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Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 3
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility! In the quarter of a century since these books came out, the American comic book landscape has changed dramatically. Whereas once upon a time, superhero comic books were made… [more]
Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 2
All the reasons which made the initiation of physical force evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative! I read—and loved—The Dark Knight Returns when I was in the 7th grade, about three… [more]
Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 1
Great Krypton! In the fall of 1987, my father gave me 75 cents to purchase issue 595 of Action Comics, the comic book that started my collection. I had read comic books before, but hadn’t… [more]
He Left Us His Broken Heart: Hannibal Season Three Episode Two
The hypocrisy of network TV is immediately obvious in this week’s episode of Hannibal as a subtly censored version of Botticelli’s Primavera fades into a macabre reimagining of the painting. Then later when a mangled… [more]
Roger Ebert and the Golden Age of American Film Criticism, Part 1
Roger Ebert loved his hometown, his college, his newspaper, his friends, his lovers, and his travels. Like most great writers, he doesn’t explain so much as he inspires. [more]
Tsuburaya and Honda’s Last Charge: Destroy All Monsters
There was another big number coming down Toho’s pipe shortly after they’d celebrated their anniversary. Their next kaiju film would be the twentieth they had directed, something worthy of celebration. However the celebration was to… [more]
An Empire of Crime: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
I’d only ever seen one Fritz Lang movie prior to watching The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, and that was the film he directed immediately before The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, M. Other than being a… [more]
Weird Worlds: The Minor Mainstream Works of Steve Gerber, Part 1 – Dr. Fate
When I first started my comics blog in 2008, the first post I made was a brief obituary and tribute to Steve Gerber. I think it serves as a nice introduction to the project upon… [more]
Ethics Become Aesthetics: Hannibal Season Three Episode One
Hannibal’s season two finale was a catastrophic cliff hanger that saw almost every single protagonist bleeding out on the floor, life fading. The first thing we see in season three is a series of elegantly… [more]
Star Trek III and PTSD
“The Enterprise feels like a house with all the children gone,” Admiral James T. Kirk intones in his first scene in Star Trek III, the darkest and in some ways most heartfelt of all the… [more]
“If it Ain’t Broke …”: Revisionist Missteps in Batman: Earth One
Three weeks ago, while discussing the Superman: Earth One series of graphic novels, I mentioned in passing that I “didn’t care” for the Earth One Batman series. Now as far as Internet critiques go, saying… [more]
Metal Monsters: Tsuburaya Returns to Kong
1967 was a big year for Toho. Not because of the introduction of Godzilla’s son, but because it was their thirty-fifth anniversary. Eiji Tsuburaya and Ishirō Honda reunited to work on their penultimate collaboration for… [more]
Portraits in Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Eight: Flushed Down The Toilet
There’s a question I just know you’re dying to ask right now—“dude, if you’re talking about True Faith, why do you have a cover scan of Preacher #1 at the top of your article?” It’s… [more]
Community Season Six: “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television”
Lets talk about Community’s propensity for series finales. While it’s true that the continually reincarnated Futurama might actually have more finales if you factor in episodes designed to serve as finales in the event of… [more]
Five Reasons Why Comics Scholarship is Important
Before getting into comics, I had no idea where to start, or how to approach comics as a body of work. Over the course of several decades comics have diversified into a multi-headed beast. There… [more]
Kingpin, Kubrick, and Conan: A Vincent D’Onofrio Triptych
Vincent D’Onofrio. It’s a name I’ve known for years, but until now I’ve never really paid much attention. That’s about to change. As you may have already guessed, I’ve been watching Netflix’s Daredevil, where D’Onofrio… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Seven: “I Feel So Extraordinary”
Those were the opening lyrics to New Order’s breakthrough hit “True Faith,” but let’s be honest—they don’t have jack shit to do with the frame of mind of Nigel Gibson, the teenage protagonist in Garth… [more]
Capital Thoughts: All-New Captain America #6 and some contemplations on Age of Ultron
Hydra’s new plan for world domination—safe sex! Brilliant! Here’s how it’s supposed to work: Hydra has created a new virus that make couples impotent. Only Hydra agents will get the antidote, which means that in… [more]
Tyler Durden Lives! : Fight Club 2 #1 Review
For a debut issue, novelist Chuck Palahniuk comes to the comic medium with such grace and talent one would think he is an old master returning to his craft. The best-selling novelist chose to continue… [more]
Giant Bugs, Children, and Hibernation: On Son of Godzilla
After Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Toho decided to task Jun Fukuda and his crew with making another Godzilla movie set in the South Pacific. This one would capitalize on the trendy location in a… [more]
Why Avengers: Age of Ultron is One of the Best Marvel Movies Yet
The first Avengers movie was magical. It’s almost indisputable at this point. The less analytical got a joyous and brilliant popcorn movie that featured big stars and entertaining and loved characters bouncing off one another.… [more]
Bonnie and Clyde … and The Cat in the Hat?
It’s funny what can happen to your mind when you’re bored. Recently, I saw a play at a local children’s theater and I had every reason to believe the play would be great. It’s a… [more]
Studio Ghibli and Fascism
Studio Ghibli’s films have inspired some introspection so far, but upon further inspection there is a very serious issue that preoccupies the studio’s middle cannon: that is fascism, and the portrayal of fascism in Studio… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 31
Issues #39-40 “The Hanged Man” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Steve Pugh, Dave McKean Colors: Tom Zuiko, Dave McKean Letters: Gaspar Saladino Cover: Kent Williams Over the past 34 issues and one annual[1] Jamie Delano has… [more]
The Meristems of Mad Men
[This piece contains major spoilers for the finale of Mad Men.] In most plants, vertical growth occurs from two points, right at the tip of the stem, from the “shoot apical meristem” and at the… [more]