deerstalker

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artist: Szymon Kudranski / DC Comics

I am feeling all the feels reading this week’s Action Comics. The Black Girl Magic is strong in this issue. A new hero, Naomi, meets Superman and Batman. I’ve heard about Naomi and the rest of Bendis’ Wonder Comics line but I tend to avoid books geared towards the Young Adult audience. I’ll have to revisit that because this direct tie-in to the series is top tier.

Beautiful Cover, Girl

I am admittedly less art-focused, I gravitate towards story and dialogue. Imagine my surprise when both the main cover and the variant caught my eye. The variant cover’s photo-realistic portrait of Naomi and Superman is the kind of art I want framed on my wall. The main cover deserves attention because it reflects a trend coming back in comics where the cover includes speech bubbles that may or may not (probably not) accurately reflect the comic’s content. This typically annoys me but I won’t lie, I appreciated more after reading the book. Comparing the cover to the beginning of the book — Naomi: I got this! Narrator: Naomi did not have this.

Super Guidance

I’m grateful to have read this book at 31 and not when I was a 20-year-old comic fledgling. I developed from demanding a gratuitous amount of punching and angst to appreciating relatable stories. This book carries that sentiment with a beautifully innocent narrative of a young woman thrown into an unfamiliar world and being strong enough to ask for help. Just as wonderful, she is met by well-meaning adults who want to help her. It’d be tempting to have a character coming into their power met with hostility by another hero only to catch the misunderstanding after a fight. Instead, we get “Superman . . . I need your help”. “Well, then let’s get you some help”. Another gem was her interaction with Batman. Granted, he performs a signature “pop out of nowhere, terrifying the poor girl” but later, they bond over the shared tragedy of losing parents. She even inspires a Bat-smile.

The book rounds out with some action towards the end and promises a confrontation between Naomi and a frequently appearing villain in Action Comics. The best part of the conclusion of this book is Superman throwing shade at the villain in “disappointed father”-ly form. Why can’t you be more like Naomi, bad guy?

10 “Wobbly Flights” out of 10

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The post Action Comics #1015 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

Astronomers have been doing a fantastic job this year of giving us a whole lot of what we want to see from outer space: Mainly black holes doing crazy black-hole stuff. Earlier this year earthlings were treated to their first-ever picture of a black hole, and NASA’s most recent GIF-style animation of one of the lightless beasts was straight out of Interstellar. Now, we’re being treated to our first glimpse of what NASA refers to as a “star-shredding black hole,” and even the below simulated visualization of the event is hauntingly beautiful.

In a recent press release, NASA announced that its “planet hunting” Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) spotted a supermassive black hole feasting on a star as the latter celestial object was sucked into orbit by the inescapable gravity of the former. The cosmic event, first eyed by TESS in January of this year, has been documented in a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The event, which was recorded by a team of researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS) along with those at NASA, gives a unique look at what is referred to as a tidal disruption event, or TDE. CIS’s own announcement detailing the vision of the supermassive black hole sucking down its star snack notes that TDEs occur when a star comes too close to a supermassive black hole. “The black hole’s forces overwhelm the star’s gravity and tear it to shreds,” CIS notes in its statement, adding that “Some of [the star’s] material gets flung out into space and the rest falls back onto the black hole, forming a disk of hot, bright gas as it is consumed.”

What happens when a star strays too close to a black hole? Intense tides break it apart into a stream of gas. @NASA_TESS helped produce the most detailed look yet at the beginning of this cataclysmic phenomenon. Visualize how it unfolded: https://t.co/k8V9LFVX9f#BlackHoleWeek pic.twitter.com/h9H9mnfq9t

— NASA (@NASA) September 26, 2019

In regards to getting a sense of scale, the supermassive blackhole, located in the center of galaxy 2MASX J07001137-6602251, is roughly six million times more massive than our own sun, while the star destroyed by the supermassive black hole is estimated to be roughly equal to that of our local fiery ball of nuclear fusion.

The cosmic event has been dubbed ASASSN-19bt after the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (or ASAS-SN), which was used to verify what TESS first spotted. ASAS-SN was able to do so because its array of 20 robotic telescopes based in both the northern and southern hemispheres is capable of surveying the entire sky approximately once every day. And while ASAS-SN’s main mission is to search for supernovae, this star-shredding event is obviously just as exciting—in fact, while supernovae happen every 100 years or so, TDEs like this only happen every 10,000 to 100,000 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way.

“Having so much data about ASASSN-19bt will allow us to improve our understanding of the physics at work when a star is unlucky enough to meet a black hole,” explains @CarnegieAstro‘s @astrodecker. https://t.co/boOu7WIN0f

— Carnegie Science (@carnegiescience) September 26, 2019

Moving forward, NASA and CIS are aiming to answer a bunch of questions raised by the TDE “poster child” event, including why it gave off so much UV light relative to higher-energy X-rays. The mystery surrounding the emittance of surprisingly low energy-light remains a mystery for now, but there’s no question the exploration of TDEs has a very bright future.

What do you think about this supermassive black hole shredding up a star? Tear up the comments with your thoughts!

Images: NASA 

The post Black Hole Shredding Star to Smithereens Glimpsed for the First Time appeared first on Nerdist.

Families are hell. That might as well be the subhead for Rian Johnson’s murder mystery whodunnit Knives Out, which is a yarn-spinning tale about a dynasty of brats at odds over their dead father’s inheritance. But it’s a story that goes much deeper than that; it’s part Agatha Christie paperback–with a choose-your-own-adventure sense of play–part political allegory, a film that’s so discontent to be just one thing that it occasionally gets lost in its own ambition. But none of that is to the overall detriment of Knives Out, a film so fun and quippy that it’s basically irresistible. It’s hard to imagine having a better time at the movies this year.

It’s really hard to talk about Knives Out without immediately spoiling Knives Out, but here’s a basic rundown of the characters and plot. Christopher Plummer plays Harlan Thrombey, an elderly mystery novelist who built an empire out of his bestsellers. On the night of his 85th birthday party, Harlan dies in what at first appears to be suicide but what may in fact be a more elaborate, elicit crime. The circumstances of his death are complicated by his recent financial disengagement from his many family members, including son Walt (Michael Shannon), daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), Linda’s husband Richard (Don Johnson), their son Ransom (Chris Evans), and Harlan’s widowed daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette).

At the center of the ruckus is Harlan’s caregiver Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), the daughter of an illegal immigrant who was also the last person to see Harlan alive. Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, a detective hired to investigate the case, with Noah Segan and Lakeith Stanfield as the police officers helping him sniff out a suspect.

Lionsgate

Just who, if anyone, is responsible for Harlan’s death is the whole fun of Knives Out, and we won’t give even the faintest hint of a spoiler beyond that basic premise. All you really need to know going in is that this epic cast is more than up for the task. Craig is having the time of his life as the Southern drawling Blanc; it’s a scenery-chewing performance that deserves an entire franchise to itself. Most of the Thrombey family members have limited roles, but–for the most part–they make their screentime count.

Collette is probably the most memorable, as an airy influencer with a skincare company who could have stepped right out of a Real Housewives episode. Chris Evans is also delicious as Ransom, the privileged grandson who long ago severed ties with the family for reasons that are clearly ego-based. How he fits into the story is one of the movie’s more clever discoveries. (If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ll know there are a lot of “eat shits.”)

But this is really Ana de Armas’ movie. As Marta, she gives Knives Out its heart. Her big, expressive eyes and tender approach to the character carry you through the story’s many twists and turns. Marta also elevates the film from what could have been a simple murder mystery into one with political heft. The Thrombey’s insist she’s a part of the family–even though they aren’t sure if she’s from Ecuador or Paraguay–until it’s suddenly inconvenient for them. She’s an outsider, always reminded of just how tenuous her place in the household is, which works as a powerful immigrant allegory. As the family spars over politics–Jaeden Martell as Walt’s conservative son Jacob butts heads with Joni’s “SJW” daughter Meg (Katherine Langford)–Marta sits on the sidelines, never asking for a thing, lost to the various strains of white privilege that threaten to eat her entirely.

Lionsgate

Despite those snappy politics and hilarious performances, Knives Out isn’t a perfect film. It sags a little in its too-long second act, and gets occasionally lost in its own preciousness. The mystery also suffers a little from “too much going on” syndrome. There are an impressive amount of famous faces in this movie, but one could argue there are too many; apart from Marta, no one exists outside of their stereotype. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for a loaded murder mystery–in fact, one could argue, that’s a key factor of the genre–but that imbalance is felt at times, as if the film is operating on two different planets. Some characters are so underutilized that you have to wonder why they’re even there at all.

Still, in the end, Knives Out succeeds as clever, propulsive slice of a movie, the sort of audience-pleaser that crosses generational interests and will make you laugh yourself silly. (There’s one all-timer Hamilton joke that had our Fantastic Fest audience howling.) Overall, the movie feels like stepping into a game of Clue, if the board were planted somewhere in the chilly east coast, where shadows loom and money is an institution. It’s a perfect movie for the times: funny and sharp, with something important to say. Just make sure you go in knowing nothing, lest you fall victim yourself.

4 out of 5.

Header Image Credit: Lionsgate

The post KNIVES OUT Is A Masterful Whodunit With A Sharp Political Edge appeared first on Nerdist.

Writer: Rick Remender / Artist: Matteo Scalera / Image Comics

We’ve been in the endgame with Black Science for some time now, but still…I never took the time to consider that I’d soon be writing my last review on what has been one of the smartest sleeper hits on the shelves for five years and change. Yet here I am, musing about how we’ve come such a long way from that first issue where a mad scientist adventurer Indiana Jones’d out of harm’s way with a giant toad’s tongue.

And now in the final issue, Grant McKay and Kadir Aslan’s ideology comes to a very unexpected head. Remender has a penchant for taking the road less traveled. In this case, he didn’t bring Black Science to a close with an epic third act slugfest for the fate of the universe. Instead, this issue, as does Remender’s concept of the eververse, comes down to a matter of choice. All the time Grant spends throughout this series taking account of self and trying to be better for the sake of his family (maybe some of the most development I’ve ever seen in a protagonist) all seems to hinge on a single decision. Though this one choice is a callback to a previous side plot, it also somehow manages to speak to Remender’s entire concept of alternate universes. The finale manages to say goodbye to a massive, memorable cast of characters in a fitting and arguably unsettling way that will stick with readers for quite some time. Not only that, the job Matteo Scalera did as far as delivering on all the gravitas promised in Remender’s script was nothing less than stellar. There was just as many intimate, emotional moments as there were action beats necessary to pull this finale off and Scalera’s line work and facial expressions leaned into every one of them.

Bottom Line: A powerful finish to one of the most consistently strong stories of the past ten years with meticulously detailed panels and an ending that will make readers have to read it over at least two more times and once more in trade to make sure that read it right. It’s hard to ask for more.

10 Stargate fan conventions out of 10

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The post Black Science Comes To An End With #43: Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.