Ampton Reads Tintin goes live!

The e-book can be purchased from Barnes & Noble or from Amazon, depending on your preferred format and platform. Until April 3rd, it can also be purchased from my Ko-Fi for $6! Just let me know your preferred format and I'll send it to the email address of your choice. Apologies for the delay; I...

The Sad English Fish: Some Thoughts on Haddock’s Addiction and Grief in The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

A little while back, in my bande dessinée Discord server, we sat down and watched The Adventures of Tintin (2011), directed by Stephen Spielberg. I hadn’t watched this movie since it came out in cinemas, so I was delighted to see it again and evaluate it once more, this time with my newly acquired expansive...

Ampton Reads Asterix: Part Two, or The Golden Years

Well, here we go. The second part in this grand fable. Last time we covered the events leading up to the creation of Asterix and what we can read into the first three issues; this time we’ll be going through the time period before Goscinny’s death, in which Asterix was released regularly, to massive sales...

Casey Anthony and the Importance of Presumptive Innocence

TW: Child death and child abuse. The trial of Casey Anthony was one that shook the state of Florida. Not because a child had died, and not because it had taken a month for the child’s grandparents to report her missing. No, the trial caused shock and outrage because people were unable to believe that...

Ampton Reads Asterix: Part One, or The Beginning

WELL, HELLO THERE One of the first things you will notice if you mention Asterix is that people like it. This is probably not a shocking statement, but aside from the occasional outlier like Tintin and maybe Lucky Luke, Spirou, Gaston Lagaffe, and aside from The Smurfs, which I don’t think most people know is...

Ampton Reads: Tintin and the Picaros

Here we are, folks. We’ve reached the final Tintin book, the last one Hergé finished before he died. Hergé didn’t write this knowing it would be the final Tintin story, and a lot of critics wish it wasn’t the final book. But beat on we must, boats against the current, or something. I’ve discussed over...

A Māori Perspective on the Assumed Universality of Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018)

Spoilers for Hereditary (2018), of course. Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018) was exceptionally well-received upon its release, with critical praise focused on the nuanced and sensitive portrayals of a dysfunctional family dynamic. I also very much enjoyed the film when I watched it, finding the tension between the generations of women within the family to be...

Ampton Reads: Flight 714

When I tell people about Flight 714, I call it ‘the one where Tintin gets abducted by aliens’, and I’ve yet to find someone who believes me without knowing about the book prior. Where the previous science fiction books in the Tintin series showcased the glory of modern technology and discussed the ethics and future...

Queering of Relationships in Doctor Who: A Dissection of the Show’s LGBT Appeal

When I want to know the state of a fandom, my first stop is AO3. This is one of the biggest fanfiction archives on the internet, and probably the one that’s closest to the pulse of the common fandom individual. I’m not much of a fan of the website due to the fact it’s moderated...

Ampton Reads: The Castafiore Emerald

If the last book was a desperate and dangerous attempt to purify the soul, The Castafiore Emerald is the exact opposite. It's the first book in the series since The Secret of the Unicorn to take place entirely in Belgium, and the only book to take place entirely within Marlinspike Hall and the surrounding areas....