Comic Book Wednesday is like an oasis in the middle of the drudgery that is Monday-Friday. Picked up more than I expected to this week, including bags, and am nearly halfway to another Midtown Comics rebate! As it is, I need to pick up another longbox as the collection is nearing 1,000 comics.

Damn Omar for rekindling this particular fire! Between what I spend on comics and D&D, it's a good thing I don't smoke anymore.

Recent additions to my ever-evolving pull list include Ezra, Powers, Secret Skull, Ex Machina and Sleeper - the latter two with new issues out today - as well as the brand new Black Widow series that debuted today with none other than Bill Sienkiewicz, one of my favorite artists ever. I picked up the first issue purely on his name alone! Apparently the writer, Richard K. Morgan, is a sci-fi novelist of some note so I'm curious to see how he makes the jump and whether or not Brad Meltzer is just an exception.

Ex Machina, in particular, has been a welcome surprise over its first three issues, as a former superhero/vigilante becomes the mayor of NYC, in a series written more like the West Wing than Nightwing. If Gotham Central aims for a realistic take on a superhero's world, Ex Machina aims to place a superhero in the real world. Pulling events from our recent past, writer Brian K. Vaughn transcends comic book stereotypes and delivers a great story that happens to be illustrated. Well-illustrated, I should add. The end of the first issue is particularly haunting. If only...

In other news, this is a picture of Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman from the new Fantastic Four movie now filming up in perennial NY-substitute, Vancouver. While she unexpectedly works for me, visually at least, I'm still not sold on the movie itself, especially as it seems they're sticking with the original FF origin story of spaceships and cosmic rays as opposed to the far superior, more believable Ultimate version.

C'est la vie, my real interest is in Batman Begins, for which all signs appear good so far. The more I see Christian Bale, the more I like him for the part. Katie Holmes, I could do without, but my fingers remain crossed that the sum will be much greater than its parts.

Finally, I must admit that I'm rather ambivalent about this week's release of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD. While the "enhancements" sound interesting, and I'm willing to buy Lucas' justifications for making them, I'm not all that moved to run out and buy it. Like a first love, and the original Star Wars was definitely my filmic equivalent, the magic can never be the same the second time around. There was a certain innocence surrounding the movie, not to mention my seven-year old self, that cannot be recreated. Perhaps if the upcoming Revenge of the Sith manages to salvage the lousy Phantom Menace and the mediocre Attack of the Clones, perhaps I'll be inspired to revisit the originals again. Until then, they're better off remaining untainted in my memory, as pure as that day I saw the first one for the ninth time that giddy summer of 1977.