Well, that didn’t take long:
Babcock to the Leafs? I literally can't even.
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) May 20, 2015
Yes, Mike Babcock has decided to take his talents to Toronto. I first thought this to be a hallucination brought on by sleep deprivation after game 2 of ‘Hawks / Ducks, but it turns out this was real. [Read more…]
-J. Michael Bestul is a writer for the Addison Recorder. Stephanie Ruehl is an artist who works in a comic book shop. They’re married and have a lot of discussions about comic books and graphic novels. Combine all that into a biweekly feature and you get “J. & Steph Talk About Comics.”
-J.: In our last piece, we summed up our feelings about DC’s Convergence event by telling you to read the brand-new Rat Queens volume instead. It’s been a couple weeks, and we’ve thoroughly read, re-read, and digested this second volume. Having done so, we would like to say, in many more words, “seriously, you need to read this series.”
Steph: As some of you know, “-J. & Steph Talk About Comics” was created because I NEEDED to tell everyone about Rat Queens.
-J.: It’s true. So let’s tell them about volume 2.
While we were all watching playoff hockey, another spectator added chum to the shark tank of off-season coaching vacancies.
Mike Babcock, whose Detroit Red Wings spent another postseason extending a record yet coming up way short of the Cup, has been given permission to shop his coaching talents to other teams.
Babcock’s glare is so withering, it actually put out that terrifying AHL Flames mascot.
But for the moment, the courtship of Babcock takes a back seat to the four teams who’ve survived to the Conference Finals, including the new ‘comeback kids’ of the playoffs, the New York Rangers. Before we get to them, let’s look at the West:
[Read more…]
Remember all those tense, amazing overtime games in round one?
Yeah, me too. Whatever happened to those? Or to series that went more than four or five games? Instead, playoff teams seem rather keen to make sure that NBC Sports Network gets us to Men in Blazers (relatively) on time.
Thankfully, Calgary and Anaheim gave us only our second OT game of round two, but even that was hockey gods deciding that Calgary didn’t deserve to get jobbed on that controversial no-goal call:
No goal!
Aside from Calgary, though, all the other series are already one win away from being over. If New York, Minnesota, and Montreal can’t course-correct quickly, the second round may be one of the briefest playoff rounds in recent history. [Read more…]
-J. Michael Bestul is a writer for the Addison Recorder. Stephanie Ruehl is an artist who works in a comic book shop. They’re married and have a lot of discussions about comic books and graphic novels. Combine all that into a biweekly feature and you get “J. & Steph Talk About Comics.”
April and May mark the DC Universe event Convergence, a smashing together of all DC stories and timelines. For many readers who have watched the “New 52” era with frustration and disdain, Convergence offers the possibility of bringing back some of the characters and writers that made them DC fans (once upon a time).
Or maybe it won’t. Because after diving into this supposedly-epic event, we’re only sure of one thing: there are way too many books tied into it. But we read them all–
Steph: Please no more. I can’t. There are so many Convergence titles, and they just keep coming… [Read more…]
I love having a “eureka!” moment when I’m mixing improvised cocktails.
Eureka!
One of the joys of mixology for me, aside from tasty libations, is the experimentation with new ideas and recipes. Most of the time, it’s borne of necessity — I have a limited amount of ingredients at hand, not all of which traditionally mix well together. Knowing basic recipes and proportions, I’ll improvise a cocktail. Most of the time, it’s good. Sometimes the theory doesn’t translate into practice.
And sometimes I’m surprised how unbelievably well it worked. That’s when I scramble for pen and paper or my phone, so that I can try to write down what I just did. [Read more…]
Welcome to the second round of the NHL playoffs!
It was a brilliant first round, and I surprised myself by getting seven out of eight series correct. Naturally, the only series I whiffed on involved the Flames, because of reasons not fully understood but easily summed up with this GIF:
Anyway, time to prognosticate round two of the playoffs: [Read more…]
Today marks the start of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (a.k.a., C2E2)!
As purveyors of popular culture, the Addison Recorder will have staff in attendance at the three-day event. Follow the Recorder on Twitter (@AddisonRecorder), or any of our writers who will be at C2E2: Andrew Rostan (@AndrewRostan), Stephanie Ruehl (@a_wyrd_sister), and J. Michael Bestul (@dashjperiod). There might even be an appearance from our head honcho, Travis Cook (@TravisJCook).
Or, if you’re at C2E2, find us in person or by tweeting at us!
I am a Blackhawks fan, and therefore I am a very tired person.
The Blackhawks / Predators series is four games in, and their double-overtime game last week was eclipsed by a triple-overtime gem this week. The playoffs have also been a strain on my attention span because I’m constantly flipping between games. There have been few blowouts, which means trying not to miss a big event when flipping to the other game.
Before we get to the playoff recaps, though, let’s talk about the oil-covered elephant in the draft room.
Balls.
-J. Michael Bestul is a writer for the Addison Recorder. Stephanie Ruehl is an artist who works in a comic book shop. They’re married and have a lot of discussions about comic books and graphic novels. Combine all that into a biweekly feature and you get “J. & Steph Talk About Comics.”
This weekend marks the annual event of Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, commonly known as…
