We knew Jimmy Olsen was handy with a camera, but who knew the Daily Planet photojournalist had such a tight drag game? Superman’s loyal friend has quite the history of cross-dressing, and I gotta say, he’s pretty damn good at it. Take this panel from Jimmy Olsen #95, in which he goes undercover in hopes of busting some jewel thieves/racketeers. He’s so convincing that other men sexually harass him! Continue reading
Making fun of vintage Batman and Robin scenarios is like shooting fish in a barrel. With an AK-47. It’s just too easy, and I’m convinced that the writers and artists responsible for these gems knew exactly what they were doing. After all, these were young, creative guys hanging out in smoke-filled studios in New York — the working-class equivalent of “Mad Men.” (“You know what’d be hilarious? What if we showed Dick Grayson crying like a jilted lover because Batman has a new squeeze? Oh, and let’s see how many times we can use the word ‘boner’ before people catch on.”) Continue reading
It’s all about his Glo-Balls now, but back in 1980, Hal Jordan was more of a Hostess Twinkies man. This classic ad, published in the year of the Winter Olympics, is chock full of wrongness and unintentional comedy gold. Continue reading
At the risk of offending Jessica Alba fans the world over, I think most people will agree that the last two Fantastic Four films were pointlesss. Aside from Chris Evans’ fun performance as Johnny Storm, the movies didn’t exactly set the world on fire, pun intended. However, an earlier movie adaptation of the Fantastic Four apparently made Tim Story’s version look like Iron Man by comparison. Continue reading
We all know women (or men) who, despite showing excellent judgment in every other aspect of their lives, continue putting up with a loser significant other. It doesn’t matter now many times the loser SO confirms that s/he is a horse’s ass. The longsuffering partner will continue to forgive the offending party and, worse, take him or her back.
SIGH.
This familiar scenario was taken to the extreme in the fall of 2007, when our girl Dinah consented to marry off-on squeeze and very bad boy Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. Her acceptance monologue was an amazing feat of rationalization, especially under the circumstances in Black Canary #4. In an effort to save Dinah and her beloved adopted daughter Sin from the League of Assassins, Ollie orchestrated a plan that involved faking Sin’s death and having his son, Connor, escort her to a secluded monastery. He allowed Dinah to believe that Sin had been killed so that her grief would appear authentic to the League. She not only forgave Ollie for this act, but also spun some bullshit about how, after a lifetime of selfishness, he finally did something decent. Continue reading
Separately, the Beatles and Batman are pop culture perfection. I love them both beyond reason. But in the year of my birth, they came together for one trippy comic book experience. Continue reading
Warning: The image below is probably NSFW or, at the very least, TSFW (Too Spicy for Work).
To put it mildly, V. and I are not comics prudes, and we’ve probably had more R-rated conversations about Bigby Wolf and Mr. Terrific (not together, though that would be interesting) than most fangirls. But we also have kids who read comics, so we’re pretty vigilant about making sure they don’t wander into the Inappropriate Aisle.
Now, when the average person thinks of the Justice League of America comic, chances are that s/he isn’t filing it under under “Things to keep out of Junior’s hands.” Continue reading
Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was common to see comic-book advertisements that showed superheroes doing goofy things, like laughing uproariously while enjoying a fruit pie with a 25-year shelf life. Can you imagine being the poor schmuck in marketing who had to come up with a Batman plot that pimped sponge cake?
The following bit, “Wonder Woman vs. the Cheetah,” is a classic example of this kind of shameless, LOL product placement: Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE BEFORE PROCEEDING! This post contains a major spoiler, so if you are not current on Batman Beyond, look away now!
I’m not big on Mary Sue characters. I like my heroes and heroines with some flaws — a little dirt beneath their fingernails and some weaknesses. Perfect is boring.
But it also bothers me when a hero/heroine is gratuitously compromised or written in a way that is wildly out of character. At least offer a plausible explanation for why the person went off the deep end before sending them there in a burst of flames.
Which brings us to Batman Beyond #4, in which we learn that the new Hush — the nut who has been terrorizing Gotham City and killing folks — is none other than (drumroll) … Continue reading
Really?
A couple of weeks ago, I checked out a new-ish LCS to grab some titles that were out of stock at my usual shop. While waiting for the cashier to ring me up, I just happened to turn around. That’s when I saw it.
Me: “Holy crap! Fast Willie Jackson!” Continue reading
