Comics has long been an industry rife with abuse, exploitation, and seriously problematic behavior from creators and publishers alike. But despite the apparently inevitable, many of us strive to make the space better, to excommunicate those who harm others, and to create authentic work that speaks to our lived experience whilst navigating the often racist,…
The Metabarons: A Rape Comic
Content warning: you don’t want to know any of this. A rapist’s comic, about rape, is discussed and pictured herein. If you visit the Wikipedia page of Alejandro Jodorowsky, you will be able to see that he has claimed himself a rapist. Here’s a section of the quotation with this claim, from a promotional interview…
Sisters of Sorrow: A Rushed Yet Poignant Mini Series
Kurt Sutter’s Sisters of Sorrow Kurt Sutter, Courtney Alameda (Writers), Hyeonjin Kim (Artist), Jean-Paul Csuka (Colours), Jim Campbell (Letters) July 1, 2017 Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter’s comic book miniseries, Sisters of Sorrow, has come to a close with a quiet, yet powerful message. Co-written with horror/science-fiction author Courtney Alameda, the first issue of…
Women in Men’s World: The Feminism of Basara
Stories about gender and women have always fascinated me. Seek me out as a kid and you’d find me watching Mulan with a copy of Bruce Coville’s The Dragonslayers clutched to my chest. Discovering a relatively obscure series called Basara during my college years was just an extension of that. Basara follows the journey of…
Tomb Raider Archives: A Powerful Relic in the Wrong Hands
Tomb Raider Archives Vol. 3 James Bonny, Dan Slott (Writers), Tony Daniel, Jonathan Sibal, Tyson Wengler, Romano Molenaar, Wilson Tortosa, Edwin David, Michael Choi, Joe Weems, Ryan Winn, Jay Leisten, Eric Basaldua, Leonard Kirk, Sal Regla, Francis Manapul, Kevin Conrad (Artists) Dark Horse Comics October 18, 2017 Tomb Raider Archives Vol. 3 is probably the best…
Lea & Julius Antoine: A 1980s French Comic About Ephebophilia
Lea: The Confessions of Julius Antoine Serge Le Tendre (writer), Christian Rossi (artist) Fantagraphics, 1989 First published in French by Albin Michel, 1985 This article contains discussions of ephebophilia and paedophilia.
Previously on Comics: Living in a Hellscape
Seems like every time I sit down to write one of these, I gotta lead with people in positions of power in the comics industry using that power to punch down. We start the week off with Action Lab. Sorry, Action Lab Danger Zone, because the first thing that both bearers of the Action Lab name…
Battle of the Sexes Casts a Queer Lens on a Standard Biopic
Battle of the Sexes Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris (Directors), Pamela Martin (editor), Linus Sandgren (cinematography), Simon Beaufoy (screenwriter) Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming (cast) September 22, 2017 (USA) Billie Jean King was, and is, an extraordinary woman. She was a World Number One in the sport…
Get Your Game on Wednesday: Say Hello to Mario’s Nipples
Happy Wednesday! I return to you, exhausted from PAX and Rose City Comic Con, having played too many games to list. Currently I’m into Cook, Serve, Delicious!! 2, which is great if you like to chase real-life stress with fictional stress, which I do. On to the news!
From Sexy to Sexual: Witchblade’s Return & Top Cow’s Maturing Eroticism
Back when I spoke to Matt Hawkins in March, we spent a little time talking about the sexual legacy of the first ten years or so of Top Cow. We also spoke a little about Witchblade–a title about a woman who carries a living weapon disguised as a bracelet–which is being resurrected in December, with…
Presenting Dark Horse: Lady Killers, Lifeforms, and Hellboy
Welcome to the second installment of Presenting Dark Horse! First, I’d like to give a hearty hello to my new readers, who are surely eager to learn more about this esteemed comics publisher (if you need a quick introduction, check out my first post). Second, here’s a special shoutout to all the poor souls I’ve…
The Tick: Boldly Venture to the Kingdom of the Kind
The Tick Ben Edlund, David Fury, Barry Josephson, Wally Pfister, Barry Sonnenfeld (producers) based on The Tick by Ben Edlund Peter Serafinowicz, Griffin Newman, Valorie Curry, Brendan Hines, Jackie Earle Haley, Yara Martinez, Scott Speiser, Michael Cerveris, Bryan Greenberg, Alan Tudyk (cast) August 25, 2017 (US) Hey. Heyyy. Remember that feeling when you’ve just found…