Author: Tanwi Nandini

I'm a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. My novel, Bright Lines, will be published in 2014 by Viking Penguin. I write for Elle.com, Fashionista.com and The Feminist Wire @hiwildflower fashion + botany on the fringes
Art, Comics & Graphic Novels, Interview, Music

Tunde Adebimpe Talks New Projects, Comics, and TV on the Radio

Originally posted on Hi Wildflower

Calling TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe a vocalist is a good start. Turns out, he’s a bona fide polymath. Actor, director, artist behind some snazzy comics are a few of the things he does as unnervingly as he sings. His voice weaves in and out of lush, lovelorn tunes with a veracity rare among chanteurs in this age. We ran into each other in Williamsburg on a day too cold for words. He graced us with an interview and amazing drawings that reveal his radiant imagination.

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Comics & Graphic Novels, Marvel

Welcome to the Marvel Universe, Kamala Khan

MsMarvel_Metamorphosis_HiWildflower The 16-year-old superhero has hit #1 on the digital comics charts, proving that readers around the globe want to see comic book heroes reflect the world we live in. We begin with Kamala’s origin story, Metamorphosis, the first of five tales of her superhero beginnings.

(BTW — hard copies are dope, but digital joints are $2.99! And the artwork by Adrian Alphona and coloring by Ian Herring are top notch, and it’s nice to see Marvel has gone all out to honor writer G. Willow Wilson’s vision for the series.)

The opening scene is one that’s close to my heart. We’re at a deli in Jersey City, where Kamala and her friend, the proud, beautiful Nakia, stop by their friend Bruno’s shift to smell the forbidden BLTs just within Kamala’s reach. I remember staring at pepperoni pizzas as a kid and being jealous as hell of my pork eater friends. And, any vegetarian will tell you — often the thing that breaks ’em down is bacon.

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Comics & Graphic Novels, Marvel

Why We Need a Muslim-American Superhero

Originally posted at Elle.com

I admit: I’m a lightweight comic book geek. I was always down for X-Men, Batman, and Wonder Woman. I just watched The Wolverine and Man of Steel* on an ultra-long international flight. My biggest gripe (don’t worry it wasn’t Henry Cavill)? Every story revolves around white men saving the world. So, when I heard that Marvel Comics’ new series, Ms. Marvel, features a 16-year-old Pakistani-American Muslim superhero, I was elated.

In the series, set to debut February 2014, Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old from Jersey discovers her latent superpowers — she shape-shifts — setting in motion her meteoric transformation into Ms. Marvel.

At the heart of it though, she’s just a regular teenager, right?

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