Podcast #005 - Ms Marvel (2014)

"From Jersey City, It's Ms. Marvel!"

In this all-new, all-embiggened fifth episode, Alan and Emily talk about the Kamala Khan version of Ms Marvel, which debuted in 2014. We talk about the significance of her status as a young Muslim heroine. We talk ethnicity, religion, culture, family, and the immigrant experience.

We also cover lots of terrific feedback from our terrific feedbackers, mostly about our recent Star Wars episode. 

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or the RSS Feed.

Link: Anderson Cale's music 

Special thanks to Stella, from Batgirl to Oracle, for providing her voice.

We would love to hear from you about this issue, the podcast episode, or the podcast in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow Alan on twitter @ProfessorAlan

Comic Book Review: Gotham By Midnight #10

 Gotham By Midnight #10, DC Comics, cover-dated December 2015.

“Nothing Will Stop Us,” by Ray Fawkes, with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz.

The opening page of each issue in this series contains four long panels that provide a thematic statement of sorts for the issue. It’s hard to construct a better summary of the concept of this series than the words that begin issue #10:

“In a city of horror, I (Jim Corrigan) swore to protect the innocent. When I failed, he (the Spectre) swore to avenge them.”

This issue picks up in the aftermath of last issue’s appearance of the Spectre in the small holding room where Corrigan was being interrogated by Internal Affairs. Detective Lisa Drake tries to calm him, before helping him make his escape.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tarr’s story continues, and we see him dealing with his feelings after Sister Justine’s death. In a creepy scene, he discovers that a sainthood cult is growing near where she died. She has been appearing to neighborhood kids, who have built a shrine to “The Nun of the Narrows.”

 While evading re-capture (in a wonderfully-drawn chase scene), Corrigan and Drake discuss who exactly is in control of the Spectre. Corrigan also tells Drake his origin story. He also convinces her that despite their careers being in shambles at this point, that the thing from the swamp that they’ve dealt with in prior issues, is still out there. As the end of the series approaches, the Midnight Shift still has work to do.

Bono & Petersen & The Psalms

A very interesting short film was released recently, documenting a nearly 15-year long friendship between U2 singer Bono and Bible translator Eugene Peterson. Peterson is the author of the contemporary-language version of the Bible, The Message.

The conversations revolves about their common interest in the Psalms. Based on interviews conducted by Fuller Seminary faculty member David Taylor and produced in association with Fourth Line Films, the film highlights in particular a conversation on the Psalms that took place between Bono, Peterson, and Taylor at Peterson’s Montana home.

Dead Theologians Society: St Athanasius

Today is the Feast Day of St. Atahanasius of Alexandria. 

One of the great Greek Fathers of the Church, Athanasius was a fierce defender of Trinitarianism, and an opponent of Ariansim. He was born near Alexandria, Egypt in the late 290s, and was writing theological treatises by the time he was in his mid-twenties.

Athanasius attended the Council of Nicea in 325, assisting his bishop in his role as a deacon. He was raised to the bishopric himself a few years later, and served in that position for most of his life. He spent much of his life defending the "homoousian" position on the Trinity, which became the standard orthodox view.

He was exiled 5 separate times during his 45 years as Bishop, as different Emperors had varying positions on the Church, and of the Arian heresy. He became known as the "Father of Orthodoxy" and the "Father of the Canon."

He died in 373, at approximately 75 years of age.

Holding Christian Film Accountable

I recently discovered the YouTube film critic "Say Goodnight, Kevin." The premise of the reviews is that Christian movies should be held to the same standards that every movie is held to, in terms of script-writing, production, acting, and effects.

Recently, he posted this video about "How To Make A Christian Movie." Like most of his videos, this one contains a nice balance between insightful and humorous. The mockery is never cruel. His desire to see better quality product come from the evangelical entertainment industry is sincere. And his critique of that industry is completely on-point.

 His YouTube channel contains a range of series beyond this one, and though I haven't seen them all, they do appear to be of similar quality.

Alan's Christian Comic Corner

 The Unforogttens: Mission of Tranquillity #1, Trinity Comic Ministries, 1993. The untitled story is created by Timothy A. Gagnon.

I think it started with the Frank Peretti novel “This Present Darkness,” and its sequel “Piercing the Darkness.” These were published in 1986 and 1989 respectively. Those books both fed on a growing interest in spiritual warfare in the evangelical church, and also contributed to that growing interest. Many evangelical novels and albums of the era reflected this interest, so a comic book featuring similar content makes sense.

Three teens are performing a Satanist ritual in the woods, and summon a demon. They are interrupted by a warrior of God (called Faith), who appears to be an angel, but is in fact a human who has been empowered by God to fight Satan and other evils. Two of the three teens repent of their ways, the demon is expelled, and Faith meets up with two similar beings. At the end of the issue, an unsuspecting hitchhiker appears to be kidnapped by demonic forces.

There is one scene in particular that surprised me. The lead character is Catholic, and his salvation came as a result of a conversation with a priest, in a confessional. Evangelical publishing is not known for taking ecumenical stances, so this scene stood out in a positive way. It had a simple storyline and overly dramatic dialog, but there were also interesting moments and subtle touches sprinkled throughout. Re-reading more than two decades after first buying it was not the embarrassing experience that I had thought it may have been.

Yes, this is a self-published book, produced by an amateur creator. And some parts of it are definitely “amateurish.” The lettering stands out in a negative way, as does the spelling of the word “tranquility,” and the overall 1990s-ish nature of the art. And the book is a half an inch taller than standard comics means that storing this issue has been a challenge. But despite being crunched for more than two decades in bags and boxes and bookshelves, this issue is in remarkably good condition. The paper quality is surprisingly high, and this 20-year-old issue has not suffered a single tear or a rip.  

This black-and-white book contains 30 pages of story, which is at least 5 pages longer than most mainstream stories of the same period. Most comics of his era were priced in the $1.50 - $2.50 range, so this book’s $1.95 cover price was appropriate. There were three more issues of this title published, and they are on the to-be-reviewed list.

We Will Be Attending

In 2013, the Audiofeed Festival began, as an attempt to keep the core “family” of the Cornerstone Festivals together, after that festival ended after its 2012 event.

We have attended two of the first three Audiofeeds, and it has begun to develop a culture and history of its own. And as it grows, the quantity and quality of the musical acts continue to improve.

More information about Audiofeed can be found at their website.