One of my favorite things about the clamor of excitement surrounding any new comic-related movie is that every time a new film is released, more and more of my friends get interested in reading the comics a movie is based on. Captain America: Civil War is no exception to this, and Marvel’s first Civil War…
Shinbun Saturday: Humble Bundle Offers a Deal on Digital Manga
Welcome to the latest edition of Shinbun Saturday! I hope the weather where you live is much better than the weather where I’m at. I think I haven’t seen the sun in over a week. Isn’t April supposed to be the month of rain? To kick off this week’s manga news roundup, Kodansha USA has…
Comic Cons, Comic Books, and a Library Magazine: Anne Drozd on the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival, Pulp, and a Mystery Comic
In the past few years, Anne Drozd and her husband Jerzy Drozd have produced a boatload of comic events: Comic books, podcasts, conventions, cartoonist instruction for kids/teens/adults, school workshops, library events, Nerd Nites, tiny expos, big expos; these two do it all. I was thrilled that Anne was able to take the time to answer…
Burnside or Elsewhere, We Need a Bi Batgirl!
We need a bi Batgirl? I don’t mean that; it’s too specific, but that alliteration was impossible not to use. What we need is a queer heroine, and not just any sort of heroine. She needs to be different.
DC Daily Planet: Countdown to Rebirth
It’s official. We are 3 weeks out from the start of Rebirth, the event that has given me an essentially nonstop tension headache since, like, February. I’ve been a lot of things about Rebirth since it’s announcement, both here and on social media — anxious, angry, hopeful, deeply stressed, excited — but now, as it…
Carve Your Name in the Rockface: Arielle Soutar’s Art of Lettering
When I spoke to Zach Clemente about his Mountain cycle comics, he had plenty to say about his steady collaborator, Arielle Soutar. Clemente and Soutar have collaborated with a different cartoonist on each book, but she has provided the typography and logo work for all ClementeWorks scripts. And they’ve known each other since school! I wanted to…
Colorist on Color: Interview with Megan Wilson
Hello, and welcome to another interview! This time I had the pleasure to chat with Megan Wilson. You know her work from Hellcat, Then Emily Was Gone, and lots of covers with Nick Pitarra. She’s a real kick in the boot. You can follow her on Twitter @MeganEngiNerd or peep her great Instagram.
Kate and Gin’s ’90s Nostalgia Roadtrip: Xena #1
Xena: Warrior Princess #1 Genevieve Valentine (writer), Ariel Medel (artist), Nanjan Jamberi (colorist), Rob Steen (letterer), Jenny Frison (cover artist) Dynamite April 13, 2016
2014 Hugos Versus 2015 Sad Puppies: What Could Have Been, Part 1
The finalists for the 2016 Hugo Awards were announced on 26 April, and what a sight they are. The ballot is dominated almost entirely by Vox Day’s picks for his Rabid Puppies slate, and so honours the likes of “If You Were an Award, My Love,” Space Raptor Butt Invasion and the (NSFW) art of Kukuruyo….
Incredible Indie Tuesday: We Have This Conversation Every Year
Sorry about the disappearance last week! I know I missed a biggie: the announcement of the Eisner nominations. The up side of my absence is that it gave me a lot of time to think about how webcomics fit into the Eisners as a whole. And plenty of time for me to have the same argument I…
Udon a Bad Thing: Frank Cho, Anuses, and Visual Impact
Much like many other areas of culture, monthly direct-market comic books are an industry, a scene, which is largely hostile to women even now, a place where harm is produced and reproduced, and objections are seen as shrill lies told for cheap thrills. I know it’s dull, but let’s talk about Frank Cho.
Fainted When She Saw My Body: Social Construction of Monstrousness in Saga
What is a monster? The easy answer is an “unnatural” being—your zombies, ghosts, or vampires. Stories from Frankenstein to The Walking Dead showcase the idea that humans can become monstrous through action, perhaps even more monstrous than the undead. Critics like David J. Skal and Stephen King argue that fictional monsters are metaphors, vehicles to…
