The Best of PCC Compiled by Brian Bender and Matt Springer

We woke up yesterday and realized that the one hundred and second anniversary of Pop-Culture-Corn had crept up on us like a chainsaw-wielding maniac. So we sat down over two cases of gin and came up with a double-your-pleasure list--not ten, but our TWENTY favorite articles from the past two years of PCC. Old classics, new favorites; reviews and interviews; sanity and anything but--we've been lucky and proud to bring you them all, and here's hoping we can continue our parade of brilliance for at least another month or two, if not 100 more years.
--Matt Springer, Co-Editor

Vinnie at the Bat #3: Christmas Presents

We've come a long way since our first issue, back in October of 1997. For one thing, we've all given up any hope of making money on the internet and have become bitter and twisted old men at the ripe age of 23! (Just kidding.)

That first PCC featured a few music reviews, a few movie reviews and a short-lived "Sports and Games" section, which not only featured the first and only installment of Tom McKone's Easy Money column but the slightly longer-running sports column Vinnie at the Bat, by our good friend Vinnie Iyer. Vinz soon moved on from sports to do movie and music reviews as well as covering the TV beat, but he never lost his passion for sports--he's now an editor at the Webby-award winning website for The Sporting News magazine. Yep, our writers are THAT good.

The Genius of Don Knotts

Another glimpse into PCC's earliest days, this one from one of our longest-running contributors, Michael McClelland. When we started the webzine, we recruited articles from anyone we could bother on a daily basis in person--namely, our friends. Once the first issue was complete, we quickly put out feelers into internet newsgroups and listservs looking for other writers to join us, since by and large, most of our friends had grown sick of our incessant nagging about articles. Mike was the first one to come along, and he's stayed with us ever since, always ready to chime in with his thoughts on comics and film. In addition to representing the first contribution from our first "outside" correspondent, this Don Knotts tribute exemplifies the kind of articles we treasure the most for Pop-Culture-Corn: off-beat topics paired with gifted writing.

Adam Grayson on Dark City

Ebert loved it so much, he put it on his top ten films list for the year and even contributed a commentary track to the DVD. But our film critic didn't care for it at all--behind Rookie of the Year, it was the worst movie he'd ever seen. Though we respect Adam's opinions as much as anyone's, this review convinced us that perhaps he was a little too edgy and disgruntled for the movie beat, so he happily leapt into our web and computers coverage, where he became the author of our semi-regular Sharing Wares column. He's also been invaluable to our development on the technical end, pitching in with weird yet brilliant reams of computer code in languages I wouldn't understand if they were tattooed onto my ass.

Q & A with Kurt Busiek

Before we found Kurt Busiek's E-mail address and contacted him about an interview, our plan was to run PCC as simply a forum for our rants and raves on pop culture. His willingness to contribute with an E-mail interview convinced us that no matter how small we were, we could cover pop culture at large as well as any big-time entertainment publication. Inspired by this, we've tried along the way to do as many exclusive interviews as our schedules permit with some of pop culture's most interesting talents. But it was Kurt's early participation that set us down this illuminating path. For that--and because he's a kick-ass comic book writer--he'll always be one of our favorite people.

I Dated A Geek!

Ah, comedy. A facet somewhat lacking of late in PCC (though we have some plans to remedy that) but one that was present in abundance as we inched through our first year. This article was from TEEN PCC, our parody of teen magazines. In our future: parodies of mens' magazines, kids' magazines and maybe even another Swimsuit Issue.

A Day with the Spice Girls

Who can blame me for an infatuation with all things Spice? As I nursed my crushes on those five bimbos from Britain, I felt compelled to visit their big Chicago public appearance. This was the journal of my experience. Looking back, I'm not at all ashamed that I latched onto the Spice Girls' bandwagon as quickly as it drove past...I'm just sorry I never got to fulfill my fantasy of joining the girls at their hotel room later that night for a naked whipped cream party. Yum.

Dave Lifton on the Pet Sounds boxed set

Longtime contributor Dave Lifton cut his PCC teeth with his review of the Pet Sounds box set, which as he points out, offers four CDs of music dedicated to just thirteen songs. Dave would later pass along his response from Ally McBeal to a love letter I wrote to the dreamy TV character. He currently divides his time between editing his soccer team's newsletter and drinking himself into a blind stupor.

Matt Springer on Musical Chairs, Hootie and the Blowfish

I hate Hootie. Here's the proof.

The Ethics of Crimefighting

Robert Clough took PCC into a more academic direction with this treatise on the philosophical backdrops behind two of comics' most beloved characters, Iron Man and Captain America. These kind of unconventional angles on conventional pop culture topics are exactly the type of articles we love to bring to our readers.

Heroes Fade Away

Where HAVE all the cowboys gone? And did they take all the good comic books with them? Karl Nack muses about what can be done to creatively revitalize the artform of comics in his lone contribution to our humble web digs. He's currently serving in the U.S. Navy, which is a thought certain to keep our nation sleeping much easier at night.

All the Rage #8, Love Is...

My All the Rage column was inspired by a column I did for three years in a campus publication at Northwestern and has taken the same path--my insane mumblings about pop culture and my life, often all rolled into one. This column favors my personal experience more than aspring to any relevance in a pop culture sense, but I've always been proud of it anyway.

So You Wanna Be a Rockstar...

If you need the inside scoop on rock-star life, Geneiveve Williams would know--she fronts her own rock band, Murder of Crows. Genevieve has been with us since the early days as well, but has recently focused mainly on her day job as blues editor at Amazon.Com. Yep, our writers are THAT good.

Top Ten Comic Book Battle Cries

Inspired by the American Film Institute's top 100 films of the century, Mike McClelland composed a series of comic book-themed top ten lists, each one focusing on a different obscure aspect of the comics world. Here he compiles his list of the top ten comics battle cries, each one suitable for shouting at the top of your lungs in any social setting, from the office to the bedroom. Nothing's a bigger turn-on than a well-placed "Shazam!"

Q & A with John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants

Brian and I showed up at the Vic theater on a cold October evening to do our first in-person interview for PCC, with John Flansburgh of TMBG. As we waited, we enjoyed the strains of a gentle cover of the La's "There She Goes" during sound check, almost as cool as the interview itself. When Flans arrived, he treated us to a twenty-minute conversation, full of clever one-liners, insights into the music biz and a glimpse at TMBG's future. We also gave John a PCC T-shirt, which we'd hope he at least uses to wax his car.

Dot.Column #2: Don't Let It Suck

Brian's column on the state of the World Weird Web took an inspiring turn in this installment, as he encouraged content providers and readers alike to demand quality from the websites they read every day. If you're looking for a mission statement to our work on Pop-Culture-Corn, this is it.

Q & A with Warren Ellis

Even though he called me a cheeky bastard, Warren Ellis still gave a great interview, bringing all the intelligence and acerbic wit of his writing to the questions we sent him. If you're not reading his Transmetropolitan by now, after all the raving we've done about it on the site, you're just crazy stupid.

Harry Bawles on The Phantom Menace

We were immediately fascinated by the eccentric Harry Bawles, who first hit the PCC scene as webmaster of a short-lived sister site, Ain't it Kewl Coming Horizons Insider, devoted to movie news. Unfortunately, shortly after the site debuted, he vanished...only to reappear almost a year later with his review of one of his most-anticipated movies ever, Star Wars: Episode One. In his trademark style, he manages to tell his readers more about his own life than about the movie itself, but it's still a very fun read. Here's hoping Harry sees fit to contribute more to our pages in the future.

The Phantom Director

Along with fellow PCC movie reviewer Mary Ives, Steve Millies attended George Lucas' speech at the Smithsonian in November 1997. Both contributed controversial editorials about the experience that have always ranked among PCC's most often-visited articles. Consider this a sequel of sorts to that early Millies rant, as he confirms his worst fears about Lucas and offers a bold theory about The Phantom Menace to boot.

Dan Wiencek on Who on Earth is Tom Baker?

A more recent addition to the PCC fold, Dan Wiencek always brings a highly literate passion to the table when writing about music. He also harbors a hidden obsession with science fiction, which inspired him to read Tom Baker's autobiography and brought you the review you see here. Even if you've never watched the show, give this review a glance and see if it doesn't make you want to read the damn book anyway.

"I am not a rock star."

Johnny Rzeznick of the Goo Goo Dolls is the biggest star we've ever talked to, and thanks to recent PCC contributor Mike Bederka, he was brought straight to our doorstep. His comments are as thought-provoking as they are stupid ("I'm not a rock star," he says--really, Johnny? Coulda fooled me!), and the high profile of our latest celebrity catch only points toward the stellar future ahead for Pop-Culture-Corn Magazine, where we'll constantly strive to bring you insightful interviews and features alongside cutting-edge reviews, side-splitting comedy and the occasional dick joke.