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comickergirl · 1 year

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Hey, fellow supergirl fan here! I was curious, I've seen lots of your posts, really love em, and we seem to share a similar aesthetic for Kara! I noticed you really like woman of tomorrow, and after seeing it get announced for the adaptation, I just kinda got confused. See, I read it, but it felt really cynical to me? I don't mean it is, and I definitely don't mean to diss a book you like! I just wanted to know , well, if you could explain to me why you liked it, maybe I'm missing something! I think a fresh perspective would help me try and get into it again!

Hello!

Oh, hey, no worries! While it is true that I love Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, I also recongize that it's not going to work for everyone.

Personally, I really dig it for several reasons, first and foremost being that I love Bilquis Evely's art (which I first discovered via Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations—definitely recommend checking that comic out!) and Mat Lopes' colors. Evely drew a Silver Age Kara in Sugar & Spike and I was like, 'you know what? She'd absolutely crush it on a Supergirl book.' And she did! From the gorgeous space dragon splash pages in issue two to the lovely expression work throughout, all rendered in her incredibly precise inks and expertly colored by Lopes, it's just. So. So good. (I couldn't find a pic of the space dragon saved on my phone but here's one of Kara and Comet outrunning the Mordru Globe, equally stunning.)

And I dig the writing as well! The way I read it, this is Kara on like. The absolute worst day(s). She's seeing the worst the universe has to offer with Krem and the Brigands and it's dredging up all these reminders of her own trauma, and yet! She endures, and even more than that, all that darkness and sadness doesn't ever snuff out her kindness and compassion.

Apologies but I'm gonna spoil one of the pages from the end of the run because 1.) it conveniently highlights a lot of the panels/points I'd share anyways, so it's very efficient XD and 2.) I think it just...it perfectly sums up Kara's true heroism? Which is not just in the big superhero fights and the cool powers but also in those smaller moments, of just helping people and being there for them, when they need it:

(Like my absolute favorite line? In the whole book? Is Ruthye telling Kara: Or in that town where I saw true evil. And I felt eternally lost, and you let me lean on your shoulder and you put an arm around me, pulling me back until I was found. That's just. Some top-tier Supergirl writing, IMO.)

Tl; dr: Woman of Tomorrow is definitely not for everyone BUT, I think King really does understand the core of who Kara is and as such! Those character moments really shine in this book.

...Also, like. That art! THAT ART!!!! XD

#comicker replies #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #supergirl #kara zor el #hopefully this makes sense/is somewhat helpful!#long post #dc comics

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bookclub4m · 4 years

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Episode 091 - Best of 2019

It’s our Best of 2019 episode! Of course, these are not necessarily the best things published in 2019, but instead the best things we read for the podcast (including everything from Bizarro Fiction to True Crime) and the best of everything else we read. Join us!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards

Favourite Non-Fiction read in 2019:

For the podcast:

Anna:

Your Black Friend and Other Strangers by Ben Passmore

The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic by Emma

Episode 084 - Political Non-Fiction

Matthew:

The Antifa Comic Book: 100 Years of Fascism and Antifa Movements by Gord Hill

The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book by Gord Hill

RJ:

I’ll Be Gone In the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

Episode 080 - True Crime

Meghan:

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Not for the podcast:

Matthew:

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane

AI Weirdness blog

Twitter thread including neural net generated smut titles - Featuring “Sex Tongs” and “The Nutwoble Resort”

RJ:

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob

Meghan:

How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

Anna:

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

Thick and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Favourite Fiction read in 2019:

For the podcast

RJ:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Episode 086 - American Gothic

Meghan:

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Episode 078 - Supernatural Thrillers

Anna:

Gutshot by Amelia Gray

Episode 074 - Short Story Collections

Matthew:

Robots vs. Fairies edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe

Not for the podcast

Meghan:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Anna:

Abara: Complete Deluxe Edition by Tsutomu Nihei

Matthew:

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

RJ:

Next Year, For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson

Favourite other stuff from 2019:

Meghan:

Au-dela des limites: L'histoire des sports en fauteuil roulant by Judith Lussier and Donald Royer

Les petits garcons by Sophie Bédard

Matthew:

Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni

Lego Rewind

Lego Rewind Ep.20- Halloween Special

RJ:

A Tour of My Plants by Jenna Marbles

Anna:

SciShow

Safiya Nigard

Jungle

Chvrches

Billie Eilish

Lizzo

Flume

Sofi Tukker

King Princess

The Dø

Like a Version (triple j)

CHVRCHES cover Arctic Monkeys 'Do I Wanna Know?' for Like A Version

CHVRCHES cover Kendrick Lamar 'LOVE.' for Like A Version

Runner ups (not necessarily mentioned in the podcast):

Meghan:

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

The Breakaway by Nicole Cooke

Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine by Michele Lent Hirsch

Anna:

The Good University: What Universities Actually Do and Why It’s Time for Radical Change by Raewyn Connell

For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisely

Beneath the Dead Oak Tree by Emily Carroll

Matthew:

Fiction

Clade by James Bradley

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Non-Fiction

Thrill-Power Overload: The First Forty Years by David Bishop and Karl Stock

Academia Obscura by Glen Wright

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph

Comics

Hex Vet, vol. 1: Witches in Training by Sam Davies

Stonebreaker by Peter Wartman

My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 by Gengoroh Tagame

Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations by Keith Giffen and Bilquis Evely

Melody: Story of a Nude Dancer by Sylvie Rancourt (the first Canadian autobio comic)

SP4RX by Wren McDonald (Cyberpunk!)

Your Black Friend and Other Strangers by Ben Passmore

O Human Star, Volume One by Blue Delliquanti

Hilda and the Mountain King by Luke Pearson

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

Coda, Vol. 1 by Simon Spurrier and Matías Bergara

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1 by Kamome Shirahama

Pokémon Cafe

Ghibli Museum

I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

Radishes by Carolyn Nowak (also published in Girl Town)

Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings

Santa’s Husband by Danielle Kibblesmith & AP Quach

Links, Articles, and Things

Visual novel (Wikipedia)

Now Kiss — Love Thyself - A Horatio Story

Doki Doki Literature Club! (Wikipedia)

Top Visual Novel games - itch.io

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Ida B. Wells (Wikipedia)

Hermitude cover Nirvana 'Heart-Shaped Box' for Like A Version Ft. Jaguar Jonze

Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, January 7th we’ll be talking about the non-fiction genre of Art!

Then on Tuesday, January 21st we’ll be talking about our Reading Resolutions for 2020!

#episodes #best of

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ufonaut · 2 years

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Sugar and Spike retrieving Batman’s various Silver Age batsuits from Killer Moth in their first case in the Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations backup from Legends of Tomorrow (2016) #1

(Keith Giffen, Bilquis Evely)

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ufonaut · 2 years

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In other comics news, my copy of Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations arrived today! It collects the backups from the Legends of Tomorrow (2016) six-issue anthology miniseries along with Bilquis Evely’s concept art. This little mini has to be one of the absolute best modern books I’ve read in recent memory and while I’m definitely saying that as a huge Keith Giffen fan, you’ll never find a love letter to the Silver Age quite like this one anywhere else!

#sugar & spike: metahuman investigations #sugar and spike: metahuman investigations #personal

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ufonaut · 1 year

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I’m trying to give more minis and limited runs a try this year, what are some that you count as must-reads? 💖💖💖

hiiiiiiiiiii <333

you've come to the right place, THE HOME OF THE OBSCURE MINISERIES. okay, let's do this!

set in the dcu/vertigo

martian manhunter: american secrets (1992) - three issue miniseries exploring j'onn's early years on earth and his status as a literal alien relating to 50s/60s counterculture, the ufo craze and various conspiracy theories of the era. good art, great writing -- it's opening paragraph and sometimes-tagline ("strangers to each other, we were both greater strangers to the hordes of new york. he was a beatnik. i was a martian.") plays in my mind every so often and tells you a great deal about the tone we're playing with here!

arkham city: the order of the world (2021) - six issue miniseries. you'll rarely see a modern recommendation from me, let alone a batman-related one, but i feel like this little book sort of slipped through the cracks when it came out and it's more than worth reading for the sublime art alone. horror miniseries following one doctor's attempts at rounding up some of arkham's less conventional escapees.

mystik u (2017) - three issue miniseries. while not strictly set in the actual canon dc universe, it's an uproariously fun book about a young zatanna's days at a school for magic users and it's got some great great characterisation for the likes of, say, mister e & the trenchcoat brigade that we haven't seen in decades and decades. which speaking of,

mister e (1991) - four issue miniseries. this is one i rec pretty often on here but if anything fits the actual definition of a must-read for me, then it's this mister e solo book. ostensibly a sequel to the books of magic (1990), which is another go-to recommendation, this is a little horror tale of abuse and trauma and deeply repressed sexuality among a surreal attempt to take charge of one's own destiny. tw for child abuse (i can be more specific in a dm!)

hawkworld (1989) - three issue miniseries. this is the post-crisis origin of the thanagarian hawks, with a specific focus on katar hol's evolution from policeman to vigilante and all the ideals betrayed in-between.

vigilante: city lights, prairie justice (1995) - four issue miniseries. another sincere & legitimate must read! this is classic james robinson, blending westerns with noir and the golden age of comics, and it follows greg saunder's short-lived hollywood years and the insane revenge quest that consumes him. one of the very best books i've ever read, with astounding art too!

challengers of the unknown (1991) - eight issue miniseries. who doesn't love washed up heroes living off their own merchandise and fame until tragedy forces them back into the people they've forgotten how to be? a compelling look at some of the few heroes that have been allowed to age not to gracefully, and then their quest to find themselves again. tim sale's art is hit or miss for me but this is a definite hit!

superman/doomsday: hunter/prey (1994) - three issue miniseries set immediately after clark's return to life, featuring doomsday's unexpectedly tragic origin. i'm rarely a superman fan but i adored this one and in fact own the trade.

jonni thunder (1985) - four issue miniseries. a female private investigator with all the trappings of the archetypical noir detective and johnny thunder's powers. there's really not much else i can say!

sugar & spike: metahuman investigations (2016) - originally appearing in the backups of legends of tomorrow (2016) #1-6, this keith giffen/bilquis evely humor book sees grown up versions of sheldon mayer's world-famous sugar & spike dealing with all the unpleasant, better-forgotten, just plain weird embarrassments of the world's most famous heroes. their first case is finding batman's rainbow batsuits before their existence is leaked to the general public!

adam strange (1990) - three issue miniseries. legitimately an all time favourite book based on the kubert brothers' art alone, we follow adam strange's last night on earth before he's set to move to rann permanently and all the regrets that come with it. the definitive adam strange portrayal, and a magnificently written one at that!

standalone

nathaniel dusk (1985)/nathaniel dusk ii (1986) - four issue miniseries. if this isn't a must-read then i don't know what is! i mentioned this one in my 'comix of the year' round-up so i'll just go ahead and copy paste what i said there: "the quintessential film noir, in comic book form. gene colan's art makes the miniseries but dusk is a truly unique outing no matter how you look at it, and its status as ostensibly set in the real post-wwi world makes it all that more fascinating. nathaniel dusk is a hardboiled detective whose career is marred by too-personal tragedy, the book's custom made for anybody who's as big on character studies and character-driven pieces as i am".

cinder & ashe (1988) - four issue miniseries. again from my round-up: "at its heart, this is a story about the vietnam war but also a harrowing mystery thriller set in new orleans and an exploration of racism, the military industrial complex, and two lives consumed by grief." there's not much i can say that won't spoil it but trust me, there's a reason it's one of my favourite books!

wild dog (1987) - four issue miniseries. the book follows mysterious vigilante wild dog, who takes to the streets with a baseball bat and single-minded determination in an attempt to put an end to the crime wave that had cost him the life of his girlfriend. it's a fun, action-packed miniseries that keeps you guessing the whole time and doesn't reveal wild dog's identity until the very last issue!

jonny double (1998) - four issue miniseries. down on his luck private investigator is hired to plan out the perfect heist, and it only gets better from there! a solidly fun, sincerely fantastic book with some great art from eduardo risso and extremely clever writing. some gaycoding thrown in for flavour, too.

slash maraud (1987) - six issue miniseries. a sci-fi/dystopian story, we follow slash maraud and a gang of lesbian bikers as they try to avert the incoming apocalypse on an a lawless earth where humanity's only got five years left to live. exactly as fun as it sounds!

tempus fugitive (1990) - four issue miniseries. a freedom fighter from the far future travels across time in an attempt to change his present. a recent read but a thoroughly enjoyable one.

there's a lot i'm missing, and i mean a whole lot, so i suggest taking a look at my completed series list and seeing if anything jumps out (for example, you've simply got to read wrath of the spectre!) but this is what came to mind just now! hope it helps a little bit!

#<3333333 #asks #d1scow1ng

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ufonaut · 2 years

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okay just finished sugar & spike: metahuman investigations and it didn’t only live up to expectations but also quickly became one of my absolute favourite things ive read in recent memory i’m trying to find the trade as we speak. cannot believe how perfectly giffen how perfectly beautiful how intrinsically made for my tastes exactly it was... and i even got to see cheeks my own boy

#i usually go for indv issues but since this is a backup... trade it is #persona;

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ufonaut · 2 years

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literally crazy how excited i am to get into sugar & spike metahuman investigations like genuinely insane i cant waitttt. the wonder of discovering something made exclusively for you that you didnt know ever existed

#in a little bit in a little bit theyre all mine #personal

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comickergirl · 7 years

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ive tried to watch and read some superhero comics and shows but i could never read more than a few comics or watch more than a few epeisodes. do u have any suggestions for really good ones?

Hmmm, I think so! It might be tricky, only because I don’t really know your preferences but, I can share some stuff that I’ve really enjoyed? With the disclaimer of course that YMMV.

I think the best way to attack this is to narrow the ‘results’ as it were. I don’t know about you, but I find that the most...daunting? thing about superhero comics is the sheer MASS of continuity standing between you and the current issue, so. I’m gonna recommend some stuff that is fairly self-contained, and is easy to find either on comixology, @ the book store, or the local library. (Provided they have a good selection of comics/graphic novels.)

RIGHT THEN, LET’S DO THIS:

- Matt Fraction/David Aja’s Hawkeye. At 22 issues, it’s pretty easy to get through, and it doesn’t require a ton of background knowledge of the Marvel Universe. Just follows Clint. Doing what he does when he’s not hanging with the Avengers.- Darwyn Cooke’s The New Frontier. Okay, so you want to experience the DC Universe without actually having to read five billion books SO, GRAB THIS ONE. It’s like...the best stuff about DC crammed into one gorgeous trade.- Scott Beatty/Chuck Dixon/Marcos Martin/Alvaro Lopez’s Batgirl: Year One. (If I ever make a list of recs that doesn’t contain Batgirl: Year One, please just assume I’ve been swapped out with a pod person and proceed accordingly.) Self contained origin story of one Barbara Gordon, Batgirl. - Keith Giffen/Bilquis Evely’s Sugar & Spike: Metahuman Investigations. Two private investigators deal with embarrassing stuff from superheroes’ Silver Age pasts. And if that pitch doesn’t sell you, believe me, Evely’s art will. - Ryan North/Erica Henderson’s The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe. This was marketed as a kind of--I want to stay ‘stand alone’ even though that’s not quite right--graphic novel featuring Squirrel Girl and her pals, and it is 1.) Lots of fun 2.) packed with all the zaniness of the Marvel Universe w/o the meddlesome event comics and crossovers 3.) a convenient easy-to-read single volume. - And, okay, okay. This...this one might be a little out there, and you might not like it, but I gotta throw it in the mix here because I was so pleasantly surprised when I read it. Tom King/Gabriel H. Walta’s Vision. It’s only 12 (?) issues and collected in trades and it...is so weird but very, very good.- Also Adventures of Supergirl. The creative team is crazy huge but I think you should be able to track it down on title alone.

So, those are some pretty solid superhero comics that I can think of off the top of my head (read: currently sitting on my bookshelf in my direct line of sight) and they’re short(ish), complete, and fairly easy to track down.

If you want ongoing title recs, here’s a bunch of stuff I read last year and really enjoyed. (Spider-Woman is not pictured but she absolutely should be because her book is GREAT.)

As for Superhero shows...mmm. Try the first season of Agent Carter (don’t bother w/ the second) and The Middleman. Those are both ‘superhero’ shows that...aren’t really ‘superhero’ shows. So you might find them more to your liking? (Agent Carter is spy-fi set in the MCU, and Middleman is...also kinda spy-fi? and pokes fun at the genre.)

Hopefully this helps! :D

#comicker replies #comic recs #long post #sort of #beautifulpainterwhispers

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