I’ve left my house at midnight for some ridiculous things before- movies, video games, unwise culinary selections- but Tuesday marked the first time I did it for a comic. The book in question is DC Universe Rebirth #1, the much-hyped reset of the DC Comics universe under the hand of writer Geoff Johns and a…
Author: Erik Radvon
Darwyn Cooke Forever
Art’s a two way street, or maybe more accurately, a double-edged sword. When you like the work of someone, like profoundly like it, you’re opening creaking doors within yourself and letting it in, right down to the cellar. Often there’s not even a conscious choice to it. All the intellectual discourse, all the snarky punditry,…
Sign of the Times – Localize Mother 3, WWE, and the Unbearable Lightness of Being an Internet Meme
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign? -Ancient Proverb Let it be known that I did it for the lolz. It was one of those things I thought maybe would make a handful of friends laugh. Some background: I’ve…
Comic Review: BLACK WIDOW #1
Black Widow #1 Review by: Erik Radvon Story by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid Art by Chris Samnee Color Art by Matthew Wilson Lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna Cover by Chris Samnee & Matthew Wilson Publisher – Marvel Comics Cover Price – $3.99(USD) Release Date: Mar 2, 2016 Rating: 4/5 stars There’s a pendulum in…
Kill the Silver Age
I will never get tired of seeing Barry Allen die. Blame my age. My comic-reading vice (it’s an absurd habit, really) latched onto my central nervous system sometime in the mid ’80s. From the vantage of 2016, it was an extraordinarily strange time to come into the medium. The X-Men were dead rebels on the…
The Twilight Zone Election
I’ve followed American politics since before I could vote, finding it exciting and captivating, sometimes even fun. I naively and mistakenly thought I was accustomed to all the various tricks the murderous bloodsport had to offer, its unpredictable lurching, its penchant for absurd twists and turns. I should be used to it. The first election…
Roach Dude Election Special ’16 – aka Fun with Manga Studio
Hello internet. I just got Manga Studio 5 and a cheap Wacom tablet so I can make cheap comics for cheap laughs. Note: I’m a writer, and my artistic output illustrates that wonderfully. Don’t hate. Here are breakdowns of my first output, a patriotic mini-comic called ROACH DUDE ELECTION SPECIAL ’16.
Trainspotting and the Ghost of ‘Sally’
I’ll call her ‘Sally’ out of respect for the dead. We worked together at McDonald’s, the last refuge of scoundrels and lower-middle class ambitions. Fitchburg, Mass. long had strong undercurrents of vice coursing through it. Heroin was no different. In the mid-90s, it roared to the top of the menu. It was often easier to…
Newsletter, Volume 0
My first newsletter is out in the wild, appropriately starting with Volume 0. Read it here: http://tinyletter.com/radvon/letters/free-radicals-a-newsletter-from-erik-radvon-volume-0 Subscribe here, if you’re into that kind of thing: http://tinyletter.com/radvon
Growing up in the Dark Ages of Star Wars
“This is it. They’re making a new Star Wars.” This was me, to my parents, my friends, the disinterested kid next to me on the bus, our local postal worker- everyone I knew. In my hands, the novel “Star Wars – Heir to the Empire” by Timothy Zahn, its foil embossed cover shinning like a…
Happy Thanksgiving 2015
Happy Thanksgiving! If you’re reading this chances are you’re my friend, family, or a very stubborn Spambot. In any case, if we’re connected on any level you should know that you’re dear to me, whether I’ve known you for 20 years or we just chat about video games. I’m thankful for you all. It’s been…
Barcelona: City on the Edge of Tomorrow
Barcelona feels like a city on the edge of something new. Yes, the history is here, backed by a rich Catalan (don’t you dare call it Spanish) culture, and yes, there are plenty of museums and sights to take in, but unlike a lot of Europe the story doesn’t quite seem finished yet. It’s unusual…
When the Chips are Down
There’s a line in the 2005 movie Sin City that sticks with me. “A smoker’s a smoker when the chips are down.” I used to be a smoker, but years ago I chose life and dropped the vile habit. I now find my thrills by way of Starbucks espresso and sugar-free Jell-O Pudding , like…
Remembering Wes Craven
A knife to the gut. A plunge from on high. It comes out of nowhere, sudden and fast. Its horror isn’t so much in the act itself, but in its explosive speed and its undeniable finality. Like a cart over the rails, once set in motion there’s no stopping it. It just goes. You can…
Jurassic World – A Benevolently Absurd Modern Blockbuster
I couldn’t stop laughing. During the course of its two-hour-plus run time, Jurassic World dishes up something for everyone. As in, everyone in the world. All ages and all demographics are assembled, ushered into an Epcot Center-like faux theme park setting to square off against the real reason we’re in attendance- the dinosaurs. For me, the…