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Non-Review Review: The Raven

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Darren

The Raven is one of those concepts that might have been interesting to follow from the pitch phase. It seems almost impossible that anybody thought the movie, in the condition that it was released, was a good idea – so I’m curious at how various people were convinced to sign on and to help shepherd it to the screen. Of course, my inner cynic suggests that money was a prime motivating factor, but it’s very hard to imagine anybody being convinced that “Edgar Allan Poe lives through se7en in 1849 Baltimore” would prove the basis of a massive cash windfall.

There must have been something of interest here, something worthy of attention at some point in the process, rather than just the half-hearted attempt to knock-off one of those nineties serial killer knock-offs with a slight change of scenery.

A shadowy figure…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anquan Boldin, Baltimore Ravens, Daniel Day-Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, film, gore, James McTeigue, john cusack, Movie, National Football League, non-review review, Poe, Raven, review, Riddell, stanley kubrick, stephen king, Tell-Tale Heart, United States | 8 Comments »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 15 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Darren

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 15, finds Will Eisner in the middle of a very strong run on his most iconic creation. While this collection of stories doesn’t necessarily do anything new or radical, it does offer an example of a master storyteller at the height of his powers, crafting entertaining and exciting pulpy adventures on a weekly basis. Indeed, this run of stories offers a fairly efficient cross-section of what the strip was capable of at its best, perhaps more than any of the volumes surrounding it. While it might not be the very best collection of Spirit stories written, it is a pretty handy introduction to the character and his world.

Doesn’t somebody want to be wanted?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: A Contract with God, Adam, Al Capp, Dolan, Ebony, Eisner, Gretel, Hansel & Gretel, Killer Mike, Lamp, Octopus, Raven, Spirit, The Spirit Archives: Volume 12, United States, Will Eisner | 2 Comments »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 2 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Darren

Join us the December as we take a dive into the weird and wonderful Will Eisner Spirit Archives, the DC collections of the comic strip that helped define the medium.

With this second collection of six months worth of strips, we can see Eisner’s vision of The Spirit really cement itself, as well as the true beginnings of the more experimental work that the writer and artist would do with the newspaper strip. While a lot of people would argue that Eisner truly hit his stride in the postwar era of The Spirit, I think we can see him beginning to truly hone his craft here, and can get a sense of an artist slowly testing the horizons of an eight-page newspaper comic strip. It might not be his best work on the title, but it’s still fascinating stuff.

Accept no substitutes…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, batman, catwoman, clark kent, comic, comic strip, crime, dc comics, dc universe, Eisner, Ellen, Ellen Dolan, Homer, New York City, Raven, Spirit, Statue of Liberty, The Spirit Archives: Volume 12, The Spirit Archives: Volume 2, Will Eisner, world war ii | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Raven (1963)

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Darren

Part of me longs for the day that Edgar Allen Poe might get a cinematic adaptation befitting his work. I’m a huge fan of Poe, who is an author who seems destined to receive more cinematic homage that straight-up adaptation. So, despite having relatively little to do with the poem of the same name, is the epic team up of Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson worthwhile? Well, The Raven is almost too camp even for me.

I did say “almost.”