Will next year be any better than this year? Maybe not. But at least there’s a sliver of hope that it’ll be different than this year. I’ll hold onto that hope for the next forty-three days. In the meantime, here’s a sampler of the last seven days of entertainment news.
REVIEW: Wolverine & X-Force Keep The Pace
I’ve been thinking a lot about pacing. Understanding pacing is critical to the telling of a good story; you have to understand intrinsically where to seed a twist, when to add a reveal. It’s the work of practice and care, and it’s been a topic of note since this event began; I’ve read a lot…
Vault Comics Pubwatch: November 2020
What’s New? A big deal for Vault Comics this month is the long awaited release of Brandon Sanderson’s The Dark One, a graphic novel, starring a young man who is haunted by visions of a dark fantastic world that turn out to be prophecies of a future where he becomes a fearsome destroyer. As any…
REVIEW: Champions #2 is a Muddled Metaphor
Champions #1 was “a lot of talk and not enough action.” Champions #2 isn’t much different, with a lot of dialogue and very few action scenes. Its biggest failure, however, is to not treat its teenage superheroes as superheroes, even as they fight to be recognized as such.
REVIEW: The Darkness #1: Appreciating Jackie Estacado 25 Years Later
Twenty-five years after his introduction in The Darkness #1, Jackie Estacado has learned a thing or two about being a good guy, but it’s taken a while to get there.
Review: Star Trek Discovery’s “Die Trying” Tries and Dies
Discovery’s “Die Trying” provides all kinds of fun easter eggs and connective tissue for both the Star Trek franchise and Discovery, but unfortunately it fails at telling a cohesive story.
REVIEW: EXCALIBUR #14 – Fell To Pieces and I’m Still Falling
The competition begins in earnest in Excalibur #14 and immediately takes a wildly unexpected turn. After all, Otherworld is the realm of the Fae, and with them, nothing is ever as it seems.
Viz Pubwatch November
What a year this month has been. With everything going on in the world recently, you might have missed these news items and volume releases from VIZ media. Luckily, the monthly VIZ Pubwatch is here! This month we’re mostly focusing on long-running fan favorites and some classic series, including Mermaid Saga by Rumiko Takahashi. First,…
Vampires on the Margins: Forbidden Desires
One reason for the enduring appeal of the vampire as a concept is its erotic element, and this is something that manifests in both heterosexual and homosexual terms. From the lesbian vampire exploitation films of the seventies to the queer undead of Anne Rice’s bestsellers, modern audiences have come to expect vampires to exist outside…
When Fandom & Canon Collide: Revisiting Supernatural’s Destiel Scene
Fans of Supernatural had more than just the USA election to think about last week. In a year full of surprises, one of the show’s biggest ships, “Destiel,” was made canon and it took over the internet.
REVIEW: Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem is The Comic That 2020 Needs
The national anthem. It played on the original Danger Days album. It’s written on the side of Mike Milligram’s car. I’ve heard it in classrooms and sports arenas my entire life. I’ve thought, at times, about what it represents in terms of the American consciousness. So has Gerard Way, and apparently, now it’s time to…
REVIEW: Marauders #15: Stabbing Saturnyne? Right in Front of My Salad?
It’s a bit unusual for a multi-title crossover event to continue its story in the very same title, but here we are, leaping into Marauders #15, right where we left off.