Every once in a while, a certain book will come along that has the shuddering effect of an atomic bomb at ground zero: the genre is altered and a paradigm shift occurs. From that point onward, the exemplar spawns analogs … Continue reading →

EXHIBIT V: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986); Pantheon Books: Great literature not only says something about the human condition, it may also speak to the conditions of the day, thus also serving as a valuable historical text. Such examples include … Continue reading →

TOP HAT COMICS REMEMBERS STAN LEE:   As recently as our blog of Oct 8, we celebrated The Man’s influence on us through his and The King’s masterpiece, Fantastic Four #51. Little did we suspect at the time that a … Continue reading →

Exhibit II: “Daddy and the Pie”/“The Pie and I”, Erie #64 (Mar. 1975), Erie #72 (Feb. 1976); Warren Publishing Group:      If—as a civilization—we haven’t yet destroyed ourselves four hundred years from now, will any of the media of today … Continue reading →

A  RETRO-LOOK AT THE MARTIAL ARTS CRAZE THAT PERVADED WESTERN CULTURE IN THE EARLY AND MID-1970S:        “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting Those kids were fast as lightning In fact, it was a little bit frightening But … Continue reading →

A Case Study Of How The Movie Version Improved The Original Story With the success of Matt Reeves’ reboot of the Planet of the Apes series (most recently, War for Planet of the Apes this past summer), it’s worth remembering … Continue reading →