Comics Editor Carol did a quick review of Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines for the ActionFest Blog. “[I]t’s not just about letting little girls know that they can be heroes, that they can be anything they want. It’s about knowing that as adults we have great power and great responsibility. We can [...]
Comics Alliance‘s Senior Batmanologist Chris Sims makes a moving argument for why Spider-Man is the best comic book character ever: “Those first 200 issues of Amazing Spider-Man — a run that’s downright shocking in how good it is — are essentially teenager problems on a super-heroic scale, both literally and translated into the metaphor of [...]
At The Mary Sue, Becky Chambers, writes about watching a moment of wonder when ladies kiss on Deep Space Nine, the devolution of something that felt special into television’s “barrage of meaningless lady kisses” and finding the love again in roleplaying games like Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, Saints Row 2, Skyrim and Fable.

In the year 2001 I discovered a magical world. Not Harry Potter (that was a few years later) and not the Internet (although it was responsible), but a world that captured my attention and hasn’t let go ten years later. It has to do with fanfiction; unpaid fiction that is written by fans of a [...]
It was bound to happen: Buffy vs. Edward. (via Smart Bitches).

A scrappy rebellion, a victory against an evil overlord, leftover spaceships in the dark outer reaches of the galaxy, warriors with extraordinary powers (nearly wiped out), now on the verge of a comeback. Laughs, thrills, moments of sadness, moments of sheer action. Exciting stuff! And oh yeah, it’s a Star Wars tie-in novel.

A few months ago, I decided to take the plunge: I would burn through the Harry Potter series, now complete, all in one go. It’s been… interesting. I’ve discovered all kinds of things I had not realized before, including the fact that Harry is – to put it diplomatically – not a particularly effective hero.

I’m the person who hates spoilers, mainly because they wreck a book or movie for me. I’m a stickler for experiencing something in the way that the creator intended (whether this is a smart or helpful habit is quite another question). In the case of, say, a TV show like Buffy or Angel that’s been [...]

When I got Sudeki for review, I sighed. An anime babe smiled out from the cover, her armoured boobs thrust forward and her arms upstretched as she cast a spell — presumably on the teenage-boy market. The following two strikes were the five-star recommendation from Maxim and the name of the game company (Climax). But [...]