Harley Quinn has gone through a bit of an identity crisis throughout her years in DC. Since her animated debut, Harley has gone from the sidekick and girlfriend of Joker to her own full-on character, ranging from animated series to comics, video games, and a guest spot in the TV series Arrow–and now she’s on…
Sequential Sartorial: Superhero Beat! Off the Rack, On the Highstreet
A lot of the recent conversations surrounding what could be considered fashion in comics has been in reference to superhero uniforms. Now, we know that everyone’s new uniforms are rad. But what’s even radder is that some of the components that make up these costumes, as well as our favourite heroes’ civilian clothes, are based…
Sequential Sartorial + Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai: Nakahara Aya’s Please Love Useless Me
If you loved Bitch Planet for reasons that seem obvious but also, more deeply, for reasons you’re not quite sure of, I have a mission for you. I want you to go to a manga scanlation site (Mangahere, Mangafox, MangaReader…) and type “josei” in the search box. Then, follow your nose to the art you like…
Sequential Sartorial: Why Does Fashion Matter In Comics?
Costuming is important in art. Clothing is more immediately communicative than body language, and art communicates. For example, Lana Del Rey’s video for her 2012 release “National Anthem.” It’s all Jackie & JFK pastiche. Towards the very end, there’s that last ride recreated, and Jackie/Lana has on the pink suit. WRONG. She wears goldenrod. Her hat…
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…
10 Years of WWAC
Today is a pretty auspicious day, what with it being the 10th anniversary of WWAC. As we look back at where it all began, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. Over 300 contributors have shared their passion for comics through WWAC and we are grateful to all of them and especially proud to…
Triangulating Looks: Fashion, Beauty, & Style in Comics
Editor’s note: Sequential Sartorial was a column about the use of personal style to express character and context in comic book narratives. It was one I felt strongly about, but wasn’t one I managed to keep up. It was too easy to go negative, and too time-intensive to find really great examples of really communicative comic…
Weekend Review
I’ve been doing these weekend reviews for a few weeks now, and I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every time I write “On Monday…” I think of one of my favourite childhood books, The Tawny Scrawny Lion, written by Kathryn Jackson and illustrated by Gustav Tenggren. Little Golden Books were my everything…