“I’m a Marvel.” “And I’m a DC”

And people say I’m too fixated on action figures. Sheesh.

Seriously, though, this raises some interesting points:

• Wolverine and The Watchmen were two of the 1980s comic concepts that changed the genre forever
• Frank Miller’s take on Wolverine (and his work on Daredevil, etc.) were a pivotal part of that revolution in comicry, taking the industry away from colourful spandex and into real ideas, dark themes and mature content.
• Frank Miller also wrote 300, which was made into a movie by Zach Snyder, who was then tapped to make Watchmen …
• Wolverine’s solo movie comes out this summer. Strangely, even though he was the focus of the three prior X-Men films, the producers are going to great lengths to highlight the new characters showing up in this film: Gambit, Deadpool, etc. And, for some reason, Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I can live with it.
• The Watchmen opened this weekend. I still haven’t seen it. Mrs. Weathereye came to see The Dark Knight with me in a trade for Sex and the City. But I also brought her to Spider-Man 3, Superman Returns and X-Men 3, so she now tells me there will be no more superhero movies for her. And I can’t take my son. He’s okay for Star Trek, but not this.
• So I’m re-reading the Watchmen comic yet again.
• I’m still looking forward to the Wolverine movie. I’ve explained why before.
• Snikt!

First Signs of Spring

Here are 10 things that happened today that made me think that, despite the calendar, today really was the first day of spring.

1. Most of the snow is gone, except for that one patch at the zoo playground that stays until May.
2. The air smells like dogs have been by, if you know what I’m saying.
3. A long-lost favourite toy is found in the yard. In this case, it was a piglet Littlest Pet Shop.
4. We go hiking in sweaters and galoshes, not parkas and boots.
5. I consider getting the driveway redone. This wears off every spring after I realize how much it’ll cost.
6. There’s a trail of mud from the kitchen door to the fridge and back outside again, and suspiciously fewer cheese strings.
7. A guy rides by on a bike, balancing a 12 of cheap beer on his handlebars. Well, this didn’t actually happen today, but I was expecting it to.
8. My 10-year-old figures out a sneaky way to wear running shoes outside.
9. We set the clocks ahead.
10. A flight of Canada Geese flew overhead at 6:25. Magic.

Of course, we’ll get at least one more big snowfall. But it won’t last. And in a few weeks, the barbecue will be going, the patio set will be re-assembled, the bikes will be tuned up and another great Canadian summer will be upon us.

Happy spring, everyone.