Don't worry, they already took the money. Apple Pay! You're welcome!

I never did get an iPhone. iPod, yes. But I couldn't justify the expense, just so I could surf the web in the few places I can't already do it. And I don't use my cheapo cell all that often. But, I'd been considering it.

And I just happen to be in the middle of Super Mario Wii U.

I just heard that in the Mario voice. It was oddly delightful.

Yeah. For me, it's happening simultaneously with me purging a lot of my old comics. I thought I was going to have that space back, but nope. I think of it more as upgrading from flimsy, don't-touch-them-because-they're-gonna-be-worth-something-but-NOT-REALLY copies to nice, bookshelf material. And just the stuff I…

Yeah. Giant Size #1 to #175, including annuals, Phoenix the Untold Story, the original Wolverine mini-series, and Magik. Even the Avenger annual where Jean comes back, and various other goodies—Classic X-Men covers, sketches, and the original Marvel Universe entries are in #3. They're real purty. Not cheap, but I…

Very cool. After I finish the three omnibuses, I'm tempted to get the trades/omnibuses of the material through Inferno, myself. This, despite still actually having all my original issues in bags and boards. (Plus that DVD-ROM…) Something about having that stuff in giant, complete books is super satisfying. And I…

How are you reading the X-Men? MU app?

Oh, way ahead of you. I didn't recreate the discs, but I basically copied all of the contents as files on my laptop (and backed them up again from there). I have several years' worth of the X-Men sitting on my iPad. A free PDF reader on the iPad made the whole thing super easy and fun to read. I couldn't have done…

Pssst…..they still MAKE them!

There was the Hulk, Captain America, and the Avengers, which is the one I would have most wanted besides X-Men. I basically picked up the Spider-Man and FF/SS ones after production had stopped, and I'd realized what a gold mine they were. I was too late for the Avengers, though—it was only available for $$$ from…

The black and white factor is why I could never go that route. But I'm very much enjoying the omnibuses of the Claremont stuff I've picked up.

This may be true, but I'm happy to have both the X-Men omnibuses, with their near-perfect reproductions, and the DVD-ROM of the first 40 years, with all of the printing errors, yellowed pages, and wear—not to mention ads, Bullpen Bulletins, etc.

I read every issue of the X-Men DVD-ROM, and was endlessly amused by the early ads. There was one where, I swear to god, you could buy a monkey. Just send them $19.99 (or whatever it was), and allow 4-6 weeks shipping. For a (theoretically) live monkey. Amazing. I also just liked seeing when certain milestones…

I have that one, too, as well as the Fantastic Four/Silver Surfer one, and my favorite, the X-Men. Those were amazing—before Marvel realized they were giving away the store, and stopped production of them entirely. Funny enough, they're actually worth something now because of that.

Hey, I'm willing to bet that's pretty much how it was presented from DC's management.

Yeah. I'm not reading as much currently, but the MU app is the only way I've kept up with anything current. No DC app mean I'll probably never read this stuff.

Not that I really know anything about it, but I presumed Watchmen was/is going to be a parallel world, like the rest of the various "Earths". Something-something-Dr. Manhattan's powers rip a hole in reality, and now, poof, Bats and Rorshach can duke it out.

Oh, I loved those crossovers. Maybe Inferno slightly less, but that might be attributable to some sloppy art and the mostly tragic ending. And yeah, X-Men did get dark, but I feel like that started earlier, and was a growing trend for a long time.

Exactly. While I'll probably always be vaguely curious about what's going on currently, I think I bought them as resignation that the stuff that I REALLY like happened 20-30 years ago. Everything now is bogged down with decades of continuity, too-clever post-modern writing, or annual events that drown out the titles…