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BLAST OFF!

I'm outta here! Living Between Wednesdays has moved to a bigger, better, badder home! I hope you'll join us over there for lots of comic book love for years to come! Click on this link to go to

THE ALL NEW LIVING BETWEEN WEDNESDAYS!!!!

Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed this blog over the years. I hope you'll like the new one even more!

This Week's Haul: The Last Haul...for now!

Hiya everyone!

I think this is it. This is going to be my last post on this site. But that doesn't mean I'm quitting! I am finally launching the all new, all awesomer Living Between Wednesdays site in just a few days. I'm pretty excited about it.

Actually, I guess there will be one more post: the one where I announce that the new site is up. Well, anyway.

Here are some of the comics I read this week!

The Muppet Show #1

I am actually astonished at how well this was executed. It's really, really great. The way the characters are only drawn from the waist up, the jokes, the structure of the comic mirroring the Muppet Show episodes. It's just fantastic. Roger Langridge writes and draws it and he captures the feel of the original show perfectly. I am pretty excited about Boom Studios new Boom Kids line, but the Muppet Show was definitely what I was most looking forward to. I am a huge Jim Henson fan, and I have been watching a lot of the Sesame Street: Old School DVDs lately, so I was definitely in the mood for this. By the way, a Sesame Street comic would be awesome.

Wonder Woman #30

I know I have praised Gail Simone's run on Wonder Woman plenty, but I just want to say it again: her Wonder Woman voice is amazing. I find it really jarring when a character just doesn't sound right (ie - James Robinson's Superman) and Wonder Woman is a character that has been, more often than not, written as a very flat character. Simone manages to give her a lot of depth and personality without losing the regal quality of the character. Like, I want Wonder Woman to have some warmth and humanity, but I don't want to see her being like "yo, what's up Etta?"

Also in this comic, Wonder Woman is really, really angry so we get to see how powerful she can be when she wants to be. And I like that.

Daredevil #117

Daredevil is one of those comics that makes me feel sorry for people who don't read comics because they do not get to read DAREDEVIL. There are a lot of comics on the stands that I enjoy, and there are a lot of great story lines, but the world of Daredevil, however depressing, is one of my favourites to lose myself in for 10 minutes or so each month. I think because it's more of a character study than any other comic, which makes it sound boring but it's really not because there is also a lot of kicking and punching. Plus, Brubaker is the master of the cliffhanger ending.


Captain America #48

I love nothing more than when Daredevil and Captain America drop on the same week. Double shot of Brubaker, PLUS I get my two Marvel boyfriends, Matt Murdock and Winter Soldier, in one week. And this week there is the added bonus of NAMOR in Captain America! I would love a week where Namor appears in every Marvel title, because he really makes every comic that much more entertaining. In this issue we get a nice example of how Namor, though pretty ridiculous-looking, is really one of the most terrifying characters when he's angry.

And also, Winter Soldier was hot.

Superman #686

Meh. I love this cross-over Superman storyline. I love Renato Guedes' art. I do not love James Robinson's writing on this title. Usually I like his writing, but I am not feeling his Superman. I do love seeing Mon-El back in action, though. But seriously, Superman, the dude is trapped in the Phantom Zone forever because you, let's face it, did not even try to find a cure for his lead allergy and as soon as he gets out (on his own) you are demanding favours of him? I'm surprised he didn't tell him to take a flying leap (note: not an effective insult for Superman).


Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug

Hello, what's this? Something totally rad?!

I basically own everything that is in here, but I still bought it because I just want to support the fact that they even published this. Well done, DC. Ambush Bug may seem like an odd choice for a Showcase, but it's actually perfect because there has never been an Ambush Bug collection of any kind before, and it's a little challenging finding all of the issues he appears in. You won't be sorry you bought this.

Cylon cookies!

There are many copies!

To celebrate (or mourn) the last episode of Battlestar Galactica tonight, I made Cylon cookies. And you can too!

First you just have to fashion a custom cookie cutter out of a heavy duty foil lasagna pan like so:

Then you make your favourite sugar cookie dough. Like all things in life, I turn to a fictional character for advice here. Betty Crocker has never steered me wrong.

Alright, now roll out that dough and get ready to cut some cylon heads!

Now, remember, when designing your cutter, and when placing the cookies on the pan, these cookies are going to lose their shape quite a bit when they bake and spread out all over the place. Leave a lot of room.

Time to toast those toasters! Bake for about 10 minutes until they start to get a little golden. Be careful taking them off the sheet after because they are delicate. We had a couple of casualties.

When the cookies are nice and cool, you can decorate them! I split a batch of vanilla frosting in half and coloured one half red and one half silver. Matt drew a Cylon head that we could use as a guide:


Mmmmm...delicious Cylons!

Enjoy the last episode everyone!

Is Atlanta Thrashers Goalie Kari Lehtonen a Big Nerd?

I love it when my worlds collide.

Here we have Atlanta Thrashers goaltender/Finn/nerd sporting his latest mask. It has the Dark Knight Joker on it.

Not convinced? Of course not. You don't have to be a nerd to like The Dark Knight. So let's go to Exhibit B: the Kill Bill mask from the previous season:

And sure, you don't have to be a nerd to like Kill Bill either, but the two things together are starting to paint a pretty nerdy picture.

Now let's go to Exhibit C, or as I like to call it, the clincher:

Yes, that is a Final Fantasy themed goalie mask.

Still not convinced? How about this Optimus Prime (movie version) mask he had made but never wore in a game?

And, just for fun but not really relevant to my argument, here's a picture of Lehtonen with Lil' Jon (who has also been featured on a Lehtonen mask). Actually, I think this picture is relevant to my argument because Lehts looks really nerdy:

Is he a geek, or is he just lazy about his pop culture references? You decide. I choose to award him the first Living Between Wednesdays Award for Public Geekery by an Outsider.

Keep letting that geek flag fly, Lehts!

My Spoiler-Free Mini-Review of Watchmen

Do we need a review of Watchmen to be spoiler-free, actually?

I just got back from an advance screening, and I just wanted to share some quick thoughts.

I thought the movie was a really good, loyal adaptation of the book. For those of us who have read the book, and love the book, it was fun to see it come to life. The acting was great, I dare say that Nite Owl and Rorschach were perfect. The last time I read the book, I had a thought that there is no way that they could make Walter Kovacs (without the mask) as he looks in the book work on screen. I was wrong. He looked perfect.

The fact that it is based on one specific comic book that most fans have read numerous times makes it a weird movie-going experience. As I said, the movie was very loyal. There are no surprises if you've read it, right down to almost every line of dialogue. And, because it's based on a comic, almost every shot is also familiar. So it felt as if I had watched the movie before.

My only real problem with the movie is that it was too gory and that the major sex scene was just too...porny? It was over the top for sure. As for the gore, I think a lot of the most violent scenes would have been better without it. Off screen would have been classier and less distracting (and more like the book).

Oh...and the soundtrack is BATSHIT INSANE. But it kind of charmed me.

But overall the movie looked great, had great acting and had some neat ideas about how to tell this crazy story on screen. I don't know how people who haven't read the book will feel about it. I would imagine that to them it would seem sort of weird and rushed and lacking in a lot of areas. And it would certainly be depressing. But for those of us who have read it, it's just a nice treat to see the story come to life. That's all I expect out of these things. I think the challenge of making a Watchmen movie was met and adequately conquered. And some of the scenes were downright awesome to see on screen!

I mean, I said before I saw the movie that the problem with putting Watchmen on the big screen is that there is really nothing fun about the story. It's pretty joyless. But it is still entertaining, and I think the director made it as fun as it could possibly be without ruining it.

The movie is about three hours long, so good luck to everyone who is going to the midnight screening tomorrow night!