On HU

Featured Archive Post: Darryl Ayo on public readings of comics.

Me on reverse racism and segregation in Chicago.

Me on Andrew Sullivan and the Iraq war as blogging psychodrama.

Julian Chambliss on Flash, Arrow, and the history of the world’s greatest crossovers.

Chris Gavaler on Justified and how if a series goes on too long you end up with nihilism.

Me on Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s “More Than You Dreamed” and the how romance novels can be ambiguous.

Roy T. Cook with a transitional post for PencilPanelPage — they’re going to be posting irregularly rather than weekly. Check the post out for their votes for the best posts they’ve done so far.

Jog on Aamir Khan’s PK and gentle religious satire, Bollywood style.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I talked about the possibility of suing people who don’t vaccinate their kids.

At Ravishly I:

— wrote about how the original Ghostbusters is a sexist piece of shit.

—wrote about This One Summer and adults being teens and vice versa.

—interviewed Julia Serano about making left spaces more inclusive.

— talked about Black Sea and hating men (unless they’re dead.)

At Splice Today:

— I wrote about P.C., Charles C.W. Cooke, and purity politics.

— I wrote about Andrew Sullivan and the hubris of humility.

At the Chicago Reader I reviewed stoned behemoths Drug Honkey.
 
Other Links

Kevin Carson on Watchmen and why you shouldn’t let the neoliberals have a monopoly on hating the government.

You don’t get much better than X-rated LaVern Baker and Jackie Wilson.

Shea Hennum expresses skepticism about Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor.

Kelly Conaboy on the disastrous 50 Shades press tour.

And hey, Feministing gave away copies of my book.
 

News

First, my book is officially out next week. We will have a bunch of Marston/Peter content out next week and possibly into the week after, including reviews, interviews and more. So stay tuned!

Also, as folks probably know, Jacob Canfield‘s post on the Charlie Hebdo shootings went viral. We’ve gotten exponentially more traffic than we got even when the Sean Michael Robinson and Joy DeLyria’s post went viral way back in March 2011. Since the post went up on Wednesday, we’ve gotten close to as much traffic as we received in the entirety of last year. The site has done better with it than I thought it would, but we’re still somewhat glitchy and erratic. I’m hoping that with the weekend things will calm down and we’ll start getting back to normal.

More after a brief appearance by our preposterous stats graph for this week.
 

 
On HU

Besides Jaob’s monster, here are the other pieces that went up on HU this week.

Featured Archive Post: Betsy Phillips on Sleepy John Estes and the poetics of place.

A list of my best writing of the year from around the web.

On the Handmaid’s Tale and bad slavery comparisons.

Michael Arthur on furry and profiling your own damn fandom.

Alex Buchet gives credit to the comic-book creators who developed the characters in Marvel’s Age of Ultron film.

Chris Gavaler on why we should get away from the term “genre ghetto”.

Isaac Butler on Joe Sacco’s BUMF#1, and why we need satire.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I wrote about Kanye West and Paul McCartney’s lovely new song, and how no one needs to know who Paul is.

At the Atlantic I interviewed DeRay Mckeeson, one of the organizers of the Ferguson protests, about the importance of social media to the movement.

At Ravishly I wrote about feminism as the patriarchal ogre father.

At Ravishly I wrote about the fact that the James Bond films are white supremacist, and why casting Idris Elba won’t necessarily change that.

At Splice Today I wrote about how you can’t trust book release dates.

At Splice Today I explained why Islamophobia can be racist.

At the Pacific Standard I wrote about evidence that images of effective torture can convince people that torture is okay.

At the Chicago Reader I got to write about great grunge primitives Bionic Cavemen.
 
Other Links

Anne N. Bornschein on the scholarly study of romance.

Tim Hanley on the Marston/Peter Wonder Woman newspaper strips.

Serene Khader on Charlie Hebdo and racism.

On life without police in Bed Stuy.

Jesse Walker points out that sources lie to reporters.

Tauriq Moose is skeptical of public marriage proposals.

Wonder Woman News

I got my first negative review on Goodreads! Not ideal, obviously, but it seems fair; he wanted a more fannish book and got an academic one.

More hearteningly, Amazon reports on book sales from brick and mortar stores, and it looks like I sold 48 copies last week across the country (!) Which is way better than I’d expected to do. Not sure how long we’ll see that level of interest continue, but still; it was a nice start.

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Caroline Small on why Jaime Hernandez is (unfortunately) not a soap opera.

On 2001: A Superhero Odyssey.

A five-minute hate for Steven Spielberg

An interview with Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger about their graphic memoir The Late Child and Other Animals.

Odessa Jones on romance, empathy, and why Korean drama is better than the Golden Age of TV.

Chris Gavaler on being a dad when girls are from Mars.

A roundup of the highlights from the Hooded utilitarian in 2014.

Roy T. Cook on comics definitions and why comics studies is so predictable.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Los Angeles Review of Books

— Josh Lanyon’s m/m Holmes and Morirarity series and the closet.

— I wrote about the virtues of know-nothing criticism.

At CBR I wrote about Ms. Marvel and the realism of non-violence.

At the Atlantic I explained why readability is a myth.

For Ravishly

— I explained why metalgate had failed.

— I did a list of awesome women in metal.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—the authenticity of Iggy Azalea, or lack thereof.

— Jessie J’s acoustic performances and their authenticity, or lack thereof.
 
Other Links

Katherine Cross on why women’s fashion isn’t for men.

Sarah E. Brown on why the media was right to share Leelah Alcorn’s suicide note.

Congress almost passed a bill banning funding for the study of romance.

A nice piece on multiple online Ayn Rand film reviews.
 

 
Wonder Woman News

Emily Ballaine had a nice review of my book thinking about comics as art and bondage vs. feminism.

Official release date is January 14, but I think the books are starting to be available online and in bookstores. If you get a copy, please consider writing a review for Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, or wherever it’s convenient. Thanks!
 
On HU

Featured Archive Post: Bert Stabler on St. Paul, feminism, and equality.

My 15 best albums of the year.

Me on why Little Nemo benefits by being in the public domain.

Shonté Daniels on Lindsay Lohan and the price of fame (in an app.)

Chris Gavaler on the DNA evidence for the existence of Middle Earth.

Me on Justice League United’s awfulness.

A Wonder Woman postcard for the holidays.

Adrielle Mitchell on Paul Klee as a comics artist.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Atlantic I argued in favor of outrage.

At Ravishly I wrote about:

— Cecilia Grant’s lovely historical Christmas romance A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong.

— how I keep telling my son Santa doesn’t exist and he won’t believe me.

At Splice Today

—I wrote about making a best of list that doesn’t look like me.

—I wished Nicki Minaj would make a great album already.
 
Other Links

Osvaldo Oyola on OMAC for president.

Geoffrey Bunn’s seminal autobiographical essay about William Marston is online.

Christie Marston on problems with Jill Lepore’s research on William Marston.

Tauriq Moosa on why he writes about diversity in games.

Jeet Heer on TNR, Andrew Sullivan, and race science.

Noah Gittell on Selma an white savior narratives.