The summer of 2023 may have belonged to Barbie, but the year also closed out with a very lovely tribute to her longtime rival from toy store shelves. Arriving in book form rather than a movie, The Art of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a gorgeous and exhaustively comprehensive chronicle of one of… Read More Relive the Adventure | The Art of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (2023) Book Review
Even among fans who love it, David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune must be acknowledged as a very messy production with a terrible reputation. One of the most expensive movies ever made at the time, the result was met with critical scorn and box office disaster upon its release in late 1984. Four decades later, author… Read More Our Test Is Crisis | A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune (2023) Book Review
Earlier this year, Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment launched a new sci-fi comic book called Void Rivals that, in a surprise twist not announced in advance, turned out to be the kick-off for a shared narrative continuity with Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. Joe brands. The first few issues of that book featured cameo appearances by select… Read More Cybertron Will Die | Transformers Issue #01 (2023) Skybound Comic Book
The 1991 video game adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the Nintendo Entertainment System was, in a number of ways, a big improvement over the crappy Temple of Doom game that preceded it. I might even go so far as to call this one pretty playable! That’s a huge leap forward. Of… Read More 8-Bit Replay | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1991) for NES
The hat! The whip! The mine carts! Released four years after the movie that inspired it, the NES video game adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom features all those signature elements in 8-bit form plus an adorable chiptune rendition of John Williams’ iconic theme music on its soundtrack. Unfortunately, beyond those very… Read More 8-Bit Replay | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1988) for NES
Robert Kirkman, original creator of The Walking Dead, launched a brand new comic last week. Science fiction themed rather than horror, Void Rivals is, at least thus far, a rather simple and frankly derivative tale with a big cameo at the end intended to open up a broader shared universe (I know, I know, does… Read More Energon Mine | Void Rivals Issue #01 (2023) Skybound Comic Book
Goodbye, HBO Max. Hello… Max? Seriously, that’s the best name all the corporate marketing geniuses could come up with? The streamer formerly known as HBO Max went through its official rebranding this week, and the transition has been a little bumpy. From unplayable content, to confusing menu categories, to programs with nudity and other adult… Read More Max Growing Pains | HBO Max Rebranding Goes Not Entirely Smoothly
In the latter half of the 1980s, just about every kid in my middle school had a Nintendo Entertainment System, or at least it felt so at the time. I may have been one of the few whose console didn’t come pre-packaged with a copy of Super Mario Bros. (Mine was bundled with Konami’s Rush’n… Read More 8-Bit Replay | Super Mario Bros. (1985) for NES
With all the hype and hoolpa over Tom Gun: Maverick last year, did everyone somehow forget that Top Gun already had a sequel? Released way back in 1989, Top Gun: The Second Mission continues the adventures of ace fighter pilot Maverick as he blasts enemies out of the sky in 8-bit aerial combat on the… Read More 8-Bit Replay | Top Gun: The Second Mission (1989) for NES
By the end of 1987, Top Gun had already been a blockbuster hit in theaters the year before and a bestseller on videocassette that spring. Any self-respecting 13-year-old had already watched it a bunch of times, to the point of wearing out the tape replaying the aerial combat scenes over and over again. With no… Read More 8-Bit Replay | Top Gun (1987) for NES
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