Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Spoiler disclaimer: this post discusses certain events in The Sandman (although it doesn’t divulge the ending). The Sandman, Neil Gaiman’s seminal dark fantasy graphic novel series, which ran 76 issues from January 1989 to March 1996, is finally over. It might seem strange…
Category Archives: The Spectatorial
Hannibal: What do you see?
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Sight is the key to appreciating the design behind Bryan Fuller’s three seasons of Hannibal. Television is first and foremost a visual medium, and no show makes better use of it. The first two seasons of Hannibal take place before the events described…
Ex_Machina – I am become Death
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Somewhere in the wilderness of Alaska there is a house, and inside that house are four people. At least one of these people is not human, but a robot. Over the course of a single week, the occupants must determine if this robot…
Jessica Jones: It’s Time to Learn Her Name
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
When Marvel announced that it would be putting out several series on Netflix about street-level heroes, they told us who we’d be getting: Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. And as I tried to force everyone I know to be just…
The Flash Season One: “Run, Barry, Run!”
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
“Life is locomotion… If you’re not moving, you’re not living.” So begins the famous motto of the comic book hero the Flash, and when adopting the story of Barry Allen for the small screen, it’s clear that this motto was taken to heart.…
Almost Human: Synthetic Soul
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Image from yvrshoots.com ? Created by J. H. Wyman and J. J. Abrahams, Almost Human was a science fiction television show that lasted only one season on Fox—because if there is one thing Fox knows how to do, it’s cancel great sci-fi hits…
Sandman : Handful of Dust
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Image from empireonline.com ? When a young Neil Gaiman first approached Vertigo comics about The Sandman, he was pitching a simple revival of the 70s series of the same name by Joe Simon and Jack “The King” Kirby. But DC editor Karen Berger…
God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Image from amazon.com “Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time.” These are the words that begin Kurt Vonnegut’s great 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five, also known as The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. This is not Vonnegut’s only work of science fiction; indeed, it…
Imagine Magic! In Defense of Fantasy Literature
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” ― Dr. Seuss Illustration by Dorothy Anne Manuel Fantasy has been a part of the literary tradition since literature began. In fact, the case could be made…
A Good Land for Myths
Originally posted on University of Toronto's One & Only Genre Journal:
Throughout Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods, many different characters state that “America is a bad land for gods.” The novel argues that when many beliefs sail across the ocean to reach our continent, they struggle to survive. While I cannot say whether…
