#The Snagglepuss Chronicles

[mrdogface]

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles (2018)

Artwork without an in-image credit by Ben Caldwell.

Snagglepuss is a historical fiction account of the House of Un-American Activities' persecution of queer artists and celebrities during the Lavendar Scare.

[haveyoureadthiscomic-poll]

[dashiellqvverty]

everytime i see that post about the flintstones ptsd comic i just want to be like heyyy have you guys heard of exit stage left the snagglepuss chronicles

[onebluebookworm]

February 2023 Book Club Picks

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, fascinated with thoughts of romance and passion. Her older sister Elinor, conversely, is practical and sensible, always having to keep her flighty younger sister out of trouble. But when both sisters are faced with romantic calamities that threaten their futures and their hearts, they that a combination of sense and sensibility are what’s needed to survive life’s many trials.

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson: In 1971, Go Ask Alice hit shelves, and revolutionized young adult literature, opening America’s eyes to the horrors of drug addiction, mental illness, and teen prostitution. In 1979, Jay’s Journal was published, detailing a young man spiraling into the violent world of Satanic worship, and is often credited with igniting the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Both books purported to be true diaries from real young people. In reality, they were both written by the same person: aspiring writer and fame-hungry con woman Beatrice Sparks, who twisted what facts she had and made up the rest, relying on halfhearted reporting, public outrage, and parents’ inherent fear of children they don’t understand to turn her into one of the most infamous “anonymouses” that’s ever existed.

The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward: “You know and I know, that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.” These words positively singe in James Baldwin’s letter to his fifteen-year-old nephew in what would become his 1963 essay “The Fire This Time”. And Jesmyn Ward felt them when another year came, bringing with it a slew of black lives ended by police violence and racist rhetoric. Gathering the premiere writers, poets, and thinkers of the modern age, Ward puts together a collection of thoughts and essays to refute the truth that we are living in a “post-racial” society.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Nick Carroway is a new face in the swinging Jazz Age New York scene, full of beautiful people throwing money around and living like they’ll die tomorrow. And among the beautiful elite is the crown jewel of the city, Nick’s neighbor Jay Gatsby, known for his lavish parties and enigmatic past. Everyone has a guess about who Gatsby is and where he (and his money) came from, but Nick finds himself slowly being drawn into Gatsby’s inner circle to learn the truth. Unfortunately, learning that truth comes with a whole host of personal problems Gatsby has been harboring for decades, which all culminates explosively and painfully.

Exit, Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell: The time is 1953. The United States is locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and the government is scrambling to flush out any subversives that may compromise the nation to the encroaching Communist threat. Among those under suspicion is famed Southern playwright Snagglepuss, the toast of Broadway who’s harboring a secret or two of his own. When he becomes the target of the House Committee of Un-American Activities, no one in Snagglepuss’ life is safe.

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite New Manga and Graphic Novels I Read in 2023

It's time to take a look at the comics and manga I read this year! I read  a whopping 78 manga and graphic novels in all. Here's a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Siren Queen) and my storygraph wrap up.

I also read 36 novels! If you want to see my favorites, check out my reviews here!

And finally, I've got the continuing manga series I've enjoyed this year here, so check that post out too!

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

This is a tale about a first-generation Vietnamese-American boy struggling with coming out to his mother. He connects with his mother through fairytales-- she uses them to express her journey as an immigrant, and he uses them to explore his queerness and identity as a Vietnamese kid growing up in America. It's an absolutely gorgeous book full of Trung Le Nguyen's signature stunning art. The fantastical, ethereal fairy tales are weaved beautifully into the lives of the characters. The book explores how fairy tales can form connection, can express culture, can tap deeply into something real and true, and can offer tragedy and catharsis. The protagonist uses fairy tales to write his own story, and the ending is lovely and moving.

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell and Mike Feehan

You may know Mark Russell from his darker, socially aware re-imagining of the Flintstones, which made quite a splash on Tumblr with this post. Well, I had pleasure of meeting him at a local convention, and I finally got his comic re-imagining of Snagglepuss, also of Hanna-Barbera. He re-imagines the titular pink puma as a closeted gay playwright in the 50's dealing with McCarthyism. It's as wild as it sounds,but also really digs into the politics of the time, the struggle of standing against oppression and how art fights through suppression and censorship. It's tragic, hopeful, poignant and full of historical references. I enjoyed it ! Definitely be cautious if you're deeply disturbed by homophobia and suicide.

The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren

A story about a teenage boy, Yoshiki, who realizes that his best friend and crush Hikaru has died and been replaced by a strange eldritch being who is imitating him. But, missing his loved one and desperate to cling to any piece of him, Yoshiki decides to keep on having a relationship with this mysterious entity. This book's horror is visceral and sublime, especially the bizarre, creepy, beautiful body horror involving the being who replaced Hikaru. It's an exploration of anxieties involving grief, relationships, and sexuality that hits just right, and the atmosphere layered with dread is top notch. I love me some messed up relationships and unknowable queer monsters, and this book delivers.

Chainsaw Man, Look Back and Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Chainsaw Man needs no introduction, but I did end up really enjoying the story of the doggy-devil boy hunting other devils. It got so tragic and intense at the end, with lots of great surreal horror imagery and darkly funny moments. I'm impressed it went so hard, though the random powers that kept piling up made what was happening hard to follow at times, especially in fights. I'm also enjoying the current weird arc starring a class-A disaster girl and the demon sharing her body.

Look Back

I really do enjoy how Fuijimoto writes messy pre-teen/teenage girls. They ring so true. The manga follows the fraught friendship between two girls as they create manga, exploring the struggle of art mixing with real relationships, and how someone keeps creating after tragedy. It's a little hard to follow at times (especially since I have to differentiate the leads based on hairstyle), but it's a good read.

Goodbye Eri

Probably my least favorite of the three, but it's a fun read- a weird ride that examines the thin line between fiction and reality in art and makes good use of Fujimoto's cinephile background and signature gaslight gatekeep girlboss characters.

Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki

The story follows a teenage girl, Chika, who has always struggled with not being attracted to anyone. When Chika enters college, she meets queer people all across the spectrum of asexuality, and starts exploring her own identity. As an ace, this is the best story about asexuality that I've read. It was a nuanced look at asexuality and queerness and all the variations. Chika's journey and how she found her community was moving and poignant. It's a honest, moving look at relationships and identity, and how complicated and hard to define both of those things can be. I loved the moments of Chika imagining herself as an alien to explore and cope, and how she bonded with people through magical girl shows and other geekery. My favorite new manga of the year, it really connected with me!

The Girl that Can’t Get a Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi

Oh girl, I've been there. This is a fun autobiographical comic about a butch4butch lesbian's struggles finding a partner in a word that favors butch/femme, and it's just an honest look at the messiness of loneliness and relationships. I also appreciate that crushing on Haruka in Sailor Moon and becoming a HaruMichi stan was the beginning the author's queer awakening because uh...same! She has taste, and is truly relatable.

Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection by Hisamitsu Ueo and Shirou Tsunashima

See my review of the light novel here for my general thoughts on the story, since it's adapted pretty faithfully. I do think the manga is overall the best experience though, because the illustrations break up the detailed explanations of quantum mechanics a bit, and it includes a bit of extra content that fleshes things out, especially withthe ending.

The Single Life: 60 year old lesbian who is single and living alone by Akiko Morishima

Just like it says on the tin, this focuses on a 60-year-old single lesbian. And definitely the shortest thing on here, since only one 30 page chapter is out.  It's a grounded story about a woman looking back on her journey to finding her identity, touching on sexism in the workplace and other challenges. It paints a portrait of a proudly gay elder who's still perfectly content being single and feels fulfilled by the life she had rather than regretting past relationships. I definitely want to see more.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm by Hiromu Arakawa

Arakawa's latest, the story is about a boy who lives in a small village with his little sister is imprisoned and has to carry out a mysterious duty...but then the village is attacked, supernatural daemons awaken, and everything he knows might be wrong. I'm enjoying this fun romp so far! It delivers an really nice plot twist right out the gate (and an excellent subversion of the usual shonen "must-protect-my-saintly-sister" narratives). It boasts Arakawa's usual fun cast and interesting world (and cool ladies). There's some slight tone and pacing issues in the first part- there's so much time spent explaining mechanics the lead doesn't really get to react to his life turning upside down. But it starts smoothing out by the second volume. I'm excited to see what's next!

Superman: Space Age by Mark Russell and Michael Allred

This is a retelling of Superman set throughout the late fifties to early eighties that has Superman interact with the political and social upheaval of the time and question his own role in things. It explored the Superman mythos through a lot of cool new angles, and has a good Lois (why yes she would break Watergate) which is how I always measure a Superman adaptation. My one complaint is, while I liked some of the things it did with Batman, the ending with the Joker was pretty weak. The ending of the overall comic will also be bizarre for anyone not uses to how weird comics can get, but I think I dug it.

#DRCL by Shin'ichi Sakamoto

A manga retelling of Dracula that focuses on Mina as the protagonist and imagines the characters at an English prep school. It adds a lot of  diversity to the characters  and has exquisite, evocative art. I'm curious where it will go and what it  intends to do with all it's changes (especially Lucy), because right now it's mostly vibes and creepiness and the direction isn't clear.

[probably-des]

i have never read the snagglepuss chronicles but what if he had like slightly longer and fluffier fur

[zahri-melitor]

Recent Reads:

I haven’t done a round up of stuff I’ve picked up randomly for a while so let’s have one:-

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles: I tried this, on the back of the fact I do enjoy Mark Russell’s satire. After one issue I rapidly realised I simply don’t know enough about the Hanna-Barbera characters in this to care about the adaption going on. The premise is interesting, it’s just Not For Me.

Madame Xanadu 2008 #1-10: this is Matt Wagner with Amy Reeder on art. Reeder's art is ADORABLE and she has such fun drawing elaborate clothing all the way through this. I really enjoy Matt Wagner's ability to take old stories or concepts and breathe a modern comics approach into them, making them a lot more accessible. This is Wagner telling the backstory of Nimue Inwudu, stopping in with her at 5 points in her history (Camelot, the court of Kublai Khan, the French Revolution, Jack the Ripper London, and America WWII) and her interactions with a bunch of characters from the Magic side of DC (Merlin, Etrigan, Death of the Endless, the Phantom Stranger, Giovanni Zatara, and Jim Corrigan as the Spectre). Nimue has a MASSIVE beef with the Phantom Stranger. She does not like him at all, because he keeps turning up at some of the worst points in her life and won't help her try to evade terribly fated things. Come for the Amy Reeder art, stay for the story.

The Demon: Hell is Earth 2018: I enjoyed this. Because I don’t clean read Etrigan stuff in order I cannot remember if Etrigan is officially a Rhymer again as of Rebirth (he appears to be rhyming for fun and because he enjoys it, but isn’t bound to do so, but he’s also getting mocked by his demon uncle for using rhymes). In any case, Jason Blood and Etrigan get separated for hell-related reasons, and they’re running around with Madame Xanadu and Merlin to prevent Belial taking over Earth by invading from Hell. Good times. Lots of people die. Etrigan potentially ends up King of Hell at the end of this story.

Swamp Thing: I was going to make this its own post but heck let’s put everything in together.

Len Wein (Swamp Thing #1-13 1972): Wein's work is absolutely solid magical horror. He sets up an intriguing premise to build from and he can spin a good story. It's exactly the sort of amusing writing that keeps me coming back to, say, Warlord. Worthwhile to see the starting premise.

David Michelinie (Swamp Thing #14-18, 21-22 1972): Not as good at Wein, but definitely can tell a story. You can tell he spent time on House of Mystery given the episodic horror nature of his storytelling.

Gerry Conway (Swamp #19-20, 23-24 1972 plus Challengers of the Unknown #81-87 1977): Conway I think is the first writer who actually gets some of the specific horror you can imbue in this concept, especially around identity. I can see how his ideas could contribute to the later concepts Moore will introduce. I don't think his execution is fantastic but the hand regeneration? Yeah. Yeah that is playing with the ideas available.

Martin Pasko (Brave and the Bold #176 1955, Saga of the Swamp Thing #1-19 1982): Pasko is definitely processing things. Like, the man has an entire story that's just him responding to the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-1981. He is very much a cynic about the innocence of childhood (or innocence in general, actually) and wants to explore the dark side of humanity.

The Phantom Stranger: these have been backups to the Martin Pasko Swamp Thing issues. Mostly I’ve found them pretty trite and a bit overly religious in places. Yes I know his entire concept is rooted in religious myth (as the Wandering Jew) but I mean more in a 'this tale has an Overt Christian Moral' way. The concept of the character is fascinating. The execution seems to be very across the shop.

Outsiders #1-33 2003: oh boy. Uh. Tomasi's fill using the original Batman & The Outsiders characters was a WELCOME reprieve to this. Okay, in terms of the main run: I tend to find Judd Winick a writer that either I'm fully enjoying or decidedly not to my taste. Outsiders falls into the 'not to my taste' category. I can see what Winick is going for in terms of 'let's make this Gritty! And Mature!' except for it's really not that gritty and his idea of making it mature is just having everyone hooking up a lot on panel, whether or not said hookup makes characterisation sense. And then he'll turn around every 10 issues or so and have some quite interestingly interrogative storytelling about Dick and Roy. (literally: you want issues #1, 11 and 21). I see what a bunch of the DickRoy shippers enjoy in this, but there's a lot of cantilevered cloud structures required to extract the Shippy Goodness out of the rest of this run.

[cosmo-shell]

I can't believe doomed Hanna Barbera yaoi is real (I read the snagglepuss chronicles yesterday)

[gluechugger]

Checking out the Snagglepuss tag and wondering if anyone knows about this masterpiece

From Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell

[necrotranscjk]

Comics Read Day: 06/22/2023

Spawn #240

King Spawn #23

Catwoman #56

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1-2

Total Comics Read: 618

[theliterarywolf]

I sure hope tumblr didn't eat that ask I sent regarding how the Velma creator said she's not putting Scooby-Doo in it because it somehow makes it a kids show

I don't see that ask but, yep!

Because there's no way to keep the Mystery Inc. dynamic in place, Scooby included, while still making an adult story.

*leans onto a giant billboard advertising Scooby: Apocalypse*

And it's not like we recently had a period that gave us effective 'adult' reimaginings of Hannah-Barbara properties that didn't have to talk down to the audience.

*sips from an Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles mug and steps into a pair of Mark Russell's The Flintstones slippers*

[sohannabarberaesque]

Ursine Battle Royale!

(part 6)

Pratt's Rainbow Gardens, for its somewhat frumpish, though not-quite-down-at-heel look such as was bound to attract especially the regular stop from United Interstate Wrestling for taping matches (as well as past glory chronicled in displays in the lobby and vestibule), was no doubt packed to the rafters and to a man, woman and child as was fond of "wrasslin'" (as opposed to the WWE brand thereof in its kitschy tackiness) for what Hokey Wolf hoped would be the ultimate challenge of ursine supremacy last seen indirectly on no less than three occasions at Milwaukee's since-closed Washington Park Zoo in 1932, to the chagrin of zoo management and the parks board, as things turned out.

Yet before the match was to get underway (two falls out of three deciding the winner), even before the crowd warmup, there was certainly much in the way of discussion over whether a polar bear like Breezly Bruin or a Kodiak like the Hair Bear Bunch's somewhat klutzy and inept Square Bear would be the ultimate exemplar of ursine supremacy in the "wrasslin'" arena.

=============

Meanwhile, back in the alley off Hollywood and Vine, Top Cat and clowder's somewhat amateurish sports book was taking wagers wholesale on the probable outcomes, including several (howbeit modest) such predicting that such would come out as a "Mexican standoff" (as in having no clear or obvious winner, even with two falls becoming the winner), and even Benny the Ball imagined just how lush the gravy train would turn out being until Spook realised that TC would have to pay back the winners if their wagers came out as predicted, and then some.

"Technicalities, Spook, technicalities!" was how an irate TC responded, adding that "What really matters, boys, is that we made quite the money and we're bound to be living high for awhile!" Prompting Choo-Choo to wonder how long that could turn out being, which left TC speechless and bereft of response.

=============

Returning to Pratt's, Huckleberry Hound's predictably-awful musical voice in the warmup generated a guaranteed share of laughs and catcalls as much as The Bungle Brothers' ur-vaudeville act, consisting mostly of washed-up puerile schoolyard humour and some play-acting of wrestling which, in its own way, played up the laughs wholesale ... and before long, it was time for The Main Event, Hokey Wolf striding forth into the centre of the ring to announce the start of the match, acknowledging that "the inspiration, folks, came by way of some bizarre history I read recently about what happened once at the zoo in Milwaukee," replete with no less than three incidents where the dominant polar bear "dunked" in a small water hole in the bear display to death brown bear cubs, no doubt attracting much visitor unease ... and the introductions of the combatants pulled no punches in hyperbole:

For the polar bear side, no less than the Terror of the Tundra, the Nuisance of Camp Frostbite until its shock deactivation ... from no less than Nome, Alaska ... BREEZLY BRUIN!!!!

And--

In the brownish bear arena, he may be lovably dumb, let alone comfortably numb, and yet Hair Bear and crew like him as much as everybody else! So, from Malibu, California, put your hands together for--SQUARE BEAR!!

(As for who got the more blatant entrance into the ring, the debate is bound to be rather long, but many will say Square Bear's treatment ran rings around the legendary Gorgeous George, himself known for theatrically flamboyant ring entrances ahead of televised wrestling matches back in the 1950's, the kind Snagglepuss would just drool over.)

Once it got down to business ... things couldn't have become more farcical, almost kabuki-like, plenty of bluffing and hysterics such as were good for laughter. Yet you could hear calls from supporters of both in the stands demanding some action for once, each trying to determine their first move.

Until exactly four minutes, thirty-three seconds into the match, when Breezly Bruin pulled off a near-tripping manouvre which had Breezly's right foot grabbing Square Bear unawares in like fashion, hoping such would send Square Bear to the mat. It did, but momentarily, as Square Bear pulled a reprisal move identical to the original on Breezly Bruin ... and from there on out, the Ursine Battle Royale! (as such had been promoted all along) was going at a rather hilarious and at once comical pace, with both polar bear and Kodiak bear pulling no punches, comedic and physical, in seeking to assert ursine dominance once and for all.

Shoving, belly bumps, fist grabs, tripping moves, nothing was too good for the match to hand, and never mind how far it was bound to go before either one wrestler fell twice in three attempts or had to be otherwise stopped by the referee--or whomever else had the duty to do so.

And as a matter of fact, a full-on thirty-nine minootas into the match, to be precise about it, an utterly incessant sounding of the timer's bell (and an almost fanatical pitch thereof, at that) caught as much the in-person audience as those watching on pay-per-view cable and satellite feeds off their guard as Hokey Wolf stepped into the ring and, in his Sgt. Ernie Bilko tone and nuance, made the following announcement:

"I am hereby stopping the match as of this moment ... and the match is hereby declared--A DRAW!"

And you could just hear the sheer outrage of catcalls and aroused anger from the stands as the announcement faded away, followed by both combatants having to be escorted posthaste from the ring to avoid likely assaults from attendees on the news of this Battle Royale having been declared a draw.

How did it turn out for both? I'll leave you, the reader and Old Hanna-Barberian, to decide as much.

=============

Not long afterward, Honey and Sis' shortwave worldcast devoted some discussion to the whole farce, the following being but an excerpt:

HONEY: Thankfully, folks, we didn't bet any money on this joke of a wrestling match, and whoever bet anything probably must be crying into their beer big time.

SIS: Except, maybe, such who hoped the match would end up as a draw like it did. Some even using "Mexican standoff" in their wagers on the outcome.

HONEY, wryly: And you wonder what kind of a payday they'll have on the news.

SIS, imitating the stentorian tones of a male announcer delivering the "billboard" type of announcement: "And now, stay stewed for the nudes ..."

(Which certainly saw quite the share of hilarity ensuing on the shortwave ether among such listening, especially so in the standbys of Gilly-Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellenbogen-by-the-Sea, Mixingham-on-Sea, and, for good measure, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales.)

=============

Top Cat and clowder: When it emerged that the match had ended in a draw, and that substantial sums had been wagered thus to that effect, when it came time for the payoff ... when it was all over, the clowder were left with pretty much enough to kill a Sunday afternoon at some isolated beach between Venice and Malibu off Pacific Coast Highway in a basic sort of way, yet while still being able to wear but themselves.

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @nighttimehound @iheartgod175 @theweekenddigest @archive-archives @thylordshipofbutts @screamingtoosoftly @themineralyoucrave @princessgalaxy505 @warnerbrosent-blog @thebigdingle @jellystone-enjoyer @shewhotellsstories @warnerbros-blog1

[the-funny-animals]

This blog works better on its own page!

Mission Statement

The plan here is to read a bunch of comics with anthropomorphic characters, from "Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles" to "Omaha the Cat Dancer," and discuss them a little.

I'll be around in the #furry tag, because many of these comics are a formative part of furry media. Where would we be without Albedo Anthropomorphics and Critters, after all?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo - WhereWhen, Stan Sakai (inks & pencils) & Emi Fujii (colours).

Content Warning

The overwhelming majority of media I plan to showcase will be lighthearted, PG-13 fun, like the Turtles comics and Usagi Yojimbo. However:

This blog will sometimes discuss NSFW subject matter and present (censored) NSFW artwork. We'll keep it within the boundaries of tumblr's rules, of course, and work like "Omaha the Cat Dancer" does include a lot of pornography for pornography's sake, so I'll be breaking out the tasteful black bars for that one. Even censored, these posts will be marked,

#adultsonly

Surprisingly, many furry comics discuss political and historical subject matter that can be confronting - we all know what Maus is and yes, with its first instalment published in a monthly anthology titled "Funny Animals," Maus does fall within the genre and is on the table for discussion.

I will tag content appropriately so that people who wish to avoid intense subject matter may do so, following the format of #tw [whatever you want to avoid],

ie.

#tw sexism.

Regarding Alt Text

I will gladly provide alt text on request.

The format I plan on using here (including whole pages of comics side-by-side) would gum up screen readers if I were to describe each panel within the appropriate 1 - 3 sentences, and "a page from Usagi Yojimbo wherein he is ambushed by bad men and swordfights them all to death" seems funny and utilitarian now, but baby, I've just described 90% of Usagi Yojimbo!

Instead, please send me an ask or a DM pointing me to the comic you'd like transcribed, and I'll do that for you ASAP.

[galacticrambler]

With the recent release in a collection of Prez: Setting A Dangerous President by DC Comics, I was lucky enough to get a review copy. I loved this book!

In a funny turn of events, I was actually listening to my favorite podcast about Star Wars comics, Star Wars Splash Page, when one of the hosts started gushing about Mark Russell since he wrote the Darth Maul: Black, White, and Red # 2. The comics that he was talking about that Russell previously wrote – like Prez, The Flintstones, and Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles – sounded hilarious and awesome. How lucky was I when the opportunity came up to read Prez?

The series, originally released in 2016, was a new take on a story from the 1970s where the United States gets a teenage President. The new version from Russell features Beth Ross who becomes President after being elected via Twitter in 2048.

The book is a hilarious and biting take on American politics, capitalism, culture, technology, and cable news. Russell manages to take the absurdity of a child winning the US Presidential election and makes it the least absurd part of this, let’s be honest, somewhat believable American future.

The artwork throughout was very fun. Ben Caldwell, Mark Morales, and Jeremy Lawson combined for a beautiful, pointed, and at times kind of cringy book.

This was excellent, and I really had a great time reading it. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Thank you Netgalley and DC Comics for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#comic #comicbook #comicreview #prez #prezsettingadangerouspresident #dccomics #markrussell #bencaldwell #markmorales #jeremylawson

[onebluebookworm]

Ranking Books I Read in 2022 - 35-31

35. Another Day In the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives - Gary Younge

What I Liked: Utterly painful and haunting. Very novel concept - taking a random day and chronicling all the gun deaths of young people in chronological order, some receiving a lot of attention, some barely receiving a mention in the local paper. Offered some fire quotes about American gun culture. What I Didn’t Like: Some parts could get a little dry and uninteresting. Final thoughts: Not for the faint of heart, but definitely something a lot more people should read to understand how much we give up in order to avoid passing any kind of effective gun control. TW gun violence and discussions of racism.

34. Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture - Roxane Gay

What I Liked: A wide range of essayists offered new perspectives on this very sensitive subject. Another book full of absolutely fire quotes. What I Didn’t Like: Ally Sheedy’s essay was pretty fucking tone deaf. The essay regarding migrants who’d experienced sexual violence was dry as all hell and mostly just quotes statistics, and that’s not something you really should do when you’re trying to draw attention to a problem like this. Final thoughts: Hard to get through, but ultimately a great resource mostly full of thought-provoking, heartfelt works. TW for sexual violence of all kinds.

33. Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film - Harry M. Benshoff

What I Liked: An amazing resource full of very interesting history and analysis. Bulked up my to-watch list. The section on Vincent Price made my entire life because he’s my hero. What I Didn’t Like: Some of the language got a little too academic and would lose me, but that honestly wasn’t very often. Final thoughts: A must-read for queer horror film lovers, that truly codifies why the genre resonates with us so much. TW discussions of homophobia.

32. Just Like Home - Sarah Gailey

What I Liked: Phenomenal language. Intensely creepy atmosphere. Daphne is an amazing villain. What I Didn’t Like: Vera is kind of bland, and we don’t really learn much about her as an adult. James became kind of a mustache twirling baddie and it wasn’t incredibly believable in a book that had such complex characters up to this point. Final thoughts: A little rough around the edges, but still a refreshing take on the haunted house story.

31. Exit, Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles - Mark Russell

What I Liked: A surprisingly realistic look into life around this time period, you can tell Russell did a lot of research. As crazy as the concept is, these characters actually do make for compelling reading. What I Didn’t Like: The subplot with the chairwoman of the committee kinda fizzled out and died. Final thoughts: As absolutely ridiculous as it sounds to take classic Hanna-Barbara characters and put them in a gritty historical drama about McCarthy America, it’s just sincere enough to work. TW for homophobia and suicide.

[character-wheel-official-tumbrl]

December update: what’s going on with character wheel?

Hi guys, sorry for not updating few a few months, here’s what’s going on

First off I did do a couple entrees on horror media, but it stopped mid-November. After the horror entrees, I felt I had to put a kid friendly series to balance things out, so I updated the Sesame Street part of the wheel with more characters. It already had a lot of characters already, but I felt like it could have a few more characters from the series represented in the wheel, mainly humans and animated characters. In doing this, the wheel now has over 10,000 characters listed. After I was done with the regular Sesame Street cast, I wasn’t done with Sesame Street as a whole.

that’s right, I put characters from international versions of Sesame Street, like Plaza Sesamo, Sesamstrasse, and Takalani Sesame. There’s a surprising amount of these, but I don’t mind. The list can never be too big.

after completing a large franchise into the wheel, I tend to add smaller series that are self contained, like indie games, or small film franchises. While that’s technically what I did, I would say it’s a bit of a large task.

that’s right, I’m adding the entire Hanna Barbara library of characters into the wheel. It helps that a lot of the lesser known characters, like Grape Ape or C B Bears, it would only be necessary to put the main characters, as anyone other then that would be to obscure, as they tend to only feature the main characters most of the time, with few reoccurring characters besides them. I included Tom and Jerry, as they were the first collaboration between William Hannah and Joseph Barbara to my knowledge. I didn’t include franchises that existed before Hanna Barbara but got an animated adaptation by them, like the adams family, or I dream of jeannie. That being said, I would love to put them later in the wheel, I just don’t want to put them in right now, as there’s still a lot of characters without them. That being said, I probably should have prepared for the largest franchise they’ve ever created.

Scooby Doo is, by far the largest franchise Hanna Barbara has ever created, starting in 1969 and not only does it still get reboots to this day, but since 1998 there has been a Scooby Doo movie for every year since. I was originally not going to include the movie characters, but I wanted to include the characters from ghoul school, so I included the old trilogy of Scooby Doo movies. Then I decided to add the 90’s Scooby Doo movies as they were iconic, plus the hex girls originally appeared in witches ghost, and I don’t want to miss the hex girl’s first appearance right? After that, I added every Scooby Doo movie in chronological order with the shows. I also added Scooby Apocalypse, which is the only Hanna Barbara beyond continuity in the wheel. Whoops.

On the topic of “Whoops” in the wheel, the Scooby Doo representation makes the Flintstones look bad in comparison. The live action Flintstones is lumped with the animated Flintstones without any separation, unlike the live action Scooby Doo that’s listed as its own continuity in the wheel. While there’s some separation between Flintstones and Flintstones babies, it isn’t treated like it’s own continuity unlike a pup named Scooby Doo (The main Scooby gang is added again as separate from their original counterparts, while Flintstones babies doesn’t have the distinction, with Pup named Scooby Doo’s first character listed is Scooby, Flintstones babies first character listed is Captain Caveman Jr). Another mistake with the wheel is no other Hanna Barbara beyond continuity is represented other then Scooby Apocalypse. This ignores other different takes on the Hanna Barbara characters from the comics, like The Flintstones, Wacky Raceland, and The Snagglepuss Chronicles. Someday I’ll fix these glaring mistakes, but right now I’ll focus on continuing adding other Hanna Barbara franchises to the wheel. The most recent one I’ve added was Fantastic Max, with their now being 11970 characters in total as I’m writing this. Reread this and take a sip every time the phrase “Hanna Barbara” is written. A sip of water because you don’t look hydrated.

anyways here’s the current list of names if you want to spin it. That’s all I have to say for now, so goodbye for now, merry Christmas if you celebrate, happy holidays, and have a wonderfully happy New Years. Thank you