HAPPY NEW YEAR! IT'S 2021!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Can't wait to see what 2021 brings us! Now...LET'S PARTY!!!!

Comic Book Pick 12/30/20

 This week, the comic book I am most excited to read is...

GHOST RIDER: RETURN OF VENGEANCE #1

(W) Howard Mackie (A) Javier Saltares (CA) Kyle Hotz

THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR - THE RETURN OF VENGEANCE!
MICHAEL BADILINO was a bad dude in life...and that landed him in Hell. But not just any old rung of Hell, a layer so deep it's reserved for those special enemies of Hell - one where a former SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE may suffer for all eternity! But eternity is too long to keep down the one who takes the name of VENGEANCE!
Fan-favorite GHOST RIDER creators Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares return to the saga of the Spirits of Vengeance in an all-new tale as Vengeance brings his own brand of hellfire back to the Marvel Universe!

SRP: $4.99

Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 12/28/20

   Throw on your coats, and head to Philly as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!

Artist: Boyz II Men ft. Brian McKinght

Song: Let It Snow

Album: Christmas Interpretations (1993)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 32

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was written by Brian McKnight and Wanya Morris and was featured along with Boyz II Men in the "Twas The Night Before Christening" episode of the NBC sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!

Merry Christmas 2020!

Wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS from all of us at 20 Years Before 2000! Hope it's full of great food, cups of cheer, awesome gifts from Santa and tolerable family appearances! Can't wait to see what 2021 brings to the table. Whatever it is...we'll be ready! As a gift to you, please enjoy some shots of Christmas' past below! Ho-Ho-Ho!!!!

Comic Book Pick 12/23/20

 This week, the comic book I am most excited to read is...

JIM HENSON'S LABYRINTH: MASQUERADE #1

(W) Lara Elena Donnelly (A) French Carlomagno, Samantha Dodge (CA) Jenny Frison

Discover an all-new one-shot story set during the hit film Jim Henson's Labyrinth from award-winning author Lara Elena Donnelly (Amberlough), along with artists French Carlomagno (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), Samantha Dodge (Catwoman: Soulstealer), and more. All is not as it seems with the guests of Jareth's famous Masquerade, as one participant slowly awakens to the reality of her topsy-turvy existence in the Goblin Kingdom when Sarah shatters the glass mirrors during her escape. But as this mysterious participant puts together the pieces, her discoveries threaten to unravel everything!

SRP: $7.99

Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 12/21/20

  Throw on your dopest winter gear, and head to the back alleys as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!

Artist: The Chipmunks

Song: Sleigh Ride

Album: Rockin' Through The Decades (1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was featured in the 1991 NBC special "The Chipmunks: Rockin' Through The Decades. This live action/animated special was hosted by the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith!

More Holiday Christmas Comic Covers!

I still love collecting comic books and I will always love the holiday season. So when it comes to comic books with special holiday stories or variant covers, you can almost bet that I will pick those up. I was going through some of my long boxes of books again this past weekend and pulled out these issues just to show you some of the cheer that can be found inside the pages of these heart warming graphic novels. Can't wait to read some new stories this year! So let's visit with the Ghost of Christmas past and take a look at some of these classic holiday covers from the days of yore! ENJOY!

Comic Book Pick 12/16/20

 This week, the comic book I am most excited to read is...

BLACK CAT #1

(W) Jed MacKay (A) C.F. Villa, Nina Vakueya (CA) Taurin Clarke

THE CAT IN BLACK IS BACK!
Feeling lucky? Knull's attack on Earth interrupts the Black Cat's latest heist, and if you know Felicia, you know that's a problem. So the Cat and her crew aim to steal something of greatest value to both Knull and Earth's hope of survival. You'll have to pick up this issue to find out what! This issue guest-stars the X-Men! Captain America! And Doctor Strange! DO NOT MISS IT!!!

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 12/14/20

 Throw on your Santa suit, and head out into the snow as we take you back to the 90s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!

Artist: Mariah Carey

Song: All I Want For Christmas Is You

Album: Merry Christmas (1994)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 1

Bonus Fun Fact: This song topped the US Billboard charts in 2019. 25 years after it's release! Three versions of the music video were shot. This song has been covered by Michael Buble, Idina Menzel & Dolly Parton among others.

Christmas Decorating 2020

This past weekend, my family and I went out and got ourself a Christmas Tree. For weeks now, my wife has been slowly decorating our house in all sorts of festive garb. Wreaths, lights, garland, stuffed characters and more have been placed around our house in anticipation of Christmas night when Santa will come down our chimney and bring gifts to all the good girls & boys. The final touch to our decorating though, was the tree. We bought it Saturday and the wife got the lights strung (after years of asking, I have just realized to let her do this on her own). Then on Sunday we got out the boxes of ornaments and got this baby dressed for the jolly occasion! You can see the finished product above, but I would also like to share a few shots of the other decor around the house with you. This Christmas is going to be great!!!

Our Elf on The Shelf named Buddy

My daughter's collection of Grinch Funko Pops

Stuffed Reindeer Snoopy cuddling next to a Snowman pillow

Wind up Nutcracker

Three cool little elves chillin' next to some scented pinecones

Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree next to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" book

Pooping Reindeer toy next to a Funko bobble head Darth Vader

Rudolph characters next to a handmade Christmas train

Stockings (Mine is the Spider-Man one on the bottom!

I love this time of year and I am thankful my family has stayed healthy enough this year to decorate and celebrate our yearly Christmas traditions. I hope your season is off to a good start and I wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Comic Book Pick 12/9/20

This week, the comic book I am most excited to read is...

DC'S VERY MERRY MULTIVERSE #1

(W) Paul Scheer, Derek Fridolfs, Sholly Fisch, Ivan Cohen, Tom King, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Brittany Holzherr, Jay Baruchel, John Layman, David F. Walker, Nick Giovannetti (A) Dani Strips, Gustavo Duarte, Vanessa Del Rey, Steve Lieber, Eleonora Carlini, Dustin Nguyen, Keith Giffen

Joy to all 52 worlds-it’s time to celebrate the holiday season across the DC Multiverse! In ten stories that will light your yule log and spike your eggnog, Batman decks the gaslit halls, Lobo goes Old Testament in space, Ragman learns the true meaning of Saturnalia, President Superman attempts to figure out how Bizarro stole Christmas, and Harley Quinn tries her hand at interdimensional caroling. These seasonal sagas are sure to help you have yourself a very merry Multiverse!

SRP: $9.99

Synopsis Provided By: DC Comics

Throwback Jam of the Week: 12/7/20

 Throw on your ski gear, and head to the lift as we take you back to the 80s! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK!

Artist: Wham!

Song: Last Christmas

Album: Music From The Edge of Heaven (1984)
Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 11

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was #1 in Denmark, Slovenia &  Sweden! This song has been covered many times, most notably by Hilary Duff, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen & Crazy Frog!

The Holiday Kickoff!

Today is the 13th year that I have organized a 12 hour donation drive for our local food bank, family service and Toys For Tots. I start the day at 5am, making sure all of our cameras are working, equipment is tested and being sure we can get a signal from our mall home base location. The day ends 13 hours later with tear down and returning of equipment to the television station I work for. It's a lot of hard work and takes months to plan, but it is one of the most amazing work days of the year. I've met so many amazing and generous people from politicians to break dancing crews to our wonderful sponsors. One year we even had Chris Kattan show up to support the event!

The stories of gratitude from families who receive a turkey or toy for their kids really motivates me to make each year even bigger and better than the last. This year was a challenge to plan due to COVID. I think I was able to pull it off though by having the event in one location, creating a one way alley in the mall parking lot for folks to drop off donations and outfitting our volunteers in PPE.

This event is just the kickoff of the season for myself and my family. We usually take the kids out and they use their own money to buy presents for Toys For Tots. Which reminds me of when I was a kid and my Dad would have us do the same thing. It was so hard parting with those sweet gifts, but I knew they would go to a kid that really needed and would appreciate them. I would say the hardest to give up were the Roger Rabbit figures I bought for Toys For Tots one year. I never did add those guys to my collection!

In closing, if you can this year, please help out by donating to one of your local charities. I know it's been a crazy year of uncertainty, but if we all do what we can, it will make a huge difference in some kids life and give them some great memories like we all have of Christmas past. Happy holidays! Here is this year's Toys For Tots link: Marine Toys for Tots