How important is a name? Well, I was given my first name to honour my maternal grandmother who was practically my third parent. My middle name is my father’s first name while my last name is my paternal grandfather’s first name and on and on it goes. This naming system lets me trace my lineage…
DC Daily Planet: Dawn of the Planet of the Justice
Today is a Batman vs. Superman extravaganza and no one is surprised. The second full length trailer for the upcoming movie dropped last night and was full of surprises (and not-so-surprises). Let’s take a look: This trailer paints a broader picture of the movie, compared to the Comic-Con trailer released earlier this year which zeroed in pretty…
The Thursday Book Beat: Learning Why ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ in Sweden
Newspaper leaks Haruki Murakami’s elementary school library records Borrowing records are sacrosanct in library systems around the world, and Japanese librarians have spoken out about the Kobe Shinbun’s list of books Murakami borrowed as a teenager. The record was gathered from cards where library users’ names were listed underneath specific authors. All Swedish teens to…
2014 Hugos Versus 2015 Sad Puppies: Short Stories
In 2002, the Hugo Award for Best Novel went to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Science fiction author Gregory Benford was not impressed, and he gave his views on the situation in 2005: “Fantasy has very, very cleverly managed to capture the apparatus erected by science fiction fandom and pro-dom, and fantasy writers now…
Essential Reading: X-Men Info? Who Needs Cerebro
Preceding the current Epic line of full-colour, large collection reprint volumes, Marvel Comics’ Essential [Whatever] phonebook trades were their best-value output, in my opinion. Black and white, so you lose the colourist’s work—I can’t speak for how much of an artistic shame this reliably is, but it does get a little confusing telling one from t’other…
Mental Illness and Strong Black Women in The Walking Dead
This summer I came up with an interesting idea, or at least I thought it would be interesting, to write about how the women of Walking Dead subverted the strong, black woman trope. I started my research, took notes, and gathered my images. Then I stopped. What happened? Well, a series of unfortunate real life events…
Customization is Not New: Hoping for More in Star Wars Battlefront
NPR’s recent interview with Star Wars Battlefront producer Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir would have you believe that the game offers new, fresh, innovative character customization, and that it is incredibly intentional. Well, as many of the commentors have pointed out, this is nothing really new. Several of them have accused NPR of running an ad in the form of an…
Get Your Game on Wednesday
Hello, gaming lovelies! Did you know that they make a Guinness Book of World Records just for gaming? The book includes stats such as the highest earning female player (psst it’s Kat “Mystik” Gunn) and new this year is a section dedicated to Minecraft. Nintendo UK on PopJam Targeting the under 13 year old market, Nintendo…
Mom N’ Popculture: A Parent’s View on Her Kid’s Anxiety
In my close circle of friends and family there are at least four adults who take anti-anxiety medication for various reasons on a daily basis. And those are the ones who are willing to talk about it. Many people still fear judgment for needing medication to deal with anxiety related issues. I believe this is…
Short Story Collections You May Have Missed in 2015
It took me a long time to really appreciate the short story. I hated reading them in high school and university, and was convinced my time would be better spent on novels. People would give me collections as gifts and they would sit, unread on my bookshelf collecting dust. A few years ago, however, I…
Review: The Golden Compass: The Graphic Novel Volume 1
The Golden Compass: The Graphic Novel Volume 1 Written by Philip Pullman Adapted by Stéphane Melchior Art by Clément Oubrerie Coloring by Clément Oubrerie and Philippe Bruno Translated by Annie Eaton Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books For Young Readers September 22, 2015 The last couple of months have been excellent for fans of the His Dark…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: World-Building, the Perils of Graphic Memoirs, & Swedish Comics
Wow, ever have one of those vacations that was so lovely it somehow makes going back to work on Monday worse instead of better and more well-rested? Because I am so there this week, and no amounts of .gif sets of the new Civil War trailer can soothe me. Luckily, there are a few delightful interviews to check…
