Salon.com > Comics http://www.salon.com Mon, 03 Aug 2015 19:08:42 +0000 en hourly 1 “I did indeed f*ck up”: How an online campaign against a transphobic comic completely changed the tenor of the debate http://www.salon.com/2015/07/17/i_did_indeed_fck_up_how_an_online_campaign_against_a_transphobic_comic_completely_changed_the_tenor_of_the_debate/ http://www.salon.com/2015/07/17/i_did_indeed_fck_up_how_an_online_campaign_against_a_transphobic_comic_completely_changed_the_tenor_of_the_debate/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2015 22:30:00 +0000 SKaufman http://www.salon.com/?p=14014174 Image's "Airboy" is the semi-autobiographical account of author James Robinson's descent into drug and alcohol addiction. He's been pigeonholed as a writer who resurrects the work of comics' Golden Age, and so it should come as no surprise that his protagonist is a self-loathing, sexually exploitative asshole of no small regard. But in the second issue, that loathing reverses course, targeting the people around James Robinson -- in this case, a group of "trannies and drag queens" -- instead of the subject who is its source.

It's not simply that Robinson (the character) uses a derogatory term for a trans woman that's at issue here -- it's that Robinson the author uses trans women as a means of punishing the character. As The Rainbow Hub's Emma Houxbois wrote, Robinson "degraded trans women by portraying us both as sex objects and a carnival sideshow to be gawked at."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/07/17/i_did_indeed_fck_up_how_an_online_campaign_against_a_transphobic_comic_completely_changed_the_tenor_of_the_debate/feed/ 10 Meet “Bitch Planet,” your new “bold, beautiful, and baaaad” subversive feminist comic obsession http://www.salon.com/2015/06/17/meet_bitch_planet_your_new_bold_beautiful_and_baaaad_subversive_feminist_comic_obsession/ http://www.salon.com/2015/06/17/meet_bitch_planet_your_new_bold_beautiful_and_baaaad_subversive_feminist_comic_obsession/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2015 14:45:00 +0000 Sonia Saraiya http://www.salon.com/?p=13994325 To describe Image Comics’ “Bitch Planet,” it’s helpful to start not with the gorgeously splashy covers, rendered variously in Pepto-Bismol pink, goldenrod yellow, electric blue, but instead with the back cover, that space that on many comics is reserved for ad space. At first glance, the slim issues of “Bitch Planet” look just like any other comic books; the back of each issue looks, in fact, like it is plastered in advertisements. Weird products, maybe, like muffins and cosmetics, but that’s joined by the official “Bitch Planet” poster and an order form in the bottom right corner.

A closer look reveals something much richer. The top of the page is emblazoned with either “HEY KIDS, PATRIARCHY!” in spaghetti-Os boldface or “Advice For Ladies” in nauseating lavender script. The advertisements are for products like “Flower Patch Snatch,” a douche that comes in both original and spicy cinnamon taco flavors, marketing to its imaginary audience by proclaiming: “Your vagina is disgusting.” Or a tapeworm—“Delicious Cestoda”—that promises, “WE GUARANTEE YOU WILL LOSE: Your balance! Your energy! Your joie de vivre! Your will to live! AND KEEP IT OFF.” “WE GET BY WHEN WE COMPLY” reads a sweet cross-stitch print, embellished with two blood-red hearts. Another, smaller one, makes a more pointed observation: “YOU’LL NEVER BE ENOUGH.” Black-bordered boxes, masquerading as classifieds, announce “Missed Connections,” such as: “According to the U.S. Surgeon General, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the United States.” And most importantly, an ad for a temporary tattoo that reads “NC” in stylized block lettering asks: “Are you non-compliant?... PUT IT ON YOUR FACE.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/06/17/meet_bitch_planet_your_new_bold_beautiful_and_baaaad_subversive_feminist_comic_obsession/feed/ 1 It’s time for Marvel to make Magneto black: Use the coming “Secret Wars” reboot to make X-Men get real about race http://www.salon.com/2015/06/06/its_time_for_marvel_to_make_magneto_black_use_the_coming_secret_wars_reboot_to_make_x_men_get_real_about_race/ http://www.salon.com/2015/06/06/its_time_for_marvel_to_make_magneto_black_use_the_coming_secret_wars_reboot_to_make_x_men_get_real_about_race/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2015 22:00:00 +0000 Erin Keane http://www.salon.com/?p=13983781 Superman has been the same age for roughy 77 years. He originally landed on Earth in the early 1910s. DC has fixed this problem several times since 1938 with reboots. That means they start the fictional Universe over, usually with a story-based explanation of the incontinuity. Think time-travel paradoxes and alternate Universes colliding. Suddenly Superman dropped on Earth a decade or two after he originally landed. A reboot can fix most time issues by simply moving a character's origin story forward.

DC's younger competitor Marvel hasn't ever done a hard reboot. They generally solve the weird time problem by sticking their fingers in their ears and ignoring concrete numbers whenever possible.

The long history of both major comic publishers has created a more difficult problem: the ongoing lack of diversity in comics. Hundreds of thousand of words have been devoted to dissecting this issue, but it's actually pretty simple. All the icons of comics and the perennial best-sellers come from a time when America was way more openly racist. Stories were told only about good looking, cis-gendered, white men.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/06/06/its_time_for_marvel_to_make_magneto_black_use_the_coming_secret_wars_reboot_to_make_x_men_get_real_about_race/feed/ 102 “Maus” creator Art Spiegelman: Pam Geller and her ilk are a “nightmare, Bizzaro World” version of Charlie Hebdo http://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/maus_creator_art_spiegelman_pam_geller_and_her_ilk_are_a_%e2%80%9cnightmare_bizzaro_world_version_of_charlie_hebdo/ http://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/maus_creator_art_spiegelman_pam_geller_and_her_ilk_are_a_%e2%80%9cnightmare_bizzaro_world_version_of_charlie_hebdo/#comments Thu, 07 May 2015 17:10:00 +0000 SKaufman http://www.salon.com/?p=13958778 Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Maus," spoke to Time Magazine's Kirsten Salyer about his decision to host the Tuesday night's PEN gala honoring the bravery of Charlie Hebdo.

He noted that the reward was for courage, and "it’s hard to be more courageous than going back to work after your office has been bombed and your comrades have been slaughtered," Spiegelman said. He made it clear that he was in no way condoning the actions of Pamela Geller and the American Freedom Defense Initiative.

"Superficially," he said, "it seems like the same thing that happened in Texas -- but it's not. It's the anti-matter, Bizarro World, flipside, mirror-logic version of what Charlie Hebdo is about."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/maus_creator_art_spiegelman_pam_geller_and_her_ilk_are_a_%e2%80%9cnightmare_bizzaro_world_version_of_charlie_hebdo/feed/ 10 Neil Gaiman stands up for Charlie Hebdo: “For f**k’s sake, they drew somebody and they shot them, and you don’t get to do that” http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/neil_gaiman_stands_up_for_charlie_hebdo_for_fks_sake_they_drew_somebody_and_they_shot_them_and_you_dont_get_to_do_that/ http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/neil_gaiman_stands_up_for_charlie_hebdo_for_fks_sake_they_drew_somebody_and_they_shot_them_and_you_dont_get_to_do_that/#comments Tue, 05 May 2015 23:00:00 +0000 Laura Miller http://www.salon.com/?p=13956370 When six writers withdrew in protest from PEN American Center's annual fundraising gala last week, they set off a long and lively discussion of free expression and its limits. At issue is the Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award that PEN is tonight bestowing on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, eight of whose staff members were killed, along with four other people, when gunmen sent by the militant Islamist group al-Qaida in Yemen assaulted their offices earlier this year. The dissenting six were soon joined by more than 200 other PEN members, who signed a letter objecting to "enthusiastically rewarding" the magazine because they consider its cartoons of the prophet Mohammed to be offensive to Muslims.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/neil_gaiman_stands_up_for_charlie_hebdo_for_fks_sake_they_drew_somebody_and_they_shot_them_and_you_dont_get_to_do_that/feed/ 97 Marvel doesn’t seem excited about female superhero movies: “Very bad idea and the end result was very, very bad” http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/marvel_doesnt_seem_excited_about_female_superhero_movies_very_bad_idea_and_the_end_result_was_very_very_bad/ http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/marvel_doesnt_seem_excited_about_female_superhero_movies_very_bad_idea_and_the_end_result_was_very_very_bad/#comments Tue, 05 May 2015 18:35:00 +0000 Anna Silman http://www.salon.com/?p=13956699 The latest damning discovery from WikiLeaks' trove of leaked Sony emails proves what we have all long assumed: Marvel has no interest in female-led superhero films. Recently, ONTD discovered a correspondence between Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter and Sony exec Michael Lynton, in which Perlmutter lists past female-led flops, seemingly to make a larger point about the genre as a whole.

We acknowledge that publishing a leaked email without much context is problematic, but it is worth sharing because it -- much like the emails revealing that female stars were being paid less than their male costars -- provides a compelling look at the deeply entrenched sexist attitudes that inform decision-making in Hollywood.

Here's the full email:

Michael,
As we discussed on the phone, below are just a few examples. There are more.
Thanks,
Ike
1. Electra (Marvel) – Very bad idea and the end result was very, very bad. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=elektra.htm
2. Catwoman (WB/DC) - Catwoman was one of the most important female character within the Batmanfranchise. This film was a disaster. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=catwoman.htm
3. Supergirl – (DC) Supergirl was one of the most important female super hero in Superman franchise. This Movie came out in 1984 and did $14 million total domestic with opening weekend of $5.5 million. Again, another disaster.
Best,
Ike

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/marvel_doesnt_seem_excited_about_female_superhero_movies_very_bad_idea_and_the_end_result_was_very_very_bad/feed/ 56 Ta-Nehisi Coates blasts Hollywood’s fixation on white male superheroes: “It’s deeply sad” http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/ta_nehisi_coates_blasts_hollywoods_fixation_on_white_male_superheroes_its_deeply_sad/ http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/ta_nehisi_coates_blasts_hollywoods_fixation_on_white_male_superheroes_its_deeply_sad/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2015 16:54:00 +0000 Anna Silman http://www.salon.com/?p=13944545 Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of our foremost commentators on race in America. He’s also a serious comic book geek. Sitting down with Vulture’s Abraham Riesman, the prolific critic discussed his passion for comics, Marvel's unique take on identity politics, and the importance and resonance of superheroes in pop-culture today.

As a child, Coates says he saw comics as a form of escapism, as well as an illustration of characters who had found their “meaning in the world.” Yet despite being a huge Marvel fan, Coates says he never read DC comics. While DC’s lead character is Superman — who stands for "truth, justice, and the American way” -- Coates feels that Marvel speaks more to the outsider experience."Then you pick up X-Men, right, and you see all these weirdos and freaks, you know? And you think, Oh, man, that kind of rings true for me. When I was a kid, I didn’t even think of Peter Parker as white," he explains.

Riesman points to Spider-Man in particular as a character that people of color identify with, because, as famed superhero writer Brian Bendis once said, "under the mask he could've been anybody."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/ta_nehisi_coates_blasts_hollywoods_fixation_on_white_male_superheroes_its_deeply_sad/feed/ 16 Iconic X-Men character Iceman comes out as gay http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/iconic_x_men_character_iceman_comes_out_as_gay/ http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/iconic_x_men_character_iceman_comes_out_as_gay/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2015 16:21:00 +0000 Jenny Kutner http://www.salon.com/?p=13944479 Original X-Men character Iceman will make a big announcement in a pretty anticlimactic way this week. He's gay.

In "All-New X-Men" #40, which will be available online and in print on Wednesday, a teenage version of the icon, who first appeared in the series in the early 1960s, admits to his friend Jean Grey that he is attracted to men. Actually, it's sort of the other way around: The characters, who know they've been misplaced in time, are discussing Iceman's (a.k.a. Bobby's) declared attraction to their teacher when Jean, a telepath, reads his mind.

"Bobby ... you're gay," she says.

In a statement on Iceman's coming out obtained by ABC News, "X-Men" writer Brian Michael Bendis says the decision to highlight the character's sexuality was meant to make the comic more inclusive and representative of today's social climate:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/04/22/iconic_x_men_character_iceman_comes_out_as_gay/feed/ 27 The new Gamergate: Angry white men are trying to shut down diverse comics http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/the_new_gamergate_angry_white_men_are_trying_to_shut_down_diverse_comics/ http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/the_new_gamergate_angry_white_men_are_trying_to_shut_down_diverse_comics/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2015 23:00:00 +0000 Erin Keane http://www.salon.com/?p=13919105 Right-wing parasites, misogynist Men’s Rights activists, and opportunistic grifters who so desperately latched onto Gamergate are on the prowl again. As the culture war within the video game community continues to lose steam from its peak at the end of 2014, the conservative heroes of the anti-feminist movement are desperately looking to continue their fight against the so-called social justice warriors. And they’ll gladly suck the life out of any geek culture they find viable, if it means battling progressives. Their new target? Comic books.

Comic books are in the midst of a bit of a renaissance. Yes, the struggling industry is certainly helped by a never-ending parade of box office smash superhero franchises, but the comic book medium itself is working toward sustained survival through diversity. Black heroes, Latino heroes, Muslim heroes, women heroes — the new face of comics don’t only appeal to the aging, primarily-white male comic book base.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/the_new_gamergate_angry_white_men_are_trying_to_shut_down_diverse_comics/feed/ 281 “The blasphemy of ideas”: Why everyone should read this graphic novel in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks http://www.salon.com/2015/01/09/the_blasphemy_of_ideas_why_everyone_should_read_this_graphic_novel_in_the_wake_of_the_charlie_hebdo_attacks/ http://www.salon.com/2015/01/09/the_blasphemy_of_ideas_why_everyone_should_read_this_graphic_novel_in_the_wake_of_the_charlie_hebdo_attacks/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13858688 Though I don’t think we’ll be able to assess its full effect for years, Wednesday’s Charlie Hebdo massacre has already provoked a worldwide response. Most of that response has been defiant, some of it has been apologetic. Some of the defiance will, as is typical since Salman Rushdie found himself facing down a Fatwa, trickle into apologetics as the days go on, and those accustomed to defending the acts of idiopathic murderers will continue to do so by maintaining that, although terrorism isn’t a perfectly legitimate form of critique, the deaths of the cartoonists was deserved, excusable, a consequence of foreign intervention or cultural insensitivity, of institutional hatred that, ultimately, results from the scourge of Western hegemony and its decadence, its arrogance, its particularism. The dance of provocation thus continues, and meanwhile, a frothing cauldron of fear is fermented, a witch’s brew that billows poison into our eyes, distorts our perspectives and makes our nerves twitch. Our imaginations have the most to lose, as the prospect of being harmed physically for ideas, good ideas or bad, is the rough equivalent of an adult bloodying a child’s nose for wondering at the makeup of the stars.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/01/09/the_blasphemy_of_ideas_why_everyone_should_read_this_graphic_novel_in_the_wake_of_the_charlie_hebdo_attacks/feed/ 12 From Spider-Gwen to “The Multiversity”: The best comics of 2014 http://www.salon.com/2015/01/07/from_spider_gwen_to_the_multiversity_the_best_comics_of_2014/ http://www.salon.com/2015/01/07/from_spider_gwen_to_the_multiversity_the_best_comics_of_2014/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2015 00:24:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13857021 This was a spectacular year for comic books, with strong original series being launched all over the map. If you like comic book characters on TV and at the movies, you really need to get your ass down to a comic book store (in person or digitally) and go to the source. Comics are, and always will be, bigger and bolder than the stuff derived from them.

Here’s a celebration of some of the best stuff that came out in 2014: the dreamiest art, the greenest lawyers, the goriest horror, the weirdest multiverse and the biggest hobo treasure.

Best New Superhero: Spider-Gwen

Launched in “Edge of Spider-Verse” #2 as part of a massive crossover involving every Spider-person from every reality, Spider-Gwen is a version of long-dead Spider-Man girlfriend Gwen Stacy in a world where Peter died and she became Spider-Woman. Oozing cool, Spider-Gwen immediately captured the hearts, minds and wallets of fans, and she’ll soon be featured in her own series. A dead girlfriend becoming an awesome hero is one of many signs that Marvel, and comic companies in general, finally give a crap about female readers. Comic books are less of a bro-verse than ever before, with strong sales for excellent female-driven series like “Ms. Marvel,” “Harley Quinn” and “Saga.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2015/01/07/from_spider_gwen_to_the_multiversity_the_best_comics_of_2014/feed/ 2 Grant Morrison’s “multiversity”: His new comics universe doesn’t include a single straight white male http://www.salon.com/2014/12/13/grant_morrisons_multiversity_his_new_comics_universe_doesnt_include_a_single_straight_white_male/ http://www.salon.com/2014/12/13/grant_morrisons_multiversity_his_new_comics_universe_doesnt_include_a_single_straight_white_male/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2014 16:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13843437 Morrison's latest DC Comics series "The Multiversity" breathes much-needed life into the nearly exhausted superheroes dragging their (mostly white and male) shells of former glory across our screens large and small. It doesn't take more than a cursory look at overwrought television series like "Arrow" and "The Flash," or jingoistic blockbusters like "Man of Steel" and "The Dark Knight Rises," to find the supergods of DC Comics on their last, wobbly legs. Even the forthcoming, painfully titled blockbuster "Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice" is coded more like a marketing bonanza than a transformative narrative with anything important to say about the globally warmed Earth our children are inheriting. Ben Affleck finally gets to play Batman, and Wonder Woman -- played by Gal Gadot, an actress who served in the Israeli army, no underdog -- is thrown a token cameo bone. Roll credits, cash checks.

This empty-headed hyperconsumption and narcissism is gleefully skewered in "The Just," one installment of Morrison's destabilizing "Mulitversity," which accelerates outward as a series of first issues in search of an existential convergence. The culture industry's racial and sexual sameness is also sharply dissected -- if accidentally, according to Morrison, who now splits his time between Scotland and Hollywood -- in the first eponymous, apocalyptic issue of "Multiversity," which doesn't include a single straight white male.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/12/13/grant_morrisons_multiversity_his_new_comics_universe_doesnt_include_a_single_straight_white_male/feed/ 8 The best graphic novels of 2014 http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/the_best_graphic_novels_of_2014/ http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/the_best_graphic_novels_of_2014/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2014 23:00:00 +0000 Laura Miller http://www.salon.com/?p=13831512 Nowadays, in the second Golden Age of TV and the burgeoning first heyday of the podcast, writers run the show. All literary critics love words, but it sometimes seems that visual storytelling, both in the making and the appreciation, has become a bit neglected. Not so, however, in the realm of the graphic novel (or memoir, or nonfiction treatise -- we really need a different term for this genre). Putting together this (non-definitive) list of 10 standout graphic novels from 2014 was an exercise in the power of the image, whether the pages in question come in austere black-and-white or a full spectrum of color. A few of these titles use few or no words at all; others set up a fascinating dynamic between text and picture in which the visual can both undermine and transfigure what we read. Some hearken back to the early classics of the form, while others push the boundaries of what the graphic novel can do. Some you'll zip through, ravenous for the story; others you'll linger over, absorbed in the extraordinary eye candy and artistic bravado. All of them are worth returning to again and again.

[slide_show id ="13831373"]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/the_best_graphic_novels_of_2014/feed/ 1 Ten spectacular graphic novels from 2014 http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/ten_spectacular_graphic_novels_from_2014_2/ http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/ten_spectacular_graphic_novels_from_2014_2/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2014 22:59:00 +0000 Laura Miller http://www.salon.com/?p=13831373 http://www.salon.com/2014/11/30/ten_spectacular_graphic_novels_from_2014_2/feed/ 2 The spandex-clad undead: Why comics love ridiculous resurrections http://www.salon.com/2014/11/08/the_spandex_clad_undead_why_comics_love_ridiculous_resurrections/ http://www.salon.com/2014/11/08/the_spandex_clad_undead_why_comics_love_ridiculous_resurrections/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2014 16:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13816064 If you’re not up on your comic plots, I have some bad news: Wolverine is dead. He was recently killed in the uncreatively named series “The Death of Wolverine.”

The question: When will he be brought back, and in how ridiculous a manner?

Death in comic books is notoriously silly, a stunt used to grab publicity and spike sales. Sure, some comic deaths are sacred—like Bruce Wayne’s parents and Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben—but they weren’t superheroes. Most superhero deaths are as temporary as a rash. Even if you’re dead for decades—like the Flash and Bucky—your return is assured. This is probably the best reason to be a superhero. If you don the spandex and sell enough comics, you’re pretty much guaranteed immortality.

In recognition of Wolverine’s inevitable return and the crass and goofy tradition of superhero deaths and resurrections, here’s a look at some of the most preposterous demises and returns ever, which include clones, magic guns, alternate realities and brain-swapping octobots.

Phoenix

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/11/08/the_spandex_clad_undead_why_comics_love_ridiculous_resurrections/feed/ 6 How “Archie” went from dull to daring: The world’s tamest comic series is now our most groundbreaking http://www.salon.com/2014/10/25/how_archie_went_from_dull_to_daring_the_worlds_tamest_comic_series_is_now_our_most_groundbreaking/ http://www.salon.com/2014/10/25/how_archie_went_from_dull_to_daring_the_worlds_tamest_comic_series_is_now_our_most_groundbreaking/#comments Sat, 25 Oct 2014 15:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13804056 Like a lot of people, I used to get those little "Archie" digests at the supermarket when I was a lad. I remember enjoying them, but they didn’t have a big impact on me. Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the gang are clearly part of the collective unconscious, but they’ve never felt like essential reading. When I drifted away from comics for a while, books like “Maus” and “Watchmen” and “Daredevil: Born Again” stayed with me, but my Archies were the first to go. They felt disposable because the characters never changed. Nobody played it safer than Archie Comics.

Those days are a distant memory. Archie Comics is now known for taking wild chances and daring approaches that put Marvel and DC to shame. The debut of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and the announcement of the batshit crossover “Archie Meets Predator” highlight what’s been apparent for years now: The company formerly known for the squarest and most unchanging characters in comics has become one of the most adventurous and exciting publishers. From the zombie apocalypse to a forthcoming story by Lena Dunham, today’s Archie Comics are anything but disposable or predictable. Improbably, anything goes in Riverdale.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/10/25/how_archie_went_from_dull_to_daring_the_worlds_tamest_comic_series_is_now_our_most_groundbreaking/feed/ 28 Why science fiction comics are better than sci-fi movies http://www.salon.com/2014/10/18/why_science_fiction_comics_are_better_than_sci_fi_movies/ http://www.salon.com/2014/10/18/why_science_fiction_comics_are_better_than_sci_fi_movies/#comments Sat, 18 Oct 2014 15:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13799032 I grew up on “Star Wars,” Isaac Asimov novels and comic books—but my comics and sci-fi usually didn’t mix. Sure, there were a few exceptions, like the independent classic “Nexus” by Mike Baron and Steve Rude, or some LSD-fueled cosmic odysseys by Jim Starlin I wasn’t old or high enough to fully understand. But I generally enjoyed my sci-fi onscreen instead of on paper.

Not anymore. A galaxy’s worth of new sci-fi comics have debuted in the last year. It’s hard to say if these series will live up to the high standards of “Nexus,” “Prophet,” “East of West,” or “Saga” (a parenting story in space I've raved about). But the following series are all damn promising, and they’re all totally different from each other, reflecting the variety and creativity of the current comics scene.

“Silver Surfer”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/10/18/why_science_fiction_comics_are_better_than_sci_fi_movies/feed/ 23 The worst journalists in comics: How The Daily Bugle became a parody of Fox News http://www.salon.com/2014/10/11/from_peter_parkers_staged_pics_to_j_jonah_jamesons_evil_media_empire_the_worst_journalists_in_comics/ http://www.salon.com/2014/10/11/from_peter_parkers_staged_pics_to_j_jonah_jamesons_evil_media_empire_the_worst_journalists_in_comics/#comments Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:00:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13793560 Journalists get a bad rap—and we often deserve it. We miss the big stories. We focus on the dumb stories, like George Clooney’s wedding or the bazillionth article about millennials or selfies. We engage in clickbait that’s indistinguishable from the brilliant Clickhole. Some of our most reprehensible colleagues plagiarize and lie. As a whole, we kind of suck.

The failings of real-life journalists are mirrored in the larger-than-life worlds of comics, where the headlines tend to be more cosmic and spandex-clad. While some of the better comics journalists—like photographer Phil Sheldon of the classic “Marvels”—are likely surrogates for comic book writers, others are crappy, creepy and ethically challenged. Welcome to Bad Journalism 101.

Peter Parker

As my friend and fellow comics dweeb Mike observed, “Parker’s journalistic ethics are horrible if he made a name for himself by staging pics of himself.” That’s exactly how Peter Parker paid the bills in the early Spider-Man comics, taking posed pictures of Spider-Man that no one else could get, then selling them to J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle’s editor-in-chief. I’m not aware of any stories where Parker distinguishes himself as a journalist, so he goes in the Bad column. With great power does not come great journalism ethics.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/10/11/from_peter_parkers_staged_pics_to_j_jonah_jamesons_evil_media_empire_the_worst_journalists_in_comics/feed/ 14 Every parent should read this comic book http://www.salon.com/2014/09/26/every_parent_should_read_this_comic_book/ http://www.salon.com/2014/09/26/every_parent_should_read_this_comic_book/#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2014 22:59:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13782097 If you thought comic books were for kids, you were wrong. And if you have or are currently raising offspring, you need to read "Saga." This is an ongoing Image comic by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples that puts a sci-fi spin on adventures in parenthood and marriage. Underneath all the space monsters, warring factions and ghost nannies is the simplest drama of all: How the hell are you supposed to raise a kid in a galaxy like this?

The premise of “Saga” is simple. Lead characters Alana and Marko belong to feuding alien races, but they fell in love; they’re the Romeo and Juliet of sci-fi comics. Both races—along with much of the galaxy, including bounty hunters—are outraged and after our heroes. The couple have a child, Hazel, who outrages the powers-that-be even more. When you’re committed to war and racism, such an adorable, biracial symbol of peace is unacceptable. The series follows Alana and Marko as they run for their lives while trying to somehow make a normal life for Hazel.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2014/09/26/every_parent_should_read_this_comic_book/feed/ 4 How “Gotham” won me over: A lifelong Batman obsessive on Fox’s new series http://www.salon.com/2014/09/23/the_pitfalls_of_the_prequel_a_lifelong_batman_obsessive_on_foxs_gotham/ http://www.salon.com/2014/09/23/the_pitfalls_of_the_prequel_a_lifelong_batman_obsessive_on_foxs_gotham/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:40:00 +0000 Laura Bennett http://www.salon.com/?p=13779009 Though I’m a devout Batman-holic, I didn’t have high hopes for “Gotham.” A Batman prequel felt ridiculous and unnecessary. The presence of young Bruce Wayne, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman (and others I don’t want to spoil) screamed “Muppet Babies: Gotham.” It seemed insane and misguided that the show wasn’t a straight-up adaption of “Gotham Central,” a classic DC series that explored what it’s like to be a cop in Batman’s world. But against all odds, “Gotham” is riveting. It's a fun, fast-moving series, thanks to some inspired casting and perfect cherry-picking of the Batman mythos by showrunner Bruno Heller.

If you’ve somehow missed Fox’s advertising barrage, “Gotham” focuses on Detective (and future Commissioner) Jim Gordon, a newbie to the Gotham police department who ends up investigating the murders of Martha and Thomas Wayne. Gordon not only has to solve the murder of the Waynes, but he’s stuck in the most corrupt city ever, with half or more of the police department in the pocket of crime boss Carmine Falcone (played by the immortal John Doman, who was Bill Rawls on “The Wire.”) To make matters murkier, Gordon’s partner Harvey Bullock (played by the always charming Donal Logue) is one of those corrupt cops. Also, Gordon’s fiancé Barbara is the former lesbian lover of one of the few good cops, Renee Montoya. It’s safe to say there are conflicts aplenty to play out this season and (with luck and viewers) future seasons. The pilot presents these conflicts while planting many Bat-seeds in quick, compelling fashion.

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