Recently, I noticed a new hashtag pop up on my Twitter feed: #DiversifyTabletop. I took notice because I’ve seen a couple of attempts to make lists of tabletop games made by women, PoC, and members of the LGBTQ community. The assumption is that these type of creators are not as visible as the traditional straight…
Starfish Comic And Gaming Expo: A Con for Special Needs Adult Geeks
As a member of the Texas Creative Community, I get to meet and hear about a lot of awesome and inspiring projects and plans from a variety of creative folk, most of whom identify as geeks. I recently learned about the Starfish Comic and Gaming Expo, a con for special needs adults, from creative geek Walter…
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…
Tales of the Captain Duke Author Rebecca Diem Talks Steampunk, Writing, and the Joys of Airships
My behind-the-scenes job at this year’s Fan Expo Canada didn’t leave me much time to visit the show floor, but in a fortuitous moment, someone from the show floor happened to drop by. This is how I met steampunk aficionado and writer Rebecca Diem and soon after that Clara and the Captain Duke with whom…
Join The Babysitter’s Club: A Review of Kristy’s Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin
The Babysitter’s Club #1: Kristy’s Great Idea Raina Telgemeier/Ann M. Martin Scholastic I, like many other young girls growing up in North America in the late 1990s, identified with a member of the Babysitters Club. Kristy, Mary Ann, Claudia, Stacey, and the rest of the Club were some of the first contemporary literary heroines I…
Screen Daze: Religious Webcomics to Binge On
September is a busy month for Jews. It’s our New Year (l’Shana Tovah!), we go through some redemption, we pray and chant and eat. So religion’s on my mind a bit and I started looking around for religious webcomics as a result. Readers, have any suggestions for me?
Incredible Indie Tuesday: Ignatz & Ron Wimberly Being Amazing Per Usual
The big news of the week is, of course, the winners of the Ignatz Awards that were announced at Small Press Expo (SPX) over the past weekend. All women winners too! What strikes me look at the awards list is how diverse all the winning works are; sure, they were all created by women but…
Feminism Gets Real: An Interview with Kelly Jensen
Call it the power of social media: every day, advocates of diversity, feminism, and intersectionality find their people on networks like Twitter. Librarian and editor Kelly Jensen is just one of the people who have not only found a community on social media, but also created a way to keep those conversations going. She is…
Sex, Drugs, and Being Whole : Welcome to the World of Gangsta
It’s hard being an older fan of manga and anime. Think about the most popular titles: Naruto, Attack on Titan, and Noragami. Do you notice a pattern? About their protagonists maybe? That’s right. They’re teenagers. Even up-and-coming Tokyo Ghoul features young college students. That’s nice and all, but what about those of us who are…
TIFF 2015: Megan and Ardo Go to the Movies
This year the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) celebrated its 40th anniversary! Megan and Ardo look at how the festival has aged while contemplating regrets, past loves, and this year’s worthwhile movie moments. TIFF is middle-aged. Do you think it’s showing its age or better than ever? Ardo Omer: I haven’t been down at the festival as…
The Gaming Show (In My Parent’s Garage)
My ten-year-old daughter loves Minecraft. Like. Looooves Minecraft. She talks about it. All. The. Time. Someone might say that now I ought to know how people feel when I talk about BioWare games all the time, but pfft. Don’t be silly. Everyone loves BioWare. Well, even if I don’t enjoy the incessant Minecraft chatter, as a…
Mighty Marvel Monday: #BiWeek Edition!
It’s Mighty Marvel Monday! It’s also Bisexual Awareness Week (#biweek), and in honor of that, and the fact that other than a Doctor Strange casting confirmation and some Luke Cage casting confirmations Marvel news is pretty quiet, I’m taking the opportunity to revisit a few of Marvel’s bisexual characters (though not all, so to see more…