Whenever I read It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken, I always think about when people say that something is universal as a disclaimer. You know, it may be about (insert disempowered group here- this could be anything from race, sexual orentation, heck, some folks try to be like this book/movie/comicbook is not just for women, it's for everybody). This graphic novel sets off this reaction because it's so particular. I mean, Canadian white men who are generally morose, oddly obsessed with retro aesthetics and have the time and means to track down cartoonists from the 40s, well, a large slice of the population, that is not. Yet somehow we don't need disclaimers to enjoy Seth's quest to find the elusive Kalo. And that's one wish I have for all media. I want books, comics, movies, whatever, to be able to honestly represent the experiences of people of color, women, people with different sexual orientations, transfolk,etc without getting disclaimered. I want everyone to have enough faith in themselves and their reading/viewing skills to think hey, I can watch a movie about any human being and feel empathy even though some people have different experiences than me and may not look like me.

Today I got Nana #3. It's mostly set up for some great things to go down in #4. I guess it'll probably be November or December before we get a new volume. Getting this one a few days early seems like a miracle, though. I didn't expect them to put them out on the shelves, even if they already had them, you know?

Some comics from Spike (and her series on webcomicsnation) I found them from this entry on race, gender and comics. Do look at it because of the link to pictures of the East Coast Black Age of Comics convention.

Also, thanks to the links on Spike's page, I was able to find well, I believe that I bought a mini off this girl at AWA two years or so ago, and well, I'm glad to see more of where that came from.

Yay, Ghastly comissioned comics. More from people who can draw. And an entire comic online. From the same author, hahaa, southern shame

Down with bad comics! Boom! Boom!

Yay, more dykes!

Winners of the Glyph Awards:

Story of the Year
Nat Turner, Kyle Baker, writer and artist

Best Writer
Lance Tooks, Lucifer's Garden of Verses: Darlin' Niki

Best Artist
Kyle Baker, Nat Turner

Best Male Character
Huey Freeman, Boondocks

Best Female Character
Darlin' Niki, Lucifer's Garden of Verses: Darlin' Niki

Fan Award for Best Comic
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?
Hudlin, Romita Jr., Janson, Alonso

Rising Star Award for Best Self-Publisher
Robert Roach, The Roach

Best Reprint Publication
Birth of a Nation softcover, Crown

Best Cover
Nat Turner #1, Kyle Baker, illustrator

Best Comic Strip
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist

This comic actually makes sense when you look at it all together. It didn't when I was looking at it a panel at a time.

Nothing to say about these comics, but they are good.

A (white) cartoonist I admire Mikhela Reid will be at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention.

Read this review, so you may never encounter the horror of your comic being pulled off shelves for pure offensiveness.

I like this comic, except for the parts when I have to scroll all around, or even worse, click and drag. Now, I know we've all heard Scott Mccloud and his talk about the infinite canvas and all that. But dudes, I hate to scroll. I have to admit I like the current art best.

Free Scott Pilgrim Read it online.

I totally vow to buy this book. and this guy's book too. And I want a million more and need to complete a zillion manga series. Just the thought of it is paralyzing, so I probably won't get anything for months.

I wish I could draw though.

I got Rica tte Kanji lately, and it was a fun little book. It's not in 'normal'manga style, and is a bit cartoony, but I find the simple style charming, especially as I can't draw, and made most of a comic today. Warning for some: it's a girl-girl manga.

Part of the problem with comic shops has a lot to do with target audiences. Comics, especially those printed by Marvel or DC, are aimed at young straight white men who they hope to get hooked for life. This is a tiny, tiny audience, and obviously, not the only people who are interested in comics. However, the quick-and-dirty demographics look around at the shops I've been to support that the marketing works just enough to keep the big two companies and a few independent presses around. Tacoma, my uni's town, is a very diverse community racially and ethnically, but this diversity is not present proportionally in the comic shop. When I frequented the comic shop by my uni, I don't recall ever seeing another woman (unless I went with my female friends) or a non-white customer (again, unless I went with my friends). At the shop I frequent now, I do see women and non-white customers, though not in proportions that I should for the community's make up.

The target audience also determines the way that covers, storylines, and art turn out. And while, every superhero or villain wears his/her share of spandex, there's a clear divide in how men and women are depicted. There's gratuitous tits and ass shots of women, while with male characters, they might show off their pecs or arm muscles. If the depictions were equal on the gratuitous side, male characters would be subject of cock and ass shots. Male characters are obviously not portrayed that way, because straight men do not want to think about Batman's ass or Captain America's cock. They can accept that Superman's chest is bigger than their own as long as they don't have to think that his cock might be too or that Storm could beat them up.

This post is why I think we need to have more spaces for women and people of color to make comics. We can't count on straight white men to take us into account as customers- they are still in the 50s in their thinking. However, everyone will follow something popular, so let's get out there and make good comics.

My hero Alison Bechdel gets some good exposure for her new book with a review on Bitch PHD

I started a people of color comics collective.