Tag Archives: Betty

May 9 2014

Rat Queens 6

rat queens 6

Today, Spencer and Shelby are discussing Rat Queens 6, originally released May 7th, 2014.

Spencer: If you asked me to describe the members of Rat Queens, I’d probably start by calling them “young punk rock Golden Girls as D&D characters,” and while there’s certainly an element of humor to that, I think there’s also more than a little truth. How many of you have actually watched Golden Girls? The four leads were the best of friends, close as family, but they didn’t meet until they were all in their 50s or 60s, meaning that they were constantly hearing stories or meeting people from each other’s pasts that they had never heard of before. I was reminded of this while reading Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch’s Rat Queens 6; it’s obvious how close our adventurers are and how much they care about each other, but it’s just as clear that they know absolutely nothing about each other’s pasts. Continue reading →

Jan 21 2014

Rat Queens 4

rat queens 4

Today, Scott and Shelby are discussing Rat Queens 4, originally released January 15th, 2014.

Scott: Rat Queens is a perfect title for a comic, or for anything really. It’s an awesome dichotomy, one word evoking such filth, the other such poise. It’s repulsive yet powerful. Grotesque yet graceful. It’s also an incredibly apt descriptor for the series’ four main characters. They’re pretty unconventional, even by the standards of female mercenary squads. They’ll go do mushrooms in the woods one day, then unravel a complex murder plot the next. And I appreciate that they’re “Rat Queens” and not “The Rat Queens.” It’s not a title for their team, it’s just who they are. Rat Queens. This is a young series, and writer Kutis J. Wiebe has done an impressive job of building characters who live up to the title.
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Nov 18 2013

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 3

rocketeer 3

Today, Drew and Ethan are discussing The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 3, originally released November 13th, 2013.

“It’s the moment, when the movie … becomes an entirely different movie.”

DJ McCarthey

Drew: I’ve said it before (and I’m sure I’ll say it again): I love thinking about form. It’s one of the most fundamental elements of storytelling, and I believe that studying a narrative’s form informs us more about our own experience reading it than even the best plot or character analyses. I’m always looking for new perspectives on form, and was happy to see John Roger’s post on 3-Point Plotting on Mark Waid’s own Thrillbent. It’s a fairly straightforward introduction to the standard three act structure, but I had never seen it broken down so succinctly into “disruption, reversal, and conclusion.” I was particularly intrigued by Roger’s discussion on the reversal — which he defines using that McCarthey quote — as it explains the all-too familiar experience of a narrative changing direction abruptly after I’m already invested in what was going to happen. What happens when you liked what a story was more than the story it becomes? Continue reading →

Jul 26 2013

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1

rocketeer 1

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1, originally released July 24th, 2013.

Shelby: As I mentioned recently, I’m a big fan of pin-up culture. I love the way pin-ups could be innocent and classy, but still extremely sexy. I also totally dig the style. The makeup, the hair, the clothes: if I weren’t so lazy, I would dress that way every day. I don’t know how Dita von Tease does it; that woman is my hero. If you’re not like me, though, and don’t have a love of pin-ups and the charming aspects of the 1940s, The Rocketeer & The Spirit might seem like nothing more than a remake of a dated style of story-telling. Luckily for us all, Mark Waid is in the driver’s seat, and he can balance historical charm with contemporary relevance with the best of ’em.
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