Once again Joe Dante sends along an article we can’t resist. Twenty years ago I listened from the next room while my teenagers keenly watched the TV show The X-Files. I’m not sure I ever saw a single episode all the way through, and I’ll accept that I must have missed something good. On the other hand it was their show, and they didn’t need Dad around, popping balloons with his obnoxious opinions.

Here’s one episode I clearly need to see. Having been a serious Buster Keaton fan, I think I would have picked up on the connections raised here by writer Marya E. Gates. It’s explained in a nice article from Cool People Have Feelings Too, dated June 28, 2026.

We love the photos, especially the one of Buster looking so sober in the middle of his crazy gag-men.

Second up, Michael McQuarrie isn’t letting go of the  Destination Moon theme, and we like it that way.

He’s uncovered this full comic book tie-in, in excellent condition. George Pal didn’t miss a trick, when it came to marketing. I wonder if he tried to interest a toy company in little rockets … or if they said kids couldn’t handle a pointy rocket toy, because, “You’ll put your eye out!”

Being the impish sorts that we are, we can’t help notice that the comic adaptation sticks close to the film’s science … but skips entirely the Cold War theme or Red sabotage/disinformation that’s so important in the movie. But it’s probably been dropped because it was considered ‘adult’ content.

The comic artists seem to have respected the film’s visuals!

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson