GirlGamer Posts: End of the Year Comics Shenanigans!

I really need to get better at staying on top of announcing my posts! Especially since they happen every week, so they’re not really a surprise…

Bad Teresa!

Anyway, over at GirlGamer.com I’ve written about a Halloween comic for Christmas, and celebrating the best of 2012 by celebrating one of my comic heroes…

First, check out my review of HALLOWEEN EVE (Image), an adorable one-shot comic written by Brandon Montclare and drawn by the fabulous Amy Reeder.

EXCERPT:

Eve works in a Halloween store…and she hates it. Especially around Halloween. Costumes and make-believe just aren’t her bag, despite the well-intentioned nudging of her co-workers, including Raymond, the guy in the store who has an obvious crush on her. When her boss forces everyone to wear costumes at work on Halloween, she’s hugely pissed off about it. What’s worse? She has to close the store on Halloween eve. What’s a cynical girl to do?

For the full review, CLICK HERE!

Next, check out my post on my comics highlight of 2012, Brian K. Vaughan and his wonderfully weird creator-owned ongoing comic, SAGA (Image Comics)!

EXCERPT:

Vaughan reminds us what comics are really about. They aren’t about blockbuster movies or social media. They’re about weird people getting together to enthuse about weird stories that you can’t find anywhere else. They are a medium unto themselves and a community that can be warmer and less snarky than we’ve allowed it to be lately. It’s about people sending each other weird s@#t in the mail.

For the full review, CLICK HERE!

Wow. I just realized that the two comics I reviewed most recently are both from Image and both feature female protagonists of color. Has the world gone topsy-turvy?! Go Image!

Happy New Year indeed!

Tor Posts: Fairy Tale Shows and a New Fantasy “Saga”

It’s a big Teresa day over at Tor.com today! First, there’s my weekly Battle of the Network Fairy Tale Shows featuring reviews of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

Excerpt:

Once Upon a Time -

In “Red-Handed,” Jane Espenson has given us an exciting, suspenseful, and ultimately heartwarming episode of Once Upon a Time that moves both plot and characters forward like a speeding train. Sure, what she did with Archie in “That Still Small Voice” was great, but Ruby is so. Much. Better. One can never look at the character the same way again after this episode, and her journey from dissatisfied waitress to discovering just how competent she is was fascinating to watch. Likewise, Red Riding Hood’s story. She is the Big Bad Wolf, and that’s when I fell in love with the character. The episode seemed to be all about the fact that we are our own worst enemies, our own harshest critics, and very often the only real obstacle keeping us from doing what we want and need to do with our lives.

Grimm -

I just want to give Alan DiFiore and Dan E. Fesman huge hugs, high fives, or whatever other congratulatory gestures they’d accept for their wonderful writing of Nick and Juliette’s relationship in this episode. All along, we’ve been getting bits and pieces the humor and the personality quirks that make them special, but this episode really showed us a fully-functioning (then dysfunctioning) couple. The scene where Nick has to defend himself against an accusing Juliette without telling her about his being a grimm is amazing in its total awkwardness and absurdity, and later, when Nick knows he’s going to have to go to Ariel’s home again, he makes sure to call Juliette and tell her in advance while also telling her that he’s going to take Hank with him. Rather than do the standard Male Character On TV Thing leading to more hackneyed misunderstandings later, he’s up front and prepares himself…like a real person would.

For the full review, and to leave comments, CLICK HERE!

Then, there is my write up of the Brian K. Vaughan midnight signing event at Meltdown Comics in L.A., moderated by Damon Lindelof!

Excerpt:

When Lindelof asked him if he has the ending to Saga planned, “because fans hate it if you don’t have everything planned out,” Vaughan half-joked, “Yeah, cause it’s so irresponsible not to have every single part of your story planned out from the beginning!” For Saga, as he did with Y: The Last Man, he knows what he wants the last page to be, but he’s leaving plenty of room for him and his artist, the fantastic Fiona Staples, to play between now and then. If things diverge from a certain path, it’s because they’re supposed to. Though Lindelof did reveal that when Vaughan came in to meet about writing for Lost, and he asked “So, what is the Island?” the response was, “What do you think The Island is? I mean, we know, but just out of curiosity, what do you think?” Heh.

For the full report, or to leave comments, CLICK HERE!

And yes, there will be a less professional, more fangirly report here at the blog shortly. Stay tuned.