Netflix’s Daredevil is, on the surface, a pretty progressive show when it comes to romance: Matt Murdock is romantically linked to two women of color, Claire Temple and Elektra Natchios, during the course of two seasons, which is definitely more than can be said about any of the MCU films so far. But a deeper read shows…
Commercialised Suffering Is Easy: Lemaitre’s Irene
Irène is crass, coarse, and shallow. Pierre Lemaitre’s novel is like the work of Jo Nesbø, in this way. Preoccupied with torture and awfulness, reluctant to engage with humanity or emotion beyond the ways that happiness can be revoked or twisted; used to make a person miserable; and underbaked as progressing narratives, these author, in…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: Exciting News from Image Expo!
Last Wednesday in Seattle, Image Comics held the 6th Image Expo, an all-day event for creators to meet with press, retailers and fans. But it’s not your typical convention: there are no vendors and panels focus primarily on discussing upcoming releases with writers, artists and other team members. The convention began with publisher Eric Stephenson’s inspiring…
Your Invitation To The Mean Girls Club
Mean Girls Club Ryan Heshka (creator) Nobrow Press February, 2016 Disclaimer: This comic will probably maim you if left unattended, but it was also given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. A gang of ruthless rebels and riotous dames are here to partake in vices and kick some behinds. Welcome…
A Study in Black and A Study in Blue: Cartooning Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch is a handsome man. This is empirical. Benedict Cumberbatch is a weird-looking man; this is too. Of course, one could argue that handsomeness, as a marker of especial masculine niceness, is weird in its own right. But that is not the sort of strange that Cumberbatch’s evidential handsomeness is. He’s an odd-looking fucker….
Diamonds in the Rough: Our Problematic Faves, Who Coincidentally, Are Women
WOMEN. We hate’em. Well, a lot of people hate’em. Us. Hate us. Okay, we don’t hate women. We are women. We love women! We love woman characters … whom other people hate. And we’ll defend them. Okay? Just listen.
Hannibal Fans Come Together in a RAW Fanthology: Interview with Aimee Fleck
Hannibal was the little queer horror show that tried, but still ended up canceled from NBC’s lineup in 2015. More of a wannabe horror house art film than the crime procedural it was presented as, Hannibal was never a ratings knockout. That being said, the fandom has been nothing short of extremely passionate in continuing…
Street Fights and Civil Wars: Previewing Daredevil Season Two
(This piece contains major spoilers for season one and some thematic spoilers for season two of Daredevil, as well as some thematic discussion of the Captain America: Civil War trailer and of Frank Castle/The Punisher’s role in Marvel Comics. I’ve attempted to avoid any spoilers that deal with the specifics of major plot points, with…
MAN PLUS Take Two (and Three): Araujo’s Midsection
Man Plus is currently being published by Titan Comics as a four issue mini; it’s also being serialised for free online through page by page release. Claire and J.A. discuss the second and third issues of Araújo’s Shirowpunk passion project, as they did for part one previously.
Horror vs. Crime: We Talk Revival with Tim Seeley and Mike Norton
Issue 36# and a new arc of Tim Seeley and Mike Norton’s creator-owned comic Revival dropped last week. Revival centers around the rural town of Wausau, Wisconsin where the recently deceased have came back to life. The comic explores the aftermath of this inexplicable event on the living and the dead. Teetering on the genres of…
The Vocabulary of Violence: 4 Takes on Steve Orlando’s Midnighter
Midnighter #1-6 Steve Orlando (Scripter), Stephen Mooney (penciller), Aco (penciller), Alec Morgan (penciller), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colourist), Hugo Petrus (inker #3 and #6), Bryan Hitch (cover artist #1), Artyom Trakhanov (cover artist #3) DC Comics May 2015 – Present In May 2015, the DCU welcomed longtime Stormwatch and Authority character Midnighter to the fold with…
It’s a Crime: Two Perspectives, Worlds Apart, on Tet
Tet IDW Paul Tucker & Paul Allor Issue three out now Claire Napier: I’ve complained before about my inability to find graphic crime fiction that satisfies me on the same levels as my favoured crime prose. Well, I can shut up now. Tet is that book. I’ve known Paul Allor for a while; we’re acquainted on…