Manu: You’re making me feel very old. :)

Seriously, the IRON MAN novel with the embossed metallic cover was titled “The Armor Trap.” The sequel, with the somewhat less snazzy cover, was “Operation A.I.M.”

Iron Man was also featured prominently in “The Gamma Quest,” an X-MEN/AVENGERS trilogy that was blessed by a…

Dare I admit that my XENA story featured a cyclops named “Conjunctivitis”?

XENA had some great fights. The first that comes to mind is the stilt battle in “Callisto.”

Also, Sidney vs. the evil Francie clone on ALIAS.

And let’s not forget Nightcrawler vs. the Secret Service in the opening of X-MEN 2 . . ...

When you’re on a first-name basis with the gods, death is a minor inconvenience. And it wouldn’t be the first time she returned from the dead . ...

As I like to joke, I was writing IRON MAN before he was Robert Downey Jr. :)

Glad you liked those books. They’re still proudly displayed on my brag shelf.

It was actually a very fun project. I basically got paid to go to XENA conventions, “Xena Nights” at a local bar, hang out on Xena message boards, rewatch all the episodes, and research the real-life myths and history that, er, “inspired” various episodes . ...

I would have loved to have written a XENA novel, too, but…

What can I say? I was obsessed . . ...

And then there was this book:

I would LOVE a CLEOPATRA 2525 revival. That show was a hoot.

I will go to my grave regretting that I never got to write a CLEO tie-in novel . . . and I mean that sincerely.

I don’t know she’s been working pretty steadily. SPARTACUS, SALEM, X-FILES, AGENTS OF SHIELD, etc.

We’ll just forget about TARZAN, okay?

Honestly, I haven’t been been to a XENA con in ages. Not due to lack of interest, but simply because I live in Amish country now, as opposed to the West Village, so getting to cons is more of an effort. These days I’m lucky if I get to one Trek con a year . . ..

I was just being cute with the Hades business. Let’s say instead that she can return from the Elysian Fields . .. :)

Has anybody seen Hudson Leick (“Callisto”) recently? I know she was in the running for Seven of Nine, but that was some time ago?

I am so on board with this, but why not bring back Lawless? If Duchovny and Anderson can reprise Mulder and Scully, why can’t Lawless return from Hades as Xena? I mean, she was kicking butt on AGENTS OF SHIELDS just last season, so it’s not like she’s over the hill . ..

And did I mention my book?

I know, I know, but I searched their schedule for the next week and can’t find an encore showing. What gives?

I’m genuinely crushed that I forget to watch SHARKTOPUS VS. WHALEWOLF last night . ..

No sarcasm there. I’m kicking myself for missing it.

The big question: Does Dutch really know about “Red 17” or was she just bluffing?

I remember that issue!

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but I confess I was hoping for serious discounts on books and movies, not electronic hardware or vacuum cleaners or baby wipes or even an “electric milk frother.”

What the heck is a “milk frother”? :)

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but I confess I was hoping for serious discounts on books and movies, not…

By coincidence, I gave a talk on superheroes at a local children’s library last week. No surprise, none of the kids had a clue who The Phantom was (and neither did the youngish librarian), but they were pretty sure that “Captain Marvel” was a woman . . . .

Probably just as well I didn’t bring up the Scarlet Pimpernel.…

For what it’s worth, the new issue of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has a five-page retrospective on UNBREAKABLE, so it’s clearly getting some love these day . ...