I came to Battlestar Galactica (the reboot) quite late. In fact, I think I finally got into the show near the end of its second season. Something about that first season didn’t grab me the first time I watched; the same happened to the first season of Doctor Who. But for some reason, I went back to BSG to see if I could figure out what everyone loved about the thing…and in a handful of episodes, I was hooked. Not just hooked. Obsessed.
The movie opens with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) writing a title on a chalkboard: “eXistenZ. Written like this. One word. Small e. capital X, capital Z.” A virtual reality game, led by the designer itself, goes violent and wrong. As she and her companion flee assassins and death, their exploration within the game itself soon blurs the lines between game and reality.
Our robo-goblin overlord has declared a Month of Joy, and allowed that in this month, by his grace, I am allowed to be right about comics. Therefore, this month, I’m going to do a round-up of comics I’ve been loving. Which is a lot, since this is the year I decided to get into comics writing, and as a result, have been reading a LOT of comics, especially since Baltimore Comic-Con. Here’s a round-up of some of the books that have wowed me this month:
There’s a lot to critique about the role of women in superhero comics and associated media — and I spend a lot of time and energy doing exactly that. But today, I’m here to talk about a bunch of reasons to be super excited about female superheroes, and what’s being written, drawn and performed either right now or in the future. 1) Wonder Woman It’s a really good time to be a Wonder Woman fan. We’re drawing to the end of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s legendary run on the character, which was one of the few creative success stories to come out of the DC Comics New 52. I’ve particularly liked the heavy focus on Greek mythology, the retro and non-exploitative art direction, and the supporting cast. Keeping Diana mostly outside the rest of continuity for these comics has helped with the consistency of the story, meaning (hopefully) that they can continue in graphic novel format to be an accessible gateway to the character for many years to come.
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode229TortureCinemaMeetsPlan9FromOuterSpace/SandF%20–%20Episode%20229%20–%20Torture%20Cinema%20Meets%20Plan%209%20from%20Outer%20Space.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSVampire zombies, angry aliens, and tin saucers, oh my! Recorded live on Google+, Shaun, Rachael, Paul, and Julia discuss Plan 9 from Outer Space. What more could you ask for to celebrate the scariest time of the year? We hope you enjoy the episode! (This episode was recorded live. The audio in the podcast is slightly different from the raw audio from the video provided in the show notes below.) Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 229 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)(IMDB) Special thanks to Samuel Becker for writing our skit! Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). Additional music from “Industrial Revolution” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB27Snowpiercer2013/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2327%20–%20Snowpiercer%20%282013%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSTrains, bug patties, and revolutions, oh my! James L. Sutter joins the crew to discuss Joon-Ho Bong’s critically-acclaimed Snowpiercer (2013). We tackle the film’s symbology, its religious imagery, the allegories of capital and race in its narrative, and a whole lot more. Plus: there’s a big old debate at the end on how dramatic “serious” sf is sometimes treated differently than “fun” sf. We hope you enjoy the episode! Spoiler Alert: the following podcast contains spoilers for the film being reviewed; if you wish to see the film without having it ruined for you, download this podcast and save it for later. Download the episode here. Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Snowpiercer (2013)(IMDB) James’ Website James’ Fiction James’ Twitter The Redemption Engine by James L. Sutter (BUY IT!) Paizo Publishing Comment away!
