Author: Ben
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REVIEW: Prometheus
My initial spoiler free thoughts after my first viewing of Prometheus: 1. Yes, I said “first viewing.” This is a movie that encourages multiple viewings. I do not know if I will go and see this in the theater again (maybe a dollar theater) but I do plan to watch it again. Possibly a couple…
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Comic Book Writer and Artist Contest
Every year, Dr. Jayce and I lead seminars at the Gideon Film Festival, a Christian media arts conference that covers topics from writing a novel or screenplay or making movies and even comic book creation. This year, they are hosting a contest, sponsored by Kingstone Comics, for comic book writers and artists. Details can be…
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Star Trek (DC Comics) #25 and Top Dog #9 (Cool Comic Covers #13)
It’s Friday! That means another Cool Comic Covers, a weekly (sometimes more!) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: Our cool comic covers come not from the artwork, but from something more personal. Be warned — things from antiquity, like bookstores and magazine racks, are mentioned…
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NEW POLL: Who Is Batman’s Greatest Villain?
Fact: Batman has some of the best villains in comic books. So, with the movie coming up featuring Bane, we thought we’d “riddle you this”: Who is Batman’s greatest villain? Answer how you like, based on whatever criteria you wish to use, voting for your favorite Batman villain. In coming up with these options, I…
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THOUGHT CLOUDS: Superman Earth One (Comic Review)
SUPERMAN EARTH ONE J. Michael Straczynski, writer; Shane Davis, artist Superman is one of my favorite superheroes. For a long time, he was THE favorite. For a long, long time. And he’s still in the top five, rotating between the second, third, and fourth places. But there has always been one problem: his comic books…
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Aquaman #9 (Cool Comic Covers #12)
It’s Friday! That means another Cool Comic Covers, a weekly (almost) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: In honor of Aquaman’s loss to Thor in the Super Hero Tournament of Champions, a cool Aquaman cover. There are actually many, many cool Aquaman covers. In the…
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Episode 18 — “Once Upon a Grimm Time”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSThe topic: fairy tales. They are everywhere right now, appearing on two of the major TV networks in prime time, in theaters, and, of course, in DVD collections and toy boxes around the world. So what is it about fairy tales that cause us to enjoy them and…
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From Beyond the Unknown #23 (Cool Comic Covers #11)
Cool Comic Covers is a weekly (almost) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: Comic book covers and gorillas go hand in paw. I don’t know why. I understand there are blogs devoted to the subject and perhaps some college papers or something as well. But…
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NEWS: New Promo Trailer for ARROW (the CW’s new Green Arrow series)
The fall 2012 season of the CW will still have a DC Comics superhero, just not Clark Kent. It’s Green Arrow. I thought it was going to be something just like Smallville. Green Arrow was a character ON Smallville for a number of years, after all. (Although whenever I watched, all I could think was…
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SCI-FI/FANTASY FOR KIDS: The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
I discovered The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd on, of all places, the radio. I heard a couple episodes on my local public radio station, as part of a one hour block of short comedy sketches. They’d play a Bob Newhart sketch and a Bill Cosby recording and some other things that came from who…
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Famous Funnies #214 (Cool Comic Covers #10)
Cool Comic Covers is a weekly (almost) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: After Avengers Week, we’re getting away from superhero comics and getting back to some sci-fi comics. Frank Frazetta is one of the giants of fantasy art, and did a number of comic…
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FEEDBACK — What did YOU think of Avengers? (Poll)
What did you think of The Avengers? Did it deserve the half billion dollars it made last weekend? Did it meet your expectations? Exceed them? Not even come close to them? Let us know in our poll . . . [poll id=”8″]
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Episode 17 — “Avengers . . . Finally Assembled!”
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSIn the final installment of Avengers week, Steve, Dr. Jayce, and Ben assemble to talk about the movie that geeks the world over have been waiting for. Well, was it all it could be? Better than it could be? Or did it crash and burn? Steve’s answer may…
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AVENGERS WEEK: The Avengers (Ben’s movie review)
No movie lives up to the hype. But some come close. The Avengers comes very, very close. It already has many difficulties to overcome: an ensemble cast; a couple years of build up and fan expectation; the enormous shadow of Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. over the other characters and actors; a mix…
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AVENGERS WEEK: The Avengers and Its Place in the Superhero Cinema Cycle
The Avengers is actually a natural progression, if you look at the history of superheroes on the big screen. Every ten to twelve years, a game changer comes along to set the course for the next cycle of superhero related media. 1941. Animated shorts featuring Superman are seen in theaters. Since they were animated in…
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AVENGERS WEEK: Thor (movie review)
THOR (reviewed as a single movie) Thor was a difficult movie to make. It’s about gods and men, some of whom speak like Shakespeare. Sort of. It might be difficult to relate to that. So Marvel thought, “You know who makes Shakespeare relatable? Kenneth Branagh. Let’s just hire him.” So a Shakespearean actor and director.…
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AVENGERS WEEK: Thor (COOL COMIC COVERS #9)
Cool Comic Covers is a weekly (almost) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: Thor! Continuing Avengers Week here at Strangers and Aliens, it’s Thor’s-day. Yes, we had to do it. So even though Captain America was after Thor, we had to do do Thor today.…
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AVENGERS WEEK: Captain America – The First Avenger (movie review)
CAPTAIN AMERICA (reviewed as a single movie) Captain America was better than I hoped it would be. It is not a perfect movie, but it is a fun movie, and an inspiring movie, and a sincere movie. It is a period piece. The only way they could have done it, really. Captain America, if it…
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AVENGERS WEEK: Captain America (COOL COMIC COVERS #8)
Cool Comic Covers is a weekly (almost) look back at some of the most interesting, intriguing, and engaging artwork in pop culture. This week: It’s Avengers week! Each day we are taking a look at the characters who will be featured in the upcoming (depending on when you are reading this) Avengers movie. First, Iron Man.…
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AVENGERS WEEK: The Incredible Hulk (movie review)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (reviewed as a single movie) After Ang Lee’s Hulk movie* didn’t meet expectations . . . and after Iron Man surpassed expectations . . . and after it was realized The Avengers was going to be a reality . . . Marvel knew they had to get the character of the Hulk…