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Congratulations to the 2016 Eisner Award Winners
Our series on the Eisner Awards was never meant to be predictive of who would win — quite the contrary, we were only trying to profile some of the nominated titles, because they’re all worth… [more]
A Hundred Thousand Worlds: Fandom, Friendship, and Love
There are moments in Bob Proehl’s debut novel A Hundred Thousand Worlds that will affect readers even after finishing the book. These are bighearted yet subtle moments that stick with you, like when one of… [more]
Hunger and Longing: Growing Up with Cloak and Dagger
While I can’t remember exactly what happens in this comic book, the cover to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #95 has long been burned into my memory. It’s cover dated October 1984 and I must have… [more]
“Dreams, Writings And Our Outlandish Human Imaginings… They’re At The Very Heart Of It.” – Romantic Reflections On The Written Word In Providence #8
“ A blessed haze lies upon all this region, wherein is held a little more of the sunlight than other places hold, and a little more of the summer’s humming music of birds and bees;… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 69
Issue #82 “Rake at the Gates of Hell: Part Five” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Throughout their careers… [more]
Star Trek Re-Watch, Episode 4 – “The Enemy Within”
“The Enemy Within” was the fifth episode filmed for Star Trek: The Original Series, and only the third after it was greenlit, but it’s the first Star Trek episode that truly feels like Star Trek.… [more]
Star Trek Re-Watch, Episode 3 – “Mudd’s Women”
“Mudd’s Women” was one of the three original scripts considered by Desilu Productions as a pilot episode for Star Trek, which would have been an interesting choice to say the very least. The first episodes… [more]
Star Trek Re-Watch, Episode 2: “The Corbomite Maneuver”
“The Corbomite Maneuver” does what a television pilot episode should do. It introduces the main characters and their relationships, gives them a threat that’s significant but not world-ending and provides lots of coverage of the… [more]
Star Trek Re-Watch, Episode 1: “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
“Where No Man Has Gone Before” is an important part of the building blocks of what we now know as Star Trek. Filmed mostly in the summer of 1965, this episode wasn’t aired until over… [more]
The Great Star Trek Re-Watch: An Introduction
The argument hardly needs to be made that Star Trek should appear on the Mount Rushmore of not only science fiction, but world popular culture. Since arriving 50 years ago this year, it has become… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 68
Issue #81 “Rake at the Gates of Hell: Part Four” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Last we left… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Twenty-Four : All Good Things
The consensus opinion among readers of John Smith and Sean Phillips’ Straitgate appears to be that this was “the story of a mass-shooter,” or words to that effect. But I think that I humbly —… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Twenty-Three : Ka-Pow!
Well — hello again! An observant acquaintance on twitter recently remarked to me that he “hoped I’d get back to (my) ‘Portraits In Alienated British Youth’ series at some point,” and I had to make… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 67
Issue #80 “Rake at the Gates of Hell: Part Three” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; As we’ve seen… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 66
Issue #79 “Rake at the Gates of Hell: Part Two” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Picking a mere… [more]
Fear And The Batman: An Examination Of The Role That Horror Plays In The World Of The Dark Knight
A band of thieving criminals flee to a cornered alleyway, running from the stalking specter descending upon them. As they run they turn around a sharp corner and stumble into a dead end where they… [more]
Droids, Slaves and C-3PO’s Red Arm
The role of droids in the Star Wars universe has always been fairly clear, and yet tinged with some troubling implications. They’re servants, essentially, but they’re also companions and, most interestingly of all, they have… [more]
The Dawn of Cinematic Universes: What Shared Continuity In Film Is Telling Us About The Future Of Cinema
There is no secret that a new trend has emerged in mainstream films, a trend that is specifically connected to the inclusion of famous characters and epic worlds, all of which have now joined together… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 65
Issue #78 “Rake at the Gates of Hell: Parts One” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Despite the cyclical… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 64
Issue #75b-77 “Act of Union,” “Confessions of an Irish Rebel,” & “And the Crowd Goes Wild” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artists: William Simpson, Steve Dillon, Peter Snejbjerg; Colors: Stuart Chaifetz, Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor:… [more]
On Phonogram & “Hating So Correctly”
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Phonogram is very much a celebration of pop music, a comic filled with characters who love it deeply and at times overwhelmingly. A blurb from Art Brut vocalist Eddie Argos… [more]
The Complicated Legacies of Wonder Woman and Lois Lane
Throughout the history of DC Comics, two female characters stand above the rest, in terms of appearances and popularity in the broader culture: Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) and Lois Lane. It can be argued that… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 63
Issue #75 “Damnation’s Flame: Hail to the Chief” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Picking up immediately from last… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 62
Issue #74 “Damnation’s Flame: Trail of Tears” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Picking up immediately where the previous… [more]
Star Wars In May – Thoughts on the Anniversary of the Original Release
Yesterday fans all over the world recognized May 25 as one of the most important anniversaries in popular culture: the release of Star Wars on that day in 1977. This comes at the tail end… [more]