Comics Review: Saga
Published on June 30th, 2017 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Magick, Reviews, Science and Technology, Science Fiction |By E.A. Henson
With these review pieces I normally try and tackle something new and worthy of your attention. For this piece in particular I’ll be taking a look at something that’s not terribly new but still is something of note, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.
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Comic Review: Jeff Lemire’s Royal City
Published on May 5th, 2017 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Reviews |By E.A. Henson
Reading comics is just like consuming any other kind of media for me. You consume what you’re presented with on a weekly basis and there’s a certain baseline enjoyment you derive from it. Spider-Man duking it out with Doc Ock again? Cool. Batman solving a crime while being dark and brooding about it? Right on.
For comic book fans that’s pretty much it. I’m not saying that it’s boring or it’s really even that bad. I’m sure I’ve written before that comics are (for me and I’m sure others) escapism. That’s great, but it can also get stale pretty quickly.
When something truly good comes along it’s easy to notice but you also have to be paying attention. I know how easy it is to get your weekly pull from your LCS (Local Comic Shop), plow through your books, and finish them in time for Arrow to start on Wednesday night. I do it all the time and it’s super easy (is that a super hero pun? I can’t tell anymore).
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“Cannibal” Is 100 Proof Southern Noir Goodness
Published on April 4th, 2017 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Horror, Reviews |By Tim Murr
Set in the swampy Florida Gulf Coast, Cannibal is about a virus that causes the infected to crave flesh. Wait! It’s not another zombie story! Stay with me.
We’ve all got zombie fatigue, but Cannibal is different. Writers Brian Buccellatto and Jennifer Young and artist Matias Bergara craft a fantastic tale where character comes first. There’s also a solid mystery story built on the bedrock of great horror. Volume one collects the first four issues of this Southern Gothic noir and for me it’s a home run.
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Comic Reviews: Loving The Animal, Part 2
Published on December 2nd, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics |By E.A. Henson
There are no great second acts.
Unless you count The Empire Strikes Back, The Wrath of Khan, Paul’s Boutique, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, etc. Whoever it was that mangled that F. Scott Fitzgerald quote clearly never took those into consideration. I’m fairly confident that if Fitzgerald had read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets he would have thrown the manuscript for The Great Gatsby right in the trash.
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Comics Review: Loving The Animal, Part 1
Published on October 21st, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Reviews |By E.A. Henson
Books: Doom Patrol and Shade, The Changing Girl
The first time I heard about DC Comic’s Young Animal imprint I was nearly drowned in the sea of buzzwords that accompanied it: pop-up, curated, boutique. Admittedly, it took me a moment to get past all that to see what the books really are.
For me, the press releases should’ve read “BREAKING: COMICS FAN MAKES GOOD, COMES BACK TO OLD NEIGHBORHOOD A HERO.” But I’m getting ahead of myself.
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Can I Get A Witness? Absolute Preacher Is A Triumph
Published on September 7th, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Reviews, TV |By E.A. Henson
The first season of the darkly funny and hyper-violent Preacher TV series recently wrapped up and DC/Vertigo Comics has, coincidentally, just published the first volume of Absolute Preacher. If you’re a new fan of the show or an old fan of the comic this hefty tome is definitely something worthy of your attention.
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July Comics Rundown with DC, Marvel, and IDW
Published on August 19th, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Reviews |By E.A. Henson
Let’s take a look at some of my favorite titles from July of this year!
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Comic Review: B.E.K. Black Eyed Kids #1
Published on June 9th, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Horror, Reviews |By Tim Murr
What’s creepier than creepy kids? Children Of The Damned, Children Of The Corn, The Brood, Pet Semetary—these are unsettling movies, because the epitome of innocence becomes the epitome of terror. Those cute little creatures that say silly things, making funny observations about a world that’s all new…to have them murderously turn against you is still one of the most fertile concepts in horror. It is not only the idea of killer kids, but also the idea of fighting them, or God forbid, killing them. It’s such dark and taboo territory.
In Case You Missed It: May 1 – 7, 2016—Word To Your Mother
Published on May 8th, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Critics/Criticism, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Feminism, Horror, ICYMI, Magick, Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, Podcasts, Top Ten Lists, TV Reviews |
Happy Mother’s Day! Wondering how to pay homage to your mother, pop culturally speaking? Why not enjoy one of these films or TV shows featuring the Top Ten Best Moms in Pop Culture! If you want to feel better about your problematic family dynamic, you could always try the alternative: Here’s a list of the Top Ten Worst Moms in Pop Culture. (Thank Laury Scarbro for the lists, while you’re at it!)
Is Alicia Florrick a good mom in addition to being The Good Wife? The Hairpin pays tribute to this soon-to-be-over TV show with a series of fantastic and funny articles.
One thing a good mother shouldn’t do is leave her kids with a babysitter like Emelie. Tim Murr takes a look at the perils of childcare in the film of the same name, out now on home video.
For another kind of mother, you might be interested in this list of The Best Witch Cinema You Haven’t Seen from Alison Nastasi on Flavorwire. I haven’t seen or even heard of any of these films, so naturally I’m totally excited to watch all of them.
I might not be a part of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, but I can assure you that film journalism is definitely, as Women and Hollywood puts it, a “dudeocracy.” What can be done about it? Read the article for some ideas on how we can smash the patriarchy of film criticism.
Although critics complain that the roles of women in horror movies are often meaningless or exploitive, I take a different approach in my review of the 1976 flick The Premonition over at Everything Is Scary, called “Mother Of Fears.” Diabolique Magazine has an excellent, feminist analysis of Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession in which the filmmaker seems to ask “Do you liberate in order to destroy?”
What if you had a bong that allowed you to travel through time? Sort of like an updated Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure but with more incisive sociopolitical commentary (sort of), three-part miniseries Time Traveling Bong is worth watching, according to Sachin Hingoo. For something that poses less of a problem to quantum physics, but is perhaps even more bizarre, you could check out the newest episode of the TV OR GTFO Podcast that tackles Stephen Bochco’s infamous Cop Rock. The latest episode of Outsiders, the approrpriately titled “All Hell,” is a short but fitting first season finale, says Laury.
Is the sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre truly superior to the original? That’s the compelling argument made by Justin LaLiberty at Paracinema. And how do you feel about Jared Leto as Lestat in the proposed remake of Interview with the Vampire or a sequel to The Craft?
Saturday was Free Comic Book Day! Frankenstein fans should check out ExMortis, while those who were disappointed by Hawkeye’s secret life reveal in Age Of Ultron, will enjoy this article from the newest addition to the Popshifter staff, Christine Makepeace, called “The Trouble With Hawkeye.”
Musicially speaking, Melissa Bratcher asks if there’s anything Jimbo Mathus can’t do and then decides there isn’t, in her review of his latest EP, Band Of Storms.
But seriously: let’s talk about the difference between dependence and addiction and what they have to do with chronic pain.
Comic Review: ExMortis #1 – 4
Published on May 6th, 2016 in: Comic Reviews, Comics, Current Faves, Horror, Reviews |By Tim Murr
I’d love to meet Mary Shelley’s spirit and find out what she thinks of how far her creation has come in the two hundred plus years since she released it into the world. Doctor Frankenstein and his monster are two of the most enduring characters in the history of literature and fit any number of genre interpretations. Not unlike much of Shakespeare’s work, Shelley’s Frankenstein can easily be adapted to any time period and any given version can emphasize the dramatic, the horrific, or the comedic.