The Hundred and Forty-Eighth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

Crossbow technology that also causes the bolts to triple in size? We must try to discover the source of this power you call 'misunderstanding of perspective'!

The Hundred and Forty-Seventh Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

If there's one thing I've learned about chickens, it's that they're always really psyched to run towards gunfire.

The Hundred and Forty-Sixth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

If only actual comic book stories were as amazing as the metaphorical splash title pages representing them. Maybe that's why they stopped doing these?

The Hundred and Forty-Fifth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

Well, that was anticlimactic. Why would the comic suddenly decide to get realistic when depicting just how easy those beasts are to kill?

The Hundred and Forty-Fourth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

And now, a special two-part Greatest Panels! In this episode, villains are menaced by an optimistically large representation of a Komodo Dragon. Want to find out what he'll get up to? Check back next week!

On the Subject of Red John

I firmly believe that The Mentalist is playing fair. By that I mean that Bruno Heller specifically, and all the producers of The Mentalist, have had a firm idea of where the Red John storyline was going right from the start of the show. I'm not suggesting that some 'master list' of the series' plot-intensive episodes exists, or that the producers had any idea what the specific clues or twists in the Red John storyline were going to be more than a few episodes in advance. I do, however, believe that those producers have known who Red John was all along, and have been careful, even as their plots and characters evolved, never to give any information or clues that contradicted anything already established as fact.

Beyond that, I believe that the mystery as presented by the show has been solvable, and what's more, I believe that I have solved it.

Here's how:

On the Subject of The Mentalist

It occurs to me that, despite it being one of my favorite shows, I've neglected to discuss The Mentalist here on the blog. For anyone not aware, The Mentalist is a CBS drama which - while it fits broadly into the network's tradition of police procedurals - is my nominee for the best-produced thing on network television.

I specify 'network' for what I think are fairly obvious reasons. The dictates of mainstream commercial-supported broadcast television put restrictions on shows that pretty much ensure that they can't ever rise to the level of your Breakings Bad or Games of Thrones. Networks prefer the episodic structure so it's easy for viewers to check in at any time - it doesn't really matter when you start watching Cheers, within a few minutes you'll get the point. Something like Wiseguy - one of the greatest things to ever come out of a network - was doomed to failure largely because it isn't the kind of thing that can simply be picked up and watched at someone's leisure. Add to that fact, from a financial standpoint, episodic shows are easier to sell into syndication, and it's easy to understand why shows about cops and lawyers and doctors solving a new crime/curing a new patient every week have dominated the airwaves since televisions inception. Also, for a little while there, every week a heroic cowboy would shoot some no-good varmint, but that trend seems to have largely passed.

The Hundred and Forty-Third Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

You know, just because your stopped aging doesn't mean that years have stopped passing. No matter your physical development, you're still hundreds of years old. Still, though, that's a great origin story.

The Hundred and Forty-Second Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

You know, just once in my life I'd like the opportunity to hatch a scheme in partnership with a goat. That would just suit me down to the ground.

The Hundred and Forty-first Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

See, that's why the axis failed - at the first sign of trouble they immediately started axe-fighting with one another.

The Hundred and Fortieth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

You know, as a video game nerd, I thought the submersible battleship in MGS4 was an amazing bit of design. But the comics got there sixty-odd years earlier.

The Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

I don't know that blueprints are meant to be lifesize, but I certainly appreciate the effort.

The Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

So, I guess it's faster if you just list the name of the ship, rather than all the guys aboard? Makes sense, Death has got to be pretty busy during wartime.

The Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

I'm going to agree with Jerry Noble - a question mark in a thought window is the exactly right reaction to have to that occurrence.

The Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Greatest Panel in the History of Comics

It's a nice idea and all, but I'm not sure that it's way better to have a glass bottle smashed across my face than it would to be hit with a club.