How Arrow turned me into a comics geek

comics

I didn’t grow up reading comics.

I loved chapter books, the longer the better. My mom introduced me to classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit and A Wrinkle in Time. Comics always seemed….less than. Comics were the things that my male cousins read and then play-acted, and it was always the same rotation of characters: Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Robin, Joker, Wolverine, Magneto. The one time I did play with them, there was an elongated moment when they had to figure out which “girl character” I could be and ended up with X-Men’s Rogue, which meant I couldn’t touch anybody — an attribute, having not read the comics, I didn’t understand and found excruciatingly boring.

As I passed from childhood into adolescence and young adulthood, I actively avoided comics. From what I saw in bookshops and heard in conversations, my conclusion was that comic books held nothing more than overused tropes, oversized boobs, and underwhelming narratives. Read More

Of Game Boys, Wishbone & Growing Pains

We dig back into our childhood for our favorite and most memorable pop culture items. The two of us definitely start to show our age as we fondly remember the early days of the World Wide Web, CD-ROMs, and Game Boys. Jacki shares her fear of Ursula and Fantasia, and Heather admits to a childhood obsession with dinosaurs and Lucky Charms. Other notable appearances include Teddy Ruxpin, Angels in the Outfield, PBS, Disney and The Shadow (yep, the radio program).

Favorite Unconventional Love Stories

For the month of February, we talk about our favorite love stories. But not your typical romances — we share our all-time unconventional and nontraditional faves. Gilmore Girls, Jo + Beth, Cristina + Meredith, Han + Chewie, Kirk + Spock, Sherlock + Joan Watson and so many more.

We need to talk about Laurel

Salvation

Okay, people. Let’s talk about Laurel.

Laurel Lance is one of the main characters in CW’s Arrow, former legal aid attorney, ex-girlfriend of Oliver Queen, and daughter of Detective Lance. Laurel has never been fully liked by fans, her initial reception lukewarm at best. This was partly due to a severe mishandling of her character, and partly to do with the strange cyberhatred of actress Katie Cassidy by certain viewers.

Laurel’s popularity further suffered throughout Arrow‘s first season when a far more appealing character was presented in the form of Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards): IT-genius-turned-hacker who joins Ollie’s team. Rickards was promoted to series regular halfway through season one. Look no further for fans’ favorite than the promo poster for season two, in which Felicity is featured prominently next to Oliver in the front, and Laurel is relegated to the back. Read More

Downton + Sherlock

They’re back! We share our thoughts on the newly-returned Downton Abbey and Sherlock on PBS. At 17:12, things go delightfully off the rails as Jacki shares her strange disconnect with British TV (she always feels behind) and her plans to “catch-up” with our cousins across the pond. It’s like something straight out of BBC America’s Anglophenia series.