Much like many other areas of culture, monthly direct-market comic books are an industry, a scene, which is largely hostile to women even now, a place where harm is produced and reproduced, and objections are seen as shrill lies told for cheap thrills. I know it’s dull, but let’s talk about Frank Cho.
DC Daily Planet: Still Gloomy
Before I start this week’s news post, I want to take some time to give a small update on last week’s situation as it’s unfolding right now. The conversation about Eddie Berganza that was ignited by Shelly Bond’s dismissal from Vertigo last week is still ongoing. More outlets and insights from various corners of the…
DC Daily Planet: Grey skies over Vertigo
Well, this week started out pretty slow but that all changed yesterday. In a shocking move, it was announced that Vertigo was restructuring and, as part of that restructuring, celebrated long time editor and Vertigo vice president, Shelly Bond, was being let go from the company due to her “position being eliminated”. The timing of…
Alison Rapp and Speech We Hate: Disentangling an Ugly Mess
When Alison Rapp was hired to work at Nintendo of America, her 2011 undergraduate honors thesis, Speech We Hate: An Argument for the Cessation of International Pressure on Japan to Strengthen Its Anti-Child Pornography Laws, had been publicly available in the Honors Review for more than a year. Then, as now, it was available freely for public, and certainly…
Diamonds in the Rough: Our Problematic Faves, Who Coincidentally, Are Women
WOMEN. We hate’em. Well, a lot of people hate’em. Us. Hate us. Okay, we don’t hate women. We are women. We love women! We love woman characters … whom other people hate. And we’ll defend them. Okay? Just listen.
DC Devotees and Making Mine Marvel: What Does Brand Loyalty Mean In Comics?
Are you “a Marvel fan?” Dedicated to DC? Do you have a loyalty to a different publisher or publishing brand? Does this whole idea perplex or enrage you? Where do you stand in terms of publisher loyalty? We’re thinking about it.
Women Who Shaped Me: An Interview with my Mom and Comic Artist Cynthia Martin
When I was 14, my mother began training me to drink coffee. She would warm up a mug that was mostly milk and put a little coffee in it. Over time we adjusted the ratios until I ditched the milk entirely, and I still drink my coffee black—just like her. I love telling this story to explain…
A Man Created My Goddess: Dawn and Me
I’m a pretty unabashed feminist. Even as a kid, I drifted towards statements of girl power before I understood the foundations working behind it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve continually worked on understanding the complexities of feminism and privilege, trying my best to confront my own privileges and learning how to be an intersectional feminist….
Navigating Jeanette Winterson’s The Gap of Time
The Gap of Time: a Novel Jeanette Winterson Hogarth, October 2015 The thing about submerging yourself into Jeanette Winterson’s prose is that you can’t just take the easy road through the story: Winterson demands active participation from her readers. She may cushion you with ethereal sentences and dazzling metaphors, but that doesn’t soften the landing…
WWAC Talks Self-Care and the Holidays
We started this month with Jamie’s Guide to Less Stressful Holidays, which was followed by Robin’s tips for fighting seasonal affective disorder. In this article, Desiree, Catie, Cathryn, Jamie, and Robin talk about the importance of self-care to your mental and physical well-being during the holiday season.
Jamie’s Guide To Less Stressful Holidays
Listen… Do you hear what I hear? The distant sleigh bells coming ever closer… the hoofbeats of reindeer… The inexorably shambling footfalls of shopping mobs… It can only mean one thing. They’re coming. They’re coming! They’re almost here! Are you ready for the holidays?! Are you ready for the stress that inevitably comes with them? Yes, the…
Girls Against: The Teenage Girls Fighting Harassment at Concerts
In case you missed it, here’s some news: women and girls can go out in public now. I wish I could say “women and girls can go out in public without fear of harassment now,” but we’re still waiting on that utopia.