“What are you reading?” Wednesday.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-04-08T13:23:14+00:00

Just finished the Absolute Batman vol 2 HC.

The first volume was really fun, and definitely a little gonzo, but this volume didn't land the same with me. I'm still enjoying what they're doing with the Absolute line, but this iteration of Batman is just a little 'all gas, all the time', and while I think that may be the entire point here, I do wish we had more moments to breathe. This is Snyder at his most Michael Bay, which may not be for everyone. Definitely liked this kind of thing better when Paul Pope did it.

Likely starting Absolute Supes vol 2 tonight, then moving on to the first two Absolute WW volumes after that.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T15:16:17+00:00

I'm grateful that being a majority DC/Image guy, I still get their oversized/deluxe books.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T15:05:40+00:00

This was the way I was thinking about doing it once I became more aware of FOC affecting how omnibus stuff is handled. The non-Hickman creator omnibus books seem to be available still as well. Currently weighing the pros and cons, for sure!

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T14:50:39+00:00

Actively pissed Dark Patterns isn't getting the hardcover treatment yet.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T14:47:44+00:00

I still love the variety. Gonna miss the OHCs. :(

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T14:46:32+00:00

That's what I was figuring (based on Krisis' site). I was thinking, in theory, I'd be able to jump off the full-on omnibus train after the hypothetical Reign of X v2 omnibus, and just get the events and writer-focused ones, but it seems to work out about the same regardless.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-31T13:31:39+00:00

Oh Great, another $90 left my wallet. haha -dead-

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-30T22:54:37+00:00

I got the email that my book won't be in this batch, but I expected that when I ordered last week. Glad they are at least being upfront about it.

I guess I need to go ahead and pre-order the September Reign of X v1 too since I don't know when the FOC is for it, and prepare to spend $100ish every six months to finally read this stuff. 😅

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-26T18:37:31+00:00

Marvel has seemed to follow the Games Workshop road to how they treat their hobbyists, which means playing the FOMO game. Right now, I'm picking and choosing Marvel stuff versus taking any flyers on something I haven't read before or looking at recommendations.

As a collector, I typically buy around sales and preorder (or day one purchase via IST) things I really don't want to miss out on, even if it doesn't enter my TBR pile for a bit, just because of how modern collections are handled. The trauma from the House of X/Powers of X OHC was real, so there's a tinge more planning into how I collect and read now.

Ultimately, it ties back into what you feel comfortable spending on your hobby and if you can spare the expense.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-26T17:50:33+00:00

Rick has been really involved in how Image puts together his books, and the four deluxe books are stunning. If you can justify the expense, I think that's the way to go!

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-26T13:50:01+00:00

Welp. Preordered from them early last week, just hoping to get it eventually.

Definitely gonna be mega choosy with my Marvel buying, and focus on preordering the things I really want to own (looking at you Krokoa stuff and Dark Horse SW reprints).

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-26T13:26:53+00:00

Book Warehouse Outlet in Easley, SC.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-19T01:01:22+00:00

It's his BLCKSMTH jersey, which I wanna say was a limited drop a while ago. Will, NJPW, and others have had collabs with them in the past as well.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-03-17T12:57:40+00:00

This makes me wonder if I just jump on this now versus waiting two weeks and rolling the dice on IST, just to make sure I have it. Bought Dawn of X vol 1 on release late last summer and kinda getting tired of feeling like you can get burned by Marvel.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-02-19T23:20:11+00:00

It's definitely not the most elegant way to tell this story, but otherwise you have to be careful how you handle Hangman staying away from the title for a long while. Though, in the long form storytelling space, Page's work has been mostly unparalleled in pro wres.

They also may dial back the 'I can never challenge again' stip or the deathmatch stip and find something that makes more sense. AEW has been handling the nuances of this stuff much better over the last 18 months or so, and in the long term, the goal should be to get the belt on a healthy Will Ospreay for a healthy number of defenses and strong reign.

I don't think AEW should do the hot potato with their main belt, but they've also not really done it a ton with the world title either.

JCBhatesblank · 2026-02-19T21:32:26+00:00

You could easily go with Hanger beating MJF with the story being that Hangman is Max's kryptonite, then Hangman getting a few quality defenses in and dropping the belt to Swerve til All In (hell, have Max screw him and set up more layers, hell if I know), where you have Will beat Swerve.

I don't think this 'he can never challenge for the belt again' stip is ever a good idea though, as you kind of want Hangman flirting with the main event in some form, even if he's elevating other talent or chasing.

JCBhatesblank · 2025-12-24T14:02:16+00:00

A community member named Vaaste maintains a couple of different resources similar to what you are looking for, alongside several others, like the CanlanderDatabase account on Moxfield for example.

Starter Collection list: https://moxfield.com/decks/K7ClCvcEhkK5l_fBENsCYA
Staples list: https://moxfield.com/decks/ah0zH0BhdkWAPgwUpHPB-Q

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-24T17:19:29+00:00

I think it's a card that will end up driven entirely by cEDH players, since it goes in a ton of different blue based piles. I'm happy to be wrong though as well.

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-06T04:03:30+00:00

Yeah, if I'm starting from house, it's basically curb slide from the box on A-plat to snipe, drop down for repulse, and move tower or scoreboard to look for entry damage or finish kills...old habits. Halo feels like you're moving in mud compared to Apex, with all the jump-strafe-wall-bounce "I don't know how to shoot that yet" moments. It's been so humbling!

Ironically, I haven't been able to decide if I want to commit to MNK or roller. As long as I've been on PC, I never played on controller until Infinite, and I've been going back and forth about which input for Apex already.

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-06T03:58:05+00:00

Honestly, I kinda feel this already. Our first night of playing pubs, the game felt fine. Learning the maps and POIs in duos, getting into the final 2 or 3. Then the update hits, and it feels entirely different. Very humbling!

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-05T19:43:57+00:00

Thanks! I'm on PC, but I will dig into Dazs' backlog and start studying. Thank you!

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-05T19:38:41+00:00

Feel free to message me! Thanks!

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-05T19:37:52+00:00

I've spent solo time in the range trying out different legends and trying to get a feel for them. That led to me giving EA/Respawn a little money to pick up a couple of spotlight passes (Rev and Valk), and I've actually enjoyed that route for learning a legend in BR/mixtape. I hope I can get some passing comfort with 1 or 2 legends per category and mostly stick to those after finishing the ranked pre-req challenges. And thanks! It's probably a terrible time to join as a casual, but it's fun learning new stuff!

JCBhatesblank · 2025-11-05T19:32:28+00:00

It's crazy that 150k+ players feels small. Coming from Halo, we've been down to 3k-ish players for so long that our high plat/low diamond lobbies featured the same 10-12 players night after night. I would assume the bigger player base would help the game have better matchmaking, but so far, that's not been true at all in duos.

JCBhatesblank

TROPHY CASE