I’ve paid for the Comicsgirl domain through mid 2027, though, so Dan has agreed that this site will live as a static site (less likely to be hacked!) until then. After that, I think Comicsgirl is probably done.

It won’t quite bring Comicsgirl up to 30 years of existence, no, but that I’ve kept this site mostly running in one form or another (the early years didn’t have the domain but they count) for 25+ years is significant. I’m OK with letting it go.

This site is archived by the Library of Congress so it’s preserved for some sense of forever. I’ll be keeping a copy, too.

So yeah, that’s it for this part of my life. I’m edencosmic on most places (I’m more active on some than others).

What you may not know is that she’s an absolute delight to hear speak, as a diverse (and, I’d like to point out, mostly female) audience at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium last Friday found out. Satrapi, stylishly dressed with adorable wedge shoes (look, I was sitting close enough to notice, OK?) and bright lipstick, was relaxed and animated throughout.

On paper, two women sitting on a stage talking shouldn’t be this entertaining, even if the two women are Satrapi and Iranian author Azar Nafisi. But if anything, the 90-minute interview felt a bit too short. Satrapi can talk, but everything she says is charming, insightful and hilarious.

If there was one theme of the conversation, it was Satrapi’s insistence that people be true to themselves. Far from being a message of “peace and love” (Satrapi laughed about that later, saying she knew that’s what she sounded like she was advocating), her stance was presented as more of a challenge. Prompted by Nafisi, who brought up that Stephen Colbert called her “dangerous,” Satrapi said that the truth is always subversive and she doesn’t think Persepolis is a particularly mysterious story. It was just “her voice against those voices” — of the Iranian regime, certainly, but also those who think that’s all there is to Iran.

Satrapi then launched into an entertaining rant about how so many people have abandoned pleasure. “Fear makes us stupid” she said, and she’d rather enjoy life while she’s living. So many people, she said, spend all this time taking care of themselves — not drinking, smoking, eating or having sex — when they’re going to die just the same as she is.

She recounted that when she decided to become an artist, it was because she couldn’t think of anything else she wanted to do more. She mentioned with dismay that art students ask her at what point she started making money. It was never about that for her and she doesn’t think it should be about that now.

Nafisi asked about how Persepolis got made, and Satrapi said she didn’t want to do it at first but only relented because she was given money to have a “new experience.” She did say she tried everything she could to get out of it — she wanted to be animated, in black and white, in French — and the producers, to her surprise, said yes to everything. She knew she wanted to be animated because it made it more universal. It was about her experiences growing up, yes, but animation made it more abstract and easier for everyone to related to than if it had been live-action.

Her experiences making Chicken with Plums, though, was different. She said she had trouble getting it financed and what she wanted to do was questioned, including why she wanted it in French if it took place in Iran. She brought up to these people there are plenty of movies in English where people are playing Germans or Austrians and she really didn’t see the difference. Still, she lamented the dearth of creativity of the film industry — no one has a problem making another Transformers movie but a movie like Chinatown, which is one of her favorites, would never be made today.

Asked by Nafisi about her views on the Internet got some laughs since Satrapi said she’s “technologically inept” and she can’t even type. She’s not interested in the Internet and made some good points — out of your 500 Facebook friends who “of these people would come cook you chicken soup when you’re sick?” She said she dislikes that the Internet makes the world a small village and that everyone knows what you’re doing all the time. She said she’d rather live in a “big city.”

Satrapi also joked about how only men should take women’s studies and that she was always confused that women were expected to be modest as to not tempt men. “Where’s the men modesty?” she asked.

As they typical are, the audience questions were a mixed bag, but I liked the woman who asked about the relationship between truth and creativity. Satrapi said that everyone remembers things different and truth is not reality. She also thinks it’s OK to cheat for the sake of the story, recounting that one event in Persepolis that happened when she was 14 in the book actually happened when she was 18. It worked better for the story she was trying to tell at the earlier time.

The last few questions were related, mostly about the power of individual voices. Satrapi said she doesn’t consider herself a spokesperson for Iranian immigrants because she doesn’t want that responsibility — she said it’s hard enough for her to be responsible for herself.

Satrapi said she’s not inclined to trust governments because politics aren’t going to change the world. Instead, she said “all the changes in the world was started with words.” And if there was one summary of everything she said Friday night, that having your own opinions and ideas is “not to be rebellious. It’s just to use the brain.”

And then with characteristic playful charm, Satrapi concluded the evening with a goodbye and a claim she really needed a cigarette.

(Lisner did not allow photos so I respected that, which is why there are none. And as thanks to the people who made this possible for me, you should shop at Big Planet Comics — especially U Street and Bethesda, but shop at them all! — and read the webcomic Sam & Lilah.)

The Doll’s House Buy from tfaw.com

Opening with “Tales in the Sand,” a story about Dream’s doomed romance with Nada, The Doll’s House begins what becomes something of a dichotomy in The Sandman — the differences between women’s stories and men’s stories. Here, Neil Gaiman seems to be realizing the potential of The Sandman — these stories can take place anywhere, anytime and don’t necessarily have to be rooted in the DC universe.

He then introduces Rose Walker, who will drive the rest of the events of The Doll’s House. I wanted to be her when I grew up.

At 14, I hadn’t seen anyone in comics quite like her — a girl that looked like me, or rather, looked how I’d like to look. She was recognizable. Perhaps not intentionally, but Rose was pandering to a female audience.

Looking back, it’s not that Rose is particularly special. She’s cute, has a good sense of style and is fairly smart and savvy, but mostly, she’s just a girl.

But I think that’s why she works. I think she’s a large part of the reason why The Sandman got pegged as a comic that women would like.

I like the overall story — Rose goes searching for her brother and ends mixed up with several escaped dream figures as well as a convention of serial killers. Gaiman’s ability to pull elements from everywhere is as smart and as impressive as I remember (and the diversion of “Men of Good Fortune” is still delightful).

The dream vortex stuff, though, feels under-developed and tossed in there. The concept isn’t a bad one, but the resolution to it feels rushed and slightly tacked on. I think the serial killers/escaped nightmares/missing brother stuff was enough of a plot.

It’s a small complaint. I don’t think The Sandman had quite found its pace yet, but there is still some wonderfully inventive sequences and surprising elements. If I read this for the first time today, I would’ve liked it quite a bit.

(I have the old The Doll’s House collection – the one that included a summary of what happened in the first seven issues and also included “The Sound of Her Wings.” Wikipedia tells me why this is that way – at the time, there were no plans to collect the first seven issues – but it always sort of amused me in the “Oh, you don’t have to read those other ones, just start here” kind of way. Because for some people, that may not be the worst of ideas.)

Comicsgirl has been my project since 1998 and while I have stopped updating on a regular basis, I am maintaining it as an archive.

Please visit my current site, Cosmic Need.

Hosting provided by Dan Guy at fivesided.com.

Site icon by Kevin Czap.

Photo by Emily Rose Portraits.

In the late 1990s, my friend Jade and I made a comic (I wrote it; she did the art). It’s available for the Kindle for $1.50.

So if you came across this site, you may be interested in what I’m doing now. It’s a project I’m calling The Revision and it’s a deep dive into movies based on comics that focus on women or girls. And here’s the twist: None of these are about superheroes.

The introduction post has some more information. The first post is about two of the Blondie movies. It will run weekly on Tuesdays.

There will be extra content (more movies, TV shows and things that didn’t fit into the main scope) on my Patreon.

I hope you join me in this journey. We’re going to have fun.

Big Planet Comics Bethesda hosted creator John K. Snyder III on July 14 for a signing for his adaptation of Lawrence Block’s Eight Million Ways to Die, published by IDW.

Click to view slideshow.

There was a steady crowd throughout the two hours, including several friends stopping by to say hello to Snyder, who lived in the area for many years.

Eight Million Ways to Die is getting good reviews so far, including from Publishers Weekly and The Oregonian. While it’s been out in comic shops for few weeks now, it hits regular bookstores tomorrow, July 17.

While that’s Snyder’s most recent release, I was happy to have him sign my copy of the collected edition of Fashion In Action, released last year by Bedside Press after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Now, if you know a few things about me, you probably know them in this order: I like comics, I like music, and I like clothes. This is a delightful intersection of all those things and I, of course, love it.

Snyder gives us a great collection of heroines that are thoughtful, complex and powerful. True to the name, there is a lot of great fashion and action, but there’s also an exploration of fame and mortality.

That may make it sound heavy, but it’s not — it’s also so much fun with a great post-punk sensibility. It’s clearly a product of the ’80s but it feels surprisingly relevant now.

(I may actually own a few issues of Scout where some it originally appeared. Or I may have just meant to buy them and never did. I should go through some more boxes.)

Fashion in Action is fun and I’m glad it’s in print in such an accessible format so more people can read it.

It’s 1982 in Sweden and everyone keeps telling Bobo that “punk is dead.” Bobo knows different. Punk isn’t a genre of music. It’s a feeling you have in your heart.

Lucas Moodysson’s We Are the Best!, based on his wife’s, Coco Moodysson, semi-autobiographical comic, Never Goodnight, is the punk-rock movie you didn’t know you wanted but absolutely needed. It’s one of the few movies that gives absolutely respect to the inner life of girls. There is nothing here that makes fun of them. They are treated as the absolute forces of nature that they are.

Comics are cool and hip, right? Well, maybe not that superhero stuff necessarily, but those “literary” graphic novels that tend to get featured in the New York Times and such. Those and the people who make them are worth writing an indie romantic drama/comedy around, certainly.

I am kidding here, partially — but writer/director James C. Strouse’s generically-titled People Places Things seems to take that conceit. While I give Strouse credit for some of his details, much of the “graphic novelist” elements seem like a cute motif in the larger story. While they add some unique touches, they do little to elevate the movie much beyond where you’d expect it to be.

The extended title sequence features blue-pencil comic art illustrating how graphic novelist Will Henry (Jemaine Clement, better known as half of Flight of the Conchords) met his current partner and mother of their twins, Charlie (Stephanie Allynne). As openings go, it’s intriguing but not necessarily insightful. Artist Gray Williams, who provided the art, illustrates these scenes in a typical indie comics way (think Adrian Tomine) — clean and a bit cute. It does little to tell us anything about who Will and Charlie are, however.

We first meet them in the flesh at their twins’ birthday party. Will catches Charlie cheating on him with “off-Broadway monologist” Gary (Michael Chernus). It’s an abrupt introduction to these characters — especially to Charlie — and sets up the meandering tone the movie often has.

When the story picks up a year later, Will is in bad shape, drifting through weekends with his (admittedly adorable) twin daughters (played by sisters Gia and Aundrea Gadsby) and the class he teaches on cartooning at School of Visual Arts. When a student, Kat (the amazing Jessica Williams) sets him up with her mother, Diane (Regina Hall),Will begins to question the direction of his life is taking. Or something. I think that’s what we’re supposed to think.

While Will should be an oblivious manchild, Clement brings such sweetness, wit and charm to the role it’s hard not to root for him. His initial scenes with Diane have a playful antagonism that show someone who’s smart but cautious with who he lets in. Even though the movie does have a few non-surprising scenes, like where Will fails to get his daughters to school on time — his gentle but deep love toward his girls is honest and heartfelt. Will is not without his faults but he’s man who is trying to do the best he can for his daughters and himself.

And that’s really the major flaw of the movie — as appealing of a leading man as Clement makes (and no doubt, he’s already a star, but he’s wonderful in this), Will has no real journey. And the major issue is with the character of Charlie.

While some of Charlie’s fears and complaints are understandable — she gave up her own ambitions for Will’s career and after becoming a mother — her character is written in a shrill, unlikable way (and introducing her while she’s cheating on the father of her daughters does her no favors). Allynne does what she can with the role, but Charlie feels unfortunately selfish and flightly because the movie requires her to be. I never really felt like I understood her motivations of what Will saw in her, other than they shared a history. (It doesn’t help that Clement and Allynne have little chemistry.)

But let’s get back to the comics stuff, which is what interested me in this movie in the first place.

While Will’s career as a graphic novelist is somewhat integral to the plot, it also too much like window-dressing. Will could’ve been any sort of artist — a writer, a musician, an actor. The “comics” aspect does come across way too much as a bid for hipness, especially when it comes to a somewhat forced conversation about the relevance of comics as American literature with Diane. I have fears that “graphic novelist” will quickly become the creative occupation of choice for protagonists of indie movies.

The movie does get some comic things right, though — Will teaches as SVA and certainly, many comic artists do. I’m not particularly sure why we’re supposed to look down on Will for living in Astoria (I know people who make comics who live there happily) and I kind of want to complain there aren’t enough women in Will’s class (although the bit about a male student sharing his comic about learning to masturbate felt pretty on-point, complete with Will’s eye-rolling exhaustion about it).

The shining star in this movie is Kat (and if there’s any justice in the world, Jessica Williams will be a huge star). She’s a 19-year-old black woman who wants to make comics and hangs out (or works — it’s not entirely clear) in a poorly-disguised Bergen Street Comics. She’s working on a comic with her life with her mother (and the men her mother dates) and from what we see of it, it’s pretty awesome. Will recognizes it’s awesome too, and he shares his work-in-progress with Kat. They have an intriguing, complicated relationship that feels built on mutual respect rather than romance, In fact, when Will misreads Kat’s intentions initially, she shuts him down so fast. It’s refreshing to a younger woman and an older man connect on a level that’s not sexual at all.

I loved that the movie recognized that it’s young women who are the future of comics, and choose to represent this with a woman of color. There was not nearly enough of Kat in this movie.

If you watch the trailer, you’ll know what to expect with People Places Things. It’s by no means a bad movie, but it’s slight and “cute” is probably the strongest word you can come up with for it. It’s definitely cute. It’s definitely a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes. But sadly, the more interesting elements get lost in movie that decides to hit the most obvious beats that the appealing cast can’t overcome. There is a good movie about these characters (especially about Will and Kat) but this movie just isn’t it.

(People Places Things is in theaters and on Video On Demand starting Aug. 14.)

The other day, I was browsing through Comixology, and I came across the Harlequin/SB Creative page (I believe most are also available on the Kindle, though, and possibly elsewhere — this is just where I found them). Not only had the whole Harlequin manga thing not disappeared, there are nearly 450 titles. (Most seem to be both be written and drawn by women.)

A quick crowdsourced query offered some suggestions of ones to read. So of course I bought some and did just that.

Domesticating Luc, written by Sandra Paul, art by Mayu Takayama

This was probably the most straightforward and the sweetest of the three I read. It’s about a playboy, Luc, who is trying to train his late grandmother’s dog so he can put it up for adoption. His dog trainer, Julie, ends up staying with him to do just that (like you do).

It’s fun and silly (the dog, an Italian mastiff named Puppy, even has some asides). I didn’t find Luc to be particularly attractive — little too stiff and square-jawed for me — but Takayama’s Julie is bright-eyed and adorable. It’s the least sexually-explicit of the three I read — while Julie and Luc clearly has sex, it’s all hazy and dreamy with no nudity.

I didn’t quite buy the romance between them — it’s all pretty obvious and tame — but it was cute.

The Passionate Sinner, written by Violet Winspear, art by Yoko Hanabusa

This is when things start to go off the deep end, which I am guessing is the ultimate appeal of these. I mean that in a good way. A surgeon named Paul Von Setan is blinded and the nurse who took the blame, Merlin, pretends to be an old woman to become Paul’s secretary as he works on a book on a tropical island.

Following all of that? Of course, Merlin is found out and Paul suspects she was the nurse who intentionally blinded him. There’s a bunch of gothic silliness here in the classic sense (think … Jane Eyre, but maybe in reverse and maybe with a loss of a limb).

The relationship seems primarily passionate and physical at first, and Paul definitely has a weird, controlling streak. There is a bit more nudity here and the sex scenes — while still hazy — definitely feel more physical and present. Hanabusa’s art has a pleasing retro quality to it, which I enjoyed. Her panel layouts are also dynamic and appealing.

This kind of falls into the “I don’t know if I’d call it good” category for me, but it was fun and I enjoyed I had no idea where it was going next (even if it ended up in an expected place).

The Sheik and the Virgin Secretary, written by Susan Mallery and art Kakuko Shinozaki

When I asked for recommendations, someone said “anything with Sheik in the title” and OK, let’s ignore the ethnic implications and just go with that. I picked this one because that title made it seem like it was going to be ridiculous.

I was kind of right. It wasn’t as over-the-top as I expected, but I think that made it better.

The virgin secretary of the title, Kiley, asks her boss, Rafiq (you guessed it! The sheik of the title. He’s from a fictional country in the Middle East so that fixes everything!) if she can be his mistress. You see, Kiley
just caught her fiancé cheating on her and clearly this is a logical solution to that. They agree to do this for three months.

I admire how quickly the plot just jumps to this (this arrangement happens in the first three pages). However, after Kiley admits to Rafiq she’s a virgin, he says he’s going to take it slowly — in a good way, of course. Yes, they fall in love because of course they do, but their relationship seems to have a natural progression. While there is conflict and family drama, it’s all pretty quickly resolved. I liked that.

Of the three I read, this definitely had the most sex — lots of undressing, fondling early on and it quickly progresses to more as the book continues. There’s quite a bit of nudity as well (all female, though). The sex scenes are pretty extended and while they still leave enough to the imagination, I was surprised at what they didn’t.

Shinozaki’s art is loose and modern and I thought it suited this story well. Kiley isn’t presented as a great beauty, but that’s definitely one of the points of the story. Rafiq is playfully handsome. Her page layouts have a breeziness to them that makes this story fun. For all the expected beats, the art really carries the story.

—

I have to admit I was surprised by the overall quality of these — I definitely went into this with some curiosity but not overly high expectations. The writing, while it adheres to pretty standard romance novel tropes and beats, is strong and effective. The manga artists are a good match for each title. These feel like they weren’t treated as a throwaway — the quality is much, much better than it needs to be. I love that.

While I could see how easily these could be addicting — they’re certainly entertaining and fun — at about $6 per title, they’re a little pricey for things I’m unlikely to ever read again. However, I like to know they’re there and whenever I need some silly comfort, I can imagine myself buying a couple more every now and then. I have a couple more recommendations to read but I’ll gladly take more.