Agent Palmer

It has been three years since I last built my Lego Saturn V Rocket. And in that time I have read seven books about people who have worked around or taken a ride in a Saturn V.

Of those only a few were by men who had actually ridden in the rocket and even fewer had spent time in the Lunar Excursion Model, or LEM, or as LEGO calls it, the Lunar Lander.

Based on the graphic novels of the same name, The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron, is one of the best modern independent comic adaptations to grace the big screen in recent memory, AMC’s Preacher was pretty solid too.

But one of the unfortunate things about The Old Guard is the problematic trailer. I was informed by some people to go in knowing as little as possible, so I avoided the trailer itself. My partner was not so lucky, and some of the twists and turns in the first third of the film were all spoiled in that trailer, which I have since seen.

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones is, like it’s eponymous subject, a beacon for all times and all people. The things Jim Henson created, the things he inspired, and the way he lived his life are all examples that there can be good in the world, and we don’t just have to receive it, we can enjoy it, share it, collaborate on it, and create it ourselves.

The story of Jim Henson is the story of an innovator who was never satisfied unless he was on to the next thing, and then the next, and the next, and the next.

First it was a play, then it became a theatrical movement and must-see, now it’s been released to the comfort of our own homes, Hamilton has arrived on Disney+, and it’s all that it could be.

Except that it’s more because it’s not just a musical. It’s written in a way that many, if not most, of the subtext can be an allegory for ourselves, modern America, and the issues that have plagued the United States of America since its inception.

Marvel’s influence on popular culture and the references to Marvel within that culture has been rising equal to the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but this list is proof that Marvel had its hand well into the popular culture well before the rise of the current MCU.

As with the DC inspired playlist I created, these songs need to be inspired by the comics, so Black Sabbath’s Iron Man, which is totally and completely unrelated to the comic character doesn’t get to be on the list. And no, it’s inclusion at the end of the 2008 Iron Man film doesn’t give it a pass.