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Guy Delisle's images in this memoir greatly depict the main character Andre and his feelings of being trapped in this room. Day after day, week after week, and month after month he is trapped and forced to conduct the same monotonous routine everyday. These images and this memoir comic in general clearly portrays the feeling of despair and monotony yet still somehow have traces of humor.
(Frankie Shebby)

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"It was in the early morning hours of July 2 that I was kidnapped."

On the opening page of Guy Delisle's Hostage, those words hang in a slate-gray night sky, above a building in a nondescript neighborhood of what we soon learn is a small town west of Chechnya.

That same, muted grayscale color-scheme will stay with us throughout the book, because the man imparting those words - Christophe André, a Doctors Without Borders administrator assigned to the Caucasus region in 1997 - will spend the bulk of Hostage's 432 pages in darkness.

But first, we see a car pull up to the building, and several dark shapes clamber out. We watch them storm into the room where André is sleeping, forcibly abduct the bewildered and terrified man, and shove him into the backseat of a car.

For days that stretch into weeks, and weeks into months, André's existence shrinks to one of numbing monotony, as he is kept - mostly - in a small darkened room, handcuffed to a radiator beside a bare mattress.

His days pass with metronomic regularity: fitful sleep broken up by the "click, clack" of the door, which augurs a meal of thin vegetable soup, or a bathroom break. Any deviation from this crushing routine - the sound of distant gunfire, a new voice in the hallway, or having his photograph taken by his captors - inflames André's imagination with thoughts of rescue, or sends him spiraling into despair. To keep his sanity, he literally counts the passing days (at one point the notion that he's temporarily lost track of which day of the week it is induces a panic attack) and challenges himself to recall details of French military history.

The account of André's experience, dictated to Delisle years later by the man himself, would be powerful enough, if depicted in prose alone. But Hostage is a comic, and it's Delisle's art - his character design, his use of page and panel layout to underscore the mind-numbing sameness of solitary confinement while controlling the story's mood and pacing - that makes us feel André's plight so deeply.

We come to know every square inch of the room - the bare lightbulb never turned on, the stains on the ceiling and walls, the single, boarded-up window - because Delisle lingers over them longingly, again and again, filtered through André's consciousness, which is starved for fresh visual input.

Hostage is a departure from Delisle's previous comics work, a series of first-person travelogues depicting his experiences accompanying his wife - a Doctors Without Borders manager - to places like China, North Korea, Jerusalem and Myanmar. In those books, Delisle brings a sense of humor and an outsider's perspective (he's a stay-at-home dad who generally comes into only glancing contact with the tense political environment on the ground). He depicts himself, and his kids, in a broad, cartoony style that owes more to Hergé's Tintin than the intimate expressiveness of, say, Joe Sacco's graphic nonfiction.

There's a note of that cartoony style here - André wears round glasses over his dot-eyes, and when he's worried about his fate, sweat droplets hover in the air around his temples. But Delisle's in full control, and uses the growing disconnect between André's plight and its occasionally whimsical presentation to point up the power of fleeting flashes of hope: the day his captors add a bit of beef to his soup, the moment he gets to cross the room and actually touch the opposite wall he's been staring at for months.

Hostage concludes with a passage of heightened suspense as André finally gains some measure of control over his fate, only to have his feelings of helplessness and paranoia steadily mount. As readers outside the story, holding the hefty tome that is Hostage in our hands, we know something that André doesn't: that we've only got a handful of pages to go, so one way or another, his tale is about to end. It's a testament to Delisle's gifts that we remain so deeply invested in André's situation, seeing and feeling only what he does, that this knowledge never registers; we keep turning pages fearfully, hungrily, plowing on along with him, vibrating in the tension between word and image, terror and hope.

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Gripping Comics Memoir 'Hostage' Puts You In The Room Where Nothing Happens

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"It was in the early morning hours of July 2 that I was kidnapped." On the opening page of Guy Delisle's Hostage, those words hang in a slate-gray night sky, above a building in a nondescript neighborhood of what we soon learn is a small town west of Chechnya.

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My article was written about a women that had written a graphic memoir. She had previously been a children's author but felt that adding the pictures made the sad topics a little less sad. The latest thing she wrote was a graphic memoir about the story of how her husband died. This is a very heavy subject matter but to keep it all a little lighter, she used a graphic memoir. It allows the read to be less dark and therefore open for a wider age range of people.

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A story of death in pictures | TheRecord.com

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Jews measure mourning in time, and it was seven months from the day Marissa Moss' husband Harvey was diagnosed with ALS to the day he died. Then seven days of sitting shiva in his memory, 30 days of...

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Many graphic novel are being used as medium of person memoir. And a lot of time they are very graphic. In Roxane Gay's case, this comic discuss her effort to lose her weight, and some scenes of the dark side of society. It seem to have a very interesting topic.

(Taicheng Song)

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Roxane Gay has several personae, but she first garnered Internet fame as a diarist. On Tumblr, during the platform's embryonic years, Gay recorded her daily likes and dislikes in posts such as " Things I Am Currently Charmed By" (items included "Discussions of 'spirit animals,' particularly when the spirit animal is an inanimate object") and " Me and My Man," about Bill Clinton. Gay also used the platform to discuss the culture's punishing relationship with aspects of her own identity: fatness, bisexuality, and blackness. She wrote about the murder of Jordan Davis and, powerfully, about her rape at the age of twelve. As Gay commuted her intimate, rigorous pontifications from Tumblr to now-defunct Web sites such as xoJane and the Toast, and later to the Times, where she is a columnist, she fashioned herself as a public intellectual of the people-mostly women, black and brown, queer-and of readers who allied with (and wanted to be seen to ally with) those people.

In 2012, Gay posted " Feminism (Plural)," a short manifesto that became the introduction of her blockbuster 2014 essay collection, " Bad Feminist," in which she argued that "Professional Feminists" were out of touch with those who most needed the movement. (The things that she claimed made her a "bad feminist" included enjoying rap music despite its sexist lyrics, faking orgasms, and not knowing how to fix her car. "Like most people, I'm full of contradictions," she wrote.) Since that book, Gay's readership has only grown as she has positioned herself at the vanguard of soft, feminist punditry and much else: she is the author of two fiction best-sellers and the first black woman to write for Marvel Comics.

It is curious to be reminded, in Gay's new memoir, " Hunger," that she was first drawn to online forums by the promise of anonymity. The memoir deals with her rape, her overeating, and her struggles with her public and private identities. Before the dawn of avatars, she lived on IRC, "an old-school chat program with thousands of channels populated by thousands of lonely people who were mostly interested in talking dirty to one another." The memory contrasts with the tone of the book, in which Gay is constantly defining and defending herself against others' expectations. Increasingly, she has become not just a writer but a spokesperson. Gay, who rejects the ideal of "(th)inner woman" while also wishing that she could herself be smaller, has drawn the ire of fat-acceptance advocates, who presumably wish that Gay were a less equivocal role model. In "Hunger," she writes candidly of her position, returning to the theme of contradictions: "I have been accused of being full of self-loathing and being fat-phobic. There is truth to the former accusation and I reject the latter. I do, however, live in a world where the open hatred of fat people is vigorously tolerated and encouraged. I am a product of my environment."

Some of the liveliest prose in "Hunger" can be found in her previously published takedowns of the "weight-loss industrial complex," in which she points out the depraved strategies of "The Biggest Loser" and of life-style deputies like Oprah and Kirstie Alley. ("The public weight-struggle spectacle is a popular fallback for once-famous women who yearn to recapture their former glory.") There are also passages about her love of Ina Garten, known as the Barefoot Contessa, and of beating men at poker.

Elsewhere, Gay catalogues her daily stresses as a fat woman, recalling the blunt, confessional voice she has assumed on her blogs since her early Tumblr days. She recounts how shoppers reach into her cart and replace her food with their idea of healthier options. Flight attendants seem to take pleasure in loudly discussing whether her seat-belt extender is up to code. Armchairs are, she writes, "generally unbearable," leaving her with lingering bruises. The medical community encourages obesity panic, yet doctor's offices lack scales that can accommodate her weight. People are either bungling or cruel. (Last week, while promoting the book, Gay took to Twitter after an Australian podcast host made public her publisher's request that Gay have a sturdy chair to sit on for her in-person interview.)

The opening section of "Hunger" is written as an accretion of false beginnings: "The story of my body is not a story of triumph," she writes, and then later, "I don't know how to talk about rape and sexual violence when it comes to my own story. It is easier to say, 'Something terrible happened.' " Gay writes carefully about the attack, which occurred, we learn, when a boy she calls Christopher, whom she adored, brought her to a cabin in the woods where his friends were waiting. At school the following day, her attackers broadcast their own version of what happened. She was jeered at, called a slut. She stopped believing in God. (Her parents, wealthy and well-meaning Haitian immigrants, didn't learn what happened until years later.)

A year or so later, Gay was sent to Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire, where she gained more than thirty pounds in two and a half months. "I needed to feel like a fortress, impermeable," she writes. She spent her parents' money at a campus greasy spoon. One summer, at the suggestion of her parents, she went on a liquid diet, lost weight, and returned to school svelte. Then she gained the weight back, and more. At her heaviest, she weighed five hundred and seventy-seven pounds. Her academic excellence and shyness obscured, to most people, the obvious fact that she was depressed.

She completed two years at Yale University before disappearing for ten months-what she calls her "lost year," when she went to San Francisco to connect with an older man whom she met online. They moved together to Scottsdale, Arizona, where she got a job as a phone-sex operator. He taught her how to use a gun, and, Gay tells us, "I did the kinds of things that the good girl I had long pretended to be would never dream of doing." She doesn't tell us what these things are; the result is a chapter that reads like a trailer for a future book.

In fact, Gay rarely writes scenes-preferring to focus on material that directly correlates to the story of her fatness. Of interacting with lovers online, Gay writes, "At first, I did it because it felt safer and I could be sexual without having to actually be sexual." In her twenties and thirties, while pursuing a Ph.D. in fits, Gay entered a series of abusive relationships: "I was a lightning rod for indifference, disdain, and outright aggression, and I tolerated all this because I knew I didn't deserve any better, not after how I had been ruined and not after how I continued to ruin my body." At the same time, she expresses disappointment that she feels the need to write the book we are reading. "The list of bullshit I deal with, by virtue of my body, is long and boring, and I am, frankly, bored with it." Several times, Gay writes a version of "I'm a mess." There is occasionally something proud, almost, in Gay's lethargic prose, as if to focus on language would be beside the point.

But there are a few moments when Gay gives us a glimpse of the deeper account that "Hunger" might have been-one in which she pursues, rather than merely dispatches with, the contradictions that have so painfully defined her life. In one almost stream-of-consciousness narrative, she describes tracking down Christopher as an adult. We learn that she knows where he lives, where he works. She has called him and listened, without speaking, on the line. ("His voice hasn't changed," she writes.) Plunged into the act of remembering, Gay's prose grows frenetic and textured and marvelously difficult:

I wonder if he knows I have sought out men who would do to me what he did or that they often found me because they knew I was looking. I wonder if he knows how I found them and how I pushed away every good thing. Does he know that for years I could not stop what he started? I wonder what he would think if he knew that unless I thought of him I felt nothing at all while having sex, I went through the motions, I was very convincing, and that when I did think of him the pleasure was so intense it was breathtaking.

Here, Gay is revealing herself, finally, with shocking truth and devastating poetry. She quickly moves on to other topics, but the passage stayed with me for days.

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Roxane Gay has several personae, but she first garnered Internet fame as a diarist. On Tumblr, during the platform's embryonic years, Gay recorded her daily likes and dislikes in posts such as " Things I Am Currently Charmed By" (items included "Discussions of 'spirit animals,' particularly when the spirit animal is an inanimate object") and " Me and My Man," about Bill Clinton.

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This comic author plans to flip Gotham, making the joker good and batman bad . He is also intending to make the city have more relevant events in the city addressing modern issues. It will be interesting to see how this project turns out

(Stephen Barton)

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Sean Gordon Murphy has been teasing out details from his Batman solo project for weeks, releasing tantalizing pieces of artwork and clues via his Twitter account. Now, we finally have our first concrete details about the writer/artist's ambitious Gotham City-based project, and it's probably not what anyone expected: Batman: White Knight will cast the vigilante's classic nemesis the Joker in the role of Gotham City's protector, as he attempts to save it from the criminal machinations of a bat-costumed Bruce Wayne.
RELATED: Harley Quinn, New Batmobile Join Sean Murphy's Batman Story
"My main goal was to undo the comic tropes while changing Gotham from a comic book city into a real city-a city dealing with everything from Black Lives Matter to the growing wage gap," Murphy told Wired in an interview announcing the series. "[But] rather than write a comic about the wage gap, I gave those ideas to the Joker, who leads a kind of media war against Gotham's elite by winning people over with his potent observations and rhetoric."

"It's sexy to think crime can be stopped with a fist, but the real solution is a lot more boring than that: education, increasing wages, and building trust," Murphy added. "The line Batman rides between 'noble vigilante' and 'overzealous oppressor' will always be shifting as our own society changes."

Though he stopped short of revealing his series' premise ahead of the official unveiling, Murphy has been teasing his plans to add his own spin to the Batman mythos. One of his earlier tweets, in which he shared his take on the Joker, promised, "My Batman story makes it OK to have a crush on Joker!" With the Clown Prince of Crime (and apparently his longtime girlfriend Harley Quinn) now cast in the role of savior rather than enemy of Gotham, it's now clear that he really meant what he wrote.

"We know the Joker is a genius, we know he's relentless, and we know he can play the crowd, so why not make him a politician?" Murphy said of the Joker's new role. "Frank Miller modeled him after David Bowie. Chris Nolan showed him as a controlled sociopath. I see the Joker as Don Draper."

Batman: White Knight #1, by Sean Gordon Murphy, arrives in stores Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017.

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Batman is the Villain in Sean Gordon Murphy's White Knight

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Sean Gordon Murphy has been teasing out details from his Batman solo project for weeks, releasing tantalizing pieces of artwork and clues via his Twitter account.

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13 graphic novels every memoir lover should read

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13 graphic novels every memoir lover should read

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The following is a mix of new releases, gems from the last 30 years of graphic novels, and classics that everyone should have on their bookshelves.

(Darren Liu)

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Image: Top Shelf Productions

Looking for a book that offers something different - something a little more rooted in reality? These graphic novel memoirs are as lively and engrossing as any trade issue with a costumed crusader on the front.

Graphic novels are so well-suited for memoirs, it's crazy to think they've only been prominent since the 1970s, while the history of comics traces all the way to the 1830s.

Adding visual elements to a memoir allows readers intimacy with the author that is impossible to achieve with words alone. We get to see through their eyes, to feel what they felt, and many authors exploit that perspective to showcase their particular distorted worldview - anxieties can be personified and magnified, or small kindnesses wreathed in heroism.

The following is a mix of new releases, gems from the last 30 years of graphic novels, and classics that everyone should have on their bookshelves. Some are deadly serious, some are straight humor, but most mix the two, mining humor from the dark moments of the lives they inscribe.

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13 graphic novels every memoir lover should read

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Looking for a book that offers something different - something a little more rooted in reality? These graphic novel memoirs are as lively and engrossing as any trade issue with a costumed crusader on the front.

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Deadpool turning back to his villainous roots?

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Deadpool turning back to his villainous roots?

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Deadpool was notorious for being a mercenary and for his incredibly violent behavior. Although in the more recent issues of deadpool he has joined up with more heroes and partook in the saving of many innocents. Although in the future issues of Deadpool the authors plan on having deadpool become a victim to the nefarious plans of Stryfe after Stryfe helped Deadpool save 4 innocents. Deadpool now must kill 4 others of Stryfe's choosing and one of them being Cable, who Stryfe is a clone of. Not only that Deadpool and Cable hae both worked together before on the X-force hero team which could spell some drama for our masked mercenary.

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Deadpool will be getting back to his villainous roots when the Marvel Legacy arc rolls through the company's many ongoing storylines later this fall. According to new information released by Marvel, Despicable Deadpool #287 will see the Merc with a Mouth forced to make good on a bad deal after a nefarious villain helps him save a family.

The villain in question is Stryfe, the clone of Nathan Summers, otherwise known as Cable. Since Stryfe aided Deadpool in saving four lives, Stryfe has demanded the mercenary take four lives of his choosing. The first name on his list, of course, is Cable himself.
RELATED: Marvel Legacy's Invincible Iron Man Sees the Return of Tony Stark
"Just before Secret Empire began Deadpool needed help to save the Preston family, and his friends weren't immediately available - so he turned to an enemy: Stryfe," Despicable Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan said in an interview with IGN. "Stryfe saved [four] lives for him, and now Deadpool must pay his price: He has to kill four people for him. Cable is the first name that Stryfe gives him. Deadpool might have been able to do some damage control after Secret Empire, but now with Stryfe calling in his [marker]."

Marvel Comics fans will recall that Deadpool and Cable have a long history together. Deadpool was first introduced as a villain in New Mutants #98 in 1990, but has made strides in recent years to become a benevolent as possible. Cable was one of the first mutants who sought to change Deadpool's mind when the two first met on the battlefield. Deadpool eventually ended up joining Cable's X-Force strike team, and at one point even brought the team back from the brink of obscurity.
RELATED: Marvel Legacy: Planet Hulk Details, Incredible Hulk #709 Cover Unveiled
With the announcement of the Despicable Deadpool #287's plot, though, it sounds as though all of the Merc with a Mouth's good deeds might be for naught, though the dilemma must be oddly cyclical for the mutant duo. Deadpool was first sent to assassination Cable, after all, before the mutant cyborg was able to show Deadpool the benefits of being good (enough).

Deadpool looks primed to play a major role in the Marvel Legacy arc. The fast-healing mutant will also appear in the The Defenders' first Marvel Legacy issue, and, according to that series' writer, Brian Michael Bendis, the Merc with a Mouth offers a clue as to the identity of the new Kingpin, which is the primary concern of the street-level superhero team when Deadpool saunters into the picture.
RELATED: Marvel Legacy: Who Will Be Crowned the New Kingpin in The Defenders?
Despicable Deadpool #287 is written by Gerry Duggan and penciled by Scott Koblish, with cover art by David Lopez.

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Marvel Legacy Honors Deadpool's Despicable Roots

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Deadpool will be getting back to his villainous roots when the Marvel Legacy arc rolls through the company's many ongoing storylines later this fall. According to new information released by Marvel, Despicable Deadpool #287 will see the Merc with a Mouth forced to make good on a bad deal after a nefarious villain helps him save a family.

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Obama is collaborating with illustrators and editors to create a graphic novel of his time as president.  He wants people to look back and read this in the future and grasp what his presidency was actually like...from his perspective.  He feels like this is the only medium that will accurately convey what he wants to share.

Brooke Smetanka

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WASHINGTON-Saying the finished work would become the "definitive take" on his time in the White House, Barack Obama reportedly submitted a collection of pages from his presidential graphic novel, Barack Obama: Renegade, to publisher Image Comics on Thursday.

The 16-page packet of artwork and sample issues, which Obama confirmed he has also mailed to Fantagraphics Books, Dark Horse Comics, and DC's Vertigo imprint, is said to serve as a proof of concept for what he envisions as a sprawling eight-volume memoir of his presidency. According to Obama, creating an authentic representation of his two terms in office has required him to use every tool of the comics medium, from dramatic splash pages in which he appears silhouetted behind the Resolute desk, to an extended dream sequence set on the eve of his 2012 reelection, which he said takes "definite cues" from the casual surrealism of graphic novelist Chris Ware in order to fully realize the emotional truth of the moment.

"I've poured everything into Renegade's panels, and when it's complete, it will depict these eight years of my life precisely as I experienced them," said the 44th president of the United States, who told reporters that he planned to pencil, ink, and hand-letter each page of the series himself. "Readers will get a true sense of my time as president right from the opening of Volume #1: Preambles & Promises, where I cut between full-color panels of my first inaugural address and stark black-and-white illustrations of ordinary Americans disillusioned by the Great Recession, two protracted wars overseas, and a lack of access to healthcare."

Added Obama, "By the time the editors over at Vertigo read the sequence where I'm climbing the steps of the North Portico, and we suddenly flash back to a parallel scene of my origin story in Honolulu, climbing up a volcanic rock in the exact same pose, I'm pretty sure they'll be hooked."

The idea for Renegade, which is expected to span more than 1,200 pages when completed, reportedly emerged in the aftermath of the disastrous 2010 midterm elections, when a brooding Obama would stay up late in the darkened Oval Office, drafting hundreds of variations on his concept art to "nail the look" of minor details such as the sunlit sheen on an MQ-1 Predator drone or the exact shade of primary antagonist John Boehner's blue eyes.

Discussing his efforts to capture events on the page just as they happened in real life, the former commander in chief admitted he owed much to Y: The Last Man co-creator Brian K. Vaughan, whose "masterful blend" of rapid-fire action and political intrigue influenced his own approach to the bin Laden raid, which will appear in Volume #4: Infiltration & Exfiltration. Obama said he created a kinetic sense of motion by extending SEAL Team Six's HK416 assault rifles into the page's bleed and lettering the onomatopoeic "chh-chh-chh" of the helicopters in such a way that the words wrap around their whirring blades.

"Back in 2013, when I was really torn about how to respond to Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons, I started imagining myself as two different presidents simultaneously enacting two different policies-and suddenly I knew that was exactly how I had to illustrate this moment of my presidency," said Obama, whose graphic novel also features dual versions of himself that voice opposing sides of tense debates that play out within his mind. "I started sketching right then and there: one set of panels in which I launch military strikes, and one in which I don't. Both end in disaster, showing that, in the end, no good choices were available."

"I bet Batman: Year One illustrator [David] Mazzucchelli would be perfect for capturing the mood of a war-weary nation in those scenes," Obama continued, saying he would be open to collaboration with outside colorists. "God, that would look so freaking cool."

Despite Renegade 's dense political narrative, the former president was quick to note it would also include moments of humor and even tenderness, such as episodes imagined from the perspective of first dogs Bo and Sunny Obama, and recurring romantic vignettes about first lady Michelle Obama, which will be painted in watercolors to provide a stark break from the more rigid inking used to portray his actions as the nation's chief executive.

Obama stressed that, overall, his series would be "gritty, heady stuff," and more akin to a novel than traditional superhero fare.

"Generations from now, I want Americans to be able to read these pages and be confident they're getting an unalloyed picture of my presidency," he said. " Renegade will cover mature, difficult subjects, and some of it may require multiple readings to understand, but this graphic novel is the only way to accurately convey my experiences. I realize, of course, it may be a bit too much for more sensitive readers to handle."

"Especially once you get into Volume #8," Obama added. "Right at the beginning, Justice Scalia is killed off, and after that things start to turn dark pretty fast."

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Obama Sends Publisher Collection Of Pages For Presidential Graphic Novel

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WASHINGTON-Saying the finished work would become the "definitive take" on his time in the White House, Barack Obama reportedly submitted a collection of pages from his presidential graphic novel, Barack Obama: Renegade, to publisher Image Comics on Thursday.

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Questions if memoir comics are truly a piece of literature. The fact that the author is able to create their own image of their world through illustration makes for a more powerful piece. There was conflict to weather call them graphic novels or comics which is based solely on how the author presents their story to the audience. It was interesting to see how each of these books were considered to be comic memoirs such as Stitches by David Smalls.
(Olivia Pulick)

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One of the more common methods of using comics as a medium for serious narrative is the memoir. It turns out that comics and memoirs are a great match: memories can be precise or hazy, trustworthy or otherwise, and comics can depict that in a way that's sometimes much more evocative than prose alone. Comics allow us to see the world the way the artist sees it, and that can be particularly useful in the case of memoirs as they show us life from one person's point of view.
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These memoirs also raise some interesting questions about what to call them. I've seen them referred to as "autobiographical graphic novels," but that can be problematic if they're not actually fiction. On the other hand, "comic" sometimes still carries the connotation of humor and many memoirs have as much tragedy as humor. Oh, well. I'll just stick with "comics" and "comic book memoirs" for the sake of simplicity. Here are just a few notable ones get you started.

American Splendor - Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar may be one of the earliest comic book memoir-writers, though interestingly he was not a comic book artist. He had the good fortune to know R. Crumb and convinced him to illustrate his slice-of-life stories. American Splendor ran for over thirty years and the list of illustrators involved reads like a "who's who" of comics. Pekar couldn't draw, but what he could do was record his observations of his daily life, and he used comics as his outlet for the little things that irritated him - whether it was about other people or his own bad habits. His collaboration with his third wife Joyce Brabner, Our Cancer Year, chronicles his treatment for lymphoma and the stress it puts on their relationship.

It's interesting to have so many different illustrators over the course of the series, but Pekar's voice comes across loud and clear. I see Pekar's influence on cartoonists like Jeffrey Brown (who mixes autobiography with fiction) and Joe Sacco (who puts the medium to use in journalism), but perhaps almost anyone who has written a comic book memoir owes a little to Pekar. There are various collections of American Splendor; if you want a longer, cohesive story, Our Cancer Year may be a good place to start.

Epileptic - David B.

Epileptic is a hard book to categorize; inevitably it will be filed with graphic novels and comics, but it's a memoir that just happens to be told with pictures. At the same time, the illustrations are not strictly true, at least in a literal sense. David B.'s older brother has epilepsy, and his disease takes over not only his life but that of his family as well, as they try everything from surgery to psychiatry to religion to macrobiotics to esoterism to voodoo in their attempts to cure him.

David imagines the epilepsy as a giant lizard that pierces his brother, or as a mountain to be climbed, or as a contagious darkness that spreads to himself and his family. The drawings are beautiful and disturbing; some of it has an Edward Gorey feel to it, but it's hard to draw comparisons to anything else I've seen. Perhaps the best description of the book is a line he uses himself: "And life goes on, a little on the gray side."

The chronology is a bit hard to follow at times, since he jumps forward and backward without warning, but he manages to create an overall tone of his life. If there remains any doubt that comics can be both serious literature and serious art, this book will change your mind.

If you like the style of his artwork, David B. also illustrated The Littlest Pirate King, based on an old French story by Pierre Mac Orlan. As more of his books are translated into English, I'm enjoying them as well, but still stands out in my mind as a stunning (and stunningly drawn) book.

Persepolis by Majane Satrapi

Persepolis is a collection of autobiographical stories, with the first book following Satrapi's childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The second book takes her to Austria, where she was sent to continue her education, and then eventually back to Iran. The illustrations are a stark black and white, done in a clean, simple style that tells the story without a lot of distractions. There are a few dream-like scenes (particularly early on, when she speaks to God and wants to be a prophet when she grows up), but for the most part it sticks to a stylized realism.

In her introduction, Satrapi writes that her intention is to show the real face of Iranians, separate from the "fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism" which is usually associated with Iran. Having lived in Iran and experienced the oppressive regime with its sometimes arbitrary rules, she has also encountered many Iranians who died defending freedom or had to flee their homeland, and it is their story she wants to tell.

The book, like life, has both tragedy and comedy. In the middle of threats from the regime or bombs from Iraq, there is time for parties and laughter at the absurdity of it all. Satrapi is honest about her own faults, often admitting to experiences she is ashamed of, but also taking pride what she has accomplished.

It is a perspective on Iran that I hadn't seen before I first read the books several years ago, and I found the books educational as well as engaging. For a more contemporary look at Iran, Parsua Bashi's is a comic book memoir that focuses more on Bashi's present-day circumstances than her childhood. (I reviewed it here in 2009.) I didn't find Nylon Road's artwork as compelling as that of Persepolis, but thematically it makes a good companion book. Fans of Satrapi may also enjoy Chicken With Plums, a story about her great-uncle and his despair at the loss of his beloved instrument.

Blankets by Craig Thompson

is a semi-autobiographical story about growing up - sharing a bed with his kid brother, his first love, his religious convictions and then the loss of them. Like his earlier comic book Goodbye, Chunky Rice, Blankets is bittersweet, and addresses many of the same themes: friendship and goodbyes. But it's also much more personal. It's hard to say how much or what has been fictionalized - perhaps "dramatized" is a better word.

His illustrations depict perfectly his own states of mind, from images of Hell and Heaven during Sunday school to visions of his girlfriend Raina as his muse. He struggles with new passions as they conflict with old values - but in the end, neither seems to win out. It's hard to say what he's really left with in the end, which is a shame compared to all the beauty he saw earlier. The picture he paints of his church is perhaps a sad-but-true scenario, in which he's told that drawing is the worst sort of idleness and escapism. His Sunday school teacher dismisses his passion scornfully: "How can you praise God with DRAWINGS?" You can't help but wonder what Craig's story would have been in a different context.

I should note that not everyone likes Thompson's books: one complaint is that they're too elaborate, too earnest, that they command attention by sheer page count alone. And certainly Blankets (and his most recent graphic novel ) are both impressively large. There is a real beauty in Thompson's brush-strokes, though. While I found his perspective in Blankets sometimes immature, it felt fitting because it chronicled his adolescence.

Side note: remember what I said about the difficulty with terminology when it comes to memoirs? This one is called "an illustrated novel" right there on the cover - so it's fictionalized, perhaps, but based on Thompson's own life. I've included it here because it seems to be generally considered a memoir, more so than, say, Will Eisner's tenement stories. (More on those in a later post!)

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Bechdel is perhaps best known for her Dykes to Watch Out For comic strip which has been running since 1983. is her memoir, titled after the family's nickname for the Bechdel Funeral Home, and her subtitle - A Family Tragicomic - is appropriate. It wasn't until I sat down to write about it that I realized how difficult it is to summarize, because of the way Bechdel deftly weaves together so many different things into a seemingly cohesive whole: literature, coming out to her parents, her father's death, her parents' relationship with each other and with the children, growing up in the funeral business, her father's closeted homosexuality. Fun Home is by turns funny and deeply tragic. Bechdel's search for meaning in her father's actions (and death) yields some fascinating conclusions.

Just last month she published Are You My Mother?, which more closely examines her relationship with her mother - a woman who lived with her closeted gay husband's secret for years. I haven't read it yet, but based on Fun Home I'm putting it on my list.

Stitches by David Small

I first came across David Small's illustrations in A Mouse and His Child (written by Russell Hoban). Small's charcoal illustrations were dark and moody and perfectly suited to Hoban's story. Several years ago I was given a copy of The Gardener, written by his wife Sarah Stewart, and it's a beautiful book as well. I've since sought out other picture books illustrated by Small (some written by him as well).

is a comic book memoir which is quite dark in tone and can be painful to read. Small's father was a radiologist who bombarded his son with X-rays, thinking they would help his sinuses. When he developed a tumor on his neck, his parents were reluctant to even take him to the doctor, complaining that "doctors cost money and money is something that is in short supply in this house!" Of course, it doesn't stop his parents from shopping for a new car, new appliances, furniture. Eventually, though, he has surgery, losing one of his vocal cords (and, for some time, his voice). It's shocking to read of such callous parents, and the brief bits about his grandmother aren't so great, either.

So why would you read something like this?

Well, for one, it's also a story about Small discovering who he is, setting out to chase his dream of becoming an artist. It's also incredible artwork. Small's black-and-white illustrations are powerful and he's able to convey tremendous emotion through body language and facial expressions. He zooms in on faces and small details; sometimes you only see part of somebody's face, as if the teenage Small is looking off past the person speaking to him. But equally powerful is the story that isn't included within the pages of the book: the story that Small did become a successful artist, and that he didn't follow his mother and grandmother down the path to insanity.

Click here for Part 3: Spotlight on Will Eisner.

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Comics as Literature, Part 2: Memorable Memoirs

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One of the more common methods of using comics as a medium for serious narrative is the memoir. It turns out that comics and memoirs are a great match: memories can be precise or hazy, trustworthy or otherwise, and comics can depict that in a way that's sometimes much more evocative than prose alone.

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Gripping Comics Memoir 'Hostage' Puts You In The Room Where Nothing Happens

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Gripping Comics Memoir 'Hostage' Puts You In The Room Where Nothing Happens

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"It was in the early morning hours of July 2 that I was kidnapped." These words hang in a slate-gray night sky and are on the opening page of Guy Delisle's comic Hostage. That same, muted grayscale color-scheme will stay with us throughout the book, because the man imparting those words Christophe André will spend the bulk of Hostage's 432 pages in darkness.

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Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do Among Comics' Best Memoirs 

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Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do Among Comics' Best Memoirs 

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Thi Bui’s new graphic memoir The Best We Could Do, begins in a hospital room as Bui gives birth to her soon. She then jumps around in the story trying to understand her parents’ lives, which are “epic in scope, and her own.” In her graphic memoir, she writes about the Vietnam War and what happened after the fall of San Gon, as well as her parents’ decision to escape the country. They boarded a boat with other families, however the captain became incapacitated and her father learned how to navigate the ship using the stars. He guided the boat to Malaysia. She goes on to discuss her life in refugee camps and the ups and down that she encountered when her family moved to the United States. Newsweek had called Bui’s graphic novels “one of the books that will make 2017 interesting."

(Kaitlyn Massin)

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Thi Bui's new graphic memoir The Best We Could Do is a stunning book. It opens in a hospital room as Bui gives birth to her son, and then jumps around time as she tries to understand her parents' lives, which are epic in scope, and her own.

Bui covers the Vietnam War, what happened after the fall of Sai Gon, and what made her parents decide to escape the country. With other families, they got on a boat, and when the captain became incapacitated, Bui's father learned how to pilot the ship. Navigated by the stars, he guiding them to Malaysia, in what must be one of the tensest and most suspenseful sequences in comics this year. She talks about life in the refugee camps, and the joys and the hatred that they encountered when they moved to the United States.

Newsweek called The Best We Could Do, out now from Abrams ComicArts, "one of the books that will make 2017 interesting," and cartoonists, writers and scholars who have praised the book for the ways that Bui manages to combine the personal and political, detailing the lives of three generations in a way that pulls no punches. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking book that has earned the right to mentioned in the same breath as other legendary comics memoirs like Maus and Persepolis and Fun Home. It's a story that is more timely than ever given our current political climate and the anti-immigrant hysteria that some have stirred up.

As Bui put it in an interview with CBR, "I have a dream of how I would like America to be. It's one in which I don't have to defend my right to exist."
CBR: You talk a little about this in the book, but I wonder if you could start just by talking a little about how the book began.
Thi Bui: It began as an oral history. I have parents who talked very freely about Viet Nam and our family history and politics. It's always been part of what I know, but when you sit down to record a story and make sense of it you realize how much you don't know. The stories ballooned into a really massive oral history project. Once I collected it, I realized that the next problem to figure out was how to present it. Traditional oral history can be a bit dry and I knew that just having transcripts even with photographs wasn't going to convey even ten percent of the emotional story.

At the same time, I started reading some really seminal graphic novels like Maus by Art Spiegelman and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Because I could write and I could draw, I figured maybe I could do a graphic novel. Of course, that was arrogant thinking. [ Laughs] I had to take a long time to actually learn the medium of comics. That's part of why it took so long. The other reason it took so long was I had a baby and I moved across the country and I helped start a brand new school for recent immigrants and English language learners in Oakland, California. I was writing the book on the side, so it wasn't until I took a break from high school teaching two and a half years ago that I was able to devote myself to the book and finish it.
So it took a decade, but it sounds like you spent most of that time learning how to tell the story more than anything.
I'm not a traditional cartoonist, in the sense that I didn't start knowing how to do comics and then told the story. I learned how to do comics by telling the story. Which is something that a lot of people who teach comics advise against - because it's hard. I've always been trying to tell stories but I didn't know that. I was in an MFA program at Bard College in sculpture, and I kept getting in trouble for making work that people said was too narrative. At some point I wised up and realized, maybe I need to change the medium.
You mentioned Maus and Persepolis, but did you have a model for what you wanted this book to be?
No. I only had things that I didn't want it to be like, which can be useful, too! [ Laughs] When I grew up my family would watch every single Vietnam War movie that came out, hoping that maybe this would be the one that tells the story properly. We were always disappointed, of course. Sometimes more than disappointed. At some point I had to write the story that I had always wanted to read.
You said that your parents talked about a lot of this with you, but I got the impression that the process of making the book really brought you and your father closer.
Definitely.
How much of his story did you know before starting this project?
I knew bits and pieces. The process of trying to fit it all together into a chronology forced us to have a lot of conversations. We're dealing with very early memories and moving back and forth in a really chaotic time. We're also dealing with trauma. I realized that I had certain times in my life that I couldn't remember because I had blocked them out in order to keep functioning. It was a process of digging into his early memories to try to create a narrative that made sense.
Your father is an amazing man, and the way your mother describes him is very striking but you have this very scene where you're describing your childhood fears and then speaking about your father: "I had no idea that the terror I felt was only the long shadow of his own."
I don't think I would have been able to say that - or think that - before having a child. One of the reasons why I sat on a lot of the material was because there was a shift that happened in me that made me feel like I could possibly do justice to the stories. Shifting from being a child to being responsible for someone else and realizing that it's a huge responsibility and how does anybody not screw this up. [ Laughs]
In the book you really convey how giving birth is this moment of love but it's also traumatic and these things are linked.
I guess I do present childbirth as a pretty traumatic thing, don't I? [ Laughs] The nice thing is, like my mother says, you do forget. There's a lot of good stuff that follows. I guess I find American culture tends to put a lot of emphasis on the individual. Living in America there's a lot of kids moving away from home and parents going into nursing homes and your own kids growing up and rebelling against you. It's a bit lonely because everybody's on their own. On the other hand, there's a lot of freedom and you get to do what you want. So you're free of the inter-generational living together annoyances that I hint at in my book.

I guess maybe the only other model that I've ever heard of that sounds right would be a Native American respect for the elders who took care of the world before you and passed it to you and you're moving through the world borrowing it from future generations. There's an interconnectedness there and historical perspective where you're not so lonely, you're part of a trajectory. I think it makes people feel more responsible but also less alone.
How did you decide on the title, The Best We Could Do?
I went through some bad titles. The working title for a while was "Refugee Reflex" and then it was "Reflex" - but I knew it was bad because it sounds a lot like "Reflux." Around the time I was rearranging my life and building a place in the backyard for my mom and finding a place nearby for my dad. I was adjusting how I had been living to make room for my parents in it. I guess that voluntary giving up some of my independence made me realize the book was as much about parents and children as it was about Viet Nam. In the story of Viet Nam - at least in the 20th Century - there was a yearning for independence and self-determination. That's not that different from the yearning for independence and self-determination that you feel as you're growing up and moving away from your parents.
Your parents don't have the life they would have ever imagined for themselves when they were young.
Everything has been a series of adjustments to circumstances.
People who read this will notice the place names. You don't write "Viet Nam" as one word for example. Could you talk a little about why for people who don't know?
That was my small act of defiance against the English language. I wanted to write for a non-Vietnamese-American audience, but I also wanted to write for people like myself and like my parents' generation. For people who can read Vietnamese, it's very frustrating to read Vietnamese names without the accent marks because then you don't actually know how to pronounce the words. And it's a monosyllabic language, so "Viet Nam" has always been two words. It's smashed together by the English language. That's what the English language does with all place names like "Sai Gon" or "Ha Noi." It's a lot of work to make something incorrect. I wanted to name them the way they're actually named.
Related to that, were you ever conscious of your audience or who would read the book?
Very much. I think that has to do not with marketing but with being an educator. I wanted to make it accessible to a wide audience. I thought a lot about who the readers would be and I tried to give each part of that audience an access point. If you couldn't relate to the historical stuff, maybe you could relate as a child or as a parent. And I wanted it to be a mirror for experiences that don't often get represented.
Before you assembled this oral history, did you and your siblings discuss these things much?
Yeah. A lot of sibling talk is about your parents and there was a lot of self-therapy. The book is really a form of therapy.
I ask because your siblings were older so they remember a lot of different things that you didn't. For example when you went back to Vietnam, they remembered places while you went, "Oh, this is from that photograph."
That was part of thinking about how you tell a story that you weren't really a part of. It was about empathizing as much as possible with the people who were there. Drawing it I had to think about concrete details like what were people wearing, what kind of stool would my mother have sat on, what did the cooking apparatus look like. The kinds of things that ground the story in lived details. I had to do a lot of visual research. I drew the layout of our house in Viet Nam many many times with both my parents to make sure it was right.
I'm sure that researching some of this wasn't easy.
I got into a lot of really depressing rabbit holes just reading about the history. It was hard to find exact reference material. But that work is also pretty fun, though.
There must have been a lot of depressing rabbit holes.
Yes. Sometimes I wondered about why I was writing about a war from many years past, but sometimes it takes that long to get the proper perspective. A lot of the past forty years has been the Vietnamese diaspora getting over the hurt of losing that war. My parents' generation carries a lot of hard line anti-Communist sentiment. You can't really blame them because there was real hurt there, but it is forty years later. Things have changed; we don't have to carry those divisions into the future. I think my generation is letting go of some of that baggage.
In the book you make clear how complex that baggage is because it's not as simple as being Communist or anti-Communist.
Yeah, because things really aren't clear.
In Vietnam, Diem was this brutal dictator in the South and Ho Chi Minh was doing horrible things in the North. There was no place for moderates or people who wanted change but didn't support such violence.
It didn't make it into the book, but one of the things that my parents learned was what the North Vietnamese thought was happening in the South. The campaign was to liberate the South from American imperialists. When they managed to do that, Northerners came down and my father's father came down to see him for the first time in twenty years. He was very surprised that we weren't starving because that was the story they had been told. He actually brought supplies because he thought that we would be starving.
That theme of independence and striking out on your own made me think of how your parents were resettled in Indiana and then moved to California. They made these amazing leaps and adjustments over the course of their lives.
People do amazing things when they don't have any other choice.
I guess that's the other theme of the book.
Under extraordinary circumstances there are only two choices, you sink or you swim. My parents swam, but it wasn't easy.
You said in the book very explicitly that one of the things they taught you was to swim, to continue that metaphor, and to be prepared to do that at a moment's notice. Which has both good and ill qualities, I'm sure.
I think so. In times of peace it feels a little bit like how I imagine a war veteran might feel. Maybe a little ill-suited to normal life. Because you're equipped with a mentality and skillset for times of great trouble.
You also made a great piece for The Nib in January called "Fear is a Great Motivator." Could you talk about where you were when you made that?
The Nib came up with that title, I didn't.

The things that I was thinking about were what do we do now and how do we get people to wake up and do stuff that they haven't been doing before - like paying attention to who their representatives are and making phone calls. I was also thinking about race relations in this country. I have a lot of friends who are people of color who have quite a bit of mistrust of white ally-ship. And I have a lot of friends who are white who are great allies. I sometimes feel like a weird bridge, part optimistic and part pessimistic. Mostly I was trying to encourage people.
You make the point that the "liberal bubble" that some people deride is a place where you don't have to defend your right to exist. That seems like such a small thing, and yet, here we are.
Yes. There's a lot of uncertainty.
You captured that sense of uncertainty but possibility.
I suppose my priorities are clear to me. I have a dream of how I would like America to be. It's one in which I don't have to defend my right to exist. It's one where maybe the racists need to prove what economic boon they're bringing to the rest of us. [ Laughs] There's a lot of work to do. I'm not wasting any time with fairy tales about how inclusive America is because, I mean, clearly it's not. It's taking some major steps backwards. I would say to my liberal friends that those nice myths about democracy and inclusiveness have never been very comforting to me. Maybe the one good thing is that it's clear now. The problems that many of us have been trying to get people to think about and face up to are really undeniable now.
On your blog you've talked about and posted pages from "A Different Pond" which is drawn in a very different style from this book. What is "A Different Pond?"
It's a 32-page children's picture book. It was written by a poet named Bao Phi who lives in Minneapolis. He's an activist and a community organizer and a slam poetry hero to a lot of Asian-Americans. I was sent the manuscript without his name and I liked the manuscript. I asked who the writer was and when they told me I was like, yeah, I'll work with him. [ Laughs] It was also a chance to slow down with the art. I had to draw and color so fast for my book. It sounds like it was a slow process but the writing of it and pulling the material together into a cohesive narrative took the longest. Drawing and coloring it was this really crazy few months. The artist in me wanted a project that was shorter so I could dive into the art. That's why the style is so much more detailed and in full color.
When is the book coming out?
It's coming out in August of this year.

The content of it was great, too, because it's an immigrant story about a Vietnamese-American family that came here around the same time as mine. It's about a father and son from the son's perspective. One of the cool things about getting to illustrate it in great detail was getting to put a lot of the stuff of daily life and everyday surroundings into it. I took a page from Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen,/i> and collected memorabilia. I spent a lot of time obsessing over the posters they would have had on their walls, what kind of shoes the boy would wear. I really wanted to put him in some Adidas but I knew that his family could not afford them so I looked up what in the early '80s would have been the knockoff shoes. It's 1982 but they're wearing bellbottoms because all their clothes are hand me downs from the church.
That sounds like a nice change, a related but very different project.
Yesm exactly. Next I'm going to do more short pieces. One of them is going to have to be about education. I have many years in public education and I have a lot of things to say about that. My big next project is about climate change in Viet Nam. It doesn't have a happy ending, but it is about resilience.
What is the status of things in Vietnam? I'm sure the people in the Mekong Delta have to deal with rising sea levels and acidification.
The Mekong Delta is only six feet above sea level. With the amount that the sea is rising every year, the whole area is going to be underwater by 2050. That area grows half of the rice of the entire country. About a million people will have to move out of the area. They've already had to adjust their farming techniques quite a bit due to drought over the past few years and now they're having to adjust even more. But they are. I think studying it, the world will learn a lot about how we're all going to have to adjust. It sounds like science fiction, but it's reality now. It's completely ridiculous when you juxtapose it with climate change denial in the US. There's no climate change denial in Viet Nam.
The Best We Could Do is available now from Abrams ComicArts.

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Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do Already Among Comics' Best Memoirs

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Thi Bui's new graphic memoir The Best We Could Do is a stunning book. It opens in a hospital room as Bui gives birth to her son, and then jumps around time as she tries to understand her parents' lives, which are epic in scope, and her own.

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I am excited to see that Marvel is pushing for more female-lead Superhero films, as it is obvious that female characters are too often let out from superhero stories and lead roles, in general. In thinking about the influence and draw so many Marvel films have, Captain Marvel will hopefully play a larger role in developing new conversations on gender and heroes.
(Ethan Friedman-Brauner)

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It's true that DC Comics will be beating Marvel Studios to the box office with their first female-led superhero blockbuster in the form of 2017's Wonder Woman, but the folks at the House of Ideas truthfully aren't trailing too far behind. As was officially announced in October 2014, the comic book studio is officially moving forward with a Captain Marvel movie, set to hit theaters on March 8, 2019.

But while that release date is a long way away, it's easily one of our most anticipated projects of the next few years, and we'll be keeping a very close eye on it. It's for this reason that we've organized this guide, used to keep track of all the latest developments of the Captain Marvel movie. So where do things currently stand, and what do we know so far? Read on and find out!

What Is Captain Marvel's Release Date?

As far as Marvel Studio's Phase Three slate goes, Captain Marvel sits in an interesting position. While the film was originally officially announced for release on July 6, 2018, project additions (and the introduction of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe) led to schedule changes that wound up with the blockbuster having its current March 8, 2019 date. This is a bit odd for the comic book movie studio, as they've never put a feature in March before, what makes the placement more interesting is where it lands within the slate - specifically between the Avengers: Infinity War movies on May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019, respectively.

Why is this significant for Captain Marvel? The Joe and Anthony Russo-directed blockbusters are expected to bring together basically every known character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and there has been some question regarding how Captain Carol Danvers might get caught up in that. Could the hero's introduction to live-action come in Avengers: Infinity War, leaving the Captain Marvel movie to flesh her out? (a la both Black Panther and Spider-Man with Captain America: Civil War and their respective solo titles). We'll have to wait and find out.

What Is Captain Marvel's Rating?

The MPAA doesn't give ratings to movies until they are just about finished and getting ready for theatrical release, but even with Captain Marvel many months away from release we can already guarantee the film's rating: PG-13. How do we know this? Because every Marvel feature to this point has been rated PG-13, and it's been confirmed by the CEO of Disney that there are no plans to make an R-rated superhero title any time soon.

It make sense for Marvel Studios to stick with PG-13 ratings in general, given that most of the characters from the comics lend themselves to a younger-skewing audience anyway, and Captain Marvel doesn't buck that trend. The blockbuster will surely have moments of intense and thrilling action, and possibly a cuss word or two tossed in for humor, but this movie is going to be made so that it's accessible to audiences of all ages.

Who Is Captain Marvel?

Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, Ms. Marvel (the original name of Captain Marvel) first debuted in Marvel Comics in 1977, but it was nine years before that when readers were introduced to her alter ago, Carol Danvers. While serving as a member of the United States Air Force, she wound up being present during the explosion of a device created by the Kree (an alien race you may remember from Guardians of the Galaxy). As a result of this accident, Danvers' human genes are fused with those of a Kree, and the result is that she gains super powers.

Captain Marvel is super strong, can fly, both absorbs and projects energy, and even has limited precognitive abilities. In addition to her own run of comics, she's also been a part of many different teams and organizations over the years in the Marvel world, including The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

It's worth noting that the moniker Ms. Marvel has been used by multiple women in Marvel comics -- including Sharon Ventura, Karla Sofen, and, most recently, Kamala Khan, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first Ms. Marvel will definitely be Carol Danvers.

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Captain Marvel's Movie: What We Know So Far

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It's true that DC Comics will be beating Marvel Studios to the box office with their first female-led superhero blockbuster in the form of 2017's Wonder Woman, but the folks at the House of Ideas truthfully aren't trailing too far behind.

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Females have not been well represented in comic books in the past but alas, the past is behind us and a new reign of heroes are emerging! The role of female superheroes is making an appearance in comic book by both DC and Marvel as well as on the Big Screen in Hollywood! Exciting to see the gender focus flipping!

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It's a time of change for comic books. The last few months have seen a lot of hype around the new DC Universe, and a push to increase diversity and appeal to a wider market of readers. With controversy also being caused by the medium's uneven gender portrayals, it has become more important than ever to examine the role of women in mainstream superhero comics.

Comics have always had difficulty maintaining not only a female readership but also female characters. While romance comics aimed at teens thrived decades ago, and currently millions of manga books are sold to an audience of enthusiastic otaku women and girls, the Big Two publishers of superhero comics have struggled to consistently provide appealing comics that attract female readers, or feature superheroines.

Although superheroines exist in the worlds of both DC and Marvel, they don't have a history of being treated well. Scantily-clad, big-breasted and generally a bit useless, ladies in lycra have received criticism from female readers for many years. This ire has extended into additional aspects of the Marvel and DC output - after all, what exactly was Black Widow's role in Iron Man 2 except to look good in that catsuit?

Possibly the most notorious criticism of the treatment of women in comics was from the website Women In Refrigerators. Begun in the late-90s by writer Gail Simone, this site was set up as a response to the treatment of females in comics at the time. It gained its unusual name for the infamous scene when then-Green-Lantern Kyle Rayner's girlfriend was dismembered by the male Major Force and found stuffed in a refrigerator. The site suggested that women in comics should not be abused, depowered or reduced to plot devices.

DC and Marvel have both had campaigns to promote comics to women, but there have been bumps in the road. An attempt to desexualise Wonder Woman by having her don trousers was removed during the run-up to DC's soft-reboot, due to a supposed lack of favour for her new look.

Marvel Comics tried to showcase some of its female talent with Women Of Marvel in 2010, which included special limited-series runs featuring some of its female characters such as the Black Cat, and all-female creative teams on Girl Comics. Such attempts have proven mostly unsuccessful at drawing in readers or preventing critical accusations.

In general, the ill-treatment of women is still commonplace in both mainstream universes. Even The Marvel Super Hero Squad Show has a consistent, blatant depiction of Ms Marvel as a ditsy blonde who is relegated from missions and frequently treated with disdain by her male counterparts. The changes to Harley Quinn's costume by DC provides a potent example of reducing women to a sexual fantasy: initially dressed in a head-to-toe spandex coverall, fitting for her gymnastics background, then relegated to a naughty nurse - insulting given her medical degree - and finally to a corset and hotpants as the only female member of the Suicide Squad.

Harley is not the only character whose reboot-y has received negative appraisals because of her looks. Starfire of Red Hood And The Outlaws was the centre of a storm of controversy due to her busty depiction in a tiny bikini in that series' first issue.

The implied and sometimes explicit promiscuity of both Starfire and Catwoman in the new DC universe has prompted many people to ask just what the roles of these characters are in comics. What kind of role models and relatable stories are they providing for readers?

Two things are required to achieve true equality in comics featuring superheroines: a good plotline that doesn't resort to storytelling centred on the character's gender, and female characters who have consistent core values and dress and act with themselves in mind rather than a male readership.

With this in mind, it seems appropriate to give examples of comics that deliver on both of these aspects. Yes, they do exist! Both are from the DC Universe - sorry Marvel - and feature traditionally good and bad characters.

Representing the villains is Gotham City Sirens (2009-2011) and fighting for the side of good are the Birds Of Prey (in particular the 2010-2011 run). These books have women as the central cast with an additional supporting roster of both men and women, and are primarily focused on the Bat-corner of the DC Universe.

Gotham City Sirens has had many writers, but for me they saved the best until last with Peter Calloway's final arc featuring Harley Quinn's insane attempt to break the Joker out of Arkham Asylum. The story itself is clever and compelling; it wonderfully mixes Quinn's devotion to Joker with her skill and genius, as she outwits the guards and even her best friend, Poison Ivy. The book strongly centres around the characters' relationships with each other, but somehow manages to show the villainesses in a compelling, and sometimes shocking manner that kept me excitedly reading the full run.

Contrastingly, Birds Of Prey followed Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk: a team of heroines who tackle the problems that Batman can't deal with. A recommended run is the opening arc of the final pre-DCnU volume that features White Canary, in which the Birds use all their abilities to track down and unmask a new enemy who threatens to expose them to the world. The women in this series are capable of amazing feats and have a complementary mix of intelligence, strength and cunning, making them a great team to read.

I would like to stress that Birds Of Prey is a book that both my fiancé and I enjoy, and its former author Gail Simone is one of the few writers whose work really seems to appeal across the sexes. Simone is now writing the well-received and decidedly masculine Firestorm: The Nuclear Men as part of DC's New 52.

Unfortunately, neither Gotham City Sirens nor Birds Of Prey went untouched by DC's company-wide revamp. The former has been completely dissolved. Harley Quinn is now the token female in Suicide Squad, while Poison Ivy is, eventually, moving to the new Birds Of Prey - a book that had a lukewarm start but may have some promise - and Catwoman returns to her own series.

The first issue of Selina Kyle's latest adventures has proven to be a talking point due to her highly sexualised character and a graphic, anonymous tryst with the Dark Knight in the closing pages. It seems many readers have a love/hate relationship with Judd Winick's new Catwoman; on the one hand it's fair that a woman should be able to exercise her sexual rights, but on the other it felt like a relationship that has existed in the comics for many years had been tainted by casual treatment.

I feel that Catwoman #1 was written and drawn to elicit a strong response from readers before a complete plan for the book is revealed. Loved it, hated it or, as I did, set it down still undecided, a lot of people will be picking up the second issue.

For me, there are only two of the New 52 that seem to push women to the forefront while featuring genuinely exciting writing and art: Gail Simone's Batgirl, and JH Williams III's Batwoman. However, neither of these books is without their own points of debate.

Batgirl features the reinstated Barbara Gordon, having miraculously recovered her ability to walk, and removes her status as one of the few prominent disabled superheroes in comics. This choice by DC undermines Babs' good work as information-genius Oracle. That said, the first issues are very well done, covering Gordon's return to the cowl and the emotional damage she must work through as a consequence, and the quality of the book is deservedly reflected in the sales figures and critical praise.

Batwoman, although less overtly popular, is not only a visually beautiful book but also shows a lot of promise in its well-written opening issues. The title character's lesbian alter ego, Kate Kane, does earn DC some extra diversity points too, despite the apparent loss of her on-again off-again tie in with The Question.

While in some ways the DC revamp is promising, many female characters have been controversial at best. I feel it is important to remember that, in comics, canon is made to be broken; anything that doesn't - or does - work will eventually be changed. Hopefully, some of the things that are lost for the moment can be brought back.

It will be interesting to see how Marvel responds to New 52. DC have been one step ahead of Marvel for female-oriented books, with Ms Marvel, Black Cat and Black Widow having disappeared from comic store racks. Perhaps Marvel can learn from DC's experience and start putting things right for their ladies.

For now, it seems that integrating the female voice into superhero comics is still as challenging as ever, but there are signs of positive change. Some very good comics featuring women are garnering public and critical success. More crucially than ever, change needs to be driven by the readers to keep women heard in mainstream comics.

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The changing role of women in comic books

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It's a time of change for comic books. The last few months have seen a lot of hype around the new DC Universe, and a push to increase diversity and appeal to a wider market of readers.

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While the Supergirl is certainly an empowering character, the trend that Batwoman made after Batman, Harley made after Joker, Supergirl made after Superman does make me concern. I am really looking forward to see some original empowering female character in future.

It would be a big step forward if in future, female character don't have to confront stereotype, but able to show her strength and confidence naturally.

(Taicheng Song)

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Supergirl: Being Super- a four-issue miniseries about a teenage Kara Danvers living in rural America with zero Kryptonian memories and confusing fluctuations in her powers-concluded this week. It's been a really wonderful ride and, if it hadn't taken such a misstep in the final pages of the last issue, it would have been not just one of the best Supergirl stories told, but one of the best Super-stories period.

The first three issues of Supergirl: Being Super were a tremendous exploration of the Super-mythos. The gender was bent, the story altered, but this was a retelling of one of America's most popular myths and nothing serves a myth better than an update to present times-and a twist.

Writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Joëlle Jones crafted a story so steeped in rural America you could smell the sweet burn of high grass under a hot sun. This wasn't the fetishizing Americana of Zack Snyder's Smallville in Man of Steel. Nor was it like the town in CW's Smallville that seemed to resemble no real small town out in the middle of nowhere.

Tamaki and Jones found my hometown: a small town with less than 15,000 people, where high school sporting events are the biggest entertainment of the weekend, and everyone sort of knows-or at least recognizes-everyone else, and your friends are big and bold and weird even if you're 30 miles from the closest Rocky Horror Picture Show showing.

Without the memories of a forgotten world that normally set Supergirl apart from Superman, this Kara Danvers felt human in that wonderful way Clark Kent can in the best Superman stories. She had friends, ate too much, and texted while her parents yammered. There were zero mentions of Superman in the first three issues of the comic and that led to me thinking, that maybe, just maybe, this is the story of the Super-mythos when the lead is a woman instead of a man.

It was a wonderful conceit to cling to because, for the most part, things really didn't change all that much. Kara has more friends in high school than teen Clark ever does, and she plays sports while teen Clark often avoids them, lest he hurt someone or lose control of his powers. But she and most iterations of Clark are remarkably similar-good honest kids who want to help.

The lack of big differences in a genderbent Super-origin story has only made Being Super feel more universal. So it was a big bummer when the latest issue introduced Superman and revealed that the guy has been floating around Metropolis for a while.

The last panel of the book is gorgeous-a nervous Supergirl, cape pinned to her backpack, floating in front of a surprised Superman. It speaks of a big payoff-a big story to come. The same with Lex Luthor revealing himself as the hand guiding the human villains of the story. The last few beats of Being Super feel like the very best moments of the pilot episode of a new TV series, which is not what the last moments of a four-issue miniseries should feel like.

I'm all for leaving readers wanting more-that's critical to an engaging narrative. But Being Super ends with the story just beginning-Kara's biggest questions and mightiest revelations don't have the opportunity to breathe as the tale is too busy wrapping things up and hinting at the future, as well as leaving a couple of plot holes.

If Being Super part two is on the horizon, then this is the beginning of a really fantastic new series for DC Comics-an engaging Super-series that genuinely engages with the emotions that might afflict an extraterrestrial child refugee. I absolutely want that story. But, to date, this is all we're getting of Tamaki and Jones's tale, and it left me wanting way more than it should.

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One of Supergirl's Best Stories Just Flubbed the Finish

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Supergirl: Being Super-a four-issue miniseries about a teenage Kara Danvers living in rural America with zero Kryptonian memories and confusing fluctuations in her powers-concluded this week. It's been a really wonderful ride and, if it hadn't taken such a misstep in the final pages of the last issue, it would have been not just one of the best Supergirl stories told, but one of the best Super-stories period.

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Kiersey Clemons Confirms Iris West Cameo In ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’

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Kiersey Clemons Confirms Iris West Cameo In ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’

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When will we see the Flash solo movie is still up in the air, but one thing is certain now: as we will see the flash as a member of the league in the coming JUSTICE LEAGUE movie, it will also be the first time we see Iris West, the love interest of the flash as well.

(Darren Liu)

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With all the uncertainty revolving around The Flash film, one of the few things that has stayed constant is Kiersey Clemons. She will be portraying Barry Allen love interest and comic staple, Iris West. Obviously we will be getting our first look at the DCEU's Scarlet Speedster come November in Justice League, well it's now confirmed it will also be the first time we see Iris as well.

Clemons revealed the news during an interview with Modeliste Magazine:

"This November, I'm making a cameo in Justice League as Iris West and it's the first time that you meet her before we get to see her in The Flash with Ezra Miller. It was my first time doing something so extravagant like that. We filmed in London and that's one of my favorite places."

She joins a plethora of characters will be making their DCEU debuts in the film. That list includes Billy Crudup, who will star alongside Clemons in 'The Flash' as Henry Allen, Barry's father.

Clemons joined the DCEU's Flash film when Rick Famuyiwa, who directed her in Dope, was still attached to the project. He has since departed, siting creative differences but that hasn't held Clemons back from sticking to the film.

Source: Modeliste Magazine

Justice League hits theaters November 17, 2017

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Kiersey Clemons Confirms Iris West Cameo In 'JUSTICE LEAGUE'! -

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With all the uncertainty revolving around The Flash film, one of the few things that has stayed constant is Kiersey Clemons. She will be portraying Barry Allen love interest and comic staple, Iris West.

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I read an interesting article about how Supergirl "brings a certain element of femininity" to fiction. She's girly, intelligent, and powerful; three elements that are pretty uncommon for females in fiction. Based on the readings from this week I think that Harley Quinn and Batgirl portray similar traits as well. Too often females are portrayed as weak or unintelligent, but thanks to these female superheroes we can somewhat break those stereotypes.

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WONDER WOMAN opened in theaters this week. Where does she rank on the list?

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I went to go see Wonder Woman and really enjoyed the film but was curious as to who the next female superhero would be.  This article goes into speculations on who will be next.  It will be interesting to see who is the next one out there if it is Captain Marvel or if it will be another character from the DC universe.  From the looks of it, DC has several options.  They plan to reboot the Batgirl and have talked about giving Harley Quinn her own movie.

(Kian Reno)

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In the dozen or so years between mid-aughts bombs Catwoman and Elektra and last weekend's Wonder Woman, we've had roughly 40 major superhero movies starring men.

Fortunately, it looks like Wonder Woman will be no mere one-off anomaly. With a little bit of luck, Diana could find herself at the forefront of a veritable wave of lady heroes.

Wonder Woman was under enormous pressure for all the reasons typical of its genre - its gigantic budget, the shaky state of the DCEU franchise. But it also bore an especially heavy burden.

If it did well, it could stand as proof positive that female superhero movies can succeed - but if it didn't, it could become another Elektra, which is to say an excuse for skittish studio execs to sideline women heroes for another dozen years.

So when Wonder Woman turned out to be not just good, but great, it didn't just spark joy. It felt like relief. And (at least for this writer), mingled with that relief was anger that Wonder Woman ever had to mean that much - that it had to justify female superhero movies in a way that, say, Green Lantern was never asked to justify male superhero movies.

But now that Wonder Woman's earned rave reviews and raked in a killing at the box office, female superhero movies suddenly look a lot less risky than they did a month or a year or a decade ago.

With that in mind, then, let's take a look at what's coming down the pipeline.

What's taking Marvel so long?

As Wonder Woman burns brighter and brighter, it can't help but cast an unflattering light on the DCEU's biggest competitor, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel has been held up by lots of fans and critics ( including yours truly) as a shining example of how to do comic book movies right. But one of its biggest failings has been its reluctance to deliver a female lead. With Wonder Woman, the DCEU has successfully eclipsed the MCU on that front.

It took the DCEU four films over four years to get to Wonder Woman. In contrast, it's going to take the MCU another two years to get around to its first solo female star, Captain Marvel - by which point the franchise will be 11 years and 21 movies in. If you're in a forgiving mood and feel like counting Ant-Man and the Wasp, that's still ten years and 20 movies in.

The above is true despite the fact that Black Widow has been a popular core member of the Avengers for years. Marvel's heard the pleas from fans for a Black Widow solo movie, and by all appearances Scarlett Johansson seems interested in making one. Yet the studio will say only that they're considering a Black Widow movie. They won't commit to actually making one (and at this point, I'll believe one is happening when I see it).

Given how Marvel's sub-franchises are structured, it's likely Captain Marvel will yield a couple of sequels. Ditto Ant-Man and the Wasp (which itself is a sequel to Ant-Man). As of right now, though, Captain Marvel remains the only female superhero solo act on the MCU's upcoming slate. Marvel missed a real opportunity by letting Wonder Woman slip ahead, and they've got only themselves to blame.

All that said, it's worth keeping in mind Warner Bros.' pre- Wonder Woman track record wasn't much better than Marvel's. Warner Bros. are the ones who made that horrible Catwoman in 2004, and it's not a good look that it's taken them 76 years to give one of their most iconic characters her own film. In contrast, Wonder Woman's Justice League teammates Batman and Superman have been rebooted twice each just in the past 15 years.

The DCEU eyes more female leads

But if Warner Bros. has dragged its feet on female superheroes in the past, it looks like they're planning to pick up the pace. Wonder Woman's excellent opening weekend numbers means a sequel is all but guaranteed. And before we even get to that, Diana is set to return this fall as one of the leading characters in Justice League.

In addition, the studio has already put into motion plans for Batgirl, to be directed by Joss Whedon, and Gotham City Sirens, to be directed by David Ayer. Both projects are still in the development stages, with no announced start date or release date, no completed scripts, and no stars (save Margot Robbie, who's executive producing Gotham City Sirens and will reprise her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn).

Should both pan out in the next few years, the DCEU could find itself with more female leads than any of its competitors by far. But first of all, that's a big if; second, quantity isn't the same thing as quality. Fans celebrated Wonder Woman not just because she was a lady superhero, but because she was an empowering and inspiring one brought to life by a talented female director.

In the case of Batgirl, Whedon already has experience with kickass female leads. But he's also received his share of criticism for the way he's handled them (most recently, fans took him to task for the Black Widow storyline in Avengers: Age of Ultron).

Gotham City Sirens seems like an even shakier proposition. Ayer's Suicide Squad was arguably the nadir of DCEU to date, hobbled as it was by clashing creative visions and endless edits. Although Harley Quinn was among the film's highlights, thanks to Robbie's pitch-perfect performance, the film's leering approach didn't exactly make for a "girl power" moment.

Will we ever get a female-led X-Men movie?

But hey, at least both the DCEU and the MCU are doing better than 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise. 17 years and 10 films in, the series still hasn't given us a single female lead. Nor has it announced any specific, concrete plans to do so in the future. That said, they've got plenty of chances to change course. It's just a matter of whether or not the studio decides to take advantage.

So far, the core X-Men films have tended to feature mixed-gender ensembles with men like Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine in the lead. However, the upcoming sequel to Apocalypse is based on the Dark Phoenix saga from the comics, which could push Sophie Turner's Jean Grey to the forefront.

Similarly unclear is which character will emerge with top billing in New Mutants, the YA-ish spinoff to be directed by Josh Boone. With Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Rosario Dawson among the leads, though, New Mutants has the potential to add a whole bunch of kickass ladies to the X-Men franchise.

In the meantime, we're also wondering what, if anything, will come of Laura, a.k.a. X-23, played by the immensely charismatic Dafne Keen. Logan established her as a promising potential successor to Wolverine, and a young girl lead would make for an intriguing change of pace from the franchise. As of yet, though, Fox hasn't officially announced any plans to bring her back.

Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Logan only opened a few months ago, and it's understandable if Fox needs a little more time to figure out where to take that story next. Given their poor track record with female leads, though, it's tough not to worry that the studio will let this juicy opportunity slip by them completely.

Sony kicks off its Marvel universe with two female leads

Last but not least, Sony is currently in the middle of trying yet again to build a cinematic universe out of its limited Marvel properties, and the two titles announced so far are Venom and Silver & Black. The latter of those is a superhero movie with two female leads (Silver Sable and Black Cat), and already has Gina Prince-Bythewood set to direct.

Although we don't know a whole lot about Silver & Black at this point, Prince-Bythewood certainly seems like an exciting choice of director. While she's probably best known for her romantic dramas Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights, she's also got a bit of superhero experience on her resume, having helmed the pilot for Cloak & Dagger - a Marvel adaptation to air on Freeform.

Moreover, Prince-Bythewood brings some much-needed diversity to the superhero landscape, which so far has been dominated by white faces in front of and behind the camera. She'll be the first woman of color ever to helm a Marvel or DC superhero movie.

Assuming, that is, that the project ever gets that far. Prince-Bythewood's track record may be solid, but Sony's isn't, at least when it comes to building superhero franchises. The studio has been trying to spin off its Marvel properties since the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man era, with little to show for it. Here's hoping this time is different, if only because it'd be a real bummer to miss out on a Prince-Bythewood-directed female superhero team up.

Female superheroes rise to the challenge

In summary, then, we've got Gotham City Sirens, Batgirl, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Silver & Black all officially announced and in various stages of development, with Wonder Woman 2 expected to be confirmed shortly. After a 12-year drought, during which we got no female-led superhero movies whatsoever, that's practically a deluge.

At the same time, we're still a ways off from true gender parity. Yes, DC has big plans for Harley Quinn and Batgirl and Wonder Woman, but they're also cooking up Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern Corps, Black Adam, Shazam, and Nightwing. Likewise, Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and the Wasp are just two of eight movies coming up for the MCU; the others are ensembles or male superhero films.

While all of the female-led superhero films listed above were in the works before Wonder Woman's record-breaking opening weekend, all of them stand to benefit from it in indirect ways. Wonder Woman faced undue pressure to succeed, but succeed it has. In doing so, it's relieved its sisters of the burden of going first. Captain Marvel will have less to prove now that Wonder Woman has done so much of the heavy lifting, and Batgirl or Silver & Black or whatever comes next will have even left.

In all likelihood, we'll never look around to find that female superheroes have become as common as male ones. But taken all together, we may at least reach a point where female superhero movies are simply another facet of the cinematic landscape, rather than a trailblazing anomaly.

Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel and Silver Sable may all belong to different studios - but when it comes to evening the playing field for superpowered women, they're all in it together.

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Now that 'Wonder Woman' is a hit, where do female superhero movies go next?

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In the dozen or so years between mid-aughts bombs Catwoman and Elektra and last weekend's Wonder Woman, we've had roughly 40 major superhero movies starring men. Fortunately, it looks like Wonder Woman will be no mere one-off anomaly. With a little bit of luck, Diana could find herself at the forefront of a veritable wave of lady heroes.

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Spider-man and Deadpool Dynamic changing it up?

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Spider-man and Deadpool Dynamic changing it up?

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In the new issues of Spider-man/Deadpool the authors are going to bring on a new character (slapstick) that will help change up the spider-man and deadpool dynamic. The duo is known for the hilarious arguments and almost infamous for often disagreeing with each other's methods of enacting justice. The introduction of Slapstick will bring a more serious aspect into their relationship, and the authors hope that it will allow for the both of the characters to come to follow a more serious story.

(Hai Yu)

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Crimefighting may be serious business, but two of Marvel Comics' most beloved characters, Spider-Man and Deadpool, are known for bringing some much needed levity to the business of costumed heroics. Their differing styles of humor and perspectives often clash, but in the pages of Spider-Man/Deadpool the duo have developed a (sometimes reluctant) friendship. The most recent arc of the series found the duo taking a break from each other, but when they reunite in Spider-Man/Deadpool #19, which kicks off a two-part story by writer Joshua Corin and artist Will Robson, they'll be trying to take their adventures more seriously.
RELATED: Deadpool Makes a Splash in Spider-Man: Homecoming Fan Poster
The biggest test to their new brand of crimefighting will come not from any villain, but a team-up with a character who makes Wade Wilson look like a responsible hero; his former employee, the living cartoon known as Slapstick. CBR spoke with Corin about the dynamic between Spidey and Deadpool, what Slapstick adds to it, and the characters the trio will run afoul of.
CBR: So far you've done three stories for Marvel and they all involve bouncing Deadpool off of other Marvel characters, Spider-Man included. Is that just a coincidence, or is there something you find especially appealing in chronicling the dynamics between Deadpool and other characters?
Joshua Corin: Deadpool is so much fun to write. His carefree personality and reckless behavior forces other characters out of their comfort zones and can open up a lot of crazy conflict.
What's your sense of the Spider-Man and Deadpool dynamic? It feels like being around Spidey helps Deadpool deal with some of his self loathing, but how does being around Deadpool benefit Spidey? Does it?
Spidey and Deadpool have a lot in common. Sure, they both spice up their beatdowns with zingers and they both look great in red, but the way they deal with their personal demons is what sets them apart: Spidey of course is all about responsibility while Deadpool fanatically pursues the path of least responsibility. They really are perfect foils, bringing out the best and worst in each other.
For your story, you're adding a new element into the Spidey-Deadpool dynamic in the form of Slapstick. What made you want to bring him into the story?
In the context of the arc, Spider-Man and Deadpool agree to act more respectfully and limit their quipping...so what could be more explosive for two characters trying to remain serious than forcing them to interact with a living cartoon like Slapstick?
What can you tell us about the adventure that brings Slapstick, Spider-Man, and Deadpool together? What kinds of action will we see?
There's some violence in a park, there's some violence on an ark...there's a mad hunt for an old picture...and a cruel betrayal gets repaid in kind.
What can you tell us about the supporting cast and antagonists of your story?
Once I decided that much of the action in the story would involve the Jersey mafia, I came upon an homage to a certain HBO show that I hope everyone will enjoy.
Artist Will Robson, who recently displayed his gifts for comedy, action, and pathos in Great Lakes Avengers, is your collaborator on Spider-Man/Deadpool #19-20. What's it like working with Will? What do you enjoy most about his style?
Will is a fabulous collaborator. His work is so full of energy and humor and I knew even from his initial sketches that his style was a perfect fit for the weird and wacky events in these issues.

Writing Spider-Man/Deadpool has been a dream come true! I'm always honored whenever Marvel allows me to play in their sandbox. They have the best toys.
Finally, some comic readers might not be aware that you're also a prose novelist who's published several thriller novels. Which of your novels would you recommend for fans of your comic work that are curious about your prose stories?
My most recent novels have been straight thrillers, but my first novel, Nuclear Winter Wonderland, was more of a wild adventure about a not-so-bright college kid who teams up with a female clown to rescue his sister from a pessimistic terrorist.

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INTERVIEW: Joshua Corin's Spider-Man & Deadpool Go Full Slapstick (And That's No Joke)

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Crimefighting may be serious business, but two of Marvel Comics' most beloved characters, Spider-Man and Deadpool, are known for bringing some much needed levity to the business of costumed heroics. Their differing styles of humor and perspectives often clash, but in the pages of Spider-Man/Deadpool the duo have developed a (sometimes reluctant) friendship.

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This article hit the issues of women in comics. Women are not seen as human beings but as sexualized objects because the writer are mostly male dominate. To tackle this issue there needs to be more women who need to be creating comics that are not sexualizing women.
(Olivia Pulick) 6/30

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A handsome intelligence officer of the United States Army, Colonel Steve Trevor, crashes his plane on "Paradise Island" (an island full of Amazon women, what else would it be called, right?). Trevor is found by a beautiful Amazon Princess named Diana, who nurses him and subsequently falls in Love with him. When she learns about the war against the Nazis, she dons a costume of America's red, white, and blue, and departs for the "Man's World." She is Wonder Woman - "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury". She can fly like Superman, she can hurl heavy objects like the Hulk, and if you really make her mad, she'll crack out her golden lasso and tie you up (especially if you're male).

At first glance, she may look like an empowered, kick-butt, feminist super-heroine amidst a realm dominated by male super-heros. But is Wonder Woman really empowered? Is she really the icon of feminism in graphic novels? Is her message really all about defending sisterhood, freedom, and democracy?

1. The Damsel in Distress

Originally, women played a very small role in comic books. In the late 1930's, super powered heroes like Superman and Captain Marvel dominated the stage while women scarcely made any presence. Specifically, they were depicted as dependent and "damsels in distress" - victims that needed to be rescued by the male protagonist; a prize that needed to be won by either the male villain or hero. For example, in the first issue of Superman, news reporter and future love interest, Lois Lane, is kidnapped by criminals and eventually rescued by Superman. No relationship gets developed and nothing else is learned about who Lois is - Superman simply saves her, flies her to safety, and then flies away. Women were also portrayed as the "girl-Friday...seductive vamp, or perhaps, the long-suffering girlfriend" (Lavin, 1998). The stereotypical gender roles were quite obvious: men alone are capable of succeeding independently and being courageous, while women are subordinate figures in the background. These early attitudes towards women in comic books are implicative of common gender role stereotypes where women are thought to be less intelligent than men and only have a place in the house as a caretaker and/or source of emotional support. As New York cartoonist Jules Feiffer states, "the ideal of masculine strength, whether Gary Cooper's, Lil Abner's, or Superman's, was for one to be so virile and handsome, to be in such a position of strength, that he need never go near girls. Except to help them."

2. Women as Sex Objects

The role of women changed dramatically during World War II when patriotic characters emerged and surprisingly attracted the interest of new readers, who were both males and females. Arguably, the most noteworthy character was Wonder Woman. As mentioned above, she possesses enormous super-human strength, has the ability to fly, and can overcome any obstacle that comes in her way. . Even more interesting is how her love interest, Colonel Trevor, is constantly being rescued by her, as if he is the male version of the aforementioned Lois Lane. Rather than the male rescuing the female all the time, it is reversed in the Wonder Woman comics. In the following years, other strong and super heroine characters surfaced like Miss America - the female version of Captain America - Mary Marvel, Super Girl, She-Hulk, and many others. They carried the symbolic message that "girls could do anything boys could do, and often better, especially if they stuck together" (Robbins, 2002).

However, despite these new portrayals of strong and powerful female characters like Wonder Woman, something else was occurring: they were being depicted as sex objects. As stated by Michael Lavin, "powerful super-heroines like DC's Wonder Woman or Marvel's She-Hulk may easily overcome the most overwhelming threats and obstacles, but they are invariably depicted as alluring objects of desire, wearing the scantiest of costumes." The images of women with large bust sizes, slim figure, bare legs, and half-naked appearance became enormously popular after the success of Wonder Woman. Believe it or not, comic books were filled with so many sexual images of women that they were known as "headlight comic books" - a crude and stereotypical reference to the female anatomy. Comic book historian Ron Goulart writes: "In the days before the advent of Playboy and Penthouse, comic books offered one way to girl watch" (1986). A prime example of "headlight comics" was in Bill Ward's "Torchy," a series that ran from 1946 to 1950. The comic books contained dull and uninteresting storylines where the scriptwriters were merely making an excuse to draw Torchy as a tall, bare legged blond, who walked around in her underwear.

The escalating amount of sex and violence in comic books eventually led to complaints, particularly by psychologist Fredric Wertham who held a symposium in 1948 on the "Psychopathology of Comic Books." He also wrote a book, Seduction of the Innocent, which correlated a connection between "juvenile delinquency and comic book reading" (Lavin, 1998). As a result, the Comics Code Authority established a written code which set the guidelines for comic book publishing. During this time, the comic book industry took a remarkable new turn where the constant objectification of women was seized. But this period where comic books were geared more towards girls and teenagers wouldn't last long. Superheroes reemerged in the late 1960's, along with their scantily-clad super-heroines and damsels in distress. Women were drawn in the same stereotypical fashion, but this time, the artists took it one step further on the skimpy scale. Consider the White Queen, a female villain that appeared in the X-Men comics during the 1980's. She was "the stuff of male sexual fantasy: a push-up bustier, panties, and high-heel boots, all in white" (Lavin, 1998). Observe the image below and judge for yourself:

Today, women are becoming more and more sexualized. As described by Jones and Jacobs (2005): "Females, perpetually bending over, arching their backs, and heaving their anti-gravity breasts into readers' faces, defied all laws of physics... the Victoria's Secret catalogue became the Bible of every super-hero artist, an endless source of stilted poses ripe for swiping by boys who wanted their fantasies of women far removed from any human reality."

One study conducted by Jessica H. Zellers shows an examination of how women are depicted in eighteen graphic novels. She finds that "of the suggestively clad, partially clad, or naked individuals, about three times as many were women (296) than men (107)." From the graphic novel sample where there were 1,768 male characters and 786 female characters, only 6% of all males were suggestively clad, partially clad, or naked; while of all the females, 38% were suggestively clad, partially clad, or naked. Additionally, of all males, 2% were naked, while of all females, 24% were naked. Zellers writes: "It is incredible that almost one out of every four females was, at some point, depicted in the nude" (2005).

3. Exploitation and Sexism

While some comic book artists argue that drawing women voluptuously and provocatively is a symbol of their strength and power, there are other points that can be emphasized upon to argue that women are being exploited. Consider the creator of Wonder Woman: a psychologist named William Moulton Marston (pen name: "Charles Moulton") who also invented the lie detector. Revealing Marston's intentions and goals on the character of Wonder Woman sheds light upon new attitudes towards women in the world of graphic novels. The fact that Wonder Woman comes from a matriarchal "Paradise Island" is enough to indicate male fantasy, but Marston also states, "give [men] an alluring woman stronger than themselves to submit to, and they'll be proud to become her willing slaves." Though Wonder Woman is not subordinate or weaker than her surrounding male characters in terms of strength and powers, she is being exoticized and idolized by her male creator. Her weapon is a golden lasso, which critics have called an erotic symbol of sexual control since she uses it to make her adversaries obey her commands. Marston has been criticized for his bonding fixations - a recurring theme of Wonder Women tying up both men and women. It was so prevalent that the editor of DC comics, Sheldon Mayer, was so uncomfortable with it and tried to tone it down (but was unsuccessful). In one 1948 story of Wonder Woman, there are no fewer than 75 panels of Wonder Woman tying up men or women in ropes.

One may also find sexist undertones in how many other female characters have abilities and superpowers ranging from being skilled in mundane arts like gymnastics and mind control (Maher, 2005). Female characters like Madame Mirage, White Queen, and Malice have the ability to use mind control to manipulate their opponents, mostly men! White Queen specifically uses her powers of mind control to manipulate and deceive men in order to gain wealth and power (Lavin, 1998). Yes, typical woman! The voluptuous Catwoman uses her beauty to manipulate Batman, Poison Ivy uses her seductive and deadly love potions to gain what she wants, and Malice is able to control the emotional centers of the brain. Hmm, what's next? A female character that marries a rich old man only to have him killed off just to inherit the wealth and property? Wait, they already have a character like that: White Rabbit from the Spider-man comics!

What significance does Elektra's "Electra Complex" serve?

Ah, Frank Miller. The comic book writer/artist who is notoriously known for his racist (see "300″) and sexist undertones. The hatred for women in his comic books are too obvious to be missed. Elektra (pictured above), for example, is a troubled female Assassin and anti-heroine. Miller named her after the Greek mythological character of the same name. Like the myth, Elektra's character develops a sexual attraction to her father (which is the symptom of the "Electra Complex" in psychology). Early in her life, her Elektra complex is strengthened when her father rapes her, but then she is told that it never really happened. "It was only a fantasy... and she wanted it to happen. Her belief in her desire for the father grows, but her father dies before she can resolve the Electra complex" (Baughman, 1990). Frank Miller has also subjected other female characters to subordinate positions, such as Ava Lord in his series "Sin City." Ava Lord says to a male character: "You're right about me! I'm nothing but a selfish slut who threw away the only man she ever loved . . . I'm such a fool. Such a selfish stupid slut" (Maher, 2005). Another character he sexualizes incredibly is Vicki Vale in his new Batman All-Stars graphic novels. She is drawn in her pink bras and panties while thinking about her upcoming date with Bruce Wayne (aka Batman). On one panel, she is sucking her finger while showing her entire figure, and on the bottom panel, there is a shameless close-up of her buttocks. Below is an image from the comic book; the caption is from Frank Miller's script for artist Jim Lee. It speaks for itself:

As analyzed by a feminist comic book reader, Vicki Vale's character is there to "reassure the readership of their hetereo-masculinity." She is quintessentially "watched by male watchers: the writer/director (Frank), his artist, and the presumed male audience that buys the book" ( Finally, A Feminism Blog, 2006, para 7).

4. The Male Gaze

One could argue that what is in work here is the concept of the "male gaze". This feminist theory was first introduced in the essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" by film theorist Laura Mulvey in 1975. Male gaze is described as "the concept of the gaze as a symptom of power asymmetry". A defining characteristic of male gaze was how the heterosexual male lets the camera "linger on the curves of the female body". The male gaze "denies women agency, relegating them to the status of objects." When applied to comic books, what we see presented is through the gaze of the male. The women are presented as men would want to see them. These same images are presented to women as something they should aspire to be if they want to be with a man. In other words, the power and control that characters like Wonder Woman have may be perceived as a woman's control or power over a man, but it is in fact fake control. The male writers can take it away at will. Consider the following "adjustments" made by male writers on the storylines of female characters: "Batwoman is killed, Batgirl is paralysed, Mirage is raped, while Black Canary is tortured, made infertile, and de-powered!" (Maher, 2005). In other words, femininity has no control at all, as long as male writers and artists persist with these depictions and attitudes.

I found countless images of female characters in extremely provocative poses; bending over, arching their heads back, tossing their hair, fighting in the rain, etc. Even the popular characters like Wonder Woman, Storm, Super-Girl, and Jean Grey were not spared. This image of Wonder Woman in her traditional Amazon attire, for example, is especially crude and repulsive:
Example of the "Male Gaze"

What is the Future for Women in Comic Books?

The comic book industry is by far a male dominated industry. Just go to a comic book convention where fans are "treated to the sight of several scantily clad professional models dressed in the costumes of popular comic book babes. These models are hired by the comics companies to promote the publisher's wares. For a small fee, any fan can immortalize the fantasy by having his picture taken with one of the role-playing women" (Lavin, 1998).

This is not to say that there are no female comic book readers - there certainly are - but one may argue that as sexualization of women continues, the rate of female readers will decrease significantly. According to Trina Robbins, a female comic book artist, "Women just don't go into comic-book stores... A woman gets as far as the door, and after the cardboard life-size cut-out of a babe with giant breasts in a little thong bikini and spike-heel boots, the next thing that hits her is the smell. It smells like unwashed teenage boys, and it has this real porn-store atmosphere." Just by looking at the covers of comic books like Wonder Woman or Catwoman today, it seems like the artists and writers are more concerned with how the characters are depicted than with storyline.

Look at films like "Batman Begins," "X-Men," "Superman Returns," and the "Spider-man" films. They are all not only successful, but critically acclaimed as well. Is there a Wonder Woman film? There have been two films in the past five years with a female protagonist: "Catwoman" and "Elektra". But these films bombed in the box-office. They're so bad that they're laughable. They're not taken seriously like the aforementioned comic book movies. They were just poor excuses to get Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner to dress in tight and skimpy costumes.

And even if there was a Wonder Woman movie, is she really a complex and three-dimensional character like Batman or Spider-Man? Spider-Man, for example, is filled with so much depth - in the first film, we see him as a nerdy high school student who gets picked on by bullies, in the second film, we see him conflicted with keeping a job, paying his rent on time, and most importantly: he is torn between his obligation of being Spider-Man and his love for Mary Jane Watson. Should he give up being a super-hero and live a normal life where he can be with Mary Jane? These kind of challenges, dilemmas, and choices are what make characters like Spider-Man so interesting and three-dimensional. How can young girls relate to Wonder Woman? She is an exotic beauty from the land of the Amazons. She is more of a mythological Greek goddess than a human being. Where are her character flaws? What are her dilemmas and inner struggles? Besides, do we really want young girls to have Wonder Woman shirts or backpacks after we've learned that she is a product of a male fantasy?

The X-Men include powerful female characters who can move things with their minds, control the weather, and run through walls, among other things, but the male characters are at the center of the stage. Also, let's look at characters like Super Girl, Bat Girl, and Spider Girl. What do they all have in common? They would not have existed if it were not for the original male characters. Superman tells Super Girl that he will take care over her like a "big brother," but if Super Girl is the cousin of Superman, then why in the world would she need to be looked after? This is an example of how male dependency is prevalent in comic books, both implicitly and explicitly.

As I said earlier, the sexist undertones and stereotypical images are getting worse and increasingly sleazier. Graphic novels have a unique blend of complex narratives and visual art which is what makes it a very popular and appealing form of art, but stereotypes about women are being reinforced - stereotypes about the "ideal" feminine body image: large breasts, thin waists, toned buttocks, long legs. These stereotypes are misleading because they are setting a standard for beauty in women, and now that superhero characters are being portrayed in Hollywood films, more readers are being attracted to graphic novels.

We need new interpretations of female comic book characters; just like how their wardrobes have been reinterpreted in the X-Men films directed by Bryan Singer. Instead of wearing tight leather or spandex, the characters are wearing less provocative clothing (see Anna Paquin's Rogue). Elektra's character and her Elektra complex was removed; Catwoman was once a prostitute, but that was changed - and for the better. More realistic, three dimensional, and complex female characters are desperately needed; characters that can we can relate to and we can learn from.

Some admirable efforts include comic book writer Chris Claremont, who introduced "a string of independent, strong-willed, and generally admirable heroines" in the mid 70's (Lavin, 1998). 14-year old Kitty Pryde (or "Shadowcat") of the X-Men was an excellent example of a realistic, complex, and 3-dimensional female character. She is a teenager who suffers from anxiety, peer pressure, loneliness, and she has a longing to be treated as an adult. Instead of being drawn as an exotic, large breasted, and bare legged Amazon like Wonder Woman, she is drawn "slim, coltish, and flat-chested." Another positive female character is also from the X-Men: Jubilee.

More female writers and artists are needed to help make this medium a stronger and meaningful form of storytelling. At the same time, the male writers and artists need to stop objectifying women! Otherwise, if images of women in comic books persist in sexualization, then the great storylines will fade away, just like it did in the late 1940's during the "headlight comic books."
Jehanzeb is a film student who writes about Islam, Feminism, Politics, and Media. This piece was originally published on his blog.

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The Objectification of Women in Comic Books

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A handsome intelligence officer of the United States Army, Colonel Steve Trevor, crashes his plane on "Paradise Island" (an island full of Amazon women, what else would it be called, right?). Trevor is found by a beautiful Amazon Princess named Diana, who nurses him and subsequently falls in Love with him.

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I found this recent editorial in which the writer attempts to make definitions. I think he does a good job making general definitions but also provides a great analysis of modern day comics.

(Stephen Barton)

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Just to avoid any confusion, I've also posted this whole article on my own blog, so this isn't plagiarism or anything. With all that's been going on at Marvel Comics lately, that being the pushing of political narratives in their storytelling, I decided to look at the issue in a more in-depth way than just a sales / marketing aspect. This need for analysis has also been spurred on by listening the words of Professor Jordan B. Peterson, whose ideas I highly recommend you look into. H offers some fascinating thoughts on the idea of the super-hero and the evolution of stories not only as entertainment but as a tool of evolution itself. Anyway, instead, I'm going to focus on what it is that has caused the almost complete disenfranchisement of the Marvel Comics fanbase. Moreover, I'm going to argue that it's nothing that's really been discussed yet. I'm not coming at this from the slant of arguing against the diversity initiative, or the pricing problem, or the flaws with the distribution system. I'm going to argue that the reason that these characters, and therefore this company, are no longer so beloved in the eyes of their fans is because the heroes no longer represent ideas, but have rather become mouthpieces for the ideologies of the left. To do that, I'm going to have to create a very clear idea of what it is exactly that a super hero from Marvel Comics is. So, we must look at what a super-hero is.

What is a super-hero?
A super-hero is an individual who overcomes strife and turmoil, either internally or externally, through dedication to the cause of bettering themselves for the sake of the world at large by means of utilising supernatural abilities. That's what I would define a super-hero as, because that is what is true of all the characters you'll find at Marvel or DC. The entire roster of super-heroes conforms to that one archetype, and it's an archetype that's existed since before the days of ancient Greek myth. Obviously, there are ways to interpret archetypes and make them into sub-categories of heroes operating at different levels of society. Therefore, it's so easy for people to become attached to kinds of heroes, because these characters are coming from positions we are hardwired to relate to. Whether it's Peter Parker, the beta male nerd who gains super strength and becomes everything that every young boy wants to be in adulthood, or whether it's Bruce Wayne, a man who is simply born into such high status that he should be mistrusted, but instead he stakes his life on the line for those that any other billionaire would consider beneath them. Where Peter Parker is relatable from a personal standpoint, Batman is relatable from an outsider perspective, in that he is the predator that helps to keep us safe from other predators. There's a reason they're emblems are that of the spider and the bat. Both creatures, spiders and bats, prey on insects. Things that in a primal setting, prey on what can do us harm without us realising it. That primal setting brings me to my second point, which is the medium through which most super-hero stories are told: comic books.

What is a comic book?
A comic book is a narrative medium that employs sequential imagery to tell a story, typically with something to say about human nature or offer a life lesson. All stories throughout history have the goal of teaching us something, from Aesop's Fables to Beano magazines, we're taught morals through stories both farcical and philosophical. Comic books stand out from the crowd though. I often ask myself what it is that makes comic books such a distinct medium and why it is that super-hero stories are so at home there. I thought about the fact that stories exist to teach us lessons and I thought, "Well... what were the first stories, and how were they told?". The obvious answer would be the likes of myths from the Greeks, the Romans, the Vikings and all those other ancient cultures. But, as a species, we've been telling stories for much longer than that. We've been telling stories since before language was developed. How did we accomplish that? Through cave-paintings. Ancient man would witness events and rather than allow them to slip into memory, they would be chronicled on the walls of cave dwellings. Cave paintings are incredibly easy to follow, and quite often, they appear not simply as drawings of individual moments - you don't simply see a depiction of a hunting party gathered around a dead buffalo - you see each step of the process that led to the buffalo being dead. Sequential imagery, just like in comic books, was essential to the first storytellers. You see the buffalo, then the hunting party, then the party gathered around the dead buffalo. Maybe one figure is highlighted as the one who threw the spear. The first depiction of that could be considered to the first ever super-hero. The first character to overcome an obstacle using his cunning and the tools at his disposal. And why was that drawn on the wall? To show people that not only is hunting possible, but you can kill some huge animals. It tells you that you're the peak - if you're trying, you can be as good as the guy who threw that spear. Which brings me nicely to the amalgamation of these last two points.

Why do super-hero stories work so well in comic books?
Super-hero stories started to appear after the Great Depression. They could just as easily have emerged as novels, or even cartoons, but instead they emerged as sequential imagery in comic books. Why is it important that these stories were being told after the Great Depression? America, and the world over, was in a slump. Not just economically, but mentally, everyone was destroyed. People needed to feel hopeful, they needed an ideal to strive toward, to inspire them to be better than they were. Enter Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster with their creation: Superman. This outsider, an alien, arriving on Earth like a fallen angel and becoming the sole protector of the planet and the saviour of the American people, regardless of the situations they found themselves in. Superman had the tools to deal with any threat. Frost breath, heat vision, x-ray vision, flight, super strength, and impenetrable skin turned him into this incorruptible idea of what we can be if we set our minds to it. Beyond the physical, Superman fought for truth, justice, and the American way. He embodies these ideas to this day. A physical manifestation of what everyone on the planet can and should be. This is one of the main criticisms of Man of Steel, because it calls into question whether Superman should really owe the world his protection. The answer is obviously, no, he doesn't. Superman doesn't protect the world because he owes it to us, he protects the world because he can. And that's what we should all be like, we should all protect the world however we are able, because we can. That became the fundamental idea of super-heroes: they protect the world because they can. And why were their stories appearing in comic books? Well, it's rather obvious. These characters are no different to that guy who threw the spear and killed the buffalo. They're who we want to be. Stories like that are best understood when they can be told through imagery, but comic books allowed for words to be brought in also. What you end up with is a cave painting that tells you what it's trying to teach you directly, leaving nothing up for interpretation. This may sound out there, but it's not coincidental. Now we've established what a super-hero is, what a comic book is, and why those two things work well together - now let's look exclusively at the Marvel Universe.

The Marvel Universe:
The Marvel Universe began in 1939 with the emergence of the Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Angel in Marvel Comics #1. All three characters were capable of flight, but each one represents a different force of nature; those being fire, water, and air respectively. If you compare the covers of Action Comics #1 and Marvel Comics #1, you'll notice something about what the heroes are doing. While Superman is lifting a car above someone's head as people flee around him, assumedly protecting the man from the car as onlookers flee in astonished terror, Marvel Comics # 1 is a bit more aggressive. We see the Human Torch, a sinister look on his face, lunging through a melting wall and reaching out toward a man holding a gun. There is a clear antagonism between the two men on the cover, but if you were passing that by on the street, you wouldn't know which is the protagonist. Herein lies the fundamental difference between DC and Marvel. While DC's characters exist as icons that protect people and are displayed as defenders of the innocent, Marvel's heroes are more ambiguous, treading the line between protector and aggressor, and it isn't until you look a little closer that you see that these are indeed super-heroes. This becomes true in the sixties as well, but rather than being protector or aggressor, it's a matter of civilian or super-hero. The front cover of Fantastic Four #1 shows the heroes in their regular clothes, using their powers to fight a monster. Obviously, these are heroic figures, but they seem like normal people. This isn't unknown, any comic book fan can tell you that this is the case, and was always Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's intention. But it offered something new. So therein lies the difference between Marvel's super-heroes and DC's. Yet they still represented ideas. Ideas that had to be updated to appeal to a new audience. Ideas of family, technological advancement, nuclear terror, education, co-existence, but one unique ideology that was resurrected rather than introduced: patriotism. The revival of Captain America was in response to more than just the Cold War threat, it was to re-establish that sense of national pride in all Americans, because they won the bloody war, and they can do it again. And those values I just mentioned, they remained the core of the Marvel universe for years to come. Not because these characters constantly told people that they represented these ideas, but because their stories let people know that those characters represented those ideas. Which brings me nicely to the problem with Marvel today.

The abandonment of ideas and the embrace of ideology:
Marvel characters have become nothing more than mouthpieces for the writers currently under the company's employment, and those writers are trying to convey political ideology to the readers rather than allowing the stories to inspire them, as writers, to convey the ideas at the core of the characters. Characters have been swapped around and killed off and in some cases outright bastardised for the sake of political commentary. Captain America no longer represents the ideal of the American people, to always strive toward victory and never give up in the face of adversity. Captain America's a Nazi now. Worse still, Marvel have allowed Nick Spencer to rewrite their entire history. Canonically speaking, Captain America never stood for those things. He's just been a puppet of Hydra since his childhood. His ideals are Hydra's. His ideals are fascist in nature. Gone is the star-spangled man with a plan and here now is the goose-stepping neo-Nazi hell-bent on world domination. That's what Marvel Comics have turned Captain America into. Or rather what they've allowed a writer like Nick Spencer to pervert him into. We see the same with Spider-Man. Dan Slott has abandoned that core of Spider-Man, the optimistic youth who will take on the world and win despite all the odds being against him. Instead we've got Peter Parker, CEO of Parker Industries, and genius tech developer. The souls of these characters are being abandoned to criticise the real world without meta-narrative or metaphor. There are no intrinsic human lessons being taught any more. Instead, readers are being taught about micro-aggressions, third wave feminism, the patriarchy, white privilege and so much political rhetoric that it's difficult to keep track of what they have and haven't published at some stage or another. One thing though is clear: people don't like it. It's possible to teach people a lesson about politics without even involving politics in the story. Because politics is human. You tell a story about an aspect of human nature and people can easily apply it to politics. They can apply it to anything. And those are the most important lessons that you can teach someone through stories. Human lessons that force people to see their idols undergo human problems and come out the other side a changed person. There's great value in that! Much more value than telling them about the problems in the world around them today.

DC are doing the unthinkable though. They're telling human stories. Superman has a family now. Batman may well be getting married soon, and he has a son. Wally West is reconnecting with a world that left him behind. The Green Lantern Corps are working alongside the Sinestro Corps for the good of the universe. These are important stories because they teach important lessons about family, about time, about love, and about co-operation. Currently, those are the best lessons to offer people.

To conclude, the root of all of Marvel's problems lies in the abandonment of the souls of their characters. There is no longer a desire among the top Marvel writers to tell stories that teach the reader a valuable life lesson. Where these heroes used to embody human ideas, they now spew political rhetoric while the writer sits back and says, "Take that, misogyny! Have some o' this, racism!". Comic books were never meant to attack ideas. They were meant to bring them to life. Marvel are quickly killing that, at least under their own banner. Unless their upcoming Legacy relaunch accounts for the points I've discussed here, then they're not going to see any sort of change in attitude toward them. I sincerely hope they've thought out their next move, and that there is a push to return to the core of these characters, and to teach people lessons about the nature of humanity through the presentation of these super-heroes as the living embodiments of valuable ideas.

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though i've written similar pieces to this one recently

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i think they focused too much on arbitrary issues rather than getting at the core of things. so here's to getting at the core of things.

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EDITORIAL: Marvel Comics and the Idea of the Super-Hero

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Just to avoid any confusion, I've also posted this whole article on my own blog, so this isn't plagiarism or anything. With all that's been going on at Marvel Comics lately, that being the pushing of political narratives in their storytelling, I decided to look at the issue in a more in-depth way than just a sales / marketing aspect.

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The other day, I had the tv on in the background and had to turn up the volume when this Yoplait commercial came on.  It shows clips of a bunch of different moms confidently stating the stereotype they are categorized with...some agreeing with what they are, and others making a joke about why they do the things that they do.  (stay at home mom, breast-feeding mom, etc.) I think this was an interesting approach to tackling gender norms  and a great way to break down the stereotypes we typically see across the media.

(Brooke Smetanka)

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You've Got This, Mom On! - Yoplait TV Commercial

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There are all sorts of moms, and it seems like no matter what choice you make, it leads to judgments from others. If you stay home, go to work, look older, dress how you want, bribe your kids, breastfeed in public or do anything else, some people will disagree with you.

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 ‘Wonder Woman Day’ could be the film’s secret weapon (Brooke Andrews) 

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 ‘Wonder Woman Day’ could be the film’s secret weapon (Brooke Andrews) 

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DC Entertainment  declared June 3 to be “Wonder Woman Day,” a promotion that added more popularity to Wonder Woman as well as created a craze at the box office. More than 2,000 comic-book shops, libraries and bookstores across the nation participated in the Saturday extravaganza.
Two special issues were offered free: a first-issue reprint of the “Wonder Woman” series by Greg Rucka and Liam Sharp, and “DC Super Hero Girls Wonder Woman Day Special Edition,” including an excerpt tease for the third young-reader graphic novel in the Shea Fontana/Yancey Labat series.

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More 'girl heroes" on screen reflect progressive attitudes 

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More 'girl heroes" on screen reflect progressive attitudes 

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Recently, more young women have been appearing in action films, book, etc. Young girls are rarely shown as heroes in programs that are targeted towards general audiences. In the Netflix series, “Stranger Thing”, Eleven was always intended to be a girl playing a super-powered star character. It was something new, to have a young girl be the main focus with all of these powers. Writer and director, Bong Joon Hon intentionally made his central human character a girl in the adventure film, “Okja.” Young girls are oftentimes portrayed to be the ones who need protection or rescuing, but Bong Joon Hon said that he wants to create the opposite.

-Kaitlyn Massin

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-From the murderous Laura in "Logan" to the mysterious Eleven in "Stranger Things" to the audacious determination of Mija in "Okja," opening Wednesday, powerful young girls are starring in mainstream action fare like never before.

Though Nancy Drew was solving mysteries in the 1930s and Buffy slayed vampires all through high school in the late 1990s, young girls are rarely shown as heroes in programs aimed at general audiences, said Mary Celeste Kearney, director of gender studies and a professor of film, television and theater at University of Notre Dame.

"Girls have seen these figures ... but when they've looked to mainstream stuff and what their brothers and their dads and boys are watching, those girls are never there," Ms. Kearney said. "And now they are, and that's huge."

It means girls don't have to look to grown up heroes like Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" or Rey in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Like 10-year-old Elliot on the flying bicycle in "E.T. the Extraterrestrial," now girls are having awesome genre adventures as powerful young kids onscreen.

The Duffer Brothers said gender was never a question when it came to creating the super-powered star character in their Netflix series "Stranger Things." Eleven, played by 13-year-old Millie Bobby Brown, can move things with her mind and is the fascinating secret friend of a group of pre-teen boys in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind.

"Eleven was always a girl. I don't even remember when or why we made that decision except that was always the case," Matt Duffer said in a recent interview. "Eleven was the centerpiece of the show for us always and was always going to be this girl who escaped the lab.... I think we liked the idea because it wasn't something we had seen before."

A second little girl is joining the cast for the show's second season, which premieres Oct. 31.

Writer-director Bong Joon Ho intentionally made his central human character a girl in "Okja," an international adventure film named for the genetically engineered six-ton "super pig" at its heart.

"In cartoons or movies, young girls are often portrayed as characters that need to be protected or rescued. I wanted to do the opposite," the filmmaker said in an email. "I liked that a young female character was the unstoppable guardian of a creature, and that she had to charge and break through all obstacles that stood in her way. I liked this feeling."

Played by 13-year-old An Seo Hyun, Mija has grown up with Okja, and risks everything to protect the massive creature when the corporation that sponsored the super-pig program comes to claim its product.

One thing that's missing from "Okja" and the other projects is a stereotypical little girl who needs saving.

"Logan" writer-director James Mangold can't take credit for creating the young female mutant Laura - he mined the character from "X-Men" history. But Mr. Mangold cast an exceptional actress, 11-year-old Dafne Keen, and successfully brought a killer female character to the ultra-male world of big-screen superheroes.

He chose to make Laura a child rather than the teenager she is in the comics because of the bond it would allow with Hugh Jackman's character and the shock it might elicit when Laura draws her claws.

Like Hit-Girl in 2010's "Kick-Ass," Laura is a character created in her father's image. She's Wolverine's daughter and has just as much flesh-shredding power as her dad.

"I did think the shocking nature of Laura's ability to kill savagely would be all the more shocking, in a really wonderful way, that it was a girl and not a boy, that that lethalness would be exhibited by this little girl," Mangold said. "I wondered whether we could pull it off, whether the audience would truly believe this level of violence and intensity trapped inside an 11-year-old body. To me that made it even more exciting to put it on the screen."

Mangold said he took care with Laura's character, who's mute for the first half of the film and speaks only Spanish in the second, to "undermine the kind of cute factor of what this young woman would be and allow her to exist as her own unique character."

It's notable, too, that these young heroines are not all embodied by white actresses.

Kearney says it's more than just the "Wonder Woman" effect inspiring these empowered characters: "History has everything to do with this and the gender politics of different historical moments."

The powerful women and girls onscreen reflect more progressive gender attitudes, she said, adding that some writers and producers may have been inspired to create such heroes out of a desire to see more real-life female leaders.

She noted the recent crop of characters all exist in "fantasy narratives," where people can have super powers.

"It's not in our reality; it's in some other reality, and that's really disheartening if you think about it in that way," she said. "Like girls are great as action heroes, but not as president of the United States, not in real life."

Consider that "Billy Elliott," the charming, realistic 2000 independent film about an 11-year-old boy who learns about gender and identity through dance, became a sleeper hit that was adapted for the stage. "The Fits," a similarly realistic, 2016 indie film about an 11-year-old girl who does the same, didn't get the same reception.

Girl action heroes are a start, though, especially ones with mass-market appeal.

"They have a powerful, powerful cultural impact," Kearney said, "which is girls seeing these things and boys seeing girls do these things.... A boy can't go and see 'Logan' and not see a girl as powerful as Logan."

The Duffer Brothers note that Eleven is the show's most popular character and best-selling action figure. Mangold said that when his pre-teen sons visited the set during the making of "Logan," they were more interested in Laura than Wolverine himself.

"They were completely mesmerized by her," he said. "It's really refreshing for everyone to see a kid, especially a young girl, who's not a kewpie doll first or a dimpled smile first, you know? That what's really going on there is someone in conflict, someone who's searching for something, someone who's capable - someone also, by the way, in my film who ends up offering pretty intense advice and wisdom and stability."

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More 'girl heroes' on screen reflect progressive gender attitudes

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From the murderous Laura in "Logan" to the mysterious Eleven in "Stranger Things" to the audacious determination of Mija in "Okja," opening Wednesday, powerful young girls are starring in mainstream action fare like never before.

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Tom Holland Says Venom Will Never Appear In His Spider-Man Movies

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Tom Holland Says Venom Will Never Appear In His Spider-Man Movies

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Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige ruled out the possibility of Venom appearing in his Spider-Man movies. He said, "For now, there is no plan for Venom in the MCU. It’s a Sony project.”
There are rumors about if this is true or not so i guess we will have to patiently see?
(Brooke Andrews)

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Aquaman, previously played by Jason Momoa, hasn't really looked similar to the comic book Aquaman. When Jason Momoa took on the role he refused to cut his hair which made it pretty tough to tell he was Aquaman aside from his costume. However, the 25th release from Aquaman shows a new look. Comic book Aquaman now has a beard and longer hair seemingly syncing the character up with the Aquaman portrayed in the movie Batman vs. Superman by Jason Momoa.

(Frankie Shebby)

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The comic book Aquaman is ready for his Hollywood close-up.

When a comic book character has a movie coming out, the live-action and comic book styles will mirror each other as much as they can.

In the pages of DC Comics, Superman and Batman are now trunkless, just like Henry Cavil's Man of Steel and Ben Affleck's Batman. Wonder Woman's comic book look has recently received an armored suit with a leather skirt that takes inspiration from Gal Gadot's look in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," "Wonder Woman" and this fall's "Justice League."

Until now, the Aquaman in the comics hasn't looked anything like the planned on-screen version despite actor Jason Momoa making his debut as the character in 2016's "Batman v Superman."

When Momoa was cast as Arthur Curry and the first image of him as Aquaman was revealed in 2015, fans took note that Momoa refused to cut his long grungy locks and beard that he made famous in his role as Khal Drogo in "Game of Thrones."

There may have been some sun-drenched yellow streaks of hair, but Momoa was channeling an Aquaman style that hasn't been seen since Peter David's run writing "Aquaman" comics in the 90s.

There is only one true King. #unitetheseven pic.twitter.com/RDFG8jbuI6

- Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) February 20, 2015

Even DC's recent companywide reboot of its comic books, "Rebirth," featured the standard short-hair, blond and beardless Aquaman.

All that changed Wednesday when the 25th issue of "Aquaman" hit newsstands in print and digitally.

The cover, illustrated by artist Stjepan Sejic (who also illustrates the interior pages of "Aquaman" no. 25), shows an Aquaman in transition.

On the cover, in the dark edges of the deep sea, a light is shone on Aquaman. The classic orange, green and gold Atlantean armor is there, a symbol of Arthur Curry's time as the king of Atlantis, but his face is covered in a beard and long hair that would make Aquaman unrecognizable if he were not wearing his famous suit, and that is the point.

[What the new 'Justice League' trailer is really revealing about the DC universe's future]

Aquaman's new look, which at first glance could be assumed to be nothing more than syncing up the comic book and movie looks before the character's big role in "Justice League," actually plays a vital part in the new Aquaman comic story line "Underworld," written by Dan Abnett.

In "Underworld," Aquaman has been usurped as king of Atlantis by Corum Rath, who feels Arthur's half-breed status (Arthur's father is human, his mother is from Atlantis) gives Arthur no right to the throne because of his connection to the "surface world."

Arthur Curry is presumed dead at the orders of Corum Rath. But as the cover to Aquaman no. 25 shows, he's hiding instead.

Arthur now swims in plain sight in the Ninth Tride of Atlantis - a section of the water world where the Hadalin (a slur given to the people of the Ninth Tride) are assumed to be the lowest of the low Atlantis has to offer.

Refusing to always hide in the shadows, Arthur, inspired by what he knows about fellow Justice League member Batman, takes on a vigilante role in the Ninth Tride to protect its citizens. The locals, convinced he is their old king, back from the dead, begin calling him by his "surface" name, Aquaman.

Word spreads of Aquaman's presence and both Atlantis's new King and former queen Mera (who will also appear in "Justice League" and the "Aquaman" movies, played by Amber Heard) eventually find out that Arthur could still be alive.

Corum Rath demands Aquaman be dealt with, wanting no challengers to his new throne, while Mera rushes back to the sea, looking to get the love of her life back. Neither task will be easy as Aquaman is prepared for a fight and meets a potential new love interest. If you're excited about Momoa's Aquaman and have been looking for a reason to dive into Aquaman comics, now is the time.

As DC Comics "Rebirth" era continues to produce hits and make everyone forget about the New 52, "Aquaman" is a series at the top of the list of best reads "Rebirth" has to offer.

Just in time for Aquaman's upcoming pop culture resurgence.

Read more: 'Aquaman' is shaping up to be the most intriguing film on the DC Comics slate 'Wonder Woman' marks DC's triumphant return to great storytelling

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Analysis | Aquaman's Hollywood-inspired comic book makeover also comes with a blockbuster story

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The comic book Aquaman is ready for his Hollywood close-up. When a comic book character has a movie coming out, the live-action and comic book styles will mirror each other as much as they can. In the pages of DC Comics, Superman and Batman are now trunkless, just like Henry Cavil's Man of Steel and Ben Affleck's Batman.

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Spider-Man Homecoming: Comic Book Success, But Will It Be a Success in the Theaters?

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Spider-Man Homecoming: Comic Book Success, But Will It Be a Success in the Theaters?

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Interview with actress Jona Xiao reveals her perspective if the movie Spider-Man Homecoming will be a hit in the box office. She is featured in the film and describes how this movie will be the "most believable live action version yet." (Chichizola). The question is if the use of the beloved characters, costumes, and settings will be enough to please fans and if they think it follows the original comic.

(Courtney Mason)

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Comic book movies are a funny thing. While massively successful and far reaching, there is an added pressure of adapting beloved characters for the silver screen. Everything from the costumes, settings, and characterization are picked apart and examined by hardcore fans who are judging its accuracy to the source material. One of the most popular characters in Marvel history is Spider-Man, who was recently introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland's version of the character seems to be the most accurate to the comics, as Holland reads very young and shares the same powers and limitations of his comic book counterpart. But will his solo movie be similarly accurate?

Jona Xiao is one of the many young actors who are appearing in the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming. While we don't know who Xiao will be playing in the movie, she recently spoke to Talk Nerdy With Us (via MCU Exchange) about what to expect from the movie:

I can't reveal anything about my character. But I will say -- you mentioned you were a fan -- so for fans of Spider-Man and the comics, because Marvel is going to be the one helping produce this time around, it's very much true to canon in terms of the depiction of Spider-Man, and it's his coming-of-age story when he's a teenager. So when he's coming into his powers and how he's dealing with the typical things a teenager deals with in high school, but also having these superpowers. So, I think fans will see some things they expect to see, especially if they saw Captain America: Civil War and Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man, which I think is excellent. And then also some twists and turns and surprises that the studios are throwing into the mix.

Now this is an exciting statement. While Jona Xiao kept tight lipped about her role, she may have put some some fears to rest in the process. Xiao seems to be a big fan of Spider-Man, presumably having done plenty of reading and homework in preparation for her mystery role. She's well versed enough to have knowledge of the canon, which she believes is being represented accurately in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Tom Holland's Peter Parker is already being hailed as the most believable live action version yet. Unlike his predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Holland is only 20 years old; he closely resembles a high school student. Additionally, Holland is a rather accomplished acrobat and gymnast, so he'll be able to bring an athleticism to the role that has never been seen on the silver screen. Now we'll be able to see Spider-Man truly come into his own, especially with the new gadgets and suit that Tony Stark gifted him.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into theaters on July 7th, 2017.

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Why Comic Fans Will Be Happy With Spider-Man: Homecoming, According To One Actress

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Comic book movies are a funny thing. While massively successful and far reaching, there is an added pressure of adapting beloved characters for the silver screen. Everything from the costumes, settings, and characterization are picked apart and examined by hardcore fans who are judging its accuracy to the source material.

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Will the next Avengers movie Do The Comic Justice?

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Will the next Avengers movie Do The Comic Justice?

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While discussing the ideas of changes made to make comic movies and more specifically superhero movies, to make them preform better I'm not sure how I feel about the changes being made to Avengers:Infinity war. They are leaving out characters. Is this justified or are they just being lazy?
(Stephen Barton)

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We've all been expecting some major changes to the lineup of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Infinity War, but according to one cast member, the roster will be staying the same...

At the end of Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers had been split in two and a couple of very differest teams were left behind in the aftermath. Now, while you may think that Avengers: Infinity War will add the likes of Black Panther and Captain Marvel to each group, it doesn't sound as if we should expect any seismic shifts. That's according to star Chadwick Boseman during a chat with Jimmy Kimmel.

When the host asked if new heroes will be added to the team, the actor replied:"No. No new characters. All the same ones." That's a pretty vague statement, but one which makes sense when you think about it. While the teams will cross paths with the likes of Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, you have to believe that much of Avengers: Infinity War will be devoted to healing the rift between them.

We'll just have to wait and see, of course, but it will be interesting to see how the Russos bring all of these heroes together and what sort of impact it ends up having on the franchise moving forward.

What do you guys think? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]

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we've all been expecting some major changes to the lineup of earth's mightiest heroes in avengers: infinity war

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Don't Expect AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR To Feature Any Major Roster Changes

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At the end of Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers had been split in two and a couple of very differest teams were left behind in the aftermath. Now, while you may think that Avengers: Infinity War will add the likes of Black Panther and Captain Marvel to each group, it doesn't sound as if we should expect any seismic shifts.

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WONDER WOMAN NOW THE HIGHEST-GROSSING MOVIE BY A FEMALE DIRECTOR

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WONDER WOMAN NOW THE HIGHEST-GROSSING MOVIE BY A FEMALE DIRECTOR

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Not only have female protagonist, but also female director, and achieving over 600 million box office, the movie Wonder Woman is truly a wonder. Superhero movies base on comics are achieving huge successes these years, and I am looking forward to see how this will keep up.

(Taicheng Song)

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Wonder Woman /

Now we just need Patty Jenkins officially on the sequel.

Wonder Woman is a hit with both critics and audiences, and now it's busy breaking box office records as well. The latest film in the DC Extended Universe is officially the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a woman.

The woman in question is Patty Jenkins, who, along with star Gal Gadot, helped bring Wonder Woman to the big screen with flair. The movie has made $609.8 million worldwide, which helped Jenkins and the film surpass previous record holder Mamma Mia!, which was directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

Domestically, Wonder Woman has made $289.2 million, which trails only Beauty and the Beast and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for top movie of 2017 in the United States. This is a big coup not just for DC, but for Jenkins as well. Prior to Wonder Woman, she had only been given the opportunity to direct one feature-length movie, the Oscar-winning Monster. It took over a decade for her to get another chance, but it's easy to assume she will be tapped to direct the Wonder Woman sequel after having so much success with this one.

Jenkins managed to not only wash the bitter taste of Suicide Squad out of our mouths, but she did it while breaking records in the process.
Chris Morgan is the author of The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and The Ash Heap of History. Wisely or not, he's also on Twitter.

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Wonder Woman Now the Highest-Grossing Movie by a Female Director - IGN

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Wonder Woman / Now we just need Patty Jenkins officially on the sequel. Wonder Woman is a hit with both critics and audiences, and now it's busy breaking box office records as well. The latest film in the DC Extended Universe is officially the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a woman.

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‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ Reboot In The Works, again.

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‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ Reboot In The Works, again.

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I would assume that we all agree the last Fantastic Four  reboot is a disaster. And they are doing it again, this time a so called "kids- friendly" one. In this coming version the story will be focusing more on the kids of Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman. Hopefully this time they could do something really watchable.
(Darren Liu)

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An Article posted today by bleedingcool.com claims they have a reliable source providing them with information on a new Fantastic Four reboot by Fox Studios. The reboot is said to be more kid-friendly then the previous reboot. This time around the movie will focus on Franklin and Valeria Richards, who are the children of Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm The Invisible Women.

With them in the movie will be their uncle The Human Torch and The Thing. Fox is looking for the movie to have almost an Incredibles type vibe to it, with their more gritty reboot not performing well it looks like they are going for a change of pace. The movie's script is being penned by Seth Grahame-Smith who is best known for his two novels turned movies Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Pride And Prejudice And Zombies.

With this news coming out it looks like Marvel Studios will not be receiving the movie rights for these characters back, much to the disappointment of fans who are eager to see Marvel's first family return home. As for now the movie has no release date.

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An Article posted today by bleedingcool.com claims they have a reliable source providing them with information on a new Fantastic Four reboot by Fox Studios. The reboot is said to be more kid-friendly then the previous reboot.

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TNT wants to start a tv show based off the Snowpiercer comic book and movie, and are starting to cast actors/actresses. This show will be able to go into more depth and display the inter-workings of each section of the train. The show will allow the creators to make a more cohesive ending and give us a more complete picture of the story.

(Brooke Smetanka)

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The proposed Snowpiercer TV series could fix the film's mistakes

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Back in 2014, one of the biggest stories in the cinema world was the long-running war between studio mogul Harvey Weinstein and Korean director Bong Joon-ho over the American edit of Bong's science...

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Within five years (2015-2020) over 30 comic book movies will have been released. 2017 will see 9 comic book movies alone. The sharp increase in comic book movie production exemplifies the immense popularity of these types of movies in current pop culture. It’s a similar occurrence with the sudden increase in Young Adult novel film adaptations after movies like Harry Potter and Twilight did so well. Now, the Young Adult film adaptions being made are barely being talked about in mass media. This is probably due to too many studios trying to make any somewhat popular YA novel into a movie. The same situation has not yet hit the comic book movie market, but it is a continuing risk. The risk of people becoming tired of comic book movies will only continue to increase as more and more comic book movies are made.
(Maria Carrera)

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'Flame' On: Ian McKellen Speaks Out About Gay Heroes In Comic Book Movies

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'Flame' On: Ian McKellen Speaks Out About Gay Heroes In Comic Book Movies

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Tom Chapman, writer at Creators.Co is speaking out about men superheroes enjoying the pleasure of other men. Hollywood is current moving forward to female-first superheroes like Wonder Woman, but where are the different sexualities? Since gender has always had a lot of stigma attached to comic book movies, sexuality is seen to be an issue. Usually men superheroes, are play by heteronormative men who are buff, strong, straight, and very masculine looking. Some of the movies with men like these include: Captain America, Batman, and Superman. Movies have yet to embrace the “rainbow flag of change” in movies.

-Kaitlyn Massin )

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ByTom Chapman, writer at Creators.co

tweet: tomtomchap Warden of the North - bearded, tattooed and square eyed 'til the end

I'm sorry, but there is nothing about tucking your junk into skin-tight spandex and wrestling other men in the dark that isn't ever so slightly homoerotic - it just is. However, while Hollywood moves forward with a packed slate of female-first superheroes like Wonder Woman and Batgirl, where are the men who prefer the company of other men?

Gender has always been enough of a stigma attached to #comicbook movies, but sexuality seems to be an issue that will cast a rainbow-colored shadow over the industry for quite some time. We have seen the macho worlds of Captain America, Wolverine, and Batman, all while Peggy Carter, Silverfox, and Talia al Ghul play second fiddle. However, perhaps some of our male heroes would prefer a cosmopolitan and an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race than chomping on a cigar and having an arm wrestle while ladies swoon.

The pages of Marvel, DC, and beyond are "out and proud" with bisexual and even homosexual heroes, but cinema is yet to embrace the rainbow flag of change in its movies. Even on TV, Gotham's decision to give Penguin and Riddler a romance story was met with some pretty vocal opposition. So, when is the right time for the likes of Bobby Drake to bring Iceman out of the deep freeze closet?

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

Speaking on the issue of sexuality and superheroes, Sir Ian McKellen has offered his view on the situation. McKellen played Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto, for five X-Men films, and while the Fassbender era of the character was very much in the heterosexual camp, we never really addressed McKellen's version of Magneto's tastes.

In a recent interview with Variety, the openly homosexual McKellen said that we should start embracing the diversity of our comics before our movies get stuck in the stone age. In particular, he looked to Marvel to make the first move:

"I would think Marvel is a very responsible publishing house who came up with X-Men - which is a political story about life as it is lived by minorities of whom mutants are a prime example - would respond very favorably to the idea of having a gay or bisexual or transgender superhero. Can you imagine because of it all the wonderful complications of the story - mistaken identities, etcetera etcetera."

It is true that Marvel was responsible for Northstar being one of the first openly gay superheros, but since then, the publishing house has introduced other LGBT characters like Mystique, Hulkling, and Daken. However, given the amount of flesh on show in comic books, McKellen thinks that there could be a few more heroes hiding their true colors:

"Frankly, looking at some of the images of these superheroes, I'm surprised to know that they're not gay... It's the reason I played Magneto; I wanted to look like that."

Well, I think we all know that Wolverine would belong to the "Daddy" tribe on Grindr.

The Times They Are A Changin'

Way back when, the characters of Batgirl and Batwoman were actually introduced solely to nix the assumption that Batman and Robin were becoming a little too "gay" for each other - a situation you thankfully can't imagine now. However, as the Gotham twist has shown, any hero can be any sexuality they want and we don't necessarily have to adhere to their comic book backstory - just like the films don't have to adhere to the comic sexuality.

Although Iceman officially came out in 2015, you don't hear anyone calling for someone to recast Shawn Ashmore's Bobby Drake and bring a gay character to Dark Phoenix, but you can only imagine the uproar if they introduced him as a gay character.

So far, the closest we have got to equal sexuality representation among superheroes was in Zack Snyder's Watchmen. With the film dividing its critics anyway, the sexuality of heroes like Silhouette, Hooded Justice, and Captain Metropolis was neatly glossed over in a short montage that was ironically set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin'." Annoyingly, it seems that only the darker or R-rated source material seems free enough to address LGBT issues on our screens. McKellen may see the MCU as the perfect place to launch a sexually diverse roster, but some of Disney's PC parade are sure to be up in arms.

That being said, only this year we saw the Yellow Ranger question her sexuality in Power Rangers, and James Gunn made that annoyingly vague and frankly derisive comment about the Guardians of the Galaxy. With the Guardians having Heather Douglas and Phyla-Vell as one of the best same-sex couples out there - and with both possibly being teased for the future of the franchise - we may not have too long to wait until the MCU takes heed of McKellen's words. What does it matter anyway really? Regardless of whether you like men, women, green-skinned aliens, or even growing trees played by Vin Diesel, everyone still looks damn good in that lycra!

Do you think we should have more LGBT heroes in comic book movies?

(Source: Variety)

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Ian McKellen Speaks Out About Gay Heroes In Comic Book Movies

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ByTom Chapman, writer at Creators.co tweet: tomtomchap Warden of the North - bearded, tattooed and square eyed 'til the end I'm sorry, but there is nothing about tucking your junk into skin-tight spandex and wrestling other men in the dark that isn't ever so slightly homoerotic - it just is.

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Spider-Man: Homecoming is the closest movie to comic yet?

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Spider-Man: Homecoming is the closest movie to comic yet?

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The newest Spider-Man: Homecoming will be the most similar to the beloved comics. This is news is coming from an insider source, actress, Jona Xiao, a true comic book fan. She says that fans will be please with the movie just as they were pleased with movie Captain America: Civil War.  This movie is about when Spider-Man is the coming-of-age and receives is superpowers. He learns how to deal with high school life and deal with the villains. Hopefully this movie won’t disappoint the comic book fans compared to the other movies that came before. (Olivia Pulick) 6/23

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Comic book movies are a funny thing. While massively successful and far reaching, there is an added pressure of adapting beloved characters for the silver screen. Everything from the costumes, settings, and characterization are picked apart and examined by hardcore fans who are judging its accuracy to the source material. One of the most popular characters in Marvel history is Spider-Man, who was recently introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland's version of the character seems to be the most accurate to the comics, as Holland reads very young and shares the same powers and limitations of his comic book counterpart. But will his solo movie be similarly accurate?

Jona Xiao is one of the many young actors who are appearing in the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming. While we don't know who Xiao will be playing in the movie, she recently spoke to Talk Nerdy With Us (via MCU Exchange) about what to expect from the movie:

I can't reveal anything about my character. But I will say -- you mentioned you were a fan -- so for fans of Spider-Man and the comics, because Marvel is going to be the one helping produce this time around, it's very much true to canon in terms of the depiction of Spider-Man, and it's his coming-of-age story when he's a teenager. So when he's coming into his powers and how he's dealing with the typical things a teenager deals with in high school, but also having these superpowers. So, I think fans will see some things they expect to see, especially if they saw Captain America: Civil War and Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man, which I think is excellent. And then also some twists and turns and surprises that the studios are throwing into the mix.

Now this is an exciting statement. While Jona Xiao kept tight lipped about her role, she may have put some some fears to rest in the process. Xiao seems to be a big fan of Spider-Man, presumably having done plenty of reading and homework in preparation for her mystery role. She's well versed enough to have knowledge of the canon, which she believes is being represented accurately in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Tom Holland's Peter Parker is already being hailed as the most believable live action version yet. Unlike his predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Holland is only 20 years old; he closely resembles a high school student. Additionally, Holland is a rather accomplished acrobat and gymnast, so he'll be able to bring an athleticism to the role that has never been seen on the silver screen. Now we'll be able to see Spider-Man truly come into his own, especially with the new gadgets and suit that Tony Stark gifted him.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into theaters on July 7th, 2017.

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Why Comic Fans Will Be Happy With Spider-Man: Homecoming, According To One Actress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Comic book movies are a funny thing. While massively successful and far reaching, there is an added pressure of adapting beloved characters for the silver screen. Everything from the costumes, settings, and characterization are picked apart and examined by hardcore fans who are judging its accuracy to the source material.

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Sean Gordon Murphy teases the fan base with promises of newly redesigned everything from new bat mobiles to a new and better Joker! This is his own stand alone project, which he will not only illustrate but also write for as well. This story is planned to have 8 issues, and so far from the replies on the twitter post with the newly released Joker pictures, the fans are excited to receive this new comer!

-Hai Yu

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Sean Gordon Murphy has a Batman-filled year or two ahead of him. In late 2016, the acclaimed artist/writer signed a two year deal with DC Comics, during which he will see two separate Batman projects released. The first is a collaboration with Scott Snyder, initially planned as an All Star Batman story arc, but now slated to be a standalone tale in an as yet unrevealed format designed to greater showcase his artwork.
RELATED: Exclusive - All Star Batman To End, But Scott Snyder Promises His Stories Will Continue
Murphy's second Batman-themed project is a solo gig, which finds him writing and illustrating his own series, planned for eight issues, though "that may change" he teased. "The Batman book I'm doing alone will be my 'DK' and my 'Year 100,'" Murphy said when the series was announced, referring to Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight and Paul Pope's Batman: Year 100, "an Elseworld-like take on Batman. My attempt at an opus."

The series will also feature multiple Batmobiles, redesigns of "everything and everyone," and "as many of the Bat villains as I can," including, it now seems, the Clown Prince of Crime, and Batman's number one foe, the Joker.
RELATED: Exclusive - Scott Snyder On Joker's Role in Metal, 'Three Jokers' Mystery
Earlier this week, Murphy took to Twitter, sharing a piece of art he described as a "Joker like you've never seen him..." The image only offered a hint of the villain, cropping in tight around his eyes and maniacal grin, but it's certainly enough to give you a sense of where his story and take on the iconic character is heading.

Murphy followed that tweet up with another, showing the artwork at a different point in its development. He also promises that anyone who has felt guilty about crushing on the homicidal maniac, "My Batman story makes it OK to have a crush on Joker!"

A friend of mine has a crush on Joker, but she feels bad because he's evil. My Batman story makes it OK to have a crush on Joker! pic.twitter.com/rcqTEZt1Po

- Sean Gordon Murphy (@Sean_G_Murphy) June 21, 2017

Murphy previously tackled the Dark Knight in 2005's Batman/Scarecrow: Year One, a two-part miniseries written by Bruce Jones.

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Sean Murphy Teases A Joker 'Like You've Never Seen Him'

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Sean Gordon Murphy has a Batman-filled year or two ahead of him. In late 2016, the acclaimed artist/writer signed a two year deal with DC Comics, during which he will see two separate Batman projects released.

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Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Hurt My Inner Child

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Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Hurt My Inner Child

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I remember the collective geek-excitement when Batman vs. Superman was announced several years ago. Fresh after a thought-provoking, gritty Dark Knight trilogy, DC fans' mouths watered over the prospect of an intelligent, sleek film focused on conflict between Batman and Superman. With such an epic premise, how could Directer, Zach Snyder screw this one up?

Isn't it sad to think about the naivety of youth? Watching Batman vs. Superman was similar to receiving the "wrong" birthday present, even though you made it extremely clear to your parents that, yes, you did want that 250 cc go-cart because "bikes are stupid". BvS:DoJ begins its assault on childhood dreams by constantly trying to feel as established as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is almost three hours, it is confusing, and plainly goofy and forced at times. Marvel endures such success because they take the time to develop their films and characters. Instead, Batman vs. Superman felt more like a corporate venture to establish a film series than a loved and cared-for comic book adaptation.
(Ethan Friedman-Brauner)

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Like a big, wet glob of fetid bird droppings tumbling down from the sky, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has landed with an audible splat. It's been almost three years since director Zack Snyder revealed the project at San Diego Comic-Con and in those years, the multimillion-dollar hype machine has been slowed only periodically by rumblings that something was amiss with the film. Amid splashy trailer releases and return trips to Comic-Con there's been a steady drumbeat of skepticism in the background. How bad could it be? Well, it turns out, pretty bad.

Despite the 30% Rotten Tomatoes score, you probably rushed out and gobbled up this picture with the reckless abandon of DJ Khaled confronted with a horse trough full of fried chicken. You - the hypothetical reader whom I am very certain is terribly attractive, very intelligent, and wise beyond your years - probably want someone to explain what it is you just witnessed. I would like to offer up my expertise free of charge so that you might better understand the many layers of this motion picture event. I warn you now that this is a spoiler-heavy article, so if you haven't seen the film and want to remain untainted, please click away immediately. I won't mind. I mean, you've already clicked on it anyway, so cha-ching.

***

The film opens with one of many dream sequences. Let me just say here early that Batman v Superman is mostly dream sequences, and those scenes that are not dreams still seem to function as though the basic laws of reality do not exist. Granted, this is a film about an alien and an alcoholic billionaire pervert throwing each other around in the rain while grimacing heavily. I should probably cut it some slack.

Anyway, Bruce Wayne dreams about his parents being gunned down in front of a movie theater. This is intercut with Bruce Wayne tumbling down a hole where he discovers a massive gathering of bats in a cave. These bats swarm around him, magically lifting him up and out of the hole while he strikes a Christ pose. In other words, we are off to a smashing start. After that, we witness Metropolis being wiped out by Superman and General Zod from the last movie. Superman destroys one of Bruce Wayne's buildings by accident, which makes Wayne hate Superman. This is an important plot point. You see, Batman only approves of the destruction of private property when he's the one doing the destroying. Later in the film, Batman tears through the city in his own personal tank, blows up some cars, shoots up a building with his Batwing, kills numerous anonymous henchmen, and lures a dangerous mutant back to a populated area without a coherent plan to defeat it. But he's not an alien, so it's OK. I should also mention that Bruce Wayne has a second dream about his dead parents in which blood pours out of his mother's tomb, then explodes to reveal a demon inside of it. I think maybe he has some unresolved issues.

Bruce Wayne is not alone in hating Superman. The United States government is none too pleased with the last son of Krypton leveling large parts of a major city. Lex Luthor, a wealthy businessman and scientist, also hates Superman. Now, you probably couldn't quite figure out why Lex Luthor hated Superman so much. Unlike Batman, he has no clear professional jealousy. In fact, in a brief aside, Luthor mentions the construction projects his company undertook after Superman wrecked Metropolis. If he had just kept his mouth shut and let Superman topple a few more buildings, he could have kept raking in the government contracts for decades to come. Instead, he spends most of the movie trying to get Batman and Superman to fight, then creates a monster in a pool of brown toilet water for no reason. I thought this guy was some kinda genius? It doesn't make sense at first, but upon second viewing, it's clear that Lex Luthor is actually a malfunctioning android and his moronic behavior is due to his circuits being fried. Every bizarre character choice can be chalked up to what I like to call the "Android Defense". Something happened in Batman v Superman that doesn't make any sense? It was probably done by a secretly malfunctioning robot.

Sorry, got a bit off track here. Batman has another dream, where Superman has become a fascist dictator with his own army of stormtroopers. Batman is a lone freedom fighter rebelling against Superman's iron rule. At the end of the dream, Superman punches a hole in Batman's chest. Batman wakes up and sees The Flash (not identified as such, I just know because I'm a nerd) inside a time vortex. Flash explains some important plot points for another movie, then disappears. Why is The Flash invading Batman's dreams? Why did he travel back in time? He's got to juggle a lot of balls and he only has one butler to handle all of his affairs. He's not a huge note-taker and doesn't maintain an iCal. Things slip through the cracks. That's why he sent The Flash back in time in the first place, like a really elaborate Post-It note. Unfortunately, if Batman had never forgotten about his dream, he never would have sent back The Flash to remind him about the dream, which creates a major paradox, which I don't want to get into right now.

Batman v Superman stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill: 'Batman's like Hamlet' - video interview

I haven't even mentioned Wonder Woman, AKA Diana Prince, warrior princess of Themyscira. Wonder Woman periodically shows up at parties to annoy Bruce Wayne. She steals some computer files from Lex Luthor during a fundraiser for a library or something. Then, Bruce and Diana meet at a totally different party where they stare at a dagger in a glass case. You may have wondered whose party that was, why either of the characters were at that party, and what the point of the knife in the box was. Look, cool people get invited to parties all the time that you don't know about. You should be used to this by now. Stop asking. It makes you look desperate.

Bruce Wayne opens up Lex Luthor's computer files and discovers a photo of Wonder Woman from the first world war, plus some trailers for other Warner Bros movies. Luthor even designed logos for all of these movies in Adobe Illustrator. Why does Lex Luthor have four blatant bits of product placement on his computer? Because he's been maintaining a secret double life as a film publicist. You thought running a multinational corporation while trying to murder an indestructible flying alien was hard? Try selling the Aquaman movie.

Back to Superman, he's quite depressed over the mixed reaction to his theatrical heroics, and I don't mean the reviews for Man of Steel either. Some worship him for his daring deeds, while others are terrified of the unchecked power he wields. Using that divided public opinion against him, Lex Luthor attempts to frame Superman for a variety of very un-Superman activities - shooting up a village, neglecting to stop a suicide bomber, and drinking red wine with seafood. Of course, Superman would do none of these things, but that doesn't stop the public from turning on him, playing directly into Luthor's hands.

Dejected, Superman flies off to Buffalo, New York, or some other desolate, snow-covered landscape. There, we are treated to yet another dream sequence. This time, Clark Kent imagines seeing his father throwing bricks on to a pile of other bricks while telling a story about inadvertently ruining the lives of his neighbors during a flood. At this point, you may have asked yourself why Superman flew out to this barren wasteland. You may have also asked what that pile of rocks was? Maybe you thought it was the place where Clark Kent's dad is buried, but I'm fairly certain it's been established that he was buried on the Kent farm. So why the hell is Superman having visions of his dead dad in the middle of nowhere? As with everything, there is a simple answer. Nothing reminds me more of Kevin Costner's acting than a pile of rocks, bricks and twigs in the snow. So, it's natural that when one sees a pile of inanimate objects, one would pause to consider Kevin Costner. This movie makes perfect sense.

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Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Photograph: AP

Considering the title of the film, Batman and Superman fight toward the end of the story. It's as brutal and ruthless as it is boring, with the fisticuffs coming to an abrupt end when Batman realizes that his mom and Superman's mom have the same first name. If only Biggie and Tupac's moms had the same first name. They might still be here today.

Lex Luthor's monster, Doomsday, is unleashed and Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman join forces to defeat him. Why did Lex Luthor create a monster he couldn't control when he easily could have just shot Superman with a kryptonite rocket 30 minutes into the movie? Why did he waste all of that time convincing Batman and Superman to fight if he was just going to create Doomsday? What if Batman killed Superman? Would Lex Luthor still have a need for a rampaging, uncontrollable beast?

At the end of the film, Superman sacrifices himself to defeat Doomsday, leaving Batman and Wonder Woman to form the Justice League in his absence. Lex Luthor has gone crazy (because he is a malfunctioning android) and has had his head shaved because long hair is strictly forbidden in solitary confinement, as everyone knows. He could have hidden a knife or a grenade in that moptop. Batman mourns his friend, who he had been pals with for a grand total of a couple hours and had previously been single-mindedly obsessed with murdering. Why was Batman so broken up about the death of a man he had spent two years despising? Because, as a great man (me) once said (right now, for the first time), the greatest friendships are the ones that burn out the quickest. If you learn anything from this movie, it should be that. If I were Warner Bros, I'd be throwing that brilliant aphorism on a T-shirt right now.

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Every single thing that is wrong with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

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Like a big, wet glob of fetid bird droppings tumbling down from the sky, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has landed with an audible splat. It's been almost three years since director Zack Snyder revealed the project at San Diego Comic-Con and in those years, the multimillion-dollar hype machine has been slowed only periodically by rumblings that something was amiss with the film.

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Black Panther in the newest Avengers Movie

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Black Panther in the newest Avengers Movie

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It seems that the Black Panther will have a pretty significant role in the upcoming avengers movie. Not only his he presumed to appear but now there are supporting actors from his film that will be characters in the next avengers. They are already confirmed for the movie and in other news this may be Captain America's last.

-Kian Reno

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Having debuted last week, the first teaser trailer for Black Panther has caused a huge stir online, many excited to see Marvel's upcoming superhero flick.

Thanks to we know another actor will be returning for Avengers Infinity War; Danai Gurira, best known for playing Michonne on The Walking Dead.

While the report failed to confirm whether Gurira would be playing Okoye once again, we can likely expect her to reprise the role.

Okoye is a member of the Dora Milaje, guards of T'Challa (AKA Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman). Lupita Nyong'o, Florence Kasumba and John Kani will also play members of the Dora Mijlaje, the latter two having been briefly seen in Captain America: Civil War.

Gurira will next appear in Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, the actor playing the icon's mother, Afeni Shakur, an actual member of the Black Panthers. Her other work includes Mother of George, Law & Order, and Treme.

Meanwhile, Captain America himself, Chris Evens, has been discussing the character's story in the upcoming Avengers, saying the two films will "wrap up" his story. Avengers: Infinity War hits UK cinemas 27 April 2018, while Black Panther touches down 18 February 2018.

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Another Black Panther actor has been confirmed for Avengers: Infinity War

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Having debuted last week, the first teaser trailer for Black Panther has caused a huge stir online, many excited to see Marvel's upcoming superhero flick. Thanks to we know another actor will be returning for Avengers Infinity War; Danai Gurira, best known for playing Michonne on The Walking Dead.

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Batman's new protege Duke Thomas getting superhero name, solo series (Brooke Andrews)

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Batman's new protege Duke Thomas getting superhero name, solo series (Brooke Andrews)

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When Robin died in Batman they were rumors going around about where the next Robin would be introduced. Indeed, a new kid was introduced in the "Zero Year" storyline with the name of Duke Thomas- he was destined to be by Batman's side. After being a sidekick for a little, Duke realized that he didn't want to be a sidekick anymore he wanted to be a partner and Batman encouraged this. Well Duke never got a super name and he finally is getting one- we get to find out in a month!

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As the times change, Wonder Woman's portrayal does too

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As the times change, Wonder Woman's portrayal does too

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Bob Duggan discusses how Wonder Woman's character develops and changes through the decades from a feminist icon to a feminist failure. Wonder Woman made a statement about gender bias in comics revolutionized the comic book world for a period of time. In the 1950's as feminism died down, so did Wonder Woman. Her character slowly started to develop into the social constructionism at the time. As the 1970's rolled around, feminism began to make an appearance in society again and so did Wonder Woman's original character. Today, it is still a constant battle between the sexes and Wonder Woman still stands tall.

(Courtney Mason)

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If you're old enough to remember the 1970s, Lynda Carter playing the title character in the TV show (shown above) from 1975 to 1979 remains what you think of when you hear the name of the heroine Wonder Woman. Sadly, one of the oldest (and one of the first female) superheroes seems stuck in time for these past 35 years. In Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine, comic book historian Tim Hanley looks back at the 1940s origins of the Amazonian as well as how the character has evolved in response to changes in American society since the 1950s. While some claim Wonder Woman as a feminist icon, others label her a feminist failure. After reading Hanley's "curious history," you'll find it harder to fall back on the easy labels and see that Wonder Woman's a little bit of both.

Hanley's the perfect writer to tackle the star-spangled siren of the comic book. His blog, Straitened Circumstances, discusses not only Wonder Woman, but also women in comics in general. On Bleeding Cool.com, Hanley's monthly column "Gendercrunching" challenges the comics industry and readership to focus on the gender bias still plaguing the medium, sometimes even crunching the numbers on plot lines and women writers and artists to makes his case even clearer-a statistical bent he also uses to great effect in his book. With his close, academic readings of the comics, Hanley achieves his goal of "rediscovering the forgotten history of Wonder Woman" and, therefore, "understand[ing] her journey to her current iconic status and flesh[ing] out Wonder Woman as a character and not just a symbol."

Hanley's curiosity over Wonder Woman's curious career begins with her curious creator, writer and psychologist William Moulton Marston. Marston "wanted to impart to his readers a specific message about female superiority," Hanley writes. Marston's feminism didn't hold that men and women were equal. Instead, he believed that women were superior and could bring about a more just and peaceful society than what men had achieved so far, especially in the midst of World War II. Wonder Woman's women-only homeland of Themyscira thus became a utopian ideal. In the context of wartime America, Wonder Woman became "a superpowered Rosie the Riveter, constantly encouraging women to join the auxiliary forces or get a wartime job," Hanley argues. While Wonder Woman inspired women to realize their full potential, she also prepared young boys reading the comics for the coming matriarchy, which Marston was devoutly believed would come after the war.

To illustrate the inevitable matriarchal utopia, Marston created what Hanley calls an "inverted world" in which, instead of being the damsel in distress, Wonder Woman rescues the main male figure, Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman continually rebuffs Steve's advances, casting aside the idea that all women want is a husband and children. Even Wonder Woman's secret identity as Diana Prince becomes a "critique" of the "good girl" stereotype of other comics. Hanley beautifully contrasts Wonder Woman/Diana Prince with the early relationship between Lois Lane and super-jerk Superman, who tormented and belittled Lois purely for her gender. Diana Prince's put-on frailty before the amazingly inept Steve Trevor thus becomes Wonder Woman's "performance art" in which she accentuates the stereotype to reveal its absurdity.

Marston's "worldview was unique, remarkably progressive, and all of his theories were channeled into his creation," Hanley praises the creator of Wonder Woman, adding that Marston's stories "still stand up as strikingly feminist seventy years later, even compared to modern comic books and female characters in today's books, TV shows, and movies." Alas, Marston's worldview came with complications, particularly a connoisseur's eye for bondage, which went far beyond just the heroine's " golden lasso of truth." "For Marston," Hanley defends, "bondage was about submission, not just sexually but in every aspect of life." For the female utopia to happen, men must submit control, but everyone must submit individual desires to the greater goals of society. Bondage became a frequent symbol of that necessary system of submission, one that still bothers people looking for a feminist visionary in Marston and a feminist icon in Wonder Woman. Hanley believes that Marston's feminism and fetishes are inseparable. "To state that this fetishism invalidated Wonder Woman's feminism, one would have to ignore the undeniably unique and progressive elements of the character," Hanley concludes. "Both approaches [i.e., choosing just one side of Marston's world] are wrong; Wonder Woman was feminist and fetishist."

As complicated as Wonder Woman's feminist message was, you would expect that the climate would become more rather than less receptive after the 1940s. However, feminism and Wonder Woman took a step back in the 1950s, with Wonder Woman's regression due in part to the death of Marston in 1947. "As years passed, new creators further convoluted the character, muddying her odd yet feminist origin," Hanley writes. "While American women grew from complacent housewives to protestors for women's liberation, gaining new strength and independence as they moved forward, Wonder Woman fell backward." Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, author of the 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent that led to the Comics Code Authority that had a chilling effect on comics and comic sales, charged Wonder Woman with corrupting youth through lesbianism (a charge that Hanley gives a full and serious examination in the context of modern attitudes). The CCA forced Wonder Woman (and all comics) into an age of silliness and strict conformity to gender stereotypes that lasted until the late 1960s, when, in the wake of Marvel Comics' success with more realistic superhero storylines, DC Comics decided to follow suit. "More realistic" for Wonder Woman meant giving up her powers, living as Diana Prince, and centering her life around Steve Trevor. "The depowered Wonder Woman was one of DC Comics' first attempts to respond to the new tone of the 1960s comic book industry," Hanley recounts, "and it failed spectacularly." Focused more on mod fashions and the affections of Steve, Wonder Woman had become a feminist failure.

In the 1970s, however, as liberal feminism fought for women's rights, Wonder Woman resurfaced as a feminist hero. Ms. Magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem oversaw the July 1972 issue featuring Wonder Woman on the cover (and nominating her for president!). Hanley sees liberal feminism failing Marston's original vision by calling for equality between men and women rather than a world in which women are superior. Likewise, the Lynda Carter television show of the second half of the 1970s continually emphasized Wonder Woman's exceptionalism, her uniqueness unattainable for other women. Beauty queen Lynda Carter visually reinforced Wonder Woman's problematic power, which was essentially the opposite of Marston's original dream of every woman holding the potential of being a Wonder Woman, if only given the chance.

As Hanley points out near the end of his book, Wonder Woman's the superhero everyone knows but knows nothing really about. When Batman or Superman died, it made the mainstream news, while Wonder Woman's died twice in that same span with little notice. "The blank slate Wonder Woman of today is an icon," Hanley concludes, "but by focusing on only that, her history and humanity are lost." Rather than praise Wonder Woman as feminist icon or damn her as feminist failure, perhaps it's finally time to allow her to exist as a character full of fascinating contradictions and capable of raising important questions. "Wonder Woman has so many facets and incarnations, and within them lies a character who is both bizarre and brilliant," Hanley says. "To forget her past is to miss what makes Wonder Woman such a great hero." The battle of the sexes goes back to the beginning of time, but Wonder Woman's played her part, however problematically, for seven decades now and won't go down without a fight.
[Many thanks to Chicago Review Press for providing me with a review copy of Tim Hanley's Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine.]

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wonder woman unbound: the curious history of the world’s most famous heroine

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Wonder Woman: Feminist Icon, Feminist Failure, or Both?

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If you're old enough to remember the 1970s, Lynda Carter playing the title character in the TV show Wonder Woman (shown above) from 1975 to 1979 remains what you think of when you hear the name of the heroine Wonder Woman . Sadly, one of the oldest (and one of the first female) superheroes seems ...

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Wonder Woman, the rare pearl among male super heroes

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Wonder Woman, the rare pearl among male super heroes

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Came out in an era when male superhero dominate pages, Wonder Woman was able to achieve success as soon as it was released in 1941.

The Wonder Woman film, as expected, contain lots of political elements, mostly about feminism.
It is one of the very interesting movie I really want to watch.

(Taicheng Song)

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★★★★☆

In the early 1940s, the American comic book scene was largely dominated by superheroes like Batman and Superman - men who possessed incredible gadgets and supernatural gifts. Despite the widespread popularity of these types of characters, a select number of authors recognized the need for a new kind of hero: one who had the potential to educate and inspire readers beyond the scope of their powers. In 1941, an American psychologist by the name of William Moulton Marston created just that, developing a strong female superhero who would not only triumph in battles, but also seek to establish justice and peace. First introduced to the DC Comics universe in 1941, his character, Wonder Woman, was an instant hit with readers, and has since become one of the most popular superheroes of all time.

In spite of this, Wonder Woman's origin story has never before been told in a full-length live-action film - until now. "Wonder Woman," directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot in its title role, opened in theaters Friday to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. The film follows the story of Amazonian princess warrior Diana Prince as she leaves her home to help bring peace to the world, and, ultimately, fulfill her heroic destiny as Wonder Woman. The film incorporates powerful themes of feminism and female empowerment, making "Wonder Woman" one of the best films of 2017 so far.

Screenwriter Allan Heinberg drew upon many elements of Wonder Woman's 76-year comic history in crafting the film's script. The film begins on the island of Themyscira, a tropical paradise that is home to the Amazons, a tribe of fierce female warriors. Among the Amazons is Princess Diana and her protective mother, Queen Hippolyta, played by Connie Nielsen. Against her mother's wishes, Diana is trained in the art of war by her aunt, Antiope, played by Robin Wright, and grows from a gentle young girl into a courageous woman who will stop at nothing to protect the lives of innocent people. When American soldier Captain Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, crash-lands on the island, bringing news of World War I, Diana decides that she must venture into the outside world and put an end to the war herself.

Casting Gadot and Pine in the lead roles of "Wonder Woman" was a fine decision by the filmmakers, as the actors' performances are among the best elements of the film. Having played the beloved Captain Kirk in the "Star Trek" reboot franchise, Pine is no stranger to the action genre. His performance is fantastic; he plays Trevor with the same charisma he brought to Captain Kirk, but also demonstrates an instinctual comedic timing that livens up the film. However, Pine performs best when alongside Gadot. The actors' onscreen chemistry is impeccable, resulting in a multitude of hilarious conversations between their characters, in addition to a compelling romantic plotline.

But the film's greatest attribute is its strong feminist message. Jenkins and Gadot brilliantly incorporate elements of female empowerment into the film. In certain scenes, for example, Diana emphatically comments on the unacceptable societal position of women she witnesses in the world outside Themyscira, making a call for societal change. In others, she displays sheer wit, particularly when confronted by powerful British leaders who doubt her intelligence as a woman. Jenkins and Gadot work together to create a truly inspiring film, which will surely pave the way for more female superhero films in the future.

One major fault of the film is its underdevelopment of supporting characters - particularly, the film's villains. "Wonder Woman" focuses too much on Diana and Trevor, giving little screen time to the main antagonists: General Ludendorff, played by Danny Huston, and Doctor Maru, played by Elena Anaya. As a result, Ludendorff and Maru act more as plot devices than they do as standalone characters; viewers will have little interest in learning more about either of the two.

Jenkins also attempts to force many elements of the classic superhero narrative in the final quarter of the film, with drawn-out battles between Diana and her enemies. However, "Wonder Woman" is not an average superhero film; the political and societal implications of Wonder Woman's role in the war should have been the focus of the film's conclusion, not the monotonous superhero storyline. If not for the final quarter of the film - which attempts to accomplish too much in too short a time frame and adheres to many stereotypes of the genre - "Wonder Woman" could have been one of the greatest superhero films of all time, perhaps on the level of Christopher Nolan's "Batman" franchise.

Nevertheless, "Wonder Woman" is still two hours of nonstop adventure and will leave audiences hoping for the possibility of a sequel long after the credits roll. Following a series of poorly received DC films - like "Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad," in 2016 - "Wonder Woman" has successfully revitalized the DC Comics film franchise, which has notably underperformed its competitor, Marvel, in recent years. In fact, "Wonder Woman" is currently the eighth highest-grossing film of 2017.

The film has also broken records for having the biggest opening of all time for any female director, highlighting the importance of female storytelling in the film industry and paving the way for greater gender equality in Hollywood. Ultimately, "Wonder Woman" uses its big screen platform to communicate its powerful and much-needed message of feminism and empowerment - wonderful, indeed.
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★★★★☆ In the early 1940s, the American comic book scene was largely dominated by superheroes like Batman and Superman - men who possessed incredible gadgets and supernatural gifts.

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I know this last week we discussed why the joker is such an integral villain for Batman. I wonder how these villains will compare.

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Evil incarnations of Batman will prowl the DC Universe in September in seven one-shots that tie into the upcoming event Dark Nights: Metal.
RELATED: Snyder Opens Up About Dark Nights: Metal's Biggest Mysteries
Announced this morning by DC Entertainment, each of the issues will feature "a different, corrupted version of Batman spawned from the Dark Multiverse to wreak havoc on Earth." The news follows the release this week of Dark Days: The Forge, an oversize one-shot that teases a secret history of the DC Universe, and lays the foundation for July's Dark Days: The Casting, and Dark Nights: Metal, the August-debuting miniseries by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.

The series of Dark Knight one-shots debuts Sept. 20 with Batman: The Red Death #1, by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico; followed Sept. 2y by Batman: The Murder Machine #1 by Frank Tieri and Ricardo Federici; Oct. 4 by Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1 by Sam Humphries and Ethan Van Sciver; Oct. 18 by Batman: The Drowned #1, by Dan Abnett and Philip Tan; Oct. 25 by Batman: The Merciless #1, by Peter J. Tomasi and Francis Manapul; Nov. 1 by Batman: The Devastator #1; and Nov. 15 by The Batman Who Laughs. The creative teams for the final two one-shots weren't revealed.

The covers by Jason Fabok, which can be seen in the gallery above, depict the silhouettes of the different versions of Batman, most of which are superimposed by the logo of another hero (Nightwing, Aquaman, Green Lanntern, Wonder Woman) and, in one case, a villain (Doomsday). However, The Batman Who Laughs, a title that references the 1928 film that helped to inspire the creation of The Joker, doesn't bear a character logo - at least not yet.

"With names like The Red Death, The Murder Machine, The Dawnbreaker, The Drowned, The Merciless, The Devastator and The Batman Who Laughs, it's pretty clear that these creatures mean business and prove just how dangerous the Dark Multiverse will be for DC's heroes," DC Executive Editor Patrick McCallum said in a statement.
RELATED: Snyder On Joker's Role in Metal, "Three Jokers" Mystery
However, the impact of these Batmen from the Dark Multiverse won't be limited to the one-shots: Their malevolent presence will infect some of DC's supervillains, who want to bring Gotham City to its knees in a series of crossover stories titled "Gotham Resistance," which begins Sept. 13 in Teen Titans #12, by Benjamin Percy and Mirka Andolfo, and continues Sept. 20 in Nightwing #29, by Tim Seeley and Paul Pelletier, before concluding Sept. 27 in Suicide Squad #26, by Rob Williams and Stjepan Sejic.

Priced at $3.99, each of the Batman one-shots will ship with a foil-stamped cover featuring a protective UV coating. Dark Nights: Metal #1, by Snyder and Capullo, goes on sale Aug. 16.

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DC Unleashes Evil Versions of Batman in Dark Nights: Metal One-Shots

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Evil incarnations of Batman will prowl the DC Universe in September in seven one-shots that tie into the upcoming event Dark Nights: Metal . RELATED: Snyder Opens Up About Dark Nights: Metal's Biggest Mysteries Announced this morning by DC Entertainment, each of the issues will feature "a different, corrupted version of Batman spawned from the Dark Multiverse to wreak havoc on Earth."

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Tom Holland Confirms Trilogy Of ‘SPIDER-MAN’ Films

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Tom Holland Confirms Trilogy Of ‘SPIDER-MAN’ Films

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In an recent interview Tom Holland confirms there will be two more spiderman movies coming after "Homecoming". Hope he'll make it because last time Garfield did not.

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With 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' releasing soon, the marketing is being pushed right now to hype up the film. People have been wondering how many Tom Holland Spidey films there will be, now thanks to an interview it seems like we have our answer.

In an interview with AlloCiné , Spider-Man himself Tom Holland lets it slip that there will be two more Spidey films.

"There is still a lot of room for Peter Parker and Spider-Man especially to grow in the next two movies. He's definitely not the finished article by the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming and I really look forward to exploring the different ways he can grow up and go through puberty I guess. It's going to be an exciting couple of movies... Yeah, there'll be Spider-Man 2 and 3, it won't be Homecoming 2 and 3. He also states that the films won't be called Homecoming as well. It will be interesting to see what the sequels will be out but for now the focus is on Homecoming.

Source: AlloCiné (Via HeroicHollywood)

Spider-Man: Homecoming releases July 7.

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Tom Holland Confirms Trilogy Of 'SPIDER-MAN' Films! -

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With 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' releasing soon, the marketing is being pushed right now to hype up the film. People have been wondering how many Tom Holland Spidey films there will be, now thanks to an interview it seems like we have our answer.

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The Punisher is an unconventional character because his actions are neither completely typical of a hero, nor that of a villain. Though he gets rid of society’s criminals who are hard to catch, he does so in a very violent way. On one hand, The Punisher gets rid of criminals instead of sparing them only to just have them come back and do more harm to society. On the other, his killings can be ruthless and the methods he uses border on often illegal. The hard question is whether he is killing people to improve society, or satisfy a thirst for blood. The Punisher might even be considered a necessary evil. (Maria Carrera)

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ByTrevor Norkey, writer at Creators.co

Writer, filmmaker, actor and film enthusiast.

This week, the Internet (briefly) witnessed the first look at the Season 2 teaser trailer for Daredevil, Marvel's first, and rather successful, Netflix series about the Man Without Fear. One of the biggest highlights of the trailer was the introduction of The Punisher, who is finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) after having a couple films of his own outside of the major franchise.

Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, is a very controversial character, being considered a hero by some, and a villain by others. This is widely attributed to Castle's lust for blood. Frank Castle is a vigilante who gets rid of crime bosses, murderers and other criminals in rather permanent ways. Though he is doing good in the world by getting crime of the streets, his methods are very unorthodox in comparison to most other Marvel heroes who avoid killing unless absolutely necessary.

He may be a murderer, but he also does follow a code of sorts by only killing those who are deserving of death (in his opinion), especially those who are out of reach of the justice system because of how hard to catch they are. The real question in play here is whether Frank Castle should be considered a hero, a villain or both. Let's break down this controversial character and find out which profile best connects with The Punisher...

Option 1: The Punisher is a Hero

One can argue that the Punisher is a hero because of the good he does in the world. Many Marvel heroes avoid killing criminals out of a sense of goodness and mercy, yet these criminals will often return to bring back as much havoc as they did before. The Punisher is not held down by this sense of goodness and mercy and eliminates the threats permanently before they even have the chance to return.

One must also look at the reasoning behind Castle's actions. He is driven primarily by an uncontrollable instinct to take lives, which can be attributed both to his Special Operations training during the Vietnam War, and the sudden and violent death of his family by a New York mob which was severely traumatic for him. This combination of training in killing and witnessing the only ones he loved die gave Frank Castle the newfound instincts of murder, which he found to be both uncontrollable and unquenchable.

Though this is a bad instinct to have, Castle decided to put it to good use. He began using his instinct and his abilities to take out serious public and social threats. He killed, but only those who he felt deserved death. He used his circumstances to bring goodness into the world, which is certainly a great description of a hero if you ask me.

Option 2: The Punisher is a Villain

One can also argue that the Punisher is a villain because of how horrendously and viciously he takes out criminals. His methods are unorthodox to the point of being both illegal and heinously evil. Though some of the people he kills are certainly considered to be deserving of death, many of them are not. His killing is ruthless and often uncalled for.

One must also look to the reason why Castle kills so many people. He may kill criminals and murderers, but is he killing for the greater good in order to get them off of the streets, or is he using them as an excuse so he can find pleasure by spilling their blood? There is no denying that The Punisher has a merciless lust for blood and death, and it could be argued that him killing criminals is just his way of quenching his guilty pleasure.

He may try to excuse his actions by claiming they are for the greater good, but what the Punisher does is inherently evil and sick. He kills senselessly, just for the sake of murder. There is no way to possibly describe someone like that as anything but a villain.

Option 3: The Punisher is Both a Hero and a Villain

Castle certainly carries the traits of both a hero and a villain. He commits heinous acts of murder like a villain would, yet uses them for good like a hero would. He is given very unfortunate circumstances of instinctive desires for murder and instead of fighting the evil within himself, he uses this evil to try and do some good in the world.

The Punisher can easily be described as a necessary evil. His actions are evil and wrong, but they are necessary to maintaining a healthy society as he eliminates some of its greatest threats. Frank Castle is, in this case, both a hero and a villain, or an anti-hero as some may call him. His actions are villainous, yet his intentions are heroic. He is a combination of both good and evil, which is probably why we love him so much.

Now you choose!

We have now heard all three cases. The Punisher can be described as a hero because he uses his circumstances to do good in the world. To counter that, he can be also described as a villain because he senselessly murders people for pleasure. Or, he may be both a hero and a villain at the same time. But which one is it?

Which do you think is more likely? Is Frank Castle a hero, a villain or both? Be sure to cast your vote in the poll below! Also, comment your reasoning for your decision, or write your own post about it! Thanks for reading!

Is The Punisher a hero, a villain or both?

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Breaking Down The Punisher: Is He a Hero, a Villain, or Both?

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ByTrevor Norkey, writer at Creators.co Writer, filmmaker, actor and film enthusiast. This week, the Internet (briefly) witnessed the first look at the Season 2 teaser trailer for Daredevil, Marvel's first, and rather successful, Netflix series about the Man Without Fear.

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The Simpsons is one of the longest running television series, and the longest ever running TV show. The series has influenced countless spinoffs, including spinoffs,  and should be understood as the original cartoon sitcom.
I have seen lots of weird Facebook stories about the Simpsons predicting things like Trump's elections or Ebola, and upon googling the Simpsons predictions, it becomes clear we should forget about Nostradamus and embrace the vision of Simpsons writers!
In actuality, the Simpsons is a cartoon that so accurately describes our society that it makes sense that the show's writers could think of such crazy future visions of the world. It's ever obvious that truth is stranger than fiction.
(Ethan Friedman-Brauner)

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15 Times The Simpsons Accurately Predicted the Future

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Matt Groening's team has been so on top of the country's cultural pulse, they've even managed to predict several major historical events

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Why “Your friendly Neighborhood” is popular

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Why “Your friendly Neighborhood” is popular

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An upcoming superhero film Homecoming pull backs Sider-Man’s fans. Spider-Man becomes the third superhero that audiences like most. A walls climber with not strong power like Superman or Batman. He is only an ordinary teenager, who struggles with the everyday life drama as everyone else. A nerd, a not the popular guy in school, an average person like most of people are related to us. He has a mysterious identity but he more like a public star, a friendly neighborhood. When you meet problem, he will show up.

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For a nerd, Spider-Man's not doing so bad these days - after 40 years of web-slinging, he's got a new movie and has managed to remain hip with youngsters while staying true to his aging longtime fans.

From billboards in New York's Times Square to toy stores, book shelves and even music stores, Marvel Comics' flagship character seems to be everywhere as his fans await Friday's opening of the Spider-Man movie. However, Spider-Man's enduring popularity has little to do with his ability to climb walls, his super-human strength, or his somewhat creepy-yet-cool costume.

Fans have loved Spider-Man because he has trouble paying his rent. He was not the most popular guy in school and does not always get the girl. Comic book readers - or "true believers," as Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee likes to refer them - have followed the web-slinger for so long because his very human alter-ego is Peter Parker, who struggles with the same everyday life issues as everyone else.

"He was just like an everyman," said Ken Feliu, a 29-year-old commercial production director and lifelong comic book reader. "Batman had his secret identity but Bruce Wayne was a millionaire. Superman had his alter-ego [Clark Kent], but he was still Superman.

"With Spider-Man, he had his aunt nagging him, he had to get through school, he had to deal with his life, he had to hold down a job. He almost seemed like a regular guy," said Feliu. "Here's a guy who, while swinging from building to building on his way to fight Doc Ock [Dr. Octopus], is also thinking, 'Oh man, how am I gonna pay the rent tomorrow?'"

Smudging the Lines Between Marvels and Mortals

Before Spider-Man's debut in 1962, the two most popular comic heroes at the time were Batman and Superman. Both heroes and their contemporaries were portrayed as godlike - they seemed omnipotent and had Adonis-like physiques. There was a distinct line drawn between the heroes and the people they protected.

Lee and original Spider-Man artist and co-creator Steve Ditko smudged that line when their human wall-crawler made his debut in Marvel Comics' Amazing Fantasy No. 15.

Lee, who had success in creating The Fantastic Four in 1961, had wanted to unveil an unlikely hero who did not fit in with the Supermen and Batmen of the comic book universe, and saw an opportunity in the fledgling Amazing Fantasy series. Still, as he recalled in Son of Origins of Marvel Comics, his publisher, Martin Goodman, was very skeptical.

"Martin told me three things that I will never forget," Lee said. "He said people hate spiders, so you can't call a hero 'Spider-Man.' Then, when I told him I wanted the hero to be a teenager, as he was in the beginning, Martin said that a teenager can't be a hero, but only a sidekick. Then, when I wanted him not to be too popular with the girls and not great-looking or a strong, macho-looking guy, but just a thin, pimply high school student, Martin said, 'Don't you know understand what a hero is?' "

Readers were introduced to Peter Parker, a shy, highly intelligent, bullied teenager who lives with his doting Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Peter is a high school outcast, the butt of many jokes perpetrated by popular jocks and an object of scorn among girls. A lonely orphan, Peter has only two friends: his aunt and uncle.

Life changes for Peter when he goes on a school trip to a laboratory and is bitten by a radioactive spider. He finds that he has super strength and the abilities and senses of a spider. He soon embarks - secretly - on a part-time career in entertainment as "The Spider-Man," making appearances on shows after school.

However, after one of his appearances, "The Spider-Man" refuses to stop a robber eluding a police officer. This thief would later kill Peter's Uncle Ben in a burglary, prompting the grief-stricken teenager to devote his life and his powers to the fight for justice. Spider-Man learned a lesson that his Uncle Ben tried to teach him shortly before Ben's death: With great power comes great responsibility.

The 'Peter Parker' in All of Us

From the beginning, readers clearly saw Spider-Man's humanity and vulnerability. Even with his powers, he could not protect his loved ones from harm and was not immune from the hardships of daily life - two long-running themes of the Spider-Man comic books. Readers saw a bit of themselves in Spider-Man.

"With Batman and Superman, both characters made a conscious choice to use their powers for good, to devote their lives to fighting evil," said M. Thomas Inge, professor of English and the Humanities at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia. "Superman was born with his powers and Batman devoted his life toward avenging the murder of his parents. Peter Parker became a superhero by accident. He's 15 to 16 years old, unpopular in high school, he has acne, he's got a lot of problems. To a certain extent, he had no choice in that his powers were a gift thrust upon him.

"We can all be Peter Parkers," Inge added. "It feeds into our typical fantasy of wanting to escape our characters. We'd all like to escape our characters sometime and be someone else."

Heroes in Need of Shrinks

After Spider-Man, more heroes in Marvel Comics and elsewhere encountered "everyman"-type situations. While The Fantastic Four's Invisible Womanl worried about Dr. Doom and saving the world, her Susan Richards side worried that she was really invisible to husband Reed Richards, also known as "Mr. Fantastic," the workaholic leader of The Fantastic Four.

Iron Man's alter ego, Tony Stark, battled alcoholism in the 1970s. Bruce Banner was not only the victim of a gamma ray explosion who happened to always find himself in situations where his enemies would anger him and trigger his transformation into The Incredible Hulk. In stories written in the late 1990s and 2001, it was revealed that Banner was the victim of child abuse and had a lot of suppressed anger.

"Marvel Comics really gave birth to the idea of heroes with personal problems," Inge said. "It became a signature of the characters who came out of Marvel - The Fantastic Four, The Hulk ... they all had personal problems."

Even longtime characters became more human. In D.C. Comics, more stories found Clark Kent wondering whether Lois Lane loved the mild-mannered Daily Planet reporter or his Man of Steel secret identity.

"After Spider-Man, everyone recognized the formula that Stan Lee figured out - quite correctly - that to make the character in costume more compelling, you have to make the alter-ego as much, if not that much more interesting," said Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics editor in chief. "You have to show the human side of the costumed character. You can't have the character in costume always have the victory well in hand because that situation gets played out after a while."

Spider-Man has shown that comic readers want their heroes superhuman, yet flawed. Readers turn to heroes for escapism, but they also want a dash of reality. Spider-Man reflects the longtime appeal of the flawed hero. Samson's hair was his source of strength - and easy target for Delilah. Achilles had his heel.

"All of our heroes in our society tend to have a chink in their armor, making them more endearing to the American sensibility," said Inge. "They tend to have a compromised morality. ... Huck Finn was not an ideal character. He did some questionable things to get what he wanted and faced a moral dilemma with Jim the slave before he ended up doing the right thing."

New York State of Mind

Much of the dash of realism in Spider-Man is rooted in its setting. Superman and Batman protected the fictional cities of Metropolis and Gotham, respectively. Peter Parker is a New Yorker who lived in Queens as a teenager and later moved to Hell's Kitchen as a struggling freelance photographer in his adult years.

Many readers can identify with the real-life situations he encounters in a real city. That is why Spider-Man was the first character who directly addressed the Sept. 11 terror attacks in a storyline, not a specific tribute comic that featured only art. That issue, Amazing Spider-Man No. 36 was one of Marvel Comics' best sellers last year.

"Stan Lee and Steve Ditko made such a compelling cast of supporting characters and a prolific world for Peter Parker to live in," said David Gabriel, executive director of the New York City Comic Book Museum. "Spider-Man is set in the real city of New York, and he has to deal with a set of real problems you would encounter in a city. We've seen him grow from a teen to now in his late 20s. He's had trouble finding an apartment, holding a job, getting a girlfriend and maintaining a relationship, getting married, and losing a wife ... all the things everyone can identify with."

Spider-Man also changed the way teenagers were portrayed in comics. Before his debut, teenagers were mainly sidekicks to stronger, more dominant heroes and they rarely had an entire book devoted to them. After Spider-Man, writers found that teenagers could be leading heroes, producing titles such as D.C. Comics' Teen Titans, The New Mutants in Marvel, solo series for Robin and Batgirl, and the 1990s' Static Shock of the now-defunct Milestone comics.

And they did not have to be built like Greek gods. Peter Parker's newly acquired super strength did not translate into a super physique.

"Spider-Man started a whole revolution of comics," said Quesada. "He was a teen when most heroes before him like Superman and Batman were not only god-like but they were mother-father types - they were older."

Escape and Empathy in the Turbulent '60s

Spider-Man's youth may have been part of his appeal to many young readers in the turbulent 1960s. The civil rights movement was in full swing, and television screens were bringing the horrors of the Vietnam War into America's living rooms. Comic book readers both found an escape in - and empathized with - the web-slinger as he cracked jokes and talked trash while battling villains and worrying about how he could keep his extracurricular activities hidden from Aunt May.

"When Spider-Man came along in the '60s, there were a lot of kids entering college who had a hard time finding their identities, what cause to get involved in," said Inge. "There were a lot of internal problems in this country, with the civil rights movement going on. A lot of kids continued reading comics after entering college, which is unusual since most teens stop at that time."

But doesn't angst take something away from a hero? Perhaps too much angst and humanity can turn a superhero into a super wimp.

"I think it makes them into bigger heroes," said Feliu. "We live in a world where cynicism runs wild. You wouldn't think a fireman was less of a hero because you see him going home to his wife and kids. It gives you a sense of what he's fighting for when he's out there."

The Gameboy: Spidey's Greatest Opponent?

It's uncertain whether Spider-Man the movie will give a boost to the comic book industry or bring kids back to the comics. Places like New York's Midtown Comics tend to be filled businessmen with briefcases and aspiring artists and writers in their 20s, not children or teenagers.

"In this age of video games and the computer, I just don't think it will," said Inge. "Most comics are not written for children. They're written by full-grown adults who have adults in mind who want to write compelling stories without dumbing it down."

However, the industry hopes the movie's release will at least bring some attention to comic books and promote reading. On the day after the movie's opening, Marvel, D.C., Image Comics, and Dark Horse Comics, among other publishers, will unite to sponsor Free Comic Book Day, where 2,000 comic specialty shops will give away selected books.

"I hope that with Spider-Man, people remember that a comic book is where it came from," Gabriel said. "With the X-Men [movie], I don't think many people remembered it came from a comic book. With Blade, I don't think people were aware at all it came from a comic book."

Comic book awareness or not, the anticipation for Spider-Man is high.

"Oh hell yeah! I can't wait," said Feliu. "I just saw a trailer where they showed him, perched on a pole, looking over the city. I thought to myself, 'That's him. That's Spider-Man. That's the way he supposed to be.' "

At the Magic Johnson Movie Theater in Harlem, an 8-year-old boy on his way to see E.T.: The 20th Anniversary Edition pointed to a banner promoting the movie's upcoming release, yelling, "Spider-Man! Spider-Man! I want to see Spider-Man!"

His excitement did not ebb even after he sat down for his movie. When the trailer for Spider-Man showed before E.T, the boy started cheering again, his feet swinging back and forth and not hitting the ground once. Like any "true believer," he was doing his best to stay tuned.

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For a nerd, Spider-Man's not doing so bad these days - after 40 years of web-slinging, he's got a new movie and has managed to remain hip with youngsters while staying true to his aging longtime fans.From billboards in New York's Times Square to toy stores, book shelves and even music stores,...

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One Scholar On What Comic Books Reveal About Attitudes Toward Muslims

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One Scholar On What Comic Books Reveal About Attitudes Toward Muslims

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It is incredible what David Lewis has done on research with characters in comic books and providing for refugees who seek sanctuary in the United States. It is true that characters of comic books normally come from a different planet or in such case as wonder woman from an island on earth, and would in many ways classify them as immigrants, which is incredible to think about. Also along the lines of Ms. Marvel, who is a Pakistani-American which allows the empowerment of girls and immigrants as well. It is great to see things such as this happening and especially great in terms of empowering people through comics.

(Hai Yu)

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Comics scholar A. David Lewis (@adlewis) recently co-edited the new book " Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation," which explores the history of Muslim characters in the comic book genre.

Lewis joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss the book, and his work with the nonprofit NuDay Syria to distribute Arabic-language comic books to Syrian refugee children.
On the history of Muslim superheroes in comic books
"There have been many, going as far back as our research finds to 1944, a character who's dear to me, Kismet, Man of Fate, first appeared in Bomber Comics, No. 1 in 1944. He has slight, small premonitions of the future, and he uses that to fight Nazis in wartime France.

"This is your good Muslim, and you get the sense that absolutely no Muslims were involved in the writing or illustrating of this character, not surprising, this was 1940s New York. One of the things that comes out in the 'Muslim Superheroes' book is how often Muslim characters reflect either anxieties or viewpoints held by the U.S. population at large. Many times it's written by non-Muslims - sometimes not, we have notable exceptions that are worth examining. But when we use this genre, the superhero genre, to reflect and amplify - and sometimes simplify - what the national thinking is, what our engagement with other peoples are, it's a useful lens, and the point of this book was to sort of bring together - with a scholarly eye, but an easy-to-read scholarly eye - what's been done thus far."
On the superhero genre's role
"One thing that I've always loved about the superhero genre in comics is that it really has been an immigrant's genre. We have Superman from another planet, we have Wonder Woman from her paradise island, we have aliens, we have sorcerers, and they all seem to come together in a sense of unity, in a sense of shared space. Yes, this is a great space and a great place for Muslims, and for Arabs - particularly if they're seen as other - to display non-otherness, to display a sense of shared humanity."

"One thing that I've always loved about the superhero genre in comics is that it really has been an immigrant's genre."
A. David Lewis

On Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American superhero character
"She's a terrific character, created in the past several years by G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat, a Marvel Comics character who is herself a fangirl, she herself writes fan fiction and is excited about superheroes. So she's already at this great place of hybridity, at this intersectional divide between what her many identities are, and she adds this identity of being costumed adventurer to many other identities: daughter, Muslimah, friend, student. It's a wonderful blend that we may not have seen since Peter Parker, who was nerd, science geek, nephew. It's when we have this blend of identities that we find in Ms. Marvel that we have the most relatable characters."
On the relationship between comic book depictions and Islam
"It's been really wonderful to see young girls, or rather women of all ages, getting to dress up as Ms. Marvel proudly at comic book conventions, being able to identify. Comic books and Islam actually go pretty well together. They aren't antithetical."
On why he's working with a nonprofit to provide comics to Syrian refugee children
"Because it's what I can do. We're creating comics for them, and we're creating it from Syrian folklore, Syrian folktales, so this is not us trying to impose stories or views on them, but rather give them the opportunity to reconnect with what they may have lost."

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One Scholar On What Comic Books Reveal About Attitudes Toward Muslims

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Comics scholar A. David Lewis (@adlewis) recently co-edited the new book " Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation," which explores the history of Muslim characters in the comic book genre. Lewis joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss the book, and his work with the nonprofit NuDay Syria to distribute Arabic-language comic books to Syrian refugee children.

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The tv series Archer feels like an animated comic to me, with the wild story lines and illustration style . All of the adventures Archer and the crew embark on revolve around defeating or outsmarting villains. This article shows the biggest enemies in the show and what characterizes them as a villain. I thought it was interesting to read about each of these, because some of the characters were lovable and relatable when they were first introduced in the show.

(Brooke Smetanka)

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With all the snide remarks and inside jokes constantly going around, it's easy to forget all the formidable adversaries that the gang from formally known as ISIS, currently known as the Figgis Detective Agency, has had to contend with over the last seven seasons. From eco-terrorists to assassins, double-agents to contract killers, Sterling Archer ( H. Jon Benjamin) has been there to face off against them all, although sometimes unintentionally. While he may not always come out on top, here's a ranking of the most formidable bad guys from Archer.

13. Crenshaw

Even though he wasn't around all that long (he was introduced and killed in Archer's pilot episode), Crenshaw (Shelly Desai) was our first real glimpse into what we could expect from the show's bad guys. In this case, a KGB mole who was trying to take down the agency from the inside. After he's found out and tries to make an escape, we also see just how well Archer can handle himself in a situation like this, which is a mix between highly capable and terribly awkward. Still, Archer not only kills Crenshaw, but he uses the whole situation to cover up the excessive use of his expense account.

12. Captain Lammers

Malory Archer (Jessica Walter) may have called in a fake bomb threat just to get a free ride on the state-of-the-art airship Excelsior, but it turned out that the ship's captain, Captain Lammers (Stephen Stanton), had brought one on board himself to detonate for real. Lammers' villainy wasn't rooted in espionage or a quest for power, but rather, vengeance and his plan to short the company's stock that built the Excelsior in order to recoup the losses from his 401K. Even though Archer managed to diffuse the bomb and save everyone on board, Lammers went ahead and made his getaway anyway via parachute. The company's stock, presumably, was fine.

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A Ranking Of The Most Formidable Villains From 'Archer'

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With all the snide remarks and inside jokes constantly going around, it's easy to forget all the formidable adversaries that the gang from formally known as ISIS, currently known as the Figgis Detective Agency, has had to contend with over the last seven seasons. From eco-terrorists to assassins, double-agents to contract killers, Sterling Archer ( H.

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Harley Quinn's Relationship to the Joker 

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Harley Quinn's Relationship to the Joker 

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It's interesting to see her transform from the comics books, and the video games to the movie screen. She get to be more independent in the movie Suicide Squad. Her relationship with the Joker is very twisted in the sense that both kill for each other.  In the movie she was given more freedom to be psychotic villain with the other villains by her side combating the other evil.
(Olivia Pulick)6/16

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Considering they're both crazy, it's really no surprise that Harley Quinn and the Joker have a seriously messed up relationship. Suicide Squad offers a glimpse: Harley (played by Margot Robbie) hurts herself for The Joker ( Jared Leto), and he murders for her. But compared to how their love story originated-in comic books, a TV show and video games-their film romance is rather tame. Theirs is a twisted story of domestic abuse.

It's no wonder, then, that Harley has become such a controversial character in popular culture. Some have embraced her as an icon of feminism-a villainess as crazed and violent as male villains. But others argue she's just the Joker's plaything, especially after her costume change. On television, in the comics, in videogames and now on film she's embodied both of these roles. Here's how the character evolved.
Batman: The Animated Series
Harley Quinn (and her thick Brooklyn accent) was first introduced in what was supposed to be a one-episode cameo on Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Quinn was the only female member of The Joker's entourage and had a not-so-secret crush on her lunatic boss. Her feelings remained unrequited, however, since the artists did not want to make The Joker sympathetic by giving him a girlfriend.

Still Quinn, who wore a tight-fitting but full-coverage harlequin bodysuit, wasn't just eye candy: She could always fight with the boys. In the climax of the episode, she tried to distract Batman by saying, "I know, you're thinking, 'What a shame! A poor, innocent, little thing like her, led astray by bad companions!'" before grabbing a knife and trying to kill him.

The character clicked with audiences, and she soon became a mainstay in the series, albeit a problematic one. The Joker was abusive toward lovelorn Quinn: hitting her or throwing her out of buildings, all while playing sadistic mind games with her. The series clearly depicted the patterns of domestic violence: He beat her and cast her out before wooing her back. At one point she explained, "Don't get me wrong, my Puddin's a little rough, but he loves me, really."

That's not to say she didn't stand up for herself: In one episode, shocked that The Joker would abandon her for a mission to blow up Gotham, Quinn aimed a machine gun at him. He taunted her, "You don't have the guts," at which point she pulled the trigger. It turned out the the gun is only loaded with a sign reading, "Rat tat tat," but her willingness to kill her abuser, apparently was a turn on for The Joker, and the two reunited.

DC Comics

Batman Adventures: Mad Love
In 1994, Batman: The Animated Series creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm wrote a comic that revealed how Quinn became The Joker's girlfriend. (The comic won the Eisner Award, the most prestigious award in comic-dom.) In it, a psychiatrist named Dr. Harleen Quinzel joined the staff at Arkham Asylum with the plan to one day write a tell-all book about her experiences. The Joker, charmed by the fact that her name sounds like "harlequin," sends her flowers and offers to tell her secrets about his childhood. The villain describes being abused by his father, and the doctor eventually falls for her patient's sob-story, though Batman later reveals to Quinn that The Joker tells many fabricated stories to gain sympathy.

After many sessions with Dr. Quinzel, The Joker escapes the asylum but is caught by Batman. Dr. Quinzel, now head-over-heels for The Joker, transforms herself into a clown-like villain and breaks The Joker out of prison. Harley Quinn was born.

The rest of the comic shows Quinn plotting to kill Batman with the hope that if the Dark Knight is out of the picture, The Joker wwill stop obsessing over the vigilante and pay more attention to her.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Quinn has evolved since the 1990s in both look and demeanor. The biggest change came in 2009 with the hugely popular video game Batman: Arkham Asylum, where she traded in her red and black full-body suit for a much more revealing corset and blonde pigtails. Her original comic book creators told the New York Times that they weren't a fan of her new, vampy look, but for better or worse the video game introduced Harley to a larger audience.

The story of her relationship with the Joker also got darker. In the game, she clearly has lost her sanity and has no hope of escape from the abuse. In one line, The Joker says to Batman, "You had to spoil everything: beating up Bane, feeding Scarecrow to Croc, slapping around Harley- my hobby, by the way."

Quinn's new video game look inspired the rebooted character in the comic book in 2011 and again in 2013. In 2011's Suicide Squad comic series, Harley Quinn got a new, expanded origin story in which The Joker tosses the psychiatrist, struggling against him, into a vat of acid, which dyed her skin white and also made her insane. Later, believing her villainous lover dead, she joins the Suicide Squad and starts up a relationship with Deadshot. (So if you sensed romantic tension in the movie, that's not just Focus residue.)

But even if the new version of Quinn was sexier, she also proved more powerful and independent. In 2013 she got her own comic, a life away from The Joker on Coney Island and her own adventures (though that comic too has been embroiled in its own controversy). Sometimes she joins forces with Poison Ivy, her sometimes lover as confirmed by current writers of the Harley series Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner on the DC Comics Twitter account. "Yes, they are Girlfriends without the jealousy of monogamy," they tweeted. It's notable that back in the Batman Animated Series, Poison Ivy always criticized Quinn's relationship with the "wacko" Joker.

The movie version of the Harley-Joker relationship combines aspects of the TV show, the old comics and the new comics. Her look is inspired by the video game, her origin story an amalgamation of the Mad Love and the acid vat version: In the movie, she voluntarily dives into the acid to prove her love. She dreams of having children with The Joker (albeit in an alternate universe where they're both normal suburbanites) as she did in Mad Love. And thankfully in the movie she's a more modern woman, independent psychopath than sidekick.

The movie's Quinn also walks the fine line between dependent and independent. While Quinn is as talented at murdering people as her male counterparts, she also is constantly waiting for The Joker to break her out of captivity. And sometimes, the Joker uses her as a pawn in his games, like when he offers her up to a villain played by Common before killing him for lusting after Quinn.

Still, director David Ayers thankfully refrained from showing The Joker physically abuse Quinn onscreen and allowed the Margot Robbie character to shine brighter (and get more minutes) onscreen than her boyfriend.

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how did harley quinn become harley quinn

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From Mad Love to Suicide Squad: The Evolution of Harley Quinn

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Considering they're both crazy, it's really no surprise that Harley Quinn and the Joker have a seriously messed up relationship. Suicide Squad offers a glimpse: Harley (played by Margot Robbie) hurts herself for The Joker ( Jared Leto), and he murders for her.

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The process of creating "Dark Days: The Casting" has brought two well respected writers back together (Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo) and the outcome is going to be epic. Snyder claims to have been dropping hints in previous works for quite some time now and he even claims that this comic is bigger than just Batman. Apparently this new comic takes its readers to a "place of terror and twisted nightmares." (Snyder)

(Frankie Shebby)

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Following some major revelations in this week's Dark Days: The Forge, DC Comics has released a preview for Dark Days: The Casting, the second of its two prelude to Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo's forthcoming DC Universe-spanning event Dark Nights: Metal, which starts in August.
RELATED: Snyder Opens Up About Dark Nights: Metal's Biggest Mysteries
The preview include one new page each from the issue's artists Jim Lee, Andy Kubert and John Romita Jr., along with a few previously released pages, and covers by both Lee and Kubert. Dark Days: The Casting is scheduled for release on July 12.

DARK DAYS: THE CASTING #1

Written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IV-Art by JIM LEE, ANDY KUBERT, JOHN ROMITA JR. and others-Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS-Variant cover by ANDY KUBERT-Variant cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.

*Includes a code for a free digital download of this issue.

The Joker's surprise attack threatens to lay waste to all of Batman's carefully laid plans. Will the Dark Knight be able to regain the trust of his closest allies, Green Lantern and Duke, and prevent the forces of darkness from consuming the DC Universe?! Will Hawkman's warning stop our heroes from peering into the abyss?

The great comics event of summer 2017 is on its way, courtesy of superstar writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by a master class of comics artists: Andy Kubert, Jim Lee and John Romita Jr.!

ONE-SHOT * On sale JULY 12 * 40 pg, FC, card-stock cover, $4.99 US * RATED T+

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PREVIEW: Dark Days: The Casting, DC's Next Dark Nights: Metal Prelude

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Following some major revelations in this week's Dark Days: The Forge, DC Comics has released a preview for Dark Days: The Casting, the second of its two prelude to Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo's forthcoming DC Universe-spanning event Dark Nights: Metal, which starts in August.

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Box Office: Today's The Day 'Wonder Woman' Tops $500M Worldwide

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Box Office: Today's The Day 'Wonder Woman' Tops $500M Worldwide

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The film, Wonder Woman was released on June 2 in the United States. As of June 14, Wonder Woman has grossed $227.8 million in the U.S. and Canada $232.2 million in other territories. Its production budget was only $149 million. As of yesterday, it earned another $6.03 million at the domestic box office and has currently raked in a total of $489.5 million. Today marks the historical moment in which Wonder Woman director, Patty Jenkins, becomes the fourth female director to have a film gross $500m+ worldwide. If Wonder Woman performs as well this weekend compared to yesterday’s numbers, it could make another $38 million for it’s third weekend playing. Wonder Woman has made more money than popular films such as Ant-Man, Thor, and The Wolverine.

(Kaitlyn Massin)

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Wonder Woman earned another $6.03 million yesterday at the domestic box office. That's a dip of just 5% from Wednesday and 34% from last Thursday. It is still holding up in the same relative ballpark as the likes of Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory and The Jungle Book. That also brings its domestic total to $233.85m after two weeks of North American theatrical play. As of Wednesday, the Gal Gadot superhero movie had $255.4m overseas. That means, as of Thursday, it has earned at least $489.5m worldwide, along with whatever it made overseas yesterday. So, barring a fluke of near-impossible proportions, today is the day that Patty Jenkins becomes the fourth female director to notch a $500m+ worldwide hit.

The others, by the by, are Sam Taylor-Johnson's Fifty Shades of Grey ($571 million), Phyllida Lloyd's Mamma Mia! ($609m in 2008) and Jennifer Yuh Nelson's Kung Fu Panda 2 ($665m in 2011). For the record, I am not counting films like Frozen, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Brave where there was a male/female directing duo, but I think we can safely say that Wonder Woman will soon top two of those three pictures at the global box office. If, and this is a big "if," Wonder Woman performs as well this weekend compared to its Thursday number (6.3x) as it did last weekend, we're looking at a $38m third weekend, which would be a 34% drop from last weekend's $58m Fri-Sun haul. A slightly more realistic hold, in line with Pets and Dory, would give Wonder Woman a 40-45% drop or a $31-$35m third weekend.

So the film is almost certainly going to end Sunday with around $265 million domestic, or above the likes of The LEGO Movie ($256m), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($259m) and The Amazing Spider-Man ($262m). The question is how well the incredibly leggy and popular picture will hold up against Walt Disney's Cars 3, Sony's Rough Night and Lionsgate's All Eyez On Me, all three of which could open above $20m (and obviously Cars 3 might crack $60m, especially with decent reviews). And then we'll be getting a relative onslaught for the rest of the summer, with Transformers: The Last Knight on Wednesday, Despicable Me 3 on the 30th, Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 7 and War for the Planet of the Apes on the 14th. How will these sequels and reboots fare against something comparatively new and still relatively unique unto itself in the marketplace? We'll soon find out.

But yeah, with a budget of around $150 million, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman is already a big hit. It has passed/will pass the likes of Ant-Man, Thor, The Wolverine and isn't remotely done yet. Even if it's not as leggy overseas as it is in North America (and it still has some territories left in which to open), it still probably has another $100-$150m left in the tank in North America so $675m seems to be the floor at this juncture, with $750m+ still a possibility. It may not pass the worldwide cumes of Suicide Squad ($745m) and Batman v Superman ($873m), but it has done something more valuable for the DC Films universe: It has given them a movie that audiences love, one that leaves them excited for whatever comes next while offering a pretty big triumph that is wholly different from the respective superhero triumphs from the MCU and Fox's Marvel movies. The only question, to quote another warrior princess from a few months back, is how far it'll go.
If you like what you're reading, follow @ScottMendelson on Twitter, and "like" The Ticket Booth on Facebook. Also, check out my archives for older work HERE.

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Box Office: Today's The Day 'Wonder Woman' Tops $500M Worldwide

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Wonder Woman earned another $6.03 million yesterday at the domestic box office. That's a dip of just 5% from Wednesday and 34% from last Thursday. It is still holding up in the same relative ballpark as the likes of Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory and The Jungle Book.

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Since Flag Day was this past Wednesday, Marvel took some time to look at some of the most patriotic heroes in creation comic book world. This includes famous heroes such as Captain America to small cameo heroes like the Yankee Clipper. Very interesting read for a very patriotic day.

(Lauren Clements) 6/16

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Celebrate Flag Day with these red, white and blue-clad heroes!

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The unpopular in U.S.A Comic “Detective Conan” is popular in Asia.

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The unpopular in U.S.A Comic “Detective Conan” is popular in Asia.

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Detective Conan is an ongoing Detective manga series creats by Japanese cartoonist—“Gosho Aoyama”. Jimmy Kudo(Shinichi Kudo), a high school detective, usually help police to solve difficult cases. During a cases, he was attracted by Black Organization, a criminal gang, at an amusement park.They forced him to take an experimental poison, which not kills him but makes him become a little kid. To keep this secret from Black Organization, Jimmy lives with his girlfriend Rachel Moore(Ran Mouri) and her father Richard(Kogoro) a useless detective. Meanwhile, Jimmy starts to take elementary school and secretly help the incompetent detective, Richard(Kogoro), to solve a lot of strange cases.
(Ruolin Li)

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When reading about the history of comics i was wondering about how many strange story variations came out of revivals. Well here is one definitely in the category of strange.

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Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me.

Today, we look at the complicated origins behind a hilarious out-of-context comic book panel.

If you're familiar with out-of-context comic book panels (I recently did a list of some examples of creepy out of context panels, and I'll have a list up soon of some hilarious ones, as well, which is where I cam across this one), a popular one is the following panel of Bruce Wayne kissing what looks to be Barbara Gordon while assuring here that she's the only person for him...except for Superman, of course...

Funny bit, right?

Okay, first off, the image has been edited. That's why it won't be on my upcoming hilarious out-of-context panels list, because it's not ACTUALLY a real comic book panel.

Here's the original panel...

As you can see, though, the correction only makes the panel even MORE inexplicable at first, no?

This is because the panel comes from a very unusual comic book story. You see, in the early 1980s, after initially reducing the page count in their comic books (following the DC Implosion), DC expanded by adding back-up stories to most of their books. They tried different ideas, and one unusual one that popped up as a back-up in Superman a few times was a clever series of stories by Bob Rozakis about "What if baby Kal-El was discovered by the Waynes instead of the Kents?"

It debuted in Superman #353...

By the end of the issue, Bruce has decided to become Superman, working with Commissioner Gordon, who knows his secret (Gordon found the baby and gave him to the Waynes).

When we next check in on Bruce "Superman" Wayne in Superman #358 (with a young Denys Cowan now drawing the feature), his job as Bruce Wayne is working with his girlfriend, Barbara Gordon, at a rare bookstore...

That phone call was actually an elaborate ruse to get Bruce out of the store so he can turn into Superman. However, once he has saved the day, he returns to work and is in for a surprise when Barbara is suspicious of him, but not in the way that Lois Lane used to be suspicious of Clark Kent, but a more realistic line of thought...

I believe there was only one more Bruce "Superman" Wayne story in Superman #363 before the whole thing was dropped (I believe DC just dropped the back-up stories period).

If anyone else has a suggestion for a fun piece of comic book history that you'd like to see me write about, feel free to drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!

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The Origin of 'Just You and Me, My Love (...And Superman)'

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Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me. Today, we look at the complicated origins behind a hilarious out-of-context comic book panel.

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Among the earliest super hero character, created by Marvel in 1966, The Black Panther didn't make appearance until the Captain America: Civil War. And now, finally, it is going on the big screen.
The trailer has the expected Marvel stunning visual effect, and left me with a good suspense. I am looking forward to see the movie when it come out.

（Taicheng Song)

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Watch the first teaser trailer for Black Panther

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The first teaser trailer for Marvel's Black Panther is finally here, having just aired during game four of the NBA Finals. Here, we see Chadwick Boseman reprise his role as T'Challa, the Black...

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Space Jam 2? Let's Desexualize Cartoon Rabbits First...

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Space Jam 2? Let's Desexualize Cartoon Rabbits First...

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Growing up, Space Jam with Michael Jordan and the Looney Toons was one of my favorite films. It had Chicago's hero, Michael Jordan, teaming up with beloved cartoon classics like Bugs Bunny, to defeat the Monstars. Space Jam should be thought of as having lasting cultural signifigance. America's love of sport, in this case, basketball and the greatness of Michael Jordan, was crossed with the timeless hilarity of Looney Toons. What could ruin it?

Upon a more recent viewing, I was taken aback by Lola Bunny's use as a character. She is only there to be sexualized! A film for children has a female rabbit with human-female features, and her only purpose is to subtly bring into question ideas that "women can sometimes be just as good as men at stuff like sports," but even more blatantly, she is a device to give Bugs Bunny a romance. Her character is creepy, unnecessary, and misogynistic. If there is a Space Jam 2 with contemporary NBA players, the film should desexualize Lola and give her a role which is larger than giving young boys arousal.
(Ethan Friedman-Brauner)

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Come on and slam, and welcome to the Space Jam 2 sequel buzz that swooped in out of nowhere, like an alien rocket-ship on a mission to steal entertainment from the past in order to capitalize on nostalgic millennials' wallets. Rumor has it that LeBron James will star, although he hasn't confirmed.

Much of the fan discussion of the potential film has revolved around whether LeBron James can carry the role; it'd be hard to top Michael Jordan's charismatic rendition of the straight man contrasted with a well-known collection of self-described "looneys." James' recent cameos in the Amy Schumer-fronted Trainwreck seem to have offered him some credibility; he's willing to appear in a rom-com and joke around about Downton Abbey. That's good, right?

Personally, I'm not worried about James' acting abilities. I'm not even worried about the fact that modern-day kids "don't know who Bugs Bunny is," or whatever. Space Jam may have come out 20 years ago, but hey, so did The Lion King and Toy Story. Quality kids' films are few and far between, which is why even modern-day kids still give a crap about Buzz Lightyear. Just pop in Space Jam once and see if it hooks 'em.

That's exactly what I did last night, myself. I wanted to double-check and see if Space Jam, a film that charmed me when I was ten, would hold up.

And ... it does! It really, really does!

Almost.

(Gif via Tumblr)

Part of why I'm hoping LeBron James signs onto the project at this point is that I'm hoping he can help out with the one terrible aspect of the original film: the characterization of Lola Bunny. James has spoken out about feminist issues before, and although Trainwreck may not be a bastion of feminist thought, I'll take the crumbs of hope for the moment. Yep, that's how bad Lola came off in Space Jam: I'm willing to settle for hope-crumbs.

Don't get me wrong; when I was a ten-year-old girl, I absolutely friggin' adored Lola Bunny. I also somehow ret-conned the entire film as having been about her. In my mind, she was the most important player on the team, scoring most of the baskets and wowing all of her colleagues and fans with her talents. In the actual film? Eh ... there's a couple minutes of that-total-in a film that lasts an hour and twenty minutes. She's barely in the film at all, and what little she does do gets undermined by the narrative framing ... but I'll get to that in a minute.

I remember exactly why I related to Lola so much, growing up. Although I was too short to be much good at sports, I engaged my competitive spirit in other ways, with pastimes like videogames and LARPing and tabletop assortments. It didn't take me long to figure out that being competitive wasn't considered an attractive quality in a girl, though. I looked to characters like Lola Bunny, and like Icebox in Little Giants, for comfort and validation. When I got older, I noticed that sometimes there'd be a similar type of girl character in "nerd" films, too ... and she'd often share a lot of the same qualities as Lola Bunny.

Gone Girl's Amy Dunne calls this the "Cool Girl" trope; in media analysis, this type of character arc has been referred to as Trinity Syndrome and the Smurfette Principle. I've personally dubbed it "The Cool Gamer Girlfriend" trope in the past, at least when it comes to media about "gamer girls". These are all slight variations on the same type of problem: the idea that a woman heroine in a male-dominated pastime has to be not only good, but exceptional, in order to "hang" with the guys ... many of whom are pretty mediocre. There may or may not even be a side-plot where she agonizes about balancing her own femininity with her enjoyment of a supposedly masculine pastime. Lola's barely in this film, but she still manages to hit all of these notes to a tea. In record time!

The introduction of Lola doesn't happen until 38 minutes into the film; in other words, the first 50% of this 76-minute film lacks Lola entirely (I'm not counting the film's lengthy credits in that run-time). I couldn't figure out where the heck she was, at first.

Anyway, when she finally does show up on the scene, she's worlds better at basketball than all the other Tunes, but they don't take her seriously ... except for Michael Jordan, who never undermines her for a moment. ("The girl's got some skills!") Still, her frustration at the Tunes' immediate sexual objectification of her is framed as comedic and light-hearted. Even as she undercuts Bugs for disparaging her with a babyish pet name, the framing undermines her big moment. Look at the camera's focus on her anthropomorphized frame, her rhythmic animated walk, and the jazzy music. This all indicates how the audience is meant to see her: as a future love interest for Bugs. Not as a relatable heroine ... except maybe as an aspirational figure for girls who need a constant reminder that if we wanna hang with the guys, we've gotta be hot.

During the Tune Squad introduction when the players enter the court, Lola's referred to by the announcer as the team's "heartthrob" and enters the court in dim lighting that silhouettes her figure (unlike all of her other teammates, who get actual lighting). This moment shocked me primarily because since Lola's tryout, we haven't seen her in the film at all. She hasn't been practicing with the team, nor taking part in any of the hilarious sequences that happen in the run-up to the big game. We don't see the guys cast her or even agree to let her be a part of the Tune Squad at all. It's almost as though the film didn't really think we'd care about Lola or want to find out more about her.

During the game itself, Lola kicks butt. Seeing her star moments on the court feels incredible, almost to the point that I don't mind the extent to which this plays into the "exceptional" demands placed upon her. Of course, she doesn't get any chances to be funny or wacky or do anything other than be really good at basketball, and also super-hot, but ... it's something. Her presence matters.

In the climactic moment of the film, Lola ends up in a tight spot on the court; Bugs Bunny rushes up to push her out of the way of an oncoming opponent, taking cartoonish physical damage in Lola's stead. This scene should be framed as Bugs taking the fall so that his team's second-best player can continue to play without injury. Instead, this moment is framed as the reason why Lola finally falls in love with Bugs. She says to him, "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," then plants a kiss on him.

What's really sad about this moment is that Lola probably isn't lying. What do we know about her? She's gifted at basketball, she's way better than any of the other Tunes we've met, and she appears out of nowhere ... so she probably learned her skills from a different group of cartoons who demoralized her in some way, hence her anger at being referred to as "Doll." Bugs might honestly be the nicest guy she's ever met.

Bugs isn't so bad, and I don't even have an issue with Lola dating him, but given that her only two dialogue-heavy scenes in the film are:

1. getting irritated with Bugs for disparaging her, and

2. getting saved by him and kissing him?

I'm just disappointed. It's not even that it's unrealistic; I can't help but be reminded of some of the crappy relationships I had with jerky competitive gamers over the years. Dating someone just because they're the "least bad" candidate out of the bunch isn't exactly a promising foundation for a partnership. But I guess I can relate to Lola on this one ... and I'm sure I can even relate to her future break-up.

For kid-Maddy, these few-minute sequences of Lola allowed me to fill in the rest with my own imagination. But Adult-Maddy wants more, and frankly, I think kid-Maddy deserved more, too. What if the Tunes' team had (gasp) two women, and not just one? Tweety's elderly owner makes a couple brief appearances in Space Jam, and I loved them; I also liked the characterizations of Michael Jordan's wife and kids. That's part of why Lola's narrative framing feels like such a big missed opportunity.

What's more, the way that she's framed taught kid-me a pretty depressing lesson about what it takes to be accepted by a group of guys: if you're lucky, and if you're hot enough, maybe you'll get to date one of them. Unfortunately, I know that's a lesson that I internalized very early on in my life: the idea that male validation was the only thing that really mattered, as opposed to winning games and excelling at my chosen hobbies. It's a lesson that took me years to unlearn.

I still recommend Space Jam. It holds up well on rewatch; it's got a racially diverse cast, tons of great jokes that still hold up, and bad CGI that comes across as endearing and charming to my modern eyes. It's a film that I want to be able to recommend without any reservations. I want to be able share the joyful experience that I had re-watching it with everyone I know. But I can't ... not without making mention of how disappointed I felt about Lola's treatment in this film.

That's why I'm almost hoping that Space Jam 2 does happen, if only because it's the franchise's opening to improve upon the original. This is a second opportunity to tell a different story that actually includes the young girls in the audience and reassures them that they too can be wacky, goofy, funny, and absolutely essential when it comes to competitive pastimes. Here's your chance to do the dance at the Space Jam. All right? ALL RIGHT!

(via , featured image via The-Arcade.ie)
-Please make note of The Mary Sue's general comment policy.-

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Hey, Space Jam 2 - Give Lola Bunny the Respect She Deserves This Time

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Come on and slam, and welcome to the Space Jam 2 sequel buzz that swooped in out of nowhere, like an alien rocketship on a mission to steal entertainment from the past in order to capitalize on nostalgic millennials' wallets. Rumor has it that LeBron James will star, although he hasn't confirmed.

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Wonder Women Makes History with Female Director 

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Wonder Women Makes History with Female Director 

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As a women I thought this was a good article about why this film made history. It was not just because it was a box office hit and the timing of the movie was just right, but that the director was a woman. I have noticed that in the film industry that women directors are not known and this film blows some of the other super hero films away. Not only does this film stand for strong women who are heroic but that women are able to rise above and produce a great film.
(Olivia Pulick)

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"Wonder Woman" made history.

The latest film in Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe exceeded expectations at the box office, bringing in $103.1 million for its opening in North America this weekend.

That makes the superhero film starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins the biggest opening ever for a female director. The previous record holder, "Fifty Shades of Grey," brought in $85.2 million in 2015.

"Wonder Woman" is the first major superhero film to be led by a woman, and it was women who helped the film to the top of the box office this weekend.

More than half, 52%, of the film's audience this weekend were female -- a significant number for a genre that has been dominated by men.

The box office haul for the female superhero icon is smaller than the box office numbers of some of her caped male counterparts. But the opening weekend for "Wonder Woman" is an achievement for female filmmakers and for the industry, says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore .

"Any ridiculous notion that a woman may not be suited to direct a big budget superhero movie is hopefully once and for all shattered," he said.

Related: How 'Wonder Woman' could change Hollywood

Dergarabedian said several factors contributed to the strong weekend performance, including a great release date, perfect casting and widespread acclaim.

The film, which had a production budget of $150 million, garnered an "A" CinemaScore from audiences and a 93% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it one of the best-reviewed superhero movies of all time.

"Wonder Woman" also acted as a shot in the arm to Warner Bros.' critically beleaguered DC superhero brand -- which includes three panned blockbusters, 2013's "Man of Steel," 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and 2016's "Suicide Squad" -- as well as a sluggish summer movie season that was down nearly 9% from last year going into the weekend.

CNNMoney (New York) First published June 4, 2017: 10:48 AM ET

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'Wonder Woman' has biggest opening ever for a female director

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The latest film in Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe exceeded expectations at the box office, bringing in $103.1 million for its opening in North America this weekend. That makes the superhero film starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins the biggest opening ever for a female director.

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Wonder Woman actor Chris Pine has fueled the Marvel versus DC debate and made many comic book fans angry on Twitter. In a recent interview with Screen Slam, Pine dissed the upcoming Marvel Avengers: Infinity War movie saying “it's difficult to do something new, and usually, you just see a bunch of people killing one another — in outfits and blowing up cities. Like, I know there's a thing called Infinity War… We need more war for all time?”. Many users were angry, writing that Pine should read The Infinity War comic before he begins to comment on and criticize it. Others pointed out that even Wonder Woman is set during World War I.
(Maria Carrera)

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Chris Pine has fuelled the Marvel vs DC debate by poking fun at Avengers: Infinity War while promoting his upcoming movie Wonder Woman. Pine stars as an American pilot, Steve Trevor, alongside Gal Godot's Diana Prince in the movie.

In an interview with Screen Slam, the 36-year-old actor was asked about the number of superhero movies floating around and why he chose to do this movie. He told the outlet, "One of the reasons for sure. She, in particular - Patty [Jenkins] was a great reason why I wanted to be involved. I met her, I hadn't read - there was no script. Then she told me what she wanted to do: the story, my character, and Gal's character."

He then took a dig at Marvel's upcoming Avengers movie, titled Infinity War. The Star Trek Beyond actor said, "I, like you [the interviewer], agree that within this genre, it's difficult to do something new, and usually, you just see a bunch of people killing one another - in outfits and blowing up cities. Like, I know there's a thing called Infinity War, which is like, I don't - really, like, Infinity War? We need more war for all time?"

Fans are not thrilled with Pine for throwing a shade at the Marvel movie. A user pointed out on Twitter, "You can tell Chris Pine has never read a comic let alone the Marvel Infinity War comic..." Another fan noted, "Chris Pine gotta look up what Infinity War is before he tries to drag a studio/movie lmao. I love the dude, but that was such a Who's Mans?"

A user pointed out sarcastically that Wonder Women is set in World War background, and wrote, "Chris Pine dissing infinity war but...ww is...ok nevermind." Another noted, "Ppl talking about Chris Pine throwing shade. Yeah he name drop infinity war but its also shade at DC."

A Comic-book fan asked Pine to check Infinity wars comics before saying anything. "Don't expect Chris Pine to be a comics expert bc he's in one comics film but JFC maybe take 2 secs to google what Infinity War IS b4 u speak," he wrote.

Wonder Woman arrives in theatres on 2 June, while Avengers Infinity War is set for release on 27 April 2018 in the UK and 4 May 2018 in the US.

Chris Pine gotta look up what Infinity War is before he tries to drag a studio/movie lmao. I love the dude, but that was such a Who's Mans?
- lil ugli god (@actionanderson) June 2, 2017

chris pine dissing infinity war but...ww is...ok nevermind
- sara (@blavkackles) June 1, 2017

Ppl talking about chris pine throwing shade. Yeah he name drop infinity war but its also shade at dc
- Paul Capaldo (@spiderham2099) June 1, 2017

don't expect Chris Pine to be a comics expert bc he's in one comics film but JFC maybe take 2 secs to google what Infinity War IS b4 u speak pic.twitter.com/A8HBpSxB0I
- DurnkComicsFansPodâš¡ï¸ (@drunkcomicsfans) June 2, 2017

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chris pine comments on avengers infinity war

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Wonder Woman's Chris Pine disses Avengers Infinity War, fuels Marvel vs DC debate on Twitter

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Chris Pine has fuelled the Marvel vs DC debate by poking fun at Avengers: Infinity War while promoting his upcoming movie Wonder Woman. Pine stars as an American pilot, Steve Trevor, alongside Gal Godot's Diana Prince in the movie.

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A Look Inside the New Scifi Comic Mark Wahlberg Wants to Turn Into a Movie Franchise (Brooke Andrews)

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A Look Inside the New Scifi Comic Mark Wahlberg Wants to Turn Into a Movie Franchise (Brooke Andrews)

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A few months ago, Mark Walhberg and producing partner Stephen Levinson announced Alien Bounty Hunter.  This is a new series that the producers hope they can help build from the ground up from the pages of a comic book to the subject of a blockbuster franchise.  I found this to be very exciting and am looking forward to seeing it!

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I stumbled upon a Facebook post that had shared this article.  A woman named Caitlin Quijano made a series of comics that illuminate the realities of her adult life.  I found these to be very entertaining and relatable.  It is interesting how comics are making their way through social media and sometimes merging with today's meme culture.
(Brooke Smetanka)

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Hi Bored Panda, I'm Caitlin Quijano. You may remember me from my previous post where I shared comics that sum up my life as an adult. It's been awhile, so I thought it was time for an update.

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Superman #26 has changed. The new story features Superman and Superboy working together as a team.  Creators Michael Moreci and Scott Godlewski gave no explanation for the change leaving some readers to wonder what initiated this one-off story.

(Frankie Shebby)

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Credit: Lee Weeks (DC Comics)

July 5's Superman #26 has been changed to now feature a new one-off story by guest creators Michael Moreci and Scott Godlewski. Moreci is an alum of the DC Writer's Workshop program, but no reason was given for this change to the originally-solicited plans.

As part of this change, the originally-intended stories for Superman #26 through #29have been pushed back one issue number, with writers Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason reamining as the regular series writers.

Here is the updated solicitation for Superman #26 through #29.

SUPERMAN #26
Written by MICHAEL MORECI
Art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI
Cover by LEE WEEKS
Variant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
Superman and Superboy's teamwork is off and Clark is at a loss for how to fix it. Maybe an old trick Pa pulled when Clark was a boy might help get the father-son team get back on the right track!
On FOC JUNE 12 * On sale JULY 5 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

SUPERMAN #27
Written by PETER J. TOMASI and PATRICK GLEASON
Art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI
Cover LEE WEEKS
Variant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
This issue now features "ROAD TRIP" part one! It's been an emotional and physical rollercoaster for Superman, Lois, and Jon: the Eradicator, Dinosaur Island, Frankenstein and the Bride, Multiversity, Reborn and Black Dawn-a barrage of terror and horror! What does the family need right now? Yep, you got it...a vacation!
On sale JULY 19 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

SUPERMAN #28
Written by PETER J. TOMASI and PATRICK GLEASON
Art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI
Cover by RYAN SOOK
Variant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
This issue now features "ROAD TRIP" part two! As the Kents' family road trip takes some strange and unexpected turns that will reveal a foreboding threat reaching out to touch their lives, you can bet that their gonna need a vacation after their vacation!
On sale AUGUST 2 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

SUPERMAN #29
Written by PETER J. TOMASI, PATRICK GLEASON and KEITH CHAMPAGNE
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and JAIME MENDOZA
Cover by DOUG MAHNKE
Variant cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
This issue now features "FEAR ITSELF" part one! The writing team of Tomasi and Gleason are joined by co-writer Keith Champagne in a story that returns to their Green Lantern roots and asks the question "What scares Superman?"
On sale AUGUST 16 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T

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SUPERMAN #26 Changes To New Creative Team & Story

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Credit: Lee Weeks (DC Comics) July 5's Superman #26 has been changed to now feature a new one-off story by guest creators Michael Moreci and Scott Godlewski. Moreci is an alum of the DC Writer's Workshop program, but no reason was given for this change to the originally-solicited plans.

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Batman Proposes to Catwoman BUT What's the Big Secret?

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Batman Proposes to Catwoman BUT What's the Big Secret?

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In the recent Batman #24 comic, the Dark Knight proposed to Catwoman. We have yet to hear an answer to the big question, but we are apparently expecting to find out a big secret of Batman's in the next issue which Catwoman will have to determine if it is good or bad and whether the answer should be a yes or no.

(Lauren Clements)

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It's official - the Dark Knight has proposed marriage to the DC Universe's most notorious burglar. But that's not the end of the story; not only do readers not know whether Catwoman will accept Batman 's costumed hand in marriage, before she can even respond to his offer, Bruce Wayne will further bare his soul to Selina Kyle.
RELATED: Batman Proposes to Catwoman in Latest Rebirth Development
"It's like, 'You think you know me, but you don't know me until this,' " King told USA Today. "The actual answer [to the proposal] will come after he reveals something he's never revealed to anyone, and she has to decide whether that's good or bad."

Obviously, King did not elucidate further, and fans will have to wait a few months before Bruce's secret is revealed, not to mention whether she'll accept Bruce's proposal upon learning it.
RELATED: Batman Loves Catwoman: The Complicated Romance Of The Bat & The Cat
The next question, then, is if the secret is an all-new revelation for readers as well as Catwoman. There's a lot Selina doesn't know about Bruce, particularly regarding his life prior to becoming the Dark Knight. And while there's obviously a chance that King is set to reveal another previously unknown piece of his past, odds are good we're poised to learn what happens when he either relates the story of how he recently met his father via the inter-dimensional Watchmen-fueled "The Button" storyline, or of his attempt as a young child to commit suicide.

It was just a year ago when King and artist Mikel Janin told that story for the first time in Batman's "I Am Suicide" arc, a storyline that found Bruce freeing Selina from the prison sentence she was serving to allegedly killing 237 people ( she was later cleared of the crime) and kicking off the current stage of their relationship. Batman #12 revealed that as a ten-year-old boy, Bruce Wayne attempted to cut his wrists with his father's razor blade. He described this as his act of surrender, after which "my life was no longer my life," and it was at that moment he made his oath to fight crime - in short, it was the true birth of the Batman.

The answer as to whether this is the secret Bruce will fill Selina in on will have to wait a few months to be revealed, though; the next issue of Batman kicks off an all-new story arc set in the hero's past. King an Janin re-team for "The War of Jokes and Riddles," which promises to give readers a new outlook on a pair of the Dark Knight's classic villains as the Riddler and Joker take center stage in the storyline set one year after the Batman's career began.
Featuring the Dark Knight's marriage proposal, Batman #24, by Tom King, David Finch, Clay Mann and more, is on sale now.

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Batman Will Reveal His 'Darkest Secret' to Catwoman in New Arc

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It's official - the Dark Knight has proposed marriage to the DC Universe's most notorious burglar. But that's not the end of the story; not only do readers not know whether Catwoman will accept Batman 's costumed hand in marriage, before she can even respond to his offer, Bruce Wayne will further bare his soul to Selina Kyle.

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HellBoy reboot to begin filming this fall. 

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HellBoy reboot to begin filming this fall. 

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The new Hellboy reboot has decided to cast David Harbour from Stranger things with new director and crew for the production. Harbour has expressed interest in the Hellboy comic series and is genuinely excited to be playing this role. They say that this film will be darker than the previous movies, creating a more complex personality for Hell boy the anti-hero. The filming will hopefully soon begin in the fall for this long awaited reboot!
(Hai Yu)

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Just yesterday, David Harbour teased Hellboy fans with a photo that revealed pre-production for the highly-anticipated reboot was officially underway. Now, thanks to some new tidbits from the Stranger Things star, it appears Harbour won't have to wait very long to put his Right Hand of Doom to work.

"We're supposed to [begin filming] in September, I hope," Harbour revealed to TheWrap. "It's good. It's a whole new thing. I'd always been a fan of the comics and there's a darker tone to it and I think in the climate we have now there's kind of a darker... a desire for more of that... the script is good and this guy Neil Marshall ( The Descent) is directing who's really good and the aesthetic is great."
RELATED: Hellboy: Harbour Discusses His 'Sweet,' 'Weird' Take on the Character
The new R-rated take was announced last month. Former Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro was still circling a third entry in his tenure with the character as recently as January, before the studio decided to take the character in a darker direction with Marshall at the helm.

Harbour went on to cite his role in Stranger Things as the part that sold him as a good fit for Hellboy in the eyes of Marshall and company. "I think [Chief Hopper] has some parallels to him," he explained. "I think he's another complicated anti-hero who is not strictly good or bad, he's just trying to do the right thing. I think he's a demon, he's crazy, and he's also sweet and vulnerable and neurotic... so there's a lot of complexity there."

Tentatively titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, the upcoming reboot was scripted by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola. The film has yet to be given a release date.

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Hellboy Reboot Will Begin Filming This Fall

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Just yesterday, David Harbour teased Hellboy fans with a photo that revealed pre-production for the highly-anticipated reboot was officially underway. Now, thanks to some new tidbits from the Stranger Things star, it appears Harbour won't have to wait very long to put his Right Hand of Doom to work.

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Hunter Pence's Comic Shop (Kaitlyn Massin)

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Hunter Pence's Comic Shop (Kaitlyn Massin)

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Major League Baseball right fielder for the San Francisco Giants, previously the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, Hunter Pence will be partnering with others in the hopes of launching a comic shop in Houston, Texas. The Texas shop will be called “Coral Sword: Coffee, Comics, and Games.” He will be partnering with his wife, Comic Book Men co-star Ming Chen, David Buehrer, and Sandford Bedsoe III. Coral Sword will have indie board games, a curated comic seletction, and speciality coffee and tea. Pence says that gaming and coffee are his two favorite off-the-field activities.

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Credit: San Francisco Giants

Credit: Coral Sword

San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence is partnering with others to launch a comic shop in Houston, Texas called Coral Sword: Coffee, Comics, and Games. The store is scheduled to open September at 1318 Telephone Road in Houston, and is a partnership with Pence, his wife Alexis Pence, Comic Book Men co-star Ming Chen, David Buehrer, and Sanford Bledsoe III.

"Coffee and gaming are two of my favorite off-the-field activities," Pence said. "I'm most excited about creating a space that combines the two. Incorporating new media into the coffee shop is an exciting way for me to bring a piece of San Francisco to Houston that keeps me feeling connected."

Coral Sword will have "indie board games, a curated comic selection, and specialty coffee and tea."

Pence is a two-time All-Star outfielder, and with the San Francisco Giants has won the World Series twice. The professional baseballer is a Texas native, and lives in Houston during the off-season.

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SF GIANTS Player Launching Comics, Coffee & Gaming Store

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Credit: San Francisco Giants San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence is partnering with others to launch a comic shop in Houston, Texas called Coral Sword: Coffee, Comics, and Games. The store is scheduled to open September at 1318 Telephone Road in Houston, and is a partnership with Pence, his wife Alexis Pence, Comic Book Men co-star Ming Chen, David Buehrer, and Sanford Bledsoe III.

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‘AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’ May Add ‘BLACK PANTHER’ Villain Man-Ape

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‘AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’ May Add ‘BLACK PANTHER’ Villain Man-Ape

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This movie has already got a big list of characters and now they are adding another one. Guess one villain is not enough now considering the numbers of good guys in this movie.

(Changda Liu)

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Avengers: Infinity War may add another villain to its growing character list. IMDB claims via its Twitter account that Black Panther villain Man-Ape (portrayed by Winston Duke), who is also known as M'Baku, will appear in Infinity War, joining the massive amount of superheroes and villains which will be featured in the anticipated film.

Should Man-Ape really appear in Infinity War, it's still unknown how he will be involved in the storyline. There hasn't been any announcement from Marvel about the matter either. In the meantime, the Wakandan villain is set to debut next year in Black Panther, with Chadwick Boseman reprising his role as Wakandan Prince T'challa. Boseman debuted the role back in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
In the comics, Man-Ape is one of Wakanda's most powerful warriors, but he later plans to take the Wakandan throne for himself and teams up with White Gorilla Cult for the purpose. T'challa, however, defeats him in a battle and Man-Ape has never stopped trying to beat up the Black Panther ever since.
In the comics, Man-Ape is one of Wakanda's most powerful warriors, but he later plans to take the Wakandan throne for himself and teams up with White Gorilla Cult for the purpose. T'challa, however, defeats him in a battle and Man-Ape has never stopped trying to beat up the Black Panther ever since.

Avengers: Infinity War is set to hit theaters on May 4, 2018. As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment-the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Cast members include Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Peter Dinklage and Terry Notary.

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'AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR' May Add 'BLACK PANTHER' Villain Man-Ape! -

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Avengers: Infinity War may add another villain to its growing character list. IMDB claims via its Twitter account that Black Panther villain Man-Ape (portrayed by Winston Duke), who is also known as M'Baku, will appear in Infinity War, joining the massive amount of superheroes and villains which will be featured in the anticipated film.

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Recently the CEO of Marvel blamed fans' reactions against diverse characters as the reason for declining sales. Let's just say things didn't go well. This article addresses Marvel's Diversity Initiative (a drive to include more minority and female characters) and some of the controversy it has evoked. It nicely breaks down some of the critics' complaints, showing how other issues (like the difficulty in tracking online and other sales) complicate the matter. I would agree that the matter is too complex to boil down to a 30-second sound bite and that it's too early to tell whether the initiative is succeeding or failing.

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Marvel, the comic book juggernaut known for bringing many iconic superheroes to life, is still figuring out how not to look like a villain.

Over the weekend, part of an interview with Marvel vice president David Gabriel made the rounds, in which Gabriel inelegantly and inadvertently suggested that poor sales reflected readers' disinterest in comic books featuring nonwhite and female superheroes.

"What we heard was that people didn't want any more diversity," Gabriel said in the interview with ICv2. "I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales."

Bleeding Cool's aggregation of the interview - "Marvel's David Gabriel On Sales Slump: People 'Didn't Want Any More Diversity,' 'Didn't Want Female Characters'" - went viral, and other sites quickly picked up the story. "Marvel VP of Sales Blames Women and Diversity for Sales Slump," io9 wrote. The Verge reminded Marvel, "Of course your comics are political, Marvel," while Nerdist asserted, "Marvel is wrong about diversity killing its comics."

Marvel and Gabriel quickly issued a statement clarifying his response, but that was about as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane. The genie was out of the bottle.

The rapid response to Gabriel's words isn't just about one quote from one interview, though. Marvel's push for representation and diversity, both on the page and behind it, has been a years-long initiative. Gabriel's response, and the reaction to it, represents a flare-up of long-simmering issues on both the business and artistic sides of the industry, issues that boil down to one complicated question: What is the value of comics diversity, and how do we measure that value?

The context of Gabriel's interview is really, really important

It's important to acknowledge that Gabriel's conversation with ICv2 wasn't just some random interview; it was part of Marvel's summit with comic book retailers. In the first part of the three-part report, two retailers who spoke up asserted that diversity hurt sales. Marvel executives, including Gabriel, were present for those remarks.

"I don't want you guys doing that stuff," one retailer said, explaining the political content in some of Marvel's comics. "I want you to entertain. That's the job. One of my customers even said the other day he wants to get stories and doesn't mind a message, but he doesn't want to be beaten over the head with these things."

Another added:

When you talk about the Academy Awards, and how [inclusion and diversity] was a prime topic, I look at the cold, hard reality, and I'm in business. A lot of those movies, or other things in other media, aren't really big money makers. For me, I care more about whether I'm going to sell it or not.

But there were also retailers who pushed against these statements, saying that sales for comics involving nonwhite heroes, like Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel, were doing well and that diversity was needed. Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso also talked about the beauty of diversity.

But what Gabriel reiterated, and what everyone focused on, was a sentiment from the retailers who came to their own conclusions about why they thought their sales were low.

In order to fully understand why Gabriel echoed these sentiments, you need a basic understanding of how important comic book retailers are in the industry. The business side of comic books is still figuring out how to adapt to an age when we consume art a lot differently than we did five, 10, or 15 years ago. But where television shows and music have figured out new ways to measure consumption (through streaming, DVR recordings, etc.), the comic book industry is still wedded in large part to retailers, even though you can get comic books digitally or via a subscription service.

Without getting into too much esoteric detail, retailers and publishers still abide by a system that's based on orders from independent owners - and that system is part of what's informing the views of the retailers who spoke out against Marvel's diverse titles, as well as Gabriel's response.

Writer and comic book creator Kelly Sue DeConnick outlined the importance of preordering books on her Tumblr, but it basically comes down to comic book shops having limited space, not being able to return stock, and making the savviest orders. Comic book shop owners don't want to spend their budget on books no one wants to buy, so they tend to go with the safe bets - like A-list comic books featuring well-known heroes. Preorders, which customers can arrange through comic book shops, also represent a confirmed sale for the retailer.

Publishers like Marvel, in turn, base their sales numbers off these retailer orders - every order is considered a sale, since retailers don't return unsold comic books. This is what makes customer preorders so important, especially for newer books and books from less well-known creators: They signal to retailers and publishers that there's interest in the book.

This system has helped create a market that's really difficult to break into or change, because its whims are dictated by a specific set of fans who go into the shop and buy individual floppy issues. Moreover, these sales are made three months in advance, sometimes with just bare-bones information about the book (title, author, artist, cover), meaning the sales also favor established writers and artists and legacy titles over creators just getting onto the scene. These sales also reflect the taste of regular customers versus expanding audiences.

It's a system that skews toward the status quo, instead of toward breaking new ground.

Gabriel's gaffe was a public relations nightmare for Marvel's diversity initiative

When Gabriel spoke about the relationship between diversity and sales, he was speaking about sales and feedback from retailers, not necessarily offering a personal opinion. He's very clear in his response (the passage that's gotten a lot of attention) that he's talking about retailers, and what he heard them saying about how diversity hurts.

But things get stickier when Gabriel seems to take the retailer feedback and apply what sounds like a company perspective to it:

ICv2: Now the million-dollar question. Why did those tastes change?
I don't know if that's a question for me. I think that's a better question for retailers who are seeing all publishers. What we heard was that people didn't want any more diversity. They didn't want female characters out there. That's what we heard, whether we believe that or not. I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales.

We saw the sales of any character that was diverse, any character that was new, our female characters, anything that was not a core Marvel character, people were turning their nose up against. That was difficult for us because we had a lot of fresh, new, exciting ideas that we were trying to get out and nothing new really worked.

It was the old things coming back in that time period, three books in particular, Spider-Man Renew Your Vows, that had Spider-Man and Mary Jane married, that worked. The Venom book worked and the Thanos book worked. You can take what you want out of who might be enjoying those three books, but it is definitely a specific type of comic book reader, comic book collector that really liked those three series.

Saying that diversity, female superheroes, and nonwhite superheroes are the reason sales are down - essentially what those retailers claimed - without questioning it or challenging it isn't a good look for a Marvel representative. What's worse is that Gabriel reiterated a vocal dissent from some retailers and seemed to apply it to the whole market.

That's why Marvel decided to clarify his answer with a statement in which it tried to make clear that it heard from retailers championing the company's diverse books at the summit too, but unfortunately only talked about the negative aspect:

Discussed candidly by some of the retailers at the summit, we heard that some were not happy with the false abandonment of the core Marvel heroes and, contrary to what some said about characters "not working," the sticking factor and popularity for a majority of these new titles and characters like Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, The Mighty Thor, Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, and Moon Girl, continue to prove that our fans and retailers ARE excited about these new heroes. And let me be clear, our new heroes are not going anywhere! We are proud and excited to keep introducing unique characters that reflect new voices and new experiences into the Marvel Universe and pair them with our iconic heroes.

We have also been hearing from stores that welcome and champion our new characters and titles and want more! They've invigorated their own customer base and helped them grow their stores because of it. So we're getting both sides of the story and the only upcoming change we're making is to ensure we don't lose focus of our core heroes.

The damage was done. Though Marvel tried to bring clarity to the issue, a lot of people were alarmed by Gabriel's initial words.

For fans who want diversity in Marvel's books, Gabriel was at best missing the point, and at worst signaling that Marvel saw diversity as a failed marketing experiment.

This alarm is understandable: Characterizing diversity as a trend that kills comics is a slippery slope, and not a fair assessment. There have been A-List comic books that feature marquee characters such as Tony Stark/Iron Man that bumble into mediocrity. There are also a lot of bad books featuring white male characters that live on the bottom of the comic book ecosystem, but retailers don't up and tell Marvel to stop making white male characters because their books don't sell:

straight white dude characters spun off from your hyper mega popular character who had a movie that did big numbers and they selling GARBAGE
- Colin Spacetwinks (@spacetwinks) March 31, 2017

As the retailers and Gabriel point out, Marvel didn't have the strongest 2016. It's also true that Marvel has recently focused on diverse heroes. But to connect the two and think the latter begets the former without taking into account any other factors asserts causation with correlation.

There are other metrics by which to measure a comic book's success. But they're harder to quantify.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that retail sales are only one metric by which to determine the success or failure of certain comic books.

What those miffed retailers failed to mention is that, according to Comic Book Resources' analysis, The Mighty Thor, Marvel's comic with a female Thor, is a top seller, as is Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze's Black Panther.

Many people also buy their comic books in collected volumes (trade paperbacks) and/ordigitally, and the digital market has been growing. According to a 2015 report from the digital retailer Comixology, comic books featuring female leads dominate in digital sales. In a 2014 interview with Marvel's Sana Amanat, Amanat said that Ms. Marvel was the company's top digital seller. There are also comic books like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that do well online, in trades, and in the Scholastic arena but don't have stellar retail sales.

What gets tricky is that companies like Marvel aren't usually very open about releasing digital numbers. On top of that, retail sales are the biggest driver of which comic books get green lights and which ones get canceled - even when an audience doesn't really know a book exists (because of a lack of marketing or the lack of stock on shelves), or because they don't know the ordering and preordering system.

There's also the harder-to-quantify matter of prestige, and the nonmonetary value it brings to a title. To that point, the Hugos, which award the year's best science fiction and fantasy works, released their nominations on Tuesday. Three Marvel comic books were honored - Black Panther and Ms. Marvel were two of them.

G. Willow Wilson, the writer of Ms. Marvel, wrote about Gabriel's interview on her personal site, directly addressing the idea of the two different markets and how the industry needs to adapt. "The direct market [the retailer/comic book shop market] and the book market have diverged. Never the twain shall meet. We need to accept this and move on, and market accordingly," she wrote.

But aside from the numbers, there's another conversation happening here about the deeper meaning of Marvel's commitment to diversity.

The real value of comics diversity

I haven't always been a fan of Marvel's editorial choices. The past couple of years, I've found myself dropping some Marvel books in reaction to prices going up, the company's relentless crossover events, and a weird editorial decision that left one of my favorite characters, Emma Frost, missing from a lot of the action after Marvel's giant Secret Wars event. I'm also puzzled as to why some of the company's best books (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, , Unstoppable Wasp, etc.) don't receive the marketing push other titles do. Beyond me, there's been a vocal pushback against some of Marvel's editorial decisions, like its Captain America-is-a-Hydra-agent reveal.

That said, when it comes to what Gabriel was trying to say and what he ended up saying, he deserves a genuine shake. Undercutting his argument or cherry-picking his words doesn't achieve anything. If we're looking for a serious discussion about diversity and sales in the industry, his statement about their sales potential should be taken seriously.

There needs to be an honest conversation about balancing the sales potential of diverse comic books and the value of said books. Marvel has to look at the books it's publishing - taking into account everything from the artists creating them to how they're being marketed - and consider how, or if, they're getting to the audiences that want to read them.

And when there are statements that directly blame diversity for a slump, the company should (and probably will, considering this nightmare of a news cycle) really think about all the other factors at play before giving it credence.

It's a two-way street too.

The way the comic book industry records sales and fan interest isn't going to change overnight. There's an opportunity here for audiences to consider how they support good books. Getting annoyed with retailers is the easy part. Figuring out how to support good writers -especially nonwhite and female writers who are just breaking into the industry - and the good books they write is more difficult.

Grant Morrison, a comic book writer who worked for Marvel and DC, wrote in his 2011 book that comic books and superheroes have the power to be as influential in shaping a person's morality as religion. It's something that's stuck with me, partly because Chris Claremont's X-Men run was hugely influential in my view of humanity, empathy, and kindness.

Morrison's observation is pertinent here for how it encapsulates how we look at superhero comic books. They're stories about morality, justice, humanity, and the good in people. They're pieces of art.

They're also products.

Marvel is connected to the morals of the art it creates in a way other artistic pursuits aren't. There's an implicit expectation that the company pumping out these lessons about life and justice should be as good as the stories it's creating. It would be a death knell for the company if its culture and its product became diametrically opposed.

The appeal for diversity in comics comes from the expectation that a company that's built on stories about finding the good in one another, about brilliance in the overlooked, about finding heroes where you least expect them and standing up for what's right, should be exhibiting those values in real life. Even when some people in the business say otherwise.

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Marvel misspoke about diversity in comics. Now it has a chance to do better.

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Marvel, the comic book juggernaut known for bringing many iconic superheroes to life, is still figuring out how not to look like a villain. Over the weekend, part of an interview with Marvel vice president David Gabriel made the rounds, in which Gabriel inelegantly and inadvertently suggested that poor sales reflected readers' disinterest in comic books featuring nonwhite and female superheroes.

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There has been some speculation about how much Superman will be in the DC movie Justice League that comes out in November.  Especially because of the fighting that Superman and Batman had in Batman vs Superman.  This is a fan's idea of what the reunion might look like when there is bad blood.

(Kian Reno)

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Superman Meets The Justice League In New Poster

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The studio is being very secretive when it comes to Superman's involvement in Justice League, but fans know he's going to be a big part of it. A new fan poster shows what that reunion might look like.Superman can be seen boarding a plane or a ship, staring intently at the four heroes in front of [...]