Family legacy and generational issues are major influences on who we are. Especially when things go awry, we end up carrying these things through each new lineage, very often without someone to guide the newer crop as they navigate these waters. And unfortunately, we become the ones with the skills to begin dismantling them, while…
Transmyscira: Koike’s LONE WOLF AND CUB Rules Everything Around Me
Choose the sword, and you will join me Choose the ball, and you join your mother, in death You don’t understand my words, but you must choose So, come boy, choose life or death – Ogami Itto, Shogun Assassin After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake…
The Comics Classroom: SAILOR MOON and the Heroine’s Journey
A few years ago, while taking a course relating to Critical Theory, I had two encounters with an instructor that profoundly helped to shape my views on Joseph Campbell. At one point during discussion, Campbell’s name came up, to which I asked whether he was or was not still a viable figure within academic discourse.…
Cómix Latinx: Hector Rodriguez on EL PESO HERO: BORDERLAND
A few years ago, we couldn’t have imagined a world where a reality TV show actor could be elected President of the United States. Then we couldn’t imagine our children being taken from their parents and being held in cages where some die. These realities make belief in a super hero that come and save…
KIRBYOLOGY!: The Cosmic Science of Charles Glaubitz’s STARSEEDS
A bazillion years ago, my current atoms — and yours — arrived on Earth thanks to exploding stars. About a month ago, I heard about painter-turned-graphic-novelist Charles Glaubitz’s Starseeds, specifically the publication of volume two from Fantagraphics. At my local comic book store, I picked up volume one, which blew my brain into my mind…
Health and Inclusivity: Jeremy Whitley on Representing Mental Illness
Nadia van Dyne’s exploits as the latest Wasp have created an all-new, all-different legacy for the Marvel Universe. From adventures with the Avengers to scouring the world for new Agents of G.I.R.L., an organization designed to specifically find, support, and highlight the work of genius women all over, she has added a quirkiness befitting of…
Transmyscira: Time Dies Screaming in SUPREME BLUE ROSE
We discover possible pasts at the same time as we feel the opening up of possible futures. – Peter Wollen, Raiding The Icebox: Reflections on Twentieth Century Culture We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future. – Marshall McLuhan If the zoo bans me from hollering at…
MISTER MIRACLE: How One Man Got Off Scott Free (and You Can, Too)
It’s been a really bad few years in America. Crushing years in terms of anxiety and fear. We all know the external force that is burgeoning anxiety. I feel stuck between fear for myself, guilt over those who have more to fear than I, and a relentless desire to want to fix it all. Fight.…
Health and Inclusivity: Exploring an Emotional SPIDER-VERSE
It’s been a while. “Representation and Health 101” was my former exploration of themes related to health and well-being in comics. Now, updated to Health and Inclusivity, I want to take a similar journey through the page and panel, but maybe do a deeper dive into the connections between the comics medium and our everyday…
Comics I Need to Read: ABOVE THE CLOUDS
Hey guys! It’s me! Mexi! Back for another Comics I Need to Read! The column where I read a comic by a little known creator! It’s been a while. I kind of went on hiatus due to life becoming a little crazier and busier than it once was, but I am here again to tell…