Nerd Factor

14

Mar

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Winged Victory?

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Longtime readers of the Nerd Factor will no doubt recall that this column remains more than a little dubious on subject of superpowered flight.  Although people often name flying when asked to fantasize about having a superpower, the ability itself is fraught with potential problems. Ease of high altitude transportation, for example, has to reckon with the difficulties of navigating from high altitudes.  Of the many and various ways that superhero stories have presented flight, one of the most problematic subsets of this power is the possession of actual wings. (more…)

28

Feb

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: We’re Number One

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Professor~

Welcome to the very first issue of the Nerd Factor.  As of today, this column will be starting with an entirely new numbering system.  Oh, it’s the same old creative team (me), but this new number one designation will drive up reader interest as well as encourage collectors to pick up extra copies, one for reading and one for collecting.  Just think, someday in the far future, your grandchildren will look up in awe at you when you tell them that you have the first issue of the second volume of Nerd Factor. (more…)

21

Feb

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Fear of a Black Panther Planet

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Professor~

Earlier this month, the Rotten Tomatoes review site headed off an attempt to sabotage the scores of Black Panther and committed itself to eliminating hate speech in viewer comments. This weekend, reports surfaced of a number of falsified stories about black audience members attacking white viewers at showings of Black Panther.  Spread across social media, these accounts repurposed or altered other images already on the internet to imply that physical violence was being rained down upon white viewers who had dared to see a movie not for them. What is the cause of all of this?  Simple, it’s the fear of a Black Panther planet. (more…)

14

Feb

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: You Might be Dating a Super villain if…

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communications Prof.~

Supervillains are a deceptive lot, by definition.  They plot and scheme in anonymity for as long as they can. Such people are unlikely to be forthcoming in their personal lives.  Because the Nerd Factor cares deeply about your emotional well-being, here are some tips for telling if you might really be dating a supervillain:

If your sweetie’s idea of getting dressed up for an evening out involves rocking some thigh-high boots and a cape, then you might really be dating a supervillain. (more…)

07

Feb

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Super Sports

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

So, the Superbowl is over. As I write this, I have no idea who won.  However, I can guess that you are either disappointed by your favorite team or you are starting to feel the euphoria of victory wane.  That’s a difficult high to come down from and while other sports are in play, there’s nothing quite so special about them yet.* (more…)

31

Jan

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Worse Than Redshirts

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

There’s a rule for the classic Star Trek television series.  If you see someone in a red shirt, and that someone is not Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott or Communications Officer Nyota Uhura, then chances are that character is going to die.  This makes some sense.  Jobs are color-coded on the U.S.S. Enterprise and security happens to be one of the jobs under the red designation.  So it’s not surprising that security officers, called “Redshirts” by the fans, would die horrible deaths.  After all, the main characters can’t be killed off all the time.   (more…)

26

Jan

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Immortality Rules

Dr. Michael Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Immortality is an interesting superpower.  But as a matter of practicality, how does one figure out that one is immortal?  Obviously, one figures it out by not dying.  But there are complicated rules to staying young throughout eternity.  The movie Highlander (1986) offers an interesting solution.  Someone else comes along and teaches you.   (more…)

18

Jan

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: By Any Other Name

Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor,

CAUTION – This article contains potential spoilers for Star Wars movies that you really should have seen a long time ago.

The Skywalkers are a curious bunch.  The family has a habit of forming emotional bonds in ways that many of us would not consider normal, thus giving the family a creepy vibe.  Much sport has been made, for example, with Anakin’s almost stalker-like pursuit of Padme Amadala in Attack of the Clones.  And of course Luke yearned for Princess Leia, unaware at the time that she was his sister.   (more…)

06

Dec

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Santa’s Resume

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Way back in Sensational She-Hulk #8, writer/artist John Byrne introduced Nick St. Christopher to the Marvel Universe.  Nick was an interesting fellow, because he could tell who was naughty or nice.  He could enter any residence with a chimney, and he could travel anywhere in the world almost instantly.  As such, his powers were uniquely suited to private detective work, but mostly during the summer months when he was not doing his main job.   (more…)

30

Nov

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: The I in Team

Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Joining a superhero team offers tremendous advantages.  Membership has its privileges, after all.  Unless you’re a Wayne or a Stark, where else are you going to get access to a supersonic jet or high tech crime scanners? (more…)

15

Nov

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Satellite Operations

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Not every superhero has a hideout or a headquarters.  Both Daredevil and Batman battle crime on the mean streets of their respective home cities, but only Batman has taken the time to build a lair.  Of course, he has to make a Batcave.  Where else is he going to keep all that Bat-stuff?   (more…)

08

Nov

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: TV Comic Origins

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Superheroes have been part of the television landscape for a long time.  But for much of their early history on the medium, they arrived as cartoons or in live-action shows aimed squarely at children.  Batman (1966-1968) was the first primetime superhero hit.  While the brightly colored pop program had action sequences galore, its mission was often more pop movement camp than serious adventure.  Imitators followed that glorious show, but for me, there is an unsung hero of the genre.   (more…)

03

Nov

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Where Did the Monsters Go?

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Another October has come and gone.  As the big box stores start to gear us up for Christmas, our collegiate minds are at last starting to turn toward final assignments and Thanksgiving breaks. But Halloween just happened.  Am I the only one left who is wondering about where the beasties and baddies went? After all there should be plenty of opportunities for things to go bump in the night when the nights are getting longer and longer. What would cause the ghosts and ghouls to vamoose so quickly? I have some theories. (more…)

26

Oct

Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: Halloween II

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

Well you got through it all last year, but the spooky energy of the season just keeps coming back.  As always, the Nerd Factor cares about you and offers these tips to tell if, once again, you might be in trouble this Halloween.

If you and the other survivors of last year’s events have decided to go to college together or have all taken a job at the same location, then you might be in trouble this Halloween. (more…)

22

Oct

Featured, Nerd Factor, Opinion

Nerd Factor: A Natural Lesson in Terror

Dr. Mike Robinson, LC Communication Studies Professor~

One of the scariest things that I ever saw happened on a very small scale on a very ordinary day a little over twenty years ago.  Yet it chilled me to the core and still gives me goosebumps when I think about it to this very day. (more…)