Stargazing Jen Wang (artist & writer), Lark Pien (colors) September 10, 2019 First Second Jen Wang, creator of The Prince and the Dressmaker and contributor to several Adventure Time: Fiona & Cake comics, draws from her own life in this personal exploration of identity through simple childhood pleasantries and a budding friendship.
Are You Listening? Is a Road Trip Through Wistful, Empty Roads
Are You Listening? Tillie Walden (artist & writer) August 7, 2019 First Second Content warning: This work contains references to sexual assault. “The guidebooks play deception; oceans are A property of mind. All maps are fiction, All travelers come to separate frontiers.” -Adrienne Rich, Itinerary When two young women face a chance encounter on the…
Cheshire Crossing Is Rightfully the Messy Fanfic It Knows It Is
Cheshire Crossing Andy Weir (writer), Sarah Andersen (illustrator), Alison George (colors) July 9, 2019 Ten Speed Press Time and time again, writers explore the what-if’s and rhetorical epilogues of iconic, fantastical worlds in classic literature. How did Alice’s experiences in Wonderland affect her? How does Dorothy Gale fare back in Kansas after leaving the wonderful…
Bluestockings’ Inaugural Queer + Trans Comics Fest 2019
Conventions and art shows tend to grow with success, but that growth can come at the cost of exponentially increasing competition in ways many of its exhibitors cannot keep up with. The number of attendees increase year by year, inevitably encouraging greater involvement with corporate interests. Cost-effectiveness becomes a question, as the commercialization and franchising…
Gou Tanabe’s At the Mountains of Madness May Enthrall, But Fails to Chill
H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Volume 1 Gou Tanabe (artist & writer) July 9, 2019 Dark Horse Manga Continuing the legacy that the Cthulu Mythos has left upon the literary world, Gou Tanabe adapts H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness in manga form. Tanabe adapts the work from a place…
Rick and Morty vs Dungeons & Dragons Rolls Out Something Surprisingly Insightful
Rick and Morty vs Dungeons & Dragons Troy Little (artist), Patrick Rothfuss (writer), Jim Zub (writer), March 12, 2019 Oni Press “The world’s greatest role-playing game. Reality’s most dysfunctional family. What could go wrong?”
Despite Being Its Influence, the Western Comics Industry Remains Silent on My Hero Academia
As the political and social climate feels more alarming day by day, it is not a coincidence that we have been living in a zeitgeist filled with the saturation of superheroes in our media for people to turn to for guidance. Although superheroes have been a prevalent norm in comics, the genre has recently found…
Cooking and Camaraderie: How Delicious in Dungeon Encourages Accessible Fantasy
Delightful and delectable as the food concocted in the series itself, Delicious in Dungeon is the introduction to fantasy we need in this current world of bleak media. As the series’ fifth volume receives its English release this May, the growing collection of titles featuring accessible, fantastical worlds to welcome new readers and participants alike…
Dragon Ball’s Timelessness Shows in Britney Spears’ Kids
A period of universal joy tends to descend upon the Internet collective when celebrities are discovered to be into the same nerdy things we are. Drake streaming that one time he played Fortnite. Michael B. Jordan defending his love of anime. And more recently (though it’s been ongoing), Britney Spears’ unwavering pride showing off her…