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…
Hey, Be A Buddy & Don’t Do That: The Surprise Dick Pic
Dudes, a tip (pun definitely intended): It is exceedingly unlikely that someone will enjoy a surprise picture of your penis. It is a rarity that one hears their phone buzz, picks it up, sees a photo of just some junk (usually not even artfully staged—give me a decorative fern, a pedestal, a velvet curtain!), and…
(Before GamerGate Was Called GamerGate) My Ex Broke My Heart (and Also She’s a Vampire So Let’s Form a Mob)
Okay! Personal vs Institutional. The difference between hurting someone personally, and hurting them institutionally. This is an important aspect of interpersonal relations which is hard to begin to understand, but if you try…! It actually becomes fairly easy. It’s a matter of practice. Let’s start immediately.
Fail Better: Trigger Warnings — Use Them, Believe in Them
Trigger Warning: This post discusses sexual abuse, depression, and state violence. When I was younger and a much bigger asshole than I am now, I used to scratch my head at trigger warnings. I don’t now. It’s not a complicated issue — be kind, use trigger warnings; no downside.
Ghost in the Shell: The Major’s Body (4)
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 don’t…