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When the White Ranger Leads: On Whiteness in the Tokusatsu-Comic Trend

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The short term (as a concept) and the comics industry have had an incredibly complicated relationship throughout history. Short term pushes for short term gains, long-term losses from short-term bets, and short-term trends begetting long-term classics are just the tip of the iceberg. With short-term trends, especially ones with long-term consequences, there’s an inherent compulsion to categorize them as either “good” or “bad.” The post-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles black-and-white comics boom? Bad. Buying five copies of Youngblood to try and put your kids through college? Bad. The Ultimate Comics imprint? Depends on who you ask. But as I write this, the comics industry is in the midst of yet another trend, one whose far-reaching consequences are difficult to discern.

There’s been a recent jump in the number of comics — mainly indie comics — that can be categorized as “tokusatsu,” a genre commonly associated in the West with Japanese costumed heroes and gargantuan monsters. With this trend at play, some questions arise surrounding the usage of the aesthetics as well as the creators who are currently using them. Is this trend bad or good? Should it be categorized as bad or good? What is lacking from this trend? Whose voices aren’t being heard, and who is being left behind as a result of this trend? So many questions, and so few easy answers. But in trying to find an answer, I only found myself asking more questions about the relationship that Westerners have with tokusatsu. [Read more…] about When the White Ranger Leads: On Whiteness in the Tokusatsu-Comic Trend

What’s Going On with Marvel’s Avengers Continuity?

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A Hypothetical Case Study of How Not to Handle Continuity

Let’s say you’re writing a largely self-contained ongoing comic book title within a much larger shared universe. Let’s call your book… Sergeant USA! During most of your long-running story, Sarge’s lost his superhero identity and his place in the… Revengers. How do you mesh that with the universe’s continuity? Cleverly, at the start of your run you don’t allude to anything else going on in this comic universe, so that you can go on with your long-running story for as long as you like, and when you DO have to link back to the universe’s continuity you get to choose when all of it fits, start to finish. You can have your thirty-part, two-and-a-half years-running self-contained story while justifying Sarge’s absence from the Revengers in-between any two Revengers issues of your choosing, in retrospect. Damn you’re clever!

And then someone else comes along and messes with your simple but genius plan.

*Some spoilers for Sarge… Captain America and Avengers follow*

[Read more…] about What’s Going On with Marvel’s Avengers Continuity?

The 10 Most Disappointing Comics of 2020!

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I tend to keep it pretty darn positive here on Comic Book Herald, but let’s face it, not all comics hit the mark. And some are huge letdowns, failing to live up to hopes and expectations and proving just how special a thing it is when a creative team fully clicks on a story.

Keep in mind this is not a “worst of 2020,” as with one notable exception (come on down, Three Joooooookers!), I don’t really hate-read anything (and if I’m not feeling it, there are way too many good comics to explore to waste that kind of time!). Instead, these are the comics that I (and critic Sean Dillon, who graciously joined me!) thought would be good, even contenders for my favorites of the year, and instead fell into the category of comics I like to call “I wonder if the library will take these as donations?” [Read more…] about The 10 Most Disappointing Comics of 2020!

Journey through Literature #37 (Prizefighter)

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In this bi-monthly series, critic Sean Dillon interviews various weird and interesting people and talks to them about books, new and old, and how they relate to the people who read them. This month, Sean follows up his interview with director Mike Flanagan talking with the people’s champion, Prizefighter (as seen in Commanders in Crisis)! As per Flanagan’s suggestion, they are reading If The Devil Didn’t Exist… by Steven Moffat.

Wikipedia Book Summary (italics added for clarification): 008 (Rebecca Swanson) has stolen a dossier of ongoing operations. From Operation Moonraker to Project Spectre, these projects have been key to MI6’s global operations for policing the world for decades. With the recent leakage of The Belgium Affair, MI6 has tasked its number one agent, James Bond, to hunt down and eliminate this rogue operative. There’s just one problem: they were once lovers. Many years ago, 007 and 008 were tasked with infiltrating a suspected Spectre cell in America. Their budding romance is on the verge of collapse and Bond doesn’t even realize it. With the world on the brink of devastation, will Bond be able to prevent his lover turned enemy from making things worse? And what secrets does Swanson hold of her own.

I was told that traveling via Atom Rider was a bit like being a washing machine. This is what I was told. The actual experience of traveling this way is perhaps more akin to holding onto a bear for dear life while lightning strikes next to you every five seconds. To say I was frazzled when I found myself in Berlin would be an understatement. Later, when I was asked if I wanted to go home the way I came, I instead asked for plane tickets and spent the night with a friend of mine who lives in the city of stones with their husband.

We meet in a place I am led to believe was once a speakeasy for various queer people to meet and hook up. It’s still a bar and it’s still extremely queer, but it’s a bit more legal now. Prizefighter sits in a booth a few feet away from the stage. No one’s performing right now, and it’s a real shame they aren’t. Prizefighter sits coolly in the booth, arms outstretched and resting on the shoulders of the booth. I sit on the opposite side of the table, placing my phone down, ready to hit record. He pulls out a copy of the book we are about to discuss. The cover is the American version used to promote the movie that was out at the time, so it’s rather bland design wise, with Daniel Craig posing like he’s Sean Connery. My copy, which I also pull out, is the more traditional international version of the cover. The logo was designed by Rian Hughes, and the art is that of a man cut up like in a Saul Bass cover while falling from a great height.

Prizefighter smiles at me the way one always imagined it’d be like to have Santa Claus in your kitchen. There’s a sense of warmth to the smile that contradicts the seemingly superficial nature of a man who needs the people to love him in order to save them. He is genuine even in the moments when he’s being disingenuous. I briefly lose composure thinking about this. When I gain it back, I hit record.

[Read more…] about Journey through Literature #37 (Prizefighter)