Category Archives: Comics

Gay Quasar is Alive!

Sorry for the bluntness of that title, but it is Pride Month and I wanted to catch everybody’s attention. A couple of years ago, Marvel introduced a new Quasar, Avril Kincaid. I didn’t think much about her because I’ve never thought much about Quasar at all. Avril is gay, which is great for diversity in comics and representation…but then Marvel went and killed her in one of their big Events. Granted, I think she was created to be killed in that moment, since she wasn’t around very long and the same creators were involved.

Avril is Alive 03

Heroic sacrifice

I became interested in Avril when I did a List of Six looking at what LGBTQ+ characters could star in their own solo superhero movies. Honestly, there aren’t many stand alone gay characters in comics…and I settled on Avril as Quasar being Marvel’s best bet. Since then, I’ve been particularly interested in the character…so it’s a shame she’s dead.

Until this week’s Guardians of the Galaxy Annual, wherein classic Quasar Wendell Vaughn reveals that she’s alive!

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Nobody cares about Wendell Vaughn

So neat! A new and potentially prominent solo lesbian superhero could come back to comics soon after a disappointing “death”. Seriously, there are not many stand alone queer superheroes out there. Most of them are members of a team, like the various gay X-Men, or they’re a package deal with their significant other, like Hulkling and Wiccan. If we want an LGBTQ+ superhero to have as important and prominent solo superhero film as all these other characters, I think lesbian Quasar Avril Kincaid is Marvel’s best bet, so I’m glad she could come back.

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Top 6 “White” Superheroes

Sometimes I think I’m more clever than I really am. I’ve been doing a color-theme List of Six series for a while now for a reason, and I think I’ve finally decided to drop the other shoe. I can’t be afraid. But we’re not there yet. Almost.

First, we need to look at the best superheroes with the color “white” in their name.

 

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We all know the color white

It’s an odd phenomenon. Take a random thing and slap a color to it and you’ve got a superhero name. I’ve done a Red List, a Blue List, a Green List, a Silver List and a Gold List so far. And I’ve got a point to make, I assure you. I think we’ll get to it next time!

But for now, join me after the jump for the six neatest “White” comic book characters! And before anybody points it out in the comments, I am not including the White Queen from the X-Men because that was more of a title within the Hellfire Club, and Emma Frost hasn’t used that name for a long time. At least that’s my reasoning and I’m sticking to it!

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/1/19

This was the week that DC Comics upended their entire comics line with a bunch of stuff! Doomsday Clock! The Last Knight on Earth! Leviathan Rising! And I read none of it. I wonder if that makes me a bad comic book fan…

I did read a bunch of other relatively enjoyable comics — though the latest and last issue of X-23 has made an enemy for life. Beyond that, the Comic Book of the Week was the new issue of Giant-Man! Leah Williams is doing everything right in my eyes in all of her comics.

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Not all superheroics are glamorous

Meanwhile, speaking of Leah Williams, X-Tremists had another strong issue as it starts to delve into the erasure of homosexual feelings in the Age of X-Man…Except that I guess the whole overall world starts to fall apart at the end of the issue, so this whole crossover is coming to an end before Leah Williams will get much of a chance to really play in the space. I know Jonathan Hickman is coming back to remake the X-Men from top to bottom, but surely Marvel can make room for a Leah Williams’ solo Blob comic…

Comic Reviews: Giant-Man #2, Heroes in Crisis #9, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3 and X-23 #12. 

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Was It All So That Tom King Could Make This One Joke?

Writer Tom King’s Heroes in Crisis came to an end today and I didn’t much care for it. I’ll have my full review up with my regular reviews on Saturday, but there was one joke buried deep in Heroes in Crisis #9 that made me wonder if this whole thing existed so that Tom King could tell the one joke…

So basically, Heroes in Crisis has involved a ton of DC superheroes undergoing therapy, which has involved the heroes talking to the “camera” about their problems. These confessionals have been a major part of the story all along, offering real insight into some of DC’s most and least popular heroes and villains.

This final issue sees a whole host more superheroes do the confessional. The message being that the events of Heroes in Crisis have prompted more heroes to be willing to go to therapy, so we see a ton more confessionals. Each hero gets a single confessional panel this issue, with dozens of new superheroes getting a moment.

Including Red Tornado.

Red Tornado Joke 01

You clever girl…

Honestly, this joke almost makes the whole thing worth it. Let me know if you need the joke explained to you in the comments. I don’t want to spoil it by explaining it here in the actual blog post.

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The Worst Thing to Ever Happen in Comics Has Just Happened

I don’t even know if I have the guts to share this with you good people. It has rocked me to my core. I realize that comic books are an always-changing landscape, that the only constant is change. But this new change in the last issue of X-23 is something I cannot abide.

Gabby has changed her name from “Honey Badger” to “Scout”.

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Is nothing sacred anymore? Does nothing matter? Have we not souls? Why has Marvel Comics forsaken us like this?

Gabby is a great character, full of fun energy and youthful spirit. And as a clone twice removed from Wolverine, when she was given the name “Honey Badger”, it was like the clouds parted and all was right with the world. It was the most perfectly crafted codename in the history of comic books. It was like we didn’t even know a part of Gabby was missing when we read her adventures in All-New Wolverine, and then the name was revealed and it fit so perfectly that all was right with the world.

But now she’s abandoning that name in favorite of “Scout” and I want to cry out to the uncaring Heavens that we have been forsaken. Scout?! Are you kidding me? What a stupid and boring name! It’s worse than Laura switching from Wolverine back to X-23. Scout?! It doesn’t mean anything!!

What’s even worse is that this change comes at the very end of the very last issue of the current X-23 comic. It’s been a relatively fun comic these past 12 issues, but I assume it’s being cancelled for a reason. So it’s not like “Scout” is going to even use her new name. Can you not just accept cancellation with some dignity? Must you claw and scratch at every good thing on your way out, scarring something beautiful before you go?

This is like graffiti on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. As if someone had knocked the head off the statue of David.

Why don’t we just set the Mona Lisa on fire while we’re at it?

Scout?! What the fuck.

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