Tag Archives: 2011

The Saturday Comics: The Phantom Gets Good!

29 Dec

December 29, 2017

Let’s end the year by checking back in on one of the classics. It is the Phantom, a comic character from the Golden Age created by Lee Falk. He’s “The Ghost Who Walks,” but basically just a guy in a suit who fights crime. He’s the latest in a family line of crime-fighters to use that name. When we last checked in back in 2011, there was literally nothing going on. For an entire week nothing happened. And I mean that exactly as it sounds. Let’s go back and see, then we’ll check in with the strip today and see what’s up.

UPDATED from April 16, 2011DAY ONE:

OK, I get it. I came in at the end of an adventure. It looks like a happy ending. It is actually a good thing I came in now so I can enjoy the start of a whole new story tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

DAY TWO:

Well, that’s nice. Sort of the same thing as yesterday though. And it seems a bit of a waste, story-wise, to do it in one big splash but I guess it gets the emotion across. OK, let’s see where this goes tomorrow.

DAY THREE:

What the? What’s the point of this? Is the next arc about haircuts? If this were a play I could almost hear the stage manager hissing “vamp!” while the star desperately searches for her line. This is ridiculous, the big splash yesterday should have ended the arc. I’m getting a bit tired of this, hopefully things will move ahead tomorrow.

DAY FOUR:

Um, Ok. More wasting time. Maybe they haven’t hammered out the next script yet and just tossed this in? I can’t figure out a purpose to this strip, unless it is to reinforce their dedication to fighting evil? This isn’t much of a superhero strip, it is more like a bad show on the religious station with Kirk Cameron. I’m not hopeful for tomorrow.

DAY FIVE:

Ahh, now we’re getting somewhere.

DAY SIX:Huh? Where’s The Phantom? And isn’t that the guy who was supposed to be in jail? Who are these people? I sat through almost a week for this? That strip could have been told in three panels. And re-read the second panel. “Colonel Weeks met the unknown commander.” “Worubu doubts it.” There is a verb tense problem there, and I’m usually not that picky outside of a grammar blog but that is really annoying to read. I really hope The Phantom picks up but I’m losing hope.

DAY SEVEN:

UGH! Back to that? It’s like the Sunday strip exists in a different timeline, and maybe it might. Many strips do a separate storyline on Sundays because some papers only run the Sunday strips. So I can follow the annoying story on Sunday, or follow the slow and boring story during the week, or maybe wait and see if indeed that Sunday strip is part of the same story as the weekly though it doesn’t seem to be.

DAY EIGHT:

To Hell with The Phantom. Popeye never fails. I got more out of that strip than an entire week of The Phantom. And why not? It looks like they are running a classic Sagendorf strip.

That Phantom run may have been the worst week of a comic strip that I have ever read, and that’s coming from someone who read comics written and drawn by Rob Liefeld so you know I’ve read some bad comics. The artist of this strip, Paul Ryan, was the artist on one of my favorite runs of the Fantastic Four so this hurts all the more.

DECEMBER 2017 UPDATE!

Here are the current strips from Monday December 25 to Thursday, December 28: 

Whoa, what happened? First, you might notice a change in the art. Comic book veteran Mike Manley (another favorite artist, and cool name- “Manley”-) has taken over from Paul Ryan, who died in 2016. The strip looks great. I have to give credit to the colorist too. The explosion on day two really pops. But most notably,  the writing is top notch. It zips along! There’s action! I want to know what happens next. And look at the bad guy. Despite not knowing what the plot of the story is, I feel I know all I need to know about him at this point. As a new reader I’m already drawn into the action and fairly knowledgeable about the characters. Did they change the writer, you may be wondering? Nope, it is still Tony DePaul. So maybe the 2011 run was an aberration? Or maybe he simply improved. Either way, this week’s strip is a winner. I deliberately left out the Friday strip. And that’s today (as of the date of this posts publication) so go over to comicskingdom.com and see where this story is headed. I know I will!  

 

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Dancing With The Stars September 2011. Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse

7 Sep

September 7, 2011

Dancing with the Stars is the most misnamed show in America. Has there ever been a real star on there? OK, so maybe Celebrity Apprentice is just as bad, but at least there is one real star on that show- Donald Trump. This show has Tom Bergeron. He’s likeable enough, and funny, but hardly a marquee draw.

 This time around Dancing with the Stars has me wondering what it takes to be a star. Case in point:

Chaz Bono

The former Chastity Bono, he (which is how she wants to be known) is a star for two reasons. Famous parents and a sex change operation. That’s it. I have nothing against Chaz, nor do I have anything against a transgender competitor. But what has Chaz done on his own to make him a star? Nothing that I can tell. But I do think Chaz is more of a “star” than the next dancer.

Rob Kardashian

Who? Who? Who? Does anyone have any idea who this guy is? We know the Kardashian sisters. There’s Kim, the sexy one, there’s Kourtney, the cute one, and then there’s Khloe, who for some reason no one wants to admit is big and thick. (Not that is necessarily bad, look at Jordin Sparks, very attractive.) Khloe is easily the least attractive sister. And I’ll go there- in some pictures she is just ugly. And now there is this Rob guy, who is supposed to be their brother. Who cares? His parents didn’t even care enough to give a name that starts with a “K.” Either that or they were too stupid to think of Kevin, and if you’ve seen their show that may be true.

See?

Hope Solo

She is a major athlete. Seriously, she is! Oh, I see the problem, she is on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. That’s why you don’t know her. No offense, but the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team is lower profile than the WNBA, and I am not even sure that still exists.

Popular Solos

Elisabetta Canalis

I’ll let the internet handle this:

She may be tabloid fodder for being George Clooney’s ex, but the gorgeous model-actress is a famous TV and film personality in her native Italy.

Wait a minute, is this the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars? Nope. So I guess she is here because of this:

And now take a good look at this.

J.R. Martinez

This is the man I am rooting for.

He didn’t always look this way.

From wiki: Jose Rene Martinez (born June 14, 1983) is an American actor, motivational speaker and retired U.S. Army. In 2003, J.R. experienced severe burns to over 40 percent of his body while serving as a United States Army infantryman in Iraq. After a long and difficult recovery, J.R. spends his time traveling the country extensively in his role as a spokesman and motivational speaker. J.R. has played the role of Brot Monroe in ABC’s daytime drama All My Children since November 7, 2008.

Think about it. After all he went through he went into acting. Acting. The Most Superficial, Appearance Driven, Only Based On Looks Career There Is. THAT takes courage.

And they had the nerve to put George Clooney’s ex-girlfriend on the same show and call them both “Stars.” Screw them.

Carson Kressley

Probably the first person on this list who can lay legitimate claim to being a star, albeit a totally annoying one. He was the Queer Eye For The Straight Guy guy that nobody liked regardless of sexuality. So I guess we owe him a debt of thanks. He showed the world that it is OK to hate a gay man as long as you hate him for his jerkiness and not his homosexuality.

Kristin Cavallari

Another one I had to look up. Here is all you need to know.

Chynna Phillips

Sort of the anti-Chaz Bono, Chynna has a famous pedigree but made a name for herself with the group Wilson Phillips and some acting.

This is how we remember her. Keep this image in mind when you see her on TV now.

Nancy Grace

Because nothing screams poise and elegance like Nancy Grace.

 

Ricki Lake

I really want to say something bad about her but I can’t. The worst I can say is that is that she embodies the old saying “jack of all trades, master of none.” She does some acting but isn’t that great an actress, she had a long running talk show but it wasn’t a tough job, it was closer to Jerry Springer than Oprah, and she has done a little game show hosting and producing. I know I said I couldn’t say anything bad about her but I guess I could say mediocre things. But at any rate, I like her. I’m just not sure why.

David Arquette

Arguably the biggest name here, and winning that argument is no big accomplishment, he is best known for being dumped by Courtney Cox, but to some of us, he is best known as THE WORST WCW CHAMPION EVER.

Yes, this is real. He was a WCW Wrestler.

Ron Artest

He’s a basketball player and I am not a basketball fan. However, I do know that he is changing his name to Metta World Peace, an odd choice considering that he was a major player in the The Malice at the Palace brawl, an altercation between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers on November 19, 2004. It resulted in nine players being suspended without pay for a total of 146 games, which led to $10 million in salary being lost by the players. Five players were also charged with assault, and all five of them were eventually sentenced to a year on probation and community service. Five fans also faced criminal charges and were banned from attending Pistons home games for life. Artest was the most heavily fined player. He ran into the stands and attacked an innocent fan.

And there you have it. Next season, expect more stars like Mugsy Bowes, the guy who clogged the toilet at the gas station, and a random name from the Indiana phone book.

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