I’ve been thinking a lot about zines lately. For centuries people have published and distributed their writings to tell stories, share ideas, and build relationships. And as far as independent comics go, these self-published booklets are about as indie as you can get. But one of the drawbacks of underground communities is that they can…
The Unbearable Whiteness of Being (in Comics Academia)
June 2015. The run-up to my first conference abroad as an official comics scholar — and I don’t want to go. I’m panic-crying after reading a chain of emails which, on the face of it, have little to do with me. Short background: we were supposed to have a panel on Charlie Hebdo. A month before…
Giant Bugs, Inessential Penises, and …. Ralph: Memorable Sex Scenes in YA
Young Adult books can be sexy, I assure you. YA authors are trying to connect with teens and give them relatable experiences, and while some people don’t like to think about it, teens do have sex. Generally, explicit sex makes a book jump from the YA market to the adult market pretty quickly, but not…
The Jungle Book: My Misplaced Trust in Scarlett Johansson
The Jungle Book Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Neel Sethi, Scarlet Johansson, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Giancarlo Esposito, Lupita Nyong’o, Christopher Walken Screenplay: Justin Marks (based on the story by Rudyard Kipling) Disney Released: April 15, 2016 I had no interest in seeing Disney’s latest live actioning of their classic cartoons. I loved the…
