To Infinity and Beyond!

With nothing else to do here today in hot ‘n’ sunny AZ, I saw “Avengers: Infinity War.” Last night I did some preparatory homework by watching “Thor: Ragnarok” on Netflix.

Without having the very confusing Thor movie under my story arc belt, I would have been lost trying to follow the start of the even more confusing Infinity War. Having not seen the Black Panther movie, I ended up nevertheless suffering from continuity exhaustion.

Avengers #4, page 4, panel 4, 1964. Art by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman.

The only thing I didn’t see listed in the closing credits was the kitchen sink, but it must have been in there, because everything else was! Without giving anything away, one comment I will make is there’s a scene in Infinity War that’s identical to Captain America being rescued in Avengers #4 — except it isn’t Cap, it happens in space, and the Avengers aren’t the team that does the saving.

Panel 5. Thor is wrong about Cap. He was a freedom-fighter in WWII, not a crime-fighter.

Oh, wait. There was one other thing I didn’t see in the closing credits. Steve Ditko’s name. He co-created Spider-Man and created Doctor Strange. Maybe he’s in there but I missed it.

Getting Old Gratefully

John Oliver’s show is reason enough to subscribe to HBO, which I don’t do, so I feel guilty watching his videos for free on YouTube. Having responsibly fulfilled the duties of Durable Power of Attorney for my father before he died, and since his passing being Trustee of the estate, this installment of “Last Week Tonight” is especially meaningful to me.

At the end you will see some well-aged celebrities, including 92-year-old Cloris Leachman. Here she is in her very first screen appearance, over 60 years ago. Four years ago I embedded this video of one of my all-time favorite movies, and I’m very surprised it’s still here.

Wizard of OZ Death Curse Strikes Again!

Jerry Maren seems like the third “last surviving Munchkin” obituary I have seen in recent years. With the 80th anniversary of the movie coming up, Denro suggests that one of the children who were in the crowd scenes of Munchkinland might still be alive.

Judy Garland holding the December 26, 1938 issue of LIFE. The magazine had been reformatted into a photo feature only two years earlier, having previously been mostly a humor publication.

Breaking Bad Americans

Bryan Cranston and Dean Norris

After “The Americans” finished up its run, the thought came to me that the series has one huge trait in common with “Breaking Bad.” The villain(s) in each TV show is hiding in plain sight, successfully concealing his bad guy identity from a law enforcement agent with whom he has a close relationship. I’m sure others must have pointed out this similarity in fan forums, but I don’t follow them.

Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich

With “The Americans” the identities of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are false fronts. In contrast, Walter White in “Breaking Bad” transforms into Heisenberg. In a way it’s like Clark Kent being Superman’s made-up identity, while Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. Except they’re good guys!

Haunted!

I’m preparing for another trip to Phoenix, in the ongoing work as Trustee of settling my late father’s estate. The CPA I hired to handle the taxes needs a lot of paperwork, and I’ve been sorting through it all.

Just as I was about to call it quits for tonight, on SiriusXM radio Cousin Brucie played the one and only song in existence with my father’s name in the lyrics! It’s a sign from Dad, who really did believe in ghosts, that I’d better stick to the task at hand for a while longer. This time of year I’d rather be going to Alaska than Arizona!

https://youtu.be/OUZGWjv1L68