Yesterday, Allison Bechdel posted a new strip for her comic Dykes to Watch Out For (DTWOF) for the first time in over eight years. Like Chris Baldwin’s Bruno, DTWOF was remarkable partly because it covered a fascinating span of political eras, but delivered a queer perspective on the happenings of the world. It was also…
Betty & Veronica #2 Is Awful and Depressing
Betty & Veronica #2 Adam Hughes Archie Comics November 2016 It’s been months since the first issue of Adam Hughes’ Betty & Veronica came out, long enough that some of my bitterness toward the title has washed away. Maybe, I thought, this issue would find Hughes settling in with a deeper understanding of the characters, discarding…
Welcome to the X-Men – Hope you Survive The Experience: How Geeks Can Help
My name is Jamie Kingston. But for the next four years, you can call me Storm. My queer friends? You can call them Northstar, Prodigy, Moonstar and Wolfsbane. Or Anole, Shatterstar, Rictor, Karma and Iceman. My chronically ill friends? You can call them Strong Guy, Cable, Husk. Siren or Sunspot. My Muslim friends? Call them M or…
“Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Prez!” Re-Electing DC’s First Teen President
Like many Discman-clutching mall goths lurking in Waldenbooks in the early 2000s, I first discovered Prez Rickard, First Teen President of the USA, in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Issue #54, “The Golden Boy,” is the standout story in the seventh trade paperback, elevating an obscure footnote in DC Comics’ vast library to an acid-soaked Christ allegory….
Black Heroism and “The Man” in Luke Cage
So now—Luke Cage is a hero. The arc of his heroism passes from the (messy) pilot into the end of the fourth episode, when he announces to the press that his name is Luke Cage. For some reason, I suppose. On the one hand, the rationale for his involvement with Cottonmouth is quite clear: Cottonmouth…
Matt Furie Wants to #SavePepe and Fight His Nightmares
When the Anti-Defamation League named Pepe the Frog a hate symbol, the character’s creator, cartoonist Matt Furie, didn’t seem to know quite what to say or do about the transformation of his character from “frog everyman” to beloved avatar of 4chan trolls and the white supremacist alt-right. In an interview with the Washington Post he…
Political Cartooning and How to Survive the Pitfalls of the Internet
I’ve been cartooning a long time, and in the last year as our society has boiled over with all of its longstanding ills, drawing has felt like the best way I know how to preserve my sanity so, armed with a pencil, I took a sharp turn away from fiction and toward social commentary. I strongly encourage…
Marco Polo Is Back and WWAC Is Watching and Roundtabling!
After the first season of Marco Polo, Wendy and I talked at length about it and agreed it was a show we both loved. Now with the second season available on Netflix, the WWAC crew gathered to voice our opinions on the first three episodes. It’s a new season! What are your general thoughts of…
Queens Will Play the Game of Thrones: 3 Takes On the Season 6 Finale, “Winds of Winter”
Season six of Game of Thrones wrapped up with an extra long, extra deadly episode on Sunday.
Doctor Strange and the Ancient One: Marvel’s Issues with Real-World Politics
Advertisers traditionally hold that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but Marvel’s Doctor Strange might just be the exception. Though the comic book version of Doctor Strange learns magic from a Tibetan character known as “The Ancient One,” the movie adaptation’s newest teaser trailer reveals that Marvel has changed the setting of Doctor Strange’s…
Is Warren Ellis a Prophet? Transmetropolitan in 2016 U.S. Politics
This piece is part of a series of comparative essays examining Transmetropolitan against the backdrop of the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. It is not a retrospective on whether Transmetropolitan is good or if the comic and its characters have aged well. I’m concerned with only two questions: Is Warren Ellis a wizard who can predict…
What Devin Faraci Gets Wrong About Audience, Ownership and Power
Earlier this week, Devin Faraci of Birth Movies Death, wrote that fandom was broken. Out of control and on the attack, wild elements of the audience had broken free from their assigned role of mild adoration and GIFpreciation to wage war against creators. Hashtag campaigns, calls to action, death threats — described in one long…