Influential mangaka passes away Beloved mangaka Shigeru Mizuki passed away earlier this week at the age of 93. His manga GeGeGe no Kitaro is credited with encouraging Japan’s love of yokai. Mizuki kept working and producing new manga until his death. May all comic creators aspire to be as industrious as he was! Chinese nationals…
Nerdy Nummies: Sweet Treats for the Geeky Baker
The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook: Sweet Treats for the Geek in All of Us Rosanna Pansino Atria Books November 3 2015 Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review You may recognize the name Rosanna Pansino and Nerdy Nummies from her (very) popular YouTube channel. Every Tuesday…
That Pryde Thing: Finding Myself In Jewish Superheroes
I don’t look Jewish. Somewhere during the formation of my DNA, most of my father’s darker features were thrown out in favor of my mother’s Irish coloring, giving me blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nose that doesn’t quite dominate my profile. This fact, while interesting, isn’t that remarkable. Jewish people exist all over the…
Legitimacy and Legacy in Creed
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…
