With the hotly-anticipated The Dark Knight Rises newly in theaters, we ponder all things Bat-related…
by the Geek Speak Staff
with an Introduction by Kim Sorensen
 
Batman. Bruce Wayne. The Dark Knight. There are so many things to say about Batman that it’s hard to know where to start. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics in 1939, and has since taken over the world. There has been every kind of incarnation of him: the campy 1960s Adam West version, the incredibly dark and violent version from the …

When a 10c investment can reap a million dollars or more, maybe its time to consider comic book collecting?
by Rachel Hyland
With all the Bat-hoopla fluttering about us at present with the advent of The Dark Knight Rises, and amid all the discussion of which Batman is the Batman – or whether we care about that at all – it may behoove us to remember that before he was any man he was a static 2D representation given in four-color splendor to the children of a post-Depression America. For a mere …

Looking back at a time when Anne McCaffrey’s Thread-defeating dragons  were the only way to fly.
by Kate Nagy
For an entire generation of young women, Anne McCaffrey opened up the sky.
If you were a thirteen-year-old girl in 1980 (as some of us, um, may have been), science fiction was by and large a man’s world. Oh, there was Princess Leia, who (to her credit) proved remarkably clever and able with a light saber, but a) her first name was “Princess” (or it might as well have been; no one referred to …

Soon to be remade in its native Japan, a look at  the definitive 90s anime phenomenon.
by Cassandra Chin
Fighting evil by moonlight
Winning love by daylight
Never running from a real fight
She is the one named Sailor Moon
It was a flash of vibrant colors, whirls of glittering ribbons and special powers that young girls everywhere wished were real. Though when the anime Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon) debuted in Japan in 1992, it struck a chord with many young fans, both male and female. The short skirts and long, long …

 Why The Top 13?
Sure, there’s Saturn 3, Babylon 5, Blake’s 7 and District 9. But what number could be geekier than 13? Not only is there its inherent creepiness, but there’s also The 13th Immortal, The 13th Warrior and The 13th Floor. There’s spooky gore-fest Friday the 13th and those plucky, kick-ass comic book kids, Gen13. There’s Warehouse 13, The X-Files‘ oft-referenced 1013, and the 13 tribes of Kobol. Plus, the Munsters lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. So, we at Geek Speak Magazine bring you the Top 13 of… well, whatever strikes our fancy.
Just be glad we didn’t elect to go …

In her review of Seduced by Blood by Laurie London in last month’s issue, Geek Speak’s Paranormal Romance expert Amy Sharma said this:
“… vampire lore needs some sort of IEEE standard. Aside from the ridiculous Twilight sparkling, there are some things out there that need to be standardized. Can vamps go outside? (And let’s nix the special “vamp sunscreen”, that’s just lame.) Can they drink any blood, or must it be human? And what about garlic and personal invites into your home and crosses and mirrors? Can they breed? How does …

First, I must thank my colleague Rachel Hyland for her thoughts on the other side of this debate. I mean, she called me funny, and flattery will get you a lot of places. Based on that, and her persuasive arguments, I was close to just packing it in and giving up entirely on the whole “standardization” thing. (Man, I have less self-confidence then the doe-eyed virgins in these Paranormal Romance books I keep reading) Because I agree, creativity is a good thing. If everyone were the same, the world would …

Will McAvoy and the News Night team are here to save the world…
by Rachel Hyland
Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO show, The Newsroom, has been savaged by critics and viewers all over, from the venerable New York Times to the respected Salon.com to assorted anonymous blogs—and in no uncertain terms. Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker said, among much else, that “…Sorkin’s fantasy is of a cabal of proud, disdainful brainiacs, a ‘media élite’ who swallow accusations of arrogance and shoot them back as lava.” Esquire’s Jeff Bercovici has been particularly – …

Another busy month in the Geek Speak mailroom – aw, shucks, guys – with a particular focus on our treatise on all things mutant, Bugs vs. Sharks vs. Snakes vs…. Kitties? When Mutant Animals Attack.
First this, from Not Roy Scheider:
JAWS is beyond everything the best movie of this genre, and there wouldn’t even be a genre if it wasn’t for Spielberg’s seminal shark-attacking master piece. And you put DEEP BLUE SEA in the same paragraph with it, said they were both “Awesome”? WTF?! Loved the look at monster movies, overall, …

Written by: Derek Connolly
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake M. Johnson, Karan Soni
In Short: Believe.
Recommended: Hell Yes!
KENNETH: Have you ever faced certain death?
DARIUS: If it was so certain, I wouldn’t be here, would I?
Darius (Aubrey Plaza) is a twenty-something intern at a glossy Seattle magazine who spends her days taking abuse from the editorial staff and her nights doing not much of anything interesting. Indeed, the perpetually gloomy and sarcastic Darius has few friends and in fact seems to be a virgin – this intelligence having been …