So, that was an already long introduction for what I announced as a quick topic.
Lately I’ve been re-embracing my nerdism. Been catching up on Doctor Who after decades of disinterest. Not every episode is great, but that 50th Anniversary thing was terrific. I stayed up til 3 in the morning Christmas Eve watching old Christmas episodes, and I understand this year’s was very good. Planning to watch it in a few hours.
I’ve been reading a lot more comics lately than I have in the last few years too. I had to give up comic collecting years back mainly due to the expense, but I gave myself a Christmas gift of a Marvel Unlimited subscription, so I’m catching up on a lot of things I’ve missed. Thanks to Adam Warrock I’ve been reading Avengers Arena. He tweeted the title was one of the best he’d read recently, and while it has its merits, I’m not sure I’m a fan. I am intrigued, though, and definitely want to see how things end up. Because I wasn’t familiar with all the characters in the book, I went back to check out the different Runaways miniseries, and I am so glad I did. I’m in the middle of the second run now. What an enjoyable surprise! The first miniseries, from 2003, was fun, with likeable characters (and some despicable ones, too) and some nice story twists. While there is danger and darkness to the story, Brian K. Vaughan masterfully balances that with humor and a light tone. It’s really exactly the way I like my comics.
Thanks to Netflix, I also watched most of the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes second season. Pretty good translations of some of the stories from the printed comics in that season. The kid in me loved seeing all the guest characters and recognizing storylines.
Last to mention, I have somehow become a huge cosplay fan. I am blown away by what people are doing these days, making amazing costumes. From what I can tell, Atlanta is the cosplay capital of the world, but closer to home we have some fantastic artists. If you’re into it at all, you should see what DJ Spider and Contagious Costuming have done. I’m not sure if I’ll ever dive in to dressing up myself, but I have started a list of costume possibilities already. Who knows?