A recent reminder of the disconnect between the comic book industry and the wider world is the firestorm over the revelation that the Captain America of the comics is now a Hydra agent in Captain America: Steve Rogers #1. Many veteran readers, including myself, were inclined to treat this as just another plot point that wouldn't actually change anything in the long run. But Marvel completely failed to anticipate how offensive this could be to those people still facing anti-semitism and other kinds of prejudice, or their newly acquired mainstream audience. Then there's the risk that these arguments might get conflated with traditional fan rage.
Sean T. Collins on the moral binary found in the Game of Thrones episode The Broken Man.
Ed Brubaker remembers when Alan Moore's Watchmen was treated as a victory for creators rights.
Ronald Wimberly on why publishers should pay artists for sample pages. Seems obvious enough on the surface. But I forget that comic books are such a marginal part of the publishing business.
With Star Trek celebrating its 50th Anniversary, it's especially terrible to hear that actor Anton Yelchin has died from what sounds like a freak automobile accident.
Ben Judkins on Chinese martial arts as a vehicle of female empowerment, and how a young Captain America cosplayer was introduced to kickboxing.
