Eh, but Star Wars. If it were just "rando geek museum", I'd agree. But I know too many people who make yearly pilgrimages to cons they don't even like and buy comics they don't even read because it's Star Wars that I honestly think it would've made a ton of money for the city.

The Blues Brothers, The Dark Knight, Thief, Backdraft, and North by Northwest would all like to take umbrage with your second sentence.

So…there's a lot of talk in this review about "What purpose does this serve?" And I'd say, to that, that it finally drives home the one theme from the books that's been largely missing from the show, and that's that war is Hell. In the books, it's everywhere, whether it's Arya hearing the horses get burned alive or…

TV: Been mainlining Peaky Blinders, because yes, please. Though I felt like I was spending the first 2/3 of season 3 just waiting for Tom Hardy to come back, because he's the best thing on this show and should just kill off Cilian Murphy and become the new lead.

It happens, but it's more of a "these are the only women he meets and he doesn't understand how derpy he's being with it" sort of thing, nothing sinister. Just…disconnected.

I still love that series, even if it's pretty much Queen & Country-lite.

Books: Started up the new Joe Hill, The Fireman. It's definitely Hill taking on his dad's favorite setting, the post-apocalyptic survivors' camp, and…doing his own thing with it. I kinda love how every story of Hill's has an unflattering pastiche of his dad in it, and this one's no different.

Movies: Watched Cap 3. Gosh yes. It's no Cap 2, but it's definitely up there in terms of sheer greatness.

Eh, you're almost right about Nicholson in there. He did a lot of improv-y stuff in there (creeping up on Leo, the strap-on in the porno theatre, throwing cocaine on the hookers, a bunch of other stuff) that added to the general bizarreness of the character; otherwise, the character would have come across as a…

I mean, there's a few things to note.

There's a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo of Johnny Quick's speed formula in the one that Thawne gave Barry. SO GREAT.

To be specific: 3 Bishop miniseries from the '90s, 4 issues of Captain Atom he'd written that capped the series, Wasteland (a horror anthology cowritten with Del Close, of all people), and…I think that's it? I finished reading his Spectre run for a third time over the past week, too.

Books: Finally getting around to Richard Price's The Whites. Pretty engaging at the beginning, though there are a few too many characters introduced in too rapid-fire a fashion. Still! Scratches my crime itch.

I'm predicting a humongous drop the second week, though. It's been getting such abominable word-of-mouth, and all it's had is a preview night and opening day.

My only hope, at this point, is that I love David Ayer. Like, beyond reason.

So it's been C2E2 all weekend, and, due to lugging around bags and bags of comics for hours on end, my entire body is in horrible, horrible pain. Yet I'm going to go to the last day today!

I love how zen this is, every week. Just…"Predator again".

If you're already planning on getting the whole run, don't bother with the Flashbacks trade; they're already collected throughout.

Duggan's run gets even better after that. The third arc is seriously one of the best Deadpool stories I've ever read, the relationship with Shiklah is great, and the flashback issues are absolutely hilarious.

Once you get past Otherworld, it's mostly easier. Especially considering how much of the last arc hinges, emotionally, on Deadpool. Really great stuff. And yeah, the first 18 issues are some of my favorite X-comics ever.