Today marks the 15th anniversary of Summerslam `95. Although the card was pretty much filler, it was redeemed by one of the greatest matches of all time – the second ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. A rematch of their Wrestlemania X bout, these guys upped the ante by rocking two ladders and incorporating them into their signature moves.

Hit the jump to relive the pinnacle of professional wrestling.

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[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

Spoilers Ahead. Forreal.

3. 2. 1. Blast off!

Once I’ve escaped Earth’s gravitational pull, I fire up the hyperdrive. I shoot past the moon, past Neptune, past the limits of our damn solar system. I disengage the primary thrusters and find myself in the middle an interstellar storm. I careen past stray panels and pixilated nuclear explosions and bits of what was once a moon. I could’ve sworn that I had set the proper coordinates. But my eyes are telling me different.

So are my onboard monitors. I watch the Galactic Positioning System power down, turning all of the maps and sequencers and frames of reference into nothing more than an abysmal black screen. A moment later, the GPS reboots. When the screen settles, it tells me that myth has become fact.

[You have reached Omega Level]

///

This week’s comic of choice is Batman #702.

I won’t lie; the decision to feature this book might be yet another testament to my dwindling sanity.

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This is apparently old news, but worth mentioning; Rafael Grampa is contributing to Marvel’s Strange Tales Volume 2.

Furrywater:

Marvel invited me to create the main story of the second volume of this amazing project in Nov 2009. Jody Leheup, Strange Tales editor, said that I could choose any Marvel character to make the story. I thought a lot and I choose Wolverine. But, wait, don’t judge my decision before read the story. I promise for all the fans that my vision of Wolverine is totally different! My story is about the Wolverine that I would like to read. Wolverine was my favorite super hero when a was a kid, so it was my chance to put my hands on him and make something different.

Rafael Grampa is the real fuggin’ deal. Check out the full cover and be wowie-zowied.

[This! Is! Mad Men! recaps the newest developments of Don Draper and his ragtag group of cohorts. In the spirit of the show, it will often be sexist and drunk. Apologies ahead of time.]

Okay, we’ve hit the fifth episode of this fourth season. I’m liking where things are going, even if they make me mad (man!) or uncomfortable. Let’s take a look at some of the more striking developments in The Chrysanthemum and the Sword…

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[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

Spoilers Ahead. Forreal.

A couple of days ago, my brother predicted that Harlan Ellison’s Phoenix Without Ashes would be a comic book worth picking up. The Omega Elder also doubted that our local comics shop would carry the title.

Guess what, broseph!? You’re wrong and right — I’ve got a copy of this sonnophagunn in my hands right now! Sweet, sweet funny-mag success! Victory!

Alright, I have to come clean — I’ve never actually sat down and read any Harlan Ellison before today. With that being said, I’ve always enjoyed everything I’ve heard about him. I distinctly remember reading an article about Ellison in Wizard Magazine when I was no more than eleven years old. My prepubescent mind was bemused by the legendary tale of the writer’s single-day employment at Disney; he was fired after a suit overheard him joking about making a Disney-themed porno. Ah, what a yarn! How wonderfully uncouth!

And the best part of that story? It’s fuggin’ true.

With that being said, I’ve found Harlan Ellison intriguing for reasons other than his filthy mind. A number of my personal heroes cite the writer as being a profound influence, Warren Ellis and Patton Oswalt being amongst them. So while I have never previously read any of the man’s work, I have looked at him as a respected figure of the figures I respect.

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Holy smokes. One year ago today, OL launched its very first post. Since then, we’ve unfurled countless obscenities, over-indulgent critiques of comic book characters and recollections of general buffoonery onto the Internet. Caffeine Powered chronicled that final season of LOST with a candor and enthusiasm that I truly believe is worthy of publication. I walked readers through the oft-overlooked celebration of OCTOBERFEAST. We got to express ourselves in many ways that would be impossible otherwise.

It’s been a blast.

To those of you who regularly attend Omega-Stadium – thank you. We sincerely appreciate your support, even if that just means reading and commenting on a post.

Let’s keep making memories.

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[This! Is! Mad Men! recaps the newest developments of Don Draper and his ragtag group of cohorts. In the spirit of the show, it will often be sexist and drunk. Apologies ahead of time.]

This week, I decided to do something a little bit different. While watching the fourth episode of Mad Men‘s fourth season, I took notes. I didn’t edit for style or content or any of those other components of writing that make it interesting. Somewhere between stream-of-consciousness and live-blogging, I now present my notes for The Rejected.

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This just in – George Lucas has announced that Fall 2011 will see the release of a boxset consisting of all six Star Wars flicks on Blu-ray. Of course, Uncle Georgie has decided to once again spit on the fans who desire the Holy Trilogy’s theatrical cuts. When asked about the possibility of releasing the original versions on Blu-ray, Lucas declared;

[Source: /film]

“Releasing the originals is kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good. You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally. It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.”

Right. I’m sure it’s a matter of the money, not the fact that Lucas is a self-righteous nutjob. I know this is big news, but I can’t help but feel my blood starting to boil. It’s been years since I’ve allowed myself to get worked up over George Lucas and his bullshit revisionist history. But this announcement just brings it all back…

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The Almighty GJ have released their new single All Good Junkies Go to Heaven on vinyl. As is to be expected, the record is already out of stock and more copies are going to be printed.

I’d really prefer their new EP to be released as a straght-up CD (or even a digital download), but I might just have to invest in a turntable.

Judging from this track and You Think You’re John Fucking Lennon, I think it’d be a worthwhile investment.

[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

Spoilers Ahead. Forreal.

It isn’t always easy to choose a best comic of the week. Some weeks, none of the funny-mags I’ve picked up have any sort of Wow! to them. Other times, I’ve got a stack full of quality books and hate having to choose just one to feature.

This week, I’ve decided to make the entire process a bit easier. The name of this column, Images & Words, is named after the two separate media that combine to make comics. Oh, well, it’s actually named after a Dream Theater album. But the pun stands. So please just roll with it. Anyways, comics are composed of illustrations and text. As such, this week I am going to highlight both the artist and writer with whom I was most taken.

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