About

James is a nerdy guy from the Midwest. He likes to write about faith, culture, and whatever hyper-fixation has captured his imagination this week. Come along if you love learning and thinking deeply about the world.

Also comic book reviews. Lots of comic book reviews. 

Who is James? 

James has a BA in Psychology from Lincoln Christian University. He lives in Peoria, IL with his wife, Hannah, their collection of Monster High dolls, and an ever-growing pile of trading cards. 

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Popular posts from this blog

Aliens/Vamirella (2016) - A Surprisingly Good Read

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This review contains minor spoilers.  I know, I know. Vampirella. She’s most famous for her skimpy outfit (even by comic book standards). She’s a walking male gaze with fangs. So, why did I read this comic? Two reasons: 1 - It was free through ComicBookPlus via my local library and I’m on an Aliens crossover comic kick. 2 - in a review covering this comic, YouTuber Alpha Rookie noted she doesn’t really wear her iconic costume in this crossover and is, instead, dressed in a more practical purple parka. I am deeply indebted to this review and echo two of his insights below.  Aliens/Vampirella is a 6-issue miniseries originally published by Dynamite Entertainment and Dark Horse Comics from September 2015 to February 2016. It is written by Corinna Bechko with pencils and inks by Javier García-Miranda, colors by InLight Studio, and lettering by Simon Bowland. I read the collected trade on ComicBookPlus through my local library.  When a Mars colony dis...
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Reflections on an Ice Age Woman

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"The Woman of Cussac" - Aquitaine, France Photo: CNP, Ministère de la Culture. Source They saw mammoths and giant cave bears. At some point, they carved her on a cave wall in what would one day become France. Her people lived and loved and died during the last great ice age. This is a carving of a woman in profile from Grotte de Cussac (or Cussac Cave), discovered in 2000. Its walls are etched with overlapping, interlaced art of bison, mammoths, bovines, horses, and humans dating to around 29,000 BCE during the upper paleolithic period. It is one of the very few Paleolithic caves to contain human remains. Her people were part of what anthropologists call the Gravettian, a nomadic hunter-gatherer group that ranged across much of Europe. This carving shares much stylistically with other examples of Gravettian art such as the Woman of Laussel (pictured below) and the famous figurine Woman of Willendorf . Dozens of these images,  often referred to anachronistically as ...
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Manga Classics: MacBeth - An Excellent Adaptation

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Witches. Prophecy. Intrigue. Murder. Macbeth is a classic for a reason.  Shakespeare isn't really meant to be read. His plays are scripts. They are intended to be experienced in performance. If watching MacBeth performed is the best way to experience the play, reading Manga Classics: MacBeth might be the second-best way to experience it.  Manga Classics: MacBeth is adapted by Crystal S. Chan and illustrated by  Julien Choy. It was published on  Oct 11, 2018 by Udon Entertainment. T hank you Undon Entertainment for providing a copy of this ebook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. When Scottish Lord MacBeth is told a prophecy by three witches that he will one day be king of Scotland, he and his wife set in motion a bloody plot to seize the throne. But how will this treachery sit on their consciences and will they have the cunning necessary to defend a usurper’s crown? I'm a Shakespeare nerd. In high school, I memorized Hamlet's famous...
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