Comics Review
Being in graduate school, I've noticed that I don't have as much time to watch television. My replacement over the last few months have been comic books. This week, I picked up the new issues of Nemesis, Avengers Academy, and Batman #700. While I haven't had a chance to go through the Batman issue, here's my quick thoughts on the other two.
- Avengers Academy #1: Following the events of Siege (which, by the way, I thought was a much better cross-over event from DC's Blackest Night), the Heroic Age has started in the Marvel U. The superheroes have banded together to help rebuild the Earth that has been torn-apart so recently. To help rebuild the ranks, the superhero team The Avengers, has started a school for teens displaying mutant powers (similar to Professor X's School for Gifted Children). Avengers Academy #1 introduces the first class through the voice of Maddy Berry, the usual awkward teen in a Marvel book who displays her power (being able to evaporate) when tricked by the "mean girls" at her school into thinking the hot boy had a crush on her. She's introduced to her team of "super teens" and instructors at the newly opened Avengers Academy. While this is an introductory issue, it just seems to go down the road that has been travelled time-and-time-again by the X-Men. Marvel really beat the X-Men franchise to death in the '90s with all of its iterations that it's hard to imagine they can do anything new. I'm probably not going to continue following the series, but who knows... It may surprise.
- Nemesis #2: The first Nemesis, which I think came out in April, was a great intro issue. A master supervillain who tours the world matching wits with the best police detectives he can find, just to come out victorious. To announce his arrival in the United States, he kidnaps the president and crashes Air Force One. Issue #2 decides to tell the origins of Nemesis which, in my opinion, diminishes the character and by making revenge his motivation weakens this story arc. However, if you just ignore those first three pages of backstory, the pace matches the first issue as Nemesis wrecks havoc around Washington, D.C. with the police aparently little able to do anything to stop it. But, a great couple last pages makes me excited for what's next.
Screw You Cable
I have been waiting patiently since it was announced for AT&T's U-Verse service to come into my neighborhood. But, lately, I have been seriously considering dropping cable altogether and switching to a completely digital plan. Like many, I have an 47" HDTV in my living room, so when it comes to watching TV on my laptop versus watching on an actual TV, I'm sticking with TV. But, in recent months, I've noticed how I really only watch a select number of channels, and even then, as I mentioned before, I'm not watching much TV to begin with. It may be cheaper for me to ditch my cable and start buying shows individually from like a Zune Marketplace or iTunes. My primary concern was watching sports, but with Sony announcing recently that you can stream MLB.tv content through the PS3, I could then watch any game instead of just the same four teams that Fox/ESPN seem to shove down our throats.
I don't know, has any one else tried? Through my homeowner's association, I will always have access to basic cable for local TV and such. If you're buying just the stuff that you want through Zune Marketplace/iTunes, does it really save you any money? I was hoping that, during Steve Jobs' iPhone conference, he would announce the rumored iTunes subscription program for video (should have known that wasn't going to happen, how long have they had the opportunity to do the same for music like Zune and Rhapsody and passed).
OK, that's it for this post... I'm going to be trying to build up a new blogroll for when I start my new site, which'll hopefully be in a few weeks. Until then, keep a look out here or on my Twitter, @GrandOwl. Have a great weekend.
