Happy holidays! Hanukkah is officially over but we are fully in the swing of getting into the Christmas spirit (I like to celebrate all the holidays – more the merrier, y’know?) and I’ll be vending at theBoxSF all weekend 12/10-12/12 (Sat/Sun are free entry!) selling comics, books, totes and collage prints as well as some fun little extras. Come by and say hello!
Store updates: I really wanted there to be a stronger update but for now I can safely say I am in a lot of conversations but holding off on making any major moves. I hope to have some more information in the new year, so stay tuned! The online store is fully stocked though (including new cherry totes!) and I am offering free local pickup and free skate-delivery to the Mission, Castro and Mission-Dolores neighborhoods. Some other neighborhoods also included for a small fee.
Writer’s Workshop: We had another writer’s workshop this past Sunday, Dec. 5 at 7PM and it was shorter than the last couple but just as fun. I hope everyone who attended felt the creative magic and found themselves as inspired as I was. The next one will be Sunday, Feb. 2 at 7PM at Silver Sprocket who has graciously allowed us to continue hosting every first Sunday of the month from 7-9pm.
Now onto some reviews… Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:
Nubia: real one by L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith
You know what? I’ll say it: DC is better than Marvel. Someone recently asked me Marvel vs. DC and I said Marvel because I love Miles Morales’ Spiderman, Spider-Gwen, Ms. Marvel, and the Avengers but… I have got to give it up for DC lately with the LGBT representation and just really diversifying their catalogue in general. This is just one example of a story that I was really impressed with lately. I’m so happy they gave Nubia a fresh new storyline and really revamped her character and I’m really excited to see where this goes. This might be one of my favorites of the year – definitely makes it into the Top 5.
Demons: To Earth and Back by Hyena Hell
This was such a silly little comic, I really enjoyed the play on satanic rituals and the subtle commentary on extremism. The way these demons were actually quite mundane (the summoned demon literally just wanted to drink his damn coffee the whole time) really grounded this story in reality for me.
The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook
“What if everything the right thought about the left was true?” is the tagline for this one and oh, boy, they really leaned into that. I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed with the level of satire or offended at how wild it was at some points. The art really cinched the win on this one for me, though. Matt Lubchansky is really a gem in the comic world and their style is what I’ll call dark and goofy. This one won’t make my top 5 or even 10, but I really liked the concept, art style and execution, and I’ll look forward to seeing more comics from Matt in the future.
Miffed Ruffianz: Penultimate Subterfuge
I really enjoyed the art style in this comic, but I am at a loss for what it was actually about. Per the usual genre and theme of Silver Sprocket published works, it had that sexy rebel flair, but it didn’t really seem to have any type of storyline and it was a bit confusing. The art was enjoyable, though, and I always look forward to the new and interesting art styles and off-beat comics that Silver Sprocket puts out.
Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games
This was a really cute yuri manga that danced around some PG yuri themes using the analogy of forbidden fighting games. Two girls in a fancy boarding school have a kismet in a schoolroom when one catches the other playing a fighting game- an activity strictly forbidden by their school, and they begin a secret rendezvous playing these games together. At this point there is nothing is overtly romantic or sexual between the girls, but there is definitely gay undertones. It’s a cute lighthearted story and I would pick up the next volumes if they become available.
Whipping Girl by Julia Serano
Okay sort of cheating on this one since I’m not quite finished yet, but I am over halfway done and I really do love this book. I’m finding it extremely educational and I believe that everyone should read some/all of this, as Julia’s essays are so, so important. Her essays are approachable for those outside of the LGBT+ community but even so vital for those who are within the community, as she addresses issues of transmisogyny within the queer lesbian and feminist spaces that I feel is still relevant in 2021 (the book was written in 2007) and something we need to continue to be proactive about confronting.
Cats! Purrfect Strangers
This was pretty cute, but definitely nothing to write home about. I am a total cat lady so obviously I was attracted to the title and curious what it was about. The art style is cute and that’s sort of the best I can say about it because I do have a few issues with some of the character designs. For one, all the characters are white. The other thing I found odd was that one of the girls, Erika, starts out as a bigger character and suddenly gets skinnier about halfway through with zero explanation. That was jarring and frankly, disappointing. Diversity in comics is so important and body diversity is no exception. Especially with female characters, where the comic norm is skinny, conventionally attractive, white etc. It’s cute but there’s nothing about it that deviates from mainstream normative-ness and to me, that’s somewhat disappointing.
Clockwork Curandera vol. 1: The Witch Owl Parliament
This here is a hit, in my opinion. There’s a lot of really fun, interesting elements that make for an exciting journey and I’m really looking forward to the second volume. I will say, I did not understand what was going on for the first few pages but I picked up what was happening and it is a very engaging story once you start figuring it all out. I think this is quickly approaching my top ten for the year – it is uniquely intriguing concept and story wise, and it’s also incredibly well executed. The art is really beautiful and the writing is just fantastic. It is pretty funny too and I am already finding myself very attached to these characters. This book may have been the highlight of my week, honestly..!
Well, that’s it for reviews this time. I hope to be able to pull together enough brain cells in the next couple weeks to put out a top 10 for what I’ve read this year. Since I read a lot of books that were not released this year, and were instead from previous years, I’m not sure exactly how relevant it would be, so it might not happen. If it does, it would just be because I’m having fun with it.
As usual, feel free to drop me a line if you ever have anything to say about my reviews, questions about the business, making a purchase, etc. Hope to see you at our upcoming events, either this weekend and theBoxSF or next Saturday at Milk SF! And don’t forget about the next Writer’s Workshop on January 2nd! ‘Til next time…
XOXO