Years and years ago, in the days when I still lived at home and was fraught with teen mopiness, I had a blue overstuffed recliner in my room, a worn out hand-me-down that I loved until it literally fell apart. (If memory serves, I think the left arm gave out.) But in those days, I’d sit in the dark with a laptop and pound away at whatever LiveJournal nonsense I felt compelled to post. The soundtrack for every furious nightwriting (one word, ™) session, it seemed, was Matchbox Twenty’s “Mad Season,” an album released in (gulp) 2000.
I fired up it again this week.
I am so old.
10. Commanders in Crisis #2. Writer: Steve Orlando, Artist: Davide Tinto, Colorist: Francesca Carotenuto, Letterer: Fabio Amelia, Publisher: Image
Am I fucking stupid? Is this whole comic book journalist thing a charade? Can I not read? These are the things I wondered after barely getting through two issues of Commanders in Crisis and scrapping my plans to read #3 and 4. None of the dialogue makes any sense. The concept is overwrought. I feel confused. I am scared. It is dark. [Grote’s note: More coverage here.]
9. Horde. Writer: Marguerite Bennett, Artist: Leila Leiz, Colorist: Guy Major, Letterer: Marshall Dillon, Publisher: AfterShock
I complained last week about Pulp as a thing that was too short and too expensive. I take at least 63% of that back — Horde is shorter and more expensive and somehow too long and not as good. Admittedly, it’s an interesting premise — hoarding is a sad, scary fucking thing — but the execution is off here with too much exposition and a story that doesn’t really go anywhere. This would have been better as a 22-page entry in an anthology series. (Free idea there, AfterShock.)
8. Mann’s World #1. Writer: Victor Gischler, Artist: Niko Walter, Colorist: Snakebite Cortez, Letterer: AndWorld Design, Publisher: AWA
Looking at its trade dress, you’d figure they’re going for a ’70s sci-fi pulp romp with Mann’s World, and I think it works for the most part. The story — the tale of a group of Hangover-esque dude bros on an excursion to a resort planet for dude bro stuff only for it all to go sideways on ’em — feels fresh, but the art, specifically the facial expressions, has a stiff, plastic-y feel to it. Should have been stronger on that side of things.
How Dare the Supreme Court Make First Amendment News During a Coup
B.L. — that’s the only name given in the court documents — was upset. The sophomore at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region had been passed over for a spot on the varsity Golden Bear cheer team, left to languish yet again on the back bench of the junior varsity squad, and her private softball team wasn’t going all that much better. So she took to her personal Snapchat off campus and outside of school hours, threw up a picture with a middle-fingered salute and posted, “Fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything.” After a “friend” disclosed B.L.’s snaps to her coach, she was suspended from cheerleading for a year, but her parents sued the school district, alleging her First Amendment rights were violated.
Before you say “LOLOMG cheer parents,” the free speech argument is a powerful one — so powerful, in fact, that B.L. won at both trial (in which she was awarded nominal damages and the removal of the discipline from her record) and at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She was successful because the issue here and the freedom at stake is more than simply cheerleading or any other after school activity, and it stretches back more than 70 years and touches at the hem at what it means to be an American and live in a democracy.
In 1943, the Supreme Court heard the case of West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, a dispute between school children who were practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses and the state that insisted they say the Pledge of Allegiance or stay at home and face the prospect of truancy if they continued to object to what they saw as a graven oath. Barnette came only three years after a similar case, Minersville School District v. Gobitis, a decision that saw the Supreme Court uphold a state’s authority to compel students to salute the American flag under a theory that “[n]ational unity is the basis of national security.” “Situations like the present,” the Gobitis Court argued, “are phases of the profoundest problem confronting a democracy — the problem which Lincoln cast in memorable dilemma: ‘Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?’” The decision was wrong as soon as it was handed down, and the Court, recognizing that mistake amidst violence directed toward Jehovah’s Witnesses, reversed itself in Barnette. “It may be doubted,” the court concluded, “whether Mr. Lincoln would have thought that the strength of government to maintain itself would be impressively vindicated by our confirming power of the State to expel a handful of children from school.”
Barnette recognized that public school students have rights — rights of conscience, religion and, most importantly, speech. Those speech rights were fully illuminated — and somewhat proscribed — by the court in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, a Vietnam War-era case that upheld the right of students to peacefully protest the then-ongoing conflict with black armbands. In that case, the court established an important rule that has theoretically governed the last 50+ years of student/teacher/administrator relationships in public schools: Students, the Court decreed, have the same free speech rights inside the school as they do outside — so long as they do not cause a material and substantial disruption to school operations with their on-campus speech.
That rule, balancing the freedoms guaranteed to all under the First Amendment with the necessary order of a public school, stood unblemished for almost 20 years until the court crafted the first of three exceptions starting with Bethel School District v. Fraser in 1986. In that case, the court said a school was entitled to punish a pupil who gave a bawdy student government speech under a theory that it was simply inappropriate for the school setting — meaning that subsequent sexually suggestive speech could be censored even if it didn’t cause the requisite material and substantial disruption under Tinker. Two years later, in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the Court again created another Tinker exception, allowing for school censorship of speech that both bore some sign of official sponsorship and was integrated into the school’s curriculum. Finally, in 2007, the court decided in Morse v. Frederick — the infamous “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case — that student speech that could reasonably be viewed as promoting illegal drug use could be punished even without a material and substantial disruption to the school, crafting an out similar to Frasier’s prohibition on sexually suggestive speech.
The big, festering boil in student speech, however, has been the extent to which school administrators have been cruising the internet and social media looking for speech to punish. From fake myspace profiles designed to parody school administrators (No, really, there are multiple, major cases about fake myspace profiles) to YouTube videos created to call attention to the sexual harassment of students by faculty members, online student speech rights have withered in the face of adults looking to silence dissent and prevent what they see as distractions — the absolute anthesis of what Tinker stands for.
And that returns us to the Third Circuit and B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District. In that case, the Third Circuit drew a line in the legal sand — no, the Pennsylvania school officials could not punish the student because her snaps were inappropriate under Frasier just as they couldn’t punish them as possibly being disruptive under Tinker. “[N]ew communicative technologies
open new territories where regulators might seek to suppress speech they consider inappropriate, uncouth or provocative,” the court reasoned in its opinion. “And we cannot permit such efforts, no matter how well intentioned, without sacrificing precious freedoms that the First Amendment protects.”
On that day on her personal Snapchat, B.L. was not a ward of the school district nor a minion under her coach’s control. She was a citizen in a democracy with all the rights and privileges therein. And that includes being fucking pissed off and expressing that on social media for the world to see.
On Friday — as we were all celebrating Twitter’s decision to ban the president of the United States from its platform — the Supreme Court decided to hear the school district’s appeal, thereby imperiling Tinker and perhaps bringing the spectre of even tighter controls over what students can and can’t say on social media.
So it’s not just cheerleading.
It’s everything.
It’s All Fine, Really
7. Red Atlantis #3. Writer: Stephanie Phillips, Artist: Robert Carey, Colorist: Rosh, Letterer: Troy Peteri, Publisher: AfterShock
We’re hitting the Perfectly Fine stretch here in the X Spot, and Red Atlantis — this sci-fi, Russia-vs.-U.S., agents ‘n’ double agents thing — is Definitely OK, which lives firmly in the world of Perfectly Fine and is probably penpals with Look, I Wasn’t Crazy About It, But You May Love It. Would I prefer a spy thriller a little more grounded and a little less mind control and telekinesis-y? Yeah, but I don’t always get nice things. This is something for someone. Maybe not me.
6. The Comic Book History of Animation #2. Writer: Fred Van Lente, Artist: Ryan Dunlavey, Publisher: IDW
I know this is a series of books — a series I’ve always wanted to read — but History of Animation #1 and 2 were my first, and I was surprised at how dense these issues were, particularly #1 and its look at the earliest developments in film animation. It was almost too much to distill into one floppy; #2, focusing almost exclusively on Walt Disney, was a better, more digestible read. The art was appropriately sharp and smart, specifically in the subtle way in which Van Lente and Dunlavey denoted the switch to color animation. Whatever quibbles I have with this series, it seems like it’s an earnest attempt to tell a meaningful history about the subject area, and that’s not nothing.
5. Batman: Gotham After Midnight #1. Writer: Steve Niles, Artist: Kelley Jones, Colorist: Michelle Madsen, Letterer: Pat Brosseau, Publisher: DC
I read this in my magic twilight bourbon hour, so I can’t say much about the plot, but why the fuck would you read a Batbook drawn by Jones for the plot? Scarecrow’s there. Probably some other stuff happens. But the star here — like anything else he’s done — is Jones’ primal, impressionist Batman. Majestic. Surreal. Whole thing reminded me of experimental theater or the crunchiest art house movie — the sort of thing you’d take in and swear you were high.
X Spotlight: Things on ComicsXF You Should Read
- Liberty and Justice for All Misses What Superhero Novels Could Be by Stephanie Burt. This writing is so good, it makes me mad enough to spit.
- What to Read For Vision & Scarlet Witch by Austin Gorton. Are you ready for WandaVision? Not until you’ve read Austin’s piece.
- The Future is … Plants? … in DC’s Future State: Swamp Thing #1 by Ari Bard and Vishal Gullapalli. It’s weird to see your boys (that being my Haha and Department of Truth colleagues, respectively) having fun without you, but this is a great read on ol’ future Swampy, which seems to be the leader in the clubhouse for best “Future State” book.
- Home Sick Pilots #2 Explains What Happens When a Haunted House Gives You Ghost Powers by Dan Grote and Forrest Hollingsworth. “Home Sick Pilots” is on my list, but if you can’t wait, Boss Man Dan and Forrest give it a great go. (Limbo forever.)
- Bonus Reading Looks at 3 Other Times DC Imagined the Future by Matthew Lazorwitz. Brother Matt does a great job here of putting Dark Knight Returns into its proper context, but I want to point out one slight correction: That book definitely didn’t have any sequels. Just like Unbreakable, Independence Day and Boondock Saints.
- Justice For Wonder Woman 1984’s Scarf Guy by Emily Harding. I haven’t seen the movie, but judging by social media, I think I know what this is about? Read it for no other reason than “flesh suit for Steve Trevor” being a line that was actually published in the year of our Lord twenty twenty-one.
Back on Target
4. Future State: Harley Quinn #1. Writer: Stephanie Phillips, Artist: Simone Di Meo, Colorist: Tamara Bonvillain, Letterer: Troy Peteri, Publisher: DC
Fun, stylish book that maybe sacrifices a little detail in the art department for an overall vibe. But it works, so who am I to complain (more than I have already)? As far as the story goes, it’s not all that unique seeing as how Harley-as-a-profiler has already been done. This, though, has the benefit of not being dumb as shit like that Murphyverse book.
3. Ice Cream Man #21. Writer: W. Maxwell Prince, Artist: Martin Morazzo, Colorist: Chris O’Halloran, Letterer: Good Old Neon, Publisher: Image
Let me return briefly to an earlier point: Am I fucking stupid? (Don’t answer that, Loyal Content Consumer.) Normally, I’m able to “get” Ice Cream Man, meaning I can decipher whatever generally depressing point Prince is trying to make. But with #21 — the pre-holidays take on noir — the point didn’t register. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it or that it wasn’t super cool. But it must mean I’m now fucking stupid. Sad.
2. Future State: Green Lantern #1. Writers: Geoffrey Thorne, Ryan Cady, Ernie Altbacker; Artists: Clayton Henry, Sami Basri, Tom Raney; Colorists: Mike Atiyeh, Hi-Fi, Marcelo Maiolo; Letterers: AndWorld Design, Dave Sharpe, Steve Wands; Publisher: DC
This issue may have three Lantern stories of what happens when the rings go dark, but it’s here in the countdown for one reason: Jessica Cruz’s badassery as she holds off a Yellow Lantern squadron. The twist at the end of her story was … certainly a decision … but that choice — even perhaps if destined to fail — can’t erase the solid, solid book they have here.
Out of ConteXt: Choice ComicsXF Discord Quotes
- “Sometimes you see an idea so stupid that you’re like ‘I gotta fix it’”
- “gonna have to clear my emotional schedule for this”
- “They never make shirts of the panels I want, always a sad time”
- “Whoops all peters”
- “So you like non-GMO hot dudes, is what I am hearing?”
- “My house is on fire? Blame BKV”
- “can we make ‘Gepping’ a verb?”
- “Fuck that straight shit let my female mc marry shamir”
- “Cursed Meat Cleaver go smash”
- “my scrobbles went up by 60”
Wanna get in on the madness that is the ComicsXF Discord? Back our Patreon.
Finally, the Big Hoss of the Week
1. Hollow Heart #1. Writer/letterer: Paul Allor, Artist: Paul Tucker, Publisher: Vault
Hollow Heart promises a “queer monster love story,” and it delivers in a quiet, unsuspecting way that will touch you in your deepest parts, the ones that ache for acceptance, long for kindness and melt with empathy. El is a cyborg of sorts locked in some secret, bad research facility, and he’s not much more than a head in a jar on wheels. But then Mateo, a mechanic at the facility versed in whatever monstrosity El has become, shows him the barest amount of decency in stark contrast to his regular treatment. They’re both lonely, and they both hurt, and the inhumanity of it all speaks to the humanity in us. Not to be missed.
NeXt Time on the X Spot
Future State: Catwoman, I Breathed A Body #1, Stillwater #5 and seven more … because it’s pronounced “ten.”
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
