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March 14th, 2007
It looks like for the first time in our sites history that we are
facing a few technical difficulties. I received a message tonight
from Candace that informed me that a large number of the articles on our
web-site were down. A quick assessment of the damage led to some
good news, and to some bad news. The good news is that I was able
to easily fix nearly all of the damage fairly quickly and
Thanks for your patience, Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict ______________________________________________________________________ March 11th, 2007 Hey there friends and readers, Another week just flew by. Wow! What the hell is going on
with March? Anyhow, got a few thoughts to discuss with you today
but first, of course, we got a brand new article to announce.
Think you know all there is to know about Yoko Ono? Well guess
again. She's not as bad as you might think:
FOR
THE LOVE OF YOKO: A REEXAMINATION AND APPRECIATION FOR YOKO ONO I have also gotten RC Mc Williams collection of Hardy Boys concert
photos up! Imagine my surprise and delight when I was uploading
the photos to find an additional twenty photos that I originally missed
when I first received them! The second batch of photos are even
better then the first, and I was pleased to find a few pictures of Hardy
Boys drummer Bob Crowder, as well as more photos of the mysterious sixth
unnamed member of the Hardy Boys. Wait. You have no idea
what I'm talking about? Take a moment to refresh your memory about
the Hardy Boys pop band, a strange little music/animation oddity and
then take a look at never before seen photos that have been sitting in
RC McWilliams photo albums for nearly forty years at:
But th So this week was a fairly tragic week in the world of pop culture
with not one, but two deaths in our pop culture community. The
first death, oddly enough, received a lot of press. The second one
did not, in North America at least.
In many ways John Inman's life was a mir However, despite the popularity of John Inman's character, gay rights
groups often attacked the comedian for displaying a negative stereotype
for gay men. However, it can be argued that Mr. Humphries,
although a characture, was a comfortable way of easing the still
intolerant public of the 1970's and 1980's into accepting homosexuality
as a rea In recent years John Inman had been regarded as one of England's best
known pantomime dames - a traditional British theatrical character
played by men in drag - appearing in more then forty productions across
the UK. Sadly, in December 2004 Inman was diagnosed with a
Hepatitis A infection which prevented him from working again.
Tragically, last Thursday, John Inman passed away as a result of
complications from the disease, thus ended the life and career of one of
the great British television personalities, as well as a legend in the
world of British comedy. A clever and talented performer, John
Inman will be sadly missed, but not forgotten. Anyhow, that's all for today folks. Stay tuned because there is
more to come, Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict
_____________________________________________________________________
March 3rd, 2007
Has over a week already gone by? Wow! That was quick. In fact, February flew by faster then a race between Superman and the Flash but that's good. We're coming out of the February blahs and into March madness. Spring will be here soon enough. Anyhow, it's been a crazy time around the Pop Culture Addict offices these days. It was a month of reflection, reevaluation and all around intensity but I think, as a result, you, the reader, are going to find that in the months to come a stronger and more positive "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict" is about to emerge. Anyhow, I got a few new articles to announce. First is a brand new interview with one of my very favorite people in the comic book industry, both professionally and personally, Eternal Romance's Janet L. Hetherington:
MY BABY HAS A CRUSH ON FRANKENSTEIN: A CONVERSATION WITH "ETERNAL ROMANCE'S" JANET L. HETHERINGTON
If your a woman, and you love comic books, then make sure not to pass this one by. Janet gives us a unique female perspective on the comic book industry. Also, make sure to check Janet's strip, which is a quirky blending of romance and horror comics, daily at www.MyRomanceStory.com. Also, Elise sent me back the very first Pop Culture Addict article I ever wrote when I went in search for the kids that played the original Power Rangers in:
So last week we were given an amazing gift by Mr. RC McWIlliams from Las Vegas, who stumbled across our two articles about the obscure Hardy Boys pop band, . Mr. McWilliams wrote us the following letter: "Hello-
Back in the 60's I
hung out at a local Chicago TV show called "Art Roberts Swinging
Majority", a Bandstand sort of show on a very small scale. The
show's producer was Tina Choate and she managed Reed Kailing of The
Destinations (at the time). I was a fan and wen By the way, they were a very
good band and played some great pop/ soul Chicago style. There is a VERY rare version
of Hello Girl (The Destinations hit) by The Hardy Boys, released on
the 8-track for "Wheels". I'm afraid that I know so much
about this band. I also have an acetate of an unreleased Kailing
solo album from '67. If you know how to get a hold
of him, let me know. RC McWilliams Well, unfortunately I wasn't able to get RC in touch with
One final thought before I go. The Beatles once sang "and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make." These are words to live by. Man. Aren't the Beatles great? Stay tuned because there is more to come! Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict
____________________________________________________________________ February 23rd, 2007 Hey there friends and readers,
Just coming back from a week without internet connection. Man
oh man that's like being castrated. Lemme tell you. Anyways,
I have a ton of things to tell you about, but for tonight I figure that
we'd honour this weeks big pop culture news item with a little game that I
would like to call:
CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S
SPOT THE MORON
Did you spot her? If you chose the bald chick at the end then you
won! Final thought on this subject...I'd just like to remind all of
you that I called this one back in 2004! For your reference check
out my original
Anyhow, hope you had fun.
More announcements tomorrow! Stay tuned! Sam Tweedle
Resident
Pop Culture Addict
___________________________________________________________________________ February 16th, 2007 Hey there friends and readers,
"Sam and Candace sure are funny and informative" says John Boy.
"Heck yeah! Their even better then Amos and Andy"
Elizabeth chimes in! Anyhow, just a quick reminder that today
the very first episode of the radio edition of "Confessions of a Pop
Culture Addict" airs on
However, come the chance that you do miss it, later in the week
Candace will be building a brand new section which will house MP3
versions of each show for your convenient listening pleasure. We
have a great series of shows planned in the months to come. Take a
look at this line up (subject to change): Feb 16th: "Getting to
Know You, Getting to Know All About You" with Sam Tweedle and Candace
Shaw March 2nd - "Shock Me: The Music of Ace Frehley" (featuring
an exclusive to Trent Radio interview with Venus Envy's Wendy Moore -
author of "Into the Void with Ace Frehley") with Sam Tweedle and Verne
Pickford March 16th - "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict vs. Bobby Curtola" featuring Sam Tweedle, Verne Pickford and Elise Merrill
M
April 13th
- "Monster Music" with Sam Tweedle and Verne Pickford
April 27th - "Rock Swings" with Sam Tweedle and co-host pending So we got an
exciting three months of programming coming your way. I hope
you'll be listening tomorrow and come back to look for our new radio
broadcast section coming soon. Also, don't forget to drop us a
line and let us know if you like what you here. Stay tuned because,
obviously, there is more to come. S Resident Pop Culture
Addict
_________________________________________________________________________ February 9th, 2007 Hey there friends and readers,
So I'm still knee deep in the middle of projects and developments for
our little web-site but I think it's been long enough that I keep you
people in the dark about what we have going on so get ready for a huge
heaping helping of announcements. However, before we get going, we got
a few new articles to point out to you! First, in a all new
article, revisit the odd and groovy world of the many Brady Bunch spin
off series in:
And from the archives, one of my very first Pop Culture
Addict articles ever is now represented! From 2003, we take a look
at a man that everybody likes, but nobody seems to love in:
TAKE A
LOOK AT ME NOW, WELL THERE'S JUST AN EMPTY SPACE: THE TRUTH
ABOUT PHIL COLLINS FANDOM Well last Friday, for the first
time ever, the entire Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict team got
together in one place. Some people had even finally met each other
for the first time. We all had a great meal, supplied by Karma at
Karma's Cafe in Peterborough, Ontario, which you may have seen recently
on an episode of the Food Network's "Restaurant Makeover." Anyhow,
we talked about a lot of ideas and the future of our operation.
You know, I work with a really dynamic team of people and since we are
all on this pop culture journey together I've opened up that journey to
the individual members of our team. If you go to the
T I do hope you'll take some time to check out the
new profiles of our entire team and get to know the people who work
behind the scenes at
And I have another major behind the
scenes announcement to make now. As you may know, I've been
eluding for a good month now that there is a big project coming
together. Well, a week from today, Friday February 16th,
Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict will be hitting the airwaves and
comi Meanwhile, there has been good news concerning
"The Boys are at
Dynamite. We are putting together our plans, and will give more
information as soon as possible. In addition to Garth and Darick, I
would like to thank DC Comics and everyone at Wildstorm Comics who
helped to make the transition a smooth one for Garth and Darick. I also
want to thank the fans who so vocally made their support known over the
last few weeks and I ask them to stay tuned for news on the
continuation. I promise it will be worth the wait, as Garth and Darick
continue to deliver their vision of The Boys."
No word yet on when the adventures of the Butcher, Wee
Hughie and the rest of "The Boys" will resume but as a comic book fan
all I have to say is thank god "the Boys" are coming back.
And speaking of comic books, last Wednesday the trade
paperback of what I consider to have b
Anyhow, that's all for tonight friends. I'm
going back to transcribing our next interview, that will hopefully be up
in time for Valentines Day, and Verne and I are conducting a new
interview tonight which I will announce later this week. So,
obviously, stay tuned because there is lots more to come. Sam Tweedle
Resident Pop Culture Addict
____________________________________________________________________________ February 7th, 2007 Hey there friends and readers,
Wow. It's been a while since we've all met together here.
There is so much going on behind the scene here at
But stay tuned because there is, indeed, more to come. I promise.
Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict
__________________________________________________________________________ January 27th, 2007 (cont)
WISHES OUR
PUBLIC RELATIONS GUY
VERNE PICKFORD
A GHOULISH BIRTHDAY!
Thanks for everything you've done this year pal. Next year just
let us in a bit sooner then the morning of! That's truly ghoulish!
______________________________________________________________________ January 27th, 2007 Hi there friends and readers! It's been a
week since I updated you guys on what's been going on behind the
scenes at
First
off, we have another new article from the archive. Read of my
anti-climatic 2004 meeting with Doctor Who star Peter Davidson in:
"If
anyone ever comes across a copy of Jenna's country music either in a
shop or on the internet please let me know where." Well friends, Mark has come through for us when he sent me the following note with the title "Oy Vey! Von Oy's music!!!" Mark writes:
"Hi
Sam, Don't know if you saw
Jenna Von
Oy's MySpace page by way of her official site?
If you haven't a couple of her tunes are up there
Mark" Anyhow, for those who wanna hear Jenna's country music, go to http://www.myspace.com/jennavonoy. She has two songs available for us to sample Now I think I like "Old Remember Whens" much better then "Someday I'll Be Me" but I think the real problem is that I just don't dig Jenna's style of music. New country just isn't my bag. However, to put it on the spectrum of comparing it to other celebrities who have done albums, Jenna's music is a lot more listenable then Telly Savalis' "Telly" album, not nearly as classic as William Shatner's "The Transformed Man" and will never hold a candle to Richard Harris' "A Tramp Shining." So what have we learnt about Jenna Von Oy this month. We've learnt that she thinks it's more interesting to not smile in photos then to smile, that she has a really great butt and that she is, indeed, singing country music. Well at least she's still putting money in her bank account in ways that doesn't include holding up a laundry mat. Anyhow, despite the jokes we throw at her, "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict" wants to continue to support and encourage Jenna on all of her many projects and endeavors. I know she'd do the same for us.
Now personally, I consider "the Boys" to
be the best new comic series of 2006. It took a few issues to get
off the ground but once it got going the series had me gri Well the good news is that DC is being real chums about this whole fiasco. DC is now in the process of releasing the rights to "the Boys," as well as the issues that are already in the can, back to Ennis in order that he can get them published, and have the series continue at another comic book company. Not only that, but they are allowing artist Darik Robertson, who has an exclusive contract with DC and who gave up an exclusive contact with Marvel comics, as well as the opportunity to draw Wolverine, to come to DC and draw "the Boys," to continue to draw "the Boys" wherever Ennis chooses to publish it! Anyhow, shortly after the announcement of "The Boys' cancellation Garth Ennis wrote the following statement::
"It’s become obvious to all concerned that The Boys should never
have been published at DC, and to their credit they’re working hard to
release the rights so that Darick and I can find the book a new home.
We’re already looking at offers from a number of publishers, and plan to
return with #7 and the f Thank you to
everyone who’s bought and supported The Boys to date. I’ve gotten a
real kick out of the response we’ve gotten over the first six issues,
and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the next fifty-four.
Believe me, what we’ve got coming up will
make #1-6 look like a quiet evening on Sesame Street. One other thing: I want to say thank you to Ben Abernathy, Scott
Dunbier and Jim Lee for all their help and support. Good guys,
pleasant to deal with, never anything less than gentlemen. I’m going
to miss doing the book with them." Anyhow, "Confessions of a Pop Anyhow friends, that's all for tonight. Now I'm gonna tell you something before I call it a night. We have some really exciting projects and changes that are going to be made to the site in February. We'll be expanding this site, as well as the entire operation a lot that is going to allow you all to get to know the rest of the people who make this web-site happen. "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict" is put together by a dynamic group of people and in the weeks to come it's really going to come clear to everyone just what great of a team I work with. Stay tuned because we have some really exciting things to come. Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict ____________________________________________________________________ January 19th, 2007 Hi there friends and readers!
And speaking of comic books and odd characters, are any of you picking up DC's Tales From the Unexpected mini series featuring the new Specter? If your not then, damn it, you should be reading it. However, skip the Specter story. I mean the Specter story is alright, but save it for later. The real gem of this series is the monthly Doctor 13 back up feature by the team of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. Doctor Thirteen, a man who dedicates his life debunking the unexpained, and his sorceress daughter Traci (aka Girl 13 from the Superman comics) lead a team of obscure DC oddities like Genius Jones, Captain Blood, Haunted Tank, I Vampire, Anthro and the Legion of the Substitute Superheroes' Infectious Lass against the Primate Patrol. In other words a man who doesn't believe in the unexplained leads a child in a airplane helmet, a pirate, a ghost, a vampire, a cave man and a hero in the future who fights crime by making her enemies ill in battle against talking Nazi gorillas. Trust me. It's great reading - and is responsible for creating the best comic book page in recent years -
Anyways, Azarello and Chiang's "Dr. 13" gets the Pop Culture Addict's Seal of Approval for entertainment excellence and I hope you'll all check it out.
Born in Halifax, Denny started
his musical career in Montreal as a member of the band "The Colonials"
which soon changed their name to "The Halifax Three." It was
during his time touring the States with "The Halifax Three" that he met
Zal Yanovsky, who would later form "the Loving Spoonful" with John
Sebastian, and the rotund Mama Cass Elliott who fell in love with Denny
and would hold a flame for him until her death. The three
eventually formed a band called "the Muggwumps" which were quite
popular. However, when "the Mugwumps" broke up, Denny teamed up
with John Phillips in his band "The New Journeymen" which quickly
folded, but Denny and John brought Cass into the fold and became "The
Magic Circle." However, after bringing in John's Now each member of the Mamas and the Papas had their own role to play. John wrote the songs, Michelle was the sex symbol, Mama Cass was the icon and Denny was the voice of the group. While the Mama and the Papas are famous for their harmonies, it was Denny that provided the male solos for the band on all their most popular hits. However, it was also
Denny that had a big part of breaking the group up. During the
heyday of the group Denny and Michelle began to have an affair.
This both broke John and Cass' hearts. In fact, the Mamas and the
Papas 1966 hit "I Saw Her Again Last Night" was John's song about Denny
and Michelle's affair - which the pair saw as a punishment to have to
perform it on stage pretending everything was alright after it became a
huge hit song for the group. Although Michelle was kicked out of
the group for a short period, and despite the four trying to record
again despite the infidelity, the magic was gone and "the Mamas and the
Papas" broke up in 1968. Cass went on to have a fairly good solo
career but it was cut short when she died in 1974. The rest of the
Mamas and the Papas had spattering of recordings here a Denny also produced his own stage show
about the Mamas and the Papas in Toronto in the early 1990's.
Called "Dream a Little Dream of Me" Denny presented a very honest story
about the romantic affairs and the highs and lows of the band. It
received rave reviews during it's run, even gaining the thumbs up from
former band mates John and Michelle. It was during the publicity
to this show that I heard an interview with Denny on CBC Radio's
"Definatly Not the Opera" that I will always remember as being one of
the most intense interviews I ever heard and really left an impact on me
DNTO has a feature where they interview notable Canadians about their
favorite movie, book and film with the celebrity telling them why the
book, movie and film is so important to them. In the inte However, with Denny's death, that leaves only one of the quartet alive. Perhaps Denny is somewhere out there with Cass and John again making beautiful harmonies once again. In memory of Denny why don't you enjoy this vintage "Mamas and the Papas" clip from Hullabaloo featuring go go dancers in bathtubs. You heard me right. Go go dancers in bathtubs. Watch Denny, John, Cass and Michelle. Even they are thinking "what the fuck?" Anyhow, that's all for today friends. However, stay tuned because there is much more to come. Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict _______________________________________________________________________
January 14th, 2007 Hi there friends and readers! And, as promised earlier this week, welcome to 2007's first reader mail column! However, before we get to the letters, we have two new articles debuting this week. First, our much anticipated interview with independent comic book artist/writer Terry Moore, creator of the award winning, and soon to be ending, comic book masterpiece "Strangers in Paradise:
And Elise sent back another piece from the archive. Take a run through the most obscurest memories of my childhood as we revisit those crazy and crappy kid's shows from my childhood growing up in Ontario, Canada in:
Now as we've been saying pretty much all month, January has been a pretty exciting time around our little web-site because we've received more visitors in the first two weeks of January then we did in all of 2006! As a result, the amount of mail to www.popcultureaddict.com has also increased. Now I personally respond to each and every e-mail we get and I tell you, I'm an absolute whore for the feedback so keep writing! I love hearing what is on your mind. Anyhow, it's been pretty hard to weed through all the mail we've received this month, but I think I have found a few interesting, touching and fun pieces of mail to share with you from our mailbag. First up is a letter from Mark from Northampton, UK who writes to us about a number of articles including SEX, FANGS AND HI-JINKS: A CONVERSATION WITH RONN SUTTON, GOTHIC ROMANCE: A DECLARATION OF LOVE TO AN OBSCURE SCREAM QUEEN and the always controversial 1960'S MUSICAL GROUPS I REALLY CAN'T STAND. Anyhow, Mark writes: "Hey Sam,
I've just been roaming around your Pop Culture
Addict site and it's AWESOME!!!
Thanks for wising me up to the art of Ronn Sutton and the beauty of Fawn Silver. Are any of her films readily available (or at all in fact) on DVD? Just one problem with the site. The Beach Boys RULE!!!!! I won't give ya the Brian Wilson as musical genius lecture just suffice to say that George Martin and Paul McCartney see Brian as their biggest inspiration in the 60's. The Beach Boys and the Beatles were almost like transatlantic pen pals in the mid 60's trying to "raise the bar" artistically over the other with each new album. Give "Pet Sounds" or "Smile" a whirl if you haven't already Great site dude and I'll be sure to check in again from now on. Keep up the great work, Best, Mark " Well thanks for giving our site such a heavy working over Mark. We got a lot of material to cover here. First off, I gotta agree with you about the art
of Ronn Sutton. Ronn is one of my favorite professionals in the
business, not to mention a good friend of mine. I've known Ronn
through the convention circuit for a number of years but throughout the
past year Ronn and I have been in pretty constan Finally, to the Beach Boys. Yi Next letter is from Janice B. who writes about my 2003 tribute to the late William Marshall (.HERE LIES BLACULA: REMEMBERING WILLIAM MARSHALL) Janice writes: "My name is Janice. I did not have a
computer but as soon as I got one I looked up William Marshall and I
was so hurt to hear that he had passed away. Blacula and Scream
Blacula Scream are my favorite. People really don't see the beautiful love story in Blacula and how bad he
wanted to get rid of that demon in Scream Blacula Scream even it
meant death. William Marshall was a credit to the afro American
race and I was so proud of him, especially when he spoke. Thank
you so much for keeping him near to our heard. Yours truly,
Janice B. Hi there
And now for something completely different.
Next up is a letter from Tom Dent who writes to us about my
2004
search for the whereabouts of former Blossom star Jenna Von Oy.
Tom wrote to share a part of Jenna's...ug...*cough cough*...career
that I didn't uncover in my search for her:
"How ya doin'? Your site is excellent! Someone
emailed me the link to your list for Lamest Superheroes and after
laughing my head off I began exploring the rest of your site. I
haven't been through most of it but what I've seen is great fun and
brings up lots of memories. When I came across your Jenna Von Oy page though, I realized it was
incomplete. I enjoyed the Blossom show too but my favorite at the time
was Blossom herself. I like quirky girls with brains, what can I say?
Six was always too dumb for me. You chronicled Jenna Von Oy's
post-Blossom days but maybe you weren't aware of her pin-up pics.
You see the brother's love a good ass and when she was on the Parkers,
her perfect little rear got noticed ( I almost never saw the show-it
was mighty stupid-but when I did, the highlight was watching Jenna's
tush in jeans). Evidently others noticed too and she popped up a few
times in King Magazine (King is basically Maxim catered towards Black
men).
Tom" So, without further ado, here's one of the half naked photos of Jenna Von Oy that accompanied Tom's e-mail (Tom sent us four btw). Yup, spazzy lil' Six is all grown up. Anyhow, I think it's pretty clear to see out of Six and Blossom which one has taken care of herself the best. Anyways, thanks for informing us about the ever continuing saga of Jenna Von Oy. It's always comforting to know she's still out there giving it her all!. Finally, I got an e-mail from fantasy artist Quinton Hoover who just wanted to clear up a mistake he found in our interview with Ronn Sutton. Mr. Hoover writes: "Hi...Was running one of my occasional piracy searches, and ran across a mention of my work on Night Terrors in the Ron Sutton interview. Just wanted to pop in with a minor correction: the story itself wasn't by me. That honor belonged to Joe Monks. I came in purely as a last-minute replacement penciller on the story "The Party's Over." Sadly, not my best work as it was so rushed, but I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to work on a Wrightson-related project!
Later,
Quinton Hoover"
Thanks for clearing that up Quinton! Anyhow, that brings us to the end of our January edition of Readers Mail. Keep your letters coming in so we can do this again next month. Drop me a line at popcultureaddict@gmail.com about anything you read on our site. Anything you like, dislike or any additional thoughts you might have. I love hearing from you and I learn a lot from you folks. Hearing from you is just another important factor in the continuous pop culture journey. And of course, stay tuned because there is more to come! Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict _ _______________________________________________________________________
January 10th, 2007 Hi there friends and readers!
For starters, our first brand new article for 2007 is up over in the TV section. Celebrate the incredible lives of our departed Sesame Street cast members in something I'm calling:
CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET, HOW TO GET TO SESAME CEMETERY
Now I have a special note of thanks to make, but I'm sure I'm going to flub up some of the technical jargon or even exactly what has happened but I'm going to jump in with both feet and just go for it anyways. As a result of the massive growth in "Confession of a Pop Culture Addicts'" readership in the past month we were pretty close to crashing our server and, as a result, had to find a new place to house our web-site out of. Anyways, our good friend Pete Forde stepped up to the plate and is the new host of www.popcultureaddict.com, even taking the time to transferring our whole web-site for us. So what does this mean? Well I don't totally know. I'm the writer and this technical stuff makes my head hurt but I understand that we're bigger, stronger and that Pete is a helluva guy! Thanks a ton Pete, and I hope that you and Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict have a long and successful partnership. So over the last few weeks the mailbox has been filled right up with letters, comments and greetings from people all over the world. We love getting letters so keep sending them in. Now later this week I am going to be putting together our next letter column, However, the other day we received a very intriguing invitation from New York based playwrite Charles Battersby who invited us to see his off-Broadway production called "Kryptonite Hearts." Unfortunately, due to geographical difficulties (us being located outside of Toronto and off-Broadway being located in New York) we are not able to attend but I did tell Mr. Battersby that I would at least give the show a plug because...well...it all sounds like a lot of fun. So without further ado: THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIER OF:
Kryptonite Hearts will
run January 25 - February 11 Alright, and if any of our New York based readers do make it to a performance of "Kryptonite Hearts" please drop us a note to tell us how you enjoyed it. I'm interested in hearing all about it.
Born in Vancounver, Yvonne DeCarlo was brought to Hollywood at the age of 15 by her mother and started at the bottom dancing in chorus lines and appearing in men's magazines such as Titter and Wink but eventually made a fairly successful career playing dark exotic roles such as harem girls, Indian maidens, belly dancers and gypsies in the 1940's and 1950's with probably her most famous role in films being Charleston Heston's wife Saphora in the 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments." However, it was when she turned to television in the 1960's, as many faded Hollywood alumnists whose time on the screen runs it's course, that Ms. DeCarlo found her most famous and beloved role. That of vampire Lily Munster, the matriarch, and often the voice of reason, on "The Munsters."
"When I was a younger man I worked at the O'Keefe
Center in Toronto. Now that was a place you could go to meet
beautiful women. They'd be running around all topless and stuff.
Well I was a stagehand and there was this one production there that
featured Yvonne DeCarlo and I'll tell ya son, she was the most beautiful
women I ever lay my eyes on. Anyways, one night after some show or
rehearsal or something, for some reason - I dunno if it was a bet or a
prank or whatever -
As this old boozehound told me the story I knew he wasn't kidding me because if he was going to make this story up he would have picked a more famous celebrity, like Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn or something. Also, the way his eyes twinkled as he remembered that one oddly placed kiss from decades before was astonishing. For the rest of his life that one kiss provided a lifetime of fantasies and a triumph to talk about for a little old man. Wherever he is tonight, if he's even still alive, that man is missing Yvonne DeCarlo a little more then the rest of us ever will. Anyhow, I think that's going to be all for
tonight friends. Check back in later this week (health pending)
for our reader mail column! Stay tuned because there's more to come! Sam Tweedle Resident Pop Culture Addict
__________________________________________________________________________________
January 3rd, 2007 Happy New Years friends and readers!
Anyhow, over the last few days I've been getting a
real kick out of floating around the internet
However, despite the positive feedback, there has been a spattering of
negative feedback as well. One such issue that is often commented
on is that I included legitimate heroes, such as the Red Bee and Cypher, along with
characters like Dogwelder and Arm Fall of Boy who were o A much harsher critic stated: " There is nothing insightful in the list, which is generated by essentially the same snarky algorithm that determines the content on Ironic Age sites like the Absorbascon and Chris's Invincible Super-Blog. I'm not saying that Vibe's not worth ridiculing; I'm saying that there's nothing surprising or insightful in doing so" which was closely followed by another reader who added, "The real purpose of a lame list would to give us insight into why these characters fail so future creations can avoid their pitfalls." Now I find both of these comments to be very worthy arguments, but in these cases I must wonder if these readers missed the point of the article all together. While I do try to be critical and thought provoking with the many of the articles here at www.popcultureaddict.com, a big part of this site is to entertain as well. "The Top Ten Lamest Superheroes of All Time" article was not meant as a serious analytical look at comic book characters as much to have a bit of fun and a bit of a laugh at some crazy character concepts. I was at no point trying to be insightful as I was trying to be entertaining.
I think it
may have been Geoff Johns who stated, after killing a obscure character
named Firebrand off, that every character, no matter how obscure, is
somebody's favorite. This proves to be true, as seen by
the Absorbascon's Crusade to Vindicate Vibe (a tongue in cheek
response to our article that I found very amusing) or this totally
ser But I think what is important is to not take our heroes so seriously and to be able to laugh at them. I mean, one reader wrote "I can't believe the Red Bee is on this list. That's what really makes me mad." Dude. I love the Red Bee too but c'mon now! He is LAME! Look at his costume! A trained Bumble Bee named Michael! NAMED MICHAEL! You can't take this stuff to seriously. I mean, even I make jokes about the Black Canary never losing her wig or ever getting her fishnets torn.
Furthermore, history has proven itself that the marriage of major comic book characters is more of a curse then a blessing. While they are one of my favorite comic book couples, a lot of the soap opearish appeal of Spiderman was lost when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were married. Furthermore, the traditional dynamic of Lois Lane's love for Superman, and scheming to find out his secret identity was spoiled forever when she married Clark Kent. Marriage in comics just isn't a great idea. Yet, with that said, I do have faith in the
current writing staff at DC Comics. In the last three years, under
the influence of Dan Didio, DC has been dedicated to writing good stories
and keeping a sense of history. I do believe if the marriage was
written properly and with the right writer perhaps they could pull it
off. The real secret is to give it to a good writer. Gail
Simone is quite possibly the best Black Canary writer in the business
currently working at DC. Brad Meltzer, on the other hand, writes
the best Green Arrow and a fairly good Black Canary. Mark
But we must remember that "Lying in the Gutters" is nothing but a rumor column. While I enjoy Rich Johnston's column very much, Mr. Johnston has been wrong about things on many occasions. As a result, until I hear this news from Dan Didio or from a comic solicitation I am not going to hold my breath or get all out of sorts. Who knows what plans DC Comics has for the Emerald Archer and the Blond Bombshell in 2007. We'll all just have to wait and see how this plays out. Anyways, thanks to everyone who is visiting our site. If you've just popped in to check out the Lamest Superhero article I hope you'll spend some time exploring the rest of the site, and will come back for some more exciting features we have planned in the months to come. 2007 is going to be a big year. Also, check this space out later this week for some more comic book musings and our second reader mail column.
Stay tuned because there is more to come, Resident Pop Culture Addict
________________________________________________ ANNOUNCEMENTS ARCHIVE
|
Hey
there friends and readers,
without
much headache. The bad news is that a handful of our sites most
popular articles will, for a short while, not be assessable until
further time and care can be put into getting them back up on the
internet. I want to assure you that our web-sites handyman, although not
always the brightest of chaps, will be making getting those missing
articles back up and running his first priority. He's a good guy,
and when he's not trying to make time with Bonnie Franklin, he's fast
and dependable. However, realistically, it could take up to a week
or more before "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict" is running back at
full speed. I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but I hope
you'll stay with us through these technical issues. In the
meantime there is plenty of material, plus some new articles coming in,
and more in the works. As I always stay tuned because there is
more to come.
e
Hardy Boys news doesn't end there! Last week I received a reader
tip to the whereabouts of Hardy Boys lead singer Jeff "Joe Hardy"
Taylor. A quick internet search led me to Jeff Taylor's business
phone number and last Friday I was pleased to speak for a
few minutes with Jeff! Jeff was a great guy who sounded both amused
and perhaps a tad bit embarrassed about us contacting him about his days
in the Hardy Boys, but before I even got off the phone Jeff was
telling me brand new Hardy Boy information including up to date
information on the whereabouts of Reed Kailing and Devon English.
Anyhow, this coming Wednesday I'll be conducting an interview with Jeff
about his music career and his days with the Hardy Boys. Yes sir!
Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict is quickly becoming the internet's
leading source for information on the Hardy Boys pop band. Look
for my visit with Jeff in the months to come. Also, I'd like to
thank our readers for their continuous contact with new Hardy Boy
information. I am still searching for the whereabouts of Bob
Crowder. I believe that he may be working as a session drummer in
the Chicago area although, according to Norb Solystiak, he may have gone
to the West Coast. If anybody has any information on Bob please
get in touch.
First off, if your one of the few that don't know by now, on
Wednesday
afternoon Captain America was shot down by a sniper in the latest issue
of Captain America. Steve Rogers is dead. This death made
national headlines in ways that hasn't been seen since the death of
Superman over a decade ago. Now I bet that you would expect that
I'd have a ton to say about the death of Captain America. Thing
is, I feel very removed and emotionless about Cap's death! You
see, I grew up on DC Comics and when I did finally get into Marvel books
I always leaned more towards characters like Spiderman, Daredevil, the
Fantastic Four and, on a lesser scale, the X-Men. I never was an
Avengers fan and in over twenty years of collecting comics I have never
once purchased a Captain America comic book. The character just
has never interested me much. I mean, sure, I understand the
importance of Cap in the comic industry, if for nothing else but being
the launch pad for the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and I think his
revival in the 1960's was one of the most cleverest character revivals
ever done. However, Captain America has just never been a
favorite of mine. Furthermore, having no interest in following Civil War,
I c
ancelled the majority of my Marvel books last year and, at the
moment, I'm collecting the least amount of Marvel books that I have in
years...a grand total of three titles. However, I can't help but feel
that the death of Captain America is a pretty big, not to mention
impressive, political statement by Marvel Comics. As I've heard it
(and if someone can write me and confirm these details) recent issues of
Captain America has dealt with Steve Rogers questioning the state of
America's politics and not feeling that America was not the same place
he symbolized . Thus, in a sense, the death of Captain America can
be taken as an allusion to the death of the American way. This is
not much of a stretch. Anyhow, Captain America and comic book fans
shouldn't get all uptight about Cap's death. We all know that
iconic superheroes never die. If you think Steve Rogers is really
going to stay dead you better renew your membership to the gullibility
club. Steve Rogers, and Captain America, will be back. When
and how, I don't know, but I'd like to think that the people at Marvel
Comics have a lot more sense then to kill of one of their iconic
characters. But then they have managed to totally destroy
Spiderman in the last ten years. Ummm....never mind. RIP
Captain America.
Finally, this week the world lost one of televisions most funniest,
not to mention one of bravest and beloved comedians. John Inman,
the man who played the flamboyant Mr. Humphries on BBC television's
"Are You Being Served", died of a long battle with Hepatitis at age 71.
Now John Inman was probably not a household name in North America, but
to the British, and to lovers of British television worldwide, the
white haired funny man was a staple in the world of British comedy.
However, what was probably the most outstanding thing about John Inman
was that he was a gay man playing a gay man on television when being gay
was still relatively a taboo subject. John Inman was a pioneer for
bringing homosexuality to the forefront in pop culture. However,
what was oddly wonderful about Inman's character was that he was
embraced by the public at large, even winning TV Times most popular
actor award on multiple occasions. Ironically, his flamboyant
television persona would often bring him head to head with gay activist
groups world wide who felt that Inman's performance was a negative
stereotype of homosexuality. 
ror
image of his most famous character, Mr. Humphries. While perusing
acting from as early as the age of thirteen, John Inman ironically
worked in retail selling men's clothing until he hit stardom as Mr.
Humphries in "Are You Being Served." Discovered by series creator
David Croft, after catching Inman in a guest spot on another short lived
British comedy series called "Two In Clover," John Inman played the
witty and lovable Mr. Humphries from 1972 to 1993 in different
incarnations of the television series. The original "Are You Being
Served" ran from 1972 to 1982. Furthermore, when Australia decided
to do their own version of the series, Inman was the only cast me
mber
to reprise his character for the Australian version from 1980 to 1981
stating that he felt nobody else could do the part right. The cast
was then reassembled in "Grace and Favour" in 1993. Inman also
appeared in another short lived sitcom playing a straight man called
"Take a Letter Mr. Jones" in which he played a male secretary to a
female boss. However, Inman will always be remember best as Mr.
Humphries. Mr. Humphries was easily the most popular of the "Are
You Being Served" cast for his witty side remarks, flamboyant gestures
and his two most famous catch phrases "I'm free" and, in a baritone
voice when answering the telephone "menswear!" 
lity.
When Inman began his portrayal of the character homosexuality was still
unheard of on television, and especially on British TV. Yet Mr. Humpheries was one of the earliest departures away from the seedy 1950's
image of the homosexual to the more charming and whimsical image of
homosexuals that we see in todays media. As a result, when "Are
You Being Served" made it to North America in the early 1980's Mr.
Humphries became a gay icon in America.
Hi friends and readers,
t to many
Destinations shows and took pictures. That followed to The Hardy
Boys and they played all around Chicago Teen Clubs for awhile.
Guess what??? I have about 20 live photos of The Hardy Boys that
have been sitting in a photo album for all of these years. I would
love to get them out to the public and this is the first place I
found that might be interested. If you would like me to scan
them and send them, I will work on it.
Reed Kailing,
but fortunaly, for us RC sent us about a dozen candid vintage photos of
the Hardy Boys in concert! These amazing photos, featuring Reed Kailing, Jeff Taylor, Devon English, Bob Crowder (who makes one
appearance, although, unfortunaly, kinda blurry and blocked by Reed
Kailing's elbow), our friend Norb Solystiak (
Finally, it's about high time that I take care of one
last piece of long overdue business. At the beginning of this year
I was sent a wonderful book by Rabbi Cary A. Friedman, author of
Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement. A consultant for the FBI,
Rabbi Friedman has taken a unique and interesting pop culture
perspective for his latest book Move over Dr. Phil because there's only one man who
can help point us into the proper direction to a more fulfilling and
peaceful existence. That man is none other then the caped crusad
er
himself - the Batman! Titled "Wisdom From the Batcave: How to Live
a Super Heroic Life", Rabbi Friedman's book is unlike any self help book
I've ever encountered before. The lessons taught, all through the
examples of Batman and other characters such as Robin and Nightwing, are
simple, yet never condescending or bogged down with difficult
philosophical jargon. In fact, while reading through the book I
was surprised how much of the book is based on common sense, although
most of the time we as humans are unable to follow such common sense in
order to live more fulfilling lives. That's when Batman comes into the
picture to help us learn from his examples. Rabbi
Friedman's book is both quirky and unusual but a valuable guide to life
and is available through Compass Books and can be previewed at
Wanna
know why the Waltons are so happy? Because they are totally
digging the radio edition of "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict!"
zones for you it doesn't matter where you are, you have no excuse to say
you missed it.
arch
30th - "When Actors Sing" with Sam Tweedle and Candace Shaw
ng
to the world of radio! That's right! Every two Friday afternoons,
starting at 1 pm, myself, as well as rotating members of our team,
will be playing music and talking about the world of Pop Culture through
the studios of
the saga of Garth Ennis' controversial comic book
"The Boys." It was announced earlier this week that "the Boys"
will be picking up with issue #7 over at Dynamite Comics.
Wednesday afternoon Dynamite Comics' Nick Barucci issued the following
statement:
een
the best, but most ignored, mini series of 2006 was released. Do
yourselves a favorite and go to your local comic book shop and pick up a
copy of John Ridley and Geroges Jeanty's "The American Way" from DC's
Wildstorm Comics. Taking place in 1961, the Kennedy administration
give normal people extradonary powers and set up imaginary battles
between heroes and hired villains in order to make America feel safe.
However, what happens when America watches, via television, a hero
die...and what type of tensions will flare between both civilian and
super heroes when his replacement is revealed to be a black man?
This story is an often shocking tale of politics, cold war paranoia, race
relations and a new way of looking at good vs. evil when the definition
between hero and villain begins to blur. "The American Way" is an extradonary read and you NEED to go buy it. Then write to Jim Lee
at Wildstorm comics and tell him how much you loved it because, dammit,
I wanna sequel.
Finally,
over the last few hours I have received a number of e-mails asking about
my opinion on the late and tragic Anna Nicole Smith. Thus, I feel
that I should issue some sort of statement. All I will say is she
has had a very eventful five months - hasn't she? I think it
should be interesting to see what her autopsy will reveal as I find it
almost too ironic that she should die right now. However, I wont
be covering Anna Nicole Smith here at Confessions of a Pop Culture
Addict. There will be tons of Anna Nicole coverage in the weeks to
come. The difference between Anna Nicole Smith's story and our
vision is that we are here to write about the stories that are missed,
not the tabloid tales that distract us from those stories.
Thus, I wont be writing about Anna Nicole Smith, Lindsey Lohan, Paris
Hilton or Tom Cruise. Britney Spears on the other hand?
Well...I think she frikkin' funny. I may do an occasional story on
Britney.
Now over the last week we have welcomed over a thousand new
visitors that have been swarming "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict"
in their search for the truth about Ronald McDonald's pals Grimace's
criminal past that was revealed in our article
And speaking of helpful readers, I got another
informative message
from our good friend Mark from Northampton, UK this week who wanted to
fill us into the continuous saga of Jenna Von Oy. For those who
have read our tribute to the talented Ms. Oy in 
!
And
finally, while we are shouting out support, I, like many comic book
lovers, was shocked this week to hear that DC Comics was discontinuing
their very popular new comic book "the Boys" after only
six issues although they have solicited up to issue nine
and writer Garth Ennis, who was the man behind "Preacher", possibly DC's
most successful book of the 90's (this side of Sandman of course), had
sixty issues planned for the series. Now it wasn't sales that
generated the cancellation. In fact, sales for "The Boys" have
been very solid, being one of DC's best selling new books and the most
popular book in DC's Wildstorm line of books. The rumor is that
one of the higher ups in the Warner Brother hierarchy was offended by
the series, most specifically an incident involving a hamster and some duct tape in the
sixth issue. Apparently this individual had the power to axe "the
Boys." For Christ
sakes! They should have known what they were getting into.
When Garth Ennis is going around bragging that he was going to "out
preach Preacher" you knew that was going to make for some very
questionable subject matter.
pped.
Furthermore, issue six was the tour de force. The Butcher's
revelation to Wee Hughie about why he hates superheroes at the end of
the issue was some of the most shocking, yet best character development
I've read in years. You think Batman has issues over the death of
his parents? He doesn't hold a candle to the Butcher. And
poor Starlight. She's taken so much abuse in six mere issues that
readers all over the world are waiting for her to get her revenge on the
so called "good guys" that are her allies. And how is Starlight
and the Butcher's similar, yet conflicting, interests to pan out?
And what about the Homelander? He's still out there and he has one
hell of a beating coming. So many things to resolve!
irst trade collection in a matter of a few
months.
Culture Addict" wants to offer our
support to Ennis and Robertson and hope for a speedy return for "the
Boys." Personally, I'm not sure how many months I can go without
the most dynamic
and darkest series I've read since "Preacher" ended. I also want
to applaud DC for allowing Ennis and Robertson the opportunity to
continue the series at another company. They are all heart over
at DC. That's why I am, and always will be, a DC kid.
Did
any of you pick up Canada's National Post yesterday? If you did
and you still have it laying around check out page A20 for a full page
streamlined version of our immensely popular
And
now on a sadder note, I was contacted by Candace about an hour ago who
told me about the passing of possibly the most notable Canadian musician
during the 1960's musical revolution. Denny Doherty, singer for
the classic folk quartet "the Mamas and the Papas," died today at his
home in Mississauga. He was 67.
beautiful wife Michelle into the group, the four finally sealed the
formula and became "the Mamas and the Papas" and quickly rose to the top
of the charts with their mega hit "California Dreamin'."
nd
there but never reached the same success as they had in the 1960's.
Denny, however, hosted two music variety shows for the CBC in Canada in
the 1970's - "Atlantic Summer" and "Denny's Show." Both were
mildly successful for what was often a captivated audience during that
era of Canadian broadcasting.
rview
Denny brought, as his song, "A Theme to a Summer Place." When
interviewer Nora Young asked Denny to tell her about the song, he told
her that it was Cass Elliot's favorite song and about a memory of him
and Cass sitting on a rooftop in San Francisco listening to that record
over and over. Then, to Young's shock, Denny began to weep
uncontrollably for his friend and the girl that loved him. Nora
Young
tried to comfort the singer, but the emotion of that memory was just to
much for Denny to take and he had trouble getting through the rest of
the segment. It was probably one of the most powerful moments I
have ever heard on the radio. Just another reminder that our icons
are human, and that our dead rock stars are our icons friends.
t contact, having some
very similar interests as our interview with him proved. Anyhow,
Ronn's next project is going to be the new "Fear Agent" book for Dark
Horse Comics. A few weeks back Ronn sent me some pencils and it
looks amazing. Reflections of the old EC sci-fi type of stuff.
When Diamond Distrusting puts out a solicitation for the book Ronn
said I could put the pages up on this site so keep your eye on this
space for those in the weeks to come.
kes.
Mark, I gotta tell you, one of the most controversial things I've ever
done here at "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict" was diss the Beach
Boys. Your not the first, nor will you be the last, person to
question where I was coming from with that. Now I'm going to agree
with you, and I think I do mention it in the actual article, but I do
understand the genius Brian Wilson was and I actually own copies of
both "Smile" and "Pet Sounds" and consider both to be remarkable albums.
However, I think the problem I have with the Beach Boys always comes
down to two particular songs - "Be True to Your School" and "I Get
Around." Now I'm not trying to put the Beach Boys legacy on
just two songs, but I feel a lot of their music seem to fit in the
same vein as these two I just find these songs to be two of the most shallow
songs of the 1960's. Now I, like
many music fans, see the true villain in the Beach Boys to be Mike
Love. See I think Brian Wilson was a genius and "Pet Sounds" and
"Smile" proves this, but who held back the Beach Boys in expanding out
like the Beatles did was Mike Love's reluctance to experiment or to
think outside of the box. Love kept going on about "the
formula," which meant girls, cars and surf boards - which was
completely irrelevant compared what was going on in America by the
middle of the 1960's. By giving into Mike Love's vision, the
Beach Boys, to me anyways, come off as being a bunch of square pegs. Perhaps if the Beach Boys had kicked Mike Love out of the
band then I might feel a bit different about them. However, I
will admit that I do realize I am in the minority when it comes to my
personal dislike of the Beach Boys. I just feel that by the time
they were creating interesting music it was a little bit to late.
Anyways, thanks for the letter Mark and I hope you'll keep reading our
site and I hope to hear from you again.
Janice.
I wanted to thank you for your letter and your beautiful testament of
fandom for the late William Marshall. As you can tell I'm a big fan
of William Marshall myself. His elegance and grace was rare in the
black action pictures of the 1970s. Furthermore, Mr. Marshall was one
of the pioneer actors who played dignified roles for black men in the
late fifties and early sixties when the civil rights movement was at
it's hottest. This is the true testament to the strength that Mr.
Marshall had. 
So to round out the Von Oy page, I'd attach some of her best pix,
all prominently featuring her posterior! Her career may never amount
to anything big, but the homeys will enjoy watching her walking into
the sunset! 
Seems
to me that last week I said we'd be back with some more musing on comic
books and a reader mail column or something. Well, as you can see,
it didn't end up happening. You see something happened. I
got sick. Doesn't happen to me often. Usually I'm like Bruce
Willis in "Unbreakable." I never get sick. But when I do
suddenly I'm like Mary Ingalls in Little House where she got scarlet
fever and goes blind. Yeah. That kind of over dramatic "to
be continued" type of sickness. However, thankfully I'm on the
mend and I'm not going to have to go to blind school and marry the
braille teacher and since this is the first day that I've been feeling
relatively human I figure I'd write up some quick Announcements.
KRYPTONITE
HEARTS is a pulse-pounding tale of romance, comedy and adventure inspired
by 1940’s comic books and radio shows! 
Finally,
I was saddened today to hear about
the death of a member of our pop culture journey today. She was not
only a beloved TV mom and a classic silver screen siren, but also one of
the most beautiful Canadian girls ever born. I am, of course,
talking about the wonderful Yvonne DeCarlo.
Now
I never met Yvonne DeCarlo but that doesn't stop me from having a special
personal memory of her to share with all of you. Just after I got out of high school myself, and a bunch of guys I chummed
with were sitting around at a sports bar, like most guys that age would
do, drinking and talking about women. As we talked I noticed an
elderly barfly listening to us with much interest. When our
conversation began to grow a bit less animated, and feeling he had a way
in, the barfly stumbled up to our table and slurred "youze boyz have never
kizzed a gurl as beautiful as the one I kissed once cause I kissed Yvonne
DeCarlo." While my pals didn't know who the boozehound was talking
about, I was mystified and asked the man to sit down and tell me his
story. He continued:
she
came over ta me, although she never spoke to me before, or after, but she
just laid a big wet one on me. Well I'll tell ya kid, it was the
greatest thrill of my life. Y'know, she wasn't the smartest girl
ever, but she was one of hell of a girl to look at."
Welcome to
the first new Announcements column for 2007! I hope everybody had
a safe and happy holiday and a rockin' New Year and that things are beginning to settle down to
normal for you. Here at "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict"
we've just began to get 2007 under way after taking a brief hiatus over the
Christmas season. Stay tuned in the next week for some fun new
articles. However, while we were enjoying holiday specials and egg nog the internet never sleeps. In fact, we had an astonishing
46000 people visit our site in the first two days of 2007 due to our
popular article "
and
taking a peek at what people are saying about my ten most lamest heroes.
For the most part the reaction has been very positive and I think the
majority of readers have had a good
chuckle at the expense as such gems as Matter Eater Lad and the Legion
of Superpets. The most two popular characters, universally, seem
to be the obscure Dogwelder and Arm Fall Off Boy. Don't you think
it'd be a blast if DC Comics published a "Dogwelder vs. Arm Fall Off Boy"
comic? I am sure that'd it be one of those off beat collectable
books in the vein of the very popular (and better then it may sound)
"Archie Meets the Punisher" from the early '90's. If you want to
see a Dogwelder/Arm Fall Off Boy pairing contact Dan Didio at DC Comics
and tell him you want it! Garth Ennis, who is involved at DC again
and the creator of Dogwelder, would be the perfect man for the job.
bviously written
as parodies. At the time that I wrote this article, in 2003, the
legitimacy of these characters was not a concern of mine as much as just
writing a fun article showcasing some of the outrageous ideas that comic
book creators have come up with over the years.
However, the most important
concern I'd like to write about comes from readers who weren't happy
with some of my picks on the list. In many cases fans of the ten
selected characters were dismayed to find them on the list. Now I
understand how you feel. As many people here know I am a
passionate Black Canary collector and I don't like
anybody messing her up. I am very prone to writing angry and
analytical letters of criticism to writers that screw her up (Chuck
Dixon knows this fact very well.) However many readers may be
surprised that for the exception of one of the characters on this list
(I'll reveal his identity later) I am actually a huge fan of all the characters
I featured. I look at my
article as not a
criticism of these
character as much as a loving tribute. It's true! That's why
I have every appearance by the Red Bee in the last 25 years, a Streaky
the Supercat toy and have written DC Comics on multiple occasions
requesting a collection of all the Brother Power stories for easy access
to comic fans everywhere! Need further proof? Then read my
article "
itans and proof that even the lamest of
characters can be made cool. However, being part of the Aquaman
legacy Aqualad becomes a fairly easy target to make fun of.
ious
And while we are on the
subject of the Black Canary and comic books in general, over the last
few days I've received nearly two dozen e-mails by comic book fans
wondering about my reaction to Rich Johnston's "announcement" in his
gone
if he settled in becoming a one woman guy.
Waid
writes brilliant DC stories and takes special care in the treatment of
the characters history and characterization. However, current
Green Arrow scribe Judd Winnick, while I do like some of his books,
probably wouldn't be the best man for the job as his stories are usually
action over characterization.