wall.
This brings me to what I feel is one of the weakest, emptiest, most pathetic displays of internet outrage I’ve seen in recent years. It unfolded last year, but has become relevant again this year. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, certain people still find the time and energy to be so insanely petty about something so banal.
It stems largely from that scene in “Avengers: Endgame.” You probably know the scene I’m referring to. I doubt I have to be too specific. For general reference, here it is.
Just playing it again, I can easily imagine a certain group of people whining like babies, as though someone just stole a piece of their birthday cake. It’s a shot of some of Marvel’s most notable female characters, all in the same scene, getting ready to kick more ass in the final battle against Thanos.
Yes, people actually got upset over this.
Yes, it’s as dumb, pathetic, and petty as it sounds, and then some.
They’re not just men who complain about a female superhero’s bra size. They’re not just women who complain how these costumes are woefully impractical. They call this scene cringy. That’s usually code for, “This doesn’t pander exclusively to me and it hurts my precious feelings!”
Many probably whine about other people who whine about things they don’t agree with, be it politics, video games, or which celebrity had an opinion that hurt their precious feelings. This scene just caught more attention than most, being part of the highest grossing movie of all time.
The outrage unfolded as soon as the movie came out. Here’s just one of the responses on Twitter.
SO FORCED!!!! my goodness, the IW scene wasn't forced when they went up against Proxima Midnight in wakanda. But this one….ugh, I almost laughed out loud. And I have daughters and love seeing strong women, but yuck. Don't force it.
Trust me, this is tame compared to some of the other rage tweeting that went on. Most of it boiled down to people saying the scene was so forced and tried too hard to make a political statement. Naturally, you can’t make political statements these days without attracting trolls, assholes, idiots, and narcissists.
I say that as someone who has made his share of political statements, some of which I know won’t age well. I know I make certain people cringe with what I say and how I say it. Most of the time, it’s understandable. I have enough empathy to realize that hearing something you don’t agree with can be distressing.
This scene, however, is not one of those instances. To see this scene and assume Marvel Studios is making this bold political statement about feminism, female characters, and how men should be ashamed for not letting women shine isn’t just contrived. It’s just plain goddamn stupid.
I’m sorry. I wish there was a more articulate way to say that. Sometimes, you just have to be as blunt and straightforward as possible. There are things worth cringing over. There are things worth getting outraged over. This isn’t one of them.
It’s just a very brief, very colorful moment within a two-and-a-half hour movie that took all but seven second. Somehow, that was enough to evoke whining, outrage, and trolls? Seriously, how does that make sense?
The reason I’m bringing this up now is because this scene has become relevant again, thanks to Amazon Prime’s “The Boys.” Now, I love that show and the comic that inspired it. I hope I’ve made that clear. I love the scene that re-opened this old wound, too. It was a great scene. Watching Starlite, Maeve, and Kimiko beat up Stormfront was very satisfying.
There was nothing political about it, but now it’s getting political because of how it supposedly contrasts with the “Avengers: Endgame” scene. I say supposedly because they’re both very different scenes with very different stories told in a very different context. Linking one to the other to make a larger political statement is just asinine.
When I see the “Avengers: Endgame” scene, I don’t see anything political. I just see an epic shot of Marvel’s female heroes. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. It’s just a fun scene that nicely depicts how many great female characters have developed over the years in the MCU. Can’t it just be that?
The same goes for the scene in “The Boys.” Can’t that scene just be a fun display of three of the show’s best characters beating up some Nazi-loving bitch? There’s no politics in, either. It’s entertainment. It’s fun.
If you’re going ascribe politics to either scene, then you’re missing the point. You’re also whining like an immature child, incapable of accepting a world that doesn’t always pander to every one of your sensibilities at every hour of every day. I don’t care where you lean politically. That sort of misguided outrage isn’t the least bit justified. It’s just flat out pathetic.
On the creative front, though, I believe the state of comics has been phenomenal. From the big two at Marvel and DC to indie comics funded through crowdsourcing, there’s a lot to be excited about. These worlds are evolving in bold new ways. As someone who has followed comics since grade school, I can’t recall a time that had so much to offer.
It’s not perfect. It never is. Overall, this is a great time to be a comics fan. Whatever your preferences or politics, you’ll find something to enjoy. You’ll have a reason to wake up at 4:30 in the morning every Wednesday. It may mess up your sleep schedule, but that’s the price you pay for awesome comics. During times like this, it’s a price worth paying.
This year has been so bad on so many levels for all of us. As such, we all need to find some silver linings here and there. For me, this exciting state of comics really helps carry me through. I love it and it gives me the hope I need to keep enduring a year like this. In the interests of sharing that hope, here is my pull list and pick for the week.
The following is a video I made for my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It’s both a general review and an analysis of the second season of “The Boys,” Amazon Primes bloody and brutal satire of the superhero genre. It has quickly become one of the best new shows on any platform and for good reason. This video is my way of both celebrating and exploring those reasons. Enjoy!
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