“Jimmy Olsen—SUPER Freak!” – Disability and Superman’s Pal
How the limitations of Jimmy Olsen’s transformations limn the dynamics of superhuman embodiment.
On Exoskeletons and Assimilation: Revisiting the Latinidad of Marvel’s Araña
Considering the role of Latinidad in Araña’s comics despite a decreasing representation of of its so-called “authentic” markers.
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.
The International Comics Art Forum 2017
An overview of the 2017 International Comics Art Forum conference in Seattle, WA.
The (re)Collection Agency #5: A Conversation with Andréa Gilroy
The fifth in our conversations with comics scholars. This time with Dr. Andrea Gilroy, discussing how the tensions between image and text in comics reflect the messiness of identity, and how Ninja Turles and picture bibles might lead to being a comics scholar.
Girl, You’ll Be an Invisible Woman Soon: Defining Serial Characters
Thinking through how readers conceptualize a character and the degree to which such a characterization can be independent of how the character acts in the actual stories she appears in.
“Lo, There Shall Be An Ending:” Meditations on the End of the Fantastic Four
Marvel Comics hasn’t published a Fantastic Four title in over a year, and its absence marks a serious lack of imagination.
Marvel Five-in-One: Prominent, Notorious and Invisible Black Lives of the Marvel Universe
Exploring the limits of diversity in a white supremacist framework through a five-in-one look at 1978’s Marvel Two-in-One.
“Yo Soy Yancy Street!” El Thing About Place & Identity
A recent Marvel story connecting Groot to Puerto Rican culture via a visit with the Thing to Marvel’s Lower East Side analog, Yancy Street got me thinking about place and identity.
Marvels and the Limited Imagination of Nostalgia
Sometimes looking back is the way to move forward, but that isn’t the case here.
