'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

There is little point complaining about the hard work of academia. The truth is most people have a harder time at their jobs.  Teaching and researching does not scream "high stress" for most people. Indeed, this fact explains some of the marginalization associated with modern academia. A liberal art education, which presume a well rounded education intended to make you aware of wide range of subjects, doesn't have the vocational credibility associated with science, technology, engineering, and math oriented studies.  The trick for those us in the far less sexy humanities and social science fields is to show our worth.  No easy task when our subjects can run the gambit from Classics to comics books.  The trick, in my mind, is to be inclusive in your work. Show people why you think about your subject and why it matters.  The "So What?" question that distinguishes a flight of fancy from a cogent cultural analysis  is often missed in debate about the value o...

   The drum beat to the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who grows ever louder. Still this particular short film addresses a question I've had about Doctor Who for a long time.  As I consider the impact of superhero in a global context , Doctor Who strikes me as singular example of an organic creation of a  superhero archtype in different cultural context.  Doctor Who, based on the definition of the superhero defined by Peter Coogan in his book, Superhero: The Secret Origins of A Genre , is a superhero. As Coogan explains, the superhero acts as an orienting figure that resolves conflicts and contradictions. Furthermore,  Coogan argues mission, powers, identity, and costume are the elements that distinguish the superhero from other kinds of heroes. A careful examination of the Doctor demonstrates that the character has all of these elements.  The Doctor's adventures since 1963 have offered a global audience a vision of superhero cas...

Thor: The Dark World is a better film than 2011's Thor . Many people were not excited by Thor, but Thor: TDW would not have been possible without the solid foundation created Kenneth Branagh 's vision in the first film.  In many ways, the source of Thor: TDW's superiority rests on the extension to the first film.  Characters are more engaging, Asgard and the nine realms given a bigger scope, and key elements of the Marvel Comics print universe Asgard are presented and embellished for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This was a great movie going experience. I don't want to spoil anything, but there is a tremendous Captain America: Winter Soldier   clip before and an amazing post credit sequence. In many ways, Thor: TDW adds to our understanding of Marvel Studio Phase 2 events and sets up an awesome Thor 3!