There’s a temptation, when a marginalized group is getting representation for the first time, to say nothing but good things. Those who are critical are accused of not being supportive or overly critical (as we recently saw with Albert Ching’s piece on why he doesn’t want an Asian-American Danny Rand.) But when it comes to…
Picture This: The Tree House by Marije and Robert Tolman
The Tree House (first published by Lemniscaat, Belgium, in 2009) is a wordless picture book created by the father-daughter team of Marije and Ronald Tolman. It depicts a couple of bears (and many other animals) hanging out in a treehouse that starts out in the ocean and ends up on dry land. The blurb on the…
In Defense of Dick Grayson: Objectification, Sexuality, and Subtext
I’ve gotta be honest with you all—Dick Grayson is my favorite comic book character. Cards on the table for this one: I’ve loved him since I was in high school and though our relationship has been a little bit rocky in the past, I always come back to him. So romantic, right? I know! Now this…
Comics Academe: How To Write a Comics Dissertation
Out there, somewhere, is a woman who writes about comics who wants to turn that writing to a comics dissertation or thesis, or at least I sure hope there is! The field is wide open and ready for more. For the uninitiated, a dissertation or thesis is the long essay or project that serves as…
Ghost World is Ghostly
Ghost World has a backdrop of death. The characters are surrounded by the ghosts of people and places that have passed on and changed. Enid and Becky do their best to ignore the fact that we’re all going to die. The visual representations of death begin with the copyright page. Slightly younger versions of Enid…
Why I Game: We Are Not Alone
Like a lot of young introverts, as a kid I struggled making lasting friendships. I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. Through times of significant change in adolescence, I was still having a hard time finding “my place” in the world. I declined invitations to parties and events because they made…
More than Reading Level: The Struggle with Reluctant Readers
As a youth services librarian, I spend a large amount of time trying to turn teenagers into library users. Throughout my education and professional development, I’ve sat through lectures and webinars on engaging reluctant readers, generally defined as students K-12 who are uninterested in reading, particularly leisure reading. There are reading materials specialized to captivate…
On Shipping: What’s Disney’s, What’s Yours, and What’s Mine
We never expect our ships to become canon. That’s the first thing you need to know. Wait, no. Let me start that again. As a result of creating a new world where there wasn’t one before, we have created our own language for this. We had to. The rest of the world gave us nothing….
Fail Better: Employee Awards I Would Prefer to Receive
It’s that time of year which means businesses are probably throwing holiday parties and handing out awards for “Outstanding Performance” or similar categories. If you’re lucky, the holiday party is during business hours, but your place of business could also be one of those asshats who schedule these parties outside of work hours — as…
That Pryde Thing: Finding Myself In Jewish Superheroes
I don’t look Jewish. Somewhere during the formation of my DNA, most of my father’s darker features were thrown out in favor of my mother’s Irish coloring, giving me blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nose that doesn’t quite dominate my profile. This fact, while interesting, isn’t that remarkable. Jewish people exist all over the…
Mental Illness and Strong Black Women in The Walking Dead
This summer I came up with an interesting idea, or at least I thought it would be interesting, to write about how the women of Walking Dead subverted the strong, black woman trope. I started my research, took notes, and gathered my images. Then I stopped. What happened? Well, a series of unfortunate real life events…
Mom N’ Popculture: A Parent’s View on Her Kid’s Anxiety
In my close circle of friends and family there are at least four adults who take anti-anxiety medication for various reasons on a daily basis. And those are the ones who are willing to talk about it. Many people still fear judgment for needing medication to deal with anxiety related issues. I believe this is…
