Tag Archives: Comic Book Series

Get Your Fix of Cuteness with ‘Bingo Love’

The comic book world is finally telling new stories.

Roxane Gay and Ta-Nehisi Coates are concocting black superheroes for Marvel. Meanwhile, America Chavez is taking center stage, catching the eye of openly queer actors of color such as Gina Rodriguez. The current Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, is a fierce Muslim girl in a hijab, and I’m putting my money on Saffiyah Khan for the movie role – she made headlines for the viral photo of her staring calmly at a furious Neo-Nazi.

But not all diverse comics get the fame or the funding of powerful imprints like Marvel. Some comics have to start from nothing in order to make something beautiful. Meet Bingo Love.

Bingo Love follows the romance of two teenagers, Hazel Johnson and Mari McCrary, who fall in love at a bingo hall in 1963. Their families tear apart the relationship as soon as it begins, and both Hazel and Mari find themselves married to men. It takes decades before both women find the strength to divorce their husbands and rekindle their love for each other. But they do it, and they live happily ever after.

Bingo Love was written by Tee Franklin, a writer who is queer, black and disabled. The story stems from her personal experiences. She remained closeted for most of her life, and even married a man and had three children.

Only when she came out of the closet did she find true peace.

I definitely understand that there are black LGBTQ people out there like Hazel and Mari who feel that they have to hide their true selves from the worl.”

To fund the project, she turned to Kickstarter, inspired by black female filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s mandate for female creators to make their own projects without asking for permission from the mainstream. Within 5 days, Tee made her goal of $19,999. As of April 2017, nearly 1,500 backers have raised over $44,000.

The 80-page comic will be out by the end of this 2017. Pre-order your copy at the official Kickstarter page.

Batwoman And Her Girlfriend Take On WW2 In New Retro Comic

At a time when companies like DC and Marvel have been criticised for not putting the same spotlight on their female heroes as they do their male ones, Batwoman is a rare standout.

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Not only that but she’s also an out and proud gay lady (who was kicked out of the military because of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, no less) which makes her one of the few queer characters in all of comics.

She hasn’t exactly had an easy time, however, as DC Comics recently caught flak for not allowing the iconic hero and her girlfriend, Maggie Sawyer, to get married although they were engaged.

This caused the lead writer – followed by the entire original creative team – to leave. And then there was further controversy when the comics seemed to show Batwoman being sexually assaulted.

Eventually, Batwoman, within the New 52 series, was cancelled as DC rejigged the entire thing and did its best to fix its mistakes.

Since then, fans have lamented the lack of Batwoman media, but this new DC comic series Bombshells could be exactly the refresher that fans need.

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In Bombshells, Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer and queer-fan favourite Wonder Woman do their bit to help the war effort.

When the series kicks off, it’s 1940 and World War 2 is in full swing, so Batwoman (as Kate Kane, a baseball player) and Maggie Sawyer (who is also a detective in this series) pitch in to help fight crime.

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In the first issue of Bombshells, we see Batwoman use her bat as a weapon while saving a family and a headline about her reads “local celebrity smashing her opponents on and off the diamond”.

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Most of Bombshells is about Batwoman, Maggie, and eventually Wonder Woman in their adventures outside of Gotham City (Batwoman is already bored of the place by the time the comics start) and how they put their ass-kicking to good use, e.g when they help the Amazons to defend their island.

However, there are some sweeter moments too where we see Batwoman and Maggie cuddle up in bed and even take a shower together.

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Admittedly, this won’t completely make up for all of the missteps that DC made with Batwoman’s New 52 run, but it at least does a good job of catering to fans who have grown impatient waiting for what’s next.

 

Ursa Eyer’s Comic Shows Perfectly the Effects of Catcalling Throughout Life

New Orleans-based illustrator Ursa Eyer’s newest comic shows the effects of catcalling throughout life. This is the ‘vanilla’ version of what she’s actually heard, but all women should be able to relate.

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Image source: Ursa Eyer / Via ursaeyer.tumblr.com

Marvel Reveals Thor will be Made a Woman in Upcoming Comic Book Series

Marvel Comic’s classic character Thor will be a woman in upcoming comic book editions. The company announced the surprise move during an episode of The View.

“The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute — she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!”

Wil Moss, Marvel editor

In the comic book timeline, the Norse God Thor was stripped of his powers by his father, Odin. After his son redeems himself, Odin puts Thor’s power in his hammer, Mjolnir.

The magic weapon is engraved with the words, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Marvel has not said whether or not they will change the words on the hammer, but in previous editions the weapon has been picked up and wielded by female characters like Storm of the X-Men and Wonder Woman.

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The move will create Marvel’s eighth female lead character. The company has said that Thor will remain a God and will not be called a Goddess.

Marvel has not revealed a release date for the upcoming series, which will be written by Aaron and illustrated by Russell Dauterman, other than to say it will hit shelves in October.

The change will likely not affect the movie franchise.