A critical look at comics and culture
This is the fourth of a multi-part examination of Brian Azzarello’s current run on “Wonder Woman.” It’s recommended that you go back and read the series from the beginning.
SPOILERS for Wonder Woman #0-20 ahead.
Even more controversial than the changes made to Wonder Woman’s origins are these pages from the now infamous Wonder Woman #7. Continue reading ‘Rape, Murder, Slavery, and Infanticide: Examining Azzarello’s ‘Wonder Woman’ Part 4′
This is the third of a multi-part examination of Brian Azzarello’s current run on “Wonder Woman.” It’s recommended that you go back and read the series from the beginning.
SPOILERS for Wonder Woman #0-20 ahead.
Wonder Woman #0 introduces another interesting addition to the mythos. In this fun, Silver Age-styled romp set 11 years in the past, War becomes so impressed with the accomplishments of the then 12-year old Diana that he offers to further train her in the art of war. This is presumably to groom her to one day assume his throne. Continue reading ‘Trained in the Ways of War: Examining Azzarello’s ‘Wonder Woman’ Part 3′
This is the second of a multi-part examination of Brian Azzarello’s current run on “Wonder Woman.” It’s recommended that you go back and read the series from the beginning.
SPOILERS for Wonder Woman #0-20 ahead.
Wonder Woman #3 introduces us to Azzarello’s first major change to the Wonder Woman mythos: the revelation of Zeus as Diana’s father. Continue reading ‘From Dirt to Divinity: Examining Azzarello’s ‘Wonder Woman’ Part 2′
In the comments of my previous post about Wonder Woman’s feminist origins and how changes in the character often resulted from historical changes in the social role of women, several readers expressed an interest in my interpretation of Brian Azzarello’s controversial Wonder Woman series.
Well, I’m glad you asked.
Before I go any further, I should address the giant misogynist elephant in the room.
We had an amazing turnout at the “Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Cosplay and Fandom” panel at Dragon Con. It was only scheduled for an hour but since we had such an awesome and engaged audience we ended up keeping the panel going for over three hours.
If you weren’t able to make it to the panel, you can now check out the audio recording!
Thank you to everyone who came out to make it the highest attended panel at this year’s Comics & Popular Arts Conference. It was truly exhilarating to be able to talk to so many intelligent people passionate about the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in comics, cosplay, and geek culture.
Dragon Con was amazing. Let me start by sending out a great big thank you to everyone who made it out to my panels. You all packed that conference room and were the best audience I’ve ever had the pleasure to speak to. On Saturday night, we even had a bunch of people hang out for an extra two hours after the panel officially “ended” to chat about gender, race, and sexuality in comics.
Getting the chance to talk to so many intelligent and passionate people about the things I care about was exhilarating. You all made my con. Thanks for being so awesome. Continue reading ‘DragonCon 2013 and a Look Forward’
Women as accessories
As previously announced, I’ll be presenting “Tights, Tits, and Titian: Female Objectification from the Italian Renaissance to Contemporary Comics” at the 6th Annual Comics & Popular Arts Conference at Dragon Con 2013!
Here’s my presentation’s abstract as a little sneak peek.
From art historical depictions of “Venus,” odalisques, and nude bathers to the improbably proportioned superheroines of contemporary comics, the female form has long been the subject of objectification. Continue reading ‘Abstract: ‘Tights, Tits, and Titian: Female Objectification from the Italian Renaissance to Contemporary Comics’’
I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be speaking at Dragon Con 2013 next week as part of the Annual Comics & Popular Arts Conference!
I’ll be presenting “Tights, Tits, and Titian: Female Objectification from the Italian Renaissance to Contemporary Comics” as part of “Gender, Race, and Identities in Comics.”
I’ll also be a panelist on “Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Cosplay and Fandom.” Check out all the details below!
Continue reading ‘Come See Me Speak About Gender in Comics at Dragon Con 2013’
This past Wednesday, the female-lead X-Men #1 by Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel hit the stands. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and I’m happy to report that it’s well worth a buy.
The series’ all-woman cast has led to a lively Internet discussion with many questioning the appropriateness of the comic’s gendered title. At first, I thought there might be some validity to the criticism, but the more I reflect on Marvel’s decision, the more I think that they made the right call. Continue reading ‘Gendered Language: X-Men, X-Women, or X-People?’
My Favorite, Funny, Feminist Superhero Fan Art continues to be one of the most popular articles on the site. Since you all seem to like it so much, I’ve decided to turn it into a ongoing series.
First up is Batman from Fernacular’s series If Male Superhero Costumes were Designed Like Female Superhero Costumes. Fernacular says that she was “tired of guys having no idea why girls find female superhero’s costumes kinda sexist” so she decided to enlighten them. Her goal was to make the viewer think of sex (“whether you want to or not”), make men uncomfortable, and highlight the ridiculousness of it all.
Speaking of an uncomfortably sexualized Batman that makes men uncomfortable… Continue reading ‘My Favorite, Funny, Feminist Superhero Fan Art (Vol. 2)’
Journey Into Awesome 