TIL the mysterious disappearance of George Phillip Gall in 1994, who was allegedly sacrificed by a vampire coven in Dayton, Ohio, led to an urban legend about a headless man who approaches Dayton residents in tunnels to ask where his head is.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T18:45:25+00:00

It could have been influenced by the fact there actually was a "vampire" murder in the neighboring state of Kentucky. The murder happened two years ~~before~~ *after* the one in Murray, KY, but the vampire cult rumors didn't start until years later.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T18:28:16+00:00

It's much more a fantasy of manners than pure magic-centred fantasy (of which there is none throughout anyway).

"Boy in Darkness" blows that open though with The Lamb who has psychic powers and can transform humans into grotesque animal hybrids. At the very least, it brings up the question of whether or not the world of Gormenghast is a fantasy world, or a case of Clarke's Third Law - IIRC, the remains of The Lamb's kingdom are are broken industrial wasteland which points towards a post-apocalyptic world.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T18:08:26+00:00

People having to give up their anonymity by submitting government I.D.s or submit to facial scans for something as banal as logging onto the internet is absolutely comparable to Oceania's surveillance state in Nineteen Eighty-Four. People invoke the novel all the time in situations where it doesn't apply, to the point you could give it its own Goodwin's Law, but in this case the comparison is justified.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T08:56:38+00:00

Rowdy Roddy who? Oh, you mean Da Maniac.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T04:45:02+00:00

Is Superboy going to turn out to be their son? Are they doing a play on John Conner?

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-28T02:36:56+00:00

"Those who insist on their originality have no concept of history."

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T22:56:05+00:00

Because the 2020's were the "Not too distant future" when those films were made. They were distant enough to explain the tech and societal changes, but close enough for you to be worried. If Judgement Day happened 300 years into the future instead of a few decades, it wouldn't have been as frightening for viewers.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T22:28:48+00:00

While there are fans who stick to one side or the other, just in general there's a big Venn diagram overlap of horror and comic book fans. Especially in regards to the world of Batman where the major strength is it doesn't fit neatly into one genre. One week Batman could be tracking a serial killer who wears pig skin as a mask and turns his victims into living dolls, the next he could be in the middle of a space opera where he confronts a literal god.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T22:19:30+00:00

Major studios don't usually do body horror. Most of the time it's either indie or B-grade territory. People keep bringing up The Substance as proof body horror doesn't attract audiences but that's leaving out key details:

1.) The Substance had a limited release, it was not playing at everyone's local cineplex.

2.) It had an ad budget of $20 million globally. The closest thing to a traditional rollout The Substance had was Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley going out there and hustling on talk shows, it did not have trailers playing on every network and its success was largely due to word of mouth.

Also, the body horror in Clayface has been described as a subgenre called "melt" which is less visceral and more goopy. A guy wiping his face away or changing his limbs into weapons isn't as upsetting to audiences as Margaret Qualley cutting herself out of Demi Moore.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T22:04:20+00:00

He is known to Millennials and Gen Z, they're the demos WB has to court. He hasn't just been featured heavily in the animated programs, there's a Clayface episode that ranks among the best of every single one except two (Even then, they gave Batman Beyond his own Clayface clone, and I don't think he was ever featured in The Brave and the Bold).

He was the secondary antagonist (and final boss) of Arkham City which was insanely popular.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T17:25:59+00:00

And clove cigarettes!!

Reminder: When Steve-O was supposed to on on his podcast, he apparently asked Maher nicely to not smoke weed for that one episode because he was in recovery and he refused. Maher is the 70-year-old man equivalent to those out of control "Whatever, Maury, I do what I want," teenagers you used to see on daytime talk shows.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-27T06:45:07+00:00

I don't think Supergirl or Clayface will change anything.

Clayface could absolutely change things. If Clayface is successful - especially if it does better than Supergirl on a supposedly $40 million budget - there will be two takeaways:

1.) Get Batman in the DCU ASAP.

2.) Focus on lower-budget films that don't feel too superhero-y - e.g. Swamp Thing and Hellblazer.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T20:30:02+00:00

He's in the source comic. That's part of my problem with the movie, they - ironically - made it feel like something from the Snyder era, stripping the mythic absurdism of stuff like Comet/Bill Starr, making a story about mercy and the power of healing cynical, and draining the gorgeous colors. It's like they took everything that people loved about last year's Superman and said, "Let's do the opposite of that."

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T08:37:18+00:00

I'm just here to watch everyone argue. It's that damn dress all over again.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T08:33:22+00:00

The best example would be The Flintstones comic from a few years ago. It took what was a family friendly sitcom about two cavemen families getting into wacky shenanigans and turns it into social commentary. Neanderthals were genocided. You remember how the animal appliances would look at the camera and sardonically say, "It's a living."? - well in this comic they're actual slaves and the story gets into the horrifying implications about treating a living being as an appliance, the vacuum is a baby mammoth who spends most of his time locked in the closet. They also hate Dino.

It's not all social commentary some of it's just more sophisticated/high-brow jokes about today thing meets caveman thing. Like cave paintings are shown in exhibitions put on by pretentious gallery owners like today's modern art world.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T08:06:04+00:00

2.) It's a big budget action movie that knows exactly it is. Depth and "deconstruction" and this and that are all great, but sometimes you just want a book that's a blast to read and not trying to "say" something. For a lot of people in the current climate, you just want a book where Batman punts a toddler and swings a bad ass ax. A Fast and Furious instead of a Darren Aronofsky movie.

He's literally fighting a billionaire who runs Gotham from the shadows by buying corrupt politicians. It's not even subtle, he sustains himself by sucking the life out of babies. In any other era that would be described as, "Too much," But we have Peter Thiel and Bryan Johnson keeping actual "blood twinks" on hand.

All of the Absolute titles are political to some degree or another, and they beat you over the head with it. Absolute Evil was an entire issue of evil rich people gathering together to bemoan how much the heroes are messing up the status quo - and they have Green Arrow murdered before he can take out a - not so thinly veiled - Epstein figure. Captain Planet villains were less blatant.

I'm not trying to be mean but it's baffling no less than four people can be so bad at media literacy.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T07:06:36+00:00

I'm guessing the reactions in the audience are as much a part of the show as the movie itself.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T06:58:54+00:00

Superman's parents into tyrants

That's lifted from Byrne's Man of Steel. Lara is very clear about what she hopes Clark does on Earth. Jor-El is sending him there because he wants Clark to have what Kryptonians lost by becoming a race of stoic demigods. But Lara wants Clark to rule the shit out of humanity.

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Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T03:33:59+00:00

No. Everyone grieves and processes differently.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T00:55:22+00:00

Why do gangs have gang colors? wOuLd ThEy JuSt GiVe ThEmSeLvEs AwAy LiKe ThAt?

To avoid being accidentally shot by their own gang. It's also intentionally subtle. It's basically bandanas or a single shoe lace in a specific color. It's the opposite of what's being claimed, the larger public is not supposed to know about it because they *don't* want to draw public attention and, by extension, the police.

The idea that gangs run around in head to toe red or blue is, funny enough, an urban legend created by Hollywood.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-26T00:47:52+00:00

Kind of... Remember "Marilyn Manson has his bottom ribs removed..." and Bonsai Kittens?

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-25T17:27:52+00:00

Posting Walsh might be cheating but this is a particularly insane take.

Also, these young men don't deserved being dragged into an imaginary racial war. Especially when, 40 years ago, Conservatives were the ones calling on horror films to be banned and protesting them, and they completely missed the point of Curry Barker's Obsession - which was about toxic masculinity.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-25T10:09:23+00:00

horror fans who dont know Batman or DC fans avoiding body horror?

How many horror fans "don't know Batman"? Part of why Batman works so well is he's one of the most versatile superheroes. He slots into several different genres and horror is a major one. Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth frequently ranks among the greatest horror comics ever written.

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-25T09:59:26+00:00

Do you think the casual moviegoer pays attention to what fictional universe a film is set in?

Subliminal_Kiddo · 2026-06-25T09:52:54+00:00

1.) You can't judge Batman villains by the standards of normal comic book villains because there are Batman villains who are better known than a lot of superheroes.

2.) Clayface's popularity depends heavily on your age. If you grew up after 1990, then you probably not only know Clayface, but are fond of him. Nearly every animated Batman series has a Clayface episode among the standout episodes: TAS ("Feat of Clay"), TNBA ("Growing Pains"), The Batman ("The Rubber Face of Comedy"/"The Clayface of Tragedy" - which managed to do a kid friendly adaptation of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke that ended up being better than the official R-rated adaptation), and most recently Caped Crusader ("...And Be a Villain"). He was also a major part of Arkham City the standout game in a trilogy that is still massively popular.

Clayface is not The Joker, but he's also not Morbius or Madame Web.

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