Ah, yes, another busy month of catch-up and another exploration of what sucks up any little free time I can eek out from the man. An event-driven month with ROH to head things off and Cybermonkeydeathsquad Presents Doctor Infierno very soon now on the 29th to take us out and a few X-Cellent things in the works made for a very busy monkey. These didn’t help.

Comics: Blame Mexomorph for this one. He’s been buying up huge lots of random comics on the cheap and, taking advantage of the fact that I am a comics guy, brings them over and lets me paw all over them for silly low prices that astound even him. Needless to say he’s got a huge stack of new stuff to look at and I also have a large pile (like 100 books) but not as many as he got. Anything good? Warren Ellis’ Desolation Jones 1-3, Marvel’s out-of-print Wizard of Oz #1 (1st), Marvel Tales #100, a lot of Alan Moore’s ABC line, a 1955 Looney Tunes,some Shadow by Howard Chaykin, a lot of John Byrne Namor, some Arthur Adams Monkeyman and O’Brien, the Batman mindwipe story from JLA 115-119…stuff like that. Lord knows when I’ll get to it all but at the almost nothing I paid I’m just happy to have ‘em. If there are scant reviews next month, here’s why. This also brings me, oddly enough, to my next subject…

Free Comic Book Day: Begun in 2002, FCBD is held the first Saturday in May (this year May 3rd) and is an attempt by retailers and the industry to open up people to the unique graphic format. Thousands of comic shops freely give out tons of specially produced comics from all the major publishers and a whole bunch of up-and-coming publishers to anyone who wants them. The comics run the whole range from kid friendly titles like DC Universe Kids and perennial FCBD fav of mine Owly to current continuity titles like the Avengers and Wolverine to adult fare like Love and Rockets. In the process, it opens up tons of new people to the format and allows them to discover how tremendous shops like Dream Haven in Minneapolis or Austin Books and Capstone Comics here in Austin are and how much more awaits inside besides just comics. I have been privileged enough to see all the titles this year and there is some terrific stuff awaiting you on Saturday, May 3rd (a bunch of which I just mentioned above). Take the time out of your day and try something new; if you’re a nerd like me, make sure you grab the Nancy and Melvin Monster flip book and The Stuff of Legend preview. Pure gold.

X-Box 360/Nintendo Wii: Two already awesome systems that are actually capable of being even more awesome. Admittedly, I’m not much of a gamer but I do enjoy shooting stuff and jumping around occasionally but now I seem to be doing a bit more of it than usual. The X-Box has gotten me with new Left 4 Dead on-line options (finally) so zombies are falling by the gross (I’m telling you, when the apocalypse happens you want me around); I’m busy with Tomb Raider Underworld, which has proven far more of a pain-in-the-ass than it needs to be (especially after the challenging but enjoyable Legend) and if two or more are present we’ve been running some Unreal III to spice things up. I’ve also got Dead Space lined up as well as Fallout 3, which I hear I’ll either love or hate. The Wii has probably the most addictive puzzle game since Bust A Move (the best, in my opinion – any of ‘em) in the “I won’t take it out of the machine unless I absolutely have to” Boom Blox. Steven Spielberg may have lost the ability to make a good film but he hired the best for his puzzle game which knocks it out of the park. The game has you throw, chain-react, explode, shoot and Jenga blocks to achieve certain goals. I was unaware this existed and probably would not have looked at it even but man, what a frickin’ game. Mexomorph and I have wasted hours on this thing, pissed off like crazy and I still urge you, if you have a Wii, to snag this game immediately! I have heard there’s another and that does not bode well for my future free time. Otherwise, Super Mario World takes the grand prize. My pal Chad Drozd and I have made Mario a Christmas tradition since like 2002 because we always get stuck working until we ran out of Mario to beat again. Well, you can get it on the Wii and we’re beating it again, in our off time. In case of guests I also made sure I got Metal Slug Super Vehicle – hell, I got a lot of things but this is what is going on currently. House of the Dead Overkill is a pleasant surprise with it’s grindhouse feel, laugh-out-loud cutscenes and the shooting zombies with the gun pleasure that the franchise is known for. Thank God for Sega.

Mythos; The Fantasy Art Realms of Frank Brunner: As soon as I saw this I knew I was going home with it. Brunner is best know for his work on Howard The Duck, Doctor Strange and Man Thing among others and I am an avid follower of the above. The book is 128 pages of vintage and classic illustration produced for Marvel, Heavy Metal, Dreamworks, Disney and other top companies as well as commission artwork and rarely-seen pieces from Brunner’s own collection. Features tons of the above, as well as Conan, Red Sonja, Sandman, Star Wars, Elric and more. Brunner is a true master of the medium and even his sketches are more realized than most people’s finished artwork. The collection comes in a slipcase for $50, a hardcover for $35 and a reasonable $25 paperback, well worth the investment for comic fans and lovers of fine art.

Coffee: My lifeblood. Without it, even less would get accomplished. Various Gevalia, mostly, but to make up for it I drink copious amounts of Jack In The Box coffee in hopes of achieving some sort of strange balance. Lady Lascivious and I are often fond of surprising each other with the occasional Texpresso (double Alamocha) so I’d say I run the gamut from barely tolerable to superior and am what you would term a “hardcore” coffee drinker. I am eagerly awaiting the coffee IV so it can just be a constant flow to my bloodstream. Besides the flying car, the Jetson’s food processor and the teleporter, Science should make that a top priority.

Professional Wrestling: I seem to have covered this every digs for the past few months and who am I to break a trend? For those lucky enough to have HD Net, every Saturday at 7 ROH runs an hour program, exposing the world to the best indy promotion in the U.S. today. The program has a decent enough undercard and always features 1-2 matches with top talent like last week’s Tyler Black/Brian Danielson main event. An added benefit is announcer Mike Hogewood who just may be the breakout star of 2009. He barely knows anyone’s name, knows relatively little about their backgrounds, knows like two old moves like the lariat and the headlock and not much else but he possesses a sincerity and enthusiasm that fills me with glee every time I hear him speak. He’s for real and you believe it. Dave Prazak continues to annoy and the choad who does the backstage stuff should go back to whatever he did before. The day of Free Comic Book Day, May 3rd, Ric Flair makes his ROH debut (of sorts) in the old ECW Arena, another first. I recommend not missing it. I also want to mention the Xcellent Wrestling Alliance, a new federation launching here in September. Focusing on a batch of new talent yet bringing in stars from all over, Matt Corley, promoter of XWA, is hoping to appeal to the smart fans in terms of booking and storylines and I am very excited with each new thing I hear. Corley has a good head on his shoulders, a solid business plan, dvd distribution, talent connections and a desire to bring quality wrestling back to a former hotbed from which it has been sorely lacking. Cybermonkey may have some big doings in the works with Mr. Corley so I hope you keep your eye on this federation, even if you’re not a wrestling fan, because it should be awesome. If we’re lucky, Mr. Corley himself will grace us with some insider tidbits and a sitdown interview so we’ll let the man himself sell it to you. Lest I forget as well, one of my favorite Japanese leagues, Dragon Gate, is gonna be running shows regularly in the U.S. Check it out at dgusa.tv. Just sayin’ is all.

XWA – Remember the Name