Green River Killer: A True Detective Story (2011)

Writer Jeff Jensen (AKA Entertainment Weekly's Lost fanatic "Doc" Jensen) and artist Jonathan Case's Green River Killer:  A True Detective Story (2011) is the graphic novel equivalent of David Fincher's Zodiac (2007).  It is a tale of obsession, on behalf of both Jensen's father, Green River Killer Task Force Member Tom Jensen, and the Green River Killer (GRK) himself, Gary Leon Ridgway, the most deadly serial killer in American history (nearly fifty women were confirmed to have been killed by Ridgway).  It's chilling, gripping, and rises to the best levels of what sequential art can achieve.  

September 21st 2011: Women Comic Book Readers Day!

Comic book fans have displayed mixed emotions at the announcement that DC would be essentially "rebooting" their entire universe come September.  The move by DC is undoubtedly an attempt to gain new readers, considering the stagnation comic book sales (complex continuities can be intimidating to newbies, as are the glut of titles being offered).  Concurrently, women comic book fans have been taking DC to task for a lack of gender diversity behind the page.  This gave me an idea:  I want more gender diversity in the bullpens (racial diversity is hopefully on the way with the new Spider-Man) and I want more people to fall in love with comics, a form that means a lot to me.  My idea is to bring the two together and to make September 21st 2011 (the launch date of Wonder Woman #1) Women Comic Book Readers Day.  Essentially, if we want more people to read comics and greater diversity, let's show the industry that women matter.  

My argument is that writing editorials and grilling personnel about the lack of gender diversity simply isn't enough.  In order to get a profit industry to adopt radical change, they need to be affected where it really matters:  their finances.  

Spider-Man: Turn On the Dark

Forgive the headline, but I cannot contain my enthusiasm for the news of the most recent challenge to the racial boundaries of comics.  Sure, Marvel has had Nick Fury and DC has had Steel.  However, if there was going to a Mt. Rushmore constructed out of Superheroes, it would white as the actual granite cliff face (Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Wolverine?).  In June, that hypothetical sculpture will drastically change:  Peter Parker is dead, Miles Morales is now Spider-Man.