J&STAC: Marvel’s Secret Wars

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-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.”

May and June mark the DC Universe event Convergence, a smashing together of all DC stories and timelines– wait, no… sorry, the Marvel event Secret Wars, a smashing together of all Marvel stories and timelines.

Yup.

-J.: Please no more. I can’t. There are so many mediocre crossover events, and they just keep coming…secretwars1

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Our Month in Mad Max: Fury Road

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We here at The Addison Recorder read stuff. We also watch stuff. And play stuff, even are sort of wild about Mad Max: Fury Road. Sometimes, that stuff is interesting. Sometimes we just need to talk about whatever pop culture ephemera occupies our time Mad Max: Fury Road. Here’s some of the staff of the Recorder talking about their favorite parts of what’s shaping up to be one of the best action movies of the decade. Chrome on. Our Month in Pop Culture Mad Max: Fury Road

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the Fifth Line: You Get a Game 7, and You Get a Game 7…

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These conference finals have been great for hockey fans, but bad for my blood pressure. If you’ve still got a team in the running, how’s your hypertension?

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This is pretty much how I’ve felt all series. Not always in a good way.

While four fanbases are preparing to celebrate or fall into despair, a couple of teams have added new coaches. The “New Coach Sweepstakes” is like the playoffs, but for teams that didn’t do so well. San Jose has given the reigns of their unhappy roster to Peter DeBoer, which… is a decision. The Buffalo Sabres, meanwhile, have brought in BGSU alumnus and snappy dresser Dan Bylsma to coach Jack Eichel and Evander Kane. It’s no Crosby and Malkin, but it seems like a good challenge for the former Penguins coach.

But we’re not here for coach news. We’re here for playoff hockey, which leaves us hyperventilating and lacking in sleep.
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How Does This Hold Up?: 10 Things I Hate About You

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How Does This Hold Up? is a series where Alex and a guest check out a movie they haven’t seen in ages or that they’ve always been meaning to watch. They’ll compare the experience of watching these movies now to when they first saw or heard of them and explore the differences there-in. [Read more…]

Mr. Rostan at the Movies: Cannes and Canon

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Andrew Rostan was a film student before he realized that making comics was his horrible destiny, but he’s never shaken his love of cinema. Every two weeks, he’ll opine on current pictures or important movies from the past.

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Right now, one of the largest events in the movie world is happening across the ocean. The Cannes Film Festival is where lots of deals are made for lots of schlock, but also where the world’s greatest filmmakers have long chosen to showcase their newest work. The news filtering over to America has mostly been underwhelming: snippets of The Hateful Eight and Steve Jobs apparently made no one present start talking Oscar. But some films have been getting a memorable reaction, and I’d like to highlight five that we should pay attention to in the next few months.

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Thoughts from the Dugout: Quarter Horses

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Expect more pictures of Royals players here if they keep playing well.

Expect more pictures of Royals players here if they keep playing well.

As of today, many teams will be playing games #41 and/or #42. If you divide 162 by 4, you get a mess (or 40.5), so it’s safe to say that we are a quarter of the way through the baseball season. Granted, that’s a lot of baseball left to play, but it’s also not an insignificant number. Several teams have played themselves into excellent position throughout this year’s first leg. Others have dug themselves a hole. Still others started slow, yet are coming on strong as the year moves onward.

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J&STAC: Rat Queens, vol. 2

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-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.

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Why You Need to Read Roller Girl, a Graphic Novel

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(image via)

(image via)

I am not widely familiar with graphic novels, but I decided to pick up Roller Girl a few weeks ago — a new release by Victoria Jamieson. I do a lot of reading and writing about roller derby, and I wanted to support a fellow female derby writer. I am so glad I did, because this book is about a lot more than my favorite sport. If you’re interested in a quick read about young female friendships, complete with lovely and clever art, look no further. I read this gem in less than a day – and the second I finished it, I ordered a second copy to be sent to a girl friend. [Read more…]