[Obligatory unsolicited Thor the Mighty Avenger recommendation when a young reader is mentioned.]

Five Fists of Science is very fun.

Yes, yes it is. Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures, Volume 2.

So nothing about his forming an adventuring group with people like Annie Oakley and the Tenth Tiger of Canton, and later inventing automatic intelligence?

Fair. Though I feel like you responded with untoward profanity and mischaracterized my reply as "bullshit" expressing an opinion that I did not actually advance.

Alas, then, that I missed out on those halcyon days. And by all means, push back for better coverage… But do so in a way that does not denigrate entire genres.

Agreed. And?

I never said pop culture doesn't include reading, which is indeed bullshit. The tone of the complaint seemed to express an opinion that genre fiction and pop culture books don't constitute "serious literature," which I also consider bullshit. But rather than spend time debating why, I responded as I would to someone…

Night Watch is my favorite, but Hogfather is in my top 5—with Reaper Man, Men at Arms, and Wee Free Men rounding it out.

The simplest answer to your question, which avoids venturing into the briar patch of what constitutes "serious literature," would be: Perhaps listed on some other site not as pop-culture focused as an entertainment site like The AV Club?

I'm on my annual reread of Hogfather (as is seasonally appropriate), but both Raising Steam and The Shepherd's Crown are sitting in my TBR.

Anyway, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a back-to-school song.

Next you'll be telling me that willpower is an emotion.

Hoodies get grandfathered in as appropriate spider-themed costume accouterments thanks to Ben Reilly, and Gwen's webbing accents are way ahead of the lonely silkscreened stencil of the Scarlet Spider.

I'm trying to be optimistic about it and take the long view—from a storytelling standpoint with this MCUflix setting, things have to get bad enough to ultimately bring the Defenders together so they can triumph over whatever as a team. So I tell myself it's got to get darker before the dawn… but damn, I wasn't…

Oliver already did a great job summing up my complaints with this issue of Daredevil—the sense of backtracking, and specifically backtracking to Miller's run in the '80s—but I'm worried it goes further than just the comics. I've really enjoyed both Daredevil and Jessica Jones on Netflix, but that's despite those shows…

Have you ever met a 12-year-old who's smart and knows it?

Words to live and inevitably die by.

Was the woman in the pilot married to the rugby player? Because the
rugby player didn't hire Jessica—his wife said as much when she
showed up to tell Jessica that hubby and his rugby team were heading to
Luke's bar, leading to the bar fight. Jessica lied to Luke about being
hired by the rugby player to explain why she…

I watched A Muppet Family Christmas this weekend with my nephew and realized Rowlf had my favorite* line: "Whoa hoh! Boy is this piano out of tune… I love out of tune pianos," as he launches into "Sleigh Bells" on Ma Bear's old upright. It might be reading too much into a line like that, but I'd like to think that's a…