Pop Vulturati

Dropped by DK Saturday and left my comics stash with Benedict, who read it at a food place with Adam David while waiting for me and John to finish the cute cartoon movie Ant Bully upstairs at a G4 theater. After watching, we joined them and got my stuff and the mix cds Gumby dropped off (thanks uli, Gumby!). They were able to finish my Stupid Comics TPB (left, image from Newsarama), two Civil War: Front Line issues, and Previews, as well as older comics like Civil War # 3 and JLA # 0. Adam and I swapped books, my Lexy for his City Lights, a nice collection of fictional accounts about life in and around Metro Manila, by a number of fine Pinoy authors.

It was strange, sharing a table briefly with three of the most opinionated people around, and we barely spoke a word, except for the requisite hi's and seeya's. Oh, but Adam and I agreed, as we were leaving, that the real war-Civil War analogy in Front Line 4 was kinda heavy-handed. Benedict would later be on a caffeine buzz on the phone while talking about Stupid Comics and the other stuff, and John would tell me, also later, that while the music of The Producers isn’t that catchy, he still enjoyed the movie musical, especially Roger Bart, Matthew Broderick and Gary Beach’s performances. Adam and I chatted briefly the next day about the books, Wendell, Stuck Rubber Baby, and related stuff.

City Lights compiles short stories, written in both English and Filipino, about different urban treks with diverse themes as seen through the eyes of several tour guides. It's mostly an engrossing read. Adam edited the whole thing and wrote some of the more interesting, more ruminative pieces. Get it where other Psicom books are sold. The Stupid Comics trade paperback by Jim Mahfood, meanwhile, is a collection of the indie artist’s black and white comic strips that criticize pop culture, politics, and everything else. It’s compelling, brave and extraordinarily wise. Glad I ordered it; I only have the first Image issue back in 2002. The TPB spans several years and gathers all four issues of the cartoonist’s works.

Been reading those alternately while listening to the music Gumby compiled for me. One cd’s contents:

Sting: All This Time, Tori Amos: Glory of the 80s, Daniel Powter: Bad Day, The Alarm: Rain in the Summertime, Sarah McLachlan: Vox, Simple Minds: Alive and Kicking, China Crisis: Thank You, Counting Crows: Accidentally in Love, Mary Chapin Carpenter: Passionate Kisses, David Gray: Easy Way to Cry, B-52s: Deadbeat Club, The Bible: Honey Be Good, Indigo Girls: Free in You, Melissa Etheridge: Talking to My Angel, Train: Let It Roll, REM: Belong, Prince: Diamonds and Pearls, Third Eye Blind: Jumper

Got sick last Monday evening and Tuesday was spent recuperating, but am feeling way better now. Woop.

Frost Bites Back

There’s no character like everybody’s favorite X-teacher, Emma Frost, co-headmaster of Charles Xavier’s School with lover Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops. Her former student M (Monet St. Croix) seems to be a bitchy, elitist enough one that seems to be following in her footsteps, but she’s nowhere near as snippy and calculating as the reformed villain. Hope Miss Frost isn’t back to being a villain (see current Astonishing X-Men issues), because for me, she’s probably the most interesting mutant character to grace the pages of the X-books since Rogue (who, coincidentally, used to be a crazy villain, too, but is now just boring).

Anyway. Here are some of my favorite Emma Frost lines:

To M (Generation X # 3): “Don’t gloat, child, it’s a sign of poor upbringing.”

To Husk (Generation X # 4): “You’re young, beautiful, intelligent, you know exactly what you want… and you’re not afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get it. Truth? You remind me of me when I was younger.”

To a cab driver (New X-Men # 116): “I’ve just had an epiphany, like St. Paul on the road to Damascus. Stop the car.”

To the Stepford Cuckoos (New X-Men # 126): “Remember what I taught you and swing him merrily from a psychic gibbet, girls! Braid his thoughts tightly until they ooze…”

To Cyclops (New X-Men # 131): “So, anyway… I am power and song and life incarnate… but the truth is, no matter how hard I try, I can’t help playing with fire. How about you, darling?”

To Wolverine (New X-Men # 139): “Why did I allow myself to become so stupid and vulnerable, Logan? Why did I have to fall in love with Scott bloody Summers?”

To her students (Astonishing X-Men # 1): “We must give the ordinary humans respect, compliance and understanding. And we must never mistake that for trust.”

To Kitty Pryde (Astonishing X-Men # 2): “As usual, your naivete is neither cute nor useful.”

To Tony Stark (Civil War # 3): “Where were the Avengers when Genosha died, Iron Man? Where were you when our babies were burning?”

To Ms. Marvel (New X-Men-Academy X # 28): “Yes, Carol… we saw what happened in Stamford—because the X-Men went there to help. Which begs the question, where were the Avengers when we needed help? Where were you? …surely the Avengers came to the funeral we held? No? Pity.”

Thank Ye

Thanks to those who recently shared wonderful comments about LNA, including the aforementioned Adam, Johnny Danganan, Nathan, and Jun Matias. Also to those who listed it among their favorite books in their profiles, thanks so much!