Seconds Bryan Lee O’Malley Ballantine Books Katie Clay is getting it together. The protagonist of Seconds, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s highly-anticipated follow-up to the Scott Pilgrim series, Katie by all appearances has her life in order. A twenty-something with red, spiky Sonic the Hedgehog hair, she’s the executive chef at Seconds, a cozy and popular little…
Comixology adds over 4,000 comics and graphics novels to their DRM-free library
Comixology announced the second wave of publishers participating in their DRM-free library. The DRM-free backup feature was announced earlier this year during the Comixology panel at San Diego Comic Con, with a first round of publishers Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope Entertainment, MonkeyBrain Comics, Thrillbent, and Top Shelf Productions. Comixology also gave the option to…
The Thursday Book Beat: Libraries Aren’t Happy with OverDrive
Libraries Aren’t Happy with OverDrive Oh, OverDrive. OverDrive is planning on enacting a change that will require new users to create an OverDrive account rather than use their library card. The ReadersFirst coalition of libraries has written a letter to OverDrive CEO Steve Potash protesting the change. Stressing that “libraries, not the vendors we pay,” should own the…
Sailor Twain and the Misty Medium
“Art is a fight to the finish between black charcoal and white paper.”—Gunter Grass Most artists know that if they are drawing with charcoal, they might as well throw themselves down an old Victorian era chimney. While it’s a forgiving medium in the sense that even non-artists can achieve a level of mediocrity with charcoal,…
Bendis’ Powers a Sony PlayStation Exclusive Series
Powers has been in development as a television series for several years, but it appears that when it finally debuts in December, it will only be on the screens of subscribers to the PlayStation Network. Based on the long-running comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the series stars Sharlto Copley…
The Best at Being You: Mental Health, Self-Image, and X-Force
In my grand tradition of waiting much too long to read good comics, I didn’t read the new X-Force by Si Spurrier and Rock-He Kim until late last month. It’s ridiculously enjoyable, with a cast that features a non-fetishized Psylocke, strong representation of LGBTQ people, and deeply flawed characters. The members of X-Force are hot-tempered,…
Con Diaries: Small Press Expo 2014
Small Press Expo, held on Sept. 13-14 in Bethesda, Maryland, is the convention for independent and self-published comics on the East Coast. This was only my second time at SPX (accompanied by buddy and WWAC guest contributor Rebecca Heneley) but it’s already one of my favorite events of the year. Here are some highlights from…
Get Your Game On Wednesday
With #GamerGate filling up the news feeds, it’s time to take a step back and see what else you missed this past week in games.
Quick Change: Keeping up with Velocity
It is eight o’clock in the morning, your fellow geek calls you up and announces a last-minute con she has decided to attend. Obviously, you have to go with her, but what to wear? It is now time to perform your own superhuman feat and put together an acceptable geek outfit from easily found items….
Giller Prize Longlist revealed!
This morning at McGill University, the twelve titles making up the 2014 Giller Prize Longlist were revealed. The Scotiabank Giller Prize is well known as one of the top literary prizes in Canada. Previous winners include Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje and Mordecai Richler. In addition to the fame and prestigious, the award comes with…
Royal Shakespeare Company Shares the Bard with China
Tapping into an audience of over a billion people, the Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that they will be translating the complete works of William Shakespeare into Mandarin. Sajid Javid, Culture Secretary of Britain, and Chinese Vice-President Ma Kai made the announcement as part of an ongoing “economic and financial dialogue” between the two countries….
Moonie Musings: Revisiting the Sailor Moon Manga Volume 5
Fighting evil by moonlight? You’re not alone. Sailor Moon made history as one of the most popular shoujo (traditionally, manga and anime targeted towards a younger female audience) manga ever released, and 2014 is shaping up to be the year of the Senshi.