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Magazine Archives for:
October 2011
The Fever of Urbicande: Ayn Rand, Totalitarian Architecture, Brutalism, and Busselization
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue, which sets up Eugen Robick’s status quo as the story starts. This time, we’ll explore some fascinating parallels and implications of that status quo. Also, I’ve… [more]
On Superman Vs. the Amazing Spiderman
Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man was the most impossible thing. It simply could not be. It was a category error, a fanboy’s absurd daydream, a conceit to be associated with an alternate Earth where each family… [more]
Why I Believe in Comics
On NPR, there is a program called This I Believe… where respondents briefly explain their particular belief about a certain topic in around 500 or so words.
Picnic, Lightning: Panel Economy as Art
More is better. This seems to be a mantra reverberating through Western culture, finding its way even into comic books. But this is nothing new. Most readers will be more than a little acquainted with… [more]
Why Thor Soared and the Lantern Failed
Movie theaters in the summer of 2011, like most summers for the past 30-something years, were dominated by films heavy on crowd-pleasing elements, with particular attention to heavy FX content.
Whatever Happened to the Big Red Cheese, Part 5: Reboot
As much as people have blown the DC Relaunch out of proportion, reboots and relaunches have been a part of comics for decades now.
The Art of the Hook
Why read comics? We certainly have no lack of alternative material. In fact, we are inundated with it! There are enough web blogs and magazines to fill our entire lives with reading material. Why should we choose comics, and… [more]
The Fever of Urbicande: A French Masterpiece You Probably Haven’t Read
More than any other, this is the the book for which The Obscure Cities is famous. In his afterword to The Walls of Samaris, Benoît Peeters writes that his main criticism of that initial volume… [more]
On The Big Lie, by Rich Veitch and Gary Erskine
Before addressing this controversial comic, let’s establish one thing: anything by Rick Veitch is newsworthy and deserving of better than being written off. Veitch is one of the legends who renewed American comics in the… [more]
On Green Lantern Corps #1: Of the People, By the People, For the People, Screw the People
I don’t know how to write about this, and I’m extremely nervous about trying to do so. Truthfully, I can’t deny that I’m tempted not to try.
Have We Isolated Ourselves?
Every so often we get a good comics scandal involving a creator and random fan bickering across the internet. Seemingly within days it, has sent ripples across the comics world. Jack Creator and Ralph the… [more]
Arkham City Fights to Make Robin Relevant Again
One of my favorite things to ponder when it comes to the realistic or quasi-realistic treatment of superheroes is the treatment of Robin, The Boy Wonder.
Whatever Happened to the Big Red Cheese, Part 4: The Roy Thomas Defense
The ’80s killed comic books.
Storytelling from 1978 — The Rule of Action
Detective Comics #475 and #476 — “The Laughing Fish” and “Sign of the Joker” — are considered some of the most essential Batman reading of all time. And for good reasons!
Why Comics Have Failed to Achieve Real Respect
It might superficially seem as if comics have finally achieved respect. They’re covered by the mainstream press. They’re increasingly taught in colleges. Their adaptations account for a huge percentage of Hollywood blockbusters. Hey, even nerd… [more]
Jim Beard Signing Gotham City 14 Miles in Ohio and New Jersey
Jim Beard, editor of and essayist for our Gotham City 14 Miles, will be appearing at two upcoming comic shows to promote the book and celebrate 45 years of the 1966-68 Batman TV series.
On Aquaman #1, by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
It seems that Geoff Johns isn’t writing scripts anymore so much as lists. And after the fashion of the unassimilable tourist abroad, who believes that the folks around him will understand what he’s saying if… [more]
The Twice-Named: Batwoman and the Use of Space
Comics are often rigorous in their use of panels and page space. The shape the content takes through its panels has changed drastically through out the years, but a certain economic theory of panels has… [more]
Super-Heroes Getting Laid
By now, everyone in the comics blogosphere is more than familiar with the controversy that arose from the recent Catwoman #1.
Whatever Happened to the Big Red Cheese, Part 3: The Name of Captain Marvel
Everyone knows the origin of Freddie Freeman. Even if they don’t know the specifics of how Freddie became Captain Marvel Jr. in Whiz Comics #25, the basic framework for the character is imbedded in our… [more]
Respect Your Audience: The New 52 and Calvin and Hobbes
DC’s New 52 initiative has sparked a lot of recent controversy over the presentation of women and female characters.
Eight Thoughts on Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1-2
The right-wing media went apeshit over Peter Parker being replaced by Miles Morales, based on a single seven-page sequence (really its own short story) in Ultimate Fallout #4. Lots of people were perfectly prepared to… [more]
Diagram for Delinquents Update #20: The Countenance is the Portrait of the Soul
Yes, yes, yes. It has been a while since the last update. So here’s an explanation: For the last month I have been working on a play and I will be for the next two… [more]
Warren Ellis to Participate in Q&A before U.K. Premiere of Captured Ghosts
On Saturday, 12 November, Warren Ellis will appear at the U.K. premiere of Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, our feature-length documentary film about his work and its vision of the future. He will also participate in a conversation… [more]
Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts to Make Its World Premiere at Napa Valley Film Festival
Our documentary film Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts will make its world premiere on Friday, 11 November as an official selection at the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival, alongside the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo and gala screenings of Alexander Payne’s The… [more]