Dan

Dammit.

I haven't read JLA:Y1 in forever, but I remember really enjoying it. For some reason, the scene of J'onn sympathizing with Aquaman's struggle to make sense of written English always stuck with me.

Generally speaking I can't stand McFarlane, so "that doesn't look entirely wretched" is a lot better than I initally assumed it was going to be.

I was wondering if the Will and Grace return was going to be a three-camera setup with a laugh track again, since that's not really something anyone does anymore, but if Jim Burrows is directing, it most likely is.

Interview is pretty much the reason she has a career.

Yes. And yes.

As I am fundamentally incapable of learning, today I accepted the job of running the Media panel track for Arisia 2018. TBH, if a con came up to me and said "Hey Dan, pick any job you want, sky's the limit," this is the job I'd pick.

Bioware said today that they're "resting" Mass Effect for a while. Andromeda didn't set the world on fire, so they're going to focus on new projects for a while. They stress that the franchise isn't dead, but if it ever comes back, it'll be awhile.

Holy shit, Orlando Jones. He should get an Emmy nod for that monologue all by itself.

Doctor-light stories weren't a thing back then. The general thinking at the time was "his name's in the title, that's who people are tuning in to see". However, in the black and white era, the seasons were 45 weeks straight with no breaks, and so every few months there would be an episode or two where the Doctor would go off to investigate something elsewhere, or get knocked out by something and not wake up for a couple of weeks, so the actor could have some time off and not lose his mind. The stories were filmed episode by episode back then, not in location blocks (all the exteriors one day, all the TARDIS scenes another, etc.) the way they would when it went to color (and how they do it now), so they had that option. That said, for the first half season or so, the show was much more of an ensemble piece and you could be forgiven for thinking Ian Chesterton was the main character. It wasn't unusual for Hartnell to be offscreen for a very long time.

This was very, very fun. Not as good as the first one, but a lot of that is only because the first one was so unexpectedly awesome. +1 to the Michael Rooker kudos. He was outstanding.

Has there ever been a collection of the best letters to editors? And has there ever been a historical look at the people who became letter column-famous? Because, I know that was a huge deal for decades, and I would love to read the letters, thoughts (RE: essays) about them, their place in history (real-world and comic book), and interviews with the people who wrote them. Did I just pitch a thing? 'Cause it feels like it. I swear you and I have had a conversation about this very thing. I would read the SHIT out of this book. Reading these Omnibuses always fascinates because of the names you see in the letters pages, tons of whom went on to careers in the industry: Don McGregor, Tony Isabella, Mark Evanier, Kurt Busiek, Marc DeMatteis, Doug Moench, Todd McFarlane, even Frank Miller once. (Also George R. R. Martin.) But more so, the regulars who didn't go on to go pro would still be interesting to follow. Hell, you could do an entire book just on T.M. Maple all by himself. Researching that book would be insane.

Clearly her hair is going to be 99% CGI, but FFS, Marvel, this is the introductory photoshoot. At least pretend to give a crap. And Don: while there is no earthly reason Black Bolt (or any of them, really) would actually have a reason to wear the mask, yes, he needs the fucking mask.

That wig is terrible.

In a virtual meeting where the person doing the presenting and the person driving the screen (clicking on things and whatnot) are not the same person. It's been half an hour (so far) of: "Can you click on the 'Reporting' tab, Kevin? On the left, Kevin. The left. No, your other left, Kevin. Over there. No, that's too far. Go back. A little more. Okay, now a little above where you are. The tab, Kevin. The one that says 'Reporting'. Can you click that, please? Okay, now you're in Excel. Can you go back to the browser? The browser. No, you're still in Excel. I need you in the browser. On the taskbar. It's at the bottom. Click on the browser. Thank you. No, I still need that 'Reporting' tab. It's on the left, Kevin. No, the LEFT, Kevin." GODDAMMIT MR. NOODLE

... huh.

Captain America Omnibus vol. 1: collects the Captain America stories from Tales of Suspense #59-99 and Captain America #100-113. It's weird how a comic can be really quite good and also rote and repetitive at the same time. These stories, the vast majority of which are Kirby/Lee creations, very much feature Cap-as-brawler, and it's clear that Kirby was having a hell of a good time drawing these. However, the TOS stories (which, by dint of being eight to eleven pages, tend to be very quick and punchy reads that fly by and are pretty enjoyable overall), especially in the beginning, can be generally synopsized as "Cap fights a whole room full of bad guys" and you get many, many issues in a row that are variations on the Winter Soldier elevator fight, over and over again. Again, Kirby obviously had a ball doing this, but it does get old fast. There are occasional extended story arcs that generally involve Nick Fury using Cap as a weapon to aim at HYDRA, AIM, or hidden masterminds (I use "masterminds" in the plural, but it's virtually always the Red Skull, which really drives home how thin Cap's rogues' gallery is), but those invariably turn into (wait for it) Cap fighting a room full of bad guys. For a while, the book is set during WWII, but if the letters pages are anything to go by, this was fairly unpopular, and the story is abruptly brought into the present day, where Cap faces off against Nazis who have been waiting all this time to resurface, so the only thing that changes is the cars in the background. However, that seemed to be enough for the letterhacks. Three of the last four issues are where Jim Steranko took over art duties (unlike his work on S.H.I.E.L.D., Stan is still writing these; there's a one-issue fill-in by Jack that honestly looks like it was crapped out in an afternoon), and they somehow manage to be really dynamic and interesting and also not very good at all. Steranko's trademark action is there and it's immediately clear this is a new direction, but he really doesn't commit to things the way he did with Nick Fury, and as a result it really doesn't work. The layouts and pop art aesthetic is nowhere near as pronounced or bold as in the other series (and doesn't really fit Captain America anyway), so it falls pretty flat. And without all the awesome psychedelic artistry, it's a lot harder to forgive his terrible anatomy. What's remarkable, though, is how well-done everything actually is. Seriously, taken individually, these are some of the better comics Marvel was putting out in the 1960s; this is Jack Kirby at the absolute pinnacle of his form (maybe his Fantastic Four stuff was better, but it's comparing apples and oranges). They just really don't hold up to binge reading.

Eight episodes.

My Lousy Children Are Both Fake Geeks

I love comics so much, you guys.

Trailer.

Hype! (1996): Documentary of the Seattle music scene of the late 80s through the mid 90s, and specifically the rise of grunge from the local punk scene. Truly fascinating stuff, as this came very shortly after grunge had pretty much flamed out, and a lot of the people involved are kind of aware of this but haven't really totally wrapped their minds around it yet, and so there's still a lot of resentment about how their cool little thing was co-opted by the big corporate machine and turned into carefully prepackaged teenage rebellion, and how a lot of interesting bands were left behind when the labels and MTV came looking and grabbed a handful of younger artists. Interviews with artists are plentiful but generally kept short enough that there isn't a huge amount of "Yeah, rock is awesome, corporations suck, man", and most give a lot of insight (one major exception is Eddie Vedder, still very embarrassed about how successful he had become, and who is being extremely careful with his words and talking a lot without really saying much). I could listen to producer Jack Endino tell stories and philosophize pretty much all day, and the most enlightening stuff tends to come from people who work at labels and industry insiders (Jon and Bruce at Sub Pop Records very much come across as the Stan Lee of indie music, as they joyously and wittily promote themselves and their label, and never once mention a single band they represent). Also, a shit-ton of great music.