Thoroughly Animated: A DC Animated Films Retrospective- Part 1

Posted on January 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

DCWhen it comes to live action films, Marvel has dominated, now more than ever. Unfortunately, DC has only managed to release a few good films, mainly consisting of Batman films, with an okay Superman flick.  Other than that, no other character in their mainstream universe seems to work well on screen (or they just refuse to put them up there). However, DC does have a one-up on Marvel when it comes to animation. And for the past six years, they have been releasing quality animated films. Continue reading →

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Posted in Adaptations, Animation, Comic Books, Coty, Films, Retrospectives, Thoroughly Animated

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Opinion Time: Marvel Losing Its Grip-Part One (Events)

Posted on January 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

Disclaimer: The following is an opinion piece and does not reflect the opinions of all writers of The Nerdicon. I have strong feelings on this subject that I wish to share with you. My opinion has no bearing on yours. I welcome feedback, even if you disagree. I do not mean to bash any of our readers who might be a fan of Marvel comics or other Marvel properties. Opinions are amazing, and I will respect yours if you respect mine. That being said, let’s begin.

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I feel that Marvel comics quality in the recent years has been, well, terrible. Of course there are a few shining stars, such as Guardians of the Galaxy, The Ultimates, and Ultimate Spider-Man (the Miles Morales version). But the mainstream stuff has been lacking in quality as of late. To understand this disappointment, you have to understand that I really love Marvel characters. They have some of the world’s greatest characters, like Peter Parker and Steve Rogers, even Tony Stark. The way I see it is DC created the superhero, Marvel created the superhuman. Stan Lee is responsible for many of the greats: Hulk, Spider-Man, Daredevil, etc. But the head writers at Marvel nowadays have been focused more on making money and cheap gimmicky event books than actual character progression and storytelling and it really shows. Continue reading →

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Posted in Comic Books, Coty, Opinion Pieces

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Sitting at a Round Table: Merlin in Retrospect

Posted on January 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

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Never could I ever write nearly as much insightful commentary about the legend of King Arthur as there already is. There are people who have dedicated their lives to studying the Once and Future King with his duel kingdoms. I can, however, talk about King Arthur as a life-long fan of the legends. I’ve always been an Arthurian girl – and I always will be. There’s something amazing and inspiring about the legends of Arthur and his knights. Whether it’s uniting a nation with Lancelot, or even the quest for the Holy Grail, Arthur will remain one the of the West’s greatest myths.

Because of that status, there are a lot of retellings of the great and mythic Arthur. Some are awful, some are great. And some are Merlin. More recent adaptations of the tale have taken the side of telling the story through the eyes of Merlin, the old wizard who sometimes helps, sometimes hurts, but is always there. There is no true tale of Arthur without Merlin.

And that’s where Merlin comes in.

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Posted in Adaptations, Emily, Retrospectives, TV Series

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Video Game Movies and You

Posted on January 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

I believe it is safe to say that video game films… well… they suck. They suck hardcore. We want them to be great but it just never seems to completely make the transition. It’s not their fault. They never asked for this. A lot of them get really close to being that great film but something surrounding the film just seems to bring the level of quality down to zero. Very few, if any, get any of the source material right. Who do we have to blame? Do we blame the director? Do we blame the cast? The writers? Do we blame our complex needs when it comes to good films? Who do we point our unforgiving fingers at? I went back and watched a good amount of these dreaded films to see how I felt about them now. Let’s take a look into a couple of the more notable video game films to have graced any screen, American or foreign, and what makes them good or bad. Continue reading →

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Posted in Adaptations, Films, Jeffery, Reviews, Video Games

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Graphically Awesome: Superman Earth One: Vol. 2

Posted on January 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

This is Graphically Awesome, a series of reviews where we look at new and old graphic novels and tell you just how awesome (or not) they are.

This time I will be looking at the stand alone graphic novel: Superman Earth One Volume 2.  The “Earth One” graphic novels are a series of books that allow different authors that work for DC to do thereSUPERMAN-EARTH-ONE-VOLUME-2-cover own take on a certain character with out the limitation of any other continuity. It can almost be treated as there version of Marvel’s “Ultimate” line of comics. The “Earth One” books are only sold in graphic novel format and should not be treated as an ongoing series. The plan is to release one every one or two years. So far there are three books in this line: Superman Earth One: Vol. 1 and 2 and Batman Earth One: Vol. 1. Continue reading →

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Posted in Comic Books, Coty, Graphically Awesome, Reviews

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Flashback: The Wild Wests.

Posted on January 2, 2013 | Leave a comment

Alright Flash family, let’s take a trip on the cosmic treadmill for another Flashback! Before we get started, I need to put up a disclaimer. I really do love The Flash and his comic series; however, out of all of the good stories, there are there are plenty of bad ones, and when you love something a lot, you have to be extra critical about it. This is why I have to say without a doubt that the story arc “The Wild Wests” is terrible.

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What I don’t understand is how. Writer Mark Waid has churned out some of  DC’s greatest stories such as Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright (which to many is the definitive Superman origin story), and had a very successful run on the Flash at one point in his career. If this is the case, then why in holy Hades did issues 231-236 suck so much?

Continue reading →

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Posted in Comic Books, Coty, Flashback

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Ley and Emily Have Feels: Doctor Who Edition

Posted on January 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

So for those of you who aren’t Whovians (shame on you), every Christmas there’s a Doctor Who Christmas special. Sometimes it’s a stand alone episode, while other times it’s a turning point in a series. This year’s special introduced Clara, the Doctor’s new companion. And, much like with everything else, we have mixed feelings about it.

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Posted in Emily, Ley, Reviews, TV Series

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Off the Chain: Django Unchained Review

Posted on December 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Django-Unchained-wallpapers-1920x1200-2Quentin Tarantino has been called many things. Most people thought he was insane for wanting to do another period piece after the brilliance that was Inglorious Basterds. Even I thought it was kinda crazy to do a film set in the Antebellum period. But I trusted him, and thank god I did. Continue reading →

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Posted in Films, Ley, Reviews

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Tumblr page is finally operational!

Posted on December 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

That’s right, we finally got around to making/tweaking the Tumblr page. Go check it out! Well, it’s actually kinda bare at the moment, but it’ll be going full steam by next week!

—Ley

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Things That Happened: “Nerd” is a four letter word

Posted on December 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

So it was the last day of fall semester. I was walking back down from the radio station, having just turned in my final project for the semester (I swear there’s a point here). As I’m walking down, a school bus drives by. This is a perfectly normal occurrence, seeing as our campus is essentially the entire town. As the bus goes by, a little middle school aged girl sticks her head out of the bus window and screams, “NERD!” I looked around. I was the only person around. I looked after the bus and said, “Thanks?” before laughing and continuing the walk back down. But this got me to thinking.

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Posted in Ley, Misc, Things That Happened

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