February 2012
20 posts
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“…if you still couldn’t shake the fear and your grip, it wasn’t...”
– Dick Grayson (Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder)
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Book Review: Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
By Rafael A. Hernandez Music. Romance. Tribulations of life itself. These are just a fraction of the contents sewn within the narratives of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes. Comprised of five short stories, Ishiguro’s work discusses the complications and beauties of music and musicianship. Of course not every story involves musicians per se. Music lovers are just as important to this book as those who...
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Comic Review: Avenging Spiderman #4
By Rafael A. Hernandez
“I can’t miss.” The words of a man who’s resolution of perfection pushes him to a level of skill unknown by many, all except the Avengers of course. The most recent issue of Avenging Spiderman pairs Spidey with the master marksman, Hawkeye. Though Spidey is our titular character, the focus of this issue is his Avenging compatriot. Sure, Spiderman drops in his clever...
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Comic Review: Scarlet Spider #1 & #2
By Rafael A. Hernandez
#1
You know that trope where a former villain gets into a moral conflict that ushers them to mend the error of their ways? Not uncommon, right? Sometimes it bodes well for them, sometimes they slip back into evilness. The appeal: always wondering where their actions take them next. In Marvel’s new series Scarlet Spider, the character Kaine, former minion of the Jackal,...
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I Don't Know How To Read: The Barbarian Nurseries
It is a long road of bumps, tight turns and marked up pages for one who reads and writes. When you are a reader, the world is yours and you may pick from it what you will, like passerby taking a plump apple from a tree. But when you’re a writer, you must plant the tree. You must water it and take care of it. When the time comes, you must harvest the fruit of your labor. Not all that bad, I...
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Prose Exposition: A Coin
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Consider what you see when you look at the sides. Both are metal. Both are printed. But the images differ greatly and if you did not know of the other side, you may think this a completely different coin. That is the problem. We dropped our token in public and now that it has been picked up, all they want to show us is one side. There is only one side perhaps. But I know...
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Movie Review: Chronicle
By Rafael A. Hernandez
If you recall my earlier review of the epicly awesome (awesomely epic?) anime feature film Akira, then you will definitely be in familiar territory while viewing the film Chronicle. This recent take on the handy-cam genre puts the audience in the perspective of Andrew, one of three high school boys who by means of excavation and mischief, find a translucent rock that...
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Comic Review: Ultimate Comics Spiderman #6
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Well we now have our new Spiderman in his black suit. Satisfaction? Yes. Is Miles worthy of the new threads? Darn tootin. In his first official outing as Spiderman, Miles Morales has proven to be an initially clumsy but definitely correct helmer of the webs and wall crawling. His character has developed a much needed step into maturity as he not only tackles the growing...
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Book Review: Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Would it be such a crime to have writers stay consistent in ALL of their publications? I still claim The Mistress of the Art of Death series as my favorite mystery series as it combines the relevance of historical events with mind teasing and nerve tensing mystery, all encompassed by a relatable female protagonist. The most current chapter in the series, Grave Goods, has...
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Who Watches The Watchmen?
So the recent news of the Watchmen prequel has been circulating and I could not be happier. The original Watchmen was a masterpiece in both comics and literature as it harnessed real world issues, characters with immense depth and an ending that provokes anyone’s philosophical sensibilities. Now DC comics is preparing to tell the story before the story. Though the original creators will...
January 2012
19 posts
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Prose Exposition: A Beginning to A Prologue
By Rafael A. Hernandez
A locomotive approached. It felt like something he had once seen on the television, a program about the movement of trains on rails. The impending speed was intimidating. No, it did not intimidate, it forced fear to come out from its place of safe keeping and run to the corners of unwelcome territory. Fear then wreaked havoc on his serene mind. All because of a locomotive...
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…I walked across an empty land, I knew the...
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I Don't Know How To Read: Haroun and the Sea of...
And furthermore, I don’t even own the book. So how do you expect me to learn how to read it?! Absolutely ludicrous! Or perhaps I can borrow it from somebody some time? Yeah? Yeah?
This is the first page of the book taken from the copy of my lovely girlfriend. From what she has told me, the writer has formulated a narrative that is subject to the ebbs and flows of a river…or...
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Comic Review: Avenging Spiderman #3
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Funny, satisfying resolution. Thank you comic book gods. I was a little disappointed with the last issue, admittedly. But it was great to see the web slinger use his ingenuity (however unintentional) to free the underground nation once ruled by Mole Man. Readers will be in a fit of happiness and laughter to see Spiderman win a battle of honor by essentially pantsing his...
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Comic Review: Detective Comics #5
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Sadly to say, this series is growing dangerously close to the “Meh, I don’t need to read this anymore,” pile. Detective Comics #5 had a lot of promise for our Dark Knight as it seemed to feature the fiercer and drearier tones that make Batman such a serious entity in comic books. Though this issue does retain some of those elements, displaying a Joker obsessed horde bent on...
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Prose Exposition: Impatience, Mortally Risked
Hey ya’ll. I’m going to start a new segment for the blog. Every now and then I’ll post something prose-y just to sweep away the literary cobwebs accumulating in my clogged brain. Clogged by what? Maybe all the anime and video games. Mainly the anime I think. One can only see a pubescent girl’s eye sparkle at a cute plushy, boy, other girl?, etc, until they start going mad....
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Movie Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
By Rafael A. Hernadez
Take a moment to consider the kind of experience you will have at the movie theater. Decide whether you want to be pleasantly amazed or disturbingly fascinated. If you chose the latter then it would not be a bad choice in seeing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, this adaptation of an adaptation holds strong against mysteries of old and...
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…let’s walk through the fire together,...
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An Effort to Afford Sanity During An Extended...
Graduating from a four year University is an admirable feat to accomplish. In this economy one might be considered foolish to not acquire a degree to ease the pains of job searching. I know this to be true, despite what some might feel toward my field of study. Will English literature make me a millionaire? Probably not but we’ll see. My biggest gripe is the university system itself. One...
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Comic Review: Defenders #2
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Okay, I am doing away with the Defenders being the “Not-So-Avengers” jokes. They grow tiresome and droll. I would rather be making snide comments about how Doctor Strange is a bit of a creeper in this newest issue of Defenders. But let us keep this creepiness aside until later and focus more on the important aspects of this new issue. So the black hulk known...
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“I’m not mad at all. I’m just differently sane.”
– The Joker (Batman and Robin Must Die by Grant Morrison)
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Comic Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5
By Rafael A. Hernandez
The ninja turtles are in full form with the return of the lost brother, Raphael. With the first four issues plotting the separation of this family of mutant amphibians, readers are given a glimpse at the grandeur of adversity that is soon to plague the turtles. The creation of both splinter and the turtles proves to be more than simply a consequence of bad circumstances....
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A Storm is Brewing
And it is a frightening storm indeed. For this storm will be comprised of an abundance of comic book abundance. Long story short, you may find yourself spammed/pelted by posts about recent comic issues. But do not be alarmed for it shall pass and you can return to your normal way of life. If you choose to evacuate please do so in an orderly fashion.
I still have to write the review for the recent...
December 2011
12 posts
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Comic Review: Ultimate Comics Spiderman #5
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Rolling along with young Miles Morales’ exploits as the new unofficial Spiderman, Ultimate Comics Spiderman #5 pulls all the content from the previous issues and ties them together into a package that readers have been hoping for. After his run in with Spiderwoman, Miles is taken to the Ultimates headquarters where he is interrogated but reluctantly accepted into...
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I Don't Know How To Read: Coriolanus
SO EXCITED! Having a Shakespeare party very soon and I am inviting some tragic people over to partake in the deception and the betrayal. Actually that may have been an inaccurate portrayal of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, being as I have never read it. But hey, all of Shakespeare’s tragedies are filled with betrayal and deception…and murder…and political turmoil.
I’ll...
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Comic Review: Defenders #1
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Avengers assemble! Oh wait, wrong team. Sorry about that. Defenders…assemble? Not quite the epic start as hoped for but it will do. Marvel has just revamped The Defenders series and we are all flustered with anticipation. Yes? Okay not really. But it is not to say that this new beginning of Doctor Strange’s rag tag group is anything to laugh at and with a new out of...
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Comic Review: Detective Comics #4
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Gotham City, the backdrop for a series of corruption and maniacs fond of sewing up the flesh of live victims. Batman has finally been able to escape the clutches of the Dollmaker and now has to unveil the truth behind Gordon’s abduction. There are certainly some storytelling convolutions throughout this latest issue and though they may be confusing they appear to...
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Comic Review: Avenging Spiderman #2
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Yellow subterranean creatures EVERYWHERE! And why? Because an even bigger subterranean race (also yellow) is kicking them out of their homes- caves? So who do you turn to? Jonah Jameson?! Okay, I’ll bite. The second issue of Amazing Spiderman is a disappointing follow up to the very exciting and fun premier issue. Though there are still a few laughs to be had and...
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Comic Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4
By Rafael A. Hernandez
The last three issues in one sentence- mutant turtles and their rat father figure search for their lost brother who they have not even met since their transfigured infancy.
Grab a slice of pizza and start trying to perform some backflips because it’s time for ninja turtle action with the fourth issue of the reinvented Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. What is...
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Book Review: Murder On The Orient Express by...
By Rafael A. Hernandez
Be weary the next time you book a trip on the Amtrak because in all likelihood you will become a player in a dramatic murder scene perpetrated by some mysterious killer. Okay, not really. You will probably take a nap or read a few pages of a book. But should you decide to read something, make it the mystery classic Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Another...