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The Good and Bad of Diversity in Comics
Diversity has always been a problem in comics. In the early days, minorities were nigh invisible, and women were usually relegated to romantic interests/damsels in distress. In the modern era, however, DC and Marvel have… [more]
Such Beautiful Miniatures: Yasuyuki Inoue and a New Age for Toho
Earth Defence Force is the start of an important transition in Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya’s techniques, a transition that wouldn’t reach its peak until a new decade arrived. The bright and colourful space film required Eiji Tsuburaya to focus more on optical effects then he had to date. [more]
Robots Are Taking Over Hollywood
2015 is being called “The Year of AI” and “The Year of the Robot” due to the abnormal number of high profile sci-fi movies, featuring robotic and AI characters, being released this year including Avengers:… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 24
Issue #28 “Thicker Than Water” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Ron Tiner & Kevin Walker Colors: Tom Zuiko Letters: Gaspar Saladino Cover: Kent Williams Following the brief tenure of Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman on the… [more]
Defending the Much-Maligned X-Files I Want to Believe
With the recent announcement that there will be a new X-Files miniseries, the internet exploded this week with people aching to see Mulder and Scully in action again. It has been some time since we… [more]
Born on a Mountaintop in Tennessee: Davy Crockett and the Early American Superhero
A century before the Shadow, the Phantom, and Superman, the Crockett Almanacs had turned Davy Crockett into one of the first American superheroes. [more]
The First Kaiju Fight: Godzilla Raids Again
As Nakajima himself put it, “I had to stand in the middle of the set while a huge amount of crushed ice came tumbling down on me.” The weight of the ice, coupled with the weight of the GyakushuGoji suit, broke the platform Nakajima and a cable operator were situated on. [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 23
Issue 27 “Hold Me” Writer: Neil Gaiman Art & Cover: Dave McKean Colors: Dave McKean & Danny Vizzo Letters: Todd Klein Following Grant Morrison’s two part tale of nuclear terror, is arguably one of the… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 22
Issue 25 “Early Warning” Writer: Grant Morrison Art, Colors, & Cover: David Lloyd Letters: Tom Frame As stated before, over the 300 issue run Hellblazer would be written by many of the comic industry’s biggest… [more]
Tsuburaya Does Colour: Rodan
Rodan presented the special effects mastermind with a unique opportunity. Not only was Eiji Tsuburaya shooting in colour for only the second time but also he was allotted an unprecedented 60 percent of the film’s budget [more]
The Literary Art of Stephen King: “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away”
In this story, King is elevating an entire medium of expression that almost no one takes seriously, even though in many ways it has a purity that most of the finer arts lack. [more]
On Seeing Persona in Theatres
So Ingmar Bergman is one of those directors spoken of almost unanimously in apotheosized terms. He’s highly regarded by those film critics most driven by artistic pretension, and highly thought of even by his peers. [more]
Oh, My Aching Cranium!: Jack Kirby’s OMAC Deconstructed And Reconstructed, Part Sixteen
So—what was that all about, then? I assure you, it’s hardly a rhetorical question—Jack Kirby’s eight-issue run on OMAC is stuffed to the gills (and well beyond) with concepts, themes, often-eerily-prescient prognostication, and deft societal… [more]
Capital Thoughts: All-New Captain America #4
In what is now a common trope, Sam Wilson, aka, the All-New Captain America, is getting his ass kicked, this time by Armadillo, a third-rate villain who first appeared in Cap #308 (August, 1985; Gruenwald/Neary/… [more]
Movies You Should Watch: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre came out in 1948, and was directed by John Huston. The movie stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt. Bogart and Holt play Fred C. Dobbs and Curtin respectively. [more]
Tracing Some of the Roots in Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor, Part 2
[A quick word of caution. What follows is an analysis of some of the literary antecedents for The Sculptor. As such, spoilers abound. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!] If you read last week’s column,… [more]
Can You Read The Raven’s Speech: Multiversity Mastermen #1 Splendour Falls
Firstly, dear reader, my apologies for the delay. This write up has been one of the toughest but also one of the most enjoyable thus far. The more I reread Mastermen the more I realize… [more]
The Marx Brothers as Guardian Angels—Part 3: Harpo’s Magical Turn in Love Happy
Harpo himself wrote the storyline for the final Marx Brothers film, Love Happy, which features Groucho as narrating detective Sam Grunion and characterizes Harpo and Chico (a.k.a. Faustino the Great) as nearly supernatural figures. While… [more]
Five Historical Figures Who Deserve a Comic Book
Before we even start with this topic, we should probably clarify that this is call for biographical comics, not films. In recent years, after studying both media, I’ve developed a theory that dramatic biography is… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 21
Issue 24 “The Family Man” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Ron Tiner Colors: Tom Zuiko Letters: Tom Frame Cover: Dave McKean Being a supernatural horror comic, it is only natural that Constantine would encounter demons, ghosts,… [more]
Baptized in the Fires of the H-Bomb: Eiji Tsuburaya, Godzilla, and the Birth of Kaiju
With my eleven Gamera movies watched and reviewed and the last outlier on its way I decided it was time to delve into more kaiju films, specifically as many of them, in chronological order, as… [more]
Michel Fiffe’s Copra: The Most Well-Known Secret in Comics
Copra is the most well-known secret in comics. Everyone seems to know its name, one repeatedly shouted from digital rooftops in choruses of “all hail!” by ardent fans and critics alike, and it’s a roar… [more]
The Marx Brothers as Guardian Angels—Part 2: Chico Helps Fellow Poor Kids From Brooklyn
A Day at the Races was one of the most dramatically satisfying Marx Brothers films to feature a financially strapped romantic couple. However, it was not the only one to get the storytelling formula right.… [more]
Superhero Fever Strikes India: Maharakshak Aryan on Zee TV
You can hardly swing an unconscious henchman without hitting a superhero in American popular culture these days. Solo and in teams, superheroes dominate our comics and movies; they’re making rapid inroads on television too, on… [more]
Tracing Some of the Roots of Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor, Part 1
In the midst of this very Postmodern setting, The Sculptor winds up echoing some very old legends with roots tracing back through 19th century Germany, 16th century England, and 1st century Rome. [more]