FAT LACES ON MY FEET WHEN CRACK FIRST HIT THE STREETS: Things I learned while surfing YouTube for the tv shows of my childhood, per this post about avant-garde cinema.

Thing the first: The opening credits of Mysterious Cities of Gold actually made me want to Netflix the whole thing rather than run in fear. Second, through the wonders of YouTube, I next found Count Freaking Duckula!!!! …and thence to this selection of ’80s cartoon themesongs. I remember exactly one of these shows (Jem of course, not a show I ever really liked–although apparently it’s become something of a lesbian icon because there are multiple female human characters, LOL LOWEST OF STANDARDS) but overall, I grinned through this montage of the decadence of the space-age. So beautiful… so dumb!

You know how Jaime Hernandez is now revisiting his old superhero Bubble Yum commercial Chicana storylines? I love it. I always adored the ridiculous Penny Century storylines, and even the Maggie the Mechanic early stuff where she, I dunno, fought dinosaurs or something?… but I guess I relate even more now to the way Jaime has stayed ’80s in the best way, cheesy and outdated and completely dedicated to being awesome. After the ’80s it really felt like we all got so sincerist–nobody could say crazy crap like “No Guts, No Glory!” anymore on children’s television!–whereas I grew up with the belief that any vastly stupid $#@! you wanted to pull was okay as long as it turned out hardcore. Bringing back the superheroine shtik is almost a refusal to move on; Jaime’s sitting on the porch of his comics, drinking mint juleps and polishing his gun.

My favorite description of my cultural childhood is from Cracked:

If you don’t remember the 80s, just imagine listening to Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” playing on a boom box that at any moment could explode, killing you and everyone you know.

everyone’s a Captain Kirk!