Sassy, capable and world-weary protagonists are somewhat of a dime-a-dozen in modern, self-aware sci-fi which takes great delight, with common with a great many other genres in our hyper postmodern world, in subverting, dismantling and remaking traditional ideas of heroes and anti-heroes and the very idea of adventuring for a Continue Reading
Comics
Comics review: Star Trek: Picard—Countdown
It is a strategy of which, I’m sure, even the legendary Picard himself would approve. A man who happily mixed calculated insight and intuition, compassion and tenacity, whit and whimsy and steely-eyed resolved, Picard, as played by Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation, subsequent movies and recently to Continue Reading
Comics review: Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad
What first attracted me to the books of Asterix all those years ago in a town of 5000 whose library had a delightful inclination to stocking European children’s authors of every imaginable stripe, was the sheer, good-humoured insanity of it all. Here was a rich, clever take on history which Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: It’s not a yolk – cute cartoon characters end up on eggs
SNAPSHOTJapanese mom Etoni Mama turns fried and boiled eggs into adorable cartoon characters. Etoni Mama is also a culinary artist in her own right and a published author. The title is “Saiji-ki Foods For Children” This book is full of recipes that offer a fun and delicious take on seasonal Continue Reading
Comics review: Pumpkin Heads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks
The last of anything is a bittersweet thing. As life goes on, you come across more and more last-ofs but though they increase in number, the experiencing of them never really gets any easier. That’s something Deja and Josiah will learn in time but for now the protagonists of Pumpkin Continue Reading
Comics review: Blackbird
What do you do if your life, both the one you’ve actually lived and the one you have always imagined yourself living turn out to be fabrications of the real thing? And how should you react when everything you have always thought was true, turns out to be exactly that Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: What if the The Mandalorian had been released in the 1970s?
The Mandalorian is one of a slate recent breakout streaming hits which has benefited no doubt from the fact that it is part of the Star Wars universe but also because it is some damn fine storytelling, beautifully presented. Parts of its appeal is a Western-style narrative that feature a Continue Reading
Merry pop culture Christmas to all … and to all a goodnight!
Merry Christmas from the 25th Century … and also from me! Thanks for a wonderful year of pop culture goodness and here’s to an even better year of books, movies, TV, graphic novels and songs in 2020! But wait … this is the most wonderful time of the year so Continue Reading
On 5th day of Christmas … I read Olaf’s Night Before Christmas #Frozen
Does Kristoff have trenchant personal hygiene issues? Is Sven moonlighting on Christmas eve as a sleigh-pulling reindeer hailing a strangely jolly bearded man in red through the sky? And, most importantly because enquiring sentient snowman minds want to know, are the stockings hung by the chimney because they’re wet? Are Continue Reading
Comics review: Star Wars – Allegiance
To whom or what do you owe allegiance? Is it to an unshakeable set of ideals or unassailable principles? Is it to those who hold and fight for those beliefs? Or is it simply to the highest bidder, to whomever offers the greatest opportunity for wealth, advancement or power? These Continue Reading