We were talking before about one of The Shat’s typically strange choices in this flim, but I’d like to think about TMP a bit more generally now. What a weird film TMP is! Even in 1979, who used the phrase “motion picture” anymore? – The grandeur! Sometimes I wonder if this is even Star Trek,Continue reading “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”
Category Archives: pop criticism
Did Captain Britain vote for Brexit?
Well? Did he? We’ve all been wondering since 2016, haven’t we? Let’s review the evidence. This guy – I’m not sure this guy even votes. Voting is beneath him. Voting is for the small folk, buffeted by the vagaries of destiny, sustained democracy’s necessary illusions, the pretence that just occasionally, just for the blink ofContinue reading “Did Captain Britain vote for Brexit?”
Mazzucchelli draws Batman
A few short notes on the brilliance of David Mazzucchelli, based on the extraordinary kinetic energy of this panel. A single panel arrests, freezes, a single moment, or perhaps two or three – depending on how many speech bubbles there are. No speech here – although we might take Batman’s narration to spread the actionContinue reading “Mazzucchelli draws Batman”
Rereading Mark Gruenwald’s Squadron Supreme: 4. Shoot them with the bop gun
When Nighthawk says he is going to legalise guns again, what kind of guns is he talking about? We know that the police are now packing pacifier pistols (I alliterate to channel the spirit of Smilin’ Stan), which incapacitate by flooding the target with positive vibes. Now, when you think that Watchmen and Dark KnightContinue reading “Rereading Mark Gruenwald’s Squadron Supreme: 4. Shoot them with the bop gun”
Star Trek and Family
The idea of a starship crew being a kind of family seems absolutely essential to Star Trek, locked in – you can’t think about Star Trek without it. In Voyager, Janeway makes it explicit – on more than one occasion, she tells us that “this family” is not going to be broken up by whateverContinue reading “Star Trek and Family”
Archaeology of the Frivolous - Comics, Culture, Criticism 