The OWU English Department Blog
For the final part of this series on Bronze Age comics (1970-1985), I wanted to discuss the beauty of art from this time period. I am not a professional in the study of art, nor am I an art critic, and I do not intend to pretend that I am. Nevertheless, I wanted to take some time to appreciate the vintage comic book art aesthetic, particularly of the 1970s and 1980s.…
In part three of this four-part series on some great things that I love about Bronze Age comics, we will focus on the philosophical and mythological influences that helped give birth to many of the beloved comic book superheroes we still love today. There are so many fictional characters, especially comic book superheroes, that have their origins in philosophy and mythology.…
In part two of our exploration of the Bronze Age of comics (1970-1985) we will be focusing on how some comics were promoted as a mechanism to speak to kids and young adults about the dangers of smoking, and to comment on poverty and inequities in America. During this era, the Comic Code Authority (CCA) was becoming more relaxed on many of its restrictions and censorship that stemmed from the Silver Age.…
I have been collecting and reading comics for over five years now. This hobby was something that I would not usually tell people because of the negative perception I assumed would come from being a “comic book nerd.” I enjoy many vintage things such as books, music, and movies. I have, like many other people still today, a sort of nostalgia for a time that I have never experienced.…
Recommended by Serena Sweeney
East of Eden follows the histories of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, from the mid-1800s until the early 1900s, and explores how their lives intertwine and influence each other. Adam Trask and his sons Aron and Cal live on a farm in California’s Salinas Valley.…
The figure who inspired Babylonia was unknown to me before reading this novel, but I did recognize two other aspects of the book–the author, Costanza Casati, and my fondness for books with blades on the cover. A little different from the previous books in this series, there is at least confirmation of its titular figure being a real person. …
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel follows the titular character, Kaikeyi, a figure from the Hindu epic the Ramayana, which I’m admittedly much less familiar with than Greek mythology. Unlike Circe, I was drawn to this book (and impulse bought it at a Goodwill bookstore) less out of familiarity with the original story and more out of my interest in stories of mythology.…
My fascination with the stories of women in myth and history began with Circe. My first exposure to the mythological figure of Circe was in The Sea of Monsters, book 2 of the Percy Jackson series. Embarrassingly, it wasn’t until I read the Odyssey for the first time my freshman year of high school that I realized the “real” Circe does not, in fact, turn men into guinea pigs, but into regular pigs.…
Happy Halloween! Here are a couple more recommendations from editor Serena Sweeney:
1) I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
A film you should try to watch this fall if you have not already is I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), a psychological thriller directed by Charlie Kaufman, and is based on a book by Ian Reid.…
Looking for some good thriller movies to watch this Halloween? The Sturges Script has you covered! Check out these recommendations from editor Serena Sweeney:
1) Pearl (2022)
Pearl (2022) is a film directed by Ti West and is set in 1918 Texas. It is bursting with horror, gore and emotion. The film follows Pearl, a young woman brought up on a solitary farm who strains under the pressures of caring for her immobilized father, beneath the scrutinizing eye of her demanding mother.…