Swords of Sorrow: Vampirella & Jennifer Blood #4 Nancy Collins (Writer), David Acosta (Artist), Valentina Pinto (Colorist), Erica Schultz (Letterer) Dynamite August 19, 2015 Birdi and Kate take issue with Swords of Sorrow: Vampirella & Jennifer Blood #4, which is really no surprise, considering they’ve had problems with the entire run. As a final review, they’ve organized their critique in…
This Week in WWAC History: Superman Violence, Moomin Merch, Mansplaining, Apocalypse Fiction, Comics in Education
Archives! Archives! Archives! Once again we’re here to guide you toward some awesome articles from the WWAC past…
Canadian Scifi You Should Be Watching (Or Didn’t Realize You Already Were)
Canada is jokingly referred to as Hollywood North for a reason. When your heroes head to outer space, race through an alien forest, or gaze across a vast ocean skyline, you’re actually looking at Vancouver. Wide open spaces? Probably Alberta. Detroit, New York, Chicago? Nope. That’s Toronto. Sometimes, the film crews will make the extra…
The Local: The Creative Women’s Conference
When it comes to many conventions and conferences—even really great ones—there is often something missing: women. Creative women are often relegated to “Women in Comics” panels and left off of the main stage. The founder of the Creative Women’s Conference, David Doub, recently gave a wonderful breakdown of the problem in an article for BleedingCool. The…
DC Daily Planet: Remembering Batman and Batgirl
Two instances of very sad news mar this weeks DC Daily Planet, the passing of Leonard Robinson (who most will recognize as the Baltimore Batman), and Yvonne Craig who played Batgirl on the original Batman television show alongside Adam West. Robinson’s passing due to an unfortunate car accident came as a tragic shock. He was famous…
Shinbun Saturday: Reflections on History in Manga
Manga artist’s rendition of war experiences on exhibit Shigeru Mizuki’s manga Soin Gyokusai Seyo! (Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths) and Rabaul Senki (Memories of Rabaul) explored the experience of war through semi-fictional characters, but a recent exhibit at Chofu City Culture Hall brings his personal memories of World War II to a new audience. Mizuki’s work is placed in…
Not Just Your Princess: Zelda’s Character Design
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always thought Princess Zelda was the coolest thing. But when everyone around me started to play The Legend of Zelda, I thought I was too uncool to play it myself. I learned a little history about her, discovered the badassery of this beautiful Hyrulian lady, and wanted to learn more…
One Size Does Not Fit All: Choose Your Own Organization
When people think of organization, they tend to think one of two things: A.) I must clean my room/apartment/house stat! Or B.) I have this massive project, I need to break it up into smaller chunks!
Shoujo Stereotypes?! Nakamura’s Skip Beat! and Subversion
(Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for Skip Beat!) Shoujo manga—or manga produced for girls—is often dismissed by casual readers as manga brimming with stereotypes. In fact, oftentimes shoujo stories are not taken seriously solely because they are aimed at young girls. Despite the popularity of serious manga like Fruits Basket and Boys Over Flowers,…
Review: Marvel Anthologizes Romance in Secret Wars: Secret Love
Secret Wars: Secret Love #1 Various. David Nakayama (cover), Pasqual Campion (variant cover) Marvel August 19, 2015 Marvel has released a number of tie-in titles for its Secret Wars event this summer. The structure of the event has allowed for a number of spin-off titles with reimagined domains unlike any we’ve seen before, including books…
On Queer Deadpool and Bisexual Erasure in Comics
In my recent essay about the importance of a queer Hercules, I mentioned pushback against a queer Deadpool. My bisexual spider-sense was bisexually tingling. Last Friday night, Deadpool’s co-creator FabNic carefully explained that he never intended Deadpool to be queer-queer–his interest in men and non-binary people is a result of overactive cell growth in…
The Thursday Book Beat: Gondor Calls for Aid to Bring Minas Tirith Forth from Middle-earth
Amazon takes a hit from New York Times piece on its employees’ work conditions Is anyone really that surprised? The multimillion-dollar corporation has made a name for itself through tough negotiations with publishers, all in the name of “customer service.” Journalists at the Times spoke with former and current white-collar employees, many of whom described…