Glossary

Admiral, The:  Ryan S.'s pop.

Andre:  Our ginormous dog.  80% Great Pyr, 20% Pit Bull

CanadianSimon:  Simon.  He lives in Canada, and our eye into our exotic neighbors to the north.  He writes at  http://simonmacdonald.blogspot.com/.

Dug, The:  Jamie's brother.  Ryan's brother-in-law.

Floppies:   Single issues of a comic book.  Usually 22+ page stapled paper printed installments of a comic series.

Free Comics Book Day (FCBD):  An annual event during which comic retailers distribute free promotional comics to the public. 

Graphic Novel:  A comic book created and intended to appear as a single volume.  Not all comics are graphic novels.  This term is used here most often when referring to comics which were always intended to be seen as a single volume (even if released in multiple issues), but most often if the original publication appeared as a single volume.

Higgs boson (aka: The God Particle): a theoretical sub-atomic particle (unobserved as of this writing) which is believed to give mass to other subatomic particles, and explain the very origin of mass, as well as assist in confirming theories surrounding the four forces of nature (electromagnetism, strong force, weak force, gravity).  Some speculate that the act of observing the Higgs boson could annihilate the universe.  Which is totally metal.

Jamie:  Mrs. Ryan S.

K:  Sister-in-law to Jamie, wife of The Dug, attorney-at-law.

Kal-El:  Superman's Kryptonian birth name. 

KareBear, The:  Ryan S.'s ma.

Legion, The:  Updates from affiliated websites and blogs.

Lucy:  Ryan S.'s little black lab.

Melbotis:  (pronounced: Mel-boh-dis)  Melbotis was Ryan S.'s best pal.  He was a plus-sized golden retriever of unusual intelligence and spark.

New Comic Day:   Most weeks, comics are released on a Wednesday.  Holidays, distasters, etc...  can prevent the weekly delivery.

Paramount, The:  An Austin institution.  Has hosted everything from Houdini to the premier of Batman in 1966.  Host of Austin's "Summer Movie Series".  Paramount Website

Robots:   Self-aware or intricately programmed machines capable of independent action and awesomeness.

Santor:  The anti-spirit of Christmas.  A magical being who rides in a Chevy Windstar, re-gifting lousy presents.

Scout:  Our pound-rescued, bat-eared, corny-colored dog.

Signal Corps, The:   The ragtag brigade of readers and contributors to The Signal Watch.

Space Jam Fallacy:  The unironic belief that the a film enjoyed in one's childhood (especially via repeated viewings) is a good film, when the film is, in fact, quite bad.  This is generally determined when the film is re-viewed as an adult or by an adult with no nostalgia for the film.  Term was coined when it became clear a generation mistakenly believed the movie Space Jam was, in fact, an enjoyable and/ or well-made film and tried to make it a thing, leading to the release of the even worse Space Jam 2.

SimonUK:  A Simon of the British persuasion. Knows more about genre movies than any man alive.

Steanso:  Ryan S.'s brother and author at The Adventures of Steanso

Steven G. Harms:  Steven G. Harms cannot be defined.
 
Superman:  Strange visitor from another world who uses his amazing powers to save the day.

Trade, The:  Refers to any collection of issues of a comic, either hardbound or paperback.  (example of use:  I was going to buy all the issues of "Blackest Night", but decided that I would just wait for the trade.)

Trade Paper Back (tpb):   a collection of comics, originally released as single-issue comic books (aka: floppies).

Troubles McSteans:  The pen-name of Jamie at Troubles McSteans

Watch List:  Sites of interest to The Signal Watch