Can’t stop, won’t stop! Diddy was telling us all about himself right then and there. We just didn’t want to listen. Ya know, I didn’t initially care to watch the Sean Combs: The Reckoning documentary on Netflix. I tend to love celebrity gossip, but I just didn’t really care here. Plus, everyone knew that it was a vindictive project from the most petty man who ever lived, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. So, how serious and “journalistic” could it possibly be? Well, it turns out the answer is “quite”. Lindsay watched it all last Saturday, and I caught most of the last episode. As the week wore on, however, it was dominating the conversation, so I decided I needed to watch the whole thing. And watch it I did.
Structured as a 4-part docuseries, The Reckoning takes a look at the rise and fall of Sean “Puff Daddy/P. Diddy” Combs. They talked to childhood friends, old business associates, former Bad Boy artists, and even a couple of the jurors from his conviction. Basically, the story is that he was always something of a hustler, mainly because of how his mom had raised him. She was clearly doing some shady stuff to give him a good life, and she would throw neighborhood parties where known pimps and dealers would be present. Combs dropped out of Howard University, and went back home to NY to force himself into the life of Uptown Records owner Andre Harrell., which put him right in the middle of where he wanted to be. He couldn’t really be controlled, though, so Harrell fired him, but let him take the debut album of Notorious B.I.G. with him, which became the foundation of his creation of Bad Boy Records.
Throughout his rise, however, Combs had a trend of screwing over everyone around him, and getting into bad situations. Old associates remarked that he was a “paper gangster”, gaining respect through business deals, but he didn’t have the street smarts to be a real gangster. But that didn’t stop him from trying. So, his brushes with the law always came from instances where he truly didn’t understand the world of Tha Streets, and bit off more than he could chew. He has suspected ties to the deaths of both Tupac and Biggie, with friends saying that Combs was jealous of their friendship. He abused a lot of the women in his life, from his own mother to, most famously, ex-girlfriend R&B singer Cassie.
Then, they got into all the sex stuff. Apparently, he and Cassie used to hire the same male escort to join them for weekends on end. I’ve got to say, however, that I Do. Not. Believe. That. Guy. Sure, he was weel-built, but he was UGLY. You’re telling me Diddy was gonna watch an ugly dude bang his girl? I think NOT! And the baby oil came up again. WHAT WERE THEY DOING WITH ALL THAT BABY OIL? Am I just that vanilla? How was all that oil being used, and they say it had GHB in it?!
On social media, folks think Combs was a closeted gay man, but I think it’s probably more nuanced than that. We’ve seen this before, in that some people become so rich and powerful that common labels don’t really apply to them. It’s not that Diddy was gay, but rather he was bored. He probably reached a level of fame, and had the means, to the point where other men were the least problematic thing he was screwing. Anyway, as the docuseries went on, I became unable to even see him as a human being. As they ran down all of the lives he destroyed, he was no longer a person, and just a destructive force of nature. You start to wonder when, exactly, the transformation was complete, but the entity doing 50 months for “trafficking” isn’t a person with empathy. That’s not to say he was alone. They speak to a lot of folks who I feel were complicit and, in some cases, almost as destructive as he was. They covered his behavior until it affected them. Former assistant Capricorn Clark, Diddy – Dirty Money members Dawn and Kelenna, and even former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day – I don’t believe a lot of what they said. The documentary did point out how Combs fought a lot of his battles publicly, through PR attacks, and then some things start to make sense. For example, there was a period of time, post Making the Band 4, when tabloids portrayed O’Day as a drunken whore, just fucking her way through Hollywood. We just sort of took it at the time, as she was a barelywas hasbeen, but now I’m seeing that maybe all of that was another PR salvo from the Combs camp.
It’s a riveting series, but there are also some glaring omissions amongst the participants. Where were Mary J. Blige, Lil Kim, Faith Evans, Charli Baltimore, Usher, Justin Bieber, JENNIFER LOPEZ? Yeah, this was skewed against Combs, but I’m pretty sure Evans and Baltimore would have had things to say. The lesser members of the Junior M.A.F.I.A., too. It effectively makes the case against Diddy without them, but it also shows how this was sort of thrown together with the folks who were most easily accessible. In the end, I’ll say it’s a well done doc that’s worth watching, but just know what you’re getting into. This is a hit piece, and 50 Did. Not. Miss.
Trailer Park
Supergirl (June 26, 2026)
It’s getting harder and harder to deal with trailer drops for geek properties. One camp wants to be the biggest edgelord contrarians, while another camp simply overpraises what’s presented. I don’t like to shit on things, because folks will label you a “hater”. That said, I gotta be honest with myself, and, I guess, with you. I didn’t love this, I know it’s primarily based on Tom King’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow miniseries, which I’ve yet to read. Historically, we never really had the Kara Zol El struggling with depression-induced alcoholism. We get it. She’s processing a lot of trauma that we couldn’t possibly understand, but she’ll come out the other side a hero. It’s just an odd choice for Movie #2 from James Gunn’s DC Studios initiative.
I’m not wowed by anything I’m seeing here. I’d probably feel better if this was getting the HBO Max streaming series treatment, a la Peacemaker. I don’t see myself rushing to the theater for this. Milly Alcock looks like someone tried to draw 1998-era Billie Piper from memory. That’s not how Supergirl looks in my head. I’m getting fanfilm vibes off that Lobo tease. I was also surprised to see this wasn’t directed by Gunn, as the second half of this trailer looks like it was shot in a hurry before Marvel Studios tore down the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 sets. I guess the positive is that, going in with low expectations, things can only go up from here, right?
I think my issue with all of this is that nobody is being honest with themselves here. By no means am I a Snyder Apologist, but he made WB a lot of money. The problem is he didn’t make them as much as they wanted. So, they cleared the deck, brought in James Gunn, and have been on a promotional tour about how they’re “finally getting it right.” Then, they roll out all of this stuff that’s on the same level as what they were already giving us. It’s like when a community business throws up an “Under New Management” banner, which is just their way of saying “Remember that guy who was calling people the N-word? Yeah, he’s not here anymore, so give us another chance?” HBO Max released a trailer of their 2026 slate, and there’s about 10 seconds of footage from DC’s Lanterns series, where it looks just like a show from The CW, right on down to Kyle Chandler. Because let’s be serious here: Who brags about a show where Kyle Chandler is the star in 2025? Friday Night Lights ended almost 15 years ago! Plus, we might be getting Early Edition Chandler here. I’d probably go easier on them if they just weren’t making such a big deal about all of this good, but not great, fare.
Run The Numbers
The numbers are going up, but not fast enough. I’ve got 19 more days in the month, in which I’ve still gotta read 2 more books, and 57 more comics. I’m gonna make it, but it’ll be tight. Sort of have a lot of spinning plates at the moment, but I can do it.
I crossed another book off the list, as I just randomly picked a book off the pile that I’d grabbed at the thrift store. I was familiar with Michael Chabon, as I read about 1/3 of The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay about a decade ago. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I was younger, and it was thick. You know how it goes. So, I knew I liked his writing, and I liked that this particular book wasn’t thick. I’m on a deadline here!
The Final Solution isn’t the sort of book I’d normally read, but it’s also kind of exactly the sort of book I’d read. You see, it’s a Sherlock Holmes story, but it’s Holmes coming out of retirement for one last case, and I love a good “next generation” approach. Even though it’s in the public domain at this point, Holmes is never referred to by name, instead called “The Old Man”, but it’s more than obvious who he’s supposed to be. He left London 25 years ago, and lives a quiet life as a beekeeper in the country. Everyone knows who he is, whispering about past tales, but age is catching up with him, and he’s nowhere near as sharp as he was at his peak. One day, he looks out his window and observes a well dressed young boy, with a parrot on his shoulder, walking along the railroad tracks. Seeing that the boy was too close to the electrified third rail, The Old Man rushes outside to call out to him, warning him way from the tracks. He discovers that the boy is mute, but the parrot does all the talking – talking in German. Oh, did I mention the story takes place in 1944? When the talking parrot is stolen, resulting in a trail of dead bodies, The Old Man has to awaken some old instincts and skills that he hasn’t used in a very long time.
The most powerful aspect of the book is The Old Man dealing with his age, knowing he’s near the end, but also mourning the skills he’s lost. The entire time, I was just like “Please don’t let him die in this book”, as the age is wearing on him HARD. He has these…episodes where his mind just sort of goes blank, in the middle of investigations, forgetting both who and where he is. It wears off rather quickly, but it’s sad to see how Life – and Death – pretty much comes for us all. He promises the boy he will get the parrot back, but will his body and mind cooperate with that promise? You really don’t know as you’re reading it, and it’s interesting to watch a Once Great just trying to get by. As someone who had never read any Holmes, I was wondering if I needed to know much going into this. That wasn’t the case, but there are some references where you realize it’s a callback to some past Holmes story. Even though it’s Holmes: The End, it still sort of serves as a good Holmes for Beginners. Chabon did a great job playing with someone else’s toys, and maybe I’ll circle back to Kavalier & Clay in 2026.
Over in comics, I read Orla #1 from Mad Cave, and it really took me by surprise. I picked it up mainly because of the 60s romance comic vibe of the cover, but I really ended up enjoying the story inside. Orla Bard is a plus size girl looking for love on the apps, while toiling away at her antique restoration business. Due to the impossibility of the current dating scene, Orla ends up on dates with the worst guys imaginable: Mansplainers, Men’s Rights Activists, “Good Guys”, etc. They pressure her into sex, pointing out how they paid for dinner, and she had ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. What they don’t realize, however, is that Orla has a secret: You see, she’s the host to a demon that needs to feed, and feed often. So, it turns out she’s been deliberately seeking out the worst of the worst, and she lures them back to her place so that her demon can feed on them. She doesn’t feel too bad about it, as these were terrible people, but she doesn’t seem to know how she ended up like this, nor how to make it stop. The string of disappearances has caught the attention of a group that seems to think there’s something different about Orla, and they want her on their side. Meanwhile, the owner of the local bookstore asks Orla out, and she begins to wonder what will happen if she ends up with someone she likes. What will the demon do? What if bookstore guy isn’t so nice after all? I’ve got to say that I’m intrigued, but I might just wait until it’s collected to see where it goes.
Will Around The Web
Celebrate the Christmas season by checking out my appearance over on the Advent Calendar House Podcast! I got to join host Mike Westfall, and Shawn Robare of the Cult Film Club, where we discussed a Christmas episode of founding TGIF entry Perfect Strangers, called “The Gift of the Mypiot”. We recorded it a few months back, but it went up today so I can’t even tell ya everything that was said. I’m just as excited to hear it as you are! Check that out here!
Adam and I are back with the “1/2” episode for Wizard Magazine issue #119, as we go over the Image publishing timeline, and we check out a battle between DC’s Wonder Woman and Marvel’s Wonder Man. We also looked back on our history with trade paperback collections. You can check it out here, or wherever you get podcasts.
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
- Mandy Moore has signed on to star in, and executive produce, the erotic thriller Teach Me at Peacock. Mandy Moore. Erotic thriller. Remember when we used to see this future for Britney?
- Famed architect Frank Gehry passed away at the age of 96. My lone memory is how Brad Pitt made a big deal about working with Gehry on a post-Katrina project, while Gehry said all Pitt did was show up for a photo op, and he never heard from him again.
- Not willing to concede after the Netflix announcement, Paramount has launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery, which the company is said to be “carefully reviewing”.
- While nobody really likes Paramount right now, they did announce two upcoming cartoons for Paramount+, based on the children’s books by Mo Willems: The Elephant & Piggie Show! and The Pigeon Show! Starring the Pigeon. I better get to see The Pigeon drive that bus!
- The Rock is going for the gold, as Dwayne Johnson received his first Golden Globes nomination for The Smashing Machine, a movie I don’t think was seen by anyone outside of the film press
- It wouldn’t be me, but Jimmy Kimmel has extended his ABC contract an extra year, through the 26-27 season, in the aftermath of the Trump/Disney kerfuffle.
- Diana Ross will reportedly headline Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026, meaning that absolutely no one else returned Seacrest’s calls. Her last #1 song was FORTY-FIVE years ago.
- KPop Demon Hunters was named Time Magazine‘s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year
I know we live in a messed up society, and more people should find paths to Forgiveness. That said, I have to give credit where it’s due, and there’s no greater living Hater than Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. He has built up a reputation as the guy with whom you do not start shit. If you start it, he’s gonna finish it. And you will not recover. He could have stayed on social media, slinging barbs. He could have even put out a hastily recorded diss track. No. He’d been telling us about Diddy for years, and nobody wanted to listen. So, when Diddy was officially sentenced to four years and two months in prison, for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, 50 saw his opening.
So, how, exactly, did he put this together? Well, the story goes that Combs had hired a videographer to follow him around during his case. When the job was done, however, Combs did the thing a lot of notable rich folks do: He refused to pay for services rendered. So, now we’ve got an unpaid videographer, with tons of footage, and bills to pay. I think you can take it from there. So, it would seem Combs was “hoisted by his own petard”.
Folks have pointed out that 50 is not without his own sins, while others have said that it’s sad to see a successful black man take down another successful black man. They said the same stuff about the Cosby situation, but I’m sure none of them or their loved ones ever woke up surrounded by a bunch of empty Jell-O pudding boxes, so their opinions aren’t worthwhile. I don’t think this little back & forth is over, and it’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out. For now, however, 50 Cent is clearly in the lead. I mean, he reportedly only agreed to an interview with ABC because that’s one of the few networks that inmates are allowed to watch in prison. He’s not just a troll – he’s a Treasure Troll! So, for orchestrating Sean Combs: The Reckoning – a fairly journalistic product driven completely by spite – 50 Cent had the West Week Ever.