Between the Panels

Do you have a Samwise Gamgee in your life? What an odd question eh! Like, honestly, who even knows a person with the name of Samwise Gamgee in their life, let alone on their socials? To my Tolkien and LOTR ( Lord of the Rings ) fanatics you know who I am referring to. Samwise/Sam is the faithful sidekick of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings series, who travels/helps/carries/protects Frodo all the way to Mount Doom to destroy the ring of power.  What are the qualities of such a person?  Well, I hate to brake it to you, there is nothing really outstanding about this hobbit; only his fervent loyalty to his friend and duty to help in whatever way he can . The only reason he got into this mess was that he was snooping about when he shouldn't have, but what made his stay was his promise to Gandalf and Frodo. " I made a promise Mr. Frodo. A promise! Don't you lose him Samwise Gamgee! And I don't mean to. " Man, talk about taking a promise seriously! One line stoo

Raging tempers, explosive yelling, a prideful mindset, and violent reactions to people around him.  If I just left it right there, this really describes two people. (at least from my vantage point). I see the character of Bakugo from the anime My Hero Academia (MHA).  Bakugo is the kind of guy who needs no introduction as he typically lets his ego lead the charge for most of that.  A naturally gifted teen who is able to secrets a nitro glycerin substance that explodes when he wants, is seen to be one of the most power heroes in training throughout the series.  Our young hero has a lot of capacity to fight off bad guys and often demonstrates that he is a strategist in the midst of a fight. Yet, his biggest flaw is that he has a short fuse with people around him, pun intended. Particularly, he has major angst for his classmate Deku who seems weak at first, but still out paces the natural hero at different points in the anime. Eventually, Deku and Bakugo do get to settle some of their

"Marian! Don't look at it! Keep your eyes shut!"  Now you might be perplexed at this moment and say to yourself, "Mike what on earth are you quoting?" For some of you who are big fans of Indiana Jones , you likely have this very scene running through your brain (I am there with you). This quote is from the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark , a classic movie that everyone should see at least once.  What's happening in this scene is that the Nazi's have found the Ark of the Covenant and are wanting to test it as a super weapon for their use in World War II.  So they decided to open it up, which they find nothing but sand and are left a bit confused.  It's the next part that gets intense, as suddenly spirits are flying out of the Ark and start melting people as well as weird lightning that hops around person to person who is looking at the Ark and zaps them.  Meanwhile, Indie and Marian are strapped to a light as prisoners of the Naz

Big explosions, rapid gun fire in the background, people freaking out as they are being blown away, and the cold resolve of a man on a mission. This was my introduction to Rambo as a young adult and to be honest, I didn't know how to take it all in.  To be fair to the series, I was hopping in the middle of it by watching a later movie rather than starting with the first one (my bad crew...).  The story behind it is great, it is a one man army standing against major injustices that are happening with a whole lot of butts to kick.  How could I not want to watch this kind of film?  Look at Braveheart , 300 , the Taken series, or Gladiator .  In all of these movies are intense fight scenes, but all of them have a point: these are people who are standing against tyranny, evil, and wrong doers that need to be taken out. Back to Rambo though.  As I watched one scene that was hyper focused in intense, detailed justice that Rambo was dishing out to the bad guys, I started to feel a sourne

I have been sitting in the book of Judges, if you haven't noticed from the last two articles, and I found one spot that gave my head a tilt.  You know, that moment you are seeing or reading something that makes you think a little bit extra. Yeah, that's the one! Reading through Judges in a bigger perspective, you see the swirling downward quality in the judges/rescuers of Israel and the shortening of the times of peace that followed after them.  But then you get a rest from it in Judges 13 .  There is this guy Manoah who has a wife that has been unable to have a child, which an angel of the Lord (potentially Jesus popping up in the OT) and says they are going to have a son who is going to be a Nazarite (basically a hardcore devoted person for God living differently than others).  What I love most is the response from Manoah; he simply asks " When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and work? " Judges 13:12 . Did you see that? In

Whether you are a huge fan of LOTR ( Lord of the Rings ) or you have watched the series only once or twice; you will likely remember the character Boromir . Boromir is 1/9 members of a team that are on a quest to take the Ring of Sauron ( The One Ring ) and throw it into Mount Doom, the only place it can be destroyed.  This ring needs to be destroyed because of two reasons: it is the essence of Sauron/the big bad and would be used to bring him back and who ever has the ring or tries to use it gets corrupted, eventually becoming the big bad on a small scale.... In short, this ring is bad news and needs to get wrecked.  Now we bring it back to Boromir.  Boromir has a problem with this plan; his theory is that the ring can be used to fight back the forces of evil that are looking for it .  To be fair to Boromir, his home is on the doorsteps of Mordor which is Sauron's HQ and have been facing wave after wave of baddies trying to break out into the rest of Middle-Earth: he's despe

Do you have a nerdy tradition? A thing that you do each year that is centered around a certain time of year, but focused on nerdy content/context. Our family has a couple of these nerdy traditions.  Every April we watch the Lord of the Rings (due to our annual Walk to Mordor Fundraiser), in May we try to watch through the Star Wars Saga (the main nine + Rogue One), and in November we watch V for Vendetta . Why V for Vendetta? Well it all comes from the little poem that film/comic is in reference to. " Remember, remember the fifth of November. The gun powder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot. " In the movie, the character "V" is attempting to wake up Britain from it's own subjugation to parliament overreach and bring back freedom/choice.  He is doing this by destroying key historical structures and eventually blowing up parliament (just as Guy Fawkes attempted to do) all the while wearing the iconic Guy Fawk

Growing up in the early 2000's (to some of you I am now old... watch out) one of my favourite shows to watch was the Teen Titans ! Five small heroes/sidekicks that formed their own team to fight off bad guys in the DC Comic Universe .  These heroes are Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy (at least in the show, there are more in the comics).  As a teen, I would get amped to rush down stairs in my dad's lazyboy recliner and watch the Teen Titans learn to fight beside eachother to save the world.  All the while having tiffs in their friendship or processing what kind of heroes they wanted to become; you know, regular teen stuff. More recently, this group has gone through significant changes with some members having their own comic series and storylines.  For a time it seemed like the Teen Tians were just a memory.  However, there was a series that came out that was bringing back the old gang under the title of the Titans , along with more dialog in processing being solo

I am bracing myself for some retaliation after making this comment and I ask for your forgiveness, but I have not watched Dragon Ball .... Don't worry, I expect that there will be torches and pitch forks assembling by my home sometime either today or tomorrow depending how far you are from Belleville. Something that most people are aware of in Dragon Ball is the immense power that their characters have (particularly the main character Goku ).  Within nerd culture, there is a phrase that comes up from time to time "Oh...they're going Super Saiyan !" when someone is going at something really hard, almost without limits.  When people go "Saiyan" or "Super Saiyan" they glow with what looks like fire around them which is actually their spiritual energy .  This became such a popular image within anime that other shows adapted it for their use ( Bleach being one of my favourite examples with Ichigo ). While watching these Super Saiyan moments, it's

What kind of lantern are you ? Kind of a weird question to ponder on isn't it. You might respond back with "Well what's the purpose of the lantern? What do you mean by using the word 'lantern'?" These are valid responses/questions to bring up, but I pose this question in processing what Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16 , " You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house . In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." Not going to lie, this makes me think of Kilowag (a Green Lantern member and mentor), teaching Hal Jordan on how to be a GL ( Green Lantern ) and how to use his ring. Hal joined something that he had no idea what he was doing: how do you fight with light? Jesus is doing the same thing.  In other parts of

Uncle Iroh is the most boss elderly man in animation.  It's just a fact.  Go ahead and watch any compilation video of Iroh ( Avatar: The Last Airbender ) and you will likely find two main themes: his words of wisdom and him getting buff/prepped to do battle. Honestly, he is one of the top elderly characters in an animated series that can bless you with wisdom and will go shoulder-to-shoulder with you in a fight (next to Jim Gordon , I had to rep BTAS here). A question I pose to you and to our culture in general is, how come it is so rare to see this kind of thing? How come we don't see more sages/elders who don't just drop wisdom bombs, but are ready to step up as warriors as well? 'Cause I would totally follow and listen to an elder like Iroh, who was there for his nephew at his lowest point and took the time to invest in him; showing him true wisdom as well as character that he could strive for. What spurred this on was some of my personal reading time in the book of

A couple of Sundays ago, I was really challenged by something my pastor was sharing with us in his sermon.  His challenge/statement was that if we are neglecting our time with God in private, everything else we do publicly is just a show . Let that sink in for a moment.  Our tendency is to look for big spiritual hype in large crowds, where there is already a vibe on a group level to have this experience. It can almost at times become a show of comparing who had the deeper connection with God that day (Sundays usually).  However, we don't ask each other "How has been your personal time with God been?" The big reminder in this sermon was that we need to get back to those personal times with God, where we meet with Him without anyone knowing it. It kinda struck me as I was listening that this was like Bleach (shocker, I know, I am connecting a sermon to something nerdy).  Bleach fans love the big battles that Ichigo fights (Mr. Urahara, Captain Zaraki, Byakuya Kuchiki, Sosu

From the very start of my D&D gaming/roleplaying career, Wisdom has always been a very important player statistic for me to invest in my characters.  I could be playing a Barbarian (who is all about Strength and Constitution btw) and I will almost always strive to make his Wisdom on par or better than his main stats. Why does wisdom matter in a game setting like D&D? How do you even use it? Excellent questions, my inquisitive reader or listener of our podcast 😉. In short, wisdom is about seeing the environment around yourself or other players and knowing how to best address it. Related skills under the wisdom stat are: animal handling, insight, medicine, perception, and survival. This differs from Intelligence which tends to be focused on facts or Charisma that focuses on your contribution to the environment around you. Wisdom is a bit passive, but it's actively looking for things that can help your adventure party in a bind to react well or to process intentions of other

Back a few years ago I got into fantastic anime series:  The Rising of the Shield Hero .  What made this show amazing and also frustrating was the treatment of the main character Naofumi . I say that it was frustrating because this guy is teleported from his world to a fantasy world, asked to save a kingdom from destruction, but is treated like trash because he is the "weakest" hero of the four noble heroes. Not only that, they frame him for some pretty awful stuff and run him out of the kingdom to fend for himself. Naofumi of course doesn't like how he is treated and at first is very vocal about it, but over time he resigns himself to just push through it and live with integrity. This guy legitimately looks to help the kingdom and serve the common folk, he is the best hero amongst them. Over time you find out that Naofumi was actually being oppressed in more nefarious ways by certain members of the monarchy, yet he still stands/fights for them and the country.  You reall

Tony Stark is one heck of a genius. This is the only time you'll hear that from me. It's not for his different suits that he has built (93 in total...) or for his IQ (270 btw, which makes him a super genius). No what makes him a genius was the development of Jarvis : an A.I. that he has synced up to no just his suit, but in his very home. Jarvis is a wonderful font of knowledge and information that is ready/available to help Iron Man at a moments notice. Jarvis also watches over Iron Man and gives him the capacity to see things that we would not be able to through those tiny window slits on his face mask. Jarvis is the big resource that Iron Man really leans on and needs him be Iron Man. Let's not discount the importance of the helmet on its own. For obvious reasons, the helmet keeps your head safe from potential lethal attacks.  It also gives you protected vision for the road ahead (often through slits or visors) and would be secured on to you with a strap so that it wo

Ok, you have to admit that you saw this one coming when your following along the Armour of God ( Ephesians 6:14-17 ) in connection to a shield. It's right there! Captain America is super iconic for his use of the star spangled shield and fighting to defend the world.  His shield over the years is made of various indestructible metals that allow him to go toe-to-toe with big hitting villains.  It can ricochet off of surfaces to be a weapon, not just a defense. And finally one of my favorite features of the shield is when something hits it, it absorbs the impact of the object hitting it without trauma for the one holding it. Literally no vibration shock! Looking back into Paul's time, this is not what the shield would be like.  He would have seen large shields that were rectangular and covered a majority of a soldiers body.  This curved wood panel was also covered in leather and would have been submerged in water for the leather to soak in (talk about heavy).  By soaking the shi

If you have seen the latest Thor: Love and Thunder (sorry btw), you will have likely noted that one character definitely got an awesome upgrade.  Jane Foster: The Worthy Thor was, to me, worth the watch for her character development as well as being able to face adversity amazingly. Seeing Jane wield the broken pieces of Mjolnir and merging them together in battle: breath taking!  Did you know though that in the comics she uses another Asgardian weapon before she becomes the new Thor? This weapon is called Undrjarn: The All Weapon and Jane used this golden item when she was a hero by the name of Valkyrie. Undrjarn is a really unique weapon as it can change into any weapon that the wielder chooses.  Kind of a useful tool for any situation that you find yourself in, almost like the Swiss pocket knife of heroes. Like, I really dig how Mjolnir was used in the movie, but part of me wishes that they would have used Undrjarn as her weapon and show off how versatile it is. Hoping into the c

Imagine you get called to war and you have to react immediately.  You have all the gear: Kevlar vest, combat weapon, belt with tools/supplies, helmet, and you are wearing flip-flops.... I hate to brake it to you, but you are not ready at that point to face anything that comes your way.  With 30 seconds of intense fighting, those flip-flops would be flip-flopping off and you are stuck with just your barefeet. Not looking too good eh? Looking at the Romans foot wear, not only was it adjustable for each soldiers comfort, but they even had small metal spikes under them for gripping into the terrain! These warriors need to be prepared for any kind of climate that they would face and they knew our Old Navy flip-flops were not going to cut it. When it comes to footwear, you gotta look at the heroes that are always on their feet and go everywhere with them. This is why the Scarlet Speedster ( The Flash ) is the best rep for the kind of footwear you would want.  Think about it; this guy is able

I think we can all understand why it is so important in battle to have a breastplate on. Simply put, it stops things from severely damaging your vital organs (heart, lungs, intestines, etc.). To go into battle without one is asking for that random arrow or lucky slash to take you out in one fell swoop.  Oooooo that's gonna hurt! In the Roman army, these breastplates often had smaller plates and several ties to make it a perfect fit for the soldier to have free range of motion while having maximum protection. Superman is the most iconic piece for this armour.  What makes Sup's breastplate different than others is that it is from another planet (krypton) and was able to endure a lot of wear and tare in battle.  You would think this is the key to Superman's durability, but that's not the case; Superman is just naturally tough.  It's the iconic "S" that makes this stand out. One of my favourite lines in Superman: Man of Steel was when Lois Lane is asking wh

The Armour of God (found in Ephesians 6:14-17 ) is a well known passage of scripture that most Christians could quote off the top of their heads.  However, it can lose meaning if we don't dive deeper on why Paul likely gave certain attributes of the armour pieces (truth, peace, faith, etc.) that he did. So to help in drawing that deeper connection and importance of these principles to their armour pieces, we are going to take the armour and make it NERDY STYLE!!!! Buckle up! First is the belt of truth ( Ephesians 6:14 ).  This might seem like a boring piece, but it is really the foundation of it all.  Without the belt there would be no way for a soldier (in the Roman army) to be able to carry their sword.  The belt would often hold the breast plate intact as well.  A belt was not just something to hold up your pants, but would give you peace of mind as you were moving forward in the fight: that you were equipped and ready. Batman's belt is the best example of this kind of prep

Don’t you wish you could have everything in life organized in priority and immediacy? Admittedly, this is one thing that I think video games/role-playing games does well.  Typically, when you are pausing after finishing a big quest or are in the break of the story; you are brought to your quest menu .  The quest menu is so helpful not just seeing what you have accomplished (getting that pat on the back), but seeing whether it is a main plot task or a side quest.  Along with that, there are sometimes promptings of events that you can jump into immediately to find impressive loot or a level up for your character. However, if you didn’t have this menu to navigate through or prioritize what quests you are taking, you might just aimlessly go around not making as much progress. It helps to be organized and to be able to go into the game with a plan and an intentional goal for your character to grow in their journey. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Jesus actually has something that helps bring so

Challenges always adds an engaging dynamic to a game.  I am not talking about "Boss fights" that you have to win in order to progress onward.  No, a challenge is something that typically tests to see your level of experience, skill, or effectiveness in the game. Often when you get to these challenges in a game, a player can return to redo them if they were not as successful as they wanted to be to get better rewards or better stats among other players (if in an open world online).  Again, I refer to my experience with Batman: Arkham Knight where often challenges were to see how high of a score you could get in fighting against a large crowd effectively, all the while trying to beat some of my friends scores who had done the same challenge. This was a major distraction since once you found out other people's scores compared to your own, it was easy to get focused on beating other's scores and loose track of where you should be in the story. The Bible is not afraid to

I have a confession to make.  I am the kind of gamer that focuses on getting loot and advancing my equipment for the road ahead.  Lots of games have a looting component to them (these are often called " looter shooters "), where you need to keep on advancing your equipment along the progress of the game/round.  Specifically, Fortnite is one of these looter games.  My bad habit is that I want to make sure I have enough equipment and ammunition for my character for when we have to fight of another group in the game to survive the round.  This however, drags my team back and it can put them at a disadvantage with a distracted team member in a confrontation. It is good to upgrade your equipment and to keep looking for the better stuff that will give you an edge in the battle.  The balancing act is determining when is the best time for looting and when is it time to keep going on .  It really comes down to what stage of the game you are at and what amount of time you have left in

Gamers, particularly ones who like to play RPG s ( Role Playing Games ), know that there is a legitimate struggle between focusing on the main story and wanting to do side quests/missions . Everyone gets the game for the main story and works toward its conclusion. Though, side quests are sometimes more fun than focusing on the main story, especially when you are struggling at a certain points. Take me for example. I love the Batman Arkham series games and have played through 3/4 of them in their completion.  However, in Batman: Arkham Knight , I have been getting distracted with side quests that I have left the main story for now years (this is in part because of not gaming by myself lately).  Part of it was the struggle of fighting major bosses, but also there have been some fun side quests with other characters that I love to interact with.  This is all to say that completing side quests and focusing on them for a while is not bad; they are part of getting things done toward the big

The Force. In Star Wars there is this unseen thing in the galaxy that everyone is connected to, but only few have been able to tap into its power.  Some use this power for good, to aid others; while others use it for control, for selfish goals. One of my favourite moments in the use of the force is with the character Chirrut Imwe: a blind man who joins in the fight to get the plans for the Death Star. Now Chirrut doesn't use any cool force abilities (Force push, jump, hold, etc.); the awesome thing that happens is that he trusts that the force will guide him in his fight.  The big moment is when he walks out in the open toward a bunch of Stormtroopers to help get his ship up in running. As he is walking, he repeats out loud "I am one with the Force, the Force is with me." and he does not get shot in all that time as he is walking toward his goal.  Once he accomplishes his task, he sadly dies because of an explosion, but his brother (who has not believed in the Force) star

Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious is one heck of a vile bad guy in Star Wars.  This half-baked (quite literally due to his own force lightning) person who seized control of the entire galaxy in one felt swoop, didn't operate as obviously as he does later in saga.  Palpatine seems, at first, like a genuine caring chancellor that is trying to fight for the freedoms of a planet in the Republic.  However, over time, his rise to position and power shows more and more of his hand for complete dominance and authority.  It's through the rise of Anakin Skywalker , that we see more of the inSidious (see what I did there) plot to manipulate this powerful rising Jedi Knight to become his greatest servant for his will.  Anakin only wanted to grow in power to save his wife from a premonition he had about her death in child birth.  Palpatine saw this desire of power and used it for himself to create confusion in Anakin as well as giving him the promise of gaining power to save his wife. Thi

If you have been following Star Wars content since 2019, you have likely heard of the series The Mandalorian . Some people have mixed reviews on the latest content, but I want to get into what has become The Mandalorian's most iconic line " This is the way ". Within the series, you find out that the Mandalorians were a group of people who had been eradicated by the Empire for their precious metals to make weapons and use for currency.  One of the things that added to the Mandalorian culture was their strict adherence to certain rules, which acted as a pathway for them in all that they did.  This path would often be affirmed with other Mandalorians in the uttering "This is the way". Part of these tenants was not removing your helmet, devotion to family and the Mandalorian race, as well as being prepared as one global warrior clan.  The Way was something that was taught at birth and driven to the very identity of your being. The most notable marking of a Mandalor

Han and Chewie .  Arguably one, if not, the most iconic duos in cinematic history.  These "scruffy looking nerf herders" are always side-by-side, hip deep in troubles of their own making. Whether it's smuggling goods, or flying in a barrage of enemy TIE fighters; these two have each others backs.  As a nerd it makes collecting a bit of a nightmare when you can find that awesome Han Solo figure, but you know you can't just have Han without his first mate/co-pilot Chewie.  Even the show Chuck , demonstrates this through the parting of two friends; one taking the Han Solo figure and the other Chewie. These two friends felt it was just wrong to separate the two figures, like it felt wrong to part as friends. Han and Chewie have seen good times and bad, but they always had each other.  I remember the biggest gut punch was when Han Solo died in episode seven, but an even bigger hit was hearing Chewie's lamenting cry and rage poor out at the loss of his friend.  They w