Comics this week

Artifacts #1- With only the Darkness, Witchblade and the Angelus in its current stable, the world of Top Cow is a little limited. Artifacts is the crossover that’s supposed to change all that. It has been written before that the Darkness, Witchblade and Angelus are but 3 of the supernatural artifacts scattered around the globe. There are others and now we know there are 13 in total. Each held by a bearer, they are to be kept separate at all cost or the universe will end. Heady stuff meant to draw in new readers. Which I guess was why writer Ron Marz started the whole thing trying to show how badass Sara Pezzini, holder of the Witchblade, is. Understandable but he tried too hard. This Sara was almost a different character from what’s in Witchblade. Story-wise it was interesting and the death of Sara’s sister was shocking but well executed, pun intended. I’m also very interested to know what happened to Aphorodite IV. I guess this issue will have to go under “interesting but will have to do better”.

Green Lantern #56- Let me put it out front. I think Hector Hammond is one of the stupidest looking villain ever. I know he’s supposed to be disgusting and scary but I just don’t get it. Luckily for me, the main star of this issue was Larfleeze. Writer Geoff Johns seems to love the orange Lantern and I must admit the character has started to grow on me. At times Larfleeze could be very funny and this issue shows why. His love for Santa Claus was hilarious and it completely overshadowed the entrance of Ophidian The Tempter. Geoff Johns even put in outtakes of Larfleeze’s life before he became the lantern of avarice. Good issue, but a great one if you’re a fan of Larfleeze.

Uncanny X-Men #526- One thing “Second Coming” did managed to do was get me interested in Marvel’s mutants again. Given how crappy they were in the past few years, this is really something. With the crossover over, I picked up Uncanny X-Men to see if Marvel could maintain the momentum. The answer is…not so much. "The Five Lights" is the hunt for the five new mutants that have cropped up across the globe after Hope had defeated Bastion. Unfortunately, it wasn’t! A good part of the issue was on Hope’s return to see the grandmother she never knew and the grave of her mother. Now, writer Matt Fraction did a pretty good job of it, but between Hope's biological family and the five new mutants, there’s no contest! I would much rather have known more about the five new mutants than Hope’s grandmother. A decent if slightly underwhelming issue but it was good to see Whilce Portacio back drawing mutants again.

Comics this week

Brightest Day #6- After last issue’s focus on Hawkman, the cast changed again. So like the previous issue with Hawkman, whether you will enjoy the latest issue of Brightest Day depends on how much you enjoy reading about the Martian Manhunter. Writers Geoff Johns and Pete Tomasi are going back old school, moving the character back to his detective roots as Jonn searches for answers over the world. Not bad but personally I prefer the Firestorm story this week. The two misfits that make up Firestorm finally get their act totally and the idea of a third person in Firestorm, cough, Black Lantern, cough, has some real potential in it. The reveal of Mera to Aquaman is a little weak but that could be because I never cared much for Mera in the first place, however the Deadman section this issue was funny. Deadman, Hawk and Dove were all trying to figure out what the white ring was trying to say and in the end, it was just trying to remind Deadman he need to eat as he was alive again. Not great but a very decent issue.

Desperate Times?

In the Strait Times yesterday, I read a strange article. The Singapore Exchange intends to scrap the lunch hour! Currently, trading is halted for a 90 minute lunch break. If the Singapore Exchange has their way, this lunch break will be a thing of the past.

Traders and trading houses have come out against the idea and as a former trader myself, I can understand why. If you take away the lunch break, then when are traders supposed to eat? It’s a change no one is asking for.

The reason given by the Singapore Exchange for the proposed scrapping of the lunch break is to improve the trading volume on the Exchange. You know what it sounds like to me? Desperation!

It’s not a big secret that trading on the Singapore Exchange isn’t what it used to be. Despite all the talk of big block trades and recovery of Asian stock markets, trading volume had been stubbornly stagnant. Its sound like the Singapore Exchange has decided that desperate time call for desperate actions.

Floods In China

People in Singapore had been complaining about the flash floods recently but as they say; everything is relative. China is currently having their worst flooding in 12 years and the pictures put all the flooding in Singapore to shame.

Now, these are floods! Damage has been estimated at US$21 billion and over 700 people are reported to have died. And to think it could have been worse is not for the Three Gorges Dam!

And The Hits Keep On Coming!

During the recent World Cup, the biggest disappointment was without question the French national team who imploded in front of the world. With a tirade by striker Nicolas Anelka against the coach, a non-training strike in front of cameras, and only 1 point out of 9 on the field; they were the biggest joke in the World Cup.

And to prove that when it rains, it pours; a French judge has now approved charges against French football stars Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema. Problems for the players began when a prostitute Zahia Dehar, told French media that several players on the French's national team paid to have sex with her when she was still a minor.

To be fair to the players, Zahia Dehar (who wisely only told/sold her story after she turned 18) openly admits that she lied about her age and that the players were unaware that she was underage. She even went as far as to praise the players for treating her well.

Not that it will make any difference as the two players are now charged with soliciting sex with an underage prostitute. The sex scandal is another blow to the French team's image but there is something unfair about all this to me. Okay, I understand the two players being charged but for soliciting an underage prostitute when the prostitute in question openly admitted that she lied about her age? And what’s more, there is no report about Zahia Dehar being charged with anything!

That just doesn’t seem right to me. The players, who were lied to, are being charged while the prostitute in question is not? Not that I like defending multi-millionaires football players, but that’s just wrong. The two players may be idiots, Ribery especially since he is married with two children, but they are hardly the only ones at fault here. I mean they were the ones being lied to.

Unfortunately, that will probably not matter as condemnation will come hard and fast on the players once the case goes to court. The luckiest person in all this; French forward Sidney Govou, another French player who acquired the services of Ms. Zahia Dehar but only a few months after she turned 18. Amazing how much trouble one can land into due to a few months.

Nothing But A Number

If there are any doubts that the war in Afghanistan is going badly for the Americans, those doubts have been answered. The U.S. has quietly changed the date for the American pullout to the end of 2014, more than three years after President Barack Obama's original date of July 2011.

With the backdrop of continued Taliban attacks, the changing of the date doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. However don’t hold your breath that this date is definite. The U.S. forces have been unable to break the Taliban despite close to a decade of war and Taliban attacks has been steadily growing. General David Petraeus, who had took over the war from General Stanley McChrystal, had openly admitted that the Taliban are very resilient and Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, had quickly expressed skepticism that the Americans would be able to pill out by 2014.

With an enemy that does not quit, an ally who doubt your ability; all in all, 2014 looks like nothing but another number.

Over-Zealous; Nothing More

Flash floods in Singapore have become so common these past months that it’s not even major news anymore. This past Saturday, there is yet another flood, the fourth in recent months.

So it came as some surprise when Mr. Shafie Goh, a photographer for a local newspaper, got arrested for taking photos of the flash floods. The 57-year-old photojournalist was detained for one hour by a policeman after refusing to leave the scene of a flash flood along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

A reporter getting detained in Singapore isn’t new but for taking photos of the flash floods? Like I said earlier, flash floods are so common no one is even surprised by them anymore so why was this photojournalist detained for doing his job? The statement from the police says that the police officer had repeatedly asked Mr Goh to move to a safe place as he was taking photos in a dangerous position. That doesn’t make sense. Was the flood more dangerous than reported? Every report I had read so far says that the flood was only a few centimeters high, never a danger to anyone. So how was Mr Goh in danger?

Some Singaporeans react with outrage over the detention while others shrugged their shoulders saying that it’s not unusual for the Singapore government to detain someone to prevent embarrassment. I believe neither is the case.

Mr Goh wasn’t in danger and he was taking photos of a common occurrence in Singapore. Let’s not make too much out of this; sounds like nothing but an over-zealous police officer to me.

Comics this week

The Thanos Imperative #2- After a so-so first issue, Thanos Imperative truly starts here! Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning give no doubts that this is THE cosmic crossover that will slaughter all that came before it. I dare anyone who sees that page when Galactus first showed up and tell me otherwise. However Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning didn’t forget the smaller players in the cosmic war. The Guardians of the Galaxy were also showed with Thanos on their stealth mission in the Cancerverse. As you can tell, this issue is fantastic! A lot of it has to do with the art. It was bad in #1 but here Miguel Sepulveda showed why he was chosen to be the artist to spearhead the cosmic line. The pencil is clean, giving energy to the action. And when the crazy Galactus Engine showed up in the end, WOW! Sepulveda outdid himself on that page. Brilliant!

X-Men: Second Coming #2- "Second Coming" was designed by Marvel to give a boost to the X-Books. In this, I will say it works because for once in a long, long time, I am now actually excited by the X-Men. The issue is filled with great character moments. The scene where Hope fell clutching the broken arm of Cable was the greatest but there were others. Storm and Wolverine sharing the beer for the last time, Cyclops’ sorrow when Beast left, Magneto becoming a potential second father figure to Hope and putting Hellion in his place; all were great. The only thing I dislike about this epilogue is the Phoenix. The potential revival of the Phoenix is a bad, bad idea. The Phoenix, aka Jean Grey, is dead and gone. She is in the past; "Second Coming" is for the future, and it would be better if the X-Books move on. All in all, I can honestly say that "Second Coming" was one of the strongest X-crossover in history and it came just at the right time for the X-Men.

What's Paul Cut?

The biggest winner at the World Cup is without question Paul the Oracle Octopus. The octopus is now an international icon and stupid humans are lapping up all things that is even remotely to do with his tentacles.

At the World Expo in China, hundreds (maybe thousands) of Chinese are lining up at the Euro pavilion, but they are not there to see the exhibition. They are there to get an octopus stamp! On the internet, anything with an octopus logo on it is selling like hot-cakes and Sea Life aquarium (where Paul resides) has offers asking for Paul's promotional services that some say would be worth millions!

All these money make me ask this; what’s Paul’s cut of the action? I mean Paul is THE Oracle right? It’s his ability to predict World Cup matches that is rolling in money, so why should stupid humans make money off him without him getting a cut of the action?

Paul should get a lawyer.

Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition

One thing most people will discover about gamers is that they are a loyal bunch. Gamers can remember what games they played 10-15 years ago and how much fun they had playing those games. As such, game developers have discovered that if you can come out with a sequel, even if the game-play has little or nothing to do with the previous games in the series, you got it made.

Fallout 3 is one of those games. The first 2 Fallout games were turn-based RPG similar to X-COM, Fallout 3 is an action RPG. In fact outside the back-story, in terms of game-play and graphics, the games couldn’t be more different. Released by Bethesda Games (creators of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), the game was released 2008 with a series of DLC (downloaded content) released after that. Being the cheapskate that I am, I waited till the Game of the Year Edition came out before buying it. Frankly I was never a Fallout fan and bought the game mostly on the back of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The story takes place in the year 2277, over 200 years after a nuclear war had devastated the world. In this world, the apocalypse happened because China and America were involved in a nuclear war and the whole world paid the price for it. The game starts with several (very) long cut scenes where you choose your gender, race, and skills. You are an inhabitant of Vault 101, a survival shelter designed to protect humans from the nuclear war 200 years ago. When your father, James, disappeared from the Vault, you are forced to escape as well and journey into the nuclear wasteland. You quickly discovered that the wasteland was located near the ruins of Washington D.C. and the locals called it the “Capital Wasteland”. As you chase after your father, you will learn why he left and the history of the world. You will also encounter several factions in the wasteland, including some who were in the previous games like the Brotherhood of Steel.

As an action RPG, Fallout 3 has a hybrid combat system. Mostly it’s a real-time shooter, however there is a system called VATS. When the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System is activated, combat is stopped and you are allowed to target various body-parts of the enemies. I found this to be very useful as injuries to specific body parts give me a big advantage in fights. Head injuries will cause enemies to stop attacking you for a short time, leg injuries can slow down enemies, etc.

It’s a system that works very well. The action is very exciting but with the VATS, you are never overwhelmed because of too much happening at the same time. The VATS also give the game-play a certain amount of strategy as VATS cost action points. It limit what actions you can take in VATS and forces you to decide what are the best actions you can take in the limited action points you have.

You can choose to improve your various skills every time you level up (Small Guns is a must!), and the character-leveling system is very flexible with a wide range of skills for you to choose from. In some ways the RPG portion of the game is very similar to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

In fact if you loved Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, I think it is fair to say you will love Fallout 3. Much like Oblivion, Fallout 3 has a huge map written many hidden locations throughout the map. If you follow the main quest only, you will hit less than a fifth of all the locations so players who like to explore are in for a treat. How you play your character also affect the game as some locations will only allow you in if you are either a good guy or a bad guy. You can also recruit companions who will follow you all over the Capital Wasteland. Whether these companions will follow you also depend on your alignment, for lack of a better word.

Despite the praise, I did find some things lacking in the game. Much like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the story was almost an afterthought. As you run across the wasteland, the main quest will be about the last thing on your mind. In a way, this was because of how good the game was. You would be too busy looking at the interesting ruins of the long-dead civilization that was America, fighting against mutants, heading to the next hidden location to worry about something as inconsequential as looking for your missing dad.

I also found the DLC to be the worst part of the game by some distance. Frankly, compared to the main game, the DLC missions were terrible! Outside “Broken Steel”, I found the other DLC to be poor. None of them expanded on the story, and some of them were not even located within the Capital Wasteland. It seems to be a waste having all that open spaces and hidden locations, yet you need to go onto a spaceship to do new missions.

However all these were minor hiccups as for me Fallout 3 is a total hit. The game's combat system, huge map and flexible character-leveling system work very well and the game was a lot of fun. However I found the DLC missions to be lacking, and if you don’t mind missing the extra levels given to you by “Broken Steel”, it might be better to buy Fallout 3 than Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition. You won’t be missing much.

The YOG Budget

After the mega event that is the World Cup, the Singapore government will now turn it’s attention to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Most people will not know this but Singapore will be the host and the Singapore government is all excited about it.

Notice I said “the Singapore government” and not “the Singapore people”. I did this because most Singaporeans couldn’t care less about the YOG! Even through it is only about a month before the YOG, most Singaporeans do not know what events would be held, where the events will be held, or even which countries will show up! For an event called Olympic Games, there seems to be a lot of countries who will NOT be coming for the event.

Not that it matter to Singaporeans as most of us, including me, just don’t care! What I do care about however is the cost of holding the YOG. When Singapore first bid for the YOG, the budget for the games was $104million. Now it is found that the budget is insufficient, and the government has up it to $387million.

I like to know why the budget has gone up by more than 3 times! Singapore is not building any new stadium or sport facilities, so why did the budget got overshot by so much?

Ironically, the lack of attention paid to the YOG has helped the government as most Singaporeans do not know of the overshot budget, but questions still need to be asked and answers still need to be given. Just what was the extra $280million spent on?

Skill and Style Wins The World Cup

Before the World Cup started, I predicated that Spain would win it. In the 116th min of the final, Andres Iniesta prove me right and Spain truly rid themselves of the title of being chokers on the big stage.

Personally, I am glad Spain won (and not just because what the win did to my wallet). In a scrappy game, the final between Holland and Spain would probably be remembered for the sheer number of fouls committed, especially by Holland. Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk sent his team out to disrupt and destroy the Spanish pattern of play, and boy did his men delivered!

English referee Howard Webb issued 8 yellow cards and 1 red card (John Heitinga) to Holland, but it could have been a lot more. The record will show that Holland committed 28 fouls in the game, but the real number is closer to 40! Frankly when Iniesta took the pass from Cesc Fabregas and put his shot beyond the arms of Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg, it was a relief for me because it was a case of skill and style over brute strength and cynical play.

One can’t help feel sorry for Holland as this is the third time they had failed at the final hurdle but Spain was the better team and played the much better football. They were the deserved winner of the World Cup.

Note: Paul the Octopus was right again, so he is now 8 for 8!

Comics this week

Brightest Day #5- Brightest Day move the attention back to Aquaman and Mera this issue as the origins of Mera is explored. Frankly I was never a fan of Mera but after her mini-star turn in Blackest Night, I guess there would be fans who would want more of Mera. The best part of this issue was without question Hawkworld. Hawkman’s and Hawkgirl’s vicious fight against the cat-people was brilliant and interesting. Unfortunately outside that, the rest of the issue was just so-so.

X-Force #28- I have been saying a lot of bad things about the work of artist Mike Choi since the start of the “Second Coming” crossover. However in this issue, Mike Choi delivered! From the start, the frustration of Thor, to the end, the look of awe on the faces of the X-Men, this issue is a great piece of work. The final battle between Hope and Bastion was a little disappointing but the art and the loss of an important X-Men more than make up for that little point of contention. One more issue to finish what has been the best X-Men crossover in years.

Hit-Monkey #1- After a fun one-shot showing the origins of Hit-Monkey, the lovable and very funny monkey is back in a 3 part miniseries. Starting immediately after the origins issue, Hit-Monkey is on the warpath to get vengeance on the people who killed his tribe. Writer Daniel Way gave Hit-Monkey a ghost mentor here which I guess was the right thing to do. The ghost gives background on the story but he also takes away something from Hit-Monkey. Having a monkey who is a hitman is much more fun than having a monkey who is a hitman who is controlled by a ghost. As Hit-Monkey can’t speak, having the ghost is important but hopefully he will disappear soon. The ghost takes attention away from Hit-Monkey which is bad because the monkey is a good enough character to have a series all on his own.

The Oxymoron

I have always thought the idea of “freedom of expression” is a bit of an oxymoron. No matter which country or society you are from, there are just some things you don’t mention, there are just some things you can’t support.

Here in Asia, we are a little more open about that fact while the West is a little silly on the matter. The decision by CNN to fire Octavia Nasr, a top CNN Middle East editor, just proves our point. Octavia Nasr made the mistake of twitting that she respects Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a recently deceased cleric who was highly influential in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Personally, I can’t see what’s wrong with that. Nasr, who is a Lebanese herself, says that she respects Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and got fired for that. CNN officials claim that her credibility had been compromised by her tweet.

Really? So whoever works for CNN can’t announce respect for anyone? If that is the case, CNN should fire any of their reporters who announce respect for the state of Israel as well. I mean what works for one side of the Middle East conflict works for the other side as well right? If Octavia Nasr, who works for CNN for 20 years, can’t say she respect anyone associated with Hezbollah, then why should anyone in CNN be allowed to say they respect any political, military, religious leader in Israel.

Let’s start hearing some banning and firing from CNN!

Best in the World Cup

Yes, it is finally here. The World Cup Finals is going to be between Spain and Holland. After a month of less than stellar play (let’s admit it), the final is set this weekend and it will be between two countries who had a history of being underachievers.

However before the final, I come out with a list of the top players in their positions for the tournament. (Note; these are not the best players in the world but they are the ones who did shine in the competition. No under-performing Wayne Rooney or Kaka on my list.)

Goalkeeper- Richard Kingson (Ghana)
Left-back- Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Holland)
Centre-back- Ryan Nelson (New Zealand)
Centre-back- Diego Lugano (Uruguay)
Right-back- Philip Lahm (Germany)
Left-midfield- Wesley Sneijder (Holland)
Central-midfield- Thomas Mueller (Germany)
Central-midfield- Makoto Hasebe (Japan)
Right-midfield- Arjen Robben (Holland)
Striker- Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Striker- David Villa (Spain)

The Octopus, Paul!

One of the funniest stories out of the World Cup has to be the octopus, Paul. The octopus is believed to be "psychic"…by the serious-minded Germans no less. Basically, two plastic boxes (one with a German flag and one with a flag of their opponents) are lowered into Paul's tank at an aquarium in Germany, and each is filled with a tasty morsel of food inside.

Whichever box is opened first by Paul is adjudged to be his predicted winner. What is amazing is that the eight-legged octopus has been amazing accurate so far! He has successfully predicted all five of Germany's games in South Africa, including a shock defeat by Serbia. In fact between the Euros two years ago and this World Cup, he is right 9 out of 10 times. An amazing 90% success rate! Even the best football pundits in the world do not have anything close to that percentage!

So when the psychic octopus picked Spain to beat Germany in the semi-finals later, it was reported that groans were heard from the assembled German media. Hell, Paul’s prediction was even carried live on German national television! Yes, the Germans take their superstitions seriously.

Personally, I hope the octopus is right. I pick Spain as the winner of the World Cup at the start.

A Fare Increase

The public transport companies in Singapore have tweaked the bus fares for the public by calculating bus fares based on distance traveled from 3 July onwards. Based on the new system, fares are now calculated by the distance you travelled with a reduction of the penalty you pay if you switch public transport in the middle of your trip.

Frankly, let’s call it what it is. It’s a fare increase.

Like most Singaporeans, when I travel on public transport, I will choose the shortest time it would take to from Point A to Point B. Almost without question, this means that I will not transfer between buses or MRT trains. If I do transfer, I could be waiting at the bus-stop for up to 15mins for my second bus. Like most Singaporeans, I try to avoid that at all cost.

So I only travel on a single trip and under the new structure, I will pay more. The LTA says that 1 in 3 fares will increase under the new scheme, but I just can’t see that. Most people I know travel in single trips, and there is almost a guarantee fare increase. Hell even if you have 1 transfer, you might still end up paying more.

Instead of 1 in 3 fares increasing, it seems more likely that 2 in 3 fares being increase. The only I see which there will be a decrease of the fares is if you have 2 or more transfers on your travels, and how many people you know have that? LTA call the new structure the “Distance Based Fare System”, but to me (and most Singaporeans) it is just a fare increase.

Offside!

FIFA had been messing with the offside rule for years now and now it would seem that the rule changes had become so frequent, FIFA is now confusing even football fans who had been watching and playing the game for years.

In the World Cup quarterfinals match between Spain and Paraguay, a ball was floated into the Spanish box towards Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo. A Spanish defender went up in the air to challenge Cardozo for the ball. The ball went over both their heads and landed at the feet of Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez. Valdez slotted home from close range but the effort was ruled out by an offside decision. Replays showed that Valdez was onside but Cardozo was offside and the offside was given against him. For some reason that eludes me, the commentator at the match says that the goal should have stood because Cardozo was “not interfering with play”.

How is that possible? Cardozo, who was offside, clearly went for the ball. Yes, Cardozo didn’t touch the ball but you don’t have to touch the ball to be interfering with play. The Spanish defender would have never left Valdez if Cardozo wasn’t there so how can anyone say he wasn’t interfering with play?

As Brian Clough once said, “If he’s not interfering with play, why is he on the pitch?” In Cardozo’s case, “If he’s not interfering with play, why is he on the pitch, jumping for the ball, and taking a defender off Valdez?”

Cardozo was clearly interfering with play! If the commentator (among many others) says he’s not (and they clearly believe they are right), then FIFA need to clear up the offside rules once and for all because I cannot understand how Cardozo was NOT interfering with play. To me, he clearly was.

Do It Yourself

In Singapore, there is currently a police case involving local TV host Quan Yifeng who is being investigated for a case of alleged taxi-rage. She has been accused of hitting a taxi-driver, thrashing his taxi and stealing his taxi keys.

Now this is not the first time she’s been in the headlines for the wrong reasons as the 36 year-old is well-known for her quick temper and sharp tongue. Ms. Quan denied the allegations and I can’t say who is right or who is wrong as the case is now a case of he-said-she-said. One thing that struck me however is how the case started.

According to reports, the incident started when the 52-year-old taxi-driver, Mr Tan, refused to help with Ms. Quan luggage. Ms. Quan got angry and said, “What sort of service attitude is this?” Things went downhill from there.

Personally I don’t understand why Singaporeans expect taxi-drivers to carry their bags for them. I don’t and had never asked the taxi-drivers to help with my bags. Even in my NS time when I book out of the camp, I carry my own Ali Baba bag to the road, onto the taxi without help. I mean if it is your bag and what’s inside is your possessions; why shouldn’t you be expected to carry your own bags? Even if it is very heavy, guess what; it is still your bag! Even if you are the customer paying for the taxi, you are the one who put the stuff inside the bag, so why shouldn’t you be expected to carry the bag?

To be fair Ms. Quan isn’t the only one who, in my view unreasonably, expect taxi-drivers to help with their bags but I never understood why that is the case. Taxi-drivers are taxi-drivers! If you want someone who will open the booth, carry your items for you; you don’t want a taxi-driver; you want a chauffeur. You got to go hire one!

Comics this week

Green Lantern #55- For those fans who loved a grand battle royal, pick up Green Lantern #55. Artist Doug Mahnke outdid himself this issue as Lobo (and his dog) came to town and immediately goes to battle against Attrocitus (and his cat Dex-Starr), Sinestro, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. Okay so it’s not really a battle royal, more like a 4 on 1, but the battle is so full of action it is better than most battle royal scenes you had ever seen. To put an icing on the cake, Geoffs Johns also added in a new Red Lantern for good measure showing once again why Green Lantern is one of the best comics out there.