I may have been the last self-described nerd on the planet to see Stars Wars Episode VIII, The Last Jedi. Though I considered going to see it in the theater, after the disappointment of The Force Awakens, I wasn’t hopeful. I also made the mistake of reading too many reviews, most of which were negative. […]
People my age often complain that the favorite comedies of our youth – Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles for instance – could never be made today. Brooks is a comic genius but his bawdy creations bothered the bluenoses even back then. It’s gotten to the point, however, that beloved shows with sophisticated messages would likely suffer […]
The comic-book community is in a state of upheaval. Major publishers, Marvel in particular, are controlled by “social justice” leftists. Unfortunately, the deplorable fans haven’t embraced the new diverse characters, they want their favorite white male superheroes back, and some of them (gasp!) voted for Donald Trump. The left calls this fan revolt “#comicsgate”, which […]
Of the Big Two comic publishers, Marvel has always been the funny one. Its heroes crack jokes and have the same troubles with work, school, and relationships the rest of us do. Marvel couldn’t be satisfied, though, with Spiderman’s wisecracks and the Hulk’s unreliable powers. They needed a hero who would find the line and […]
Today is the 199th anniversary of the birth of England’s celebrated Queen Victoria, who reigned over the British Empire from 1837 to 1901. This was an official holiday for many years in the United Kingdom, though it’s been superseded by Commonwealth Day, which is celebrated in March. It’s still a holiday in Canada, though like […]
Must steampunk be set in some alternate history? Or can it involve peoples and places that never were? Though I prefer the historical sort, this “steampunk fantasy” can be enjoyable as well. It gives the writer more freedom, but with that comes the responsibility to create an interesting and believable world. Will the result be […]
There are so many great authors I haven’t read, and yet it seems I often discover them because of controversy. One of these was 2016 Dragon Award winner Ctrl-Alt-Revolt by Nick Cole. I’d heard that publisher HarperCollins unilaterally canceled his contract because of a controversial passage in the first chapter. He refused to change it […]
