Marvel Action: Avengers #5 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Issue five of Marvel Action: Avengers straight away manages to address some of the criticisms that I had with the previous issue: that the story seemed to be missing some parts and felt confusing. Here, within the first few pages we get a flashback to an event that wasn’t shown: Count Nefaria transporting Doctor Strange, Thor, and Captain Marvel to the strange world that we saw in the previous issue.

I’m sure that this will read a lot better in graphic novel form, where you can go straight from one issue to the next, but when you have to wait a number of weeks for information that’s vital to the previous issue it can be fairly frustrating.

Thankfully, with this information now in hand, and having been told the end goal of Nefaria and what that could mean for the world, it picks the story up quite a bit as our heroes in both dimensions must fight to stop him from achieving his goals.

Whilst the action is entertaining throughout, and certainly manages to showcase most of the team in interesting ways, there’s very little in the issue that progresses or serves the characters. This is a big shame, but I feel it’s not any fault of Matthew K. Manning, but rather a behind the scenes choice to have each story arc only be three issues long. Manning has done a good job in the series so far at making the characters pop here and there, and I think that if he was given more time to play with the characters and story the issues would feel more satisfying from a story and character point of view.

But, please don’t take this as a complaint against the writer, as despite the brevity of the stories they have been very entertaining so far, and have showcased some of the characters that I’ve had very little knowledge of, such as Count Nefaria. It’s this use of more obscure characters and different storytelling sensibilities that makes the Marvel Action titles stand out.

The art is also another highlight, as Jon Sommariva makes even the simplest panel look dynamic and interesting, and the world of the Ruby Egress is filled with so many interesting and varied creatures, some familiar and some new, that it really stands out.

A much better middle part of the story than the first, one that gives a lot of information and packs in some good action, before setting up for what is sure to be an explosive finale.


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Wastelands: The New Apocalypse – Review Book

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Wastelands: The New Apocalypse' is the latest anthology from Titan Books, and the third book in the Wastelands series. Edited by John Joseph Adams, it collects together an impressive thirty-four short stories that take readers through a host of post-apocalyptic fiction.

One of the most impressive things about this collection is the sheer variety in the stories that it provides. The apocalypse is a wide and fertile environment, a place where writers can tell almost any kind of story, in as different or as recognisable a world as they like. Wastelands: The New Apocalypse cashes in on this.

Some of the stories have a very recognisable world to our own, one where the apocalypse is only recent, or wasn’t catastrophic enough to change things too much. In others, the end was years, sometimes even decades ago, and the environments are much more what you would expect to find in universes like Fallout or Metro. Some stories are set in such distant times that they become almost magical. Wherever the location, whatever the reasons for the apocalypse that created these worlds, the stories all have a very human story at their hearts.

‘Bullet Point’ by Elizabeth Bear tells the story of a young woman left in Las Vegas, the only person left in the city. Everyone else disappeared through some unexplained reason. When she finds one other person, a man, she must figure out if being alone is safer than being with someone else, and we get to see the effects this has on her psyche.

‘Not This War, Not This World’ by Jonathan Maberry, is set within the same universe as Night of the Living Dead and connects the author’s previous books with that world. It follows a military sniper as he tries to survive against the dead. Instead of focusing on fighting against the dead, as many zombie stories do, it shows the deep psychological damage that such an experience would have on someone, and how deeply it can break a spirit.

As well as examining the mental effects of the apocalypse, the book also tells stories about human love and companionship, and how important these connections are, even if the world around you is not the one that you remember.

‘Cannibal Acts’ by Maureen F. McHugh examines the relationship between two people stuck out in the end of the world, struggling to stay alive in Alaska, and how their love keeps them together, even when they are faced with one of the hardest choices in order to stay alive, and fall on opposite sides. ‘Otherwise’ by Nisis Shawl is about two young women in love, their journey to find another that means a great deal to one of them, and how that changes their love and their connection.

Some of the stories in 'Wastelands: The New Apocalypse' aren’t as deep, or even particularly long, yet manage to be just as enthralling and entertaining, such as the world where rabies has turned the majority of the population into raging maniacs, or the world where giant parrots have learnt to prey upon humans for survival, or the game show host who is still putting on his show for the survivors, to try and keep morale up.

'Wastelands: The New Apocalypse' can frighten, inspire, and shock. The stories within tell tales of survival, love, and the strength to overcome the impossible. The apocalypse can be grim and dangerous, yet also contain beauty and wonder, and this book provides all of those and more. With interesting and unique worlds, characters that pull you in, and stories that can be surprisingly complex, there’s something for everyone inside this new entry in the series.

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Trans Teen Loses Life To Suicide

16-year-old transgender teen José Matías De la Fuente Guevara has lost his life to suicide following a series of alleged abuse and bullying at his school.

José lost his life on May 23rd when he fell from the 11th floor of the building where he lived in the northern Chile town of Copiapó.

His mother, Marcella, told local press that José had begun to socially transition from the age of 13, taking on the name José and wearing masculine clothing, with the intention of living his life as his true gender. Sadly for José he was met with a great deal of bullying from his fellow students at Sacred Heart High School.

Reports indicate that José left a letter detailing his reasons for taking his own life, and that the bullying he had suffered from fellow students is one of the main reasons. When his mother was asked why he had not shared this information with his parents before she replied 'I think there was a feeling of wanting to protect us'.

After José's death his parents also became aware of videos that the teen had made on WhatsApp where he said that the bullying had left him wanting to take his own life, and that in one video that he had received a fellow student had told him to throw himself off his building.

Marcella also told the press that José had been made to leave a local dance group due to having transitioned, and that a school inspector had insulted his appearance, an incident that the school had refused to meet with her about.

‘The last conversation I had with him, he told me “change my school”,’ Marcela said. ‘I did not understand that the school was going to punish the boy for being different.’

‘My son always felt marginalized… he spent many hours exposed to strange looks, comments and teasing. As a mom I can say that I do not want to go to that school anymore, I want them to be stained with my son’s blood’.


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Wonder Woman 1984 Poster Reveals New Costume

A new poster for the upcoming DC film Wonder Woman 1984 has revealed a tantalising glimpse at a new costume for the titular hero.

Released by writer/director Patty Jenkins, the image shows off a startling gold armoured look for the Amazon warrior princess. Possibly taking some inspiration from golden outfits work by her fellow Amazon's in early Wonder Woman comics, the look is certainly different from other costumes that we've seen in the films, and looks amazing amid the bright technicolor of the new poster.

The poster was accompanied by an announcement that Warner Bros. would not be attending Comic Con  International this year.

Wonder Woman 1984 is set for release on June 5th 2020, and will star Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Connie Nielson as Hippolyta, Kristen Wig as Cheetah, and Pedro Pascal in an as yet unannounced role.


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Gareth Roberts Dropped From Doctor Who Book Following Transphobia

Author and screen writer Gareth Roberts, who has contributed to Doctor Who several times in the past, has been dropped from an upcoming Doctor Who anthology book, 'Doctor Who: The Target Storybook', following complaints regarding his transphobic views.

Roberts, who has previously written a number of Doctor Who books, as well as the television episodes 'The Shakespeare Code', 'The Unicorn and the Wasp', 'The Lodger', and 'Closing Time', was invited to contribute to the new anthology book being published by BBC Books, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House. However, when information about the book, and Roberts' contribution was leaked other writers on the project protested against his involvement, threatening to withdraw their work if he remained on the project.

With the prospect of losing several of the contributors BBC Books made the decision not to feature Roberts' work, though they would pay him for his contribution. BBC Books made it clear that the decision to remove Roberts was to avoid the book becoming 'economically unviable'.

Having been removed from the project Roberts' went online to complain about the situation, blaming tweets that he made in 2017 as the rain reason for the protest against him.

The tweets read, 'I love how trannies choose names like Munroe, Paris and Chelsea. It's never Julie or Bev is it? It's almost like a clueless gayboy's idea of a glamorous lady. But of course it's definitely not that.'

Roberts claimed that these tweets were 'cheerful vulgarity', and attempted to excuse away his use of a transphobic slur as being okay because he was gay man in the 1980's. He then went on to double down on his transphobia.

'Some have urged me to make a full, obeisant apology. Even if I was inclined to, I don’t think it would have any effect at all – for example, Helen Lewis of The New Statesman is currently being monstered for the most careful, respectful piece on this issue. I’m not bothered very much by words though I’m bothered when they distress my friends and family. But then, that’s how intimidation works. That’s why intimidators intimidate. (And I know for a fact it would be much worse for a woman in this position.)

'For the record this is my opinion on transgenderism and its ideology, with no humour or irony attached.

'I’ve rejected restrictive cultural gender stereotypes for as long as I can remember. I consider them to be very often harmful and constricting, especially for girls and women. The culture I enjoy most and the artists I like most are people who laugh at, bend and play with these roles.

'I don’t believe in gender identity. It is impossible for a person to change their biological sex. I don’t believe anybody is born in the wrong body.

'I think it’s wrong to – write a falsehood into law; compel people by law to speak words they do not believe; rewrite the law to remove women’s biological sex-based rights and protections; reinforce gender stereotypes; medicalise children who don’t conform to gender stereotypes. That’s it.

'I don’t believe my view should be protected either. People must be protected, ideas must never be. I would ask the writers who objected to my inclusion in the same book as them to reflect on that.

'My opinions on transgenderism are neither extreme nor unusual. It would be interesting to know if BBC Books/Random House would be prepared to pull from publication writing by Sharron Davies, Graham Linehan, Linda Bellos, Robert Webb, Germaine Greer, Lionel Shriver, Julie Burchill or Martina Navratilova.'

Despite only highlighting two of his past transphobic tweets in his statement Roberts has made many in the past that have used the word 'trannies', and have often insulted trans people as 'jokes'.

A spokesperson from the published has said that 'Ebury Publishing will no longer feature Gareth Roberts' work in the soon to be published Doctor Who: The Target Storybook. Comments made by the author on social media using offensive language about the transgender community have caused upset to Doctor Who fans and conflicted with our values as a publisher.'

Children's author Susie Day, one of the writers making a contribution to the anthology, complained about Roberts' involvement. She said that 'being involved felt like a tacit endorsement of his views'.

'I raised my concerns, and said if he was in, I was out. I don’t share a platform with bigots (including ones who say it’s all just bants, before restating their bigotry). I fully expected to be ditched. He’s a name in this world. I’m not. BBC Books made their decision. I'm grateful they took the opportunity to demonstrate that transphobic views have no place in the Whoniverse, both in and out of stories.' Day commented.

Many members of the Doctor Who fandom have taken to social media to support the decision to remove Roberts from the project, echoing similar sentiments to Susie Day, that transphobia has no place within the community. Unfortunately, a core group of fans of Roberts have been vocal in their siding with him, claiming that his removal is a violation of free speech.


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