Odds and sods...and X-Factor too!

It's Wednesday, and that usually means another episode of Comic Book Days of Wednesdays Past, but I'm kind of short on time this afternoon. So instead, we'll do a quick Odds and sods with things that have been percolating inside my brain over the last couple of weeks.

• I think I'm pretty much over John Cassaday. His work just looks dreadfully posed these days. It's kind of like Alex Ross, where initially I couldn't get enough. Now, one of his covers is more than likely to turn me away from a book than towards it.



• Even after all of these years reading super hero books, I'm constantly misspelling the word villian villain. You'd think my brain would catch on after a while, but I can't seem to manage to avoid getting yelled at in yellow highlighted text by the spellchecker with every new post.



• Lois Lane's middle name is Joanne? I don't remember ever reading that in a book, but wikipedia never lies, right?



• Batman with the yellow oval is back. Can we please have Wolverine back in the brown togs now? And I mean in a book that's readable with no magic swords, immortal werewolves, or 80's hair metal bands.



• If you've been digging the random aspect of this blog, give The Hat Decides podcast a listen to. It's three idiots talking about random subjects pulled from a hat. It's not necessarily about comics, but it's just as entertaining as Quiet! Panelologists At Work used to be.



• ...and speaking of my blog, I've added a new sidebar on the right. Since this whole endeavor was originally inspired by listening to my iPod on shuffle, I thought it might be fun to list the last ten songs that popped up recently. Feel free to shoot me an email if you ever wanna talk music or have some recommendations for me based on what's already played.



• Looking at the release list for this week, I could use a few more Blackest Night tie-ins. No sarcasm needed here, I really could use a few more as I haven't read one I've been disappointed in yet.

Now on to the business at hand, which is picking another random book to review. Take it away, Randomizer!

...and that book is X-Factor #87 from February 1993, published by Marvel Comics!

I don't know if this issue has been canonized as a modern classic by the comics audience in general, but I definitely think it's one of the best books of the last twenty years. At the very least, it's the magnum opus of Peter David's run on this title.

For you youngsters who weren't around 16 years ago, or for those readers who avoided the X-Titles in the early 90's (I'm sure there was probably one or two of you out there), this was the issue were X-Factor goes up against their most nefarious foe yet...a psychiatrist!

The whole issues takes place in the doctor's office, and is one of the most engrossing books I remember reading. That story structure may seem old hat and overused in today's market, but in a pre-Bendis world this issue truly stood out as something special.

This was also the issue that started Joe Quesada's brief run on this title. He had been doing covers for some months beforehand, but this book was all him and it was a real tour de force.

To say I'm looking forward to this issue is an understatement. I actually have a small amount of trepidation about proceeding, as this is the first issue the Randomizer has picked that I have fond, fond memories of. Hopefully I can write an entertaining enough review without being too sycophantic. See you in a day or two for the review, and we'll see if I managed to succeed.