Stephanie Leonidas

While Mirrormask has become something of a cult movie, Dave McKean is still better known for his work in illustration than his directorial efforts in film. McKean’s groundbreaking style consistently raised the bar in comic art; his contribution to the 1989 release of Arkham Asylum, written by Grant Morrison, helped change our understanding of the artform. McKean’s style seemed uniquely suited to the mind space of an asylum, his layered mixed media style reflective of thoughts and emotions in conflict. Perhaps his best known work is his contributions to the cover art for Neil Gaiman’s iconic Sandman series, once again cementing the phantasmagoric quality of McKean’s work. His collaboration with Gaiman highlighted the obscured landscape of nightmares which he frightfully recreated through superimposition, collage and drawing.

Penultimate episodes in seasons are notoriously difficult (unless they’re in a season of Game of Thrones), since most of the work being done is meant to drive attention and expectations towards the finale. Defiance hasn’t really had an up-and-down first season with memorable episodes here and there. It’s mostly just been fine. It’s surprising, then, that it’s the penultimate episode that addresses some of the minor gripes I’ve been having while watching.

Defiance, Season 1: Episodes 9, 10 and 11 – “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” “If I Ever Leave This World Alive” and “The Bride Wore Black” Directed by Allan Kroeker (9 and 10) and Todd Slavkin (11) Written by Clark Perry (9), Bryan Garcia (10) and Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer (11) Airs …

The IMDb editors recently released a list of eight new shows from 2013 that were surprising (mostly in a good way for surpassing expectations), on which Defiance was included. As of now, I don’t quite think it has earned a spot next to some shows like Hannibal, Banshee and Orphan Black, but it’s interesting taking Defiance into the context of some of its fellow freshmen. Vikings, which is also included on the list, shares a lot of similarities to Defiance, and I think the latter show could learn a thing or two from the former.

Defiance, Season 1: Episode 6 – “The Serpent’s Egg” Directed by Omar Madha Written by David Weddle and Bradley Thompson Airs Monday nights at 9 on SyFy Since Defiance is content to draw a lot of attention to its soundtrack, I am content to talk about that. In “The Serpent’s Egg,” we find out that Alak …

  Defiance, Season 1: Episode 4 – “The Devil in the Dark” Directed by Omar Madha Written by Michael Taylor Airs Monday nights at 9 pm on SyFy Last week, Defiance concluded its episode with a montage set to a cover of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.” This week, a cover of “Ooh Child” (originally by …