That’s right, dear reader, you read that correctly. I wrote a book! A year ago I announced I had signed a contract with Claremont Press to write a volume for their Religion and Comics Series. I promised to update you all with more information when I had it and when I could and…(drum roll please)…that time has come! Ahhhhhhhh, I wrote a book AND I get to tell you about it. It’s a super exciting day :D. So read on, dear reader, and I can tell you all about my upcoming book. YAY!
All the creatives and stars of Avengers: Endgame joined in a massive social media campaign asking everyone to be decent human beings and #DontSpoilTheEndgame…for two weeks until Marvel Studios used MASSIVE spoilers for Endgame in their trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home. It was clear they were seeking to use all the emotions flowing in the wake of Endgame to motivate advanced ticket sales for Far From Home. Marvel Studios was very direct about how Spider-Man: Far From Home served as the epilogue to Avengers: Endgame. I enjoyed the film but was – and remain – frustrated by a plot point with seriously troubling implications.
Note, this has spoilers for both Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home (obvs.). Continue reading
When I was growing up, no one talked about comic books, not really. Sometimes teachers would disparage comics as books for kids who could not—or would not—read. Sometimes librarians would do the same. Even five years ago, I still knew teachers and librarians who did not believe reading comics counted as reading. Perhaps there were students in my classes who did read comics. But, in a culture where liking comics was equated with laziness and stupidity, I can see why no one would have dared to talk about them. Continue reading
Modern comics tend to focus on shorter, four-to-six issue story arcs. The ever-present wariness about the mercurial taste of readers, accessibility to potential newbies, as well as the fact each title will be collected and sold as trades two or three times a year shapes how stories are told. Yet Ta-Nehisi Coates has embraced a longer form of storytelling, with great success, since taking over Black Panther. His first “season” (as he describes it) was “A Nation Under Our Feet,” a yearlong story exploring the nature of people and politics, what it means to rule and who has the right to do so. His second season, “Avengers Of The New World,” is another thoughtful, multifaceted yearlong story. In it Coates eloquently and gracefully depicts the struggle of faith when God is silent. Continue reading
With the premiere of Black Panther just two weeks away, my excitement couldn’t be higher! I have fallen in love with the character through Ta-Nehisi Coates genre-defining run on the title and my anticipation of seeing the world of Wakanda on the big screen has legitimately surpassed – by far (and for real!) – my excitement for Avengers: Infinity War. And now Black Panther has taken the record for the largest ticket presale for any superhero movie ever!! As I get ready for Black Panther, I’ve been thinking a lot about what Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will look like. Who lives?!? Who dies?!? What movies will we see down the line?!? Here are my guesses… Continue reading
This is a piece I’ve wanted to write for a long time. I’ve tried before but could never find the right words. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Stelfreeze and Laura Martin’s Black Panther was one of the titles I was most excited by as I returned to reading comics in 2015. While the Black Panther was only ever a guest star in the comics I read in my youth, Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of my favorite contemporary authors. I follow his work in The Atlantic and have read his memoir Between The World and Me several times. An author I so respect coming to a medium I’ve loved since before I could read was almost too good to be true! The results proved even better than I’d imagined. The pages of Coates, Stelfreeze, and Martin’s Black Panther held a story with an elegance unlike any I’d found in a comic book before. Continue reading
My Comic Relief 