After watching X-Men Origins: Wolvermarine (see “all new #121″) I had momentary curiosity about the Weapon X program, which I recalled foremost that Grant Morrison had touched on in his fabulous but redacted New X-Men run. It in volume 4, “Assault on Weapon Plus” that Morrison’s toying with the “Weapon” program comes into play, but first there’s a storyline featuring beautiful art by Phil Jimenez that finds Jean Grey finding out about Cyclops and Emma Frost’s psychic affair, confrontation ensuing, and suddenly, the murder of Emma Frost. Mutant crimes investigator Bishop comes on the scene to investigate the crime and it’s a straightforward, engaging and occasionally funny storyline. The “main” story of the volume departs completely from Xavier’s school and finds a hungover Scott and Logan joining the newly introduced Fantomex (a decided visual riff on Diabolik) who happens to be Weapon XIII (weapon 13) in their efforts to shut down the mutant experimentation program. It’s here that it’s introduced that Weapon I was actually Captain America and that weapons II through IX were all failed variations of the Super Solider experiment until Weapon X when they decided to start experimenting on mutants. The background concepts Morrison introduces are brilliant, but the main story is manic, and sometimes inconceivable, Morrison’s storytelling either less than clear or else being paired with Chris Bachalo, not gelling with the artist. Bachalo’s art features distorted figures in muddily constructed settings and is generally serviceable, but unpleasant. In any case “Assault on Weapon Plus” is messy visually and textually and doesn’t make for the most fluid of reading… not the highest point in Morrison’s X-Men run anyway.
14/05/2009
[...consumed anew #95] New X-Men vol.4
06/04/2009
[...consumed all new #95] Life On Mars (America) finale
Oh, this was pathetic, especially in comparison to the British series finale (see consumed all new #41). In the American finale, Sam has a showdown with his dad, who kidnaps his younger self. In the climactic fight, Sam’s about to get stabbed in the chest, which his dad is shot and killed by Gene Hunt. Sam’s strange calls from Hyde begin to escalate, until the grand climax when he wakes up, no word of a lie, from his sleep pod aboard a spaceship on its way to Mars in 2035. All the people from his dream are there too, and his cop-show fantasy was allowing him to work out his issues. Yes, they went for the absolutely most literal meaning for “Life On Mars”, because, well, they don’t respect their audience. And the constant plays on words and reiterating of story points like “he’ll read to you when you’re old and grey” (which 20 minutes later is reiterated “I told you he’d read to you when you’re old and grey”) is like hitting the viewer over the head with a mallet saying “DO. YOU. GET. IT?” By the end of it you’re brain is numb, and you certainly don’t feel any more enlightened having watched it. I have to say, the surprise turn of events was indeed astonishing but also atrocious. With only the few episodes of the series I had the misfortune of viewing, I’m confident in declaring it in the top five worst tv shows I’ve ever seen. Some shows are bad, yes, but you see how the people who enjoy them do enjoy them. This one, not at all.
05/04/2009
[...about me #95] “Graig”
Where did my name come from. Well, according to my mom, she didn’t like the sound of “Craig” and wasn’t very fond of the spelling of “Greg” (and I don’t think she wanted people to mistake me for a Gregory), so instead of calling me something else altogether, this is what I was stuck with and I kinda like it. See “about #62″ for more.
[...learned #95] smoked out
Now you know you should replace the battery/ies in your smoke alarm every 6 months (using the shift to and from Daylight Savings Time is a good indicator for when to do this), but did you know you should replace the entire unit about every ten years. The things you learn when you actually read the manual for something that you don’t figure you need a manual for)
[...i ate #95] eggs
Easily one of my favourite last-minute foods is eggs, fried eggs to be precise. It’s taken me a long time to master frying up an egg, and I really haven’t mastered it quite yet, but I’m generally satisfied with the results. You basically need to let the pan heat up on the range at a medium-high heat for about three to five minutes, meanwhile in a small bowl crack the eggs (never against the side of the pan). After the pan has warmed, drop a dollop of butter into it, swirl it around to coat the pan, then drop the eggs in. Let sizzle until the edges get crispy, flip long enough to sprinkle with pepper, then turn the frying pan upside down onto a plate (don’t use the spatula to lift the eggs or you may crack the yolk… of course if you like a hard yolk, let the egg fry for a minute or two after flipping).
When I recently walked past a kitchen shop in Bloor West Village and saw egg holders on their street-side display, I realized that I haven’t had a soft boiled egg in at least a decade, probably more like two. I used to love cracking the top, sprinkling with a little salt, and taking my toast strips and dipping them in. I’ll have to buy some egg holders and give it a go.