In my recent essay about the importance of a queer Hercules, I mentioned pushback against a queer Deadpool. My bisexual spider-sense was bisexually tingling. Last Friday night, Deadpool’s co-creator FabNic carefully explained that he never intended Deadpool to be queer-queer–his interest in men and non-binary people is a result of overactive cell growth in…
The Thursday Book Beat: Gondor Calls for Aid to Bring Minas Tirith Forth from Middle-earth
Amazon takes a hit from New York Times piece on its employees’ work conditions Is anyone really that surprised? The multimillion-dollar corporation has made a name for itself through tough negotiations with publishers, all in the name of “customer service.” Journalists at the Times spoke with former and current white-collar employees, many of whom described…
“Feminist, Unruly, Cheerfully Monstrous”: Highlight on Dodie Bellamy
Mostly, Dodie Bellamy doesn’t care what you think of her writing. Or, that’s not quite right—she thinks that you should respect her writing for reasons that you’re maybe unused to respecting writing for. She wants you to question what is respectable in literature.
The Wicked + The Divine: “Fucking Tara” and the Fame Monster
On Autonomy, Available Bodies and Asking For It Spoiler Warning: This essay contains spoilers for The Wicked + The Divine #13.
Straight Outta Compton: What Is Reality?
“Silence is our enemy. Sound is our weapon.” – Janelle Monáe Going into Straight Outta Compton, I brought with me the soundtrack of my youth. I never possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop as a genre. It was all background noise. It was in the veins of those around me, and pulsating through the streets….
Inquisition Diaries #13: Descending into Disappointment
SPOILER WARNING: These diaries will contain spoilers for Dragon Age Inquisition (DAI) and its downloadable content (DLC), as well as its predecessors, Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) and Dragon Age II (DA2), and may also contain spoilers from the tie-in materials. If you’re new to this whole Dragon Age business and want to know what the hell…
2015 Ignatz Award Nominees
If the Eisner Awards are akin to the Academy Awards of the comics world, then the Ignatz Awards, presented at the annual Small Press Expo, is akin to the Sundance Film Festival. You’ll see some of the same professionals you see in mainstream comics (and many you haven’t…yet), but these projects are different. They’re innovative. Personal….
WWAC Warriors: Chronic Illness, Management, and Relief
My favorite thing in the world is chocolate cake. In fact, let me tell you my ideal meal, just to set the scene. It’s 6:30 pm, I’m wearing slacks and a short-sleeved button-up, loafers for comfort and style. The restaurant is nice, but not too nice that I can’t get reservations. Maybe there are candles…
Books that Shaped Me: Let the Right One In
In 2009, vampires were so in that everyone was sick of them, and I was a freshman in college. I was a defensive bandwagon-jumper, reading vampire novels incessantly while assuring everyone that I only read the good ones. A course on monsters across media increased my interest—and raised the bar of the quality of vampire…
The Flash’s Doctor Light Will Be A Lady
We pretty much knew that Wally West would be racebent since both Iris and Joe West have been but it was nice to see them cast Keiynan Lonsdale as our live action Wally. “We are a doing our special Flash magic where we take a comic book character and give it just a little bit of a…
Five Takes on Archie #2: Cars, Makeovers, and The New Girl in Town
Archie #2 Mark Waid (w), Fiona Staples (p), Andre Szymanowicz, and Jen Vaughn (c) Archie Comics August 19, 2015 Disclaimer: A digital copy of Archie #2 was provided by Archie Comics for review. Had enough Archie yet? Neither have we! Issue #2 sees Archie and Betty still recovering from their breakup. Archie looks for an…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: The Most Badass Woman in Comics Gets Award
Jailed Iranian Artistto Receive 2015 Courage in Cartooning Award Aetna Farghadani will be receiving the Cartoonist Rights Network International’s annual award for Courage in Cartooning, but will be unable to receive the award after receiving a 12-year prison sentence for publishing a cartoon protesting the Iranian government’s limits on birth control and women’s rights. Even…
