A manga series I've been picking up lately is Hana Kimi. It's another series about a girl who is pretending to be a dude, but even after 8 issues it never gets old. There is something about the way the writer sets up the comedy of errors in these books that makes for constant hilarity. I'm not sure why this genre is so popular in Japanese comics, but then again I like to wear neckties so what do I know.

Humor aside, this series occasionally includes great nuggets of wisdom like this:

Much like what I already do with TV, I've gotten to a point with comics where I wait until an entire series is out before I start digging in. Upon hearing that "Y: The Last Man" was coming to an end, I couldn't wait to start buying it because I'd heard so many good things about the series. These are the only issues I have so far, but I'm really glad that I don't have to wait every month for single issues.

I'm always looking for more unique ways to store things in my apartment, which is just under 800 square feet. The manga is kept on a book shelf and the comics are in a filing cabinet, but the latter was starting to run out of room. Just for the hell of it, I decided to look and see how much comic spinner racks were and was surprised to find someone on eBay selling them for very reasonable prices. I was a little worried about the quality, but have been really happy with it and how much it holds. I'm currently keeping the comics that I want to sell on there, so if someone shows interest I can say "Hey, I'll give you the whole series for $10!"

This book is by the same person who did "Box Office Poison", which I liked but didn't find very memorable. "Tricked", on the other hand, had a lot of great characters that I felt like I could relate to in different ways. They just seemed much more true-to-life.

This is a great comic to read when you are feeling rebellious. The fact that it was Brian Wood's first comic is quite an accomplishment.

As an avid postcast listener, I tune into quite a few about comics. However, it's always a special treat when comic books come up in a podcast that isn't actually a "comics podcast." Here's a link to an episode of PRI's Studio 360 that's all about Superman.

I don't really know much about the Green Lantern mythos, so my only experience has been when Kyle Rayner was on the Superman animated series and John Stewart in the Justice League cartoons. However, I kept hearing rumblings about Rebirth and I grabbed it as soon as I saw it in softcover. Surprisingly, I think this is the first thing I've read by Geoff Johns, but I'm sure it won't be the last.

One Friday after work, some co-workers and I were looking for a place to get our drink on and someone suggested Martini Park. I'd never been there before, but it is probalby one of the worst bars I've been to in recent memory. Aside from the fact that the clientele is made up of old men trying to bag young chicks and old women trying to look like young chicks, the service was terrible. Don't get me wrong, the waitresses and bartenders were all very quick and attentive, but there were 10 tables sitting empty that were reserved and only 2 groups showed up to claim theirs in the 2 hours we were there. I would've been perfectly happy to sit for awhile and give up the table once someone showed up to claim their seat, but having to stand most of the time and look at the empty seats was irritating (especially since we had been planning to order food). We even tried to ask the hostesses if there was a way we could make a reservation, but after awhile we finaly just gave up and went somewhere else to eat.

When we were still there and it was my turn to buy a round, a 50-year-old man standing next to me tried to pick me up. Granted, I was a little more dressed up than usual because I was out of clean laundry, but either way I was clearly out of this guy's league. (ie. I've never had plastic surgery.) His big pick-up line was turning towards me and claiming I surprised him by say "Oh! You snuck up on me!" to which I mockingly replied "Oh yeah, I'm a ninja like that." Not getting the hint, he continued by asking if I really was a ninja. *rolling eyes* At that point, the bartender mercifully showed up with my change and commented on how I was the only one in my group who had decent taste in beer. (I was drinking Stella Artois and my co-workers were all ordering Miller Lite.) As I turned to leave, the guy hitting on me said "Feel free to sneak up on me any time!" *gag*

There were a couple of Ferrari's parked out front belonging to men in need of little blue pills, so clearly this place wasn't meant for me. On the plus side, they did have a free bag check.

Wow... long time, no post. I'm going to be doing some house-cleaning on this site soon, so hopefully the change in direction will get me to post more. In the meantime, here's a look at what I've been reading lately:

I've actually read this series before, but forgot how funny it was. While going through some comics to sell, I started flipping through the first one to see if I should get rid of it and now I'm on volume 5. I guess that means it's a keeper!

My friends and I were watching "Superman 2 (the Richard Donner cut)" the other day, when the scene in the diner came on. After the newly-depowered Clark Kent got his ass kicked, the waitress in the movie walked over to a television and says something like "Why don't I turn on the box?"

To which I reply, "Oh, Superman can turn on MY box!"

Dear Marvel and DC,

This is how you get more girls to read comic books.

(I'm just sayin'...)