You have to hand it to Seth MacFarlane! When he launched The Orville in September 2017, it was styled as a wisecracking, affectionate Star Trek parody that, while possessed of the heart of a great sci-fi storyteller, nevertheless was happy to look askance at the galaxy and muse on its Continue Reading
Comics
Graphic novel review: Shadecraft by Henderson / Garbett / Fabella / Bowland (issues 1-5)
Growing up is not easy. We all know that much; if you were paying attention growing up, and most of us were, you’ll have realised pretty quickly that life often treated you as a chew toy to be gnawed on over and over, vigorously shaken from side-to-side like you were Continue Reading
Comics review: Mutts Go Green – Earth-friendly tips and comic strips by Patrick McConnell
SNAPSHOTMutts Go Green is a special kids’ collection of the popular comic strip MUTTS, featuring themes of ecology, environmental friendliness, and animal education. This special collection of MUTTS comics for kids includes eco-friendly lessons on how to keep the environment clean and ways to help create a greener future for Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Inkblot (issues 6-10) by Emma Kubert and Rusty Gladd
If there is one thing in multitudinous abundance in the expansive, neverendingly imaginative delight that is Inkblot, in this case issues 6 through 10, it is the idea that magic does not cure all ills. In many fantasy settings, that is precisely what it does; one wave of the hand Continue Reading
Comics review: Snoopy – A Beagle of Mars (based on the comic strip, Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz)
When it comes to keeping a vital and beloved set of characters alive and relevant to a whole new generation, the family of Charles M. Schulz, who sadly passed away in 2000, have done a superlative job. They have managed to keep Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the rest of Continue Reading
In the middle of COVID lockdown, I put 5 new pop culture ornaments on my #ChristmasInJuly tree
It’s not looking like the most festive of Julys at the moment. A combination of complacency and Australian Federal Government ineptitude with quarantining returning overseas travellers and the vaccine rollout mean Sydney, where I live, is deep in the midst of a fortnight lockdown, that may yet get extended by Continue Reading
Comics review: Wicked Epic Adventures (another Wallace the Brave collection) by Will Henry
There is an exuberant delight in every single panel in Wallace the Brave by Will Henry, the pen name of William Henry Wilson who lives with his wife and kids in Jamestown, Rhode Island from which he draws inspiration for the bucolically quirky of Snug Harbor in which the strip Continue Reading
Up goes the Easter Beagle! Decorating my Easter tree with five pop culture ornaments – Tigger, Snoopy and Woodstock, Bugs Bunny, Taz Devil and Charlie Brown
I have an Easter tree! Yes, that is a little unusual to most people but dig down into the community of fervent Christmas tree decorators, of which I am a happy part, and you will discover that decorating for the festive season twice a year (yes, Christmas in July is Continue Reading
Second life art: New York artist explains why he paints pop culture icons into discarded old paintings
SNAPSHOT“It came to me at a thrift store. I wanted to take something that had been forgotten and change it in a way that didn’t affect its aesthetic and to see if that, in and of itself, would make it wanted again.” (artist Dave Pollot via Laughing Squid) Op shops, Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Moonstruck (TP 1 – 3)
Post-modern storytelling is all about bringing together all kinds of disparate elements, or at least not commonly joined together ones, and making something remarkably beguiling out of them. It’s a common feature of fantasy storytelling now and increasingly is making its presence felt in comics such as the gorgeously queer Continue Reading