The movie opens with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) writing a title on a chalkboard: “eXistenZ. Written like this. One word. Small e. capital X, capital Z.” A virtual reality game, led by the designer itself, goes violent and wrong. As she and her companion flee assassins and death, their exploration within the game itself soon blurs the lines between game and reality.
Our robo-goblin overlord has declared a Month of Joy, and allowed that in this month, by his grace, I am allowed to be right about comics. Therefore, this month, I’m going to do a round-up of comics I’ve been loving. Which is a lot, since this is the year I decided to get into comics writing, and as a result, have been reading a LOT of comics, especially since Baltimore Comic-Con. Here’s a round-up of some of the books that have wowed me this month:
My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Justin Robinson to talk about how the power of art relates to Get Blank. —————————————— If I’m ever interrogated by a foreign power — something I was convinced would happen from the moment I saw my first James Bond film until lunchtime last Tuesday — there’s one thing that can never possibly break me. Bad movies.
There’s a lot to critique about the role of women in superhero comics and associated media — and I spend a lot of time and energy doing exactly that. But today, I’m here to talk about a bunch of reasons to be super excited about female superheroes, and what’s being written, drawn and performed either right now or in the future. 1) Wonder Woman It’s a really good time to be a Wonder Woman fan. We’re drawing to the end of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s legendary run on the character, which was one of the few creative success stories to come out of the DC Comics New 52. I’ve particularly liked the heavy focus on Greek mythology, the retro and non-exploitative art direction, and the supporting cast. Keeping Diana mostly outside the rest of continuity for these comics has helped with the consistency of the story, meaning (hopefully) that they can continue in graphic novel format to be an accessible gateway to the character for many years to come.
Snuff is a loyal and faithful watchdog* — preternaturally intelligent. He helps Saucy Jack, a good and kind master. In Victorian London in October 1887, there will be a full moon on Halloween. A full moon on Halloween is a special event (which occurs about every 15-20 years on average), for then the Door can be opened and the Elder Gods let back into the world. Jack is a group of one of the individuals, Openers and Closers, striving during this October to gather the tools to decide whether the Door will finally be opened this time and change the world for all. The Great Game is afoot! Snuff’s master, though, is not any friendly guy named Jack, but rather he is a certain famous Jack best known to history for killing prostitutes in Whitechapel. And he is a Closer.
Xhea has no magic. Born without the power that everyone else takes for granted, Xhea is an outcast—no way to earn a living, buy food, or change the life that fate has dealt her. Yet she has a unique talent: the ability to see ghosts and the tethers that bind them to the living world, which she uses to scratch out a bare existence in the ruins beneath the City’s floating Towers. When a rich City man comes to her with a young woman’s ghost tethered to his chest, Xhea has no idea that this ghost will change everything. The ghost, Shai, is a Radiant, a rare person who generates so much power that the Towers use it to fuel their magic, heedless of the pain such use causes. Shai’s home Tower is desperate to get the ghost back and force her into a body—any body—so that it can regain its position, while the Tower’s rivals seek the ghost to use her magic for their own ends. Caught between a multitude of enemies and desperate to save Shai, Xhea thinks herself powerless—until a strange magic wakes within her. Magic dark and slow, like rising smoke, like seeping oil. A magic whose very touch brings death. With two extremely strong female protagonists, Radiant is a story of fighting for what you believe in and finding strength that you never thought you had. Karina Sumner-Smith’s debut novel, “Radiant,” is fresh, enjoyable and interesting. The worldbuilding, characterization, plot, and language all work together in an involving and satisfying way. The pacing is pleasing, starting with small-scale negotiations and individual-scale risks; discoveries and choices bring greater danger, bigger decisions and sacrifices, and finally building to a City-changing conclusion. In fact, I read the last half of the book in one gulp.
