Magazine Archives for:

December 2014

Review of Devin Townsend’s Ziltoid the Omniscient

Devin Townsend has never been insular when it comes to his emotions. He formed his first major-label band, Strapping Young Lad, following his disillusionment with the music industry and its practices. Prior to this, he… [more]

Matrimony and Demons: Hour of the Wolf

There’s something pretty intriguing about the idea of Ingmar Bergman dabbling directly in the horror genre. Anyone who practices that much distancing and experimentation may not seem suited to an inherently visceral genre. I mean,… [more]

It’s Newspaper Comics Week on Sequart!

Coinciding with this week’s release of a remake of Annie, based on Little Orphan Annie comic strip begun in 1924, Sequart will be celebrating newspaper comics all this week. The history of comics as a medium… [more]

Black Mirror: The Best TV Show You’re Not Watching

Few would seriously argue that Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone is one of the seminal texts in popular culture, particularly in science fiction. Serling took TV sci fi out of the spaceships-fight-aliens-with-lasers cliche and brought… [more]

The Flash Season 1 Episode 9 Review

“The Man in the Yellow Suit” is a pretty big relief, if only because so much of the episode seems concerned with progress, taking many of the plots that The Flash has put into play… [more]

Hulk Rend Wolverine!!!: Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #1-2

Damon Lindelof is an unabashed nerd in Hollywood. Lindelof’s purported first conversation with JJ Abrams was mainly a discussion about Star Wars[i]. His enjoyment of comics lead him to recruit Paul Dini, Jeph Loeb and… [more]

I, Claudius: What Shall We Do About Claudius? Review

The series that has been so far filled with poisoning, drowning and an orgy does not let up in the scandalous story of the first Imperial Family of Rome. So many tidbits in the story… [more]

Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 8

Issue #10 “Sex and Death” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Richard Piers Rayner and Mark Buckingham Colors: Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Todd Klein Cover: Dave McKean With the ultimate goal of self-preservation, the consequences of John Constantine’s… [more]

Sex Criminals #9: The Tale of Dr. Cocaine

I may have gotten a few things wrong about Sex Criminals, after initially getting them right. When I first started reviewing this book, I was drawn to how the characters shared their back stories, how… [more]

Too Little Too Late: Thoughts on True Detective

The way the show incorporated meta moments was key to understanding the ending. True Detective displayed an undeniable desire to poke and prod at the edge of the frame containing it. [more]

The Super-Heroics of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, Part 6

The Tragic Villains of Miller and Moore Moore and Miller’s approach to writing is always comparable and yet vastly different. Miller is hard-boiled crime writer and Moore delves deep into culture and vast concepts with… [more]

Screw the Star Wars Trailer

I like Star Wars. Swear to god. I really like Star Wars. I know it’s bad for me. I know that it’s not really worth the love. I really do. But I like it. I… [more]

Kevin Smith & Joe Quesada’s Daredevil: The Comic that Saved Marvel

Joe Quesada is the savior of Marvel. Simply put, without Joe Quesada coming in the late ‘90s to create Marvel Knights, Marvel Comics would be a defunct company. While many editorial decisions made by Quesada… [more]

She Makes Comics is Out!

Sequart Organization and Respect! Films are proud to announce the release of their latest documentary, She Makes Comics, a film spanning the history of women in comics as creators, fans, and everything in between. The… [more]

A Defence of Star Trek The Motion Picture

I don’t like to rank art, instinctively. This isn’t a sport, and it’s not about ringing all the bells and checking off all the boxes. So, when people ask me to rank the Star Trek… [more]

Race, Racism, and Italian-American Crimefighters, Part 1: Columbo, the Untouchables, and Joe Pistone

This article appeared originally in the anthology Pimps, Wimps, Studs, Thugs, and Gentlemen (2009), edited by Elwood Watson. I’m reprinting it here because I believe it has things to say about Italian-Americans, law enforcement, and… [more]

Unashamed: In Which Concluding Remarks are Made and a Book is Announced, Shameless? The Superhero Tales of Mark Millar

I hate to break a promise, even if it’s made to no-one but myself. Yet things have changed since I typed “to be continued” at the foot of the last section of Shameless? to be… [more]

Colloquium #11: Kill Things for a Living — Kurtis J. Wiebe on Rat Queens

Markisan interviews Kurtis J. Wiebe on Rat Queens. Kurtis talks about how the series breaks down social barriers, whether or not there will be lineup changes, goblin punk bands, and where the Rat Queens would… [more]

Sensual Female Guardian Angels: Luc Besson’s Early Films, Part 1

In traditional Roman Catholic doctrine, God is represented as a masculine Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) that leaves little room for a feminized vision of either the Creator God or… [more]

A Brilliant Black Comedy: World’s Greatest Dad

An amazingly disturbing, pitch-black comedy starring Robin Williams. If you like your comedy cringe-inducing and horrifyingly bleak this amazing movie is for you. [more]

Writing the Collective Page: Dave Sim, Judenhass, and Tolerating Injustice

When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it’s all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy. To say that black people have made… [more]

“A Perfectly Finished Work of Art Right Where I Am Sitting Now.”: Cosmic Trigger -The Play

A fair few of you may not have heard of Robert Anton Wilson. This is tragic. A fair few of you may have heard of people influenced by Robert Anton Wilson. This is not so… [more]

Outside Comic-cons

I have not been going to Comic-Cons for a long time, but I am passionate about comic books. When I first decided to go to my city’s Comiccon (Montréal), I did not really know what… [more]

The Flash Season 1 Episode 8 Review

One of the exciting things about bringing two superheroes together is seeing how they interact with one another. Most of the big, marquee heroes have their own distinct outlook on the world; Superman is optimistic,… [more]

Arrow Season 3 Episode 8 Review

One of the things that the creative teams of Arrow and The Flash truly excel at is understanding the inherent appeal of superhero stories. The writers on the shows just get why so many people… [more]