I don’t really understand the weird zombie obsession I have. It has one on for DECADES. I’m not some new zombie adopter. I was a goth-tinged punk rocker back in the mid 80’s watching ‘Return of the Living Dead’ (best sound track ever) and grooving on the zombies then.

This new love ‘o zombies makes me feel odd. Feel, I’ve ALWAYS been here. You guys just showed up? I love you and welcome to the undead train, I hopped on it back in 1982.

And there were those on it much earlier.

Maybe I should quit complaining, just say "grab a brain, get on and ride!"

[  Currently: Listening to Lacuna Coil ]
Watching the most soapy of soapy episodes of Smallville ever it reminded me of why the team up of Batman and Superman works. Kal-El just doesn’t quite get us, Bruce Wayne understands us way too well. There is an odd psychological balance there.

That is why I sort of look forward to a Justice League movie, to see that paring of yin/yang. Compare messianic Superman Returns to the gutterfighting, bitter war of Batman Begins. Obviously characters from two different ends of the spectruum, but with a common thread. Trying to do right by people.

But these swing to extremes, the Dark Knight series (1 and 2) speak volumes about this. Superman is perverted by the system, Batman is forced to take him down to defend the values that at one time Supes himself would have held dear. But there have been more then a few series where Supes had to seek Batman when he crossed the line and went to ground.

We still rooted for Batman though, didn’t we? He’s human and can have broken limbs.

While they get seperated, I would argue that these two characters are fairly indetachable in modern psyche. Our shining warrior for truth and justice, our dark thirst for revenge at all costs. Both are viable archetypes and should both be at war and sometimes fighting side by side.

So, poor Supes, left with out the council of all to human Bruce Wayne spirals into melodrama. Things understood by, but alien to the Bat-Noir.

I was hoping they might use Ollie Queen as a humanizing force on Kal-El, but they played him suprisingly close to type. And rightly so, Green Arrow was always about saving the WHOLE WORLD. He was the classic neo-socialist. Green Arrow fought the battles in the street because he thought they echoed larger social injusticies.

Bruce Wayne never felt that way. Every fight in the street was a personal affront to him.

The only DC hero that could have replaced Bruce Wayne as a humanizing factor on Smallville would be The Question, and he was always a bit too weird of a DC hero to use indescriminately among the striaghts.

Kansas crept out of its’ deep thaw with the usual flip flop. Still, it is nice to be outside in ambient warm air.

I’m fixin’ to go home and tear apart the brick (many, many packs) of HorrorClix The Lab expansion figures I just bought. Much fun will be had.

In comics news:

I got issue 2 of the Dark Tower comic. If anything it is superior to issue 1. The art work is nothing short of fantastic. If you are a Stephen King fan you better be reading this, because it is capturing everything that was good about the Dark Tower series of books.

The Walking Dead continues on it’s gruesome and merry way. There are a few characters I am getting tired of and a few that re-affirm how kick ass that I think they are. Any long time reader will know which is which.

I picked up Fall of Cthulhu #0.

It is pretty damn amazing. Again fantastic art, evocative of theme. But another telling of Alhazred?

People need to realize Donald Tyson pretty much created a definative Alhazred and all others need to step off.

Still I am interested enough to add it to my pull list.

I picked up the Dark Pharoh expansion to Arkham Horror. It is over priced for what it is, essentially two new decks of cards. (At $20) It looks to add some fun to the game but the price seems a bit out of line.

Oh and I bought a bottle of fantastic thai hot sauce…but that is neither here nor there.

Well, my buddy got his HorrorClix Alien Queen. It was suitably gross and looks like it would cause complete havok in an HC game. We’ll have to give it a spin.

Speaking of giving a spin, I unpacked Arkham Horror and gave it a look over. It is a very solid and well put together game. Fantasy Flight really does have their board game vibe down. I hear the expansions calling my name. Mostly in the trilling proto-pipes of the shoggoths. One cool thing, the game can be played solo, down side the board is too damn big for my small table in my apartment.

*sigh*

I am slowly being swayed towards buying an XBox 360, mostly because Dead Rising is such a complete blast of a game. I’ve been playing it over at a friends and it is wildly addicting. Heap on the fact that I am a badass with a lead pipe or a baseball bat..I’ll probably pick one up, espescially if Call of Cthulhu, Dark Corners of the Earth is backwards compatable.

But when will I find time to play World of Warcraft? I don’t want to let my boy Mccracken stagnate over on the Nazgrel server…

So much to do…so much to do…