Fighting Words
“Struck by the resonances between professional wrestling and comics” at Occasional Superheroine. Mixed Martial Arts vs. “the sweet science of bruising” at Salon.
The Road To Mundo Fine: Zombies vs. Robots
The road to the end of the world is shorter than we think. Just when we’ve adjusted our rear and sideview mirrors and selected a soundtrack, the end stands before us, eyes shining in our halogen lights, ready to total our engine block. The only question now is: […]
Squeeze Play
Romance and sports don’t mix. That’s the conventional wisdom, anyway. It’s one of those weird rules, hidden and unarticulated, that seem to underly any given genre. It’s a tenet that gets passed down to new writers, not as gospel so much as in the form of a mild […]
The Modern Master of Suitmation
It’s a little Minoru Kawasaki retrospective: Calamari Wrestler (2004); Executive Koala (2005); Beetle, The Horn King (2005); Kani Goalkeeper (2006); The World Sinks Except Japan (2006).
But Will Your Parents Play?
Based on the reaction to the November launch of the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii through sales and media attention, it’s clear that gaming as a cultural phenomenon has cemented itself into the collective consciousness. Local news media observed in awe as the faithful lined up outside their […]
Weird Wasteland
The upcoming Tony Hawk game is set in 1980s L.A. with, if the trailers are to be believed, a soundtrack featuring Dead Kennedys and the Pixies. Prominent in the trailers are bike riding and a light rail train, which is cool but also very weird: L.A. is a […]
The Cultural Gutter 