Author: Kelly Jackson

Detroit Fanfare was my first con…

Nov. 07 Detroit Area Comic Book Store no comments

…and I loved it.

Part of that was because it was very low-stress for me; Dennis and Larry made sure that my job was limited to relaxing, hanging out, checking out all of the awesome things available, and occasionally interviewing some of the media guests. I also had my very own panel about gender in comics. My first con and I got a panel.

This is what is so amazing about being part of a small, local business and a community that’s as open and accepting as the comics community. I’ve been welcomed with open arms all over, and even during my interviews with comic world veterans, the guests were excited that I was a new reader and had a fresh perspective.

I can easily say that Artist’s Alley was my favorite place to hang out. I got a LOT of things there from a LOT of artists and creators who, I think (in my very limited experience), are talented and promising. I interviewed a few of the artists there, so keep an eye out for those interviews as they go up on the site in the coming days/weeks.

The Bizarre Bazaar was my second-favorite place; it’s great to see people making their own crafts and art and selling it at seriously amazing and reasonable prices. I expected everything to cost a lot more, mostly because my experience with artists is limited to galleries and “professional” shows. But the people who come to Detroit Fanfare, while entirely professional, are obviously not doing this for the money; they’re doing it because they love it, and that shows in all of their work. I spoke with many people in the Bazaar and I’ll be doing a story about them, too. Keep an eye out!

Finally, we get to the main room. The dealer room, where most of the media guests were and where retailers were. I won’t lie: I was so overwhelmed that I avoided that room at all costs. I checked out everything I could and even got a signed Revival print from Tim Seeley and a signed copy of the Hack/Slash Mercy Sparx crossover by Josh Blaylock. But there was just so much going on everywhere around me and I didn’t even know where to start when it came to checking out all of the comics and trades available.

I had a ridiculous amount of fun over the course of the weekend, and I was completely exhausted and pretty sure my feet just wanted to fall off my body by the end of it all. It was entirely worth it. I can’t possibly thank the entire staff and Wonderworld Comics and the amazing con promoters (Gary and Tony and Dennis, you’re the best!) for giving me this experience and welcoming me into their community with open arms.

Also, I did dress up as Red Sonja for the costume party. But it was absolutely freezing and I was wearing chain mail, so I kept my cloak on for most of the time. But pictures were taken! And I’m sure they’ll be up soon enough.

Kelly Explores: A Wonder Woman Movie

Oct. 09 TV & Movies no comments

About a month ago, I bought the first trade of the New 52 Wonder Woman for my 13-year-old cousin. Because she’s young and people on the internet can be creepers (and off the internet, if we’re being completely honest), I’ll just refer to her as Bee for this article.

Kelly Jackson. The latest contributor to WonderWorldComics.com

I got home from work today and as soon as I walked in the door, Bee gave me this HUGE smile and said, “Kelly, I finished Wonder Woman!”

“Did you like it?” I asked.

Bee nodded excitedly.

“What did you like about it?”

“She fights a lot and she wins!”

I laughed. “What was your favorite part?”

“The part where she fights! I was kinda bored with it so I sort of stopped paying attention but then Wonder Woman was fighting and I got interested again.”

Then she asked the ultimate question: “When does the Wonder Woman movie come out?”

I had to explain to her that they aren’t making a Wonder Woman movie. Some people want to, but there are roadblocks all over the place, and there are some executives who think that it’s just too hard; Wonder Woman doesn’t have “a single, clear, compelling” origin story and that makes it really difficult to write a movie for her.

READ: “We’re trying so hard (but not really) to make a great movie (but not really), but we’re having such a problem because Wonder Woman’s too complex. WRITING GIRLS IS HARD, OKAY?”

Bee was not at all happy to hear this. In her words, not mine: “Wonder Woman is just like Batman. She’s fighting a she’s trying to do the right thing and why won’t they make a movie for HER, but they’ve made a whole bunch for Batman!”

From the mouths of babes. Bee’s absolutely right, by the way. There really is no excuse for DC/Warner Brothers NOT to have a Wonder Woman movie planned, cast, and filming right now. And Bee’s brother, we’ll call him R, made a great point, too, which I’ve seen floating around in memes:

“Isn’t Marvel doing a movie starring Rocket Raccoon? I didn’t even know who that was before the Marvel vs. Capcom game.”

Bee’s response was priceless: “BUT THERE’S NO WONDER WOMAN MOVIE?!”

Take heed, DC/Warner Brothers: You’re really pissing off a young generation that’s all but begging you to make this movie. Bee is most definitely not the only teenaged girl who wants to see Wonder Woman kick some ass onscreen. Maybe you ought to use some of the millions you made from the Dark Knight franchise to survey young audience members and ask what they want. Just a suggestion.

Kelly Explores: Weaknesses of Female Superhero Teams

Oct. 05 Comics, News no comments

(This is part three of a three-part series of articles regarding current runs of all-female superhero teams.)

I’ve legitimately been working on this article or thinking about this article for weeks. How do I write an article on the weaknesses of the all-female teams out there? And how do I do it in a way that allows me to stay true to my own theory and ideology? I finally have an answer:

I don’t.

I could rant for pages about how Birds of Prey has turned into a giant cat-fight over a big, strong man. I could focus on how X-Men is so boring, I might actually drop it from my pull. I might discuss the strange implications of gender structure that I see in Fearless Defenders. But at the end of the day, one article isn’t enough to list all the negatives or the weaknesses that I see. So instead, I’m making a wish list. Comic writers and artists, take note, and let me know if you have any questions.

  1. Stop with the inappropriately-clad crime fighters. Spandex is fine. Capes are awesome. Stilettos are ridiculous. Super-cleavage is impractical. I could literally live the rest of my life without seeing a female hero wearing a damned tiara. Stop it.
  2. Women’s lives revolve around a LOT of things, alright? We’ve got a lot going on. Men are in the periphery. They always have been and they always will be. We’ve got more important things to do than go super-villain over how Mister Dudebro broke our hearts. Seriously. I promise. So maybe make the main plot be about the women actually fighting crime instead of fighting each other about the nearest penis in the vicinity.
  3. It’s not just men who are clever and witty. Women are, too. We can have witty dialogue, too. We can even joke around about sexual things. Crazy idea, I know, but it’s true.
  4. It’s okay to show a woman having some sort of inner conflict. She doesn’t always have to be confident, just like she doesn’t always have to be weak. In fact, we experience a whole range of emotions. So if a woman shows a moment of weakness, that’s okay. Men do, too.

When it comes right down to it, my problem with all-female teams is that the women seem to become caricatures. They aren’t real and they can’t be real because they don’t have a male in the area to show them how to be. Think about that for a moment. And I mean really think about it.

What’s lacking in these three runs isn’t just one thing or another, it’s a whole litany of things. And much as I enjoyed Fearless Defenders (so much so that I added it to my pull), even it isn’t exactly what I was looking for.

On the other hand, have you picked up Rat Queens? If not, DO IT. I command you. I promise you it’s well worth your while, and you won’t see me screaming at it in sheer feminist rage.

Kelly Explores: Strengths of Current Female Superhero Teams

Sep. 23 Comics, News no comments

(This is part two of a three-part series of articles regarding current runs of all-female superhero teams.)

I promised you a more in-depth look at some all-female teams. Let’s start positively with their strengths.

X-Men

  • All of the women have a strong sense of independence and are able to care for themselves without requiring some sort of “knight in shining armor.”
  • There’s no specific attention drawn to the fact that the team is comprised entirely of women.
  • Outside of their hero personas, we see women in positions of authority (headmistress, teacher, businesswoman) and we see them excelling in those positions.

Birds of Prey

  • Every single woman on this team is one hell of a fighter, physically fit, intelligent, and quick-thinking.
  • None of the costumes are particularly unrealistic or sexualized, which is refreshing.
  • The team is comprised of detectives, and we get to see them work through some pretty complex mysteries.

Fearless Defenders

  • Along with these women being teammates, there’s a strong sense of family and camaraderie.
  • The writing for this series is amazing and has some of the wittiest dialogue I’ve seen to date.
  • The plot is engaging and makes me want to keep reading. After reading just the latest two issues, I immediately wanted to not only purchase the previous 6 issues, but I wanted to add the series to my pull.

In all three of these series, the art is fantastic. They’re beautifully drawn and colored and they definitely catch the eye. I also like the fact that, no matter what happens in these stories, we have three all-female teams going right now, and they’re coming from major publishing houses. This doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily happy about where the stories are going or how the plots are developing, but the fact that all-female teams are selling is a step in the right direction, anyway.

I don’t mean to suggest that women should compromise on what we want to see from comics. We make up a large enough part of the reader demographic now and, even if we didn’t, publishers have a responsibility to fight the exploitation of female bodies in the pursuit of male pleasure. And we have the right to demand a better representation of women in comics, including all-female teams. I’ll address this more in my article about the negatives of the three stories, but it’s something very important to consider: If we don’t demand better work, we’re not going to get better work. So don’t let the positives make you complacent.

Kelly Explores: Confidence, Costumes, and Society’s Standard of Beauty

Aug. 31 Conventions, News no comments

This year will be the first year I’ve attended Detroit Fanfare Comic Con, and I’m pretty excited to be involved with it. I have the feeling it’s going to be a great experience, and there’s going to be a lot of fun things to do. A 24-hour game room, the zombie walk, and an adult costume party. Well, it’s a comics convention, so obviously I want to dress in the costume of a comics character. Red Sonja is amazing and kickass, so why not dress up as her?

I’m going to do it. I’m going to wear that chain-mail bikini and get a long, red wig. The works. But I have a confession to make: I am completely terrified to do this.

I work a lot in feminist theory and body politics, and one of the biggest arguments for body-positive imagery is that no matter what your body “type,” you can wear whatever you want, and if anyone else has a problem with that, they can simply not look at you. No big deal. Our acceptance of “beauty” is based entirely on social pressures and print and film media, and not everyone fits into that particular pinhole of “beauty.” In fact, only approximately 4% of the female population in the United States can look anything like a Hollywood actress or a model. The other 96% fall somewhere between “average” and “morbidly obese,” modifiers based on completely bunk science in the first place. But I digress.

I am not skinny. I am also not fat. According to the BMI, I am most definitely obese; I stand at 5’5” and weigh 190lbs (whew, I can’t believe I just put that out there in the Internet for the world to see). And yet, I’m perfectly healthy (for the most part, despite a chronic illness that has nothing to do with weight and everything to do with my reproductive organs wanting to kill me); my blood pressure is actually low, my cholesterol is “beautiful” according to my doctor, and I can do moderate exercise without becoming winded or my heart rate soaring out of control. All told, I actually rather like my body. I’ve got curves, I have great breasts, and I like my chest-waist-hip proportions.

But no amount of self-confidence can outweigh (pun intended) the fact that, according to mainstream societal standards, I’m just another overweight woman. And as much as I’d like to say that I’m educated about the system and I know precisely why the media capitalizes on making skinny equal to beautiful and I know exactly why the diet industry is so financially successful yet statistically dreadful… I still have that voice in the back of my head. I think we all do. That voice which, when I look in the mirror, sneers, “Look at those rolls of fat. Look how chunky you are. God, your arms are so ugly. How many chins do you have? No one could ever find you attractive.” And I can fight back against that voice and tell it to shut up, that I’m not bending to its will or its whim of what someone else wants me to think is “perfect.”

To add to the inner voice of let-me-make-you-feel-like-you’re-worthless, we have a lot of fat-shaming and slut-shaming going on, even within Geek Culture, which you would think should be one of the most accepting cultural groups around. If you doubt this, watch a few episodes of SyFy’s new series Heroes of Cosplay. So it’s not enough that I’m playing directly into the panopticon of perceived perfection, I’m also being bombarded with very direct statements telling me I can’t do X because Y says so, and if I do X, Z will happen.

With all of this in mind, I’ve been bouncing back and forth as to whether I want to dress up in a Red Sonja costume or figure out a reason to wear a high-necked Victorian dress that covers every part of everything on my body. Strangely, there’s no in-between in that. And my thoughts have split down the middle; one perspective is telling me that I can do whatever I want, dress however I want, and enjoy being myself and showing everyone else that they can all back off with their judgment, because I’ve got much more important things on my mind other than whether some random stranger finds me to be visually pleasing; the other perspective is telling me that dressing in something that shows off my body is purposely opening myself up to the very condescension and convoluted thinking that I’m planning on spending the rest of my life to fight against.

In the end, I’ve made a pretty public declaration that I will be rocking a Red Sonja costume, and this is for two reasons: one, I can do whatever I want; and, two, if you’re going to walk the walk, you have to talk the talk. I know precisely how uncomfortable I’m going to be with my body on display. But I also know that I have amazing friends and colleagues, many of whom are proud of me for making the decision to wear the costume and who have told me that I’ll look great. So when you’re hanging out at Detroit Fanfare this year (and you better be!) and you go to the adult’s costume party and you see a short, solid Red Sonja hanging out with the coolest geeks you’ll ever meet, feel free to come up and say hello. Also, let me know how the chain-mail turns out, because I’m hoping to get the costume at the Renaissance Festival and I’m pretty sure the artisans are going to do the most kick-ass job imaginable.

Kelly Explores: Geek Girls – DON’T Tell Me I Don’t Belong [Censored]

Aug. 13 Comics, News no comments

Fair warning: I’m about to use a lot of swear words.

I’ve heard a rumor that women don’t belong in geek culture. It’s not a new rumor, by any means; it’s been hanging around for the past thirty years or so, but it’s come back into the spotlight recently. There have been some really awesome responses in the blogosphere to all of this, but I’d like to add my voice to the masses. So let me throw this down for all of you jerks out there (male AND female AND gender-neutral) who seem to think that women don’t belong in your happy little world of geekitude:

This content is censored.

This content is censored.

I don’t need to prove anything to you. I don’t need to have loved something from THE VERY BEGINNING BECAUSE OH MY GOD THAT’S ALL YOU CAN DO in order to be on your level. I don’t need to know every nook and cranny of Doctor Who in order to be a fan. Look, [Censored], I like the show. Matt Smith is my first Doctor. Get over it.

I don’t need to defend myself for claiming to be a geek. I’m getting a graduate degree in [Censored] literature with a focus on comic books and paranormal romance, you self-serving, misogynistic [Censored]. If anyone has the right to claim the geek crown, it’s me. I risk my academic career with every article I write because I think it’s important that geek culture be included in academia. I may not be involved with cosplay (yet, I might add) and I may not be able to name every single incarnation of Green Lantern. But you know what I can do? Research that [Censored] in less than 30 minutes and make you look exactly like the tool you are. So, [Censored] [Censored] and go back to the hole that you crawled out of in the first place.

If you think that it’s EVER okay to tell ANYONE that they don’t belong, you’re part of what’s wrong with the world. Why do you give a [Censored] if someone’s only seen one flipping episode of Star Trek? They like the same damned thing you do, but you don’t want to open up your myopic sphere of “appropriately geeky” in order to welcome them. Newcomers to fandoms have fantastic insight, always. They can look at things differently. They can make you see things from another point of view. If you have a problem with that, you obviously have a problem with expanding your mind and contemplating ideas without absolutely accepting them. What sort of [Censored] philistine do you think you are? Get over yourself.

Furthermore, if you want to claim that “booth babes” are only modeling for attention from men that they wouldn’t deign to be sexually involved with, I have news for you: the sexuality of “booth babes” isn’t any of your [Censored] business in the first place, and your inability to credit a woman who is attractive according to mainstream media with the mere idea that she might actually know what she’s talking about? It’s disgusting. You’re disgusting. Why are you disgusting? Because you seem to be under the impression that women display themselves solely for you. Get a life, [Censored]. And get a clue while you’re at it. If I decide to dress in next-to-nothing or if I decide to dress in a burqa, I’m not doing it for your [Censored] pleasure, I’m doing it because I [Censored] want to. I exist for a hell of a lot more than your spank bank, thanks very much, and my decision to dress a certain way or act a certain way or portray a certain character is done for me. Go worship yourself in the closest pond, Narcissus; we don’t want you here.

I wish I could say I’m surprised by the fact that any of this is still even an issue, but I’m not. Not even in the slightest. Why? Because patriarchy. Because no matter how hard a woman tries to just be herself and express herself, she’s always going to be judged for it. Because when men dress up as Spider-Man and Batman and Wolverine, it’s totally cool; but when a woman dresses up as Emma Frost or Red Sonja or Slave Leia, it’s because she’s a slut who wants attention. Because people still blame women for being sexually assaulted when they dress in a sexy outfit instead of blaming the [Censored] morons who assault them.

Geek culture is for EVERYONE, and it’s supposed to be one of the ultimate safe spaces. If you can’t accept that, maybe you should be the one getting all of the offensive questions.

Kelly Explores: Let’s Add Watchmen to the Literary Canon

Aug. 08 Comics no comments

I’ve recently had surgery and, while recuperating, have built up quite the backlog of comics to keep me entertained. Despite my piles of comics that are slowly taking over the living room, my brother handed me his copy of Watchmen and suggested I read it first. So I figure, I have all the time in the world right now. Sure, I’ll give it a try.

Watchmen_Graphic_Novel_coverI didn’t like it. There wasn’t a single redeeming characteristic to any of the characters, I didn’t like any of the characters, and for over half the series, I wanted to toss the book across the room. The writing is fantastic. The art is great. The story is interesting and I like the crazy twist toward the end. But those characters all need to be punched in the face and toned down at least five notches.

Despite my strong dislike for every single character introduced in the series, I think Watchmen should be required reading. Add it to the list of canon literature that students read in high school. Read it alongside The Scarlet Letter and A Separate Peace. The questions raised throughout the overall story are huge and debatable and they force you to think:

Who is god?

Who plays god?

What does it mean to have limitless power at your fingertips?

What does it mean to know each way the future might turn?

Is predestination, predetermination, really what runs our lives?

Are some lives worth less, or more, than other lives?

Watchmen poses these questions from a staunchly atheistic standpoint. The assumption, by the end of the series, is that there is no higher power to step in and make things right, and that the power to end world war and bring about world peace rests in the hands of a smattering of people who are intellectually elite and therefore know what’s right for everyone.

The entire comic reeks of neoliberal theory and Calvinist thought.

But I still think everyone should read it. If nothing else, you will come away with it feeling extremely uncomfortable with life in general, and I think that’s one of the touchstones of literature: you can’t help thinking while you read it, and you come away from it feeling displaced somehow. Whether you love or hate Watchmen, or even just sort-of-don’t-really-like-it, talk about it. And I mean really talk about it. If you were in the same position as Ozymandius and Dr. Manhattan, what would you do?

The literary canon is full of works that ask those questions mentioned above, and they do so without pictures and with hundreds of pages and plenty of supplementary material instead of strictly dialogue. Watchmen does what literature strives to do in a 12-comic series that, were you to condense strictly the dialogue, may not be more than 50 to 100 pages. I’m all for adding this comic to the canon and making young adults read it. Because when it comes to the question of war and peace, when it comes to the question of mass genocide, shouldn’t the future generations have a lot to say about that?

Kelly Explores: Saga and Philosophy

Jul. 11 Comics Comments Off on Kelly Explores: Saga and Philosophy

[In preparation for the discussion during the Wonderworld Comics Book Club on Saga this weekend, I am happy to release the third part of Kelly’s exploration into Saga. You can read the first part here, and the second part here. Again, this article talks about sensitive adult topics (Larry)]

I’ve already written about the position of women and the male gaze in Saga. Now, I’d like to draw everyone’s attention to a very small discussion between Marko and Alana when they first met. They’re discussing a book that Alana treasures dearly, and the two of them have read into the novel that it’s a commentary on the war that is currently affecting both of them. Marko then makes a suggestion that’s intense and terrifying:

Saga

Saga

“What if the writer is suggesting that war will never end, that it’s a self-perpetuating cycle of pointless brutality that can only be ‘stopped’ with more war?”

Marko’s question is a direct allusion to perpetual war theory, which is frankly something I would never have expected to see in a comic book. As soon as I read Marko’s question, I sat back and just stared at my copy of volume two for a minute.

As I’ve previously stated, I’m newly-returned to comic books. I was into them when I was young, fell out of them, and am now into them again. Now that I’m older, wiser, more educated, more experienced, more depressed, more cynical, whatever you want to call it, I couldn’t be happier that I wandered into Wonderworld Comics one day and asked for recommendations.

You see, comics, just like any other type of literature, expand the mind. They force you to look outside yourself and be immersed into a storyline that can be very threatening, very exciting, very breathtaking. In addition to the writing itself, the illustrations move the story along, which is something you frankly don’t see in novels.

I realize that to some people, comics are juvenile and pointless. But they’re a very legitimate field of academic and artistic study, and if anyone doubts their legitimacy for an instant, I’d highly recommend they read Saga.

Saga deals with rape culture, race relations, war, family, various cultural expectations for various genders, and a host of other issues that you don’t really see a critical perspective on in mainstream young adult literature (if you doubt this, I draw your attention to Twilight, and I need say no more) or popular adult literature (have you READ anything by Dan Brown or James Patterson? They aren’t exactly addressing cultural norms).

All in all, I have to say, I’d be recommending comic books over literature for cultural theory questions any day.

Kelly Explores: Sextillion and Saga’s Critique of the Male Gaze

Jul. 09 Comics Comments Off on Kelly Explores: Sextillion and Saga’s Critique of the Male Gaze

[This is part two of a three part series exploring Saga. Please note that this series deals with adult topics. To read the first part of this series, please follow this link. (Larry)]

A common theme surrounding comic books is the male gaze and the negativity surrounding it. Fiona Staples, Saga‘s artist, takes the male gaze to a whole new level and blasts it in a significant and critical way.

Saga

Saga

When The Will heads to the planet Sextillion to blow off some steam before heading out to find and assassinate Alana and Marko, the reader is greeted by a picture that might stun some to silence: Two women stand facing the reader, but the women don’t have torsos. Their legs meet, instead, where their throats would be, suggesting that the face of a woman is located right at her vagina. Both of the women are wearing impossibly high stiletto heels and fishnet stockings, and both of them have disproportionately large mouths. Oh also, they aren’t wearing any clothing other than their stockings and heels.

So why would I suggest that this is a critique of the male gaze? Staples illustrates Sextillion as a lewd, impossibly sexualized planet that places the value of living beings in their sexual organs. The women in the picture don’t have breasts, because you can’t have sex with a woman’s breast (okay, you can, but this isn’t sexual show-and-tell). What they have are large mouths and, we can assume, easily accessible vaginas.

The entire planet of Sextillion is orgiastic, but Staples purposely shows The Will walking through a hall where there is only woman-on-woman sexual activity taking place. Women are making out with each other, performing oral sex on one another, or using dildos on one another. Why have an entire page of this? Because Staples, I think, is being deliberate. Not only is she showing exactly what happens on Sextillion, but she’s drawing very specific attention to the fact that there aren’t any males when The Will first arrives. All we see are overly-sexualized females. In fact, the only instance of male sexualization is when a group of men are stacked as a triangle, being whipped by what can be assumed to be a dominatrix.

I argue that this isn’t meant to offend, and is instead meant to bring sharp attention to the fact that this hasn’t been seen anywhere else in Saga. We see Prince Robot IV having sex with Princess, and we see Alana and Marko making out a few times, but in each of those instances, the women have agency. The women we see on Sextillion have no agency, and they are literally used for their physical attributes. We don’t really have a backstory on the women of Sextillion, so there’s no telling if they’re willing sex workers or forced sex slaves, which is an important difference. However, judging by The Will’s later interaction with a child sex slave, it can be assumed that none of these women actually want to be there.

On a personal note, I absolutely loved The Will’s reaction to being shown a child prostitute known only as Slave Girl: He crushes the skull of the person who took him to see her, and eventually is able to get her off Sextillion. I am completely okay with that.

Wonderworld Comics Book Club Week #1: Hawkeye

Jul. 08 Detroit Area Comic Book Store, News Comments Off on Wonderworld Comics Book Club Week #1: Hawkeye

If you missed Wonderworld Comic’s Comic Book Book Club (to be referred to hereafter as WCCBBC) this week, you missed a great conversation and a lot of fun! We read Hawkeye: My Life As a Weapon (Volume 1). Here are some of the fun discussion topics you missed:

Wonderworld Comics

Wonderworld Comics

1.)    The art of Hawkeye. We all agree that we enjoy the minimalist style, because it lets you become more emotionally invested in the characters instead of distracted by really detailed artistic renderings of scenes. The art in each panel shows you enough so that you know what’s going on, but little enough so that the dialogue is necessary.

2.)    Clint Barton and Kate Bishop are fantastic characters in that they’re both three-dimensional and relatable. Their banter is smart, funny, and friendly, and the two of them play off each other perfectly.

3.)    Hawkeye is wonderfully devoid of the male gaze, which is something you don’t often see in mainstream, popular comics. There are no gratuitous T/A shots and the only woman you actually see Clint sexually involved with is actually pretty androgynous when you first see her.

4.)    Some side conversation took place regarding Disney’s buying of Marvel Studios and the subsequent worries that arise. Will Disney steer clear of more mature themes that Marvel tackles? Will this ruin some of the darker back-stories of some of our favorite characters? In an effort to appeal to the widest audience possible, you can all but guarantee that Disney will be keeping Marvel at a solid PG-13 rating. Will this take away from any of the characters and stories we already know and love?

5.)    We also had a short side conversation on ABC’s upcoming series Agents of SHIELD. We’re hoping we’ll see cameos from both Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, since they’re not just Avengers, but also SHIELD agents.

Needless to say, a fun time was had by all. Next week, we’ll be reading volume one of Saga. Stop by the store to pick up a copy at a special, book club price. We meet Sundays at 1:00 at Wonderworld Comics, and we hope to see you there!

Ed Kramer and the Dragon*Con Boycott: An Academic Look

Jun. 26 Conventions, Gaming Collecting, News Comments Off on Ed Kramer and the Dragon*Con Boycott: An Academic Look

[I asked Kelly to look into, and comment on, the situation with Ed Kramer, the allegations against him, and the proposed Dragon*Con boycott. As you might know, she is an academic. What you might not know is that one of her areas of specialty is rape culture. I believed she would see this situation differently than most writers I could assign the task to. Many of us have been to Dragon*Con, and this situation can set precedence for all types of conventions across the country. (Larry)]

Draon*Con - Ed Kramer

Draon*Con – Ed Kramer

My primary research area is literature. My secondary research area is rape culture. This is why I’ve been approached to write an article regarding the recent boycott of Dragon*Con started by Nancy Collins, and to discuss the widespread implications of the discussion surrounding the boycott and the founder and co-owner of the Con, Ed Kramer. This article will include discussion on subjects such as child molestation, rape, and other emotionally triggering topics.

Let me start by saying that I’ve never been to Dragon*Con, and I’m only technically familiar with the Con tangentially; one of my favorite authors is a long-time attendant and has regularly encouraged her fans to be part of the parade and festivities every year. I’ve never really had the desire to travel to Atlanta for any reason, even for the Con, so I’ve never bothered to go, although I’m aware that it exists. It’s just never really been on my radar.

But I understand that Dragon*Con (that all Cons, really) provides a safe space for fans of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, a place where fans can truly be themselves and dress in cosplay and have a great time without risking the judgment, stares, or jeers. I fully support safe spaces and I always will.

However, it has recently come to my attention that Ed Kramer stands accused of multiple counts of child molestation, none of which he’s officially stood trial for, and that he continues to hold stock in Dragon*Con and continues to make money from the Con every year. That being said, Nancy Collins has recently led a growing group of people who have started a Facebook page promoting a boycott of Dragon*Con for the very reason that the continued income Kramer receives allows for him to continue to pay legal fees that allow for him to put off trial and sentencing indefinitely.

I could write pages detailing why Ed Kramer’s financial success is part of the issue and why the American justice system is also part of the issue. Both of these things are problems and both of them are very broad subjects. But what I want to focus on is the discussion revolving around Kramer and those who claim that he’s innocent and that Dragon*Con should not suffer a boycott.

Regardless of Ed Kramer’s guilt or innocence in these allegations, he has the right to a trial by jury. To survivors of sexual assault, he has the responsibility to accept trial by jury. If he’s truly innocent, what does he have to hide? The largest problem with the dialect of this case is that Dragon*Con supporters and Kramer supporters are calling the alleged victims liars, claiming that they’re out for attention, money, etc.

Stop. Stop right there. You should never, under any circumstance, naturally assume that a victim of sexual assault is lying. Do false accusations happen? Yes, but their occurrence is right around 0.6%. This makes them statistically null and void. False allegations in sexual assault happen so rarely, they don’t even make up one single percent of accusations. So the suggestion that the victims are lying is just a continued perpetuation of a culture where we protect rapists instead of protecting the victims whose lives they’ve effectively ruined.

When talking about rape and child molestation accusations, any time you cry out that “They must be lying for attention or for money!!”, you effectively silence the victim. I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping that thought to yourself. When you accuse victims of lying, you further the psychological torture they’re already attempting to endure, and you astronomically heighten the chance that they will start engaging in damaging behaviors (i.e. self-mutilation, compulsive behaviors, etc.) and even commit suicide.

Rape is an act of power, not pleasure. And when one person rapes another, they are doing so because they know that they have the power in that situation, and they know that their victim is weaker than they are, be it physically, mentally, or a combination of the two. When a child is raped, and then silenced because they must be “false allegations,” you have essentially taken any power that they had by reporting the assault and you’ve put them right back where they were before: in a position of subordination wherein they are fully aware they have no power, and wherein the only way out is through extreme measures.

I don’t care who is being accused of rape or molestation; that person must stand trial. And if that person is able to slither out of trial by a number of legal loopholes and thanks to his/her extensive bank account, that’s a big problem. If Ed Kramer is innocent, he has the right to seek restitution from his accusers. But that is one very large if. Remember: only 0.6% of allegations are false.

If Ed Kramer is guilty, he is guilty of far more than just molestation; he’s guilty of wringing what he wants out of the legal system, he’s guilty of a massive cover-up which he used his own fortune to do, and he’s guilty of lying to millions of people and ruining the lives of a handful of children who are now grown and will never be the same. But the only thing he can technically go to jail for is the molestation.

I can’t say I fully support a boycott of Dragon*Con. In an ideal world, the other stakeholders would be able to cut Kramer off from the funds and continue on with the Con as they have been. But considering the fact that kicking Ed Kramer out isn’t likely to happen, maybe a boycott is the only way to convince Ed Kramer that:

1.)    We stand with the victims,

2.)    We’re sick of his endless leaps through loopholes to avoid trial, and

3.)    We don’t want our money going to his legal circus.

Regardless of your stance on the boycott, it’s glaringly obvious that something must be done about this situation. If you’re as outraged as I was to discover Ed Kramer’s past, there are a number of things you can do to let Dragon*Con know that you don’t want your money going into his pockets.

Write them a letter, call them out on Youtube, call them out on Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr. Get a group together to raise awareness of this situation and stand peacefully outside of Dragon*Con with signs letting the Con-goers know what the founder of their Con is being accused of, and let them know that their money is supporting him. Boycott if you want to. But the most important thing in this case is to raise awareness of the allegations against Kramer and to lend your support to the survivors. Let the survivors know that we believe them, and we stand with them. And let Ed Kramer know that, too.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please report the crime and get help.

Saga and the Position of Women by Kelly Jackson

Jun. 20 Comics Comments Off on Saga and the Position of Women by Kelly Jackson

The cover of the first issue of Saga says everything you need to know about the position of women in the series. It features Alana standing beside Marko, with their daughter Hazel feeding from her breast. Marko’s arm is around Alana, Alana is staring directly at the reader, and both Marko and Alana have their free hands on weapons. Alana’s gaze out at the reader is a challenge, a direct statement that she is in control. Marko stares off in the distance, not making eye contact with the reader, but showing his support for Alana all the same by keeping an arm gently around her while she gives their child the nourishment she needs to survive.

Disclaimer: This article deals with sensitive adult issues presented in Saga

Saga

Saga

Then we have Vez, obviously a leader among Marko’s people, who hires a free-lancing mercenary to kill Alana and Marko, but deliver their daughter Hazel safely back to Vez’s location. She wants the infant “alive and unharmed,” though she doesn’t give an explicit reason besides the fact that Hazel is an innocent in the war that’s taking place. (I assume that Vez has serious ulterior motives in having Hazel delivered to her, but I guess we’ll find out more about that in later issues.)

After Vez, we see the planet of Sextillion. Keep an eye out for an article solely about that planet to follow this one.

Shortly before encountering the entirely sexualized, super rape-culture depiction of Sextillion, we meet The Will’s former partner and fellow mercenary, The Stalk. The Stalk is intelligent, ruthless, and very good at her job. After all, she’s known as one of the best freelancers in the galaxy. She’s made herself into a valuable asset to anyone who may need a freelancer, and a very dangerous enemy to anyone who winds up on her bad side.

I love a number of things about Saga, but so far, my favorite theme within it is the theme of strong women. Alana continues to survive, The Stalk is merciless, Vez leads her people. And these women aren’t seen as somehow extraordinary; it’s normal for Alana to be a soldier, for The Stalk to be a freelancer, for Vez to be a leader. There’s nothing at all remarkable about these things in this world, and I like that because it normalizes strength in women without fetishizing it.

Another things I was very happy to see in Saga is women experiencing pleasure without some form of shame attached to it. We see this twice: once when Alana is giving birth and once when Prince Robot IV is having sex with his wife (who remains mysteriously nameless other than IV referring to her as “Princess;” more on that later).

While Alana is giving birth, she mentions that it feels good and wonders if that’s normal. It turns out that orgasming while giving birth is a completely normal response of the female body; while it doesn’t happen to all women, it’s a natural occurrence. And considering the fact that Alana is able to experience pleasure while giving birth to a baby in a dirty machine shop with armies on the other side of the door, props to her. What’s even more refreshing is that Alana tells Marko that she’s feeling pleasure during the birthing experience; she’s not ashamed to admit it, and it’s obvious that Marko’s not going to judge her for saying it, either.

We then have the scene of Prince Robot IV having sex with his wife (I suppose it would save time to simply refer to her as “Princess” until I know her actual name). Princess vocalizes what she wants, shows no shame in doing so, and even suggests getting on top in order to make it easier on IV. Granted, she doesn’t realize he’s having a hard time because of what is very likely combat fatigue, but she’s willing to do what she has to in order to take her pleasure, and she’s not afraid or ashamed to say it out loud.

Being unashamed in regards to pleasure and strength are two suggestions I can definitely get behind. This also portends well for Hazel; with such strong women surrounding her, she’s not doomed to be any sort of wilting flower.

I Really Like Fillmore Press, and I Think that Might Mean I’m Going to Hell

Jun. 10 Comics Comments Off on I Really Like Fillmore Press, and I Think that Might Mean I’m Going to Hell

One of my friends suggested I read Bedlam. Thanks a lot, Todd; now I have just one more comic series that I have to read every single issue of. I have actual work to do, you know. All these comics are too good and they’re preventing me from being productive!

At least, that’s my excuse. As it stands, I read volume one of Bedlam today and discovered that I really like Fillmore Press, and I think that might mean I’m going to hell. Seriously.

Bedlam

Bedlam

Fillmore’s evil, right? He massacres women and children with no remorse and he doesn’t appear to have any ability to discern between right and wrong. That makes him a sociopath at the very least. He’s not a very likable character.

Then why do I like him so much? Why does he make so much sense to me? Let me back up here and assure you that I have no intention of committing mass murder, and the very thought appalls me. I’m not queasy or anything, but I have nightmares just like anyone else, and every time I hear of another mass shooting/killing spree/bombing/terrorist attack, I have a hard time sleeping. Because people, you know, they’re not supposed to do those things.

But as Fillmore is being questioned by the police after his massacre as Madder Red, he argues that humanity is the monster, not Fillmore himself. That we’re all media-hungry, selfish, arrogant capitalists who do these things to ourselves. We first create villains, then we punish them, because that’s what makes us feel better about the world we’ve created for ourselves. Competition is what we live for, and when someone or something undermines our authority (whether that authority is moral, legal, or philosophical), we get angry and we take them down.

After 10 years of very mysterious “therapy,” Fillmore is deemed corrected enough to return to mainstream society slowly and ends up helping the police solve a number of murders and find the serial killer responsible. Through it all, Fillmore knows there’s something wrong with him, but he’s absolutely brilliant and his experience of being a serial killer helps him to get into the minds of other serial killers. He decides to do good.

It’s rather fitting that the name of the town is Bedlam and I’m assuming that it has that name for a very good reason. Maybe the entire story takes place solely in Fillmore’s mind. Or maybe I’m just getting super-meta.

Regardless. Nick Spencer posits the very question of the Problem of Evil with Bedlam, and the story goes so far as to include a priest, a man of God, in the storyline as the puppeteer behind the strings. I’m shocked and excited to find something so deeply philosophical and truly unsettling in a comic book. I’ve read good vs. evil and hero vs. villain and so on and so forth. But Bedlam raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions, the most important one being the tagline of the entire series:

Is evil just something you are or something you do?

New Comic Book Book Club Coming to Wonderworld Comics

Jun. 10 Detroit Area Comic Book Store, News Comments Off on New Comic Book Book Club Coming to Wonderworld Comics

Wonderworld Comics will now be hosting a comic book book club!Oh, you read that right.

Thanks to a fortuitous Facebook post and subsequent ramblings, Wonderworld Comics is going to be hosting a book club: comic book style!

Wonderworld Comics

Wonderworld Comics

What and When?

Our first meeting will be on Sunday, July 6 (time TBA). We’ll be discussing Hawkeye: Volume 1. If you don’t already have a copy of the trade paperback, stop by Wonderworld Comics and pick it up at a very special, book club member discounted price. Just stop in, let one of the fantastic workers know you’re interested, and they’ll lead the way to the comic book of the week.

If you’ve never been in any sort of book club before, don’t worry. And if you’ve never really been into comic books before, don’t worry about that, either! You’re going to be in great company.

Here’s the way it works

You show up.

People will be there.

You’ve all read the same thing, so everyone knows what everyone else is talking about.

You discuss the comic book. ANYTHING you want to talk about, talk about it!

The First Session

For this first session, I’ll put together a list of discussion points to start out on. It’s definitely not a required talking points list, and varying from the list is not only expected, it’s encouraged. The list will just be our diving board; the pool is Olympic-sized!

If you have any questions, just stop in or call. We’d love to get a great group together and discuss a new comic either every week or every two weeks. And as the club grows, so will our guest speakers! Any suggestions or requests for discussion? Leave ’em in a comment and let’s get this going!

The X-Men: Women’s Edition

Jun. 02 Comics Comments Off on The X-Men: Women’s Edition

When I was informed that Marvel was doing an all-female X-Men comic, I was pretty excited. This opens up some huge opportunity for women in comics. Both the editor and the assistant editor are women, so maybe we’re going to go somewhere with this. I should say before I start this critique that I wasn’t entirely disappointed; there are some great things happening in the first issue. Here are my main thoughts as of the first installment in the new series:

All female X-Men team of Marvel NOW

All female X-Men team of Marvel NOW

Positives of Female X-Men Team

1.)    So far, no one in the comic has drawn obvious attention to the fact that these are all women. This is a plus, because that means it’s seen as normal, which is what we want to see. We want female superheroes to be normal, not surprising or a novel concept. No one has come forward to say, “OH LOOK, A BUNCH OF VAGINAS FIGHTING CRIME!” This is most definitely positive.

2.)    These heroes don’t plunge headlong into things without thinking. Storm, especially, has great concern for the fact that they’re going to be dealing with civilians and wants to make sure they aren’t about to harm anyone by helping their friend.

3.)    The origin story. Excuse me while I go academic nerd all over this origin story.
This IS the story of women’s history, laid out in one simple, beautiful paragraph spread over two pages in a comic book. If you’re at all familiar with gender studies, you know that we live in a patriarchal system wherein men are seen as the dominant sex and women are seen as submissive by nature. This obviously isn’t the way things naturally are, and for more information, please feel free to e-mail me or ask questions in comments, because I don’t have quite enough room to explore the theory here.
But what you have in this single opening is history. “Against nearly impossible odds,” both sexes have survived. Women make up 40% of the breadwinners in the United States according to a recent study, and the Internet exploded with backlash from a number of political and sociological groups stating that this is somehow a bad thing and will impact children negatively. What’s really funny about that is there’s no evidence to support that theory, because women have never been this prominent before in history. Chew on that for a moment: we don’t know the statistical outcome because we don’t have that data. At all. Ever. Anywhere.
“One was forced out, to evolve on her own, to find her own place…” If you have no knowledge of the Suffrage movement, both here in the US and overseas in the UK, you need to read up on it. Women were literally tortured because they wanted to vote. In the Middle East and parts of Africa, we’re still seeing this. Women can be killed for speaking out. It’s seen as not only a crime, but a mortal sin. There are religious mandates that keep women out of power in a number of institutions. Women have historically been forced out to evolve on their own. They’ve had to carve out their own place, and they’ve written their history in blood, sweat, and copious amounts of tears.
“The other, the victor, would come to inherit primordial Earth.” Do I really need to pick this one apart? To the victor go the spoils, and history has been written by and for white, upper-middle-class men with privilege, money, and power. This has very recently changed, and the change has been fought tooth and nail by those who have written history up until this point. It’s a war still being waged in our schools and on our streets, and we see it every day even if we don’t realize it.
“She never forgot. Coded into her DNA was a fourth imperative. Revenge.” That just gives me the shivers. Coded into her DNA. There’s a suggestion there that without equality, revenge is the natural state of things; that we, as human beings, seek to right what we see as wrongs and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get there. I’d like to think that’s not entirely true, and that we can make change through peaceful means, but I have to remind myself that this is a comic book, not a theory or philosophy text. But let me tell you what, it’s kind of hard to remind myself of that when the prologue is just so on point.

Ambivalence of Female X-Men Team

1.)    You have endless possibilities for storylines and you choose to toss a baby into the mix when all of the main characters are women. Really? That’s what you’re going for? The only reason this is ambivalent and not outright negative is because it’s Jubilee who finds and cares for the infant, which makes sense when she tells the others why she saved it and decided to care for it in the first place. The title of Woman is not synonymous with the title of Mother; that’s a social construct. And I guess I’m disappointed because of all the things I was expecting or hoping to see in this series, six female superheroes playing mommy was not one of them.

2.)    The clothing. The only character wearing anything slightly unrealistic is Storm, whose cleavage is located quite epically front and center during a few panels in the comic. Everyone else is at least dressed for sensible crime fighting. I honestly don’t really care what they wear as civilians; you can dress however you want. But again. Please. Please. Anyone getting ready to go out and fight crime isn’t going to do so with any part of their body nearly falling out. Can you picture Wolverine in a costume where his scrotum is almost fully exposed? No? Then don’t put Storm in one where her breasts are almost toppling over the top of her outfit.

Negatives of a Female X-Men Team

I’ve actually got nothing to put here. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I can’t wait to see where it goes. I’m interested to see where they’re taking this arc. It’s not entirely what I was hoping to see, but I’m willing to keep reading and see what road the writers are taking me down.

Defining Masculinity: Captain America

Jun. 02 Characters Comments Off on Defining Masculinity: Captain America

Marvel’s current run of Captain America has caught my eye for a number of reasons. One is that I really like the character: a scrawny kid from Brooklyn whose scruples and loyalty follow him into adulthood and end up being the reason he’s chosen to become a super soldier. There’s something to say for that, that the ideal of male perfection isn’t about physicality, but personality, and that the physical can be manipulated, anyway; and more importantly, Steve Rogers learns his value before he becomes the piece of physical perfection that is Captain America.

Captain America's Shield

Captain America’s Shield

What defines Steve’s masculinity is not his physical appearance, but rather the events of his childhood which shaped him. Namely, Steve spent his formative years in a household filled with domestic violence, and he learned how to “be a man” from his mother, who told him to “always stand up,” and not from his father, who spent a majority of his time inebriated and abusive. We get glimpses of Steve’s childhood throughout the comics and see a boy who never ran from a fight and always stood up for his friends, even when he knew the odds were completely against him. He steals money and medicine from a pharmacy in order to help his dying mother and, when his mother gently tells him never to let his circumstances change him into a bad man, admits his crime to the owner and works off the debt he’s accrued.

From what I understand of the mythos behind Captain America, the super soldier serum was supposed to enhance all of Steve’s traits, not just the physical and not just the good. The fact that Steve Rogers is essentially a buff version of a bullied kid after the serum is kind of amazing; he could now have literally any woman he wants, he could beat the daylights out of practically anyone, and he could really be a complete jerk if he wanted to with little ramifications.

But he doesn’t do that. That isn’t what we see. Instead, we see a man who is frustrated with the fact that evil continues to exist. He refuses to back down and does what is right. He always stands up, no matter the cost.

Is Steve Rogers supposed to be the comic book version of prince charming? Furthermore, could any man actually be Captain America, theoretically speaking? It would be very interesting to see a study done on women’s views of comic book heroes. Are more women drawn to Captain America or Wolverine? Do they go for the good guy or the bad guy (or at least morally ambiguous guy)? Do more women want to be like Kitty Pryde or Harley Quinn? And what do the answers to these questions tell us about the definition of masculinity in modern culture?

What’s more masculine: the good man who does good deeds, the morally ambiguous man who sometimes does what’s right and sometimes doesn’t, or the bad man who does mostly bad deeds with no concern for his fellow humanity?

What do you think?

Who is this Kelly Jackson You Speak Of?

May. 29 Detroit Area Comic Book Store Comments Off on Who is this Kelly Jackson You Speak Of?

[I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Kelly Jackson. She will be contributing to WonderWorldComics. She wrote a short piece to introduce herself.]

Kelly Jackson. The latest contributor to WonderWorldComics.com

Kelly Jackson. The latest contributor to WonderWorldComics.com

I’m new to comic books. Or at least a newly-returned comic book reader. Let’s just say, it’s been awhile and I’m completely not up-to-speed on anything other than the current Marvel movies.

Don’t hate me. Academia swallowed me whole.

The upshot of this is that I’m a graduate student in culture studies, which basically means that if something affects American culture in even the most infinitesimal way, I like to study it and write about it. I’ve written academic articles on patriarchy in paranormal romance novels, rape culture in young adult literature, and the portrayal of women in horror movies centering around demonic possession. And now, I want to write on a subset of culture that is becoming so prevalent, it is now impossible to ignore: Geek Culture.

Geek Culture is something to celebrate, as far as I’m concerned. For too long, cosplayers and Comic Con goers have been seen as the lepers of modern society, and that’s finally changing. With shows like The Big Bang Theory raking in the ratings and the revival of the Star Trek enterprise (pun intended), it’s no surprise that Geek Culture is simply becoming American culture. With this comes an important area of study for me: the portrayal of women in Geek Culture.

I have plenty to say about women in movies and TV shows, and I can get to that in another article at some other time. For now, I want to take a quick look at women in comic books. That’s a huge topic, I know, so I want to start simply.

I am in love with Hawkeye. And if you think I mean Clint Barton, you’re wrong; I’m talking about Kate Bishop. Now I won’t claim to be an expert on Kate or Hawkeye; I’ve only read the first volume of Hawkeye’s contemporary storyline. But from a preliminary standpoint, I can say a few things that make Kate Bishop downright badass:

1.)    Kate is intelligent and witty. Her banter with Clint is top-notch and she can obviously hold her own. Also, her reference to Domitian made my Classics-loving heart soar.

2.)    Kate doesn’t really need saving; Kate does the saving. The only instance of Kate being saved is after she ties up Madame Masque, pretends to be her to get a sensitive tape out of the wrong hands and thereby save Clint’s ass, and is discovered at an inopportune moment by one of Madame Masque’s guards. And even then, she’s technically saved by Maria Hill, without whom, Clint would have been mincemeat.

3.)    Kate may be spoiled, but she’s genuinely good-hearted and she obviously cares about Clint, and it’s not because she idolizes him. She respects him and he respects her in return.

4.)    Kate kicks ass.

My only critique of Kate is in the one comic where I’ve seen her Hawkeye costume, and this is a critique on the artists, not the character.

Can we please not put women in completely unrealistic crime-fighting outfits? Why in the hell would a master archer leave her midriff bare? Kate’s obviously a relatively skilled tactician, and she proves to be a pretty awesome leader; it makes literally zero sense for her costume to have the stomach cut out of it. If anything, that part of her would be protected. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are some pretty vital organs in that area.

However. Costume aside. Kate is a fantastic character and, I think, a wonderful role model for young girls. She’s fit, she’s intelligent, she’s funny, and she’s strong (both emotionally and physically). I cannot wait to see/read more of her, and I definitely can’t wait to read more comics with some strong, kickass women!