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...