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Magazine
Absolute Editions, 3D Movies, and the Silent War on Democratic Art
Last summer I decided to re-read the entirety of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Even though I’m a big fan, it had been years since I sat down and systematically went through the whole ten-volume series, so… [more]
Review of Arrow Season 2, Episode 21
“City of Blood” has a mostly unenviable task, effectively setting the stage for the finale of a twenty-three episode season of television. It’s mostly devoid of action, and generally a talky episode of Arrow, which… [more]
With Ronin on the Way from SyFy, Can We at Least Discuss Frank Miller?
With SyFy having announced that work has begun on a Ronin mini-series, can we at least discuss Frank Miller’s views? Miller’s Holy Terror was deeply Islamophobic. He plead ignorance of not only the history of Islamophobia… [more]
Buffy: Harmonic Divergence
The next five issues of Buffy Season 8 (#20-25), seem to represent a determined and conscientious effort on the part of the Whedon crew to experiment. They revisit some old ideas, and old characters, and… [more]
Spider-Man Shrugged: The Lack of Randian Heroes in The Amazing Spider-Man
A cursory exploration of “The Amazing Spider-Man” #1-#38 and its tangible threads to Steve Ditko’s known ardent Objectivism, a philosophy of self-interest developed by Ayn Rand. [more]
Examining the World of Night of the Hunter
“Lord save little children…They endure and they abide.” These words are spoken directly to the camera at the end of Night of the Hunter, Charles Laughton’s directorial debut. This ending reminds me of another classic… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol #20, A Companion Reader
This essay series will devote time and attention to intertextual themes in the first four issues of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol (#19 to #22). [more]
Spider-Man Was Never Just the “Loveable Loser”
“Yes siree, things are sure looking up for my favorite couple of guys–namely, me!”—ASM #12 Quick: what’s Spider-Man really all about, in one sentence? With most major superheroes, someone might have to pause a second… [more]
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #4: Where River Gets Scared
The return of The Operative in the previous issue of Serenity: Leaves on the Wind excited fans all over the world, but it sure didn’t excite the Serenity crew. Though we all love Chiwetel Ejofor’s… [more]
“The Final Chapter!”: Peter Parker, Steve Ditko, and the Greatest Spider-Man Story Ever Told
It was clear from his first appearance in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15 that Spider-Man was a very different character than any of the other super-heroes battling for justice on the newsstands at the time. Unlike… [more]
Peter Jackson, We Need to Talk About The Hobbit
Dear Mr. Peter Jackson, It’s time for an intervention. I wasn’t going to write about the Desolation of Smaug, I really wasn’t. Everything I felt about that film had been succinctly expressed elsewhere. Then you… [more]
The New Star Wars Cast: Lucky VII?
This photo is destined to become one of the most famous, or one of the most notorious, in popular culture. The image of the first assembly of the Star Wars Episode VII cast is right… [more]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Defending the Reboot
Wasn’t it strange that the prospect of a sequel to the hit franchise reboot of Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man was not greeted with the excitement of, say, Bryan Singer’s new X-Men chapter? How about the rampant… [more]
(Almost) the World’s Finest Team: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 16
Continued from last week. Millar was hardly the first comics scripter to bridle at the constraints of continuity. But few can equal his predilection for heedlessly flouting the more obvious aspects of a property’s backstory. The… [more]
Spider-Man and Science: Exactly Who is Responsible Enough for Great Power?
Spider-Man is kind of unique amongst superheroes in his relationship with science. No, not the science of how he actually swings on those webs without dislocating his shoulders or ripping his arms out of their… [more]
Review of Arrow Season 2, Episode 20
For a good portion of “Seeing Red” I was convinced that the variety and complexities of this season’s plotlines might have finally gotten the better of the writers. Roy’s trail of carnage simply wasn’t illuminating… [more]
The Spider-Man Moment
This is not the essay you were supposed to read today. When I first heard that we were having a Spider-Man week at Sequart, I knew pretty quickly what I wanted to write about. While… [more]
Review of The Raid: Berandal
Gareth Evans’ Indonesian action movie The Raid: Redemption was pretty much a perfect action movie. The actual story was pure minimalism – there was exactly enough to sustain the movie, and not a drop more… [more]
It’s Spider-Man Week on Sequart!
In celebration of the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sequart will be publishing content related to Spider-Man all this week. Look for the first piece tomorrow morning. Spider-Man Week is Sequart’s seventh themed week.… [more]
Harvey Pekar’s The Quitter: My Favourite Comic Book
I sometimes get asked what my “favourite comic of all time” is. All of us who reflect on creative works, whether that be music, film, TV, theatre, literature or any other kind of art, have… [more]
X-Men: To the Outback & Beyond… Part 4
Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Marc Silvestri Inker: Dan Green Colorist: Glynis Oliver Letter: Tom Orzechowski Editor: Ann Nocenti & Bob Harras From the demon filled fields of Limbo and the drama of the Rasputin family… [more]
Buffy: Time of Your Life
This arc of Buffy Season 8 is complex and more than a little confusing for those who don’t pay strict attention. This has to be said up front for those playing the home game because… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #19
It took a long time in coming, but the pay-off is finally here. After what seems like half a year of paralyzing misgivings, Cap, the ultimate, ethical hero is back! “Fallen into weakness in the… [more]
Review of Community Season 5, Episodes 12 and 13
“What does this look like, an hour long episode of The Office?” The Dean says that, somewhere near the beginning of Basic Sandwich, the second half of Community’s two-parter season finale. The reason this episode’s… [more]
Rat Queens: Smart, Funny, Sassy Fantasy
The slug-line description of Rat Queens that I heard continually at Vancouver Fan Expo last weekend as “LOTR as if it were written by Tarantino”. That might sound intriguing, but the more I thought of… [more]