Filed Under barnaby jones, batman, mystery, tv themes
My mom was a huge influence on my genre tastes as a kid. She was and still is a huge mystery fan, and Barnaby Jones was one of our favorite shows. We even named our dog Barnaby after the Great Detective.
Buddy Ebsen will always be Barnaby Jones, not Jed Clampett, to me. And Lee Meriwether will always be Betty; not Catwoman. Julie Newmar is Catwoman.
Filed Under herculoids
I didn’t fully appreciate the Humanoids Herculoids as a kid. See? I even got them confused with a publisher of European comics. (Thanks, Christopher Mills!)
What was wrong with me?
Filed Under batman, burn notice, dinosaurs, grey's anatomy, jungle, shannara, turok, wonder woman
Batman: Dark Knight
Warner Brothers is releasing a DVD cartoon on July 8 that bridges the gap between Batman Begins and Batman: Dark Knight, which comes out in theaters ten days later.
Turok review
If you’re curious about the Indians vs. Dinosaurs cartoon I mentioned earlier, Mike Sterling can tell you all about it.
Shannara graphic novel
Publishers Weekly has an interview with Terry Brooks about the comicbookization of his fantasy series. He talks about a lot of stuff including why he decided to come back to the character of Jair Ohmsford from Wishsong:
“I’d done a short story called ‘Indomitable’ a few years back for a Legends collection, and it was an attempt to pick up on what happened with Jair Ohmsford, who was one of the two main characters in Wishsong of Shannara. He was just a boy in there, and I thought I’d grow him up a bit. After I finished it, it just seemed like there was more to do with Jair if I chose to do it. At that time, though, I was moving ahead with the stories and didn’t really want to spend any more time on that generation…. But when it came time to do the graphic novel, I thought, this really is a good place to pursue it.”
The graphic novel Dark Wraith of Shannara comes out March 25.
Burn Notice Season One DVD
Looks like Burn Notice, the best new show last year, is coming to DVD. It’s only a rumor for now, but c’mon. Of course it is. And shortly before Season Two begins this summer, no doubt.
Jungle Girls Gone Wild
I’m so getting this.
Justice League movie
I haven’t said much about the Justice League movie during the writers strike because it all seemed like non-news. Of course the strike put the movie on hold; of course the movie’s back on now that the writers are working again. Not exactly a scoop.
But in case it needs explicit confirmation: yes, the Justice League movie is still on and yes, it’s still starring Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.
Addison back on Grey’s Anatomy
Private Practice’s post-strike hiatus has freed up Kate Walsh to return to Grey’s Anatomy for an episode or two.
Nobody cares but me? Okay, then.
Filed Under batman, friday night fights
No, no. Not the Falcon. Although that would be cool too. See, in this story, Batman’s trying to stop a married couple from murdering a government agent. Turns out, they’ve got a garden full of flowers that not only make you immortal; they also make you totally insane.
Unfortunately, Batman gets a whiff and when they sic their killer falcons on him, he’s not sure if they’re real or if he’s hallucinating.
You’d better make up your mind quick, El Murciélago!
Fortunately, even killer birds are no match for Batman.
KNOCK OUT!
And to add insult to injury…
Ow-how-howww! Somebody call PETA!
Bahlactus ain’t hallucinating.
Batman fights killer falcons in Detective Comics #395 by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams.
Filed Under mystery, perry mason, tv themes
My second favorite TV theme song of all time. You don’t even need the visuals on this one. Just close your eyes, sit back, and enjoy.
Filed Under invisible woman
Back to Gene Gonzales again.
Filed Under bourne, brendan fraser, hercules, hulk, journey to the center of the earth, king arthur, marvel adventures, pirates, superheroes, westerns, wonder woman
There’s a new comics publisher in town called Radical Publishing. Their first two books are a dark, 300-esque vision of Hercules and a Western retelling of the King Arthur legend called Caliber. The art for both looks great and they’re offering the first issue of each for only a buck. Definitely gonna have to try these out.
Pieces of Eight
Komikwerks has a new webcomic about pirates.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Technophobiac Sci-Fi has a review of Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D starring Brendan Fraser.
Fast Ships, Black Sails
Night Shade books has a pirate anthology coming out later this year. Contributors include Michael Moorcock and Elizabeth Bear.
Defending Jodi Picoult
I don’t know if it’s the desire to give a best-selling novelist the benefit of the doubt or what, but it’s in vogue lately in blogland to excuse Jodi Picoult for writing a lousy run on Wonder Woman. I’m honestly not trying to pick on Picoult here, because for all I know she’s a very talented writer. She just wasn’t the right one for Wonder Woman. And it’s not because DC editorial tied her hands.
And I’m not trying to pick on Heidi Meeley either. She’s the one who got me thinking about this again, but she’s also just the latest to excuse Picoult’s not understanding the character and put the blame on Amazons Attack. But a good couple of issues before she started having to work in the Amazons Attack story, Picoult was portraying Wonder Woman as a self-doubting, fish-out-of-water character. Yes, forcing a lame crossover idea on Picoult only made it worse, but let’s not pretend that she would’ve been great for the series if only she’d been left to her own devices.
Fourth Bourne
Universal’s contemplating another Bourne sequel.
Marvel Adventures: Super-Heroes
Marvel’s Marvel Adventures line for kids are some of my favorite comics right now. They’re not so stuck in trying to be all “epic” and “relevant,” but are focusing more on just being big, fun, and adventurous. So, news of a new MA title showcasing “characters that don’t have their own book, or team-ups of characters that do” is welcome news indeed.
Hulk toys
Remember that Comics Reporter post I liked so much? Here are some other, just-as-questionable, Hulk toys coming out at the same time.
Filed Under apocalyptic, cavegirls, heist, john hughes, kate beckinsale, mystery, owen wilson, prehistoric beasts, rhona mitra, superheroes
Okay, March looks a lot better than February did.
March 7
10,000 B.C.: By all rights, this should be Beyond Awesome with all the cavegirls and ancient civilizations and sabretooth tigers and domesticated mammoths. But I’d be lying if I said that “From the Director of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow” didn’t make me nervous. Independence Day was a fun, but disposable movie and you couldn’t have dragged me into The Day After Tomorrow with all the domesticated mammoths in the world.
The Bank Job: Jason Statham. Bank heist. ’70s detectives and criminals. Government conspiracy. They got me.
Snow Angels (limited release): Kate Beckinsale is all I need to know about this movie, but the rest of it looks pretty good too. Olivia Thirlby is even cuter here than she was in Juno.
Okay. Yes. It’s all about the girls with me on this one.
March 14
Doomsday: Speaking of Kate Beckinsale, I really thought that was her in the trailer for this. Makes me much less nervous about Rhona Mitra’s taking over for Kate in the next Underworld film. And even though it’s not Kate here, the Road Warrior/Escape from New York vibe is strong enough to make it my most anticipated movie of the month.
Horton Hears a Who: I’d about had it with big screen adaptations of Dr. Suess books, but going animated is a step in the right direction. I’m not convinced that they can pad it out to feature length without making it feel like padding, but it’s one of my favorite Suess stories, so I’m willing to give it a try.
March 21
Drillbit Taylor: Owen Wilson was painfully unfunny at the Oscars, mostly because he wasn’t even trying to be funny and that made me sad. He’s one of my favorite comic actors and I’m worried about him. Not every movie of his is great, but this one written by Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown, based on a concept by John Hughes, and produced by Judd Apatow has all the ingredients it needs to be hilarious.
March 28
Superhero Movie: I’m expecting very little from this, but it has Leslie Nielsen in it, so I’m guaranteed a laugh or two.
Flawless: Michael Caine. Bank heist. ’60s detectives and criminals. No government conspiracy, but they still got me.
Filed Under tv themes
I want to do a series of World’s Greatest TV Themes and this one’s at the top of the list. I never enjoyed the show half as much as I grooved to that theme song.
I’ve alrady got a nice list going of other entries in this series, but I’m curious: what are your favorite TV themes?
Filed Under wonder woman
I’m not done linking to Gene Gonzalez and Victor Santos stuff, because those guys know what I like, but I figured that we should give someone else a chance if only for diversity’s sake.
This one’s from the collection of Matt Olsen.
