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Batman: The White Knight – Mirrors of Mental Illness

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The White Knight (2017) takes a look into the psyche of Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. This is perhaps one of the most outwardly progressive runs that has happened in the Gotham universe, though it is heavily flawed. While we get to take a closer look into the “bromance” between Joker and Batman, we also gain an introspective look into the social stratosphere of Gotham outside of the criminal activity that takes place. This is a socially relevant storyline and is just as complex as our world can be. One of the primary themes it tackles is mental health, its propensity of being criminalized – and who gets the privilege of escaping its punishments.

It’s not a secret that Bruce Wayne has serious child trauma issues, but it has been a part of the discourse for a while now that his status as a privileged man in Gotham allows him to live out his revenge fantasies on so-called super villains. The White Knight shows us that the other side of the pasture is not as green as we’d like to see it. [Read more…] about Batman: The White Knight – Mirrors of Mental Illness

The Best of She-Hulk!

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She-Hulk’s history has been a bit of a rocky road, one that’s gone in some wildly different directions over the years. To begin with, Jennifer Walters was plagued by the She-Hulk, and she struggled to define herself outside of her superpowered alter ego. By the end of her first series, she’d come to grips with the She-Hulk and actually preferred to stay in that form. She joined the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and took on new, fourth-wall-breaking characteristics that would later be passed onto characters like Deadpool. This again led to a change of direction of Jennifer. She died multiple times, began and ended relationships, encountered alternate reality selves, and, most recently, saw a power surge that significantly changed her personality while in Hulk form.

Today, She-Hulk has a wider array of stories to look back on than ever before, but she continues to exist at the whims of greater crossover events. Still, with a new TV series on the horizon, it feels like a great time to look back at some of the hidden gems and greatest hits of She-Hulk’s long history.

Related:

She-Hulk reading order

She-Hulk’s origins!

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The Great Pretenders: The Three-Wanda Problem

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Scarlet Witch is a problem. I, a filthy millennial, started reading comics in the heyday of House of M and Young Avengers, which means Wanda Maximoff was introduced to me as an unstable reality-warping monster who could – and did – commit genocide with three little words. In the 16 years since Brian Bendis and Olivier Coipel, Mavel has tragically done very little to shake off this stigma. The 21st century has not been kind to the resident hex-wielding sorceress of the Avengers, as Wanda’s had her mutant heritage erased in favor of a High Evolutionary retcon no one liked, been the spark that caused the MCU’s Civil War, and raised an army of zombies in an attempt to undo her past crimes. With WandaVision currently airing on Disney+ and casting her, once again, as an apparent villain whose inability to control herself has harmed others and broken reality, I am left with one question: How the hell do you fix Wanda Maximoff? [Read more…] about The Great Pretenders: The Three-Wanda Problem

X of Swords: Recovering What’s Been Lost

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X of Swords is by –  W: Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, Leah Williams, Benjamin Percy, Vita Ayala, Gerry Duggan, Ed Brisson, Zeb Wells; A: Lienel Francis Yu, Pepe Larraz, Carlos Gomez, Viktor Bogdanovic, Matteo Lolli, Rod Reis, R.B. Silva, Stefano Caselli, Joshua Cassara, Phil Noto, Carmen Carnero; C: Sunny Gho, Marte Gracia, Israel Silva, Matt Wilson, Edgar Delgado, David Curiel, Nolan Woodard, Guru-eFX, Rachelle Rosenberg; L: Clayton Cowles, Joe Caramangna, Cory Petit, Ariana Maher, Travis Lanham, Joe Sabino; D: Tom Muller

X of Swords is a story about love, like all the best X-Men stories. This is why it excels so beautifully, because it honors the emotional core of its characters and themes of found family and protecting the weak. The newly-collected crossover event is about what our heroes will sacrifice to recover lost love – in a contest of swords, the sharpest are the ones that pierce the heart. Tini Howard, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia lead the entire X-Men creative team in a coordinated effort to create a sprawling epic. It may wobble at times but never loses sight of its true purpose, sticking the landing with Olympic flair. The story introduces years’ worth of new material and vibrant characters into the canon while giving fans hit after hit for their long-time favorites. X of Swords draws on the past, present, and future of the franchise to pull just about every heart string. [Read more…] about X of Swords: Recovering What’s Been Lost