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Hugh Likes Comics: Gotham Academy

March 16, 2016

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Gotham Academy Vol. 1
Written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Drawn by Karl Kerschl
Published by DC Comics
Gothamacademy
“Gotham Academy” is a boarding school mystery set in the DC Universe, and with Batman appearing in atmospheric, gothic offerings like Scott Snyder’s run on the book and the Arkham Asylum video game franchise, it feels like a perfect fit for his world.  Much like the well-beloved “Gotham City Central,” this comic rarely features the Dark Knight, but his shadow falls heavily over the book.  And while a YA take on the gritty police drama seems bizarre at first blush, it works very well.
Sophmore Olive Silverlock is returning to Gotham Academy with some problems.  The first is a mysterious incident over the summer that left Olive with a spotty memory and unfocussed anger at Gotham’s resident superhero.  The other is her freshman mentee ‘Maps’ Mizoguchi.  Maps is inquisitive, obsessed with gaming, and the kid sister of her boyfriend Kyle, who would likely be her ex if she could work up the nerve to speak with him.  When Olive gets caught in the middle of a ghost-hunting mania sweeping campus, will she find answers to her own mysteries, or just more trouble?
“Gotham Academy” is a great comic for new readers and hardcore Batman fans.  An original story that needs no prior knowledge, it is also littered with tantalizing easter eggs for observant fans.  Such as 60’s villain Bookwork working as school Librarian.  Fletcher’s art, and the lush, shadowy coloring seal the deal.  This is an all-ages mystery filled with likable characters and believable high school drama.  Of course, it can’t fully escape the towering fantastical elements of Gotham City, but it arrives as a refreshing antidote to DC’s ‘New 52’ sturm and drang.  You can pick up Gotham Academy digitally from Comixology, or in trade paperback and single issues from your local comics shop.

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Hugh Likes Fiction: Radiance

March 8, 2016

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Radiance
Written by Cathryne M. Valente
Published by Tor
Radiance
Where does cinema end and the real world begin?  Can a camera really film the truth?  And which is more real?  Life, or the film that captures it?  These are the questions that overshadow the life of documentary filmmaker Severin Unck.  Filmed from the moment she appeared as a baby in a basket on the doorstep of Gothic director Percival Unck, she has constantly rejected his brand of fantasy in favor of the truth.  Living in an alternate reality where movies never advanced past black-and-white silent films and every planet and moon in the solar system is both habitable and welcoming, she documents food riots on Mars, end of the world parties on Neptune, and of course, her own larger than life childhood.  But when Severin disappears on an ill-fated voyage to document the destruction of a Venusian settlement, the truth may be the one thing that is indistinguishable.
Compiled from witness interviews, abandoned film treatments, and radio transcripts, Radiance is an ambitious and strange epistolary novel about the life of a realist documentarian in a fabulist universe.  The novel rarely follows a conventional prose format, and when it does, the authenticity of these sections is explicitly suspect.  But the fascinating worlds that Valente creates make sifting through the story puzzle she creates a sheer delight.  The walls between the events of Severin and her associates’ lives, and that of their film counterparts jumble together in an epic spanning a night flower-carpeted Pluto to a tropical Venus that is home to the Callowhales, island-sized aquatic creatures whose milk is essential for long-term survival in space.  But of course, they aren’t really whales, and their milk isn’t really milk.
In this novel, Valente invites us into an editing booth and lays out all these pieces in a lush, fantastic sci-fi mystery.  Like Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, It leaves the challenge of constructing a linear narrative to the reader, and leaves the reader not with the satisfaction of a completed story, but the wonder of a messy, complicated, and beautiful life.  This novel is not to be missed.

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Podcast: Mob Movie Night: Purple Rain

March 7, 2016

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Watch along with the Flash Mob as we confront the 80’s musical puzzle that is Purple Rain.

Click HERE to listen!  Note:  This is an audio podcast.  Video of the film Purple Rain is not provided.

This podcast originally aired at Skinner.fm on March 5, 2016.

Thanks for listening!

Podcast: WotB Interview: Lauren ‘Scribe’ Harris

March 6, 2016

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Hugh and Pat interview author and audible narrator Lauren ‘Scribe’ Harris.

Click HERE to listen

This podcast originally aired at wayofthebuffalopodcast.blogspot.com on March 1, 2016.

Thanks for listening!  If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it, or leave a review on iTunes.  You can also join my Patreon for exclusive content and early releases.

Hugh Likes Comics: Power Man and Iron Fist

March 2, 2016

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Power Man and Iron Fist #1
Written by David Walker
Drawn by Sanford Greene
Colored by Lee Loughridge
Published by Marvel Comics
pmandif1
I haven’t read much of the original Power Man and Iron Fist comics from the ’70’s, but I’m a big fan of the concept, especially the way the characters relate in modern Marvel comics.  So needless to say, I’m onboard with Power Man and Iron Fist’s 2016 incarnation.
In the Marvel tradition, this is a getting the band back together sort of story, but while it builds on older continuity, it didn’t leave me lost.  Years ago, Jennie Royce was the office manager for Luke Cage and Danny Rand, the Heroes for Hire.  When she was tried for killing her ex-boyfriend, they did everything they could to help, but she was still convicted.  Released from prison, the former partners reunite to meet her at the ferry.  Luke has moved on since then, and has started a family.  Danny is still fighting crime by night as Iron Fist.  When Jennie asks them for a favor, the return of a necklace she says was stolen by gangsters, they get pulled back into street-level crime-fighting.  And while Danny is happy to relive his glory days, Luke is less enthusiastic.
While Walker is setting up a nice little crime story, what really sells it is Greene’s art.  He uses design and body language to give reinforce the plot and sell the characters.  Even something as simple as putting Danny in his Iron Fist jumpsuit while leaving Luke in his vest and collared shirt says volumes about where these characters are and what they want.  I particularly like the way flashbacks were drawn.  They hover in the negative space above the figures, and it is both unusual and effective.
Power Man and Iron Fist #1 tells a nice little crime tale, while setting up a larger story to come.  Check it out on Comixology or in your local comics shop.

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Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Hidden Almanac and Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap

February 29, 2016

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The Hidden Almanac and Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap
Kevin Sonney and Ursula Vernon
Hiddenalmanac.com and http://kuec.libsyn.com

“The Hidden Almanac” and “Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap” are two very different, gloriously odd podcasts from Hugo Award-winning author Ursula Vernon and her husband Kevin Sonney  While Ursula is a children’s author these podcasts, particularly the later, are not for kids and they are two of my favorite new additions to my podcast playlist.
“The Hidden Almanac” is a micro-fiction podcast staring Immortal plague doctor Reverend Mord, played by Sonney in a delightfully creepy monotone, and his assistant, the enthusiastic and rarely sober Pastor Drom, played by Vernon.  Every few days, a five-minute or so episode drops, in which Mord intones the historical importance and Saint’s feast of the day from a world that is very much not our own.  He also fills the listener in on the status of his garden, which is filled with plants both fantastical and mundane.  Drom assists in much the same way that gasoline assists a campfire.  Episodes are written by Vernon, and the humor on display is similar to her popular comics.
“Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap” is a much longer podcast in which the couple test out a variety of prepackaged instant food and snacks.  If you can’t stand the sound of chewing, this podcast isn’t for you.  However, the presenters, particularly Ursula, are hilarious in their reviews and so colorful in their language that sitting through these two-hour episodes is a joy.  Ursula recently described one food choice as tasting ‘like an independent bookstore.’  The couple often goes on smart, funny tangents that are as entertaining as the food reviews.  Running the gamut from ‘healthy’ snacks including organic and gluten free items, to the most basic instant fare, these two food critics are sure to entertain with their common sense wisdom and curmudgeonly wit.
Whether you prefer your podcasts in short bursts or marathon sessions, check out these selections in itunes or your preferred podcast player.

Hugh Likes Podcasts: We Got This With Mark and Hal

February 15, 2016

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We Got This With Mark and Hal
Hal Lublin & Mark Gagliardi
Maximum Fun Network
wegotthis
“We Got This” is a podcast that sets out to settle the very small questions.  Hosted by Thrilling Adventure Hour regulars Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi, it tackles the cultural debates that hover over bar rooms and gaming tables.  From what state has the best barbecue to Best Star Trek film, they hash out the data and come up with a definitive answer to life’s least pressing debates.
One of the things that makes this show really work is the chemistry between Mark and Hal.  As cast members of the long-running stage show and podcast “Thrilling Adventure Hour,” their camaraderie and friendship is in evidence.  And as working actors and bonafide nerds, their pop-cultural cred can’t be questioned.  While many of the show’s topics are suggested by fans through the Maximum Fun Reddit page, there is a sense that they are returning to arguments they have hashed out before over backstage drinks and diner food.
But where one of them is lacking expertise, they never fake it.  There is a genuineness to this podcast that is quite charming, even when you want to shout corrections into your player.  They have had an excellent set of guest experts as well.  A recent episode debating Star Trek vs. Star Wars, which was recorded live, featured Mythbuster Adam Savage and Internet Judge John Hodgeman, for example.
Thrilling Adventure Hour may be complete, but Hal and Mark are still making great podcasts.  If you’ve missed your Work Juice Player fix, this is a great show to pick up.  And even if you have never heard of the hosts before, their charm and sagacity is sure to delight.  So if you have some niggling pop-culture question, check their archives.  Chances are, They’ve got this.

Podcast: CCR: The Giant Gila Monster

February 13, 2016

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In this episode, the Chrononauts examine 1959’s “The Giant Gila Monster.”

Click HERE to listen.

This podcast was originally published at Skinner.fm on February 12, 2016.

Hugh Likes Fiction: Lustlocked

February 8, 2016

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Lustlocked
Written by Matt Wallace
Published by Tor
Lustlocked
The second novella in Wallace’s “Sin du Jour” series, Lustlocked delivers with more of the hijinks, magic, and profanity that are his stock in trade.
Having survived their first gig, newbies Lena and Darren are brought on as provisional chefs, just in time for the next big job.  Sin du Jour has been contracted for the wedding of wedding of the Goblin King’s son to a mortal woman, and it is going to be a party to remember.
But before you go picturing little green men in tuxes, Goblins are, in fact, the opposite.  The most beautiful of God’s creatures, they secretly rule the entertainment industry, and eat only the finest gold.  Their ruler is exactly who you think, tight pants and all.
When Sin du Jour’s resident crone meddles to encourage goblin society to be more accepting of their new princess, the results quickly get out of control.
In spite of the unfortunate timing of the books release, this is another rollicking, messy adventure, and fans of Envy of Angels will find plenty to love in this worthy sequel.  All of the colorful characters return, and are in the same over-the-top form.  We get a bit more character depth as they content with lust spirits, homicidal spells incarnated as Hanna-Barbera characters, and panicked starlets.  It is a skewering of Hollywood that only Matt Wallace could come up with, and it is well worth the time this short-course will take to devour.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this entry is that he focuses the action at the company headquarters and the wedding.  “Envy of Angels” split time between the chefs and the procurement team, and felt a little spread out.  This time, Ritter and company’s adventure is split off into a separate short story, “Small Wars,” which is included with the ebook.  It’s a poignant little tale, and serves as a nice counterpoint to the glitz and wackiness of the novella.
Lustlocked is another course of dark, hilarious epicurean urban fantasy.  I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next Sin du Jour entree in June.

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Hugh Likes Podcasts: Nerdy Show

February 1, 2016

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Nerdy Show
Hosted by Cap Blackard, and others
Nerdyshow.com
Nerdyshow
Nerdy Show is a podcast that spawned a network.  Originally a college radio show ran for and by central Florida geeks, Nerdy Show has expanded into a network of podcasts, videos, streaming music, and articles that strive to cover every bit of fandom and nerd culture.
The central podcast has changed formats a few times over the course of its run, but currently consists of a podcast feed with a titular main show every two weeks, and a variety of additional programming.  These other podcasts include Flame On, a podcast about gay nerd culture, Wicked Anime, an anime fan show, Dungeons and Doritos, a popular role playing live reading/audio drama, and even a book club!
One of Nerdy Show’s strengths is that it is inherently positive about nerd culture.  The podcast casts a wide net and has a little bit of everything, but still seems to find the good.  Geek culture is about having an unabashed love for something, and that love shines through, whether the topic is Star Wars, tech news, or voice actors of the eighties.  As their motto says, if it’s geeky, they’ve got you covered.
Their fan community an outreach is also really well maintained.  Through their own forums, social media, and even now Patreon, Cap and his crew have an amazing outreach to their fans, and their fans keep them afloat.  Nerdy Show is as much a community as it is a podcast, and even has their own unofficial headquarters in Orlando, Florida’s nerd-themed hang-out The Geekeasy.
Nerdy Show is a team of geeks creating their own network of geek entertainment, and delivering a high quality set of shows.  No matter what your nerddom, there is something there for you, so go check them out at nerdyshow.com.

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