Wednesday, March 16 2011
Stand on Earth: Reading Manga During Fukushima
The horror-quake that hit Japan this past Friday has no context in recorded history. The human price is unimaginable. But it is a cultural shift in the popular imagination from the 1980s that allows us to understand the simple heroism of perpetually rebuilding.
Tuesday, March 15 2011
Joss Whedon 101: Fray
Although Buffy and Faith may be the most famous Slayers created in the Buffy verse, the Slayer from the future Fray is just as compelling.
Wednesday, March 9 2011
Where Your Heart Is 1: The PopMatters Exclusive with Radical’s Barry Levine
With the competition between print and digital distribution, the very medium of comics seems to be at stake. Newcomers Radical Publishing have had the truly sublime idea of viewing other media as a death-knell, movies and gaming might be an opportunity. In a PopMatters exclusive, Radical President and Publisher Barry Levine opens up about the company's rise, his own career path, and the future of the comics medium.
Wednesday, March 2 2011
Security Blanket: Previewing Robert Venditti’s ‘Homeland Directive’
Robert Venditti has always managed to use his narrative art as a staging area for wrestling with deeper issues around identity. PopMatters was afforded a rare sneak peek at Robert's forthcoming Homeland Directive, which promises to exceed even the sublime The Surrogates: Flesh & Bone.
Thursday, February 24 2011
These Long Years, and the Miles: Remembering Dwayne McDuffie
With the passing of Dwayne McDuffie this last Tuesday we're left with the loss of a pioneer in film, television and comics, and a man of singular vision.
Thursday, February 10 2011
The Ten Last Days: Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba’s ‘Daytripper’
The conclusion of Daytripper, in its own way, both subverts and expands upon the ending of another notable work of literature to emerge from the post-911 condition, the TV show Lost.
Thursday, February 3 2011
Solid State Society 3: Archie CEO Jon Goldwater and the New Economy
In the closing segment of PopMatters exclusive interview with Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater, the Iconographies considers not simply the cultural complexity of Goldwater's embrace of technology, but the bold moves he is making in redefining both the brand, and the business model.
Wednesday, January 26 2011
Ralph’s Jet-Pack Theory, Muhammad Ali and “Last Son”
A reprint of a classic '70s comic triggers schoolyard memories of an odd kid, and reignites a personal interest in the “big blue boy scout”
Thursday, January 20 2011
Solid State Society 2: Archie CEO Jon Goldwater and the New Economy
With an ever-growing percentage of the population entering into social media through smartphones, the radical shift of Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater is focusing not on access, but on what you carry with you.
Wednesday, January 19 2011
Rebuilding American Manhood: The Green Hornet Circa 2011
More than escapism, the Green Hornet gives an U.S. audience nurtured on frontier imagery an example of individual agency that resonates with the effort to believe and achieve the American dream.
Thursday, January 13 2011
Solid State Society 1: Archie CEO Jon Goldwater and the New Economy
Following on from their landmark announcement to synchronize their print and digital publication schedules at close of business yesterday, Archie Comics led by CEO Jon Goldwater is taking a leadership role not simply in comics, but in business.
Friday, December 10 2010
Clairvoyance: The Polarized Political Life of ‘DMZ: Collective Punishment’
Brian Wood's DMZ reads like a savage critique of the fracturing of political life that has led to the formation of the Tea Party. What makes DMZ all the more compelling, is its prescience in having identified those politics never six years ago.
Friday, December 3 2010
My Own Private Singularity: “Iron Man: Rapture” and the Horror, the Horror
Tony, Ex Machina!: In Iron Man: Rapture, a very real, very human brush with death sends Tony Stark over the edge. When faced with his own mortality, what does the smartest man in the world do? It’s simple: build a better body. But at what cost?
Wednesday, November 10 2010
“What If Superman Was Hopelessly Insane?”: Mark Waid’s Irredeemable
The man who made me love Superman, now makes me terrified of someone with such god-like powers.
Thursday, November 4 2010
If You Can Read This, You’re Literate: An Interview with Filmmaker Todd Kent
After five decades of self-censorship stemming primarily from the Frederic Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, can comics reassert its rightful role in promoting literacy during childhood? Wertham had a few valid points, contends filmmaker Todd Kent.
Friday, October 15 2010
Vanguard Moon: How Johnny Zito and Tony Trov Reinvented the Future of Comics
In picking up the well-worn Golden Age classic Moon Girl, writing duo Johnny Zito and Tony Trov table the central debate of 21st century creativity -- an open source of intellectual property.
Wednesday, October 6 2010
The Three Creators: PopMatters at the “Chicago Women in Comics” Panel
This past week Columbia College hosted the Chicago Women in Comics but rather than unearth a discourse of marginalization, the event showcased a deep wellspring of talent and widescale commercial success.
Thursday, September 30 2010
Quality Time with the Powells: The Ordinary Anxiety of ‘No Ordinary Family’
While Julie Benz and Michael Chiklis both shuffle off darker roles in their recent past to become the core of ABC's new No Ordinary Family, the show itself might prove exceptional in its use of simple social structures in a time of a collapsing middle-class.
Wednesday, September 22 2010
The Future of Comic Stores in the Digital Era
Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics and founder of Free Comic Book Day, shares his insights into comicbooks, new media and the prospect of a world without print.
Wednesday, September 15 2010
Bloodletter: Ennis & Ezquerra’s Autopsy of the Female Action Hero Genre
Far from enforcing sexually exploitative stereotypes in the female action hero genre, Bloody Mary and sequel Bloody Mary: Lady Liberty simply explodes them.
