I love the classic Marvel comics.  Even some of the more semi-modern ones are pretty sweet (though increasingly less so over time).  And, while Black Panther (breifly also known as Black Leopard because of feared association with the "Black Panther Party"... though the Leopard name didn't stick) is not my favorite character from the comics... he is occasionally in some pretty fun story-lines.

Much more fun in the comics than in the recent MCU movies.

The first person to be the Black Panther (there have been a few... unfortunately...) appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (July of 1966).

The character was created by the legendary Jack Kirby (with some input from Stan Lee).  When Kriby was asked about the genesis of the character, he had this to say:

"I came up with the Black Panther because I realized I had no blacks in my strip. I'd never drawn a black. I needed a black."

Seriously.  Direct quote.

That was the entire purpose for the character.  To create some sort of powerful black man to include in story lines with the Fantastic Four.  They "needed a black".

That same issue (Fantastic Four #52) was also the first time we get introduced to the kingdom of Wakanda.  This is the very first image ever depicting it... and there, seated in the middle, is The Black Panther himself:

Wakanda was a pretty rad place.  The surface was depticted as a sterotypical African image of an African village.  One that would be immediately recognizable to Fantstic Four readers.

But, underneath "the dense foliage" there existed a weird -- and tube-heavy -- high tech city.

Large portions of the city were controlled by computer -- a pretty cool idea back in 1966 -- which was built into the base of a giant statue of a black cat.

Also note that the official name for the Black Panther outfit is the "Stalking Costume".  Which he would put on whenever he would stalk his prey.  Which, when he was introduced, was The Fantastic Four.

Yeah. The Black Panther was an absolute jerk.  He, literally, enjoys hunting humans for sport.

The Black Panther was... more than a little sadistic.  He derived joy from the fear of those he hunted... and he enjoyed a challenging hunt.  This is a theme that appears, again and again, throughout the comics.  Especially the earlier ones.

He wasn't all bad.  The Black Panther, more often than not, had good intentions.  He just had his own moral code and his own way of going about things.  Which usually meant sadistic hunting of human prey.

Eventually The Black Panther became, more or less, an ally of both the Fantastic Four... and then a member of the Avengers.  But he remained a bit twisted, in my view.

The Marvel MCU representation of The Black Panther retained some of this... but really cleaned it up in order to make him a character more designed to be praised and revered.  Which, in my opinion, was a great loss.  In large part as it made many of the best Black Panther stories no longer make any sense.

If you are looking to get a good primer on the origins of The Black Panther -- I recommend issues 52 through 54 of Fantastic Four.  That's where it all really starts.

And -- despite the weak points of that story line -- it's definitely a lot more fun than the recent "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" film.  😎

I was a pretty big fan of "24".  At least some of the seasons.  It was a fun -- sometimes ridiculous -- serial adventure.  And a perfect vehicle for Keifer Sutherland.

Action.  Deception.  Conspiracies.  The underdog racing against the clock to save the day.  What's not to like?

Well... the technical accuracy.  That part of "24" wasn't so great.

Pretty much every time they needed to use a computer in "24" there were ridiculous examples of the writers clearly not understanding how computers work.  Either that or the writers were intentionally making poking fun at how horribly wrong most shows use garbeldy-gook computer lingo -- usually incorrectly -- as a plot crutch... but doing the same thing themselves.

Want to play a fun drinking game?  Every time someone in "24" is using a Palm Pilot without any sort of network connectivity hardware... and then talks about "opening a socket" to get some wireless information on to it... take a shot.  You'll be drunk in no time.

To this day "I need to open a socket" or "can you open a socket for me" gets used around the Lunduke home as a goofy shorthand for... just about anything related to a computer.

So when Keifer Sutherland's new "Rabbit / Hole" series made its debut -- with Internet security and privacy being a big part of the premise -- I assumed it would be yet another fun romp (like 24)... with abolutely absurd computer jargon thrown around as some sort of weak attempt at making a "computer-y" plot.

Boy, was I wrong.  Pleasantly so.

The core idea -- without giving too much away -- of "Rabbit / Hole" is this:

Big companies (and big governments) are collecting data on citizens -- and some are using that in less than kind ways... including to manipulate and control people.

Built on top of that general concept is a plot that is part mystery, part buddy heist movie, and part 24.  With several twists along the way.

One of the most surprising twists?  That the show gets the tech stuff right more often than it gets it wrong.

VPNs.  Multi-Factor Authentication.  Crypto Wallets.  TOR.

Seriously, all of those are critical pieces of the plot... and the show gets them right.  More or less.  The show does gloss over a few things, clearly in the interest of keeping the plot moving forward without getting bogged down in technical details.  But the big, high level stuff?  It almost always nails them.

In fact, multiple key computer topics hit on feel like they could have been ripped right out of the pages of The Lunduke Journal of Technology.

That said, the show is not without its faults.  The characters have some pretty serious potty mouths on them (occasionally to a ridiculous degree).  And there's just enough adult-only moments that you definitely don't want to watch this with kids around.

Likewise the show does suffer from some pacing issues here and there (both a bit too sluggish... and then a bit to frantic).  Not extreme... but you feel them.

My favorite part, favorite line, and favorite character... I can't even mention here.  There are so many twists and surprises in this show that mentioning any one of those parts would give too much away.  Suffice to say that most of my favorite bits all revolve around a single character.  And not one played by Keiffer Sutherland (though he was prety great too).

Overall, I'd say that "Rabbit / Hole" is definitely worth a watch.  It's a fun, espionage-y, computer-y adventure.  And, luckily, it looks like Season 2 is in the works.

Enjoyability  : 4.5 / 5
Family Friendliness : 0 / 5
Nerdiness : 4.5 / 5
Overall : 4 / 5

I'll keep this short and sweet: The Super Mario Bros Movie is a ton of fun.

Currently, it looks like Mario Bros Movie has made a bunch of records -- including the biggest world-wide opening weekend for any animated film, the biggest openning weekend for a video game adaptation, and the biggest movie of the year (so far), and the 4th largest opening for ANY Universal movie.  Ever.  Wild.

And, honestly, it deserves it.  This is good family fun.  Something that Illumination and Dreamworks have been hitting it out of the park with lately (as they pick up the slack from a Disney that has so obviously forgotten how to make family movies).

No politics of any kind.  No weird content.  Nothing questionable or inappropriate.  I can't think of a single group of people that would be offended by this movie.  Good, simple, wholesome fun.

The voice acting is surprisingly good.  Chris Pratt as Mario?  Perfect.  I like Pratt, but I would never have guessed he would make a perfect Mario.  But he does.  By 10 minutes into the movie, it became hard to imagine any voice, other than Pratt, as Mario.  He absolutely nails it.

And Charlie Day as Luigi?  Perfection.  Again... had no idea Day could pull off a Luigi... but he does.

Jack Black as Bowser?  Almost too perfect for words.

The visuals of the movie were astoundingly faithful to the games.  It looked like a slightly spruced up, theatrical version of one of the more modern Mario games.  Which, honestly, was perfect.

The whole thing felt like a true passion project by someone who loves Mario.  All Mario, of all eras.

One example: The first time you really see Peach's castle... it looks very close to what we see in the opening of Mario 64.  Very, very close.  And -- what really made me smile -- the music of that moment in the movie, as we see the castle for the first time, used significant inspiration from the music of that exact same scene from the opening of Mario 64.

Little touches like that were everywhere.

Near the beginning of the movie, there is a scene with Mario and Luigi in the sewer.   With pipes and a dark color scheme similar to World 1, Level 2 of the original SMB game.  Aka level "1 - 2".  And, lo and behold, in the background of that scene you can see a sign that literally says "1 - 2".

The whole move is sprinkled with stuff like that.  Big, in your face stuff that is directly lifted from one Mario game or another... and little stuff, in the background, that you almost miss.

Each scene almost feels like a direct lift from a different game.  Multiple SMB games, Donkey Kong, a few versions of Mario Kart, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros... so many are included.  With fun references to Wrecking Crew, Baloon Fight, Kid Ikarus, and early Mario history throughout.  For an 80s kid or a Nintendo fan... there are roughly a thousand moments where you want to point at the screen and explain things to your kids.

The whole movie's plot is... terribly goofy.  Light and more than a little ridiculous.  Multiple points are a bit of a stretch (to put it mildly).  But that is kind of the charm of the film.  The plot feels very much like a Mario game plot.  And it works.

Highly, highly recommened.  Especially if you have kids.  Shoot.  I would have enjoyed it even if I had seen it by myself.

I took mine to see it last night (as a reward after they had an especially productive day of school).  We all had a blast.  Best movie experience in years.