I haven't been writing too much for CBR of late, but the last three articles I did write all have to do with the impact of COVID-19 on various facets of the entertainment industry. I highly recommend the Batman one :D
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Mar 19, 2020
Comic Book Resources Articles - COVID-19 Edition
For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.
I haven't been writing too much for CBR of late, but the last three articles I did write all have to do with the impact of COVID-19 on various facets of the entertainment industry. I highly recommend the Batman one :D
I haven't been writing too much for CBR of late, but the last three articles I did write all have to do with the impact of COVID-19 on various facets of the entertainment industry. I highly recommend the Batman one :D
Jun 7, 2019
An Extra Mile: Mile High Comics and Drag
The link between comics and queerness has always been there, all the way back to the early days of the superhero. One of the execrable Wertham's contentions was that Batman and Robin promoted homosexuality, though he saw that as a bad thing, rather than the positive representation it really is. The idea of the secret identity has also always been a huge point of identification for queer people, as this New Yorker article about the venerable Stonewall Inn asserts.
But we're moving beyond the realm of secret identities these days. You'll notice that the majority of MCU characters have public identities. I've an inkling that this links, partially, to the cultural acceptance (not universal, I know) of different affectional orientations. We don't need to hide ourselves to protect those we love, and, of course, ourselves.
I wrote an article a little while ago for CBR on a break-in at Mile High Comics in Denver, easily one of the great comic shops on the planet, and while doing research for the article, came across something else, something amazing. Mile High Comics founder Chuck Rozanski has decided to open his warehouse up as an all-ages drag venue to support kings and queens who are barred from the bar scene in the city:
https://www.westword.com/arts/mile-high-comics-founder-chuck-rozanski-opens-a-new-chapter-as-bettie-pages-11241962
https://www.westword.com/arts/mile-high-comics-kicks-off-monthly-all-ages-drag-show-in-style-11255134
This is phenomenal on a number of levels. First, simply the fact of proclaiming this into an industry that's suffering some real diversity backlash of late (looking squarely at you, Comicsgaters) takes superhero-level courage. Mr. Rozanski, or rather, Ms. Pages, donning their secret identity out in public is a rallying cry for all of us who still feel the weight of silence on our shoulders. Second, this kind of support for queer youth, especially in as divided a place as the United States, is vital beyond vital. One of the foci for the Outliers exhibit (this is it's last weekend at Lougheed House, so get out and see it!) was on the connection to queer youth - only by creating these connections can we strengthen the voice of the community. The All-Ages Drag Show is a brilliant, beautiful, and thoroughly fabulous way of making this connection.
Bob Rozanski, Ms. Bettie Pages, comics hero and queer icon!
But we're moving beyond the realm of secret identities these days. You'll notice that the majority of MCU characters have public identities. I've an inkling that this links, partially, to the cultural acceptance (not universal, I know) of different affectional orientations. We don't need to hide ourselves to protect those we love, and, of course, ourselves.
I wrote an article a little while ago for CBR on a break-in at Mile High Comics in Denver, easily one of the great comic shops on the planet, and while doing research for the article, came across something else, something amazing. Mile High Comics founder Chuck Rozanski has decided to open his warehouse up as an all-ages drag venue to support kings and queens who are barred from the bar scene in the city:
https://www.westword.com/arts/mile-high-comics-founder-chuck-rozanski-opens-a-new-chapter-as-bettie-pages-11241962
https://www.westword.com/arts/mile-high-comics-kicks-off-monthly-all-ages-drag-show-in-style-11255134
This is phenomenal on a number of levels. First, simply the fact of proclaiming this into an industry that's suffering some real diversity backlash of late (looking squarely at you, Comicsgaters) takes superhero-level courage. Mr. Rozanski, or rather, Ms. Pages, donning their secret identity out in public is a rallying cry for all of us who still feel the weight of silence on our shoulders. Second, this kind of support for queer youth, especially in as divided a place as the United States, is vital beyond vital. One of the foci for the Outliers exhibit (this is it's last weekend at Lougheed House, so get out and see it!) was on the connection to queer youth - only by creating these connections can we strengthen the voice of the community. The All-Ages Drag Show is a brilliant, beautiful, and thoroughly fabulous way of making this connection.
Bob Rozanski, Ms. Bettie Pages, comics hero and queer icon!
Apr 17, 2019
Giant Box of Occasional News: “Black Super Hero Magic Mama” debuts at the Geffen Playhouse
(An occasional column. This was my application piece for CBR.com, though they didn't want to run it on the site. I'm going to try to find the little news stories for this column.)
A new play using superheroes to deal with the consequences
of racially-motivated police shootings premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in Los
Angeles on March 13th. Written by Inda Craig-Galvan, a staff writer
for ABC’s The Rookie, and starring
Kimberly Hébert Gregory, best known for her role as Dr. Belinda Brown on HBO’s Vice Principals, the play follows a
grieving mother in the wake of the police gunning down her 14-year-old son,
Tramarion.
Accordingto The Hollywood Reporter,
Craig-Galvan was motivated to write the play in response to what she saw as
Samaria Rice’s (mother of Tamir Rice, shot by police in Cleveland in 2014)
inability to simply grieve the loss of her son. The play addresses the
politicisation of such events, through media and popular discussion, and the
effect this politicisation has on those for whom the event is not political or
social, but personal.
The play
eschews the political aspect of the crime by having Hébert’s character Sabrina
play out her superheroic adventures as Maasai Angel on a metaphorical or
metaphysical level. The removal of the superhero from the “real world” allows
Sabrina to use Maasai Angel, a hero created by her son, as a way of coming
through her grief, “retreat[ing] into a fantasy world of superheroes and arch
villains.” But in asking the question is there a “mother who refuses to do the
things that are expected by the media and by society” in the wake of such
tragedy, some critics note that play “becomes mired in…imagination.” Sabrina’s
superheroic journey recasts real world figures from her life as villains she
must battle but largely avoids confronting “racist policing and an unjust
criminal justice system.” In so racially-charged a social climate, the absence
of this discussion strikes some as glaring.
Other reviews note that the play “deals with anger and violence and the brokenness of our
world but doesn’t get so caught up in those things that it loses the humanity
of its characters,” something that Craig-Galvan prioritized in composing the
play. The questions that remains, however, is whether or not the political
aspect of such crimes should be
removed from public discussions of racially-motivated shootings. Jordan Riefe,
in The Hollywood Reporter, notes that
while no one should have to grieve in public, or not be allowed to grieve in
private, a play like this also has the potential to “be every bit as engaging
and as relevant” in its discussion of the wider, public problems that lead to
these private tragedies.
From the Geffen Playhouse:
Sabrina Jackson cannot cope with
the death of her son by a White cop. Rather than herald the Black Lives Matter
movement, Sabrina retreats inward, living out a comic book superhero fantasy,
played out on stage. Will Sabrina stay in this dream world or return to reality
and mourn her loss?
Black Super Hero Magic
Mama, written by Inda Craig-Galvan and starring Kimberly Hébert Gregory
ran March 13 to April 14, 2019, at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Sources:
Mar 22, 2019
Some more Comic Book Resources articles
I'm having some fun writing these news articles.
Sliders: NBC Considering Reviving the '90s Alternate Reality Series
(First time I've been paid to write about The Doom Patrol!)
A bit outside my usual comfort zone, but it's definitely fun writing and researching these little articles.
Mar 18, 2019
New Article up!
I know, I know, I'm well behind on the comics. There's only so much one can say about these Jughead stories I've been reading.
But I suppose I should actually say it...
Anyway, I've recently started writing for Comic Book Resources, and my first article is up. I'm still learning the style a bit, so this is with generous help from the editors at CBR.
https://www.cbr.com/our-encounter-with-evil-mignola-johnson-cadwell/
Neato!
But I suppose I should actually say it...
Anyway, I've recently started writing for Comic Book Resources, and my first article is up. I'm still learning the style a bit, so this is with generous help from the editors at CBR.
https://www.cbr.com/our-encounter-with-evil-mignola-johnson-cadwell/
Neato!
Nov 27, 2015
News
Lovely to see a department taking the kind of action one would love to see globally. Comics are a fundamentally important literary and artistic medium, and that we still, more than a century after their "creation," have to argue for their veracity and seriousness in academic departments if further evidence that such departments need to be torn down completely and rebuilt.
Great Snakes!
Great Snakes!
Oct 13, 2015
News - A blog is revived!
A new post is live on my collecting blog "Speaking of Collecting."
For the foreseeable future, I'm going to be using this blog to consider my collection of Lego's "Bionicle" line, which will be making its way into my dissertation over the next couple of years.
For those who are interested:
The Building Chronicle - Building Through part 1.1 - 2001
For the foreseeable future, I'm going to be using this blog to consider my collection of Lego's "Bionicle" line, which will be making its way into my dissertation over the next couple of years.
For those who are interested:
The Building Chronicle - Building Through part 1.1 - 2001
Sep 25, 2015
News
Facebook's abuzz this morning with news that Ta-Nehisi Coates will be writing Marvel's upcoming Black Panther series. Full disclosure: I am unfamiliar, completely, with Coates' writing, but his resume, as described in the linked article, speaks volumes. I've been fairly laudatory in my other sharings of this story on social media, but I'll note that I, as with any announcement like this, have to reserve some judgment until the finished produce has spoken. The Panther is slated to become another of Marvel's big stars with his film debut imminent, so one can imagine that some throttling of creator vision from editorial pressure might seep into the comic. Also, the article makes no mention of an artist, which is, of course, one of the fundamental measures of the success or failure of a comic. Regardless of how good a writer is, he or she is only telling half the story. I'm curious as to the visual aesthetic that will be chosen for the book.
For those interested in sampling Coates' writings, here's his author page at The Atlantic.
And for those interested in reading a brilliant run on Black Panther, check out Christopher Priest and J.G. Jones's run from the early 2000s under the "Marvel Knights" aegis. Amazing comics.
For those interested in sampling Coates' writings, here's his author page at The Atlantic.
And for those interested in reading a brilliant run on Black Panther, check out Christopher Priest and J.G. Jones's run from the early 2000s under the "Marvel Knights" aegis. Amazing comics.
Sep 14, 2015
Yet another apology
I'm well behind on my Flash series, which makes me sad. Of all the things I have on my docket right now, it's the one that I'm the most enthusiastic about, but is also consequently the one that I feel needs an appropriate amount of time to make it perfect. It probably won't be up this Wednesday, as I'd hoped, unless I'm hit with a miraculous burst of energy. Look for it later in the month, and, again, apologies for the wait.
tom.
tom.
Sep 10, 2015
File Under "Miscellaneous"
A couple of comics-related items I came across today:
First, Netflix announces the premiere date for the Jessica Jones series. I had only a passing interest in the Alias and The Pulse comics when they came out, but fell deeply for Jessica during her time on Bendis' New Avengers. I'm excited to see Kristen Ritter's take on the role. And terrified to see what David Tennant does with The Purple Man (note the colour scheme of this teaser trailer).
Next, an article by Michael Chabon from The New Yorker from a few years back about superhero costumes, what they mean, and what they conceal...or fail to conceal, as the case may be.
Secret Skin: An Essay in Unitard Theory
First, Netflix announces the premiere date for the Jessica Jones series. I had only a passing interest in the Alias and The Pulse comics when they came out, but fell deeply for Jessica during her time on Bendis' New Avengers. I'm excited to see Kristen Ritter's take on the role. And terrified to see what David Tennant does with The Purple Man (note the colour scheme of this teaser trailer).
Next, an article by Michael Chabon from The New Yorker from a few years back about superhero costumes, what they mean, and what they conceal...or fail to conceal, as the case may be.
Secret Skin: An Essay in Unitard Theory
Sep 4, 2015
News
As our Facebook feeds and (for the old school amongst us) newspapers tell us of conflict and refugees in Syria, this comic does a great job of laying out exactly what has happened, what is happening, and why. Speaking as someone who laboured through a week of our city being clogged with smoke from unmanageable forest fires in the Pacific Northwest, the climate change stressor hits close to home. Please share this far and wide.
Syria's Climate Conflict
Syria's Climate Conflict
We Interrupt This Broadcast with an Important Announcement
Here in Canada we've got a Federal Election coming up in October. Our current Prime Minister (who, at the risk of dropping too much politics on the blog, is a fucking nightmare of corporatization and evil) has made it illegal for Elections Canada to advertise and remind Canadians to vote. As such, I'm doing everything I can to remind all Canadians of voting age that it is truly and thoroughly important to make your voice heard, no matter who you support. This is really our only chance to have a fundamental effect on the direction of our nation, and that's something we should all be interested in.
Check your voter registration status here.
Check your voter registration status here.
Aug 19, 2015
News and Such
I'm going to try to make this a bit more of a regular feature, and perhaps have it simply be a round-up of the news stories I see to do with comics throughout the week. Today's is a bit sad, however. As I noted on Facebook, the myth of the Batgirl continues apace, but inevitably its avatars must move on.
Batgirl Actress Yvonne Craig Passes Away.
Batgirl Actress Yvonne Craig Passes Away.
Jun 12, 2015
News and Such
Another irregular feature (aren't they all?) highlighting interesting news stories about comics from around the world.
Crafton Hills College student, parents protest material in graphic novels English course
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