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Earlier this month, we were part of CTRL+ALT, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s pop-up culture lab in the former Pear River Mart location in SoHo. Along with Clark University’s Betsy Huang, our fearless leader Keith Chow co-hosted a reading lounge in which they held workshops, panels, and salon discussions with other artists. We’ll be bringing you these sessions over the next few weeks, starting with this one-on-one conversation between Keith and renowned comic artist Jamal Igle.

Jamal chats with Keith about collaborating with Larry Hama on their “Fan Fiction” contribution to the CTRL+ALT Reading Lounge, a take one Carl Barks’ classic Junior Woodchucks comics.

They also discuss the history — and necessity — of Jamal’s creator-owned comic series Molly Danger and his latest creation, the Kickstarter-funded series Black. In addition, Jamal reveals why he’s an SJW (that would be Social Justice Warlord) and why it’s important now more than ever to use his position in the comics industry to stand up for marginalized communities.

All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit “play,” and check this.

Special thanks to Lawrence Minh-Bui Davis and Adriel Luis from the Smithsonian APA for inviting us to be a part of CTRL+ALT!

Watch this space every Friday for new episodes of “Hard N.O.C. Life” and go to our YouTube channel to subscribe! You can also download the audio podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud!

Warning: Dirk Gently spoilers follow. Only read on if you don’t mind knowing what happened on the latest episode!

For the first ten minutes of this week’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency from BBC America, it looked like the show was heading towards its third straight disappointing installment, where the action and excitement of the story took a back seat to needlessly rehashing previous events and offering up already established characterization. However–and fittingly considering its title, “Fix Everything”–the episode quickly recovered and ended up being lots of fun.

After the pre-credits scene that finally introduced the time travel element of the story we knew was coming ever since the first episode when Todd saw a second version of himself from the hotel elevator, we were treated to back-to-back scenes of Todd explaining in-depth events that we already know all about. First, to Farrah, he recapped what happened to him last week; and then he again confessed all of his past lies, but this time to his sister Amanda.

In both cases the scenes could have just been joined in the middle, with the two women reacting to what he had said, and it would have spared us rehearing things we just saw in the last episode. Both scenes felt like they were done for the benefit of the audience and not because they were actually needed, but none of what Todd said was required for us to continue following along. Yes, the plot is all over the place and there are numerous moving parts, but the confusion of what is happening is more fun than knowing what is happening. They didn’t trust the audience to be engaged enough to move forward without another step back, and it resulted in a tedious opening.

Embracing the ever-growing madness is when the show is at its best, and retelling is when it is at it’s worst.

Which was proven true later in the episode, when Dirk anticipated that Gordon was going to be able to answer all of the questions Dirk and Todd themselves have, but instead all Gordon had were more questions. It was the show’s funniest scene yet, and it was especially the best meta-joke the show is fond of telling. This mystery is absurd madness, and the ending was the complete opposite of the start. It was exciting, insane, and loads of fun, everything we have liked about it.

But there was also lots to enjoy in-between the start and finish, like an emotionally damaged Estevez putting together the illogical pieces of this nutso puzzle and running amok with the dog/Lydia Springs, and also of Bart and Ken (finally!) taking the next step in their story. It was hard to believe that Bart was ever going to kill Dirk, but her failing spectacularly and having something totally new and unexplainable happened to her was an interesting development those two characters needed to keep them engaging.

As for their “connection,” the backstory of both Bart and Dirk, as well as the Rowdy 3, is what it is at this point. We’d love our Dirk to be unique and different unto himself, but there’s no point in continuing to complain about the inclusion of that story strand. We just hope it will be a minor factor as we head to the finale and not a major one.

There are only two episodes left and there are still, fortunately, lots of questions to be answered. We have no idea just how important Amanda is to everything, or what made Bart screw up and go after Dirk. Also, we know that at some point Todd, with that tank top and fur coat, is going to end up back in time at the hotel with Dirk on the day that Patrick Spring was killed (and also that Patrick Spring was in two places at the same time). Plus we still have Lydia inside a dog, a kitten/hammerhead shark on the loose, and some original souls causing all of these problems.

We know all of these things, and if the show doesn’t worry about making sure that we do, and instead just worries about what we don’t know, it could make for a great ending.

But what did you think of this week’s episode? Head into our comments below and let us know.

Images: BBC America

Ron Glass, known for playing Shepherd Book on the acclaimed Joss Whedon show Firefly and its follow-up film Serenity, has passed away at the age of 71. No other details have been released at this time.

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Wipe the blood from your teeth and get in the pit: it’s time for a recap of this week’s best hardcore, metal, and punk rock. We dug through the record crates to find the new tunes we think you need to spin and rage to. Looking for some new death metal to bring into your life? Got you covered. Need some grindcore to get your wedding reception off on the right foot? Say no more. Strap in kiddies, it’s time to rock.

“Heavenward is a process of illumination through darkness. It is pure introspection into a person living through loneliness, dying friends, paranoia, love and love lost, misery, and longing. The intent is not to glorify depression but instead to fearlessly confront the void and inspire catharsis in anyone who understands. Ascension from the lowest place anyone could touch.”

SYK play some twisted metal. It literally sounds like a tangle of riffs, rhythm and vocals. It’s a strange experience but one that you can’t seem to shake. The song “The White Sun” is playing below and it’s a soaring jam that is melodic in the oddest ways, never letting up, like a dark creature slowly crawling towards you. It’s seductive and angry. If nothing else, we can all agree that SYK has a sound all their own. We can’t think of a band to compare them to, and that’s a good thing. It’s rare to have somebody put out something so wholly unique. Keep an eye on this band, as they’re onto something very special.

(Decibel)

We’ve told you that Martyrdod’s new album is a crusty, thrash masterpiece already. Now you can hear for yourself as the band as released a stream of the whole thing. List is a low-fi crusher, a blistering and mean record that sounds like a buzzsaw. There are no frills and no wasted space, just a parade of screams, riffs, and blast beats. This is the kinda of music that makes you want to punch your hand through a window and break a bottle on your head. It’s the kind of music that inspires mosh pits and riots. Something about it just makes you want to set the world on fire. Killer stuff, all the way through.

(Team Rock)

Hark play the kind of hard rock you can listen to with your pops in the garage. They have a classic sound that requires throwing up some horns and banging your head. You can’t really call it metal and you can’t really call it hardcore. It’s just rock, man. While a lesser band might have polished this song and shoved it out to major radio, Hark let keep it raw and honest. This song is heavy and mean; there’s something jagged and rough about it. The vocals are ugly and bitter. It’s good any way you cut it. Tell your dad to pop open a beer and meet you in the garage, because Hark brings families together.

Atmospheric black metalers WRVTH have released a video for their song “Cease to Exist” and it’s an arty affair. It’s a depressing bombardment that fits the song perfectly. Watching it will make you feel lost and more than a little depressed, as it’s chalky full of complex emotions. WRVTH’s complex and starling sound could remind you of bands like Deafheaven, at first, but it’s clear these dudes have a heavier, more visceral edge to them. They aren’t afraid to let the double bass just ride and the guitars grind. They’re darker than many of their contemporaries in the atmospheric metal world. The video is rad and the song is even radder, so do yourself a favor and check out WRVTH. They’ll take you to Bummer Town and beat you to death when you arrive. You know, in a good way.

And that’s it for this holiday edition, kids. What heavy tunes helped you through the holidays? Feel free to share them in comments if you think they’d be our speed.

Image: Reid Haithcock

Gif: The Loud House/ Nickelodeon

Benjamin Bailey writes for the Nerdist and can be found on Twitter talking about Godzilla, comic books, and hardcore music.