Archive for May, 2010


Images Of Batman – 3

Filed Under: Animation, Batman, Comics, U.S.S. Chesapeake by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 8, 2010

Previously on “Images Of Batman:” Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns rocked the comics industry and led to a hit feature film.

During the early ’90s, I used to comb the Internet looking for any news on Star Trek for the COMSTAR, the monthly publication for the U.S.S. Chesapeake club. I’d print every credible item I could find about the franchise in the newslet­ter. Of course, while I searched for Trek news, I’d look up other topics of interest, including Batman.

After the Batman movie had earned a huge take, word came across the web that Fox was going to air a new animated series about the Caped Crusader.

As a long-time Batman fan, I’ve seen pretty much every animated show based on the character. And it hasn’t been pretty.

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Images Of Batman – 2

Filed Under: Animation, Batman, Comics by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 7, 2010

Last entry, I began to explain just how much of an influence Batman has had on my life. When I ran out of energy, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns was about to be pub­lished.

Now, I had given up comics prior to this event, as I pointed out previously. But Batman’s sidekick, Robin, was instrumental in me getting back into buying them again.

The New Teen Titans comics, with Robin as the team leader, was a hot item for DC Comics. My brother Randy never stopped col­lecting comics even though I had. So, when he had trouble getting New Teen Titans #1, I was recruited to go to a local comics specialty shop to buy one.

That was a significant change for com­ics fans. Having a store dedicated to comics meant not having to rifle through drug store racks or shelves. It also meant being able to get nearly all the comics you wanted without missing issues, which often plagued and discouraged collectors.

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Images Of Batman – 1

Filed Under: Animation, Batman, Comics, Television/Movies by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 6, 2010

It’s always a bittersweet thing when some­thing you love comes to an end. You know, that kind of thing makes one nostaglic.

For example, the recent release of the entire Justice League and Justice League Unlimited DVD set and Bat­man Beyond collection makes me happy because I now have all of the Bruce Timm animation of DC Comics characters ever shown on TV tucked away in my DVD collection.

But it also means the end of an important era of creativity and some of the best storytell­ing I’ve ever seen. Now, I dearly loved the recent direct-to-DVD Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, which was based on a script intended to bridge the gap between JL and JLU, but no more JLU and BB episodes or movies are expected to be made anytime soon. (A Batman Beyond comic mini-series will be out in a few months, so that will help ease the pain some!)

I can’t help but think back to Batman: The Animated Series, based on my all-time favorite comics character, the Dark Knight.

And I realized just how much influence Batman has had in my life. Let me share some of that with you.

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Long Live ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!’

Filed Under: Science Fiction, SciFi Pulse, Star Trek, Television/Movies, U.S.S. Chesapeake by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 5, 2010

I love great storytelling. I mean, I LOVE great storytelling! I’m totally passionate about it. I seek it out constantly. I crave it, need it desperately. Really, I can’t get enough of it!

Great storytelling will expand your understanding of life and the universe. It can help you experience something you haven’t ever imagined before. It can flex your precious imagination with tremendous might. It can inspire you. It can make you laugh and/or cry. It can help fill your days with profound thoughts and feelings. It can carry you through the tough times and make a good day even better. It is something so special that you know it when you find it, and always remember it.

That’s why I love Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!

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Muh-Muh-Muh Mice Aroma!

Filed Under: Music by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 4, 2010

One of the great things about pop music is that it is very difficult at times to understand what the singer is actually saying. Of course, anything that is open to interpretation can lead to humor, and this trend certainly does–especially with me and several friends from the U.S.S. Chesapeake. Why not? Hey, Weird Al Yankovic has made a living out of it!

What attracted our attention to this was a yearly day-by-day calendar from the website, kissthisguy.com. Obviously, the name of the site comes from the misheard lyrics from Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, “‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky.”

The title of today’s blog entry is misheard from My Sharona by The Knack. It’s one of my favorites.

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Ah, Warm Weather Returns

Filed Under: Comics, Music by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 3, 2010

It’s the first Monday in May as I write this, and the temperatures sure feel like Summer! Personally, I love this season most of all even though I am a big Christmas/Holiday Season fan as well. The warm weather makes me want to do more, not less. Cold weather makes me stay inside and look for less adventurous things to do.

I’ve already listened to my “Summer Songs” playlist on my iPod several times. It includes many tunes I never hear on the radio anymore, including “In The Summertime” by Mungo Jerry, “Summer” by War, the recent remix of “Summer Breeze,” “The Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley, “Summer Rain” by Belinda Carlyle, “Sunshine On My Shoulders” by John Denver, “Summer’s Child” by David Lanz, “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran, “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer” by Nat King Cole, “Saturday In The Park” by Chicago, and “Summer Of ’69” by Bryan Adams.

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Second ‘Iron Man’ May Soar At Box Office

Filed Under: Comics, Science Fiction by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 3, 2010

After helping with Sunday night’s podcast, I began my weekly contribution to SciFiPulse.Net by writing up many of the stories that will appear on the site on Monday morning, thus giving site head honcho Ian Cullen a well-deserved night off. But since we in the club are so very interested in what happens behind the camera as well as what happens in front of it, I’m printing it here as well. I won’t do this very often, but I think this one is really worth double-dipping it.

I am 'Iron Man' 2!>>Will Iron Man 2 do well in the U.S. as some have predicted? Apparently so, if you can go by box offices around the rest of the world this past weekend, according to comingsoon.net.

The sequel to the 2008 hit grossed $100.2 million in 53 countries worldwide over the weekend, according to numerous reports. Returns from the U.K. ($12.2 million), Mexico ($7.3 million) and Russia ($8.2 million) are way ahead of opening-weekend numbers for the first Iron Man, which bodes well for its domestic release on Friday, May 7.

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Another Free Comic Book Day

Filed Under: Comics by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 2, 2010

Free Comic Book DayToday was a day comics fans in the States enjoy.

On the first Saturday in May each year, comic book companies give out (well, the store owners actually do pay for them) special books that highlight the products they sell. All this helps attract old and new comic fans to their local specialty shops, and that will hopefully keep the industry surviving and hopefully even growing.

This year, I felt there was a significantly improved level of quality compared to previous years. In the last several years, I felt that the different companies were pushing — well, stuff that sucked, as a friend of mine would say.

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How Cool It Is If You Can Have A Pet!

Filed Under: What-everrr! by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
May 1, 2010

Rusty looked just like this when he was little. What a cutie!My sister used to have a dog named Rusty. He was mostly a miniature Terrier, but he was the smartest and most human dog I have ever met. If he would see me playing with another dog, he wouldn’t look angry–no, he’d look at me with eyes that let me know just how much I had disappointed him. “You’re mine!” he seemed to be trying to say. “Why are you spending time with that other dog?” My mom kept a wonderful photo of him on her kitchen table. I nicknamed him “Rustoleum” after something my dad kept in the cellar that I never quite understood.

When the world is dark and work doesn’t go well and life overall is haywire, a pet, including dogs and cats, can put a smile back on your face. You walk in the door, and they don’t care if you’ve gained weight or got the boss mad or had a flat tire. They just love you. “I’m so glad you’re home!” they seem to be saying. “Spend time with me!” And they know just how to distract you from the cares of the day.

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