Okay, I'll be the first one to admit that I am not a big fan of child or baby versions of adult characters.  It's played out. It can be silly. It can be downright "goofy." (Just look at those damned Disney Babies - pun intended!)

Back when Chris Claremont introduced The X-Babies with Arthur Adams in an X-Nen Annual, I deemed it cringeworthy, yet tolerable, mostly due to the stellar art by the hyper-detailed Art of Adams. The X-Babies would show up periodically, just often enough to test my eye rolling ability.

 

*Please note that this article is an opinion-editorial.

Dancing with the Stars has kicked off its hundred and fifty-seventh season, this time in the form of an all-star version. (Apparently, there is a limit to the number of celebrities willing to don gay apparel and wiggle it, just a little bit, for the prime time audience at large.)

I'm tuning in 'till past favorites Pamela Anderson and Kirstie Alley get kicked off.  Hey!  I'm a loyal fanboy,  I was one of the 5 people who saw Barb Wire in the theater. The only one not wearing a trench coat, albeit, but present nonetheless.

Which brings us to Kirstie Allie.

Let me here you say boom da boom boom da boom da bay-bee . . .

When one thinks of a beautiful, round-faced British singer with a booming voice, one wouldn't be too far off to guess that one may be referring to Adele; however, the cherubic, little songstress I'm here to discuss is Sophia Grace.

"When you're alone,
And life is making you lonely,
You can always go downtown.
When you've got worries,
All the noise and the hurry,
Seem to help, I know, downtown . . ."

So go the lyrics to Petula Clark's famous pick-me-up song, "Downtown," and the same could be said about Ellen DeGeneres' feel-good afternoon talk show.  If you lost your job, your car won't start, or your freakin' hairdresser cut your bangs too short, Ellen can turn all of that around. 

After the all-seeing eye of Lady Gaga discovered a copy of Michael Troy's comic book tribute Going Gaga! at San Diego Comic-Con, she tweeted, "So cool.  Someone found this at Comic-Con.  Can I buy it?  Pleasssee!!!"

The tweet heard 'round the virtual world had little monsters clamoring to find a copy for Mother Monster and perhaps get their little paws on a copy of their own.  The small indie comic immediately sold out and left everyone wanting more!

Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle yes!  Make mine Marvel.  If you are reading this, I need not explain Stan Lee's contribution to Marvel and his relevancy to comics in general.  I fear that without Stan, we would be relegated to Marmaduke and Garfield for our insatiable comic fix . . . not that there is anything wrong with that!

 

Anyone who knows me needs no sixth sense to know that I am obsessed with the paranormal. Paranormal Witness, Paranormal State, Haunted Collector, Haunted Highway, School Spirits . . . and especially TLC's freakin' Long Island Medium. I will watch anything to do with the paranormal.  So, it should come as no shock that I absolutely adored Universal Studios' ParaNorman, written and directed by Chris Butler.

It's hard to believe that The Discovery Channel's Shark Week turns 25 this week. I guess it's further difficult to imagine sharks have been around for hundreds of millions of years, far outlasting many an inferior species. 

My love affair with sharks began with Jaws 2 when my parents took my siblings and me to see it at the drive-in movie theater. (Yes, I'm dating myself, and if you aren't sure what a drive-in is, go change your diaper and then google it!)