The NOC Review: RUNLOVEKILL #1
Written by Jonthan Tsuei and with art by Eric Canete, RUNLOVEKILL — which debuted last month — is a refreshing, futuristic, cyber-punk tale with art and elements that I would dare to compare to Aeon Flux. Issue #2 hits comic shops everywhere next week. Before it comes out, though, we’re going to take a look back at RUNLOVEKILL #1, which builds tension very well and leaves you on the edge of your seat.
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NOC Recaps The Flash: It’s a Trap!
The episode is called “The Trap,” and refers not to the semi-idiotic plan by Team Flash to lure an anachronistic speedster villain into his own basement, but the counter-trap set up by the Reverse Flash to use their trap as the actual trap to trap them. I know. A lot happens.
NOC Recaps Game of Thrones: Enter Sand Snakes
It feels like each episode of this season of Game of Thrones features an exploration of a different theme from week to week. Unlike past season, when plot machinations were paramount, season five has been able to be a little more artful in how it sets up each episode. Maybe that has something to do with the show finally diverging from the books in significant ways — I wouldn’t know having never read the books. If anything, this episode, “Sons of the Harpy,” was about how a select few radicals can bring down a whole kingdom.
Let’s start in King’s Landing.
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Eight Reasons We Love Black Canary
Originally posted on Geeks Out
During a recent episode of The Flash that featured folks crossing over from Arrow, I was more than amused to watch Cisco geek out when he met Laurel, aka Black Canary. Because when it comes to the love of all things Black Canary, I can so relate.
And with good reason. At least eight reasons in fact.
May the Fourth Be With You: Last Day to Preorder this Epic Tee
by Jerry Ma | Originally posted at Epic Proportions
So… it’s about that time of year again.
I’m getting ready for a few comic conventions I’ll be attending this year, and originally I wasn’t planning on making any new tees. But… this one just kinda came naturally to me. So I had to make it.
I’ll be bringing this design with me to the New York Comic-Con later this year in October. And there, I’m only going to be bringing about 36 of these in total with me. And those 36 will be spread out from sizes Small, Medium, Large, XL, and XXL. Meaning just like 6-10 of each size. But for this design only, I’m going to try something different. I’m going to open this design up for pre-order.
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NOC Reviews Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron was the perfect summer popcorn film. It’s a big, loud and frenetic superhero movie with a decent amount of heart.
[Ed. note: Not to mention the second biggest opening weekend in history. Who’s the first? The first Avengers movie, of course.]
The story was a bit shaky at times, but the performances were strong because of the cast chemistry and the trademark Joss Whedon banter. Meanwhile, the visuals were outstanding, the fight scenes were expertly choreographed, and there were a couple of interesting twists regarding one of the main characters.
NOC Recaps Penny Dreadful: Attack of the Naked Witch Groupies
This will be the very first NOC recap for the Showtime horror show Penny Dreadful, which just premiered its second season on Sunday. And what a relief it is to have it back as I very much miss this delightfully dark show with freaks and ghouls that have a penchant for murder. For those who are just catching on, season one focused mostly on revealing dark secrets for the main cast, which includes Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadyway), his creation Caliban aka The Creature (Rory Kinnear), and Ethan Chandler (Josh Harnett) whose big secret was that he’s a hairy rampaging werewolf.
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The Double Standard of Diversity
A satirist by the name of Jon Stewart once said, “If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values, they’re hobbies.” I love the work I do. However, in the last year or two I’ve experienced pangs of resentment at the burden of being a gay author of color. I knew what I was signing up for when I entered the industry. Penning stories that features a diverse cast (being a minority writer myself), I was all but committing career Seppuku. No this resentment was something else. Something I couldn’t quite shake. Continue reading “The Double Standard of Diversity”
NOC Recaps Daredevil: The Child and the Monster
About three weeks before we got “the Netflix drop,” Vincent D’Onofrio was responding to Daredevil and Wilson Fisk questions on Twitter. One of the early questions that he responded to was probably the best:
"@NachooIAm @vincentdonofrio #AskFisk #Daredevil can you summarize Wilson Fisk in three words?" Child and monster.
— Daredevil (@Daredevil) March 18, 2015
This is our introduction to Fisk and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He owns this one. Golden Broken Arms, legs, all limbs to D’Onofrio. In addition, the Russians get some more attention, Matt and Claire continue being awesome, and Ben and Karen team up.
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Some Thoughts on Avengers: Age of Ultron
It’s been a few hours, but I’m still processing what I thought about the latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Age of Ultron. I know that my feelings and recommendations will have no bearing on whether you will go out to see this movie. It’s guaranteed to generate a couple billion dollars in box office — and that’s probably just for this weekend alone! And while I had a great time watching the thing, I couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed by the whole enterprise.
Needless to say, there will be spoilers ahead.
NOC Recaps Arrow: Darth Oliver’s Inferno
I fell upon two possible choices for subtitle this week. The first was “The Portrait of Darth Oliver” (Darth Oliver was going to be used in some form or fashion). This came from the idea that Oliver sold his soul for immortal life. Well, he sold it for Thea, but he gains immortal life and the remnants of his soul: Thea, Felicity, and Diggle, are the “portraits” who age and suffer as Oliver continues to sin and live immorally.
The title I chose comes from the idea that Oliver is now in Hell. The Wiki description of the circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno says that each ring is a “contrapasso,” a “symbolic instance of poetic justice.” Oliver being charged with the destruction of a city he vowed to protect is the evil version of poetic justice.
Black Mask, Yellow Peril: Anti-Asianism in Netflix’s Otherwise Brilliant ‘Daredevil’
by Takeo Rivera
So let’s get one thing out of the way: it’s probably safe to say that Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil is the finest piece of television ever made in the superhero genre. With its stellar cast and consistently tight writing and direction, the show can easily go toe-to-toe with any other major serialized TV drama in this golden age of Mad Mens and Breaking Bads, elevating superherodom to an unequivocal status of high art in much the way Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica elevated the space opera. And, as a cherry on top, Daredevil happens to be one of the most progressive shows of the genre; in particular, Matt Murdock battles not some alien Super-Wario intent on blowing up the planet with an ancient glowing Rubik’s cube, but a scion of urban “redevelopment” — read gentrification — in Wilson Fisk, and spends an unhealthy time fighting white collar crime and community displacement by punching the crap out of it.
But Daredevil also has one massive problem: Asians. That is, Asians are the problem, and Daredevil’s problem is that Asians are a problem.
NOC Recaps Arrow: The Weight of Expectation
In which I attempt to be fair, yet critical of this episode of Arrow, while remaining hopeful about the road ahead.
I came away from “The Fallen” feeling conflicted. I spent a week trying to figure out how to discuss my conflictions, but I ran out of time and energy. But I will say that the big theme of this episode (not the plot itself, but watching it) is the weight of expectation. All of the things that happen in this episode were things we knew were going to happen. Either because the episodes prior were driving it there, or because the promos basically told us everything. We came into the episode knowing that Thea would be resurrected, Oliver and Felicity would get together, and Oliver would officially join the League. With these expectations met exactly in the way we imagined, it may have led to disappointment.
So we’ll discuss the plot as usual and we’ll open up the comments for what went right and wrong in this episode and how it might affect the rest of the season.
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NOC Recaps iZombie: Baby Mama Brain Drama
Trait of the Week: Maternal tendencies
This week on iZombie, Liv eats the brains of a young pregnant woman who was a bit Gone Girl‘d before giving birth and dying. Lov then fusses over her friends and family, while contemplating the fact that as a zombie, she can’t have children.
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NOC Recaps iZombie: Death by Birthday Card
Trait of the Week: Agoraphobia, hardcore video game muscle memory, hacking
After Major got himself beat up last week, he looks to Ravi to stitch him back up. “I’m a social worker. My insurance covers about one bandaid a year.” Liv is concerned, both for Major and for Ravi’s skills as a medical practitioner for living people. They fuss like a married couple until Major reminds Liv that he “rocker blocked” Liv and Lowell at the funeral. LOL Meanwhile, Blaine‘s Zombie Sugar Mamma Jackie didn’t get her brains, so she attacks a poor delivery boy for her fix.
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NOC Recaps The Flash: Everyman? More Like Everyship
Pizza party! Reason why I love Barry Allen #427: He uses his powers for good… like running to Coast City to get the best pizza pies on the west coast. In my head, he bumped into a young test-pilot Hal Jordan. Maybe they exchanged a few friendly words, unaware of what kind of best friendship they’d eventually form. I wonder what they ordered on their pizzas? I wonder if they have similar pizza topping tastes, so that they’d probably even split a pie every once in a while. Wait, no. Barry needs all of the food for his metabolism. Maybe Hal shakes his head at Barry’s appetite beca — sorry, I lost focus. Pizza party.
So far, everyone in Central City who knows Barry’s secret who isn’t a body snatching, anachronistic speedster was invited to the West house to discuss Harrison Wells/Reverse Flash. The game plan is this: Joe and Cisco investigate the night of the Tess Morgan’s death in Starling City, Eddie covers for Joe at the precinct, Caitlin covers for Cisco at the lab, and Barry must refrain from punching Wells in the face.
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Giving Daredevil its Due
It’s been three weeks since Marvel dropped Daredevil on Netflix, and the nerdosphere is still head over heels for the show. Now that Netflix has announced a second season of their hit superhero series, Hard NOC Life returns to talk about how Marvel is taking over the streaming television game with Black Nerd Problems’ Jordan Calhoun (@jordanmcalhoun) — whose Daredevil piece you’ve probably read — and returning Hard NOC champ Raymond Chow.
NOC Recaps Game of Thrones: What’s in a Name?
More than any other series on television, an episode of Game of Thrones can often feel like 48 minutes of watching players set up a chessboard wherein, to paraphrase another classic HBO series, “all the pieces matter.” Last night’s episode, “High Sparrow,” was no different. And in the case of the dueling queens — Margaery and Cersei — they were literally moving a pawn around the chessboard in the form of King Tommen. But despite brief detours following the Lannister siblings’ plights in both King’s Landing and Volantis, the episode was mainly about (three of) the surviving Stark children and each one’s struggle to accept, reject, or reclaim their name.
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N.O.C. One-Shot: Batman v Superman and What’s Wrong with DC Movies
Stay tuned for a longer conversation between Keith, Raymond, and Jordan Calhoun, from Black Nerd Problems, about all things Daredevil. In the meantime, the trio took a moment to discuss the Batman v Superman trailer and what it portends for DC’s Cinematic Universe.
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The Fight for Audio Description on Netflix’s Daredevil
When Marvel’s much-anticipated Daredevil premiered on Netflix on April 10, the disability community, especially the nerds with disabilities, looked forward to the series in appreciation of the genre, the comic books, and in particular, the blind protagonist, Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil. Unlike other popular superheroes with disabilities that might be cyborgs, mutants, or aliens, Matt Murdock became blind in an accident, a very human and mundane event, nothing supernatural or alien about it. Yes, the radioactive isotopes that he was exposed to gave him certain abilities, but his lived experience as a blind man in a non-blind world also gave him certain skills that became as useful as his heightened senses, ability to take a beating, and mastery of the martial arts.
Very soon after the release of Daredevil on Netflix, people began to realize that blind Netflix users could not enjoy Daredevil’s adventures since the series did not come with audio description.
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Why The Black Panther Is Marvel’s Answer to Batman
As most comic book fans are aware, the success of an adaptation — be it a live action film, a television series, or a cartoon — can prove to be a game changer for the superhero protagonist and their standing in the comic book universe.
A little exposure can result in minor throwaway characters becoming heavy hitters overnight.
This is yet another reason I’m excited about the forthcoming Black Panther movie. This is a character who hasn’t always been properly utilized and this has resulted in more than a few missed opportunities. The highly anticipated film may finally alert the public to one fundamental truth about the Wakandan superhero. For all intents and purposes, the Black Panther is Marvel’s answer to Batman.
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NOC Recaps Daredevil: aka Law & Order Hell’s Kitchen
I brought this up in my recap for “Into the Ring,” but “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” is where we really get the Law & Order: Hell’s Kitchen portion of the show. We can break this one down into three parts too: bowling alley/back alley; Karen, Ben, and the devious corporation formerly known as Prince Union Allied; and the murder trial. There’s an up, then down, then back up wave feel in terms of rhythm in this one.
This being an outstanding ensemble drama, the writing and acting sparks get passed around nicely. I’m going to start giving out (drum roll…) “The Golden Broken Arm for Best Performance per Episode.” Appropriate, right? The best performance from “Into the Ring” goes to Charlie Cox, and “Cut Man” is all Rosario Dawson. This episode, though, is actually tougher, but I’m going to go out on a limb. (Ha, “limb” — more on that later).
Let’s begin though, with Sason Jathom. Who?
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R.I.P. Francis Tsai
Last night, the SIUniverse family was rocked when we learned we had lost one of our own. Francis Tsai, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010, passed away after a long battle with the disease — just one week after celebrating his 46th birthday. In 2009, Francis became part of the SIUniverse by illustrating the story “Taking Back Troy” in the first Secret Identities volume. Though ALS slowly took away his ability to draw with his hands, he never let the disease stop him from creating art. First, he trained himself to draw using his feet, and when that was taken from him, he pioneered special technology using his eyes to create art.