Twentieth Century Fox Uncanny X-Men was not a popular comic book—until Chris Claremont made it one. In 1975, when Claremont took over writing Uncanny X-Men, the series had just been rebooted after a five-year hiatus due to poor sales. Claremont promptly assembled a new, multicultural team of Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Warpath, and […]
Books
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Book Review: Only a Third of James Ellroy’s This Storm Is Actually about Nazis
The cover makes it hard to read in public. The writing makes it hard to put down.
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Soft Science Review: Turing Tests, Sex Robots, and the Experience of a Queer, Asian American Woman
Franny Choi’s poems say things that couldn’t be uttered in any other art form.
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Dark Phoenix Review: You’re Going to Have to Fight to Like This One, X-Men Fans!
Doane Gregory In the new print edition of the Mercury, we ran an interview with Chris Claremont wherein he reflected on the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” a story he penned nearly 40 years ago that follows the X-Men’s good-natured, girl-next-door Jean Grey as she gains, and is subsequently corrupted by, cosmic levels of power. The new […]
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The Vinyl Frontier: The Time NASA Shot a Record into Outer Space
NASA / JPL – CALTECH In 1977, NASA sent two Voyager probes out into space, and during the next few decades each beamed back vital information about the outer reaches of our solar system. But while they were primarily meant to transmit data back to Earth, the Voyagers had a secondary purpose: sending information about […]
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Neal Stephenson Interview: Is Fall; or, Dodge in Hell a Love Letter to Tech Nerds?
(HARPER COLLINS) / AUTHOR PHOTO BY BRADY HALL Neal Stephenson is one of the great authors of contemporary sci-fi—not only because he’s widely read, but also because his work unabashedly high-fives working scientific theories. Never one to underestimate his readers, Stephenson loves to wade in and explain interesting ideas kicking around the worlds of science, […]
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Neal Stephenson Interview: Tech Moguls, Brain Science, and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell
Though the new Neal Stephenson epic incorporates characters from 2011 “tech thriller” Reamde, it’s narratively closer to 2015 “space epic” Seveneves.
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The Vinyl Frontier: The Time NASA Shot a Record into Outer Space
Jonathan Scott’s book recounts the history of the Voyager Golden Record project.
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The Best Places to Read, Buy Books, and See Art
Looking to get cultured? From a bookstore in a welcoming old house to the oldest art museum on the west coast, Portland has the goods. Here’s where to go to see art and grow your book collection. Where To See An Art Show Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park) The Portland Art Museum is the […]
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Here’s the First Trailer for Stumptown, the Portland-Set TV Series Based on the Portland-Made Comic
Stumptown, by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth, via Oni Press A gritty-but-fun noir comic with sharp writing and gorgeous art, writer Greg Rucka and artist Matthew Southworth’s Stumptown is getting turned into a series for ABC, starring The Avengers‘ Cobie Smulders. Now we’ve got our first look at the show, via a trailer from Slate. […]
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Shawn Levy’s History of the Chateau Marmont Is Like Hollywood Babylon Happening in One Hotel
DOUBLEDAY / AUTHOR PHOTO BY VINCENT LEVY The core argument of The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, Shawn Levy’s fantastic new history of the storied Los Angeles hotel, doesn’t arrive until the last page of the book. “In its way,” Levy writes, “Chateau Marmont has been essential […]
Posted inBooks
Shawn Levy’s History of the Chateau Marmont Is Like Hollywood Babylon Happening in One Hotel
DOUBLEDAY / AUTHOR PHOTO BY VINCENT LEVY The core argument of The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, Shawn Levy’s fantastic new history of the storied Los Angeles hotel, doesn’t arrive until the last page of the book. “In its way,” Levy writes, “Chateau Marmont has been essential […]