The Comic Critic's Movie Review of Top Gun

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In 1986, I was fresh out of college and sharing an apartment with a roommate who had three great passions: 1. His stereo system. 2. His advanced skill with electronics. 3. Using those skills to improve said stereo system to replicate as nearly as possible, not only the deep bass, but also the bone-rattling thunder produced by Top Gun’s F14As. And as often as he played Top Gun, and it was quite often, somehow it never got old. Maybe it was because I was a young guy just starting out, and that testosterone-fueled movie was a fun way to enjoy that time. Or maybe it was simpler: Top Gun is just a great movie. At any rate, after having been brainwashed by its throbbing soundtrack, I’m hardly in a position to provide an unbiased opinion. So, when I sat down with a critical eye to write this review, I realized how completely distracted I had been by the horrendous amount of effort and money it took to get the US Navy involved in making that decade’s possibly best-ever recruitment tool. Top Gun is a thinly veiled cop-buddy movie, plain and simple. Once I made that discovery, the strip quickly wrote itself.

The Comic Critic's Review of Higanjima Escape from Vampire Island

Why? Why? Why do I keep watching truly horrible horror movies? I could be spending my time watching any of the thousands of decent movies out there – truly entertaining movies. I could be basking the glory of Oscar winning performances. Or learning something meaningful and relevant with a documentary. I could be laughing my head off with a quirky comedy. But, no. When given an option of choosing from all those genres I find myself selecting an unknown horror film of questionable vintage. I guess it’s because I truly love horror movies. My search for that fantastic scary movie continues. But in my search for a prince of a film I have kissed so many frogs – icky, toxic, slime covered frogs. Higanjima Escape from Vampire Island isn’t even a frog, it’s a big fat toad.

The Comic Critic's Movie Review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has never left theaters and continues to be the longest-running movie of all time. Rocky Horror didn’t draw much attention on its initial release, but found a home in the Midnight Movie timeslot. There night owls, loners, and children of the freaking night discovered it and made it their own through spontaneous bursts of audience participation. It quickly gelled into an orchestrated script including audience props, costumes, and the occasional call to the Fire Marshall. Your Rocky Horror cred is based on your knowledge and skills of interaction. For each generation that discovers it, Rocky Horror becomes a rite of passage of movie culture. I loved it when my friends took me to my first show. And I love it now as it’s not something you can stream, download, or fully appreciate on DVD. The full, unvarnished joy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show can only be experienced in a sticky-floored theater—with a bag full of props and a collection of your wild-ass friends.--w ged because as it stood, the theater had the bag and the collection.

The Return of Stickman #1539

Every time I lose my train of thought, this is what pops up in my mind as a visual. There is a lot more detail. If you remember the train crash scene from the recent Lone Ranger movie - that's pretty much what I'm visualizing. I know I'm boring people when I find the train derailment more entertaining than the topic I was yabbering on about.

The Return of Stickman #1538

One of my favorite bits of the Johnny Carson Show was Carnac the Magnificent, where Johnny would put on a huge, over-sized turban and cape and be a soothsayer who provided answers to questions via envelopes. To me it was a variation of the kid's game "One of these things is not like the other" refined for adults. Sometimes I think I should do the Carnac bit with Stickman. But, it's always been a Johnny Carson bit and maybe it should stay that way. Anyway, now you know my thinking behind this strip as I was drawing it up.

The Return of Stickman #1537

I drew this strip thinking my friend, Kevin Boze, would get a kick out of it. I was inspired by his compilation of comics he drew while in the military and made it into the European edition of the Stars & Stripes. Check out his book "...and another day gets off to a flying halt."

The Return of Stickman #1536

I wanted to post a strip today, but I didn't want to wait to submit the strip to my copy editor first. So I had to draw a strip that wouldn't use any words. This was the very first thing that popped into my mind.