Because trouble comes in all sizes.
Vincent Daly 
2021 has arrived leaving in its wake a year of terrible loss and sacrifice. A wellspring of hope has replaced despair. A fresh clean slate to create a new start. A blank page to begin writing the next chapter. All the things to build anew. We’ll take it. And I would add the suggestion to move your body.
The Far Side comic strip created by Gary Larson epitomized the gloriously weird side of comic strip humor. Unabashedly surreal, each comic strip consisted of a mere panel. His background in biology provided insight to the relationship of creatures juxtaposed to humanity’s daily life experiences. More often than not, species collided in side-splitting absurd situations.
In the nascent days of Social Media the world embraced an exciting new form of communication. Instilling humanity into the cold digital landscape of the internet promised to transform the experience. It would create a new narrative of how human beings forged bonds with one another regardless of geographic distance. Or so we thought.
Batman is an iconic figure in pop culture. His costume’s look has changed throughout the years. Given the deep generational DC fan connection with the dark knight, each comic book iteration of the suit faced scrutiny. Since debuting on the big screen in Tim Burton’s “Batman,” so too has the movie versions. Director Matt Reeves recently shared the first look at Robert Pattison’s batsuit in “The Batman (2021)” test footage. Suffice to say, the reveal sparked a reaction.
Marvel vampire movie, “Morbius”, just released its first trailer. You meant Blade, right? Not quite. It’s Morbius. Who? You know, Morbius, a one time villain and part-time anti-hero from the Spider-verse. Did I mention that Jared Leto is playing the lead role? Wait. It will be fine. I know his creative interpretation of the Joker in “Suicide Squad” left fans flat. But before casting judgement on his latest efforts, take a look at this just released teaser trailer.
Movie trailers are dropping like holiday bargains in December. The 1980s loom large in upcoming movies as the setting as well as being alluded to by modern days heroes. Wonder Woman 1984 picks up with our hero based years later after her debut during World War in 1918. Ghostbusters: Afterlife continues the franchise with a 21st century generation of kids who were related to the original 1980s Ghostbuster team. Building off the popularity of the Netflix series, Stranger Things, the movie aims to incorporate teenage high jinks along with the supernatural genre.
Sonic the Hedgehog, beloved Sega video game character, has been revamped. The original live-action flick trailer of SEGA’s iconic blue speedster featured a tall and lanky iteration with human teeth. The internet lost its mind. Given the less than favorable reaction, the good folks at Paramount went back to the drawing board. As you’ll see, progress has been made. All is well with the universe once more.
LEGO has a lock on pop culture. 2019 represents a yearlong celebration of Batman’s 80th anniversary. Releasing a set featuring an iconic Batmobile makes sense. LEGO chose a replica of the cape crusader’s ride from the 1989 Tim Burton film. The movie just happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary. Holy perfect nostalgic timing, Batman!
Hubble space telescope images inspire curiosity. Discovering the secrets of the universe truly is the last frontier. As scientists use this tool to gaze outward, the choice of direction can be arbitrary. The Hubble team found a striking image in June 2019. The distance of said image was 704 million light-years of interstellar space. At first glance, it appears to have a countenance of a ghoulish face. The Hubble team decided to publicly release the image in the spirit of Halloween.