So I mentioned that I was going to be closing up shop of Between the Staples at the end of the month but since things have changed for me and now I am closing up shop earlier than I thought so this is it — the final BtS post!

Come and have a final look around with me…
(btw – I am not closing down the site, I will keep BtS up and running for anyone who wants to come look around!)

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Hey all. Here we go – Best Bang Reborn for a few more weeks so much like Jean Grey coming back to the Marvel Universe, this too will go the “Dead is dead” world (where, much like the comic book universes, it can just crawl back to life one day) but until then lets look at 2 weeks worth of comics from November 26th and December 3rd! Such sh*t stuff like Secret Invasion, Batman RIP and The Umbrella Academy came out (okay UA ain’t sh*t).

This week I got my addiction from Hourglass Comics & Toys out here in the ‘burbs of Port Moody, British Columbia Canada. Many images are courtesy Comic Books Beta and unfortunately no additional images for the book this week so its just all plain text blog post. I know, how boring but I like to think… how retro!

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Okay so last week Secret Invasion came to a close with issue #8 and it ends on the whole “Dark Reign” theme that will now be the new paradim for Marvel Comics for the next year or so.*yawn*

What I am about to mention next cannot really come as much as a surprise to many who read this blog but come’on people – Secret Invasion was not a great Marvel event book. Not even close. Sure it had a great deal of momentum and I was caught up in that in the early beginnings like a chump but when the spotlight hit the stage… well, I found it obvious to see where all the trap doors were and the likes. It got boring awfully fast, it went from Oh Yeah?! to hurm! in one issue and the Eight F***KING MONTHS OF AVENGERS BOOKS WITHOUT AVENGERS IN THEM >ahem< so this got me thinking that Secret Invasion is much like Britney Spears new album Circus. Why is that you ask? Well check this out, this is the cover of her new album

Okay now let us have a closer look at Britney herself with out all the pretty lights, make up and no air brushing…

You see this is how I feel about Secret Invasion, sh**t – even other comic events Final Crisis and Batman RIP rolled in together. You get this great idea pitched out there and then what you really get is such a let down, so boring, predictable (I f**ked called S.H.I.E.L.D. ending well before SI even began!!!) or unfinished that it leaves that bad taste in your mouth, wishing you never bought the books in the first place.

Now this whole Dark Reign crap that is about to begin for Marvel Comics. I just hope they manage to keep it out of the cosmic books like Nova & Guardians of the Galaxy ’cause then it won’t ruin the books that I like to read. Am I interested in where Dark Reign is going to go? Sure but you would be crazy to think that Marvel is going to stay on anything so Dark, Evil and Bad for so long so I guess what the upside to Dark Reign is that everything will be bright, fluffy and back to pre-Civil Bore Marvel Universe when the heroes come back and save the day.

As fun as that sounds, I have a hard time believing that Dark Reign will end in any way better than Civil Bore, House of Bendis, Avengers: The New Marketing Gimmick or The Secret  Skrulls.

If you need more Dark Reign fix, you can check out the preview of pages that are out this week here:
http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/6700088.html

Maybe… just maybe all this is due to my consumption of too many back pain meds. Unlikely but could be the case, maybe Secret Invasion is really a good book and I am… okay who the f**k am I kidding with that? SI wasn’t worth they hype (check out the poll on Newsarama for more thoughts on that) Marvel Marketing Machine just keeps churning it out and I am betting everyone is wacking off thinking its going to be fricken great just like they would wack off to the cover of Britney Spears Circus album when the real life shot of Britney is what they will end up with in their hands (holy sh**t that’s a long sentence!). So NO, even though BtS will end, I wouldn’t be pimping out Dark Reign even if Bendis left and it was written by Marvel Apes!

Oh and I forgot to mention that Brian Bendis even got to finally kill a member of the other gender and an Avenger to boot! Good for him, I hope he got his rocks off on that. Joy. What’s next, Norman Osborn and Loki get it on? Oh wait… Loki’s a chick now? Aw fu…!

Well I never thought that I would be writing this so soon but but here it is.. this month will be the last of Between the Staples for an undisclosed future. Yes I will be closing down shop on the blog. I am sure it seems that I am following on the heels of the team leaving blog@newsarama.com but this has been a long time coming. Just this past summer I was thinking the same once I got back from Comic-Con and finishing up my work on Zeros 2 Heros books.

I realize that I have lost the love for writing on my blog. I feel very burnt out plus I am coming off more negative with each week. I am sure I can be told how to do my blog but I have lost the love and I do hope people understand that. I do not want to stress one moment, thought or braincell about my blog anymore. I want to concentrate on my own writing and not for the blog.

I want to thank everyone out there who has contributed, commented and pimped out BtS down the road – William S for all his moral support and early reviews, DR, Zeek, Dustin (For the Love of Comics) , Chris Hunter, and Mike Haynes (Panels of Awesome)! Special thanks to Hartley as well for all his love of the addiction. Great shout outs to Ethan @ Elfsar Comics & Toys who helped pimp out Between the Staples at his store and on his website plus POW Comics!

I do want to say “Never say never” and to those who wish to give me advice on how I should stick around and do things — I challenge them to make their own blog (or ask me how to setup one up, we can arrange something) and carry forth the comic blogging tradition! Show me how I could have done things better (like the likes of For the Love of Comics & Panels of Awesome)!

Over the next few weeks I will be posting about the same plus some new specials like the Between the Staples Xmas Don’t Buy this Comic Guide & 12 Comic Blogs of Xmas.

Thanks again to everyone who has come out, shown their support and hang around, your support meant a great deal to me!

[poll=8]

[flash http://www.youtube.com/v/GR_XMJ89L4c&hl=en&fs=1 w=400 h=324]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_XMJ89L4c

Yes. It is back! The Hartley Show is back on the air and we got it right here for all your comic reviews PLUS Hartley talks Batman RIP! Check it out, good fun! As always shot on location from POW Comics!

I hope to one day go see a “filming” of the show and/or get Hartley on BtS blogging when he’s not busy with Hollyweird and all! Was great to see Hartley at the Vancouver Comicon a few weeks ago with William S!

Part II continues here…

[flash http://www.youtube.com/v/B_iYRUUhqk0&hl=en&fs=1 w=400 h=324]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_iYRUUhqk0&feature=PlayList&p=6C19C30162206CAB&index=57

BTW – This is NOT Work Safe to watch (f**cking swearing and what nots)!

It is too bad that Hartley loved Batman RIP but hey, can’t be right all the time about books! Hehee… we all know Hartley is wrong ’cause RIP was as For the Love of Comics blogged about how it was more like Batman RIP-Off (Kudo’s to Dustin for being on Thoughts of Batman RIP post for Blog@Newsarama.com)!

I have one big point to make on what Hartley said – Yes Batman is a serial and things need to keep moving but that did not stop older Batman comics to come to a fricken conclusion. Batman: Kightfall, we didn’t get a vague sense of WTF happened, we saw Bane break Batmans back. Batman: Death in the Family – was it a kinda huh wha? when Robin died? Nope, it was right in your face with the conclusion. No, no, Grant Morrison failed in Batman RIP. Enough with the vague mythos and give some solid f**cking storytelling please OR piss off and let someone else take a shot!