Between the Panels

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 proce...

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...