“That Wingnut is Insane”: Reality vs. Fictionality in Conspiracy Comics

Guest writer, Vincent Haddad examines three different comics exploring conspiracies to consider how they represent the hybridity of truth and fiction.

Reachin’ Not Drowning: Songs in Conversation About Abortion

The personal is political and sometimes – as in the case of abortion – the political is personal.

Closing the Comics-Gate: On Recognizing the Politics of Comics

Comicsgaters are wrong because comics have always been political, but those politics weren’t always as great as they are sometimes made out to be by comics’ defenders.

Colonial Hottie: Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman and Brand Israel

A crucial interrogation of how Gal Gadot’s Israeli identity and IDF experience are used to sell her authenticity in the role of Wonder Woman.

“Nobody Speak” – Pulling Back the Curtain on Trumpist Politics

You wanna hear a good joke? Nobody speak, nobody get choked.

Super-Villainous Voting (Redux)

Voting is a right, not a virtue.

The Captain White America Needs

Because you can’t trust even the best-intentioned white Captain America to know what’s up.

Do Zombie Lives Matter? Fear the Walking Dead & Zombie Politics

Putting Fear the Walking Dead’s allusion to national zeitgeist regarding police brutality into context.

“The Revolution was Postponed Because of Rain”

A song from ’95 about the state of Black Revolution in America in light of the appeal of consumerism and individual contentment.

OMG! OMAC 4 PREZ: Future-Past-Prolepsis

An examination of a vision of a future from the past is not about its predictive powers, but what that vision tells us about the fears of that era.

Super Hegemonic Team-up! Spider-Man, Daredevil & “The Death of Jean DeWolfe”

In this story, Spider-Man and Daredevil demonstrate a hegemonic framework for understanding urban crime (part of SUPER BLOG TEAM-UP #4).

“The More Things Change. . .” Golden Legacy, Affirmative Action & Black Comics

This Golden Legacy comic on the life of MLK is notable for three reasons.

So, You Say You Want a Revolution? It’s Gonna Be Alright, Just Buy Something.

The Nike commercial is simply a recapitulation of the song’s co-opting of revolutionary affect to sell popular music itself as a commodity and line the Beatles’ pockets.

Days of Future Now: Reflections on X-Men Comics & “Days of Future Past” (Part Two of Two)

This is Part Two of a two-part series of posts on the classic X-Men comics arc, “Days of Future Past.”

Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Liberal Fantasy – A Review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is part of the ideological state apparatus

Nothing (But Taxis): Songs in Conversation on the Environment

I prefer a song that explores our conflicted relationship to “nature.”

Marvel’s Illuminati – Responsible for both Jay-Z’s Success and the Infinity Gems

When superhero contingencies are indistinguishable from supervillain schemes.

Wertham Was Right (Left)

Frederic Wertham: The most important comics critic of all time.

“Friendly” Neighborhood Torturer

The normalizing of torture in our society in the post-Bush/Guantanamo era.

Commodification: Public Enemy #1

An important step in the commodification of black militancy

Working the Night Shift

Working class listening practice