Contrary to The Who, the kids are not alright
At the end of the 1960s, youth seemed to be running wild in a way it never had before. The 20th century had already transformed America’s idea of youth by …
Category: Fraser Sherman
The prime directive blues
(Another old post from my own blog). Star Trek‘s Prime Directive is a nice moral statement but a pain in the butt for writers to deal with. As every Trek …
I’ve seen the future and it doesn’t work: dystopias
(A reprint from my own blog) “Dystopia” is the polar opposite of utopia, a society where instead of perfection, everything has gone wrong. Or more precisely gone wrong in …
Batman gets a new car! No, it’s not his midlife crisis.
With Batman #217, cover-dated December 1969, the New Look era of Batman ended. The Dark Knight era of the 1970s began. The New Look era launched in 1964 to juice …
Wanna know a secret? The original Secret Six
As my Silver Age reread is now sliding into 1970, I’m writing about Secret Six a little late. #1 of the original series by that name came out cover-dated April/May …
Stan Lee saw the problem. Steve Englehart found the solution
Captain America #122, “The Sting of the Scorpion,” (Stan Lee, Gene Colan) isn’t a good issue but it’s an interesting one. The story is basic: Sharon’s on a mission for …
Life, death and famous firsts
The least of the first times I’m covering here is the first appearance of Agatha Harkness in Fantastic Four #94, “The Return of the Frightful Four” by Stan Lee and …