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The Goddamned #4: You Don’t Mess With Noah
The Goddamned is one of two major comics that have recently offered us a reimagined version of the Biblical character Noah. The other book — Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, which was also made into a big… [more]
Equals Film Review
Science-fiction movies have long had a history of flirting with the concept of a “utopia.” However, the recurring problem of any utopia is that they are often always a “dystopia” in disguise. Is life truly… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 62
Issue #74 “Damnation’s Flame: Trail of Tears” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Picking up immediately where the previous… [more]
Star Wars In May – Thoughts on the Anniversary of the Original Release
Yesterday fans all over the world recognized May 25 as one of the most important anniversaries in popular culture: the release of Star Wars on that day in 1977. This comes at the tail end… [more]
A Tour of the 2016 Eisner Nominees, Part 12 – Wrapping Up
Over the course of this series about the 2016 Eisner Award Nominees, we’ve been focusing on individual titles that many comics fans may have either missed or overlooked. Without question, every comic mentioned in the… [more]
A Tour of the 2016 Eisner Nominees, Part 11 – March: Book Two
The history recounted in March: Book Two is, or should be, fairly familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of the 20th century. The Freedom Riders and the other struggles of the early 1960s American… [more]
A Marvel Cinematic Universe Wish List
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), including their Netflix series, is expanding rapidly. Since having kids, the wife and I can’t seem to keep up. I’m not sure she’s as impatient to see Captain America: Civil War… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 61
Issue #73 “Damnation’s Flame: Broadway the Hard Way” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Last we left John Constantine… [more]
A Tour of the 2016 Eisner Nominees, Part 10 – Kaijumax
Zander Cannon’s Kaijumax is an easy comic to like, because it takes such joy in being what it is. A colourful, quick-witted satire of prison movie cliches, blended with an all-star cast of Toho Pictures’… [more]
Smorgasbord #42: The 99% Strikes Back
After a week off, Shawn & Tom are back to deal with the fallout from Shelly Bond’s firing from Vertigo, Oni’s new imprint, the release of Captain America: Civil War, movie announcements for both Sexcastle and Irredeemable,… [more]
13 Cameras Plays Upon Your Video Surveillance Fears
The new suspenseful home invasion horror film, 13 Cameras, bases its plot on a very realistic fear – that someone may be spying on you inside your own home. The notion that anyone could be… [more]
Manifest Destiny #19: Teamwork
When undertaking a task as dangerous as the exploration of unknown lands, teamwork is an absolute necessity. Other writers (such as Stephen Ambrose) have noted that it was this capacity for group unity, strong leadership… [more]
Black Road #2: A Little Kindness
It should come as no surprise that Black Road has the narrative structure of the “journey”. (The word “road” is right there in the title, after all.) While we were introduced to the characters and… [more]
Revisit The Dark Knight Rises With Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman
Kevin Smith is naturally a positive and forgiving personality, which makes his podcasts fun, but often prevents him from really getting into a serious critique of a film, especially when it’s a film close to… [more]
Science Fiction Elements of Infinite Jest: Part 3, Subsidized Time
The twentieth-anniversary rereading and discussion of the greatest novel ever written, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, has just ended. The discussion continues, and this is part of it. Many thousands of fans worldwide including me… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 60
Issue #72 “Damnation’s Flame Part One: Brave New World” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Clem Robins; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; When Hellblazer started 71… [more]
Rethinking and Re-inking Catwoman
A few months ago I started reading Deborah E. Whaley’s recent book, Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime. In it, Whaley explores how women of African descent are portrayed in various visual… [more]
Kevin Smith’s Critic-Proof Yoga Hosers Trailer Debuts
For the past few years, particularly since the release of 2011’s Red State, Kevin Smith has led a (mostly) one-man campaign to carve his own path through 21st-century popular culture. Temporarily ditching his film career… [more]
Southern Bastards #14: “Homecoming” Ends
As we reach the end of the “Homecoming” story arc in Southern Bastards, it becomes fairly clear what this particular storyline has always been about. Not football, or even race, necessarily, but the rather the… [more]
Until the End of the World: Thoughts on Preacher
Tulip: The way I hear it, there’s two good places to look for God: in church, or at the bottom of a bottle. Jesse: Maybe I’ll go find a liquor store, then … ’cause lemme… [more]
Of Squirrels and Girls
This exposes me to some risk, having to look over my shoulder for Steinbeck’s vengeful spirit, but that’s the life we choose in the thrilling, fast-paced world of sequential art criticism. Not like music reviewers… [more]
A Tour of the 2016 Eisner Nominees, Part 9 – Monstress
Monstress wastes no time in creating a lush, vivid fantasy world and giving us some great characters to populate it. This Image Comics release by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda builds all manner of artifice… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 59
Issue #71 “Finest Hour” Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Steve Dillon; Colors: Tom Ziuko; Letters: Gaspar Saladino; Editor: Stuart Moore; Assistant Editor: Julie Rottenberg; Cover: Glenn Fabry; Last we left John Constantine he was in a… [more]
They Were Lost in Space-Time and Then They Found God
Written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Al Milgrom, the Lost in Space-Time saga ran from West Coast Avengers #17 to 24. The real meat is between 18-23, with the others serving as a prologue… [more]