Reading Comics at the Threshold: A Round Table on Letter Columns & Other Comics Paratexts (Part 2)

Part two of our round table on comics paratexts looks at ads, peritexts, and disruptive backmatter.

Unstable Masks; Or, The Whiteness of the Superhero (a preview)

A guest post in the form of a preview of the forthcoming anthology, Unstable Masks: Whiteness and American Superhero Comics.

Brief Comic Book Reviews (August 22 to Sept 5, 2018)

Brief reviews of recent comics released August 22 to September 5, 2018; including Border Town #1, Black Hammer: Age of Doom #4, and Paper Girls #24.

Brief Reviews of Comics (July 4 to 25, 2018)

Brief review of comics released in July 2018, including Astonisher #9, Captain America #1, The Quantum Age #1 and Paper Girls #22.

Unfreezing the Past: The MCU’s Captain America and Traumatic Reenactment

Re-considering the arc of Captain America through the lens of trauma in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Brief Comics Reviews (3/15 to 3/29 – 2017)

Brief reviews of recent comics, including Booster Gold/The Flintstones Special #1, Sam Wilson: Captain America #20, and Hulk #4.

Brief Reviews (11/16 to 11/30, 2016)

Brief reviews of recent comics released from November 16 to 30, including Wonder Woman #11, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #13, and Monstress #8.

The Captain Black America Needs

Leveraging Marvel’s underwhelming Civil War II to think about Black lives in the Marvel Universe.

Reviews in Brief (1/13 to 1/20 – 2016)

Brief reviews of comics released the weeks of 1/13 and 1/20 – including Ms. Marvel #3, the Mighty Thor #3 and Sam Wilson: Captain America #5

Reviews in Brief (11/4 to 11/18 – 2015)

Brief reviews of comics that came out from 11/4 to 11/18, 2015 (plus a few outliers), including: Spider-Woman #1, Mighty Thor #1 and Monstress #1.

The Captain White America Needs

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

Should We Marvel at a Black Captain America?

Sam Wilson’s characterization as the rugged individual and then his ascension to the role of Captain America are political messages that must be addressed beyond the tendency of media to oversimplify the political ramifications of things, or streamline complex histories

“I Know It When I See It”- Race, Relatability, and Reading Practice

The ways fans of color engage with characters and stories can re-circuit and re-interpret those stories in ways that provide the kind of productive identification that challenges that tired old repetitive and thoughtless representation.