Hey party people, welcome to what really was suppose to be the April video! You can read my last blog to see what went wrong. Corvid-19 being one of them. So the good news is, I’m almost back on schedule. I don’t think I can get May’s video up in the first week of May, but it won’t be as late as this one.
Now then, what am I talking about today? Well my favorite comicbook, the Justice League of America! I have two long boxes dedicated to their issues! Not to mention the Archive books I have as well. So when I say, this is the greatest issue of the Justice League ever, you know I aint just whistling Dixie! And I don’t just mean the Justice League of America, I mean all their main runs- which by my count is: Justice League of America, Justice League (America), JLA, Justice League of America, Justice League (New 52), Justice League (Rebirth), & just Justice League, I guess. Now maybe I’m getting to old, but I haven’t really read a good Justice League issue since the JLA days. For my money the best Justice League writers were Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen and Grant Morrison. Best artists would be George Perez, Chuck Patton, Kevin Maguire, Adam Hughes and Ivan Reis. Not that everyone else sucked or anything- but these were my favs. So it’s no wonder that the tops of both lists worked on what I (and many many others) consider the greatest single issue of the Justice League: Justice League of America #200. And not only that, it featured every JLer up to that time in one giant blow out story. Paid homage to Gardner Fox (the guy who created the League)’s writing structure, it also had seven iconic guest pencilers as well. Now on some level you can say it has an unfair advantage to current comicbooks- because one and done issues basically don’t happen anymore. But be that as it may, Justice League of America #200 from 1982 is the best ever- fight me! I dare you!
Now this often leads to the next question, is it the best Justice League story ever? No, but Conway wrote that one as well. And I will leave that unanswered at the moment, to be answered by some future video!
Now then, I hope you enjoy the video. And I sure hope you are all healthy and financially secure in this crazy pandemic time we are living in. Hopefully our nation, if not our world will be stronger when it’s over and we can use it to shame future generations about how easy they’ll have it!
Take care and have fun,
Tom
So this just a fun short one talking about Wonder Woman wardrobe. To steal a joke from Svengoolie: “You’d like to see more of Wonder Woman on TV? So would I, but that’s as small as the censor’s will allow her costume to be.” But seriously, this was something I found / figured out a long while ago and always wanted to talk about. So I’m happy to get to it, even if it is rather trivial. Because nearly every well versed person in comicbooks will tell you Wonder Woman used to wear a skirt. Just like Captain America’s shield wasn’t originally round. But here’s the thing, while yes Cap’s shield wasn’t always round, Wonder Woman never wore a skirt! Crazy right? Well it’s all about culottes. What’s a culotte? Watch the video and find out. I didn’t spend all this time putting the video together to just spoil the lead!
On a more human note, I know we are all dealing with ‘the’ corvid-19, and I sure hope it isn’t affecting you more than just sheltering in place! I hope you have managed to keep you income and that no one you know has actually been hit by the virus. But if that’s not the case, all I can say is: That sucks @$$. And I pray that our nation (or your nation, if you aren’t from around here) will only get stronger when it’s over. In how we deal with pandemics, to how we deal with the sick and in how we deal with people’s livelihood. Often times I think we makes things harder than they need to be, for fear of doing the wrong thing. And that often turns into the worst thing to do. So, good luck and if you pardon me, God bless. I hope to see you in better times soon!
Hey party people! How’s everyone doing in pandemic land? So far so good over here. I thought I’d write something up to check in with everyone. As you may have noticed, I don’t have a new video up! Well a long string of bad luck just keeps rolling.
Just when I was ready to start cutting my next video (about Wonder Woman), my computer started to melt down. Took me about a week to get that straighten out (with the help of a new graphic card). Once that was done, my toddler gave me his cold from preschool. That knocked me out for a week (have you started playing your little violent for me, because my story is so sad). As I’m getting over that, pandemic time! Preschool is closed, so I have to watch him and his 11 month old brother 24/7 now. As I like to say: I barely got time to scratch my nutz let alone do anything else!
Heck, I even wrote up an article for Aintitcool.com about Dan Didio leaving DC Comics- but with a dead computer and all… well it will probably never see the light of day now. Speaking of which, the real question is why now? We all know he has made some questionable decisions at DC for a loooong time. But he always managed to land on his feet, in regards to sales. Soooooo, what changed? The rumor is that he created a hostile work in environment, as editors have been quitting as of late. But that doesn’t make much sense to me. He’s been there so long, and the environment just got hostile now!? As I wish no one to ever lose a job, we all know how much that sucks, I wish him well. But I also look forward to what direct DC goes in now, that he’s gone.
Ok that’s enough- too much domestic stuff going on here! I certainly hope you are all safe and healthy! And hopefully as this pandemic blows over you, and everyone you know, will remain that way! Take care friend!
Hey party people. I’ll be honesty with ya. Sometimes it takes a loooong time to finish one of these video ones. So I thought I’d do myself a favor by making some shorter ones. So ta-da, under six minutes! Next month’s video will be too, as I tackle some fun comicbook trivia. This month I talk about Captain Marvel- until the day I die he will be called Captain Marvel by me. To be fair, as a kid I was confused over his name. Everything was branded Shazam, but people called him Captain Marvel. But this isn’t a Captain Marvel problem, it’s a Marvel Comics problem. So DC needs to grow some balls and Marvel needs to learn how to suck it. IP squatters, yeah I said it! But aside from that, one interesting thing about the character is that magic Shazam lightning bolt, and how it’s now lethal. I mean, if it can burn Superman pretty badly, imagine what it would do to you! As you may have guessed (or even know) that wasn’t the original plan for the lightning bolt. So check out my newest video and learn how it changed!
And come by next month and learn something silly about Wonder Woman! See ya then!
Hey party people,
As we are coming into a New Year, I always try to think of something fun to do, so here is a double dose of superhero cartoon music. Being of the Saturday Morning cartoon generation, I love cartoon intros. Their animation was usually better than the animation of the show, and if the music was good, I could, and still can, watch ‘em over and over again. So here is my list of the best ones. As I mention in one of the videos, it’s interesting to note that DC has like, nearly no theme songs! Occasionally they have voice over (faster than a speeding bullet, and all that) but no singing. So, DC dominates the theme list and Marvel dominates the song list. Also, I try to make it clear that songs are different than themes. It’s a pet peeve of mine to see other people’s lists and see them include songs on a theme list. They are both fairly different artforms, so I feel it’s not fair to compare, say John Willaim’s Superman theme with the Beatles’ Yesterday. So that’s why there are two lists.
I’m also doing this because I feel like the cartoon (and live action show’s) intros are going away. While Disney is the biggest offender, they just slap the show logo on the screen, Warner Bros isn’t too far behind. Beware the Batman and even Justice League Action, are just barely 20 seconds long. That’s just no fun for nerds like me. Heck I remember years back a guy at a Chicago comicbook convention got on stage and started to recite the lyrics to the 1960’s Spider-Man cartoon- in a Shakespearean voice. The crowd loved it. So this is mine little way to celebrate the superhero cartoon intro theme/song. While sure bad ones are quite forgettable, good ones stay with ya forever! Enjoy
Hey Party People,
I hope I’m not spoiling anything here, I waited as long as I thought I should. Because now I’m going to dig into Avengers Endgame and talk about…. what the hell was that!? Now this isn’t a so-called “thing bad” video. Because for the most part, I really liked the film. But it does have a rather large flaw. I can claim this because, twice in the movie they say you can’t use time travel (time travel, why did it have to be time travel) to change history and then they went ahead and did it anyway. Creating massive time paradox(s). Now I’m sure Marvel will try to address some of these with their Disney+ series, but I have a far more elegant way of handling them. And I give you more of a comicbook ending. One where our heroes aren’t old, fat, disfigured and dead. It’s funny, for all the right things they have done in the MCU, why the hell did they think we wanted that!? Mind you, it does set-up the question, what does Marvel do when it’s time to recast? Personally I think they should just use the James Bond or Tarzan method. Just hired a new actor! But with everyone being dead, old and fat now. People are starting to think a reboot is in the air. Which I think would suck. Because, A- It would basically mean the original films didn’t happen. B- Most of all, the public only accepts reboots if it is fixing something. And there is nothing to fix about the original films, they were great. So did Marvel break the MCU, with all the paradox(s) on purpose? Just so they could reboot it? Boy, I sure how not. That sounds more like a Disney Star Wars move. And we don’t need any of that in our MCU do we. Anyway, check out the video and tell me what ya think. And tell me what your ideas are for this problem, because no matter how much we love and enjoy a movie, this is what we nerds do!
Tom
Hey Party People,
Well here’s the real video of the month! As I said, it’s kind of a Halloween video, so I wanted to released it closer to the actual holiday- at least for those of you for are catching these as they come out. Now I’m not really a horror fan, sorry I just don’t enjoy the concept of people being killed- least of all by psychos. But I do enjoy creature features, like the classic universal horror monsters. Not to mention all the giant monsters from the 1950’s and Japan. And since I’ve got kids of my own now, it got me thinking about monsters that are kid friendly, so I made of list of ‘em. For a clue, it’s pretty freak’n obvious who #1 one is. So much so, I’m sure a lot of you will groan at it. But that doesn’t make it any less untrue. Also, you will see a shameless plug for a new interactive book of mine, “Werewolf on the Town” So if you have any little monsters who like little monsters, they might enjoy this. You can buy it where ever you buy apps, or you can check out the this link:
Ok, next month I’ll be back with more superhero stuff, as I take a closer look at Marvel’s old, fat and dead superheroes (can ya figure that one out???)!
Hey Party People,
I thought I’d give Puzzle Time another shot. Based on the views last time, not a big fav! But we’re still a growing channel, so I’ll be giving it a few more tries. This time the puzzle is Masked Man- as in can you guess who the DC character (hero or villain) is solely based on a close-up image of their mask. Images are a bit blurrier than I’d like- but be free to yell at me if it’s not doable.
Now some of you might be wondering: “Where’s the usual comicbook video?” Well with Halloween around the corner, I’ve got a monster related one coming in another week or so- but instead of leaving you hanging at the beginning of the month, I posted this. Typically, a Puzzle Time should be a mid-month video. In November, things will be back to normal, so don’t hate me too much!
Anyway, back in a few weeks with some monster fun.
Cheers!
Hey Party People,
Well there not much we superhero fans like more than top ten list! Although more often than not, most people just talk about who’s more powerful. Which isn’t very descriptive, because sure Mr. Mxyzptlk is more powerful than Superman, but so what? Most fans would rather see Superman take on Doomsday than Mr. Mxyzptlk. So I have set out to create a list of Superman’s toughest villains (as with I did with Batman)! The villains that offer Superman the best slugfest scenarios, with the best chances of beating Superman too! I must say there are a couple of names on this list that I’d like to see DC use more of too! So without any further to do, check it out!
Cheers!
Hey Party People,
Back with a comicbook review. Overall, I’ve had no plans to make a video review, but here we are. You see, ever since JMS’s days on Thor, I’ve become a some what a regular reader of Thor. So I was there when Jason Aaron started his run back in 2012. It was great and I loved it. It was my favorite book at the time. And while not quite that far back, he started to lay seeds about the War of the Realms! I was pumped! But then Jane Foster became Thor. Which I will always say makes no damn sense at all! I have no problem with her being a Thunder God- per say. But ever since they dumped the whole Don Blake story angle, Thor is Thor! It’s his frick’n name! Think of it like this. If someone takes your job at a company, the company doesn’t start calling the new employee by you name- because that would make no sense! So, that is why in the video I always refer to Jane as Lady Thor- because she’s not Thor! Anyway, Lady Thor (as I put it) pushed the War of the Realms story off. And since Aaron turned it into a hit, I had to wait even longer for the War of the Realms. But a year ago, Jane became Jane again (M.D.) and Thor was the thunder god again. So the build up to the War of the Realms was on again. Then it finally hit and I was excited! Especially since I was taking a sabbatical, if you will, of monthly comics. The War of the Realms was actually dragging me back to the comicbook store on a weekly basis. Six issues later, I kinda regret it. It was just a mess of a story with no over all point. I can’t even tell you why Malekith started the whole war. Sh!ts and giggles I suppose. So being so bummed out by this cross-over event, I put my comicbook reviewer hat back on, and had at it. Now you can check out the results- and be sure to tell me if you agree with my breakdown or how you think I’m wrong. Oh and yes, there are a ton of spoilers!
Until next month, cheers!
The Offical blog of Toonocity
http://www.toonocity.com/