“The rules are simple. The gun is always loaded. The safety is always off. The fucker always fires.”
As a brief introduction, Casanova #8 was one of the first comics I picked up when I started working at a comic shop in 2008. I had no idea what it was – it might have been a FCBD promo – and the title led me to believe that it would revolve around a dude boning a lot of ladies or something. Not really my wheelhouse, but the cover drew me in immediately. Continue reading “REVIEW: Casanova Acedia #1”
Kurt Busiek took to the comments thread of an article on The Beat yesterday to settle the score on the sexualization of women in the comics industry.
So this morning I was checking out an article on The Beat, and as usual proceeded into the belly of the beast, a.k.a. the comments section, to see what great things people men had to say on the subject of the sexualization of men vs. women in comics. The post had used a few pictures to highlight what it looks like when men are sexualized.
It started out as expected, with commenters wondering just what sort of problem women could possibly have with this unequal and oftentimes inappropriate representation. It must have something to do with our self-esteem! Continue reading “The Comments Thread: Busiek Tells It Like It Is”
Sooooo my pal George Marston (who also writes about comics) and I have long been talking about doing a thing. Something related to comics. We thought it could be a website, a youtube channel, a bad fan art collective… but we eventually settled on a podcast. We like to think that we’ve got faces for radio. We are really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking.
Now, I am 100% new to podcasting. I’m new to recording, and new to having to listen to my own voice over and over while I am editing. It’s much less glamorous than I had anticipated, but it’s still a heckuva lotta fun. George does some voice acting, so this is an old hat for him. His charisma levels are off the charts. For now, I view my microphone with fear and trepidation. But BY THE BEARD OF ZEUS I will conquer it! Continue reading “We’ve Got Issues: A New Podcast by Yours Truly”
It’s Throwback Thursday here at Girls Gone Geek, and I wanted to share a few new quotes from the panel that made the trip to SENYC worth it.
Enjoy!
By Alison Bechdel
On the Bechdel Test:
“I think there’s a lot of dismissal of things that do pass [The Bechdel Test]. If you have a buddy cop movie about men, then it’s a buddy cop movie. If you have a buddy cop movie about women, it’s a chick flick. If you have a coming of age story about a boy, then it’s a coming of age story, if it’s about a girl it’s a chick flick. If it’s about a father and son relationship, it’s a father and son movie, if it’s a mother and daughter, it’s a chick flick. And I’m tired of it!” – Marguerite Bennett
On creating accurate representations of women:
“You can get a female character up on a pedestal so high, that they’re actually boring to read about. Once in a while a female character is going to want to go on a date – it doesn’t make them less strong. They’re gonna cry – it doesn’t make them less strong. There are lots of kinds of strength, let’s explore them.” – Gail Simone
On representation and diversity in comics:
“I think it’s a little strange that there are so many new stories coming out… but so few people of color in them. Because you can do that, you know.” – Amy Reeder
On how poorly women have been written in the past:
“[Jack Kirby and Stan Lee] found it easier to identify with Skrulls than with women.” – Ben Saunders
On Wonder Woman:
“I think Wonder Woman is the strongest warrior on the planet, and maybe the universe.
She’s not gonna pull punches. And if you want to defeat her, you better not pull yours.” – Gail Simone
Join L. as she recounts the sensuous HeroesCon panel of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals.
Where to begin?
This past weekend V. and I went to HeroesCon, and I had the pleasure to attend a panel dedicated to two of my favorite creators, focusing on one of my favorite books. If you aren’t in the know about Sex Criminals, one of the latest smash hits from Image, please do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s amazing. It’s astounding. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky have crafted what I believe to be one of the best books on the shelves right now, and they do it with a perfect blend of emotional gravity, sincerity and humor. In a single issue this duo can give the reader both punches to the gut AND laughter-induced tears. That’s something special. That’s a mark so many comics miss. And it all started as a pet project between two dudes who figured they could work together on a few dick joke comics before they got cancelled. Continue reading “The Good Sarlaac: A Sex Criminals Panel”
L. had the distinct pleasure of attending a panel with some of the top female comic creators at Special Edition NYC.
Saturday I attended a panel at Special Edition: NYC, and from what I gathered it was one of the only panels that day that was even nearing maximum capacity. The Carol Corps, various members of the Young Avengers team, and plenty more in addition to myself waited patiently in the ever-growing line for this event. It was pretty much the only reason I went to the convention that day. It seems that many others had the same idea. Continue reading “Reimagining the Female Superhero”
Lindsey shares her time at MoCCA Art Fest, complete with a Fiona Staples interview!
A little over a week ago I attended MoCCA Arts Fest, an annual comics convention put on by the Society of Illustrators/ Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in Manhattan. Located in the wonderful space of the 69th Regiment Armory, MoCCA continues to stand out as one of the shows that I look forward to most in the con circuit. It is smaller, friendlier, better run, and has (I think) a firmer grasp on the comic reading populous and what they want out of a show. A diverse range of creators, panels geared to the making and process of comics, decent and affordable food in the dining area, cheaper tickets, and attendees feeling welcome and safe are all things MoCCA provides in spades. Sure, you might think it’s “easier” for a smaller show to supply these things, but I hear that the force behind planning the fest is a staff of two or three, so think again. They had 7,000 attendees over two short days. Continue reading “MoCCA Art Fest 2014 and Fiona Staples Q&A”
Lindsey’s thoughtful and in-depth interview with writer Joe Keatinge.
Joe Keatinge’s star might still be rising, but his place in the industry was secured after the launch of his acclaimed run on Glory in 2012. Since then, books like Hell Yeah, DC Comics Presents, Morbius: The Living Vampire, and Marvel Knights: Hulk have (relative merits aside) served as stepping stones to Keatinge and artist Leila del Duca’s newest creator-owned series, Shutter.
Creators fighting for change in an industry entrenched in harassment.
Calling Out Shady Behavior in the Comics Industry
Perhaps you are familiar with a specific situation that’s been going on in the comics world, started by a string of tweets from creator Tess Fowler. It has been gaining momentum since a few weeks back, when Bleeding Cool published this article, chronicling a horrifying interaction Fowler had at SDCC one year with a high-profile creator, which continued even after the con ended.
She has continued speaking out about it, detailed here.
This trend of calling out creators and the industry as a whole for their bullshit was recently reinvigorated on Twitter by Brandon Graham, which propelled Fowler to share her experience. Continue reading “Missing Stair, Beware”
Where Lindsey sums up her time at New York Comic Con 2013.
Hey everyone!
Just wanted to give you some news/recaps on what happened during NYCC, as it was my first time going and HOLY CRAP it was intense. I haven’t slept more than 4 hours a night in almost a week! I got to meet a lot of great people, and after the long afternoons of trudging around the showroom and viewing panels, I had a great time hanging out with them.
I did write-ups on a few panels: Women in Comics (Here), Adventure Time (Here), and Women of Marvel (Here). They were good for the most part. I really didn’t expect the amount of time given over to Q&A or the volume of audience members that would ask things like, “Can you act out my fanfic?” I should have known better. Though, to be fair, it was a pretty good fanfic that the guests of the Adventure Time panel were nice enough to act out. Lots of butts involved. Continue reading “NYCC in Review”
I love Jonathan Crane. I love the shit outta him. So I read this comic.
It was… disappointing. To say the least.
Tomasi writes a pretty good Scarecrow but as a whole… why do I even bother with DC anymore? I’ve had it with thinly veiled cash grabs whose only purpose are to give insight into the plot of OTHER comics.
Just in case you happened to miss it yesterday, dear readers, I reviewed Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve #13 over at Newsarama. This was one of the first comic series that got me hooked on indie in the first place, and is well-worth looking into. Tomine is a master of his craft. You can read it in full HERE.
Michael DeForge is either ambidextrous, or has a hulking machine of a drawing arm. I can see it now, producing multiple pages a day, and looking something like this:
Yeah. Heavy is the arm that wears the crown. Should have drawn a crown on there.
DeForge is one of the most prolific creators in the industry today. I count something like 17 projects from 2012 alone! His latest work, Lose #5, comes hot on the heels of a much larger short story collection, Very Casual, also released by Koyama Press.
Sincerest apologies for the distress my latest hiatus must have caused all of you. I was, as you may know, in the process of moving around Brooklyn trying to find a lease at a decent place and we have finally secured one! The agony is over!
In other exciting news, I can officially confirm that I am the newest addition to the Midtown Comics team in Manhattan! I am super excited to be working for such an awesome place and will very soon be up to my eye skins in nrrd probz to share with all of you. Of course, if you have your own, you know where to send them.
