I’ll be sharing an overdue post on Star Trek here in the next few months, phasers crossed.
Meantime, I have this. I was moved to scan, crop, and file it away three years ago while reading a bunch of old DC horror comics, and now I guess I know why. Yes, Strange New Worlds had already launched, but — although not exactly ripped from the screen — the panel didn’t quite seem to resonate with anything until this past week’s episode. I won’t explain since that feels unnecessary if you’ve seen it and obnoxious if you haven’t yet and want to. Spoilers are fine in the comments, however, as I would love someone to at least headcanon away the pink dress.
Panel from “The Mask of Medusa” in The Unexpected #218 © 1981 DC Comics. Script:
Robert Kanigher. Pencils, Inks: Vic Catan. Colors: Jerry Serpe. Letters: Unknown.
Related: Mr. Pope Hail • Arch-Ray Vision • Ozy Ozy Ozy
My guess is that Chuck has strict instructions not to interrupt the “Barbers’ Picnic”.
Also, Barbers’ Picnic is my new band name and probably one of the activities in the parlor cabinet in the hotel on Widow’s Bay.
Did you think I’d segue from Peanuts’ currently syndicated repeats into talk of The Pitt instead?
You don’t really have to sell me on a book called The Art of Jerry Ordway.
I mean, Jerry himself being part of it’s sorta key, but otherwise there’s very little that could dissuade me from plunking down my actual or virtual cash despite my own and the world’s travails of the day. On which more in a few moments.
The ads worked.
Not that it was entirely the commercials. I’d seen ads online, too, and come across mention of Harry’s in the past when looking up potential alternatives to my usual razors of choice. The quality of Gillette’s Mach 3 and Fusion Pro Glide that I was now buying at CVS didn’t seem to match what Rite Aid was selling ere they went out of business, with the little strip of aloe that soothes your shave and lets you know when
it’s time to replace your blade falling off long before it faded.
So when spots in high rotation during the World Baseball Classic this March proclaimed that Harry’s was finally making a model — Harry’s Plus — with aloe strips and a detail blade on the back of its multi-blade head like I was used to, I ordered the starter set of that new model with one cartridge and a small can of shave gel for just $10, with tax, no shipping charge. The most fundamental aspect of advertising is to let you know that a product exists and how to get it; my need was not being invented here. I cop to having appreciated the streamlined, sharp yet scrappy image the brand projected when doing that earlier search.
A lot happened in the weeks and months since that order was placed to change my opinion.
While I’m dealing with stuff that’s backing up posts in the pipeline, I figured I’d put
the soup can on display as I plug the Zoop campaign for Mark Waid & Barry Kitson’s Empire.
The effort has been funded, so you should be assured of receiving it if you pledge. Choose from a digital copy; the hardcover itself, collecting Empire’s original eight-issue story as begun under the Gorilla imprint and finished at DC, with lots of bonus material; and a slipcased edition.
I never actually listened to Coast to Coast or any other program hosted by Art Bell,
yet I’ve heard of “Mel’s Hole”.
This may sound like something far afield of what it is to those of you who haven’t. Arthur William Bell III “was a pioneering radio broadcaster … renowned for creating the most influential paranormal talk show in broadcasting history,” to quote a short bio on the Art Bell Archives site. Which of the sites about his life and work are more official and/or accepted by his devotees, I can’t really tell you, but it’s 2026 and I doubt you need my help searching the Interwebs beyond an exhortation to use DuckDuckGo rather than Google for privacy’s sake.
Bell didn’t only cover the paranormal and conspiracy theories but was certainly open
to discussing stories on those subjects with callers. One topic from nearly two decades past that has apparently continued to fascinate on Reddit and elsewhere is the aforementioned hole of unknown origin and mysterious properties located in Washington State described to Bell in 1997 by a man identifying himself as Mel Waters.
A friend of mine who long worked for NASA shared an IFLScience post earlier today recapping the phenomenon. He did so for reasons other than promoting or debunking the details, but the context prompted me to adapt certain of those details to the chorus of the 1974 Doobie Brothers classic and personal favorite “Black Water”; here they are, with the usual apologies to singer/composer Patrick Simmons.
