Content Warning: Discussions of sex, rape, and pedophilia. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the release of Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s Lost Girls—and all the controversy that came with it. Part an attempt to elevate pornography as a genre of storytelling, part a celebration of love and beauty in the face…
Book That Shaped Me: Great Expectations
I’m the reader and writer I am today because of Great Expectations, by which I mean, I’m the reader and writer I am today because I watched an episode from season one of South Park. Wait, what? Let me explain … As kids, most of us experience pop culture through adaptations, whether they’re the large-print…
It’s Time to Reconsider Fanfiction
For almost four years now, the popular YouTube gamer channel ScrewAttack! has hosted a show titled “Death Battle!” In each episode, two commentators (Ben Singer and Chad James) pick two characters from separate geek properties and glean the extent of their powers and abilities based on a particularly thorough combing of each character’s history and…
Short & Sweet: Small Press Expo Edition!
On September 19 and 20, the 21st annual Small Press Expo was held in Bethesda, Maryland. WWAC writers Kat Overland, Rebecca Henely, and Kayleigh Hearn attended and wrote about notable new comics from the convention. Read on!
Only the Broad Brushstrokes: A Review of “The Comic Book History of Comics”
The Comic Book History of Comics Fred Van Lente (w), Ryan Dunlavey (a) IDW Publishing June 7, 2012 Histories need narratives. As much as we prize objectivity, in presenting the story of “events that happened” the historian needs a storyline to put those events into a context and keep the reader engaged. In The Comic…
“It’s Me, Supergirl!” Revisiting Supergirl’s First Adventures
Amidst complaints in the wake of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson and SNL broke the Internet in early May with the release of a hilarious short, Black Widow: Age of Me. Making fun of both Marvel’s unwillingness to make a movie for its now most-visible heroine and the much maligned Widow/Hulk…
Avatar and Korra Co-Creators’ Separate Projects Tease New Worlds, Old Themes
Even though the animated series The Legend of Korra wrapped up in December, fans of the show and its predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender, were still surprised when creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino announced at a tribute art show in March that they would—at least temporarily—no longer be working as creative partners. There…
Smudged Alienation: Aisha Franz’s Earthling Reviewed
Earthling Aisha Franz (w, a), Helge Dascher (translator) Drawn & Quarterly November 4, 2014
LEAVE DAZZLER ALONE! A Closer Look at the Early Years of Marvel Comics’ Most “Infamous” Superheroine
Before writing this article, I decided to conduct an experiment. I plugged the words “Dazzler” and “worst superheroes” into Google. The search gave me about seven articles from publishers ranging from Cracked.com and Buzzfeed to The Guardian that took Alison Blaire to task for her converting-sound-into-light powers, her already-dated-when-it-was-made disco-inspired outfit or her overall superheroism….
Magical Girl Madness: Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Extra Story & Puella Magi Tart Magica Vol. 1
Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Extra Story & Puella Magi Tart Magica Vol. 1 Magica Quartet (w), Mura Kuroe (a, Oriko), Masugitsune/Kawazu-Ku (a, Tart) Yen Press March 24, 2015 (Oriko)/April 21, 2015 (Tart) Spoiler Warning for the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica When Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired in 2011 it was sold as a sweet,…
Review: Nemo: River of Ghosts
Nemo: River of Ghosts Alan Moore (W), Kevin O’Neill (A) Knockabout Comics & Top Shelf Comics March 25, 2015 Content Warning: Discussion of rape Janni Dakkar, the infamous “Pirate Jenny” and daughter of Captain Nemo, cut off the head of the long-lived sorceress Ayesha in Berlin decades ago. Yet sightings of the fearsome, goddess-like figure…
Queerness In Cartoons: The Legend of Korra Finale (2/2)
In part one of our roundtable, we discussed the season finale of The Legend of Korra. In this second part, our crack team of cartoon commentators will contextualize the episode by discussing the wider world of queer representation in cartoons and children’s media.
