Trekker:Darkstar Zephyr

Trekker is back! Ron Randall has launched a Kickstarter for the next book in his science fiction series about bounty hunter Mercy St Clair, so this seems like an opportune time to talk about the most recent volume, The Darkstar Zephyr. I’ve written about the previous stories here and here, so I’m going to focus less on the background and more on the current book. Also, I have a pretty cool personal connection to this one.

Ely, NV Part Two: Dinner at the Cell Block Steakhouse

While in Ely, NV, celebrating my 50th birthday by driving a steam locomotive at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum (more information about that in this post), I also went out with my wife for a birthday dinner. Having done our research, the only restaurant Ely seems to have approaching fine dining is the Cell Block Steakhouse, located in the Jailhouse Casino. I like steak, and it looked like this was going to be our best—perhaps only—option for a celebratory meal at a nicer restaurant.

Ely, NV Part One: In Which I Drive a Train

Last Sunday, we celebrated my 50th birthday. Because it was a bit of a milestone, we did something a little more exciting than usual: we went to Ely, NV to drive a steam locomotive at the Northern Nevada Railway Museum. It was quite the adventure for me, so I wanted to tell you all about it.

(This week’s post may be a little longer than usual, so please bear with me.)

The Twilight Zone

Even though I haven’t seen every episode, I consider myself to be a big fan of the Twilight Zone. I first encountered reruns of the original series as a kid, and then found myself completely won over by the 1980s series. Since then, I have watched a lot more of the original episodes, and watched every new iteration of the series. News that CBS would be producing a new series for their CBS All Access streaming service really excited me. Having seen seven episodes from the first season, I am once again really enjoying the Twilight Zone. 

Doom Patrol on DC Universe

I have a new favorite TV show, and it’s the Doom Patrol. It streams on the DC Universe streaming service, which combines DC’s digital comics library, a large library of TV shows and movies based on their superheroes, and original series, both animated and live action, created specifically for the service. Doom Patrol follows the live action Titans and the animated Young Justice: Outsiders (a revived version of a show which originated on Cartoon Network), and while I’ve really enjoyed those other two, Doom Patrol is the one that has won my heart.

Batman 217

Several years ago, I set out to read the Bronze Age Batman comics (or at least Detective and Batman) straight through in publication order, and blog about my thoughts as I went. I didn’t get too far, and not long after, the external drive I had stored the electronic copies of those comics on pooped out on me. In recent months, DC Comics has been making most of those issues available on Comixology, so I’ve been thinking it’s time to start that read up again. Because I didn’t have much opportunity to write anything else this week, I’m going to start off by reposting those earlier posts. 

I started my Bronze Age Batman reread with Batman 217, written by Johnny Hazard creator Frank Robbins and drawn by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. The Batcave Companion listed this issue first in their Bronze Age checklist, so that's my guide.

Graham Nolan's Monster Island

It’s been a few weeks since I announced that I was taking a stress-related break from this blog. I’ll give a bit of an update towards the end of this post where things are with that, but the bottom line is, I think I’m ready to come back on a regular basis. And the first book I would like to talk about is an old favorite: Monster Island, by Graham Nolan. Partly because it’s a great comic, and partly to bring attention to the Kickstarter currently running to fund the creation of the next volume.