Comics/Graphic Novels

Off-Panel: Where Are All the Gay Superheroes?

Swapna Krishna

Staff Writer

Swapna is the Comics Editor at Book Riot. She's a Space Columnist for Paste Magazine and writes for Syfy Wire—Fangrrls, Tor.com, Bustle, and other sites. She co-hosts a podcast called Desi Geek Girls. You can find her incessant ramblings on Twitter at @skrishna. She lives outside Philadelphia.

Our daily round-up of news around the comics space, from the gutters and beyond.

“Straight guys, of course, have always been catered to when it comes to superhero narratives. In the landscape of contemporary masculinity, it’s easy to look at the superhero films of the last year or so and see what we’re supposed to regard as a “hero.” The superhero film industry has largely failed to represent women, trans and gender-nonconforming people, and people of color.”

YEP.

“Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” is going to be one of the best, brutally honest, most amazing television shows you watch all year, regardless of whether you knew who Jessica was before you hit “play.” MTV News was given the chance to watch the first seven episodes before the show hits Netflix on November 20, and believe us, we are never going to stop talking about how great it is from here on out.”

Did you see the trailer? We believe this show is going to be great.

“One of the biggest issues the pilot faces is its incredible pace. What feels like several storylines that should occur across multiple episodes are burned through in just 45 minutes. While that kind of pacing does get Supergirl in her final costume by the halfway point, it makes motivations muddy, doesn’t allow for many secondary characters to have personality traits beyond some quippy/cringey dialogue, and doesn’t give viewers much time to breathe before moving onto the next scene.”

This is troubling, and it looks like this pace is going to continue. Let’s hope it works.