Being that it’s Father’s Day, I’ve been ruminating about the job of “Dad.”  In the annals of pop culture, there have been fathers who set themselves apart from the pack:  Reed Richards, fighting first Annihilus and then Doctor Octopus for the welfare of his soon-to-be born children.  Thomas Wayne, stepping forward to protect his family at the cost of his own life.  Even that weird round-headed dad from ‘Family Circus’ who lets his children run about the city unsupervised and let’s them get away with murder so long as there’s a good punchline at the end.  (Hey, nobody said that they were all GOOD examples.)  As someone who hopes to be as decent parent in the long run, it’s always good to have a bar to meet, and while I know that I may never reach the noble sacrifice of Jor-El, rocketing his only son away to safety in the only ship left, I at least know that I’m better at it than Plastic Man.  For that matter, as a comics nerd, I can take pride in doing SOMETHING better than Batman, so long as I can keep Widget clear of gunfire and warehouses full of clowns with crowbars.

The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) wonders what kind of parent Peter Parker might have made, before Marvel editorial decided that it made him seem too old, asking: Whos’s the raddest, baddest,way-cool-daddiest father in all of pop culture?

With all the talk about video games this week, I’ve been thinking about the video games of my life, from those heady early-80s days playing Defender and Gorf at the local Boogaarts grocery store through my current use of my PS3 as little more than a media server.  Once upon a time, my roommate actually worked in a video arcade, which allowed us an occasion or two to play Mortal Kombat 2 after closing, and introduced me to the mysterious ninja known as Noob Saibot.  As a side-character, he actually seemed considerably cooler than the likes of Sub-Zero or Jax, but the eventual reveal of his identity was inevitably disappointing.  Likewise somewhat disappointing was the fact that, even with all the hullabaloo about new consoles, nobody said the magic words that would immediately sell me a console (those being “Wario”, ” beach volleyball”, “Doctor Who” or “Legion of Super-Heroes”), which made me wonder if I was the only one disappointed…

The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) want tells you warn of have no chance to survive make your time, asking: What character, property or game could make one of the next-gen consoles a must-buy at any price for you?