“Did you really have to stop at the drive-thru?”
Star Blazers: The Magazine Of Space Battleship Yamato #4
Argo Press (February, 1996)
“The New Voyage” part 3
WRITER/ARTIST: Tim Eldred
COLORISTS/SPECIAL EFFECTS: John Ott & Tim Eldred
COVER ART/COLOR: Tim Eldred & E.M. Kane
TRANSLATION SERVICES: Enrent & Sumiko Migaki
VIDEO ARCHIVIST: Jerry Fellows
I don’t usually do the celebrity death reports here anymore but every now and then one comes along that hits me in the childhood. Jules Bass, of Rankin/Bass fame, recently passed away, following former working partner Arthur Rankin, Jr. Rankin/Bass will always be remembered for their Christmas specials, some of which I’ve done video reviews for and others I may do in the future if I do this long enough, but they also produced non-Holiday shows like the Jackson Five cartoon, ThunderCats, Silverhawks, and The Comic Strip, which included former Saturday Night Showcase entry Tigersharks. (Sadly I can’t find a replacement for the embeds.) They produced a good number of my childhood favorites, and I’m sure the favorites of others. So thank you to Misters Bass and Rankin for giving us some wonderful memories.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is basically what The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo should have been like…maybe toned down somewhat for ABC’s Saturday morning requirements, but still darker with less fourth-wall breaking. A lot less, but I’ve done that discussion already. What you may not know is that this isn’t the actual name of the gang. No, I don’t mean “Scooby-Doo Detective Agency” like in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, though that was the first time the gang was seen as actual detectives instead of four young people and a talking dog who come across villains using fear tactics to hide their criminal operations or seek revenge on people. “Mysteries Incorporated” used to be a programming block on Cartoon Network where Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, and shows that followed their style would be grouped. I believe the Boomerang version was called “Those Meddling Kids”, but more Scooby-centric. Somehow it became the unofficial name of the group until this series came out. That’s a little trivia from an old fogey.
I want it on record that I do not hate this show, I do not have any issues with this show in general (though I have my nitpicks) and my reason for not enjoying the show are entirely personal. I’ve only watched a few episodes and the series just never drew me in. For everything they did right there were a few things I wasn’t thrilled with. However, I fully understand people loving this incarnation and more power to you. It’s not an insult to the franchise but in its own way is a tribute to Scooby-Doo and shows like it while still being it’s own entity. So to speak. And the intro captures the show perfectly.
You’re not helping make the case that TV and video games don’t cause violence.
Sonic The Hedgehog #28
Archie Comics (November, 1998)
Sonic: “Saturday Night’s Alright For A Fight!”
WRITER: Ken Pender
PENCILER: Art Mawhinney
INKER: Rick Koslowski
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
LETTERER: Mindy Eisman
EDITOR: Scott Fulop
Tails: “Growing Pains” part 1
WRITER: Mike Gallagher
PENCILER: Dave Manak
INKER: Harvo
I’d say that it shares the colorist, letter, and editor, but editor notes are written by “Freddy”, which is not the name of the editor, managing editor, or editor-in-chief so I think they just missed a few credits
So in other words you took this…
the Tom Baker years
…and cleaned it up a bit? It’s the first Tom Baker logo (also used in the later John Pertwee series but this logo is usually considered Tom’s) with some new edging. I mean, it’s my favorite classic Who logo and it beats the last one (which wasn’t terrible, just kind of weak) but it makes me worry that Davies is pulling a JJ Abrams Star Wars Prequel gambit and using classic iconography to make fans who fell away from the disliked previous version feel like coming back. I still maintain that the Russel T. Davies run had more flaws than New Who fans want to admit but I would have rather seen a new logo rather than visiting old favorites, as some people believe is the reason Whittaker regenerated back into Tennant rather than moving ahead to Gatwa.
It’s going to take me forever to get that first name right. Sorry, sir. I’m American. Good luck in the role, though. Hope you’re actually given a good character to play. Whittaker’s problem was the writing and directing. My question is…if it’s ending up on Disney+ will there still be episodes on BBC America, will it move to Disney Channel, or is another geek icon headed behind the paywall?
At some point in television history the Warner Brothers owned The WB merged with Paramount’s UPN and formed the current The CW. CW For Kids was the Saturday lineup of that, the weekday cartoon lineup Kids WB and Fox Kids helped usher in at the expense of syndicated kids shows, was gone. (UPN opted for a Sunday block to not compete with the other networks…I guess figuring the VCR or DVR would keep them from fighting Sunday religious services, family gatherings, and sports.) It was here that our next Scooby series would be made.
Sadly what we got was Shaggy And Scooby-Doo Get A Clue, a show that went back to focusing on the chase like the later seasons of Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, only replacing the perky little puppy with something worse: lameness and a concept that would better fit an adaptation of the video game A Boy And His Blob than the adventures of everyone’s favorite talking dog and his hippie owner/best friend.
“If I ain’t in this issue, I’m gonna be on this cover!”
X-Men: The Manga #1
Marvel Comics (March, 1998)
WRITER/ARTIST: Hiroshi Higuchi
TRANSLATION: Mutsumi Masuda
RETOUCH/PRODUCTION: Dan Nakrosis
EDITOR: Glenn Greenberg
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
