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A Tour of the 2016 Eisner Nominees, Part 1 – Harrow County
The nominees for the 2016 Eisner Awards were recently announced, and as always, the list of nominees provides a serviceable list of some of the best comics currently in circulation, regardless of which ones actually… [more]
Better Call Saul Season Two Finale: Blind Spots
It would be so easy, as season two of Better Call Saul comes to an end, to be angry with Chuck McGill. But that would be like getting angry at a snake when it bites… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 57
Issues #68-69 “Down All the Days” and “Rough Trade” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Depression is defined as… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 9: Consequences
“Consequences” is the big theme of this, the penultimate episode of Better Call Saul’s second season. We don’t often mention the creators’ names (and frankly I also ignore media from the creators of this show,… [more]
Looking Back at the First Appearance of Saul Goodman
Way back in season two of Breaking Bad, in April of 2009 to be precise, we were introduced to a new character named “Saul Goodman” in an episode with the catchy title “Better Call Saul”.… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 56
Issue #67 “Dear John”1 Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Todd Klein; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Life is filled with pain. To deny that would… [more]
Better Call Saul, Season 2, Episode 8: Out of the Comfort Zone
This latest episode of Better Call Saul is easily the series’ most cinematic. There are some plot developments here, but not many. There’s dialogue, but not too much, and there could have been much more.… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 55
Issue #66 “Fear and Loathing Part Three: Down to Earth” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Fear and Loathing is very much the… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 7: Parallel Lines
There’s no point in me doing this if I can’t be myself. Every time I try to do things someone else’s way, it blows up in my face. I’ve been trying to be the person… [more]
Science Fiction Elements of Infinite Jest: Part 2, Giant Feral Hamsters and Infants
A worldwide reread of the greatest novel ever written, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, is currently underway, celebrating twenty years since its first publication. “Infinite Winter” began January 31; readers consume about 75 pages per… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 6: Changing Masks
Though it doesn’t pass the Bechdel test (there are too few female characters to meet that very specific bar), Better Call Saul is, in its way, a very feminist show. Not just because there’s a… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 54
Issue #65 “Fear and Loathing Part Two: London Kills Me” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Cover: Glenn Fabry; By know the inevitability of John Constantine’s… [more]
Returning to the Overlook: A Kubrick Fan Finally Reads The Shining
When I was in college, fancying myself a budding film nerd, I began deep diving into the canon of essential films, and in my mind none were more essential or important than those of Stanley… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 5: Shifting Sands
It’s something of an understatement to call Better Call Saul a subtle show, but the label fits. Few American TV shows have had the boldness to fold their dramatic tension into small character moments, revelations… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 53
Issue #64 “Fear and Loathing Part One: For God and Country” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Although overly cynical there is some… [more]
Energy and Environmental Conservation Took the Stage with Leo’s Oscar Win
On a night packed to the brim with the brightest stars in the Hollywood universe, none of them shone brighter than Leonardo DiCaprio. After two decades and four near-misses, the film icon finally reeled in… [more]
I Keep Talking Louder Because You Haven’t Heard: Appreciating The Paper
[NOTE: The following is something I worked on sporadically for a while, as a way to understand more about how I work inside a relationship (any relationship, generally, but with my wife, specifically). Only then… [more]
I Just Want Them to Know That They Didn’t Break Me: Pretty in Pink Thirty Years On
Pretty in Pink turns thirty this year. Written by John Hughes and directed by Howard Deutch, the film stars Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, John Cryer, James Spader, Annie Potts, and Harry Dean Stanton. It would… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 52
Issue #63 “Forty” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Cover: Glenn Fabry; As discussed in prior installments of this column, Hellblazer was one of the few… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 4: Half-Measures
If there were any doubts about the nature of Jimmy McGill’s feelings for and commitment to Kim Wexler, the latest episode of Better Call Saul lays them to rest. Jimmy has made mistakes, and will… [more]
“It’s Like Underneath Everything There Is Just Chaos…” – Perspective and Politics in Providence #7
“Any magazine-cover hack can splash paint around wildly and call it a nightmare or a Witches’ Sabbath or a portrait of the devil, but only a great painter can make such a thing really scare… [more]
The X-Men Series Re-Watch: X-Men
Does the first X-Men stand the test of time, or is it a film that is better remembered than revisited? [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 51
Issue #62 “End of the Line” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Life is full of many choices and in a way it… [more]
Better Call Saul Season 2, Episode 3: The Scorpion and the Frog
Breaking Bad certainly had its share of contemplative scenes, but it still had suspense, action and tension. It’s offspring, Better Call Saul is in an entirely different key, drawing out the slow game, lingering on… [more]
Genre Bliss: Surviving The Purge: Anarchy
I recently spent a sick day at home, trying to recuperate from a nasty cold. In the grand tradition of sick days, I decided to spend it on the couch watching movies and catching up… [more]