A couple weeks ago, Marvel started a new X-Men series that is sort of resetting the timeline of the X-Men comics. There are two series, House of X and Power of X, each six issues long with an interconnecting story line. When you pick up the comic, you can tell these things are legit. They're heavy, printed on thick sheets of paper, and the colors are really vibrant. Plus, the story has been EXCELLENT so far.
When I went and got the first issues in the series, I without thinking asked for variant covers of two of the comics, because in my mind, variant covers are automatically cooler. While they do tend to be cool, I've also noticed that lots of times variant covers don't necessarily match the story inside the comic. And after I finished those two issues, I sort of regretted the variant covers and wanted to find copies of the comics with the original covers.
The one problem? There are nary an issue to be found. These issues are really popular right now (with House of X #2, a $5 comic three weeks ago, now selling for $15 or $20 on eBay), and after calling around to different stores, I hadn't had any luck in Germantown. And then I thought of a comic book store in DC that I heard was pretty good. I looked it up, hoping that it was close to the GAO so that I could go during my lunch break. It was two miles away. So close, but definitely far enough that I would have trouble getting there and back in 45 minutes.
Now, I started running during my lunch break this summer, and it's been a really good experience for me. I get the iconic experience of running along the National Mall (I turn around at the Washington Monument), and I get my running done during the day and don't have to leave Rebecca alone with the kids at night. Plus it's really invigorating for the rest of my work in the afternoon. I happened to take my running stuff with me today, and when I thought of this comic book store, I decided that I was going to run the two miles up to the store, pick up the comics, and hopefully get back to work in 25 minutes. So at 11:45 I headed out, a gym bag in hand and my debit card in my shoe.
It was a nice running experience, with the exception of all the traffic lights. I feel like Barbossa's comment about the pirate code in Pirate's of the Caribbean should be the mantra of the relationship between pedestrians and traffic lights in every major city: "The code's more like guidelines than actual rules." So more often than not I ran across the street while cars sped towards the intersection. At one point, I ran across, and someone on their phone followed my out without looking at the light. I got across, but they weren't as fast and got honked at by a car. Should have been faster I guess!
I found the comic book store without much trouble, walked in, and the woman at the counter pointed me right to them, and sure enough, there were the comics I was looking for! At the time I didn't realize that these were actually second printings of the comic because they've been so popular up to this point, and they look different than the original cover. The originals are filled with color, whereas the second printings are black and white, with the major characters in that particular book colored in in either red or blue. They're pretty cool.
As I ran back, my comic books safely tucked in the gym bag with boards and bags, I realized that this is totally a Kennedy thing to do. Want to get somewhere, but don't have an option of a car or want the hassle of the metro? We can just run. Walk into a comic book store sweaty? No problem, I know exactly what I'm looking for. And successfully complete the entire operation in time? Not in 45 minutes, just 53, so stay at work an extra eight minutes. Here's to our running, comic-book loving family who always figure out a way to do what we do!
When I went and got the first issues in the series, I without thinking asked for variant covers of two of the comics, because in my mind, variant covers are automatically cooler. While they do tend to be cool, I've also noticed that lots of times variant covers don't necessarily match the story inside the comic. And after I finished those two issues, I sort of regretted the variant covers and wanted to find copies of the comics with the original covers.
The one problem? There are nary an issue to be found. These issues are really popular right now (with House of X #2, a $5 comic three weeks ago, now selling for $15 or $20 on eBay), and after calling around to different stores, I hadn't had any luck in Germantown. And then I thought of a comic book store in DC that I heard was pretty good. I looked it up, hoping that it was close to the GAO so that I could go during my lunch break. It was two miles away. So close, but definitely far enough that I would have trouble getting there and back in 45 minutes.
Now, I started running during my lunch break this summer, and it's been a really good experience for me. I get the iconic experience of running along the National Mall (I turn around at the Washington Monument), and I get my running done during the day and don't have to leave Rebecca alone with the kids at night. Plus it's really invigorating for the rest of my work in the afternoon. I happened to take my running stuff with me today, and when I thought of this comic book store, I decided that I was going to run the two miles up to the store, pick up the comics, and hopefully get back to work in 25 minutes. So at 11:45 I headed out, a gym bag in hand and my debit card in my shoe.
It was a nice running experience, with the exception of all the traffic lights. I feel like Barbossa's comment about the pirate code in Pirate's of the Caribbean should be the mantra of the relationship between pedestrians and traffic lights in every major city: "The code's more like guidelines than actual rules." So more often than not I ran across the street while cars sped towards the intersection. At one point, I ran across, and someone on their phone followed my out without looking at the light. I got across, but they weren't as fast and got honked at by a car. Should have been faster I guess!I found the comic book store without much trouble, walked in, and the woman at the counter pointed me right to them, and sure enough, there were the comics I was looking for! At the time I didn't realize that these were actually second printings of the comic because they've been so popular up to this point, and they look different than the original cover. The originals are filled with color, whereas the second printings are black and white, with the major characters in that particular book colored in in either red or blue. They're pretty cool.
As I ran back, my comic books safely tucked in the gym bag with boards and bags, I realized that this is totally a Kennedy thing to do. Want to get somewhere, but don't have an option of a car or want the hassle of the metro? We can just run. Walk into a comic book store sweaty? No problem, I know exactly what I'm looking for. And successfully complete the entire operation in time? Not in 45 minutes, just 53, so stay at work an extra eight minutes. Here's to our running, comic-book loving family who always figure out a way to do what we do!
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