The best at what I do …

I have a confession to make: I like hot dogs more than I like Wolverine.

It’s no reflection on the bajillions of fans of the oh-so-popular Marvel mutant, but something to keep in mind is that I’m freakin’ old, man. I was there when when Logan was this weird little hairy guy from Canada who kept showing up in issues of Alpha Flight. I was there when Claremont insisted on turning the character’s angst up so high it blew out the speakers. And I was there in those dark times known as the 90s, when Wolverine was EVERYWHERE.

Basically, I liked the inner beast-fighting, modern day-samurai version of Wolverine but over time found myself overstuffed with Wolverine. (Ugh – that sounds unsavory.)

At this point, I thought I couldn’t be surprised by Logan sightings, even in the most unlikely places. But then I went to my number one hot dog place in town, and guess who I ran into?

This is now officially my favorite version of Wolverine.

The Life and Times of Johnny Storm

Johnny is a master of irony.

You’d think this would be more of a job for Aquaman

Right next to the apartment building I live in is a plumbing supply store, and all day long dudes in trucks filter in and out of the shop’s parking lot. There’s a pretty even mix of vans belonging to bigger plumbing companies and the everyday pick-up trucks of the independent wrench-jockey. My wife and I have lived in this building for years, and at one point were in an apartment that overlooked the back lot of the supply store itself, so I’ve become familiar with some of the local plumbers just out of sheer repetition.

There’s one, though, that’s an obvious favorite.

Strangely enough, I never see the same two plumbers in the van at the same time. Hmmm …