Critical Hits & Misses #231

• Entertainment Weekly examines how the wonderful women of summer 2017 are changing Hollywood forever. This is a pretty good look at how 2017 has changed for women in Hollywood, compared to just ten years ago. 


• Michelle Rodriguez has threatened to leave the Fast & The Furious franchise if women aren't given better parts in the future installments. This is definitely something we can get behind!

For today's musical hit, check out this Epic Disney Villains Medley from Peter Hollens.

Today's critical rolls: If you woke up tomorrow as a Disney villain, who would you be and why?


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #230

• Today in "This Is Why We Still Need Feminism" news: Bustle reported on a company that was hiring a female intern and decided to hold "a contest" for interns in bikinis. Sounds legit. Thanks to the internet's criticism, the contest was ended. Sometimes the internet can be used for good. 


• Well hell... it's about time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, aka the Academy that gives out Oscars, appears to be making a genuine attempt at diversifying by bringing in more women and people of color. 

For today's musical hit, we have the official Hamilton version of "Immigrants: (We Get The Job Done)"

Today's critical rolls: Have you ever encountered sexism or racism (or some sort of prejudice) in the workplace? Whether it's happened to you or someone you know, if you're comfortable, let us know the story and what it was like.


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #229

• Over at the Student Voices blog, Kayla Renee Parker tells the story of her having to deal with a progressive professor who forgot to hide her racism and ended up getting fired. 


• ESPN has released the cover images for the first two Body issues in 2017, and men on Twitter are freaking out over the smoking cover for NFL running back Zeke Elliott. Who knew masculinity and heterosexuality was so fragile? 

For today's musical hit, we have Kendrick Lamar and "ELEMENT."


Today's critical rolls: have you ever had to deal with some form of prejudice (sexism, racism, religion, orientation, etc)? If you're comfortable doing so, share about those experiences and how it was resolved... or how you wish it had been resolved.


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #228

• Dot Esports has a report on how Blizzard's popular shooter Overwatch is booming as an esport in South Korea, and that surprisingly (or not, if you're a female gamer who knows that the amount of female gamers out there is really under-reported), female fans of the game are playing a big role in its popularity. 


• At the 2107 BET Awards, Chance the Rapper was honored as the youngest person to ever receive the Humanitarian Award, for his work with children in various communities. Awesome!

For today's musical hit, we have Chance the Rapper and "Same Drugs"

Today's critical rolls: Who are some of your favorite women characters from video games? Tell us who and why!


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #227

A cast that looks like this can make Hollywood some serious money, if they can just wake up...

• Today in "No Shit, Sherlock" Hollywood news: a top agency has put out a report that not only do non-white moviegoers buy a whole lot of movie tickets, but that films with diverse leads have been doing particularly well since 2014 (the scope of the study was 2014-2016). Can Hollywood finally put the tired notion of whitewashing everything to rest, please?


• The New York Times has a story on the never-ending phenomenon of men interrupting women. It's both enlightening and enraging. 

For today's musical hit, we have Trina and "If It Ain't Me"

Today's critical rolls: What was your weekend like? Do anything fun? Or was it too hot to do anything but stay inside? Let us know!


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Martian Manhunter/Marvin The Martian Review: Isn't That Lovely?

In the realm of Looney Tune antagonists, Marvin the Martian is something of an odd duck. While all of the other foes that Bugs Bunny has faced are fairly harmless, he's one of the only ones that can actually be considered a credible threat. Let's be honest, Elmer Fudd is a perpetually-clueless dope, and he's not even good at that. At times, you almost feel sorry for him. Yosemite Sam has more weapons and confidence, but he's easily tricked and almost all bluster.

Marvin, on the other hand, can actually pose a very real danger to Bugs. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he projects an aura of menace, but there's a reason that so many entries into the franchise have positioned him as the villain. For the most part, he wants to commit genocide by destroying Earth for his own petty reasons, the most common of which is that it "obstructs his view of the planet Venus."  He utterly enjoys hunting smaller creatures and mocks Earthlings for being primitive. He also has a soft-spoken and gentle nature, making the true nature of what he aims to do even more disturbing, as much as that word can be applied to a slapstick cartoon.

With all of this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Steve Orlando and Frank J. Barbiere manage to turn what could be a ridiculously mismatched story into a touching cosmic tale. The heart of the crossover comes from Marvin and J'onn's shared Martian heritage. Despite having completely different views of society and coming from separate dimensions, they still share a bond, as slight as it may be. J'onn even pronounces Marvin's name in the distinct Martian dialect, trying to connect with him.

I'm also glad that Aaron Lopresti kept Marvin's ant-like structure in the art. It enhances the contrast between Marvin's puny gladiator design and the Martian Manhunter's distinctly more humanoid look. If we ever get a DC Rebirth series starring J'onn, then I hope Steve and Aaron are retained as the official creative team. The story has an effective grasp on keeping the standard Looney Tunes comedy, while also portraying the humanity seen in J'onn's worldview. Even though the chaos caused by Marvin's actions cause the populace to mistrust him, he still puts his hope in the essential goodness of human nature.

All the while, Marvin just has this smarmy tone of voice, and it fits with his character. In a way, he also does care about the Martian race, but he'll gladly prioritize them over others. One other thing that I really appreciate in the story is the inclusion of Area 52, where Marvin finds weapons to use against Earth. I'm fairly certain that it acts as a reference to the theatrical film Looney Tunes: Back In Action, where Marvin actually shows up in that government facility, later playing a key role in a spectacular joint Duck Dodgers/Star Wars homage.

The short backup story features the standard Looney Tunes incarnation of the character and a stylized version of J'onn. It's a cute story and packs a lot of jokes into a small amount of pages. In a way, it's very similar to the main feature, but features more references to the cartoons, such as Marvin's assistant K-9 and Duck Dodgers cameos by way of shape-shifting. Plus, cookies!

"Best Intentions" is written by Steve Orlando and Frank J. Frank J. Barbiere, drawn by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Jerome Moore, colored by Hi-Fi, and lettered by Carlos M. Mangual. "The (Next To The) Last Martian" is written by Jim Fanning, drawn by John Loter, and lettered by Saida Temofonte. Martian Manhunter/Marvin The Martian is available at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.

Josie And The Pussycats #7 Review: Arbitrary Honorifics Vs Charity

Josie And The Pussycats #7 focuses on the price of fame. Is it better to go to a fancy event and perform for a crowd of celebrities or attend a charity benefit and promote a good cause? Also, is it possible for Melody to transform into more superheroes? So far, I've compared her to Deadpool and she's blatantly referenced Sailor Moon. Considering that this issue has her using drumsticks as a facsimile of Wolverine's claws, I'd say it's definitely possible.

But, the issue is still relevant. Josie, Valerie, and Melody have to make a choice. Sure, the award ceremony is important, but it's also an event made almost exclusively for patting yourself on the back. Conversely, going to a charity benefit shows that fame hasn't made you too good to help other people, and you get to put on a show. Trophies or seeing the smiles on the faces of disadvantaged children, the eternal conflict.

I recently starting listening to an audiobook of Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel As According To Christ's Childhood Pal, Biff. I hope that doesn't start affecting me.

The art is especially good in this issue. There's a particular scene where the group is performing on stage alongside a background video image. The shading is absolutely beautiful. Kelly Fitzpatrick and Audrey Mok did an excellent job of contrasting the screen with the physical characters. The screen itself is colored in a grainy style where you can see almost every individual dot of color. It's very impressive and I hope that future issues incorporate that style.

Along with the aforementioned moral dilemma, the story also features more crime-busting, this time involving a group of crooked backup dancers dressed as robots. It is precisely as funny and pun-filled as you can imagine. It's always great when a comic can teach you valuable lessons about helping out for charity, but also include scenes where musical instruments are used as weapons of war.

Josie And The Pussycats #7 is written by Cameron DeOrdio and Marguerite Bennett, drawn by Audrey Mok, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick,  and lettered by Jack Morelli. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.

Critical Hits & Misses #226

Alison Brie in Glow

• The Atlantic reviews Jillian Tamaki's new collection of illustrated stories, Boundless. Tamaki has done X-Men comics and worked with Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. She's an amazing talented artist; check out the review, and check out her new book too!


• The Independent interviews Alison Brie, who talks about Glow, Bojack Horseman, and discusses how Hollywood is leery of taking risks with women actors. 

For today's musical hit, we have Ellie Goulding and "Something In The Way You Move"

Today's critical rolls: I'm going to be seeing Stephen Amell (of Arrow) at a convention this weekend, and I am totally fangurling out. If you could meet your favorite actor/actress, what's the one question you would ask them, given the chance?


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Comics 100-Page Super Spectacular Review: DC Reprints 'Superman & Bugs Bunny' For A New Generation

Back in the Silver Age, DC Comics had a title called DC Comics 100-Page Super Spectacular that featured reprints of select comics, typically those related to special events that were going on. The issues had a diverse array of handpicked titles, ranging from the contemporary adventures in Young Love to the more standard Superman and Flash tales, with a splash of Batman thrown in for flavor. The nineteenth edition even had a selection of Tarzan newspaper strips. This week, the colorful characters in the Looney Tunes join in as DC reprints Superman & Bugs Bunny to promote the upcoming crossover specials.

To start off, I have read this miniseries before, many times. It holds particular nostalgic value for me because I first discovered it at my very first trip to a local comic shop. In my return visits to Argo's Books, I discovered the joy of reading comics and vintage books. The visits were brief, but I happen to go to a college that is a short walk away from the store. Getting the opportunity to officially review the special is a joy, and I'm delighted to share my thoughts with you.

The story starts off with a fitting pair of villains, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Yoyo the Dodo. In case you haven't heard of Yoyo, there's no need to fear. The Dodo himself describes his backstory, even including a recreated scene from his debut cartoon, Porky In Wackyland. Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Dodo soon bond over their shared love of the art of annoying people and conspire to help each other out. You see, DC's premiere imp (Sorry, Bat-Mite) is tired of superheroes and wants to go to a world where he doesn't have to deal with them, especially Superman. As for the Dodo, he wants to annoy people again. Society has gotten too weird for him in the Looneyverse. The Dodo agrees to send Mr. Mxyz to the world of the Looney Tunes.

You fool, don't look a gift rooster in the mouth! Wait...

The sequence that follows is utterly brilliant. Along with showing Mister M tangling with some of the weirdest characters that the universe has to offer, it's also something of a character study into how his mind works. For once, he's on the receiving end of some slapstick, and has a bit of a temper tantrum, unable to handle it. For all his talk of loving to annoy Superman and cause a bit of mischief, he can't even handle a pie to the face or an anvil to the head. At one point, he even says that this must be how Superman feels when he travels out of the fourth dimension. He's so petty that he can't even handle someone turning the tables on him.

This dovetails into the actual crossover, when Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to transport the Looney Tunes into the DC world, causing mass hysteria and talking cats and talking dogs living together. Or, more accurately, hurling cartoon sticks of TNT at each other. Once again, Mark Evanier, the author, takes this opportunity to create the best character combinations that are possible, used to maximum pun-filled effect. Take, for instance, Batman hunting Cobblepot and coming across a certain Playboy Penguin or the Flash having two separate encounters with Speedy Gonzalez and Road Runner.

It only gets weirder as Mxyzptlk and Yoyo start betraying each other, swapping characters into even more dimensions and combining various characteristics. This part does get slightly confusing if you don't know that Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern or that Connor Hawke briefly took the mantle of Green Arrow at the time of the book's publishing. I wasn't confused when I first read it, but, then again, I had no idea that multiple people inherited the same title. On a similar note, some of the pop cultures make it clear that the comic is a product of the very early 2000s, but it doesn't hurt the book too badly.

Words can't describe how much I wish that we could have actually seen that happen.

Also, the running joke of Connor Hawke attempting to show people Michigan J. Frog's singing ability does wear slightly thin. It's still funny, but it does get a bit tiresome. It doesn't really adhere to comedy's rule of threes, instead sticking to the unknown 'rule of sixes.' Interestingly, now that I'm older, I actually recognized an alcohol joke in one of the sequences. Green Arrow first accuses and then gets accused of being drunk by a random person on the street. Still, seeing Batman gain the personality of Daffy Duck definitely makes up for it.

"They're called m-m-m-male rompers or something, I dunno!"

The best part of the story, by far, comes in when the Looney Tunes characters and the DC superheroes actually team up to stop the Toyman and get everything back to normal. The sheer absurdity of seeing the Looney Tunes fight crime alongside iconic heroes is something so wonderfully, dare I say it, loony and amazing. I definitely recommend reading the special or the miniseries, if you can get your hands on it. It's a joy to read and behold.

DC Comics 100-Page Super Spectacular (otherwise known as Superman & Bugs Bunny) is written by Mark Evanier, layed out by Joe Staton, finished by Tom Palmer and Mark DeCarlo, lettered by Phil Felix, and colored by Trish Mulvihill. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.

Archie #21 Review: Shaking Up The Status Quo

Warning: This review contains massive spoilers.

Archie #21 contains the second part of the highly-anticipated "Over The Edge" storyline. Despite having more of a comedic tone than the first installment, it might just be the most devastating chapter yet. When the last issue left off, Betty, Reggie, and Archie's respective cars experienced an accident and plunged over the side of the highway, leaving their fates in question. This issue reveals that Betty Cooper is fighting for life in the hospital.

I appreciate Mark Waid's reasoning for why he chose Betty to be the one in trouble. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, he explained that Betty has touched the lives of so many people in Riverdale in such a positive way. Seeing something happen to such a beloved figure would definitely strike a chord. I have to agree. Reggie does have occasional moments of goodness, but he's still not going to have a crowd of people coming to the hospital and rushing to his aid.

As for Archie, even though he's the main character, a lot of people in town have their issues with him, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be the one clinging to life. There's also the fact that he primarily narrates the series, so it wouldn't make sense from a writing standpoint. Although, as this issue demonstrates, you don't necessarily need a narrator for this particular story.

Jughead, the consummate professional.

Most of the issue does focus on how much Betty means to the town in a roundabout way, as the revelation that she is the injured one isn't actually revealed until the end of the issue. The bulk of it has several short stories about the residents of Riverdale going about their daily lives until they receive a phone call about the incident and immediately leave. For his part, Jughead is trying to pay off his tab by working at Pop Tate's, and celebrating with a burger after his disastrous shift. It actually shows him leaving the half-eaten burger at the table as he rushes off to the hospital. For a foodie like Jughead, that's major.

Other characters have similar moments of that magnitude. Dilton and Moose are working on a scientific experiment, but they immediately rush off to the hospital after getting the phone call. Ironically, that particular gadget was meant to help Betty. Also, we all know that Mr. Weatherbee is committed to discipline, but he stops in the middle of chewing out Raj and Sheila after getting the call. On a side, note, I'm happy to see more of Raj's movie-making exploits.

It's an effective way to keep the initial mystery going and portray the normal exploits in Riverdale. The story is set to shake up the town's status quo, and it's already demonstrated here. Finally, on a lighter note, I like that the character-focused chapters have the classic pun-based titles. Just like the eleventh issue of the title, it's a fun way to call back to the original universe.

Archie #21 is written by Mark Waid, drawn by Pete Woods, and lettered by Jack Morelli. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.