If I remember what it was, I'll try and post it here. It was pretty funny.

Mother to child: "When's that commercial going to be over?"
Child: "Commercial? This is the show!"

I did read the Transformers Comics. Much more mature and a bit darker than the TV-Shows. Surprisingly good actually.

The thing that burns me about that whole era of cartoons wasthe fact that they wrer nothing more than a gimmick to sell the most recent toy some company came up with. Plot and even talent for the animation were optional at best. IMHO most of the cartoons from the 80's were complete garbage. Even better , now they make 'em MOVIES and are able to just recycle the same gabage. man, I hope some advertising exec got a bonus for that Idea.

Um, yes? And it worked, judging by how well Hasbro did at the time.

Little kids don't care about plot or talent. Just sparkly.

Good to see nothing changes...

Well, they do. But not consciously. I absolutely loved Gargoyles (note: these were the only action figures I ever wanted) and Transformers (watched mostly Beast Wars, but that was because that was all that was on when I was growing up). There were a few other shows--like Yu-Gi-Oh--that dragged me in due to plot elements.

And if you look at those shows, those were some of the better written ones.

The non-sequiter ones, like Freakazoid, are enjoyable for kids because they're random and "zany."

Nobody reads books anymore? I guess we are in a cyberpunk future.

How about Stand on Zanzibar, The Shockwave Rider, The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination, Wetware, the first part of Schismatrix, Snow Crash and The Artificial Kid?

For tv, it would have to be Max Headroom.

Lies. I read both Merlin's Dragon and Dragon Mage in the last two weeks.

lies! lies and slander!
i read at least one book per week!
but the only things i read are the battletech, shadowrun and warhammer40k novels and the discworld novels.
not much i'd recommend to show someone the world of shadowrun really.

Hows about a little Jeff Somers?

You're younger than I. Animated American television that was "new" when I was young was a cultural wasteland, spurred by the Regan-era free market greed of the early-to-mid '80s. One of the few exceptions I can think of was Muppet Babies which really was quite clever and won Parents Choice awards. The more thought-inducing 'toonage didn't roll in until the early '90s when Warner Brothers went nuts with good content: Batman: The Animated Series, Tiny Toons, etc. Disney was aping them a bit with Gargoyles.

To hell with Bionic Woman and V; Max Headroom needs to be rebooted as a TV franchise.

I'm reading the collected works of Philip K. Dick right now. When you hit his high-drug use, close-to-death period in the early 70s, you get that definite otherworldly Shadowrun vibe. And I'm convinced that Tom Dowd ripped off The Man in the High Castle when writing the San Francisco entry for NAGNA.

Batman Beyond is an even better example than the Animated Series. Cyberware, genetic manipulation, cyberspace, technomancy, Thor Shots...

Ace the Bat-Hound... Just kidding. Though I think more runners need matching animal companions.

I already play Ace and Krypto in our Superhero Game

Batman Beyond was a very awesome cartoon, even if it wasn't canon batman.

Ace the Bathound was bad ass in Beyond.

"Good bad dog."

Ah, yes, i loved Batman Beyond.
Return of the Joker was good.
And Mr.Freeze was superb . .
Also, an old bane made me lol.

My biggest problem, even if I agree with why they did it for story reasons, was in Dick Grayson never getting the mantle of the bat. I've been a fan of Batman since I was little and out of all the Robins he was the best, the one that most thoroughly developed himself towards that end. Jason Todd was a little psycho, Tim Drake has the investigative chops but lacks that defining drive, hell, he outright rejects the idea of becoming Batman. Dick however lives for the fight, he is smart, skilled and out of everyone the closest to matching his mentor.

If you follow Beyond canon, Dick can't stand Bruce any more. That's why Bruce is living all by his lonesome in Wayne Manor, getting crazier by the minute.

Stahl: you have to admit, the Joker's plan for the Thor Shot is pretty frickin' funny and completely in-character for the Clown Prince.

It's canon for the animated universe created by Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series. Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited all exist in the same continuity. In one episode of JLU, Green Lantern traveled to a (possible) future where Terry Bats, Static Shock, and the son of Hawkgirl and GL were a new League.

The Batman, Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes and The Brave and the Bold are not in continuity. All of the recent (and excellent) direct-to-DVD animated movies are also independent of continuity. I like Vin Diesel but I hated his voice as Batman in Justice League: New Frontier.


He's Batman in the current comics continuity. Until DC hits the big fat cosmic reset button and brings Bruce Wayne back to life after the end of the "Darkest Night" crossover.

i concour ^^

Where in the continuity is Batman: R.I.P. located then?

Batman has like four to eight different continuity streams. But you are right about that one (I just never watched any of those related shows, except Static Shock--interestingly enough, I made a reference to here just a minute ago).

Ditto, I only read the trade books now, R.I.P. is the last one I've read, if Dick has become Batman it has some pretty serious and, if handled well, really interesting implications.

In comics continuity, Batman RIP was a misleading title name as Bruce Wayne didn't die during the events. Batman RIP took place shortly before the events of Final Crisis in which Darkseid zapped Bruce with his Omega Beam eyeballs. While a skeleton of Bruce was left behind and became a foci of sorts for Black Hand, a minon of Nekron, leader of the Black Lanterns, at the end of Final Crisis we see who we think is Bruce sitting in a cave scratching the Bat-symbol into the wall.

My assumption was that his "soul" was kicked back in time by the Omega Effect. I predict that after Darkest Night wraps, the sequel Brightest Day will see Bruce brought back to life by the mysterious "white light" and he will resume the mantle of the bat.

Currently the Bat books are split between a focus on Dick Grayson, assuming the title of Batman along with Bruce's son Damien acting as Robin, and Batwoman, a kick-ass high-society punk rock lesbian who was a former West Point cadet. Her father is an Army colonel and serves as her "Alfred" and "Q" by supplying her with military gear. Dick and Damien have abandoned the Batcave and Wayne Manor and operate in a secret sub-basement beneath Wayne Enterprises Headquarters. Dick has nominally taken control of Wayne Enterprises and the current story floating around is that Bruce is on one of his playboy cruises.

Isn't Batman the only person to have ever dodged the Omega Beam?

(I'm shocked that I not only know this, but saw that segment of that episode of JLU)

My animated continuity knowledge isn't that great but I'm fairly certain Superman did in Superman: TAS. Heh... Michael Ironsides as the voice of Darkseid.

In comics continuity, not to my knowledge. Or at least, not if Darkseid intended to hit the subject in question. Poor DeSaad was zapped and brought back to life more than I can remember.

If I'm remembering the right scene, it's not so much that Supes dodges it and more that it looks like it's going to hit Supes - and then promptly right turns and kills DeSaad.

But again, I'm probably thinking of something else.

Oh, yay Google Power!

Did I miss these two?

Smokin' Aces: Stealth? What stealth? Private security guards, armed, are mowed down by crazy neonazi biker guys in armor using chainsaws in gunfights. A million dollar bounty on a wannabe gang-leader. Snipers blasting feds away, and fixers setting up jobs that go sideways. If you're the run-and-gun type, this flick's for you!

Lucky Number Slevin: First of all - Bruce Willis. Second of all, Morgan Freeman. Each character has a purpose and a role in the world; mafiosos, crooked cops, mistaken identities and revenge plots. Its the opposite of Smokin' Aces - while the mysteries can be figured out on the first go, there's at least one part that just comes out of the blue. Check it out.

Tears of the Sun
Hot Fuzz
Shawn of the Dead
Predator 1 & 2

on smokin aces: a bunch of em snuck around very well. just not the crazy neo nazies...

Oh, yeah! In fact, one guy was basically a master-of-disguise. Another girl tried to infiltrate dressed up as a hooker. Another dude impersonated an FBI agent. Of course, the FBI impersonator got into a shootout with a real FBI guy, the hooker chick got into a shootout with another FBI guy, and the master-of-disguise almost succeeded at the mission then had to make an escape from...The FBI.

The Neonazis almost pulled it off, but they got taken down by an elite bodyguard type guy.

In the end, firepower won out more often than stealth; in fact, the target never really got taken down except by a bad case of heartburn or, y'know, some genetic disorder.

"You...don't know what...?

*long pause*

OUT! OUT OF MY HOME, BARBARIAN SWINE!"

Yeah, that's about how it would go.

I realize that you're joking, but seriously, I've absorbed enough of Bladerunner through geek osmosis and popular culture that I just don't feel the need to watch the stupid movie. I'm not a fan of the era and genre, so I don't really give two tosses. Same goes for Dune.

Other people may feel its because Seinfeld is Unfunny...

Even though i have seen both bladerunner and dune, i don't think too highly of either one of those movies . . .

Seinfeld is/was funny?

I never liked it. I must be broken.

The book Dune is much better than any of the movies. Which version did you see? the 2000ish one or the 1984 one?

I've been showing my players the FX TV series "Sons of Anarchy" to show them what gangland life is like. Shows like "The Shield" and "The Sopranos" work, too, but SOA is my favorite of the three.

both. and the book was too dry for my taste.

Dry as the Desert ?
(for Mee too )

with a Dance in the Dessert
Medicineman

Someone has been reading his Penny Arcade.

Dune is one of the best sci-fi novels ever written. All puns aside, Dune is many things but "dry" it is not.

The 2000ish Sci-Fi Channel series was probably the most accurate adaptation but it wasn't very good. Dune doesn't adapt well to the screen. It's not Star Wars.



Crap. That was one of three Paul Dini-verse episodes I've never seen. I was seriously ready to cry when JLU ended but at least it went out on a high note. The show's lead writer, Dwayne McDuffie, is the man. After his animated writing, he went on to write the Justice League of America comic for DC but there was so much editorial interference that the book turned to shit, McDuffie expressed how much he hated writing it, and he got canned.

Heh. I know too many hardcore geeks who find it unreadable to agree with that assessment.

As for movies, I recommend Formula 51.

Maybe too many hardcore geeks can't read?

There's a sad truth. I know too many geeks who won't even touch a book unless it's an adaptation of Halo or a Forgotten Realms novel.

Dune isn't exactly Ulysses-level difficult either. I read it in high school and I wasn't a smart kid.

anyone seen this movie?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088194/

Nope, but it looks like fun!

funny thing is, i encountered it thanks to reading up on bubblegum crisis over on wikipedia, where streets of fire was claimed as a inspiration.

heck, the first episode opening of BC is a near rip of SoF. And they have themed gangs going around

We don't consider it too hard to read. Just the writing is too awful.

Stuff no one has mentioned yet.

Books grouped by author.

Quantium Gravity Series, (Keeping it Real, Selling Out, Going Under, and Chasing the Dragon) by Justina Robson.
Ravirn Series, (Web Mage, Cybermancy, Code Spell, and MythOS) by Kelly McCullough.
Halting State, The Atrocity Archives, and The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross.
This Is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams.
Synners, Tea From an Empty Cup, and Dervish Is Digital by Pat Cadigan


TV

Farscape.
Le Femme Nikita
Reboot

Movies

Avalon
New Rose Hotel
Tetsuo: the Iron Man
Tetsuo II: the Bodyhammer
Fellowship of the Ring
Pi

Manga/Graphic Novels/Anime

Mek (graphic novel)
Texhnolyze (anime)
Serial Experiments: Lain (anime)
Ergo Proxy (anime)
Poison Elves (graphic novel)
Battle Angel Alita (manga)
Jin-Roh (anime)
Akira (anime)