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Smorgasbord #2: The Ubiquitous Charles Soule
Welcome to the Smorgasbord Podcast, where Tom Shapira (Curing the Postmodern Blues) and Shawn Edri talk about little of everything comics related. In this episode we talk possible new live-action superhero shows, the new novel… [more]
Failing to Defend Anita Sarkeesian
Can you debate a critic of Anita Sarkeesian? Is discussion even possible on the topic? As a casual fan of Sarkeesian and her well-constructed, well-argued, and entertaining Feminist Frequency videos, I’ve been appalled to read… [more]
Legitimizing a Hero: Green Arrow’s Rocky Journey to Success
In the last two years we have seen a sudden rise of popularity of what, at one time, could have been considered fringe heroes: heroes that had a fan base but for some reason couldn’t… [more]
The Last Roundup…For Now
If I told you my favorite comic book run, you’d be a little surprised. Given that I have a whole bookshelf section for him, you might assume it’s a Superman run. Or given that I… [more]
The Best Thing About Contact was Tom Skerritt as David Drumlin
Many of us of a certain age will remember the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film Contact very well. I personally recall going to see it on opening night (which was July 11) and being profoundly inspired.… [more]
Comics Post September 11th
I remember September 7, 2001 pretty well. It was a Friday. I had been working as a manager of sorts in an office. Small, private administration company. It had been hemorrhaging money because the owner… [more]
Smorgasbord #1: Secret Origins
Welcome to the Smorgasbord, a brand new comics podcast which has a little bit of everything. Join veteran Sequart writer Tom Shapira (Curing the Postmodern Blues) and newcomer Shawn Edri as they traverse the ups… [more]
New Gods and Old Soldiers: Kirby in the ’70s
To put it simply, it’s impossible to imagine comic books existing in their modern form without Jack Kirby. It’s hard to fathom what Marvel Comics at their inception and heyday might’ve been like without Jack… [more]
The (de)Evolution of DC Animated Movies
The DC Universe Animated Original Movies (DCUAOM) has long been one of my favorite areas of the expanded media empire that comes along with DC Comics being part of the Warner Brothers family. Although they… [more]
Advanced Creative Storytelling and the Art of Metanarrative: Community’s Journey to #sixseasonsandamovie
As the spring television season began its descent into summer, Community fans shared a collective thought: this truly is the darkest timeline. For five seasons, the battlecry of #sixseasonsandamovie had proven to work as Community… [more]
Defending Guardians of the Galaxy
Okay. Let’s do this. *Cracks knuckles* Recently Julian Darius wrote a real mic-drop of a response to Guardians of the Galaxy. It was pretty incendiary. Like everything Julian writes it was excellent, and made me… [more]
Why Don’t We Trust Filmmakers?
Where is the trust? That is the question I asked after the recent flurry of criticisms leveled at Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. It got me thinking about fandom reactions in general when it… [more]
Media and Conflict: Reflections on the Centenary of WWI
Today, as I write this, it is 4 August 2014, the centenary of WWI. Or, as I prefer to conceptualize it as a historian, Act I in a Century of Tragedy. Niall Ferguson calls it… [more]
On Black Jesus: Adult Swim’s Reimagining of the Messiah
I wasn’t surprised to see that late night programmer Adult Swim was going to put on a show called Black Jesus. I’ve been watching the network since my early teens (now about 10 years), recalling… [more]
It’s Okay to Criticize Guardians of the Galaxy
I read Julian Darius’ essay on Guardians of the Galaxy with great interest, just as I read Stephanie Zacharek’s review of the same film. Both of them have come under fire on social media (Julian’s… [more]
Why Can’t Erica be Thor?
This is Erica. She will be the first to tell you all about the meaning of her name, and how it’s described in various books as the name for a female warrior, with adjectives like… [more]
My First Comic Con
My first experience at San Diego Comic Con was almost overwhelming. And I mean that in a literal sense: there were many times when I felt an almost irresistible temptation to “take a knee” and… [more]
NASA vs Popular Culture: They’re Cooler Than You Think
Along with several others in the Sequart family, I’m going to be attending San Diego Comic-Con this week. One of the panels I’m excited to see is hosted by Seth Green and called “NASA’s Next… [more]
Power Fantasies: Superman, Jeffrey Baldwin and the Worth of a Publishing Brand
Jeffrey Baldwin was powerless. The five year-old had lived, and died, locked in a cold bedroom in the Toronto house where he was left unchecked after being removed from the custody of his parents. In… [more]
Serenity is Really Missing its Shepherd and Companion
Looking back over the now-complete series Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, which will mark the beginning of a continuing Serenity comic series, as well as the other short-run “miniseries” of Serenity comics that have emerged… [more]
The Possibilities of Death
It is summer time again, which means it is time for comic publishers to unveil their big story lines for the year, and likely kill a beloved character. Marvel has been teasing that Wolverine may… [more]
An Open Reply to Fantasy Author Patrick Rothfuss
Patrick, In your most recent blog post, you replied to an article that I wrote for Sequart, “Six Reasons Why the Kingkiller Chronicle is the Next Game of Thrones.” You wrote: “Over the years, I’ve been… [more]
An Apology to Pam Noles
Early this year, I wrote an analysis of an interview Alan Moore did with Pádraig Ó Méalóid. One day after it went live, I learned that the “Batman scholar” referenced in the interview (whom I’d… [more]
Zenescope’s Joe Brusha and the Problem with Provocative Covers
Founded in 2005 by Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco, Zenescope’s notorious covers have been a topic of intense conversation within the comic community for the entirety of the company’s history. From souped-up, sexy Dorothy and… [more]
Jason Mewes Survives to Age 40
The day has come that many would have bet every farm in the Midwest we would never see: Jason Mewes has just turned 40 years old. Mewes is the Sid Vicious or Keith Moon of… [more]