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From the Steranko Files: The Hunt for Red Tide
The sun was going down and the shadows from the Venetian blinds made the desk in my office look like it was covered in zebra skin. It had been a long day and my eight… [more]
The Martian by Andy Weir: Superb Hard Science Fiction Storytelling
The Martian, by Andy Weir, is a rare example of excellent “hard” science fiction, great suspense writing and an old-fashioned space adventure, complete with lots of plausible and realistic science and some great characters. It… [more]
The Politics of Batman, Part 2: Batman Begins, Feudalism, and Neoconservatism
[Note: The following is reprinted from the book War, Politics and Superheroes] Batman Begins won the support of comic book aficionados across cyberspace as a “traditional” and pitch-perfect portrayal of Batman, while simultaneously providing a… [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]
Did Cinematic Gwen Stacy Have To Die Too?
Let me start by saying I am not a “Spider-Man Guy” and a great deal of my knowledge of the character comes from osmosis (from my college roommate who was a Spidey Guy and from… [more]
Only Humanoid: Cheese, and other forms of Cake
Muse Writer: Denis-Pierre Filippi Art: Terry Dodson I’ve got nothing against cheap entertainment. These works, in whatever medium, are nothing more than bread and circus – exciting violence, loud explosions, shallow humor, and beautiful bodies… [more]
The Third Man: A Near-Perfect Movie
In continuation of our informal Orson Welles series, I think it’s appropriate to give a small nod to The Third Man, a film that became closely associated with him but to which his contribution was… [more]
Brian’s Comic Book Grab Bag: Firestorm Volume 2 #95
This Christmas my brother gave me a booster pack of random, non-sequential issues from a variety of popular comic book titles that syndicated in the late eighties to mid nineties. The nineties was a time… [more]
“Nobody Actually Believes This Comic is Haunted or Cursed, Right?”: Multiversity #1 and The Past, Present and Future of Grant Morrison’s Grand Narrative
Whenever one reads a Grant Morrison title one ends up contemplating his other works in varying degrees. His separate tenures on a variety of DC titles, alongside his creator owned titles, and even works for… [more]
Ghostbusters the 30th Anniversary Screening
This past weekend I had a chance to take in Ghostbusters on the big screen at my local movie theatre, which was part of the celebration of its 30th anniversary. The fact that a movie… [more]
“Not Walking in Alan Moore’s Footsteps”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 33
Continued from last week. Of course, there’s no reason why an obvious ending can’t also be a satisfying one. Similarly, a protagonist that seems to lack personality or potency can still be used in a… [more]
Prisoner Number Six, Willie the Shake, and All that Jazz
Will you do me a favor? No matter what I write in the next paragraph, I want you to commit, right now, to continue reading this column—no matter what. Do we have a deal? Okay,… [more]
X-Men: To the Outback & Beyond… Inferno Finale
Writers: Chris Claremont (X-Men), Louise Simonson (X-Factor) Pencilers: Marc Silvestri (X-Men), Walter Simonson (X-Factor) Inkers: Dan Green/Hilary Barta (X-Men), Al Milgrom (X-Factor) Colorists: Glynis Oliver (X-Men), Tom Vincent (X-Factor) Letters: Tom Orzechowski (X-Men), Joe Rosen… [more]
Oh, My Aching Cranium!: Jack Kirby’s OMAC Deconstructed And Reconstructed, Part Three
It occurs to me that, before we dive too deeply into the contents of the first issue of OMAC, a brief overview of our title character’s “civilian” identity of Buddy Blank might be in order,… [more]
On Jack Kirby’s Bizarre 2001: A Space Odyssey Adaptation and Continuation
In May 2013, Sequart began its second themed week with Sci-Fi Week. For it, Sequart’s founder, Julian Darius, planned something fairly ambitious: a 12,000-word analysis of Jack Kirby’s wonderfully bizarre adaptation and continuation of 2001:… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #23
Issue 23 has more than its fair share of mayhem, so much so that finding a theme to discuss is difficult. Oh, there are plot twists, to be sure: Zola is invading from Dimension Z… [more]
Re-Entering the Garden: Late Mythic Work in Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur
To understand the reverence in which Jack Kirby is held by (much of) the comics culture, one need only look to the title of Mark Evanier’s biography of the artist, Kirby: King of Comics. Or… [more]
Brian’s Comic Book Grab Bag: Justice League America Volume 1 #61
On Christmas Day 2013, my brother gave me a booster pack of random, non-sequential issues from a variety of popular comic book titles that syndicated in the late eighties to mid nineties. The nineties was… [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]
Only Humanoid: The City and The City
District 14 Writer : Pierre Gabus Art : Romuald Reutimann Possibly the most enjoyable thing about District 14 (and I say “possibly” only because there is so much to choose from that I wouldn’t begrudge… [more]
“The Wholeness That’s Way Too Big”: Imagining the Sublime With Kant, Derrida, and Jack Kirby
Since I earned my master’s degree in art and philosophy, it may be unsurprising that two of the most dog-eared books on my shelf are Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment and The Truth in Painting… [more]
“Even The Worst Among Them Has Potential”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 32
Continued from last week. So, the Millar who wrote Swamp Thing was enthusiastic, ambitious, and ethically engaged. But for all his efforts and good intentions, and for all the occasional highpoint, the run was heavy-handed,… [more]
Jack Kirby and His Pal Darkseid
Jack Kirby is among the greats in comic book culture, not for his creations really, but for his signature tone that set the stage for what would become modern comicbooking. His antiquated writing style, outlandish… [more]
True Detective as Minotaur Myth
I recently binged all of HBO’s True Detective. Though not perfect, the show is gorgeous and full of enough mystery and symbolism to keep me puzzling over it long after I was finished watching. Nic… [more]