Multimedia

REVIEW: James Gunn’s “Creature Commandos” brings new life to comic book media

In December 2024, Max released a new DC animated series, “Creature Commandos,” directed by James Gunn. The series is a sequel to Gunn’s 2022 series “Peacemaker” and his 2021 film “The Suicide Squad.” The Suicide Squad, in all its iterations, is a group of high-powered yet apprehended supervillains who assemble to take on high-stakes, covert missions in exchange for time off of their prison sentences. The team is led by Amanda Waller, who implants bombs in the brains of the team members that will detonate if they disobey. In “Creature Commandos,” Waller is no longer allowed to put bombs in human brains or force them to go on dangerous missions. However, nothing prevents her from using nonhuman entities.

‘Swiftie-nomics’: First Lobo Living Room of the year

On Thursday, Jan. 30, the University of New Mexico Alumni hosted 2025’s first Lobo Living Room — a series of events that will showcase distinguished UNM alums engaging in discussions, demonstrations and performances related to their fields of expertise. The first event, called “Swiftie-nomics: The art, industry, and influence of Taylor Swift,” was held in George Pearl Hall.

The Guild gets to the meat of the matter with ‘The Jungle’

On Jan. 23, Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema hosted a showing of Matt Wechsler’s new documentary, “The Jungle,” which dives into the problems with and history of the modern meat industry. The title comes from Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, which first exposed corruption and contamination in the meat industry. The free screening was put on by the New Mexico chapter of Food & Water Watch, an organization that pushes for policies to help curb climate change.

OPINION: An ode to David Lynch — and Laura Palmer

When I heard that David Lynch died, I simply froze, mouth agape, and stared at the wall for upwards of ten minutes. Obviously he was getting older, and he’d made his battle with emphysema — a chronic lung disease — public in 2024 but he was somebody I imagined would always be with us. I’m hard-pressed to think of another filmmaker of the past 50 years as influential on both the medium as a whole and specific aesthetic and narrative techniques as Lynch. He has quite literally changed how people both view and make movies. The word “Lynchian” has become commonplace in promotional material and reviews for films with the slightest modicum of surrealism, to the point where the term is devoid of meaning.

LETTER: A call to action — engage with textbook affordability

Dear Editor, I am the Open Educational Resources Librarian at the University of New Mexico, and I am also the principal investigator on a Department of Education grant that awarded UNM nearly $2.125 million to create an OER consortium in New Mexico. One focus of my work is to save students money on textbooks. UNM has scheduled a virtual Town Hall Meeting from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30 to discuss the fall 2025 implementation of a flat-rate automatic textbook billing program for undergraduate students. I urge all faculty and administrators to learn more about this program.

Comic, Jan. 27, 2025

Small bird, big energy: UNM research could help with land conservation causes

Research from the University of New Mexico biology department could help show how climate and land use change might affect hummingbirds that migrate through New Mexico. Authored by Shayne Halter, Blair Wolf and Carlos Martinez del Rio, the Jan. 15 study looked at why hummingbirds use torpor — a hibernation-like state. Hummingbirds usually go into torpor at night when it is colder, and this can help them survive, Halter said. “They live at a sort of metabolic knife edge where if they don’t get enough food, they don’t get enough energy day to day, they don’t survive,” Halter said. “They have certain mechanisms they can use to ensure they make it, especially when they migrate.”

OPINION: 2025 NFL mock draft — Top five picks

As collegiate athletes climb their way into the draft, here are five players who I think could be in the first round for their talent. 5. Jacksonville Jaguars: defensive tackle Mason Graham The Jacksonville Jaguars have the fifth overall pick of the NFL season after a disappointing 4-13 finish. With trouble on the defensive line, the Jaguars should draft defensive tackle Mason Graham from the University of Michigan to patch up holes in the defense. The 6-foot-3-inch, 320-pound player had 3 ½ sacks and 46 total tackles this season, making him a solid pick for the Jaguars.

Governor nominates two new UNM regents

On Jan. 3, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made 11 regent nominations for eight different New Mexico higher learning institutions. Among these were two new appointments to the University of New Mexico Board of Regents: health care executive Christina Campos and civil litigator Patricia Williams. The nomination process is rigorous, according to Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez. "I know each of these nominees has the quality to earn the trust of the public and the communities they have been nominated to serve,” Rodriguez wrote to the Daily Lobo.

OPINION: 2025 Grammy awards preview and predictions

The 67th Grammy Awards will air Feb. 2. Music released between Sept. 16, 2023 and Aug. 30, 2024 was eligible to be nominated for this ceremony. Here is how I think the evening is likely to go. Song of the Year and Record of the Year are two categories that people frequently get confused. The former goes exclusively to the songwriters, while the latter is awarded to the artists, album producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers who have worked on a track, according to the Grammys website.

BioPark hosts Penguin Awareness Day

On a day when most other animals chose to be indoors, the Albuquerque BioPark hosted an annual event for Penguin Awareness Day. The event, which took place on Friday, Jan. 24 was in the Penguin Chill building, which mimics the penguin's typical habitat. This event offered guests a chance to see three types of penguins that live in Penguin Chill. While the BioPark does host a fourth species, the little penguins are not part of the chilled habitat. The little penguin enclosure is part of the new Australian exhibit, but the colder weather didn’t permit them to be outside.

Snapdragon fundraiser brings awareness to local animal shelter

On Saturday, Jan. 25, Snapdragon Tea, located in the Brick Light District near the University of New Mexico, held a fundraiser for the Roots Animal Sanctuary. This was the second and last weekend the event was held. The Roots Animal Sanctuary, located in Tijeras, is a nonprofit that “provides a safe and loving forever home for those who have come from a difficult background,” according to its website. The fundraiser was done in the style of Snapdragon’s frequent tea parties, where patrons can indulge in a three-course meal that is specially curated for the specific event. Reservations had to be made online in advance for the full tea party menu, and 10% of the proceeds from the tea party sales and any of Snapdragon’s vegan sandwiches purchased during the fundraiser went to Roots.

How the Trump presidency could affect reproductive rights in New Mexico

During the Sept. 10, 2024 presidential debate, Trump praised himself and the Supreme Court for the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. “The states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said in a video he posted to Truth Social post in April 2024. On Oct. 1, 2024, Trump reinforced his stance again, posting on X that he would veto any national abortion ban put through Congress in favor of allowing every state to decide for itself how to regulate abortion.

How the Trump presidency could affect immigration in New Mexico

President Donald Trump’s campaign was headlined by promises to carry out the largest deportation operation of immigrants who lack permanent legal status in American history. To carry out the deportations, the Trump administration plans to work with local police, targeting those who have criminal records first, according to the 2024 Republican Party Platform. Working with state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws would require a Memorandum of Agreement — or MOA — between the law enforcement agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to authorize and train employees on enforcement techniques, according to the American Immigration Council. Though there was previously an MOA between ICE and the New Mexico Corrections Department, there are no such active MOAs in the state of New Mexico.

OPINION: Bobbleheads of the week — NFL divisional round edition

Last week, these three players were getting ready to help their teams get past the divisional round with a chance at keeping their Super Bowl chances alive. This week, they are sitting at home wondering what plays they could’ve done differently to avoid being labeled as bobbleheads.

People’s March held in Albuquerque in response to Trump presidency

Sunday, Jan. 19 On Jan. 19, hundreds of protesters rallied and marched at Civic Plaza during the People’s March in response to President Donald Trump’s return to office. Protesters chanted and carried signs highlighting areas another Trump presidency may impact, including reproductive rights, immigrant rights, environmental justice, affordable healthcare and Palestinian rights. Politicians and community members spoke to the crowd during the rally, including former United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D), Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers, poet Hakim Bellamy and Albuquerque First Lady Elizabeth Kistin Keller.

Men’s basketball: Lobos speed past Bulldogs

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team came away with a commanding victory against the Fresno State Bulldogs on Monday, Jan. 20, winning 95-67. It was all Lobos from start to finish. UNM came ready to play, jumped out to a 16-0 start and never relinquished the lead. The Lobos were able to stifle Fresno’s fast pace and didn’t allow a bucket for the first five minutes of the contest. The Bulldogs played too fast for their own good, leading to careless turnovers and missed shots early on.

UNM Board of Regents votes to amend free speech policies

During a governance committee meeting on Dec. 5, 2024, members of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents passed amendments to UNM’s free speech policies, which will allow groups to rent spaces at UNM regardless of the nature of their speech. Robert Schwartz and Paula Tackett, the committee meeting’s two Regent attendees, voted on amendments to the Regents' Policy Manual Section 2.1: Free Expression and Advocacy, Section 2.2: Speakers from Off Campus and Section 2.8: Visitors to the University. The amendments went into effect Dec. 19.

Stars from ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Twilight’ and more attend Albuquerque’s Comic Con

The Albuquerque Comic Con held its 15th annual gathering at the Albuquerque Convention Center this past weekend. Featuring celebrity panels, meet and greets and multiple areas for vendors to sell artwork and memorabilia, the Albuquerque Comic Con sold out of tickets for its Saturday events. Celebrity guests and fans alike were excited to be in attendance, including “Better Call Saul” and “Xena: Warrior Princess” star Patrick Fabian, who made his first Albuquerque Comic Con appearance. He said he was surprised by the large turnout.

Anti-algorithmic discrimination bill introduced to New Mexico Legislature

Ahead of the 2025 New Mexico legislative session, Rep. Christine Chandler (D) sponsored House Bill 60, the Artificial Intelligence Act, which seeks to mitigate algorithmic discrimination. Algorithmic discrimination is any condition in which the use of an artificial intelligence system results in unlawful differential treatment of a person based on their ethnicity, gender, disability and other groups legally protected from discrimination, according to the bill. The legislative session begins Tuesday, Jan. 21 and ends March 22. Examples of algorithmic discrimination have been found in algorithms like COMPAS, or Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions, which is meant to calculate the odds that a defendant will reoffend. COMPAS flagged almost twice as many false positives for Black people than white people, according to a 2016 ProPublica investigation.