Join the Rebel Alliance!

So you'd think by now that I'm all ready and rarin' to go for the upcoming (and oft-mentioned) C4 Convention  to be held at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, Friday Oct. 29th - Sunday Oct. 31st 2010.

Well, turns out I`m not quite ready. I assume that I will be by that time, but at the moment, I`m just trying to get all the little details together for the con .... business cards, signage, flyers, price tags, displays, etc... Although I will have a relatively modest stock of items compared to some of the other vendors that will be there, I do intend to sell a lot of comics and figures as well as reveal to the general public some of my favorite examples of my own personal photography, partcularly that which falls within the realm of Sci-Fi & Fantasy (check out my pics on this blog and in my Flickr Account ).

Anyway, although I consider myself to be the founder, CEO and dare I say Admiral of Rebel Alliance Canada , it is still..... an Alliance of One. Me. (Cool how that all fits together, eh!)

I believe it is time to recruit,....


There has been a great disturbance in the Force...our scanners indicate that the Winnipeg system has long been devoid of intelligent lifeforms...or at least it could use a lot more people who appreciate the finer forms of entertainment -  like comic books, Sci-Fi , Anime, Fantasy and the like... Not to say that us fans aren`t out there....but we need our voice to be heard....


That`s where YOU come in.


So you may say to yourself :
``I can't get involved! I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now.``

To that, I say :
``Well, that`s your Uncle talking. You must do what you feel is right, of course...``


To make a long (Episodes I-VI) story short:
 ``I need your help, (insert your name here).  She needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing....``



Okay, so I`m not really too old for this sort of thing...the Comic Book Guy on Simpsons might be older than me...but I do genuinely need help....

Rebel Alliance Canada will be making its public debut at Winnipeg Comic Con 2010, but after that titanic event, the struggle will continue. The reason I named this venture as I did was because I happen to know a lot of hugely creative, talented and cool people (yeah, you know who you are), and I`ve always had the crazy notion that if we could all just work together to market our imaginative powers we`d be millionaires..... or at the least make a few bucks on the side with a little effort. I intend to return to the Comic Con next year, as well as to continue selling on Ebay (and other possible sources) all year round. Yes, right now, the business primarily sells my own art and comic books, but I`m looking to go beyond that and help you sell your stuff and vice-versa. If you`ve got some of your own artwork you`d like to sell or some of your collection of comics or action figures that you`d like to unload, I may be able to help you with this. Space permitting, I can try to promote or sell just about anything you want, as long as it`s legal, in good taste and somehow sci-fi,comic or pop culture related.

If you are interested in this proposal, please contact me via email or leave me a comment on the blog. (I`ll be putting up a Facebook page soon, so stay tuned for more linky goodness with that too) With your help, the Alliance will grow stronger.



``Help me (insert your name here)..... you`re my only hope...``


*** p.s. ***

Although I know that some folks in other countries have seen my blog (Thank You, Denmark!!), I`m afraid that I can only extend my offer of allegiance to those in the immediate vicinity at this time. That being said, if you are nowhere near Winnipeg, please don`t go away! Keep checking back for updates & photos to see how things develop. Take heart! It`s only a matter of time before
the Alliance brings the Good Fight to your territory!

As always,

May the Force be with you...

They always travel in pairs...

 I thought I'd knock some more stuff off of the list.... Here's a trio of pairs for you - two comics, two action figures and two movies. The comics and figures are for sale. The movies are not. Once again, look for Rebel Alliance Canada at this year's Central Canada Comic Con in Winnipeg, Halloween weekend.

Just don't punch me in the face if I gave one of your favorite movies a bad review. That'd be bad for business.

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MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE

ANNUAL # 7

I remember reading this as a kid and thinking at the time that this was the coolest comic - ever! I read a friend's copy, and then awhile later I wasn't friends with him any more and I forgot all about the comic. I forgot the name of the series and never really bothered to look for it in the comic bins. Finally, last year, I saw it on Ebay, and seeing the cover brought back all of those memories, not just about the comic itself, but mostly about my old friend and some of the reasons we're not friends anymore.....anyway, that's a whole other story, not suited for this blog....maybe more suited for a therapy session...

Anyway, about the comic.........of course I bought it from Ebay, and then later in the year I picked up another copy at the Comic Con here in Winnipeg. I would be happy to own at least 10 copies of this issue. It's just that good. All you really need to do is look at the cover, and if you're a Marvel Comics fan, you'll instantly recognize just exactly how bitchin' this is. All of the strongest superheroes in one book - Thing, Hulk, Thor, Sasquatch, Colossus, Sub-Mariner, Wonder Man....they're all there. The story involves the Champion, an ultra powerful Elder of the Universe who travels the universe to fight and defeat all of the strongest beings on every planet he comes to. Long story short, he basically kidnaps all of the abovementioned heroes and fights them all one-on-one in the boxing ring, and whoops all of their asses (except Namor the Sub-Mariner who is disqualified before he makes it into the ring). Of course, being his comic book, the Thing is the last to fight the Champion after the rest have been either pummled silly or disqualified. Of course he gets schooled too (the Champion is just that tough), but he's somehow able to take such a terrible beating and keep getting up for more. The Champ is impressed, so he stops the fight and gives a speech about the 'indomitable will of earthmen'. Then he lets everyone go and takes off.

The storyline is pretty simplistic and more than a little ridiculous, but this Annual is pretty indicative of the type of stuff you see in the regular series of Marvel Two-in-One. Unlike it's far superior parent series Fantastic Four, it's not about the story - it's about the Thing punching stuff. He-teams up with other heroes (who usually provide whatever shred of a storyline there is), and they all punch stuff together.

I like it. It's one of those all-star ' who's the toughest superhero' comics. Wicked awesome.

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RED WOLF # 3

About 90% of the comics I own are superhero comics. So sue me. I like to read other stuff too, but I just like the idea of super powers and saving the world and junk. There's a lot of good stuff in the remaining 10% too; Horror, Comedy, Mystery, Fanatsy, Western....

Red Wolf is kind of a hybrid Western/Superhero thing from the early Bronze Age of comics.  A little weird, but better than a lot of other Westerns because it's told from the Native American point of view - albeit a somewhat inaccurate depiction of Native life. 

This is the only issue of Red Wolf that I have, so I can't tell you a lot about the character or the series. I bought this one mostly for the cover. I wanted to see the filthy white rapists get their comeuppance and get torn to shreds by those wolves....

 To be quite honest, the story is pretty much like every other Marvel western and the art is good but not exactly dazzling either. Still, it's a good read for the genre, and at least it's not full of panels of the good guy shooting the guns out of the outlaws' hands...

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Waylan Smithers - The Simpsons

 World of Springfield

Hasbro

You all know him. We all know his secret. We've all seen his Monty Burns screen saver ("Smithers....you....really...know how to...turn...me...on...").  We know that, even though he's the right hand man of the most evil and powerful man in Springfield, he's still a pretty good and decent guy.

His action figure is not exceptional, but Mr. Burns wouldn't be complete without him.

Speaking of.....

 

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Montgomery Burns - The Simpsons

World of Springfield

Hasbro

Superman has Lex Luthor. The Fantastic Four has Dr. Doom. What the Simpsons have got is Mr. Burns. Weirdest thing about all of them is that even though all of these arch-enemies are inherently evil, the heroes always seem to share some bond with the baddies and end up working with them from time to time. Some of the funniest Simpsons gags are when Homer and Burns get together;  like when Homer becomes Burns' prank monkey or when they're buried under the avalanche together. Then again, Homer throwing Burns off of the balcony at the power plant a la Darth Vader/Emperor was a good one too.

Burns and Smithers were recently accquired by me. I got them loose with all of the pictured accessories. I especially like the fat stacks of cash that Burns has. These'll work great in action figure photo shoots.

Excellent.

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Planet Hulk (2010)

Pretty simple premise for this story: The Hulk is launched into space by his fellow Avengers for being a threat to humankind. He lands on an alien planet, gets captured and finds himself in a Russell Crow/Gladiator-type scenario. The world is ruled by the tyrannical Red King, and after initially just wanting to be left alone, the Hulk joins the fight to overthrow him, and becomes the new ruler after defeating him. In the comics, the whole Planet Hulk storyline was just part of a larger story arc followed by World War Hulk. Before I go any further, let me just say that I've never read either, so I'm coming at this as a casual fan of the Hulk.

I was a little disappointed with the animation - not that it was bad, but it didn't do proper justice to the otherwise epic feel of the story. You might say it looked like a comic book, but sadly it looked more like a comic book from 20 years ago. The visuals were by no means terrible, but I guess I had my expectations inflated by the cover and the impressive title sequence (seems like they poured more manpower and tech into this than the actual movie - there's even a 'Making of the Title Sequence' in the special features on the DVD).

Somewhat predictable and very little new ideas in the story. The only thing that's different about the Hulk in this one is that he seems to be more intelligent and restrained than we're used to seeing in the films, but the Smart Hulk concept has already been used a kajillion times in the comics. Basically, they could have dropped the Thing or even Superman in a similar situation and it would have played out the same.

A little disappointing, but not a complete waste if you're a comic book fan. It was pretty cool to see the Hulk fight with a sword and beat the snot out of some aliens and robots for 90 minutes or so...

Overall, I give it a B-

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Kick - Ass  (2010)

Everybody in the world has already reviewed this film...I guess that's a testament to all the controversy surrounding it or just how good of a movie it really is. I knew of the movie before it came out, having read about it at Marvel.com. The story sounded good, and I had heard that the comics were awesome, but coming from the people who actually produce it and were planning on making the movie before the comic even came out, well........I was skeptical.

I didn't pay much attention to it by the time it hit theatres, and I noticed it months later on the video store shelves. I wanted to rent it initially, but then (going against my own advice) I read the critics' quotes on the box. Even though these things are always basically lies and half-truths, you can get a sense of who the movie is being marketed to.

One quote said:

"Irreverently Entertaining - USA Today"

OK, so that says it might be a little raunchy and different from other superhero movies. I can swallow that. (As a side note, it seems like every shitty movie in existence still manages to get a few positive words from USA Today. Maybe they're, like, too nice to say that a movie blows dead goats.) 

The second quote is the one that got me though:

"One of the most WILDLY ENTERTAINING, crowd pleasing ACTION films since KILL BILL"

- NYC Movie Guru

Red flags goin' up everywhere for me. First off, I hated the 45 minutes or so that I saw of  Kill Bill. It's just not for me. Almost without exception, I dislike just about everything Q. Tarantino has done, so please don't drag his irreverent ass into this.  The highlighting of the text set me off too. Most people priobably don't read the whole description when they're looking for movies to rent (having most likely already decided when they saw the trailer online or on TV), so they're probably only going to grab those few words that stand out.

"Hmmmm... let's see....irreverently entertaining...wildly entertaining....action....Kill Bill...

Sounds bloody and funny - and entertaining! Let's get it, Honey!"

Are we all such sheep? I hope not, but I must have some sheepishness in me because I eventually took it home, only after my third chance to rent it - I chose Planet Hulk the previous time instead. I'm a superhero/comic book fan (just look at any given blog entry of mine) and the comic source appealed to me. Most comics on the shelves nowadays have to have a solid story (certainly better than screenwriters obviously need), so I figured it would at least have that.

If you've read this far, you might think by now that I didn't like Kick-Ass. Not true. I actually loved it. I just can't get over the way this and every other movie is made and marketed to us these days...

 It was quirky and very moving in some parts, and outrageously ridiculous in just the right places. I thought it could have used a bit of a filter on the violence, but since it's seemingly targeted at the Kill Bill audience, I can understand why they made it the way they did. I will not get involved in the discussion about an 11 year-old girl hacking up bad guys and spouting profanity. Make your own decisions. If anything, I was surprised at how the shocking violence of the movie somehow seemed to enhance the realism of the story (but then they blew that away with the jet pack at the end).

I think what I liked most was the humor of the movie. It was pretty funny watching a dumb kid in a wetsuit trying to look like a superhero, and the Kick-Ass/Red Mist quasi-slapfight at the end was a nice contrast to the other hardcore kung fu battle going on in the other room.

Okay, so basically I'm admitting that I was wrong. The quotes, with the exception of the Kill Bill wave, we're right. It was irreverently entertaining. I just hope I can forgive myself this time.

A

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Any questions or comments are welcome! Have a good one!

May the Force be with you...

The Pretty Good, the Not Bad and the WTF??

For the last couple weeks, I've been on somewhat of a movie bender. I'd love to tell you about all of the films I've seen, but the list just keeps getting longer and longer. In an effort to stem the tide, here's some recent highlights. (Someday, I'll catch up...)

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Superman/Batman - Public Enemies (2010)

No, it's not 'Superman/Batman vs Public Enemy'....that would just be too awesome for human eyes. I'll bet Chuck D and Flava Flav would give Clark and Bruce a good run for their money...

Seriously, this is another well-written and action-packed full-length animated feature from Warner Bros and DC Comics (adapted straight from the comic books, no less). It doesn't really give you any new insight on either Batman or Superman, but it does shed a little light on the relationship these two have, having worked together on about seven thousand different cases. It's what you'd call a 'Buddy Superhero' movie...like a buddy cop movie, but without the crude childish humor, and everyone is ultra-buff and wears spandex 24/7.

The story is this: Lex Luthor (yes, him again) manages to get himself elected as President, and makes 'Meta Humans' (ie: superheroes) like the Justice League into a government-controlled agency. This in itself sounds a little too much like Marvel Comics' far superior Civil War storyline, but I'll buy into it. Superman and Batman refuse to work with Luthor, so Lex frames Supes for the murder of Metallo (one of the more powerful villains in DC, I think) who was supposed to have 'gone legit'. There's a billion dollar bounty on Superman's head, and every villain and hero in the world wants to collect that paycheck.

It's exciting stuff and an interesting story if you can keep up with all the betrayals and redemptions and the abundance of super powered pugulism going on. Even though Batman is one of the main characters in it, don't expect your usual Dark Knight type storyline here. This film shows how truly amazing it is that the

B-Man can run with the big boys and give em a good fight, and not just swoop down out of the dark upon unsuspecting purse-snatchers.

This one is probably for comic book fans only. I couldn't get my wife to watch this in a million years. Poor woman doesn't even know what she's missing....

A-

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Freaky Friday (2003)

Obviously, I didn't pick this one out myself. This was picked by my 6 year-old daughter for 'family movie night'. Having never seen anything starring Lindsay Lohan before, I guess I had a morbid curiosity about her. I wanted to see if she really was 'all that' (Do people still say that?). Well anyway, she ain't.... I never cared much for Jamie Lee Curtis either, for that matter. She's just a little too 'man-ish' for my tastes.

All my prejudices aside however, this wasn't that awful. I like the concept of the movie - the whole switching bodies and seeing-life-through-the-eyes-of-another thing. There were a good number of funny moments too, such as Jamie Lee with a 15 year-old brain driving 80 miles an hour everywhere she goes, or Lindsay with a 40 year-old mind trying to pretend she knows how to play guitar at the all-too-familiar 'Battle of the Bands' scene near the end.

Sappy ending, lots of cheesy chick-punk rock songs, dramatic twist at the end of Act II, the hard-of-hearing grandpa, the stuck-up cheerleader rival girl and of course the quirky smart-alec little brother - these are all key ingredients to be found in just about every bit of so-called 'entertainment' oozing from Disney these days. Unoriginal, predictable and squeaky-clean pseudo-rebellious themes are what made this American Movie Dynasty, and they are not about to stop now.

I guess I can try to open my eyes to the views of others and say that, although I would have rather been sleeping, it was worth watching it and having a laugh with my kids. It could have been far, far worse.

C

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Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode 2

Don't know what can be said about this....if you like Star Wars, you've got to find this at least slightly amusing, if not drop-dead hilarious. Personally, I love Star Wars (duh) and I love Robot Chicken, even if they go a little overboard sometimes. That being said, it's not quite as funny as Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode 1. Seth MacFarlane's Emporer Palpatine is really annoying in this one and hogs a lot of screen time. He's played in the same arrogant, insulting vein as Stewie from Family Guy - a show and character I personally could really do without ..... and I'm getting pretty sick of the R.C. version of Boba Fett....It gets a little tiresome just watching Star Wars characters walk around saying 'F#@* You' to each other all the time. Luckily it's not all just like this. 

There are some genuinely hilarious parts in it, like the AT-AT drag race, the bounty hunters, the Geonosis Arena Monster Truck Rally-style TV ad, and Gary the Stormtrooper's 'take your daughter to work day'..... I laughed so hard that I almost messed myself when Darth Vader strangles the Rebel Officer and says "It's because of people like YOU that Gary never gets to see his daughter!!!"

It was also nice to hear some of the the actual voices of the original Star Wars cast again - this time around they got Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams, and even though their parts weren't really that funny, it was a nice bit of nostalgia. So yeah, not as good as the first one, but definitely better than the two Family Guy: Star Wars piece of crap parodies.

B+

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Battlestar Galactica (Season One - Disc One)

This doesn't really qualify as a 'movie' review, per se, but I did rent it on video recently and I've got an opinion on it, so you're going to have to suffer through it - too bad. :p   I don't know if this whole disc was just the Mini-series Pilot or if there were some other episodes tacked on after it or what....honestly, I just don't give a frack. I don't care if I ever see the rest of the series.

The original series, as 'cheesy 70's TV show' as it was, was pretty cool - definitely the coolest thing on TV at the time as I recall. The characters were good, the robot bad guys looked cool, and the spaceship battles were neat. I was pretty skeptical going in to watching the new version, because it seems to me that it came out at a time when all of the network and cable channels were overflowing with new sci-fi shows, none of which were really any good if you ask me. Star Trek - Enterprise? C'mon, are you shittin' me? The only good (or at least truly original) sci-fi  series that came out around this time was Firefly. I ignored a lot of friends' advice to watch Battlestar - people whose opinions I normally trust.

Ehhhhh....turns out I was right..... I know it's called a 're-imagining' of the story, but I didn't care for some of the changes they made....I mean, Starbuck - a chick? WTF?? Colonel Tye a drunk? Okay, that was cool.....but what's with the 'mysterious' been-there-done-that body switching 'who's the bad guy?'-type menace from these new Cylons? Lame. Body Snatchers, the Matrix, Sky Net and Replicants people....we've all seen all of this before. Suddenly Cylons aren't Cylons anymore! At least they're not your father's Cylons....

This is a true Cylon (maybe not 'true', but you know what I mean):

This is NOT a Cylon IMO:

This is just an excuse to stick some hot evil chick in a red dress into a sci-fi show to sucker in more teenaged boys and female viewers; the latter because it makes the show 'more sexy' and shows a powerful female character, and the former just because it's a blonde chick in a red dress ('nuff said). Add this to a rich, complex sci-fi backstory (which was already written by someone else - all you have to do is f**k with  it) and throw in an equally strong older female character (Madame President Whatserface), and you've got an instant hit amongst men and women, old and young alike. Too bad it's boring as hell to watch, except for when there are spaceships or robots on screen, and there wasn't enough of that to keep me going. I guess the actors are passable for a weekly series, but with the exception of a few, they're all turning out pretty Young and the Restless caliber performances.

I honestly don't know why my friends or anyone else thought this was cool.

Boo.

I still can't believe that they perverted my childhood memories of the mighty Starbuck and made him into some ugly butch chick.

D+

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That's it for today, and that's plenty of movies for awhile. Got some comics to catch up on too, so don't go too far, because those are coming up soon!

....Hey wait! No! Promise you'll come back!!!.........please?.....

May the Force be with you...

Sweet Comicky Goodness

You knew it was coming....

Yes, that's right. More comics!!  C4 (Central Canada Comic Con) is swiftly approaching, and I'm taking stock of all my goodies that'll be for sale. Just to prove that I'm not a comic poser, and that I actually know some stuff about what I sell, here's a few more great examples of the kinds of comics that no true collector should be without. As always, I'm reluctant to part with a lot of them, since I love them so much. I just know I'm going to wake up one day at age 50 and weep uncontrollably at the loss of my only copy of Thor #337....

....*sniff*....It's just so sad, y'know?

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The Incredible Hulk # 107

Lots of stuff has been done with the Hulk - several  animated TV series, a live action TV series (who can forget Lou Ferigno?), two live-action movies, a couple of full-length animated features and about a million comics and graphic novels. This issue here is an example of some earlier stuff, just after the Hulk got his own series back from limbo in the mid-sixties. Back then he was just figuring out his hulkiness, and tons of bad guys were after him to try to make him do their bidding. Of course he schooled them all and kept on his merry hulky way, smashing tanks and buildings and making friends with little kids and weird aliens every chance he got.

In this issue, he fights the Mandarin, who's power is contained in his ten power rings, each one for a different use (freeze ray, fire beam, telepathy, telekinesis, etc.). Normally, this bad guy fights Iron Man, so it's nice to see him try to take on someone new. It's pretty standard super hero vs supervillain stuff, but it's well drawn and has a pretty heavy atmosphere for a 60's book. I picked this one up a while ago and I've been saving it for the con. It has a date stamp on the front cover (see photo) but it's still in FN/VF condition.

 The Mighty Thor # 132

I love Thor. I am so stoked about seeing the movie next year! (Check out Marvel.com to find out more about it.)
Of all of the different comic titles that I have in stock, I must have more issues of Thor than any other. I've got Silver Age, Bronze Age, Copper Age (but not too many of those - they suck) and Modern Age. My favorites, as I've said before, are the Silver Age issues (ie: 1962 - 1971).

This one is pretty much action-packed: Thor goes into space and trashes an entire fleet of invading starship, only to learn that the aliens themselves are being menaced by far greater threat - EGO, The Living Planet! This is the first appearance of Ego, and this comic is worth more than a few bucks because of that. This copy is in sweet VF+ condition.

Once the movie comes out, old Thor comics are likely to be highly sought after, so get 'em now before the prices go up!!

The Mighty Thor # 161

If you thought Ego the Living Planet was cool, wait til you see Thor caught in the middle of a universe-shaking battle between Ego and Galactus, the gigantic godlike planet-eater! Galactus debuted in Fantastic Four comics, but he made some notable appearances in The Mighty Thor during the 60's as well. At first, he and Thor were enemies, but they eventually became uneasy allies in the task of saving the universe. I think this issue marks the beginning of the end of their rivalry. If I'm mistaken, please forgive me; I can't possibly remember every comic I've read over the years....

Anyway, the cover pretty much says it all. Lots of trippy visuals, and a lot of voice bubbles full of words like "thee" and "nay" and "doth"....You've gotta love the way this guy talks....I hope the movie Thor is equally verbose...

This copy is in FN+ condition, and will set you back a little over $20 (if I decide to let it go!).

Fantastic Four # 77

This one is another Stan Lee/Jack Kirby classic, featuring the aforementioned Galactus and his former Herald, the Silver Surfer. The crazy-looking red dude in the middle of the cover is the Psycho Man - the tyrannical ruler of the bizarre sub-atomic Microverse (I'm not sure if this is the same Microverse that the Micronauts are from). For some reason, Mr. Fantastic, the Thing and the Human Torch travel to this strange dimension only to be captured by the P-Man. The Silver Surfer, who is enjoying his newfound freedom from his enslavement by Galactus, shows up and helps the heroes to escape. Meanwhile, Sue Richards (the Invisible Girl) is expecting hers and Reed's first child.

Oh, the Drama!

Nice comic. Beautiful art and a spectacular cover. Somewhere in the FN - VF range. Like most Silver Age Fantastic Four comics, it's ain't cheap, but it's definitely

worth its weight in pure adamantium.

The Uncanny X-Men # 120

Speaking of adamantium, in case you don't know what that is (rookie), it's the indestructible metal that Wolverine's claws and bones are coated with. If you don't know who Wolverine is, there is absolutely no hope for you, and you should just call it quits right now, man...

Wolverine's origins have been written and re-written a bunch of times, but this comic here is from 1979 - back before they decided to mesh the whole Wolverine/Weapon X/Sabretooth/Deadpool thing together, like they did in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This issue is probably one of the first to outline his Canuck heritage and his link to the Canadian government. You guessed it - X-Men #120 is the very first appearance of Alpha Flight - the official super-team of the Great White North! 

As I understand it, John Byrne (writer/artist for this book at the time) is a proud Canadian himself, and it's not too surprising that he'd try and sneak in as much Canadian content as possible. Take that, CBC!

My copy is about a FN grade. Highly collectible not only for the Alpha Flight thing, but also for the excellent artwork and clever writing of Mr. Byrne, one of the most popular artists in X-Men history. Buy it! Buy it now! You know you want it!!

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Remember that these comics (and all of the others I've featured on this blog in the past) are only a small fraction of the great titles I'll have for sale at the con. I would love to give a great review and synopsis of everything, but I'm just one man! I find it amazing enough that I've actually found time just to read almost all of the 1400+ comics that I have.

Look for the sign for Rebel Alliance Canada at the convention. I'll give you more details when I know a little more myself. Hope to see you there!

May the Force be with you...





Summer Odyssey Part 2 - United States

I have always enjoyed visiting the U.S. - it's like an extreme Canada. This article outlines our most recent journey into the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. After spending a week in the Thunder Bay area (arguably one the most beautiful parts of Ontario), we decided to reward the kids (and ourselves) with a trip to the 'Waterpark Capitol of America', Wisconsin Dells. Along the way, we saw some awesome scenery, met some cool people and found about ten billion fun things to do. Unfortunately, we only had a week and a tight budget, so we had to pick and choose wisely.

Even though this is only a small fraction of the photos shot, here's some more from the family vacation. I've decided to slim it down considerably to highlight some of the great things we saw and did.

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Giant Pants-Less Voyageur - Two Harbors, Minnesota

Downtown Duluth, Minnesota

Great Lakes Aquarium - Duluth

Only in Wisconsin...

The Dells (in Wisconsin Dells)

Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park - Wisconsin Dells

(the highlight of our visit)

Up close and personal w/ giraffes at Timbivati Wildlife Park

Storybook Gardens - Wisconsin Dells

Mall of America - Minneapolis (duh!)

Downtown Minneapolis

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Okay, I'm going to cut it off here.....I'm about done posting vacation photos, at least until I go on another vacation. I hope it hasn't been completely boring for you, but it had to be done. I'd love to discuss the trip a little more, but I just don't have time right now to write about how cool everything was. You'll just have to take my word for it. I don't know how interesting that would be anyway...

I'll be back again soon with some more random cool stuff. With the Central Canada Comic Con swiftly approaching, I'm going to be featuring more comics and action figures and I might try to sneak in some more movie reviews soon.


Til then:

May the Force be with you...