Just some thoughts about some media I’ve ingested the last few days…

• Batman: Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime Video) is pretty fantastic. I finished the 10 episode season this week, and as someone who is an avowed fan of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, this doesn’t replace or improve it, but certainly can sit on the shelf next to it. If you were ever a reader of the very early Batman comics, like, around his debut, they did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel – even with some digressions into the supernatural, which was, once, a regular feature of the characters stories.

• I’ve started watching Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount+). I really dug last summer’s Mutant Mayhem, and while this trades 3D animation for 2D, most of the voice cast is back (with one exception, handled in a clever way) and the same good vibes persist. Really love how the whole thing still has that “sketchbook” feel, and each turtle feels distinct and like an actual teenager. If you dug the movie, give it a spin. If you haven’t seen the movie…check it out!

• I ran through the first nineteen issues or so of Ryan North’s run of Fantastic Four on Marvel Unlimited. I’ve never been a big Fantastic Four guy, but I was absolutely locked in here. Each issue has a real “science mystery of the month” vibe, kind of like a wholesome Twilight Zone? And, there are more issues where they aren’t in costume than are, which was a pleasant difference. When Doom appears, North does a killer job of writing him. I think this run will be as beloved as his Squirrel Girl run when all is said and done. And if not, at least we had that run in the Marvel Dinosaur Universe.

Shout out my iPad for delivering all of this in a cool, easy to enjoy way. We live in the future, every day.