The epic space opera, Tytania. A tale of the intergalactic power struggle between the mighty Tytania clan and the unassuming yet charismatic rebel, Fan Hyulick, the universe’s sole beacon of hope against the oppressive Tytania regime. There were space battles aplenty, but the real focus was on character motivations and lots of political maneuvering. The readers are already crying out, “Oh no, politics!”, but politics can actually be… Interesting. With the conclusion of Tytania’s first season, I wanted to talk about various aspects of the show from the characters to various plot points.

Read the rest of this entry »

I love American comics. When saying this, I always try to make it clear that this doesn’t mean Spider-Man and Batman. The long-running Marvel and DC superhero series all have their fine moments worth reading, of course (I highly recommend works such as Batman: Year One, Superman: Red Son and the Marvel 1602 miniseries). But their mythologies have never interested me much simply because there’s so much of it! I’m sure it’s not any hurdle to really throw myself in to the comics if I wanted to, but I love a good starting point; I like to read from the beginning to the end or the most recent volume, uninterrupted, without having to do more than pick up a trade paperback. Laziness? Absolutely. But there’s plenty of works for me to sink my teeth into so I feel no guilt over my sloth–I just finished Y: the Last Man, I’ve devoured most of Hellboy, and I plan to start on Image Comics’s Invincible at some point. Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to a comic that matches this profile to a tee–high quality, compact but masterfully crafted mythology, and a series run that’s notable, but not daunting. I speak, of course, of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo. Quick and Dirty/why it’s not furry after the jump.

Usagi Yojimbo's author prides himself on historical accuracy. Except when awesome.

Read the rest of this entry »