Topic: Industry

The business of fandom and the fandom of business. Our assembled analysis adjacent to or diving into the nitty-gritty of legality, production and financing.

  • Evolution of Queerbaiting

    Evolution of Queerbaiting

    Welcome back to our post-millennial analysis of the current state of fandom. Today we’ll discuss queerbating. While we’ve come a long way since the time where “gay” was a dirty word, even today, pop culture carries unfortunate baggage regarding homosexuality, especially when it comes to women.

    Read article »

  • Bound: Dawn of the Wachowskis

    Bound: Dawn of the Wachowskis

    Welcome back to our post-millennial analysis of the current state of fandom. With the Wachowskis both coming out as trans women, their breakout film Bound, a pulpy movie about a lesbian couple, takes on new significance in the conversation about the subversion and upholding of tropes about minorities.

    Read article »

  • Image Comics—Are You Really Indie?

    Image Comics—Are You Really Indie?

    Welcome back to our post-millennial analysis of the current state of fandom. Today we’ll examine what it means to be an “Indie” comic. Is being creator-owned and controlled enough, or is there something else, something more ephemeral and authentic?

    Read article »

  • The Sandman, Part 2

    The Sandman, Part 2

    In this instance, we’ll explore how Gaiman revitalizes the roles of women and trans/queer characters (a segment of the comic book population which has been trampled by sexist expectations in the comic book medium previously). We will also explore how he resuscitates the roles of family identity (an age-old and worn-out theme in the hands…

    Read article »

  • Ballad of the Blue Bomber
  • The Sandman, Part 1

    The Sandman, Part 1

    We owe one of the greatest sea changes in comic book history to the “British Invasion” of the 1980s and ’90s, from the likes of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Watchmen and The Sandman ushered in a new era of comics as a legitimate storytelling medium, not just a shallow arena for tights-clad muscle men…

    Read article »

  • J-Rock Invasion
  • Superheroes in Flux–Watchmen Part 2

    Superheroes in Flux–Watchmen Part 2

    Authorship in comics is a tricky business. Superheroes and the trajectory of their identities, more often than not, take on lives of their own. The legendary ones are written by slews of authors and drawn by dozens of different artists. At peak popularity, they go on to live in video games, movies, TV shows, and…

    Read article »

  • Heavy Metal and Horror
  • Superheroes in Flux–Watchmen Part 1

    Superheroes in Flux–Watchmen Part 1

    Comics, as a genre, are deeply rooted in history and pop culture. In order to understand any part of modern comic books (or graphic novels) one must first understand the history behind them. The two works I will focus on in this essay are Alan Moore’s Watchmen, a story of remarkably normal superheroes, and, to…

    Read article »