“Yesterday’s” Comic> Ps238 #1

“Hey, there’s Straogale. I’ll say…oh. Nevermind.”

Ps238 #1

Do Gooder Press (March, 2003)

WRITER/ARTIST: Aaron Williams

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BW’s Daily Video> Did DCAU Batman Create His Villains?

Catch more from Implicitly Pretentious on YouTube

 

That Other Avatar Movie Series And Why It’s Hated

Most people that think of “Avatar” will think of the Avatar: The Last Airbender, whether it’s the amazing animated series or the terrible live-action attempts. The reason the movie was just called The Last Airbender is because James Cameron got the rest of the people (I don’t have actual math here, folks) with his movie and the sequel, Avatar: The Way Of Water. Both movies are praised for their animation and some even have positive things to say about the worldbuilding when it comes to the Na’Vi and the “plug and play” connection between “man” and “nature” of Pandora. Do people who even wasted time on this movie remember?

Regardless, nobody praises this movie’s story except for James Cameron, who is convinced these two movies are some of his best work. It isn’t. I have yet to hear anything positive said about the movie’s story or writing outside of the worldbuilding. I think Cameron spent so much time on his lore and his theme of anticolonialism that he forgot to make the story…what’s that word…good. The question is WHY is the story so bad?

Well, Henry Boseley of The Closer Look on YouTube thinks he has the answer. And the problem may come from how Cameron approached his anticolonialism and “we should all get back to nature” theme…done using mostly computer effects that probably had nothing to do with nature outside of simulating one that doesn’t exist in reality. In the following video, Henry goes over the issues with how Cameron approached his themes and why they don’t work.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Knuckles The Echidna #17

Everybody’s a hat critic.

Knuckles The Echidna #17

Archie Comics Publications (October, 1998)

“Deep Cover” part 1

WRITER: Ken Penders

PENCILER: Manny Galan

INKER: Andrew Pepoy

COLORIST: Barry Grossman

LETTERER: Vickie Williams

EDITOR: Justin Gabrie

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BW’s Daily Video> The Basics On The Transformers’ “Great War”

Catch more from Chris McFeely on YouTube

Personally I think the simple reasons for starting the war were the best. I don’t like the idea of evil Autobots unless it’s the Shattered Glass universe. It misses the themes of the two factions.

Sing Me A Story> The “El Paso” Trilogy

logo for the Sing Me A Story article series

It’s amazing the things I’ve learned just from researching this article series. Maybe it’s because I started Sing Me A Story I never really thought about music as storyteller, just something to dance to or have on in the background, usually the latter. Since that time I’ve seen country songs based on Norse mythology, bouncy tunes about serial killers inspired by a ballad opera, and learned that songs can have sequels, sometimes by the original artist and sometimes not.

We last saw Marty Robbins in this article series with a standalone tale, “Big Iron“, telling the story of an Arizona Ranger with a gun Dirty Harry would be proud of. This time he brings us three songs telling the story of a lovesick fool who shouldn’t have broken out his gun. “El Paso” is a song I mostly heard the first few bars of during one of those compilation album ads but knew there was a story behind it. I decided this round to look into that story and found two sequels. “El Paso” comes from the same album as “Big Iron”, Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs from 1959. Both appear to be the first album on their side of the record according to Wikipedia (question the source).

What I wasn’t expecting looking into this was that this song had not just one but two sequels, one from the point of view of the “Mexican girl” at the heart of the story and the third…wait, it’s a MODERN RETELLING? Are you messing with me, Wikipedia? Well, let’s dive into this trilogy and find out what’s what, starting with the original take, told from the point of view of the young fool in love with a dancer at a cantina.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Fraggle Rock #2 (Star)

It could be worse. She could have Afro Samurai coming after her. And that’s all I know about that show.

Fraggle Rock #2

Star Comics (Marvel; June, 1985)

“#1”…wait, #1 was last issue? Oh, that’s the title.

WRITER: Stan Kay

ARTIST: Marie Severin

LETTERER: Rick Parker

EDITOR: Sid Jacobson

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