Nerd Factor: Who is Superman?

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

The answer seems simple enough.  But there is a certain genius in that small, factual sentence.  

Eighty years ago, Superman arrived in “Action Comics” #1. The cover of the comic depicts Superman lifting a gangster’s car over his head and crashing it against a rock.  By today’s standards, that seems like a light day’s work for the Man of Steel. But the harried look on the face of the fleeing villain in the cover’s bottom left corner shows us how startling it was at the time.   Read More

Nerd Factor: Let Thanos Win

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

While this edition of the Nerd Factor does not contain spoilers per se, it does reveal information about past Thanos stories that might give something away.

Thanos of Titan is one of the greatest antagonists in the Marvel Universe.  That’s not bad for a guy who was, by his creator Jim Starlin’s admission, a rip-off of DC’s Darkseid.  Like the best baddies from ole Marvel, Thanos does not see himself as a villain. Oh, he does terrible things, but he often sees these as actions taken for the best.   Read More

Nerd Factor: “My Cat” Magazine

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Many years ago when I got my first cat, I accidentally subscribed to a magazine called “My Cat.”  I say that I accidentally subscribed because I honestly do not remember asking for it. It just started showing up one day, probably after I sent in some kind of rebate offer for Iams cat food.  

As an early aside – yes, that is how “they” got you before the internet.  Not quite as easy as clicking on an advertisement and having that advertisement follow you for life across the internet, but it was a similar process. Read More

Nerd Factor: Who Mourns for Geoffrey?

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Nostalgia is a powerful force in popular culture.  The very thought of losing Toys “R” Us has sent many people swirling back through their own recollections to a time when their lives seemed to play out to the chain’s iconic jingle.  Gilded memories of a place that seemed larger than life because it was seen from the low-angle perspective of children flash before their eyes. Read More

Nerd Factor: Winged Victory?

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Longtime readers of the Nerd Factor will no doubt recall that this column remains more than a little dubious on subject of superpowered flight.  Although people often name flying when asked to fantasize about having a superpower, the ability itself is fraught with potential problems. Ease of high altitude transportation, for example, has to reckon with the difficulties of navigating from high altitudes.  Of the many and various ways that superhero stories have presented flight, one of the most problematic subsets of this power is the possession of actual wings. Read More

Nerd Factor: We’re Number One

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Professor~

Welcome to the very first issue of the Nerd Factor.  As of today, this column will be starting with an entirely new numbering system.  Oh, it’s the same old creative team (me), but this new number one designation will drive up reader interest as well as encourage collectors to pick up extra copies, one for reading and one for collecting.  Just think, someday in the far future, your grandchildren will look up in awe at you when you tell them that you have the first issue of the second volume of Nerd Factor. Read More

Nerd Factor: Fear of a Black Panther Planet

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Professor~

Earlier this month, the Rotten Tomatoes review site headed off an attempt to sabotage the scores of Black Panther and committed itself to eliminating hate speech in viewer comments. This weekend, reports surfaced of a number of falsified stories about black audience members attacking white viewers at showings of Black Panther.  Spread across social media, these accounts repurposed or altered other images already on the internet to imply that physical violence was being rained down upon white viewers who had dared to see a movie not for them. What is the cause of all of this?  Simple, it’s the fear of a Black Panther planet. Read More