Cultural Wormhole Presents: X-Nation Episode 10

In this installment of X-Nation we take discuss the latest news in the X-Buzz and we take a look back at the Month in X for January 2011.

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Month in X – January 2011
X-Factor #213, X-Factor #214, X-Men Forever 2 #15, X-Men Forever 2 #16, Chaos War X-Men #2, Wolverine #5, X-23 #5, Wolverine & Jubilee #1, X-Men #7, X-Men: Serve & Protect #3, Uncanny X-Force #5, Uncanny X-Men #532, New Mutants #21, X-Men: Legacy #244, Age of X: Alpha #1

Fringe - "Reciprocity"

Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, and Blair Brown from 'Fringe'.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 11
"Reciprocity"

Right off the bat, I've got to point out the huge fan service paid by the writers of 'Fringe'. For the past year, the Olivia from the alternate universe has been refereed to as "Bolivia" (as in Olivia B) over on FOX's official 'Fringe' website. However, Walter dubbed her as "Fauxlivia", which has become the nomenclature adopted by most fans and reviewers. It's official now. It pays to be loyal sometimes.

Fantastic Four – “Three”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

Fantastic Four
Issues #583 – 587
“Three”

(Warning: Spoilers for the big death in Fantastic Four #587 below.)

For about a year and a half, Jonathan Hickman has been writing one hell of a Fantastic Four. As I stated in a previous article, Hickman has been able to build on tonal shift that Mark Millar implemented on the book previously, and has made this the best run on the title since Mark Waid wrote it back in ’03 and ’04. With the “Three” arc the writer has been able to pay off several ideas that he has set up since starting on the title.

Cultural Wormhole Presents: The Merc Report Episode 4

Spinning out of X-Nation, The Merc Report is your monthly review of the many Deadpool comic books published by Marvel Comics. This episode Corwin Crowl takes us through the Month in Merc for December 2010.

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The Month in Merc: Deadpool #30, Deadpool Corps #9, Deadpool Team Up #886, Deadpool Pulp #4 and Deadpool MAX #3.

Music by Jenki "Girls of Los Angeles"

Fringe - "The Firefly"

Walter (John Noble) and September (Michael Cerveris) take a walk and discuss cause and effect.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 10
"The Firefly"

A lot of hay has been made about the decision by FOX to move 'Fringe' from Thursday, arguably the most watched night of television, to Friday, the night where a lot of shows have gone to die. Also, there is the irony of the first Friday night 'Fringe' being titled "The Firefly" since the much beloved 'Firefly' was a show that FOX aired on that night and horribly mismanaged. Still, FOX believes that if 'Fringe' can retain most of its Thursday audience on Friday, it will greatly increase viewership for the network on a very dead night. If the show can pull this off, as one FOX executive put it, 'Fringe' could be on for several years.

Cultural Wormhole Presents: X-Nation Episode 9

In this installment of X-Nation, we take a look back at the Year in X for 2010 and discuss six more classic issues in Days of X-Men Past.

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Days of X-Men Past: Uncanny X-Men #400, Uncanny X-Men Annual 2001, X-Treme X-Men #7, X-Treme X-Men #8, New X-Men #119, and New X-Men #120.

Caprica - The Final Five Episodes

Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) searches for his daughter's avatar in New Cap City.

Photo Credit: Syfy

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Caprica'
Season 1 - Episodes 14 - 18
"Blowback"
"Dirteaters"
"The Heavens Will Rise"
"Here Be Dragons"
"Apotheosis"

Wow. When Syfy is done with a program and decides to cancel it before the rest of the episodes have aired, they really wash their hands of it. After returning in the fall after a mid-season hiatus, 'Caprica' only aired four episodes before the network decided to pull the plug on the 'Battlestar Galactica' prequel. The ratings weren't great and 'Caprica' was certainly not the critics darling like its predecessor. However, as someone that did watch the series and was curious how the rest of the season would end, I really didn't appreciate that Syfy burned through the final five episodes in one day. I had no idea that January 4th was going to be the only chance to see them on television and I missed them. I had to settle for a less than stellar presentation on the Syfy website.

The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet (Seth Rogen) and Kato (Jay Chou) are on the run from Chudnofsky's gang.

Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

Review by Paul Steven Brown

The Green Hornet
Directed by Michel Gondry
Screenplay by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, & Cameron Diaz

Lights Out - "Pilot"

Even in retirement, Patrick "Lights" Leary (Holt McCallany) still likes to hit people.

Photo Credit: FX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Lights Out'
Season 1 - Episode 1
"Pilot"

In the past decade, we've seen some great characters on television that are both hero and villain of their own story. Probably the most notable has been Tony Soprano. While he was the central character in 'The Sopranos' at times it seemed like Tony was his own arch-nemesis. Sure, he had antagonists, both noble and not, but our "hero" was far from being a good guy. Most recently, Nucky Thompson on 'Boardwalk Empire' has filled a similar role. What helps make these characters attractive too has been the outstanding acting from James Gandolfini and Steven Buscemi.

The Cape

Faraday (David Lyons) catches Orwell (Summer Glau) spying on him in 'The Cape'.

Photo Credit: NBC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'The Cape'
Season 1 - Episodes 1 & 2
"Pilot"
"Tarot"

While the movies seem comfortable with a more traditional take on superheroes, there has usually been a more post-modern handling of the genre on television. Shows like 'Heroes' and 'No Ordinary Family' deal with characters with super abilities, but aren't cowled crime-fighting vigilantes. Even 'Smallville' began as more of a teen drama about a boy that has powers. There wasn't the familiar red cape and boots to be seen.

Cultural Wormhole Presents: X-Nation Episode 8

In this installment of X-Nation, we take discuss the latest news in the X-Buzz and we take a look back at December’s X-Books in the Month in X.

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Looking Back: The Year in X 2010 - Part 5

By Paul Steven Brown

Here's my final installment in a look back at the X-Men comic books that came out in 2010. For the last article, I reflect on Generation Hope, New Mutants, X-Men: Legacy, and the one that started it all: Uncanny X-Men.

Looking Back: The Year in X 2010 - Part 4

By Paul Steven Brown

It's time to take another look back at the X-Men comic book franchise for the year that was 2010. There were a lot of changes and many ups and downs as would be expected for group of books about mutants. In this installment, I take a look at the Forever books that came out in 2010.
 

Looking Back: The Year in X 2010 - Part 3

By Paul Steven Brown

It's time to take another look back at the X-Men comic book franchise for the year that was 2010. There were a lot of changes and many ups and downs as would be expected for group of books about mutants. In this installment, I take a look at Astonishing X-Men, the new adjectiveless X-Men book, and the seemingly endless stream of anthologies that came out this year.

Looking Back: The Year in X 2010 - Part 2

By Paul Steven Brown

It's time to take another look back at the X-Men comic book franchise for the year that was 2010. There were a lot of changes and many ups and downs as would be expected for group of books about mutants. In this installment, I take a look at the various Wolverine books that came out this year.

Looking Back: The Year in X 2010 - Part 1

By Paul Steven Brown

It's time to take a look back at the X-Men comic book franchise for the year that was 2010. There were a lot of changes and many ups and downs as would be expected for group of books about mutants. In this installment, I take a look at the Second Coming crossover, X-Factor, the death and rebirth of X-Force.