A Wild Weekend – Hook Style!

Opening night of Thor, fast food, and the second-to-last episode of Smallville, followed by Free Comic Book Day the next morning. Top it all off with Mother’s Day and you’ve got The Hook’s weekend.

Okay, so it’s not exactly The Hangover, but for a 41-year-old, married fanboy, it’s pretty damn sweet!

Some guys drink, some golf or slap on the skates and pretend to be Gretzky. Whatever your poison, there is one unifying element: the need to create a defense mechanism against the rigors of life. In my case, it’s the need to escape the daily grind of serving one D-bag after another!

Here’s how my weekend went down..

FRIDAY

My daughter may not be a full-blown comic geek like her dear old dad, but her love of the genre is extending past Archie Andrews and his pals! She fires a steady barrage of questions about Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America – all the current movie subjects – and I blow her mind with all the details of their decades of comic book  history. Now she’s my constant companion when it comes to all things comic book.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Instead of starting with a bang, the weekend started with a thunder-clap. Sarah and I were both stoked about the God of  Thunder’s big-screen debut, and we weren’t disappointed. Kids these days like to research every activity they get involved with, so my daughter was armed with a full Thor film-universe primer and it served her well.

She was glued to the screen and she even starting yelling at people who got up during the closing credits! I should explain – Marvel films always have an extra scene following the credits and people often kick themselves for missing them, as they contain a glimpse of the larger story bridging the films. It was hilarious to watch a couple in their twenties sit down when ordered to do so by a twelve-year-old!

As if one superhero wasn’t enough, the penultimate episode of Smallville was next on our list. Fortunately it didn’t suck kryptonite!

SATURDAY

After months of breathless anticipation and meticulous planning, the Big day was here. Last years’ Free Comic Book day was free-for-all in every sense, with hordes of douchebags ripping each other apart for a medium they don’t even appreciate!

This year was much smoother, especially since we waited until Hour Two to enter the fray. Oh sure, there was the guy in the Flash costume whose mom let him out of the basement for the day. He stood in front of Pulp Comics shouting “Greetings, citizens!”, to everyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Then a pretty girl spoke to him and he peed his uniform.

Of course, we almost didn’t make it to FCBD at all. My father-in-law is a big fan of garage sales and stumbled upon an old lady selling the Holy Grail (As far as Sarah is concerned, that is!) a box of Archie digests! Naturally, we  had to go haggle.

Garage sales are not for everyone, to say the least – people sell their old crap to other people who eventually throw it out or sell it again (!)  – but Sarah was on cloud nine after she decided my money was no object! Still, we eventually made it to FCBD, hit McDonald’s after, and had a great father/daughter day, which is ironic considering the next day was…

MOTHER’S DAY

I didn’t actually get to see my Mom, but we communicate every day and she knows all her hard work and sacrifice paid off, (I’m not a douchebag, so she’s happy!) and Sarah’s Mom (VampireLover) got the new Vampire Diaries novel so everyone came out a winner.

Of course, the next day it was back to the frying pan, followed by the fire.

At least the weekend rocked, by my standards at least.

Related articles

• Free Comic Book Day (smartbitchestrashybooks.com)
• Arm Yourselves, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY Is Coming! (youvebeenhooked.wordpress.com)