Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the X (wo)men

Yet more posts in our series, here is the fourth entry on the men, where we focus on the X-Men and their assorted hangers on.  You can read previous entries on women (part one), women (part two), men (part one),  men (part two), men (part three), non superhero comics, men (part four), men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

The X-Men have always been a symbol of diversity and discrimination.  Their whole schtick is that they are different to everyday 'regular', so ordinary humans fear and attack them.   They can be read as a metaphor for characters of colour, gay, bisexual and transgender people, disabled people, anyone who is different and stands out from the rest really.  As such, it is entirely appropriate for the X-Men to have a cast of varying ethnicities.  Let's start.  There's a lot of them.

Sale on digital Wonder Woman comics

DC are having a 48 hour sale on digital Wonder Woman comics.  It started Saturday so is running for about another 24 hours.  All issues are 99 cents, which is about 67 pence in English money, and so they are extraordinarily cheap.

We haven't been able to compile a list of recommended issues to buy, but two other (reliable) bloggers have.  See here for Ragnell's guide to the Golden Age (books published between 1939 and 1949, ish) Wonder Woman comics and see here for more modern recommendations from the DC Women Kicking Ass tumblr.

We hope you find something you like!

Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the men (part three)

Continuing our series, here is another post on the men, also looking at Marvel characters.
You can read previous entries on women (part one), women (part two), men (part one),  men (part two), the X (wo)men, non superhero comics, men (part four), men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

Nick Fury is the General of S.H.I.E.L.D., a governmental agency specialising in espionage and law enforcement.  Marvel's Ultimate universe is a re-imagining of their 616 (main) universe.  It was created to entice new readers into Marvel comics and was intended to operate as a good jumping on point, as it started the world from scratch, as it were.  In the 616 universe Nick Fury is white, in the Ultimate universe, he is black and is drawn to look like Samuel L Jackson, who portrays Fury in the recent Iron Man, Hulk and Thor films.  You can start reading about this Nick Fury in The Ultimates: Super-Human and The Ultimates: Homeland Security.

Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the men (part two)

Continuing our series , we will now look at some of Marvel comics' male characters of colour.
You can read previous entries on women (part one), women (part two), men (part one), men (part three), the X (wo)men, non superhero comics, men (part four), men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

The Black Panther -There are two characters with the Black Panther title.  T'Challa, created in the 1960s and his sister, Shuri, created more recently. T'Challa is the king of a fictional African nation called Wakanda. The local god is the Panther Spirit, the king as the champion of the people is considered the living avatar of the Panther God on Earth hence the ceremonial Black Panther identity. He is married to Storm of the X-Men (of whom, you can read here) and recently renounced the Panther identity, passing the monarchy and identity to his sister Shuri.

We've made some changes...

You may have noticed some changes in the blog!  We have fiddled around with the layout and changed the background.  The reformatting is by no means complete, but the changes thus far are as follows:

First time here? Read this!  Previously called Aims, Objectives and Information, this has been moved to the left of the blog.

Underneath this is a list the most popular posts over the last month, so if you don't fancy trawling through the archives to find new books, have a scroll through these posts to see if anything catches your eye.

Under this is the blog archive, listing posts by month and name.

On the right hand side is the list of regular contributors, recent comments (so come join in the discussions!), and labels.

Although the revamp is still in process, it would be good to know what people think.  Leave us a comment!  Does the overall colour scheme work for you?  Is it easier to find extra information now?  Are the font and text colours of a decent size and colour?  Do you have any other comments?  Let us know!

Final Crisis: Revelations

Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: Philip Tan
Inks: Jonathan Glapion, Jeff de los Santos, Walden Wong
Color: Ian Hannin, Nei Rufino
Letters: John J. Hill
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
The world is in the midst of a Crisis.  The New Gods are coming to earth, the anti life equation is spreading among humanity claiming civilians and superheros alike.  It heralds the arrival of Darkseid and his subordinates, dedicated to evil, corruption and violence.

Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils and inks: Scott Kolins
Colours: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Nick J Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
The Rogues have been on the run for a year.  Longtime enemies of anyone wearing the Flash mantle, they were tricked into killing the latest Flash by another villain, Inertia.  In so doing, they broke the unspoken and fundamental rule - never kill a Flash - and so brought the wrath of all other speedsters down on them.

Now back to mete our revenge to Inertia, a much bigger Crisis is coming...

Northlanders: Sven the Returned

written by Brian Wood
illustrated by Davide Gianfelice
colours by Dave McCaig
letters by Travis Lanham
published by Vertigo 

What's It About?

It is 980 A.D. and the Norseman Sven has returned home to the Orkneys from Constantinople to claim his inheritance. His father is dead but as he enters Grimness Settlement he discovers that his ruthless uncle Gorm has claimed the inheritance for his own.

An outsider and a stranger Sven finds himself alone, fighting a one-man war to reclaim what is rightfully his and return to Constantinople with its warm, wealth and exotic women before the past he escaped long ago kills him. 

Characters of Colour in superhero Comics - the women (part two)

Continuing our series on characters of colour in comics, we bring you the women in superhero comics, part two.

You can read our other posts in the series as follows:
women (part one), men (part one),  men (part two), men (part three), the X (wo)men, non superhero comics, men (part four), men (part five) and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

Starman Omnibus volume 1

Story: James Robinson

Art: Tony Harris
Inks: Wade von Grawberger
Colors: Gregory Wright

Letters: John Workman, Bill Oakley, Gaspar Saladino
Publisher: DC

Other creative credits as follows:
Issue 6: Pencils by Teddy Kristiansen, inks by Chrstian Hojgaard, Bjarne Hansen and Kim Hagen
Issue 11: Art by Matt Smith
Issue 14: Art by Tommy Lee Edwards, Stuart Immonen, Tony Harris, Chris Sprouse, Andrew Robinson, Gary Erskine, and Amanda Conner with Inks by Wade con Grawbadger and Gary Erskine. 

Today's review is a guest post brought to you by Mothee.  Mothee is a comics fan, just graduated from film school and would like to be a writer.  You can find Mothee at the following places:

Twitter: @Mothee

Blogspot: http://mothee.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mothee

What’s it about?

At it’s core Starman is about legacy. It’s about growing up. It’s about doing the things you don’t want to do. It’s about a father’s love for his son. It’s about taking the reigns of your own destiny. It’s about the finest work of fiction in any medium that I’ve ever read.

Existence 2.0/3.0

Story: Nick Spencer

Art: Ron Salas and Joe Eisma
Colorist: Frank Bravo
Letters: Johnny Lowe

Publisher: Image

Today's review is a guest post brought to you by Mothee.  Mothee is a comics fan, just graduated from film school and would like to be a writer.  You can find Mothee at the following places:

Twitter: @Mothee

Blogspot: http://mothee.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mothee

What’s it about?

Existence 2.0/3.0 is a collection of 2 mini series, written by Nick Spencer for Shadowline comics. It’s a mind bending modern day sci-fi rom.

Sylvester Baladine is a scientist with no moral compass who (on the first page of the story) finds himself on the wrong side of a sword (for those of you at home who aren’t sure, that means that the pointy end made him go ouchy), before he has a chance to die however, Sylvester gets to test his new invention. With the push of a button Sylvester’s consciousness swaps with his killer’s consciousness… or did it?

Sylvester (now in Marko’s body) is on a quest to find who hired Marko to kill himself.  It’s an intense thrill ride.  I don’t want to ruin the midway twist but 3.0’s protagonist is a female hero that wouldn’t be out of place in Spencer's other book, Morning Glories.