To those of you in the U.S. and Canada, happy Labo(u)r Day! Given this weekend’s traditional status of being a long one, several cons happened this weekend, and you can expect some coverage regarding them across the site. To those of you outside of the U.S. and Canada, happy…Monday.
It’s been a good week for inclusivity in comics! First, Pakistan has announced the launch of its first female-led superhero book, Pakistan Girl. Created by Hassan Siddiqui, Pakistan Girl is explicitly intended to be a role model for young girls throughout the country, to spread the message that it’s okay for girls to be strong, opinionated, and unafraid to speak out. Hopefully it inspires a trend that continues!
Then, in his ongoing quest to reclaim his intellectual property from the hands of bigots, comics creator Matt Furie has won a copyright infringement suit against Eric Hauser, who used Furie’s creation, Pepe the Frog, in an alt-right, anti-islamophobic children’s book. Rather than accept payment as a result of the suit, Furie has stipulated that Hauser cease all sale of the book and donate the proceeds–a mere $1,521.54–to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
DC Comics brought back the past in more ways than one this week! Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns shared a cover for the upcoming event comic Doomsday Clock, featuring a close up shot of Watchmen anti-hero Rorschach. The book is a follow up to The Button, a four-issue crossover story between Batman and The Flash, that introduced the Watchmen characters to the greater DC Universe, and in another…bizarre nod to comics’ past, features that great 90s artifact, a lenticular cover, showing Rorschach’s famous mask, apparently straight out of Watchmen, morphing into the respective symbols of DC Comics’ Trinity. Well, okay.
Also on Twitter, former Black Canary scribe Brenden Fletcher did a little revisiting the past himself, when he announced and then released a second EP of music meant to accompany that book, a full year after the book itself was canceled. Like the first, this three-song collection is performed in-character, intended to be the actual music performed by Dinah Lance and her band within the context of the comic. Both EPs are available to stream for free on Bandcamp, where you can also purchase your own copies, if you like. WWAC’s own Insha Fitzpatrick covered the first EP’s release here.
