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Posts tagged: queerness
Tong comes out as a transmolewoman in FF #6! (Thanks, @profmdwhite)
Inspired by Anita Sarkeesian’s Video Game Tropes vs Women, I wanted to pitch a Zelda game where Zelda herself was the hero, rescuing a Prince Link.
Clockwork Empire is set 2,000 years after Twilight Princess, and is not a reboot, but simply another iteration in the Zelda franchise. It just so happens that in this case, Zelda is the protagonist. I’m a very big Zelda fan, and worked hard to draw from key elements in the continuity and mythos.
This concept work is meant to show that Zelda as a game protagonist can be both compelling and true to the franchise, while bringing new and dynamic game elements that go farther than being a simple gender swap.
Hope you like it!
Adventure Time’s “Princess Cookie” gets Comics Editor Carol in her heart zone.
In a lot of ways, Finn is who I would’ve wanted to be when I was a kid—if I couldn’t have Jake’s rad shapechanging abilities. (Shapechanging abilities are mathematical). I’m sure there are still boys upset at the thought of a girl pretending to be Finn, but it’s pretty clear that Finn, Jake and Adventure Time don’t mind girls being adventurers and boys being princesses and not just in the two episodes with Fionna and Cake, the gender and species-swapped versions of Finn and Jake. (Also, featuring the excellent Prince Gumball, voiced by Neil Patrick Harris). But while I love Fionna and Cake, somehow Princess Cookie got me in my heart zone.
I asked for guest posts making the case for the finalists for the Favorite DC Couples matches and reader Natalie Reed sent me this on Harley and Ivy. Her thoughts follow:
Before I begin, I suppose I should admit a slight bias: I’m not entirely of the opinion that Harley and Ivy’s clandestine tryst was precisely “non-canon”. More like “quasi-canon”. Or “deutero-canon”. Or “scholarly confirmed apocrypha”. And if you go by the whole Word Of Authorial God theory, it was straight-up, well, canon (at least for a given value of Paul Dini’s godhood; and regarding Harley’s infamous statement that her immunity to Ivy’s toxicity was granted so they could “play” together).
Basically, unlike the vast majority of non-canon ships, whereby fans go out seeking sexy (or not-so-sexy) subtext between two characters who seem to pair well together, what was going on between Harley and Ivy was, as often as not, just plain old text. The writers planting those seeds (no pun intended) weren’t simply toying (no pun intended) with us, they were quite deliberately implying a relationship there, and moreover implying a relationship that had a pretty meaningful impact on the story. And on at least one occasion I can think of (Ivy’s confrontation with Harley in Arkham during the finale of Gotham City Sirens), those seeds bore fruit, and became a meaningful, climactic element to the narrative.
Happy Valentine’s Day! The Brain and Monsieur Mallah finally admit their love for one another. What could be more romantic?
Celebrate Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia’s birthday with a gallery of movie posters from her films.
(most come from HKMDB.com)
Films represented: The East Is Red; Dragon Inn; Peking Opera Blues; Chungking Express; Bride With White Hair; Swordsman 2; Dream Of The Red Chamber; Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain.
On the left, Alison Bechdel’s re-creation of a vintage paperback edition of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel, The Price of Salt. On the right, the Norton edition released in 2004 (and made available as an e-book last month). The novel was originally published under the pseudonym ‘Claire Morgan’. Cate Blanchett and Mia Wasikowska are scheduled to star in the upcoming film based on the book.
Alison Bechdel—a serious Highsmith fan—was kind enough to mention our Highsmith recommendation engine on her blog(!):
Check out [Norton’s] great website. You can “choose your Highsmith” by answering a branching list of funny questions about what exactly you’re in the mood to read. And you can see a 3 minute promotional video with people like Joanne Schenkar and Terry Castle and me (Alas,no! I did not get to meet the infamous Castle or the mysterious Schenkar…we were all interviewed separately.) talking about Highsmith’s work.
You may remember us talking up Highsmith a ton last month.
Comics Alliance just posted a list of 50 influential comics and characters that have resonated with queer readers and I was so surprised to find my name up there! I was not expecting that and I’m super honored to have been nominated. (#14!)
Hat-tip to my studiomate Colleen Coover (#46) and fellow webcomic bros EK Weaver (#45), Sylvan Migdal (#33), Rich Stevens (#26), Danielle Corsetto (#22), and Kate Leth (#47) for making the list too!
More Pride fun: Brigitte Lin in Peking Opera Blues.
Genderqueer fun for Pride! Lam Ching-Ying as a Peking Opera artist who specializes in female roles and teaches Yuen Biao to fight in Prodigal Son. Also, no tragedy, just fighting!
