Poker Face and the Spiritual Reboot

Poker Face had me at Rian Johnson. But had I not known it was his brainchild, the show would have had me at the title font.

That yellow font on the title card, the year represented by Roman numerals. What decade are we in? Well, the headspace of creator Rian Johnson was the 1970s and 1980s with shows like Colombo and The Rockford Files. I suspect he gets nostalgically triggered when he sees the title cards of those shows and others and wanted to bring sensibility forward to the 2020s.

What sensibility is that? A traditional crime-of-the-week series. But not just that: a new crime every week with a whole new cast. Which brings me to another 1970s TV it reminds me of: The Incredible Hulk. Both feature a lead who is being chased across the country, meeting new people every week.

Now I know what you’re thinking: there are plenty of crime-of-the-week shows from Law and Order to Castle to all those shows on CBS I don’t watch. That’s not new. No, it’s not, but the laid-back aesthetic is a refreshing return to a modern TV landscape full of season-long streaming shows to modernized takes on old tropes.

Both of those things are fine, and I enjoy them, but I also appreciate the slower paced TV shows that used to dominate networks with stakes that are not really that high. And I very much applaud Johnson for channeling that vibe into something new rather than a modern reboot of an old franchise.

He could just have acquired the rights to, say, Colombo (the obvious ancestor to Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale) and created a story around Colombo’s grandkid who is a rumpled detective just like Peter Faulk. I’d watch that and chances are, you would, too. But we’d constantly be comparing the new actor/actress to Faulk, much to the detriment of the new show. Also, we’d probably have the admittedly fun “sequel” to some random episode that no one remembers save the dedicate Colombo fans.

No, what Johnson did was take all those elements and, crucially, made something new, unique, and his own. That last bit is probably the key factor for Johnson. Given the opportunity, he’d probably make a Colombo sequel or adapt some Agatha Christie novel in to a movie, but with Poker Face and Knives Out and Glass Onion, he gets to revel in all the stuff he loves while playing in his own sandbox.

The Fun of Regulated Reading

Do you ever regulate your reading?

I was struggling over what term to use so let me just explain. Last year, I did a little experiment. The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters. I decided that for every month that included 31 days, I would read a chapter of Proverbs per day. To keep things interesting, I changed translations every month. Then, at the end, I was able to go back and compare notes and compare verses that I underlined. It was a pretty fun experiment and, except for the transition from July into August, I never had a back to back month.

To January 2021. As I often do, I start to cycle through all of the things that have major anniversaries. Anything with a year ending in one or six are the key ones this year. In the first week, it was the 50th anniversary of Chicago III. That got me to thinking about music and what albums we’re gonna be celebrating major milestone anniversaries. It was my son – – an avid musicologist – – who reminded me I had a book on the shelf about the year 1971 in music. Why not just read it.

The book in question is titled Never a Dull Moment: 1971 The Year Rock Exploded by David Hepworth. It came out in 2016 and I think I might’ve had it since then. Born in 1950, Hepworth came of age about the same time that rock ‘n’ roll did. Those, he was 21 years old during 1971. He has written extensively about music since the 1980s. 

What got me excited about reading this book in 2021 was a table of contents. It is broken out by month. 12 chapters, 12 months, plus an introduction.

As soon as I saw that, I had a brilliant idea: read each chapter at the beginning of each month here in 2021 and go through the year 1971 with Hepworth. I had to read chapter 1 this week, but I'll get to chapter 2  on Monday. and then continue from there. That means Led Zepplin IV is in my future. So is Sticky Finger, Nursery Crime, Hunky Dory, What's Going On, Bryter Later, and Madman Across the Water. That's just the albums I know about. I can't wait to discover new-to-me albums.

And, if chapter one is any indication, this is going to be a blast. Hepworth writes in an engaging style, but primarily he writes only from the limited perspective of that month. He tells you what Bruce Springsteen was doing, the status of the band Slade, and how Yes was reimagining how music was recorded. He even drops a cliffhanger of an ending as the chapter closed about a woman who invented the album business.

But what makes these chapters special is that Hepworth includes a short playlist of songs that were popular in that month. I already made a January 1971 playlist and dang if I haven't discovered a new-to-me band: Badfinger.

Anyway, I don't know if you read books in this regulated manner or not, but I do, and I look forward to learning about 1971 fifty years later.

Are there other books that could be read in a regulated way?

All Good Things...: 70s Trek podcast

Sometimes, things you love come to an end.

In 2017, I discovered one of my all-time favorite podcasts: 70s Trek. Hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto created this podcast series that focused solely on "“The decade that built a franchise.” Their personable demeanors really made this show feel like Bob and Kelly and you, the listener, were just pals talking about Trek. It is a wonderful show. I wrote about it here.

But when you have a title like "70s Trek," there was always going to be an ending.

With the actual decade of the 1970s, the logical end is the December 1979 premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. With the podcast, it was soon after that subject as well. That last episode debuted on 16 August 2019.

I only got around to it this week.

Why the delay?

I didn't want the end to arrive.

For many things I enjoy, there is a finite number of entries. Take Sherlock Holmes for example. Despite the myriad of stories available, there is only sixty tales penned by creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have purposefully not read all sixty because I want there always to be just one more original story. The same is true for Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.

With 70s Trek, however, there is already an additional Bonus Trek episode detailing the CBS and Paramount merger (or re-merger). Star Trek: Discovery has been out for a couple of years, but I haven't watched any of them. Yet. And tomorrow comes the Trek series I will pay for and watch: Picard.

So I thought it high time to listen to that final episode. I did this morning. It was, of course, bittersweet, but still joyful and wondrous. The episode was necessarily a reflection on the entire series and process of making the show. It's a great conclusion to a great podcast, one of the best I've ever heard.

Thanks Bob and Kelly for this show and the hours of entertainment y'all provided. And, from a guy who is probably the same age as y'all, thanks also for the time capsule and the memories not only of Star Trek, but life in the 1970s. It was a blast.

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 30

Prolific writer Dean Wesley Smith calls summer the Time of the Great Forgetting. It’s that part of the year in which all those New Year’s Resolutions authors made to write more content slowly fades away. Come Labor Day, they’ll wake up, realize they blew a 97-day time to progress on their work, and likely feel depressed. Smith has a cure for that here.

For me, it’s not so much a great forgetting as a dividing of focus. There’s a project I’m working on—the same one I mentioned last week, the one about a filmmaker’s work—that’ll go live the first full week of August. It’s grown more than a bit, but it’s a blast to do. Looking forward, the bulk of the work on this project will be done by mid August, and from then on, it’ll just be rolling out on a weekly basis.

And there might be a video component. Stay tuned.

But said filmmaker’s body of work has also inspired to write a novel that is completely different than anything I’ve ever written. I’m making slow but steady progress on it, with an aim for publication this fall. I’m not forgetting.  Are you?

One Name to Rule Them All

Back in 2015 when I started publishing my mystery novels, I used my full name. When I came around and started publishing Westerns, I kept full name. Over time, as I listened and learned how other writers conducted their businesses, I decided to segment my books with a separate pen name for the Westerns, S. D. Parker. The idea was Also-Boughts and the algorithms churning underneath the facades of all the various online bookstores. Made sense at the time.

But over time, my thinking has evolved. When I ask veteran writers the question about pen names, almost all of them suggest using a single name, no matter then genre. As long as the covers are genre-specific with genre-specific SEO and blurbs, it’ll ultimately be better to have a single name and put everything under it.

I was leaning that direction, but over the summer, I have decided to bring the Westerns under the Scott Dennis Parker name. It’s not a big deal, really. All it means is that I’ll have to de-list the S. D. Parker books, slightly change the covers and internal front matter, and then republish.

If someone finds my work via Westerns and they like mysteries, they’ll have an easy transition. The reverse is also true.

More importantly, however, is the idea that a business can change as trends and new ideas emerge. Nothing wrong with that.

Having everything under one name will make all grunt work of file management much more streamlined.  I’m even contemplating bringing all my stories under the Draft2Digital universe. I’ve got most of them there now and they truly make it a no-brainer. just this week, I’ve been sending them questions about the procedures for changing my author name. They get back to me with personalized answers within a day. Customer service goes a long way.

Anyone else use Draft2Digital? If not, I certainly recommend them.

Interview of the Week: Paul Levitz

Dan Greenfield, over at the wonderful 13th Dimension website, re-posted his 2015 interviews with Levitz in honor of the longtime editor/writer’s induction into the Eisner Hall of Fame at Comicon this year.

They talk about his tenure as the sole Batman editor starting in 1978. Great behind-the-scenes stuff.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Muppet Movie at 40

For those of us who were kids in 1979, one of the best things on TV was The Muppet Show. An irreverent show that had something for everyone--kids as well as parents--the exploits of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and the rest were essential appointment television for my family. It came on at 6:30 p.m., right before prime time, and my family always laughed often.

So imagine everyone's surprise when there was news about the Muppets jumping to the silver screen. And the biggest thrill was seeing Kermit the Frog not only outside and off a sound stage but also riding a bike.

You may laugh now, but that feat was a high-water mark in the history of the Muppets.

In celebration of the movie's 40th anniversary this year, I re-watched it, and The Muppet Movie still thrills.

The Rainbow Connection

If you read my Favorite Songs by Year post, you'll note that my favorite song from 1979 was the opening number of The Muppet Movie. As Kermit sings this magical song, the camera slowly zeroes in on him, sitting on a log, playing a banjo, singing. Paul Williams' lyrics about longing is spot on not only for the character of Kermit but the dreamers in all of us. It always serves as a touchpoint song for my own life, and depending on how it is presented, can act as a time machine for me, taking me back to when I was eleven when I had little cares in the world other than Star Wars, comics, KISS, TV, and riding my bike for hours out in west Houston.

The Guest Stars

On each TV episode, a single human guest starred on the show. With the movie, they overflowed. In fact, it is Dom DeLuise who just happens to be rowing a boat in Kermit's swamp and tells the frog about an opportunity in Hollywood. It is then Kermit gets the idea to travel across the country, picking up fellow Muppets along the way. It's a road picture that serves as an origin story.

In each new city or town or setting, it becomes a fun mental game to see which human shows up for a cameo. Steve Martin, as a put-out waiter, is especially funny. My boy watched it with me and I had to explain only a few of them, notably Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen. As I pointed out to my boy, one of the best special effects of this movie are the guest stars.

Irreverent Comedy Flips the Script

The best part about a show like the Muppet Movie is all the little gags in the dialogue. Unlike other animated films aimed at children at the time, this film is easily something an adult can watch and enjoy and, frankly, get some of the gags intended solely for them.

From a certain point of view, you could even argue the Muppet Movie is an adult show that kids can enjoy.

That isn't to say there isn't enough broad humor for everyone. Among my favorite bits of dialogue are the following:

Kermit: "Read my lips: al-li-ga-tor."
Kermit: "Gone with the Schwinn"
Dr. Teeth's nickname to Kermit: ”Green Stuff”
Kermit [telling Fozzie to take a left turn]: "Bear Left" and Fozzie's response: "Bear right!"
Fozzie: "Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear."

The Meta Nature of the Film

The end of the film is one I thought was kind of cool as a kid, but one I truly love as an adult.

The whole crew get to Hollywood and are given the standard rich and famous contract by none other than Orson Wells, and they make a version of their story (i.e., the actual movie you've just watched) except something goes awry. All the sets--actual stage sets showcasing the scenes of the movie--break and fall over. Then, a real rainbow comes in from the hole in the ceiling. Then the characters turn to the camera and address the audience directly. They talk about writing your own ending to the movie before breaking into a reprise of the chorus of The Rainbow Connection.

It is a marvelous way to end this magical film. It tells children to use their imagination. It tells all of us never to stop dreaming. Never stop putting good into the world. And that's a message we can all get behind, no matter what year we watch this film or how old we are.

Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection...
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Top 10 Favorite KISS Albums

Yesterday's post on Dynasty compelled me to wonder where I'd rank it within the entire KISS catalog. This is my attempt.

A caveat: KISS Alive! is my favorite KISS album. It's in my all-time top albums list. Desert Island Record. The next two live albums I also enjoy. As a kid who never got to see the band in person in the 1970s, the opening of Alive II was magical. The live versions of "I Stole Your Love" and "Ladies' Room" are my preferred versions. And the Alive III version of "Deuce" is kick ass.

Moreover, Unplugged is also in my top 10 favorite KISS albums.

My only standard is this: which albums do I, now in 2019, return to over and over again, happy to hear the songs?

Other than KISS Alive!--my clear number 1--the rest are in chronological order.

Alive!
Rock and Roll Over
Alive II
Paul Stanley
Unmasked
Revenge
Unplugged
Psycho Circus
Sonic Boom
Monster


Rock and Roll Over is my favorite studio album of the original six (although I didn't own it as as kid).

Like Dynasty, I didn't own the solo albums or Paul, Gene, or Peter until 1997. I instantly enjoyed Paul's. He knew what kind of songwriter he was and wrote an album chock full of late 70s rock and roll. Nothing to hate. My favorite of the solo albums by far.

Unmasked is a fantastic power pop album that I enjoy top to bottom. It was the last KISS album I would buy until Revenge. It has, arguably, one of my all-time favorite Gene songs: "Naked City."

Psycho Circus was inevitable once the original four members got back together and put on the makeup again. The album is, for my money, really strong despite the fact I always skip the Peter song. The title track I absolutely love. "Within" is the crunchy Gene song still laced with grunge elements. "Into the Void" is a perfect Ace song. "We are One" is a wonderful love letter to the KISS Army while "You Wanted the Best" always gets my blood pumping. And I enjoy the outro of "Journey of 1,000 Years" and how it incorporates the guitar solo from the title track.

Sonic Boom is a terrific album and contains three songs I consider to be among the very best by the band: Modern Day Delilah, Danger Us, and Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect). When I break down the catalog into favorite songs by vocalist, all three of those tunes make the list. The vibe of the record is perfectly in 1976.

Monster is loud and over the top, but we are talking KISS here so I'm perfectly fine with it. Can you imagine a concert opening with "Back in the Stone Age"? "Hell or Hallelujah" is another terrific song by Paul. And Eric Singer's "All for the Love of Rock and Roll" is basically an outtake from Rock and Roll Over. If this is their last album--and it looks to be the case--then it's a fine one cap a career.

The Next Five

My initial list was just about at fourteen, so here, also in chronological order, are the next five.

KISS
Hotter Than Hell
Peter Criss
Dynasty
Crazy Nights

I'm a big fan of bands that come out of the gate all but fully formed, especially with the lead-off track. That's "Strutter" here. Then, with the second song, you get Gene's vocals on the verses of "Nothin' to Lose" and Peter's awesome voice on the chorus. A great one-two punch.

Hotter Than Hell is special. I didn't own it back in the day, but I've really come to appreciate it. The sound is unique, and it contains my all-time favorite Peter song: "Mainline."

My appreciation of Peter Criss's solo album has been a gradual understanding of what he was trying to do and I've come to really enjoy it. "You Matter To Me" is excellent. If it wasn't saddled with the KISS brand, this could have been a hit. "I Can't Stop the Rain" is great. About the only song I tend to gloss over is "Kiss the Girl" mainly because it's really just "Beth 2.0". Give the record a spin without any preconceived ideas and you'll be surprised.

Dynasty - See yesterday's review

Crazy Nights is one of those newly discovered gems. How did I miss this back in 1987? "Turn on the Night" is the epitome of late 80s power metal songs. The title track is just plain fun. And Paul's vocal range is outstanding. My favorite 80s/unmasked album.

KISS Dynasty at 40

Forty years ago today, a record came out that I didn't buy.

Actually, it was more like couldn't. In the height of KISS's initial 1970s popularity, there was a rumor among parents that these make-up wearing rock stars were not appropriate for a ten year old. My parents, therefore, restricted my acquiring of KISS albums after I purchased 1978's Ace Frehley solo album, the only one I bought that year. What I cannot remember, however, was how I came to own Unmasked (1980). Perhaps, by then, things had changed.

Be that as it may, it took me another twentysomething years to finally purchase KISS Dynasy (I bought the 1997 remastered version). I've now lived with "The Return of KISS" (as it was billed in 1979) for an additional twenty years. And I'm come to a conclusion: the album gets a bad rap for being a disco album. The truth is in the music.

Disco Permeated the Culture

By May 1979, the crest of the disco wave may have already passed, but the music was still everywhere: on radio, on TV, on commercials. Yes, the growing punk movement was already railing against disco and yes, there was the famous Disco Demolition Night in Chicago, but many established artists and bands brought elements of disco into their music. David Bowie did it. Chicago did it. Rod Stewart did it. The charts of popular songs and albums demonstrated the buying public enjoyed the music.

So why wouldn't KISS try their hand at writing a disco song?

The genesis was already out there. In 1978, they released Double Platinum with a remixed and discoized version of "Strutter." Now, it wasn't really a disco song. All that was basically added was a hit hat cymbal doing sixteenth notes. Nevertheless, Paul Stanley brought to the studio a song destined to overshadow the rest of the new KISS album.

I Was Made For Loving You

I may not have owned the album in 1979, but I knew the song. It was on the radio. It was featured in the commercials for the new record. It was even sung by Linda Carter on a variety show. Then, as now, I love this song. There are the high hat beats underscored by the bass played by Gene Simmons. I was not adept at musical knowledge to hear that it wasn't Peter Criss playing the drums, but Anton Fig. If any song on this album could be said to be disco (well, there are two), it was this one, but it's still not 100% disco. It's a power pop song, and a darn good one. Even the 1993 version on the Revenge tour when KISS created the harder-edged version, it remains a good song.

The Rest of Side One

If the opening track rang disco bells, then the intro of the next song, Frehley's cover of the Rolling Stones's song "2,000 Man," reminded listeners KISS remained a rock band. There's nary a disco note in this tune. It's all Ace, almost as if he wrote it himself.

"Sure Know Something," also written by Paul, could also be lumped into a disco bubble, but only tangentially. It's more mainstream pop than disco, and it is arguably one of the best songs Paul ever wrote. All performers are working at perk performance here. The bass kicks off the song and drives the opening riff. It is one of my favorite melodic bass lines Gene eve performed. The rhythm guitar lays in tasteful chord patterns. Anton Fig sets the tempo with tasteful and sure-footed playing. And Paul's singing is incredible. One of the best of his entire career. I never heard this song until the Unplugged version debuted, but have loved it ever since.

"Dirty Living" is Peter Criss's lone song on Dynasty, but it's a winner. Many people who hear it now (and maybe even in 1979) think it sounds like the theme song to some 70s cop TV show. Spot on. Peter's vocals are really good on this tune, a nice return to his early 70s sound. I'm thinking of Mainline, Strangeways, and Baby Driver. Yes, there is a definitive disco vibe, but the pocket is such a good groove, you don't care. The guitar solos that interweave throughout this song bring this song up in stature, especially the latter solos that go higher on the fret board. Great song. One of Peter's best.

Side Two

"Charisma" is Gene's first song on the album. That it arrives on side two might give you and indication of where Gene's mind was at the time. As a kid, I heard this song at a friend's house, and the only thing that shocked me was Gene emphasizing the word "sexuality." The Gene vocals from the mid 70s is on full display here, with all of his ad libs and peculiar vocal tics. The guitar solo is good, a nice respite from the driving rhythm of the main verses. And there's cowbell! What's not to like?

Over the years, I've learned that Paul either wrote most of songs during the studio sessions or only brought in a handful for consideration. That the trio of songs he contributed to Dynasty are so good is a testament to his songwriting prowess and keen ear for what works. "Magic Touch" is a nice, mid-tempo song that serves to highlight Paul's growing vocal ability. That it includes yet another melodic bass line and a good guitar solo is icing on the cake. What does Paul think of this song? He brought it out in 2006 during his solo tour. To think that all three of Paul's songs on this album have reemerged in later years is all the proof you need to know these are special songs.

Ace returns with "Hard Times," his autobiographical song about his time growing up in New York. Ace songs have a certain vibe. His 1978 solo solidified it, and "Hard Times" fits right in that pocket. Whimsy is on full display with the various background noises, too. Befitting a song with that title, this is a rock and roll song with zero disco. More evidence? The solo. A nicely composed piece that changes the feel halfway, basically giving listeners two guitar solos. And it ends without a fade.

"X-Ray Eyes" is Gene's second song. Like "Hard Times," there is no evidence of disco here. One of the criticisms of Dynasty is that it sounds less like a KISS album than outtakes from the four solo albums. That's very true here. I don't dislike the song, but it there's a throwaway song, this is it. I suspect, however, ten year old me would have loved the sound effects in the background.

"Save Your Love" closes out the album on a spare, rocking song. You get punched in the gut on the opening few beats before Ace starts lamenting the singer's recent breakup. He all but screams at her in the chorus. Paul sings in his lower register on the chorus, and that's always a treat. The solo is a quirky solo chock full of trademark Ace-isms. I also love Gene's "Save your lo-ove!" call backs toward the end. And cowbell again. This is a rock that drives straight to the end, allowing listeners to pump fists and know KISS as a rock band still lived.

The Verdict

By the time I finally purchased the CD in 1997, I knew Dynasty as 'the disco album.' But when you actually listen to the songs--especially far away from the later 70s--what emerges is less of a disco album but a power pop/rock record with disco stylings included in at least two songs, maybe three. At nine songs, that's only a third at most. Since when does a third of something define something?

Dynasty is a really good record with some terrific songs that have stood the test of time these past forty years. I never begrudge a band for seeing what's popular and, if compelled, giving it a try. That's how a band remains popular. It's the job of a band to produce records people want to buy. In 1979, that meant incorporating disco into KISS's original sound to try and bring in the new, younger fans (like I was) with their existing fan base.

And they nailed it. No, the album wasn't to everyone's tastes. The dangerous band from 1973 had given way to the superhero rock stars who starred in comic books and sold toys by 1979. But as a collection of songs in 1979, it was perfectly suited to that time frame.

I have enjoyed Dynasty ever since I first listened to it back in 1997. It barely misses my own person Top 10 KISS albums (tune in tomorrow for the list) but it's in the Top 15.

A Different Point of View

In the most recent episode of Ken Mills's excellent PodKISSt, they did something neat in regards to Dynasty. Many of the initial album covers listed the songs in a different order. The physical LPs always had the track listing I mentioned here, but the album sleeve was different.

Ken and co-host BJ listen to the album with this as the song order:

Charisma | Dirty Livin' | Hard Times | I Was Made For Loving You | Magic Touch | Save Your Love | Sure Know Something | X-Ray Eyes | 2,000 Man

Take a listen. The album takes on a whole new vibe. 

Spielberg, Lucas, and Williams: The Blockbuster Podcast as Old Time Radio

Aural perfection.

That's what I think about Blockbuster, the six-part podcast that focuses on the friendship of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas in the 1970s. The third member of this revolutionary team was composer John Williams.

Look, I would have listened to a plain old podcast just reciting the events of these visionary directors in the 1970s as they created from whole cloth the blockbuster movie. I am part of the Star Wars generation. I never tire of hearing or watching World War II histories, so, too, do I never tire of hearing about 1970s film making.

But creator Matt Schrader went one better. He scripted this story as if it were an old time radio. Don't be fooled by this phrase. This movie-of-the-mind is utterly current, with the latest technology brought to the sound design, that makes me hopeful things like this might come around more often.

I can't even be sure how the podcast popped up on my radar in the last week or two, but it did. Five of the six episodes are available. Like I said, I'm a sucker for this stuff, but by the first few minutes of episode one and I was hooked. It is an excellent piece of craft, and the storytelling is rich and immersive.

How immersive? Well, when they get to late 1976 and early 1977 when each director faced massive challenges to complete their respective films, you're actually wondering if they'll get the movies done. In fact, in episode 4, there's a moment with the Star Wars production that actually made me swear under my breath...and I knew the end result!

The voice cast is stellar. I don't know their names, but the folks who bring Spielberg, Lucas to life, as well as their friends Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese are spot on. And don't get me started on the casting calls for Han Solo.

Heck, I even learned something about John Williams I never knew.

 I'm starting episode 4 later today on my home commute and I think episode six drops next week. It'll end up being a three-hour movie for your mind.

Just give it a listen. If you're even remotely interested in the stories of these two friends and rivals, you'll have a blast.

UPDATE:

Now, I've listened to episode five, the one where the characters first hear the music John Williams composed for Star Wars. At the time, Lucas was quite depressed. He didn't think his movie would be very good. It wasn't well received by his small group of peers. The executives at Fox, including champion Alan Ladd, Jr., had all but given up and expected a flop.

There, Lucas sat in the recording studio in London. There, Williams stood on the podium, ready for that initial baton drop.

And the music started.

I've always been an easy cry, but just hearing this famous music in this one scene, knowing the stakes, it was emotional. Goosebumps and some extra tears behind the lids.

It was a great moment in this incredible series and in the history of cinema. That the creators of Blockbuster nailed it as well as they did is yet more proof how good this podcast series is.

UPDATE 2:

Episode 6 dropped this morning and I couldn't wait for my morning commute.

And I was incredibly rewarded.

What makes Blockbuster so magical is the intimacy of the story. Now, in 2019, Lucas and Spielberg are legends, larger-than-life masters of film, but in the 1970s, they're just young directors trying to make things work despite uncountable challenges and setbacks. Matt Schrader wrote the scenes you wished you could have witnessed. Not the interviews or awards ceremonies, but the ones where George and Steve just talk. Brilliant.

The best thing about episode six, titled "May 25, 1977," is how the characters learn about the success of Star Wars. We know what happens, but George, Steve, and Marcia Lucas in Blockbuster don't. Wonderful. I actually had goosebumps ripple across my skin when Marcia looks across the street and realizes the line around the Chinese Theater is for "You're movie, George!"

A large part of this podcast series features the music of John Williams. Perhaps the best scene in the entire series was when George heard the Star Wars theme the first time. When you have Williams's music, I imagine it would be a difficult challenge to compose original music. But Ryan Taubert and Benjamin Botkin knocked it out of the park. There's a special magic when you watch movies like Star Wars, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Superman, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter 1 when the visuals on the silver screen and the music you hear instantly transport you. Taubert and Botkin nailed the intimate vibe of this series. How good is the music? If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn John Williams himself wrote the score.

It's one thing to have content like this available for free. But it's another thing entirely when, upon completing the entire broadcast, I happily headed over to their site and donated money. It's one of the best investments you can make. I can't wait to hear what comes next.

How good is this nearly three-hour Blockbuster podcast series? It's one of the best films of the year. Never mind that it's audio only. In some ways, that makes it better.

Well done, everyone involved with Blockbuster. Very well done.

Comicpalooza 2019 - The Haul

One of the best things about attending Houston's Comicpalooza over two days is the ability to make a list.

On Friday, I like to scour the rows and rows of vendors, just seeing what they have. Some have dollar bins of unbagged comics while others have all the vintage things collectors love. Unless I see something I just gotta have and buy it on the spot, I start a list. I write down the item, the row, and the price. In that way, I can mull it over when compared to all the other things I see and ask myself do I really want that thing. I get to sleep on it and make a decision.

And yes, if the item has been sold, well, then I guess I really didn't need it.

Yesterday, I went back around and bought most of the things on my list. What I didn't find were any of the black-and-white Essentials (Marvel) or DC's Showcase that package something like 500 pages of comics into a single $20 book. Love those, and I have almost a shelf full of them. I wonder if the price point is off nowadays or if the Epic Collection (which is in color) now trumps the B&W ones.

These two titles I've heard about for a long time but never cracked. These are both volume 1s. I found Howard the Duck Volume 2, but I figured I should read the first to verify it's something I'd like.  The Shang-Chi stories (you'll see another one down below) is another title that evidently got better over time. Looking forward to reading it.

I've seen this blog and book for a few years and figured now was the time to try it out. I suspect the title says it all, but I'll y'all know when I've read it.

There's a vendor who is one of those small one-man shops. He always has an assortment of things, and this book, battered though it is, caught my fancy. For $3, why not?

One of best things about a con like Comicpalooza is the number of vendors with dollar books. Even better? The ones for $0.50! The Deadly Hands was a dollar, but the rest were half that. You might notice the Young Romance and ask why? Well, I've just started listening to the audiobook version of MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe and he mentions Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's days writing and drawing romance comics. Talk about serendipity? I basically followed my observation from Friday.

I think I'm most looking forward to this. It is volume 1 of the collected newspaper comic strips. I'm really curious to read these stories, especially as they start in 1979, a year before the big Vader reveal, to see how Russ Manning approached the Star Wars universe. Truth be told, I've also got a hankering to re-read some of the old Marvel comics as well.

That's it for Comicpalooza 2019. Let know what you got in the comments.

Podcast Review: The KISS Room

On the little bonus track from 1976's Destroyer, KISS singer Paul Stanley exhorts the crowd by saying "It looks like we're gonna have ourselves a rock and roll party!" That may be true, but that's just one night. Now, we now have a monthly rock and roll party with one of the most congenial hosts around.

Enter Matt Porter

If you read yesterday's review of PodKISSt, you'll see that one of my favorite aspects of that podcast was the album round tables. When I finally discovered PodKISSt in 2012ish, I was able to binge all the existing episodes. One recurring guest was noticeable because you could hear the giddy smile in his voice.

Matt Porter works at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania. He is my age so he was around for KISS' 1970s heyday. Like me, Matt scoured the newsstands for Circus or Hit Parader magazines, just hoping for an article with this awesome band. He never lost his enthusiasm for his favorite band. His is an infectious type of love for the band, and fellow listeners can't help but get swept away.

And, when the chance arrived, Matt took an opportunity to share the music of KISS with others.

Montco Radio: Where Music and Minds Meet

That I can quote, from memory, the slogan of a college radio station half a continent away is a testament to Matt Porter. If I remember the story correctly, Matt, who works at the college's radio station, noticed there was a dead block of air time that needed filling. Being the KISS fan he was, Matt simply played KISS. It proved so popular that he kept doing it. Soon, The KISS Room was born, with a recurring date: the second Friday of every month from 3-5 EST.

Yeah, that's today!

What is The KISS Room

Quite simply, The KISS Room is a party for fans of the band. If the PodKISSt podcast is the safe haven that celebrates all eras of the band, The KISS Room is the party version of that spirit.

Each month, live on the radio and on the internet, Matt serves as the ringleader for a ebullient two hours. He'll play some KISS songs, often throwing out deep cuts we fans love. The Facebook community is quite active and if you share the news on KISS Room Fridays, he'll read your name on the air. Still gives me a thrill every time.

With many years of episodes, the show has evolved into a certain format. There is almost always a monthly guest who calls in and has a discussion with Matt and his co-hosts. These guests run the gamut: from Bill Starkey (founder of the KISS Army) to Lydia Criss (former wife of KISS drummer Peter Criss) to great tribute bands like Klassic '78 and just about everything in between. And, because this is a celebration of KISS, all are welcome and all eras are represented.

I'm not sure how large the studio space is up there at Montco Radio (where music and minds meet; you see? I can't not think about the tagline), but it always sounds like it's jam-packed with KISS fans. Matt will exhort folks to come up to the microphone and talk about KISS. As always, a favorite question is how a person discovered KISS. For a band that's been around for 46 years, the answers are always fascinating.

The two hours always fly by, but in recent months, there's an added bonus.

The KISS Room House Band

I can't quite remember how it all started, but one month, there was a small group of musicians in studio. With acoustic guitars and percussion, they started performing KISS songs. And not just the main hits, either. They'll pull the deep cuts, the songs the band would never perform. It is a blast to hear these tunes played live and with reverence to the originals. We know all the little nuances of each KISS song. The KISS Room House Band does too, and they play it that way.

The KISS Room was already a raucous party. The presence of the House Band just took it up to eleven. It's the best two hours on the radio every single month.


Look, if you're a fan of KISS and you've never heard The KISS Room, you are missing out. Matt Porter is like the best friend you never knew who loves the same music you do. If you're having a bad day, find an old episode or listen live and you will be smiling after two hours.

Do yourself a favor and tune in today from 3-5 EST. I use the TuneIn Radio app to listen live (when the day job doesn't interfere). You can hear it on the main webpage. It is simulcast on Facebook. And if you miss the live broadcast, the replay is always available at the main website or via the PodKISSt podcast feed.

The KISS Room Mission Statement

I'm a writer so I'm supposed to have a way with words. Hopefully, I've turned you on to something you might not have known. But if I haven't, just read how Matt sees the beauty of music of KISS.

Remember when the only thing that mattered was the music?
​Remember sitting for hours spinning records, feeling the energy, playing your air guitar and covering your walls with posters of these rock and roll super heroes?
Remember talking to your friends about the mysterious, masked men who created the rock and roll that we all loved?
Do you remember wondering what they looked like without the trade mark make-up, drawing pictures of them and scribbling the logo on every text book cover, wall, and notebook?
Do you remember seeing them live for the first time? 
We remember.  And we still love it.
Are you ready to rock?
Welcome to THE KISS ROOM.
The bottom line:
This is a party.  If you are NOT a fan, or you are here to cause trouble....
....go away!
THE KISS ROOM is created by KISS fans, for KISS fans.
THE KISS ROOM is NOT sponsored by or associated with KISS or KISS Inc™.
THE KISS ROOM is a non-profit radio program.
We don't make a penny from this program.
We do it for the fun.
We do it because we love KISS. 

Superman the Movie: A Forty-Year Appreciation

[With the recent success of Shazam, I thought I'd revisit the first major superhero film.]

“You’ve got me! Who’s got you?”

Is this the best line in a superhero movie? Forty years on, when I think of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, this is the first thing that comes to mind. And the helicopter rescue sequence associated with it. I waited in rapt attention for this scene because it is likely the quintessential Superman moment. It did not disappoint last night. In fact, as the goosebumps rippled over my arms, I got a tad emotional.

This was Superman.

The tagline of the movie was “You’ll believe a man could fly.” Here’s the thing with Christopher Reeve’s performance: You’ll believe he really is Superman. Maybe it was my ten-year-old self seeing this hero on the big screen for the first time, but of all the actors who have played Superman, Reeve is the one who made me believe it was actually a man from another planet. Who was also from Kansas. And it did it all with acting. No CGI. No special effects. Just Reeve, in costume, changing his voice and posture, making you believe Clark Kent and Superman were different people.

Speaking of Clark, Reeve sells himself as the bumbling country boy from Kansas to a T. I really loved his sly winks *to himself* when he, say, catches the bullet or when he shows up, as Clark, in Lois’s apartment after flying over the city with her as Superman. There’s a reason Reeve’s version of Clark is also probably the best out there…although Henry Cavill, if given a chance, could have done it well. But, again, he would be channeling Reeve, too.

He and Margot Kidder exudes chemistry. I really appreciate how she, in 1978, portrayed Lois Lane as a modern woman, smoker, working in a newsroom which had been a mostly males club for so long, but one who still needs a little help when she’s hanging out of a helicopter. She’s always out for the hustle, making sure she’s on the front lines. The rooftop interview scene is so good. You even get Superman basically falling in love with Lois on screen. Heck, both of them. And he’s not saving her from some giant robot. They are just talking and acting. Let’s be honest: in this day and age, when you have lots of side projects on TV, how cool would it have been to have had a Lois Lane TV show with Kidder?

I’m not sure who made the call—actor or director or scriptwriter—but, for my money, having Lex Luthor be humorous is genius. Yes, it’s likely a product of the times, but Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Luthor is probably the best. The only other one I truly enjoy is Clancy Brown’s sinister version in Superman: The Animated Series. But Hackman’s Luthor is sinister in his own way. When he delivers the line “By causing the deaths of innocent people,” you honestly believe it. I enjoyed seeing him make deductions and use his intelligence to figure out Superman’s weakness. Lastly, In an age when every aspect of a franchise has its own backstory, I don’t always need a backstory. But I would enjoy at least learning how Luthor and Otis got together.

Oh, is Ned Beatty’s Otis the only henchman in superhero movies who has his own theme song? It reminded me of the theme for Jabba the Hutt which would arrive five years later.

The music. John Williams was at the height of his powers in 1978. Star Wars and Close Encounters and Jaws were already under his belt. So were three Oscars. I haven’t heard the entire score is so long that it came out of the speakers fresh and new. Look, I know his Star Wars theme, his Raiders of the Lost Ark theme, and the ET flying theme are all good and light and positive, but is it possible to hear the Superman March without a grin on your face? I don’t think so. The Krypton music is eerie and otherworldly. The love theme is lush and romantic. And in sitting through the credits listening to the music, I found myself awash in greatness. I know there are folks who think Superman is the best soundtrack of Williams’s career. While I still hold Empire Strikes Back as my personal favorite (with Star Wars and Raiders close behind), I can certainly see their point.

On the subject of Krypton, I was again reminded of the very 70s-ness of it all. I have a great fondness of 70s SF films pre-Star Wars. The Krypton sequence fits perfectly in that pocket. Ditto for the flying sequence as Kal-El rockets off to earth. Oh, and the training montage.

As the opening credits rolled, I leaned over to my friend and said Superman: The Movie hit the jackpot with casting. Marlon Brando, of course, but Terrence Stamp, Glenn Ford, Jackie Cooper, Hackman, Beatty, Valerie Perrine, and Susannah York. To say nothing about then newcomers Reeve and Kidder. I can’t think of a single character who needed to be recast.

The first hour of the show is near perfection. We see Krypton, the trial and banishment of Zod, Ursa, and Nan (and the setting up of Superman II), and then the destruction of the planet. Now, forty years later, as a parent, the longing and desperation of Jor-El and Lara sending baby Kal into the void with only the hope that he would be safe is poignant. But the Smallville scenes? Holy cow. Those hit me. And those shots of Clark and Jonathan, his death, the funeral, and then Clark and Martha out in the field? You honestly forget you’re watching a superhero movie. Brilliant stuff.

Alas, the movie is not without its flaws. With an additional forty years of consuming stories—including writing my own—much of the latter half of the film is disjointed. It would have been so much better if there were words on screen like “Three week later…” or some such. As it is, the film comes off as almost happening in the same day. Which it doesn’t, but it feels that way.

But all that is nitpicking, especially when you get the best of both worlds: you get to see Superman doing super things—helping the bus on the bridge; making sure the railroad doesn’t derail; making a new dam—but then he turns back time and it’s all good. And with Luthor’s intelligence, you ever wonder if he figured out Superman changed time? Or would he merely realize his plans were foiled? Ditto for the other characters, too.

But that’s neither here nor there. They’re just fun things to ponder.

Forty years. Hard to believe and, yet, not. I was ten when I saw it in 1978. I’m nearly fifty now. Lots of life, lots of events, lots of other Superman stories, both in print and on screen. But this film remains a gold standard in superhero films and Superman films in particular. I’m keen on finding and watching the Donner cut of Superman II. I’ve never seen it, but always enjoyed Superman II. Superman The Movie is that perfectly placed film and story that straddles two eras: the Golden and Silver Age (and a little Bronze) of comics before the current era we’re in. It’s like a love letter to all that came before. From the vantage point of forty more years, it’s stature grows even more. Heck, as the credits rolled last night in the theater, applause erupted from the gathered few—young and old alike.

We now live in a golden age of superhero films. There’s nothing filmmakers cannot do when you couple their imagination with computer technology. Make no mistake: it’s awesome when we get to see Cavill’s version of Superman fly or punch Zod or slam into Doomsday. And I really enjoy The CW’s Superman as played by Tyler Hoechlin. And I watched Lois and Clark loving it…mostly. Didn’t watch Smallville.

But I think we can all agree that when you think of a live action Superman, one name comes to mind: Christopher Reeve. He was and is and will forever be Superman. He made me believe a man could fly in 1978. Forty years later, he still made me believe he’s the best Superman. And, despite its flaws, Superman The Movie is the best version of Superman on film.

[This was originally posted on 26 November 2018 over on my author site.]

When Cutting Up a Comic Book Was Charming

Recently I was reading through a comic published in 1976 and I was struck by something: DC Comics actively encouraged kids to destroy their comics.

Bicentennial Mania

To help celebrate the American Bicentennial summer, DC Comics published a total of 23 issues in June, July, and August 1976 with a special banner across the top that read “DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” in red, white, and blue. In the upper right corner was a number. Nice, huh?

Well, inside there’s a house ad. Here it is.

If you take a read, you’ll see that kids back then could get a free Superman belt buckle *if they cut out and sent in at least 25 cover headings*!

Yes, you would actually have to cut up the covers to 25 brand-new comics.

I did this sort of thing for Star Wars figures when I cut out and sent proofs of purchases to get my Boba Fett action figure. But those were cardboard boxes.

This situation was comic book covers. I’d like to think that, even then, I wouldn’t have done that. And even then, the comic book collector market was in full swing. Did they just not think comics from 1976 would be worth anything?

The Charm Factor

But here’s what I like about it now. I like the charm factor of it all. Over the decades, companies always had drives like this. “Eat 5 boxes of [insert cereal] and send in the box tops for [insert cool toy].” Yes, campaigns like this promoted binge buying, but it was actually kind of fun, no?

Do companies even do that anymore, or has our culture just moved on to kids simply asking parents to buy them whatever they want? Not sure, but at least by buying 25 DC Comics in the summer of ’76 or however many box tops of cereal, you felt like you were actually working for your prize.

Shazam! TV Show - The Joy Riders

No Shazam-themed week would be complete without a glance at the 1970s TV show. Between the 1941 movie serial and the 2019 big-budget movie sat the small-screen exploits of Captain Marvel

The Introduction for Many a Kid

For most kids of my Gen-X Generation, the Shazam TV show was the first time we figured out who Captain Marvel was. Coming just a year or so after DC Comics started publishing the Shazam comic, the TV show starred Michael Gray as Billy Batson and Les Tremayne as Mentor. They travel the country (at least California) in an RV righting wrongs and helping kids make good decisions. I had a little Tonka-brand RV in the same color scheme and I imagined it was Batson's RV. But it didn't have that cool Shazam lightening bolt on the front.

In season 1, Jackson Bostwick starred as Captain Marvel and he's the one I remember. Heck, I even had the treasury-sized edition of Shazam with Bostwick standing on that rock. Yeah, I made that pose more than once, thank you very much.

I loved this show, and while I can't say I was there from day one, I certainly remember many a Saturday morning anchored in place to watch the Mightiest Mortal do his thing.

Filmation produced Shazam, the company that brought many a smile to kids' faces. You'd recognize a Filmation program by the spinning circle with the names of Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott going round and round.

Plus there was the same Saturday morning music cues, something I picked up on when I watched episode 1, "The Joy Riders."

The Premise of the Episodes

With each episode, the intro features a voice-over with "The Saturday Morning Cartoon Guy" (you'd recognize the voice if you're of a certain age) giving you the premise of the story, who Billy is, and who Captain Marvel is. Boom, you're good to go. Speaking of boom, when Michael Gray says the magic name, there's a huge lightening bolt that looks not too dissimilar from the bolt that you see in the "Gilligan's Island" intro. When you get the flash, the music changes and there, in front of your eyes, in color, is Shazam himself. Marvelous

The Joy Riders

I actually chuckled to myself when four young teenaged boys meet up at hamburger shack and talk about "borrowing" a car in which to ride around. Just imagine: in September 1974, that was one of the worst things you could do, or at least show on TV. It came across as quaint, in a kind of old-fashioned sitcom-y way, until I remembered I was the target audience at the time. Gulp.

One of the four boys, a red-headed kid named Chuck, isn't too keen on joining in on the stealing. He says what it is, but the other three laugh at him, call him chicken, before they careen away in the stolen car.

Moment before, Billy gets a message from The Elders. He's signaled via...the light ball? There, he hears about his task: he'll meet someone who will have trouble standing up to others, including his friends. The Elders are all animated, with only their mouths moving. How cool it was to hear Adam West's voice coming from one of them!

As you can imagine, Billy and Mentor try to help Chuck with the latter's feelings of inadequacy and fear of being labeled an outsider and his trio of friends turning their backs on him. Chuck's bike is even stolen, giving all four boys a tangible reminder of what they did with the first stolen car.

When the  boys boost another car and force Chuck in with them, it's time for Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel on Screen

Look, I've only seen two episodes of the 1941 movie serial and this episode of the 1975 TV show, but if I'm being honest, the flying sequences in the old serial are better. Granted, the TV show has to operate on a TV budget, but you'd think there'd be some improvement.

Bostwick gets around some of the quirks of editing by having Shazam land feet first. He is shown in the air actually changing his trajectory, so that when you next see the hero on the ground, he's already standing. One fantastic thing they did was film many of his close-ups outside, so you get to see the sunshine on Shazam's face, hair, and cape while the wind machine is cranked up.

The boys take refuge in an old van in a junk yard, and dang if there wasn't a giant claw crane angling to pick up the van. It does, and the boys yell. The Captain hears it and, with his super strength, pulls the van back down, allowing the boys to escape.

Now, it's lecture time.

The Moral of the Story

Look, I was the target audience. I was supposed to know right from wrong. I had great parents, but what about those kids that didn't. Well, the episode ends in two ways. One, Shazam singles out Chuck for his courage in saying no. Even the other three admit that. When the lead troublemaker asks if they're going to jail, Shazam doesn't have an answer. It's up to the juvenile authorities. Have to admit: love that. There's no getting out of jail free card here.

After the commercial break, Shazam is there and Bostwick gives the moral of the story: it's really hard to do the right thing, especially if other people--or your friends--start calling you names. The producers knew their audience and, perhaps encouraged by law, made sure to drive home the message. Cheesy? Perhaps, but not necessarily bad. Cartoons and kids' programming is one way to teach young people about life, and if they listen to Captain Marvel instead of their parents and stay out of trouble, then we're all good.

Conclusion

I have good memories of this show, including the time when it was paired with Isis for a full hour of live-action superhero goodness. Come to think of it, CBS also aired the Tarzan cartoon and, later, the Adventure Hour with Zorro and the Lone Ranger. The network had a good amount of action cartoons. Makes me wonder if I was primarily a Channel 11 guy (the Houston affiliate) on Saturday mornings.

I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching this episode and going back to that simpler time. As I mentioned when I reviewed the movie serial, I hold degrees in history, so I'm always fascinated to research something, especially something I experienced and see it from a difference perspective. I'll certainly watch more episodes of the Shazam TV show.

Forgotten Books: Han Solo at Stars' End by Brian Daley

Has it really been forty years?

That Special Pocket of Time in Star Wars Fandom

Travel back, if you will, to 1979. If you were a kid like me, your life probably revolved around comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, The Three Investigators books, and reading everything you could get your hands on regarding the 1977 movie Star Wars. You had the Star Wars action figures and, depending on your allowance or lawn-mowing money, you might've had some extra cash to spring for the additional nine new figures beyond the original twelve. You were already more than a year into reading the Marvel Comics Star Wars issues, and devoured Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye the year before.

Maybe you could easily imagine yourself as young farm boy, Luke Skywalker, because he was only slightly older than you were. But who you really wanted to be was Han Solo. And if you couldn't be him, then you wanted more adventures featuring him and his trusted partner, Chewbacca.

A Momentous Discovery on the Bookshelves

I"m sure how many young readers knew the name Brian Daley before April 1979, but they sure knew his name after. Commissioned to write three novels featuring Han and Chewie (although we didn't know it at the time), I think you can image the heart palpitations I experienced when I saw that blue hardcover book on the shelves of either B. Dalton Bookstore or Waldenbooks in Westwood Mall in Houston. My parents being readers, it was not a hard sell to at least go into the bookstores and browse. Naturally, I'd find something, then sidle up to one of them with the innocent question "Did you find something?" Because if they found something, I got a book, too.

They must have found something that day, or knew it would be a losing battle if I didn't walk out of the store with that glorious book with the blue cover.

I have no memory of reading through that book forty years ago and, to be honest, had zero memory of what happened. I don't think I ever re-read it, so last month, when it came time for me to select a novel to read, I had my choice. Perfect, since April 2019 marks the books fortieth anniversary. And, in light of the character's evolution over the decades both in the movies and comics, how would the book hold up?

A New Han Solo Story

In those heady days between Star Wars and its then unnamed sequel, the entire Star Wars universe was wide open. Darth Vader killed Luke's dad without "a certain point of view." Heck, Luke and Leia both faced off against the Sith Lord on the planet Mimban in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. The creatures in the cantina were just a small sampling of the vastness of the galaxy just waiting to be discovered. And, in Brian Daley's new novel, you got to see where Han Solo was before he met that old man and the kid.

He was in hot water. And, if you needed to know just how awesome and grown up Han Solo was to a ten-year-old mind, Han actually drops the "d-word" in the first sentence. Mind. Blown.

In his narrow escape from the ships of the Corporate Sector Authority--the stand-in baddies instead of the Imperial Empire--Han damages his ship, the Millennium Falcon. He even pulls out the maneuver he uses in the asteroid field in Empire Strikes Back when he flies the Falcon on its side through a narrow canyon. The dish atop the ship is knocked off (sound familiar) so he's now blind.  But he knows a guy. Of course he does.

Except after going through all the cloak-and-dagger maneuvers to locate Doc, he's gone. Taken by the Espos, the elite police force of the Corporate Sector Authority. His daughter, Jessa, is willing to make repairs to the Falcon in exchange for Han flying to Orron III and picking up some people. Needing the repairs, Han agrees.

And things go downhill from there.

A New Cast of Characters

Joining Han and Chewbacca on this mission to Orron III are a pair of droids. Well, the template had been set with both Star Wars and Splinter. Later, when the Lando Calrissian books are published, he also has a droid partner.  Bullox is a large, old labor-type droid who is not at all like the prim and proper See-Threepio. He's not exactly smart, but he's very loyal. Who is smart is Blue Max, a smaller, up-to-date droid. The only problem is Blue Max has no means of transportation. Thus, he travels around inside Bullox's chest cavity. When the situation calls for it, someone will take Blue Max out, hook him up to a larger computer, a la Artoo Detoo, and work computer magic.

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds an awful lot like Twiki and Dr. Theopolis from the Buck Rogers TV show?

A few other characters show up, but the discovery of them are more fun when you read the novel.

A Good Space Opera Adventure

But what about the book itself? The story cracked along fine with just enough jolts and twists to keep it interesting. Daley had to know he needed to write the book that would appeal not only to adult science fiction readers but early readers like my ten-year-old self. While there is some shooting and gunfights, the violence is kept to a minimum or described using words to hide the reality. For example: "Red beams of annihilation bickered back and forth." Didn't bother me in the least.

I assume Daley had access to the material on sale at the time--which wasn't much--and maybe a little backstory from creator George Lucas. But I also get the impression the author just imagined his way into a Star Wars universe. At the time, Star Wars wasn't too dissimilar to other far-flung space adventure novels, so Daley just ran with whatever idea came to mind. Orron III, for example, was a planet-sized agricultural farm. Like Dagobah is a planet-sized swamp or Coruscant is a planet-sized city. It's merely a piece of imagination.

As an author myself, I enjoy dropping little side notes that hint at other adventures of my characters. Daley does it here, too, but none so tantalizing to young fan than the reference to "Freedom's Sons" in the same sentence as mention of the Jedi Knights! Did Daley know something we didn't? Would Freedom's Sons get into a comic or the next movie? The possibilities were endless.

 I really enjoyed the swiftness of the story. It was a lean 183 pages in my paperback copy. There was a time, even when the property was not from a movie, where a SF author could write a book and it clocked in under 200 pages. Now, so many novels top 400 or 500 pages, if not more, that I hesitate to even start. Granted, Daley didn't need a lot of world building, but I enjoyed that which he gave, including the slang and other parts that contributed to the 'lived in' nature of Star Wars. He went on to flesh out the first Star Wars movie in his fantastic script for the Star Wars radio drama, but that is another post.

Overall, I really enjoyed revisiting this book, and I'm already moving on to the second, HAN SOLO'S REVENGE.

Best Quote of the Book

"Han made a sour face. "I happen to like to shoot first, Rekkon. As opposed to shooting second.""

Podcast Review: TechnoRetro Dads

I have eaten more sugary cereal since I started listening to this podcast than I have for the past decade.

And I love it.

All Things Retro

Podcasters Shazbazzar and JediShua are a few years younger than my fifty, but together, we are brethren. We grew up in the 1970s and 1980s when Saturday morning meant only one thing--cartoons!--there was only a single Star Wars film, and only three networks. It was the age of toys, toys, toys, and awesome cereal aimed precisely at kids. It was a great time to be a kid, and these dads share the love with each other, their families, and all the Earbuds (their affectionate nickname for fans of the show).

A Typical Episode is a Mini Variety Show

I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled onto this show, but it took only one episode for me to become hooked. Shazbazzar hails from Alabama while JediShua lives "a mile high in the sky" in Colorado. New episodes drop on Monday morning. Each week is themed and they focus on a particular aspect of something we Gen Xers remembered. This week was Batman (since nearly everything this week was Bat-themed). Almost always, the main focus marks some sort of anniversary, like this week with Batman's 80th birthday.

But before they reach the meat of the show, there is news. Some of it is of the personal variety. They are, after all, dads. It's right there in the title. They talk about their kids or some other neat little retro item. Then, as they segue to the geek news of the week, they have what I've come to really enjoy: back and forth jokes. Again, just like a variety show, one of them will provide the setup and the other the punchline. And, these jokes are almost always relating to the week's theme. Each week, my own family has learned I come home at the end of my workday with my phone in hand, ready to play the joke segment.

The Awesomeness of Cereal

In just about every episode, there is some sort of news about cereal, be it a new flavor of a legacy cereal, a new cereal to stand alongside all the brands we've come to love, or just a memory. Leading into this segment is a particular theme song. Not sure if they made it or if an Earbud did, but it always brings a smile to my face.

Like I wrote at the top, I've started buying cereal again. I'm pretty strict with my diet during the weekdays--I avoid sugar crashes at work by not having any--but as this year rolled around, I've been bringing home boxes of Captain Crunch or the smaller single varieties of Frosted Flakes or Fruit Loops. Why? Specifically because of the joy Shazbazzar and JediShua share in their love of cereal. Heck, I even went out and bought the new Hostess Honey Bun cereal just to taste it.

Now, I'm actually slowing down on the cereal aisle, looking at all the boxes I so recently glazed over.

Saturday Mornings Were Nirvana

Speaking of theme songs, the tune that leads into the Saturday morning cartoon segment could have easily been pulled from season 2 of Scooby Doo. Remember the times when the crazy monster would chase the Scooby Gang and a song would break out? That's what I'm talking about. The vibe is spot on.

In this segment, Shazbazzar and JediShua chat about various Saturday morning cartoons they loved. Being a few years younger than me, their Saturday mornings went into the 80s, but it's still fun to hear them wax nostalgic. What have I done as a direct result of this segment? Spent some Saturday mornings watching cartoons. Eating cereal. Yeah, it's great.

High Quality Each Week

I'm not too sure how much time it takes for these two to record and produce a 77-minute podcast every week, but the production level is high. Background music, canned laughter, and great sound make listening to each episode a happy one. And there's new banner art every week, also keyed with the week's theme. It's a lot of work, but you can tell it's work they love.

RetroZap Network

The TechnoRetro Dads podcast is part of the RetroZap Network. I could summarize what they have to offer, but that would be an entirely new blog post. Better you just head over there yourself and see if any of the podcasts and articles strike your fancy. If you love the stuff I write about and Shazbazzar and JediShua talk about each week, you'll find something to love.

A Weekly Habit

I've enjoyed this podcast from the day I listened to my first episode. It is my favorite weekly podcast, and a Monday just isn't a Monday without Shazbazzar and JediShua.

TechnoRetro Dads is a clean, positive ray of sunshine celebrating the glory days of our Gen-X childhood, a reminder of how good we had it back then, and how awesome we Earbuds have it today.

I highly recommend this podcast.

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Detective Comics 1000

Did you get yours yet?

I headed to Houston's The Pop Culture Company yesterday with the intention of picking up not one but three copies of Detective Comics 1000. Why? Because I wanted to covers.

Yet, each issue was priced at $10.

I had second thoughts and decided to go with the 1940s variant cover. Bruce Timm channeling Dick Sprang. Basically two for the price of one.

But that 1930s cover? Oh, man, does this check off basically all the pulp-era goodness I've come to enjoy. Gothic. Strange people wearing masks doing stranger things. Fire. Mystery. A damsel in distress. The hero about to save the day.

And this 1950s cover? Embraces all the goofiness of that decade.

The rest of the covers are decent. While I appreciate the artists behind both the 1960s and the 1970s covers (Jim Steranko and Bernie Wrightson respectively), the images don't exactly scream the decade in question. You can check out both of them and the rest at the always excellent 13th Dimension.

The Stories

Art is only one half of what goes into a comic book story and, as a writer, I'm always keen to know the authors behind the stories. Not every tale from this landmark issue listed the creators' names on the first page, so sometimes, you just started reading not knowing who penned the story. That was interesting.

"Batman's Longest Case" by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

Batman follows clues across the world to reveal... [no spoilers] This one is fun and benefits from the dramatic page-turn where you finally see who is behind the trail of clues. Enjoyed the deep dive in this particular comic title's history.

"Manufactured for Use" by Kevin Smith and Jim Lee

Smith's tale and Lee's art turn in a darn good story. Specifically, when you get to the end of the tale and find out what it's really about, you turn back to the opening panels and re-read it again. The clues were there all along.

"The Legend of Knute Brody" by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen

If the first story had some humor in it, then this one is likely the funniest of the bunch. Again, like Smith's story, this one will have you go back and scan the earlier panels to get more of the in-jokes.

"The Batman's Design" by Warren Ellis and Becky Cloonan

One of the neatest things about the modern Batman post-1990s is the Bat-God. If Bruce Wayne isn't super-powered, then his brain is. And he's usually twenty steps ahead of anyone. This story proves it.

"Return to Crime Alley" by Denny O'Neil and Steve Epting

This one is interesting and, based on interviews I've heard and read over the years by O'Neil, completely understandable. This one surprised me, and in a good, real-world way.

"Heretic" by Christopher Priest and Neal Adams

Of all the stories, this one was just decent. Adams' art is good as always, but I wasn't too sure about this one.

"I Know" by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

There was more humor in this issue than I was expecting, and this one had a great ending. There's a sequence where Maleev just does a head shot of Penguin thinking. Thinking. The realization struck and he grinned. Loved it. And was that a smile on Bruce Wayne's face?

"The Last Crime in Gotham" by Geoff Johns and Kelley Jones 

Kelley Jones! Great to see his art again, and Johns, as always, delivers a good, heart-felt story. And another smile.

"The Precedent" by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez-Bueno

A nice story about the biggest decision Bruce Wayne ever made...after that first one. More smiles!

"Batman's Greatest Case" by Tom King and Tony S. Daniel & Joelle Jones

I've not read a lot of King's work, but darn, this one had a lot of personality. And humor. And character interactions. And yet another smile! So good to see something you don't always see.

For readers of the current Bat-titles, what's a good story arc by King?

"Medieval" by Peter J. Tomasi  and Doug Mahnke

This one appears to be the prologue to the upcoming new story arc starting in Detective 1001. I don't read comics monthly anymore, but I'm curious to see if, like Snyder and Capullo's Court of Owls masterpiece, there can be something new in the Bat-World.


All in all, it was a solid issue with only a couple of stories not landing for me, but that's likely personal preference. Loved seeing all the villains, especially the random ones, and the inclusion of Talon. The historian in me would have liked some sort of essay talking about Batman over the years, but that's likely coming in the hardback book. Still, it would have been a nice addition to the single issue more people will purchase than the bigger, more expensive book.

But what can one really say about Batman that hasn't already been said? If this single issue did one thing and one thing only, it proved that Batman isn't a single thing. The types of stories and the depictions of the characters varied with each writer and artist. Much like I commented yesterday, Batman is a canvas over which myriads of creators have painted with pictures and words.

And that makes the character, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane eighty years ago, timeless.

My Gen-X History with Batman

This month marks the 80th anniversary of Batman's first appearance, and today is when Detective Comics #1,000 will be published. I'll be stopping by my local comic shop today to pick up a few copies--darn you variant covers!--and having a good read tonight. Head to your comic store today and join in on the celebration.

Batman has been around for eighty years. Everyone has a story of how they were introduced to Batman. This is mine.

The Early Days

I was born in the last year of the Batman ‘66 TV series. Debuting in 1966, the Batman TV show with Adam West as the Caped Crusader and Burt Ward as Robin was a massive pop culture touchstone. By the time the 1970s rolled around, the show was in syndication, usually on one of the various UHF channels around the country. In Houston, it was Channel 39. As best as I can remember, Batman was on weekday afternoons. He was one of the shows I’d watch when I came home from school. Since we had a color TV, I got to absorb all the technicolor brilliance of the show.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: as a kid, I knew the show was funny, but I didn’t get the high camp under I grew older. No, as a youth, there was Batman, battling evil-doers yet always finding time to instruct Robin in the proper way to act and live one’s life. He was always teaching. I had great parent and grandparents so I had good role models in real life, but it was also neat to have someone like West’s Batman telling me additional things about life.

Oh, and am I the only one who thought Robin was a goner when the giant clam swallowed him whole, leaving only his twitching green-shoe-clad foot exposed?

A highlight was when the same channel would broadcast the 1966 Batman movie. Here, for a full two hours, our heroes fought the fearsome four of Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, and Penguin. Every Sunday, when the Houston Post would publish their TV guide for the week, I would read through it with pen in hand. I'd circle all the shows I'd want to watch, paying special attention to Friday night's movie on Channel 39. It was a great week when the Batman movie would play.

Super Friends

If I’m being honest, the Saturday morning cartoon, the Super Friends, was probably my next iteration of Batman and Robin. The Dynamic Duo fought for truth and justice alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. The teenaged sidekicks were Wendy and Marvin and their "Scooby," Wonder Dog. With animation, you were able to tell stories above and beyond the limitations of live action. The show came on around 7:00am or 7:30am so I’d have to make a point to wake up early enough to catch the animated Justice League. I did most Saturdays.

Mego Action Figures

By the time I was aware of things and asking for specific toys, Mego had begun producing dolls, er, action figures. I had quite a few of them. It's remarkable in this day and age when Marvel and DC are so separate to think that one company produced these dolls and often advertised with Batman and Spider-Man, to say nothing of Joker and The Lizard. Those dolls were fantastic because you got to make up your own stories.

And who didn't want Mego's The Batcave? It was too expensive for my family, but my mom took a cardboard box and created my own Batcave to play with. I can't remember my reaction back in the day, but I played with that thing. Who else's mom did the same thing?

Discovering Comics

Again, with the murkiness of time, I finally figured out that the Batman on TV was the same Batman I saw on comic books sitting in the spinner racks at grocery stores, drug stores, and corner convenience stores. My parents are readers so anything I read was likely good with them. And I devoured comics. It wasn't just Batman, but judging by the sheer number of Batman comics I still own, he was always my favorite.

Of all the titles, however, it was The Brave and the Bold that I enjoyed most. A staple of the 1970s, Brave and Bold was the team-up title where the Caped Crusader would join forces with another member of the DC Universe and battle some villain. With World's Finest teaming up Batman and Superman, this was my introduction to the wider character list DC had in the vaults.

Brave and Bold played a crucial role in solidifying, for me, my favorite Batman artist. Jim Aparo was the lead artist after a certain date. He drew most covers and most interiors. His was the name I first started associating with Batman, and it would be interesting those times when Aparo did the cover but some other artist did the interior work. He drew Batman as a lean fighting figure, with just enough of a cape to be fearsome but not overly dramatic.

By the late 70s and into the 80s, the growth of comic stores meant I didn't have to rely on a nearby Stop n Go to maybe have the latest issue. Here in Houston, it was Roy's Memory Shop over on Bissonett. A couple of years ago, I got to meet the man himself. No doubt my story was much like others he heard.

Batman Grows Up

One of the reasons I like my history of Batman during my specific lifetime was when I hit the higher teen years, Batman got darker. In 1986, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was published. It was a massive hit. For better or worse, it showed a "real world" Batman who did what he likely always did if only you stopped to think about it. When he fought, he broke hands and arms. Gone, seemingly, was the other famous nickname, The Dark Knight Detective. Here was a brute of a man ready to punch out the lights of anyone who crossed him.

Seriously, can you imagine this image being published at any other time?

Frank Miller's story, along with his Year One tale, ushered in the dark phase of Batman's career. It also brought us our first major motion picture.

Batman 1989

I have written before about the massive pop culture moment the 1989 Batman film was. In the spring of 1989, I snatched up everything in the newsstands about this movie. Starlog magazine ran a feature story. Heck, I saw the first Bill and Ted's movie just because the trailer ran before it.

I worked in a movie theater that glorious summer of 1989. Ever since then, the true Batman Day for me is June 23. Here's my take. Thanks Michael Uslan!

On television, the excellent Batman: The Animated Series debuted. Taking Tim Burton's vibe from his two movies, this was a dark version of Batman, but, crucially, it retained lighter elements. There's a reason why many folks consider this version of Batman to be definitive on screen.

The Burton era segued into the Joel Schumacher era. I enjoyed Batman Forever--especially Jim Carrey's Riddler--but the fourth film, Batman and Robin, even I didn't like at the time. It got me to thinking: If this is the kind of Batman movie they're going to make, then just don't make any. They didn't for a few years. Then Batman returned to the screen.

Christopher Nolan's Batman

By 2005, I was only buying the major titles in the comics, usually in trade paperback editions. With the cover prices going up--and the writer's desire to tell good stories that took up many issues--it was a more cost-effective way to consume Batman stories. Besides, much of the way Batman was portrayed was the grim, unsmiling Bat-God who could anticipate anyone's next dozen moves. Some of the stories were great (Hush) while others I can barely remember.

But there was a new movie on the horizon and it looked great. Batman Begins snuck up on people, especially seeing as how the title character didn't even appear on screen until the halfway mark. But when he did, it was one of my favorite Bat-Scenes. It was from the point of view of the villains as the Batman makes his first appearance in Gotham. It was brilliant, but not as brilliant as the next film.

The Dark Knight was a masterpiece. My wife is not a huge comic-book movie fan, but she loves The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger's Joker commands the screen, but everyone else delivered a stellar performance. It was so good, Nolan should have just stopped. But, of course, they made a third. Shrug.

Up To Today

For the past decade, Batman and I have walked parallel paths. The animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold TV show reminded everyone that a humorous Batman is still okay and can live side-by-side with his darker version, both on screen and on page.

I was fine with Ben Affleck as Batman, but the movies he was in weren't great. Although that sequence of him taking out that room full of goons in Dawn of Justice was spectacular.

Comics-wise, Scott Snyder's The Court of Owls run was stellar. Completely loved it, especially considering we got something brand-new that fit in the universe in the seventh decade of the character's existence. I've enjoyed Tom King's run on the character, but I've only read here and there.

Maybe it's my age, but I'm ready for there to be another lighter Batman. He can stand next to the grim avenger we have now, but the pendulum's got to swing sometime, right?

A Batman For Everyone

If this little history does nothing else, it proves there's a type of Batman for everyone. You want the Bright Knight? Adam West is your guy. Ditto for the animated Brave and Bold. Want the dark grim avenger of the night? Lots of choices. You can pick and choose anything you want.

But for me, there is no one true Batman. The character has reflected his times for eighty years. He has evolved, but not necessarily changed. The character Bill Finger and Bob Kane created in the latter days of the Great Depression lives on. The foundations are as solid as the rocks of the Batcave. What subsequent creators do with the template is where the magic happens.

Batman has been my favorite comic book character for my entire life, and I don't suspect that's going to change. It's been a great eighty years, and I'm looking forward to eighty more.


P.S., this post is the 900th post for this blog I started twelve years ago. Hard to believe. It's been a blast, and I thank you for reading.