San Diego Comic Con Is Gay (& Other Randomness)

Greetings, weary Internet traveler. Today I give you several items that were of interest to me, though none of them inspired me to write a full post. Thus, it should fit perfectly with the average 'net surfer's attention span. So take a moment to quench your pop/culture thirst and enjoy my not-hard work of reporting other people's medium-hard work of reporting other people's hard work.

(One day I may even get paid for this. God bless America.)

Let's get into it.



SAN DIEGO COMIC CON IS GAY

The coverage of SDCC has already begun, with panels and screenings being announced, pertinent maps being released, and vicious green-eyed monsters awakening deep within my belly. I don't know why I always get so jealous of people attending SDCC. True, I've never been. True, when I do go to comic cons (NYCC usually) I avoid booths and panels entirely and just end up buying a couple bags of awesome back issues at good prices. But from what I can tell SDCC is very different. Though I'm hard pressed to explain exactly how.

Regardless, Bleeding Cool reports today about the upcoming Gay Comics Panel, which has apparently been a fixture for 24 years. Who knew? Some interesting, non-gay writers will be part of it, such as Greg Pak and Paul Cornell who write gay characters (didn't someone call Peter David?) and then some gay creators I don't know. Except for Jon Macy. This guy I've heard of. He's the author of Teleny and Camille (probably NSFW), the graphic novel adaptation of the book Teleny.

Teleny was published anonymously in 1893 (though often attributed to Oscar Wilde, natch) and is unique for being one of the first gay erotic/pornographic novels ever. (It also interests me because it's alternate title, Reverse of the Medal, is the name of one of Patrick O'Brien's books. I wonder if he knew...but he must have, he was such a bibliophile. After all, that particular Aubrey/Maturin novel concerns Aubrey's false Stock Exchange scandal a la Cochrane, and the man who set up our Captain behind the scenes? Gay as a double agent for Napoleon caught in an all-male threesome.)

I digress. I haven't read Macy's work but I'd be interested to. I stumbled upon it during one of those "gay comics" google searches that were intended to find something other than drawings of bodybuilders in leather, maybe even with a little storyline. You know what I found? Something fantastic. It's called Brood by Bill Roundy. It's about a vampire who falls in love with a cute boy. Go read it, it's short. Here's a little teaser:

BOOZE

There's probably more to this story, but basically it's a beer with Catwoman on it.

WEBCOMICS

Always a good source of avoid-doing-work material, webcomics have become a ubiquitous feature on the Internet. I came to them late, but I have a few standbys I always check out. For some reason, while Kate Beaton's popularity and acclaim continue to climb, I find myself laughing less often at her strips, though they're still always fun to check out.

Recently I've been rereading Let's Be Friends Again and finding myself kinda having a crush on both Curt and Chris. As in, if I saw them at a Comic Con I'd probably spy a bit but never go say hello. Their Comics Everybody! feature on Comics Alliance is always fantastic (the latest sidekick one is great) and their main page is always enjoyable (the July 4th one was perfect, and was something I've thought about before, but never so concisely or with such comedic timing.) They can be a bit crude (I don't mind at all) and a bit liberal (I mind a little but what can you do) but there's no denying their superhero fandom and how it resonates and amuses.

The Gutters is a go-to three times a week, as is Buttersafe on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Freakangels is a Friday morning treat, though I'm having trouble remembering the last few weeks, but it's ending soon so I'm enjoying it while I can. Sailor Twain is always staggeringly beautiful, but better to save up episodes and go through them all at once.

Got any other recommendations for me?


LATEST EVIDENCE OF WHAT A SUCKER I AM FOR SUPERHERO MERCH

Usually I am pretty frugal/wise, making coffee at home and refrigerating it for the morning, but this week, every single day, I've spent over 3 dollars on a large iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Why?

Because there's a Captain America logo on the cup.

WEEKLY COMICS

Hopefully I'll do some reviews this weekend, but all-in-all Wednesday's new comics had a consistent theme, both for DC and Marvel: it was a week of set-ups and expositions with no climaxes, no resolution, and very little that was satisfying. In a word, disappointing.

The bright side? That means next week, or next month at least, will be chock full of superhero meat (that doesn't sound right.) Further confirmation of this theory can be found at Comic Book Resources in one of their best  features: Marvel previews for the following week.

Main point of interest: The Return of Black Bolt. Quite interested to see how that's gonna happen. And if Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning aren't the ones to do it, Jonathan Hickman is a pretty good choice. Any chance Vulcan will return? Would be well-timed, what with upcoming return to the long missing X-Team of Havok, Polaris, and Rachel Grey (now there's a story I can't wait for.)


TORCHWOOD

The British but now kind of American show returns to television next week and the press for it increases exponentially. I have to admit it's kind of working, as my excitement is starting to bubble. A recent interview with John Barrowman reveals there will be more "kissy-poo" (yeah he's a tool, but he's handsome, and apparently that means that we'll be seeing a lot more CableTV-style gay sex with Captain Jack and whomever he runs into.)

The storyline is very cool. Gwen seems to be in her element (her newborn in one hand, her gun in the other,) Jane frakkin' Espenson is writing more than one episode, and Lauren Ambrose is in it.

At the very least, it'll fill the void left by Stephen Moffat's malevolent decision to split the current Doctor Who season into two parts. (Also, when does his Sherlock come back to TV? And for that matter, when does Downton Abbey return? I'm suffering withdrawal from good British dramas.)


WHAT I'M READING

Speaking of Sci/Fi, I have embarked upon what is called the greatest sci/fi story of all time: the Dune Chronicles (as given to me for my birthday by my brother.) I am currently beginning the 4th installment, God Emperor of Dune.

While I consider myself a reasonably intelligent human being, I must admit my strong suspicion that 60% of the things Frank Herbert writes goes right over my head. On occasion I attempt a slow, deliberate reread, but despite the density of his prose it reads remarkably fast, and I can't help powering through.

At one point while reading the first one I had a high fever, and my dreams were negatively effected by Herbert's imagery, but I got over it. The description of the main character at the start of God Emperor, however, indicates I might be returning to a completely freaked out state. No doubt, it's worth it.

If you haven't tried the series, you probably should. Seems as if it's required reading for any fan of science fiction. If anyone has seen the David Lynch movie, please let me know if I should check it out.



That's all I got for now. I leave you with a new image from the upcoming Captain America movie, featuring our hero and a not-exactly-15yo Bucky. Happy Friday quasi-friends, and have a wonderful weekend.