Lists

Marvel... toilet paper? An Iron Man ... light-up fanny pack? Right

Marjane Satrapi’s incredible work Persepolis focuses on the experiences of a young Marji and her family growing up during the Iranian Revolution. The Revolution caused many changes to the relatively peaceful Iran of Marji’s youth, including gender segregation, the abolition of secular education, and the strict enforcement of sharia law. In Persepolis, Marji becomes increasingly rebellious, wearing denim jackets emblazoned with “punk rock,” and going to the black market to buy illegal copies of popular music. It became illegal for women to dance in public, or for men and women to dance together; listening to Western popular music and getting her dance on was a way for Marji to rebel. We’ve put together a mixtape of musicians and songs mentioned in Persepolis to inspire you to celebrate life and rebel a little yourself.

March is Women’s History Month, and we’re looking at the history of Wonder Woman. As we all know, her first theatrical film is due out later this year. But what if it wasn’t her first? What if there had been as many onscreen Wonder Women as Batmen? So far we’ve imagined a Golden Age Wonder Woman movie, a Silver Age Wonder Girl movie, and a Bronze Age Diana Prince movie. For our final installment of the series, we're visiting the late 1980s, for post-Crisis Wonder Woman movie featuring the stars of that era.

Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk and Rachelle Rosenberg's eight-issue series about the life and times of Mockingbird is one of the best Big Two comics I’ve ever read. It made me a fan of the character and everyone involved in the making of it, so much so that it inspired me to compile a mixtape in tribute to last year's cult-favorite. I like to imagine these are the songs Mockingbird AKA Bobbi Morse listens to when she’s in waiting rooms, on the way to missions, when she’s working out, or driving around.

Every month, comic publishers release their solicitation announcements to provide information to readers and retailers on comics that are coming out in three months’ time, but there’s so much information dropped at once that a lot can slip through the cracks. This month in Marvel's June solicitations, there are some big returns of forgotten characters and costumes, a surprising-yet-welcome guest artist worth talking about, and two big debuts of mystery characters in familiar roles.

March is Women’s History Month, and we’re looking at the history of Wonder Woman. As we all know, her first theatrical film is due out later this year. But what if it wasn’t her first? What if there had been as many onscreen Wonder Women as Batmen? So far we've done a Golden Age Wonder Woman movie and a Silver Age Wonder Girl movie; this week we march on into the early 1970s, for another movie featuring stars of the era.

March is Women’s History Month, and we're looking at the history of Wonder Woman. As we all know, her first theatrical film is due out later this year. But what if it wasn’t her first? What if there had been as many onscreen Wonder Women as Batmen? Last week's Cast Party offered suggestions for a Golden Age Wonder Woman movie; this week we move into comics' Silver Age, with another movie cast with stars from the period.

Insexts, the AfterShock comic by Marguerite Bennett and Ariela Kristantina, mixes gothic and body horror to tell a feminist story about women monsters in love. Lady Lalita Bertram (she just goes by Lady) is a rich widow, and Mariah is her maid. Except that they're actually lovers and devoted partners, and even have a child together. They're also insectoid monsters, especially Lady, who has a tendency to sprout deadly bug-parts when she's stressed out. And thanks to the expectations Victorian society places on women, she gets stressed out a lot. And yes, some men die along the way. These songs were chosen because they reflect some combination of the monstrous feminine, the gothic violence, and the unapologetically queer themes of the comic.

I'm doing something a little different with Cast Party for the month of March. It's Women's History Month, and I've decided to take a look at the history of Wonder Woman. As we all know, the first theatrical film is due out later this year. But what if it wasn't her first? What if there had been as many onscreen Wonder Women as Batmen? That's the question I'm exploring, as I imagine movies based on the major eras of Wonder Woman comics, cast with stars from those time periods.

The internet’s movie rumormongers did get a few things right about Logan, Hugh Jackman’s third and supposedly final solo Wolverine movie. They did correctly predict that Logan’ female clone, X-23, would co-star in the film. They also anticipated that the movie would be loosely based on a Marvel Comics storyline called “Old Man Logan.” Of course, after that rumor was initially posted, it was also publicly debunked by one site. You win some, you lose some.