This time around, it’s one final look at The Punisher and his experience in the Vietnam War. We’ve seen him “invade The ‘Nam” three times already, but what about how it was told through one of the most acclaimed runs featuring Frank Castle? I take a look at how Garth Ennis told the story of Frank Castle in Vietnam through three connecting storylines: “Born”, “Valley Forge, Valley Forge”, and “The Platoon.”
It’s back to our regular comics coverage with The ‘Nam #82. In “Hue”, we see more of the Tet Offensive and the story of Dai Uy, the ARVN soldier who has been telling Ed Marks about his experience in 1968. It comes courtesy of Don Lomax and Wayne Vansant. I also spend time looking at the rest of 1973, which includes events surrounding Watergate and the New York Mets.
After nine years of blogging and 99 podcast episodes, it’s time to take another look at the movie that started it all: MEGAFORCE! In this episode, I take a look at the 1982 Hal Needham film, which stars Barry Bostwick as Ace Hunter, the commander of a super-elite international military unit. I give a summary of the movie, talk about my Megaforce origin story and re-evaluate my opinion of it.
It’s time to do another tour with Frank Castle as I look at two separate Punisher storylines from the 1990s. First up is the trade paperback The Punisher in The ‘Nam: Final Invasion, a post-cancellation publication of what was supposed to be issues #84, 85, and 86 of the series. In it, Frank re-ups for another assignment and takes on a mission to rescue a group of POWs from a NVA camp called “The Death Hole.”
The second storyline is a five-parter from Punisher: War Zone #26-30 where Ice has to rescue Frank when he is captured by a powerful gangster who runs a cartel on an island nation in Latin America.
It’s the second of two “milestone year” episodes as Amanda sits down with me once again for a talk about 1999!
Over the course of our (much shorter this time) conversation, we talk music, movies, and television, but also delve into news, politics and culture. We’ll look at the rise of and importance of Millennials, Woodstock ’99, teen pop, The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense, Office Space, the dawn of the age of reality television, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, the Food Network, and MTV’s Undressed, among other things.
Plus, we talk about what it was like to graduate from college in 1999 and how we somehow survived our early twenties, and we also talk about how the issues and serious events of 1999, such as Columbine and the Bill Clinton impeachment still affect our culture and politics today.
This time around, I take a break from my regular coverage of the comic to bring you one of the landmark films about the Vietnam War, 1978’s The Deer Hunter, which stars Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep. For my look at the film, I’m joined by fellow TTF podcaster, Luke Jaconetti. We talk about Michael Cimino’s Best Picture winner by looking at the plot and characters but also its symbolic/metaphorical meanings; and its reputation and resonance as a film about Vietnam, war, and America.
In celebration of the 80th anniversary of Batman and the 30th anniversary of the release of Tim Burton’s first Batman film, I am taking a look at my own Bat-fandom, focusing specifically on Mark Cotta Vaz’s 1989 book Tales of the Dark Knight: Batman’s First Fifty Years, 1939-1989. I cover what’s in the book as well as talk about my Batman origin story and why this book was so important to my fandom.
This time around, I take a look at issue #81 of the series, which is part three of the three-part Tet Offensive storyline “The Beginning of the End”, plus historical context from the summer of 1973. Then, I look at five documentaries about the Vietnam War.
They’re the 30-second segments you fast-forwarded through, ignored, or used for a bathroom break, but when you think about it, you know them better than you realize. They are commercials. In this episode, I talk about advertising and commercials that I remember, both fondly and not so fondly. I begin by going over what makes a good and a bad commercial and then make my way through a bunch of commercials that I can’t get out of my head. From cereal to fast food to toys to local car dealerships, it’s so much advertising that it’s … INSANE!
“The Yearbook Myth”: A post about yearbooks and yearbook DVD music from the mid-2000s that also features a 1980s McDonald’s commercial called “Great Year!”
“XOXO”: Tic-Tac-Toes canned pasta from Chef Boyardee.
This time around, I take a look at part two of the three-part Tet Offensive storyline “The Beginning of the End”, plus historical context from the middle of 1973. Then, I look at the career of Vietnam Veteran Principal Seymour Skinner.