Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Theater meets Fantasy in Backstagers

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image is a graphic novel cover. It says "The Backstagers" and it shows 5 characters in a back stage of a theater production]

It’s been a while since I wrote a comic book review in my Reading / Book section on my blog. Most of my book/comic reviews are positive because what’s the point of writing a review about something I dislike. A month ago I finished Backstagers Volume #1 published by Boom! Studios which is a comic I purchased while on my Boston Trip. This comic is charming, lighthearted and explores the positive feeling of fitting in.

Boom! Studios is based in California with the focus of creating unique comics for all ages. Lumberjanes was created by Boom! Studios which has been receiving great reviews. Boom! Studios have also written comics about WWE, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and Cartoon Network.

The creative team behind The Backstagers includes comics writer James Tynion IV and artist Rian Sygh. James Tynion is a mastermind in the comics industry because of his work on the Batman Detective Comics for DC Comics. Rian Sygh’s artwork is so heartwarming with the use of color and how each character is drawn. Both Tynion IV and Sygh also identify on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum which really adds to the storytelling in this book.

The Backstagers starts with Jory, the new kid at an elite school with all boys. Jory wants to meet new friends and decides to join the club known as the “Backstagers” the individuals who help put on the school plays. The Backstagers consist of Sasha, Aziz, Hunter, and Beckett. In between gathering supplies for the play, the Backstagers must go into the mythical backstage room where the crafting supplies exist along with strange creatures and entrances to other dimensions. Can the boys put on the school play without getting killed by the creatures backstage?

I enjoyed reading this comic. This comic demonstrates healthy male friendships by showing that these characters laugh, cry, and aren’t seen as overtly aggressive. The artwork also provides the heartwarming feel for this comic and I have become a fan of Sygh’s artwork.

The Backstagers is a lighthearted comic that has elements of LGBTQIA+ pride. This would have been perfect to read this past June for Pride month. I highly recommend supporting a smaller indie comics studio. Check your local comic book store to see if they carry this comic.

The 90’s Tag

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I saw this 90’s themed tag on A Geeky Gal’s blog the other day and I immediately wanted to write in my answers. I was born in 1994 so I’m very much a 90’s baby. Anyone who wants to participate in the 90’s tag absolutely can! Here are my answers:

Favorite TV Show

[Image is a poster for the Nickelodeon TV series Rugrats. It features 7 babies and a puppy on a pink chair fighting over space on the chair.]

My immediate first thought in my head was Rugrats. This is the show my mom even started to watch along with us. I remember all the Rugrats movies including the one in Paris with a huge Reptar dinosaur. I also remember watching the episode where bugs crawl into Tommy’s grandfather’s mouth while he sleeps; I was disgusted.

Favorite 90’s Song

Bye Bye Bye – NSYNC.

NSYNC or Backstreet Boys

Should be obvious because of my answer above, but NSYNC!

Favorite Music Artist

Britney Spears reminds me a lot of the 90’s.

Did you Collect Anything?

McDonalds Happy Meal Toys. We would go to McDonalds probably once or twice a week and we would collect the toys in the set. My dad would drive us to all of these different McDonald’s looking for the toys. My mom has the whole set of the Toy Story Happy Meal Toys on a shelf in our basement. I don’t go to McDonalds at all anymore, but if I’m on a road trip I will get a kid’s meal just for the toy.

Favorite Breakfast Cereal

I love Breakfast cereal. I have to stop buying it as an adult because if I come home from work after a long day, I would pour myself a bowl of cereal instead of making dinner. I think my favorite cereal was Mini Swirlz Cinnamon Bun cereal. It was delicious.

Favorite Cereal Toy

Remember when cereal boxes would give out great prizes. In General Mills cereal you could get Carmen Sandiego CD games. How cool is that? Getting a new video game to play. I still have the games and they work on my older laptop, but I think they are too old now and probably won’t work if that laptop dies.

90’s Crush Growing Up

Honestly, I can’t think of anyone I had a huge crush on in the 90’s. I’m sure I had one, I just can’t recall who that is. My first crush ever was Sean Connery from the James Bond movies, but that’s not in the 90’s.

Favorite Disney Channel Movie

I didn’t watch Disney Channel movies in the 90’s.

Favorite Cartoon Show

[Image is a TV promo poster for Ozzy & Drix. There's a big red robot looking confused and a blue man holding his hand up]

I really liked Digimon, Rugrats, Blues Clues, Ozzie & Drix and more.

Weirdest Fashion Trend?

I always think of those slap bracelets. The ones where you hit yourself on the wrist really hard and the band wraps around your wrist. You would grab some and smack your friend with it on the playground; good times.

Favorite Toys

I’m going to list a couple of great toys in my closet growing up regardless if they came out in the 90s or not.

  • Easy Bake Oven
  • Disneyland Play Set < I still have this because of how many memories were attached to it.
  • Build a Bear
  • Barbies
  • My Little Ponies
  • Teletubbies

There were probably more toys I loved, but these were my favorites.

Disney, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network?

  1. Cartoon Network
  2. Nickelodeon
  3. Disney

What Early Morning Cartoon Would You Watch?

SO MANY. I used to wake up in the summers early and before my dad would take us to this daycare place we used to go to, I would watch Scooby Doo. I also would watch Woody the Woodpecker, Digimon, and more.

Favorite McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy?

I had this black puppy I got as a Happy Meal Toy that was my favorite thing to carry around growing up. It used to be this running joke with my mom and dad where if my mom didn’t know where Black Puppy was, she knew I wouldn’t go to sleep that night. She always had to make sure she knew where Black Puppy was so I would go to sleep.

Favorite Book Growing Up?

Harry Potter! I also read Franklin the Turtle, Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, the young Nancy Drew book series, and more.

The 90’s and even the early 2000’s were a fun time. I wouldn’t relieve the years 2005 – 2009 again, but I would for sure go back to the 90’s. This was fun relieving some of my early childhood memories. If you decide to do the 90’s tag, leave a comment below with your tag URL. I would love to read it.

Ranking the Three Uncharted Games

Posted in Gaming by

Since buying my PS4 last November, I have been trying to play the Playstation exclusives I missed out on. I purchased the Last of Us which I’m about a fourth of the way through along with the Uncharted remastered series. Uncharted was a series I dived into because I never get tired of shoot-out sequences in video games. I haven’t played Uncharted #4 A Thief’s End, but I wanted to rank the three Uncharted games based on how much I enjoyed playing them.

Developed by Naughty Dog, the series stars Nathan Drake, an orphan recruited at a young age by his mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan. Nathan believes he’s a descendant of Sir Francis Drake who was an English sea captain and explorer on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. All of the games somehow have ties to Sir Francis Drake’s past explorations.

1. Uncharted #3 Drake’s Deception

My favorite game of the series was the third game: Uncharted Drake’s Deception. In Drake’s Deception, Nathan Drake is searching for a lost city in the Arabian Peninsula titled “Atlantis of the Sands”. Katherine Marlowe (who could be Helen Mirren’s identical twin) is also searching for this city but has awful plans for the city once she reaches it. Drake and Sully must stop her and another guy named Talbot.

I liked this game the best for a couple different reasons. I liked how some in-game chapters feature young Drake as a child and how he came to meet Sully in the first place. It’s heartwarming to see how Sully saw his potential and gave him a better life than the one he had on the streets. It made me enjoy the relationship between Sully and Drake more when I played through these chapters in the game.

I thought out of all the Uncharted games, this game was the most difficult. There is one shootout where Drake is in the water and enemies are shooting at you from all sides. I would hop out of the water for cover, but the crates would crumble as enemies shot at me. I had to replay this shootout quite a bit because of the level of difficulty involved. It’s more satisfying beating this game with the challenge of the various shootouts.

The final positive feedback for this game is the hand-to-hand combat has improved. In the other Uncharted games, I wouldn’t have thought to run up to an enemy and punch them. In this game, the counters are more prominent which makes hand-to-hand combat easier.

2. Uncharted #2 Among Thieves

In Uncharted #2 Among Thieves, once again Nathan Drake is searching for a lost city, this time in Nepal titled Shambhala. In this game, Drake is battling with Harry Flynn, a former colleague who betrayed him resulting in Drake spending some time in prison. Flynn has tagged along with war criminal Zoran Lazarevic who’s a genuinely horrible person.

Overall, I thought Uncharted #2 Among Thieves was a great sequel, but the third game captivated me a lot more than the second one.

3. Uncharted #1 Drake’s Fortune

This game is probably the most important game in the franchise because, without this game, we wouldn’t have the others. However, Uncharted Drake’s Fortune is my least favorite game I played. I found that this game is slower-paced than the others and the locations don’t intrigue me as much.

However, this game is important because it’s how Drake meets Elena Fischer who ends up being his wife in the fourth game. Elena is a journalist who has made an appearance in almost all of the Uncharted games released. She’s always after the one story that can net her a Pulitzer Prize.

Uncharted was a great series I missed out on being an Xbox gamer throughout middle & high school. I’m glad it was remastered for the PS4 otherwise I probably wouldn’t have played it.

Shazam + Aquaman trailers: DC Announcements at SDCC

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

Besides the Titans trailer, DC Comics has been releasing footage from their upcoming films. From reading my blog you can probably tell I lean a bit more on the DC Comics side than Marvel. I like the Marvel movies, but when it comes to the actual stories in comics, I prefer DC. Even though DC makes bad decisions regarding their film choices, I had high hopes for Aquaman. However, I was surprised to see the SHAZAM! trailer was also released. After having seen both trailers I wanted to recap my reactions to both the SHAZAM! and Aquaman movies.

SHAZAM!

Shazam is an interesting choice for a live-action movie. The predictable choice would have been a rebooted Green Lantern, Green Arrow or I was holding out for a Nightwing movie. Shazam’s origin story begins with his alter ego; a young Billy Batson bouncing from various foster homes. Billy saves another of his foster siblings from a ruthless bully which hints at Billy’s possible foreshadowed role of being a hero. Billy is chosen by a wizard who sees the good in Billy and grants him god-like powers to become the hero; Shazam. All Billy has to say is Shazam and he’s turned into this super buff, red lightning, superhero.

I’m impressed with the SHAZAM! movie trailer because with Shazam’s cheesy back story, this movie could be awful as a result. Zachary Levi was a great choice because he looks like SHAZAM! and I think he’s able to bring humor to the role. I thought the trailer had the perfect amount of humor which is good since DC’s movies are darker in tone. I also enjoyed the scene of Shazam walking around electrocuting everyone’s smartphones to charge them. I thought the scene was funny, yet relatable in today’s society with everyone being on our phones. The trailer music was fitting especially in the sequences where Shazam is testing his limits to his newly earned powers. My final positive thought with the trailer is the special effects. One sequence features Billy turning into Shazam which I felt looked realistic instead of incredibly fake. I’m hopeful SHAZAM! will be an amazing film in DC’s lineup.

Aquaman

I will never forget meeting Jason Momoa at Planet Comicon this year and telling him to his face how excited I am for Aquaman. He nodded, smiled, and said “Hell yeahhhhh.” Also, he offered me a Girl Scout cookie which I happily ate as I blushed out of his autograph line.

After watching the Aquaman trailer, my first thought was how fake Mera’s hair looked. Is it just me? Her hair looks too bright red to look normal. I would have almost preferred a slight orange/blonde hair because it would have looked more natural. With trailers, the special effects aren’t perfect so maybe when the film is released Mera’s hair will be toned down a bit.

The moments featuring Black Manta were fantastic as the costume is exactly how it appears in the comics. Black Manta is one of the biggest and baddest Aquaman villains and I’m curious how the fight sequences will play out between the two of them.

Ultimately I’m more excited about SHAZAM! then I am about Aquaman. I will forever be a DC comics/movies fan no matter what movies DC rolls out. I think there is potential in both of these films to redeem the DC movie universe. Zachary Levi and Jason Momoa are going to kick ass in these roles and I cannot wait to watch both of these films at their midnight premieres. April 2019 cannot come fast enough.

Celebrating My Birthday with 24 Facts About Me!

Posted in Life Lately by

Today is my birthday! To celebrate my birthday I’m going to list 24 random facts about me in no particular order.

  1. I’m left-handed! Every day after I work, I notice my left pinky finger is dark blue or black because I drag my hand as I write.
  2. Halloween is my all-time favorite “holiday”.
  3. Smoking is the one trait I find completely unattractive in a romantic partner.
  4. My biggest insecurity growing up was tied between my uneven eyebrows and my big cheeks.
  5. I played the Alto Saxophone in high school and for a full year in college.
  6. I also used an Alto Saxophone in a D&D campaign as a weapon
  7. The first comic I remember reading was Calvin & Hobbes.
  8. I cannot resist Double Stuff Oreos.
  9. My favorite recipe to make is garlic shrimp.
  10. My patronus would be a cat.
  11. I’m a Hufflepuff.
  12. I have been Figure Skating since I was 6.
  13. I hate rollercoasters.
  14. I believe in ghosts, but I don’t have any ghost stories to share.
  15. I’m incredibly clumsy. For example, I ran into a tree while playing football with friends sprained my ankle getting into my car, and fell off a landing backward while trick-or-treating with friends
  16. My favorite arcade game is Dig Dug.
  17. I used to be in dance in high school and I went to a tennis camp once in middle school. I am not a great dancer nor am I a great tennis player.
  18. Fuck is my favorite swear word.
  19. My Subaru is named Ripley Rey. Alien is one of my mom’s favorite film franchises and I bought my Subaru after The Force Awakens was released.
  20. My Favorite Doctor is Christopher Eccleston
  21. I love cereal and I could eat cereal for breakfast lunch or dinner.
  22. I can’t snap or whistle.
  23. I have never owned a dog.
  24. It took me an hour to come up with #24 fun facts about myself 😀

My social media links are listed below. Thanks for reading my blog and I’m looking forward to another great year for blog posts.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bizarrebrunette/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizzarebrunette

Instagram: @bizarrebrunette0117

Let’s Discuss the Titans Trailer

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

It’s officially San Diego Comic-Con season as new trailers are released on the internet. One trailer I want to dissect in its own post is the new Titans trailer. This show I believe is going to highlight DC’s new subscription service which I may subscribe to depending on how Young Justice season #3 will air. There has been a lot of uprising over the announcement of Titans along with the first images of the costumes of the Titans. Teen Titans are a special group to me because the 2003 cartoon was a part of my childhood. My friend would always pretend to be Starfire and I was Raven and we would run around the yard saving the world. With that being said, let’s talk about the trailer.

Before the trailer begins there’s a warning TV-MA for mature audiences. I always believed the Titans were similar to the Young Avengers. They were positive and aimed more at younger audiences, but this certainly isn’t what we are getting with this trailer.

In the first couple of scenes, we see hints of a circus which makes sense because of Dick Greyson’s background. Overall I think Brenton Thwaites has the look of Robin, but will he do the character justice? Raven appears to be having issues controlling her powers. This makes sense to me, as the original cartoon often had episodes featuring Raven attempting to control her half-demon form.

The next sequence features Robin attacking a group of criminals. One of them asks him where is Batman to which Robin replies with the most mocked line in the trailer: “Fuck Batman”. This is not the Dick Greyson I was picturing. Dick is the lighter side to Bruce Wayne’s Batman. He keeps Bruce in check when he even goes a little too dark. This feels more like a Jason Todd portrayal versus a Dick Greyson portrayal.

Next, we see a scene featuring Beast Boy and Star Fire. The casting of Anna Diop promoted a lot of racist chat in different forums. I think she is going to be great in the role. A lot of complaints also came from Star Fire’s costume and how it looks like a “hooker”. To be honest, I don’t see it. Star Fire has always had a skimpy costume and I like how Anna Diop’s costume is sexy, but not as revealing as the comic counterpart. I think Beast Boy doesn’t look bad at all.

There’s a hint of Dove in the trailer though I didn’t see Hawk anywhere, but maybe I missed him? There were hints of other fight scenes ending with Raven in her demon form and then the logo appears signaling the end of the trailer. The theme of the trailer is that it’s going to be dark, violent, and edgy.

I’m not sure how Titans will be. I’m mostly underwhelmed by Robin/Dick Greyson because he’s not the Robin I had been picturing. I guess it depends on the Dick Greyson run you’re comparing, but to me, Dick has always been the knight in shining armor not breaking bones and swearing at Batman. As always let me know what you think in the comments.

I Rented a Cosplay

Posted in Life Lately by

This is the second CONvergence-themed blog post I wanted to write because this was the first year I rented a cosplay to wear. I went to CONvergence dressed as Wonder Woman except if Wonder Woman was a Viking. I wanted to share my experience of renting a cosplay in case any of you might be curious as to how to go about it.

A selfie of a woman looking into the camera. She's wearing a head piece with a wonder woman corset and a fir wrap on her shoulders.
If Wonder Woman was a Viking. Photo taken by me at CONvergence 2018.

To start off, I absolutely hate sewing or any crafting involving clothing. I will never make another cosplay again. A couple years ago, I made a Sailor Neptune cosplay that ended up going terribly. Apparently, I messed up the design and we had to redo a lot of it because I didn’t know what I was doing. With that experience under my belt, I basically gave up ever wanting to create my own cosplay.

There’s a Facebook page called “CONvergence Connections” where you can post about anything related to the convention. Someone had posted saying they had pre-made cosplays to rent. I was 100% on board. There were Disney princess cosplays, Renaissance-themed cosplays, and of course the Wonder Woman one I chose. The person I met with was friendly and suggested ways I could do my hair or my makeup to make the cosplay more accurate.

[Image is a photo of two cosplayers. One is Aquaman holding a Trident and the other is Viking Wonder Woman]
Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

I was overjoyed with how my whole look turned out. A couple people came up to me wanting a picture with my cosplay and I received a ton of compliments. Renting this cosplay was extremely affordable. I paid $25 bucks to rent the entire outfit with accessories for 4 days. This is much cheaper for me versus having to buy all the materials myself.

If you aren’t into sewing or crafting, this can be an affordable way to have an accurate cosplay for a convention. I would 100% rent a cosplay again especially because my next convention will be in September of this year. Let me know if you have ever rented a cosplay, did you have a great experience? Let me know in the comments section below.

My First Panel

Posted in Life Lately by

This past weekend I attended CONvergence for the 5th year. Usually, I plan different blog posts around my time at this convention because it’s honestly my favorite con I attend. Each CONvergence is special for me because it’s a chance to see friends I don’t see that often. This is my first year as a panelist as I appeared on the DC Comics / Justice League discussion panel!

[Image shows a booth. There's a woman talking with a name tag that says "Mariah" nearby her. She's wearing star earrings with a gold band on her wrist]
Panelist at CONvergence 2018

Two weeks before CONvergence. you can sign up for panels that seem interesting to you. I only picked panels with topics I felt passionate about and I could talk about that topic for an hour. There were a couple I wanted to be on that I didn’t get picked for, but I was sent an email a week later from our moderator alerting me that I had been chosen to appear on the panel. He had sent me an email asking what topics to talk about for this panel.

[Image shows a conference room with many rows of chairs. There are 19 people seated in chairs throughout the rows. The room feels pretty empty for how big it is]
About 30 people attended the panel

Thursday came around and I walked into the room where my panel would be. I wasn’t sure how many people would be attending since the timing of my panel also coincided with a larger show on the main stage. I think we had about 30? ish. people came to see our panel including a couple friends of mine. As we waited for the panel to start, I found out one of the panelists wrote articles at Twin Cities Geek and he complimented the articles I wrote which was kind of neat.

[Image is a picture of two cosplayers. One is dressed as Killmonger. The other is Donna Troy from Young Justice]
My fellow panelist for the Justice League panel. Cosplaying as Kilmonger from Black Panther

The clock turns to 8:30 PM and I see our moderator hasn’t shown up. The moderator at a panel is responsible for keeping the panelists on a topic so we aren’t rambling about something unrelated. The moderator didn’t show up to the panel at all along with another panelist. Me and my two other panelists had to lead the entire panel without any prep. I will say I think we did a great job at keeping time, but also entertaining the audience by asking questions and getting their commentary.

Overall being a panelist was a really fun experience! It was slightly nerve-wracking before the panel began and my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest, but I felt energized after I had talked. If you have a chance to be on a panel, you should definitely apply! This CONvergence was certainly a memorable convention and of course, I’m already counting down the days till next year.

My Favorite OTP’s on TV

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

I have been watching Agents of Shield for a second time to catch up to the most recent season. One reason why I’m a huge fan of Agents of Shield is the chemistry between the characters which includes one of my favorite couples on TV; Fitz & Simmons. They are truly beautiful together and their love honestly is couple goals. I decided to write a list of my favorite OTPs or “One True Pairings” on TV.

Fitz & Simmons Agents of Shield 

These two are the best. My favorite season highlighting their relationship is season #3 because Fitz will do anything to bring Simmons back from Maveth. He also dedicated himself to bringing Will back even though if Will truly came back to Earth, Simmons would probably have stayed with Will and not Fitz. That’s pretty admirable to bring back your crush’s love because you care about her well-being.

Ben & Leslie Parks & Recreation 

I recently finished watching Parks & Recreation with the boyfriend and one couple that stood out to me was Ben and Leslie. Initially, their relationship seemed pretty harsh because Ben was cutting funds to the Parks Department in Indiana. Eventually, Leslie comes around and sees Ben for the adorable nerd that he is. I appreciate them as a couple because Ben has never poked fun at Leslie’s passion and has put his career on the line for her. Leslie was also willing to do the same if need be. They both want the best for each other and it’s so heartwarming to watch their relationship begin.

Karen Page & the Punisher Netflix Marvel series 

This one may seem weird to some, but I really like Karen and Frank’s friendship? reappear in the Punisher. Karen doesn’t take any bullshit and she will put herself in danger to uncover the truth. Frank is the more intense one out of the two, but Karen believes his story and wants what’s best for him. Plus after the way Matt Murdock treats Karen in Daredevil season #2, Frank can’t do much worse, right?

Chuck & Blair Gossip Girl 

Nothing makes me reminisce about middle school like watching Gossip Girl. This show was a guilty pleasure for me and my friends. I always rooted for Chuck & Blair as a couple because Chuck is this spoiled bad boy while Blair is the mean girl in school. When they become united though they become this ultimate power couple. It’s addicting watching the two of them interact with each other.

Penny & Leonard The Big Bang Theory 

Big Bang Theory is one of those shows I should dislike because it makes fun of geeks, but I still enjoy it to some degree. Leonard has always had a crush on Penny and eventually, things work out. Once Penny realizes how serious Leonard is about her they break up and it causes some tension within the friend group. Eventually, Penny is ready and they become the dynamic duo that we as fans were all waiting for. I think Penny really balances Leonard out perfectly.

What are your favorite power couples on TV? I would love to hear them in the comments.

Minneapolis decorated in rainbow for Pride!

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Until this weekend, I had never been involved in Pride. Usually, I always had something going on the same weekend as Pride. Fortunately, I was able to attend this year and I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting. I had a blast being a part of a vibrant community in the heart of the Twin Cities.

I arrived at Loring Park on Saturday hoping to volunteer but I couldn’t find the volunteer booth. Instead, I walked around looking at all the booths and photo opportunities. My friend joined me a half hour later to take pictures at the various photo ops. Target had a #TakePride statue you could get a picture with plus a rainbow confetti booth. I had to brush out all the confetti and I still found pieces in my hair hours later.

[Image is a huge letter sign in rainbow. It says #Take Pride. There's a red Target bullseye on the ground. Me and my frined are posing with our arms held high]

One thing I loved about Pride was how comfortable everyone was. I saw people wearing their hair a certain way or wearing a really cool outfit. I also saw individuals with their identity’s flag strapped as a cape. I didn’t know the color of all the flags so I had to look up what flag was linked to what identity, but there were more flags I didn’t even know existed.

[Image is a picture of a white booth. In the booth, there are two people with confetti covering their bodies]

Everyone deserves the right to love who they love and dress in ways that make them feel comfortable and to be addressed by the right pronouns that match their identity. If there is a Pride event in your city, I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to show your support. Allies are needed to continue this fight against hatred. I would attend Pride again next year if I’m free because it’s such a fun and uplifting place to be.