I revere Malcolm X. His autobiography changed my life. I emulate his pose and prose when I portend power projection – especially when I find myself in places where I’m assumed powerless. I don’t always succeed, but I always try. Magneto represents unapologetic authenticity. He experienced the worst of man; he knows how sordid humans…
In his concurring opinion in 1989’s Texas v. Johnson, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “And so great is our commitment to the process that, except in the rare case, we do not pause to express distaste for the result, perhaps for fear of undermining a valued principle that dictates the decision. This is one…
Each week, ComicsXF staff offer their recommendations for what to read. New DC comics come out Tuesdays, everything else Wednesdays. Cori’s Pick: Future State: Superman: House of El #1: Journey into the far future and meet the descendants of Kal-El, including twins Rowan and Ronan Kent, the new Superman of Earth and a Blue Lantern,…
We’ve established a definition for tournament arcs and identified their function in a story, as well as some of their standard tropes (and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read the previous installment in this series). There are a surplus of manga tournament arcs, but they occur significantly less frequently in superhero comics….
We’re not too far removed from the end of X of Swords, a 22-issue X-Men mega-crossover that many have characterized as a “tournament arc.” But, other than being a staple of manga and anime, what is a tournament arc? Is a tournament arc like hardcore pornography (you know it when you see it), or does…
It was August 27th, 2005. I arrived in Houston with only a box of photos, a camera, my computer, and my favorite jeans: 22 years of life distilled into a few disparate possessions. What I assumed would be an erstwhile vacation turned into a trauma that’s never subsided, leaving behind a New Orleans that would…
Each week, ComicsXF staff offer their recommendations for what to read. New DC comics come out Tuesdays, everything else Wednesdays. Ari’s Pick: Hollow Heart #1: We’ve heard this new Vault Comics series described as a queer spin on The Shape of Water, in which a mechanic falls in love with a jumble of organs that…
We’re reading Artists, Writers and Artisans books this week, Loyal Content Consumer. And, yes, that’s the name of a real comic book publisher and not at all an attempt to game any sort of alphabetical listing system. Who are the Artisans who are not Artists? Letterers are artists, rights? Maybe it’s editors. Editing is a…
Last week, to no fanfare, DC released the final trade paperback of the newest volume of Lucifer. This would normally be unsurprising, since trade collections are released every week and usually garner no attention. However, this volume was different: None of this material had been released before in any format. This final arc was another…
Frank Miller, with his transformative run on Daredevil, the foundational The Dark Knight Returns, and high-profile independent comics-turned-movies like Sin City and 300, has long had an impact and profile to which few other modern comic book creators can compare. The stranglehold of “classic” comic book canon, in the sense of foundational texts, has loosened…
Blackness is what I see when I examine my ancestors through a brown-eyed gaze in the mirror; what I hear when my creole accent leaves my tongue and passes through my full lips; what I feel when my body sways, rhythmically, involuntarily, naturally to jazz, or worship, or hip hop. Blackness is the context – cohesive,…
Each week, ComicsXF staff offer their recommendations for what to read. New DC comics come out Tuesdays, everything else Wednesdays. Chris’ Pick: Radiant Black #1: What if Peter Parker became a Tokusatsu hero? Find out in this new Image series by former Mighty Morphin Power Rangers writer Kyle Higgins and artist Marcelo Costa. ($3.99) Check…
For the last few months, I’ve been averaging 10+ miles per day on my runs. Hold your applause, please — it’s not so much an accomplishment as it is daring my body to fall to pieces on me. (My body has not done so to date. The coward.) But I was thinking earlier today with…
Warner Animation’s direct-to-home release animated features have been a mixed bag since their inception 13 years ago. And the recent ending of a yearslong New 52-inspired animated universe has returned the line to more stand-alone films, to its benefit. While the first film in the new era, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, was a solid, if…
Subscription services are everywhere, from Spotify to Netflix to Xbox Game Pass and so many more. And they’ve become a pretty big deal in comics, too, with Marvel Unlimited, comiXology Unlimited, Hoopla and DC Universe among others. With DC Universe Infinite launching this week and shifting to a comics-specific service, it seems like a good…