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Magazine Archives for:
January 2015
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Tired, Weak, and Worn: Humanizing Martin Luther King in Selma
I was standing at a urinal when the man next to me suddenly blurted out, “You just saw Selma?” “Um … yeah,” was all I managed to stammer in response. I figure the world is… [more]
J. Holder Bennett on the Fandom and Neomedia Studies Conference (FANS)
In addition to writing for Sequart and teaching college history, our writer J. Holder Bennett runs the Fandom and Neomedia Studies (FANS) Association and its FANS Conference. We decided to sit down with him and… [more]
Interstellar and the Question of Sci-Fi Plausibility
Warning: Mild spoilers of Interstellar are discussed in this article. The spoilers do not give any description of what actually occurs, but if you want to avoid even the vaguest of descriptions, then avoid this… [more]
Image Comics Launches Mail-Order Service: A Threat to Comics Ecology?
Image Comics announced this past Thursday that they will now be offering a direct mail service to their US customers for over 35 of their most popular titles, including Rat Queens, Sex Criminals, The Walking… [more]
Jane Austen, World War II Veteran: or, Churchill’s Cinematic Women Warriors
“You cannot make peace with dictators!” cries Lord Nelson. “You have to destroy them! Wipe them out!” In this over-determined dialogue from the 1941 film Lady Hamilton, the cinematic Nelson is calling for Napoleon’s blood… [more]
A Very Special Rat Queens
The latest issue of Rat Queens isn’t the logical next story in the series (that’s coming later in issue #9), but rather a diversion to explore one particular character, Braga the Orc. Part of the… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 13
Issue #15 “Shepherd’s Warning” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Richard Piers Rayner, Mark Buckingham Colors: Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Elitta Fell Cover: Dave McKean Throughout Hellblazer, Constantine remarks how weirdness is attracted to him, how no matter… [more]
Inherent Vice: Another American Masterpiece
Paul Thomas Anderson has been a director to watch, one of the true giants of the modern American cinema, for almost 20 years now. After hitting the big time with 1997’s Boogie Nights and 1999’s… [more]
Cops and Cosplayers: Two Minorities in Conflict
In the last year, cops have killed average citizens, black, white, and otherwise. How many? No idea. Sadly, a Facebook bot page is likely the best count available. In the last year, average citizens have… [more]
Capital Thoughts: All-New Captain America #2
Karl Marx, writing on the Anglo-French wars, observed that history repeats itself, first in tragedy then in farce. His example was Napoleon, a man defeated by the combined armies of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Hanover,… [more]
The Top 10 New & Returning Comics to Read in 2015
2014 was a stunning year for comics. Between the debut and rapid success of many creator-owned series to superhero comics finally growing in big ways, comics are only getting even better. 2015 seems to be… [more]
The Amazing Adventures of “Stan” and “Jack”: Michael Chabon’s “Citizen Conn”
A couple of years ago, Michael Chabon gave a reading at our local library. He was promoting a new novel, Telegraph Avenue, and the auditorium was packed. Given my academic background, I’ve had to attend… [more]
“I’m Birdman”
Probably the only truly disappointing thing about Alejandro Innaritu’s Birdman is that we don’t actually get to hear Michael Keaton say, in that oft-imitated voice, “I’m Birdman.” Other than that, this is a technical tour-de-force… [more]
Opeth’s Still Life: A Review
Despite Opeth’s relative popularity, they always seem to avoid widespread recognition when it comes to the modern progressive rock/metal scene in particular, often playing second fiddle to genre heavyweights such as Tool and Porcupine Tree.… [more]
007 at 53: Dr. No (1962)
Beginning this week (and leading all the way up to Sam Mendes’s Spectre), I’m starting a run of James Bond retro reviews, looking back at the many cinematic exploits of Ian Fleming’s unflappable super-spy. So let’s start at… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part One: Introduction
Maybe it was something in the water—or something in the air—or just something floating around in the larger cultural zeitgeist of the time—but whatever the reason behind it all may have been, from the late… [more]
Je Suis Charlie
Editor’s Note: Due to some confusion from early reports, the article stated that Hamyd Mourad, brother-in-law to the Kouachi brothers, was the getaway driver for the brothers. He was in no way involved. He turned… [more]
Sequart Organization is on Patreon
Sequart Organization has launched a Patreon fundraising campaign. Comics and popular culture get more respect today than ever before. Yet they still lack a culture of smart criticism, and few are taking them seriously as legitimate… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 12
Issue #14 “Touching the Earth” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Richard Piers Rayner, Mark Buckingham Colors: Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Elitta Fell Cover: Dave McKean Fear is a powerful thing. Scientifically, it is an emotion brought upon… [more]
Whiplash: Faster, and More Intense
Like Foxcatcher, Whiplash is also a film about power relationships between men, particularly older men and younger men. But there, the comparison ends. Where Foxcatcher is measured, graceful, distanced, studied, Whiplash is a tightly wound… [more]
X-Men Franchise: A Spoiled Opportunity? Part 2
The two films that birthed the popularity of modern superhero films were Spider-Man and X-Men[i]. The two films were massive successes and demonstrated that there was interest in superhero films. The two films also were… [more]
IDW Publishing Acquires Top Shelf
Big news in the business side of comics: IDW has acquired Top Shelf Productions. Based in Georgia, this relatively small comics label has been responsible for some of the classiest and most high-quality releases in… [more]
Sharks, Superheroes, and the End of the Showa Era
In which I review two Gamera movies, involving underwater fire breathing, superheroes, Star Destroyers, and more! [more]
Top 10 Films of 2014
2014 was a very good year for film, featuring an impressive balance of quality blockbusters and indie marvels. I saw a lot of movies this year, but of course I didn’t see every single one.… [more]
Illustrator Fran Krause Shows Us Our Fears
We’re all afraid of something, and we can gussy it up however we want with the most intelligent and elaborate horror movies or books out there, but ultimately our fears seem to come down to… [more]