Comic Book Pick: 9/19/18

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

DICK TRACY DEAD OR ALIVE #1 (OF 4)

IDW Publishing proudly presents the rebirth of one the most iconic comic-strip heroes of all time, Dick Tracy! The All-American detective just made the biggest collar of his career, and it only cost him his job! But now the honest cop has packed his bags for "the city by the lake," and its criminals better watch out! Reimagined for the 21st century through a retro lens by the superstar team of Michael Allred, Lee Allred, Rich Tommaso and Laura Allred, Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive is a lock to be the pop-art event of 2018! Bizarre villains! Crooked cops! Gunfights galore! Cover art and co-written by Eisner Award-winning superstar Michael Allred (Madman, iZombie, Silver Surfer, Batman '66)! Illustrated by Rich Tommaso (Spy Seal, Dry County) with Michael Allred inks! Each issue features a "mug shot" alternate cover by Rich Tommaso! Ask your retailer about the "coloring book" variant cover by Michael Allred! Ask your retailer about the ultra-rare Mike Oeming variant cover!

(W) Lee Allred, Michael Allred (A) Rich Tommaso (A/CA) Michael Allred

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/17/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your leather jacket, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your Adidas as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: Grandmaster Flash

Song: White Lines (Don't Do It)

Album: White Lines (Don't Do It) 12-inch single (Released 1983)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A

Bonus Fun Fact: The unofficial video for this song was directed by Spike Lee during his time as a student at NYU and features Laurence Fishburne! Duran Duran covered this song in 1995 on their "Thank You" album!

Centipede: The Board Game!

I have a great fondness for the video game Centipede. Back in the 80s you could find that arcade cabinet everywhere from Pizza Hut to our local dentist! Yes, our local dentist had arcade games in his waiting room. It actually gave us a reason to want to go for a cleaning. I loved playing Centipede and I still do. If an arcade has this game powered up, I'll be there flinging that track ball all over the place in the quest to put my initials in the top score listing. I am very familiar with this game, but recently while on the hunt for retro gold at the local Goodwill store, I found something that I never knew existed...

Centipede: The Board Game released by Milton Bradley in 1983. For only $2 I picked it up. I was so excited when I found the game that I didn't even bother to check and make sure the pieces were inside. I still would have grabbed it even if it was missing a majority of the pieces for the box art alone! It is pure 80s magic! Well, I got the game home and it sat around for a while until my son asked if we could play it. I obliged and we cut the tape and opened the box.

I was very happy to see that we were only missing 3 pieces from the game! A scorpion token, a mushroom token and one of the permanent board mushrooms were missing. These missing pieces were not enough to keep us from being able to play the game. The premise is pretty simple, you spin the wheel and try to make it home before your opponent does. What makes this game fun is that you get to blast the other centipede causing it to loose a segment of it's body.

That right there is the face of horror! We played the game a few times and my son beat me twice by repeatedly popping lasers into my centipede's face, which causes you to not be able to move. They only way to gain back your mobility is to blast the opposing, which then lets you return one of your centipede's body segments. Well, the luck of the game spinner was not with me and baby boy was able to scurry to a victory! It really is a fun game. I am sure we will play again soon so I can avenge my loss! 

Who knew a board game based on a video game could be so cool? When I was a kid we had the Ms. Pac-Man board game and that was not a great game. Mostly we just played with the character pieces from the game and made up our own rules. Centipede on the other hand has real re-play value and I'm glad I could enjoy this bit of nostalgia with my kids.

Comic Book Pick: 9/12/18

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

LEGEND OF ZELDA TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL 04

Link and Midna head for Death Mountain to dispel the darkness that is plaguing the Gorons and hopefully obtain another shard of the Shadow Crystal. If they can recover the shard they'll only need to find one more piece of the Crystal. But their journey is far from over-shadows are gathering at Hyrule Castle and there are still many grave dangers and terrible foes to face!

(W) Akira Himekawa (A/CA) Akira Himekawa

SRP: $9.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/10/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Kangol, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your FUBU clothing as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: Black Sheep

Song: The Choice Is Yours

Album: A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (Released 1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 57

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was ranked #73 on VH1's top 100 Greatest Hip-Hop songs list. It was most recently featured in a 2016 AirHeads candy commercial campaign.!

Comic Book Pick: 9/5/18

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

GHOSTBUSTERS CROSSING OVER #6

The Ghostbusters need every missing ghost back to properly recalibrate their rapidly malfunctioning containment unit, and so far, they've recaptured them all! But this time, something stands in their way-and his name is Louis Tully! The Ghostbusters mega crossover event continues here!

(W) Erik Burnham (A/CA) Dan Schoening

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/3/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Kangol, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your FUBU clothing as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: L.L. Cool J

Song: Mamma Said Knock You Out

Album: Mamma Said Knock You Out (Released 1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 17

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was inspired by a conversation LL had with his grandma when she told him to, "Oh baby, just knock them out!". Won the Grammy for "Best Rap Solo Performance" in 1992!