Gavok: BTW, after Week 250, I’m taking a break from Week in Panels. I have a lot of real world responsibilities now and don’t have time for it.

Space Jawa: What would it take for someone to take over for you?

Gavok: Why, you want to?

Space Jawa: Yeah.

Gavok: Sure, have at it.

And that’s the abridged version of how I became the new host of This Week In Panels.

Oh, and then Gavok went out, bought a cigar, lit it, and then reached through the internet so he could put it out in my face. I think because he was trying to make a tradition out of it or something? I don’t know.

Jerk.

Anyway, joining me this week are Gaijin Dan, Matlock, TheAnarCHris, and Gavok himself. Gavok, Matlock, and I are all in agreement that the art on She-Hulk continues to be terrible, though I’m the only one who managed to get all the way through it. I’ll probably hold off on further issues until they get someone better, though. Because as it stands, I’m feeling inclined to think that I could do a better job.

Believe me when I say that I don’t make such statements lightly.

But let’s get to some panels, shall we?

Avengers World #9 (Matlock’s Pick)

(Nick Spencer & Stefano Caselli)

Avengers World #9 (Gavok’s Pick)

(Nick Spencer & Stefano Caselli)

Batman ’66 Meets the Green Hornet #5

(Kevin Smith, Ralph Garman, & Ty Templeton)

Read the rest of this entry �

David’s been doing his musical articles for a while and I figured it was about time I stepped up to the plate. Unfortunately, I’m not nearly as well-versed in music as he is. Then I realized that Alpocalypse, the new Weird Al Yankovic album, is coming out in a couple days. Hey, I know Weird Al pretty good!

Weird Al is someone I grew up listening to that I’m glad to see is still at it. I got into him at age 7 with Even Worse, which gave us the Michael Jackson “Bad” parody “Fat”. It took me years to even realize the joke about the album’s name. While I stuck with Weird Al for years (he used to come out with a new album every year or two back then), I don’t think I really got a lot of it. I only caught the absolute outer shell of his work and ignored the rest. I’d listen to his parodies, but fast forward through the originals.

As time went on, this changed. Like with watching Adam West Batman, the older I got, the more I got. The more I was able to see the actual talent and genius that my younger self didn’t notice. It became a thing where I’d come for the parodies but stay for the original music. Now we’ve reached a point where I look at the sources for the parodies on his new album’s track list and I don’t recognize a single one (I know “Born This Way” now, but only after the brief controversy with “Perform This Way” momentarily not being released). It doesn’t matter for me because even if I’m unfamiliar with a lot of it, I know I’ll still be fully entertained.

I wanted to pay a little tribute to Weird Al’s catalogue. I thought I’d cover only his original songs. No direct parodies (style parodies are more than fine), no polka medleys and no covers. Doing the research was a complete blast. I listened to favorites, old tunes I never gave the time of day to and even some older ones off albums I never heard before.

For the record, if I had been doing a list of his best parodies, “I Think I’m a Clone Now” would win.

Read the rest of this entry �