Return of a Classic: Demo Vol. 2

So I haven't been blogging as much, as I've been forced into a laziness from all the recent snow, but now that I have some time to kill (because I'm in Spain, which I'll get to in later posts) I've got to geek out a little about something. Those of you who know about me and my favorite comics know that I loved an independently published run of a comic called, Demo. The series came out in 2003-2004 and was written by Brian Wood (Channel Zero, The Couriers, Norhtlanders) with art by Becky Cloonan (Channel Zero, American Virgin, East Coast Rising). The first issue was given to me by a friend, Gabe, who I credit for putting me onto comics "for real". I say for real in that I started following comics primarily for the story told with the art as a bonus. He put me onto the idea of following writers as opposed to artists (not that I still won't pick up anything drawn by Jim Lee).

But I digress. Demo was a series of 12 stand-alone comics, each with their own independent stories. Each issue somehow dealt (either overtly or more subtly) with being young and having some kind of super power. As each story differed in tone and subject matter, so did Cloonan's art. Demo Vol. 1 still has what may be one of my favorite single comics ever.

When I heard rumors that Vertigo had purchased the rights from AiT/Planet Lar, I was excited that they might publish a second volume after they reissued volume 1. Mid-2009 I heard those exact rumors and had asked my comic store proprietor, Steve, about it. He had said he had heard the same rumors but nothing concrete but would let me know as soon as he did. I guess we both forgot about it, because two weeks ago, while I was perusing the stacks, I was staring at issue 1 of Demo Vol. 2.


After reading, I felt that the strongest part of the comic was the art. Becky Cloonan has been keeping busy with work both for Vertigo and Tokyopop's American branch, and it shows with her work on this issue. While the story telling is strong and somewhat fantastical in a way that I enjoy, I felt that the overall story was relatively contrived and predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Wood's work on DMZ but feel that maybe some of Demo's original success may be due to some of the angst he had when starting out. Hopefully he can still keep the edge that was present in so much of his work in the first volume. Overall I give the issue a solid B, and look forward to the rest of the series.

Cabin Fever = Blog for You

obviously not me

So like much of the Northern Virginia area, I have been sequestered in my own home by the sheer force of Mother Nature. Given that I would have normally been working this Saturday, I took the opportunity to start watching the Soprano's. As bad ass as the Soprano's is, You can only do it for so long. So, I have decided to take this time out to blog about last weekend's experience which was snowboarding for the first time.

My friend's family was kind enough to let some of us stay with them at their house at Wisp, the ski resort in Maryland. So my friends Eugene, Val, John, and I headed out from their house at 11:00 PM and set out for the wonderful town of Accident, Maryland. I shit you not, the town is actually called Accident. Of course, I didn't know this until we pull into the sleepy burg around 2:00 AM and I read the welcome sign. "My God", I thought, "if this isn't an omen of things to come, I don't know what is". But as long as we're attributing meanings to signs, I was relieved to see that the "name" for our lodgings was "Life is Good". We unpacked everything and I crashed almost immediately on what must be the most comfortable couch on which I have ever sat/slept.


We finally started milling about just before noon. We got to the slopes just after 1:00 PM. Eugene dropped Val and I off at the rentals. Now it had been close to a decade since I'd rented things last, and Val hadn't done it in quite some time. So after some debate as to where we needed to go, we simply filled out the forms we saw some old lady using. Val suggested we take them to a desk posting "Performance Rentals" I told her that those were likely rentals that I would not need nor could afford. So I pointed to some double doors reading "Rentals". Val thought it looked like an employee only entrance, but I pointed out that there were customers in this section as well. I turned in my form to a clerk, and was given my boots and was told to go through a set of doors to receive my board. I was asked if I had ever snowboarded before. I responded, "no" and received my customary judgmental look that seemed to say, "Ugh, why are you even trying, geezer?". I strapped in, and pushed my way to the lifts with Val and Eugene.

I should preface the rest of this experience by stating that not only have I skied previously, but I used to ski pretty well. I was told that getting off the lift was relatively tricky, and that I should just try to ride the board straight until it stopped. This does not account for the fact that I didn't know how to ride. And here I was slipping off to my right and then falling. I don't know what was going on with my hat, but it would not stay on if I fell, only making even the smallest of the falls more epically funny (or at least to my instructors, Eugene and Val).

On Snowboarding, First Impressions:

• I resent anything, besides video games, that suggests that a beginner start out on intermediate just to learn.
• I hate that as soon as you start to stand you immediately start sliding. I feel like i have to be some kind of martial artist able to do kick ups before I can just stand on snowboard.
• If I had wanted to spend the day cold, on my back, with bruises all over my hips and my ass, I'd have joined a Norwegian brothel under the alias Olaf.

That being said, I had decent time. I never quite got the hang of standing up on my own; but I gained a good deal of heel-side control. Thanks to my instructors Eugene, Matticus, and Val. It took close to two hours just to make it down the first run, what with the falling, problems getting up, and the long waits to catch my breath from the wasted efforts in getting up on my own. After the first run, we returned to the lodge to see if John was ready to join us. John in a very disappointing manner decided to stay in stating that half the day had already gone by, and he was considering going out on Sunday instead.

We had lunch at Perkins, which if you haven't been there, is like IHOP on steroids. Everything was made better and tasted better than any IHOP meal I've ever had. We made the customary Tiger Woods jokes, and enjoyed a sampler. I had a country-fried steak meal that may have rivaled the meals I would get at the truck stop in Fredericksburg. The others bought a box of cookies to go after the meal.

Despite protests on being too full to do anything more, they dragged me back onto the slopes. I made another run in probably 1/3 the time of the first run with far less errors, and far less time spent on my back. I should have called it then because I could feel the wear and tear in my quads and shoulders (from the repeated failures in getting up). We tried another run, and there was a point where I was afraid was going to throw up in my wind guard. Luckily no such regurgitating took place. And for the first time since I started skiing, I had to unstrap and walk a short distance down the last part of the hill. That's when I realized I had an opportunity to ride my board like a sled. If you've never tried it, you're missing out, kids.

I went to return my boots and board keeping in hand a form they told me I needed when I returned my gear. I turned in my boots and board. The young lady behind the desk took my paper and said that I was free to go. As I hadn't paid, yet I questioned her, "Wait, that's it?"
"Yeah, you're good to go."
"That's it. You're sure?"
"Yep. Good to go."
"Okay, thanks."
Apparently I was supposed to pay before I filled out said forms at the lift ticket offices, which I did not know. In the future, I'll keep this in mind.

We spent the rest of the night drinking beers in the hot tub, and I spent the nearly all of Saturday asleep. The days spent recuperating were necessary though, so that I could move on Monday at work.

I had a great time, although at times I wanted to switch to skis just to show my friends that I could tear up a mountain if I wanted. I figure I'll give this thing a few more tries before I really hang it up.

Stay warm, and I'll see you after the big thaw.

Losing Myself in Lost...Again (Spoilers Ahoy!)

Much like and adolescent at their first make-out party, I've been swamped with peer pressure to blog about the season premier of Lost last night. And following suit with that analogy I will try my best at a recap/breakdown/theorization. Something you'll have to keep in mind as you read this, is understanding that while I really enjoy the show, I'm not obsessed with it. This year is the first year I've read anything about the episodes, and truth be told the only reason I read it is because it was sent to me by friends. I will likely forget things that you more obsessed fans may think is elementary. What I will put forth is theories and questions I have. I'll tell you right now, I enjoy Lost not only for its great story and character development; but for the fact that it has brought sci-fi back into the mainstream. It had its inklings in the first few seasons, but as soon as you add time travel to the mix? NERD ALERT! Throw in a dash of some of comicdom's finest writers since circa Season 4 and you have something that has my rapt attention.

I'll start off by saying that I thought it was a strong premier that thoroughly blew the collective socks off of everyone in the room where I was watching. It seems like everyone and their sister has decided that the 2-hour premier is the only way to do a long running show's season premier these days. I used to find them exciting and special but, and maybe my age is showing here, I think I'm finding them increasingly tiresome. That being said let's break this bad boy down, shall we? Oh, and before I forget, I must give the customary Spoiler Alert!

The opening picks up, thankfully, right where we left off, and has Juliette smashing the core of Jughead the H-bomb. This puts us back on Oceanic 815, with Jack charming an extra vodka off the stewardess (I know she's the one that pops up later with the other Others). We catch him being reassured by Rose which is funny because he was the one consoling her when the plane crashed. That's when we get smacked with the big surprise! Desmond's on the freakin' plane, Brothah! It seems that Jack either has some residual memory of his as of yet time spent on the island, or he actually remembers some random dude from the stadium where he ran years ago. We are then taken several miles below them into the ocean where we see that the island has sunk. We're treated to some average CG (although better than "V" zing!) and a view of some old Dharma buildings, the four-toed foot, and a Dharma-stamped shark (I really want to know why Dharma has its own shark)!

We bounce back to the island where we see Kate in a tree. They do a great gag here where they try to simulate someone's ears being blown out. I thought it was hilarious, because I caught on immediately, while my room mates were asking what was wrong with the sound. We're kept guessing if only some of the survivors made it back to the plane until lo and behold! Jack is also still on the island! This is the point where my brain turned inside out for a second. Meanwhile on the other side of the island we watch as Black Locke watches Ben awkwardly murder Jacob. We continue to bounce between these three story lines for the rest of the show.

Highlights:

The Plane: Boone's back and reports that he actually left Shannon in Australia. Charlie tries to choke on a baggie of heroin. A friend points out that it's ironic that Charlie drowned on the island, and he's trying to cut off his airways with the baggie (Sidenote: Does anyone know how the song Charlie's band plays goes?). We find Kate is also on the plane and still a fugitive. Bernard makes it back from the tail section's bathroom to rejoin with Rose. We don't get to see any of the other tail section survivors. Jin gets taken into custody because he can't explain the shady bag of money in his luggage. We see Kate escape what must be the absolute worst U.S. Marshall ever with some help from her burly protector Sawyer/James. Claire makes her first non-ethereal appearance since what must be Season 4 as Kate narrowly escapes airport authorities.

The Island: Sawyer/James is angry and brooding (surprise) blaming Jack for still being stuck on the island and Juliette seemingly dead as a result of the initial attempt. Sayid's still bleeding out; but luckily an undead Jacob is able to ask Hurley to take Sayid to the "Temple" to save him. It's at the temple we're introduced to a whole other group of "Others". Sawyer/James hears a somehow not-crushed-to-death Juliette and rushes to her aid. She's crushed to bejeezus and dying and in classic Lost fashion tells James she has something to tell him right before she dies (and apparently is transported to the universe of "V"). Sawyer/James and Miles bury Juliette and we are reminded for the first time in a while that Miles can talk to dead people. We are told that "It worked", and we can only assume at this point that this means that Jack's/Farraday's plan actually worked. Lost continues to borrow from comics as the other Others attempt to revive Sayid with a Lazarus Pit (for you non-nerds, it was a pool of primordial goop that was able restore youth to aging people and in extreme cases, life to dead ones in Batman). It doesn't work, and the crew loses more morale. Upon discovering that Jacob is dead, the other Others send up a flare to warn Richard Alpert's crew on the other side of the island. Return to the temple, to find that surprise, Sayid's alive.

The Foot: Jacob's little group of bodyguards, incensed by Ben's vagueness about the condition of Jacob, rush in to see what happens. Unfortunately that means they rush in unprepared to deal with the Black Locke. They fire their weapons, and one even hits Black Locke. When they circle his position, they find the bullet on the ground, and we find that Black Locke is the smoke monster. We also learn that the smoke monster is deterred by a ring of ash poured in a protective circle. Deterred, not defeated, as we see that the monster merely needs to knock you out of it with any kind of implement. He emerges from the foot, and totally delivers a righteous yet effective beat-down to one Richard Alpert while expressing disappointment in everyone. We're only left with an ominous statement to Ben that Black Locke wants to go "home".

Implications and Questions:

So the idea of two divergent timelines has emerged. We are faced with "flash side-ways" as opposed to flashbacks or flashforwards. It seems at this point that they are two distinct timelines since characters exist simultaneously in both the island and on the plane/airport. The fact that they showed that the island was sunk also means that their actions in the '70s had ramifications in the timeline where Oceanic 815 doesn't crash. This may explain why some characters are no longer on the plane. You're aware of the butterfly effect? Well, if a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane somewhere else, imagine an H-Bomb going off. Lost using principle of quantum realities also brings up the idea that multiple universes can exist, and some characters seem to have more awareness of that than others (Jack, Charlie, Juliette).

So what are some of the questions this begs? Are any of the other tail-end people going to return? Is Boone back to stay? Do the timelines intersect again or converge? Will everyone meet similar fates in both realities displaying some sort of "destiny"? Does Jack/Charlie know on some level that things are not as they were supposed to be? How can Jacob speak with Hurley if he's already dead? Where's "home" for the smoke monster? Is Locke coming back? Can the Lazarus Pit be used to save Juliette or Locke (despite Jules being on another show)? Can Jacob take on new forms? Is Sayid just Jacob in Sayid's body? Is Desmond skipping between timelines like he was skipping through time? Are there characters that will be able to move freely between timelines? Will the divergence cause similar headaches and deaths like moving the island did?

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly:

Good: It looks like the writers of Lost have not lost their sense of pacing or the ability to create cliffhangers and have brought sci-fi to the mainstream for the first time since Quantum Leap.

Bad: By quasi-rebooting you create more mysteries in the final season of a show that has already promised answers (although it's asking a lot from a producer of Cloverfield).

The Ugly: Through no fault of the actual premiere, I had to watch that scene where Juliette's crying and smash the bomb maybe four or five times that night.

It was a good episode, and I'm glad I've stuck with the show 'til now. I probably won't be writing down breakdowns like this for every episode, because this in of itself took much longer than I had expected. I actually have way more respect for those "Lost Ones" who write blogs about this regularly with more extended breakdowns and research and pictures, blurgh. If anything I'll probably write something for the finale.