Tag Archives: comics

Ms. Marvel, #2: A Comic Book Review

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Kamala Khan ain’t your average superheroine, and this is an idea that G. Willow Wilson et al. continue to push in the second ever installment of the brand new Ms. Marvel.

Yes, she’s a teenager with problems and responsibilities à la Peter Parker, but one of the many places where she and the New Yorker differ is how much her faith and culture influence her heroic narrative. The webslinger’s path is marred by loss as well as the modern day adage from his dying uncle that “With great power comes great responsibility.” While this is a lesson Kamala will certainly have to learn for herself, the words that spur her on to heroic feats are rooted in a certain religious text.

When she’s faced with the opportunity to save someone she’s reminded by a passage her father likes to quote from the Quran, Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:32- Continue reading

Internet Asks Why The Human Torch Is Black, I Ask Why His Sister Isn’t

As many of you probably already know the cast for the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot was officially announced yesterday. Now as you might expect I have more than a few thoughts on the actors chosen [first in my mind was how the slender, British Jamie Bell was supposed to portray Ben Grimm, tough-as-nails physically imposing fighter pilot raised on the Lower East Side], but what I’m going to be focusing on is the conversation that’s been reignited upon seeing Michael B. Jordan confirmed as Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch.

flameonmichael

See, the actor had signed on to portray the character as far back in October of last year. The internet reacted then as it does now, with many diehard fans inflamed at the idea that a superhero created in 1961 would appear in a movie as a person of a different skin colour. To be honest I was extremely ambivalent about the whole matter, torn between wanting to see more minorities in big roles as well as wanting comic book movies to stay true to their source material.

Now, however, I’m fine with Jordan. I acknowledge that he’s a good fit for Johnny Storm [his enthusiasm and fun-loving nature in Chronicle is evidence of this] and has acting chops to boot [I have not read or heard a single negative thing about Fruitvale Station]. No, what I want to discuss is why he’s the only one who’s Black.

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“Fully Clothed” ≠ “Well-Designed”

From November, when it was announced, until now right around its release the news outlets have been reporting on the new Ms. Marvel, particularly due to its protagonist being a Pakistani Muslim teenage girl [FYI it is also good]. With all this attention it’s inevitable that every facet of the character would be scrutinized, including what she’s wearing.

Over at the Washington Post they published an article titled “MS. MARVEL: Marvel Comics’ new focus on women ‘characters and creators’ aims to defy the ‘scantily clad’ cliche”. While it strangely refrains from addressing what Kamala Khan’s actual costume looks like, the sentiment is clear: comic books used to be a boys’ club and they’re seeking to change that. Marvel EIC Axel Alonso states that the female heroes headlining their new books-

“are not the big-breasted, scantily clad women that perhaps have become the comic-book cliché. They are women with rich interior lives, interesting careers and complicated families who are defined by many things—least of all their looks.”

It’s difficult to run from your past, any lion cub exiled from Pride Rock will tell you that. The main issue is that while Alonso [and I really do like the guy] uses the word “perhaps” the fact is that there are still costumes out there that would bar their wearers from entering the Vatican. Never fear, though, because this is the internet and on the internet someone always has a solution. Continue reading

Ms. Marvel, #1: A Comic Book Review

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There was a lot hinging on this first issue, and that’s putting it in the lightest way possible. Not only is Marvel releasing a book featuring a brand new character [in secret identity, not heroic alter-ego], they’ve chosen to also make her a female, Pakistani, and a Muslim. How well this title ends up doing will strongly affect the publisher’s future decisions on diversity down the, and in their, line. In other words, this had better be incredible.

I picked up a copy this morning and read it cover to cover. I witnessed all that Wilson, Alphona, and Herring had made, and it was very good. Continue reading

Fame Day: Hyperbole and a Half and Depression

For Christmas my lovely sister-in-law gave me this book:

I then proceeded to read pretty well the whole book over the next few days. Some of my favorite stories focus on her childhood shenanigans, including the time she ate an entire cake,

and the time she thought dressing in a dinosaur costume gave her special powers-

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Fame Day: Cooking Comically

It all started back in August of 2011 with a post on r/pics titled “2am Chili.”

The recipe for delicious-looking chili in 29 panels became an instant hit, and blew up to garner 2,208 upvotes and almost 2,800 comments. Its appeal was obvious, too. A simple step-by-step cooking instruction doesn’t receive all that much excitement, but insert a fairly aggressive stick man who has some serious opinions about food and tells you that the spice blend you just made “smells like touchdowns” and you’ve got something special on your hands. Continue reading