MONDOmagazine

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3
For Isaac’s review of Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1, check out our Crossover Corner at the bottom of the page.

Dark Reign: The Hood #3
Jeff Parker (w), Kyle Hotz (a), Frank Martin (c). Marvel Comics.

Yep. Still good. If you’re a fan of the original The Hood miniseries you should be picking up this title. That said, I wish Parker was doing more with The Hood’s girlfriend. Even in the original Brian K. Vaughan miniseries she was underdeveloped and mostly served as easy motivation for The Hood. Her role has been to nag The Hood and be oblivious to his criminal actions — though it looks like next issue she might get to be the damsel in distress! I hope Parker surprises me with something more original and interesting. — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 3.5 out of 5

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #3
Paul Cornell (w), Mark Brooks (p), Mark Morales & Walden Wong (i), Marvel Comics

This is a sort of strange issue where the new Young Avengers and the old Young Avengers hang out together in groups of two or so. You don’t quite get a feel for the new guys since it’s implied that they’re not totally being honest, but in these short scenes there is a lot of fun interchange. The cliffhanger isn’t that surprising but it is clearly logical so it’s hard to really fault it. This is definitely a pretty good issue, but a little disappointing since I loved the first two issues. — Owen Craig

Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel West, Caesar Martini, Sean Kelly, and Leo K. Moncel

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final edition of the Summer Movie MegaCalendar. As Sean said, “It’s a doozy”, and as Rachel said, “I think I’ll use August to get caught up on films I missed in July.” Well, however you pre-assess the final blast of Summer 2009, from the small — Paper Heart, Julie & Julia, to the medium — Cold Souls, Ponyo, The Time Traveller’s Wife, to the large — District 9, G.I. Joe, to that whopper Inglourious Basterds, let’s hope you find something that fits you just right.
Each piece here was written seperately, mine included, and it’s a testament to our shared psychic link that they often read as a dialogue. Read the rest of this entry »

The Amazing Spider-Man #600
Main story: Dan Slott (w), John Romita Jr. (p), Klaus Janson (i), Dean White (c).
Backup stories: Many, including Stan Lee, Marcos Martin, Mark Waid, Bob Gale, and many more. Marvel Comics.

For the amount of pages and sheer joy you get from this package you can’t knock it. That said, I’m going to knock it. I have some controversial views on John Romita Jr.’s artwork: I think it’s generally terrible. He’s admitted his style is “the deadline style” — whatever he gets out by deadline, that’s his style. This looks like the deadline was really tight. His work on The Eternals? Generally pretty good. But there are scenes in that comic and in this one where I swear Romita is bored. In particular the last page of this issue, where he achieved a character that looks more sleepy than sexy. Though, really, for me, it’s the good pages that make the bad ones so frustrating. But with an entertaining main story and some seriously great backup material you really can’t fault this title. Worth picking up. — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 5 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 3.5. out of 5

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2
For Owen’s review of Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2 and Isaac’s review of Green Lantern #44, check out our Crossover Corner at the bottom of the page. Read the rest of this entry »

By Miles Baker

DC Comics

There are exciting things going on in the DCU that I don’t care about. If you were a big Lantern fan, this would be the month for you. I just couldn’t get into Sinestro Corps, I’m skipping a lot of the new Batman titles, and Wednesday Comics is over (also, I was disappointed in it).

BATMAN AND ROBIN #5
Issue #2 of this series rocked hard. I like that Morrison is playing with new villains, the classics need a bit of a break right now.

DETECTIVE COMICS #858
The first issue of the Batwoman-led Detective Comics came out last month and it was a treasure to behold. This month Rucka and Co. finally get around to telling us Kate Kane’s backstory and I’m excited to see how Williams III will handle the flashbacks. Read the rest of this entry »

Helen Juvonen and Tyler Seguin in The Universal Wolf. Photo by Tim Hennigar.

The Universal Wolf

Presented by Thought for Food

Bread and Circus (299 Augusta Ave)
Fri July 10 @ 8:15pm
Sat July 11 @ 10:15pm
Sun July 12 @ 4:30pm

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

The Universal Wolf takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood in it’s salivating jaws and mangles it fairly deliciously. Even so, there was a number of puzzling elements of this production, which were annoying, yet clever, putting this production in the pesky grey area of success.

Most strikingly successful was Joan Schenkar’s writing. A professional author in her own right, Schenkar is represented onstage by The Reader (Paul Rivers) who annoyingly reads all the stage directions and descriptions of the characters while they mime beside him. His voice was unnecesarily loud for such a small space and his presence on the stage was irritating. Despite these infractions, however, the intelligence of the writing shone through and there were enough scenes with dialogue between the characters to contrast his one-man show. Ultimately, though annoyingly, it made sense to use him to help tell the story per the heavy theme of deconstruction. Read the rest of this entry »

The North End Poems by Michael Knox
ECW Press, 2009

Reviewed by Carolyn Tripp

North End Poems by Michael Knox follows a Golden-Horseshoe, blue-collar type in the throes of an arduous lifestyle. The main character of this poetic series, Nick Macfarlane, is accustomed to rough days and rougher nights courtesy of bars, buddies, and the tough broads bred in a harsh, working-class town.

A Hamilton native and astute observer, Knox seems to have his characters down to a tee; the coked-up bartenders, the girl-hungry factory workers, and the barroom brawls are all described in frank language, retaining veracity to the lives he portrays.

But there’s something amiss every time I turn a page in what might otherwise be described as an enthralling slice of a surprisingly abrasive Ontarian middle-class existence. Read the rest of this entry »

I Will Not Hatch!
By Maya Rabinovich
Presented by Pregnant Pause Theatre

George Ignatieff Theatre
Fri July 10 @ 8pm
Sat July 11 @ Noon

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

How long has it been since your last confession? Maya Rabinovich’s I Will Not Hatch! brilliantly weaves together the sinful, dirty little secrets of nine passengers on a plane.

Fun and well crafted, the piece centres around Suzie, an extremely neurotic flyer who has memorized the dates and casualties of every plane crash in 2009. Despite this knowledge, she boards a plane and notices a nervous passenger with a briefcase and perceives that he’s up to no good. All hell breaks loose when Suzie assaults him with a plastic fork for the protection of her fellow passengers. Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Spider-Man #599
Joe Kelly (w), Stephen Segovia, Marco Checchetto, Paulo Siqueira, Amilton Santos (a). Marvel Comics.

The art is solid all throughout, but it’s still weird having all these different artists on board for this. It’s also really cool to have Spider-Man’s mask look like Grifter’s from Wildcats, but this issue could have been called “The Amazing Harry Osborn” what with Harry doing all the fighting and all. It’s fair though, since the beginning of this arc Spider-Man has been pretty beat-up, so by this point he’s barely standing. Now that I think about it, that’s how most of Spider-Man’s big fights go, so really it’s more refreshing to see him not have to pull out a miraculous win, and just let the other guy save the day. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2
Paul Dini, Co-Feature: Mark Andreyko (w), Dustin Nguyen, Co-Feature: Georges Jeanty (p), Derek Fridolfs, Co-Feature: Dexter Vines (i). DC Comics.

So I guess this is just another Batman book, right? I thought the idea was that it would tackle more street-level crime or focus more on the Gotham City Police Department or something, but I guess I was wrong. This issue focuses on supervillains and Batman and Robin beating them up. It was good enough, I suppose, but as far as I can tell, this same story could’ve been told in Batman. The Manhunter co-feature was great, but ten pages of great plus twenty-two pages of generic Batmanishness don’t justify my four dollars. Especially when Batman and Robin is coming out. – Owen Craig

Owen’s rating: 2 out of 5
Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5

Blackest Night #1, Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1
For Owen’s review of Blackest Night #1 and Isaac’s review of Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1, check out our Crossover Corner at the bottom of the page. Read the rest of this entry »

Dancing In My Unbirthday Suit
Presented by Inertia Productions

Robert Gill Theatre
Tue July 7 @ 10:30pm
Wed July 8 @ 4:00pm
Thu July 9 @ 7:00pm
Sun July 12 @ 3:30pm
Tickets are $10 at the door.

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

Dancing is a cute, wacky little dance piece brought to you by Montreal’s Inertia Productions, and featuring Allison Elizabeth Burns, Vanessa Kneale, and Joannie Pharand. At first, it’s a bit of a mess: girls dressed in party dresses tumble and trip over each other. But the show cleans up as it goes along, presenting a few little scenarios that were creative and delightful to watch.

Read the rest of this entry »

Reflections on Giving Birth to a Squid
By A. David Levine

Factory Theatre Studio
Sun July 5 @ 1:45pm
Mon July 6 @ 4:45pm
Tue July 7 @ 8:30pm
Thu July 9 @ 12:15pm
Sat July 11 @ 10:30pm

Tickets are $10 at the door.

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

Reflections chronicles a woman’s (Mikaela Dyke) emotional journey of coming to terms with giving birth to a baby squid. She goes through varying levels of guilt, disgust, and disbelief, and her monologues are interspersed with videos and funny supporting characters, such as like Becky Braverman (the neighbourhood babysitter) and a sideshow ringmaster, who all drop in to punctuate her plight. Read the rest of this entry »

Dante
By Kaitlin Phillips
Presented by Peanutfish Productions

Factory Studio Theatre
Tue July 7 @ 1:00pm
Thu July 9 @ 7:45pm
Sat July 11 @ 5:15pm

Tickets are $10 at the door.

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

Dante is a play about the poet. Living with his wife/girlfriend Laura, Dante is dealing with a severe case of writer’s block. To help, Laura sends bits of his poetry off to be used as commercial jingles. Beatrice, Dante’s muse, shows up out of the blue and the love triangle is complete.

This production was needlessly nonsensical. A love triangle being the oldest story in the book, it takes some pretty innovative thinking to make it interesting, which these guys unfortunately fail to do. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by David Leyes.

Romantic/Fanatic
By Sarah Swift
Presented by Fool Productions

Factory Theatre Mainspace
Tue July 7 @ 8:45pm
Thu July 9 @ 4:00pm
Fri July 10 @ 7:30pm
Sun July 12 @ Noon

Tickets are $10 at the door.

Reviewed by Daina Valiulis

Romantic/Fanatic is a terrific new play that is engaging from start to finish. The play tracks the honest and humorous story of Jane (played very sympathetically by Swift herself) and Ethan (Martin Chodorek), from first meeting to heart-wrenching breakup.

Swift’s writing style is similar to Diablo Cody’s (Juno). In a language all her own, Swift writes clever, rapid-fire dialogue between Jane  and her best friend, Suzie (Hannah Barnett-Kemper) to show their closeness. In one scene, they’re bickering good-naturedly over the phone and Jane quips, “Don’t make me middle name you!” Not only is the language clever, but the structure and plot hold up in telling the couple’s unique and totally relatable story. The acting also holds up across the board — nothing is ever forced and the performers are so genuine and natural that it’s easy to believe them.

Romantic/Fanatic is a must see — watch out for Fool Productions in the future. I’m sure they’ll be around.