Last Week’s Comic Book Reviews

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Comic Reviews: Week of March 28th Action Comics #899 (DC – writer: Paul Cornell; art: Jesus Merino) I’ll be damned if Paul Cornell doesn’t write the best Superman stories. We haven’t seen Superman in about nine issues, and I couldn’t be happier. Paul Cornell has made Lex Luthor beyond interesting as a lead character. We know he’s a genius, and we know he’s evil, but Cornell reminds readers that Lex is also ruthless and calculating, and just plain awesome. The story so far has centered around Lex’s attempts to control the power of the black rings introduced in “Blackest Night,”

Anime is for Feminists, I Think: Part 2

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Just before PAX, we took a look at Kino no Tabi and its place among the few anime that could be deemed feminist. We concluded with the promise of violence–a promise I fully intend to keep as this week we take a look at Kanabe Mamoru’s Elfen Lied, a brilliantly violent series based on the manga by Okamoto Lynn that is either the most profound or most offensive feminist statement in anime. A bit of plot summary can be found in my Elfen entry on underappreciated anime. For our purposes here, we’ll dive right in.