“Now is the winter of our discontent”
Made so by meteorologists who cannot
Predict the slightest flake of snow!
Let
me tell you about my Wednesday. They had
been touting the “BIG” storm for days, calling for four to eight inches of
heavy wet snow. Worst of all it was to
be an all-day event beginning Tuesday night and continuing until 0300
Thursday. While this hasn’t been the
snowless winter of last year, it has been the winter of near-misses for those
of us living in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. So, I was fully prepared to go to work on
Wednesday, thinking eight inches over 24 plus hours would mean pretty manageable
and plow-able totals on the roads. I
also (usually) work in downtown Baltimore and cities are notoriously warmer
than the suburbs.
I
wake up before my alarm and look out the window – nothing but wet
pavement. I quickly shower and dress,
but before I leave the bedroom, my wife tells me that we’re still under a
Winter Storm WARNING and that there is some snow on the ground already. I promise to check the forecast again myself,
be careful on the roads, and call her as soon as they announce that schools are
closed. I get outside and it’s snowing a
lot and even though it’s only a dusting on the car – it is thick and wet. I know I can get to work though at this hour
with few people on the road, so I head out.
Maybe it was just the headlights, but the extra-large flakes were making
it hard to see. It certainly wasn’t
blizzard conditions, but if this was the start of the storm, then my theory
that conditions would still be drive-able eight-hours later might not pan out
and it wouldn’t be worth the hassle even if it meant missing my weekly trip to
the comic store. I make a short
circuitous route and return home, phone-in that I won’t be in, and after putting
away the dishes, head back to bed.
I
wake up five hours later at 0800 and look out the window again – nothing but
wet pavement! The schools are closed, work
is on liberal leave, but I’m upset that I didn’t go for it (I’m sure the
additional sleep was helpful). I pray
for a better attitude over my Cap’n Crunch Berries (Thanks to Manny for saying,
“You need to pray” when he usually does the honors). It was a relaxing morning and they were STILL
calling for the “HEART” of the storm to come around 1300 and run until
midnight. Yeah, right. It was mostly snow/raining around 1000 when I
set out with two of my children for Cosmic Comix and Toys. We were the first customers to arrive (thirty
minutes before the official opening). It
would’ve been a quick trip, except I deliberated long and hard over my two free
empty box bonus comics. I finally choose
Uncanny X-Force #002 and Dollar Bill (I love Steve Rude) – two books
I’d skipped before. I was hoping to get
both with digital codes, but I couldn’t bring myself to get a duplicate of what
I already had. I almost got the last two
chapters of Rotworld, so I could better sell my Swamp Thing lot on eBay, but
that would’ve been like throwing money down the drain. Anyway, the friendly store owner, Rusty,
remarked that Superior was the best
issue since #002. I told him the real reason why I was so keen on getting
to work this morning was to have an excuse to come get my comics “while I was
out”.
Now I’ve
been “loving on” Superior Spider-Man for most of the year and…you guessed it…I
will continue to do so TODAY!
SPOILERS Follow.
Superior
Spider-Man #005
Writer: Dan
Slott
Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inker: John Dell & Giuseppe Camuncoli
Color
Art: Edgar Delgado & Antonio Fabella
Letterer:
VC’s Chris Eliopoulos
Publisher:
Marvel
Price:
$3.99 (including “FREE” digital copy which I sold on eBay for at least $2.75)
The last issue precipitated me referencing several controversial
issues (and an early political endorsement) in my review and it was nice to see
Slott address the death-penalty one head-on (literally) in this one.
