Julius C. Lacking explains how this show managed to hook him in despite its lack of postmodern ironic content

Ben Varkentine’s got a little list (“He’s gota little list…”).

On the one Mickey Mouse hand, Makin’ Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows & Movies is the first real successor in interest to Leonard Maltin’s great study of the first 75 years of American animated cartoons, Of Mice And Magic. On the other, it calls The Simpsons “inarguably the finest prime-time animated series ever made.” Ben Varkentine gets animated.

Split EP (My Pal God). Review by Troy Jewell.

Phil Bailey takes a look at some of the finest pieces of molded plastic available, including the Ghost World Enid Coleslaw action doll, The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy playset, and the strange new Japanese fad of Kubricks.

Many toys aren’t intended for kids. Phil Bailey takes a look at some of the more interesting toys aimed at grown-ups, including lines based on the Universal Monsters, The Simpsons, and pin-up queen Bettie Page.