Lie To Me: An Interview With Michael James Bode
In honor of LGBTQ History Month and National Coming Out Day
Originally posted on Geeks Out.
You all are in for a real treat. Mike Bode and I have been good friends going back well over a decade. Before either of us became published authors, we both had a loyal following on Livejournal. Bode was one of my favorite bloggers. My fellow ATL resident is armed with a rapier wit and a glass of the finest wine that would make one Olivia Pope proud.
So when I learned that he stepped into the writing game with his debut novel, Queen of Lies, the first in the Architects of the Grand Design series, I was too excited to boost the signal. His second installment, The Mirrored City, will be available October 29.
Continue reading “Lie To Me: An Interview With Michael James Bode”
All of Our Tomorrow: Ending “Racial Apologia”
by Jules
Comic books, throughout their long history, have often existed as a playground for subversive and counter-cultural concepts. Famously, “Judgement Day” — the last story published by EC Comics — featured a socially stratified world of blue and orange robots set in the far future vying for entry into the “Great Galactic Republic.” Their inspector, an astronaut from Earth, tells them that their planet isn’t ready but that one day it might be. In the last panel he’s revealed to be a black man, something scandalous enough that the Comics Code Authority demanded he be changed to white or the comic couldn’t go to print. This was 1953.
Since then comics, specifically superhero comics, have continued to make attempts to grapple with social issues.
Continue reading “All of Our Tomorrow: Ending “Racial Apologia””
Overplaying the Whitewashing Card with The Martian
Back in June, our NOC mastermind Keith Chow wrote a probing article about how a Korean American character was being whitewashed in the film adaptation of the Andy Weir novel The Martian.
Now that the film has been released for over a week — with considerable box office success, trade publications like Deadline and Variety, among others have released articles about how the Asian American media watchdog group, MANAA, has followed Keith’s lead and declared the film to be guilty of whitewashing:
Continue reading “Overplaying the Whitewashing Card with The Martian“
‘Pan’ and the Amazing Technicolor Natives
First things first: Pan — opening in U.S. theaters this weekend — is a colorful, action-packed PG-13 reimagining of the origins of Peter Pan and his relationships with and to Captain Hook, Tiger Lily, and Neverland as we know them through J.M. Barrie’s play and novel and their myriad subsequent Broadway, Disney, and Hollywood (re)interpretations.
My daughters, ages 11 and 6, enjoyed the film, and the 6-year-old, who often asks to leave the theater during intense or “scary” action sequences, made it through with only a bit of parental ear-covering during loud bits. The world-building and -design and the effects were beautiful and well-done, with visual call-backs to many fantasy, science fiction, and action films that parents will recognize fondly (the Mad Max films and Avatar being just an example) and original effects like giant bubbles of water containing aquatic life floating in the sky that I will remember for a while. But it’s the twists, and the questions and consequences they bring up, that I want to talk about now. So from here on in, SPOILERS AHEAD.
Continue reading “‘Pan’ and the Amazing Technicolor Natives”
NOC Recaps Arrow: Green Means Go
UPDATED OCTOBER 9, 2015
This is definitely my favorite time of year. Autumn is in the air, and superheroes are back on my television. PS, you might be disappointed that the byline for this recap doesn’t say “Connie.” I’m going to fill in for her on the Season 4 premiere recap while she holds it down at New York Comic-Con.
So be gentle on me, Olicity shippers!
NOC Recaps The Flash: Rebuild It and They Will Come
I bet you didn’t think that our second season would include Barry Allen ditching Team Flash to become a mysterious midnight contractor, Cisco becoming a semi-cop, Harrison Wells making things right, and Iris West actively-in-the-know regarding all things concerning The Flash. Yes, that all happened… or did it? I don’t know who or what to trust anymore after the re-imagined reality that was the episode’s opener.
It’s like one minute you’re in a bear hug (Barry-hug?) with Grant Gustin… but then you pull back to realize you’ve been hugging the sharp bony angles of Ezra Miller instead. NO NO NO. NOT MY FLASH. HE IS NOT MY FLASH. #NotMyFlash
Continue reading “NOC Recaps The Flash: Rebuild It and They Will Come”
APAture2015: Interview with Jason Bayani
We continue our spotlight on Kearny Street Workshop and its APAture2015: Future Tense, a series of showcases featuring emerging artists from the San Francisco Bay Area. This Saturday, October 10, the Comics & Illustration Showcase will feature a number of comic book artists. Yesterday was my interview with artist Thi Bui. Today, I chat with Jason Bayani, Program Manager of Kearny Street Workshop.
Get Your First Look at Disney’s Moana
Even though the movie is more than a year away, we cannot contain our excitement for Moana, the newest addition to Disney’s iconic princesses. Set for a Thanksgiving 2016 release, the movie will star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the demigod Maui and 14-year old newcomer Auli’i Cravalho has been tapped to play the titular Princess Moana. That’s right, a Disney Princess movie about Hawaii starring actual Pacific Islander actors in the roles of Pacific Islander characters. And Emma Stone is nowhere to be found!
A Comic Fueled Thought Experiment
For as long as I can remember, one description of comics has prevailed: comic books are adolescent white boy power fantasies. If you look at the majority of the offerings, it would be kind of difficult to dispute this. Go to any comic shop and you will see a crowd of covers presenting overly muscled white men and impossibly voluptuous white women competently combating some evil, some threat that is just as anatomically disproportionate as the hero/ines are.
Comics, at first glance, are filtered through a firmly and profoundly white and male point of view. But this is a cursory view. If you dig, research, or explore beyond the DC/Marvel axis, this notion begins to lose its stickiness.
APAture2015: Interview with Artist Thi Bui
Kearny Street Workshop, one of the oldest and well-known arts organization in the Asian Pacific American community, proudly presents APAture2015: Future Tense, a series of showcases featuring emerging artists from the San Francisco Bay Area.
On Saturday, October 10, the Comics & Illustration Showcase will feature a number of comic book artists. Below is a brief Q&A with Thi Bui, who is the featured artist at this year’s showcase.
Continue reading “APAture2015: Interview with Artist Thi Bui”
Epic Props’ NY Comic-Con Schedule and Exclusives
by Jerry Ma | Originally posted at Epic Proportions
The countdown begins, and I’m super excited to announce the guests I’ll be having at my booth for New York Comic-Con this weekend!
It’s always a pleasure and honor for me getting friends to come do some signings, but this year just seems to have some more excitement for me.
Continue reading “Epic Props’ NY Comic-Con Schedule and Exclusives”
Crisis of Infinite DC Shows
As we do every year, we take some time to preview the upcoming debuts of our favorite superhero shows. And since Netflix recently announced The Flash will be joining Arrow to stream, everyone can catch up before both shows return next week. To discuss those shows and others, criminology professor ‘Shawn Smith makes his triumphant return to the NOC, joining our resident Flash recapper and TV superfan Christelle Gonzales (@christellexoxo).
Throwback Review: The Angelus Volume 1
[In honor of Bisexual Awareness Week]
I began re-reading Witchblade around the time when Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic took over — as writer and artist, respectively — the series. At this time, Sara was pregnant and a new wielder in one Danielle Baptiste had been introduced.
I won’t lie, I had my concerns. A shakeup like this can easily go either way. If not handled properly, it can easily ruin a franchise. More than that, Sara is a tough act to follow, so “the new girl” would have to be on point. I’m proud to state that the storyline was a success, as is Danielle. While a complete contrast (she’s not the no-nonsense tough as nails New York cop that Sara is and doesn’t try to be), this affable ingenue possesses a champion’s heart and proves herself every bit the badass one would expect from a Witchblade wielder. Suffice it to say I was all too excited to see Danielle in her own spinoff series as the latest host of the Angelus.
In a Typically Weak Year for Nerdy Emmy Noms, NOCs Still Garner Big Wins
Two of this year’s big Emmy stories split the difference between our PoCness and our nerdiness. You’ve probably heard about the Game of Thrones’ record-breaking wins, and it helps that Viola Davis’ historic win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama is a NOC favorite due to her upcoming role in the DC Cinematic Universe.
Continue reading “In a Typically Weak Year for Nerdy Emmy Noms, NOCs Still Garner Big Wins”
Between the World and Wakanda: Ta-Nehisi Coates to Write Black Panther
Black Panther is having a moment. And it’s looking evidently clear that 2016 will officially be the Year of the Panther.
Not only is the character being primed for his big screen debut next summer in Marvel Studios’ blockbuster Captain America: Civil War — played by Chadwick Boseman — setting the stage for his own cinematic feature two years later, the comics version is going to get some shine as well since Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of the country’s greatest and most important writers, is making his superhero comics debut on Black Panther #1 next spring.
I mean, why else would a new comic creative team be exclusively announced in The New York Times?
Continue reading “Between the World and Wakanda: Ta-Nehisi Coates to Write Black Panther“
How to Be Black in Comics
by Darryl Ayo
[Ed. Note: This essay originally appeared as a series of tweets on Darryl’s Twitter timeline.]
I’ve tried for years to draw black people as real characters as well as visibly dark; it’s expensive with screentones.
I Know You Don’t Think A White Girl Made That Up
Say what you will about the film Bring It On, its commentary on cultural appropriation, racism, privilege, white supremacy, and the exploitation of black culture seems to be more relevant now than when the film was released 15 years ago.
Continue reading “I Know You Don’t Think A White Girl Made That Up”
Are You Ready for This Year’s Small Press Expo?
In less than 24 hours, the world’s best cartoonists and indie comics makers bring their talents to the DMV (that would be the DC-Maryland-Virginia area of the country, and not, alas, where you get your drivers’ license renewed) at the 21st annual Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD.
In addition to hosting esteemed guests like Noelle Stevenson, Scott McCloud, and C. Spike Trotman (among many others), SPX is also home to the Ignatz Awards and a venue for fans of the medium to support some of the hardest working artists in all of comics. After the cut, we’re going to highlight a few of the things we’re most excited to see this weekend.
Continue reading “Are You Ready for This Year’s Small Press Expo?”
NOCs of the Roundtable: Super Mario Memories
This week, a classic Nintendo video game celebrated a landmark anniversary. In September 1985, the first iteration of Super Mario Bros. was released for the Famicom system in Japan. Three decades later, the Italian plumber with the 40″ vertical and suspect accent has become a cultural phenomenon the world over.
To mark Nintendo’s crowning achievement in making all of us feel super old, the Nerds convened around the old Roundtable to share some of their Super Mario memories.
Continue reading “NOCs of the Roundtable: Super Mario Memories”
Dude, The Future is Here
Full Disclosure: I have known Jeffrey Morris for over twenty years. In that time, our friendship has gone from tight to contentious to non-existent. We diverge on many social and political issues — we’re like objects that cannot occupy the same space at the same time, without disastrous consequences. But this will not stop me from extolling his absolute genius.
Martian Manhunter Needs His Own Show
How come it seems like there’s no love for the Martian Manhunter out in these streets? The Martian Manhunter, aka J’onn J’onzz, is one of the core members of the Justice League, yet J’onn seems to be severely underrated. I’m not completely sure why, since J’onn is probably one of the most compelling DC superheroes in the pantheon. But to me, it would seem that DC Comics isn’t paying attention to a goldmine of an opportunity.
May the Force Friday Toys Be With You
One week after retailers unleashed the power of #ForceFriday on Star Wars fans across the stars, Keith assesses the aftermath with fellow action figure and Star Wars enthusiast David Yeh (@coheteboy) of the Disney/Lucasfilm fansite Endor Express.
We also announce the winner of the Finn action figure from last week’s Force Friday giveaway.
Too Street? No, Idris Elba is Too Big for Bond
Over the past several weeks, there has been quite a lot of net-chatter about Idris Elba’s suitability for stepping into the role of James Bond. Former Bond, Roger Moore — who, arguably, starred in some of the worst films in the franchise — was against against it; other folks were for it, and current keeper of the literary portion of the franchise, Anthony Horowitz, stated that he felt Elba was “too street” and that Adrian Lester would be a more appropriate Bond.
Continue reading “Too Street? No, Idris Elba is Too Big for Bond“