Kara’s Comments (group member since Jan 25, 2018)

Kara’s comments from the I Read Comic Books group.

I'd love everyone's thoughts on Boxers & Saints (though technically to nominate just a first volume, that would be Boxers) by Gene Luen Yang!

We're less than a week from Rise of Skywalker! Brian and I have been recording a miniseries all about Star Wars comics for I Read Comic Books, and we have read SO MANY.

What Star Wars comics are your favorites? Why would you recommend them for others to read?

So, who are your favorite comic book characters you recognize are absolute trash/you would not like if you knew them in real life? (Can be comic adaptations or expansions of shows/movies/games, if the story adds to the characterization).

Probably for me, anyone who has ever been in the Secret Six lineup (DC) falls into this category, plus most of Flash's Rogues gallery (also DC).

I just got caught up on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix (AND CRIED) and it's putting me in an 80s place. When I say "80s cartoons" what immediately springs to mind, and is there a comic book version of that show you think is awesome?

Mike and Kate and I just finished recording the latest episode of the IRCB podcast, which is about school and comic books. I got a whole new list of comics to read from them and want some more recs! What are some of your favorite comic books that take place in a school/have school as a central part of the plot?

Hooray! I chose Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others because as we approach Halloween, I wanted to add something ~spooky~. I don't like horror generally, but Hellboy's "just punch it" approach is refreshing, and Mignola's inks are brilliant. (Much of Hellboy at the time of original publication for the stories later collected in these early volumes was done in black and white and later colorized, and the blocky black darkness shows this. I like the colorized versions, but it's undeniable that Mignola's use of shadow and darkness creates the Hellboy ambiance).

This is officially the third collected edition of Hellboy, however, the early collections were less linear, more 'collections of one-shots', as that's how they were being published at the time. In fact, the stories collected in The Chained Coffin were the first stories that Mignola was publishing with an eye to make Hellboy an ongoing concern, so if you're familiar with the character you may see some threads of continuity begin here. I am particularly partial to The Baba Yaga story, as it's a glimpse to the wider world of the paranormal Hellboy inhabits.

And once you're done with The Chained Coffin, if you like what you read, I do recommend going on to The Right Hand of Doom (I wrestled between the two, but ultimately settled on Chained Coffin for this thread), for it includes both the exceptional story "Pancakes" and the first hints we get to Hellboy's destiny.

Aaaaah! I'm so sorry they moved the schedule, I'll update my pick to something available now!

1001 by Sanya Anwar! & the first 3 issues are free on her website :)

I AM SO EXCITED THAT THIS TOPIC IS HAPPENING, first off.

Ok, fave X-Men character is probably Jubilee on a superficial level, because when I think of her I think of 90s Amazing Trench Coat Jubilee, and I was a visually impressionable child. Less superficially, I'm fond of Beast for his delightful expressions and Storm because Storm. Gambit's on my list because hello everyone loves Gambit, right? In like an "I'll date you but be vocally exasperated about your every habit and mannerism to all my friends until they tell me to stop" way (just me?)

Least fave: Cyclops. Oh my god, get over yourself. Second on my s-list right now is probably In Denial About Being Gay Iceman, unless that's no longer a thing--I don't read many X-comics so all my judgements are snap ones, obviously.

Huntress: Year One

I haven't read this since it came out, but I remember being thrilled by it. Huntress is my fave DC character and this dug into why she is who she is.

Robert wrote: "Kara wrote: "Hi Robert! I added Sailor Moon because of its personal importance to me when I read it as a teenager and its continuing resonance as an adult, but there are more objective reasons, too..."

Oh, I totally agree that the (literally) narrow view of what "beauty" is is perhaps one of the weakest parts of Sailor Moon. But....I do have some counter arguments to the examples you included:

1) I think the dude revealing his surprise that Usagi is so good at a video game only reveals his own narrow-mindedness and is no reflection of her actual talents, since she's crushing that game

2) Usagi talking about following a girl because she's pretty only lends to the read that she's queer/bisexual, which gains greater support as the series progresses, so I view this as a point in the series' favor re: LGBTQIA+ representation, and am willing to overlook the objectivity of the initial moment

3) Shouting "Makeup!" to transform always made sense to me, because makeup is a transformative thing in and of itself--the assumption that makeup is only there so women can use it to make themselves more superficially appealing to mates should be examined, because makeup is used to change someone's look, whether to be more conventionally sexually appealing or not, so I think it does make sense that the Sailor Senshi transformations happen when they yell "Makeup!" They are changing their look, and that is what makeup does.

I never really noticed an emphasis on being pretty while reading the Sailor series, and it's possible that that's because as a woman I've been told my whole life to look and act and be a certain way, and hearing it from one more source wasn't going to cause a huge impact.

For me, the message in the Sailor books is that women can be powerful in a way that doesn't conform to ideals of masculine power--this is reinforced by traditionally feminine totems like tiaras and makeup compacts being turned into weapons, or the Senshi uniforms being a sleek upgrade of their existing school uniforms, as opposed again to something masculine. There are very few men in the story overall, and in a media landscape that is usually dominated by superhero/powerful teams that are mostly men except there's one girl, I always found Sailor Moon to be a refuge where there were many women who were each different and were celebrated for their different strengths, whether that was a superpower or a hobby or a school subject.

I completely see and understand your criticisms, and I'm glad you brought them up so I could hear another opinion! It's rare I hear anything negative about the series because the people I usually talk to about it are women like me who found it to be engaging and important to them.

And of course, thank you for reading the book and trying something new!

Robert wrote: "Kara, what's your pitch for Sailor Moon? Is this typical of the manga genre in terms of plot, dialog, art, story-flow? I've never read any manga. What made you put it on the list?"

Hi Robert! I added Sailor Moon because of its personal importance to me when I read it as a teenager and its continuing resonance as an adult, but there are more objective reasons, too:

It is part of the shojo subgenre of manga, which is aimed at a young female audience and usually emphasizes personal relationships. It was one of the most popular manga of the 90s, and I think it is a good introduction to shojo manga in general, and worth reading now because so many female comics creators today have cited it as a strong influence on their work.

TRICKSTER/PIED PIPER, HANDS DOWN.

Part of the Flash's Rogues gallery, during DC's Countdown event, Trickster and the Pied Piper were handcuffed together and on the run, being wrongly suspected of murdering Bart Allen, the Flash at the time. At this point in the continuity, James Jesse aka Trickster had been an FBI agent, and Hartley Rathaway aka Piper was basically doing charity work for the less fortunate. They were Rogues, but Rogues aren't necessarily Bad with a capital B.

Piper was gay and out, and Trickster teased him about it, because the Rogues are spiritually DC's version of the Lost Boys and Trickster definitely never grew up. They survived running from baddies and goodies, ended up crashing Black Canary's stripper bachelorette party, and got caught by Poison Ivy at one point (a kinky bondage moment in and of itself, and 4/5 fic writers agree there was probably sex pollen involved. Just saying.)



They ended up on a train trying to escape Deadshot, who had been hunting them. Trickster cracks a joke about Piper turning him "hobosexual," they both laugh because it's ridiculous but also, did Trickster just admit his feelings for Piper in his own dumb way? and literally a panel later Deadshot explodes into the train car and shoots Trickster in the head.

But he's still handcuffed to Piper, who carries his corpse around the desert, hallucinating that Trickster is still with him.

In retrospect, this is the thing that made me really stop buying DC books on a monthly basis, and really get into comic fanfic as an alternative. Pipster is 100% my OTP ship for comics and I still cannot believe it (canonly) ended as bluntly as it did.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1

Listen. This book altered the way I perceived everything, and it's worth your time, if only to look inside a perspective not your own.

I read Sailor Moon Vol. 1 for the first time when I was thirteen to see what the fuss was all about. My friends grew up watching the anime, but I missed that boat somehow, and this was my first look at one of the most famous worldwide icons of the 90s. The pacing is dreamlike, and everything is so painfully pretty I wanted to dive into the story and never leave.

I collected the manga before these gorgeous reissues were printed. I hoarded them like treasures, windows into a fantasy world where I, a girl, could save the world with magic and friendship, where I, a girl, could be a warrior, could be a hero, could risk everything for the people I loved, just like Sailor Moon.

In this first volume, the Sailor Scout team is being formed, and enemies begin to emerge. Schoolgirls by day, by night they transform into celestial warriors, combating the darkness that threatens their world.

Throughout the series, the action is fairly straightforward, but there is a quiet nuance to the character development that remains even as the battles fade.

Written and illustrated by a woman for an audience of young women and girls, Sailor Moon is packed with ladies who are all allowed to be themselves. Yes, they all fit an extremely narrow definition of physical beauty, but there is no "the girl" personality type here.

Tap into your inner 90s kid and give this book a try!