Category Archives: comics

Batman: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Arkham Asylum was an interesting look into what marks insane. I appreciated the acceptance of insanity as part of a person – a characteristic to learn to live with rather than erasing. Two Face lost a part of his connection with the world in a treatment that didn’t fully understand the root cause of his compulsion.
I love that Batman must face Bruce’s fears in order to maintain his sanity and save the day. 

Dave McKean’s art is phenomenal and adds an essential layer to the story. I picked the story up for the art, and it tells the story more than the words do in some parts.
It’s a story that relies on symbols to discuss the symbology of sanity, and it does that extraordinarily well! 

Here is a review by Chandra: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2023279156

The Spire

Covet for The Spire.
I liked the set-up of the world of a new comic, The Spire.  I am interested to see where this story goes and how the characters develop. I really enjoyed Six-Gun Gorilla by this team of Simon Spurrier & Jeff Stokely, and the story was definitely quite gonzo in its unfolding, so I’m excited to see where the story goes from here. The Spire doesn’t seem like it will be the kind of story that follows a traditional method of story-telling, so who knows what the next issue will hold, or how all of the side-characters will tie in by the end.

If you like random, gonzo-esque stories with political undertones, you should check out this story.  Your local comic shop or a digital storefront probably has it.

Comics as Social Change

Comics as Social ChangeAwhile ago, I posted about an event that was in the works. Well it’s happening!!!

Yay!

So on April 2, 2015, I will be co-hosting an event where we’re talking about comics as social change.  (see the embedded poster for more details)

What I wasn’t expecting as part of this event was the opportunity to present a 10 minute speech-type thing on how comics can be social change. I’ll post the draft here when it becomes more of a concrete idea. (it’s currently very nebulous and evanescent)

I am working on gathering my ideas and focusing on not freaking out. I’m not sure how successful I will be.

Creating a Salon

One of the most fun projects I have been invited to so far in my PhD program has been my time as a Fellow of the Paulo Freire Democratic Project. We meet and discuss ways that we can interact with the to local community that surrounds Chapman University, and we talk about the schools and projects around the world that work to embody and live out the educational framework Freire presented throughout his writing. We also plan events where we can host speakers to discuss the concerns that everyone faces outside (and sometimes within) the university.

To that end, I have been part of a subcommittee that has worked to develop a framework for a salon (think Modernist Salons of Paris and New York that encouraged discussion and participation from and with everyone) to take place on campus. And I presented, as a stretch and because I knew I would love it, that for the first topic we discuss comics and comic books. I expected the idea to be disregarded, because most of the rest of the board are not involved or particularly interested in such a niche community. But everyone so far has loved it. We presented the idea to one of the (apparently billions) Vice Chancellors of the university, and he was completely supportive of the idea.

So now I have to help make this whole project become real. It will take place around the time of WonderCon, and it will be open to the community. And we would really love to have creators participate, but we’re trying to work out those details. More information will be posted here as soon as it all gets settled. But if you’re in the area for WonderCon, Chapman University (where the Salon will happen) isn’t that far away.

Also, if you want to chime in with ideas, that would be awesome! Leave comments here or reach out through the contact page.

Review: Waking the Destroya!

Waking the Destroya!
Waking the Destroya! by Gerard Way
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

[bc:Waking the Destroya!|18746710|Waking the Destroya! (The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, #5)|Gerard Way|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1383333728s/18746710.jpg|26629965]
I have no idea how this series [b:Waking the Destroya The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys 5|18746710|Waking the Destroya! (The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, #5)|Gerard Way|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1383333728s/18746710.jpg|26629965] is going to end within the next couple of issues. There are so many themes and ends still floating around. And, quite honestly, I don’t want it to end anytime soon. Not that I want it to drag on, but I’m concerned I will be left with too many questions.

Fair warning – There be spoilers ahead…

Continue reading Review: Waking the Destroya!

LBCC: Womanthology Panel

Womanthology-Cover-Big
The cover of the book from jesswogs' Flickr. I didn't think to take a picture of the Long Beach Comic Con panel.

One of the reasons why I decided to attend the Long Beach Comic Con was the Womanthology panel.

I backed the project (and am so excited for my copy to show up in the mail!), so participating in the event provided an interesting look at the project. (If you don’t know what Womanthology is, it’s a Kickstarter charity project that has heaps of women writers, artists, editors from the comic book industry paired together to showcase their talents in a 300+ page book. And if you’re reading this and didn’t back the project, you can order the book at your local comic book store! [which you absolutely should!]) Continue reading LBCC: Womanthology Panel

LBCC – Day 1

I survived the first day!

Although I arrived later than I planned, and missed one of the panels I would have liked to see, I did get to see the Womanthology panel, which was fantastic. I went to several others, and I learned a lot about the publishing side of the industry, mostly from Indie publishers.

The day felt rather like this at the outset:

Flooring of madness (1)

But after sitting through a few panels, getting a better feel for the Exhibit Hall, buying some comic books, and drinking some coffee, I started to feel more like this:

Atrium of peace (2)

I will be writing more about the presenters who stood out to me, and my overall experience. Just wanted to share the pictures of my initial feelings for the day.

I’m quite excited for tomorrow, when I will (hopefully) use the bravery inspired by the second picture to make some helpful contacts. We’ll see what the day brings.

Lost Girls

Lost GirlsThis is a cross post (with added comments!) from goodreads. I added Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie to my read and graphic novel bookshelves, and gave it 3 of 5 stars. Below you will find my review. I warn where the spoilers start.

To start with, the 3 stars doesn’t mean that I’d recommend it right away. It’s more like 2 1/2, but opted for 3 because I’m still mostly undecided on this. I read my friend’s copy of the complete collection while house sitting, and I don’t regret it, but I’m not convinced I need my own copy.

Secondly, it’s a pornographic re-interpretation of the characters Wendy Darling, Alice, and Dorothy, and their stories, Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. And when I say pornographic, I mean explicit, nothing left to the imagination, porn from almost the first page. It’s important to know before you pick it up, because it may not be for you simply on that count.

Alice is an older, lesbian woman who meets Dorothy, who is visiting Europe from Kansas for vague reasons, and Wendy, whose husband is on assignment for work, in an expensive hotel in Austria on the eve of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. They each share their initial experiences with sex and draw their own conclusions on how that’s impacting their life at the time of the comic. They generally share these stories over the course of the graphic novel as they are in some sort of sex act – take your pick. As a warning – there are spoilers after this. Continue reading Lost Girls

The Books of Magic

The Books of MagicThe Books of Magic is an interesting trade paperback comic book. Written by Neil Gaiman with intriguing artwork from John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, and Paul Johnson, the story follows Tim Hunter as he learns about the existence of magic and faces a choice.

Some of the story felt a little old, but that could be due to the fact that I have read much of Neil Gaiman’s work, just not in publication order. The Books of Magic is a fun, quick read, safe for most anyone who is open to the idea of magic. Not necessarily written for kids, I would comfortably hand a copy to 12(ish)-year-old.

I have cross posted this from goodreads. There are spoilers. Continue reading The Books of Magic