Am I Evil? The Graphic Novel

Announcement! I’m working with a team of incredible Comic Book industry professionals to create a Graphic Novel based on the legendary Heavy Metal song, “Am I Evil?” Songwriters Brian Tatler and Sean Harris of Diamond Head have given their blessing. The Kickstarter campaign will begin in January 2020.

The Pre-Sale site: Am I Evil? The Graphic Novel

Yes I am!

1,029 thoughts on “Am I Evil? The Graphic Novel

  1. If the next mmmeetup is in Canada (since I won’t know if I can travel until late April, I’m all for it happening here), I wonder if I should invite Derek & Jim to our Saturday evening follies.

    • I would love to meet those guys IRL. And Ryan Hall, if possible!

      The talk for next year is to do Archon in St. Louis, but final decisions still need to be made.

      • I’m not keen on Archon, mainly because not only do we need to we tickets for the convention we also have to get hotel rooms as well before they sell out.

        So many balls in the air, so much chance of them landing all over the floor.

        Still if that is is what the majority want.

          • Ah, see. I assumed it would be here based on the discussion on the Brand New Day thread (that’s when I spoke to hubby about it). The pandas would still be here and all.
            *shrug* I’m fine either way. The Archon dates should work for me.

          • I need to get my passport, but I need to get my passport anyway. Non-issue.

            I’m casting no vote at this time, but I’d lean toward the destination that will get the most attendees.

  2. Well, it’s live on Facebook now.

    BTW, no one who hangs here need feel pressure to pitch in money. And I’ve said, the Kickstarter is where it gets really intense.

    • As I said, I’ll do promotion on my FB once the Kickstarter is up.
      I know a few people who would kick my butt if I didn’t promote/support it 😉

    • Same page = us. I’m stoked to go live with the website, but it’s still just the pre-sale. The Kickstarter will be the “Jesus take the wheel” moment.

      Any and all support is greatly appreciated, from thoughts and prayers to word of mouth to contributions.

    • I also had a bee link to share yesterday! – – but didn’t, because it was too long a read.

      The TL;DR summary: bees talk at the end of the day about the stuff they did and saw that day.

  3. I’ve been meaning to talk about William Goldman’s actual book, “The Princess Bride.” I finished it a few weeks back, and really enjoyed the ride. Even though I basically have the movie memorized, the book had a lot of fun little differences and scenes.

    Goldman frequently speaks directly to the reader throughout the book, and does a lot of leg-pulling – – and I fell for a lot of it. Well done.

      • While I watched, I’d see things and say to my self, “Oh, that is so very bad…” But typical of those situations, people see what they expect to see. After the episode the writers and director had some commentary–I haven’t listened to the podcast–but one thing stuck with me: the moment when they say delusions triumphed.

    • Their best of the decade lists have been peak hipster. I was shocked to find myself approving of their number 1 choice.

      That movie is a masterpiece.

  4. Crap joke for the day:

    Man walks up to a farmers house, knocks on the door. When a woman opened the door, the man ask if she knew how to have sex. Not amused, she slammed the door. Again, the man knocked, again, asked the same question. Again, not amused, she screamed get the hell away. Later, she told her husband of the incident. he said he would stay home the following day just in case.Sure enough, the next day the same man returned. The husband hid with his gun while the lady answered the door. When she was asked again if she knew how to have sex, she said yes. The man replied, great, give some to your husband the next time you see him , and tell him to keep away from my wife.

    • Housing here is an absolute crisis. These 450 voices aren’t going to mean a thing one way or the other. Pro-affordable, diverse, multi-family housing or pro-single home, expensive, “family” living… wherever the money is is where developers will always go.

      And I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. I can tell you right now. Neither side will get what they want. What will go up will be luxury hi-rises that not only are not affordable but will push out the residents already there. It’s a great time to try and live in this city

  5. The problem with the damn pop music these kids listen to is that it’s so effectively catchy. Some because it’s well-written, some because it’s designed by committee to infect your brain and make you want to hear more, some a combination of the two.

  6. I finished Chernobyl last night and the podcast today, including the bonus episode with Jared Harris. Wow. It’s probably one of the best things I’ve watched in a while. Now I have to find some time to read “Midnight in Chernobyl”.

  7. Crap joke for the day:

    A married man goes to confessional and tells the priest, “I had an affair with a woman – almost.” The priest says, “What do you mean, ‘almost’?”The man says, “Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but then I stopped.”The priest replies, “Rubbing together is the same as putting it in. You’re not to go near that woman again. Now, say five Hail Mary’s and put $50 in the poor box.”The man leaves confessional, goes over and says his prayers, then walks over to the poor box. He pauses for a moment and then starts to leave.The priest, who was watching him, quickly runs over to him and says, “I saw that. You didn’t put any money in the poor box!”The man replied, “Well, Father, I rubbed up against it and you said it was the same as putting it in!”

  8. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 is still a hoot, though on my second viewing, I’m declaring it inferior to the first GotG. After seeing it in the theater, I’d thought they were pretty equal.

    This was the first of the MCU that really felt like a live-action comic book story arc to me, as opposed to a traditional movie-sized story.

  9. President Trump has decided he, like other presidents before him, will pardon a turkey….

    …but it’s only going to be the white meat this year

  10. Deadpan Secret Santa – Call for Participants!
    (Crossposted here and on the Facebook group)

    Once again, I volunteer to coordinate the annual Deadpan Secret Santa Gift Exchange. Signups open right now and close next Monday, Dec. 2 at 9:00 PM US Central time. You can sign up by:
    – Replying to this comment
    – Messaging me on FB Messenger OR
    – Sending an email to amybowenwrites AT G mail dot com.
    (Second or third options preferred if I don’t already have your shipping address and you need to send it to me.)

    Gift recipient assignments will be made sometime on Dec. 3 or 4. Gifts for my Secret Santa exchanges typically range between $10 and $25 USD. Thanks for signing up, and Happy Holidays!

  11. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates. And happy Thursday to everyone who doesn’t.

    I actually usually don’t overeat, but this year, I stuffed myself.

  12. So I’m watching episode 4 of THAT show.

    How does he eat?

    Gina Carano in armour that doesn’t sexualise her!

    Baby Yoda walls like a thunderbird puppet

  13. So it appears some SW fans are not happy the Gina Carano character was being heroic in that battle scene from episode 4.

    The world is mad..

  14. Seeing the heavy weather reports from all around. Try to be careful out there, everyone.

    (It’s a high of 70 degrees in Scottsdale/Phoenix today)

    • I’m sure I’ve posted my feelings before about the Phantom Menace. I walked out thinking it was good/not great. I liked Darth Maul, Pod Racing and the giant fishes and over the years Jar Jar doesn’t bother me so bad, I just wish he was featured less prominently. The plot was a little confusing and the acting wooden throughout. The battle sequence on Naboo looked pretty bad. But certainly didn’t hate it and I was happy that the world of Star Wars was expanding.

  15. You know, while I don’t follow all the various internet phenomenon closely, I like to think I’m at least reasonably aware of things. That said, I’ve apparently managed to make it until today before ever hearing of “Lil Bub.”

  16. Today’s movie is The Influence
    The Netflix elevator pitch: Back in her childhood home to help her sister care for their comatose mother, Alicia must face a dark force from her past that now threatens her child

  17. Watched the first episode of the ‘The Servant’ on AppleTV.

    Very creepy but the ending of the first episode was very predictable,

  18. https://film.avclub.com/endgame-is-cinema-a-thrill-ride-and-the-fitting-culmi-1839675738

    I disagree with a few of his opinions: Thor – The Dark World is not a piece of shit, Captain Marvel is better than “rote and pointless,” Spider-Man: Far From Home is not as good as the first (though it’s good), I liked Into the Spider-Verse a lot, but I don’t agree that it’s one of the best superhero movies ever made, and I agree with his comments on Joker, but I didn’t *hate* it.

    But his take on Endgame and its place in culture – as well as his comments on Scorsese – are spot on.

  19. I keep forgetting that getting to bed way too late, getting shitty sleep, and then getting up way too early – – not a winning combination.

  20. Stray observations from the past few days:

    King Diamond puts on a hell of a live show.

    The whole “meet the dad” sequence in Spider-Man: Homecoming is just off-the charts tension.

    Domino’s pizza is trash.

    • T-Bird and I just finished “End Game” on our MCU rewatch. “Far From Home” will complete it. Good stuff. I’ll have to follow up with what rose in ranks and what fell on a rewatch.

  21. It’s interesting that my second choice for SS gift is available through Amazon Canada but not Amazon US. I wonder how long it would take to ship from from AC to AU?

  22. Just finished watching last season of Man in the high castle. Was a really good season but I found the ending confusing and unsatisfactory

  23. last night I watched ‘In Tall Grass’ film on Netflix. Not a great fan of horror but this one was not too shabby and a running time of 1 hr and 41 minutes it didn’t outstay it’s welcome.

        • False. This is the first time I’ve complained about an episode. You, sir, are complaining every single day about the length.

          The villain was pointless. I’m afraid that the show has gone from a great arc to new a guest star/villain/friend of the week. But it seems I’m in the minority with this episode. A majority of folks Im reading liked this one much more than last week. I thought last week’s was one of the best of the young season.

          It’s not a spoiler to re-state Jon Favraeuvueuvere’s comments that an inspiriation is Lone Wolf and Cub. This was definitely in that vein but it’s an unfortunate throw away episode. And to Vanny’s point – with these ep’s being only around a half hour long, one miss of an episode is a big chunk of change.

  24. Ok, maybe it’s just because it is late … but I found this on twitter and some of the replies have me laughing so hard I think I am waking people up.
    It was posted by the official Netflix corporate account –
    ”what’s something you can say during sex but also when you manage a brand twitter account?“

    SO many brands replied!
    It’s funny just imagining some corporate media manager asking for permission to reply.

  25. Crap joke for the day:

    After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, Canadian scientists found
    traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that
    their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.

    Not to be outdone by their neighbours, in the weeks that followed, an American Archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story was published in the New York Times: “American archaeologists, finding traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their Ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the Canadians”.

    One week later, the British authorities reported the following:
    “After digging as deep as 30 feet in North Yorkshire, Jack Arkwright, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely f*** all.
    Jack has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Britain had already gone wireless.”

  26. Hmmmm. I think I am in the middle ground of everyone’s thoughts on this week’s episode of Mando.

    There more elements I disliked than liked, but meh – not every episode can be orgasmic, amirite?

  27. Non-spoiler chime-in on the latest Mandalorian episode: the new supporting characters were all kinda hit-or-miss for me, but it was still pretty solid, with enough of the little satisfying Star Wars moments to keep me fully engaged. Mostly.

    That said, this episode is exactly why I would prefer that the episodes weren’t released on a delay. It hinted at bigger story arc developments, but it also didn’t feel much like the story had moved forward with this one. I’d love another episode right away to move things along.

    • In this case I’d probably agree with you. The more I watch the less I like this episode. The writing was awful and the plot holes were giant (plot holes in Star Wars??? NOOOOOOOOOOO).

      That being said I still like the weekly releases. I don’t remember anyone saying that they wished GoT or Breaking Bad or even dumb dumb Walking Dead were released en mass

    • I read a few of them. They were in the same lines as Robert Asprin’s Thieves World books in that there were many authors writing in the same universe. Except Wild Cards were more like super heroes instead of straight up fantasy. I enjoyed the ones I read – in both series actually

  28. I really dislike the trend in this year’s Christmas commercials where a kid tries to blackmail Santa or other such shenanigans to get their way at Christmas. This seems anti-Christmas to me

  29. So it appears that all the main actors (except Adam Driver) in the Last Jedi are taking a dump on the film before the new SW flick gets released.

    Sigh.

      • If pressed, I’d go with:

        1. Draconian – Sovran
        2. Devin Townsend Project – Deconstruction
        3. Ghost – Meliora
        4. Oceans of Slumber – The Banished Heart
        5. Cellar Darling – The Spell

        • 1. Draconian – Sovran
          2. In Flames – Siren Charms
          3. Cellar Darling – This is the Sound
          4. Chelsea Wolfe – Hiss Spin
          5. Ghost – Prequelle

          • Excellent point, Lo Pan. Those artists are going to rule the roaring 20s. (Well, Ghost will. No one knows who the fuck Cellar Darling are).

            I’m delighted that Rhett and I agree on Draconian.

          • In metal the last 10 years should be titled “The Decade of Women”, as the majority of the best metal bands of the 2010’s were fronted by women.
            Heike Langhans, Anna Murphy, Kimberly Freeman, Dominique Persi, and Tobias Forge, 10 years of great feminine vocals.

  30. I cannot even compute what is happening right now. I feel so f*ckin helpless for my dear dear dear friend – sister, you might say, and her family right now.

    • It’s actually a pretty neat 1:50 video. It;s worth watching.

      Still doesnt make me look forward to this one. It’s gonna be a awful mess of JJ Abrams trying to “fix” the “mistakes” of TLJ. It’s gonna be safe with it’s choices like Force Awakens. Big pile of BOOOOOOO.

      If it’s not I’ll happily eat my words and Van’s shoe.

  31. Well looking like the UK has went to the extreme right.

    We are well and truly fucked.

    Glad my parents never got to see the bullshit or have to the suffer the consequences.

  32. I’d love to get other people’s thoughts on their favorite albums since 1/12010. Doesn’t have to be Metal, or a Top 5. Just great recent releases.

    • I haven’t bought much that came out only during this year, but my favorites would be Of Monsters And Men’s “Fever Dream” and Mattiel’s “Satis Factory”.

    • So I apparently don’t buy albums any more … or even music.
      I do listen to radio over the Internet but really only Colorado Public radio’s “Open Air” which rarely does anything that might be “hard rock”
      For these reasons, there have only been two songs that stuck out for me this year (enough for me to know the artist and song)
      Jade Bird’s – “Uh Huh” So I apparently don’t buy albums any more … or even music.
      I do listen to radio over the Internet but really only Colorado Public radio’s “Open Air” which rarely does anything that might be “hard rock”
      For these reasons, there have only been two songs that stuck out for me this year (enough for me to know the artist and song)
      Jay Bird’s – “Uh Huh” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bVNViJjjMiM

      The other was from very early in the year and she isn’t getting airplay anymore so I can’t think of her name at the moment. Some girl that had worked on a song with Prince. The song sound a lot like a Prince tune.
      Maybe it is Prince that I like?

    • Adele-25
      Caspian – Dust and Disquiet
      Frozen Soundtrack
      Chris Stapleton – Traveller
      Taylor Swift – 1989
      Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

  33. Tonight’s Mandalorian episode was yes yes yes a thousand times yes. Everything last week wasn’t this week was. This is what I wanted from the Star Wars television show. What fun!

    • The final season was pretty rushed, with a lot of convenient plot elements added and subtracted solely to this thing across the finish line. And yeah, that final bit was very much “confusing and unsatisfying.”

      Still, a decent show. Every season had ups and downs.

      • I’m curious about the “confusing and unsatisfying” aspect that keeps coming up. I stopped watching the series after season 1 because it was deviating too much from the book. So I can’t really judge for myself. But, aren’t Philip K. Dick novel endings, by definition and design, confusing and unsatisfying? Were they simply trying to stay true to the ambiguous nature of Dick’s writing and modern audiences don’t like that kind of thing or is it confusing in a much worse way?

        • Without giving spoilers, it’s hard to talk about the last episode. But, it wasn’t really in the vein of PKD style. It was more Huh? I don’t understand.

        • Got it. Not Dick purposefully vague, but rather not-well-thought-out-vague. The PKD tone being absent from the get-go was why I stopped after the first season. Looks like I made the right choice. Likely a great series. Just would have been impossible to watch knowing what I thought was coming and knowing that I wouldn’t get it.

    • I finished it up yesterday and felt much the same. I read that season 4 had a different show runner from the 1st three and the Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa wasn’t available for season 4. I think those two were big factors in why this latest season felt so “off” in my opinion, compared to the previous three.

      I enjoyed several elements of season 4, but I don’t think the ending really followed naturally from the rest of the season.

    • Pretty great, actually! Highly recommended.

      And he even throws a jab at RLM. Who apparently did do a pale shadow of their best old stuff against TLJ.

    • Thank goodness. I’ve had the web site tab pinned for months, refreshing it every day waiting for it to come back.

      The article has some good tidbits and an actual interview with Larson. Well worth reading.

  34. So the big reviewers are hitting The Last Jedi today with a decidedly… “meh, it’s fine”. Not bad. Not great. Just there.

    Thanks again for playing it all safe, JJ.

  35. Okay, that montage of the droid being found and repaired was bloody pointless and could have been achieved with one line of dialogue.

    Gina Carano flexing her muscles though…

  36. Officially impeached. Not that it’s gonna matter since that droopy assfaced McConnell said there’s not a chance in hell Trump will be removed, but it’s still historic.

    Of the 3 presidents ever impeached, 2 have been in our lifetime. Methinks it’s gonna become a more common practice

  37. The republicans have telegraphed their next move. If gerrymandering and the electoral college and hackers ever allow another Democrat President, they’ll begin impeachment proceedings on the day of swearing in.

    Still, ineffective as it will ultimately be, History will show that some of us stood up to a bully con artist criminal would-be dictator in some fashion.

    • Yep.
      I think that is the point here. We want our kids and their kids to be able to look back and know that someone did something. Even if it didn’t work and there is no coming back from this charge to authoritarianism, there were some who said “No”.

      As for the Republicans threat that from here on out, every President will be under a microscope, I say “Well isn’t it about time.”

      300 million Americans and your trying to tell me there isn’t ONE single qualified leader who lives a life above reproach? I’m not buying that. The math says there has to at least be a few.

      • Yes, hold every President highly accountable for their misdeeds.

        What republicans are signalling is that if a new non-repub president is elected and sworn in at 12:00pm on January 21st, impeachment proceedings will begin at 12:01pm on January 21st.

  38. This holiday season… jeeeesus. IT’s impossible this year.

    Maybe we’ll try for “Happy New Year” cards instead. Cause the Xmas ones ain’t happening

  39. Ok so I’ve watched the first three episodes of the new season of the Expanse, has the actor playing Holden had an op on his throat cos his voice sounds different from S3.

  40. My mom

    For Christmas I thought I’d do something unique and had something sent to her from the Mysterious Package Company. A murder mystery/horror
    Mom got it today and thought it was real so she took the package to the police. They had to tell her what it really was.

    She called me to say “thanks” for the very real scare

    My mom, giving in to the blond Stereotype.

    This is what I gave her

    https://mysteriouspackage.com/collections/catalogue/products/the-weeping-book

  41. OK, why isn’t my Deadpan Secret Santa reporting that they received their gift? Did the order get screwed up? Does Wayne Brady have to choke a bitch?

  42. In other news, my internet and land line have been out for at least the last 3 hours.
    They are “looking into a possible outage in our area.”
    Swell.
    I have a design project I want to work on but I can’t because the software utilizes “The Cloud”.
    Frack the cloud.
    Might be slower to have the software on my system but “slower” beats “non existent” every time.

  43. So, we caught “The Rise of Skywalker” this afternoon. Overall, I found it satisfying and an improvement over “The Last Jedi”.

    Yes, there is a lot of “fan service”

    Yes, it walks back a lot of “The Last Jedi”

    But, I do think this one was probably the most successful of these three movies to be an honest to gods actual Star Wars movie.

    The from Texas Family approves this message.

  44. So watched the season finale of ‘For All Mankind’ last night.

    The finale was great and left me looking forward to season 2.

    The best if the new series on AppleTV+

  45. Saw Rise of Skywalker today. I was 7, 10, and 13 when the original trilogy came out. I felt about those movies a way that I will simply never be able to feel about a movie (let alone a Star Wars movie) now. I can’t watch them the same way. I feel like this was the closest they were going to be able to come to that for me and the best ending I was ever going to get. I enjoyed it as much as any recent Star Wars Movie. With the “just saw it without time to process yet” filter, I would put it far above Last Jedi, comfortably above Han Solo, slightly (ever so slightly) above Force Awakens, and slightly below Rogue One.

  46. In the theater for the new Star Wars! This one is really strange. It seems to be focused heavily on the Wookiees, and they’re all slinky and dancing around and singing. Definitely a weird way to close out the trilogy.

  47. Repost.. sorry

    Please dont forget the “################################################################” before your comments in the RoS chat. SOme of us won’t be able to see it for some time.

    Thanks

    • E.g:
      ####################################################################
      ####################################################################
      ####################################################################

      I never imagined that Jar Jar’s tongue would be able to do that!!

      • I’d be interested to know how McMillian distributes physical books to libraries. Ebooks are generally restricted to the number of licences a library buys. Therefore, much like a physical book, a library only has a certain number of eBook “copies”.
        Does this mean McMillian only allows libraries to purchase a single copy of their print books too? If so, I’m surprised there wasn’t pushback earlier.

        • I may have misinterpreted, but I got the impression that libraries aren’t buying anything at all from MacMillian.

          But yeah, I think a segment of the population has long resented this public institution that allows people to get something for “free.” If no one is getting bloat rich on it, then it must be bad.

  48. Speaking of free books, I spotted a Robert E Howard book on Gutenberg that I’d never read. I’ve always been a fairly casual fan.
    I’m enjoying it for what it is, but goddamn, Howard – – racist much?

  49. So tonight, in the spirit of Xmas I watched a film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

    The Man with the Iron Heart, on Prime video. Bitb of a strange choice concentrating on RH himself for the main part of the film.

  50. We watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” last night, since my mom was visiting. Old movies take their time in ways that are jarring to modern audiences. The movie is still powerful. Jimmy Stewart was amazing.

    • While looking up this list on my phone – I cannot even decipher any of the titles just by looking at the teeny, tiny, so small thumbnail poster.

      :-/

    • Anna and the Apocalypse was pretty good and somewhat different. Same for Rare Exports. Just re-watched Christmas Evil (1980) this year. It was far too slow. Some of the Krampus movies are OK and some are truly horrible. Most I have seen and promptly forgotten because I watch so many horror movies they all just blend together.

  51. Merry Christmas, Pannites!

    I hope your day is full of fun, laughter, joy, innocence, dogs that aren’t barking through the *entire* night, and presents!!!

    • Speaking of which … we’ve just finished our Christmas Breakfast of sausage/egg casserole and ice cream sodas!

      Christmas naps are surely in the offing.

    • Well, I certainly can’t agree with any list of “worst Mavel films” that has the original Captain America movie on it. That one still remains one of my favorites.

      I can agree with Hulk – it just wasn’t quite developed enough to really fit into the MCU.

      I’d probably put the 2nd Avengers movie on the list – Age of Ultron. I mean, how long was this age – like 2 weeks? I would definitely put this one near the bottom of my list, though I didn’t even hate it.

      • I watched the Ed Norton Hulk on Netflix DVD when it first came out. Didn’t hate it back then, but I don’t remember anything really about it. I might like it less if I ever bothered to rewatch.

        FWIW: I do think that Iron Man 2 is the only bad MCU film, and even that has its moments.

  52. Connected like Sinatra! I had a connection hook us up with free passes to the new Medieval Times in AZ. Cracking good time. I haven’t been since 2007.

    • Those specials were a BIG part of my childhood. They also were VERY edgy for their time. Hard to believe, given on how “wholesome” and mild manor they are.
      A lot of biting social satire in them for their day.

  53. OK so here’s a fun one.
    I was participating in the festive season tradition of filling out a living will and in the section where it talked about what would constitute me being permanently unconscious there was a space for additional instructions. So I added that after the medical stipulations had been met, the entire album “Flood” by They Might Be Giants should be played to me in whatever format was applicable for the situation and that if I showed any response, my proxy and the doctors should revisit my diagnosis …otherwise they were free to pull the plug.
    Frankly, If just about any song from that album is playing it’s nearly impossible for me to not sing along or at least tap my toes.

    I wondered if this was going to cause a problem but all it really did was get all of the lawyers in the office talking about what album THEY would want played for them!

    So my question to all of you, what album (Not just a song because it might take a while to get through to your subconscious and jump start your neural network), would you want played for you? What album would you agree that if IT didn’t elicit SOME response from you … you just weren’t coming back?

  54. Unlike Rambo: Last Blood (trusting fully in TEB’s review), Thor: Ragnarok is still a blast, even on second viewing.

    And of all the MCU movies, this is also the only one that rewards two great Marvel comics storylines I’ve read: Planet Hulk and the escape from Hel of 1980s Thor comics.

  55. Finished Expanse S4. This was the least of the 4 seasons so far, but still really good stuff. No jumping of any sharks, just a few meh storylines filling time between the superb ones. This is still the best show going right now, imho.

  56. I really enjoyed The Expanse S4.

    Amos is still my favorite cgaracter and I adore how true to his (whacked?) self they keep his character.

    Do we need a spoilers thread for this one?

    • Saw that in my feed today. My dad was a big fan of Mead, as they had both graduated from Art Center in Pasadena. We have several of his art books and DVDs, and my dad got the chance to talk with him after a lecture he attended. His influence lives one.

  57. Replacing a fridge for the new year doesn’t seem that bad anymore. My Boo is out of town until Friday. Her home caught fire. It was small so More smoke damage than anything else but the pets and her man have to stay at his sisters for a few days while things get cleaned up. Also, dealing with insurance.
    It’s been an interesting holiday season so far

    • Just heard from my Boo. Dog got a lot of smoke inhalation damage. I won’t be doing Ny DP travelling this year. Eat bills are in the thousands of dollars so, of course I’m helping out. Still keeping an eye on things as, regardless, if things don’t improve for the dog, a tough decision may need to be made

  58. So, to sum up my holidays:
    I gave a gift to mom that scared her enough she went to the police, my fridge died, and my kids is out of the house for a few days and possibly down two pets from a fire.
    I think I’m looking forward to the holidays being over

    • Yeah, that gets to the point where it isn’t funny anymore. 🙁 Sorry, Bunny. I hope the arbitrary calendar change tonight brings about a change for the better for you.

    • As my sister said, “THAT was a beautiful film!”
      I agree.
      For some reason it only played in one theatre In my area. I had to drive 20 minutes to see it. So glad I did.

  59. Nice to see air travel pricing is still fucked up where it’s more expensive going to a particular airport and back again then heading home from a nearby airport.

  60. To that end:

    Last I heard, we had narrowed down the 2020 MMMmmmeetup to
    St Louis
    Calgary
    Denver
    ???

    I’ll send out a SurveyMonkey when I can.

  61. Finished the first season of The Witcher this morning. Definite four thumbs up from the from Texases. I was impressed how well if followed the first two short story collection books.

    Though, I did have to explain several things to my wife along the way with the multiple time lines and some additional info from the books.

    Looking forward to season 2 and getting into the story of the main sequence novels.

    And, having finished The Witcher, and The Mandalorian, this is most timely

    https://youtu.be/DfjUHEISnL0

    • I’ve never played or read anything Witcher-related, so I’m not sure if it’s for me. Was that also the case with Mrs From Texas?

      I’m seeing that people who were already fans are almost all digging it.

      • My wife had no exposure to it before we started watching the show. I finally “read” the books in the last couple of months in anticipation. I’ve never played any of the games for whatever reason. The show seems to follow the book universe more so than the game version.

        The wife started the first episode over today to now that she understands it all and wants to catch some of the early references. I think she’s probably even more into the new series that I am.

        I was somewhat skeptical of Henry Cavill as Geralt – however, he is clearly as much a fan of the books and games as he says and has really made me believe he IS Geralt.

        I will say, the first couple of episodes can be somewhat confusing without the book background that I have. They drops pretty strong hints about what it going on if you are paying attention, but it’s not as straight forward as it could be for an introduction to these characters. I blame Westworld.

        • I heard the show was going to follow the books more than the games. It’s been so long since I read the books, I’ll probably reread them so it’s them and not the games that are freshest in my mind

  62. I just realized I never thanked my Deadpan Secret Santa, who, I’m presuming, is the one who sent me the personalized Christmas ornament of my cat. (That’s the only gift I got that I don’t know who sent it to me.) Thank you!

    Also – Ed, I was just watching the Tournament of Roses Parade and I saw the Pearland marching band was there! I don’t think you had a kid in the parade this year (unless I’m wrong?), but I’m pretty sure you know people who do, so congratulations! 🙂

  63. The Witcher I’m enjoying even though I’ve never read the books or played the games.

    S4 of the Expanse was great, roll on S5.

    The new season of Doctor Who got off to a good start.

    Last day of my holidays..ugh!

  64. I’ve been enjoying The Witcher series. I’ve watched up to episode 3 so far, but it took a little too long to figure out where each of the threads were set in the timeline. It’s been a while since I read any of the books. T Cat isn’t enjoying it as much since it is a little “grim dark” but episode 3 she found more enjoyable than the first 2.

  65. I’m 1/3 through Philip Kerr’s “March Violets” , the first book in his Berlin Noir trilogy, which is brilliant, so far. And, though it was published in 1989 about pre WWII Nazi Germany , it reads as a terrifying, horrifying commentary on the US and Britain in 2020.

      • Long story.
        My youngest progeny is a prolific artist, dabbling in any medium she can get her hands on (desperately wants a forge ).
        Last summer I mentioned that one of her “cryptid” drawings would make an excellent nightlight. Thus started a long process of making it into something we could 3D print and THEN she tells me we could sell these on Etsy.
        Well … it’s has been a GREAT project for getting to spend real quality time with her AND she has learned a LOT about commerce ( “I’ll sell it on Etsy” is a MAJORLY oversimplified statement).

        Then Nana left her “old” embroidery machine with us and the idea was to turn another of her drawings into a patch.
        So … Im padding my resume and could get one of the sweeter positions in a sweatshop!

    • Neat! One of my cosplay goals for this year is a hand-embroidered cape (the one from Leia’s Cloud City dinner outfit). Granted, I plan to hand-embroider over a pre-printed design, but still. I’ve only ever done cross-stitch projects before, so I just now looked, and there is an Instructables page as well as a “Needlecrafts for Dummies” book. I’m sure both will come in handy.

    • Dune is actually the first audiobook that I bought when I got on that bandwagon a long time ago. As I recall, it has a multiperson cast for the different major parts.

      Honestly, I don’t know if I know how to read a physical book anymore.

    • So did that show up in your recommendations based on all the searches you’ve been doing for “offbeat instruments of the 11th century A.D.”? Or the searches you were doing for (my personal favorite) “girls with long hair, black leather jackets and eastern European accents“ .

    • The hurdy gurdy is fascinating! It’s also arguably the lead instrument for Folk Metal band, Cellar Darling. Too tired to listen now, but I’m excited to dig it tomorrow.

  66. Ok! One sentence non spoiler the Rise of Skywalker review!

    I would rather watch my own mother beg for her life then watch this movie again

    • Addendum! My own daughter, who thought that the Last Jedi was terrible and Solo was one of the greatest films ever, thought this film was abhorrent. If nothing else… if NOTHING else her and I will have this togetherness to the grave. And for that I guess RoS was good for something

        • I think I’m ok. I know we’re allowed to say what we want here and to respectfully disagree but my hatred for this film may become ugly if I hit the spoiler page. Ultimately the great thing is that it doesn’t matter. Your love for it will remain and that’s super cool and my wanting to slit my own wrists for seeing it will remain.

          • That phrase means “Don’t be shitty to someone for liking something you don’t.” And I wouldnt do that. It doesnt mean I’m not allowed not to like something just cause others do.

          • Agreed. This space should be safe for people to vent about media/art people they love or hate, without feeling persecuted about it.

            And TBH, I won’t shut down any debate (unless it gets snipey), but I don’t feel the need to go back-and-forth on why that one scene about Kylo’s PB&J sandwich was meaningful/nonsensical. We can disagree civilly and laugh about it.

            In short, attack the film (if you must), don’t attack the people who like it. But always always be careful with spoilers.

  67. We finished the first season of The Witcher over the weekend. The best part was when Teresa mistook Nilfguard for Milfguard. I mean if Milfguard was attacking, everyone would have just surrendered, right?

  68. Two confessions:

    I haven’t read the article yet; it’s really long.

    I’m having trouble getting past just how old William Gibson looks in the photo.

    • I don’t watch but I do like some of the bits that make it on-line.
      This was a favorite –
      “The hero of this next movie is a naive, misguided child who spreads Nazi propaganda and only has imaginary friends,” Baron Cohen said. “His name is Mark Zuckerberg.”
      The comic then appeared confused at the card that he was reading, adding: “Oh wait, this is old and from The Social Network”

      • Zing!
        Yeah, didn’t watch, but got bombarded by the GGs fallout. My quick reactions:

        -Bravo, Michelle Williams. Especially after being told to stifle it. (Did she win for Venom? Because that would have been even better)

        -Fox News crowd: you’re cheering Ricky Gervais for calling out actors on their speeches. . . but the whole story is: he’s calling them out for making fake, insincere political speeches while hypocritically accepting paychecks from and making tons of profits for your favorite scumbag zillionaire villains.
        – – Tom Hanks was not an “owned lib,” he was just making a funny reaction face.

    • If everyone is comfortable discussing it with the current group at the Deadpan Facebook page, then that would be the best place to settle on a destination and a weekend. It will get the most visibility.

      If people are still concerned about FB creeps on that page, then we can discuss further here (I also recognize that some folks check this page more than FB).

        • The story I heard from a few Con old-timers – – fans and pros – – was that a female fan approached him in the hall at a Con, and he said, “Nice boobs. Can I squeeze one?” She declined. Later, when she approached the author signing table with a stack of books, he said, “I remember you. You wouldn’t let me have a feel earlier. I’m not signing your books.” Another author nearby (I think it was Frederik Pohl) witnessed this, and took her stack of books from her and got them signed later on.

          So yeah, fuck him.

          However, his primary works are important. Arthur C. Clarke’s primary works are important. Thomas Jefferson’s primary works are important.
          Their evils are unforgivable (to varying degrees), but I feel like we should separate the good of their lives from them and continue to celebrate those works. That said, I won’t counter anyone who is too disgusted and wants to dismiss them completely.

  69. Do we have any Marvelous Mrs Maibel fans out there?

    Will browsing through a record stash in a thrift shop, I ran across the comedian she is based on!

    • I find this article to bee either intentionally misleading or sloppy.
      Milk substitutes are now challenging the dairy industry financially and therefore are making the news. I ignored some article yesterday on that very topic. So I feel like this article has drawn a loose connection between the trend of bee die offs and almonds because people clue into the word almond milk and that assure them of click thru.

      Summary of the article is – bees continue to die off in greater numbers. Pesticides and mites doing most of the killing. The biggest current, commercial user of bees for pollinating are almond farms. Bee farmers are voluntarily choosing to lease their hives to these almond farms. Bees are continuing to die in great numbers. Would they die off in just as great numbers if used in some other agriculture? This is as close as the article gets to exploring that.
      “But if he was not pollinating almonds, maybe his bees would be healthier.“
      Maybe. How about we look into that before just headlining Almond milk as the culprit.

      It’s not just that it is misleading framing meant to ride the wave of sensationalism … it is dangerous because it could lead the public into thinking “Oh, if we just stop growing almonds the bees will stop dying. There! Fixed it!”
      When the real answer – which is scattered through out the article, is spending money on research into stopping “bee killing mites” and doing the hard work of passing laws to outlaw bee killing pesticides.
      /steps of soap box

  70. I think we had a brownout and I didn’t even notice. I was reading. Popped my head out of my book and the clocks needed resetting and the Xbox was on.
    How strange.

  71. Just saw on Twitter that the author Mike Resnick has died. He was quite a popular author on fiction podcasts and that’s where I encountered his stories.

  72. FYI: don’t let your home catch fire. While, in theory, the insurance will pay for most of it, the up front costs until that time is staggering

  73. I am computerless for a couple of days. Hubby and I decided, instead of getting the kids new computers, we would get new ones for ourselves and give the kids our current ones.
    The long process of setting up a new system begins

  74. Watched the Netflix movie “I am Mother” yesterday. Overall pretty good. Could have been fleshed out a little more, but overall I enjoyed it.

    • Tom Breihan articles get a lot of linkage around here. This was a good take. I like how he mostly flies above silly fannish nonsense and just reports on the phenomenon.

  75. OMG, Neil Peart.

    He’s been held as the highest standard of drumming for as long as I’ve been paying attention. I knew he had some health concerns, but I had no idea it was so grave.

    RIP to one of the true GOAT.

  76. We finally caught Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker now that it is on video. I can’t say I enjoyed it as it is a brutally depressing movie – but, it was a powerful performance and made for an interesting origin story for Joker. Certainly not the usual.

    My wife still says Heath Ledger is her Joker.

    • I just heard an episode of Fresh Air where they interviewed the director.
      He said he was trying to make a film about mental illness.
      In the end, it sounded good but not fun.

  77. Watch Ep #1 of season 3 “Lost in Space”

    I despise the character of Dr.Smith so much that it’s sucking the fun out of watching that show.
    Don’t know if I will continue watching.
    May start watching “The Expanse” instead.

    • Interesting, we just watched the very first episode last night, with Smith getting introduced at the end of the episode.

      Since it was picked up for a 2nd season, we decided to give it a go as we’re caught up on the things we watch together.

          • I know right?
            I’ve given it some thought and I think the difference is that the original DS was played as a bumbling fool. Dangerous …. but more so through the accidental consequences of his cartoon like schemes.
            THIS DS however, is a completely different breed of evil.
            I will with hold any further discussion of the new DS to keep from spoiling it for Ed … but suffice it to say, this is NOT 1960’s Dr Smith.

  78. JW: Anna

    Rather enjoyed that and liked the ending and Helen Mirren as Anna’s boss was fantastic.

    Didn’t realise till the credit rolled it was a Luc Besson film.

  79. The Morbius trailer looks as awesome/awful as Venom was. I am 100% on board with a Sinister Six universe that just brushes against the MCU

  80. Ok, this made me laugh so I thought I’d share it. The meme on Twitter and where you’re asked to tell something that you’ve done but that sounds absolutely unbelievable and made up lie.
    … to which Adam Savage lists like 3 pages of things, any one of which would be enough for one person in a life time.

    Someone responded –
    ”But I’m sure you haven’t seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion “

    And then someone else replies –
    “Who do you think SET them on fire!”

    I’m still chuckling about it.

  81. Happy Happy Happy Birthday! To my Main Squeeze-Mr. Jack MF’n Mangannnnnnnnn!

    He is the super glue of sticky things, the knees of the bees, the sundae beneath my cherry, and all that, plus a bag of chips.

    I love you, Always! Old Man.

  82. Just back from seeing 1917.
    I do not say this lightly when I say that it is a triumph in filmmaking. An absolutely wonderfully choreographed ballet of action and drama. When they say that filmmaking is an art this is what they’re talking about.

    • I’m wondering if this is just a money laundering operation as the decision to make the film is pretty far out (the last film adaption bankrupted the studio).

  83. Finally got round to watching El Camino on Netflix.

    Not too bad, not too bad at all. If you are if fan of Breaking Bad it’s well worth checking out.

  84. Hey, Roaming Asshat, I think you put some comments on the “What About a New Page Jack?” thread. And FYI, this page is nearing its expiration.

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