Choosing Our Fall Theme 

 

Continuing from our Summer "Self-Love" theme, our staff decided to celebrate love in its other forms, settling on the theme of "Love for Others" for the Fall 2021 issue. Over the past year and a half, many have been placed in situations where they were unable to spend time with loved ones, missing out on friendly gatherings, family get-togethers, and romantic getaways. Bonds between people were tested by distance. We decided that, in addition to taking the time to remember the importance of loving oneself, we also wanted everyone to take a moment to think about those that they love. From our perspective, this particular theme is especially important as we enter into the holiday season in the Fall and beginning of winter -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, to name a few. The holiday season is a time where we often seek to be closest to friends, family, and other loved ones. 

 

In selecting "Love for Others" as our theme, we thought about the definition and worked to ensure that all forms of love are included in our theme. Loving others outside of ourselves does not only apply to romantic relationships but to platonic friendships, familial love, and even a love for community. In addition, while love is often considered in its positive forms, we acknowledge that sometimes, this is not the case. Loss of a loved one or loving someone despite hardships are both just as important as the lighter feelings of love and friendship. We hope to see all sorts of different forms of love through the art, poetry, and prose pieces submitted to this issue. In keeping in line with our mission, we also hope that our Fall theme, "Love for Others" will resonate with everyone, including those from marginalized communities. We believe that this is a theme that impacts all writers and artists around the world, and we wish to use our platform to allow everyone to show their love.  

 

Jessica Charest​

 

Of Staff Changes and Winter Hiatuses​

 

As many of our readers and contributors know, our Fall 2021 "Love for Others" issue launched recently for Penumbra Online and our chapbooks for Penumbra Press were added to the website, as well. Behind the scenes of these projects, our staff has been hard at work, working alongside our contributors to present these wonderful new additions to the literary world. With each issue Penumbra produces, whether for Penumbra Online and Penumbra Press or for the print journal, our staff often works closely with our contributors and readers. What many may not know, however, is how frequently, as a student-run literary journal, our staff members change.  

 

Penumbra's staff, unlike many other publications, is entirely comprised of students, faculty, and voluntary alumni, and is therefore ever changing. Some faces remain the same for a few issues in a row as many of us fall in love with our work, enjoying the feeling of publishing new pieces alongside our wonderful authors. Some, like myself, love being a part of Penumbra so much that we stay on even after graduating, opting to continue working on a volunteer basis. However, with every new issue, some familiar faces leave and some new faces join us, especially with the Spring semester's print journal team. During the Spring, Penumbra welcomes a classroom full of new students and boasts a fairly large but new staff to create the print journal. At the same time, some of the more experienced staff from Summer and Fall move onward and no longer have time in their schedule to remain a part of Penumbra.  

 

This year, most of the Fall 2021 staff will continue participating in Penumbra for the Spring 2022 term. However, our roles may change. For instance, I will continue my role as the social media manager and a member of the blog and Spotify teams, but my role as editor will likely be more limited. Some of our Fall and Summer projects will also be placed on hold throughout the Spring, such as our clubs. Those who sign on to be a part of the Summer and Fall staff for Penumbra Online will once again shift their roles later in 2022. As confusing as these changes may seem, the continuous evolution of Penumbra's staff not only ensures that every staff member has the chance to try out new challenges and grow as an editor and designer, but also that contributors can be assured of fresh perspectives with each issue when they submit their work to us.  

 

With that said, one other change that bears mentioning is Penumbra's staff hiatus for the winter break, starting on December 18th and ending around January 28th. Given that the majority of our staff are students and that the staff will be changing between our Fall issue and our Spring issue, we will largely be inactive, even though our Spring call is currently open. Our email will likely be checked infrequently, so if you email us, please do not expect an immediate response. We will still be active in a limited capacity, largely in the form of less-frequent social media updates, so please follow our social media (@csustanpenumbra on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). These updates will focus on our open Spring call, including if our submissions fill up and we close the call early. As the social media manager, I will also keep an eye out for any questions or comments and will do my best to answer in a timely fashion during the hiatus.  

 

Despite our staff's upcoming inactivity, we hope contributors will continue to submit to our Spring 2022 call, open until February 8, 2022 or 500 submissions have been reached, whichever comes first. When our Spring staff convenes at the end of January, we will begin reviewing submissions. Please continue showing us your support, as it is much appreciated. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and we will see you all in 2022!

 

Jessica Charest​

 

Penumbra Press Chapbooks

 

This fall, ​Penumbra Online has truly started its process of creating three chapbooks from the submissions we received this summer. The past several weeks we have been editing, designing, and working with the authors to create three unique chapbooks, which will be published by the end of this year. As one of the Penumbra Press Leads, I have learned so much in terms of what work goes into designing and creating a professional-grade book of poetry.  

 

Firstly, after choosing our three chapbook authors, Penumbra Press selected three leads to facilitate and ensure the completion of each book. As a lead myself, I made sure to contact the author, delegate editing design roles, and set a schedule for the production of the chapbook. Editing for a chapbook proved to be a bit different than our normal journal process, as all the poems were from the same author and tended to stay within a certain theme or method. We at Penumbra try our best to keep within the spirit of what the author intended, so we tend to only include edits we see absolutely necessary. Designing the chapbook was much more involved, as these chapbooks have completely different dimensions and styles than our Penumbra Spring journals.  

 

The chapbook that I was tasked to lead, ON BIRDS/WINGS/ROADS/SILENCE, will look entirely different from our previous publications, which is very exciting! These chapbooks will be much smaller than our Spring editions, ranging closer to 30 to 35 pages than our typical 100+ page editions. The poet has much more control over how the finished product will look, as we are in closer contact with them than with our typical submitters. Our chapbook poets had the option to submit their own art as the cover design as well, which is what Dottie Lo Bue, author of ON BIRDS/WINGS/ROADS/SILENCE, in fact did. We are so excited to be able to bring these chapbooks to life, and after months of hard work, we can truly see it all come together.  

 

If you’re interested in seeing our chapbooks, including Dottie’s, stay tuned so that you can be one of the firsts to find out when they’ll officially be published! Due to printing and funding issues, Penumbra must wait until the spring to hear word on whether our chapbooks will be available as physical copies; however, we plan to be able to distribute the chapbooks digitally as well. If you missed out on the opportunity to send your chapbook sample this summer to be evaluated by Penumbra Press, look out for more chances to submit your work, such as our Fall Penumbra Online call (which closes October 11th!) and our Penumbra Spring call, which will open later this year. We hope to hear (read) from you very soon!  

 

Andrea Wagner​

 

Penumbra Process: Adhering to Guidelines 

 

​It's likely that a good number of you are interested in learning more about the criteria necessary to send in a piece for consideration in Penumbra. You are probably already aware that it must be no longer than 1,200 words and that it can take the shape of poetry, art, non-fiction, or fiction. However, even when these instructions are strictly adhered to, many of the pieces that are submitted end up violating guidelines, which means that we are unable to publicize your work in our magazine. For instance, in order to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, we have decided to cap the number of contributions that each participant can make at a maximum of two. If you submit more than two pieces, it is highly likely that your complete application will be rejected because of a failure to follow the instructions. This is the case regardless of how many pieces you submit. Another issue that has surfaced throughout the course of this semester is the fact that some people are bringing in two separate pieces on the same document, both of which we are unable to accept because we are voting on each piece separately. This is another problem that has arisen throughout the course of this particular semester. It is possible to steer clear of all of these pitfalls, and if you are successful in doing so, the possibility that your work will be published will skyrocket.

 

We have one more piece of guidance for you, and that is to simply enjoy yourself. Absolutely bear in mind the guidelines, but this is a moment for you to express yourself. Simply be yourself and demonstrate your artistic side to us in any piece that you send in by submitting either written or visual work. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the fact that you decided to contribute your work to our literary publication. Your works have been given our undivided attention and appreciation.

 

Martina Bekasha​

 

Penumbra Process: Submissions in Review

 

As many of you may know, here at Penumbra​, we've had our Summer 2022 call, dedicated to LGBTQ+ authors and artists, open for some time now. Although the call is still open for a few more days, our Summer team has officially begun reviewing submissions, something we typically wait to start until close to the end of our submission window. With that in mind, we wanted to reveal some of the reasoning behind our submission guidelines in regard to our voting process.  

 

For those who have been with us for some time now, you've probably seen that we ask that every submitter submits works individually--for example, if someone wishes to submit two poems, the poems should be separate submissions, not in the same document. This is something that often gets misunderstood in our guidelines, and we'll still receive a number of submissions that have multiple works in one submission. While we will often still consider those pieces, especially if it seems like a misunderstanding in our instructions, we wanted to explain why we are so particular about each work being a separate submission.  

 

In Submittable, our entire team votes on every submission and then we move to discussion if our opinions are split. When dealing with one work per submission, this process is fairly straightforward and we are able to make our decisions in a timely manner. When dealing with multiple works in each submission, however, it becomes more complicated. Someone might be in favor of including the first submission but not the second, while someone else might like the second more. Other people might not think either piece is a fit and yet others might want to accept both. This prevents us from cleanly voting for the piece and requires us to stop and discuss until we come to a specific agreement. For every submission like this, our decision-making process is prolonged, which delays our own responses to our submitters. For our Summer and Fall issues when we are working solely with a smaller, experienced staff, this is not too much of a concern. However, our Spring staff always includes many temporary new members who are not used to the process--working with documents that include multiple works becomes practically impossible for them.  

 

We appreciate every submission we receive, but especially those who adhere to all of our submission rules and guidelines. We sincerely thank those who carefully follow those rules for helping create a more accessible submission pool for our staff to work with.  

 

In terms of our submissions so far, we wanted to add that all of us on the Penumbra staff this Summer are truly impressed by the works we are seeing. Reviewing submissions and deciding on our acceptances is one of the most exciting parts of Penumbra, even when it is made difficult by so many wonderful submissions.  

 

We anticipate having our decisions made in the next week or so, so please stay tuned on our social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @csustanpenumbra) for additional updates!  

 

Jessica Charest​

 

Penumbra Art Exhibit and Spotify Playlist

​

As we come closer to the Penumbra Spring 2022 book launch, we have released several things in connection to this issue of the journal. One of the first things we released is a Spotify playlist you can gain access to here on this website through the "Penumbra Online Media" tab. With this playlist, we wanted to add a kind of audio connection to the various pieces we will be publishing in the journal. Through this, we compiled a list of two to three songs that we felt connected to the content or vibe of the pieces that can be listened to while going through the journal. The songs are meant to add a layer to the reading experience in hopes to show the readers another aspect of how to go through the journal. We believe that music and literature go together in such a way that what you hear helps the pieces resonate in an additional way to their already impressive strength.

 

Along with the playlist, we have officially published the online Art Exhibition showcasing all of the art pieces that will be published in the upcoming journal. Found here at penumbraart2021.wixsite.com/spring2022 people can interact with all of the art while learning more about the artists who created it. Here you will find not only the works and their mediums, but also short blurbs from various artists about the creation of their pieces. Here people will have easy access to witnessing all of the great works of art that will be found throughout the journal. We hope that everyone gets the chance to interact with these works in these different ways!

 

Essence Saunders​

 

Summer 2021 Virtual Launch

 

Recently, Penumbra Online published our Summer 2021 Self-Love issue on our website and held our virtual launch. In the weeks before the launch, our editors were hard at work discussing the various submissions we received and making our final decisions, a process with which our team struggled greatly. Our staff operates democratically, allowing each editor to weigh in on the submissions for consideration. Sometimes this leads to some lengthy discussion as debates take place and opinions vacillate from one stance to another.  

 

Following our final decisions, the accepted works passed through our copy-editing phase, along to our small volunteer design team. Although our Summer 2021 Self-Love Issue is only our third virtual launch, our design team members have started becoming more comfortable with the overall format of our digital issues. In preparing what we hope is a visually pleasing, easy to use website, we designed the format for the current Summer Issue with three different viewing methods in mind. The first method is from the initial table of contents, where readers and viewers can select the specific piece they would like to enjoy from the table of contents and be taken directly to that piece. Our second viewing method was designed for those who might be interested in one specific genre; by clicking on the genre on any of our issue's pages, a viewer can be taken to a page that allows them to scroll through all accepted pieces in that genre without having to access each one individually. Finally, our third viewing method is for those who wish to browse the entire issue in one continuous page, which can be accessed via the "View All" button on any of the pages in the issue. In this way, we hope to provide options to our viewers so that everyone can enjoy the issue in whichever way suits them the best.  

 

On August 14th, we not only launched our Summer 2021 Issue, which can, at the time of writing, be found under the "Current Issue" tab and will later be permanently available under our "Archives" tab, we also held our virtual launch event in the form of a casual coffee hour. Our event was held as a celebration of the authors and artists who were published in our issue, but it also celebrated our self-love theme and provided a relaxed environment where contributors, staff members, and other attendees could talk about writing, art, and the various experiences and inspirations we've had. Our virtual launch, held via Zoom, is something we, at Penumbra Online, enjoy hosting as a celebration of each new issue we publish. It provides us with an opportunity to meet new people and expand our creative circle. For those who missed our Summer event, we will begin work on our Fall 2021 Issue soon, and everyone is, of course, welcome to attend our Fall event when it takes place. For every issue, we strive to further our development and create something that brings enrichment and enjoyment to our audience.  

 

Jessica Charest​

 

The Design Stage

 

Over the past few months, our editors have been hard at work reviewing submissions and finalizing edits to our selected works. This brings us to the next stage of the print process–book design!

 

After we confirm the finalized versions of each piece, the Penumbra team has many options to consider when it comes to book cover, format, and dimensions. As a group, we use surveys to narrow down which art piece we’d like to double as our journal cover. This allows time for editors to consider what piece will lend itself to be a cover (i.e. what isn’t too busy, what has space for a title, etc.). After we determine which piece we’d like as a cover, we make mock covers to visually determine what we like. For the past few years, our print editions have generally been the same 8.5 x 11 size. This year, we’d like to try something new–something with wider dimensions. We like to let our student editors consider what they think would be visually and physically pleasing as a reader, and during our time together we collaborate to see what looks best to the majority. Sometimes we will reach out to the artist of the book cover to see what they have to say on the matter. By the end of a couple weeks, we’ll have solidified the cover, dimensions, and title placement of our edition’s print journal.

 

Beyond deciding on the cover, we still have a bit more to think about when it comes to what’s inside the journal. For instance, from the journal’s dimensions we think about the placement of the pieces. Will the text be left-aligned? Will pieces have wide margins? Will poetry be in two columns? These are all questions we ask ourselves, as everyone on the Penumbra team acts as designers for the journal. Once we determine what we believe looks best for the journal, we can begin inputting pieces into our software. After we decide how the journal will look, the process of putting the journal together is fairly straightforward.

 

We hope you enjoy these updates as we continue preparing for Spring 2022’s edition of Penumbra. The virtual book launch and release of the journal are scheduled for May 14th—look out for more updates either on our website or social media pages @csustanpenumbra! ​

 

Andrea Wagner​

 

The Editing Period ​

 

Although our staff has decided which submissions we intend to publish in our Fall 2021 Penumbra Online issue, we are just getting started with our process. We are dedicated to ensuring every piece we publish is polished and has been painstakingly prepared for our viewers. As such, we are now deep into our editing process.  

 

For this round of editing, we have opted to divide our editors into two teams -- one dedicated to poetry and hybrid literature and one dedicated to prose publications -- to ensure that our editors have the time and capability to truly focus on individual pieces. These smaller teams are entirely responsible for their set of accepted works, reading over each piece several times and checking for any wording or punctuation that may cause readers an element of confusion. Although rarely an issue, our teams must also consider our platform, Weebly, and its limitations for formatting. In cases where certain pieces required formatting not supported by Weebly, an alternative option would need to be discussed, such as using an image of the finalized piece in place of entering the text itself. We strive to allow our platform to be a space for all authors and artists, so it is of great importance to us that we can circumvent any limitations and maintain the authors' desired formatting.  

 

The editing process is highly collaborative for each of our editing teams. During this time, we generate a Google Doc with all of the works that particular team is assigned to. Our editing team, comprised of three members, was in charge of poetry and hybrid literature for this issue. Each of us took the time to go through the document and consider which edits we deemed necessary for publication. In order to confirm that all team members agreed on specific changes, we utilized the comments section in the document to note any changes we would like made without actually incorporating any changes. This sometimes led our team to a lengthy discussion over whether an edit was truly needed or, if it was needed, which would be the least intrusive way to introduce the edit to the work.  

 

Such discussions aimed to clarify any unintentional ambiguity that we foresaw in a particular piece. As a rule, we try to limit the edits we do to punctuation and grammar—maintaining the integrity of each artist’s piece is our number one priority when we edit. If team members disagreed or were unsure what the artist truly meant, we also made sure to get into contact with that piece’s artist to find out what they ultimately wanted for the published work. This way we leave no room for confusion and best adhere to the artist’s wishes.  

 

When we're satisfied with the edits, we then turn the pieces over to the design team who transports those edited pieces into the website. This process should be fairly simple, but at times formatting issues arise. Luckily our design team is quick to catch issues and makes sure that every piece looks as intended before the virtual journal is launched!  At the moment, Penumbra Online is still editing the pieces accepted into its Fall 2021 “Love for Others” edition. Soon we will be designing the latest edition and launching the journal! Look out for the day of our launch, which is scheduled for December 4th, to see Penumbra Online’s latest edition. And thank you to all who support us!

 

Jessica Charest and Andrea Wagner​

 

Voting on Submissions

 

At this time of year, the Penumbra Online staff is typically sorting through the many submissions we receive, reading through them all, discussing our thoughts, and ultimately voting on which pieces we believe should be featured in this edition of Penumbra Online. This fall, our theme is "Love for Others," which promotes all the aspects that go into loving those around us. We have received numerous poems, short stories, and artworks focusing on this theme, and it is a delight to see how so many people interpret love in various ways!

 

During these next coming weeks, we will continue discussing and selecting pieces we believe should be featured in this edition of the journal with the rest of the Penumbra Online staff. Since our staff is relatively small, we all get a chance to speak on which pieces we think deserve a spot! As a democratic staff, we allow others to argue for a piece's spot in the journal and vote on whether we wish to have it featured or not. The selection process itself is honestly my favorite part of the journal's process, despite it being fairly challenging. We receive so many pieces, all of them incredibly unique, differing in style and content, but in the end, we must choose a fraction of what we get to see. By the end of this process, we should have a cohesive collection of pieces that express numerous perspectives on "Love for Others" in an eloquent, refreshing way.  

 

Being able to discuss the many works from our passionate submitters and appreciate the array of ways others interpret the same theme is what makes being a part of Penumbra and Penumbra Online so enjoyable. We hope that submitters continue to send their work, even after our Fall call closes! Soon we will be opening our call for the Spring edition of Penumbra, which will consist of a virtual as well as printed version of the journal. This call is typically up in late November. ​We look forward to seeing your work!

 

Andrea Wagner​

​

Spring 2023 Book Launch

 

The time has finally come! It is now time for our annual book launch, and we could not be more excited! The CSU Stanislaus University Art Gallery will be the location of the book launch that will take place on Thursday, May 11, 2023. This event will go on from 2:00 to 4:00pm. At this event, during which we will be reading a few pieces from the artists along with displaying some of the art works that were published in the journal, we would be thrilled to have everyone join us! This year's Penumbra process was completed without any difficulties and with outstanding efficiency. The book has come together wonderfully, and the editorial team of Penumbra has put in a lot of hard work during the semester in order to produce this exceptional journal. We have high hopes that everyone will take pleasure in both reading the journal and perusing the many works that we have chosen to include in it. 

 

This year, we began the semester by introducing ourselves to one another through a classroom icebreaker. Then, our professor, Jarred White, and our editors, Autumn Anderson, Andrea Wagner, Essence Saunders, and Brittany Groves, greeted the class and began describing the Penumbra process that would occur throughout the semester. A week later, we began the voting process. Everyone has the opportunity to provide feedback on a piece, and the majority vote determines whether or not the piece is accepted. Due to the numerous entries, the voting procedure took several weeks to conclude. Following the voting, we began importing the submissions into the InDesign program. This program was used to construct the journal layout application. This procedure lasted roughly two weeks. Before sending the book to the printing shop at Stan, we created the table of contents in InDesign and double-checked the page numbers, fonts, and content warnings to ensure that they were accurate. The printing shop is the last destination before the book is officially launched!

 

To do well in this class, you need to collaborate with your classmates. Every student has the same amount of work assigned to them so that the process may be fair to everyone and so that certain students do not get the impression that they are the only ones carrying their weight in the classroom. We all put forth a lot of effort to finish the production of this journal, and happily, we were successful in doing so in time for the debut.

If there are any undergraduates who are thinking about joining the Penumbra team but are unsure whether they should, I can assure you that it is both a fun and valuable experience, and that this class is not like other classes. The whole of the class will be devoted to the completion of a single, comprehensive project that will include collaboration between all of the students. It is a one-of-a-kind course that, much to everyone's delight, brought a lot of laughter, thank you to our amazing editors in chief!

 

When we leave this class, each one of us will take with us something that we will be able to put to use in the future. Before taking this class, I had never used InDesign; however, I now feel as if I have a solid foundation on the fundamentals of the program, and if I am ever required to use it in the future, I will be prepared and comfortable with it. Once again, we are thrilled about the debut of the book, and we really hope that every attendee has pleasure in reading the book that we have crafted. This has been an incredible, one-of-a-kind semester that we will never forget!

​

Martina Bekasha, Spring 2023

​

 

What We're Watching

 

​Ginny and Georgia​

​

In February of 2021, Netflix unveiled a new series known as Ginny & Georgia. The show was an instant success and was granted approval for a subsequent season that premiered in January of 2023. This show is categorized as a comedy, although it addresses numerous societal and cultural issues that envelop our country.  

 

The story begins with a mother-daughter duo named Ginny and Georgia; Ginny being the daughter, and Georgia being the mother. Ginny also has a half-brother that she lives with named Austin who is 7 years younger than her. Georgia possessed an unrestricted spirit, an affinity for adventure, and an outgoing nature, while Ginny was more introverted, plagued by self-doubt, and struggling to find her place in the world. As the show unfolds, we become acquainted with Georgia's upbringing. Her childhood was fraught with difficulties and she endured various traumas, including instances of sexual abuse. At the young age of fifteen, she fled from her father's grasp and embarked on a journey to forge her own path, utilizing any means at her disposal to carve out a life for herself. She ran an illegal gambling ring, married an older man whom she ultimately murdered with poison to escape, committed fraud, and eventually murdered her second husband for inappropriately touching her daughter Ginny.  

 

Ginny harbors a certain resentment towards her mother for the way she was raised. Ginny found herself in a constant state of flux due to Georgia's whims, making it difficult for her to establish lasting friendships. Zion, the father of Ginny, was once romantically involved with Georgia, but their relationship never resulted in marriage, leaving Ginny without an ideal familial upbringing. She lived with her mother, never her father. Her mother is white, and her father, is of African American descent, Ginny finds herself grappling with her sense of self-identity to this contrast. She felt as though she was an outsider among the various groups of friends at her new school, and her mental health was a constant source of crisis. She frequently indulges in self-harm when overcome by anxiety, yet hides this from her mother. She knew little of her mother's past, and it seemed as though her mother was hiding a lot from her.

 

Georgia, throughout the show, exhibits to the viewers that her sole means of survival remain reliant on her hustle and schemes in order to win her way to the top. Ginny, attempting to lead an ordinary life, finds herself caught up in her mother's chaotic affairs all too often, and is left with no recourse but to break free from the cycle. Ultimately, Georgia knew no other way than to hustle to provide a life for her children. Her traumas lingered into her adult years, compelling her to resort to unlawful means to survive. Ginny did not want her life to be this way. She wants to live an ordinary teenage life and enjoy the customary high school experiences, free of the tumultuous interference of her mother. When a private investigator informs Ginny of her mother's criminal actions, she flees and the first season comes to an end.  

 

I do not want to include too many spoilers, but if this show sounds interesting to you, I definitely recommend watching it! It is a remarkable show that addresses current issues in our nation and delves profoundly into the awareness of mental health and the challenges people face in their daily existence. It is definitely very relatable to many viewers.

 

Martina Bekasha​, Spring 2023

 

History of Wally West​​

 

One day Wally was hanging out with Barry in Barry’s lab and Barry could tell Wally thought it was lame. So, knowing that Wally was obsessed with The Flash he quickly changed into a costume to entertain Wally. Wally told The Flash how he wished he had speed like him. The Flash told him that sadly lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice and right then lightning struck Wally in the same spot it struck Barry. That was the day Kid Flash was born. For the rest of the summer Wally helped the Flash stop crime and eventually would learn that it was Barry behind the mask. After summer was over, he went back to Nebraska and operated solo, but also partnered with the Flash from time to time. This would lead to him forming the Teen Titans, which would eventually disband but reform. When it did reform, Wally sadly had to exit due to a condition he developed, a condition which made it so that every time he used his speed his body would deteriorate. He would be cured of this in the crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths” which also saw him take up the mantle of the Flash after Barry Allen tragically died. Wally spent the next 20 years being the main Flash until Barry returned. After this, Barry created Flashpoint which erased 10 years and Wally from the DC Universe. Once Wally got restored to the universe, he decided to reform the Titans, but it didn’t last long due to his trauma. You see, when he was erased, so was his marriage and children, which caused him to be put into a recovery center for superheroes where he would lose control of his speed and accidently killed his colleagues. He went to prison for this but was broken out by a god-like being to save the universe. Once he did so, he was restored as The Flash and so was his family. If you would like to read some Wally West stories, I recommend starting with The Flash by Mark Waid and The Flash by Geoff Johns.

​

Garret Compston, Spring 2023

​

Little Women

 

NOTICE: ‘Little Women’ addresses: suicide, substance abuse & addiction, child death, illness, sexual harassment, and abuse.

​

Within the past few years, Korean media has grown in popularity in the U.S. This popularity skyrocketed with the thriller movie directed by Bong Joon-ho, Parasite, in 2019, culminating in its groundbreaking Best Picture win at the Oscars. Not long after, Netflix show Squid Game went viral in 2021. Audiences praised Squid Game for its unique thriller concept and well-written characters. In the same vein, 2022 brought us the mystery-family thriller Little Women.

 

Despite the familiar name, Little Women is not a Netflix adaptation of the novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. Rather, it follows the lives of three sisters who have grown up in poverty under the care of neglectful parents as they each become individually enmeshed with a dangerous and wealthy political family.

The oldest sister, Oh In-Joo, works at a bookkeeping firm. An outcast due to her poverty, In-Joo befriends a fellow outcast, Hwa-Young, who looks after In-Joo while harboring a deep secret of her own. As the eldest, In-Joo does her best to take care of her sisters in place of their neglectful mother and absent father. When tragedy strikes, In-Joo becomes privy to a series of illegal schemes perpetuated by her company executives and must decide how far she’s willing to go to provide for her sisters.

​

In-Kyung, the middle sister, spent a large portion of her childhood living with her wealthy great-aunt and learning about stocks and investing. At the beginning of the show, she now lives with her sisters and works as a reporter in a prominent news organization. Battling a secret vice, In-Kyung also struggles to keep her composure while reporting but excels at analyzing data and recognizing patterns. This investigative prowess puts her on the trail of manipulative politician Park Jae-Sang, who happens to be the brother-in-law of the former CEO of In-Joo’s bookkeeping firm.

Lastly, the youngest sister, In-Hye, is a talented artist with a weak constitution enrolled in a prominent arts high school thanks to a scholarship. As the baby of the family, she grows increasingly resentful of the sacrifices her sisters make to support her, feeling like a burden. She desires a life where she is loved for her skills and achievements rather than for blood relations. As such, she ingratiates herself with wealthy classmate Park Hyo-Rin—the daughter of Park Jae-Sang, who recognizes shades of his younger self in In-Hye. The closer In-Hye grows to the Park family, the more distance forms between her and her sisters.

​

Without delving too deep into spoiler-filled territory, the first episode of Little Women does a fantastic job of establishing the personalities, desires, and struggles of each Oh sister. Most of the focus is fixated on In-Joo, whose personal friendship with Hwa-Young and the resulting impact becomes a major emotional core of much of the show, second only to the relationships between the three sisters. The relatability of the Oh sisters, including their individual flaws, makes them captivating protagonists that are easy to root for, whether it be for their success or their character growth.

​

Beyond characterization and relationships, Little Women boasts stunning cinematography and striking music. The last minute of the first episode is especially gripping, with the visuals wielding an innovative use of depth and negative space to create an overwhelming feeling of isolation, the claustrophobic weight of responsibility, all while the music swells with a sense of relief and the tentative promise of salvation. These intense yet contradicting feelings perfectly embody the emotions that Oh In-Joo is enduring during those final seconds of episode one, played beautifully by her actress Kim Go-Eun. In truth, the acting in Little Women is A-class across the board, but Kim Go-Eun in particular brings a rawness to her character that will resonate with many viewers.

If Little Women sounds like an intriguing show that you, or perhaps for a friend or family member, may enjoy, its twelve episodes can be found on Netflix, with each episode ranging around an hour and fifteen minutes. The original Korean audio is available with English subtitles, but English and Spanish dubbed audio is also available.

For those interested, check out the trailer for Little Women here!

​

Ree Bowman, Spring 2023

​

Malcolm in the Middle

​

Do you ever sit down after a long day with a plate of food and scroll though Netflix trying to find a new show to binge only to watch the show that you have already seen every episode from every season? I do that almost every time with one of the best sitcoms to be created, Malcolm in the Middle. 

I rediscovered this show about a year and a half ago when I finally got Hulu. I instantly remembered some amazing memories from when I was a kid. This show was one of the many shows that grew up with me. I also believe that the reason why I have such a special connection with this show in particular is because the show reminds me a lot of my hispanic family.

​

Premiering in 2000, this American sitcom follows a dysfunctional lower-middle class family through the perspective of a child prodigy, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz). With an IQ of 165 and a photographic memory, Malcolm and his two brothers, Reese (Justin Berfield) and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) indulge in chaos and destruction. With their older brother named Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) being away at military school, Malcolm becomes the middle child hence the title of the series. Their parents Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Louis (Kaczmarek) are constantly trying to keep them out of trouble through their unique ways of punishment. 

​

The dark-humored sitcom series went on for seven seasons including 151 episodes holding 33 Emmy Award nominations. As I was doing some further research on the brilliant sitcom I learned that it was one of the first sitcoms to have the starring role narrate in voice-over and talking directly to the viewer on camera. Malcolm in the Middle holds such a distinctive tone by featuring fast-cut editing, musical inserts, elaborate post-production, unique sound effects and the strange camera styles. One of my personal favorite shots that the show utilizes in many episodes is the close-up  transitional shot of their neglected front yard. 

​

If you were to ask what my favorite episode was, I would have a very hard time making a decision because this show does not have one bad episode. But if I had to pick a favorite it would be between ‘If Boys Were Girls’ from season 4 or ‘Burning Man’ from season 7. In ‘Boys Were Girls’ Louis imagines what life would be like if she were to only have girls now that she is expecting a new baby. While in the episode ‘Burning Man’ the family,excluding Francis, all attend the Burning Man festival where people partake in extraordinary activities. 

​

It is interesting to watch some of the episodes and still remember them from when I was only six years old. That just proves how special this show is. I can’t think of another show that holds up after 23 years. Every character in that show is perfectly casted and has a distinct individuality. Lois being the stubborn mother with a strong personality who is continuously misunderstood. Almost everyone besides her husband seems to hate her for being too aggressive but they fail to notice her motherly affection, though demonstrated in a unique way. On the other hand, we have Hal who is a pure and completely immature mess of a human being. I would have to say that he might be my favorite character simply because he could never be duplicated. At the same time, we have Malcolm who despite his intelligence, he can’t seem to figure out his emotions, specifically his anger issues.

 

If you have not watched Malcolm in the Middle, I would highly suggest doing so. It is never a bad idea to binge-watch this show especially if you are having a bad day.

​

Tania Gutierrez Medina, Spring 2023

​

Oshi No Ko, or My Star 

​

NOTICE: ‘My Star’ addresses: stalking, suicide, assault, murder, graphic images of blood, sexual harassment, and terminal illness.

​

Since the ‘80s and ‘90s, anime has carved a space for itself in the western media sphere, with shows like Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, Naruto, and One Piece contributing to the initial boom and then steady rise in the Japanesemedium’s mainstream popularity. In more recent years, shows like My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Demon Slayer have dominated the shounen (action-oriented) half of the genre. The Demon Slayer: Mugen Train film in particular managed to become the highest grossing cinematic release of 2020, beating Tenet by $200-million.

​

These action-packed anime are filled with superpowers and the supernatural. Yet a new anime void of most of those elements—most—has exploded in popularity in the past few months: Oshi No Ko, or My Star.

​

My friend encouraged me to check out the first episode, but she wouldn’t tell me the plot beyond the barest of description. The first episode of this anime is, unconventionally, 90 minutes long. After watching, I realized why—the tone of the entire series is set within the last ten minutes of the first episode, and if it had been released weekly as four episodes instead of one, the sudden shift in genre and tone would have put off viewers. The whole 90 minutes is necessary to understand the type of show My Star will be.

​

Since I don’t want to spoil the show for you all, I will be putting the content warning disclaimer at the end of this post so that those who want to and feel they are capable of going in fully blind can do so.

​

Initially, My Star appears to be a standard shoujo (slice-of-life or romance-oriented) idol anime. The core character of the show, Ai, is a starry-eyed, joyful, seemingly slightly-ditzy member of the Jpop girl group, B Komachi. Becoming an idol at only fourteen, Ai faces adult issues and the darker sides of the industry at an incredibly young age. Yet somehow, she manages to keep a smile on her face, deeply touching the lives of the main characters with her peculiar but sincere mindset.

​

The main character of episode one is a doctor named Gorou who is a fan of Ai. Many viewers may feel unease at this and the show does poke its fair share of fun at the prospect, but I assure you, the doctor feels nothing romantically or sexually toward Ai, and it becomes a nonstarter as the series progresses. Gorou’s admiration toward Ai is spurred by a young, terminally ill patient he previously had who was also a fan of Ai. Her love for Ai and own dream to become an idol touched Gorou’s heart and inspired him to also root for Ai’s success.

​

Early on in the first episode, Ai becomes a regular at the hospital Gorou works at and subsequently becomes his patient. The show tackles the idol industry in a way that feels simultaneously damning and respectful; the horrors of the industry are not glossed over, but not all of the people within the industry are portrayed as soulless and money-hungry. Ai considers herself a liar for her idol image, but it’s difficult for even her to see where the lies end and the truth begins. Additionally, for those like me who are familiar with the idol industry through frequent consumption of it, the presence of aspects such as on-street scouting and the exciting significance of dome concerts show that the original creator studied the industry and is intent on portraying it in a modern, accurate way.

​

Indeed, the 90-minute long episode takes several sudden, sharp turns, toying with the various genres it entertains. While it starts as a seemingly-wholesome show, an event occurs within the first half of the episode that drastically changes the plot. The tone shifts to a darker, more unsettling one before suddenly launching back into wholesomeness. Yet that underlying tension and unease does not go away. Though there is a supernatural element to the show, it is far more in line with an anime such as Erased—another show I highly recommend—rather than a superhero show like My Hero Academia or a show with monsters like Jujutsu Kaisen. Interpersonal relationships make up the core of the show, with the idol industry becoming the shiny yet treacherous backdrop.

​

That’s as much as I’m willing to share about My Star in a spoiler-free recommendation. Here is where I would normally share the trailer, but truth be told, I fear it gives the wrong impression of the anime’s true nature. Again—despite the show’s teasing and humor regarding Gorou’s admiration for Ai and the framing of the trailer, rest-assured that there is no romance between the two. (I would have stopped watching if that were the case.)

If you’re still unconvinced, or if 90 minutes is too intimidating, then I encourage you to watch the first 16 minutes of episode one. The dramatic shift that happens within the end of those 16 minutes may be enough for you to decide whether or not this is the type of show for you.

​

Ree Bowman, Spring 2023

​

Nightwing

 

Throughout the years there have been several notable characters in comic books such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But for today let’s forget about them and shift our focus to a character who has been around almost as long as Batman. His name is Richard “Dick” Grayson aka Robin aka Nightwing (but we’ll get to that). Dick Grayson’s story starts in Detective Comics #38 which is only 11 issues after Batman had been created in Detective Comics #27. Dick was raised by his parents in a circus as an acrobat. One night when He was 8 years old his parents’ trapeze lines were cut by a mobster named Tony Zucco because the head of the circus owned him money. Coincidently, Bruce Wayne was in the audience, and he sympathized with young Dick so he adopted him. After adopting him Bruce Wayne told him about Batman, that’s when Dick decided to adopt the persona of Robin. As time went on Dick decided to create junior Justice League called, Teen Titans. Dick led this team and helped Batman but then the Teen Titans disbanded. This led Dick Grayson to go to college at Hudson University. After some time Dick decided to drop out off college which did not make Bruce very happy. Due to a threat to the Earth the Teen Titans reformed. During this time Dick started to outgrow the Robin persona, he felt that Batman still saw him as a kid. So, he decided it was time to leave it behind. This led him to creating a brand new costume and renaming himself Nightwing. He kept fighting alongside and would occasionally go back to help out Batman. After one of Batman’s villains named Bane broke his spine, Dick became the new Batman while Bruce healed. This didn’t last of course with Dick returning to the mantle of Nightwing. This is where Dick would get his own miniseries which led to him getting an ongoing series. In the ongoing series Dick had moved to Bludhaven (which is close to Gotham), here he became a police officer to fight crime during the during and he fought as Nightwing at night. For years he would protect Bludhaven but still help his mentor, Batman, when needed. Eventually, Batman was supposedly killed fighting an alien being named, Darkseid. This prompted Dick to assume the role of a Batman once more. As Batman he would train a new Robin named, Damien Wayne who is Bruce Wayne’s biological son. Batman would eventually return sending Dick back to being Nightwing. Dick would go on to become a spy for Batman in an organization called Spyral wich he infiltrated and disbanded. After this 10 years was erased from the DC Universe due to the Flashpoint event. This also erased long time Titans Wally West, but once he returned he decided to get the Titans back together. In this new series the dropped the “teen” part and just called themselves Titans. This didn’t last long and Dick created a new team that didn’t last long either. After this Dick returns to Bludhaven to resume protecting it. One night Dick went on patrol with Batman and was shot in the head causing him to lose his memory. He would spend at least a year under the name Ric Grayson. He was able to get his memory back with a magic crystal. Currently he is fighting crime as Nightwing and the Titans are taking over for the Justice League (which is currently disbanded).

​

Garret Compston, Spring 2023​

​