Diversity and Comics: Why Inclusion and Visibility Matter: The past year has witnessed the growth of more diverse faces on the pages of popular comic books and in feature films. Despite the impact of the unprecedented pandemic, the deaths and storming of the US Capitol Building, the inclusion of people of color, women, and persons…
REVIEW: The Dreams of Queer Utopia Will Inspire You to Dream
In a pandemic, in a time of unrest, in a world that constantly keeps marginalized people in crisis, how do we imagine an ideal future? How do we look past the obstacles immediately in front of us and consider a happy, queer world? How do we dream? Editor and cartoonist H-P Lehkonen decided to create…
ComicCon@Home – It’s Morphin’ Time! Power Rangers Meet Up
I’m not extremely well-versed with the Power Rangers universe—I remember the films from when I was a child, which I still quote extensively, but I didn’t get to see the shows growing up. I wasn’t sure whether a Power Rangers meet-up panel would make for meaningful content, but not only did this panel end up…
Last Week’s Episode: Birds and Cats and Pokemon, Oh my!
Or the extended headline: In Which We Have High Hopes for Birds of Prey, I Discuss the Cult Status of Cats, and See Grammy Nominees Drawn as Pokemon Trainers It’s the season. The season for new shows (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or Shrill anybody?), film festivals, and award shows. Here’s the scoop on what media…
Casting Call: Why a Mixed-Race Kate Bishop in Hawkeye Makes Sense
When I saw that Hailee Steinfield was the frontrunner to play Kate Bishop in Disney+’s Hawkeye, I messaged everyone I knew about it. Finally, someone like me was going to play an Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) hero: a mixed race Filipinx person who fell into the “ambiguously brown” category. While my excitement was not universal…
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #37: Disaster Strikes!
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #37 “Beyond the Grid” Walter Baiamonte (Colours), Marguerite Bennett (Writer), Simone Di Meo (Artist), Ed Dukeshire (Letters) BOOM! Studios 27 March, 2019 One would think finding an entire planet filled to the brim with Zeo Crystals would make the Power Rangers happy, but that is not to be. When the Solarix…
Learn to Be a Supportive Friend with The Breakaways!
The Breakaways Cathy G. Johnson (Writer and artist) and Kevin Czap (Colorist) First Second March 2019 Faith just started middle school, and on her very first day, she joined the soccer team—but not because she’s a confident go-getter. She maybe did it because Amanda, the pretty upperclassman who handed her the clipboard, is really cool…
Livewire #4: The Character Arc We’ve Been Waiting For
Livewire #4 Raúl Allén (artist), Vita Ayala (writer), Patricia Martín (artist), Saida Temofonte (letters) Valiant Comics 13 March, 2019 Amanda McKee, aka Livewire, is depowered and completely in Pan De Santos’ thrall. Her erstwhile ‘sibling’ and rival has become much stronger than when they were under the tutelage of Toyo Harada. But Pan is cocky,…
Book Beat: Rowling’s Retroactive Inclusion and The Emilia Report
Hello, readers! And welcome back to Book Beat, our weekly roundup of book news and literary curiosities. This week, I’ve got some Harry Potter frustrations and a report on gender bias.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #36: Hope in the Void
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #36 “Beyond the Grid” Walter Baiamonte (Colours), Marguerite Bennett (Writer), Alessandro Cappuccio (Artist), Ed Dukeshire (Letters), Simone Di Meo (Artist), Francesco Segala (Colours) “The New Adventures of Blue Senturion & Ninjor” Bachan (Artist), Jim Campbell (Letters), Ryan Ferrier (Writer), Jeremy Lawson (Colours) BOOM! Studios 27 February, 2019 The Void’s very own…
Super Sikh: Gorgeous Art, Great Story, A Fun New Hero
Super Sikh, Volume 1 Eileen Kaur Alden (Writer), Supreet Singh Manchanda (Writer), Amit Tayal (Artist) Rosarium Publishing 14 February, 2019 Deep Singh lives with his aunt and uncle, but they barely ever see him. With good reason: Deep’s day job is at an IT firm called IIIT, but in reality, he works for the UN…
Modern Fantasy: Escapist Fare with Excellent Worldbuilding
Modern Fantasy Rafer Roberts (Writer), Kristen Gudsnuk (Artist) Dark Horse Comics 9 January, 2019 Sage of the Riverlands has her head in the clouds. She craves adventure and some purpose for her life. Instead, she’s stuck in a boring data-entry job with unhelpful co-workers, thanks to a colossal mountain of student loan debt. This is…