In an attempt to undo every cool thing I've ever done (boxing classes, the Men's Health Urbanathlon, all the drinking that undoes those other things) I've decided to make a concerted effort toward commenting on five amazing nerdy and pop cultural items of interest everyweek. And check it out: I've got CATEGORIES! They're like Scattergories without all the f***ing alliteration.
Sorry this is so much Marvel: before I got to read DC this week, I had to catch up on 30 Rock and then accidentally fall asleep in running clothes. Like an adult.
CHARACTER THING: Magik is 'Yana Del Cray
Hey Kieron Gillen. Call me Dido? Why? Because I just want to thank you. Mostly for making the Rasputins interesting again. Until you, no one did anything interesting with Colossus since Whedon, and no one's done anything I could understand with Illyana since Lobdell. I think I had on British Knights the last time she didn't give me a migraine. Now he's complicated Colossus in the best way (well meaning artist who has good reason not to trust in anything or anyone) and pleasantly simplified Illyana (in a manner similar to what Remender did for Psylocke). Anyway, I thought the reveal that Illyana wanted to make Peter crazy was the big A-HA. This week's final issue of Uncanny puts that original thing down, flips it and reverses it.
GAY THING: X-Factor's Gay... Not That There's Anything Wrong with That
Nothing new here -- just a new revelation from me. And that's that X-Factor is so damn true to life. Not in the way that celebrities are just like Us, but in the way that these people actually reflect reality -- in the most realistic way a green-haired woman drawn in a skin-tight purple trenchcoat can reflect anything. Here's my point: I notice that Shatterstar and Rictor never-to-seldom make a point of being gay unless they're talking one-on-one. It's Guido, or Jamie, or in this issue Lrona who make the gay jokes. And I'm like: that's just like me, because I can have entire days where I don't even notice I'm gay until someone treats me like their token gay and reminds me. (You know what I wish reminded me? Sex with a man.)
INADVERTANTLY GAY THING: XXX-Treme XXX-Men
Remember when Falcon Studios barebacked Marvel Comics? Now you do.
So inadverntantly gay... for a book where the main protagonist where disco balls as part of her costume? Hmmmm... I think I've forgotten what "inadvertant" means.
#liberalmedia #gaybrainwashing @godpits
DESIGN THING: THE MOHAWK IS BACK AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS SORRY POLITICS
Beyonce could have a baby with Mitt Romney this week, and then Chris Brown could date and smack that baby while it's IN THE WOMB and that would still be the SECOND most important thing I learned this week. Storm. Is. Getting. The. Mohawk. Back.
Very interesting look here at the logic behind the costume designs, and the character descriptions that make me think I might possibly NOT hate an X-Force with Puck in it. (I would have said the same thing about Fantomex three years ago. I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised. Swaearsies, yo.)
POP CULTURE THING: Buns of Anarchy
Not a comics thing, but definitely an underappreciated pop culture thing, last week's Sons of Anarchy -- about a murderous, racist, lying, amoral pack of bikers + Peg Bundy after a fugue state -- featured a tranny hooker. Not only did this gang of lovable murderers not beat or belittle the tranny, but the tranny outsmarted them -- AND one of them unapologetically wanted to have sex with herm! It was one of the most unrealistic scenes in the show, but it was interesting: the writers' way of saying, "They're evil enough to stab a guy in the neck with scissors, but not evil enough to hate gay guys." In conclusion, Kurt Sutter = the new Marc Cherry.
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