This Week's Comics April 16, 2025
& the closing a few chapters...
Sunday marked my last day working at the LEGO Store. I learned a lot about modern retail and corporate culture both times I put on the yellow apron. The first time (before I retired) I got to a point where I recall asking myself- “I only have so many breaths… Do I really want to spend them doing this?” I decided then that I needed a break from it. Originally it was nice not having to spend most of my days making thousands of decisions and dealing with the stress of teaching. After a while it became monotonous. I don’t know why I thought this time around would be different. I say that I left because I was asked to since I was taking too much time for my next Whimventure® but I think I would have left anyway. What I really wanted was a steady schedule. The steady schedule might have been negotiable, but I didn’t have a chance to find out. I will say it was a nice feeling deleting the scheduling app from my phone. Maybe something more than saying “Hello! Welcome to the LEGO Store is there anything I can help you with?” for 5 hours. Yes, It was a creative challenge to come up with a variety of ways to say the same thing. Just some of the restrictions seemed stifling and actually counter productive. Staying in “your Zone” was one of them. Using your phone was another… I would get out my phone to show customers photos of my builds, to let them know that they weren’t alone in their love of building, in fact there were people (like me) who had a lot more. Tie my hands when trying to make a connection. I’ve already gotten into the surveys and lack of knowing when a sales associate was mentioned- positively or negatively. The frustrations built. In the end, maybe it wasn’t the best fit, or maybe I just decided to comply with the rules… Which being independent can be maddening. There are some amazing people working at the store, trying their best, and my feelings have nothing to do with them.
Wednesday marked the end of the Curling season. I look forward to continue curling in the Fall. I’m getting better, but still have a lot of work to do. Being non-athletic, balance is always an issue. I do love the Wednesday morning group I curl with because they are laid back and helpful. On Saturday there was an end of season event I participated in, and realized just how different the Wednesday group is compared to some of the other groups. I remember when I was first dating Sue and her father just didn’t understand about my being a teacher. Many people not in education have nothing in common with teachers, and older men especially have had very little to do with raising their children, so I’m kind of an outcast. Add being a kidult, building with LEGO bricks and collecting comic books and I might as well be an alien. We have very little on the surface in common, and so many people don’t want to dig deeper… being an introvert also doesn’t help me since I tend to just take a step back and close into a shell until I’m comfortable.
My Comics:
Flash Gordon #8 - Flash is alive. Zarkov is… a robot. Barin, Vultan, & Aura have now joined the picture as we head to Mingo City and a ball to celebrate Dale’s wedding to Aton (new character). What will happen when Dale sees Flash? The previous issues haven’t painted a rosy picture of the Empress.
Star Trek Defiant #26 - As we step into Lore War we have a rag tag group trying to change the course of the universe under Lore’s control. Sisko tries to escape Earth with Kahless and <spoiler>. The Maquis are fighting Star Fleet in a “last ditch effort” to hopefully change things for the positive… will their sacrifice be worth it?
Spectacular Spider-Men #14 - This is a title I’m still liking (no mystical or divine interventions, just good old Spider-Man stuff. Miles & Peter fight the Lizard in hopes that they can find out what happened to Billy Connors… Other old school Marvel human interest things happen to help build character arcs, but what about Elementary?
Ultimate Wolverine #4 - Seeing the world through the eyes of Logan, the Winter Soldier. Wow. And that final page, uncovers some pretty deep stuff. again Wow.
Detective Comics #1096 - Things get drawn to a conclusion including the fate of Joe Chill. For those in the know, Joe Chill was the petty criminal who ended up killing the Waynes on that fateful night in Crime Alley outside of the Monarch Theatre. No, it wasn’t the Joker before he became the Joker- that’s movie make-believe. How will this end? It’s not over, but this chapter has come to a finish. All the masks have been taken off. It’s amazing the number of times Batman was called “Bruce” in this issue… hello?!? Secret identity anyone?
Rogue Sun #26 - Seeing double?!? Maybe triple? Radiant Black makes a guest appearance as our two Rogue Suns go after Clyde? OK a Bludmoon aka Werewolf vampire and his grandmother?
Summer of Superman Special#1 - So I hear there’s going to be a Superman movie coming out soon, making it “The Summer of Superman.”
I’m looking forward to the film, and will most likely be disappointed, but only time will tell.
As for the comic I chose the Krypton cover by Chrissie Zullo-Uminga in honor of Krypto’s appearance in the trailer and sneak peak.
Oh my. Time Travel… Hard not to give away spoilers when it comes to time travel stories… ABSOLUTELY impossible to even hint at how things could be connected without giving away anything. Let’s just say the three chapters definitely remind me of how Superman stories can be amazingly grounded, which is a good thing.
Titans #22 - Here I went with the Tony S. Daniel Variant cover… why? I don’t know, maybe I like artwork taking up most of the cover instead of the masthead. As we learned in the last issue Deathstroke is back… But what is he putting together after his failed attempt with Raven… It looks like he’s trying to form a new band - this issue they tried out a cover of “Cold as Ice.”
Absolute Flash #2 - This variant cover is by Christian Ward and the bolt just spoke to me. As with the way Marvel did their Ultimate Universe many of these stories are methodical starts. slowly delivering the origins and powers of what we assume are heroes we already know. I’ve been a fan of the Flash since around third grade. Even had a red track suit to run around in. The thing that got me was Barry Allen was blonde, and I had red hair as a kid… Super Friends didn’t show Kid Flash on Saturday Morning or I would have been even more geeky at that time.
I’ve been enjoying the Absolute universe and the first issue in this series was just making me want to read the next one- and here it is. Introducing the Flash’s infamous Rogues Gallery. Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, the Trickster, Golden Glider, and… <Spoiler> It looks like we are getting some idea as to what Wally’s powers are, but it’s still a bit confusing… can’t wait to see what <spoiler> does in the next issue.
Going through the comics at Comic Carnival has gotten me re-energized to get my comics back in order. Unfortunately, I discover these little holes in my collection that now I can fill. Helping fill pull lists on Mondays also offered me the opportunity to tweak my list and amusingly this usually means looking at the scores of variant covers and picking ones I like. Yes, after all that commentary on variants I’m now buying them selectively. Unlike buying all 47 covers of a comic I’m picking one to replace the main cover, if I want. I have tried (and failed) to stay away from the limited variants. You see if a shop orders a certain number they get copies of super limited variant covers. Order 10 of a title and get one exclusive, order 25 and get one super exclusive. These tend to get marked up since they are considered rare. This week I picked up a few variants, but mostly because I just liked them, they made me smile.
When asked about how I feel about working at Comic Carnival- it’s nice to feel like I am making a difference. Even with what could be seen as mundane tasks I am valued and given more than just the job to stay in one place and say “Hi! Welcome to Comic Carnival!” It’s like Homer Simpson working at the bowling alley.