Daily Archives: February 13, 2012
Biff Bam Pop’s Favourite Couples – Coach Eric Taylor & Tami Taylor
There has never been a show I have campaigned for more than Friday Night Lights. On the surface, the show is about a small town (Dillon, Texas) and a football team but in reality, it is SO MUCH MORE!
Tales from the Longbox – Star Wars #86 (1984)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
A long, long time ago in a decade known as the 1980s, fans didn’t easily have the option to rewatch their beloved Star Wars trilogy over and over again. It was a big deal to watch a bootleg copy of Empire Strikes Back on Beta (if you don’t know what Beta is, don’t ask). The action figures were the primary means to re-enact your favourite movie scenes and there was the Marvel Comics’ Star Wars series.
I can’t exactly recall why I never picked up the Star Wars comic book, but it might have had something to do with so many other great comics on the shelf in 1984. Reading through some of these issues, the first thing that struck me was how many great creators worked on this book. The creative teams on licensed books tend to be weak because of the expensive licensing fees, but this book enjoyed work by Walt Simonson, Al Williamson, Howard Chaykin, Tom Palmer, and Ron Frenz.
