Wagner's Writings

  It’s hard to keep going sometimes. The first half of 2025 was a repetitive kick in the nuts. In the past three months I’ve lost my job, lost my mom, and some other unfortunate things happen beyond my control. It’s genuinely a miracle I did not kill myself with everything that’s happened from March to now and will have to deal with later. I’ve thought about it many, many times, but I chug along all the same. Call it going with obligation. Call it a naturalistic need to keep moving forward, but I’m very tired, y’all. It’s hard to keep going sometimes, but I still keep on keeping on.  Since my mom passed, my love for life has certainly dimmed. There’s not a lot of people I can talk to about it. Especially with me certainly going, “Nooo, I’m fine!” When asked if I’m okay.  And I feel I’ve reached this period of time after a loved one passes of “Okay, keep it in. It’s been long enough. You’re bumming people out.” So I don’t talk about it. What’s to talk about? She’s gone and...

  The heavy metal world took a devastating blow with the death of Ozzy Osbourne last week. He was the frontman of Black Sabbath and went on to have a insanely successful solo career. He sang nine albums for Sabbath and thirteen for his solo career. The Prince of Darkness is gone and the world feels that emptiness left by him. But before he went, he got to play a spectacular final show in honor of the long and impactful career he’s had, including a five-song set with all the original members of Black Sabbath in their native Birmingham, England; right where it all began. Poetic, really.  With the alarming amount of deaths coming out of this year, this one is a real gut punch. Ozzy’s the kind of guy with the Keith Richards syndrome, that because they survived so many drugs and decades of rock and roll excess, that they somehow achieved immortality. “If all that couldn’t kill him, then nothing will,” we’d all say. Alas, no one gets to live forever, but sometimes you get eched into...

  From the ashes of Zack Snyder’s DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) comes James Gunn’s DC Comics Universe (DCU). Jame Gunn’s first film in his vision of the DC Comics universe is Superman.  Growing up, I was a huge DC guy, more so than Marvel, actually. There was just something that particular universe I liked. Sure I was then a big fan of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, but I was also really into Batman, the Flash, Teen Titans, and the Justice League as a whole. However, before there was Spider-Man (2002), Batman (1989), Batman the Animated Series, and Justice League Unlimited there had to be a catalyst to my foray into the superhero genre. That was Richard Donnor’s Superman: The Movie.  The tagline was so real to a young Cody. I truly did believe a man could fly because of  Christopher Reeve’s portrayal as Clark Kent/Superman. Then Superman was there again when I was 18 with Henry Cavill’s take on Superman with Man of Steel. Superman’s an important character to...

  28 Days Later came out... 23 years ago! Almost hit the mark but that's alright. If you somehow don’t know but 28 Days Later is a zombie flick directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland in 2002. Call it a cult movie or just a simply great film that has a fresh take on the zombie. Instead of the mindless dredging horde, these zombies can run, they’re full of rage, and they will rip any human to shreds.  To sum up my thoughts on it real quick: I love the film and very much appreciate what this did to reinvent the zombie. It’s a fascinating character study on what society would look like when the government has failed in the wake of a zombie outbreak and a country (the United Kingdom) is suddenly left to their own devices as Infected roam the streets. It’s great stuff. Particularly because of Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson’s performances. Wonderful, no notes.  Anyway, you get a successful film and you suddenly you have a franchise in your hands. What happens af...

  With creative work, opinions of all kinds are fair game when you release some form of art. I’ve released two poetry chapbooks and one short story collection so far. What will 2025 bring? Not sure! But but I’ve gotten the full spectrum of opinions on my work. All the way from making the person actually cry, to a thumb’s up, to some negative reviews, but mostly, “Oh, I haven’t read it.” But hey, getting paid is getting paid.  When you get negative criticism, you just have to take it on the chin. Not everyone has the same tastes as you and that’s just a fact. No matter how well you’ve done something there’ll be at least one person who doesn’t like it. It happens and I understand as a consumer if you don’t like something you don’t have to like it. My favorite example of this is when Massive Denial plays a show that’s general not our people and as we get into the second song of the set, a good portion of people would leave. “I get it, I understand. No hard feelings,” I’d think t...

Give 'er take, a week ago I turned 30. Happy birthday to me, I guess. It's a milestone from what I told, not that I felt it. To be honest, I’m going through a period of indifferent numbness since mom died. She didn’t sign her name on my card this year. That was rough. Her absence is felt everyday, but talking about it is so exhausting. To be honest the only thing that bugged me hitting 30 is that she wasn’t here to see it.  But I still persist. It’s this weird thing I’ve come to know about me. I can wallow in my pain and sorrow, but as soon as a friend matches my level, I’m all like, “Hey man, it’s going to be alright :),” whilst dying inside. That’s just me. :)))  Anyways, enough about me. Who cares? The crux for what I wanted to do was talk to my younger friends. This is to anyone from say, 18 - 29 years old. A LOT of them have this anxiety of turning 30. I totally get it. It’s a new decade. It’s “old.” I’ve always been laxed on the topic myself. There’s a few reasons for ...