PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Avengers Epic Collection: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

Avengers Epic Collection: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2014)
Reprints Avengers v1 #1-20
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Jack Kirby & Don Heck

When I was a kid with far more limited funds and had to pick a comic at the grocery store racks, I wanted the most bang for my buck. For me, that made team books far more appealing. You got a bunch of heroes and maybe more than one villain instead of a solo book. This made the Justice League, X-Men, Teen Titans, and Avengers more appealing. Yet, when I revisit some of these books, I find them lacking – especially Justice League and Avengers. Focusing on the latter, the Avengers is a comic that would have been the premiere book of the Marvel Age. Yet, it never overcame the appeal of Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, or even its individual members’ books.

Weekly Links – 14 March 2025

There’s continuous talk about “the United States sliding into fascism.” We are there. We’ve been there for a long time. Instead, you must realize you are becoming aware that America is a fascist construct to its roots. This has been made nakedly apparent with the rendition of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student who engaged in protest against the Palestinian genocide. If you think putting your head down and “getting through this” is an option, I hope you have the life you deserve.

Movie Review – Neptune Frost

Neptune Frost (2021)
Written by Saul Williams
Directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman

American mass media is like a virus. It has infected the globe to the point that if you go to any movie theater that exists in this world, you will find US films playing, even if they are shown bootleg. This is not an accident, yet it’s not exactly a conspiracy. It is another salvo in the American Empire’s conquest of the planet since World War II. Neptune Frost is a Rwandan film and an Afrofuturist musical about living under colonialism. However, Lin Manuel Miranda and Ezra Miller produced the film. So, I have to wonder how authentic the film can be to Rwandan voices with these Westerners involved.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Everspark Part Nine

Read the previous chapter here

Quick Fate Check: Were there any disturbances during the night?
Answer: 1, definitely not

Quick Fate Check: Is there an encounter on the next stretch of the journey?Answer: 7, no

Reaching Korrin’s Army – 3/5
Spark Check: 4, still open

Not much happens as Cypress and his group traverse the dense forest. He doesn’t mention seeing Druvahn, the Rootfather. He wonders if Demis knew already, due to their connection to the trees and nature. The Bloomwalker doesn’t say if they did or not.

PopCult Podcast – The Seed of the Sacred Fig/The Room Next Door

This week we look at an Iranian film that depicts life for one family during the recent hijab protests in The Seed of the Sacred Fig. That’s followed by our review of Pedro Almodovar’s English language debut The Room Next Door.

Movie Review – The Cave of the Yellow Dog

The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)
Written and directed by Byambasuren Davaa

I was surprised that I’d never seen a film made in Mongolia. Despite seeing so many Asian films over the years, this country has passed me by. The Cave of the Yellow Dog seemed like a choice for a couple reasons – it was rated quite highly on Letterboxd and focuses on nomadic life, a long-held cultural tradition in Mongolian. Byambasuren Davaa greatly loves this aspect of her people’s history and has made it the focus of several films, including this one. Her movies often involve amateur actors who play versions of themselves. Her films are generally called “children’s films” and blend documentary with fiction.

Movie Review – This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (2019)
Written and directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

Just last week, I saw a clip from a Fox News program where they were discussing recent cuts to USAID programs. At one point, Jesse Watters mispronounced Lesotho’s name and immediately commented that no one knew where it was. It was met with sophomoric chuckles from his cronies. Ironically, I watched this film just a few days ago. Lesotho was one of a handful of African nations I could locate on the map. That’s because it’s geographically unique in that it sits inside the country of South Africa.

Comic Book Review – Massiveverse Part One

Radiant Black Volume One (2021)
Reprints Radiant Black #1-6
Written by Kyle Higgins
Art by Marcelo Costa

Radiant Black Volume Two (2022)
Reprints Radiant Black #7-12
Written by Kyle Higgins
Art by Marcelo Costa

Weekly Links – 7 March 2025

A new month and some more links to share with you all.

Techdirt is not known as an overtly political tech news site. That has changed since Elon Musk came into the US government with Trump’s new administration. This post talks about how part of their job now is to chronicle the collapse of the United States as techbros are a major part of dismantling things.

Movie Review – I Am Not a Witch

I Am Not a Witch (2017)
Written and directed by Rungano Nyoni

As an American, and especially a homeschooled one raised by evangelical parents, my general knowledge of African geography is abysmal. Let’s not even see what a blank space it is regarding African history. This often makes me sad because I know many facts about European and American history. Africa is where humanity emerged from, so we should know more about this incredible, diverse continent.