I've been rereading my Hickman Marvel books to see how all the pieces fit.
I started with Secret Warriors, then went with SHIELD, and now I'm on FF.
Read Hickman's first FF arc (570-572). There's a flashback at the very end of 572 with Reed and his dad. Now read the "1951" flashback in SHIELD #5.
Whooooooooaaaaaaa.
My mind is blown.
There's over 12 months between the release of these issues. One scene is obviously right after the other, yet each stands as a piece of the puzzle in the books that they are from.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Nick Spencer
I mentioned his name back in January as part of my "The best comics you're (probably) not reading" entry.
Well, now he's Marvel exclusive. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/nick-spencer-marvel-exclusive-110309.html
Fuck Tony Stark. I'm a futurist, bitches!
Congrats, dude.
Well, now he's Marvel exclusive. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/nick-spencer-marvel-exclusive-110309.html
Fuck Tony Stark. I'm a futurist, bitches!
Congrats, dude.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Marvel's Big Shots
Alright, so we've got Moon Knight by Bendis and Maleev coming up.
Daredevil and Punisher have been announced, but the creative teams have not.
I'm going to put on my "dream team" hat and post who I'd like to see on the books and what I'd like them to be. Just because.
Daredevil - Jason Aaron and Chris Samnee.
From his work on Scalped and some of his Wolverine stuff, I could see Aaron being a good fit for the character.
However! I hope this is more light-hearted, like Aaron's Astonishing Wolverine & Spider-Man book.
At this point, I'm sick to death of Daredevil being a doom-and-gloom book and each incoming writer trying to one-up the previous in terms of how much they can fuck up Matt's life. Basically, I want to see more light-hearted but still serious stories, in a similar vein to the work done in Daredevil #353-375 by writers Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly.
Chris Samnee I feel would be a good fit on Daredevil, no matter the tone of it. He can do "fun" stories like Thor: The Mighty Avenger as well as his issue of Ultimate Spider-Man and he can do serious stuff like DC's The Mighty, and the "Red Panda" arc on Queen and Country (#29-32, for those playing at home).
Aside from that, I really like his use on contrast and negative space (see his sketches on his site - www.chrissamnee.com) and I feel it could be used to show off Matt's radar.
He's been my "dream" Daredevil artist for a few years, now. He's drawn the character in the Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula one-shot and a few pages in Daredevil #500 but I think it's time for a prolonged run on the book.
Punisher - Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark.
Do I really need to say anything?
These guys work well together and they've used Punisher well in the first arc of their Daredevil run.
I'd also like to see some guest art by Sean Phillips, if possible. Let him do an issue or two after finishing up a Criminal or Incognito arc.
I'm not really sure what I'd like to see this book be, if it happens. I think Brubaker would do a slow burn that would play to his strengths instead of a pedal-to-the-metal-kill-everyone take.
Daredevil and Punisher have been announced, but the creative teams have not.
I'm going to put on my "dream team" hat and post who I'd like to see on the books and what I'd like them to be. Just because.
Daredevil - Jason Aaron and Chris Samnee.
From his work on Scalped and some of his Wolverine stuff, I could see Aaron being a good fit for the character.
However! I hope this is more light-hearted, like Aaron's Astonishing Wolverine & Spider-Man book.
At this point, I'm sick to death of Daredevil being a doom-and-gloom book and each incoming writer trying to one-up the previous in terms of how much they can fuck up Matt's life. Basically, I want to see more light-hearted but still serious stories, in a similar vein to the work done in Daredevil #353-375 by writers Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly.
Chris Samnee I feel would be a good fit on Daredevil, no matter the tone of it. He can do "fun" stories like Thor: The Mighty Avenger as well as his issue of Ultimate Spider-Man and he can do serious stuff like DC's The Mighty, and the "Red Panda" arc on Queen and Country (#29-32, for those playing at home).
Aside from that, I really like his use on contrast and negative space (see his sketches on his site - www.chrissamnee.com) and I feel it could be used to show off Matt's radar.
He's been my "dream" Daredevil artist for a few years, now. He's drawn the character in the Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula one-shot and a few pages in Daredevil #500 but I think it's time for a prolonged run on the book.
Punisher - Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark.
Do I really need to say anything?
These guys work well together and they've used Punisher well in the first arc of their Daredevil run.
I'd also like to see some guest art by Sean Phillips, if possible. Let him do an issue or two after finishing up a Criminal or Incognito arc.
I'm not really sure what I'd like to see this book be, if it happens. I think Brubaker would do a slow burn that would play to his strengths instead of a pedal-to-the-metal-kill-everyone take.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Oh thank god...
Secret Avengers finally stopped being boring.
I'm kind of glad I didn't drop it after that terrible Mars arc, now. I hope Brubaker never writes an outer space story again. While I didn't like the first arc of this book, at least it was better than Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire.
Now that we're back on Earth, the book is playing more to Brubaker's strengths. I'm not liking the team dynamic (there's really no dynamic to speak of), and too much happens off-panel, but the book is finally winning me over.
With the Heroic Age "reboot" of the Avengers books, I was expecting to like this one the most, but it's actually my least favorite.
I'm kind of glad I didn't drop it after that terrible Mars arc, now. I hope Brubaker never writes an outer space story again. While I didn't like the first arc of this book, at least it was better than Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire.
Now that we're back on Earth, the book is playing more to Brubaker's strengths. I'm not liking the team dynamic (there's really no dynamic to speak of), and too much happens off-panel, but the book is finally winning me over.
With the Heroic Age "reboot" of the Avengers books, I was expecting to like this one the most, but it's actually my least favorite.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Fantastic Three, Two, or One...
All the hype over the Fantastic Four "death" and recent chatting on Facebook has got me thinking about what my buddy Tim said.
"I was expecting more than a "break" in the family, which is usually where writers go when they aren't using Galactus or Doom as the basis of stories."
I will take this time to note that I have not read the latest issue. I know the "who" but not the "how" or "why."
Having read more than half of the almost 600 issues of Fantastic Four, the lineup has changed often (but temporarily) in the time I've been reading the book.
I've only read the first Essential with the Stan and Jack run which had no changes but I know that they come with Sue's pregnancy with Franklin.
After #24 (the last issue in the first Essential), my next issue is #232 which is John Byrne's first. Somewhere in that gap Medusa, Crystal, and Luke Cage were members.
During Byrne's run, Frankie Raye briefly joined the team before becoming Nova (not Rich Rider), a herald of Galactus. FYI, Frankie is/was the stepdaughter of Phineas Horton, the creator of the original Human Torch. Later on, She-Hulk replaced The Thing after the events of Secret Wars.
In Steve Englehart's run (one of my personal favorites), Reed and Sue leave the team to devote more time to caring for Franklin. This was during one of the times when Franklin's powers were "on." Ben was made team leader and replaced Reed and Sue with Sharon Ventura/Ms. Marvel II/She-Thing and Crystal (again). Crystal stayed around for only a few issues before returning to the Inhumans. Sharon stayed, even after Reed and Sue came back. When they returned, the FF was fighting the Frightful Four and Ben ended up losing his powers. Ben wore a really crappy outfit sometimes to still help out and kind of made it a five-some with Sharon still in the picture.
That kind of goes into Walt Simonson's run (another favorite of mine) where the team "died" and was replaced by Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Wolverine for a 3 issue arc drawn by Art Adams.
The very next issue had Doom transfer Sharon's power into Ben, restoring the status quo.
Tom DeFalco's run had a bunch of weird crap in it. In his first issue, it was revealed that Johnny's wife Alicia was actually a Skrull. The switch occurred way back when Reed, Ben, and Johnny were transported to Battleworld for the Secret Wars. The Skrull, Lyja, was an occasional ally and also occasional enemy to the team.
Not long after, the Human Torch was in a serious fight and went "nova" which is his last-resort maneuver. He set the college he was attending on fire and went on the run. To try to bring him in, Dr. Strange reassembled the foursome of Spider-man, Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Wolverine to track him down. During the fight, Wolverine clawed Thing's face, scarring him. Thing wore an ugly metal helmet after that, until he was healed a few years later.
Controversial at the time, Reed and Doom both "died" when Doom sent them into the past. Things got even weirder after that. Franklin (now aged to his teenage years thanks to Reed's dad Nathaniel) had a team called Fantastic Force (probably the least awesome thing Tom Brevoort's ever been associated with) which Johnny joined. Scott Lang, the 2nd Ant-Man (and father to Cassie Lang/Stature) and Doom's "heir" Kristoff Vernard started hanging around though I don't think they were ever official members.
Eventually Scott and Kristoff left, they found Reed, Ben's face got healed, Franklin got de-aged back to a child, yadda yadda, more-status-quo-pleasing-stuff which led into the entire team "dying" while fighting Onslaught.
The FF and Avengers were actually shunted to an alternate Earth (later called Counter Earth) that Franklin subconsciously created to save everyone. They got better.
Back in the good old 616, not much changed until the end of Claremont's expository run where Doom and Reed switched bodies or something. That was the only arc he did that I enjoyed.
During Carlos Pacheco's run (tied for 3rd on my all-time favorite FF runs, even with Loeb involved), Namorita joined temporarily to help save Reed, Sue, and Ben from the Negative Zone. Also part of this run was the birth of Val, the Richards' 2nd child who was miscarried during Byrne's run. Hooray for altering reality.
Mark Waid's run had Ben die during a thing in Latveria and then brought back mere issues later in a jump-the-shark-groan-inducing arc where the team GOES TO HEAVEN to bring him back. Yeah...I do wonder what would have happened had Waid/'Ringo stayed fired from the book, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway, at some point Johnny became a herald of Galactus but ended up ditching him. Or some shit. Seriously, if you have the team GO TO HEAVEN and meet JACK KIRBY, it's time to end the book.
JMS' run I mostly skipped because I wasn't in need of a sleep aid. There didn't seem to be much change except for the Civil War crap which split up Reed and Sue for a time which led to...
Dwayne McDuffie's run, which had Black Panther and Storm replace Reed and Sue on the team for a time. I skipped this run also. Not only did it feel like a "transistional" run, but it felt like a poor reason to have a black writer put black characters into the book (see also: McDuffie's JLA run).
Mark Millar's run had more of a back-to-basics approach (never thought I'd ever type that sentence) but added an important aspect to Val, which was her super-genius stuff.
And that should bring us about up to speed for Hickman's run, already in progress.
"I was expecting more than a "break" in the family, which is usually where writers go when they aren't using Galactus or Doom as the basis of stories."
I will take this time to note that I have not read the latest issue. I know the "who" but not the "how" or "why."
Having read more than half of the almost 600 issues of Fantastic Four, the lineup has changed often (but temporarily) in the time I've been reading the book.
I've only read the first Essential with the Stan and Jack run which had no changes but I know that they come with Sue's pregnancy with Franklin.
After #24 (the last issue in the first Essential), my next issue is #232 which is John Byrne's first. Somewhere in that gap Medusa, Crystal, and Luke Cage were members.
During Byrne's run, Frankie Raye briefly joined the team before becoming Nova (not Rich Rider), a herald of Galactus. FYI, Frankie is/was the stepdaughter of Phineas Horton, the creator of the original Human Torch. Later on, She-Hulk replaced The Thing after the events of Secret Wars.
In Steve Englehart's run (one of my personal favorites), Reed and Sue leave the team to devote more time to caring for Franklin. This was during one of the times when Franklin's powers were "on." Ben was made team leader and replaced Reed and Sue with Sharon Ventura/Ms. Marvel II/She-Thing and Crystal (again). Crystal stayed around for only a few issues before returning to the Inhumans. Sharon stayed, even after Reed and Sue came back. When they returned, the FF was fighting the Frightful Four and Ben ended up losing his powers. Ben wore a really crappy outfit sometimes to still help out and kind of made it a five-some with Sharon still in the picture.
That kind of goes into Walt Simonson's run (another favorite of mine) where the team "died" and was replaced by Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Wolverine for a 3 issue arc drawn by Art Adams.
The very next issue had Doom transfer Sharon's power into Ben, restoring the status quo.
Tom DeFalco's run had a bunch of weird crap in it. In his first issue, it was revealed that Johnny's wife Alicia was actually a Skrull. The switch occurred way back when Reed, Ben, and Johnny were transported to Battleworld for the Secret Wars. The Skrull, Lyja, was an occasional ally and also occasional enemy to the team.
Not long after, the Human Torch was in a serious fight and went "nova" which is his last-resort maneuver. He set the college he was attending on fire and went on the run. To try to bring him in, Dr. Strange reassembled the foursome of Spider-man, Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Wolverine to track him down. During the fight, Wolverine clawed Thing's face, scarring him. Thing wore an ugly metal helmet after that, until he was healed a few years later.
Controversial at the time, Reed and Doom both "died" when Doom sent them into the past. Things got even weirder after that. Franklin (now aged to his teenage years thanks to Reed's dad Nathaniel) had a team called Fantastic Force (probably the least awesome thing Tom Brevoort's ever been associated with) which Johnny joined. Scott Lang, the 2nd Ant-Man (and father to Cassie Lang/Stature) and Doom's "heir" Kristoff Vernard started hanging around though I don't think they were ever official members.
Eventually Scott and Kristoff left, they found Reed, Ben's face got healed, Franklin got de-aged back to a child, yadda yadda, more-status-quo-pleasing-stuff which led into the entire team "dying" while fighting Onslaught.
The FF and Avengers were actually shunted to an alternate Earth (later called Counter Earth) that Franklin subconsciously created to save everyone. They got better.
Back in the good old 616, not much changed until the end of Claremont's expository run where Doom and Reed switched bodies or something. That was the only arc he did that I enjoyed.
During Carlos Pacheco's run (tied for 3rd on my all-time favorite FF runs, even with Loeb involved), Namorita joined temporarily to help save Reed, Sue, and Ben from the Negative Zone. Also part of this run was the birth of Val, the Richards' 2nd child who was miscarried during Byrne's run. Hooray for altering reality.
Mark Waid's run had Ben die during a thing in Latveria and then brought back mere issues later in a jump-the-shark-groan-inducing arc where the team GOES TO HEAVEN to bring him back. Yeah...I do wonder what would have happened had Waid/'Ringo stayed fired from the book, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway, at some point Johnny became a herald of Galactus but ended up ditching him. Or some shit. Seriously, if you have the team GO TO HEAVEN and meet JACK KIRBY, it's time to end the book.
JMS' run I mostly skipped because I wasn't in need of a sleep aid. There didn't seem to be much change except for the Civil War crap which split up Reed and Sue for a time which led to...
Dwayne McDuffie's run, which had Black Panther and Storm replace Reed and Sue on the team for a time. I skipped this run also. Not only did it feel like a "transistional" run, but it felt like a poor reason to have a black writer put black characters into the book (see also: McDuffie's JLA run).
Mark Millar's run had more of a back-to-basics approach (never thought I'd ever type that sentence) but added an important aspect to Val, which was her super-genius stuff.
And that should bring us about up to speed for Hickman's run, already in progress.
The best comics you're (probably) not reading...
This is one I've been meaning to do for a while. 2010 saw the comics industry as a whole take a pretty big hit as far as sales. If you weren't Batman, Green Lantern (or loosely related), Avengers, Walking Dead, or Scott Pilgrim, your sales sucked. I highly doubt this single post made on a blog that no one reads will change things, so I'll try to bring awareness to some books that I feel may be overlooked.
This isn't really in any kind of order. I'm not one of those habitual readers who reads something because I've been doing so for X amount of years. If it sucks, I hop off. If it's good, I'm there.
1) Elephantmen. This is an odd book to describe. The brainchild of letterer extraordinaire Richard Starkings, the origins of this book can be found in the Hip Flask books that Starkings co-wrote with Joe Casey with painted artwork by Jose Ladronn. The ongoing features humanized rhinos and hippos in a futuristic world where people are trying to kill them or befriend them or any other thing. The cast of characters is huge, and the book features the best "world building" I've seen in a creator owned book since Astro City came out regularly.
The art is pretty good and seems to be a "breaking in" book for a number of people like Moritat (the artist on the current Spirit book from DC) and Marian Churchland (Image's OGN Beast).
And for no reason, the 25th issue, while being part of the ongoing story, was also a tribute to Mark Gruenwald.
2) G.I. Joe: Cobra. Ever read Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips? What happens when you take out the superpowers? What happens when you replace I/O and Tao's organization with G.I. Joe and Cobra? This. You get this. Chuckles is the main character as he gets sent undercover to join Cobra. To say more would be a spoiler.
3) The Sixth Gun. This Oni Press title mixes "western" with "horror/supernatural" to deliver a compelling read. I've seen this series show up on a lot of "best of 2010" lists. I'll let the FCBD site set the groundwork for me:
"During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Gun - the most dangerous of the weapons - vanished. When the gun resurfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way!"
Also available by the same creative team, by the same publisher, is The Damned.
4) Fantastic Four. What? A mainstream superhero book? Yeah, that's right. For the first time since Mark Waid (at least the first half of his run), someone comes along who "gets" what this book/team/family should be. The first few issues of Jonathan Hickman's run are a little slow, but after the first few you'll start to see the bigger picture. Hickman brings the tools he utilized in his creator-owned work at Image to breathe new life into Marvel's First Family. As much of a slow burn parts of the run are, there's a synergy with another title that's called...
5) S.H.I.E.L.D. Seriously...what other Marvel title can you point to that features Leonardo da Vinci as a main character? I need to reread this with Hickman's Fantastic Four to see how all the Nathaniel Richards appearances line up.
6) Nick Spencer. Yes, I realize that's a creator and not a title itself. 2010 was undeniably Nick Spencer's year as he became the MVP of Jim Valentino's "Shadowline" imprint at Image Comics. His rise started in 2009 with Existence 2.0 which proved successful enough at Existence 3.0 was greenlit soon after. A story in Shadowline's Fractured Fables OGN soon followed, as did Forgetless, Shuddertown, and his current and in my opinion, strongest work to date, Morning Glories (4 printings of #1, bitches!). DC has recognized his talent by giving him the Jimmy Olsen backups in Action Comics, the Thunder Agents reboot, and Supergirl (or not). Soon he'll be teaming up with Barry Kitson at Marvel for Iron Man 2.0, starring War Machine.
And I knew him way back when he was just some dude on a message board.
7) True Story, Swear To God. Really, dude? A "romance" comic? YES! This comic chronicles the real life romance between cartoonist Tom Beland and Puerto Rican Radio/TV Personality, Lily Garcia. It talks about how they met, the struggles of a long distance relationship (especially when there's a Hurricane involved), and some nice how-to advice on self-publishing. The funny/sweet tone of the book is something I'd like to channel for my 2-pager due later this year.
Unfortunately Tom has had some health problems like a tremor in his hand that have prevented him from putting the book out regularly for the past 2 years or so. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
This isn't really in any kind of order. I'm not one of those habitual readers who reads something because I've been doing so for X amount of years. If it sucks, I hop off. If it's good, I'm there.
1) Elephantmen. This is an odd book to describe. The brainchild of letterer extraordinaire Richard Starkings, the origins of this book can be found in the Hip Flask books that Starkings co-wrote with Joe Casey with painted artwork by Jose Ladronn. The ongoing features humanized rhinos and hippos in a futuristic world where people are trying to kill them or befriend them or any other thing. The cast of characters is huge, and the book features the best "world building" I've seen in a creator owned book since Astro City came out regularly.
The art is pretty good and seems to be a "breaking in" book for a number of people like Moritat (the artist on the current Spirit book from DC) and Marian Churchland (Image's OGN Beast).
And for no reason, the 25th issue, while being part of the ongoing story, was also a tribute to Mark Gruenwald.
2) G.I. Joe: Cobra. Ever read Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips? What happens when you take out the superpowers? What happens when you replace I/O and Tao's organization with G.I. Joe and Cobra? This. You get this. Chuckles is the main character as he gets sent undercover to join Cobra. To say more would be a spoiler.
3) The Sixth Gun. This Oni Press title mixes "western" with "horror/supernatural" to deliver a compelling read. I've seen this series show up on a lot of "best of 2010" lists. I'll let the FCBD site set the groundwork for me:
"During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Gun - the most dangerous of the weapons - vanished. When the gun resurfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way!"
Also available by the same creative team, by the same publisher, is The Damned.
4) Fantastic Four. What? A mainstream superhero book? Yeah, that's right. For the first time since Mark Waid (at least the first half of his run), someone comes along who "gets" what this book/team/family should be. The first few issues of Jonathan Hickman's run are a little slow, but after the first few you'll start to see the bigger picture. Hickman brings the tools he utilized in his creator-owned work at Image to breathe new life into Marvel's First Family. As much of a slow burn parts of the run are, there's a synergy with another title that's called...
5) S.H.I.E.L.D. Seriously...what other Marvel title can you point to that features Leonardo da Vinci as a main character? I need to reread this with Hickman's Fantastic Four to see how all the Nathaniel Richards appearances line up.
6) Nick Spencer. Yes, I realize that's a creator and not a title itself. 2010 was undeniably Nick Spencer's year as he became the MVP of Jim Valentino's "Shadowline" imprint at Image Comics. His rise started in 2009 with Existence 2.0 which proved successful enough at Existence 3.0 was greenlit soon after. A story in Shadowline's Fractured Fables OGN soon followed, as did Forgetless, Shuddertown, and his current and in my opinion, strongest work to date, Morning Glories (4 printings of #1, bitches!). DC has recognized his talent by giving him the Jimmy Olsen backups in Action Comics, the Thunder Agents reboot, and Supergirl (or not). Soon he'll be teaming up with Barry Kitson at Marvel for Iron Man 2.0, starring War Machine.
And I knew him way back when he was just some dude on a message board.
7) True Story, Swear To God. Really, dude? A "romance" comic? YES! This comic chronicles the real life romance between cartoonist Tom Beland and Puerto Rican Radio/TV Personality, Lily Garcia. It talks about how they met, the struggles of a long distance relationship (especially when there's a Hurricane involved), and some nice how-to advice on self-publishing. The funny/sweet tone of the book is something I'd like to channel for my 2-pager due later this year.
Unfortunately Tom has had some health problems like a tremor in his hand that have prevented him from putting the book out regularly for the past 2 years or so. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
My odd Thursday...
My ex stopped by. I knew this was going to happen. I figured she knew I was basically here by myself and was going to keep me company for the day since my Stepdad is kind of standoffish. That wasn't really the case.
She arrived and said "hi" in a low and slightly grizzled voice. She's upset. Okay. She must have had a bad morning at work. I let her in and she walks all the way up here to the 3rd floor without saying a word. She put her bag down and took her coat off as I sat down on my sofa and looked up at her.
I should probably name her after all these entries. Her name is Jenn.
Jenn said, "I know Amanda's not here but pretend she is, okay?" Amanda's our mutual friend and my best female friend.
"The past two times she's talked to you, she said you were drunk as shit. You're complaining to me about not having anything to eat but you can go drinking? How can you afford that? I know you're upset about your mom but don't do this. It's time for you to grow up and get a job."
Here come the tears.
"I lost my Grandmom when she was 52 and it sucked. I don't want for you to have to go through the same thing. It's time to be an adult."
"Get up." I do.
"That was me being nice. I was ready to kick your ass when I came in here."
She noticed I was wearing the Punisher shirt she got me for x-mas.
"I'm glad your shirt fits."
Then she hugged me.
She sat down in my computer chair and dried her eyes. She calmed down a bit and we started bullshitting like any other time she's come here in the past few months. She talked about how she wanted to see Ireland. I forget how that came about. She asked me where I wanted to go, if I had the chance. Then, she hijacked my computer and looked up plane ticket prices, travel times, and even the currency of these places. During all this, my mom called.
I put her on speakerphone so we could both talk to her. My mom told us she'd be coming home the next day. Both Jenn and I were pretty excited by the news. We all spoke for a bit, then we both told her we loved her before hanging up. Jenn hi-fived me after that. Eh...it's a thing. We ordered pizza after that.
While waiting, Jenn went back to looking up currency of these countries. She even found a site that shows how much our Dollar compares to the currency of pretty much any country. I remembered I had a box in another room with currency from a few countries, so I showed that to her. She got a kick out of that. Food finally came. While we ate, Jenn called Amanda and put her on speakerphone. Then they started talking about taking a cruise and seeing how much that would cost. Pretty expensive.
Eventually we got off the phone with Amanda and ate dessert. The last time Jenn was here, I had two pints of Ben & Jerry's "Pumpkin Cheesecake" ice cream. We each ate half of one before they started melting so I saved them. We finished them this time.
Jenn wanted to see my EyePet next. It's a PS3 exclusive game that works with the PS Move and the PS3 camera. You basically aim the camera at yourself and you show up on the screen, the game basically superimposes the pet over the "video" of yourself, and you interact with it via the Move. It's a family game, mostly for kids, but I got it because I thought Jenn would like it (and I thought the Sports Champions game looked shitty), and she did. A LOT. She's not really one for video games but we were quickly switching off challenges. It was fun. Easily the highlight of the day.
Eventually Jenn had to leave so I turned the game off and walked her to her car, because I'm nice like that. When she hugged me before getting in, she said "Don't turn into an alkie." I exclaimed that I wasn't. Then I thanked her for not beating me.
"I'm saving that for in case I see Nick." was her response. That's her ex, the kid who broke up with her last year at the 11th hour when he was supposed to move in with her.
"I plan on ripping off all of his meaningful organs."
I said, "So you're pretty much going to leave him alone, then?"
She looked at me a bit puzzled.
"You said you were going to rip off his MEANINGFUL organs."
She laughed then got into her car, then she rolled her window down. I reached in and gave her another hug, through the window. Very awkward. I'm hugging her as she's rubbing my head.
"Why are you rubbing my head?" I asked, as I let go.
"It was the only part I could find. Would you rather I not touch you at all?"
"Hey, you can touch me wherever you want."
She smiled a big smile, laughed, then drove away.
Not long after she left, she sent me some strange texts. I'm still trying to decipher the last one.
Jenn: When I looked up at you from my car, I felt like I was in a time warp. You looked exactly how you were in 1999. The only thing missing was your thick hair.
Me: Trying to figure out if that means I looked hot, young, same-y, or what.
Jenn: You had life again.
Um...what????
She arrived and said "hi" in a low and slightly grizzled voice. She's upset. Okay. She must have had a bad morning at work. I let her in and she walks all the way up here to the 3rd floor without saying a word. She put her bag down and took her coat off as I sat down on my sofa and looked up at her.
I should probably name her after all these entries. Her name is Jenn.
Jenn said, "I know Amanda's not here but pretend she is, okay?" Amanda's our mutual friend and my best female friend.
"The past two times she's talked to you, she said you were drunk as shit. You're complaining to me about not having anything to eat but you can go drinking? How can you afford that? I know you're upset about your mom but don't do this. It's time for you to grow up and get a job."
Here come the tears.
"I lost my Grandmom when she was 52 and it sucked. I don't want for you to have to go through the same thing. It's time to be an adult."
"Get up." I do.
"That was me being nice. I was ready to kick your ass when I came in here."
She noticed I was wearing the Punisher shirt she got me for x-mas.
"I'm glad your shirt fits."
Then she hugged me.
She sat down in my computer chair and dried her eyes. She calmed down a bit and we started bullshitting like any other time she's come here in the past few months. She talked about how she wanted to see Ireland. I forget how that came about. She asked me where I wanted to go, if I had the chance. Then, she hijacked my computer and looked up plane ticket prices, travel times, and even the currency of these places. During all this, my mom called.
I put her on speakerphone so we could both talk to her. My mom told us she'd be coming home the next day. Both Jenn and I were pretty excited by the news. We all spoke for a bit, then we both told her we loved her before hanging up. Jenn hi-fived me after that. Eh...it's a thing. We ordered pizza after that.
While waiting, Jenn went back to looking up currency of these countries. She even found a site that shows how much our Dollar compares to the currency of pretty much any country. I remembered I had a box in another room with currency from a few countries, so I showed that to her. She got a kick out of that. Food finally came. While we ate, Jenn called Amanda and put her on speakerphone. Then they started talking about taking a cruise and seeing how much that would cost. Pretty expensive.
Eventually we got off the phone with Amanda and ate dessert. The last time Jenn was here, I had two pints of Ben & Jerry's "Pumpkin Cheesecake" ice cream. We each ate half of one before they started melting so I saved them. We finished them this time.
Jenn wanted to see my EyePet next. It's a PS3 exclusive game that works with the PS Move and the PS3 camera. You basically aim the camera at yourself and you show up on the screen, the game basically superimposes the pet over the "video" of yourself, and you interact with it via the Move. It's a family game, mostly for kids, but I got it because I thought Jenn would like it (and I thought the Sports Champions game looked shitty), and she did. A LOT. She's not really one for video games but we were quickly switching off challenges. It was fun. Easily the highlight of the day.
Eventually Jenn had to leave so I turned the game off and walked her to her car, because I'm nice like that. When she hugged me before getting in, she said "Don't turn into an alkie." I exclaimed that I wasn't. Then I thanked her for not beating me.
"I'm saving that for in case I see Nick." was her response. That's her ex, the kid who broke up with her last year at the 11th hour when he was supposed to move in with her.
"I plan on ripping off all of his meaningful organs."
I said, "So you're pretty much going to leave him alone, then?"
She looked at me a bit puzzled.
"You said you were going to rip off his MEANINGFUL organs."
She laughed then got into her car, then she rolled her window down. I reached in and gave her another hug, through the window. Very awkward. I'm hugging her as she's rubbing my head.
"Why are you rubbing my head?" I asked, as I let go.
"It was the only part I could find. Would you rather I not touch you at all?"
"Hey, you can touch me wherever you want."
She smiled a big smile, laughed, then drove away.
Not long after she left, she sent me some strange texts. I'm still trying to decipher the last one.
Jenn: When I looked up at you from my car, I felt like I was in a time warp. You looked exactly how you were in 1999. The only thing missing was your thick hair.
Me: Trying to figure out if that means I looked hot, young, same-y, or what.
Jenn: You had life again.
Um...what????
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