Utilitarian Review 1/2/16

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Noah Berlatsky

News

I’m going to list my favorite albums of the year on Monday; if anyone wants to write about their favorite music of the year, let me know, and we could set up a mini-roundtable. (Or not, if no one cares.)

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Samantha Meir on Tits and Clits.

Philip Smith on Donald Barthelme’s Paul Klee.

Chris Gavaler on visual sentences vs. page layout.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sale dates for comics in May/June 1951.

I list some of the favorite things I wrote this year.

A look back at the year at the Hooded Utilitarian.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Guardian I wrote about the new Grant Morrison Wonder Woman and how its true to WW’s BDSM roots.

At the Establishment I wrote about rape/revenge films and shuffling gender roles.

At Splice Today I wrote about Jon Ronson, King of the online morals police.

Other Links

Todd Nickerson writes about being attracted to children and why talking about that is important in combatting child rape and molestation.

Mary Emily O’Hara on the year in sex worker activism.

Angelica Jade Bastien with the case against colorblind casting.

Utilitarian Review 12/26/15

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Noah Berlatsky

On HU

Short week this time out because of the holiday.

Featured Archive Post: Richard Cook with a history of Storm in covers.

Me on Charles Dickens fan fiction and how fan fic and criticism and art are all the same.

Chris Gavaler looks at panels and framing in comics.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sales dates of comics from March and April 1951.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At Playboy

— I ranked every character in Quentin Tarantino’s movies. 16000+ words for 183 characters.

—I had a list of this year’s biggest whitewashing casting controversies.

At the Guardian I wrote about

—erasing the lesbian origins of the Bechdel test.

—casting a black Hermione and the confused racial themes of Harry Potter.

At Quartz I wrote about race in Hateful Eight.

At Random Nerds I wrote about the Last Days of Ms. Marvel and apocalypse from the margins.

At the Los Angeles Times I wrote about this year in outrage.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—the three best country albums of 2015.

—best of lists and the marketing machine.

Utilitarian Review 12/19/15

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Noah Berlatsky

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Caroline Small on Ivan Bilibin’s Russian Folktale illustrations.

Philip Smith on the thoughtful messiness of Serial.

Chris Gavaler on Darth Vader, superhero.

Chris Gavaler analyzes page layout and character in the Walking Dead #1.

Links to all my Star Wars articles.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sale dates of comics from early 1951.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about prosecutorial overreach, mass imprisonment, and the campaign against Anita Alvarez.

At Playboy I got to list the best albums of the year (that no one else puts on their best of lists.)

At Pacific Standard I argued that children should have the right to vote.

At the Establishment I wrote about:

—The City on the Edge of Forever and how everyone wants to kill baby Hitler.

—my giant insane smelly greyhound.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—Cruz temporarily forever.

—how the Force Awakens probably isn’t so great.

At the Chicago Reader I reviewed the classic Chicago death metal of Usurper.

Other Links

Angus Johnston on why college protest isn’t a threat to free speech, and isn’t always civil.

Daniel Larison on our support for the awful war in Yemen, and how no one even mentions it.

Utilitarian Review 12/11/15

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Noah Berlatsky

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Mahendra Singh on the draftsmanship of Jeffrey Catherine Jones.

Chris Gavaler on analyzing comics layout.

Me on why writing for hire isn’t spiritual debasement.

Me on Robocop 2 and the joy of hating children.

Roy T. Cook tries to tell Indiana Jones from Harrison Ford.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sale dates of comics from the end of 1950, including the first graphic novel ever.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Guardian I :

—interviewed William Richards on his new book about psychedlics and spiritual experience.

—wrote about Lex Luthor, Jr, and corporate fan fiction.

At the Establishment I wrote about my son’s acting career and the myth of meritocracy.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—Project Runway and how people suck and friends don’t win.

—why Trump is not the future.

Other Links

Mistress Matisse on the James Deen accusations and how the law doesn’t care about sex workers.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on hope, or lack thereof.

Neil Drumming on diversity on Project Runway.

Utilitarian Review 12/4/15

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Noah Berlatsky

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Jaime Green on how Clybourne Park is lying to you.

Chris Gavaler with a bibliography of superman before Superman.

Ng Suat Tong on why Jessica Jones is a poorly thought out mess.

Me on how Rogue Nation makes sense if you just hate Tom Cruise.

Me on Wonder Woman, the stranger in the new Batman vs. Superman trailer.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sale dates of comics from fall 1950—lots of EC, plus Gasoline Alley.

Utilitarians Everyhwere

For Slates’ annual overlooked book list I got to recommend Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Again.

At Quartz I wrote about

—Jessica Jones vs. the patriarchy.

—how conservatives police speech by don’t get called out for political correctness.

At Playboy I wrote about white paranoia and fear of crime.

At the Guardian I wrote about the Hunger Games’s dislike of femininity.

At the Establishment, I wrote about

—prejudice against young male Syrian refugees.

—the anti-gun control movement and apocalyptic fantasies of violence.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—free speech and my experiences with the editors at the Atlantic.

—why Project Runway is better than quality television.

Other Links

Joanna Angel describes her abusive relationship with porn star and accused rapist James Deen.

From a bit back, Alyssa Rosenberg on The Voice and LGBT contestants.

Lee Drutman with an excellent article on why gun control is so hard to past (and no, it’s not because the NRA bribes Congress.)

Utilitarian Review 11/28/15

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Noah Berlatsky

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Kinukitty on writing Stevie Nicks fan fic as a nine year old.

Chris Gavaler on Frankenstein superheroes.

Me on Marge Piercy’s He, She, and It and the virtues of heterogenous apocalypse. (This was a Patreon supported post, so, if you like it, consider contributing.)

Me on the awesome doomy death and spiritual torment of Immolation.

We were off for pray for woodstock day.

Robert Stanley Martin with on sale dates for comics from summer 1950 (lots of EC.)

Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about the documentary Killing Them Safely and how tasers escalate violence.

At the Establishment I wrote about how spewing racism isn’t braver than protesting it, and neither are part of a culture of fear.

At Ravishly I wrote about how Mockingjay can’t imagine non-violence.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—Kelela, Girlyboi, and how R&B has always been everything.

—all the cultural journalists binge watching Jessica Jones.

—how Iron Man won’t save Jessica Jones.

Other Links

Terrell Jermaine Starr on how Ben Carson inspired him as a kid.

Mojo has the first year end best of list. Dylan, Keith Richards, Richard Thompson *and* David Gilmour? That’s a lot of fogeys on there.