Weekend Nonsense

Doug:  Things have been "lulling" around here lately, both in the amount of posting coming from your favorite Bronze Age hosts, but also in the amount of comments we've been receiving.  Maybe it's just the "dog days" of summer -- I don't know.  Anyway, here are some random thoughts based on recent concepts that have come up, my life, travels, etc.  Do with this what you will.

Doug:  Tomorrow the 20-year old and I are going to take in the last day of Wizard World Chicago, located in Rosemont, IL -- just a stone's throw away from O'Hare International Airport.  It's been several years since we've gone, and here's the skinny on why that is:  our tickets were $35 apiece, and it will cost us probably $20 to park.  So for the low, low cost of only around $100, we get to walk in the front door.  I know these sorts of things obviously have huge expenses in their venue rentals, expense accounts for the big-name stars who will appear, advertising, etc.  But c'mon...  We have a great time being together on those days, and the 80-minute car rides to and fro are always a highlight.  But I can get about the same deals I'll find tomorrow on Amazon.com without the exorbitant entry fees.  I don't buy comics any more, just trade paperbacks and hardcovers.  Here's a peek at my shopping list, which I've brought over from my iTouch --  it will be in my pocket for quick reference.  You'll see I've made notes on cover price and the Amazon or In-Stock Trades price where applicable.  I'm hoping to spend around $150 or so -- it's a good idea to have a budget at these things!  Additionally, I try not to buy before 3:00, as I feel there are better deals when the dealers are thinking about packing up and making that one last sale (or lightening the load for their own ride home).

Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers $50 ($35) -30%

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives #13 $60 ($37) -39%

Essential Defenders volume 2

Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus

Daredevil Visionaries Frank Miller volumes 2, 3

Chronicles of Conan (have volumes 1 & 5)

Capt. Marvel Masterworks #3 $50 ($33) -40%

Conan the Rogue GN $20-100 (?)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Power of Starhawk $25 ($15) -40%

Deadman Book One $20 (IST $12) -40%
Deadman Book Two $15 (IST $9) -40%

New Teen Titans Omnibus:
#1 $75 ($46) -39%
#2 $75 ($46) -39%

Secret Society of Super-Villains hardcovers:
#1 $40 ($31) -23%
#2 $40 ($30) -24%

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse $50 ($48) -3% {IST - ($30) -40%}

Marvel DVD-ROMs:
X-Men
Hulk
Captain America

Doug:  RE: the flap over the way our voting turned out in the Greatest Story of the Bronze Age brackets.  I don't know what to make of it, other than to say we'd never run a poll before that had over 100 votes, and we got nearly 350 on that championship round.  Additionally, as the totals were changing so quickly, something was definitely going on.  Karen and I had planned to begin another round of Bracketology around the first of September; now we're not so sure.  Unlike what Donny Osmond sang, one bad apple could spoil the whole bunch, girl!  Anyway, as a test, a means to stick my toe back in the water and see if it's safe, I've set a consolation poll on the sidebar.  Who knows how much controversy was secretly raging in our brackets voting?  So check it out, and vote only once -- I mean seriously -- we're just having fun with it.

Doug:  We'd like to welcome several new commenters and followers who've chosen to check us out over the past several weeks.  Many of our "long timers" have said we're a regular stop on their Internet start-up, and Karen and I certainly appreciate it.  Of course we do this blog for ourselves, but we'd lie if we didn't say that our satisfaction is directly derived from your satisfaction.  It's difficult for us (and for all bloggers, I'd imagine) to gauge if what we're doing is "working" or "good" or even "satisfying" to you if you don't tell us.  Now, having said that, I'll stand before our blogosphere friends and say that I don't always do a good enough job of dropping a compliment or getting involved in other conversations away from the BAB.  But I do check our blog roll every single day, and appreciate the variety of what gets posted.  It's obvious that some of our colleagues are putting in a tremendous amount of time providing all of us a little recreation.

Doug:  Karen alluded to (in Friday's comments section) the amount of time we spend on our posts.  Now might be a good time to provide that "jumping on point" for new or relatively-new readers.  Karen and I met over at the Avengers Assemble message boards six years ago.  Along with several other users, we kept threads on writers, artists, comics from the Silver and Bronze Ages, etc. going for years.  But as that board a) had some nasty folks on it that b) caused many long-time users to drop off, we decided to satisfy our comics-discussing by starting a blog.  Our first effort was short-lived, but we've found a long-term home here at the Bronze Age Babies.  I live just south of the Chicago suburbs, and Karen lives in the Phoenix area.  We have never met; not even spoken on the phone.  Our relationship has been purely electronic -- all of the posts we do together are done either via email or composed right here on the blog.  We choose topics for review based on what we own; occasionally we will make a purchase based on what we'd like to do, but for the most part (thus far) we've worked out of our own collections/libraries.  We tell it like we see it -- those of you who have been around know we don't always like what we choose to comment on, and sometimes that's frustrating for us.  Time is, in some cases, not kind to our perceptions of certain books we treasured as children.  But that's the role of a critic, and I hope we do honor to that.

Doug:  We really, really want this to be an interactive place and part of the reason we spend so much time writing our reviews is we hope to spur some conversation, even debate.  I don't want to give off the air that we cry in our coffee, but there have been a few times this summer when we've put the finishing touches on a post, added the art samples, and then playfully suggested to each other that we've written a 20-comment, or 30-comment post.  And when that doesn't happen, we wonder where we missed the mark.  We're not trying to manipulate anyone by "making" our readers comment; but we are undeniably trying to be in that huddle at the racks in the comic shop.  That is what this blog is all about -- friends meeting to hash out questions and thoughts in regard to the wonderful pop culture we all grew up with.  The foci here lands on two things:  1) the writing of reviews of comics is what we do -- we don't just scan entire comic books.  We want to be conversational and have you react to our opinions, and 2) the topics we throw out in our Discuss and Open Forum genres are meant to elicit your own reactions and opinions -- really, it's you the reader who is expected to take the lead on those days and provide the criticisms and reactions.  When you don't, the post has failed to do what it was meant to do.

Doug:  Last thought for today:  My family did what we do in the summertime -- we saw a game in a Major League ballpark and then (usually) took the tour of the park while there.  Due to the boys' work schedules (as well as the 11 days I spent in Washington, DC in July) we were limited on when and how long we could get away.  So we took a quick-hitter to St. Louis Wednesday-Friday and saw the Cardinals play the Giants on Thursday.  Here's my question to you:  We've been to over 15 MLB parks for games and/or tours (tours of Busch Stadium III, Wrigley Field, Miller Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Kaufman Stadium, Fenway Park, Citizens Bank Ballpark, and Jacobs Field).  Do any of you have venues that you "collect", like ballparks or theaters or museums or national parks or Civil War battlefields?  I'd just be curious to know what other families do on their vacations.  Thanks in advance!

Doug:  Have a great rest-of-your-weekend, and come back on Monday for the conclusion of our Defenders/Squadron Sinister tilt!