Well, this week started out pretty slow but that all changed yesterday. In a shocking move, it was announced that Vertigo was restructuring and, as part of that restructuring, celebrated long time editor and Vertigo vice president, Shelly Bond, was being let go from the company due to her “position being eliminated”. The timing of…
Build Your Own Mountain: A Conversation with a DIY Comics Writer-Publisher
Review copies are nice, but review copies that you’d be excited to buy are better. Zachary Clemente sent me two comics that he self-published, with Arielle Soutar on lettering, and Kelsi Ricks (Remnants) and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz (Immolation) putting image to page. I wanted to know more about the connections between these two books, and, lucky…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: Let’s Talk About Zines
I’ve been thinking a lot about zines lately. For centuries people have published and distributed their writings to tell stories, share ideas, and build relationships. And as far as independent comics go, these self-published booklets are about as indie as you can get. But one of the drawbacks of underground communities is that they can…
The Unbearable Whiteness of Being (in Comics Academia)
June 2015. The run-up to my first conference abroad as an official comics scholar — and I don’t want to go. I’m panic-crying after reading a chain of emails which, on the face of it, have little to do with me. Short background: we were supposed to have a panel on Charlie Hebdo. A month before…
Three Women Having Sex On A Boat: Ghost in the Shell’s Sex Scene
This one's porny! Look away, kids and workers! That mythic cyber sex scene. Motoko Kusanagi getting down with her girls. I've written about the scene in context before, but let's concentrate on the gang bang alone. You wanna see it? Here it is: What stands out more? The luxurious use of oils or the intense nerdery...
Rurouni Kenshin vs Inuyasha: How to Do a Love Triangle Right
Love triangles, a trope that appears in most media as a convenient plot device to create drama within a story, as a narrative device aren’t inherently bad. They’re like near any other narrative device. The effectiveness of the device can change depending on the creator and how the device is used. The love triangle as…
Shinbun Saturday: Japanese Publisher Kadokawa Moves into the North American Market
Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of Shinbun Saturday, your weekly round-up of the latest news in the manga world. I could talk about the biggest headlines, which deal with the most recent round of Hollywood whitewashing but ugh, speaking as an Asian woman, I’m so tired of talking about it. It happens again and…
DC Daily Planet: Young Animal! Challenges! ECCC!
And we’re back after an accidental week off thanks to some planning miscalculations on my part. This past weekend was Emerald City Comic Con and while the DC news outpouring was pretty light compared to Wondercon, there’s still a pretty decent list of things to be covered. Let’s jump right in. Young Animal, a new…
A Good Name Will Shine Forever: All-New Wolverine, Sisters Arc Review
In an interview given before All-New Wolverine was released, writer Tom Taylor said that, “if we’ve done our job right, all of our readers will be just as lost.” So to make sure everyone isn’t totally lost, let’s do a quick, simple review of who Laura Kinney – known as X-23, and the new Wolverine….
Urban Legends with the Crystal Gems: Review of Steven Universe #1
Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems #1 Josceline Fenton (writer), Chrystin Garland (illustrator), Leigh Luna (colorist), Jim Campbell (letters), Kat Leyh (cover) Kaboom! March 16, 2016 Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher, and this review contains spoilers. In Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems, Steven treats the Gems to…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: Exciting News from Image Expo!
Last Wednesday in Seattle, Image Comics held the 6th Image Expo, an all-day event for creators to meet with press, retailers and fans. But it’s not your typical convention: there are no vendors and panels focus primarily on discussing upcoming releases with writers, artists and other team members. The convention began with publisher Eric Stephenson’s inspiring…
Mighty Marvel Monday: Why Ta-Nehisi Coates Gives Me Hope for Comics
There’s been a few awesome announcements this week around Marvel, but all anyone is talking about is Black Panther #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Selfreeze, so it probably isn’t a surprise that I’m going to write about it too. This isn’t a review of the comic so much as it is an encomium of…
