Old comics and great videos

I should be in bed right now, but the internet is actually working properly so I figured I'd update my woefully underupdated blog. After all, if there's one thing the 'net needs, it's another blog to be updated!

The comic store that I frequent has been having this truly awesome back issue sale where many of their back issues are 50 cents. Having sold my entire 4000+ comics collection a while back because I needed money (a decision which I regret to this day), this sale warms my heart. Comics fill me with much joy and I find that just being surrounded by them makes me happy. Since one of my dreams is to one day own my own comic store, this could be construed as a good thing. I've probably bought 200 comics during this sale ad will probably continue to buy many more as long as the sale goes on. My problem is that I will read pretty much any and every comic out there, which is how I can accumulate so many.

One of the comics that I have bought a number of in this sale is the old Marvel Two-In-One series which featured the Thing and a special guest star:



I never read this series as it was pretty much over by the time I started reading comics that weren't Spider-Man or G.I. Joe and I never picked up any back issues. I never really liked the Thing as a kid or even as a quasi-adult (read:teenager) so I tended to pass over things (ha! get it?) that included him. Nevertheless, as my mind has widened with age I found myself willing to give this series a chance, and am I gald I did! Great stories, great art, and just plain and simple fun permeate the pages of this series. (For a picture gallery of covers check out http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/marvel-two-in-one and tell them I sent you. You won't get anything special, but hey, at least you can feel important). The series is light-hearted but still has enough character, angst, drama, etc. to make you forget about all of these "adult" themed comics out there that would rather offend and sicken than entertain and remember the days of good stories with solid characters and creators that didn't take themselves too seriously.

Another good thing has come from this comic however, and that is Megaforce:



I never saw this movie nor did I really know it existed until I saw an ad for it in the Marvel Two-In-One comics. This move looks like it sucks, and for all the right reasons. You've got bad special effects, terrible acting, a cheesy soundtrack, and a protagonist who really wants to be Chuck Norris but hasn't realized that no one, not even the Dairy Queen herself, can be that cool. Nevertheless, he tries, and he is part of what makes this move so crappy and oh so great. If only they would still make movies like this today.

Well, that's all for now. I leave you with this sad, shocking, and highly hilarious video:



"I didn't have it locked!"

Apology

It's been far more than a fortnight since I've written anything anywhere. Some of you who considered me a "friend" are probably wondering what happened to me, others of you have probably not given me a second thought. That's fine, it's not like I hold the fate of the world in my hands or anything (though once I get Dr. Doom's time platform I shall finally gain the power I crave! Muahahahahaha!!!!!). Seriously though, I feel like I owe so many people out there an explanation and an apology. So, here goes.

About 7 months ago or so my wife found out that her job was being terminated. Without getting into details that would only lead to name-calling and finger-pointing, suffice it to say that without her extra income we could no longer afford to live in Virginia Beach, so we decided to move to Tennessee where my stepmother owned a house that was available for rent. Through a series of miracles (or coincidences if you can't bring yourself to believe in miracles) we got the house and our wonderful friend Melissa moved with us...with no jobs and very few prospects. But hey, what's life without adventure, and how could we call ourselves Christians without believing that somehow God would aid us? Now, 7 months and some change later here we are with jobs and an extra roommate (my brother-in-law Lee) and things are starting to look up.

That's the background. Simple, short, all those things we as Americans love. So now we get to what the point of this blog is. Shortly after we moved here I asked people on the YoJoe! forums if they had any comic books for sale because I wanted to buy them. Numerous people messaged me and I said I would get back to them, except I never did. Now, this might seem like a little thing to you, but it's not to me. I try my best to be an honorable and truthful person, though like us all I fail at times. I considered the guys on the forums to be like a mini-family and I took my good name there very seriously. By setting these people up with the hope that I would buy their comics and thus give them some extra money, then pretty much dropping off the face of the earth for months, I feel that I betrayed them and tarnished my good name on the forums. Maybe I'm overreacting...it's happened before. But I want to say that I am sorry from the very bottom of my being for any ill-will I may have caused by my actions.

My reason for dropping off the face of the earth in a sense is simple: depression. Yes, I struggle with depression and at times it can be pretty severe. Those of you who don't suffer with it may not be able to understand how it affects people, but it basically makes you not want to do anything. I didn't want to read, write, collect toys, watch movies, etc. In short, I didn't want to do anything I loved doing, and while I chalked it up to various things like the price of toys being insanely high (which they really are) it boils down to the fact that instead of doing the things I love I was busy fending off thoughts ranging from how worthless I am to how I should end it all...if you know what I mean. Depression is a scary thing, and it steals your life from you even if you don't take the final step. What scares me more is that there are people who are very dear to me who have also struggled with depression, gotten "help" via medication, and then that same medication caused them to commit suicide. My Uncle David was one such person, and I miss him every day.

So there you go. I know this is pretty heavy stuff for this blog, but I needed to explain myself and I needed to get it off my chest. I'm not looking for pity or sympathy, just understanding. I want to write again, because it is in writing that I find joy and release, and the depression lifts from me while I am doing it. So, I will do my damnedest to update this blog on a regular basis, which may be hard since I have crusty internet service at the moment, and I hope that it will be as enjoyable for you to read as it is for me to write.

I hate to end this on a down note, so I won't. My buddy Paul from Toybender (who sent me a Snarfariffic gift not-so-long-ago) posted pics from SDCC of the Battle Cat from the MOTU line that Mattel has out now. In case you haven't seen it, here's a pic:



That, my friends, is a thing of beauty. I hear a rumor that they will re-release He-Man so he can ride Battle Cat into battle and if that's the case, Mattel has become my favorite toy company. I bathe in the sweat of the creators of this line.

Well, I've become longwinded, so it's off to do something constructive...which will most likely turn into something counter-productive.