The howling void at the core of “The Dark Knight Rises”
Back in 2009, I wrote theory about what the third of Nolan’s Batman films might include. They were predictions, and hopes, and maybes. Whatever they were, they were absurdly accurate. Spoilers below.
Re: DC, Starfire, Sailor Moon, and the difference between comics in the US and Japan:
If the pronouns listed in the title above mean anything to you, I suggest you read this piece by Deb Aoki about why she left American superhero comics for Japanese shounen manga. Snip: The fascinating and diverse female casts of Bleach and Naruto are a big part of these series’ appeal to both male and [...]
Iron Man 2 is pretty good, actually.
It didn’t give me the rush of pure awesome that Kick-Ass did, but it fell prey to exactly none of the problems I once imagined it would. Charlie Jane Anders is correct when she says that the greatest villain of the story is Tony Stark himself, but while for her this was a betrayal of [...]
Nick Simmons is lucky Kenpachi Zoraki's not real
Nick Simmons, son of Gene Simmons, apparently writes comics. And apparently, those comics flagrantly plagiarize panels, character designs and dialogue from Tite Kubo’s manga Bleach. The parallels are so close, Simmons’ publisher has halted production on his comic, pending an investigation. Pro-tip: if you plagiarize (jackass), make sure you go after small fry, and not, [...]
Summer reading list
This afternoon after picking up my students’ exams (and spending far too much time wandering gourmet food shops in search of the perfect bar of Earl Grey-infused dark chocolate, and then even more time trying on dresses in shops whose soundscapes were punctuated alternately by concrete drilling, poetry slams, and un-medicated raving), I decided to send [...]
Books, given and received:
During the holidays, I promised myself that I would write about the books I gave at the end of 2008. They ranged from manga to cookbooks to hard sf to satire. I had no idea I’d get to brag so much about the books I got, too. (Spook Country needs its own post, because it’s [...]
Memento
Henna paste, courtesy of Holly Monster, used in a fit of pique to remind myself to finish what I start: The end result: It’s amazing how cathartic this little thing is. I sometimes can’t resist and end up kissing my wrist (I always imagine Walter Kovacs cringing and twisting away, like an embarrassed little boy). [...]
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Photo: Kayleigh McCollum Books
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