Category: Comic Books
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Warriors “Hedgehogged” in Arrows: Crusaders, Samurai, and Wolverine
I’m thrilled to share that my paper on warriors riddled with arrows found in medieval Muslim/Christian chronicles, comics, films, and television, can be read in the latest volume of This Year’s Work in Medievalism (open access). This is my first publication in a peer-reviewed journal and it feels like I completed a dare by drawing…
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A Historical Look at Frank Miller’s Xerxes #2
Frank Miller’s second issue of Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander hit shelves this week and here is the historical hottake (see review of Xerxes #1). The story picks up after the Greek victory at Marathon (490 BC), following the famous runner to deliver the news to a…
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A Historical Look at Frank Miller’s Xerxes #1
Frank Miller’s first issue of Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander finally hit shelves this week and here is the historical hottake (see review of Xerxes #2). We’ve been hearing about Frank Miller’s follow-up to his 300 miniseries for years. When 300: Rise of an Empire finally hit theaters in 2014, I…
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The Twisted Arthurian Legend of Thanos
With The Infinity Gauntlet, an epic, romantic quest began and never stopped both in and out of the comic books. The Marvel Universe lends itself to an Arthurian comparison, and nowhere is that clearer than with Thanos, the most flawed of knights, and his quest for the six Infinity gems.
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Spawn’s Whitewashed Cast in the Black Panther Age
Any fan of Spawn knows that the main character—Al Simmons—is a person of color, or at least he was before he died and came back as a superpowered demon. More importantly, his widowed wife, her new husband, and even the man who murdered Simmons were all black. Being a white teenager in the 90s, I…
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Classical Reception: Batman and the Court of Owls
Scott Snyder expertly taps Ancient Greek myth and history to create a whole new set of villains and challenges for the Dark Knight. In the New 52 run of Batman, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo introduced us to the Court of Owls (trade paperback 1 and 2), an ancient, underworld society in Gotham that seeks…
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Classical Reception: Wonder Woman and the Strait of Messina
During the Justice League’s most trying times, Wonder Woman often serves as a conduit for parallels in Greek history and myth, at least when Geoff Johns writes her. The year-long Darkseid War(2015-2016) was one such event where the superheroes and villains of earth watched helplessly as two gods—the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid—battled it out. The effects…
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Classical Reception: Dr. Strange’s Encounter with Caesar in Alexandria
In Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 33 (1991), the mystic tangles with Thanos who sends the sorcerer back in time via a time warp. As he floats back in history, Strange manages to latch onto a place (Alexandria, Egypt) and a year (48 BC) to stop the backward momentum (these sorts of things happen often with the…
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Classical Reception: Wonder Woman and the Plague of Athens
In 2015, the Justice League found themselves unable to combat the deadly Amazo Virus. It affected humans and metahumans in fantastical and horrific ways, ultimately killing its victims. Superman and Wonder Woman were among the immune, being an alien and a god respectfully, and thus, they were on the front lines of trying to unravel…
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Medieval Roots: Wolverine as a Hedgehog of Arrows
One of the most striking images from medieval histories is the crusader penetrated with arrows and still fighting. One Christian chronicler evoked the otherwise harmless “hedgehog” to describe English King Richard I, as he fought on with arrows protruding from his body. ((A Christian chronicler described Richard as a “hedgehog” at Jaffa (1192). Ambroise, The History…
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I Speak Spartan: The Lasting Lingo of 300
While there is plenty to say about the breakthrough filming style of 300 that has since been imitated to death, the real legacy of the movie is the quotable dialogue. Numerous one-liners have infiltrated popular culture, as “This is Sparta!” has become arguably as popular as “I am your father.” The real beauty of the…