Why limit myself to long, meandering posts on comics that only interest me when I can deliver short, pointless snippets that only interest me? It's random thoughts time, people! Get excited!

Random Thought! When Dan DiDio says that they're bringing back Barry Allen as Flash, because you can't tell Wally West's origin without Barry, isn't that a load of crap? How hard is it to understand the added line of "Wally was, originally, sidekick to his uncle Barry, the previous Flash until he sacrificed himself to save the universe and Wally assumed the Flash identity"? Actually, doesn't that make Wally's origin a lot more interesting?

Random Thought! I miss Paradigm. I'm reminded of that since I'm wearing my "Fight for the Sitcom" t-shirt that I bought from Jeremy Haun in Chicago in 2003. It's my favourite t-shirt. (Paradigm was an Image series mostly published in 2003 by Matt Cashel and Jeremy Haun that lasted 12 issues before going on a hiatus that never ended. It was about... um... reality and popculture and higher planes of existence and beer and... stuff? It was pretty good.)

Random Thought! Doesn't last Friday's "Cutting Edge" segment on Smackdown featuring Edge and John Cena seem like one of the writers was reading The Killing Joke recently? (And, really, shouldn't this have been the build-up to WrestleMania instead of that lame Vickie/Edge/Big Show love triangle plot?)

Random Thought! You would think that a comic called Ultimatum feature, at the centre of the story, I don't know... an ultimatum of some kind. You would be wrong.

Random Thought! Attempts at Silver Age homages/pastiches (or any other period, I suppose, but it seems all people try for is the Silver Age) don't work 99% of the time, because the feeling and style writers are trying to capture was created originally with sincerity, not self-aware irony. Trying to be wacky and goofy for the sake of it is far different from being wacky and goofy by accident through the eyes of readers several decades later. Oh, and if I never see another goddamn fruit pie parody ad, I'll die somewhat happy. The joke was old ten years ago. And wasn't that funny to begin with.

Random Thought! With "Civil War," "Secret Invasion," and, now, "Dark Reign," how has Tony Stark not sunk deep into an alcohol binge to end all alcohol binges? Is it odd that I find his not falling off the wagon yet to be the least realistic thing about the Marvel universe right now?

Random Thought! Young Liars is a very, very good comic. Off-beat, unpredictable, a mess of energy... each issue makes you rethink everything you already knew about the characters and the world. It's my favourite current ongoing title. You should be reading it.

Random Thought! I own far too many comics and trades. Far too many. I look around my room and there's just too many of them. And I probably own less than a lot of you. We all own far too many comics and trades.

Random Thought! "Daredevil Noir" is a redundant title for a comic.

Random Thought! I go to my comic shop at the same time each week on Wednesday. While waiting for the bus to come back home, I have been approached by the same woman several times over the last few months. Each time, she first asks if I have a cellphone (I do not) and, then, asks if she can "borrow" fifty cents for the phone. I gave her fifty cents the first time and not since -- mostly because she didn't use the phone then and, instead, waited for the bus to come. Why does she keep asking me these questions when my answers never change?