On this day in 1917, Jacob Kurtzberg was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Early in his artistic career he used several pen names before settling on Jack Kirby because he said it reminded him of actor James Cagney. Today would have been his 108th birthday had he not passed away on February 6, 1994 at the age of 76.
I wrote more about my love for Kirby’s art in my article about my Mt. Rushmore of Comic Book Artists.
Cindy and I went to the Lux 5 theater in Mitchell, South Dakota on Friday, July 25, 2025 to see the opening of The Fantastic Four: First Steps and this is my review.
We lucked out in that the Lux 5 theater is another one of those nice theaters in a small town that don’t charge a king’s ransom for a ticket. $6 for a senior ticket on a first-run movie! They had 5 theaters and the one we were in was nice, clean, and modern. There were about 30 people, at the most, in a venue that would seat more than 150.
When the movie was first announced, I was VERY excited for it. And, of course, I was hoping that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was finally going to get “it” right after all the previous studios had wrecked Marvel’s First Family. Then, when I saw that Pedro Pascal (an actor I have greatly admired since seeing him in Game of Thrones and even more for his personal stands on issues) was going to be playing Reed Richards, I got even more excited.
But, when the trailers started coming out…I wasn’t sure. It was hard to get a “feel” for the story from them and the special effects looked like they were from several generations ago in quality. I found myself getting a little more excited after the end credits scene of Thunderbolts* showed a space ship with the Fantastic Four logo on it appearing above earth. Then another trailer came out that just failed to fill me with anticipation. I was beginning to think I might even be willing to wait to see it on a streaming service a few months from now.
But, when we had a chance to go on opening day and at such a reasonable price in a smaller town venue that wouldn’t be loaded with rude people, I gave in to my initial excitement and we went.
Set in the early 1960’s on an alternate earth (Earth 828, in fact, because that was co-creator and artist Jack Kirby’s birthday and month), the earth is threatened with destruction by a world-eating entity known as Galactus. This was the same story that I read as an 11 year old in 1966 in issues 48-50 of The Fantastic Four comic book. Some slight differences are the movie has no Watcher and the Silver Surfer is a woman named Shalla Bal, who was the wife of the original male Silver Surfer on Zenn La.
If you read those comic books as I did, then you know the incredible feeling of seeing that story come alive on the big screen.
The movie is full of action and lots of family-related interactions because at the heart of the Fantastic Four is that they are a family. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, they have always been referred to as Marvel’s First Family.
Reed, Mister Fantastic, is as big of a brain as ever. Sue, The Invisible Woman (as was eventually revealed in the comic books) is probably the most powerful of the four. Ben Grimm, The Thing, is past his angry stage by this point in their history and even hot-headed Johnny, The Human Torch, is capable of some pretty smart thinking.
And Galactus looks just like the comics version! Not some big dark cloud like one movie-maker portrayed him.
It makes me SO happy to say, “Marvel, finally got it right!” I wish Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were still alive to see their creations played out on the big screen while remaining mostly faithful to their comic book origins and stories. One small spoiler; though in our world Stan and Jack have passed on, they do have a “cameo” in the movie that will excite long-time fans like myself.
There are two end-credit scenes. You should stay for both of them.
The movie really was so much better than I even first imagined it would be! Thank you Marvel, for staying true to the source material and doing something that I think would have made Stan and Jack proud to have their creations presented in such a manner to the world.
Highly recommend!
I’ve been on Flashes since February of this year and I have really enjoyed it.
When I left Instagram (and all the Meta-universe apps/communities) I wanted to find someplace similar where I could share my photos and enjoy those of others without being subject to Meta’s algorithms telling me what they thought I should see.
Flashes is that app/community.
Built on the Bluesky platform, which is the Twitter/X alternative (and I left THAT platform as soon as Musk took over), Flashes is the alternative that photo enthusiasts have been looking for. YOU decide whose feed you want to see, not the platform.
With Flashes you can:
I have a Bluesky account under my name, but created a Flashes account under our travel website, The Wandering Wetheringtons, so I could feature photos from our travels.
But you can use it for completely different things as well.
For instance, here’s a fun set of posts I did back in May. Every day I would post this text:
Choose 25 TV SHOWS that have stayed with you or influenced you. One TV SHOW per day for 25 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just magazine covers.
And on each of those 25 days I posted a single magazine covers that featured the TV show I was highlighting that day. At the end of 25 days, these were the TV shows I had posted magazine covers of and at the end I created a collage of the 25 as one large photo.
Flashes doesn’t yet have all the tools and features that Instagram has, but they are in the works. Here’s a graphic showing how they currently compare.
If you’re looking to get away from the Meta-verse and Instagram, Flashes is a highly recommended alternative. And here’s an easy guide to getting your own Flashes account.
Hope to see you on there soon!
On Friday, July 11, 2025, Cindy and I took our two youngest grandchildren, Jade and Maxwell, to see the opening day showing of the new Superman movie from James Gunn and the DC Universe while we were visiting their home in Redmond, Washington. This is my review.
If you know me, you know what a huge Superman fan I have been all of my life. I grew up on Superman comic books, The Adventures of Superman TV show in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and was thrilled when the first Superman: The Movie motion picture was released in 1978. And those just scratch the surface of my experiences with The Man of Steel.
Here’s the bottom line of my review; I haven’t walked out of a theater at the conclusion of a Superman movie feeling this good since the 1978 Superman: The Movie film starring Christopher Reeve.
And I’ve seen them all.
Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might not want to read any further.
Gunn brings us a Superman who is as good and kind and helpful as Reeve was in that original movie. No creepy stalker like Routh’s portrayal by Singer, no dark and brooding murderer like Cavill’s by Snyder.
James Gunn’s Superman is a bold redefinition of the character from those portrayals–less mythic (yet still the “Big Blue Boy Scout” we’ve known and loved for years) and more human than Kryptonian, more helpful, more kind, more colorful and more earnest. This movie soars on performance and emotion and introduces a new DC Universe that feels like it will be much more optimistic than recent films.
Gunn frames kindness and goodness, not cynicism, as the hero’s real power in a polarized age .
The official movie description reads; “Superman follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views this as old-fashioned.”
Those last 8 words might be truer in our real world than they are in the fictional world of Superman.
Because when James Gunn told a British newspaper that Superman is “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.” And that “Superman IS the story of America.” Well, the right-wing conservatives (and some people who SHOULD know better) jumped all over him.
For instance; Dean Cain. Cain portrayed Superman/Clark Kent on the “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” TV series in the mid-90’s. In recent years Cain has expressed his right-wing, Trumpian views to all who would listen. It’s one reason I didn’t even try to schedule our visit to the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois this year, since he was going to be a guest of honor. And it’s why I have no interest in re-watching this particular Superman TV show.
Cain blasted Gunn’s comments calling it “a mistake to politicize” the iconic superhero and, “For James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing…I think it’s going to hurt the numbers on the movie.”
News alert to Mr. Cain: as of today, the movie has already brought in $426 million in box office receipts! After less than two weeks in theaters!
Another news alert for those ignorant of the hero’s origin: Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who created Superman, were both born to Jewish immigrants! And they portrayed Superman as an immigrant that came to Earth from another planet. Mr. Cain played the character and yet doesn’t even know or accept his history.
All I can do is shake my head at these kinds of comments.
So yes, those last 8 words might be truer in our real world than they are in the fictional world of Superman.
For the very first time in a film, Superman is joined by Krypto, the superdog. Comic book readers have known and loved Krypto since he first appeared in 1955’s Adventure Comics #210. Krypto was originally Kal-El’s (Superman) childhood pet on Krypton. Sent into space in a test rocketship by Kal-El’s father Jor-El before Kal-El’s own escape, Krypto eventually reunites with his then teenage master on Earth as a full-blown superdog, complete with cape and all the powers that Kal-El possessed.
Now, filmgoers get to enjoy Krypto as well. Except this time it turns out he’s Supergirl’s (yes, she’s here too) pet, not Superman’s.
By the way, as we were having lunch later, I asked Jade who her favorite character in the movie was and she said, “Krypto!” I asked Maxwell the same question and he said, “Krypto!” I think that was the case for a lot of people.
One other big change is that we DON’T get an origin story of Superman. In this film he’s already been around for years and, at this point, Lois Lane even knows that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same. AND they’re involved romantically. Their chemistry is electric and may be the best romance in a Superman movie yet .
The performances in this film are awesome. I took it as a bit of hyperbole when Gunn gushed in pre-release interviews about how true to the character David Corenswet was as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan was as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult was as Lex Luthor, but he wasn’t exaggerating! They, and the rest of the cast gave excellent performances as their characters.
It was almost like watching a Superman comic book come to life.
The Fortress of Solitude scenes are awesome, mostly because we also get to see Superman’s robots. And we get to see how his heart is broken when Luthor invades the Fortress and destroys the robots.
Speaking of Luthor; he’s a modern-day villain using modern-day technology to try and defeat the man of steel. As a tech tycoon using misinformation and fear to undermine trust…well it feels eerily timely and compelling. Did I detect a hint of Elon Musk in Hoult’s portrayal? Maybe not. But despite all that he does to try and kill Superman, the Last Son of Krypton STILL tries to talk Luthor into being a better person.
I mean, how woke can you be?
Is this a perfect movie? No, but it’s a far sight better than what we’ve been offered in the past 20 years as far as Superman is concerned.
I had two complaints, but they are small ones in the whole scheme of things.
The movie stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific and many others.
I highly recommend this movie to Superman fans and non-fans alike.
Cindy and I were watching “The Daily Show” during dinner last night when we were grossed out by this commercial about, of all things, Eyelash Mites!
We had never heard of EYELASH MITES!…but it turns out they are a real thing, according to WebMD.
It’s always SOMETHING!
I, of course, don’t remember my day of birth, but they say it’s my birthday so here we are.
Bought tickets for Cindy, our youngest granddaughter and grandson, and myself to see the new Superman movie when it opens on July 11, 2025.
We’re all looking forward to seeing what James Gunn’s vision of Superman will be.
Look Up!
Today is a day that is definitely worth celebrating and so I wish all of you a Happy National Onion Ring Day!
I don’t remember exactly when I first fell in love with onion rings, though it was most assuredly during my misspent youth.
The earliest recollection I have of enjoying a chain restaurant’s onion rings was back in my mid-teens at a chain known as Lum’s, which has been out of business for the past 40 years. I used to love Popeye’s onion rings, but they stopped serving them in Orlando-area stores 20 years ago. Never really cared for Popeye’s chicken, so their onion rings were the only reason I patronized their establishments. When I wrote to tell them that, some flunky in the office wrote back, “Sorry to see you go” so that further cemented my non-desire for their food.
Cheddar’s restaurants used to serve a delicious tower of onion rings, but they also stopped doing so several years ago much to my disappointment.
While traveling, both when I worked and now that I’m retired, if eating at a new (to me) restaurant that offers onion rings I’ll always try them. Most of the time, I wish I hadn’t. Most places only serve frozen, mass-produced onion rings that are on the level of Burger King’s onion rings, which is to say they are horrible.
So, if you’ve had any of the onion rings at the above-mentioned places that I liked, you’ll see that I prefer the buttermilk, flour-battered variety (preferably double-dipped) over the breaded style. To me, those types allow the flavor of the onions to meld quite nicely with the flour batter.
And of course, the crispier the better! Mushy onion rings are the worst.
Other than homemade, where have you found your favorite onion rings?
In the silent movie era, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin were physical comedy giants who specialized in performing some amazing stunts long before CGI or special effects were utilized.
This short video shows how they were able to pull off some of their famous scenes with ingenuity instead of green screens or computers.
Today my little girl, my Princess, turns 50 years old.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I wrote this post about her life until that point. Lots of history and photos in that one.
Here are some collages of photos that have been taken over the last 10 years. Lots of memories and life events in those photos.
Lots of things have changed.
But one thing that hasn’t changed is she is still my little girl. Still my Princess.
Happy 50th Birthday to my Princess.
