Spotlight

I never thought I'd see the day that IDW will make a Spotlight: Prowl comic book. But in April 2010, there will be one hitting the streets.

I hope they don't sell out. (They won't.)

Bullseye

I admit that I had fun watching "The Human Target" Sunday. Loosely based on the obscure comic book series, bodyguard/investigator Christopher Chance will take a bullet for you... for a price. Mark Valley is finally in a role that lets him show off his fun side. Chance's a typical hero type, strong, mysterious, and just a little crazy. ("I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question?") His two sidekicks (total opposites) are fun to watch them play off each other. Tricia Helfer was the client in the pilot episode, and it's a shame she's not in more episodes because her character came across as intelligent and a nice foil to Valley's Chance, as opposed to just another Damsel in Distress.

Next episode is tomorrow.

Serial Watch

Having just finished Republic's "The Black Widow," I have to say I was a lot of fun to watch, but you could say that about most of Republic's serials. One of the serial's most important distinctions is that it has a villainess in charge. Carol Forman, as the title character, pretends to be a fortune teller while secretly planning to take over the world for her power-mad father, who teleports in on his would-be throne.

I know, how is it that no one writes like this anymore? Particularly satisfying is the final chapter, where our villains meet their end in a final battle worthy of the pulps. Ironically, the Black Widow is killed off by her namesake, intended for our hero. Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed with the heroes. Steve Colt seemed average at best, and his female sidekick seemed insultingly inept.

But moving on to "Federal Operator 99," the serial I'm currently watching. George J Lewis, a staple heavy in many of Republic's serials, finally gets the spotlight as lead villain, Jim Belmont. He's so sauve and sinister, that you'd never imagine that he would end up as Zorro's father decades later. Marten Lamont, our hero, is pretty entertaining. His accent reminds me of George Sanders, one of the few to wear the Saint's halo. Also noteworthy, is Lorna Grey, one of the few female henchmen in serials. Having just seen Chapter 6 "The Case of the Double Trap," there's no doubt that she can handle herself just as well as one of the guys.

Well, until next time, when I listen to "Moonlight Sonata" while Lewis, Grey, and the gang plot their next heist.

The Year We Make Contact

I was reading an article on Yahoo with a list of things that won't last 2010. Among the obvious are "Gas-Guzzling Cars" and "Newspaper Subscriptions," and "Home Telephone Services." It was only a matter of time before they got to CDs, another sadly obvious choice.

More interesting choices include DVDs. They hypothesize that with renting DVDs online so cheap, that people may stop buying DVDs all together. I find this a little unlikely seeing as people are a possessive bunch, and even with music, while no one except me apparently buys CDs anymore, they still buy and own music. (I don't know why no one's ever tried renting music.)

Another interesting item was "New College Textbooks." I know it's been years since I've been in college, but I'm sure we could save money by buying used textbooks even back then. Though nowadays, I guess you can rent textbooks or even download them, but then you wouldn't have a $90 paperweight now would you?

I wasn't even sure that "External Hard Drives" were such a big market to end up on list on this. I don't necessarily see the wisdom in uploading your files to a server far, far away that could, hypothetically, break down at any time.

So, in review, I own DVDs, CDs, a landline, an external hard drive, no smartphone, a newspaper subscription, and some old textbooks even my college didn't want back. (While my car isn't a gas-guzzler, it's also not one of those fancy hybrids.) Looks like my days are numbered.

you can read the original article here.