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Brainiac On Banjo: Another Brightest Day

Brainiac On Banjo: Another Brightest Day

Posted on by Mike Gold

You put your whole self in. You put your whole self out. You put your whole self in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn around. That’s what it’s all about! From The Hokey Pokey, written by Charles P. Macak, Larry Laprise and Taft Baker.

Now that the first season of Lanterns is reaching end times, I think it’s time for me to put in my two cents on the most important controversy of the day, the “this is not MY Hal Jordan” issue.

First of all, to quote William Shatner’s most famous utterance, get a life. Your childhood remains unaltered. Nobody is shitting on those thrilling days of yesteryear you remember so vividly. Given that I’m not in a position to carbon date all the whiners, I am compelled to ask which Hal Jordan are you talking about? Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Another Brightest Day” →

Brainiac On Banjo: “And We Have — A Hulk”

Brainiac On Banjo: “And We Have — A Hulk”

Posted on by Mike Gold

“I want a world without gravity. It could be just what I need. I’d watch the stars move close. I’d watch the earth recede.” From Wicked Gravity, written by Jim Carroll.

Wikipedia defines Pet Peeve thusly: A pet peeve, pet aversion, or pet hate is a minor annoyance that an individual finds particularly irritating to a greater degree than the norm. Okay. Here’s my pet peeve.

From time to time, just about every person realizes they belong to at least one group that has been heavily discriminated against, and most of us belong to several. That is not my peeve. People who think that every comment about some act performed by a member of such a group is an insult or even an attack against all members of such group. That is my pet peeve. You can be a left-handed deaf German immigrant who wears moth-eaten lederhosen, and I may comment on your particular costuming, but that is not a comment upon on all left-handed, deaf German wearers of lederhosen.

Case in point: Mark Ruffalo, actor, activist, and Glamour magazine’s two-time sexiest actor alive. Nice guy, great actor (then again; some think Dean Cain can act), solid sense of humor, and, yup, he’s The Hulk. MAGAts do not like anyone to the left of Kevin Sorbo.

Like a majority of those who labor in our entertainment industries, Ruffalo is opposed to Paramount Skydance’s nearly finalized purchase of Warner Bros — the movie studios, the teevee studios, the cable holdings including CNN, and DC Comics. Paramount Skydance already owns Paramount, including CBS News. Already, they have crapped on their news operations by turning CBS into another redundant voice of fascism, ruining the reputation of the Tiffany Network, destroying the news division’s credibility along with the most honored American television news program, 60 Minutes. Where Paramount Skydance is concerned, you are no longer watching the CBS eye. The eye is watching you. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: “And We Have — A Hulk”” →

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #116: Prelude to the Finale of the End of The Boys

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #116: Prelude to the Finale of the End of The Boys

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

Having enjoyed the absolute heck out of Wonder Man, and recently catching up with Invincible and Daredevil: Broody Blind Guy Pants Alot… there was only one other comic-centric property to tick the box on my “late spring second screening” tour: The Boys. And here, on the precipice of the series finale of the streaming gore fest, I thought I’d check in with some thoughts. 

First, let’s cover the business end. The show itself is an adaptation of the comic by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson, which debuted back in 2006. It lasted six issues with the DC imprint Wildstorm, before being picked up to complete a seventy-two issue run with Dynamite Entertainment — who gave Ennis and Robertson the freedom to let the disgusting jokes, insane violence, and deep-cut cynicism flow like water. In 2015, Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke signed the paperwork to adapt the comic into a streaming series. The show itself was picked up in 2017, and debuted in 2019 on Amazon Prime. On Wednesday, May 20th, the series ended — most likely with as much Hollywood blood as Jeff Bezos can afford. 

For those not in-the-the-know? I’m not going to try to pitch you the series, nor waste words recapping the thirty-nine episodes therein. Simply put: if you ever wanted to see what the MCU would feel like if it occurred in our world as led by Donald Trump? This is about the most logical, sensible, and honest take on superheroes you’ll ever find. It’s obnoxious, gory, horny, celebrity-focused, and there’s barely half a dozen people in the entire show who themselves are abject absolute pricks. If that’s your cuppa? Welcome home. For the rest? Best be on your way and I’ll catch you down the road. Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #116: Prelude to the Finale of the End of The Boys” →

With Further Ado #395: Student Winner #4 -Tessa Dill and The Hannah Montana Craze: Twenty Years Later

With Further Ado #395: Student Winner #4 -Tessa Dill and The Hannah Montana Craze: Twenty Years Later

Posted on by Ed Catto

I’m so pleased to announce that that this year’s ITHACON was another rousing success. It’s a unique convention. Bill Turner, Carmelo Merlo and the Comic Book Club of Ithaca have been running this one for 49 years. Next year will be a big one!

In my day job, as a professor at Ithaca College’s School of Business, I teach the Promoting and Managing ITHACON Class. The students learn about trade shows and work hard to actually run the convention.

Every year we embrace this annual tradition, writing about fandom, conventions, or their experience with the With Further Ado column. Each spring, I ask the students to submit a column on pop culture as if they were the author of this space. Our crack editorial staff pours over the submissions and selects a winner, and they get published on the Pop Culture Squad website.

Anyway, we have several amazing columns to publish this year.

Our third runner-up winner of this year’s fill-in columnist contest is Tessa Dill. She’s written a fantastic essay on Hannah Montana. Of note, she was part of our crack Registration Team at the convention this year. Congrats and thanks for all the hard work managing ITHACON this spring, Tessa.

* * *
The Hannah Montana Craze: Twenty Years Later
by Tessa Dill

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana, which is crazy for someone who grew up watching Disney Channel in the late 2000s. The era of sparkly jackets, catchy theme songs, and a blonde wig disguise is now officially old enough to be nostalgic. Continue reading “With Further Ado #395: Student Winner #4 -Tessa Dill and The Hannah Montana Craze: Twenty Years Later” →

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man

So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

While attempting to enjoy the new season of Daredevil: Not So Foggy, I hit the wall. I didn’t see that the current season was being rolled out weekly…because I accidentally started it when four episodes were live. Frustrated, I turned back to the main hallway of Marvel offerings on Disney+ to find something already completed that I could successfully binge in my normal “one a night until I’m done” method. Staring back at me first? Wonder Man.

Prior to clicking into the eight-part miniseries from the prestige micro-brand within the MCU (“Marvel Spotlight”) my knowledge of the actual comic book hero was as thin as the newsprint he was printed on. I knew he had nebulous ion-based superpowers that always made him sound way more powerful than he was ever depicted. I knew he was a West Coast Avenger — making him as valuable as a designated hitter on a National League team in 1983. I vaguely recall him being an actor. And that wrapped up my entire knowledge of the character. Let’s go.

After the first episode credits rolled, I went ahead and pressed “skip credits” to consume the next thirty minutes of story. And then again. Keep in mind kiddos: I typically will not binge a series in this manner. Ever. One-a-night has served me well ever since my home-with-gout Breaking Bad overdose marathon of 2014 (I was a late-comer to that series too). Something about this well-crafted carefully executed superhero farce simply compelled me to over-indulge instead of politely dosing out the enjoyment. Continue reading “So Long and Thank For The Fish, Man #113: Wonder(ful) Man” →

Brainiac On Banjo: $15 Million Here, $15 Million There…

Brainiac On Banjo: $15 Million Here, $15 Million There…

Posted on by Mike Gold

It may sound absurd but don’t be naive. Even heroes have the right to bleed. I may be disturbed but won’t you concede even heroes have the right to dream? And it’s not easy to be me.” — From Superman (It’s Not Easy), written by John Ondrasik.

Do you think $4.99 is a lot to pay for a superhero comic book? A comic book first advertised as “one you can’t afford to miss?”

Either way, my guess is, unless you’re one of Trump’s chosen people you’d think laying out $15,000,000.00 for a single comic book is a bit too rich for your blood. This represents a 150% increase in value since 2024. Talk about affordability…

But that is what a CGC 9.0 (!!!) copy of Action Comics #1, June 1938, went for last week. For those who are zero-challenged, that’s fifteen million bucks. Of course, being CGC certified, this comic book is slabbed — another word for embalmed; so, if you want to destroy the plastic encasement and actually open it up, well, that’s $15,000,000.00 up in smoke.

For all we know the real comic book inside that slab might be a 40 year-old copy of Marvel’s Royal Roy. Unless Disney adds Royal Roy to Avengers: Doomsday, we might never know.

The purchaser of this expensive plastic trinket is “Anonymous.” Obviously, they have relatives, next of kin, who now are pissed about their inheritance. This book has something of an add-on “value” in that it was owned by actor Nicolas Cage, who is well-known to have been a world-class comics collector and who almost got (and sort of did, briefly) to play Superman in the movies. But it doesn’t look like that price point was hit because it once was owned by a great actor. As you can see from the photo, Cage didn’t sign the book. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: $15 Million Here, $15 Million There…” →

With Further Ado #367: Kung Fu Fighting

With Further Ado #367: Kung Fu Fighting

Posted on by Ed Catto

WHEN I WAS a kid at camp, there came that inevitable night when every group (I think we were divided up by tents) had to put on a short skit. My group suffered a creativity deficit and was unable to think of anything witty or creative or clever. Every other team did.

Instead, we had the bright idea that we would just play the (now classic) song, “Kung Fu Fighting”, as performed by Carl Douglas, and jump about with our pretend Kung Fu fighting moves.

We all felt awesome and confident with our stylistic combat poses. While we didn’t study for years in a Shaolin monastery, we did thrill to the weekly adventures of Caine in ABC’s Kung Fu series. So, … sixty minutes of TV, multiplied by twenty-four weeks was kind of the same as years of studying the martial arts in a monastery, wasn’t it? We were convinced it was.

As you might expect, our skit bombed. The song is only three minutes long, but I can still sense the prolonged onstage embarrassment.

Still… this just reinforces how important the show the show Kung Fu was to us. In those days of TV heroes with excessive testosterone Caine, this show’s hero, was a humble, understated breath of fresh air. We empathized with his weekly drubbing and humiliation, and then we were jubilant when, inevitably, he’d had enough and give the bad guys a thorough stomping. Continue reading “With Further Ado #367: Kung Fu Fighting” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Eagly Has Landed

Brainiac On Banjo: The Eagly Has Landed

Posted on by Mike Gold

“We should be together. Come on all you people standin’ around. Our life’s too fine to let it die. We should be together.” From We Can Be Together, written by Paul Kantner.

Okay. Fine. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen the last episode of Peacemaker season two, and you intend on doing so, you might not want to go any further. If you have decided against seeing the last episode of Peacemaker season two, then why are you still reading this?

I’m not certain this piece is about the recently-wrapped second season of Peacemaker, or if it’s about the internet. Each can be kind of scary, but only one seems to enjoy it.

Peacemaker season two ended this past week, and, no, it’s unlikely to be adapted into a Filmation Saturday morning cartoon. Some viewers have been chased away by the frontal nudity in the first two episodes, and that is most certainly their prerogative.

But don’t tell me that these episodes should not exist, and do not be so disingenuous as to say you’re pissed “for the children.” You’re doing it because you personally are offended (again, your prerogative) and therefore you feel you personally should spare the rest of the world from the suffering that which you imposed upon yourself.

Children handle nudity just fine. Historically, hiding one’s naughty bits from their young eyes has not been much of a thing. Kids still run around naked, and they still see their elders naked from time to time at home. That can’t be avoided, and I am unaware of a single incident where children were struck blind by nudity. Remember when about one-quarter of one of Janet Jackson’s nipples was exposed on the Super Bowl for a nanosecond? The professional prudes totally lost their shit — and that was 21 years before Bad Bunny! Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Eagly Has Landed” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Justice League Meets Soylent Green

Brainiac On Banjo: Justice League Meets Soylent Green

Posted on by Mike Gold

“Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?” From Bimbo’s Initiation, directed by Dave Fleischer and Grim Natwick, 1931.

It’s possible that at some point you thought it would be cool to be a member of the Justice League. If so, I have good news for you: at long last, you might now be a member!

You might possibly be in Justice League Unlimited #1, the “new” Justice League monthly by Mark Waid and Dan Mora that is not based upon the teevee series of the same name, the one that featured damn near every DC superhero and was written by a Who’s Who of great comics writers. Nope; this one is brand new — it came out last week, while you were stuck in Thanksgiving traffic.

Check out story page seven. Perhaps you are hiding behind Big Barda. I think that’s where I’d try to be.

I would understand your confusion about the title, but if you didn’t see that 39-episode teevee show let me assure you that this new comic book does that series one better: by definition, everybody in the DC Universe (well, the one in the comic books) is a member of the new Justice League. Hence the “Unlimited” part. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Justice League Meets Soylent Green” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Marvel All Along

Brainiac On Banjo: Marvel All Along

Posted on by Mike Gold

“When I look over my shoulder, what do you think I see? Some other cat lookin’ over his shoulder at me. And he’s strange.” From The Season of the Witch, written by Donovan Leitch.

We finished Agatha All Along, Marvel’s latest teevee miniseries, and I’ll say upfront that my daughter Adriane and I enjoyed it a lot. I realize that in today’s parlance, the binary people who infest our culture with their perverted parochial worldview think that means we feel it was the greatest work television has ever fostered upon humanity. Well, not quite. “Enjoyed it” is perfectly acceptable. That means we had a good time watching the series. If everything was, in succession, the “best ever,” within a few days our heads would explode.

Of course there’s the usual bevy of stubby incels who look at the show and count organs. The show stars six vaginas but only one penis. Obviously, the typical incel believes (he doesn’t think, so he must act off of his beliefs) this can not be a real Marvel product, and therefore, it must be part of the Deep State conspiracy to destroy everything that is wholesome, manly and Marvel-American. I wonder how that’s going for J.D. Vance right now. If you are following any incel’s advice on anything at all, you need to check your meds.

You might respond “Hey, Agatha All Along isn’t a superhero show.” Well, nor was — and nor is — Doctor Strange. Or Tomb of Dracula. And so on. Witches aren’t real, but masks and capes are? Your sense of wonder must be pretty damn snooty. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Marvel All Along” →