Every Second Counts...

This is a comedy

Hi, my name is Jarrod. I was the host and creator of the Punch The Timeline podcast. I’m a huge fan of comic books and all other avenues of storytelling. This newsletter is my guide to all the good things you should be reading/viewing/listening to. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Let’s get to the good stuff.

Comics

Year One books are old hat these days, but Batman and Robin: Year One (Mark Waid and Chris Samnee) is a really great book. It shows the first days of the Batman and Robin partnership. The best part is that Dick Grayson isn’t the perfect son of Batman that he is in all the current books, he’s a kid who screws up and hasn’t earned Bruce’s complete trust. Realistic moments really add to the top notch quality of the story. There’s a subplot with a social worker that is constantly checking in on Dick that comes into play at the worst time for the Dynamic Duo. Mark Waid is on a roll with DC books lately, and this is one of the rare DC books that I’m actually buying physical copies of.

For the rest of my comic opinions, subscribe below and check out my opinions on DC Comics from 1980. I swear I read more than just DC, but I can only talk about Savage Dragon and Radiant Black so many times before you start skipping the comics section.

TV

The Bear (Hulu) —which is not a comedy— has made its yearly drop and is currently on my watch list. Like other Hulu series, it was binge-released, so it is presented as one piece. For me, when the episode ends it’s merely a chapter break. You can’t form an opinion on the show until you’ve reached the final episode. More to come and a formal thumbs up or thumbs down to come. Update: I finished it yesterday. Apparently Every Second Doesn’t Count because they chose unnecessarily long uncomfortable pauses and lots and lots of yelling. This wasn’t my favorite season and from what I’ve been reading, I’m not the only one that feels this way.

Thanks to my trusty VPN, I was able to watch Sullivan’s Crossing (CTV/The CW) the day after it aired in Canada. The show is Hallmark Light and the nostalgia factor is high because it features two former WB/CW stars. Most shows filmed in Canada keep the location vague. Since this is a CTV production, the cities mentioned are real and there are Canadian flags everywhere. The Nova Scotia settings are doing a better job than any tourism commercial could. Not to mention that in a day and age where shows are dropped because they cost too much, knowing that Season 4 has been greenlit helps you to be able to invest in it a little bit. Now if they can do more than 10 episodes a season, I would appreciate it.

Books?!

Return To Sender by Craig Johnson

Like clockwork, Craig Johnson has released another book in the Walt Longmire series. I’m so far behind that the Longmire books I need to read towers over my comics pile. I was able to attend the Tulsa stop on Johnson’s book tour last year for First Frost. I made a joke about my wife’s frustration with George R.R. Martin for not finishing any books in the last decade and thanked him for his yearly output. Craig had a good laugh about it.

To Jarrod- Get your kicks….

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler

In case my many trips to Disneyland weren’t a big enough hint, I’m a fan of Disney. But not in the weird Disney adult way. In an appreciation for history kind of way. My favorite rides are the original 1955 rides and it’s cool to know that I’m walking the same streets that the man himself walked. So I’m taking the appreciation to the next level and reading the most recommended Walt Disney biography. This beast of a book comes in at 851 pages, 100 of which are notes/references.

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My Twitter is still up, but I don’t post there. I’m on BlueSky here: timelinepunch and Instagram and Threads here: timelinepunch. It’s difficult to figure out where the comic book audience is so I post the same things on all 3 platforms. Thanks a lot, Electric Space Boy.

Next time, let’s talk about Étoile. Amy Sherman-Palladino is now 0 for 2 on dance related shows (pour one out for Bunheads) and her show being cancelled is a shocking betrayal by Amazon after they ordered two seasons. Speaking of recently cancelled shows……

What kind of shameless self promotor would I be if I didn’t drop a link to my TV review podcast? Google made it easy to publish your podcast to YouTube, so enjoy this episode of Jarrod and Julie on TV. Suits LA tried, but it never caught on with the audience.

Thanks for continuing to read the DC In My Lifetime series. I’m reading as many DC Comics from July 1980 (when I was born) to December 1992 (when I started reading comics) as I can. More next week.

Your friend on the internet,

-Jarrod