Thursday, February 9, 2012

What I've Been Up To Lately...

It's been forever since I've added to this thing--I promise I'll try to write more, but today I just felt like I should jot a few things down to fill the time.

What has been going on in David Dangelico's life?  Well...Lia and I were planning to move to another city. And when I mean another city I don't mean Alexandria or Arlington. I mean that we were looking at places as far South as Panama City, and as far West as San Diego. BUT, we have decided to give NOVA/DC another year to see if we can get anywhere in our careers.

So where does that leave us? Well, basically just doing a job search. Which can be fun and exciting. We'll see.

In other news, I've been bitten by the comic book bug again. DC's recent total reboot got me hooked. I loved reading comics when I was in middle-school and high school, but as the trials of college became more and more daunting  I began to slowly put them aside. I still would crack a graphic novel or three every once and a while. But since then, the only comic that I had been reading regularly is Kirkman's The Walking Dead (which is still fantastic BTW). ANYWAYS, what DC did (for all of you non-comic geeks out there) is completely reboot 52 of its titles. In other words 52 different comics would start over again starting with issue number 1.

I mentioned this to Lia. I told her about how interesting (and risky) a move it is, and how I wouldn't mind picking up a couple #1's just to see what they are doing and how they are doing it.

"What does she do?" you ask?

Well, on a trip to visit her sister in Philadelphia she picks up Batman #1 AND Ultimate Comics: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 The reason she picked up the Spider-man comic is because I had told her about how in Marvel's Ultimate Comics Universe, Peter Parker dies a hero's death, and is replaced with a new Spider-Man (hence the #1) a half Latino, half African-American teenager named Miles Morales. Almost as risky a move as rebooting all of your characters!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Lia is indeed the BEST WIFE EVER!

*Fun fact: Glen Beck went into a tizzy about how a minority is the new Spider-Man. Beck blamed Michelle Obama, of course.

Needless to say, I thought both issues were fantastic. Now I'm knee deep in Batman, Spider-Man, Action Comics (Superman), Green Lantern, Animal Man, The Ultimates, and Swamp Thing. Whew!

It's been a blast, lots of great stuff is being written about some of my favorite heroes, and I'm even becoming a fan of a new one: Animal Man. I knew next to nothing about this character, but friends told me I should at least pick up the first issue because there is a lot to like. Now, Animal Man is one of my absolute favorites!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love superheroes and that I have a deep, immense, love for these characters and their stories. It's been with me since I was a little tyke. Comics and superheroes really had an impact on my life when I was growing up, and honestly shaped me as a person. It's a passion that is difficult to explain to people who aren't also as in love as you are. To outsiders, comics and superheroes (which don't always go hand in hand in fact, there are several brilliant comics written about anything but superheroes like American SplendorMaus, Blankets, and Persepolis) are "for kids," or a "waste of time." (Unless of course their favorite heartthrob is fantastic in the latest Summer blockbuster, in which case they are all for them.)

To those people I say: Whatever man, I love comics, and my wife is smoking hot, so take that! POW!!

But seriously, it's difficult to put into words what the allure of comics actually is. Of course, the artistry and storytelling is there for anyone who is not to snobbish to notice. In fact some of the best stories being told today are being told in comic form. But what is it about comic books that makes us fans so giddy?

Well, I think Aunt May said it best in one of my favorite movies of all time, Spider-Man 2:




I'll try my best to blog more (for real this time), and you can bet they will be a bit more comics-infused!

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