Comic books: not just for white dudes any more. Of course, they never were. Comics fans have long cut across race and gender lines. Superheroes appeal to anyone who likes stories of heroism and adventure in fantastical worlds, and with their box office clout, their popularity is soaring. But, outside of indie comics, the characters […]
Brian Howe
How Tim Burton, Kevin Smith and Nicolas Cage almost killed Superman
ALTER EGO: Rob Pierce OCCUPATION: Executive Producer of The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? SECRET HIDEOUT: Fortress of solitude in Los Angeles (by way of Cary) SUPERPOWER: Getting Tim Burton and Kevin Smith to give interviews about a failed Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage WEAKNESS: Maybe wheat gluten? Surprisingly, Kryptonite is fine ARCH-ENEMY: Bootleggers […]
In the new Aza Comics universe, Jazmin Truesdale’s diverse superheroines battle real-world issues
ALTER EGO: Jazmin Truesdale OCCUPATION: Founder of Aza Comics, Jazmin Fitness, Jazmin Angels and Consulting SECRET HIDEOUT: Mobile command center between Raleigh and Durham SUPERPOWERS: Gymnastics, “womanpreneurship,” creating ethnically diverse female superheroes WEAKNESS: Can’t think small ARCH-ENEMY: Individual characters who represent entire races or genders Jazmin Truesdale was a week away from launching Aza Comics, […]
Movie review: Love & Mercy surfs the troubled waters of Beach Boys maestro Brian Wilson
Love & Mercy★★★ Now playing Bill Pohlad’s biopic of Brian Wilson drops two talented actors into the enigmatic Beach Boys leader’s troubled waters, but even their combined efforts can get only so deep. In Love & Mercy, Paul Dano (convincingly doughy, bright-eyed and vulnerable) plays Wilson in the ’60s, during the creation of the revolutionary […]
North Carolina Museum of Art’s Judaic Art Gallery reopens with larger selection
All manner of renovations are underway at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and one of them has just come to completion. After being closed for five months, the Museum’s Judaic Art Gallery reopens July 1 with more space, new custom-designed glass cases and a larger selection of Jewish ceremonial objects on display. The renovated […]
UNC-TV to broadcast Charleston massacre victim’s funeral live
UNC-TV announced today that it will preempt its regularly scheduled children’s programming at 11 a.m. Friday, June 26, in order to present a live broadcast of a funeral service for one of the victims of the Charleston massacre. Pastor and State Senator Clementa Pinckney was one of the nine people killed June 17 at the […]
With its successful first season wrapped, what’s next for Durham Independent Dance Artists?
On Saturday night, the downtown Durham bar Criterion contained a striking number of people who looked somewhat disheveled, wearing loose, sweaty workout clothes. (They never would have gotten in when it was still Whiskey, with its fascist dress code, which is to say, props to Criterion.) They had just danced in choreographer Renay Aumiller‘s aerial […]
Welcome to the INDY Summer Guide to arts and culture
Summer Guide is finally here. That old ballpark, man, it’s back in gear. And that swimming hole? It’s nice and cold. Those are (roughly) the words of Kenny Chesney, who plays Raleigh’s PNC Arena on May 28. While we never tire of that sort of summer fun at the INDY, we do tire of regurgitating […]
Turn a Bull City summer into a winter wonderland in seven X-treme, legal(ish) steps
Tina offered several lovely ways to find some winter fun in a Raleigh summer, but if you live in Durham, sucks for you, because you’re going to have to settle for me as your tour guide. Start your summer snow day with something invigoratingly X-treme: Bobsled down the ramp of the parking garage at Main […]
Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! comes to (sigh) “Durm”
Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! Thursday, May 21 Durham Performing Arts Center I already dispensed with my complex relationship to NPR’s comedy programming last week, so let’s cut to the chase: I went into the sold-out DPAC taping of Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, the long-running news quiz from WBEZ in Chicago, with […]

