On our newest podcast, Sam, Sara and Gabby make Much Ado about a lot of movies that have them Catching Fire and turning Upside Down with excitement as. . .
Okay, I can’t keep this up. Have a picture of the new Superman and Lois Lane:
. . .and enjoy the podcast!
Then come to the comments and tell us what movies you’re most excited to see.
(PS, they’re not all coming out in the summer but I’d already named the file before I realized that.)
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In the lastest episode of the Fantastic Fangirls podcast, Caroline, Sigrid, and Ali get down to what the Fangirls do best: talking about comics.
Young Avengers, Wonder Woman, and Saga all have their moment in the sun, along with a lot of other titles (okay, mostly Marvel). Feel free to comment and share any titles you’re enjoying right now.
P.S. This podcast is a bit late because of technical issues, so while I will say that spoilers are included, if you’ve caught up to the last three weeks or so, you should be fine!
Make sure you hang around at the end to hear Ali say, “Mother pus-bucket.” That’s a Top Ten Fangirls moment.
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In our newest podcast, we talk about upcoming movies in 2013. In fact, we had so many 2013 movies to talk about that we’re just covering January through March in this episode. Anika, Sam, and Sigrid talk about some things that have caught their eyes. We’ve posted the links to some trailers below so you can follow a long.
Previews:
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
John Dies at the End
Bullet to the Head
Warm Bodies
Beautiful Creatures
A Good Day to Die Hard
Jack the Giant Slayer
Oz: The Great and Powerful
The Host
Along the way, Anika mentions an article that will forever influence her opinion of James Franco:
James Franco is not a good actor. But it’s not a lack of effort which makes him mediocre at best, merely a lack of talent. Franco compensates by making it a point to be interesting. He picks roles he has no business doing, seeks out projects that better actors might be afraid to touch, and damn his ability he’s doing them anyway. James Franco should probably try to get by solely on his James Dean good looks, he should probably go wherever that crooked smile takes him, but he’s not interested. Talented or not he’s out there doing the insane and the ridiculous.
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To kick off the new year, Caroline, Sigrid, and Ali got together to talk about the things they watch — and read, and listen to — when they’re looking for a little comfort, reassurance, or inspiration. Topics we touched on included The Vorkosigan Saga, the Buffy musical, and a certain movie about a certain princess and her dread pirate who just can’t bring himself to stay dead while true love is waiting.
We weigh the merits of comedy and action flicks for getting us through the tough times, touch on the dangers of taking your favorite books to an isolated house in the mountains, and wonder if it’s possible to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. (Spoiler: Yes.)
In the comments, we invite you to talk about your own philosophies of comfort media. What are the texts and tunes that you turn to, time and time again?
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This month’s episode of the Fantastic Fangirls podcast is the Newbies Show! New writers Ali, Sam, Sara, and Marie got together to talk about their love for Board Games! We did not make Anika watch Blade Runner… yet.
In the show we discuss games like Fluxx, Apples-to-Apples, Cards Against Humanity, Battlestar Galactica, Circle of Death/Kings and the classic Trivial Pursuit, as well as gaming groups, our favorite gaming memories and being competitive.
After gaming, we gush about what we’re currently loving right now: like “Justice League Unlimited,” “Chicago Fire,” “Boston Legal,” “Hawkeye,” and Sentinels of the Multiverse. It wouldn’t be a podcast without digressions, so we wrap up the show with a Lightning Round question: What fictional character do you want to sleep with the most?
You can check out the About Us page to find Ali, Sam, Sara, and Marie on the interwebz.
[Editor note: Sorry this one was a little late -- we were going to post at the start of November, but we had delays because of weather, technical difficulties and everything else you can think of. We did get this in under the wire though -- hope you enjoy! Also, there's a bit of static toward the end of this episode, but it clears up quickly.]
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This Thursday marks the season 4 premiere of The Vampire Diaries, a show that doesn’t always seem to get the geek cred it deserves. Today Caroline, Gabby, and Ali get together to talk about what they like about TVD, what they expect from the new season. . .and what the hell happened last year, anyway?
Caroline: There aren’t that many long-running TV shows that I keep up with these days, but The Vampire Diaries is one that I’ve managed to stick with. One of the reasons, as I mentioned in our most recent podcast, is that it requires exactly the amount of attention that I’m willing to devote to it.
First of all, as we all know, the CW network is basically an employment agency for extremely attractive men and women, and TVD certainly holds up its end. You have your dudes with great abs and broody faces, your women with amazing hair and perfect complexions, and basically everybody is either in high school or is a vampire.
Spoilers are behind the cut, but first, enjoy this picture of Ian Somerhalder holding a cat. (Thanks, Internet)
The Fantastic Fangirls podcast returns, and Caroline, Anika, and Sigrid talk about whether girls fake their geekery (and whether they should) and get around to discussing some of our own histories of fakery. We also talk about things we’re looking forward to, on this site and elsewhere.
For one great perspective on the Idiot Nerd Girl Meme (pictured below):
. . . see this post by Jess of Active Voice. Other items mentioned in the podcast are Stumptown and Fistful of Rain by Greg Rucka, New York Comic-Con, and The Vampire Diaries.
Comments are open below, and feel free to share some of your own takes on faking it!
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In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments. Last week’s Favorite Siblings question unexpectedly revealed a slate of X-Men-related answers. As it were. This week we decided to expand on the question. Therefore –
Who are your favorite Non-X-Men sibilings in comics?
Terry and Matt McGinnis. I love Batman Beyond. Terry is Not Bruce. And eventually Bruce realizes he’s Not Robin, too. Terry is sort of “what if Peter Parker was Batman?” — he’s normal except not. And his punky little brother is a part of that. Matt grounds Terry. So he’s the hero of Gotham City, he’s just My Annoying Big Brother Who Never Has Time for Me to Matt…and at the same time, he was Matt’s hero long before he was anybody else’s.
There’s something to be said for sharing a power, or a curse, or a supernatural duty with your sibling. But sometimes it’s fun to see a brother and sister in a comic who are just regular people. Scott and Stacey Pilgrim, from the popular series by Bryan Lee O’Malley have a relationship that flaky brothers and long-suffering sisters everywhere will recognize instantly.
While superhero comics are full of great siblings, one of my favorite sibling pairs exists outside of Western comics entirely. Edward and Alphonse Elric, protagonists of the wonderful manga Fullmetal Alchemist, are probably the most devoted brothers in anything I’ve ever read. In some ways, they’re the exact opposite of normal birth-order predictions. Ed, the older brother, is impulsive and frequently childish, with a quick temper and a flair for the dramatic. The younger Al, on the other hand, is calm and practical, quiet and sweet, and prepared to dig his brother out of any scrape — all this despite the fact that he literally has no body, and must exist as a soul embedded in a moving suit of armor. But when it comes down to it, Ed is willing to lay down anything — including, literally, his own limbs — to protect his baby brother, and the driving narrative of the entire epic story is the brothers’ quest to heal each other. They fight and bicker like any brothers do, but ultimately this is a story about deep, devoted brotherly love, and the threads of that emotional arc end in an extraordinarily satisfying way. If this kind of brother-narrative interests you at all, I highly recommend giving the Fullmetal Alchemist manga a try.
My favorite siblings outside of my beloved X-Men are the Endless, from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. For all that they are the anthropomorphic personifications of eternal principles, they are still siblings. They bicker, feud, and love each other as family. I always appreciated that.
(L’il Endless art by Jill Thompson. I own a print of this, it hangs on my wall.)
So what about you? Who are your favorite Non-X-Men sibilings in comics?
For the ninth installment of the Fantastic Fangirls (Comic) Book Club, the four of us read the graphic novel Anya’s Ghost, written and drawn by Vera Brosgol. We’re going to start our discussion by sharing an e-mail exchange that took place among the Fantastic Fangirls staff. This is a starting point for whatever our readers would like to say about the book. In the comments, feel free to address any of the points that came up in our discussion, or raise a topic/question of your own. Enjoy!
Please note that major SPOILERS will occur during this discussion, and, since Anya’s Ghost is a particularly twisty kind of book, you may want to wait until you’ve finished it to check out this post. Remember, if you haven’t got the book yet, you can check out in this free preview.
Our next edition of the Fantastic Fangirls (Comic) Book Club will be happening in November, featuring the original graphic novel Anya’s Ghost, written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol
Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya’s normal life might actually be worse. She’s embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she’s pretty much given up on fitting in at school. A new friend—even a ghost—is just what she needs.
Or so she thinks.
You can see a free preview of the book at First Second Press’s website here.
We’ll be having our usual round-table discussion for the book starting on Monday, November 14, and we hope you’ll play along in the comments!
