I knew that there would be some huge moments of nostalgia for me by doing this Muppet Show rewatch because there are some clips that have stuck with me all these years. These three episodes of season one, nine, ten and eleven, included several of these.
In episode nine, guest starring Charles Aznavour, someone who I would have never recognized, did one of the numbers with lyrics I say all the time. “Two and two are four. Four and four are eight. Eight and eight are sixteen. Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two.” This is from the song Inchworm and I remember this since my youth.
Episode ten had a couple of iconic memories for me. First was the “Funniest joke of all time” from Fozzie Bear, who grabbed Kermit to help him and wanted Kermit to come on stage after he hears the word “Hear” and deliver the line “Good grief! The comedian’s a bear!” The homophones would be the joke of course, but this is a fabulous routine with Jim Henson and Frank Oz delivering their lines perfectly. This was on a record album of hits from the first season of the Muppet Show that I had owned.
The other amazing performance on this episode was from Robin the Frog, who sang A.A. Milne’s poem, “Halfway Down the Stairs.” I loved this growing up and it just triggers every memorberry that I have.
Most celebrities look as if they are having a great time on the Muppet Show. Some have joy and fun all over their faces. Lena Horne is a perfect example. She was so happy to be here. However, in episode eleven, it sure seemed as if Harvey Korman hated being here. He did not seem to be enjoying his time on the Muppet Show at all. Of course, he did dress in a giant chicken costume for half the show, so there is that.
This show, which was children’s show, was surprisingly high brow on many occasions. When Charles Aznavour did a dance number with Mildred as he sang “Old Fashioned Way,” there would be plenty of people who were introduced to that song for the first time here. I was surprised to see Mildred as his dance partner in this act. Later in the seasons, it would have been 100% Miss Piggy doing that. I even had to look up the name for the Muppet Mildred.
Lena Horne surprised me with a cover of “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce. I looked it up and Horne did, in fact, cover the song herself as a record. She also sang “Sing (Sing a Song)” from Sesame Street which included background singers Gonzo, Miss Piggy, George the Janitor among others. Both Kermit and Fozzie got to sing with Lena.
As I mentioned, the Muppet Show may have been targeted for children, but it did not talk down to them. It provided music and allusions to some of the greatest cultural items of all time. And, they put Harvey Korman in a chicken suit.
I love this show. It has everything you could want out of a show like this: humor, drama, suspense, wonderful characters and a mystery that is truly compelling.
I am sad that Netflix decided that this was the only season this show was going to get, but it makes me happy that it exists at all.
This week we get all kinds of progress, including Sam, Judy and Wally setting a trap for the monster (which actually worked!), an investigation by Renee into the background of Hank (who seems to be a man named Milton Hauser, who died in a car wreck in the 1970s), and Art’s transformation after eating a magic peach.
Not that everything went great. The trap for the monster may have worked, but it was able to get away. Judy winged it with a gun and it seemed to bleed blue blood. Sam ran into his daughter and there was a tense discussion. Then, Paz, who was curious about a meeting between Hank and Boroughs CEO Blaine Shaw, followed Hank into the basement and saw something in a room before he was shocked into unconsciousness by Hank.
Ed, who tried to help Sam, died in the episode off screen and Sam suspected that Blaine had the man killed because he tried to help him.
There is definitely something sinister going down at the Boroughs and the show has a pace that does not mess around. It provided a bunch of great scenes while furthering the mysteries. The LOST-style shot at the end of the episode with Sam, Wally and Judy peering down a shaft that had allowed the creature access to Sam’s house was a great cliffhanger.
This is probably much higher on a lot of people’s lists. I just rewatched this last year before going to see the live-action version and I enjoyed it more than I remember from the first time I watched it. This is a great, creative new film.
Voice actors: Chris Sanders, Daveigh Chase, David Ogden Stiers, Steve Blum, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tia Carrere, Ving Rhames, Kevin McDonald, Zoe Caldwell, Jason Scott Lee, and Jack Angel.
Apple TV +’s sci-fi series Silo has returned and started its third season. The show stars Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette, who has returned from her “cleaning” without her memory and, apparently, has been elected (appointed???) Mayor of Silo 18.
Juliette is being treated like a savior, a messiah, a hero by the others in the Silo.
We left season two with Juliette and Bernard trapped inside the incinerator. Juliette does not remember anything prior to the incinerator, and she was told that she was saved by the insulation in her suit. She is told Bernard was not as lucky and he died from the exposure to the flames and the poison.
However, we see a flashback of Sims actually smothering Bernard with plastic after he had survived the incinerator.
We get a bunch of things like this, certainly implying that Sims and his wife Camille are manipulating people, including Juliette.
Juliette found a capsule in her soup that contained a message. The message stated, “Want to know the truth? Leave your bowl upside down. Go to the marketplace.”
We had learned that Juliette was being drugged by Camille and that The Algorithm is worried that Juliette’s real memories are returning.
The show had a series of flashbacks, connected to the pair of characters that we saw in Washington, D.C. at the end of season two. This was pre-collapse times and one of the characters was Congressman Daniel Keene, who is concerned about his sister Charlotte Keene, who is scheduled to fly a mission to bomb Iran in response to the “dirty bomb” mentioned last year.
Charlotte is shown in a plane that entered a cloud that was not supposed to be there which led to a bizarre crash. Charlotte is rescued but she has suffered a brain injury and she does not recognize Daniel when he comes to see her.
These flashbacks give me definitive LOST vibes, especially the vibes of season four when we saw the Oceanic Six in present day time.
Intriguing start with a whole bunch of new mysteries to sink your teeth into. This is released every Friday night on Apple TV +.
Rick & Morty are a lot of fun, but… geez are they inappropriate.
I do have to say that I loved in “Rixty Minutes” how Morty brought up stuff from other episodes that season such as the episode where Rick and Morty ruined the world and took up residence in another universe where they had died. Continuity, you know.
And my favorite new word…
“Gazorpazorp”
If ya know, you know.
We’ll have to see if Morty Jr. will ever make a return cameo in the show.
The TV shows and commercials on the infinite cable had to be a hoot for the writers of the show. Anything was available, and they came up with some of the best (and worst) things on TV.
I love how this show is so irreverent, just doing whatever it needed to do to get a laugh. Morty and his sex robot, The Cronenberg planet, etc.
There is also a serious storyline running through the series, which is the marriage of Jerry and Beth and how their marriage is on shaky ground. We discovered that Summer was not only unwanted, but Jerry had to talk Beth out of getting an abortion. We learned about their potentially successful lives had they not gotten married.
So far, Jerry and Beth have ended episodes in each others’ arms, but will that maintain?
Three more episodes of Rick & Morty before moving into season two.
We got a chunk of the sixth season watched on this Fourth of July. The mysteries of Sarge and crew and what they were doing on the earth. We learned the truth about Sarge during these episodes.
The Agents of Shield finally all got back together on earth. It has been like a season and a half since the entire group were back together in one point. Since the diner scene before they were abducted, they finally were all together. It may not have been for long, but it was nice to see.
The tense scenes on the semi as it rolled seemingly unstoppable toward the structure with a deadly bomb aboard. It was nice to see that Deke was shown to be capable and not just a talkative jerk.
RIP Davis. We did not know you well. I had little connection to Davis when I first watched this show, but I liked him much more this time through. Watching him killed by Izel was both brutal and frightening. She is a monstrous villain and felt as if she could not be touched.
The end of Collison Course (Part II) certainly felt like the end of the season, until May walked into Sarge’s cell and shot him to death… or at least for a bit. I liked how Mack and Yo Yo finally go back together.
The battle of machismo between Sarge and Mack was also some great stuff. Who was ahead of the other one? It always seemed that both Sarge and Mack were two steps ahead of each other.
“Inescapable” highlighted some great performances from Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge. The scenes where Elizabeth is told that Fitz was killed and when Fitz learned about his own death and the marriage were bangers. I loved this episode because it was a great character study about these two complex characters.
There are three remaining episodes of season six remaining for the team to prevent Izel from her evil plan.
Happy 250th Birthday to the United States of America. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July.
I picked up a lot of Mad Magazine issues from eBay this week, which included, specifically, the one issue that I went looking for. Mad #533 featured “Weird Al” Yankovic as special guest editor, and was full of fun and crazy comedy. “Weird Al” is one of my absolute favorites and I wanted to find this issue. It seemed like it was pretty high priced on eBay, but I found it included in this lot and the total for the seven books was right around the same cost for the individual book. That was a winner for me.
I picked up a few graphic novels/trade paperbacks this week. The graphic novels included a version of George Orwell’s 1984, which was pretty cool. I also grabbed a graphic novel called “Rain” which I mistakenly did not realize that I already owned. Then there was a paperback that collected an Oni Press series called Hellbreak and a DC trade called Superman: Supercorp.
Comic of the Week
Ordained #3
This was a fantastic issue of this series from Bad idea. You could tell that they originally were going to have the series end after three issues, because of the way this wrapped up. The demand for Ordained must have convinced them to tag on a fourth issue, as they have a final section at the very end, almost like a post credit scene, that sets up issue #4. I am not complaining about it at all. I would buy a full-time, ongoing series of Ordained.
The B cover of this week’s book ended up as runner up for the bronze medalist for the EYG Comic Covers of the Week.
Books this week:
The Last Starfighter #1. Written by Benjamin Raab & Deric Hughes with art by Willi Robert. Variant cover D art by Stephanie Hans (Gold Medalist). This is a new Mad Cave series that is a direct sequel to the 1984 cult-classic movie, The Last Starfighter. Alex Rogen is back and his adventures have just begun. This is an intriguing start to a series and Mad Cave has earned my trust.
The City Beneath Her Feet #3. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Elsa Charretier. I did not think that I was ever going to see the conclusion of this series. DSTLRY has been rumored to be going under and I was a big fan of a bunch of their books. DSTLRY’s downfall made me very sad, but I am excited that this one came out. Hopefully, the company can get back on course or, at the very least, release those final issues of the cool stories that had been started, much like this one.
The Dogsitter #1. Written by Jamie S. Rich and illustrated by Megan Levens. Cover art was done by Megan Levens and Nick Filardi. This seemed to be a straightforward romance story about a woman named Gemma, who has left college and is supplementing her income by walking dogs. I am not sure if there is going to be more to the story than that, but she does meet someone at a party that she takes up with. I kept waiting for the inciting incident, but it did not seem to come. Ignition Press has been doing great stuff lately, but I am not sure this is going to be my cup of tea.
Star Wars-Rogue One: Saw Gerrera #1. “The Price” Written by Marc Bernardin with art by Federico Blee. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Laura Martin. I typically do not buy a lot of Star Wars books, but I saw writer Marc Bernardin on his podcast Fatman Beyond (that he does with Kevin Smith) talking about this project he did with Marvel. I am a fan of Bernardin, so I decided to pick up a copy. I actually enjoyed the book very much, despite not being a knowledgeable fan of Saw Gerrera from the Star Wars franchise. I saw him in Rogue One and Andor, but that was the extent of my knowledge. This was a good read.
Amazing Spider-Man #32.Written by Joe Kelly with art by Patrick Gleason. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason & Dean White. Spidey has to deal with the arrival of Cormac Crane, Aunt May’s unknown son. He is using his fists to work out some of his anger and frustrations which is a bad thing for Tombstone and the Vulture. How does the death of the Shocker play into Spidey’s rampage? It is all here.
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #6. “Badpools–Part 1” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. What happens to the pieces of Wade Wilson that get chopped off? Well, at the current time, they are regenerating into weird little Deadpool-like creatures and are causing trouble for the Merc with a Mouth.
Zorro #2. Written by Howard Chaykin and art by Jorge Fornes. Cover art was done by Stewart Moore. Zorro is on the oceans, sailing with a crew of pirates, and they are dealing with the forces of the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte. There is one more issue of this short series from Alien Books.
Royals #4. Written by Derek Kirk Kim with art and cover art by Jacob Perez. Good news! Paul and Castor are not dead! They were shot at the end of last issue, but they survived and were separated. With that, the chasm between the brothers has stretched even further. This has been one of my favorite books of the month ever time it is released.
She-Spawn #3. Written by Gail Simone and art by Ig Guara. Cover art was done by Marco Falla. Jessica Priest appeared to be in the past with a job to protect a young kid… Al Simmons??? That is a name that is familiar to the Spawn Universe. Lots of things going on in this series and it is, once again, brought to life from the writing of Gail Simone.
Killer Influences #1. Written by Joey Esposito and art by Valeria Burzo. Cover art was done by David Baldeon & Ki Diaz. A wannabe reporter is on the trail of a local serial killer, but when she finds him, there is a twist in the story that I did not see coming. This is a new book from IDW, under their Crime label.
The Mortal Thor #12. “Worldwyrm” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Silver Medalist). Donald Blake confronted Sigurd and revealed his “true face” which was thr serpent Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent. What can the “mortal” Sigurd do to stop it?
The Deadman #2. Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. I picked up three covers of this issue: first cover A by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran, second cover D by Mark Spears and then finally, cover E, a glow-in-the-dark cover by Steven Subic (Bronze Medalist). Deadman comes to Gotham to find help. He wanted Batman, but the Caped Crusader turned out to be too difficult to possess so Deadman settled for Plastic Man instead.
Fantastic Four #13. Written by Ryan North and art and cover art by Andrea Sorrentino. I have been a huge fan of the Ryan North run of Fantastic Four, but I have to admit, this issue was a stretch. Sue and Johnny pretending to be Ghost Rider to scare their villains is an original thought, but I do not think it worked well for this book. It was funny seeing Reed and Nicki pulling the same trick just to see if they could do it.
What If…?: Secret Wars #1. “What If the Ultimate Universe Survived the Secret Wars?” 616 Peter Parker wound up in the Ultimate Universe, trapped. The battle with the Maker continued and Peter turned up with the X-Men at the end. This was not my favorite What If issues as this felt lacking.
Dead Acre: Black Badge #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Riley Brown. Cover art was done by Riley Brown & Fares Maese. I also picked up a special cover by Darick Robertson hidden behind a red Spoiler/Content warning sheet. This appears to be a comic adaptation of a graphic novel of the same name. I am not sure if the graphic novel is the whole run of what this series is going to be or not. All I know is that I loved this first issue.
The Punisher #6. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. I grabbed a variant cover D of this issue with the red bloody skull. The Punisher is out and about, doing his personal mission, but there is a sniper shooting at him. That sniper… Collateral Damage.
Iron Man #7. “Super Science.” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. War Machine has returned! It is great to see Rhodey once again and I hope they include him in the ongoing Iron Man book. It is where he belongs.
Sam & Twitch Case Files #25. Written by Thomas Healy with additonial script from Tidd McFarlane and art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Ig Guara. Sam and Twitch wrap up their latest case, and it feels as if this series is done. I have not heard anything for certain, but the book sure seemed to put a final bow on everything. If this is the final issue, I will miss this book.
Neighborhood Watch #3. Written by Sarah Gailey with illustrations by Haining. Val and Bianca are trying to keep Jill hidden from the police, including her bullet wound. Jill’s “runaway” daughter returned as well and she has something that she knows about this mystery.
X-Men United #5. “Shadow Play.” Written by Eve L. Ewing with art by Eduardo Pansica. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli and Federico Blee. While the adult X-Men are trapped in a different dimension, Lourdes Chantal and other shadowy threats approach the school, forcing the younger mutants to step up their game. Ms. Marvel is there, but I wanted her to take more charge than they did here. She has a ton of experience from the Avengers, Champions and so on.
Batman #11. “Mutineers” Written by Matt Fraction with art by Jorge Jimenez. Cover A art was done by Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey. Cover B art was done by Dustin Nguyen and Cover F art (Beefcake Batman) was done by Chris Anka. Batman has to deal with the dangerous Anarchy while discovering a criminal conspiracy that will change Gotham’s underworld moving forward.
Batman/Green Arrow/The Question; Arcadia #4. Written, drawn and cover art was done by Gabriel Hardman. I am not sure what continuity this series falls into because it seemed as if Gabriel Hardman was watching the first Iron Man movie since the final scene is reminiscent of it. Arcadia has been a long time coming with this final issue.
The Other/Half #3. Written by Jim McCann with art and cover art by Joe Eisma. Ethan is arrested for the mysterious jewel robbery, but Henry is not ready to give up on his husband. He wants to help so much that he even approached Ethan’s homophobic parents for help, against Ethan’s wishes.
The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I. Live #1. Written, art and cover art by Geof Darrow. A fun new series from Dark Horse returned to the world of Shaolin Cowboy. From my research, this is a character that had been in several other series over the past 25 years. I enjoyed this issue from Dark Horse so I may have to look back into the history of this character moving ahead.
Beast of Boriken #1. Written by Julio Anta with art and cover art by Daniel Irizarri. Puerto Rican activist Loli Flores is involved in a protest to attempt to protect land from developers. During the groundbreaking ceremony, a creature of some sorts was awakened and set free to cause trouble.
100 Bullets: The US of Anger #1. “Chapter One: At Thee I Swing.” Written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso. Variant cover B art is done by Jock. I really liked this format with the black and white pages. It felt like the proper way to present this type of story. This was another one that had an earlier book.
Other Books this Week: Tales of the Shadowman #7, Nights #19, Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #12, Catching Hell (Featuring Reggie Bannister) #1, Faceless and the Family #1, Starhenge Book Two: A Kiss for Atticus #1, Masterminds #5, and Malevolent #5.
Quick Hits: Marvel dropped another swimsuit special this week, with the title being Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day#1. It is not much. There are some great pieces of art involved which is the purpose. The story is meh. As I was going through the pile of comics I bought at In This Issue when I came across Lilo & Stitch 626 #2, which confused me. I do not collect Lilo & Stitch so I was confused as to why it was in my books. I think I figured it out because I was missing Lion King #4. So I think I went to pick Lion King off the shelf and accidentally grabbed Lilo & Stitch. Maybe I was distracted by other independent books on the shelf. I did go back to get Lion King afterward. Comics! The Magazine #5 came out this week that featured an interview with Mark Spears. The Rook universe characters make their appearance this week in the Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook #4. This is a great book to keep handy when reading rook because some of the issue I have for this series is that I am not sure which character is which. Somehow, I had missed the Energon Universe G.I. Joe #18. I was able to pick that one up to complete the run so far. Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 finished off its run with this issue. Absolute Green Lantern #15 brings us the debut of the Absolute Sinestro. It was another comic that I missed and had to pick up when I went back to In This Issue. Minor Arcana #16 continued with Teresa and her weird magic. Big shock at the end of the issue. Doctor Strange #8 has had a difficult time keeping my attention at this point. There was a lot of Angela in this book. Challengers of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1 came out and showed a beginning of the relationship between Doom and Reed Richards. I picked up the Peach Momoko cover for this issue. American Mythology Productions released a new version of Return of the Living Dead, which was a mini series a couple of years ago. It was Return of the Living Dead: Untold Tales of the Tarman #1. It might have been a one-shot, but it is left off with a cliffhanger that feels like it was a start. I guess we’ll see. Babylon Cove #2 saw the story of Heather Hutchens returning to her hometown continue with some major problems. I liked this issue more than the first one. Finally, Ripcord #4 was pretty bloody and violent this month and I am not a fan of this issue.
The first fun animated movie based during Christmastime. Arthur was Santa’s son who was clumsy, but kind-hearted, and he helped with the complex, hi-tech operation of present delivery. The clever and original way the presents are delivered in this film is one of the best aspects of Arthur Christmas.
Voice Cast: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen, Marc Wootton, Michael Palin, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Robbie Coltrane, Joan Cusack, Rhys Darby, Jane Horrocks, Iain McKee, Andy Serkis, and Dominic West.
Agents of Shield went more sci-fi last season and less superhero/superspy action, and they have maintained that in season six.
The Coulson-lookalike Sarge continued to be doing something strange with his new crew. They robbed a jewelry store to get some basic piezoelectric gems. May confronted them, physically beat the crap out of some of them, but could not stop them. She was taken aback coming face to face with Sarge.
Poor Fitz and Simmons never get a break. They wind up face to face on the planet of Kitson, after a fun episode in a casino. However, Fitz is snatched by Malachi, a bounty hunter looking for Fitz.
Enoch is one of my favorite characters of this season. The whole Chronicom bit makes him feel kind of like Mr. Spock, and Enoch’s relationship with Fitz is sweet.
Deke is back in episode four, using technology he stole from SHIELD to set up a company dealing with video games and virtual reality. It was good to see him back, though the character does feel a little shady.
There are some strange alien bird creatures that fly inside people. I believe this is part of what non-Coulson is doing here. One got inside Shield’s HQ and flew inside Keller. Yo Yo had to kill him to stop him from destroying the base with crystalline structures.
Sarge captured May at the end of episode four and he is taking her somewhere.
I have hated the previous two Minions movies and I have not been a big fan of any of the Despicable Me franchise either, so I was not excited when they announced a new Minions movie.
However, I had heard some positive word of mouth, especially from online film critic Dan Murrell, a well-know hater of Minion content, and I had some hope.
After seeing Minions & Monsters, I can say without hesitation that this is my favorite Minions movie I have ever seen.
According to IMDB, Minions & Monsters “Follows the Minions in 1920s Hollywood as they search for frightening creatures for their monster movie, partner with a green creature, and must save the planet after unleashing monsters.“
The Minions wind up in Hollywood and that was really fun. The movie had a ton of references and allusions to some of the greatest movies of all time, from Jaws to Casablanca.
There are some real characters in the movie and an actual storyline. They are not incredibly deep, but they are here. There are some big time voice performances too including Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Phil LaMarr and Bobby Moynihan.
The animation is wonderful and full of amazing color. The times they switched from the typical animation style into a different one were very effective.
This movie does a great job of appealing to the children in the audience while still giving some jokes and items for the adults, which, again, is not something that is typical in a Minions movie.
This was such a nice surprise. This had a feeling of the Looney Tunes to me. For a movie that I had no desire to see at one point in the year, to a film that was entertaining, it sure tells you that if you keep your mind open, anything could happen. Even a fun and enjoyable minions movie.
Animation Style: bright, 3D computer-generated (CG)
Produced by Nintendo & Illumination
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a huge success, breaking into the billion dollar club. The film had some fun moments and looked great, full of color. There was a sequel this year that also reached the billion dollar level.
Voice actors: Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco and Kevin Michael Richardson.
This film, along with the live action Prey, has helped to revitalize the Predator franchise after years of failed projects. The animation of this Hulu film was top notch and it took the story in a whole new level.
Voice cast included: Lindsay LaVanchy, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Rick Gonzalez, Michael Biehn, Doug Cockle, Damien Haas , Lauren Holt, Jeff Leach and Piotr Michael.
X-Men ’97’s second season’s first three episodes were dropped on Disney +.
Three episodes and they are each dealing with a different timeline. Episode one was in the future with Cyclops and Jean with the Askani and young Nate Grey. Episode two was in the 1997 timeline with Jubilee and Sunspot joining X-Force and facing off with X-Factor. Episode three was in the past in Ancient Egypt where En Sabah Nur was becoming the force that he would become.
They also seemed to be setting up En Sabah Nur and Rama-Tut, who is one of the forms of Kang the Conqueror. That feels really large of a story.
My favorite of these three episodes was number two, when they even went as far as redo the intro with the X-Force team in it. That was so epic, it got me fired up.
It was a lot of fun to have seen these extra characters, such as Strong Guy, Polaris, Quentin Quire, Archangel, Psylocke, and several others. Loved it.
There was so much going down on these episodes. It was dense in story and characterization. It was amazing how much they put into episodes that were around 30 minutes each. The animation is great and there are some beautiful shots in these episodes.
It looks like we have a weekly release of episodes moving forward and I think that would be helpful considering how much there was in each episode.
Big week of books this week. It was difficult to narrow it down to just three, but I wanted to make sure I avoided any ties since that week a few weeks ago when we had three ties.
Also-Rans: Ordained #3 (A cover), Ordained #3 (B Cover), 100 Bullets: The US of Anger #1 (C Cover), Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia #4, Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day #1 (A Cover-wraparound), The Deadman #2 (A Cover), The Deadman #3 (D Cover-Mark Spears), Neighborhood Watch #3, The Punisher #6, Babylon Cove #2, Marvel Swimsuit: Brand New Day #1 (E Cover), Dead Acre: Black Badge #1, and Comics! The Magazine #5.
Bronze Medalist
The Deadman #2
Variant Cover E- Glow in the Dark
Cover art by Steven Subic
I was picking this book up for Todd at In This Issue and I just could not leave it out of my own collection. I did not know it was a glow-in-the-dark issue. It was just so beautifully disturbing with the stunning black and white and the image of Deadman in the center of the cover.
Silver Medalist
The Mortal Thor #12
Cover art by Alex Ross
Alex Ross is one of the masters of covers and this one with Thor and Sigurd crawling out of the eyes of Donald Blake is creepy. Then, the green shading of the cover is really something you do not see on a cover often. This one is a standout.
Gold Medalist
The Last Starfighter #1
Variant Cover D
Cover art by Stephanie Hans
I went to pick up the A cover of this new book from Mad Cave, but I put it back on the shelf when I saw this cover. I loved this cover and its dark, shadow across the character with the beautiful stars and space in contrast behind him… just spectacular.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 