Angel's Anime Rating Guide

I picked up the Daria Complete Series box set recently... The people of Lawndale just don't get Daria Morgendorffer. She's cool with that. See, Daria was born alienated, and now she's just trying to make it through high school with as little human contact as possible. Popularity, friends, activities... whatever. Daria lacks enthusiasm, but she makes up for it with sarcasm.

I picked up the Michael Shayne Mysteries box set yesterday. Why? Because it spoke to me and said "buy me"... This very welcome box set turns up the heat on one of detective films' cold cases. Created by Brett Halliday, Michael Shayne appeared in 31 books between the 1940s and '70s. He is not as popularly known as other screen shamuses, but he's good company. As portrayed by Lloyd Nolan (best known as curmudgeonly Dr. Chegley on the groundbreaking sitcom Julia), Shayne is not as hard-boiled as Sam Spade or as sage as Charlie Chan. But, as one shady character observes to someone whom Shayne has just pasted, "You know better than to mix with Shayne."

According to AnimeNation ... Iconic illustrator & painter Frank Frazetta passed away yesterday in Fort Myers, Florida, of complications following a stroke. He was 82. Frazetta’s work included comics, movie posters, and well-known cover illustrations for pulp fantasy novel franchises including Conan, Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars. Animation fans may be most familiar with Frazetta’s work through his 1983 film collaboration with animator/director Ralph Bakshi, Fire and Ice .

After revisiting Ralph Bakshi's version of Lord of the Rings , I decided to look into another Ralph Bakshi animation -- Spicy City . According to Wikipedia ... Spicy City was an animated television series which was created by Ralph Bakshi for HBO. The plot was described as a science fiction anthology series set in a futuristic city with a seamy side. Spicy City premiered in July 1997, beating South Park to television by over a month and becoming the first "adults only" cartoon series and lasted for one season which consisted of six episodes.