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This past week has been a very nice week for my brain and eyes, and a very bad one for my wallet. I went to Powerbooks in ATC once, and to ComicQuest in Festival Mall twice. Twice! All for the love of comic books. Yeah. It�s my disease. Some people have an addiction with shoes. Some with textmates. Some with pirated DVDs. Some with useless trinkets. Mine is with the wonderful combination of dynamic artwork and great literature of sequential art. Here�s my review (if you can call it that) of this week’s acquisitions:

Daily Bugle Civil War Newspaper Special #1: Yeah. It’s not in the traditional comic book format. It’s in the form of a fictional newspaper. For those who are not familiar with Spider-Man (what, you haven’t even seen the movies?!), The Daily Bugle newspaper is where Peter Parker worked as a freelance photographer. This “newspaper” chronicles some of the major storylines revolving around Marvel Comics’ Civil War event, which has gained so much US media attention, especially when Spider-Man unmasked himself in public. I really liked how the writers executed this as a “real” newspaper. It gives you the feeling that you’re living in the fictional world of Marvel. It’s like you’re really reading about real-world current events. Plus, it’s only Php 20.00. Hehe.Brave New World: Basically, it’s a preview of six new titles (Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters, OMAC, Martian Manhunter, The Trials of Shazam!, The All-New Atom, and The Creeper) from DC Comics. Out of the six preview stories, only the one featuring Captain Marvel was interesting for me. The others were just blah. And there’s also a “surprise” on the last page, but I didn’t give a shit.

52 #10 and #11: The only weekly comics in the US. Some plot points are dull, but the weekly frequency gives me the satisfaction of reading the story without waiting for a whole freakin’ month before the next issue comes. For these 2 issues, it was awesome to see Clark Kent (I swear, I’ll poke your eyes if you don’t know the dude) being a kick-ass reporter and a new Batwoman on the scene. By the way, Batwoman is lesbian. A really hot, athletic, and sophisticated red-haired lesbian. God, I love comics.

Ghost Rider #1: Come on. You have to admit that a dude with a flaming skull as a head riding on a flaming motorcycle looks freakin’ cool. I’ve never been a fan of comic books starring a single character, but I think I�ll be sticking with Ghost Rider for the foreseeable future. The pacing of the story is nice, not to mention the art by Mark Texeira who was one of my early favorite artists because of his work on Marvel trading cards.

X-Men #188 and Uncanny X-Men #476: I’ve given up on these titles a couple of years ago since I got tired of repeating storylines and shallow characterizations. Now, these titles have new creative teams, so I decided to give them another try. And I’ve fallen in love with the 2 X-books again. Sabretooth is one of my favorite characters because he kicks so much ass, and it’s good to see he�s on the X-Men. Rogue is also a fave character (the movies ruined her!) of mine and it’s great that she�s now front and center of the adjectiveless X-Men team. Over on “Uncanny”, I’m digging Warpath. I never found him interesting before. Now, he’s badass. Props also go to Billy Tan as the “Uncanny” artist. He draws a wonderful Polaris and a yummy Marvel Girl. Hehe.

Cable & Deadpool #30: I gave this title a try because of a review I read on a website somewhere. It�s also a tie-in to Civil War, so what the heck. And I found it completely satisfying. This is probably the funniest comic book I’ve read. Ever. Deadpool not immediately realizing that he doesn’t have an internal monologue? Pure genius! This was the first time I laughed (not really that loud, of course) on almost every page of a comic book. It’s now part of my monthly pull-list.

X-Factor #9: It’s funny. It’s amusing. The dialogue is superb. The art is moody. The face-off between X-Factor and the Astonishing X-Men didn’t contain much action, but it was kickass! Who knew that Madrox the Multiple Man would be so interesting? And that Layla kid is so creepy. She knows stuff.

Justice League of America #0: It’s a set-up for the #1 issue next month, but it’s more than that. It gives you the most interesting points in the JLA�s history, and more interesting points in its possible future. Brad Meltzer, the writer who also gave us Identity Crisis (one of my favorite comic book stories of all time), gives Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman personalities. Real personalities. I particularly liked how he presented Batman and Wonder Woman’s reactions to Superman’s “death”. It was heart-wrenching.

Civil War #3: The lines are drawn here. It’s super-hero versus super-hero. Brother against brother. Clash of ideas and beliefs. I would have liked it more if Mark Millar, the writer, decompressed the story more. Sure, Steve McNiven’s art looks absolutely gorgeous, but it was full of “widescreen moments”. Nevertheless, each and every page cracks with excitement over the bigger battle that is imminent. The last page would have been so much cooler if it wasn’t spoiled to me by online assholes. Pfft.

Ultimate Fantastic Four: The Fantastic: Collecting Ultimate Fantastic Four issues 1-6, this trade gives us a fresh look into the First Family of comics, the Fantastic Four. It reads like a movie, and it�s actually better than the movie in terms of writing and concept. Well, at least for me. I still love the movie because of Jessica Alba. Hehe. Anyway, this collection didn’t impress me enough to think seriously about getting the second collection, but it amused me enough to consider it.

Y: The Last Man: Unmanned: I saw Y: The Last Man trade paperbacks in the “Graphic Novels” section of Powerbooks and I decided to give it a try. This one is volume 1, and it collects issues 1-5. I�m a super-hero comic guy, but I do try something else once in a while. And I’m glad I did with “Y”. I enjoyed each and every twist of the story, and the characters are well-defined. The concept (mammals with a Y chromosome instantly dies all at the same time, save for a dude named Yorrick Brown and his pet monkey, Ampersand) alone makes the story so interesting and stimulating. Brian K. Vaughan is now one of my favorite writers. He’s awesome. Kudos also to Pia Guerra for the seemingly innocent artwork, which gives the gruesome scenes a more disturbing feel.

Sorry, wallet. I promise I won’t hurt you this much next time. Let’s both give thanks to my employer for giving us the ammo to get this much loot in a week’s time. Hehe.

I am not a futurist. I can’t predict what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, or 10 years from now. I can’t anticipate the future even if I try. So I just don’t.

I did not foresee last week that I would be bringing a Shakey’s Manager’s Choice pizza to my mother, my father, and my aunts at the Asian Hospital last monday. My mom had a very high fever so she was required to be confined for a couple of days. It was their first real taste of my salary. 6 months after I got my first payslip from my current job. I was both proud and ashamed.

I did not foresee 6 months ago that I will last this long on my job. First, I told myself that I’ll probably won’t even make it to 2 months. But here I am. A regular employee of one of the biggest call centers in the world. I was so surprised that I made it this long that I celebrated by purchasing the DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to complete my LOTR DVD collection, and the Ultimate Fantastic Four: The Fantastic and Y: The Last Man: Unmanned trade paperbacks. Geek heaven.

I did not foresee during my graduation that I would still be seeking the sanctuary and warmth of UPLB even when most of the familiar places and faces there are already gone. I never anticipated that I would love UPLB so much up to the point where I’m making the unfamiliar people and spots… well… familiar.

I am nowhere near being a futurist. Every freaking day, it’s always a brave new world for me. It’s not Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World where everything is so different that it’s scary. It’s a brave new world where everything is both familiar and refreshingly new. There are always shiny old things and new familiar faces. Nothing stays the same. Nothing is perfect. The imperfection of the world requires me to yearn for tomorrow. A chance to be better. And discover new flaws. New cracks in the big bad brave new world.

I don’t mind cracks. God puts cracks in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

Telecommuting. Working from home or another location outside the regular workplace. Gas prices being as high as they are now, it sounds like a good idea, right? And for someone who drives to work and constantly rants about gas prices and how the big oil companies are screwing the little guys, I should be a big fan of this. But I’m not. I still prefer the daily commute instead of teleconferencing, telemeeting, telebrainstorming, and teleflirting. There’s something about separating home and the workplace that makes me squint whenever I see a job posting on Jobstreet that includes the term “telecommute”.

There’s something about the “alone time” I get when driving to and from work. It’s different from the “alone time” I get when I’m in my room or when I’m on “the throne” having a cig. It’s the cool breeze that hits me in the face while I’m on the expressway. It’s the rush I get when I cut someone off just because I can. It’s the chance to sing my heart out until my voice gives out. There’s something about getting the chance to sing “Narda” and “Elbi Nights” without thinking about someone telling me to shut the hell up.

There’s also something about meeting your co-workers face-to-face. Yes, it’s better to have your supervisor tell you what you’re doing wrong in ALL CAPS via instant messaging rather than have him/her shout at you in the workplace, but that’s boring. Not to mention you won’t be able to flirt with co-workers using eye contact. Online flirting just sounds stupid and lame to me. How can you read body language when all you can see is a cutesy pic on Friendster or a blurry headshot on a webcam?

Today’s instant/text-messaging, internet-surfing, teleconferencing society may be open to the idea of telecommuting, but I still don’t buy it. The separation between home and work is still one of my needs. Gas prices be damned.

My family is my home by default. It may not feel like it sometimes, but it’s my home, first and last. But what I’m looking for is that home where even when faced with a great unknown, I would not falter. No fears. No lies. Just peace. Just love. Just… home.

I spent 7 years of mirth, merriment, and mayhem in college. I declared UPLB my second home. My second family. Even after graduating, coming back to dear ol’ eLBi was like coming back home. But coming back home these days is not like what it used to be. It’s… different. These days, whenever I come back there, I feel indifferent. Like something’s changed. Like I don’t belong in that familiar place. Like it’s not home anymore.

The Ex recently called. A couple of years ago, the warmth of her embrace was home to me. The passion of her kisses. The care in her voice. The love in her eyes. Home. But now, she’s just a girl with a really cool nickname. The Ex. Pfft. I couldn’t come back home to her even if I wanted to.

So where or to whom do I come back home now? Like that idiot Hansel (brother to that witch-killer Gretel), I just left breadcrumbs all over my life, expecting that they’ll lead me back home if ever I get lost in the thick wicked forest of the world. Breadcrumbs that became dinner for the birds. My sick and sad world’s birds. And I feel I have yet to meet The Witch. And I don’t have a Gretel to save my sorry ass. I’m so totally screwed.

I should have used white pebbles.