So I happened to be watching some Batman: The Animated Series the other day, and I felt compelled to talk about how much I enjoy the series’ version of the Joker played by Mark Hamill. This might seem, at first glance, a little silly to write about. “Really?” you might respond. “You mean to tell [...]

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It is said that they’re making a fourth Mission: Impossible movie, and that Brad Bird is in talks to direct it. I think this is a fantastic idea. A big reason for my enthusiasm is, of course, the involvement Brad Bird himself, a talented filmmaker who made one of the best superhero movies there is with The [...]

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1.) The voice shouting “He my nun!” on Midnite Vultures track ”Hollywood Freaks” is actually a sample of David Duchovny. 2.) Did a guest voice on an episode of Animaniacs under a pseudonym. 3.) An early version of Guero contained a track called “Octorok Motherf****r” that has never been released. 4.) Big fan of the comic strip [...]

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Hello, it’s your old pal Justin (note: it is acceptable if you do not consider us old pals). Something in the world of superhero comics commentary has been gnawing at me for a while, but I sort of missed my original window of opportunity to talk about it. Now that the character is back in [...]

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All right, I hope this is not an abuse of my posting priviledges here, but I thought there might be a chance that someone here could help me. There’s bit in the Tank Girl movie with Lori Petty where Malcolm McDowell says, “Eight, eight, the burning eight. Between Sunday and Monday hangs a day so dark [...]

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Just a quick comparison for those of you who may have Christmas and New Years Eve parties to go to in the days to come, during which a conversation about popular music may come up: IF YOU NAME-DROP ELVIS COSTELLO… …you will get the respect of the average person, because most people have heard of Elvis [...]

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So here’s my deep, dark, horrible secret: Despite posing as someone who’s extremely conversant with the history of superhero comics, I had never read the Chris Claremont/John Byrne Dark Phoenix Saga before this week. I had just never really been able to track down a TPB or reprints before. Understand, between summaries and secondhand sources, [...]

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“So, Justin, what would you like for Christmas this year?” Hm… …Sandman Mystery Theatre… …The Golden Age Sandman’s alter ego, Wesley Dodds… …and an actor to portray him…? HOW ABOUT IT?? Bonus: I have done some hi-tech photo manipulation, just so you could see what it’d be like: I tried to replace the ferret with [...]

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Every year around Halloween, I rent a bunch of horror movies from the 70s and 80s and watch them over a couple of days. Typically, this includes at least one Friday the 13th movie, and this year was no exception. It’s my favorite horror series, and I’m not always sure why. Largely nostalgia, I suppose; [...]

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I am pretty comfortable with whatever people might think of me in most circumstances, but I am still compelled to make this perfectly bloody clear: I did not purchase a copy of Glamour with my own money. My wife and I have moved into a new apartment, and whoever lived here before us apparently did [...]

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So last time I was, as the grandfathers say, rappin’ at you kids, I was surprised that DC has decided to turn Superman/Batman into a look back at specific past events. I asked, “Why is DC pushing ‘untold tales” when ‘untold tales’ are rarely sales successes?” We might ask a broader question, “Why does anybody [...]

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This is somewhat old news (in 2009 terms, at least, which is four days ago) that somewhat slipped under the radar, but I was reminded of it when Andrew Hickey’s impressive and exhaustive (but exhaustive in the good way!) “Hyperpost” series got me to thinking about comic book continuity, and the desirability thereof. To wit: [...]

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Last week, I mentioned something about Batman and Superman’s secret identities, and that I would talk about them if anyone was interested. Well, I recall at least two “yes” votes. That is really all it takes. To be frank, I wanted to do it anyway as long as no one actively said BOO THIS IS [...]

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-EC reprints are hellaciously expensive. The Amazon discount takes the edge off it quite a bit, but I still feel it’s pretty steep. Part of the magic of EC Comics (and this extends to a great deal more classic comics material) is that they were delivered in cheap, disposal packaging, but the content itself transcended [...]

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(Inspired by a post about the Batcave you really should read. Not inspired by Disney-Marvel stuff, because I’ve said all I can about that here.) Scipio at the Absorbascon has gone on at great length about how the Marvel and DC Universes are different, but there is one aspect I don’t believe he’s talked about. [...]

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