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Magazine Archives for:
2015
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Play to Win: Nonplayer #2
Some ten years ago I was heavily addicted to the much-missed MMO City of Heroes. My friend Mike and I would ‘meet’ most evenings in Paragon City, chat as we blitzed through missions and even… [more]
Community Season Six: “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television”
Lets talk about Community’s propensity for series finales. While it’s true that the continually reincarnated Futurama might actually have more finales if you factor in episodes designed to serve as finales in the event of… [more]
Five Reasons Why Comics Scholarship is Important
Before getting into comics, I had no idea where to start, or how to approach comics as a body of work. Over the course of several decades comics have diversified into a multi-headed beast. There… [more]
Mad Max: Fury Road is the Best Movie of the Year
“I never thought I’d do anything so shiny.” It might seem hyperbolic to claim Mad Max: Fury Road as the best movie of the year already, but I promise you it’s not. The chances of… [more]
Dangerous Visions: The False Nostalgia of Tomorrowland
SPOILERS FOR TOMORROWLAND Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland presents its audience with a choice. On the one hand there is pessimism – our world is wracked by wars, climate change and rapid overpopulation that could combined bring… [more]
Smorgasbord #19: DC Presents Legends of Fabulous Popstar Rihanna
This week on The Smorgasbord: Tom and Shawn kick Archie while he’s down, pick through the blighted wastelands of August Previews, take Jill Lepore to task for breaking Rule #1 of Academia, and wonder whether… [more]
Julian Darius, Sequart’s Founder, on his Sci-Fi Comic Kickstarter
Julian Darius, the founder of Sequart Organization, is also a comics writer. His heady sci-fi comic, Martian Comics, is currently on Kickstarter with a 52-page special. CODY WALKER: For the uninitiated, what is the story… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Seven: “I Feel So Extraordinary”
Those were the opening lyrics to New Order’s breakthrough hit “True Faith,” but let’s be honest—they don’t have jack shit to do with the frame of mind of Nigel Gibson, the teenage protagonist in Garth… [more]
Get a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Collection for Free Using Sequential
To celebrate the 75th birthday of legendary underground comics creator Gilbert Shelton, Sequential, in partnership with Knockabout comics, is currently giving away a 100-page digital collection of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers for free (until… [more]
Community Season Six: “Wedding Videography”
This season of Community has been utilizing very minor characters a lot more than ever before. The show has always had a cast of glorified extras that would pop into scenes when a random student… [more]
Capital Thoughts: All-New Captain America #6 and some contemplations on Age of Ultron
Hydra’s new plan for world domination—safe sex! Brilliant! Here’s how it’s supposed to work: Hydra has created a new virus that make couples impotent. Only Hydra agents will get the antidote, which means that in… [more]
Validation: A Creative and Moving Webcomic
“Validation” is one of the more gentle, heartfelt and affecting webcomics out there. (As a side note: there are quite a few webcomics! At some point, they’ll constitute a major part of the comics world,… [more]
Tyler Durden Lives! : Fight Club 2 #1 Review
For a debut issue, novelist Chuck Palahniuk comes to the comic medium with such grace and talent one would think he is an old master returning to his craft. The best-selling novelist chose to continue… [more]
The Coming of Comicgate: Backsides, Batgirl and Ethics in Hammer-Wielding
In my previous post I took a close look at the controversy surrounding the Batgirl #41 variant cover that occurred in March. Now, it’s time to take a look at how that debate fits into… [more]
The Flash Season 1 Episode 23 Review
In the penultimate installment of its first season The Flash suddenly seemed to skip ahead of the script. In an episode that wasn’t initially focused on a direct conflict between Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne,… [more]
Giant Bugs, Children, and Hibernation: On Son of Godzilla
After Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Toho decided to task Jun Fukuda and his crew with making another Godzilla movie set in the South Pacific. This one would capitalize on the trendy location in a… [more]
Comic Book Covers 4 Cancer and My Father
As this writer sits in his living room trying to think up a good news story for Sequart. He can’t. His father is dying from a mix of lymphoma, liver, and colon cancer. [more]
Director Brad Bird Gives Update and Talks Challenges of Making Sequels with Incredibles 2
Academy Award winning director for Ratatouille and The Incredibles, Brad Bird is busy with the upcoming release of Tomorrowland, but still has time to talk about Pixar Superhero sequel, The Incredibles 2. When asked in… [more]
Why Avengers: Age of Ultron is One of the Best Marvel Movies Yet
The first Avengers movie was magical. It’s almost indisputable at this point. The less analytical got a joyous and brilliant popcorn movie that featured big stars and entertaining and loved characters bouncing off one another.… [more]
Bonnie and Clyde … and The Cat in the Hat?
It’s funny what can happen to your mind when you’re bored. Recently, I saw a play at a local children’s theater and I had every reason to believe the play would be great. It’s a… [more]
Why I’m Not Excited about a Revival of Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks was a product of its time. Debuting in 1990, it was up against an awful lot of network TV nonsense. It was trailblazing in a lot of ways. But it simply doesn’t hold… [more]
Invisible Republic #3: Fighting for History
By coincidence, for an unrelated project, I’ve been reading Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle lately, and I can’t help seeing many similarities with Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko’s Invisible Republic, as… [more]
Studio Ghibli and Fascism
Studio Ghibli’s films have inspired some introspection so far, but upon further inspection there is a very serious issue that preoccupies the studio’s middle cannon: that is fascism, and the portrayal of fascism in Studio… [more]
Blank on Blank Recreates Ray Bradbury Dialogue with Animated Video
Founded by David Gerlach and collaborators with PBS and Digital Studios, the YouTube channel Blank on Blank makes animated videos for long-lost interviews of music, cinema, and pop culture icons. On April 28, 2015 Blank… [more]