R.I.P. Steve Ditko (1927-2018)
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Steve Ditko, the legendary co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, among others, has passed away at the age of 90. Mr. Ditko died in …
Category: Comics
Atomic Roundtable: Harlan Ellison 1934-2018
One of the most incisive and compelling observers of the human condition, Harlan Ellison passed away in his sleep last week at age 84. Everyone who ever met him has a Harlan story, to the point that being in his presence was usually referred to as “witnessing the ‘Harlan Live’ show,” and we here at the Junk Shop are no exceptions. Here are a few.
We Were Warned: What the Movie Villains Should Have Taught Us
This thought occurred to me as I was driving home the other night. I was listening to the soundtrack to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, it was at the part where the mob sings: “We don’t like what we don’t understand, in fact it scares us…” I thought “huh, Trump voters.” And then it hit me… Donald Trump is a Disney Villain.
Misconceptions of my youth
The classic argument for why Crisis on Infinite Earths was necessary was that DC’s multiple Earths were just too confusing to new readers, turning them off. As someone who started …
Cool Stuff You Should Know About
We get a LOT of press releases and requests to review stuff. Most of them we just can’t get to… but here are a couple of cool projects we really do think you ought to be aware of.
Aerial Dances with Death, Soviet-style
Back in World War II, when it was being attacked by the Nazi war machine, the Soviet Union had quite a few women serving in its armed forces. The Soviet airwomen in particular distinguished themselves in combat roles, and there’s a very good book and a more recent comic book series that examine this aspect of wartime history.