An interesting point: both had a crisis of faith in their spouses upon diagnosis.  The Angelmaker, beset by visions, transferred his to ideas of ascension and purification;
Bella, though still unable to find any solid footing, at least makes the leap of letting Jack have the chance to regain her faith.

Hannibal the book has some really good, classic Harris stuff in it, namely the 'minor' characters: Barney, the pig farmers, and especially the arc of the Italian detective are all really well done - and his penchant for research really shines in his worldbuilding and descriptions of processes.  But the central…

One of the most distinctive and interesting things about Harris' books (and have subsequently been driven into the ground by many lesser works) is that the procedural aspect of the investigation isn't just forensic and psychological: it's aesthetic - they examine evidence and try to enter the headspace of the…

I do wish a wee bit more practicality was added to the tableau - a ladder may have ruined the aesthetics, but perhaps a scaffold - and the wings are problematic as something one can accomplish in those circumstances (flayed, bleeding out, suspended in air, no leverage from any vantage).  Maybe a pulley system?  I'll…

A nationally televised round of True American should sort this right out.

Those people over there…are Triangle Heads.

THRASHER WILL NEVER DIE

1. a sharp bucknife
2. a tender young sapling
3. a handful of beeswax
4. your scoutmaster's supervision

…a job that probably should have belonged to Black Bolt or Prime Minister of Planet X - but they lacked commitment.

Fucking love that song.  My coworkers and I clash quite a bit over music, but Barry is one of the few we all agree on.

Also see: Love is the Devil, Lost in Translation, Constantine, Burn After Reading…she's one of the few actors I'll see a movie just cause she's in it.

May I present…porpentine's CRYSTAL WARRIOR KE$HA:

I had no idea Dark Horse was reviving its "Comics Greatest World" cape stuff!  I remember there being an interesting metaplot woven among its slew of ridiculous characters, but mostly I remember an issue by Paul Chadwick(!) about a spirit-hunting archer with some really weird imagery.  King Tiger, I think it was…

That Marvel's output of late has had quite a few contextually interesting standouts - enough that further examination is warranted - while NuDC's ability to continually shoot itself in the foot is noteworthy, but only just worth mentioning.

THIS x1000

Remember: once you have about five or six street-level heroes established, then you can throw in Taskmaster.

Right?!  He's got all the right elements and all the right kind of stories to draw from.  You could even crib directly from The Wire and have the first two seasons be all about taking down Fisk.

Daredevil is what's known as a "street level" character - a hero whose stories are primarily set in the recognizable world, dealing with more down-to-earth situations, and generally share more characteristics with the crime fiction genre than straight-up superhero.  And DD in particular lives more in a world of his…

Ich bin ein Poehler!

Cain was the first murderer: as Yahweh found out his deed and cursed him from the earth, the "mark of Cain" was set upon him; it has passed into usage as a literary term, a metaphorical shorthand for evil, the outcast, and the taboo.