Books That Look Good (or not) And Other Cool Stuff

You all may have noticed my suspicious lack of presence in The Stop (and maybe moreso online), The Stop's lack of Friday will be status quo until Bug's schedule settles in and everything smooths back out again here, but never fear, I'm back up and running online as of this morning after a really nice impromptu vacation at Whidbey Island. Bossman has apparently rapidly replaced me with another assistant, who may or may not be me in disguise (ignore how she is far too petite and how there's now way I can Slaveen myself into her skin). You all should be very nice to her, because she's awesome.

But if you love her too much, I'll have to hunt each and every one of you down and make you suffer. Just a note.

Moving on!

Angel: After The Fall #12: Well. Gunn certainly is in it, isn't he? This book marks the year-ish anniversary of this book and sometimes I've found myself sliding into the "Why can't I quit you" cliche. The plot's been really slow going--there was a lot of explanation and ground to be made up thanks to us starting with Angel and the Scattered Crew straight in LA. The art's been difficult to maneuver. The character voices are on, though, and they've been on throughout the whole thing.

I think Brian Lynch has to spend a lot of time condensing and slimming the plot a bit and direct the focus of the book a bit better from issue to issue to make just a little more actually happen in each book. After twelve issues, I really don't feel like anything huge has happened except the reveal that Gunn is a vampire, Angel is human (both of which were really early on in the series) and them finally meeting up in the last issue. I know there was that big Lord of the District battle (Waaaaaarriors, come out to plaaaaaaay) but I really didn't give a damn about what the outcome was, other than us finding out about Angel.

Another problem I'm having, and possibly the biggest reason this story is having a hard time sticking in my memory, is that the art is just that off-putting for me. Blast.

Recommendation: All that said, I'm still grabbing it. I love my Dark, Broody Forehead Man. And I'm still saving up for that Puppet. Don't think I've forgotten.


Buffy #18: Fray! Fraaaay. Fray. Fray. Fray. Hey, it's Fray guys. Fray and all her awesome awesomeness! Fray whose hair is completely wicked. Fray. I wish the title was Fray the Vampire Slayer. Even just temporarily for this storyline.

Oh, and that blonde chick what's-her-face. Oh, and that horse girl thing with the completely-obvious-but-still-funny-neigh-neigh-jokes.

Fraaaaaaaay. (Fray).

I'm really pleased Joss is involving Fray, for more than just how wicked much I love Fray. He's addressing the, 'uh, I thought Buffy empowered all potential slayers everywhere and solved the Final Evil Crisis, what the shit is this Fray comic saying about that?' issue. Can I get a yay?

What's that? 'Fray'?

Recommendation: Fray.


Detective Comics #848: This cover is really slick. Totally not a R.I.P. tie-in, but it's Dini, man, so who cares? The story steams up as Hush's master plan leads Batman to save a child from Scarecrow.

I'm really enjoying this--it's Hush, who is fantastic, and it's story development about Hush, which is also fantastic.

Go Team Detective Comics!

Recommendation: On it! Go!









Secret Six #1: Oh, happy goddamn day, it's almost here! I shouldn't even have to pimp this, what the hell people, you're unconvinced? Villains being awesome? Nicola Scott! Gail Simone! Original Simone Character! WHEE. That 'whee' is not sardonic at all, as are almost all my other ones. If you're unconvinced, check out the preview that Newsarama has up. Be convinced and snag it.

DC's solit reads: Because you demanded it! The Secret Six are back in an all-new ongoing series that promises to deliver some of the darkest, most twisted action-adventure the DC Universe has seen since...well, the last time the Secret Six got together! Writer extraordinaire Gail Simone (BIRDS OF PREY) is reunited with BIRDS penciller Nicola Scott to chronicle the adventures of the Six, and you will not believe what they have in store. Join Catman, Scandal, Deadshot, Ragdoll, and ?? as they prepare for an adventure that will take them through a gauntlet across the seediest parts of the DC Universe, and will ultimately pit them against a foe more monstrous and murderous than any they've had to face!

Recommendation: Snaaaaag it, dammit, how is this not totally fantastic? Well, it IS.




Also up this week, but doesn't get a semi-paragraph due to School Starting and House Invasion:

Green Lantern #34: Woot. Seriously, woot. I think I could claw myself out of my skin in anticipation of actually getting to the Great Big Storyline We All Want.

Dynamo 5 #16: My favorite teenaged super-team, hands down. Suck it, McKeever, and thanks for ruining the Teen Titans! /bitter.

Noble Causes #36: I'm also still kind of bitter over the self-cancellation of Noble Causes. I love that Jay Faerber knows when what he's writing doesn't have the same heart it used to, but dammit, I wish it had the same heart it used to. I'm going to miss these guys when they're gone, like woah.

Fringe #1: I heard that the premiere episode wasn't that great, and I'm pretty iffy about non-Whedon comic books that tie into television shows, but that Chuck one wasn't too terrible. I'll give this a decent flip-through and see.

Manhunter #34: It's Manhunter. 'Nuff said.

Nightwing #148: How did this not warrant a full picture? Well, it's a 'R.I.P.' tie-in, and while the issue was good, I was annoyed by the lack of actual tie-in. Isn't Nightwing in an asylum somewheres? Lord. Tomasi, though, yay.

Tank Girl Visions of Booga #4: Tank Girl is so bad ass. I loves me some Tank Girl.

Titans #4: This is clearly an 'or not'. I've restrained mentioning it for like, an issue, so let me take this time again to remind you all what utter crap it is. Someone, tweet when the hell zone for all things Titans is over.



Things That Warrant a Geeked Special Mention:

I Kill Giants #2 is out today, of which you should most definitely be grabbing for yourselves. You'll all be sorry if you don't. 'Nuff said.

Grok Issue #2: Secret Origins from my friends over at Alert Nerd hit the virtual shelves today as well. This is a really well put together geek webzine that's still in its infancy. Not that you can actually tell it's in its infancy, thanks to a few overachievers who do what they love to do and do it damned well. With articles such as I Was a Teenage Letterhack and The Facebook Newsfeed for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, as well as others exploring the whys and hows of their geeky origins, finding the extraordinary in the everyday and a tale that involves Star Power and Issues 10-14, you won't find a miss.

Issue 1 can be found here. Give both a read and then head over to to give these guys some props. (the kids still give those, yes? Shut it, Webster, they do NOW.)



Also:

Yeah. That's right. Suck it, haters.

You may all look forward to a Very Special Geeked 90210 Post.

Starting . . . now.

No Books For You

Okay, well, maybe just me. No books for me, thanks to the husband's car assaulting itself. What a fucking terrible week to be left with only one vehicle and not have the 9-5 job. Batman . . . tie-ins . . . Welcome to Hoxford . . . Runaways/Young Avengers . . . god DAMMIT.

I hate all of you a little this week, just so you know.

Our 99 Neon has been suffering some emotional issues since the purchase of our 01 Civic a few years ago, we've worked really hard to keep her feeling good about herself--spiffy new tires, new brakes, engine flushes and regular baths, but the old black mare just ain't what she used to be. (I think I just burst into flames writing "ain't", so let's never do that again, mm?_
Then, Sunday, in her finest move of acting out, her hood clasp snapped while Co-Creator was on the freeway, slamming it into the windshield while he was going 70.

Everyone is fine. Me especially, as I wasn't actually in the car at the time (thank God).

Well . . . almost everyone. Yes, that's my girl, shut away in the garage while she works out her emotional issues in a way that doesn't have the potential to kill one of her owners.

The husband would appreciate me taking a moment to inform my readers that the flowery seat covers are mine. I would appreciate me taking a moment to inform my readers that the flowery seat covers may be mine, but it's been nearly two years since I've driven the car and they are still there.


Let's do a mess of links and some random rambling, then pretend it's a post.


The Most Awesome That Ever Did Awesome From A Company You Haven't Heard Of:

Batman: Arkham Asylum the video game. No, really! They'll be utilizing the Unreal Engine 3 (WOOT!) and the 'they' I'm speaking of is Rocksteady Studios, a company in London who'll be developing it. Warner Brothers and Eidos is involved and the game is a third-person action game with a mood and story to match that of the magnificent trade and the style of play/setting is purported to be comparable to Bioshock.

Worried about the story? Shut your mouth--Paul Dini's writing this baby. The storyline as reported so far by WorthPlaying has the player-as-Batman delivering The Joker to Arkham, where an impressive amount of other villain characters have set a trap for him. With a setting of Arkham Asylum--and all the varied characters--the graphics damned well better be magnificent. And I'm hoping for an excellent, creepy score instead of cheesy movie knock-off music.

Martin Tremblay, President of Warner Bros. Interactive entertainment had this to say regarding the game, “Batman: Arkham Asylum offers players the chance to battle Gotham’s worst villains with Batman’s physical and psychological strength in a graphically distinct and story-driven game. We look forward to working with Eidos on expanding DC Comics’ world-renowned character Batman in the game space with a noticeably different feature set in an incredibly dark interactive environment."

Keep an eye on the Rocksteady website for more information--hell, keep an eye on it for the awesome countdown graphic that's occupying it right now. Due out in 2009, this baby has definitely hit my preorder list. I should be done with Fallout 3 by then.

Random Fallout 3 note: You will not see ANY PART OF ME the first two weeks after this bad boy is released. Bethesda goddamn guaranteed to give me the video game of my wet dreams. I remember playing Fallout when it first came out. I may cry and start caressing my console (not a euphemism) when I pop that baby in.


Anyone notice a whole lot of Levitz and a whole nada from Didio? Is it really just me--am I just magically noticing Levitz? Is this akin to learning a new word when you were little and then hearing that word all. day. long?

Well, Paul Levitz has an article here, he's talking about Watchmen here and it was Levitz we heard from regarding SDCC. All Newsarama, but CBR doesn't have any Dan Didio at all that isn't panel coverage.

Lionsgate has an upcoming DVD, Next Avengers that'll be out September 2nd. There's a sneak peek of it up on Newsarama, here. "Hawkeye's name is Francis??" Adorable. Looking forward to this.


Watchmen hits a million. Hot damn.


I'm very excited about a local company that's getting press here and gonna take a moment to pimp them out here, as they're taking an awesome approach to raising awareness for several different causes. Five Humans was founded in 2007 by Dan Grunvald and Lee Fine, who had the idea of making hip and interesting t-shirts with slogans and facts regarding different diseases geared towards raising awareness and breaking the silence barrier. They're called Disease Tees, which is awesome, and one of the most interesting and devoted campaigns against ignorance I've seen in a while.

This company has a big heart, great stories and an excellent product. I'd really love to see these shirts on everyone. Right now the causes are diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and the newest one--and an important one for me--autism. They are always expanding, though, and are in the process of designing a new Disease Tee. Ten percent of your purchase goes to the cause it's for and with prices ranging $20 to $35 dollars, this is well worth it. Also? The clothes are totally quality and look awesome. So not only are you supporting a great cause of your choice, but getting cool gear in the process.

Go visit their site and take a look at their products and mission.


Another company is doing an awesome, awesome idea that I'm totally in love with. The site is a little obnoxious, but you'll want one. We Are Numbers.

Flash: Rebirth and Other Things

Goddamn, look at that art! To me, Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver make one of the best comic book teams out there. I consistently love their work seperately and together, it's even better. They must totally feed off each other. CBR has a great Spotlight article on Van Sciver, which you should go read here. I really admire and appreciate the way he approaches comics and how he feels about them--probably a really cool guy to grab food with.

I'm so excited about this title and all you disbelievers can go eat bugs.

That's right. Bugs.







He's four feet tall. Leather-clad. A wee little puppet man, if you will. And? His nose comes off. In the absolute coolest thing I've seen in months, in December, Angel The 1:1 Replica Puppet will hit the shelves for a mere $325.00.

I'm going to be putting out a tip jar with a picture of the advertisement from Previews on it.

Hot damn, look at that handsome little puppet face.

And? And? You can put your hand inside him.

No. Not there.

/cheap jokes.


CBR has another great article with three of my faves, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba and Becky Cloonan. Good read, I was really excited about all their Eisner wins this time around.

This Week's Read Pile, or: Sparklers Screw You Again!

Whenever comics ship late, it totally throws my week off. I can't decide if I'm just a little too set in routine (I'M SPONTANEOUS. REALLY) or if it's okay. Also, as I'm watching Constantine, I'm wondering if Keanu hadn't been cast and they'd gotten an actor that could actually . . . um . . . change expression and just kept everything else the same, whether or not everyone would've liked this movie.

La. Dee. Dah.

Well, comics were fucking excellent this week, weren't they? Was there a bad one in my bunch? Not really. Well, Detective Comics as a R.I.P. tie-in sort of miffed me, but the story was good. Hush! How could anyone with a proper soul deny Hush?

It was a smallish week, but God, every book I read really smacked it out of the park. I am a happy reader. Let's do it!

This week, they're not really in any particular order, except for the first one, which is totally my Book Of The Week.



I Kill Giants #1: Joe Kelly (from various Marvel and DC titles Supergirl, to name a recent one, also Steampunk. Apologies for earlier mix up, I'm clearly never allowed to start a review at seven in the morning again.) writing with JM Ken Niimura on art. Maybe it's because I was a dork in grade school (no, really, I wasn't always this coordinated or pretty! shock!) or maybe because I'm not dead and rotted out inside, but the first issue for I Kill Devils owned my dork ass.

Remember fifth grade? Remember being so awkward? Remember being really into something that no one else was? Remember being that kid the teachers dreaded hearing from in the middle of class?

I do!

And as such, I really connected with this. I love Barbara Thorson. I love how she's clever enough to know all those things the girls are talking about are stupid, and human enough to feel left out that she isn't talking about them too. And then smart enough to be mad at herself for caring. She's strong enough to stand up to a shoddy D&D player's attitude, but lonely enough to blame herself for ruining the game. Even though she was right.

I totally believe she kills giants and raise my broadsword in honor. My inner fifth grader has found a kindred spirit.

I debated doing an in-depth spoilery review, but opted not to, in favor of letting you guys enjoy it without too much spoiled.

Recommendation: Grab this immediately, before it's too late and you're stuck waiting a year for the trade. This is, easily, one of the most poignant books of the year.

I want bunny ears to wear in support, dammit.



Pilot Season: Urban Myths written by Jay Faerber and art done by Jorge Molina.

I lied, this one's in order too. Definitely my second favorite book of the week. The art is fantastic--really vital and smooth and completely delicious. And I loved the coloring. All of it, actually, was just awesome.

As was the story--an intensely clever opening story that introduces us to our hero-of-sorts, Jack Kaklamanis, Medusa's son. He's a private eye who's been hired to find a missing girl. Jack is a solid introduction--interesting from the get-go, as is the case and where it leads him. The art just rounds the story out and bangs it into life--I could spend an hour flipping through this again just to look at it and examine all the backgrounds and random characters.

The mythology play is really interesting and finding mythology mixed with the crime noir genre should be strange. It isn't--it reads really naturally, which isn't easy to do in a fantasy universe, but Faerber solves the problem by handing us characters--including the ones we'll probably never see again--that are deep and rich and completely identifiable. Go figure.

It's a solid one-issue story that is really self-contained--which is good, since it's an entry for Pilot Season--but manages to promise so, so much more if Faerber gets the votes. So give them to him, would you?

Recommendation: A hit waiting to happen and you definitely won't be disappointed by this. Eat it up, then in August hit MySpace (oh god, twice in three weeks, I should die) and vote for this one. Don't worry, I'll remind all of you again come August.



Booster Gold #1,000,000: Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz wrote this gem, with pencils by Dan Jurgens, finished art by Norm Rapmund (someone take a moment in comments to explain what 'finished art' is if it isn't inking) and Hi-Fi doing colors.

How was this not awesome? Johns and Katz wrap up their run with a completely awesome epilogue that ties up everything from their run, leaves off with an interesting twist that I'm not sure if I'm going to get too invested in (is there any word on who is taking over after they abandon us? aside from the Dixon two or three issue arc?).

But yeah, okay, I lied again. Booster's number three on my list this week and for good reason. This was such a great finishing touch story, it really gave Booster a chance to show how much he's grown since the first issue--hell, obviously since 52. And he gets validated by the resident Crazy Obsessed Bat, which is worth Clayface's weight in gold. Not only does he get validated, he gets recognized by one of the top three--and I don't think there's anything better than one of the greatest heroes recognizing the things you do, especially when you go into it thinking no one will ever, ever know about it.

The art's a perfect match with the story--naturally--and I'm really glad Dan Jurgen's going to be staying on.

Recommendation: I think this is a great stand alone story as well--it serves the purpose of wrapping up things for a long-time reader, but a new reader wouldn't be lost as to what the hell's going on, why and who Booster Gold is. A good jumping on point, as the book contains a summary of past events and character exposition and growth.

Graaaab it.



Joker's Asylum: Penguin: Remember that time I said I didn't like Penguin? About how he came across as a bit of a joke and I couldn't ever take him seriously? About how he's my least favorite villain and I wish he wasn't involved in anything at all. And oh, yeah, I was disappointed he was getting an issue in this mini, because he was useless.

Jason Aaron, the writer, completely proves me wrong with a goddamn stellar book that easily slammed up into my favorites of the week. I'm now a little in love with Penguin. This issue was a glory. It was creepy. It was sad. And the art, thanks to Jason Pearson, completely matched the moods and gave us a believably adorable, pitiable and nearly likeable Oswald and just as easily handed us panels of a creepy, nightmare-inducing Penguin.

I've an urge to frame a few of these pages.

Joker gives us a story about love, Arkham Style, and we're handed an Oswald Cobblepott who is truly pitiable. It's an old cliche--the evil beautiful girls crushing souls under their merciless, well-shaped feet--but it's used so well in this story that I can't mind it.

And we see a different side of Oswald, we see how his psychosis spawned, we see what feeds it.

We also see Batman is totally his Girl Talk Boyfriend in a scene that had me laughing aloud and loving it.

God, this was creepy. The art was creepy. The story was creepy. The twists of clutchingly sweet to creepy were . . . creepy awesome. Do you think I'm over-using 'creepy' here?

I'm totally not, you'll see.

Recommendation: Well fucking done and should've been read by you this week. I enjoyed this so much more than I thought it would--I actually read it last on my block and God, was that a mistake. I want more of this Penguin. I want him everywhere in the DCU, fucking up your noise and bringing in the birds.

I wanna give Jason Aaron a hug.




Final Crisis: Requiem: I snagged this because of Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke's Black Adam mini last yearish. I figured, yeah, I like Martian Manhunter, but I'm not totally devesated or anything over him dying.

I almost wish I hadn't read this, because then I never would've cared he died and definitely wouldn't be so ripped up about it now. I wouldn't have cared at all and now I'm so incredibly moved by this goodbye book, by his final message and his life that I want to go out, grab everything J'onn was ever in and eat it up.

God, this was so good. It was so good. Tomasi and Mahnke'll completely knock you out with J'onn's final moments, with his death scene and his viciousness for life that resonates throughout every page.

Agh. Gah. So good. So good.

Recommendation: If you weren't attached to J'onn, I'm going to punish you (because I love you. And I'm suffering too) by recommending you pick this up. Pick it up and love him.

I'm Confused

So, I was stalkinglooking at my stalkersreaders via Analytics, and most of my search hits are pretty normal. You know, stuff I type about. And hey! No new porn searches in the last week! I feel unsexy.

But . . . there was this search and . . . I don't even know what the hell it means:

"my flow's make sense because i mention cras and i mention chicks"

. . . what's 'cras'. Um. Does anyone know? Is this hip lingo I'm not getting? What's . . . I have no idea. I'm . . . so confused and torn between just eyeing the screen and laughing.

Kirk's popped me up on his sidebar (all official and things, I'm quite pleased) so I'll take a moment to toss all of you at his blog, Weekly Crisis, which is much more Marvel savvy (and consistent) than mine. And DC savvy as well, but my appreciation dedicates itself to the Marvel savvy, because I'm still completely lost wading through who everyone is and why I should be surprised at Secret Invasion. Or not surprised.

And to make this a somewhat relevant comics post:

Back with a vengeance.

Previews up tomorrow as my week gets back on track and all things Batman begin to consume my brain. Is it too geeky to put up a counter to count down days/hours/minutes/seconds until Dark Knight?

Maybe?

Also: I watched the Doctor Who finale. And . . . consider me thoroughly owned by it and all things Doctor. God, Sci-Fi, catch up so I can talk to my friends about it.

Justice Tastes Like You Getting A Ticket, It's Delicious.

This post is courtesy Dr. Zoltar, who threw my inbox a most excellent link to a local story.

Komo News reports that drivers impeding the flow of traffic in the left lane are now being pulled over and can be ticketed for $124. "The State Patrol said several recent collisions caused by slow vehicles in the passing lane have prompted increased enforcement of the law along area interstates."

So, to every stupid asshole that gives me that "oh, you're SUCH an asshole, I'm just following the LAW" idiotic pious expression when I lay on my horn and give them elaborate, 'shove it up your ASS' hand signals: HA. Fuck you and your little cell phone too.

Next stop: Ticketing the HOV lane.

R.I.P. Awards

To date, Thinking Caps has brought in the most comments--so congratulations goofballs for being plenty awesome, strange and hilarious.

With no further ado, I'd like to present:

The R.I.P. Acronym Awards:

Best Political Entry:

Elwood: Red-State Inclusive Pandering

Best Entry That Possibly Predicts My Doom:

Palindrome: Raccoons Injure Puyallupian


I have my suspicions that he is training them as I write this.

Best Entry Involving Elderly:


Doctor Smoke with: Rolling Irate Pensioner

Best Entry Involving Pickles:

Oracle_Batgirl: Rage Illuminates Pickles!

I would like to note here that they are the Hulk's favorite, and if anyone would know what tasted best with Rage, it would be him. Also, picture is a link to the t-shirt.




Best Morrison-Despising Entries:

From Darth, for he has eaten of the tree of bitter and went back for seconds:

Really Isn't Pleasing

Rotten Insipid Plotting

Ridiculous Interior Pages

Read In Purgatory

Wicked Juan came in here at a close second, with: Riting Is Poor (you lost under the sheer weight of his wrath)

Best (Worst) Mental Imagery:

Elwood, with the beautiful: Regurgitated Indian Paan

There is no picture for this Award. Because I don't like throw up.

Best Possible Superhero Title:


Nevermore, with: Righteous Inevitable Pork!

I am so happy that I got an actual hit on my Google Image search for "superhero pig". Note: Picture is a link to John Kricfalusi's blog.

Best Entry Regarding Bodily Functions:


Kyle: Regis I'm Peeing

Note: There were far more entries regarding bodily functions than expected. I'm not certain how I feel about this.

And, the best of the best, the creme de la creme and . . . [insert other phrases here] is . . .

B to the Bizeau with: Realize It's Pointless

Thanks to everyone for participating.

I think.

An Increasing Need For Very Disposable Income

Holy Bat Bananas!!! I want one. Look at how CUTE he is! And he does really NEAT STUFF. And different ears can be bought to make him even cuter!

This would be a most effective way of informing Bug it's lunch time! And for rocking out!

Vital Breaking News

Quiana is probably the only person I know who will be geeked about this, so this post is dedicated to her. I'd like to note that this is not an apology for the ass.

There is a box of NKotB SUPER GLOSS photocards in the back room here. And stickers.

There is no panda happier than me.



Edit: Any and all disparaging comments regarding the fantasticness of this will result in the non-sale of comic books to you on Thursday. Watch it, I know your box numbers.

Too Little, Too Late?

Last week imploded all over me. I'm not certain I'll ever get the messy Wednesday remnants completely out of my hair. Also not certain why my week imploded--aside from how when I got back to my house on Monday it looked like a complete disaster. My utter, complete shock was utterly and completely not there. On the up side, the kids didn't look like refugees who hadn't eaten or bathed in three days. But yeah, week implosion equals no blogging. I think I have all my ducks back in their appropriate rows. I think, at least.

Emerald City ComiCon was excellent, and blogged awesomely about here (scroll down to start at bottom) and here. I'm too lazy to string together full, cohesive paragraphs, so I'm going to list the awesome stuff out.

• handing out packets all day Friday and Saturday is an interesting way to achieve Zen. Repetitive action does wonders for the subconscious mind.
• Jeph Jaques? Freaking adorable. Also, constantly surrounded by a throng of girls. His girlfriend cannot be comfortable. She was quite nice, though, since she was the one who snagged the packet from me for their booth.
  
• The black jerseys all the senior staff got were completely awesome, even if they tended to put a huge bullseye on me whenever I attempted to escape to the bathroom on Saturday. Seriously--bathroom trips took no less than fifteen minutes and the bathroom wasn't more than a hundred feet from the registration booth.
• Notice To All Con Attendees: Information Booth doesn't mean I'll find your bus stop for you. It doesn't even mean I'll attempt to try. Information does not equal Seattle-Information.com.
• Dinner on Friday was accompanied with a bright green drink in a dual-faced tiki glass. He was very, very unhappy when he was empty. Weep. And it was almost as good as a mojito. Almost. So far, though, nothing's better than a good mojito.
• Quiana and I have almost exactly the same taste in foods. Except for . . . bak choi? Something--it's a weird mushy green vegetable that was not very delicious.
• Adding 'ish' to the end of directions prevents wrongness, according to Technogreek.
  
• I lose street cred when I want iced coffee instead of hot.
  
• Saturday morning-to-afternoon registration was insanely busy and chaotic, but overall it went really well. No big problems like last year and we managed to keep the line for check-in from getting too long. I might be insane, but it's also pretty fun. Even though lanyards are a special punishment from Hell.
  
• I learned that in case I need an extra hand at registration, Hotness is the first person I should find for help. She moves like a perky dervish without the destruction.
• I made a lot of awesome friends and was reminded that I really, really miss living in Seattle. Though there is awesomeness here in Puyallup that I need to contact and drag out for food and fun shenanigans.
• Wil Wheaton was insanely awesome to have at the show and everyone adored the crap out of him. He did completely break my heart by being super-popular and awesome and running out of books before I and a bunch of other volunteers could snag one. As soon as I recover, I'll still love him. Me? Masochist? Shut your mouth.
• Ed Brubaker's wife is beyond nice. And really funny and polite and oh, right, super-nice.
• Having dinner with a bunch of other volunteers on Saturday, exchanging funny stories and getting to know them better completely made my oh-so-pained feet feel better. As did the alcohol.
• We were walking back from said delicious dinner and got almost-accosted by a lady who really did look like she was from Walking Dead (she looked like she'd escaped from the hospital, as she was still wearing the gown and had various sores all over and was very, very, very thin. Very.) as observed by FerretNick. I was startled (and reminded that maybe I need to up my expectation standards) by Technogreek's awesome chivalry when he walked between me and the terribly sad and creepy Walking Dead lady. Much appreciated. Less appreciated are the doctors/nurses/terrible security persons who let her out of the hospital.
  
• FerretNick, Dr. Zoltar and their wives-who-have-no-blogs-but-should are really awesome. And hilarious.
  
• I'm too Irish.
• Having people freak out at me regarding the whereabouts of talent is not awesome. Having George effectively take care of pest problems with more politeness than I've seen in months while still saying 'Hell to the no, thanks for trying'? Definitely awesome.
  
• Freak outs over who got handed the check-in packets for booths? Not awesome. This means you, group of females I won't name who unsuccessfully attempted to drag me into their group drama over what turned out to be nothing. Note to you: remember high school is over!
• Suicide Girls? Awesome and really very nice, most of them.
  
• There were a pair of men who entered into the costume contest who were clothed in whitey tighties and suspenders. Nothing else. They blew glitter at people and one lit their other's chest hair aflame. And they needed a tan.
• The pinnacle of Creepy Basement Nerd asked to take a picture of my hair. From the back. While I was sitting down. This fetish is . . . indefinably creepy.
• I got stopped and thanked a lot for assistance I didn't always remember giving, but thanks to the blue-purple-etc hair, I know I wasn't easy to confuse with someone else. Also, they usually stopped me by name.
• Tim Sale prints sell like good street drugs.
• I forgot my sketchbook. Not. Awesome. At. All. Got no sketches. Also didn't remember to bring the few comics I stashed aside to get signed. Next year, I will not be forgetting any bags.
• Sunday, at the post-show dinner, Quiana and I were table hunting and I spotted one of our regulars at The Stop, Shane, and his boyfriend, the awesome and really very nice Steve Sadowski sitting, so I beelined over there because a) they're great and b) I was feeling way, way too much like a twelve year-old trying to find a cafeteria table. We sat down and there was the uber-fun FerretNick sitting with someone else who I spent fifteen minutes trying to drum up the name to go to the face, knowing I knew him and finally got some whisper assistance to get the job done. Thank you FerretNick. So, it was totally Phil Jimenez, who I totally adore and totally had Infinite Crisis and a few from his run of Wonder Woman in the Forgotten Bag Of Doom to get signed. I'll drop the word 'totally' now, but not awesome. There was really excellent conversation with all of them centering around comics and even dropping over to soap operas and it was all really, really awesome. I loved tossing around words with them and hope next year I'll get an opportunity to do it again. And? Phil is really, really one of the nicest guys in comics. And adorable. He gave me some really wonderful advice about breaking into comics via the written word that I'm beyond appreciative for too.
  
• Monday morning I got to revel in not having to get up at four am to drive people to the airport. I did have two very talkative backseat passengers at seven, though, one of whom took advantage of the fact that I missed him to hit me up for McDonald's pancake breakfast. Bratling.
• Being sad in front of Palindrome disturbs him. Even if he forgets about it entirely later.
  

I'm very certain I'm missing a few tidbit stories that'll occur to me later, but I think that's the highs and the lows. Overall, ECCC is definitely one of the highlights of the year for me, it was a lot of fun and the guys ran the best show yet this year.

I think that's long enough of a post. Welcome to my over-compensation for not posting at all last week.

Also: I think I'm sad. I'm not sure why and it's strange because I am very, very, very rarely sad. It's also annoying.