Batman versus the Cyber Cowboys in... "The Deep Freeze!"

Its Friday, December 31, 2010, another one bites the dust, and this is The Side. So why wasn't there a post last Wednesday absolutely none of you asked? Did I take time off for the holidays? Did I have to rush back up to West Virginia to aid my ailing father? Was I the victim of organized crime?

Possibly the last one.

It started Sunday night when I got a pop up on my comp telling me that my computer was under attack. Whatever it was had gotten past my security programs, but no security program is 100%. This was nasty little piece of work as it asked me if I wanted to block the attack. If I clicked no, it would bring up Internet Explorer and send me straight to a post site. If I clicked yes it would bring up Internet Explorer sending me to a site that offered a variety of items that take care of viruses and spyware. All I needed was my credit card.

I'm not the most computer savvy person around, but I know a con when I see one.

The virus quickly overtook the whole computer to the point where I couldn't do anything with it. I couldn't even bring up Minesweeper. The only thing it would let me do is go to that site and "purchase" those items.

Screw that. I shut it down and called Alpha Geek. It took a while for him to get out here as the attack coincided with that incredibly nasty snowstorm, which I really doubt was a coincidence. However, once Mike the Alpha Geek got here he was able to get the nasty bit of code out of the comp. It took a bit of doing. That thing protected itself like a wounded beast.

It was really cool to watch too. He does stuff with computers that is so above my level of computer knowledge that it looks like magic. He also tipped me off that a lot of these viruses are going around and there's quite a lot of it coming from the Russian Mob. Philip Defranco stated that many view the internet as "the Wild West", and it really is. Its dangerous, and there's plenty of nasty code-slingers out there looking to get ahead. The internet is a hostile environment and you've got to be careful on here. Which is why I never go to 4chan.

It could be worse. At least I'm not an Iranian Nuclear Power Plant.

COMIX!!

OK, I only just made it to Comic Kings yesterday and could only grab three books. Therefore, I'll have a second review with the rest of my weekly reads on Sunday.

Let;s light this candle with ACTION COMICS #896. This issue succeeded in doing many things. First it made me want to punch Sebastien Mallory right in the mouth. Form being an obnoxious jerk in the Jimmy Olson back-up to a complete brown noser in the main story I'm really hoping for something horrible to happen to him. Second, it made me excited about a crossover. Typically these things make me have to buy a book I would want to in order to get the rest of the story or one side of the creative team kinda mishandles the others' toys. Cornell absolutely nailed the Secret Six and then I get to see how Gail Simone wraps up the story. Complete win for me. Third it confirmed that for next Christmas I want a girl robot. Robo-Lois has been such a scene stealer in this book and this issue is no exception. She's so much more fun than the real Lois Lane, but its not really a fair comparison since the real Lois doesn't have a smash mode, at least one that we know of. Great book with tons of action, loved every bit of it.

Moving on over to BATMAN INCORPORATED #2, we have grant Morrison and company knocking this thing completely out of the park. You know its going to be good when the first panel of the first page has Jiro Osamu kicking one of the henchmen of Lord Death Man right in the nuts. This book has everything I could want from this title. All the characters are spot on awesome. The cameo from Shiny happy Aquazon was fun. Bruce and Selina's interaction was spotless. He knows he can't fully trust her because she's still a thief. She knows he's going to try to stop whatever heist she's trying to pull. And they're still crazy about each other. I had to restrain myself from cheering a bit at Jiro stating "Guns are for cowards, not for Mr. Unknown!" thus increasing his own awesomeness. Loved the bit where Jiro takes the oath in the same fashion Dick Grayson once did. The only bit that's bugging me is the jewels liquefying at surface pressure. I know I've seen that bit before and for the life of me I can't place where. Ah well. If you're going to only read one Bat-title this is the one to read.

And if you're going to avoid one Bat-title like the plague BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1 gives us a good one to run for the hills screaming from. Its like I went back in time to before Bruce Wayne was completely awesome. Its totally the Bat-Douche Returns. References to Bruce Wayne's life being shattered. The title of the story "In Golden Dawn" with batman searching for a missing childhood friend Dawn Golden is pretty laughable. Bruce is a prick to Alfred. Killer Croc being on Venom seemed weird and forced, like he wasn't enough of the threat to begin with Finch has to make him even tougher so Batman could be seen as even more awesome when he took him down. I don't know what he was thinking with his redesign of The Penguin. I have to think he wanted to make a strong visual statement, much like Jim lee did with the Joker back in the overrated "Hush" storyline, but it just made the character unrecognizable. The bit with young Bruce and Dawn with the kite was really heavy handed and creepy, not in a good way creepy. It really looks like David Finch has not been paying attention at all with what the character of Bruce Wayne has been going through and his development over the last five years. So for those of you that don't like Batman being cool and awesome and want him back to being "The Goddamn Batman", this is the book for you. I'll be elsewhere. Don't bother telling me how it turns out.

ICE STATION: DEEP CREEK!!!

Like most of the east coast I did indeed get hit by the massive snow storm last weekend. Got thirteen inches of snow which is a helluva lot for this area. It hasn't snowed like that here in thirty years.





Yes indeedy, that is a lot of snow. So of course I had to congratulate Al Gore in his defeating Global Warming, which I did on Google Buzz, and sure enough someone attacked me to support Gore. It was just precious. Serious, no body takes Gore seriously anymore. Even the environmentalist hippies are kinda hoping he'd just go away. I was asked if I knew the difference between "climate" and "weather". Of course I do!

Climate: is what the hippies freak out about nowadays for changing ever so slightly, even though its been doing that pretty much always, and makes them buy hybrid cars to feel better about themselves and superior to others.

Weather: is what is outside and best avoided as it is really frakkin' cold at the moment.

The current state of both, like everything, is temporary. There's nothing like an nasty cold winter to make me miss warmer weather.



Epic farmer's tan is EPIC!

MUSIC!!

So what song will i end the year with? What song rocked me harder than the others? I'd like to end the year with Lady Gaga.

Oh wait, I meant I'd like to end Lady Gaga this year. Pesky typos.



That's it for the year, gang. Y'all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve. I'll be back Sunday barring horrible incident.

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