NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Ninjas, Justice League and nerding for charity

Oct 17, 2019, 6:06 am

ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

This week Nerd Thug Radio sets up our plans for Extra Life which will be Nov. 2. It's 24 hours of gaming for a good cause. The donations go towards Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals it's being a nerd and being a good person, it's awesome. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT AND DONATE IF YOU CAN.

FALLEN ANGELS

So "Dawn of X" kicked off this week with the release of X-Men #1 and that is very cool and exciting stuff and over the next few weeks five more books will debut. Each of them picking up on interesting concepts and questions that spin out of the idea that now that ALL MUTANTS are citizens of the island nation of Krakoa there will be changes to the world. Such things as X-Force is now the CIA of Krakoa and Marauders is the book about how The X-Men handle the high-seas in this new world (yes, an actual X-Men pirate book!) but my dark horse pick for all of this is Fallen Angels. It comes out a little bit later in this release of titles but it's about three particular outcasts in the world of X-Men, Cable, X-23 (an altered clone of Wolverine) and Kwannon (it's way to complicated to explain but the short of it is that Psylocke used to be a white British chick before she swapped bodies with an Asian ninja assassin, Kwannon, whose mind is now back in the proper body) all three of whom are reminders of dark times in the mythos of the X-Men. This is going to be the surprise hit of the launch.

BIG TIME ART

If you're looking for something fun to read with just big crazy moments, and most importantly mind blowing art, you need to be reading Justice League these days. Francis Manapul is the artist and he's hitting a new gear on his issues of Justice League. Right now they're in the middle of a crazy war against Lex Luthor and there's massive things happening that I can't even begin to explain properly but honestly, check it out. The visuals are nuts, the Justice Society is back, so is Kamandi the last man and just about every character in between.

WHAT'S NEXT?

So with Watchmen about to debut on HBO, and Preacher wrapping up on AMC and Walking Dead spinning out a third show and The Boys season two coming soon and Runaways season three and Cloak and Dagger season two and… I think you get it, the question becomes what's next? I'd like to nominate Else Bloodstone for Disney+ to consider making into a show, think a modern Buffy but British with guns. For the Warner Bros I nominate Manhunter, the early 2000s version, it's awesome female vigilantism at its finest with a hint of court room drama. For Amazon I nominate my own comic book Another Day at the Office. It's a comedy about a cop in a city full of superheroes and it's absolutely worth checking out on IndyPlanet at an affordable $3.49 for the digital and $3.99 plus shipping for a physical copy. These are my picks, not the networks, I doubt they'll happen but if you trust me at all, check these characters out, they're worth spending some time with.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Picked up another gig, I am super stoked to be able to keep opening doors with writing and pursuing the opportunities it presents me. Nerd Thug Radio started me on this journey over three years ago and honestly it's been great. Now if I could just trick a beautiful woman into thinking I had my stuff together I'd be next level.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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THE LEFT TURN

NASCAR: Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 preview

Photo via: WikiCommons.

This week the NASCAR cup series heads to the world center of racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the inaugural fourth of July version of the Brickyard 400. This is unprecedented for NASCAR considering over the course of 50 years they are usually in Daytona around this time. While this move was met with a lot of criticism from fans, there is a positive to come from this move though, as the sport will hold their first doubleheader with Indycar. This has been talked about for many years and now it has finally come to fruition. Another new facet of this weekend will be the Xfinity Series running on the road course configuration. This could very well lead to the cup series transitioning from the oval to the road course next season should everything go well when the Xfinity series does it. It will definitely be an interesting weekend.

Last week, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin dominated the first-ever doubleheader at Pocono. The two drivers finished first and second in both races with Harvick taking race one and Hamlin winning race two. Both of these races came down to pit-road strategy as Harvick was able to eke out a victory by taking two tires and fuel while his teammate Aric Almirola took four. The next day Denny Hamlin pretty much had the whole field covered as he went on to claim his fourth victory of the season. Overall, the idea of two races in a weekend went over well but for the racing itself, it was hard to watch. One of the main issues I had was how the drivers didn't have to shift this week. In my opinion, that was what made this track so unique. It was an oval that had road course characteristics and it usually produced some pretty good finishes. Hopefully this will be addressed when the new car makes its debut in 2022.

One of the big stories going into this week is the announcement a couple of weeks ago that NASCAR will be moving their all-star event to Bristol Motor Speedway. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a whirlwind of news from the Bubba Wallace story at Talladega, to the doubleheader races last week. A lot of this has put this announcement on the back burner but this is a huge story. The race will be held on Wednesday, July 15th as NASCAR continues with midweek races. This is the first time since 1986 that the race will not be run at NASCAR's home track in Charlotte back when it took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The format will be pretty much the same as all the winners from 2019 and 2020 will all have an automatic birth into the race while the rest of the field will run in the open event the day before. The main event will feature four stages including a 15 lap closer around one of NASCAR's most popular race tracks. I think this move was long overdue and I hope that they continue with it in the future. Don't get me wrong, there isn't anything wrong with the race at Charlotte but I think a change of pace would be welcomed. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

As we move on to Indy this weekend, the driver I have winning is Kurt Busch. This weekend will be the 2004 Cup Series champion's 700th career start, and he's won just about every race that there is to be won except this one here at the Brickyard. This week, that is going to change. It hasn't been the most consistent season for the Vegas native, but he still sits tenth in points and right in the thick of the playoff battle. This track isn't his best as he currently has a 19.42 average finish, including a dismal 30th place finish last year. But this week, I think he gets back on track with a victory as he starts second. The veteran has flown under the radar this year, but he has definitely shown spurts where we think he is going to break-out. He also has runs where it seems like him and his team are mid-pack, but there aren't many drivers out there that have the experience he has. And a talented driver like him always finds a way to bounce back. Look for Kurt Busch to take the #1 Monster Energy Camaro to victory lane.

All stats and information used in this article are brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com, the best websites for all NASCAR stats.

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