On a new Hard NOC Life, Keith and Dominic talk about Awkwafina grand marshalling San Francisco’s Lunar New Year parade and the current state of Asian American representation in media, especially the rash of new shows on Netflix like Avatar: The Last Airbender and House of Ninjas!
Keith and Dominic are back and so are some of your favorite childhood Marvel Memories! For the Boomers, Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four announcement was dripping with ’60s sentimentality. Meanwhile, Millennials were mesmerized by the X-Men ’97 teaser. Naturally, it’ll require a couple of Gen X-ers to break down what it all means!
Keith helps Dominic process his feelings about the 49ers losing Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs. Then they process their feelings about the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer, as well as some other ads from the big game, before Dom debuts a snippet from his next musical project.
Dominic has thoughts about the discourse surrounding the recent release of Rocksteady Games’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League video game. He explains to Keith why he thinks it’s one of the best games ever made, despite the negative reviews it’s received.
The year is coming to a close, and the strikes started in #hotlaborsummer have finally reached their end. So I wanted to look back at how the strikes (and the studios and streaming services that kicked them off) affected the convention scene this year.
Continue reading “A Streamer Free Con Comes with Mixed Feelings”
Shelf Conscious returns with a special episode with the stars of the upcoming indie horror comedy, Retro Freaks — Craig from NotAnotherRetroChannel and Cincy Nerd, who makes his triumphant return to the show!
Hello Folks,
It has been a minute. I’ve been working on too many projects so I’m not able to write as much as I would like for NOC. I wanted to show folks some of the stuff I’ve been crafting while I’ve been away.
Continue reading “The Power of Fandom for Radical Change”
Shelf Conscious is back! This time, Keith is joined by fellow NOC and creator of The NRW, Kuya P a.k.a Patrick Michael Strange, as he launches his own action figure podcast called AAPI Toy Heroes.
On the latest episode of Shelf Conscious, Keith is once again joined by multi-hyphenate extraordinaire (activist, restaurateur, podcaster, celebrity chef, and candidate for Lexington, KY council at large), Dan Wu!
I was lucky to be afforded the opportunity to talk with the star of The CW’s upcoming show, Naomi, during a fun roundtable event with other media outlets. Kaci Wallfall is such a sweet and talented young actress. We talked about moments from the pilot, her favorite superhero characters, and so much more!
Continue reading “Kaci Wallfall on Being ‘Naomi’ and More”
Celebrate the Holidays with Shelf Conscious! In this brand new episode, Keith is joined by YouTuber and diorama artist, Art G!
The Nerds of Color recently caught up with dear friend and comic book writer Stephanie Williams to talk about the work that went into bringing Nubia & the Amazons to life. Williams, a former guest to The NOC, spoke about the journey she’s been on and the importance of finally seeing Nubia fully realized as her own heroine.
Continue reading “Comic Book Writer and Social Media Icon Stephanie Williams Talks ‘Nubia & the Amazons’”
Shelf Conscious returns just in time for the second half of Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix! This time, Keith is joined by Orko himself, Griffin Newman!
It’s been very obvious what Veronica (played by Camila Mendes) and Archie’s (KJ Apa) relationship arch has been since Riverdale’s seven year time jump started. Last week, it seemed to finally reach the point that both characters deserved and had wanted, but this week the show does a complete reverse and it’s not the first time. Was Varchie’s decision the right call? Let’s break it down and discuss. Warning: for the remainder of this article, we will be getting into heavy spoilers; so only continue reading if you’ve seen episode 5×18.
Continue reading “Did Veronica and Archie Make the Right Decision on This Week’s ‘Riverdale’ Episode?”
For so many seasons, I have felt beyond frustrated with Veronica Lodge’s treatment as well as the storylines she’s given on Riverdale. Yet, I was very pleasantly surprised with the execution of her season 5 divorce storyline. In all honestly, I think its the best storyline the writers could’ve done with her character for a few reasons.
Continue reading “Veronica Lodge’s Divorce Storyline on ‘Riverdale’ Was All About Regaining Her Power”
As Bruce Lee might say, we must start with dispelling what is not useful and replace it with what is useful. I won’t rehash any arguments comparing Shang-Chi to Black Panther which are based in speculation, impulse-tweeted, or otherwise made in bad faith. The phrase “Asian American Black Panther” has been tossed around (including by me), in various contexts, since Black Panther came out in 2018.
Continue reading “‘Shang-Chi’ Is Not NOT Like ‘Black Panther’”
Fans found themselves instantly falling in love with and wanting more from Vanessa Morgan’s portrayal of Toni Topaz as soon as she came onto our screens on Riverdale. Toni was first introduced in season 2, episode 3 “Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher in the Woods,” and became a series regular in season 3. Her portrayal provides representation as one of the only Black series regulars currently on Riverdale as well as her character being openly bisexual. So let’s take a look back at her journey and what we hope to see for the character going forward.
Continue reading “Let’s Talk About Toni Topaz on The CW’s ‘Riverdale’”
Shelf Conscious returns with a special episode! With Masters of the Universe: Revelation just around the corner, Keith is joined by an Eternian Royal Guard — and literal fandom princess — Tiffany Smith!
With the release of BTS’ new hit song Butter, it makes sense for McDonald’s to jump at the chance of a collaboration since we know McDonald’s isn’t the healthiest option for our cholesterol. But, to have one of the biggest global phenomenons team up with a global food brand is genius marketing for McDonald’s.
Continue reading “The BTS x McDonald’s Collab is the Most Genius Idea Ever: How Brands are Utilizing BTS’ Global Power”
Like The Dark Knight and Superman, the DC FanDome will triumphantly return this fall!
Continue reading “The DC FanDome Returns”
Dominic, Jamal, Keith, and Britney analyze the penultimate episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with an actual Flagsmasher! Desmond Chiam, who plays Dovich on the series, sits in with the crew to talk about rebellion, revolution, and representation. He also talks about Cap’s shield, an irrational fear of water, and also nerding out on JRPG video games!
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 213: One World, One Dovich (with Desmond Chiam)”
In the first of two episodes of Hard NOC Life releasing this week, Keith sits down with Broadway superstar and now, children’s book author, Mandy Gonzalez to talk about her new middle grade novel, Fearless. They also talk about her career — from originating the role of Nina for In the Heights to replacing Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica in Hamilton — and why being fearless has helped her cope while Broadway is shut down.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 212: Mandy Gonzalez is ‘Fearless’”
Dominic, Keith, Britney remember the life of DMX before breaking down the latest episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and getting hyped for Snake Eyes which is now coming out in July.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 211: Captain Act a Fool Up in Here”
