In the world of visual storytelling, there exists a divide. You see, there are manga fans, and there are comics fans, and seldom the twain do meet.
Five Trick Questions: Twin Peaks or Claremont’s X-Men?
With a variety of artist collaborators, Chris Claremont wrote the X-Men for sixteen straight years, and then came back later for more. Frost & Lynch’s Twin Peaks had a much shorter run, but is currently readying itself for a return. Both are definitive examples of whatever they are—imperfect, but unputdownable—and there is more than one place in which…
4 Takes On the Role of the Direct Market in Growing “Comics” (Or Not)
This article is a part of a blog carnival hosted by Women Write About Comics, and is a collection of responses to this question, posed by Nick Hanover of Loser City: “Is it possible for comics to grow sustainably if the direct market continues to dominate distribution?” Kat Overland: I think it’s hard know, first,…
Top 10 Fantastic Female Characters of IDW’s TMNT
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) has always been a bit of a boys’ club. The franchise originated in 1984 as a comic made by men, for men (or you know, mostly for themselves, since it was essentially just Daredevil fanfic). It then became a cartoon targeted at little boys in 1987—and the trend has gone on strong…
Ex-Men: The Top Five Pre-Phoenix Scott and Jean Moments
Scott Summers and Jean Grey: the OTP of the X-Men. Right? Well, maybe not, but for a lot of us, growing up they were the only couple we could rely upon to be, forever, “a thing.” Comics, cartoons, live-action films—Scott and Jean, Jean and Scott, we like dysfunction, it is hot. Maybe we didn’t like…
Can’t We Just Call It The Miss Piggy Show: A Review of The Muppets
Have you heard? The Muppets are back. Again. This time they are coming to you during primetime, and competing with shows such as NCIS and Scream Queens. But this isn’t The Muppets Show variety-sketch format of olden days (by olden, I mean 1970s to 1980s). This version of The Muppets will take us into their…
Happily Never After vs Aggressive Heteronormativity: Families in Naruto
Long-running ninja shounen manga series, Naruto, concluded late last year with Chapter 700. It’s a finale that’s gone down in history as a serious competitor with the Harry Potter epilogue for Most Banal Ending Award. Why? Much like Harry Potter, everyone gets paired. Everyone. Yes, even that person. While the ship wars may lead you…
The Dusty Dead: A Narrative Personality Quiz
Welcome to the second installation of An Adventure in Small Games (you can read the first one here), a monthly series focused on games that cost less than $20, ideally less than $10. In this series, Eve Golden Woods will focus on indie games and what they have to offer the world of gaming. This month Eve focuses on…
Nice Sex Comics: No Tears, No Chafing, No Pushing It
Sex: a lot of us do it! Naturally, it features in a lot of stories. There are a lot of comics with sex in them, out there. There are plenty of bad ones. And there are a lot of really well-drawn, clear-eyed comics about bad sex, too. Or functionally good sex, between people who are bad…
Game of Thrones: Cersei’s Walk of Shame
Cersei Lannister deserved it. That was the crux of my friend’s argument. After all, this was the woman responsible for Ned Stark’s death; for the death of King Robert Baratheon. She has tortured and mistreated any number of characters. She is the one who appointed the High Sparrow to the position of High Septon and reinstated…
Phone Game Etiquette: Want a Second Date?
Look around you—someone is playing a phone game. They’re addictive, often free, and do anything they can to keep you coming back. Companies pour tons of money into marketing them, everything from infiltrating your dating apps to throwing boobs at your face. They are apps disguised as games disguised as apps to get you to be…
Stay Quiet: The Staged Body of Phantom Pain’s Sniper
Spoilers, alright? Quiet is the single woman combatant in the list of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s primary characters. Men outnumber women nine to one in this list, at time of writing, if personality-imprinted AIs count as people (nine to three if not). Other than Paz, the tiny blonde latina beauty who was…