Superman: Animated Collection (2016)

Superman: Animated Collection (2016)

A five-movie collection released one week after the similarly titled Batman: Animated Collection, except this time it's Superman themed, with some bonus Batman. Go figure.

As before I'll list them in the order they're presented in the collection, which, likewise, is NOT the order that they're best viewed.

Perhaps whoever assembled both collections ought to have did a little more research before the arrangement (and cover art) was finalised, or at the very least gracefully stepped aside and let someone with dignity take over the task.

Up first is 01. Superman: Unbound (2013 / Dir. James Tucker), in which a bland and boring version of Krypton's most famous son has to contend with Supergirl's super-angst and the possibility of the planet Earth being wiped out by the big bad. I'm not sure which is worse, or which is the most overused plot device.

Lucifer: Collected TPB Covers

Lucifer: TPB Covers

Related to the Lucifer posts on The 7th and Last.

The covers of the Lucifer TPBs were pretty bland — in comparison to the Sandman ones, at any rate — but I love the series and want to feature it on this blog somehow, so the post is made.

Edgar Allan Poe: Annabel Lee (1849)

Annabel Lee

by Edgar Allan Poe | 1849

It was many and many a year ago,

   In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

   By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

   Than to love and be loved by me.

Batman: Animated Collection (2016)

Batman: Animated Collection (2016)

Dirs. Various (see individual paragraphs for respective credits)

Five animated films that showcase a number of different aspects of the Batman universe.

Alternatively, a money-grabbing collection from unconnected eras in Batman's animated history that don't complement each other much.

However you look at it, it's the only way to get three of the five films on Blu-ray in the UK without importing, so is perhaps noteworthy to those that prefer that particular format.

See below the cut for short musings on each one. I've listed them in the peculiar order that they're presented in the set, which isn't the order they were made or released and definitely isn't a very logical way in which to view them.

Stargate SG-1: Season 01-10 Mockups

SG-1: Hastily Made Mockups for Review Posts

Related to the Stargate posts on The 7th and Last blog.

I was unable to find existing cover art of acceptable size and quality for the SG-1 posts that I made on The 7th and Last blog, so I hastily made my own. They're uninspired, but they did what I needed them to do. Maybe they'll be of some use to someone; e.g., folder images (cropped to a square), or placeholders until something better can be found or created, etc, by the one in need.

If they can serve a non-profit purpose for you, use them however you wish. I don't own them. I simply modified and repurposed an existing image that I found on the internet. When you get right down to it, can anyone ever really 'own' something that's been posted on the internet?

You can throw a painted pebble into a pool of water but can't claim ownership of the ripples that occur (or the pebble, for that matter). One can only hope that folks who repost stuff don't be an asshole and use them for inappropriate means. But as always, let your conscience be your guide.

Hollow Eve's Mourning After (2021)

Some Truth (Betwixt the Lies)

Many moons ago, in a Kingdom United, October's end was a seasonal occasion duly respected by the nature-loving folk who dwelled there. But all things change, sooner or later, and during a night of storms and knives a wicked hunger was born in the hearts of some men, which quickly spread.

The Kingdom's protectors were unwilling or unable to stop the capitalist greed that slowly consumed the once-good people.

In time, the cruel equation that ensures the rich get richer and the poor become poorer was added to a child's primary education.

Generations later, behind closed doors, handpicked scientists, doctors, and surgeons began working on a method to have it coded directly into the DNA of newborns. But it wasn't necessary, because the children copied what their parents did: as they grew, they looked around and deemed what they had to be of lesser economic value to what they felt their peers had, so they embraced the government approved ideology with great zeal, as if it were mandate.

The Official Star Trek Fact Files (1997-2002)

The Official Star Trek Fact Files (1997-2002)

Authors: Various | Illustrators: Various | Page Count: 8512 (28 pp x 304 issues)

(Alternatively, 7904 not counting the cover + table of contents of each individual issue.)

Partworks - they keep making them, so there must be an acceptable profit margin in it for publishers, even though a huge percentage of folks will get pissed off with the duration and expense and give up buying the damned things before the final issue rolls off the presses.

The Official STFF ran longer than most, over five years, and anyone buying the bi-monthly issues was lucky if their copy wasn't dog-eared and coming apart at the seams, which were designed to come apart (they were perforated), but not, I think, before they even left the fuggin' store!

Information on what the Files contain is better documented on the dedicated Star Trek wikis (Memory Alpha, for example), so if you want a detailed rundown, I recommend visiting those.

What's below is just one person's thoughts on the publication. I didn't have the full collection, I stopped buying the issues when the store that I got them from failed to fulfil the request, but I'd a hell of a lot. I donated the entirety of what I had to a children's charity some years back, when moving into a smaller property, but I got years of enjoyment from them and am pleased that they also aided a good cause - and this post.

Edgar Allan Poe: A Dream Within a Dream (1849)

A Dream Within a Dream

by Edgar Allan Poe | 1849

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow —

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone? 

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

Mothra: US Lobby Cards (1962)

Mothra: US Lobby Cards (1962)

W.A.S.P. - Reidolized - The Film (2018)

W.A.S.P. - Reidolized

(The Soundtrack to The Crimson Idol)

Dir. Ralph Ziman

Even though I'll be referring to the album itself, the text below is primarily for the sixty-minute 'film' that accompanied W.A.S.P.'s re-recording of their fifth studio album, The Crimson Idol, which was originally released back in 1992. If ever I do a band discography post I'll give the new version of the album the kudos it deserves.

The 'film' is the album's songs with occasional v/o narration by vocalist Blackie Lawless; i.e., parts of The Story of Jonathan (Prologue to the Crimson Idol) track that was included on the 1998 remaster of the 1992 concept album.

Documenting the tragic rise and fall of a fictional rock star named Jonathan Aaron Steele, and incorporating such themes as abandonment, emotional need, addiction, ambition and, ultimately, self-worth, it's presented in grainy lo-fi B+W with frequent splashes of symbolic crimson. It's a conceptually interesting idea that nevertheless gets tiresome pretty quickly.

ABANDONED POST: Star Trek Voyager TV Movies

Star Trek: VOY: The [In]Complete TV Movies

Dirs. Various / 12 feature-length TV Movies / 1008 mins (approx total)

I've no plans to cover the individual seasons of Voyager on The 7th and Last blog, but because I did the TV 'Movies' for both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, I wanted to finish that timeline. There are twelve VOY two-parters in all and once again this post will be longer than the usual length. For the record, I won't ever be doing the same for Enterprise or Discovery.

Samuel Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1834 vers.)

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge | 1834 vers.

The Argument: how a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.

PART I

It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

Textless Film Posters: Part Three

Textless Film Posters: Part Two

Textless Film Posters: Part One

Supernatural TV Series Cover Art (2005-20)

Supernatural TV Series Cover Art (2005-20)

Related to the Supernatural posts on The 7th and Last.

The Shakespeare 2016 UK £2.00 Coin Collection

The Shakespeare 2016 UK £2.00 Coin Collection

Issued by The Royal Mint, 2016

The Royal Mint struck three £2.00 coins in honour of the famous playwright, while also marking 400 years since his death. Designed by John Bergdahl, the images represent the three major genres in which the Bard of Avon worked: tragedies, histories, and comedies. The banner directly below is just a preview. You can find larger images of each individual coin below the cut.

Upstart Crow: Illustrations

Upstart Crow: Illustrations (2016)

Related to the Upstart Crow post on The 7th and Last. Images are © Martin Davey.

Shakespeare Stories: Collected Covers

Shakespeare Stories: Collected Covers

Illustrations by Tony Ross

Related to the Shakespeare Stories post on The 7th and Last.

Dune: House Atreides - Collected Comic Book Covers

Dune: House Atreides - Comic Book Covers

In Oct 2020 BOOM! Studios began publication of a comic book adaptation of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's House Atreides (1999) novel, the first of many insults from the duo towards Frank Herbert's successful DUNE universe. I read the House Atreides novel when it was first published; it was shit. I read the first few issues of the comic, regardless, not expecting much from the story; they were shit, too. But I like some of the cover art, so I've gathered it below:

The Dreaming: Collected Covers (1996-2001)

The Dreaming: Collected Covers (1996-2001)

Related to The Sandman Library posts on The 7th and Last.

Masters of the Universe: Golden Books: Soft Covers (1983-86)

MotU: Golden Books: Super Adventure Book
Soft Cover Editions (1983-86)

Author(s): Various | Illustrator(s): various | Page Count: ???

Most of what I know about the Masters of the Universe: Golden Books publications was learned from a Vaults of Grayskull page, which is also where the majority of the images used in this post were obtained, so all credit to the folks there for what's presented here. If seeing the covers collected on a blog is of interest to you, too, then proceed below the cut:

The Sandman: Collected Comic Book Covers (Clean)

The Sandman: Comic Book Covers (Clean)

Related to The Sandman Library posts on The 7th and Last.