12.12.2009

Movie Review: Up In The Air


So this is the first movie review that I've ever written, well, written since the 6th grade when I did a movie review for the Forest Trail Junior High School newspaper. So for my film reviews I'm going to be assigning the stereotypical 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being One of the Best Movies Ever and 1 being You Could Not Pay Me to Watch This Movie Again. So the other night, I took my lovely girlfriend Jesse out to a movie, and we went to see Up in the Air, the new Jason Reitman film starring George Clooney. What did I think of it? Did it come close to matching Reitman's previous films Juno or Thank You For Smoking? Hit the jump to find out.

12.11.2009

Top 10 Favorite Episodes of Television - All-Time


So I usually open these posts with some witty or stupid comment about my life, relating some meaningless story for amusement. And I would do this today too, except I really don't have much of anything to talk about. I've been just so exhausted all week and I'm not entirely sure why, but it probably has to do with waking up at 6:30am everyday, something I'm still not accustomed to. Or it could be my overeliance on commas in a sentence, which I figure that the more commas, the better, while fewer commas, are probably worse,. Anyways, grammer jokes aside, down to bidness. So while working on me and Chris Kordy's upcoming Podcast "Status Update", I started digging through lists of television series' that I loved but has for the most part been forgotten for an episode that we're doing (the podcast will launch at the end of this year BTWs, and I'm going to be pimping it pretty hardcore when we're getting ready to launch it). This got me to thinking, and I have compiled my list of my Top 10 favorite episodes on Television of all time. Now, this isn't a "best of" list, but instead is a list of my favorite episodes that I've ever seen, so there is a heavy emphasis on shows that I love dearly. Hit the jump for the list.

DC Announces Rise of Arsenal / Fall of Green Arrow



I don't usually report on every news item that comes through with comic books, except that this week there have been a couple fairly major announcements that have come down the pike and I felt that they were worth noting. This, however, I definitely wanted to post and comment on since it follows up my Attention Must Be Paid article on Red Arrow and Cry for Justice #5. Today, DC announced through their blog The Source that there were going to be a one shot, a new miniseries, and a series defining arc on Green Arrow spinning out of Cry for Justice. Hit the jump for the story.

12.10.2009

Windy City Mumblin' 12/11 - Sports Edition



Welcome to another edition of Windy City Mumblin' - which is basically me complaining about things that I don't have enough to write a full post about, so they get kind of lumped in here together. This week, I'm going to be talking about sports primarily, since the majority of the issues that I've been thinking about have to do with either our sports teams or sports in general. Hit the jump for the mumblin'.

Fatigue Relief - Weekly Comic Book Review 12/9

Sorry friends, I’m just not that clever. Here’s the breakdown of my reviews. I will be assigning everything I review a number, 1-10. Writing and plot are very important to me, so that’s the majority of the review. As far as art goes, I’m so terrible at drawing myself, unless the interiors are terrible, you won’t hear too much negativity about it from me. The most important aspect of a comic book, in my opinion, is characterization. If I’ve been reading Daredevil for an extended period of time, and throughout that run DD is constantly preaching that he will not join a team or group because he works solo, it drives me nuts that you find him in Spiderman working with Luke Cage and Iron Fist. That was a made up example, but it makes my point for me. I like my characters to be consistent. Oh hey, watch out for spoilers, because how can you review something and be totally ambiguous the whole time? Onto the reviews.

12.08.2009

Put it Out to Pasture: The Office

"There is an end to everything, to good things as well" - Chaucer
With that said, I'd like to welcome you to the first post of another new feature here at Event Fatigue, Put it Out to Pasture. Basically, I spotlight TV shows, comic books, musicians, filmmakers, or anything else really that has outlived it's success and glory days and needs to be sent out to pasture. Now, in order for something to qualify for being put out to pasture, it has to actually be good at one point in its career, so no Til Death or CSI: Miami appearances because those shows just flat out need to die slowly and painfully. For the first post of the feature, I'm going to be talking about a show that was personally my favorite on TV but has now fallen and is no longer the juggernaut that it once was, The Office. Hit the jump for the article.

First Post!

Hello new readers of Event Fatigue! I hope you have been enjoying the website so far, and hopefully with my addition to the crew of writers you’ll like it even more. Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Peter Durkin, I’m 25 and I’ve been reading and collecting comics for a very, very long time. My taste in comic books is a fairly popular one. I follow the big two, Marvel and DC, grab a couple of indie books from time to time, but mostly keep up via trade. I also keep up on the big events, but as the name of the web site says, I am a little fatigued by the constant events. I like my action big and my dialogue quick and am a stickler for consistent characterization. I appreciate most all artists work, because, well because I couldn’t draw if my life depended on it. But I am a fan in truest sense of the word. I will pick apart my favorite books and writers for the minutest detail, but I will defend to the death the medium in all arenas. So welcome new readers, I hope I give you something to read.




I’ve decided to write my first article not on my favorite character or list of greatest deaths that have been negated by a recent rebirth, but rather one of the happiest places in the world; my comic book store on new comic book Wednesday. I have been collecting comic books since about May of 1993 and over the years I have frequented many comic book vendors. When I was young, the local Walden Books or Magazine isle in Osco was where I found my comic book fix. Ah, the simpler times of my youth, where I could go to Osco with five dollars and walk away with at least four books with X in the title. I was strictly buying a book on the strength of its cover or whether or not Wolverine could be found in the ensuing pages. Sometimes, I would pick up a two or three pack at the local Toys R Us, and can remember very clearly when that same toy store was fazing out it’s selling of comics, so they were selling hundreds of books for pennies. I bought a plastic bag of 50 books for 10 dollars.




As I became more serious about being a collector, I found my first comic book store, Atlas Comics. Atlas, which is still around today, was a small store, but it packed a big punch. I would be taken for a trip to Atlas Comics( the marquee was missing the i in comics for a very long time) every four or five months and would load up when I got there. Whatever I could find in 20 minutes that fit within my $30 budget, that’s what I walked out with. I was a huge fan of Marvel’s What If? title and any book in the X universe. Shiny covers usually helped make hard decisions and quarter bins were my specialty. Atlas also boasted a great wall of vintage comic books, most notably, my holy grail at the time, Wolverine #1. ( The Claremont mini)




For some reason in my life, I stopped collecting. Stopped reading all together. I got back into books around age 15 when I picked up Ultimate X-Men #6, and I haven’t looked back since. By that time, I was able to commit myself to the weekly grind of collecting. After a trial period of finding the right store for me, I tried out Windy City Comics on North Ave in Melrose Park. The store had a great selection of back issues, never ran out of the new issues and had trades galore. But the reason I travel the extra distance for this particular store are the people that work there. I’m always greeted by a ‘Hello Peter!’ when I walk in and a ‘take it easy when I walk out’. The staff is always up for a spirited debate of current events and always more than happy to tell me that I read too much Marvel and not enough DC ( Hey I read all of Countdown, gimmie a break). But above all else, they appreciate your business. When I started all those years ago in Osco books were $1.25. Most of my books are pushing the $3.99 mark with no signs of slowing down in price increase. Windy City Comics recognizes that their core group of comic book denizens are fans through and through and they do the little things that keep us coming back. Bags and boards are on them. And if you start a subscription list (the idea that you’re going to become a loyal customer) you get 10% off new books. Those are little things they don’t have to do, but it’s the little things that make all the difference. But most important: they learn your name. I went into a chain store in Chicago and bought 60 dollars worth of books. The guy behind the register didn’t even bat an eye. Not so at Windy City.




I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who loves their comic book store. Everyone has a ‘guy’ or a sweet deal they’ve worked out. But for those of you who don’t love your store or you don’t get a ‘Hi Bob’, do yourself a favor and keep looking. The right store is out there and it makes all the difference in the world.


I hope you enjoyed my personal reflection on the comic book stores throughout my life. I’ll be breaking down everything from favorite single issues and trades to trends in current books I can’t stand right now. I should be coming out with weekly reviews as well. So keep tuning in, more is on the way.

Peter

12.07.2009

"Ultimate" DC Line Set to Launch in 2010


Hey gang, so the big news today from DC's The Source blog is that in 2010 they are going to start releasing a series of graphic novels introducing a "modern" take on the origins of Batman and Superman. So basically, DC is launching their own Ultimate line of comics like Marvel did, except that DC is going to be only doing it as graphic novels instead of releasing single issues monthly like all other comic books. Kirk Warren at the Weekly Crisis sums up his feelings here and I absolutely agree with him 100%, and I'm going to share some things that Kirk and others haven't really discussed, since what most people have said so far is on the money. Hit the jump for those.