EDITORIAL
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=466

Back when I was a wee fangirl, if somebody had told me I’d have a somewhat prominent sandbox to stand on, I probably could have come up with oodles of stuff to say, or so I like to think.

~ Katherine Keller

FEATURES
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=1&issue=2007-03-01

Interviews

• Gwen Rachel Stanley — A Need to Piece Things Together. By Jennifer Franklin Elrod.
• Dario Carrasco, Jr. — Classic Heroes. By Lee Atchison.
• Mike Bullock — Invisible Children. By Lee Atchison.
• Fabian Nicieza — Megalomaniacs and Supermen. By Lee Atchison.
• Rich Burlew — Order of the Interview. By Cecily Israel.
• Phil Hester — Supernatural Talent. By Mary Borsellino.
• Jason Yungbluth — Targeting Deviant Misanthropes. By Lee Atchison.

Articles

• Hopelessly Lost, But Making Good Time #71. By Pam Bliss.
• It’s Convention Season. By Lisa Lopacinski.
• Messing with Metanarratives — Part 1: It’s All About the Stories. By Suzette Chan.
• Secret Origin of a Fangirl — It Was a Relationship that Blossomed on the Web. By Jennifer Franklin Elrod.
• The Changing Face of Supergirl — A Look at the Evolution of the Girl of Steel. By Mary Borsellino.
• What Happens In San Diego … — Should Happen In Las Vegas. By Katherine Keller.

Con Reports

• Phoenix-Cactus Comic Convention. By Lisa Fary.

COLUMNS
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=2&issue=2007-03-01

• Bookshelf Source Material. By Marissa Sammy.
• Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Nominations. By Lisa Lopacinski.
• Girls Who Are Boys, Who Like Boys To Be Girls — Gender-Bending Comics. By Mia MacHatton.
• Nodwick #36. By Rebecca Buchanan.
• One First 13Q — CJ Hurtt and Shawn Richter. By Katherine Keller.
• The Golden Age of Comics History — Andrew Farago. By Shaenon Garrity.

CULTURE VULTURES
http://www.sequentialtart.com/section.php?id=3&issue=2007-03-01

Interviews

• An Interview with Supernatural’s Missy Bender — Super Women: Alexia Fast. By Mary Borsellino.
• An Interview with Supernatural’s Kat — Super Women: Brooke Nevin. By Mary Borsellino.
• An Interview with Supernatural’s Sherri — Super Women: Georgia Craig. By Mary Borsellino.
• An(other) Interview with Supernatural’s Executive Story Editor — Super Women: Sera Gamble. By Mary Borsellino.
• Jonathan Coulton — The Man Who Gave Light Rock a Stern Talking To. By Lee Atchison.
• An Interview with Time Chasers Director David Giancola — Time Lord. By Leigh Dragoon.

Articles

• Crossing the Bridge to Terabithia. By Leigh Dragoon.
• Growing Up with Nickelodeon — 1981-1991. By Wolfen Moondaughter.
• Wizardwatching — Exploring the Dresden Files. By Wolfen Moondaughter.

REPORT CARD
http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?issue=2007-03-01

• Book / Periodical (2 reviews)
• Comic (3 reviews)
• DVD / Video (11 reviews)
• Graphic Novel (2 reviews)
• Manga (12 reviews)
• Movie (1 review)
• Television (1 review)
• Web Comic (1 review)

All this and more is waiting for you at Sequential Tart. Visit us at http://www.sequentialtart.com/

Browse all the entries under Comics, Web Comics.

Like Isaac Mendez, the comic artist of NBC’s Heroes who can paint the future, some comics creators find that their work at least partially anticipates some aspects of the future. In his introduction to the original DC Comics run of V for Vendetta, Alan Moore wrote that he and artist David Lloyd had played something of a Cassandra role in anticipating the future, when they created V for Vendetta. In his and Deepak Chopra’s Comic-Con panel of July 20, 2006, Grant Morrison said of his work on The Invisibles, “We had things that went into the comic and would then manifest themselves in the real world and in my life.”

A similar phenomenon can be observed in other media, too. Most notably, science fiction authors frequently write about things that happen later. For example, Lester del Rey wrote a story called “Nerves” that told of a nuclear power plant accident years before Three Mile Island. H.G. Wells called this prophecy-like phenomenon “The Discovery of the Future.” For Wells, this discovery of the future was not exactly about foretelling the future. It was about realizing the creative effects of our acts. It was about learning to predict the consequences of our choices so that we could engage together in creating a better future world. In the spirit of H.G. Wells, it may be thought provoking to compare two of the most prominent features of the comic world of V for Vendetta to the real world of America, circa 2006.

One of the bizarre, twisted features in the political landscape of the V for Vendetta comic world is the relationship between Leader and Fate. Leader is a virgin, and the only love he has ever known is his love for Fate, a computer system that he personifies as a cold goddess. Fate is a system for total informational awareness, and it is hooked up to surveillance cameras everywhere. V is, among other things, a consummate hacker. He has been hacking into Fate for a long time. When he finally reveals to Leader that he has compromised Fate, by the sign of the V on the computer screen, Leader feels as if his love has been unfaithful to him. He kisses the screen, saying, “I forgive you.” Is there anything in America that can compare to Fate?

In fact, there is. It is called PROMIS (Prosecutor’s Management Information System). There are mixed reviews about what PROMIS is capable of doing and who has access to it. What is certain is that a computer software system called PROMIS exists and that it can, at the very least, predict and influence the world financial system. We also know that information about our financial transactions is tracked whenever we use a credit or debit card. As far as I know, however; the POTUS (President of the United States) is not in love with PROMIS. We can take comfort in the fact that it is extremely unlikely that the POTUS sits in front of a monitor hooked to PROMIS, watching us in our bedrooms.

Next, let’s consider the Voice of Fate. In the comic world of V, Lewis Prothero broadcasts propaganda to the people every day as the Voice of Fate. When we’re first introduced to the Voice of Fate, we see journalists in a newsroom. They are having a discussion immediately in the wake of the fireworks V unleashed in the explosion he showed Evey after rescuing her from the government police. “Fate doesn’t think we should mention the fireworks,” one of the journalists says. “If anyone asks later we’ll say it was a freak effect of the blast.” We learn immediately that news is censored under the Norsefire regime. We infer that it is important to the regime to keep the populace pacified with a carefully controlled, calming Voice of Fate. People who live under Norsefire apparently feel reassured to be told by The Voice what will happen, what to do and what to think.

Is the news media in America anything like the Voice of Fate? In fact, it has been established that the media reports fake news as if it is genuine reporting. The Center for Media and Democracy has documented that television news stations routinely disguise PR video content that has been provided to them by corporate and government sources. Stations routinely air PR videos as if the videos were their own independent reporting. In most cases, they did not verify or balance the content of the videos that were provided to them. Unlike the media in the Norsefire comic world, however; many alternative news sources are available, from CSPAN to blogs. Once again, the resemblances between art and life are enough to make us pause and think, but not to panic.

Readers can continue this game of comparison on their own, comparing the comic world to our world. They can form their own conclusions about many other serious trends that the V for Vendetta comic dramatizes, from torture to habeas corpus. In most cases, I am confident that some research and thought would turn up superficial differences, yet deep similarities, between V’s world and our world. V is a comic, though; and as such, it remains open to multiple interpretations.

It’s not often that I recommend drawing direct political lessons from any work of fiction, whether a comic or a novel. V is different. It works because it is morally ambiguous rather than a simple tale of good vs. evil. To think about moral and political issues, when reading V, is to be fully engaged with it. So, what would I advocate, then, if I like V so much? Do I think we should dress up like Guy Fawkes and destroy property? After all, aren’t I taking V rather literally in making comparisons between V’s world and our world?

The answer is that there is a reason why Evey does not remove V’s mask when he lies dead at her feet at the end of the comic. She knows that no matter what V looks like, the idea of V will be diminished in some way, if he becomes just a man. V is an idea. There is an obvious difference between art and life. In art, a guy dressed as Guy Fawkes can blow up a building, but in real life, the building still stands, and nobody has been hurt. Nothing has happened except in readers’ consciousness. So, no, I would never advocate imitating V in a literal sense. Instead, I think V inspires us to destroy illusions and free our minds. I think V allows us to imagine being brave and helping others to become brave. Freeing our minds, freeing other minds, being brave and encouraging others to be brave are activities that were still legal, the last time I checked.

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Publisher
Brooke Spangler
http://agirlandherfed.com

Credits
Creators: Brooke Spangler

Grade: 7
A Girl and Her Fed follows the daily life of a young, single, female, liberal journalism intern who is under the surveillance of the fed. Her fed knows that she is not a terrorist, but ever since she has written an article defending civil liberties, he has just been doing his job by following orders to open her mail and watch her. This sounds like a deadly serious subject, but the topic is rendered hilarious by its treatment by Brooke Spangler. For example, her fed has had an annoying Pocket President, an AI version of George W. Bush, installed in his brain without his consent. His Pocket President does battle with the ghost/hallucination of Benjamin Franklin, to whom our heroine has been talking ever since an LSD trip. I laughed out loud intermittently as I followed the progress of the story.

Spangler does both the writing and the drawing for this comic. She herself says that she likes writing a lot more, and that she knows it shows. She’s right about that, but the writing is so funny that the comic is enjoyable to read in spite of the crudeness of the drawings. I’ve never read a political comic quite like this. I usually don’t find political cartoons or comics hilarious. Sometimes they get a smirk out of me. They rarely make me laugh out loud. Spangler manages to avoid being didactic, in spite of the intelligence and relevance she often allows to creep into her characters’ dialogue. She even humanizes the fed. This comic is a satire of what a liberal’s paranoia might look like, while also being a satire of the reasons for the paranoia that some feel in our era. It’s also an example of the freshness that can issue forth from somebody’s imagination on the web.

Browse all the entries under Reviews, Web Comics.

Publisher
BuyMeToys.com
http://www.buymetoys.com/

Credits
Writer: Ben Avery, Casey Heying
Penciler: Casey Heying
Colorist: Snocone Studios, Casey Heying
Letterer: Comicraft
Cover Artist: Joe Jusko, Boris Vallejo

Grade: 8

This second issue of The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles begins with Humpty Dumpty singing on a wall, when he is rudely interrupted by the Jabberwocky, a fearsome creature imagined in a poem and brought to life. As Humpty falls off the wall, Alice wakes from a nightmare in which she has seen these events unfold. She immediately sits up in bed, grabs her guitar and begins to compose a song out loud, singing Humpty’s lyrics. It may just be a joke, or it may be another example of synchronicity among the dimensions, that her roommate Polly comes in immediately to ask if she wants some eggs for breakfast. Alice declines the eggs but accepts some coffee and, as she is drinking it, she learns that her best friend and roommate Dorothy has been out all night – again. Meanwhile, a roommate named Dee (short for Wendy?) is going out for a jog, with the comment that she can’t stay young forever. Later, it turns out that Dee also tends to date younger guys, making it even more likely that Wendy Darling will also turn out to be a major character in The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles. These are all examples of the way that even the most mundane conversations and events have meaning in this comic. Paying attention to detail is rewarding, even at times when it seems on the surface like nothing is happening.

As the rest of the story unfolds, the uncanny occurrences are not only appearing in Alice’s dreams and her roommates’ conversations. Alice and Dorothy look out their Chicago apartment window and to see a flock of flamingos flying by, munchkins walk by outside the bar while Alice has played, and an official from the Emerald City approaches Alice and Dorothy looking disheveled and speaking with his conversation laced with clues that ought to jog Dorothy’s memory. By this time, Alice and Dorothy are starting to seem either like they’re a little slow or like their memories are massively repressed. As they walk home from the bar, the former Wizard of Oz helps them fight off a group of strange men with bicycle wheels for hands and feet – they’re Wheelers, which Dorothy somehow knows. This is finally the turning point.

The story suddenly speeds up as Mr. Oz fills them in on the tear in the fabric of both worlds. He, too, has been seeing many sightings, including a Wogglebug indigenous to Oz. The epicenter for the tears is Chicago, where Dorothy and Alice have been drawn together to be friends and roommates. Mr. Oz makes a new head for Jack Pumpkinhead, who tells Dorothy she is needed in Oz. Aunt Em still has the magic slippers, and Dorothy puts them on and returns to Oz, where she takes the form of a little girl again and is recognized by the denizens of Oz as Princess Dorothy. Alice doesn’t have such an easy path to Oz. She is nearly attacked by the lion and the tin man, until they realize she is a friend of Dorothy’s. At the close of the story, Dorothy asks where Scarecrow is. We see that the witch has captured him for questioning. When he refuses to tell her any answers, she spills the stuffing out from his head and hints that she will use magic to extract from the straw the answers she seeks.

This issue of The Oz Wonderland Chronicles has pulled me even more into the story, and I’m looking forward to finding out what will happen next. The plot development had seemed slow to me at first reading, but when I paid more attention to detail on my second reading, I saw that even when it seemed like nothing was happening, the panels were rich with information. A sophisticated story seems to be taking shape, one with a lot of layers and details that can be discerned from a close reading. Eventually, the story arc is sure to involve Wendy (Dee) and probably even the other two roommates, as well. There are already hints about this possibility. Knowing how much it pays to understand all the details, I’m planning to re-read Alice in Wonderland and to read the Oz books. I like these heroines. They remind me a little bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They are young, pretty, contemporary, sassy and tough. They have active social lives that intersect with other dimensions as they battle evil. I am going to be able to get into this series.

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For comicon reports, Alice Doyle gives us the lowdown on Dublin City Comicon 2006.

In columns, Brian K. Vaughn is the subject of this month’s Tart Tastes, Young Avengers Volume One: Sidekicks gets a Fantastic Firsts article, Robert Lach writes about the mainstream audience in the redirected male column, the Tart to Heart column spotlights favorite covers and Lisa Lopacinski gives us an insider’s angle on the ups and downs of the comic book store business.

Culture Vultures interviewees include Fan Hope, Wiley Miller, Anne Openshaw, Jeannette Sousa and Lindsey McKeon.

In Culture Vultures articles, Tarts reminisce about their favorite eighties sitcoms, Jennifer M. Contino enthuses about new Disney DVD releases, Corrina Lawson rants about football video games, Tori Morris critiques Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Wolfen Moondaughter writes Part Two of Six Degrees of Science Fiction, Terry Drosdak gives geek girls a basic beauty primer and Shaenon Garrity writes about her thoughts while watching Sesame Street.

Also check out the Report Card for reviews of comics, anime, movies, DVDs, books and television.

Browse all the entries under Comics.