This Black History Month hit a little different. There was a new spirit, and it’s hard to put a name to or to hold, but I could see it in the bright eyes of my skinfolk, in people’s determination to not just celebrate but spur on change. I know so many people in my community…
Health and Inclusivity: Considering Identity in Okura’s ‘I Think Our Son is Gay’
Queerness occupies a strange place in the world, pun not quite intended. From what I gather, which I hope is not my own projection, the queer and trans people I know just want to live and thrive, be nerds, have sex if we so choose or have people respect us if sexual or romantic attraction…
Truth-Telling: Tynion and Simmonds’ THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH as Art
I think it can be said without the ruffling of many feathers that “comics are art.” Still, one of the biggest philosophical issues we as a society tend to run into, much like Wile E. Coyote when he crashes headfirst into a stone slab he thought was a tunnel, is the question “what is art…
History of Violence: The Brief History of Erika Storn
In 2021 I wrote an article that briefly talked about DC Comics’ first Pride-themed comic anthology. I listed over a dozen of DC’s earliest queer characters who received no mention or reference in DC Pride, such as Coagula, Wanda, Masquerade, and Shvaughn Erin. I regret there was at least one other character whom even I…
The Legion’s Lightning Rod: The Growth and Evolution of Lightning Lad
The Legion of Super-Heroes are one of the oldest teams in the history of DC Comics. What began as three time travelling teens who made an appearance in Adventure Comics #247 evolved into a group with such history and depth, by the 1980s they received their own Who’s Who series just to keep track of…
Sigrid Nansen: Icemaiden to Glacier
When the DC Pride anthology was released last summer, I must admit I found it rather underwhelming and somewhat performative. As an autochorissexual, the overall lack of asexual representation beyond Tremor’s silent role in the JLQ story left me feeling annoyed. Beyond that, I had frustrations over the lack of presence many of DC’s earliest…
Visual Stories to Face a Brutal World: Fuego lento
This is a city that is gradually becoming a ruin. This is a city which streets are constantly covered by puddles and its buildings are decorated with cracks. This is a city that carries a painful past and lives a brutal present. Its inhabitants move alone, but they share the same wish: the desire to…
A Missing Car and a Big Purple Smile: Nueva Berlín
A clothing store. A missing car. A key that gets bigger and bigger in the hands of a young woman. Two women travel around the city, trying to find the missing car of one of them. A willing chair that functions as a bicycle. Dialogs that keep repeating, like echoes of a previous conversation. A…
Once and Future State: Revisiting DC’s LEGENDS OF THE DEAD EARTH
With characters from DC Future State comprising a not-insignificant amount of DC Comics’ publishing slate — from Superman: Son of Kal-El and Superman and the Authority to I Am Batman, Wonder Girl, and Aquaman: The Becoming — I thought it’d be interesting to look back on one of the other times DC had their books jump…
Father’s Day Special: Devin Grayson on ARSENAL and Lian Harper
In reviewing the line-up for DC’s Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Special, many fans were in fact overjoyed when they learned Devin Grayson was included in the line-up of creators. Their excitement doubled when Grayson announced on her twitter account that she would be writing a story about Roy Harper, and in her words: he would…