Marvel

REVIEW: Logan is a Harsh, Grounded, and Psychologically Complex Superhero Film

March 15, 2017 // 0 Comments

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Logan (2017). If you haven’t seen it yet, retreat back to your abandoned smelting plant and rest your adamantium-weary bones. The seeds for Logan are planted in The Wolverine, James Mangold’s 2013 take on the eponymous mutant superhero portrayed by Hugh Jackman. An adaptation of the Silver Samurai storyline from a 1982 Wolverine limited series comic book, it sees the clawed Canadian travel to Japan to say goodbye to an old friend, only to //

Early Review: What Will Captain America Civil War Mean for Its Fandom?

May 4, 2016 // 0 Comments

Captain America: Winter Soldier turned the Marvel cinematic universe fandom upside down with new pairings and the fall of SHIELD. Will Civil War do the same? In the run-up to Civil War’s release, the Marvel fandom has been throwing around “Civil War” memes and using tags #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan. Will this movie makes us hate one side or the other and cause a massive fandom war? Will the fallout be similar to the comics run of the same name? Despite all the rhetoric the two //

Played for Laughs: Shaming Fans on Late-Night Talk Shows

March 23, 2016 // 3 Comments

There has been an unfortunate trend in recent years of late-night talk show hosts shoving fan works, particularly slash fanart, into celebrities’ faces. Judging by the clips spanning the international late-night landscape, from The Graham Norton Show to Jimmy Kimmel Live, the purpose of these segments is to shock and appall the celebrity victims and their audiences. Ripped from online fan sites without permission, fan works become the butt of a cruel joke that mocks and ridicules their //

Bucky Barnes: Living with a Bionic Limb

March 13, 2016 // 0 Comments

Science in Popular Culture is a column by contributor Jae Bailey. In this column, Jae explores the science and technology of bionic limbs, arc reactors, and Death Stars in popular culture. Welcome back to Part Three of the Science in Popular Culture series! In Part One, I wrote about what it might be like for Iron Man to live with an arc reactor in his chest. This time I’ll focus on what life with a metal limb might be like for Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist, Marvel’s //

The Bad Guy Always Wins: Why We Romanticize Antagonists

January 26, 2016 // 1 Comment

The first time I fell head over heels for an antagonist was when I read Interview with the Vampire at the wise old age of thirteen. I instantly became enthralled with Lestat in all his robust glory and his snarky, large personality despite him being portrayed as a selfish monster. I’ve always been fascinated by antagonists that don’t quite seem to understand they are the villain in someone else’s story. Eventually as a writer, and as a consumer of media, it became important for me to //

Beyond the DSM-V: Representing Mental Illness in Fanfiction

December 1, 2015 // 4 Comments

I read a lot of superhero fanfic, and therefore I read a lot of fic featuring depictions of PTSD and depression. In a Marvel blockbuster, the focus is usually on plot before people. Because of an ensemble cast, there is only enough time to hint at the psychological complexities of an individual character. So we see Tony Stark have a few panic attacks and be really flippant about it. In a scene cut from the first Avengers, we see Steve Rogers engaging in mundane tasks (riding the subway, sitting //

Iron Man: Living with a Fusion Reactor in Your Chest

November 3, 2015 // 1 Comment

Science in Popular Culture is a column by contributor Jae Bailey. In this column, Jae explores the science and technology of bionic limbs, arc reactors, and Death Stars in popular culture. “What is the point of owning a race car if you can’t drive it?” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 2 (2010) And what is the point of owning a kick-ass metal flying suit if it’s too heavy to ever leave the ground? Tony Stark, the man inside the armor, masters this engineering challenge by using //

A Superhuman Disaster, A.K.A. Jessica Jones: Exploring Gender in Superhero Media

October 27, 2015 // 2 Comments

Marvel fans, particularly fans of Netflix’s Daredevil, are getting excited about Netflix’s next contribution to the MCU: Jessica Jones, the first season of which will be released in its entirety on November 20. Something of a companion show to Daredevil (The comics see Matt Murdock sweeping in as Jessica’s lawyer when she’s in a pinch—maybe there will be something similar in the show?), Jessica Jones follows the adventures of its eponymous protagonist, a former superhero //

X-Men and the “Canon Disabled Character” Tag

October 22, 2015 // 6 Comments

I don’t think I’m alone in this when I say that one of the major reasons I was first drawn to the fandom community was that I just couldn’t find people like me in the books, movies, and TV shows I loved (at least, not without a pretty fast and loose approach to canon). That’s still the case, by and large. Things are improving, certainly, and I don’t mean to knock that. We now have mainstream story lines featuring queer characters who are more than just a coming out //