“It ends tonight, Joker." These are grim words that herald the beginning of the last battle between Batman and his greatest nemesis. This week, we’re taking a look at a classic, an issue of the legendary series, “The Dark Knight Returns” — specifically, issue 3, “Hunt The Dark Knight,” ...
Marathon Monday has now come and gone, and because you're an avid reader of this column, you learned about the Tufts Marathon Team (TMT) and coach Don last week. I'm happy to report that the TMT did great as always, with many smiles, hugs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches being passed out ...
OK, I’m going to level with you all: I try not to base my weekly spotlight on what comic book movies are coming out this week. Usually I try and keep my reviews to books I think you should read on their own merits … but some weeks I indulge myself, and this is one of those weeks. With a rebooted ...
What kinds of meetings are going on behind closed doors and what sort of people are conducting them? What does it take to make the world we know run as it does? This week’s book “The Wild Storm” Vol. 1 by Warren Ellis seeks to answer that question in spectacular fashion.By Ellis’ own admission ...
We’re gonna try something new this week, gang. I’m going to highlight a character that’s piqued my interest as of late, coupled with an issue that I just read rather than a collection or a complete arc. Fair warning though, I’ve picked a wacky one: Flex Mentallo, Muscle Man of Mystery. Do not ...
The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the conflict in Yemen have many questioning the United States' relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A large plurality of Americans view Saudi Arabia as an unfriendly nation or an outright enemy, according to a YouGov poll, yet a long succession ...
Welcome back! I hope your adventures over spring break have returned you to Tufts rested and ready to finish the semester. While you were out, Somerville was hard at work brewing a traffic nightmare in the form of the Broadway Bridge closure. I know most students do not drive, or even venture too far ...
There are occasions where a comic’s plot is so bizarre, so out there and yet so ingenious that I curse myself for not coming up with it myself. A prime example: "JLA: Tower of Babel." Collected in JLA Vol. 4 (2014) and written by Mark Waid, “Tower of Babel” sees the world’s ability ...
If I am being honest, I don't understand performance art.However, it is also a primary focus at the SMFA, which prides itself on pushing the boundaries of art school and exploring interdisciplinary media. Up-and-coming art students like the ones of the SMFA are the ones defining and developing ...
This week I thought I’d do something a little special. Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe just took home its first Oscar gold this past Sunday, I think that we ought to celebrate the Marvel universe as a whole … by watching it get destroyed. Strap in gang: We’re talking about “Secret Wars” ...
With the planet warming, global conflict in the near future is unavoidable as resource scarcity, loss of land and extreme weather events push people to act in rational but violent ways. To limit the severity of these conflicts, we must begin making radical changes to the way we do almost everything.One ...
In the world of comics, there is an endless cavalcade of "good people doing good things:" Batman, Spiderman, etc. There’re even a few books about "bad people doing good things," we’ve got the "Suicide Squad," "Deadpool," "The Punisher," so on and ...
The Movie: Come and See The Year: 1985The People: Aleksey Kravchenko as Flyora, the decaying childbearing witness to the evilest of evils, Elem Klimov as the film's director and Ales Adamovich as the screenwriter, relaying the horrors he lived through in his youth. The Non-Revealing Plot: In 1943, ...
The demographics of the SMFA shuttle are pretty consistent. There are always tired-looking dual-degree students, a few Bachelor of Fine Arts students and one of the five drivers that we have come to know and (mostly) love. Someone will be holding a Rubi machine coffee, someone will be struggling to ...
Anyone who plans on reading this column long term should probably be warned that they're going to be hearing a lot about Warren Ellis. A one-in-a-million freak of the comic book industry, Ellis is the kind of creator that takes the medium and turns it on its head. Whether it’s injecting X-files ...
As the world continues to warm, serious action must be taken in order to prevent oil from being pumped out of the ground and burned into the atmosphere. As the coup in Venezuela progresses, we must understand the international motives and its potential environmental consequences. As of 2014, Venezuela ...
'How come (insert superhero here) doesn’t just kill the bad guys? Then the bad guys wouldn’t be able to get out and hurt more people,' inquire many comic book fans. Ok, enough with the straw man. Comic book heroes who don’t kill people shouldn’t start, and I can think of no better example ...
Dear Fellow Students,Tilton Lane needs to go. The paved area between Hodgdon, Lewis, Tilton, Bush and Haskell Halls is a disaster waiting to happen. The constant flow of traffic swirling through tight spaces and around multiple blind corners presents a clear and present danger to the unobserving students ...
Why create art? As an artist, it was something I always knew was important, but I didn’t understand why. While at the SMFA, I've realized how complicated it is — not everyone makes art, and those who do create it for different reasons. Furthermore, many do not care at all to answer why they ...
How does gerrymandering hurt Nigerian yam farmers? Why does Danish foreign aid weaken Bangladeshi industry? Why don’t democracies always do what their people want? These are just a few of the questions, big and small, that I’ll explore in this column.I want to delve into contemporary political ...
