If you’re someone who cried hysterically when you couldn’t beat Act 2 of the Oil Ocean Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, you may identify with “A Second Life,” a comic by myself and the amazing Diana Naneva, a quick-and-dirty one-page science fiction piece about how we engage with fictional worlds. Or maybe you’ve just […]
The NSA Took My Baby Away: Fighting for Personal Freedom in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
There’s a reason why most action films situate their heroes as rogues, combating authority even as they’re saving the day. Larger than life figures gel with audiences when there’s something to ground them and while most audiences probably don’t know what it’s like to, say, save a business tower full of hostages on your day […]
Sorry, I’m a God: Bolo Nef’s Sol Invictus is Truly Scary Horror Rap
It doesn’t take much for hip-hop to scare people. For a nation that has “conquered racism,” we’re stock full of people who think an MPC is more dangerous than an AK and are all too happy to put a Soundcloud beats page up on the same criminal pedestal as running down a mob of people. […]
Reviews in the Panel Panopticon: Starlight, Creepy, Judge Dredd: Mega-City Two and More
In Panel Panopticon, Nick Hanover talks about the comics he’s picked up for the week, good, bad or otherwise. Starlight #2 Writer: Mark Millar Artist: Goran Parlov Colorist: Ive Scorcina Letterer: Marko Sunjic Published by: Image Comics Few figures in comics are as divisive as Mark Millar. The Scottish writer known for The Ultimates and […]
I Bought the Only Copy of the New Wu-Tang Clan Album
From the Desk Floatie of Nona Lippi: It’s hard to believe that me, Nona Lippi, a simple, multi-gendered, race-less vessel for an inter-dimensional god whose very name conjures the mind-melting voice of Beelzebub was a founding member of influential rap collective Wu Tang Clan. Indeed, in 1990 I was living on Staten Island, I took […]
Advanced Review: The Field #1 (Image Comics)
Artist: Simon Roy Writer: Ed Brisson Colorist: Simon Cough Published by Image Comics If you saw Inside Llewyn Davis and like me you enjoyed it but weren’t blown away, there’s probably one scene that nonetheless sticks out to you even now. The scene in question occurs exactly in the middle of the film, as […]
Fiction: Milking in the Evening by Daniel Elkin
Because loneliness had walked over him like like a toddler taking his first steps and solitude was a thud, hollow in his ears, Stephen spent days with the movements of goats, painstakingly imitating, mirroring — subtleties defined, generalities embraced. Alone, he had turned to the goats for companionship. Admiring their nonchalance when dealing with society, […]
The Life Pursuit: Fate and the Creative Process in God Help the Girl and Grand Budapest Hotel
Stuart Murdoch and Wes Anderson may as well be twins. The two auteurs likely have near identical record collections and they share a visual aesthetic wrapped up in stark, flat palettes. But more importantly, they both have fanatical cult followings who treat them as semi-religious figures, their every work a spiritual tome ready for revelation […]
Reviews in the Panel Panopticon: Real Heroes, Genus and All-New Ghost Rider
In Panel Panopticon, Nick Hanover talks about the comics he’s picked up for the week, good, bad or otherwise. Real Heroes #1 Drawn and Written by: Bryan Hitch Inks: Paul Neary Colors: Laura Martin Published by Image Comics If you’ve been enjoying the self-aware but kinetic recent slate of Marvel Studios films, then you […]
Trophies of Over Indulgence: A Look Inside the World of Gainers
My skinny jeans fit a little more loosely today. Maybe I should eat some more. I’m alone in my apartment, as usual for a Friday, except I’m actually going somewhere tonight. An original pressing of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is spinning on my turntable, blasting “God Only Knows” throughout every room in the apartment. I spit […]