Fist of the North Star

Fist of the North Star (1986)

Let me take you back to a time before rent-seeking cargo cultists prowled the animation industry shaking down studios. When anime was drawn on cells with rich, hand-mixed paint. Before the dead-eyed, pastel times; before Ground Zero. In those bad old analog days, if you wanted to watch anime, you…
March 11, 202412 Comments
Toriyama Goku Goodbye

Beloved Cartoonist Akira Toriyama Dead at 68

Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of global phenomenon Dragon Ball, has passed away at age 68. Akira Toriyama suffered an acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain, his studio said Friday. Dragon Ball is hugely popular around the world and the comic series has also spawned cartoon…
March 8, 202420 Comments
Rooster Teeth Logo

Rooster Teeth Bites the Dust

Earlier reports of geek culture cartoon studio Rooster Teeth Productions' demise turned out to have been premature. But now, the Time-Warner subsidiary's general manager has issued a statement confirming that the animation company has indeed given up the ghost. Dear Rooster Teeth, Since our founders created and uploaded their first…
March 7, 202427 Comments
SBI Detected

SBI BTFO by Brazilian Vidya Curator

Controversy erupted on X over the weekend when professional Woke Cult purity assurance coven Sweet Baby Inc. issued a fatwa against a scrappy Brazilian vidya curator. The curator, Sweet Baby Inc Detected, describes itself simply as "A tracker for games involved with Sweet Baby Inc." The About page from SBI's…
March 4, 202417 Comments
Howdy Doody Reboot

No Howdy Doody Reboot

A recent post on the Pop Cult occasioned a salient and topical discussion in the comments. Author JD Cowan writes: That’s just it, isn’t it. Nothing is made for younger generations anymore. The average age of Cartoon Network viewers is 29. Disney World is filled with single wine aunts and…
February 28, 20249 Comments
Nintendo vs Sony

The Riddle of the Pop Cult

Author JD Cowan wrote a post yesterday that shed new light on elements of Cultural Ground Zero and the Pop Cult and showed how they're interrelated. So it was of course fitting that he prominently featured this now-ubiquitous image by retro artist Rachid Lotf. We've been plumbing the riddle of…
February 23, 202419 Comments
Snatch 2000

Movie Review: Snatch (2000)

Every once in a while, I lower the velvet rope and give regular readers a sample of my premium material. Today’s post previously appeared as a Patreon and SubscribeStar exclusive. If you like it, please consider subscribing. Directed by British maverick Guy Ritchie, Snatch is a frenetic and stylish crime comedy…
February 21, 20241 Comment
Sandman Cancelled

Sandman Canceled by China

Yet another controversy plaguing the scandal-wracked World Science Fiction Society refuses to die as credible allegations of censorship, and a subsequent cover up, swirl in the wake of 2023's World Con in Chengdu. The home of oldpub's once-prestigious Hugo Awards, World Con made its Chinese debut last year in a…
February 9, 20247 Comments
Hellblazer William Paquet

Comics’ Death of a Thousand Cuts

Yesterday's post on the death of American comics elicited its fair share of comments. One reader who decided to offer his two cents ended up contributing gold when he turned out to be an industry veteran. Consider commercial sculptor William Paquet's insider account of the US comics industry's collapse: Heads…
February 8, 202412 Comments
Comics Dead

Who Killed American Comics?

The recent post on who killed rock and roll attracted a lot of notice. It's taken a while to gain traction, but it seems like every day more people are noticing Cultural Ground Zero. As this theory's name implies, the destruction wasn't limited to popular music. Every form of mass…
February 7, 202414 Comments