Apologies for no post last week. A combination of being out of town last weekend and then my internet being down until Wednesday night meant no post. I'm sure some were quite pleased. Sorry to disappoint, but once again... It's random thought time! Get excited!

Random Thought! Okay, because there seems to be some confusion... In Thor #601, Loki (still in female guise) appeared to Donald Blake/Thor and said that she had found a way to return to her normal form, having mistakeningly discovered that there was some kind of mix-up and the body she currently had is, in fact, Sif's. So, when Loki then appeared last week as a male in Thor #602 and Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1, that's why. Those who didn't read Thor #601 are excused for their confusion. Those who did need to learn to actually read.

Random Thought! Those who thought that the art in Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1 was good are wrong. Flat out 100% wrong. In a week where the sublime, fantastic, amazing, oh-so-damn-good JH Williams III gave us Detective Comcis #854, you can't look at the crap Marc Silvestri and his league of 'assistants' spewed out and claim that it's quality work. Place the two book side by side and if your inclination is to the Marvel one, well... there's no hope for you, I'm afraid.

Random Thought! I would buy an Aquaman comic written by Craig Ferguson (or any of his staff writers) based on the "Dear Aquaman" sketches they do from time to time on his show. I might be the only one aside from hardcore Aquaman fans who will buy anything featuring the character. So, like, seven of us would buy it. Awesome.

Random Thought! Want a clear demonstration of how mediocre art can ruin good writing? Read the well-drawn Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1 and then read the second issue. I don't blame the artists who did the second issue since it appears that they may have been under a serious deadline crunch, but, man, that issue really suffers from the lacklustre art.

Random Thought! My pick to take over Thor after J. Michael Straczynski leaves the book? Matt Fraction. In 2008, the man did four rather good Thor specials plus the three-issue Secret Invasion: Thor mini. He seems like the natural choice.

Random Thought! Because tomorrow is Canada Day, I don't comics until Thursday. That kind of sucks. Granted, it is nice that my comics are only ever delayed when a holiday actually falls on a Wednesday.

Random Thought! Titus was a damn funny TV show. Go buy the two DVD sets that contain all three seasons. You'll thank me. Unless you hate laughing. Or are easily offended. Then maybe not so much.

Random Thought! Bringing up that 52 was written by four of comics' best writers or that it was a better weekly series than Countdown or Trinity doesn't mean that 52 is a great, fantastic series. It just means that it was written by those four guys and is DC's best year-long weekly series to date.

Random Thought! While I'm enjoying Incognito, I rather miss Criminal.

Random Thought! Tim Callahan's When Worlds Collide column this week is worth reading. And not just because he's a friend. He discusses people's reactions to some of his reviews and does so with more class and wit than I usually do. My most recent reactions to reviews? Thanks from creators. A couple of weeks ago, I got three e-mails/messages from writers thanking me for positive reviews. I always find those a little... awkward, because all I do is give my honest opinion, they're the ones who did the quality work that provoked my response. I do appreciate the thanks, though; I just never know what to say in return.

Random Thought! Ironically, the first issue of Wednesday Comics will come out on a Thursday in the US. That amuses me quite a bit. EDIT: Yeah, this is just wrong. Feel free to mock me for my dumb mistake.

Random Thought! The only thing better than Edge and Chris Jericho wrestling against one another? Edge and Chris Jericho wrestling together as tag team champs.

Random Thought! I miss the Wildstorm of 1999-2003. That was one damn good publisher (technically, imprint, I know, but work with me here).

Random Thought! While I liked Dark Avengers at first, it really is beginning to feel like they could have called the book "Warren Ellis's Thunderbolts 2: Dark Avengers." I am curious to see how Matt Fraction handles things during the X-Men crossover.

Random Thought! Nope, still don't care about Blackest Night.

Random Thought! Fan voting for awards doesn't work. That's what sales charts are for. The point of an award is to be elite, to turn your back on democracy and 'fairness,' and tell the world "Yeah, this is better than everything else. Deal with it." Bringing democracy into it means books like Nascar Heroes start getting nominated beside books like ACME Novelty Library. If you don't see the problem there... well, as I said above, there's no hope for you, I'm afraid.

Random Thought! Yes, I'm aware that my subjective opinions are not the same as objective facts. Pointing that out is the same as pointing out that water is wet. I hate hate hate it when people do that online. "Well, that's just your opinion." No shit. I'm not going to preface every opinion with the words "THIS IS MY OPINION! READ ACCORDINGLY!" I trust you to have some ability to discern between opinion and fact. I may word my opinions strongly and with confidence, but that's only because they're my opinions and I agree with them strongly and am confident in them.