Excelsior!

Note: This was a short story I started writing in the summer of 2005. I was taking a class on Religion and Transcendence to finish up a final credit and we were watching a lot of documentaries, mostly narrated by British men. In addition I had just started reading The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and was in total anglophile mode (no jokes from the peanut gallery please). I was bored in class one day and started writing this, and decided rather than write something I know about to try and write in a completely different tone and setting than I was used to. I have about 3 chapters and a prologue done so I figured I'd transcribe those and then continue from there. When I started it I didn't have much time to write so I'd just do these small chapters, a few paragraphs long; looking back they seem most appropriate for the BLOGOSPHERE (if you will). I'm not sure, in hindsight, if it works or not but its the format I started in and I'm going to try and finish. I think only a few people have read this in the past; one time I let Allison read it, and anyone else would have read it when I had briefly posted it on my MySpace blog. Reading it now its a little embarassing but it was a work in progress and deserved to finally have its time in the sun.

Prologue

There were things he wasn't aware of as he took that seat on the bus one fateful morning. He wasn't aware that right at that second situations were escalating overseas. He wasn't aware that the man sitting behind him with the sunglasses, the cane, and the stupid crooked haircut that didn't quite cover his eyes was going to be hit by a car later that day and killed. He wasn't aware that a record label had just paid out of their asses for the rights to Joy Division's B-Side catalogue, and was planning on releasing a boxed set. He wasn't aware Hollywood was planning on starting a franchise of movies based on the comic strip Marmaduke.

And on 19 October 2005 at 08:07 (BST), Charles Martin was in no way aware that in twelve minutes he was going to walk into an empty house.

What a way to start a birthday.

50 Things I Love About Comix

I saw this on someone else's blog. I thought I'd give it a shot.


In no particular order:


1. Geoff Johns
2. So! Many! Exclamation points!
3. The All-Star Squadron
4. "Okay suckers, you've taken yer best shot -- now it's my turn!"
5. SUPERPRO!!
6. Sexism
7. The Spider-Man 9/11 issue
8. The Spider-Man issue about drug abuse that single-handedly began the downfall of the useless Comics Code Authority.
9. Speedy's a junkie?!
10. LGBT Superheroes
11. The crippling of Batgirl
12. The death of Jason Todd
13. The death of Elektra
14. The resurrection of Green Arrow
15. The resurrection of Green Lantern
16. Adrian Veidt saving the world thirty-five minutes ago.
17. Batman kicks the shit out of Superman.
18. Just the idea of Twilight of the Gods
19. A warrior Aardvark.
20. "No more mutants"
21. Blue n' Gold!
22. Ralph Dibny not being able to control his own body at his wife's funeral.
23. Krypto, the super-dog
24. Beppo, the super-monkey
25. Animal Man #25
26. Animal Man #26
27. The Question
28. James Sturm
29. That Nightwing Annual, post-Infinite Crisis, that shows Barbara Gordon taking care of Dick Grayson during the lost year.
30. Sterotypes
31. Archie doing just about anything to get Betty.
32. That one time Luke Cage went after Dr. Doom for 200 bucks.
33. This.
34. Also, this.
35. Bone
36. Deadpool
37. SCUD!
38. For The Man Who Has Everything
39. "Surrender? SURRENDER?!?!? You think this letter on my head stands for France?"
40. "It cost 1 million dollars to find a rare meteor fragment to take down the first alien. For you, all I'd need is a penny book of matches."
41. Just the idea that ComicCon actually exists.
42. Y: The Last Man
43. Molly Hayes punching Wolverine in the stomach.
44. Molly Hayes punching Punisher in the stomach.
45. Molly Hayes.
46. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
47. Milk and Cheese
48. SAM AND MAX
49. Christmas coming every Wednesday.
50. Passion.