Blu-ray Disc cases are generally thinner, in addition to being shorter, than the standard 14mm DVD case. The thinnest cases, 11mm ones, typically used for Sony and Disney BD releases, are the Vortex brand from MeadWestvaco (www.meadwestvaco.com/Products/MWV005774), while all of the other studios seem to prefer the 12.5mm Elite brand case manufactured by Viva (www.viva-elite.com). I don't know of a source for replacement Vortex cases, however, I do know that Nexpak PremierPak single- and double-disc cases are available, and can be easily substituted for them. There are at least three manufacturers of 12.5mm Blu-ray Disc cases: the aforementioned Viva Elites (which I've only been able to obtain as single-, not double-disc, cases), US Digital Media singles, and an unknown company that makes single- and double-disc cases (but here I've so far only been able to get these as doubles).

My apologies in advance for any distortion that you may notice in the photos posted below. In shots where open cases are shown lying flat, light is being reflected off of the clear plastic that holds the cover inserts in place. Also, larger images can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnails...

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One of the great mysteries that has bothered me from early on occurred way back in "The Accidental Occidental Conception". Wendy is standing at the counter in the Underworld, waiting to see if the clerk has any information regarding her father, Peter, who disappeared under mysterious, and as of yet, unexplained circumstances when she was fourteen. The clerk inquires from the file room if Wendy's father served in the Luftwaffe, which is not necessarily a World War II reference, since the current German Air Force also goes by that appellation. Wendy replies that Peter Watson served in the U.S. military, but doesn't specify which branch, of which there are five (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), not counting the National Guard or Air National Guard units that exist in various states. In the meantime, The Middleman is running for his life from the Terracotta Warrior with Duncan in tow. Approaching the elevator out of the Underworld, Em-Em yells, "Wendy, don't look back!" Which in hindsight, is a supremely odd thing to say, rather than the more appropriate, "Wendy, we have to go!" or "Wendy, get on the elevator!"

Now, obviously, "Don't look back!" is a cultural reference to Orpheus, who in leading his wife, Eurydice, out of the Underworld, was instructed not to look back upon her to check that she was indeed following him, but he did look back and she was promptly whisked away from him, never be seen again in the land of the living. From watching the episodes that follow, we have become familiar with Em-Em's recitation of copious lists of rules to Wendy, but we didn't see him tell Wendy, "Don't look back in the Underworld, or else bad things will happen," or words to that effect. Instead, we encounter another use of those words, in the form of Moscow Rule #4: "Don't look back; you're never truly alone."

So, these uses of the phrase "Don't look back" can be entirely coincidental, or acknowledgment that The Middleman may know something about the circumstances behind the disappearance of Wendy's father, or maybe even his current whereabouts. Which is probably why I hope the show gets renewed, so that I can continue to pester Javi with this particular line of questioning.

Lenticular DVD covers have a grooved-plastic lens that is glued onto a cardboard slipcase. One use for a lenticular lens is to produce a 3D image, as was done with the recent The Incredible Hulk DVD release. But, lenticulars are more commonly used to display two or more images, depending upon the angle at which the lens is held to the viewer. For example, this week's release of Get Smart presents an image of Agent 99 in the foreground with her hair obscuring the background figure of Maxwell Smart, or alternatively, Max in front with his tie blocking out 99's face.

While this marketing tool may be too expensive to consider for the release of the first (of hopefully many more to come) season of The Middleman on DVD(/Blu-ray?), who wouldn't want to eventually be in possession of a Middleman lenticular? Be the talk of the town as you amaze and bewilder your friends and neighbors with an image of Wendy and The Middleman standing side-by-side, and then you flip the lens to the left, and they're enigmatically pointing at something! Or, you shift the lens to the right, and Em-Em and Dub-Dub are pronouncing !!!! with unbridled enthusiasm!

By the way, in some descriptions of how to pronounce !!!!, it sometimes seems like a vital component gets left out. The face and hand gestures always get mentioned, but seriously, you can't leave out the little foot tap! But, I digress...

Now, if only an ABC Family marketing genius can convince someone higher up the food chain to greenlight some lenticular images as a priceless piece of Middleswag!

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The Middleman Screen Captures from eyescubed
Fringe Screen Captures from Fringe TV
Lettering by SuperLame!

(just keep clicking on the thumbnail until it's large enough to read...you know that you want to)

Screen Captures from eyescubed
Lettering by SuperLame!

The Middleman has gone full circle from a spec script that failed to generate a TV pilot, to a series of comic books, then to our beloved 12-episode run on ABC Family. But can it really be said that the show has gone full circle unless there's a comic book story that features likenesses of Natalie and Matt? Although, since there already are comic book versions of Em-Em (blond-haired and slightly scruffy) and Dub-Dub (redheaded), if there were to be a comic with Natalie and Matt, I'd rather see it done fumetti-style. For those who don't know, fumetti comic books use photographs for the panel art, instead of the typical line-art drawings. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that along with fan fiction, we don't see more enterprising, creative folk using screen captures to cobble together all-new storylines for their favorite TV shows. Not that I'm advocating that sort of thing, since it might be entirely inappropriate...but I digress.

From what I've seen of The Middleman graphic novels, there are no narrative captions, just the chyrons denoting time and place, although, on the show, a chyron (using an OCR-type of font) would occasionally editorialize if a character had been knocked out and didn't know where they were, or how long they were unconscious. So, the only other text in a Middle Panel appears in speech balloons. Please note that although thought balloons are not utilized, this does NOT mean that the characters are thoughtless, as I do believe that Javi has previously mentioned that denizens of the Middleverse don't have filters and always say what's on their minds.

Since the sets are currently broken down, pending notification of series renewal, I understand that it would be impossible to cook up a new fumetti story, unless of course, all of the backgrounds were computer generated. Anyway, what I'd really love to see, should the show be renewed, or finds a new home, would be a weekly fumetti series, featuring the series leads, or the other regulars, either as a comic strip or a full-blown, season-long storyline, rather than the typical extra Internet content that gets generated on TV network websites, such as graphic novels and webisodes.

Give us more Middleman, but most of all, give us some Middleman Fumetti!

I was fortunate enough to post some questions on ABC Family for The Middleman TV-series and have them answered by series creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach, aka Javi, on the Javi-Casts. While the show has already aired its season, and hopefully NOT its series, finale as of last month, new Javi-Casts have stopped for the time being. Well, guess what, I've still got questions, so this is where I'm going to jot down some of my various Middleman musings, as well as any other nonsense that claws out of the recesses of my subconscious. I have posted various questions and comments about The Middleman in other dark corners of the Internet, so my apologies in advance if you've already seen some of these topics before, and are already bored to tears with them. What is it that unites Middlefans to The Middleman, other than our collective love for the show? Well, it's a literal call-to-arms that rings out across the land which beckons us to rise up in solidarity and support of The Middleman: Art Crawl!

- Gavin