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Magazine Archives for:
October 2014
“I Know I’m Me”: Identity in John Carpenter’s The Thing
Few horror films combine gore and genuine creepy scares better than John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing. The film was an adaptation of a short story called “Who Goes There?”, which should give us a… [more]
Halloween Binge: The Exorcist
Most everyone considers The Exorcist the best horror movie ever made. When lists document the “greatest” horror movies in existence, The Exorcist is number one, time and time again. The movie, which came out in… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 2
Issue #3 “Going for It” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: John Ridgeway Colors: Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Annie Halfacree Of all the issues of Hellblazer written by Jamie Delano, fewer are more politically charged than “Going For… [more]
Halloween Binge: The Beyond
A manic and kind of terrible Italian horror movie. But also a manic and great horror movie. Lots of eye-gouging. [more]
The Circle by Dave Eggers: Let’s All “Like” Our Transparent Dystopia!
[Note: This article contains many spoilers; it would be impossible to write without them. Also, The Circle was published a full year ago, and it explores social media’s effects on knowledge, socializing, privacy, and politics—as… [more]
Halloween Binge: Rosemary’s Baby
Wooo. We’re getting into real classics at this point in my binge. Filling in some gaps in my viewing with some classics. Will I be annoyingly contrarian? Come find out. [more]
Vampire Films and Catholicism
The vampire movies that are the most likely to treat issues of theology and religion seriously are the Gothic melodramas and the art house pictures, while the films in the other categories are more interested… [more]
Halloween Binge: Lifeforce
Despite a whole lot of potential and some good scenes this movie kind of blows. It should have been so good, but honestly you could stop this movie after Mathilda May disappears. [more]
“To Shoot Every Last Skrull On Earth”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics Of Mark Millar, Part 41)
Continued from last week. Despite the precipitous collapse and subsequent flatlining of Swamp Thing’s sales in the second half of 1994, Millar’s career at the half-point of the decade still appeared to be in rude… [more]
Too Many Targets: Arrow Season Three, Episode 3 Review
While Arrow has, to some extent, narrowed its focus in the early going of its third season, “Corto Maltese” is a reminder of just how big a world the show has created. The episode sends… [more]
Colloquium #10: That Kind of Western — Jay Faerber on Copperhead
Markisan interviews Jay Faerber on his Image series, Copperhead. Jay talks about writing “Deadwood in space,” working Marvel style, the industry shift to creator-owned stories and what the hell kind of animal officer Boo actually… [more]
The Strange Case of Dr. Pretentious and Mr. Clown
I’ve always loved Halloween. It’s one of the few holidays that is fun and festive but requires no travel and only nominal shopping. When it’s done right, it’s a wonderful excuse to dress up, eat… [more]
Halloween Binge: Phenomena
A crazy Dario Argento movie starring a young Jennifer Connelly. This was a goody. Lots of craziness and tension and great filmmaking. [more]
Getting the Band Back Together: A Review of Q2: The Return of Quantum and Woody #1
When Valiant was reborn back in 2012 and returned to comic book store shelves everywhere, one question kept being asked at every convention the company made an appearance at: when were Quantum and Woody coming… [more]
Growing Pains: The Flash “Things You Can’t Outrun” Review
“Things You Can’t Outrun” isn’t a particularly remarkable episode of television. It features an underdeveloped villain, some pretty terrible dialogue at times, and Iris continuing to be a millstone around the show’s neck, slowing things… [more]
Halloween Binge: Return of the Living Dead
An awesome zombie flick with nonsensical zombies, loads of camp, unnecessary nudity, punks, great needle drops, and, most importantly, “braaains.” [more]
Oh, My Aching Cranium!: Jack Kirby’s OMAC Deconstructed And Reconstructed, Part Six
The cover for OMAC #2 lays things bare – “In The Era Of The ‘Super Rich’ – Mister Big Can ‘Rent A City’ For Assassination!” And while, admittedly, this may have sounded a bit far-fetched… [more]
Halloween Binge: Genocide
Genocide is a bleak, nihilistic, Japanese horror film with killer bugs. It’s also not so secretly about war time atrocities. Like you do. [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 1
When the term “magic” is observed by a member of the Western world, certain images undoubtedly come to mind. Long bearded men with staffs and pointy hats, a young boy with a lightning bolt scar,… [more]
Halloween Binge: Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is one of the more controversial horror movies ever made. Filled with sketchy content and upsetting gore, it’s a dark Halloween viewing indeed. [more]
Discovering Black Jesus, Episode 6: “Love Thy Enemy, Part 1”
“You better slow down Joe Brown. You know God’s love will get you f*cked up quick.” God’s love dominates Black Jesus as a recurring theme, but what it means exactly has yet to take shape… [more]
The Fallen and a Mystery: Arrow Season Three Episode 2 Review
The third season of Arrow is starting off in a subtly different fashion than the previous two years. In a strange and compelling way it’s almost managed to transform itself into a more modest show.… [more]
Halloween Binge: House
First up in my flood of Halloween themed articles: the insane Japanese horror movie House . It’s got magic cats, cannibalism, and crazy hand drawn FX. [more]
Categorizing Vampire Movies
In their classic form, vampires are immortal, nonhuman beings who sustain themselves by drinking human blood. Sometimes referred to as nosferatu or wurdalak, vampires are most often portrayed as “undead” individuals who have come back… [more]