Photo: Mortal Kombat logo from the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Call it what it is: Nostalgia. Intellectual property rights. Series reboot. The chills start to form as soon as Scorpion drags SubZero’s masked face across the screen and yells, “Get over here!” The goblet of Summer 2021 Blockbusters ...

It Has Begun
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, April 26, 2021Captain America Civil War
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 18, 2021
I've compared “Avengers Infinity War” to the classic movie cliffhanger in The Empire Strikes Back.
But the Marvel Cinematic Universe actually pulled off an almost-“Empire”-level story a couple years before that, in Captain America: Civil War.
The MCU started off with multiple movies setting up Iron Man ...
Stuff About Stuff
Banes at 12:00AM, July 9, 2020
I've watched Mr. Plinkett's reviews of the Star Wars Prequels 3 times. Saw the movies once.
An obscure horror movie was recommended to me and I hunted it down to watch it - it was a great hidden gem for a horror fan like me. A few really effective ...
QUACKCAST 451 - Fans who criticise are are good fans
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Nov. 5, 2019 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
“Toxic fans” is a bit of a catch cry now and that has seemed to turn into the idea that any fan who is critical of something ...
Detective Pikachu Will Be Released in Comic Form
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, March 18, 2019
When the trailer for Detective Pikachu was debuted last Fall, I knew more than a few eight year olds who were excited for the film’s release. Several of my twenty-something and thirty-something friends were posting about it on social media because we also grew up with the pocket monsters ...
QUACKCAST 417 - Can we be better?
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, March 12, 2019 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
This is a big, awkward, contentious and fiery subject. What we're talking about in this Quackcast is the current phenomenon of social marketing and how it ...
Casting Characters in Comics - 123
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 2, 2018
Creating a Cast - in 1-2-3
One of the challenges…and maybe one of the greatest pleasures…of creating a series is populating it with a cast of heroes. I know I spend many weeks or months tinkering with characters and deciding who they're going to be. …And how many ...
Politics in Fiction
Banes at 12:00AM, July 19, 2018There was recently a Provincial Election in the part of Canada where I live, and there's a Federal Election coming up in about a year.
With the brouhaha going on in the world these days about politics and the divisions between many people that are resulting from it, I ...
Please Yourself? Or Please the Crowd?
Banes at 12:00AM, July 5, 2018
May the Forcefulness Be With You
I've been fascinated to watch the unfolding of the “battle” between Disney's Lucasfilm and the fandom playing out over the past few months.
If you haven't been looking at the fallout, there's too much for me to cover here; I ...
The Character Journey of Iron Man revisited
Banes at 12:00AM, April 26, 2018
Iron Man and the multi film arc - revisited
There are spoilers below for the Iron Man and Avengers movies, Civil War, and Spiderman Homecoming
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been breaking new ground in movies with their various interconnected films for about ten years.
The MCU began with Iron Man ...