'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

One element of Iron Man's appeal in print is the armor's continual evolution .  You could look upon it as "boys with their toys," but it runs deeper. Superior technology combined with solid values have always been a part of the American framing of defense . Iron Man's Cold War roots have allowed the character to easily play into this narrative.  With the current focus on anti-terrorism, technology has gotten both praised and scorn in the public discourse.  Our reliance on surveillance satellite and code breaking so well suited for nation states missed the threat of asymmetric warfare posed by terrorist groups.  After a decade of conflict however, the appreciation of technology has returned .  The debate about military drones is the public face of this new engagement, but the impact is widespread.  Iron Man 3 bring these ideas into the film narrative. Like the United States, Tony Stark's victory will likely hinge on superior tech, reinforcin...

Whedon talks Avengers filming day one | Moviehole Joss Whedon's message about the first day of shooting on the Avengers marks a key moment in Marvel's ongoing cinematic campaign. Bringing the Avengers to the big screen will basically act as the culmination of several years of careful construction of Marvel's cinematic universe. If you doubt this fact, a quick look of the Thor trailer shows Iron Man, Hulk, and Nick Fury. While films outside Marvel Studios have had no indication of a shared universe, Marvel produced films are all about the shared universe. We should not assume success, indeed problems related to the cost and time associated with making special effect heavy films has emerged as a problem for DC and Marvel related films. The time and money associated with bringing superheroes to life on the big screen is considerable. Moreover, they still need to make a good movie, something that is no easy task. Still, the odds are in Marvel and DC's favor. They h...

Brenda Starr, the groundbreaking female reporter created in 1940 by Dalia (Dale) Messick, is coming to an end. Starr was a standout female character in the Golden Age of comics. Yet, her success was the result of her popularity as a syndicated newspaper cartoon strip, not as comic book property. Messick created the character for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate and despite resistance from the editors, the character resonated with readers. While initially not appearing in the Chicago Tribune, it was relegated to a Sunday supplement, by 1945 Brenda Starr had a daily strip and was one of the most popular characters in the Sunday paper. In that same year, the character made its first cross media appearance in a movie serial, Brenda Starr, Reporter starring Joan Woodbury. By the 1950s the character appeared in over 200 newspapers nationwide. The character's popularity is noteworthy because in an era where women were expected to suppress their career aspiration and return home after Wo...