I was watching the horror movie The Black Phone a few days ago when a scene set in a small-town convenience store had me hitting pause, because a comics rack was clearly visible. And whenever I spot one of those, I always ask … do the comics match the time period?

Some movies and TV shows dress the set with comics from years past which would have long before been pulled by the distributor, others have comics which wouldn’t be published for several years. The Black Phone, set in 1978, presented me with multiple puzzles.

Why does the comics rack display the June, October, and December 1976 issues of The Six Million Dollar Man? That is — two years out of date, and more issues than a store would normally have, since when a new issue arrives, the old one is generally taken away.

And why couldn’t I identify the other comics by their covers? I could find no mention of The Defecator, Adventures of R.O.B.O.T.I.C.O., Flesh Sandwich, Lord Riley, or any of the other non-Six Million Dollar Man titles at the Grand Comics Database or anywhere else online. So I asked the world for an answer …

… and over on BlueSky, where I’ve been spending more of my social media time now that the policies of the erratic egomaniac owner of Twitter has been making the place less welcoming, I received my answer from C. Robert Cargill, screenwriter of The Black Phone.

But this saga doesn’t end there, because though I haven’t worked at Syfy for a decade after having been on staff there for 13+ years, I seem to still be creating stories for them. Here what they did over there with the exchange —

If you read the piece, you’ll see I’m identified as a “writer, podcaster, and former SYFY WIRE editor.” Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!