· comics

Woman’s Eye View: Comics Week Of 6/3/10

June 4, 2010 in comic reviews, comics, female positive, feminism, superheroes, woman's eye view | 3 comments

The following is a selection of comics released this week (6/3/10)* that focus heavily on women in comics – whether that be characters, creators, or even readers.

The books are rated as BUY, TRADEWAIT, or SKIP.

*It should be noted that this list will focus on North American/English releases as that’s mostly what I have access to. Additionally, as I am in general unfamiliar with Manga, I will not be including Manga titles in my lists. For some great reviews and discussion of Manga titles I urge you to check out Danielle Leigh on CSBG.

Thanks to Memorial Day we’re a day late on comics here in the US, but no fear, here’s what you should buy this week on the female positive tip…there weren’t a ton of female focused books, but what was out, was pretty great…

DEMO #5 (of 6). Brian Wood (writer). Becky Cloonan (artist). Vertigo. 32 Pages. $2.99. Includes 22 page story, notes and sketches by Wood and Cloonan, and a two-page preview of Demo #6.

The quality of this book continues to be no surprise. I think this was one of my favorite issues yet. Like the rest of the series the story feels both realistic and grounded yet with supernatural or unusual elements that twist the story in interesting directions. As always however, it’s Wood and Cloonan’s ability to capture characters and tell moving stories that surprise that sells it. Demo Volume 2 has been a home run as far as I’m concerned and this is no exception. BUY.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite A Rough Couple Days…Optimism Prevails!

June 3, 2010 in art, comics, comics news, comics should be good, CSBG, hope larson, marvel comics, she has no head! | 5 comments

My She Has No Head! Hope Larson Interview from Monday stirred up quite the shit storm (I think we’re in the 170’s for comments). I honestly still have no idea why the reaction has been as aggressive and hateful as it was, as I find nothing incendiary in the interview or Larson’s survey, but the result is it’s been a long and frustrating few days full of trolls and hate and feeling like it’s never going to get better for women in mainstream comics (as readers, creators, or characters).

So I was relieved to come up for air from whole situation and find this really great looking preview from CBR for Marvel’s upcoming Avengers Academy. I loved these first six pages and will absolutely be picking up the first issue (due out June 9th) to see if it can continue to deliver as these first pages do.

As a sidenote, thanks to all of you who reached out to me personally in the wake of the Larson post, and to all of you what participated in a civilized and intelligent discussion – whether you agreed with what was being said by myself, Larson, or the survey or not.

Avengers Academy #1

She Has No Head! – Interview With Hope Larson About Girls & Comics

May 31, 2010 in comics, comics should be good, CSBG, feminism, hope larson, she has no head! | 1 comment

New SHE HAS NO HEAD! an interview with Hope Larson about her Girls & Comics survey is up on CSBG. Check it out!

Woman’s Eye View: Comics Week 05/26/10

May 27, 2010 in comic reviews, comics, DC Comics, marvel comics, vertigo, woman's eye view | 6 comments

The following is a selection of comics released this week (5/26/10)* that focus heavily on women in comics – whether that be characters, creators, or even readers.

The books are rated as BUY, TRADEWAIT, or SKIP.

Tradewaiting, for the uninitiated, is the act of not buying individual issues of a comic as it releases, but rather waiting for them to be collected in a trade paperback form (aka TPB).

*It should be noted that this list will focus on North American/English releases as that’s mostly what I have access to. Additionally, as I am in general unfamiliar with Manga, I will not be including Manga titles in my lists. For some great reviews and discussion of Manga titles I urge you to check out Danielle Leigh on CSBG. I will do my best to include independent and graphic novel selections as they are released as well – but if I’ve missed something excellent feel free to let me know in the comments.

Here we go…

Dazzler (one-shot). Track 1: Jim McCann (writer). Kalman Andrasotszky and Ramon Perez (pencils). Rick Ketchem (inks). Jim Charalampidis (colors). Track 2: Jim McCann (writer). Francesca Ciregia (art). Cris Peter (colors). Marvel. 40 pages. $3.99.

I will admit upfront my bias against and dislike for Dazzler, which makes any story starring her an uphill battle. That said, I’m always looking for positive books featuring women, so despite my dislike of Dazzler I still hoped for the best. This is not the best. A frustrating and pointless story that really goes nowhere and ends quite unsatisfactorily. The art was not bad overall nor was the actual writing, but the plot was horribly weak. I much preferred the art in “track 2” by Ciregia, but it wasn’t enough to save a still weak story. Also bad in this tale is the objectification. Dazzler is falling out of her top from the cover all the way through the first story (which is the bulk of the book) the T&A lightens up considerably in Ciregia’s story, but it was too little, too late. SKIP.

Detective Comics #865 (Question Co-Feature). Greg Rucka (writer). Cully Hamner (art). Dave McCraig (colors). DC. 40 pages. $3.99.

Though Detective Comics no longer stars the excellent Batwoman, and is no longer written by the excellent Greg Rucka, the co-feature finishing out (I think this is the last installment?) remains excellent. The rest of the issue is not bad either, but I’m only going to talk about the 10 page co-feature here. Rucka writes Renee Montoya as The Question wonderfully (as he should, he “made” her) and this issue is no exception. He’s also been doing a great job with The Huntress for the last handful of issues and it’s nice (and sadly refreshing) to see such a great female friendship playing out sans bitchy drama. Cully Hamner and Dave McCraig continue to do an exceptional job with the art. BUY.

Read the rest of this entry »

She Has No Head! – Review: Girl Comics #2

May 24, 2010 in art, artists, comic reviews, comics, comics should be good, marvel comics, she has no head! | Permalink

Check out my in-depth review of Girl Comics #2 on CSBG’s She Has No Head!

Woman’s Eye View: Comics Week 05/19/10

May 21, 2010 in comic reviews, comics, comics news, DC Comics, image comics, marvel comics, vertigo, wildstorm, woman's eye view | 2 comments

The following is a selection of comics released this week (5/19/10)* that focus heavily on women in comics – whether that be characters, creators, or even readers.

The books are rated as BUY, TRADEWAIT, or SKIP.

Tradewaiting, for the uninitiated, is the act of not buying individual issues of a comic as it releases, but rather waiting for them to be collected in a trade paperback form (aka TPB).

*It should be noted that this list will focus on North American/English releases as that’s mostly what I have access to. Additionally, as I am in general unfamiliar with Manga, I will not be including Manga titles in my lists. For some great reviews and discussion of Manga titles I urge you to check out Danielle Leigh on CSBG. I will do my best to include independent and graphic novel selections as they are released as well – but if I’ve missed something excellent feel free to let me know in the comments.

Here we go…

Air #21. G. Willow Wilson (writer). M.K. Perker and Chris Chuckry (art). Vertigo. 32 pages. $2.99.

From a female positivity standpoint I really can’t fault this book, I never have to see crazy naked tits and ass and inane costumes and Amelia Earhart guest stars, which is pretty much awesome. However, I have never connected with the main character Blythe and she seems, despite G. Willow Wilson’s best efforts, flat and weak willed. Additionally, her obsession/relationship with Zayn never really worked for me emotionally. Also of note in this issue is that there’s a weird bathtub scene that, while not gratuitous just seems a little silly and unnecessary. Though I don’t particularly like this book, I have to give it credit for being a rare starring vehicle for a female character AND writer, and a book that tries to represent women well, so I’ll give it a TRADEWAIT.

American Vampire #3. Scott Snyder and Stephen King (writers). Rafael Albuquerque (art). Vertigo. 32 pages. $3.99.

The Stephen King and Scott Snyder series continues to be very interesting with its parallel stories about Pearl becoming an American Vampire, and how her maker Skinner Sweet first became one. Pearl is a great character that I look forward to reading every week, and the art by Rafael Albuquerque is excellent. This is one of my favorite new books, definitely get on board now. BUY

DV8 #2. (of 8). Brian Wood (writer). Rebekah Isaacs and Carrie Strachan (art). Fiona Staples (cover). Wildstorm. 32 pages. $2.99.

Brian Wood and Rebekah Isaacs’ excellent revamp of this old 90’s superhero team continues to be edgy, forward thinking, and interesting. The story is well-paced and beautifully illustrated and the covers by Fiona Staples are like a delicious cherry on top. If you want to read more about DV8, check out my detailed review on CSBG’s She Has No Head! BUY

Read the rest of this entry »

She Has No Head!: Advance Preview And Review of Ross Campbell’s Shadoweyes

May 17, 2010 in art, artists, comic reviews, comics, comics should be good, CSBG, ross campbell, she has no head! | 1 comment

New SHE HAS NO HEAD! – an Advance Review and Advance Preview of Ross Campbell’s excellent superhero book Shadoweyes is up. Check it out!

Amy Reeder Continues To Take Over The Comics World With Her Awesomeness

May 11, 2010 in art, artists, awesomeness, comics, comics news, DC Comics | 3 comments

From DC’s The Source Blog last week, the announcement that as of issue #55, Amy Reeder will be the new cover artist for Supergirl. Though that should be awesome enough news on its own, the post came with a preview of cover art for Supergirl #55 – and it’s beautiful. This is going to make Cover Solicits more fun than ever. Absolutely stunning.

She Has No Head! – Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting

May 10, 2010 in book reviews, books, comic reviews, comics, comics should be good, CSBG, feminism, she has no head! | Permalink

New SHE HAS NO HEAD! is up – a review of Linda Medley’s excellent tome, Castle Waiting.

Tags: fantagraphics

She Has No Head! – DV8: The Future Of Comics Is Also The Past?

May 3, 2010 in comic reviews, comics, comics should be good, CSBG, DC Comics, she has no head!, superheroes, wildstorm | Permalink

New SHE HAS NO HEAD! is up, a review of Brian Wood’s new miniseries DV8: Gods And Monsters, as well as a discussion of why THIS is comics for men AND women, without compromise.

comics

Blogroll