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Flipping the Script: Gendered Trauma in Jessica Jones
Traumatic pasts are part and parcel of character backstories almost across the board. It’s harder to think of a well known character who had a happy childhood, for instance, than ones who dealt with some tragedy or another in their past. As in many situations, there is an expected code meant to communicate a character’s…
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7 Superheroes You Might Not Know, But Should
I’ve been trying to avoid writing listicles on this blog of the overtly listicle type (“10 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books to Read Before You Die” sort of thing). Nothing against the thing itself – just an attempt at keeping myself honest and this blog a place for my longer form, more analytic writing. That said, every so…
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Growing Up Bisexual
My sexuality adventure started in middle school, maybe around fifth or sixth grade, when I told my parents that I thought I might be attracted to girls. I grew up in a very liberal community – or at least, a community that called itself very liberal. I knew one or two kids who were out…
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Why Are We So Suspicious of Pleasure?
It’s a phrase I’ve found myself saying troublingly often: “well, it wasn’t good, but I enjoyed it.” It’s something I reserve for movies or books or TV shows that I like but that, for one reason or another, don’t get categorized as “objectively” quality in my brain (more on that word in quotes later). Maybe it’s too…
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“I Can Change”: All New Wolverine #1-6
Note: Some of the ground in this article was covered in “From X-23 to Wolverine: All-New, All-Different Laura Kinney” and “All New, All Different Reviews“. The trade of the issues of All-New Wolverine covered in this post trade will be released in May. Almost four months ago, with two issues released, I saluted the All New Wolverine series for “the…
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Currently Reading: March 2016
You may have noticed that I did not post a Currently Reading post for February 2016. This is because February was so incredibly disappointing books-wise that I could not come up with five books I felt deserved recommendation. So – I bid a relieved farewell to that month-long book slump and enter March, which held…
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Comic Review: Black Widow #1 (Waid & Samnee)
I don’t usually write single issue reviews for comics – I prefer to wait and see how an arc plays out before I judge. However, I will make an exception for the #1 issue for my #1 fave. (All right, that was bad and I am sorry.) For those who don’t know me, I am…
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Six Fantasy Series That Shaped Me
With the advent of the Game of Thrones phenomenon, The Martian film, and the Magicians series, we are told that fantasy (and its always more respectable cousin, sci-fi) have gone mainstream – not just for kids or nerds anymore. However, it seems to me – a long term, die-hard genre fiction fan currently feeling somewhat vindicated by this resurgence – that the attention…
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Currently Reading: January 2016
One month of 2016 down, and despite my feeling that it was relatively lacking in book knockouts, it turns out that there was some good stuff in there. Not much that merited five stars on my Goodreads account, mind, but still some worthwhile, edifying books to take note of. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by…
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What the Hell is Going On With Thor: Ragnarok?
The more I hear about Thor: Ragnarok, the more unsure I feel about it. Hulk and Thor road trip? Odin is on Earth? A comedy director who wanted to rewrite Thor: the Dark World with more jokes? All due respect, Marvel, but what the hell are you doing? Okay, there are a few things that…