“Watch Steven Universe,” they said. “It’ll be fun,” they said. Alright, I’m joking, but Steven Universe certainly is unique in how it handles serious and pertinent topics such as queerness, characters who are coded as people of color (POC), and characters living with mental illness. The show’s depiction of mental healthcare in particular isn’t just…
“Dark Phoenix” Movie: A Case of Nepotism Over Character
There have been a lot of rumours that the sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse might be a Dark Phoenix story, and in late April, Entertainment Weekly confirmed on everyone’s speculations. X-Men: Dark Phoenix will release worldwide on November 2, 2018, after New Mutants (April 13) and Deadpool 2 (June 1). 2018 will truly be the year of the mutants. As even a…
Return To Sender: The Problematic Back and Forth of XO, OX
When I saw that Adam Rex had written a new picture book and Scott Campbell had illustrated it, I nearly jumped for joy. XO, OX: A Love Story is about a hapless Ox who exchanges confused letters with a diva Gazelle. Early reviews were positive, describing the book as a rib-tickling tale of opposites attracting, tender enough…
Lady Pendragon: What You Want to Know About Matt Hawkins’ Guinevere
Another in our series examining the women of Image Comics’ first decade — this time, Top Cow’s Lady Pendragon. “We all were sorta young and brash and thought [the heyday of Image] was gonna last forever, and… it didn’t. And so, the fall was kinda hard? And dealing with that — Extreme Studios went out of business, and then…
5 Reasons Why You Should Be Watching Skam!
Skam? What, like a scam, or a con? No, I’m talking about Skam, the Norwegian teen drama created by Julie Andem that has catapulted into stunning international success in recent months. With the first season NRK’s Skam released in 2015 and the show currently headed into its fourth season, Skam (which means shame in English)…
Ramona Blue: A Sweet Novel about Sexual Fluidity
Ramona Blue Julie Murphy Balzer & Bray/Harperteen May 9, 2017 HarperCollins provided a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have to begin with a confession of bias. I read Julie Murphy’s novel Dumplin’ last year, and I trust her as an author. The synopsis of Ramona Blue dredges up ghosts…
MST3K “2” is No Electric Boogaloo
For a puppet show born on a Minnesotan UHF channel nearly 30 years ago, Mystery Science Theater 3000 has enjoyed remarkable longevity. Two decades after it ended its original ten-season run, the show has grown from cult classic to genuine pop culture phenomenon; the end credits encouraged viewers to “keep circulating the tapes,” and now…
13 Amazing Women Who’ve Been Making Comics for Longer Than the Internet Would Have You Believe
In this day and age it’s likely that you’ll read a lot of articles about women who make comics. They’ll focus on great new titles like Monstress, Saga and Bitch Planet. Maybe they’ll even mention a book like Moon Knight, which features the incredible colours of Jordie Bellaire. Though it’s wonderful that these books are getting…
Idle Animations: Visiting the Rat Shrine
Idle Animations is a recurring series in which I play games without playing them, exploring quiet, still moments, how games fill space and time, and what happens when you let a game play itself.
Triangulating Looks: Fashion, Beauty, & Style in Comics
Editor’s note: Sequential Sartorial was a column about the use of personal style to express character and context in comic book narratives. It was one I felt strongly about, but wasn’t one I managed to keep up. It was too easy to go negative, and too time-intensive to find really great examples of really communicative comic…
Book Beat: Amazon Opens First Store & Everything, Everything Gets Mixed Reviews
Hi book lovers! Ashley here! My friend Stephanie has been holding down the fort as it was a very busy work period for me. I finished Big Little Lies and surprisingly found that I kind of liked the HBO adaption better. I had to move this week and my friend Chelsea helped me and admonished…
Who Would’ve Thought Zines Are So Personal? Reflections and Reviews from Chicago Zine Fest 2017
It would be unfair to write another piece about Chicago Zine Fest (CZF) without admitting bias. I don’t go to a ton of shows because navigating big crowds wears me out very quickly, and while I love meeting creators, I also get nervous and can turn into an awkward mess. However, CZF – and perhaps…