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Theorizing about the Joker in All Seriousness
And it’s not that easy. One thing becomes clear as I go about snooping on the Man Who Laughs – you cannot quite ‘come to know’ the Joker. You can read about him, theorise all… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 5
Hellblazer #6 “Extreme Prejudice” Written:Jamie Delano Art: John Ridgeway Colors:Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Todd Klein Cover: Dave McKean Just as when the term “magic” is presented and certain images come to mind, “skinhead” also conjures certain… [more]
Analysis of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, part two
Some time ago I decided to watch through and analyze the skeletal filmography of Andrew Dominik, watching through all three of his movies in the order in which he made them. After starting with the… [more]
The Super-Heroics of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, Part 3
Early 90s Superhero work I have been alluding at various points the real-life history of my two subjects in my past articles, but context is vital in understanding the next period of superhero writing for… [more]
Oh, My Aching Cranium!: Jack Kirby’s OMAC Deconstructed And Reconstructed, Part Eight
What a difference an issue makes! If you’ll recall (and I promise it’s true even if you don’t recall), the super-satellite Brother Eye was noticeable only for “his” absence in issue three of Jack Kirby’s… [more]
City on the Edge of Forever, The Original Teleplay: Star Trek‘s Classic 1930s Tragedy
The final part of Scott and David Tipton’s adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s original draft of “City on the Edge of Forever” caps one of the most intriguing and emotional stories in the Star Trek universe,… [more]
John Wick: An Amazing Action Movie
Good God this is a great action movie. Just dripping with cool. Keanu Reeves is in it. It’s all good. Come read my gushing. [more]
“Until It Destroys Your Brain”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 44)
Continued from last week. Not everything in Morrison and Millar’s rebuffed pitches to Marvel went to waste. The former’s dogged belief in the quality of the Apocalypse 2099 proposal would have only been strengthened by… [more]
Conversations with Creators: Ramón Pérez
Conversations with Creators is a collaborative interview series designed to understand the processes and inner workings of the artist, their creations, and how their work impacts the comic booking industry. Each meeting is candid and… [more]
Smoragsbord #6: #Doom
Crossover season is once again upon us, here Shawn and Tom try and grapple with DC’s Convergence event and Marvel’s brewing Secret Wars and come up with mostly headache and confusion. Also: the frankly bizarre declaration about… [more]
Superman Goes to the Symphony: Michael Daugherty’s The Metropolis Symphony
One of the old adages about writing says that you should write the thing that scares you—so here goes. For this week’s column, I want to take a look at a piece of classical music. … [more]
There’s Always Music in the Air: Pure Experience and the Philosophical Appeal of Twin Peaks
The recent announcement –following some cryptic tweets– that Mark Frost and David Lynch will be resurrecting their cult TV hit Twin Peaks predictably caused a firestorm of speculation and excitement. The vocal enthusiasm about the… [more]
Arrow Season 3 Episode 6 Review
One of the issues that Arrow can sometimes struggle with is in adequately developing its one-off characters. This week that means the man attempting to frame Ted Grant, his vigilante ex-sidekick Isaac, comes off as… [more]
Only God Forgives: A Freudian Nightmare
Come read my 100th article for Sequart. WOOP! [more]
FURY and the Horrors of War Spectacle
There is much dispute over the relationship between war and film. Considering horrific realism versus the need for action spectacle, FURY is ambiguously caught in the middle. Safe to say, however, Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman,… [more]
Colour in The Fountain: Majestic and Artful Sci-Fi
The Fountain, Darren Aronokfsky’s 2006 science fiction masterpiece, is a true piece of cinematic art. It deals with weighty themes of love, death and the meaning of life, and it does so with a carefully… [more]
The Flash Season 1 Episode 5 Review
One of the hardest things for a TV series to do over the long run is to remain consistently inventive and exciting. Particularly in the American network model of television where most series are turning… [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 4
Issue #5 “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” Writer: Jamie Delano; Art: John Ridgeway; Colors: Lovern Kindzierski; Letters: Todd Klei; Cover: Dave McKean “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” marks the first issue of the series that… [more]
The Super-Heroics of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, Part 2
Prime-Era Superheroes After a falling out with British Comics publishers, Alan Moore began working with DC Comics writing the horror-book Swamp Thing. Most of Swamp Thing avoided utilization of most superheroes sans some supernatural characters.… [more]
Heavy Metal: A Review of Deathlok #1
Since making his first appearance in the mid-seventies, Deathlok has always been around the periphery of the Marvel Universe. He would pop-up every now and then, guest-starring in one book or another, then going away… [more]
Rising Tensions: Legend of Korra: Book 4 “Enemy at the Gates” Review
Warning: Episode Spoilers Ahead. If you are not caught up on the Legend of Korra, it is highly recommended that you avoid reading this review. Another week, another great episode of the Legend of Korra!… [more]
Frank Miller’s RoboCop: A Retrospective Review
I have to give it a hand to the Avatar people for pushing for Frank Miller’s original RoboCop 2 script to be adapted onto the comics’ page. The story of RoboCop 2 is always fascinating,… [more]
Arrow Season Three, Episode 5 Review
“The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak” isn’t necessarily the best hour of Arrow, in fact it’s a pretty decent representation of the ways that the show can rely on too obvious plotting in its villain-of-the-week… [more]
“It Would Have Made a Great Comic”: On Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 (The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 43)
Continued from last week. Yet whatever its strengths, Morrison and Millar’s 2099 proposal went to waste, with a far less sweeping and less nostalgic series of changes being introduced instead. As part of the ongoing… [more]