About two years ago I decided to watch and review thirty-one horror films across the month of October. I made it to day fourteen and had to call it quits due to the fact that work was piling up on me and I’m lazy. This year, however, I’m primed to complete my initial journey of thirty-one films and I plan on doing it by watching thirty-one classic Universal Monsters films!
From Bride of Frankenstein to Abbott & Costello Meet The Invisible Man, I’m going to view all of the great (and not so great) horror films that turned me into a horror fanatic for life.
So why Universal Monsters? One reason is that I’ve always loved these films. If you’ve read just a few of my posts on classic horror, you know that I am a huge fan of the Wolf Man and love films that feature practical effects. These films blazed trails in effects and in cinematography as a whole. Another reason is the fact that I recently read Mallory O’Meara’s brilliant book, The Lady From The Black Lagoon, about the life and career of Milicent Patrick. Check out my review of the book here.
Yet another reason is that these films are just fun to watch and I can watch them with my family. My kids think that I’m insane for watching these old movies, but every now and then one of them will stumble into the room, sit down, and watch a few minutes of the films with me. My daughter has especially taken a shine to the Creature, and I hope that she continues to watch more of these films with me.
I’m also excited to see a few of these films for the first time! I’ve never watched an entire film featuring the Invisible Man, but that will change in October!
Let me know some of your favorite Universal Monster flicks in the comments section. Also, keep an eye open for the first film review on October 1st in just over a month. I plan on throwing in a few interesting historical facts and maybe tie a few of these classic films with films that they inspired.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all in October!
Trapped behind enemy lines during World War II and chased by Nazis, a small group of American soldiers end up as the rescuers of an unlikely POW—an alien!
1985’s Zone Troopers is definitely not for everyone. It’s a B-movie with big dreams and hokey special effects that might turn off a lot of audiences. For me, however, it’s perfect. Featuring a cast headed up by prolific character actor Tim Thomerson (the Trancers film series, television shows such as Down And Out In Beverly Hills, Sirens, and The Flash), this action/science fiction yarn is surprisingly fun and full of 80’s action.
Three actors round out the core cast with Thomerson. Biff Manard (Trancers, The Flash, Bonanza), Art LaFleur (The Sandlot, Field of Dreams, Trancers), and Timothy Van Patten (Class of 1984, St. Elsewhere, The Master) are all excellent performers in their own right and keep the story interesting.
Thomerson, Manard, and LaFleur have starred alongside each other in many films and television shows over the years. Most of those projects were either written and/or directed by Danny Bilson. Zone Troopers was Bilson’s directorial debut and one of his earliest writing credits, but he’s probably best known for writing films and television shows such as The Rocketeer, The Flash (1990), Viper, and Human Target. Timothy Van Patten started as an actor, but made his mark behind the camera as the director of multiple episodes of hit series like The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, and Touched By An Angel. He was even nominated for four Emmy awards.
Zone Troopers moves quickly and feels more like a big budget television movie than a major motion picture. That’s a good thing in my opinion. I can easily visualize this movie being sandwiched between episodes of The A-Team and Knight Rider in 1980-something. The humor is light and cheesy at times, but it’s perfect for this film. The action features a lot of shooting, running, and a little bit of luck, which was par for the course in most 80’s films.
While the special effects and costumes aren’t much to look at, they don’t take away from the story. Yes, you might chuckle whenever the alien uses a grenade-like device to obliterate a Nazi tank, but you’ll keep a smile on your face for the entirety of the film because it’s such a fun ride. I do want to point out that the exterior of the crashed alien ship looks great, as does the interior hall that leads to the cockpit.
This is an excellent film to watch if you’re rained in on a weekend. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time watching this movie and you might even find yourself watching other classics like Trancers while you’re at it.
As always, thanks for reading. Let me know if you’ve seen Zone Troopers or any of the other films starring, written, or directed by this extremely underappreciated cast and crew.
When I was nine years old, my family went to the movies to see a film entitled Boggy Creek 2: And The Legend Continues… which was actually the third film in the Legend of Boggy Creek series. There aren’t many people that consider this particular film to be great, but for young me, it was golden. I became determined to find Bigfoot and since this particular version of the beast lived just a few hours north of me, it became the focal point of my mission.
Well, I’m north of forty years now and while I never became the great Sasquatch hunter of my dreams, I still love the beast in all of its incarnations. The Fouke Monster is my favorite simply because it’s (possibly) the closest version of the creature in my vicinity.
I became familiar with Lyle Blackburn‘s work a few years ago when I started seeing him pop up in documentaries and as a guest at different conventions. While I have yet to meet him (primarily because I’ve always been unable to attend any conventions that he has appeared at), I’ve become a fan of his work. This book, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster, is an excellent resource for those interested in the Fouke Monster.
Blackburn’s style of writing is extremely personable. At times it’s as if he’s simply having a conversation with the reader. He takes a look at the history of the creature and its supposed appearances prior to the Bigfoot craze of the 1970’s and continues through with sightings up to the publication of his book.
He also gives the reader a look at the history of the community of Fouke and the surrounding areas. He then weaves the history of sightings and interactions with the beast over the years into that history.
A large portion of the book deals with the Charles B. Pierce film that brought the world to Fouke’s doorstep, The Legend of Boggy Creek. Blackburn describes the process of Pierce as he created the film, how it affected the community and many of its citizens that starred in the movie, and how it influenced other movies that came after it.
Blackburn also spends a lot of time giving an in depth look at selected sightings of the beast. From the credibility of the witnesses to evidence uncovered, Blackburn reveals the good and bad of possible legitimate interactions with the creature and some potential hoaxes.
Blackburn takes us through Fouke today and how the beast still influences it. From Smokey Crabtree’s books to the Monster Mart (which I’ve visited and you should, too), we get a glimpse of just how much of a unique hold this creature has on this otherwise sleepy rural town in southwest Arkansas.
The book also contains a timeline of events as they happened in “The Legend of Boggy Creek” and Blackburn lets the reader know just how much artistic liberty Pierce took with some of them. He also provides an excellent timeline of sightings of the beast over the years.
This book was fun and informative. It’s especially interesting if you, like me, grew up with the old films and lived either in the Fouke area or nearby in Texas or Louisiana.
I plan on reading more of Lyle Blackburn’s work, and be sure to check out his band, Ghoultown, as well.
As always, thanks for reading. If you are interested in Bigfoot or any other cryptids, let me know in the comments section. Also, I’m always eager to hear stories about such creatures, so if you know any good tales or had an encounter yourself, comment below or send me a private message.
This post is a modified version of a review that I recently posted on Amazon.
When I was nine years old, my parents took me and my siblings to see Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues. In a dimly lit theater in Oakdale, LA, I became enthralled with the beast that terrorized the rural town of Fouke, AR and a professor and students intent on discovering the truth about the creature. No matter how bad the film was, it inspired nine year old me to hunt for Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and any other cryptid that may or may not be lurking in the forests of the world.
I haven’t found anything yet, but I’ll always hope that the creature is real.
With that being said, I’ve watched tons of documentaries, read plenty of books, hit a couple of trails with mild intentions of finding something (but not really sure what I’d do IF I did actually find something), did a little web research and viewed countless films, most of which were terrible, about the beast.
Add 2011’s Boggy Creek to the list of terrible films that I’ve watched. While I commend the actors and crew for attempting to make a decent horror film, I can’t say that I have any good memories about this flick. Texas Battle (Final Destination 3, The Bold And The Beautiful) and Stephanie Honore (The Final Destination, Mirrors 2) are probably the best known actors in the film and they feature in supporting roles. Actress Melissa Carnell heads up the cast as the star of the film and is given support from Battle, Honore, and relative unknowns Shavon Kirksey and Damon Lipari.
The film has no connection to the cult classic The Legend of Boggy Creek or any of its sequels. In fact, it doesn’t even take place in Arkansas. It takes place in the fictional northeast Texas rural town of Boggy Creek. It was actually shot in Jefferson, TX and the area around Uncertain, TX, which along with places like Gun Barrel City, Cut And Shoot, and Kermit, only strengthens my argument that Texas has some of the coolest small town names.
The plot was pretty basic, even for Bigfoot horror. Jennifer (Carnell) returns to her deceased father’s camp after it is left to her. With tensions brewing between her and her mother, she decides to take a break with her friend, Maya (Kirksey), and Maya’s stepbrother, Dave (Lipari). Dave brings along his snobby girlfriend, Brooke (Honore), and Maya’s boyfriend, Tommy (Battle), pops up unannounced. Violent deaths and mutilations are on the rise in the area that the group decides to camp in and despite warnings from others in the area, the gang decides to stay at the camp. After a lot of build up, the creature begins its attack on the group, planning to kill the males and kidnap the nubile young ladies for breeding.
For whatever reason (maybe it was just my television), the film seems to be shot entirely in soft focus, which made me believe that this was an attempt at bringing a little Hallmark Channel flair to horror. The acting wasn’t that great and neither were the special effects or music. I will say that the ending of the film had a ton of potential but ultimately flopped like the rest of the film.
So if this film was so terrible, why did I revisit it and blog about it? For the simple reason that I’ve been on a larger than usual Sasquatch kick and I decided to watch this film again. It was perfect fodder for an evening of laundry and Coke Zero. It’s brainless, bad, and somehow a little bit fun.
As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be watching more bad movies as we get closer to Halloween. I’m thinking about attempting Thirty-One Days O’Horror once again. I failed at it a couple of years ago, but considering the fact that I’ve acquired a ton of bills recently, I won’t be leaving home that much because I’m poor. Netflix and meager meals, it is.
The following is my review of The Lady From The Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, originally posted on Amazon.I’ve added a few photos to this post that are not a part of the original review as well as a brief side note at the end of the review.
I’ve been a fan of Universal’s classic monsters for a few decades. I started watching them as a child on Saturday afternoons and as I grew older I began to collect the films. The Creature From The Black Lagoon and its sequels were some of the last films of that era that I got to watch. I was mesmerized by the Creature, especially by the way his gills would expand while he was out of the water. It was an amazing thing to see, especially considering the fact that it was 1954. I knew nothing of the Creature’s designer other than the fact that Bud Westmore was given credit for it.
Milicent Patrick working on Creech. Photo taken from an NPR article.
It was only a few months ago that I learned of Milicent Patrick through a meme that one of my fellow monster friends posted. It credited her with being the designer of Creech. This caught my attention and I sought out more information on her. That’s when I stumbled upon Mallory O’Meara’s wonderful book, The Lady From The Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick.
O’Meara’s book is actually three stories at once. The primary story is of Patrick’s life and career. The two secondary stories are of O’Meara’s trials and tribulations while researching Mil and of the struggle of women in the male-dominated arena of film and television.
Julia Adams being terrorized by the Creature! Photo taken from ocweekly.com
All three stories are quite amazing. O’Meara brings Milicent Patrick to life on the page. We learn about her upbringing that was both amazing and heartbreaking at times thanks primarily to her father, Camille Rossi, as he pursued a career in architecture. We also learn that Milicent became one of (if not the first) woman hired by Walt Disney to work at his studios in the Ink and Paint Department. Reading this particular part of the book was fun for me, as I’ve read a few biographies about Walt Disney that mention his all-female Ink and Paint Department. None of them, however, named Mil specifically as being part of that department.
O’Meara then takes us along for the ride as we explore Patrick’s time as an actress and artist. We learn about some of her strongest friends, greatest enemy, and the many loves won and lost over her life. O’Meara does an excellent job of presenting Mil’s life to the reader, all of the glamorous and not so wonderful parts of it.
Obviously a lot of attention is given to Patrick’s design work on The Creature From The Black Lagoon and how she received zero credit for all of her work thanks to Bud Westmore and the lack of action from others. You’ll have to read the book to find out how that particular tale goes down.
O’Meara also gives us an in depth look at how difficult it was to find information on Patrick. Just the fact that Mil went by quite a few names over her lifetime made it hard to track her moves through Hollywood. O’Meara also turned me on to a few other books and people that she utilized to piece together Mil’s life and career. I’m particularly interested in the work of the Mormon Church. Again, you’ll need to read the book to see what that is all about.
Finally, the battle for equality that has been a part of film and television since its inception is addressed. As more and more information is brought to light, men are becoming more aware of just how oppressed women are in the film industry. O’Meara handles this topic with fire. She handles it well. In all honesty I would like to see O’Meara write a book specifically about this subject. I’m sure that it would be a great read.
Author Mallory O’Meara. Photo taken by Allan Amato.
All three stories in this book appear to be written with love, anger, humor, and intelligence by O’Meara. Her footnotes offer solid information and a few laughs. She gives a solid example of Milicent Patrick’s world, the good and the bad of it, while keeping the story engaging.
Milicent Patrick’s work and contributions to cinema are slowly rising from the murky depths. I see even more women being brought to the top of the lagoon in the future and I believe that O’Meara’s book will be heralded as the beginning of a new age for women in Hollywood.
Highly recommended.
Additional side note: One of the things that makes The Creature From The Black Lagoon so wonderful is that up until February of this year, both Julia Adams (Kay Lawrence) and Ricou Browning (the Creature in underwater scenes) were still alive. It’s one of those rare occasions where people that were a part of a classic film are still alive. Sadly, Julia Adams passed away in February of this year. As far as I know I was one of the last people to get an autographed photo from her, as she passed away just days after I sent in a request for a photo. Ricou Browning is still alive as of this writing. I still need to acquire his autograph.
On Saturday, July 27th, my daughter and I made the hour plus journey to Beaumont, TX for what has become a monthly ritual for my family. We attended Hurricane Pro’s Queens of the Ring event at the Ford Park Exhibit Hall. The show featured five matches that offered up some of the best female wrestlers on the independent scene and a sixth match featuring an intergender battle. I’ll talk about that particular match in a little bit.
Photo taken from Hurricane Pro’s Facebook page.
Here’s a breakdown of the matches:
Phoebe defeated Renegade Wrestling Vixen champion Raychell Rose in a non-title match.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
Heather Monroe defeated Alex Gracia in a Hurricane Pro Women’s Championship Number One Contender’s Match.
Defending champion Miranda Alize defeated Joey Ryan in a Hurricane Pro Women’s Championship match.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
Heather Monroe wins the Hurricane Pro Women’s Championship in an unscheduled match against Miranda Alize.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
In all honesty the win by Heather Monroe was a shocker to me. Alize has held the Women’s Championship for just over a year now (also the first to win the title) and I didn’t expect Monroe to challenge her so quickly for the it. Alize is a local fan favorite and I was surprised by her loss of the title. That being said, Monroe has definitely draws plenty of heat from the crowd. It’s almost as if the fans are still trying to decide whether or not Monroe is a heel or a face and that uncertainty makes her fun to watch.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
The match of the evening in my opinion was the battle between Thunder Rosa and Mercedes Martinez. Martinez, an independent wrestling veteran that definitely knows her way around the ring, gave Thunder Rosa all that she could handle. The match lasted over twenty minutes and featured humorous moments such as a dance-off and the most brutal moves of the evening including a wicked powerbomb. The match is available to watch for free on YouTube here.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
Of course, all of the talk has been about the match between Miranda Alize and Joey Ryan. Ryan, who has a reputation for being quite controversial, pulled out plenty of his old tricks including lollipops and his signature move, the d!ck flip during the match, but Miranda managed to defeat him in a solid match that leaned heavy on humor. Alize pulled off some brilliant moves on Ryan and got in a few cheap shots of her own against him. The match is available here on Title Match Network’s YouTube channel. All but one of the rest of the evening’s matches are also available on the channel.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
The rest of the evening’s matches were excellent. Due to an apparent legitimate injury, the bout between Rok-C and Priscilla Kelly was cut short. Like Joey Ryan, Kelly has gained a bit of notoriety due to her actions in recent matches. Rok-C is a young and hungry talent who has nowhere to go but up. I was hoping to see more of this pair battling it out, but the injury to Kelly abruptly ended the match.
Hyan brutalized Amber Nova. Nova drew a ton of heat from the crowd but Hyan, one of the best heels on the independent circuit in my opinion, won over the crowd by being her typical nasty self. I don’t know very much about Nova, but I was quite impressed by her skills in the ring. Hyan continues to impress me and seems to get better with each match.
Heather Monroe and Alex Gracia put on an excellent match. The duo worked well together and sold each others moves with near perfection. This was the second time that I got to see both of these women live and they are extremely fun to watch.
Photo by Chad Cooper (posted on Facebook)
Raychell Rose and Phoebe opened up the show with a solid performance. Both have wrestled for Hurricane Pro in the past. Rose battled it out in a three way match with Rok-C and Alex Gracia last month and Phoebe was the first competitor to enter the ring in last year’s inaugural Women’s Championship gauntlet match. Phoebe is a fan favorite and Rose has quickly drawn massive heel heat from the crowd. I hope that both of these ladies return in the near future.
Oh, and I got a photo with my favorite wrestler, Thunder Rosa!
Photo taken by my daughter
Hurricane Pro returns to the Ford Park Exhibit Hall on August 24th. The first match to be announced is Sexy Steve De Marco versus fan favorite Bu Ku Dao. De Marco brutalized current Hurricane Pro Champion Jordan Jensen at June’s show and revealed his Great Sexy Love stable to the crowd. They have big plans to dominate Hurricane Pro, but Jensen definitely has a few plans of his own.
Thanks for reading this post. Get more information on Hurricane Pro on their Facebook page. I’ve also included links to the wrestlers’ fan pages on Facebook except for Alex Gracia, Miranda Alize, and Hyan. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like any of these ladies have fan pages yet. Feel free to share this post with your friends!
I normally avoid mentioning much of anything about San Diego Comic Con in my blog because there is so much hype and noise about the event that I am pretty sure that anything I say has been covered a hundred times over already. Saying that, I just had to pop in and mention that there were actually some pretty big announcements made at SDCC.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: Brandon Routh speaks at the “Arrow” Special Video Presentation And Q&A during 2019 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
First and foremost was the announcement that Brandon Routh would once again don the cape and tights of the Man of Steel, Superman, in the upcoming CW Crisis On Infinite Earths event that will span across most of DC’s popular CW shows including Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman. Black Lightning will most likely not be a part of the event as it has its own established universe according to industry insiders.
Title image of Kingdom Come, artwork by the brilliant Alex Ross.
But doesn’t Routh already portray Ray Palmer, the Atom, in the Arrowverse? Yes, he does, but in the Crisis event, he’ll portray another Superman. Specifically, Routh will portray one of my favorite incarnations of the Big Blue Boy Scout, the Kingdom Come Superman. Tyler Hoechlin will portray the same version of Supes that he has been portraying ever since he was introduced on Supergirl. I wonder how the two versions of the hero will interact with one another? We can only wait and see this fall!
Tyler Hoechlin.
Also joining the Crisis event will be Burt Ward, best known as the classic 1960’s Robin from the Batman television series. Mums the word on exactly which character he will portray, but I’m glad to see Ward getting a nod in the CW line of DC shows.
Burt Ward.Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman.
Not to be outdone by DC Comics, Marvel offered up their slate of upcoming series and films in Phase 4 of the MCU. Rumor has it that the list isn’t complete, but Marvel and Disney are definitely hoping to keep the ball rolling after the success of the first three phases of the MCU.
The current list of films and series with release dates in Phase 4 of the MCU.
Television shows such as The Falcon and Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and the animated What If…? were announced as well as films like Black Widow, The Eternals, and Thor: Love and Thunder. With many of these titles featuring characters that are unfamiliar with mainstream audiences, it will be interesting to see how successful this phase of the MCU will be.
Also teased at SDCC were two highly anticipated film announcements. Blade and The Fantastic Four were mentioned but not given release dates. Mahershala Ali (criminally underused in Luke Cage and brilliant as Prowler in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) was officially announced as the Day Walker himself in the upcoming Blade film and I am honestly extremely happy with this announcement. Hopefully the character will find a good home in the PG-13 friendly MCU. It would be great if the MCU allows Blade to play out in all of his R-rated glory.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Broadimage/Shutterstock (10342723ac)
Natalie Portman
Marvel Studios panel, Comic-Con International, San Diego, USA – 20 Jul 2019
One announcement that was met with both excitement and criticism was that Natalie Portman would be reprising her role as Jane Foster in the fourth Thor film. It was also said that her character would take on the mantle of the Mighty Thor just like she did in the comics. This put a sour taste in a lot of fans’ mouths.
So what’s the problem? Despite many people saying that it’s Marvel’s perceived attempt at forcing an agenda on movie audiences by having a female take hold of Mjolnir (which actually did happen in the comics), I honestly believe that most of the issues people are having are with Portman herself. Portman has been very vocal about how she didn’t enjoy being in any of the Thor films and was MIA in the MCU after the first two Thor films. In fact, old footage of her from the first Thor film was used in Endgame. She only recorded a few lines of dialogue for the scenes. Top that off with the popular opinion that Portman just didn’t do a very good job as Jane Foster and I can definitely see why fans are a tad miffed.
Also teased by Marvel at SDCC was the upcoming Captain Marvel 2 and Black Panther 2. Nothing is set in stone for either film except for the obvious lead roles, but it will be interesting to see where Marvel takes both of these characters. I’m particularly interested to see what happens with Captain Marvel as I didn’t particularly care for the first film. It will be tough to reproduce the success of the first Black Panther film, but hopefully the sequel will give fans something to cheer about. The first film’s cast was superb for the most part, and I hope to see all of the core characters return for the sequel.
There were tons of other announcements and reveals for established franchises such as Star Trek and The Walking Dead, and also plenty of surprises from upcoming series such as The Watcher and the new The Dark Crystal Netflix series. So many, in fact, that I can’t list them all here. Thankfully Gizmodo has a one-stop shop for all of your SDCC news here. It breaks down pretty much everything you want and/or need to know about SDCC, so give it a look if you so choose.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you’re most excited for in the comments section and feel free to share this post.
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny the reach of Walmart. While I personally tend to do most of my retail shopping at Target or other stores, sometimes a trip to Walmart is unavoidable. Starting last year, DC Comics gave me one more reason to risk life and limb down the aisles of the Big Blue Box Store. DC began releasing exclusive 100 Page Giant comic issues featuring twelve pages of original content and reprints of recent stories from DC’s collection. Stories featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and other popular characters were released in a monthly format that allowed more casual readers a chance to not only read an original story, but catch up on fairly current stories as well. Most of the reprinted stories appear to be from the New 52 line or just a tad bit older. The books sold so well that DC expanded the line to include books for characters such as the Flash and Teen Titans and also released holiday-specific books as well. I own the Halloween Horror Giant that features Swamp Thing, Aquaman, Blue Devil, Scarecrow, Reaper, and Zatanna. It’s an excellent book.
Earlier this year, DC announced that they would be dropping Walmart’s exclusivity on this line and would begin selling the books at comic shops. They’ve also begun reprinting the original stories from these 100 Page Giants and releasing them as individual stories at comic retail shops. This is a great thing, as it has been somewhat difficult to find many of these books at Walmart. In many cases, I couldn’t find any books at all. At other times I was able to easily find multiple issues of books both new and old in the same area of certain Walmart locations. I also found plenty of damaged books as well.
The success of these books had opened the door for even more exclusive items at Walmart. The first exclusive is a wave of Batman: Black & White miniature statues based upon the DC Collectibles Black & White 7″ polyresin statue line. These statues, standing roughly 3.75″ tall, are plastic versions of their larger counterparts and feature a blank base. The 7″ statues feature a black and white Batman logo.
Mike Allred’s Black & White Batman miniature statue.
At the time of this post, three series have been released of these miniature statues. Each series features six statues based upon the work of artists such as Frank Quitely, Patrick Gleason, Amanda Conner, and Dick Sprang. They come in blind bags and cost about five bucks each. With such a small amount of figures to collect, though, getting duplicates is rather easy. In fact, I’ve purchased five blind bags far and already have a duplicate.
The full-sized Darwyn Cooke Batman with a stylized base.
DC announced that these figures would be released as a set at comic shops and would include a seventh exclusive figure. If you’re a fan of Batman, I highly recommend nabbing some of these statues if you can find them.
Series 3 of the Black & White Miniature line.
Teaming up with Walmart has proven to be profitable for DC Comics. Yes, the giant retailer has shut down plenty of independent comic book shops over the years, but by exposing potential new readers to some great stories and cool exclusive items, this partnership might actually help local comic retailers. I especially like the fact that DC has started releasing reprints of the stories and full sets of the miniature statues with exclusive bonus statues at comic shops, as it gives folks that might have missed something a second chance at picking up what they want.
Have you read any of the Giants? Do you own any of the statues? Let me know in the comments and also tell me how you feel about DC Comics or any other comic company teaming up with big retailers such as Walmart. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you all again real soon.
Things definitely got a little stranger in the third season of Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers changed up the dynamic of our core group by having not only an evil being out to get them, but also having them tackle topics such as teen romance, infighting, bottom of the barrel jobs, and Russians…..yep, Russians.
Non-spoiler review ahead.
Lucas and Mike are in love with Max and El, respectively. The season fires up with Lucas and Max on the outs and eventually Mike and El end up in the same boat. Lucas, being the more experienced romantic, attempts to walk Mike through the highs and lows of a teenage breakup. You’ll have to watch to see how successful he is with Mike. Poor Will gets left in the dust by Lucas and Mike.
Max and El trek out on their own, embracing the sister-like bond forming between them. Their friendship strengthens via activities that include sleepovers, trips to the mall, using El’s powers for questionable purposes, and checking out comic books. There’s even a brief fashion montage thrown in for good measure.
Hopper and Joyce bond as well, as they set out to find why magnets won’t work anymore in certain parts of Hawkins. They team up with Murray Bauman, the conspiracy theorist that exposed the love that existed between Nancy and Jonathan in Season Two. Together they battle it out with a foreign power that has infiltrated Hawkins in an ingenious way.
Jonathan and Nancy find themselves working as a photographer and office runner for the local newspaper. Much like Hopper, Joyce, and Murray, they stumble upon something that brings back old memories for the group. Their relationship also runs into a few mild snags, but nothing too major.
Then there’s good ol’ Billy, the trashy stepbrother to Max. He finds himself in a very tight spot early in the season and we get to watch as his character develops into a major threat for the group. The flirtation that happened between him and Mike’s mom in Season Two progresses into something more this season as well, but I won’t spoil anything here.
Last but not least, the best bromance in all of streaming programs is revisited hen Dustin, fresh from summer camp, teams up with Steve, stuck in a dead end job at Scoops Ahoy in the new Starcourt Mall. Added to their group is Erica, Lucas’ younger sister, and Robin, Mike’s co-worker at Scoops Ahoy. I’ll get to them a little bit later.
So how is the season? In my opinion, it’s very good. It’s stronger content-wise when compared to Season Two and it doesn’t have any jarring episodes that throw off the rhythm of the series like Season Two did with that episode where El goes to Chicago. The relationships built in this season are powerful as well, especially the bond between El and Max, El and Hopper, and Robin and Steve.
This season also feels like an 80’s film more than either of the other two seasons. There are real threats present for all of the cast members as they are broken up into smaller groups. Each threat that they face eventually comes to a head at the climax of the series.
The special effects were very solid, especially considering the size of one of the creatures that the group has to face. There are also plenty of nods to classic 80’s films and television shows such as Evil Dead, Magnum P.I., and The Thing, and a few blatant tips of the hat to shows and films like Back to the Future, Cheers, and Day of the Dead. Much like the show did in previous seasons by adding popular 80’s stars to the cast such as Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, and Sean Astin, this season brought us Cary Elwes as sleazy Mayor Kline.
New additions to the cast such as Elwes as Kline and Maya Hawke as Robin and an expansion of roles for returning characters such as Erica (Priah Ferguson) and Murray (Brett Gelman) also strengthened the show as a whole. Robin and Erica held their own while featuring in almost every scene with Dustin and Mike. While Erica did get a little mouthy at times, she still injected some much needed humor in an otherwise dark season.
The series wasn’t perfect, however. Product placement was terribly noticeable. Seeing old storefronts for extinct stores like Wicks N’ Sticks and Waldenbooks was cool, but the blatant New Coke moment and massive Burger King shot and references were annoying. The Seven-Eleven moments fit into the story quite well, however.
I also got annoyed by the use of 80’s music throughout the season. Don’t get me wrong, music is just as important as any other element in a film or television series, but the placement of 80’s hit tunes felt forced at times.
Overall, this season was better than Season Two and can hold its own against Season One. The kids have grown up a lot and the adults didn’t skip a beat. The character development was solid and the ending…..well, it was just brutal. Things are left wide open for Season Four and there is already a ton of speculation as to who or what might turn up next season.
As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be posting again real soon.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 