Are you ready for some TANK GIIIIIRL? Many of you may have been born ready. Many of you may know her of old. But if you’re new? No probs. That just means you’re lucky, cos the tank’s full (of comics), and the night is long. Tank Girl is a girl—a woman, in my reading, but…
You Wanted a Movement? #StopGamerGate2014
Yesterday afternoon, Utah State University was sent anonymous threats of violence. “Feminists have ruined my life,” the man claimed. He would shoot up the university, targeting women, especially feminists, if Anita Sarkeesian was allowed to give a planned talk on sexism in video games. The talk was cancelled. To be clear: I didn't cancel my USU…
Products Over People: What GamerGate Gets Wrong
When I was ten and my brother twelve, we got Sunday morning paper routes. He used his money to buy gaming consoles; I used mine to buy comics. He stayed up late most nights gaming, and most mornings he’d be dead to the world in compensation. I was stuck delivering his share of the papers so often (thanks, bud!)…
Remember Swimsuit Issues? I Miss Those
When Marvel presented its Milo Manara variant cover to Spiderwoman #1, the internet exploded with people condemning both Marvel and the artist for the unnecessary sexualization of the character. The defenders of Manara’s work argue that you can find similar poses at a yoga studio or complain that male superheroes are sexualized, too. Some of…
Why PANELS Will Be Good for Comics Journalism and Comics Readers
BookRiot launched a companion site dedicated to comics called Panels. I cursed. I vowed revenge. More competition? Fucking great. But while I was annoyed on a personal (financial) level to see another big, general interest, comics site sprout up, I was also pleased as punch on a professional level. More competition? Fucking great!
Sequential Sartorial: The Wardrobe of Colleen Wing
Sequential Sartorial! It’s gonna be a new thing! Talking about costume design in comics: GOOD costume design. This week: Colleen Wing, 2006. First things first: does anybody want my copy of Daughters of the Dragon, trade number one (“Samurai Bullets”)? Pay the postage and it’s yours. I don’t need it in my house; it’s a…
Trigger Warning: Fantasy vs Reality
I hate the dark. As in full-on shaking, bones trembling, sweat-breaking-out-along-the-nape-of-my-neck fear. It’s a strange thing to admit to people because being afraid of the dark is something children fear. Being afraid of the dark is something people associate with weakness and immaturity. So no one thinks twice when they turn the lights out on…
Ghost in the Shell: The Major’s Body (8)
The Major, or Motoko Kusanagi, is the protagonist of each incarnation of the Ghost in the Shell manga-anime-merchadise franchise. If you care to google, “Motoko Kusanagi is“ autocompletes to “a man” and “is hot,” then “in bed with a boy” and “in bed.” For a science-fiction philosophy character named for her military position, we (the audience — although I…
Ghost in the Shell the Live: Our Fancasting
I hate the idea of a liveaction Ghost in the Shell! It has no business being live or using human actors; it’s about augmented bodies of the future. They don’t exist yet, so they can’t be filmed — and if they did the concept art would have to push things further. It’s science fiction. Centre of…
“Oh Japan”: Let’s Talk About Criminalising Anime
ITS DEAD NASTY BUT ITS LEGAL, DO YOU GET IT??? When I’d read Chobits in the Upper Sixth common room, my friends would call it “your porno”. I was like “uuh, NO”, because I was committed to being more beatnik than thou and knowing that, scoff, obviously not all (or even most or even nearly most or…
Ladies Only: the Problem with Gender & Diversity Focused Panels
It’s time to change the way we do panels at conventions. Right now women, LGBTQ, and people of color are invited to speak on panels such as: GMing as Women Gaming as Other Diversity in Gaming Race in the Gaming Industry Queer as a Three-Sided Die I love the titles of these panels. They’re fun, badass,…
Dear Milo Manara…
Dear Mr. Manara, You remember the Spider-Woman variant cover you drew that’s being discussed all over Twitter and the news sites, right? No? Here’s a refresher: This is the solo Spider-Woman comic that Marvel announced at the Women Of Marvel Panel at San Diego Comic Con and Marvel has been pushing female led titles lately to reflect their growing female audience. It’s…
