Sequart Organization » Karra Shimabukuro

My Thoughts on Captain Marvel: It’s Complicated

Karra Shimabukuro — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:06:44 +0000

Captain Marvel: It’s Complicated" title="My Thoughts on Captain Marvel: It’s Complicated" style="float:left;" />Here be spoilers… I went into my 10:30a showing of Captain Marvel not really knowing anything about Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. At a time when the entire media market is glutted with superhero films… [more]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Represents the Worst in Demonic Male Fantasies

Karra Shimabukuro — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 00:52:24 +0000

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Represents the Worst in Demonic Male Fantasies" title="Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Represents the Worst in Demonic Male Fantasies" style="float:left;" />Historically, witch narratives follow two, often parallel, paths. One is the patriarchal narrative, where men demonize women who threaten their authority and power. Independent women. Loud-mouthed women. Women who veer from their prescribed roles. These… [more]

Can Thanos Come Snap Comics TV Shows?: Titans Disappoints

Karra Shimabukuro — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 18:29:21 +0000

Titans Disappoints" title="Can Thanos Come Snap Comics TV Shows?: Titans Disappoints" style="float:left;" />When Arrow first premiered on the CW, I was excited because the weekly format seemed the perfect fit for telling comic stories. As more shows got rolled out, I was even more excited. The Flash,… [more]

New Frontiers and Bleak Futures: The Parallel Premieres of The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery

Karra Shimabukuro — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 23:37:52 +0000

The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery" title="New Frontiers and Bleak Futures: The Parallel Premieres of The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery" style="float:left;" />This fall season saw the premiere of both The Orville and Star Trek: Discovery, and with both set in space, invoking nostalgia, and claiming classic Star Trek as a foundation/inspiration, it’s hard not to make… [more]

Holiday Double Feature: Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League

Karra Shimabukuro — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:20:47 +0000

Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League" title="Holiday Double Feature: Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League" style="float:left;" />Holidays and breaks are the perfect time to sit down to a double-feature. Way back when, double-features were purposely paired, and I like to try and keep that tradition on the rare occasions I have… [more]

What’s Really at Stake with Wonder Woman

Karra Shimabukuro — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 14:00:08 +0000

Really at Stake with Wonder Woman" title="What’s Really at Stake with Wonder Woman" style="float:left;" />I was born in 1976, a bicentennial baby as my mother used to say. One of my first clear memories is of going to see Star Wars in the theatre. For television, we only had… [more]

Why APB’s Revision of the Lessons of RoboCop Should Disturb You

Karra Shimabukuro — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 20:40:24 +0000

APB’s Revision of the Lessons of RoboCop Should Disturb You" title="Why APB’s Revision of the Lessons of RoboCop Should Disturb You" style="float:left;" />APB is a new FOX series that focuses on Gideon Reeves, a Tony Stark character whose best friend is killed in a bodega hold up and as a result Reeves decides to use his maverick… [more]

Riverdale’s Rips off Twin Peaks (Badly) and Normalizes Rapey Plotline

Karra Shimabukuro — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 20:30:18 +0000

Riverdale’s Rips off Twin Peaks (Badly) and Normalizes Rapey Plotline" title="Riverdale’s Rips off Twin Peaks (Badly) and Normalizes Rapey Plotline" style="float:left;" />There’s a lot wrong with CW’s latest show, Riverdale. Let’s put aside the crazy clown red hair and pale faces of the murder victim Jason Blossom and Archie. Or the obvious invocations of past popular… [more]

Berlanti Drops the Ball on CW-DC Universe

Karra Shimabukuro — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:30:07 +0000

I have reviewed CW’s DC superhero shows since Arrow first appeared. Despite its rocky first half season, I had high hopes that it would find its footing in the second half of its freshman year… [more]

Give the Devil His Due: Review of Lucifer Season 1

Karra Shimabukuro — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:45:39 +0000

Lucifer Season 1" title="Give the Devil His Due: Review of Lucifer Season 1" style="float:left;" />Even before Lucifer premiered its pilot episode on 25 January 2016 it was already disliked and panned by fans of the comic, Lucifer and the character’s original presentation in Sandman. The advanced reviews were not… [more]

I’m Just a Kid from the Lower East Side Brooklyn: Steve Rogers’s Shifting Working Class Background

Karra Shimabukuro — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 20:45:46 +0000

the Lower East Side Brooklyn: Steve Rogers’s Shifting Working Class Background" title="I’m Just a Kid from ~~the Lower East Side~~ Brooklyn: Steve Rogers’s Shifting Working Class Background" style="float:left;" />Today Steve Rogers is branded as “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.” His class and geography marks him as much as his old-fashioned ideals and morals do. He is a man of the people, but… [more]

Erasing Black Panther to Render Him Safe

Karra Shimabukuro — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:00:03 +0000

The Captain America: Civil War trailer has caused a lot of excitement with fans. And certain images have gone onto become instant memes and gifs. Newspapers, reviewers, as well as comic book related journals, have… [more]

Jessica Jones and Netflix’s New Storytelling

Karra Shimabukuro — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:00:11 +0000

Jessica Jones and Netflix’s New Storytelling" title="Jessica Jones and Netflix’s New Storytelling" style="float:left;" />SPOILER WARNING Jessica Jones has a lot going on. It’s about trauma, PTSD, rape, and domestic abuse. (Oh, and superheroes, and Hell’s Kitchen, and the Marvel cinematic universe MCU). The fact is that Jessica Jones… [more]

Supergirl: Not the Feminist Superhero People Want

Karra Shimabukuro — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 16:00:21 +0000

Supergirl: Not the Feminist Superhero People Want" title="Supergirl: Not the Feminist Superhero People Want" style="float:left;" />I admit to never knowing, or caring to know, much about Supergirl. While I can talk pretty confidently about the story arcs and history of Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman or even to a… [more]

My So-Called Secret Identity Volume 1 Print Edition Review

Karra Shimabukuro — Tue, 19 May 2015 11:00:22 +0000

My So-Called Secret Identity Volume 1 Print Edition Review" title="My So-Called Secret Identity Volume 1 Print Edition Review" style="float:left;" />The past couple of weeks have not been a good time for female fans of comics. Between GamerGate trying to set up a booth at a Calgary Con, Michelle MacLaren’s rapid exit from Wonder Woman,… [more]

American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion by A. David Lewis: A Review

Karra Shimabukuro — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 11:00:18 +0000

American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion by A. David Lewis: A Review" title="American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion by A. David Lewis: A Review" style="float:left;" />One of the markers of modernity is the concentration on, as well as the definition of, self. How the self is created, defined, and the limits of this identity are all modern questions that seem… [more]

Women in Super-Hero Movies: We Still Have a Long Way to Go

Karra Shimabukuro — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 20:00:31 +0000

I was watching Tomb Raider last night, and while I love Angelina Jolie and the movie, there is one scene that makes me absolutely crazy at the beginning: Angelina Jolie’s character, Lara Croft takes a… [more]

“I Spent Time with Coulson. He’s a Good Man.”

Karra Shimabukuro — Fri, 30 May 2014 11:00:32 +0000

I trusted Phil Coulson from the first moment he appeared onscreen, because he reminded me of someone I knew, a good man, who had a good heart. He was self-effacing and simple, with a sharp,… [more]

Your Homework Before Seeing Days of Future Past: Read All New X-Men and Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men

Karra Shimabukuro — Fri, 23 May 2014 12:30:40 +0000

Days of Future Past: Read All New X-Men and Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men" title="Your Homework Before Seeing Days of Future Past: Read All New X-Men and Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men" style="float:left;" />When comic book movies come out, it’s sometimes hard to tell what storylines they’re pulling from. Based on the trailers, X-Men: Days of Future Past focuses on a future where Sentinels have taken over, no… [more]

The Winter Soldier as an Indictment of the Post-9/11 Military Industrial Complex

Karra Shimabukuro — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 20:00:16 +0000

The Winter Soldier as an Indictment of the Post-9/11 Military Industrial Complex" title="The Winter Soldier as an Indictment of the Post-9/11 Military Industrial Complex" style="float:left;" />SPOILER WARNING… Much like Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier wants you to view the events through Steve Rogers’s World War II lens. The events are framed through the true evil… [more]