Oh look, Smiling Skull is…can we call this back if this takes place before the first time we saw him?
Judomaster #92
Charlton Comics Group (December, 1966)
“Judomaster Meets The Smiling Skull”
WRITER/ARTIST: Frank McLaughlin
Sarge Steel: “The Case Of The Double Agent” part 2 (Harvey Dent would approve)
not listed but my guess is also Frank McLaughlin, who is also credited for this issue’s judo lessons
Continue watching this series on glib facsimile’s YouTube Channel. As for me, I’m finishing reading the guide tonight.
I tried doing this with WordPress’s “block editor” since it’s trying to phase out the classic one, which doesn’t work on this site but oddly does for The Clutter Reports as far as going directly to it without a pre-created link. I still have to learn how to format the way I like there. I only mention it to pad out the intro.
Last time, we saw that father and son don’t get along, as Paul’s Russian counterpart doesn’t have as much love from his kid as Paul did from his two. If you recall, when he had to rush back to Op-Center his kids, not even knowing about the details of the bombing if they knew about the bombing at all, were totally on his side, encouraging him to go stop the bad guys. Orlov’s son, on the other hand, is one of the bad guys even if he isn’t fully aware of Dogin’s plans. He’d probably be all in on it given what we learned.
Tonight’s chapter is a short one, at four pages. That barely works for me but I could use the time and the next chapter is average length, so let us head to the skies and check in on Striker. I hope their flight goes better than the Ruskies’ flight.
Soon the logo slaughtering will cease.
Break-Thru #2
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (January, 1994)
“The Secrets Of The Ultraverse!”
PLOT: Gerard Jones, Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, James D. Hudnall, Tom Mason, George Pérez, James Robinson, and Len Strazewski
WRITER: Gerard Jones
PENCILER: George Pérez
INKER: Al Vey
COLORISTS: Moose Baumann & Robert Alvrod
EDITORS: Hank Kanalz and Chris Ulm
Catch more from Comic Drake on YouTube
I remember looking up the Japanese intro to Filmation’s The New Adventures Of Superman, the show that basically launched Filmation as an independent animation studio. There were people from Japan in the comments who were saying that the show was a bit part of their childhood. Marvel clearly made the bigger push into Japan than DC has but that made me happy.
There’s a reason the culture war is a minor discussion topic on this storytelling discussion site.
There are people convinced in early 2025 that they’re seeing proof “woke media” is changing gears because the business owners don’t care and just see the money they’ve lost. I’m not so sure for a host of reasons I won’t get into here, and if you read this near the end of the year or beyond you know if they went underground or pushed back harder. I don’t think it’s going away, but BW Media Spotlight isn’t a culture site, it’s a review site. Even though the activists are a new problem, I’m focused on how they got in so that they don’t get back. Bad adaptations, people being the wrong choice for a project but got the job because they did this other thing successfully, creators with “better” ideas or want to attack this thing they didn’t like, and people who game the system to get their story out by fooling the right people (even fans who thought they were getting something they wanted) have been issues and these need to be addressed as well. It’s just the activists have highlighted the problems, but if all you see is “woke” you’re missing the larger problem.
Over at The Clutter Reports this week, I started one of those longer projects by organizing my personal files. This is already planned to be a multi-day project, but I was able to get far enough for this week’s report. Starting this and being a bit tired is why I forgot to do a Saturday Night Showcase this week. Sorry.
As I write this on Saturday night there is no new episode of DC Heroes United. Are they having trouble getting this out? At any rate this means even if I need a second day, we’re finishing the Star Trek writer’s guide’s Q&A section and finishing the entire guide. If they get one out by Tuesday’s post time, I think we’re still finishing the guide. There isn’t much left to the Q&A. There’s also the Chapter By Chapter review of Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image, which will probably take all winter at least. Plus whatever else I can find to discuss, the continuing comic reviews, and so on.
Have a great week, everyone!
That title is me taking a different perspective than the article writer. I’ve not watched a lot of 007 in action, but I have watched a lot of classic Battlestar Galactica, and really enjoy it. So while writer A.H. Lloyd wrote a commentary for Bleeding Fool about how changing James Bond too much alters the character, like gender swaps, he uses the namesake Battlestar Galactica as his example of how a character is changed in that way. Note for some of you out there that he takes issue with Ellen/Elliot Page’s transition, so if that bothers you just skip that paragraph and read the rest because it does make a good case. If that doesn’t bother you, ignore the last sentence.
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
BW Media Spotlight 