In 2008 NBC thought it would be a great idea to revamp the Knight Rider franchise for a 3rd time! This series followed the adventures of Michael Traceur, who was allegedly the son of the original and best Knight Rider, Michael Knight. The new Michael drove a vehicle titled the Knight Industries Three Thousand or KITT. This version of KITT was voiced by Batman himself...Val Kilmer.
Crazy thing is that Will Arnett was signed on to voice KITT, but a conflict of interest between him being a GMC spokes person and Ford being the makers of KITT, kept his already recorded voice over from making it into the new Knight Rider show. The series lasted only 1 season and was cancelled by NBC due to low ratings. This show came and went without really leaving a lasting impression on Knight Rider fans.
The only thing I have that even keeps this show in memory are the recently unburied stacks of these KITT bumper stickers that NBC sent me over 10 years ago! All things considered they are pretty great. Let's take a look!
No this series was not the Knight Rider renaissance NBC thought it would be. No, I never watched a single episode of the show, but maybe someday KITT will get the treatment he deserves. So as The Hoff himself says "Keep Smilin".
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
HEROES IN CRISIS #9 (OF 9)
The most-talked-about miniseries of the year reaches its stunning finale! The mystery behind the murders at Sanctuary is solved, but the mind behind it is one the heroes never expected. With their deepest secrets exposed, the Trinity has to consider how to carry on. Should the tragedy cause them to redouble their efforts to help their hurting comrades, or will they need to close up shop? The answers will be found in the ashes of this final showdown, and the fates of Booster Gold, Harley Quinn and the rest hang in the balance.
Throw on your tie dye shirt, cut your hair in the fresh dreadlock style and hit the dancehall as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: Salt-n-Pepa
Song: Push It
Album: Hot, Cool & Vicious (1987)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 19 Bonus Fun Fact: The album this song was on went platinum, marking the first time a female rap artist/group would do so. The whispering of the words "Push It" are sampled from the Coal Kitchen song "Keep On Pushin'".
In 1984 Marvel Comics started their new young readers imprint STAR COMICS! At the time Gold Key, Harvey and other children's publishers had shut down production of their young readers lines so Marvel started up this new imprint to grab those beginning readers.
The first STAR COMICS book to reach the stands was an adaptation of the movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan in November of 1984. Marvel saw how popular the book could be and decided to not only publish licensed books, but also to create their own new characters in the mold of the old Harvey comics. This led to the creation of Royal Roy, Planet Terry and Wally The Wizard.
Wally The Wizard and Planet Terry would both last 12 issues, while Royal Roy only lasted 6 issues. This was due to a lawsuit by Harvey Comics claiming the character infringed on their creation...Richie Rich! These Marvel made characters were a nice try by the company to start a new universe, but it would be their licensed comics that would leave the biggest impression.
They had some of the best characters that the 80s had to offer all in glorious four color beauty! If you were a kid during this time, chances are they had a title for you. Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, Strawberry Shortcake and so many more! This line holds a very special place in my heart, because...
The first comic I ever remember owning was Heathcliff #16. This was STAR COMICS longest running series at 56 issues. I loved this comic and read it over and over. These comics were great! Unfortunately the STAR COMICS imprint was discontinued in December of 1988. A few of the titles were continued under the Marvel banner, but most were done and never seen again. It was a short run, but damn was it AWESOME!
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
DETECTIVE COMICS #1004
The face behind the mask is revealed! Who's taken up the mantle of the Arkham Knight? What's their endgame? And what's the shocking secret that Batman never knew about a part of his life he'd taken for granted?
(W) Peter J. Tomasi (A/CA) Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy
Throw on your tie dye shirt, cut your hair in the fresh dreadlock style and hit the dancehall as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: Ini Kamoze
Song: Here Comes The Hotstepper
Album: Here Comes The Hotstepper (1994)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 1 Bonus Fun Fact: This is Ini Kamoze's only song to reach the Billboard Top 40. It contains samples from Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick's "La Di Da Di" and Isaac Hayes' "Hung Up On My Baby" among others.
This past weekend my wife and her female family members took part in a women's run downtown to celebrate Mother's Day. After the run it is traditional for the girls to grab some coffee and check out the stores. My wife texted me and asked if me and my son would like to join them when they went to the antique store. I asked the boy and he said yes! I enjoy going to these kinds of stores, because you'll never know what you're going to find. Most of the time the cool stuff that I like is way over priced, but it's cool to know it's out there if I really want it. below are some of the items we found this time around.
Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Disco Album: $3.95
I recently received a record player this past Christmas and since then I have been searching for some records to play on it. When I see a stack of vinyl. I'm gonna check it out! This stack had a few old country records and this Disney Disco classic. Very cool, but not exactly my kind of jams.
Kenner Return of the Jedi Coloring Book: $9.95
This coloring book really took me back! I had a bunch of these Star Wars books back in the day and love that classic look on the cover also I am a sucker for anything that pictures the Max Rebo band! I thought the price was a little high, so I passed this time around.
Pac-Man Mini Arcade Game: $89.99
If there was one item in the whole store that I could get regardless of the price, this one might be it! Pac-Man is one of my all-time favorite video games and these mini arcade games are jam packed with nostalgia for me. I got the Donkey Kong game for around $20 and I know these are tough to find, but I could not justify buying this for myself on Mother's Day. I guess Father's Day is only a few weeks away!
Star Wars Ewok Village, Death Star & Millennium Falcon: $135, $350 & $250
My head exploded when I saw these on top of a display case. I grabbed my wife to show her and picked up my kids so they could have a clear view of the toy greatness before them! This seller always has great toys in their booth, but this time he freakin' nailed it! I had the Ewok Village as a kid, so it holds a soft spot in my heart, but damn that Millennium Falcon in box looked AMAZING!!!!
Random Display of Action Figures: $5.99 - $19.99
This display was a glass case of emotion for me. It had some of the coolest toys I remember playing with as a kid. They had Doc Ock from Secret Wars, Superman from DC Super Powers, Dino Riders, Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures. If that Doc Ock had any of it's tentacles left, I would have taken it home with me, but just like mine and thousands of other kids who owned this toy, his mechanical arms of doom had been ripped off. Dang!
Vintage Lunch Boxes: $12.99 each
I always stop and check out vintage lunch boxes when I see them on a shelf. Usually I will crack them open to check for a Thermos. 99.9% of the time the Thermos is missing. These boxes were reasonably priced, but had no Thermos. Since I was not attached to any of these, I passed. The lunch boxes I would grab in a minute would be Thundercats, The Real Ghostbusters and Super Mario Bros. Those were the ones that carried my lunches for years during that formative time in my life. If anyone has one of these lunch boxes hit me up, and let's see if we can make a deal!
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
STAR WARS AOR LANDO CALRISSIAN #1
CLOUD CITY BLUES! Former smuggler LANDO CALRISSIAN has a beautiful dream: a life of leisure and luxury as the totally legitimate BARON ADMINISTRATOR of CLOUD CITY. All he needs to do is take care of his money troubles with one last, big scam. But what will get in his way the most - his bad luck or this annoying sense of ethics he seems to be developing? Co-starring LOBOT!
(W) Greg Pak (A) Matteo Buffagni (CA) Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson
Throw on your dashiki, cut your hair in braided style and hit the streets with an open mind as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: PM Dawn
Song: Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Album: Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 1 Bonus Fun Fact: This song heavily samples the song "True" by Spandau Ballet. This song was remade by the Back Street Boys for their 1997 album "Backstreet's Back". Ranks at #81 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop" list.
Let me set the stage for you…The year was 1992 and The Dream
Team was taking the world by storm in Barcelona, the Chicago Bulls were coming
off their second consecutive championship and Michael Jordan was the biggest
sports figure in the universe! Jordan’s celebrity led to endorsements with everyone from NIKE to Gatorade to McDonalds! Not one to pass on a cash grab,
McDonalds created the McJordan Special burger in his Airness’s honor!
This exquisite
burger consisted of a quarter pounder beef patty, cheese, onions, pickles,
bacon and a special BBQ sauce! Jugs of this limited-edition BBQ sauce show up
on eBay from time to time, but you’ll have to spend a few grand to grab one.
Why
am I writing about this particular burger? Because in the summer of ’92 my family vacationed
in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We
drove from New Jersey to NC and along the way we stopped at numerous McDonalds
restaurants not only to get a taste of the limited edition McJordan Special,
but to collect the Dream Team collectors cups you would get with every meal
order!
We ended up collecting the whole set and I still drink from them every
now and then and when I do it reminds me of the tangy, bacony goodness that was
born in the early 90s to capitalize off the greatest basketball player of all-time,
Mr. Michael Jeffrey Jordan!
This post was originally written as a submission to the Retro Round Table at the Retro Ramblings website. You can view the original post by clicking HERE.
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
RED SONJA/VAMPIRELLA & BETTY/VERONICA #1
Mystery, murder, and mayhem descends on Riverdale as four of your favorite comic book women meet for the first time. A string of paranormal, unsolved murders leads the vampire hunter Vampirella and her sword-wielding barbarian partner Red Sonja to the small, sleepy town where things always seem to happen... There they discover Betty and Veronica, investigative reporters for the high school newspaper, also hot on the trail of the same killer.
Throw on your brightly colored hoodies, cut your hair in the fresh wavestyle and hit the streets with your chumpies as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...
Artist: New Edition
Song: Cool It Now
Album: New Edition (1984)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 4 Bonus Fun Fact: This was the first single off of New Edition's second album. It has been certified Platinum with over 1,000,000 sales.
Saturday, May 4th is Free Comic Book Day! You can go to your local comic shop and choose from a variety of great comics from publishers like Marvel, DC, Darkhorse and more! If you want more info or need to know what shops are participating, check out the Free Comic Book Day website. Every year I take my kids out and make this day an event. It's something we look forward to every year. Here are my top five comics for the 2019 FCBD:
FCBD 2019 SPIDER-MAN
Everyone knows Miles Morales, who rose to fame in Marvel's acclaimed animated sensation Into The Spider-Verse - and with a second feature film arriving this year, Peter Parker will once again suit up to save the world with his web-slinging super powers! In a special FCBD story, creators Tom Taylor, Saladin Ahmed, and Cory Smith take these superstar heroes of the Spider-Verse in a shocking new direction, with a story that will build to one of Marvel's most fantastic and epic tales later this year!
FCBD 2019 DARK HORSE STRANGER THINGS & BLACK HAMMER
Tales from two diverse worlds! In Stranger Things, Eleven and the Demogorgon have disappeared from Hawkins, IN. Steve and Nancy try to cheer Mike up, encouraging him to get the adventuring party back together again. Then, in the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series, Madame Dragonfly takes the reader on an EC-style tour through her mysterious Cabin of Horrors to witness two groups of brand-new Black Hammer heroes from the past!
FCBD 2019 THE TICK
The Tick is back for his 10th Free Comic Book Day featuring an ALL NEW story by Ian Nichols! The Tick has always been one of the most popular FCBD comics! Dave has the largest collection of Tick & Arthur memorabilia in the world---except the most rarest "items" of all....Tick & Arthur themselves! Featuring the return of the fan favorite Tick Cycle with its legendary "unnecessary rockets"! The Tick is one of the most successful and longest-running independent comics ever! SPOOOOOOOOOOOON!
FCBD 2019 TMNT CASUALTY OF WAR
The road to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' 100th issue begins! New York City has just erupted into war as Splinter battles Karai for control of the Foot Clan with the Turtles caught in the middle! Find out how the Turtles got to this point as they battle some of their fiercest foes in this special FCBD offering!
FCBD 2019 VAMPIRELLA 50TH ANNIVERSARY
July 2019 is the 50th anniversary of Vampirella, and to celebrate, Dynamite is relaunching the title that very month, with a very special preview to come in this year's FCBD special, Vampirella #0! Featuring work by legendary Vampirella creator Forrest J. Ackerman along with legends in the own right, Mark Texiera, Ty Templeton and Bruce Timm, Vampirella #0 will also unveil our lights-out new creative team as they present the prologue to a story so big, we had to hold it for Vampi's birthday!
This past weekend I took the kids to a book fair at the local library. While we were there I let the kids each grab a few movies to take out. To my surprise I came across a DVD copy of the animated movie "The Flight of Dragons"!
If you're not familiar with this movie it was produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. as a direct to VHS release in 1982. It wasn't until the movie was shown 4 years later in 1986 as the ABC Saturday Night Movie that I had known it existed. We taped the movie off TV onto VHS and watched it many times and it became one of my brothers and my favorite animated movies.
The story centers around a mystical realm and it's inhabitants who are losing their power due to man trusting more in logic than magic. Four powerful brothers meet to figure out what to do about this. Three of the brothers agree to seal off a part of the world as a retreat for these creatures to live and thrive away from humans, but the fourth brother wants to wage war on the humans and never concede victory. It is at this point that a quest is recommended to destroy the Red Wizard, so no harm comes to anyone. And who will lead this quest? Why Peter Dickinson, voiced by the late john Ritter of course! The quest is long and perilous, but if you are a fan of fantasy I think you will enjoy this film. Here are 5 things from the movie that I found the most fantastic!
1. James Earl Jones as Ommadon
James Earl Jones gives a great performance as the big bad guy in "The Flight of Dragons". His booming voice fits perfectly with the evil and menace of the character and every line he speaks makes you take notice. Jones has a commanding voice and he never let's it go to waste with this frightening character!
2. The Good Guys
Every quest needs a wide variety of skilled warriors with varying abilities to become victorious. Here we have Danielle the archer, Giles the elf, Sir Orrin the brave Knight and Gorbash the dragon who Peter is trapped inside!
3. The Bad Guys
Of course if you have some awesome good guys, you need some truly terrible bad guys for them to fight. The Flight of Dragons has some real memorable villains including Bryagh the devil dragon of Ommadon, the Ogre who guards the gates to Ommadon's realm, the brain melting Sand Murks and the Worm of Sligoff that oozes sulfuric acid. All of these adversaries are formidable foes for our heroes, but they have weaknesses that can be exploited. Each defeat brings the team closer to their goal of peace and a symbiotic relationship of logic and magic.
4. The Intro Song
The opening song is sung by Don McLean of "American Pie" fame. Once you hear it, it will be stuck in your head like the sounds of a Sand Murk! It is slow, melodic and fits the tone of this movie perfectly. I had not seen this movie in decades and I couldn't remember much about it, but I could hum this tune whenever I felt the need.
5. The Flight of Dragons Book
Peter Dickinson wrote this book back in 1979 and it isn't really a story book, but more of a book about how dragons could have existed and how they could achieve things like flight and fire breathing. This book takes a scientific approach to explain these items. The character of Peter Dickinson in the film takes this same approach when trying to figure out how to be a dragon and his character is even writing a book called The Flight of Dragons. It's a cool piece of literature to have that links directly to the story in the movie. You can find copies of this book for less than $10 on Amazon right now.
The Flight of Dragons is a great movie filled with action, adventure, great characters, excellent animation and even a little romance. It has elements to keep both kids and adults interested in the story. If you have not checked out this forgotten early 80s animated gem, You need to find a copy soon and take part in the magic. You won't be disappointed! Not convinced yet? Check out the trailer below and enjoy.
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III #1
The 80th anniversary of Batman collides with the 35th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in this stunning concluding miniseries to the BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES trilogy. Our heroes have battled the evil of the Foot Clan in Gotham City and Bane in New York, but now Krang has gotten his hands on the most dangerous technologies in the DC Universe-and no universe is safe from his wrath! Co-published with IDW.
