Gleaned

-- I didn't need a lot of reasons to avoid Kick-Ass 2, the sequel to a movie I never saw that figures a good take on super-heroes is to have them be foul-mouthed children. But reading some of the way Mark Millar, who created the comic on which the movie is based, thinks about the role of women in the stories he writes... Well, I gained a couple of new reasons to do so.

-- The sun is going to flip its magnetic field soon, and that will probably mess with a lot of stuff. Or it might not. Either way, it's an aspect of nature and creation that we can do absolutely nothing about, and will happen whether any modern-day would-be Canute reads a speech or not.

-- The return of Kurt Busiek's Astro City, one of the smartest comic books available today and some work that's smarter than a lot of non-comic books, will keep me headed back to the comic shop at least once a month. I had figured on that going by the wayside when Legion of Super-Heroes finished its run this month. Sales figures are down -- which is a shocking development, I know, considering that writer Paul Levitz has spent much of the last year killing off his cast. Astro City's return is welcome in itself, but also as a sign that creator Kurt Busiek is in good health.

-- When you've lost Darth Vader...