Monthly Archives: June 2012

Douglas Wolk on Spider-Man

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Thomas Mets

In his book Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean, comics critic Douglas Wolk made some interesting observations about one of my favorite Spider-Man stories, and the character’s appeal. Curiously, though, even some great characters’ creators sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Marvel Comics, Spider-Man | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Veepstakes Continued…

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Thomas Mets

There are a handful of politicos who have been mentioned as potential Romney running mates, who weren’t included in my earlier lists. There is no indication that Romney is considering any of these people. But if the history of Republican … Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Avengers in Estonia

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Thomas Mets

Once again, I feel obligated to mention any references to Estonia in Pop Culture. The latest issue of Avengers VS X-Men, Marvel’s big crossover, features a brief sequence in Estonia as the Avengers fought the Electric Legion, before the battle … Continue reading →

Posted in Eesti, Marvel Comics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pawlenty the Un-Palin

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Thomas Mets

Current scuttlebutt is that Tim Pawlenty is currently the Romney campaign’s top choice for running mate. Pawlenty had previously been on the short list in 2008, when McCain decided to go for Sarah Palin instead, At that time, the campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Reading 25 of The Best Short Stories Ever

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Thomas Mets

Recently, I came across a list of the 200 greatest short stories. I did the obvious thing and went through the anthologies in my house, reading a lot of the short stories. Some thoughts, mostly in the order in which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Time Capsule: Christopher Hitchens on the 2004 Democratic Presidential Primary

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Thomas Mets

This piece for Slate isn’t particularly relevant to anything in the news right now, but I just came across it and thought it was interesting. It’s worth looking at what the late  Christopher Hitchens got right and what he got … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Alan Scott and Gay Marriage

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Thomas Mets

The new Earth 2 version of Green Lantern was revealed to be gay. As is the case with many DC superheroes, the history of the character is a bit convoluted. Alan Scott was the first Green Lantern, introduced in 1940. The … Continue reading →

Posted in DC Comics, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Three-Act Structure 3.2 Negation of the Negation

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Thomas Mets

In Story, McKee suggests that an advantage of three-act structure is that it allows a film to explore the many facets of a topic. The simplest aspect is the contradictory, “the direct opposite of the positive.” (319) There is also … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Film, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Obama and Executive Experience

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Thomas Mets

Republicans have focused a lot on executive experience during the presidential campaign. It was often mentioned in the primary, as GOP Governors explained their support for Mitt Romney while Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were still in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Three-Act Structure 3.1: The Exile’s Return

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Thomas Mets

In myth, the third act would be when Jason comes home with the golden fleece. As Campbell writes in The Hero With a Thousand Faces “The first problem of the returning hero is to accept as real, after an experience of … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Film, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment