Panel Vision - Invasion!

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

The week I’m writing this marks a significant milestone for the shared television universe of DC Comics.  The CWniverse, as I call it, started out in 2012 with the show Arrow, a Green Arrow adaptation that leaned way too heavily on Batman for its identity.  

However, when they introduced Flash as a spin-off series in 2014 things started to improve, even if the first half of Flash season 1 was pretty weak.  The real turning point, for this entire endeavor, was the 2014 Flash/Arrow crossover, a blockbuster event that finally managed to inject light, fun, and weirdness into the CWniverse. 

It also brought in some serious ratings as ever since then crossovers and multi-hero universes.  All of that now culminates in an epic 4-night crossover between Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow adapting the 1989 event comic Invasion.  In honor of the occasion, I’m looking back on the original Invasion! Comics, which is nice because they’re also one of my favorite event comics of all time. 

Panel Vision - Uncle Sam

If you like this post or want to support the blog, please consider donating

It’s Fourth of July Weekend here in the US and, given my obsessive need for topicality, that means reviewing something American.  This Independence Day I’m going to be focusing on one of my all time favorite comics starring one of my all time favorite superheroes: Uncle Sam.  I’ve already covered Uncle Sam’s history on this program but if you need a refresher: Uncle Sam was a 1940s superhero version of the famous propaganda character.  He doesn’t really have an origin in the conventional sense, but rather just exists as a persistent embodiment of the American Spirit.

That’s a weird set-up for a superhero at the best of times so Sam’s always had an eclectic history in comics.  Case in point, in the late ‘90s, one of the most fertile times in DC Comics’ entire history, the people running DC decided to give Uncle Sam over to their newly formed imprint Vertigo Comics for a 2 issue prestige graphic novel.  The result is one of the most challenging and politically charged works to come out of superhero comics this side of Civil War or that one time it turned out Nixon was part of the Secret Empire. 

Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones Season 6

If you like this post or want to support the blog, please consider donating

Edited by Robert Beach

And so another season of Game of Thrones comes to a close. In this year’s latest installment of everybody’s favorite fantasy soap opera, we learned secret origins, saw shocking resurrections, epic battles, and the demise of somewhere around half the remaining cast. While I came down very hard on season 5, I'm more inclined towards leniency on season 6. There are still problems, astronomical problems (if we’re being honest), but for the most part, I’ve more or less come to terms with the show Games of Thrones wants to be as we start the long slow march towards the final 15 episodes. 

Every work of art must be judged on some level by the intent of its creation, and it’s become fairly obvious that Game of Thrones just isn’t intended as a complex, character-driven thriller the way it was when the series started. Instead, the show has adopted a new identity that of shallow ‘girl power’ fantasy. I maintain that the show is broken in a lot of fundamental ways, but it does succeed on its own terms as being a power fantasy. 

Comics Rainbow - Invasion!

If you like this post or want to support the blog, please consider donating

So, this Friday marks the premiere of Independence Day: Resurgence and the return of the seminal alien invasion film to the big screen.  It’s a pretty major event, both as a major summer blockbuster and as an indicator of the growing force of nostalgia for the ‘90s.  We’ll see if the Independence Day lightning can really strike twice but for right now let’s talk about alien invasions in comics.  

The alien invasion is the perfect set-up for the world of the superhero and while both DC and Marvel have thrown together an impressive array of alien takeovers, today we focus on those from DC comics.  There’s no real reason I’m emphasizing DC, they’re just the company I’m most familiar with.  DC has a vast history of alien invasions, some of them amazing, some mediocre, and some absolutely terrible and today we’re going to get the full spectrum on all of them.

Independence Day: Resurgence 2nd Trailer Breakdown

Edited by Robert Beach 

One of the weird trends of the 2010s has been a, let us say, complicated relationship with the pop cultural touchstones of the 1990s. To be clear, I don’t think anyone really has complicated feelings about revisiting the actual content produced in the ‘90s.  Ask any given 20-something and they’ll undoubtedly talk your ear off about how amazing Animaniacs or Power Rangers was. Even today’s subject, Independence Day, still commands a tidal wave of affection from the ‘90s kids who grew up watching it on TNT. I know because I’m one of them. 

No, when I say complicated, I mean in terms of how much we’d like to actually recreate or continue the various elements of our collective misspent ‘90s youth. Sometimes attempts to perpetuate ‘90s mythos are met with love and success like the ongoing Pokemon phenomena or the massive success of Jurassic World, while other times the only response is disgust and derision like last year’s twin flops of Goosebumps and Terminator Genisys or the X-Files revival. This year seems set to make what could be the definitive statement on the question of audience reaction to ‘90s revivals with the upcoming sequel to Independence Day, which now has a new trailer. 

Super Bowl Trailer Round-Up

Edited by Robert Beach

Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone; Peyton Manning is finally banished from the world of pro-sports, and we’ve been left with a ton of movie spots for this year’s summer blockbusters.  However, given most of these spots are about 30 seconds each, there’s really no way to dig deep into the individual spots. They’re just a little too brief to devote a whole article too. Instead, I’m doing a big round up of most of the major ones. With that said, let’s dive in. 

Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer

The odd thing about movies being something that’s enjoyed by a wide age group is that while some trends represent genuine progress forward and new tastes nostalgia from the recently moneyed ends up an equally if not more powerful market force.  That particular truth is why the 2010s have ended up such a breeding ground for ‘90s nostalgia, or ‘90stalgia as I lovingly call it.  X-Files is back, Jurassic Park is back, Godzilla is back, Power Rangers is on the way, and now we’ve got the first trailer for the triumphant return of possibly the most important ‘90s blockbuster ever made Independence Day. 

Shaft comedy in the works

New Line Cinema has announced they’re planning to do a reboot of the blaxploitation cult classic Shaft.  The original Shaft became a hit as a sort of Black James Bond action flick in the ‘70s and is probably the best iteration of the blaxploitation genre (aside from possibly Blacula.)  The original Shaft was a strong hit, spawning 2 sequels in Shaft’s Big Score and Shaft in Africa.  Since then Shaft was remade in the ‘90s starring Samuel L. Jackson as a slickly produced action flick with a hard R rating.  This new iteration of the character has attracted the creator of Black-ish Kenya Barris as the writer and the studio has stated they’re aiming for a more comedic tone. 

This decision has been met with a pretty wide array of responses, some have voiced apathy at the prospects of a new Shaft film while others have felt downright outraged over this approach to the classic character.  Me?  I’m firmly entrenched in the angry side of the divide, this strikes me as a thoroughly tone deaf approach to the material with very little to redeem it to say nothing of setting a really bad precedent.