Confessions of a Hater

Caprice Crane has written several light novels for women (a genre often dismissively called “chick lit”), including Forget About It and Family Affair. I tried a couple of her previous books, and although the premises were intriguing, I didn’t care enough about the characters or what happened to finish any of them. Confessions of a Hater was different. It’s a Young Adult book, to start, with the classic plot of “geek girl finds way to be popular at a new […]

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They’ll Never Put That on the Air

I’ve always found stories of media censorship and attempted restraint interesting, because what offends people can be so arbitrary (and sometimes silly). This “oral history of taboo-breaking TV comedy” (as the subtitle has it) by Allan Neuwirth presents a collection of concerns over some of the best TV shows of all time, as told by the creators and executives involved. The opening chapter of They’ll Never Put That on the Air serves as a brief history of the sitcom, including […]

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Lone Ranger Features Released on YouTube

To promote the upcoming film The Lone Ranger, in theaters starting July 3 and starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, Disney has released two behind-the-scenes featurettes. They do the job, since I’m more interested in seeing the movie after viewing these promos. In “The Craft”, producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks about the practical effects and settings, and Depp almost gets trampled by his horse. The footage included is quite impressive, particularly the stunts. “Hi-Yo Silver”, as you might expect, looks at […]

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Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Color Sundays Volume 1: Call of the Wild

After putting out four volumes reprinting the historic Mickey Mouse newspaper strip, focusing on the black-and-white daily adventures of the spunky mouse, Fantagraphics begins collecting the color Sunday comics in Call of the Wild. (Note that back then, in the early 1930s, the Sunday comics ran different stories from the dailies, so the books can be separated in this fashion.) As is typical of their archive projects, there’s a good amount of historical information available here, from an introductory foreword […]

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The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction

Review by KC Carlson In comic shops this week, the latest and maybe the most fascinating volume yet in the Simon & Kirby Library series. The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction was slightly delayed due to the passing of Joe Simon in late 2011. Simon was very involved in the production of these wonderful volumes, and it can’t have been an easy time for editor Steve Saffel and the rest of the crew at Titan Books. Nonetheless, this volume […]

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This Is the End

Last night, I got to see a preview of This Is the End, a horror comedy that opens tomorrow. As you can see from the poster, it stars James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride all playing themselves — or the version of themselves they want to show for this story. The premise starts by exploring what it means to be friends, and how you combine your old and new groups. Old friend Jay […]

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Teen Titans Go! Gets a Second Season

Hey, maybe humor and superheroes DO go together! Since Teen Titans Go! “is the #1 program (excluding movies) on Tuesday on all TV among kids 2-11, 6-11, & 9-14 and boys 2-11, 6-11, & 9-14”, Cartoon Network has picked up a second season. (The first season seems to have been seven episodes, each having two cartoons.) It airs Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. As the network describes the show, The character-driven comedy series Teen Titans Go! focuses on the funny that […]

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Pope Hats #3

Although people like to say that there are comics out there for everyone, some types are much more common than others. If you are looking for a horror title featuring a big-busted fighter, for example, there are plenty of comics to choose from. If you’re looking for a comic that relates more directly to many people’s daily lives, though, particularly one with serious depth, it’s not so easy. That’s one of the big reasons I love Ethan Rilly’s Pope Hats. […]

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