The Walking Dead

With my love of all things Zombies I have been a huge The Walking Dead fan since I discovered it (better late than never).  One of my goals is to own every issue of the comic produced (which will take a lot of patience and waiting for good prices) but until then I'm willing to accept trades and omnibuses.

Today was a pretty big milestone for me as I pulled in Issue #1, autographed and graded.

Maybe the only thing that will be able to top this is a copy of New Mutants 98 when I finally get one.

Playing Catch up with the Boob Tube

Since going to college I have basically stopped watching TV with the major exception being Football.  As a result I have missed out on a lot of really great shows over the course of that time and am probably still missing out on a ton.  However, this is something I have slowly been trying to rectify by picking up seasons of shows on DVD, Blu-Ray, Amazon Instant Video and watching through Netflix.  

Breaking Bad is currently my favorite show on TV and is probably going to go down as #1 on my all time list of best shows ever put out.  It is amazingly well done, well acted and is full of pure awesome and win.  Last night I finished watching Season 4 (received the package from Amazon on Saturday) and once again I was highly impressed and left wanting more after each episode.  Watching the changes to the characters that have been happening since season 1 has been one hell of a ride and I am stoked that Season 5 (but sad that this is going to be the last season) starts up here in July.  I now have to make a decision to either get a DVR or spend a few bucks a week to download the latest episodes from Amazon.com.  After finishing up Season 4 I don’t think it’s possible for me to actually have to wait until this time next year for Season 5 to come out on Blu-Ray to finish the saga.  I love this show and it will be sorely missed.
The season ended so great that I was elated to see things actually kinda sorta work out for once but knowing that there are still a ton of questions to be asked at the beginning of the new season.
For instance we are left knowing (but maybe forgetting because of the awesome finish) that Mike is still alive and had 100% loyalty to Gustavo.  He was left on an operating table in Mexico (isn’t that how all Mexican vacations end?) and should figure to be a huge factor into the final season.  So much more but I’m going to hold off my excitement until the new (final) season begins.

Next up is my #2 show which is The Walking Dead.  This has the potential to become #1 and out of everything I have watched recently is probably the only show that I can say that about. It’s going to depend on how much I love Season 2 (I have the Blu-Ray pre-ordered from amazon) and Season 3 (which I will follow in real time as well instead of waiting for it to come out on disc).  The Walking Dead also has the distinction of being the only show recently that has actually brought me to tears.  No matter how much I love the drama in Breaking Bad, I still watch the emotional scenes with distance and no hard core feelings - but for The Walking Dead I was hit really hard several times.  Kind of weird, but whatever.

Third is the only other show that I’ll probably be watching in real time (week to week) and that is the newest season of Doctor Who.  Yes - we’ve finally made it to a show that doesn’t take itself so seriously.  It’s still got some drama in it but mostly it’s a lot of goofy fun.  While David Tennant was great I really love Matt Smith and his two seasons have gotten me into the show more than anything.  In fact I feel that the last season might be one of the best scripted seasons of any show I have ever watched.  I’m currently going through it again and there is so much that I missed the first two times through it.  References that just went over my head, or references that I didn’t even know where references until after watching the full season and then coming back to watch the old episodes again.  Brilliant, f’n brilliant.

However, my viewing pleasure does not end there.  There are some shows I want to watch but just haven’t gotten around to.  There are some shows that I’ve started watching but have to catch up on and there are some shows that cause people to look at me like “you ain’t seen that yet? you retarded or something?”

Older Shows that I’ve somehow managed to skip (either mostly or entirely) and really want to watch.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel start off this long list of awesome.  Supernatural and Smallville also fall heavily into the rotation.  Those 4 series will last me a good long time but I’m waiting for some good sales before buying any of them (or I just renew my netflix and do it that way I guess.  Are any of them on netflix?)

I have only watched about 2 seasons worth of Dexter which is an awesome show but I’ve never had HBO or Showtime or whatever channel it’s on and just haven’t found cheap seasons when I’ve been looking.  On a similar note I have never watched any of the Soprano’s and I really want to watch that show. I also need to catch up on Damages - and with that in mind I am horribly disappointed that the company that puts it out only released Season 1 on Blu-Ray and the rest as DVD only. WTF? Seriously?

Some new shows that I will be watching soon thanks to Best Buy offering a 100% trade in bonus on video games recently.  Game of Thrones season 1, Hell on Wheels season 1 and Boardwalk Empire season 1.  They are all waiting for me, patiently I might add.  Now that I’ve finished Breaking Bad I have to figure out which one of these shows I’m going to jump into next.


I'm sure there are a lot of great programs out there that I've been missing, it's just that no one has pointed me in the right direction. So, if you all have recommendations just let me know and I'll probably test drive a few.

Dear Rob Thanks for the ...

Dear Rob (admin and all around swell guy at Robvegaspoker),

I am writing to tell you that I really appreciate your contribution to the get grrouchie rich quick scheme that I am trying to develop. While you may have paid $200 for your blog post you have done something even greater.  You contributed to my "Play video games really loud at night and not disturb the peace" fund.

Yes, that is right.  With some of your contributions to the grrouchie fund you bought the following.

This is for my Playstation 3 gaming and entertainment system

This is for my Xbox 360 gaming system

MmMmmm - Special Edition

Of course, me being a big cheap ass that I am I did not pay full price for any of the above (especially the titties - never pay full price for titties is a lesson I have learned multiple times).  I got them all on sale and some with even further discounts than normal sale price.  So, Overall I am quite happy with you funding my addictions.

The good news is that it does not end there.  No way Jose.
With your contribution to the "buy shit that I was going to pass on because I didn't have a suga daddy donating lots of benji's to me at the poker table" also has me pre-ordering this for when it is released this coming August.

I have also found a whole bunch of other stuff that I'm interested in getting so I do have one question for you, When are you coming back to town so we can play some more?


(All the above was harmless teasing of dear old Rob.  No Robs were hurt in the making of this blog post but in all honesty it was HIS money that went to buying all that shit - and I still have some left over.)

Comic Books

Comic Books - most of us from the dork kingdom have had some form of experience with them over the years. However this is one medium that I pretty much missed out on and am now just starting to get into at my advanced age.
I don't know what it is about them that I never liked - they seemed to be perfect for me.  Maybe it was just the financial commitment that I wasn't able to afford or that most of my money went elsewhere.

In High-School I had gotten into them just a little bit but it was mostly Beavis and Butt-Head and Ren & Stimpy comics that I bothered collecting.  I can only remember one issue of X-Men that I ever bought and that one had something to do with Wolverine fighting The Hulk.

Things that I was more into that took my money:
Trading Cards - Garbage Pail Kids - Serial Killer Cards - Beavis and Butt-Head, etc
Video Games
Magic: The Gathering

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.  The above were already expensive enough so even if I wanted to read comic books I wouldn't have the money for it.  M:TG was by far the most expensive hobby that I had but at the time it was well worth everything I ever put into it.  The joy of opening packs, sealed deck drafts, going to big and small tournaments, driving to Columbus Ohio for Regionals every year, Pittsburgh for States, etc.  I loved every minute of it.
I cringed a little bit when I parted with some of my favorite cards even if it was for a good cause.
It hurt when I parted with my Nicol Bolas deck (even if I did buy my first car with that money) and trading away the Beta Black Lotus and my Power 9 - I still cringe when I hear what kind of value is associated with those cards now compared to when I had them.
But, time moved on and I moved to Vegas and stopped playing the game.  I still have a binder or two of some of my favorite cards at the time that I just never parted with and I look through them from time to time for nostalgia but most of the time I have no desire to ever play again (unless there is a pre-release and then I keep telling myself I should just play in those for the fun of it).

So, now I'm older and my tastes have changed again and I'm just starting to get into comic books.
It all started, innocently enough, with The Walking Dead.  I love zombies - a lot.
I know everyone was raving about the TV show and I really wanted to watch it but I was treating it like a movie that was coming out based on a book.  Most of the time I like to have read that book first so I can compare and contrast - and generally the books is better because it has more info and detail.
So, I picked up Issue 1 of The Walking Dead one day on the way to work and really loved it.  I started looking into collections on Ebay and stuff so I could catch up and that's when a Google Search turned up comixology which just happened to be releasing the first 5 volumes of The Walking Dead with a 50% off sale.  You can't beat that with a stick (you have to shoot them in the head) so I bought all five volumes hoping that I'd be able to get into the series and it wouldn't let me down.

So then I started asking around about what other comics were out there to read and what others recommend and man is the comic book universe vast.  There is just too much good stuff to catch up on and I'm really going to have to figure out a system and a budget for what I want to read and what I can afford.
My new habit is forming and it appears to be stronger than crack.
I've been grabbing a lot of free issues to give things a try and have found some good and some pretty blah. I have not settled on what exactly I want to read consistently just yet but I have found a few.

I will catch up to current production of The Walking Dead.  I love everything I have read so far.
Detective Comics have been pretty damned good for the 1st 5 issues that I have read so I will probably continue there.

Maybe my 1st comic related Tat!!

I just started Vol 3 of Deadpool and he is right up my alley. I bought a few issues since they were on sale and I'm really liking what I'm getting into right now.  However, the one thing that gets me is when, during an issue, they make reference to something that happened elsewhere - in a different comic - and they tell you exactly where it was (Wolverine Origins issue #21-#25) and I immediately want to jump ship over there in those issues so that I can follow along fully.
I've got an addictive personality - when I really get into something it consumes me and I want more.  Where is my rich, loving, supporting future ex wife when I need her?

For now I think I am going to focus mainly on just The Walking Dead and Dead Pool so that I can get caught up.  Once both of those are caught up to current issues I will figure other things out from there.
If I allow myself a 3rd series then it's going to be Irredeemable which is essentially a "what if Superman went bad" with different characters of course.  I've read 3-5 of the issues and really like it. I know that the series just recently ended as the last issue came out this month so I'm hoping there is a sale that will allow me to buy a bunch of the issues cheaper than normal.
There are other series that I really want to read, Avengers vs X-Men for instance (but I'm not paying $3.99 per issue honestly) but I can catch up to them when they are released as a collection I guess.

Now, pass me a beer and my Kindle Fire and let me start reading.

The Walking Dead

I spent the last few days working on fixing my computer and reading/watching The Walking Dead.
I've always been a zombie fan and knew once the TV show came out that I'd love it.  So, when season 1 got released on Blue Ray I immediately picked one up even though it took me until yesterday to actually put it in my PS3 to watch.  Yeah, I procrastinate.  I have to be in the right mood for something or I'm willing to leave it on my shelf for years.
However, before I started watching it I decided to start reading the comics.  Now, right before Season 2 started to air I bought Issue #1 on the way to work and really enjoyed it.  Wasn't a big fan of the whole Black/White thing with no color but it was still well drawn and the story was good.  This is when I decided to buy more.
I had headed back to the comic store a day or so later and looked into getting Vol 1 but what I saw was an awesome hard cover version that was selling for way too much. So, instead of buying it I headed home to research where to find it cheaper.
Turns out that by doing research I stumbled upon the Comixology app for my Kindle Fire and decided that:
1) to save space
2) because it's cheaper
3) easier to find what I want when I want
I decided that I would just enter the direction that companies are pushing us and enter the digital age for comics. (Since this time I have bought some older comics off Ebay, but those are going to be exceptions and not the rule).  So, I found everything at the right time because The Walking Dead had just been released digitally for the first time and Vol 1-5 were all on sale for half off.
I instantly purchased all of them (after having only read one issue) and downloaded them.

This brings us to maybe two weeks ago when I finally decided to start reading them.  Yes, I put EVERYTHING off until I'm good and damned well ready.  I had other comics that I was reading as I'm trying to get into comics for the first time ever (You'd think this would be something that would have been up my alley for decades - but for some reason my comic collections consisted of Beavis and Butt-Head, Ren and Stimpy and a few Rock and Roll comics.  Sometimes I would pick up an X-Men if the cover looked cool.  I tried to get into the new superman stuff after they killed him off and he somehow multiplied into like 6 people. But I never stuck with it).

I read through the 1st 5 volumes pretty quickly and was dying to read more.  I had a debate on whether I was going to keep buying them and reading along or if I was going to just finally watch the TV show and the TV show won out.  I am damned happy that I finally watched it.  It was fucking brilliant.
I really love how they use some of the comic but then veer off onto their own path with differing story lines and different characters.  Watching the show I really missed a couple of the characters in the books but after two episodes I really started to appreciate the new characters and the fact that I wouldn't know everything that was going to happen.

Now, I'm not an emotional guy when it comes to movies and TV shows and stuff. I've watched a whole bunch of chick-flicks in my time and whatnot and for the most part they never affected me.  However, in 6 episodes of The Walking Dead I had more emotional reaction to the hardships of these characters than I think I have had in the past decade of watching movies.  Three of the episodes had me a little teary eyed and the Season Finally had me shed one or two.  That was pretty damned weird if you ask me.  However - I cannot wait for season 2 to be released so I can run through it as well.
I'm probably going to have to get a DVR so that I can start following along with season 3 when it starts because I don't really want to wait another year+ in order to catch it.

Now, I really need to start reading through the other 70 comic book issues so that I can catch up on the story there.
Volume 5 ended amazingly well and Volume 6 is set up to be f'n amazing plot wise.
I will also be picking up the episodic releases of the Video Game that came out within the past month.  That is probably where I will take the story next before heading back to the Comic Books.