Prince

The dust is still settling on whether Luke Cage marks the most Power-ful of Netflix’s Defender series, but certainly working in its favor is the rich complement of musicians, some of whom even contribute to the soundtrack. Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker apparently even paid tribute to Prince in an early episode, hoping the legendary musician would cameo.

The world was stunned last Thursday by the unexpected death of Prince Rogers Nelson, known to the world simply as Prince. Prince was a legendary musician, whose records crossed all boundaries of style and genre. He was widely considered one of the best guitarists who ever lived. He was equally unparalleled as a singer, songwriter, and live performer. But he was also a visual icon. In his music videos, live concerts, and movies like Purple Rain, his flair for style and unique androgynous look caught the eye of fans regardless of gender or sexuality. Upon his death, people praised his music of course, but there were also discussions about him as a role model who showed that there was no right way to be a man. Prince was an inspiration to everyone who refused to be bound in by labels and social roles.

The Simpsons has visited just about every nook and cranny of pop culture in its near-30 years, though a long-abandoned episode concept saw the late Prince putting in a particularly meta appearance. Now, Simpsons boss Al Jean shares the tribute episode that might have been, as well what caused the revered artist to decline.

Prince, legendary musician and actor from Purple Rain, has died, according to TMZ. He was 57.

Although Chris Sims is without question the World's Foremost Batmanologist, there is one area where he's a little weak: International Batman Studies. Sure, he knows about Jiro Kuwata's manga and The Wild World of Batwoman, but it seems like there are always strange new interpretations of the Caped Crusader from other countries to discover. Like that time in 1989 when a bunch of Australians dressed up like Prince and did some dodgy choreography to "Batdance."

ComicsAlliance concludes its celebration of the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton's Batman with a presentation of the 1989 Warner Bros. press release announcing Prince's involvement with the film, discovered after an exhaustive search of vintage movie memorabilia.

In the summer of 1989, primed by "Kiss" and "Alphabet St." and "Sign 'O' the Times" to expect brilliance from the first taste of new Prince music, I raced out to buy "Batdance," the first single to be released from his soundtrack to Tim Burton's Batman. It seemed like a great idea at the time. I remember my feeling of dazed disappointment the first time I heard "Batdance" lurch to an end. "Batdance" isn't even a song, as such, but a cluster of unrelated chunks of underdone rhythm tracks, ineptly pasted together with chopped-up samples of film dialogue, a couple of lines flown in from other songs, Prince singing the hook from Neal Hefti's '60s Batman theme, and (in its album mix) a very aggressive guitar solo that has almost nothing to do with what's going on around it. Prince and Batman together? How could that not be awesome? What just went wrong here?

Toys: Tiny Young Justice skateboards can now be yours as part of McDonald's latest Happy Meal. Legal: Silicon Knights has been ordered to destroy the code for, and recall all unsold copies of X-Men: Destiny (and Too Human) as the result of losing a lawsuit by Epic Games for breach of an Unreal engine licensing agreement...

tweetmeme_url = '//comicsalliance.com/2010/01/06/superhero-80s-album-art-cliff-chiang/'; tweetmeme_source = 'ComicsAlliance'; When writer/director John Hughes passed away last summer, many comic fans were comforted by Cliff Chiang's reverent "The Breakfast Club" homage starring the original Teen Titans...

Based on the Top Shelf graphic novel, "The Surrogates" hits theaters tomorrow with its story about a future in which man can operate robotic stand-ins every moment of the day, never having to step outside to see the sun or dare attempt interaction with another person...