turtlereviews

[turtlereviews]

As Pride Month comes to a close, it’s time I spoke candidly about my experience at Marvel Comics.

To date, I’ve always been honest about the joy of writing Iceman’s journey as an out gay superhero, but I’ve skirted around the challenges that came along with it. This is partially because I prefer to give off an upbeat vibe, and there’s also a fear that my truth will affect my career. With more corporations patting themselves on the back for profit-led partnerships wherein celebrities take selfies in rainbow apparel, and with buzz that Marvel Studios is preparing to debut their first gay character in the upcoming Eternals movie, there is an urgency to discuss the realities of creating queer pop culture in a hostile or ambivalent environment. Hopefully, my takeaways will serve as a guide for people in positions of power to consider when advocating for more nuanced and rich representation. In an ideal world, embracing our stories and empowering us to tell them will yield far more profitable (and way less messy) results than what I encountered while writing Iceman.

Stand by your people

It’s no surprise that I got the attention of trolls and irate fans for taking on this job. There was already backlash around the manner in which Bobby Drake aka Iceman came out, and Marvel needed to smooth that landing and put a “so what” to the decision. After a point, I could almost laugh off people making light of my death, saying they have “cancerous AIDS” from my book, or insinuating I’m capable of sexual assault… almost. Between Iceman’s cancellation and its subsequent revival, Marvel reached out and said they noticed threatening behavior on my Twitter account (only after asking me to send proof of all the nasty shit popping up online). An editor called, these conversations always happen over the phone, offering to provide “tips and tricks” to deal with the cyber bullying. I cut him off. All he was going to do was tell me how to fend for myself. I needed Marvel to stand by me with more work opportunities to show the trolls that I was more than a diversity hire. “We’ll keep you in mind.” I got so tired of that sentence. 

Even after a year of the new editor-in-chief saying I was talented and needed to be on a book that wasn’t “the gay character,” the only assignment I got outside of Iceman was six pages along, about a version of Wolverine where he had diamond claws. Fabulous, yes. Heterosexual, yes. Still kind of the gay character, though.

We as creators are strongly encouraged to build a platform on social media and use it to promote work-for-hire projects owned by massive corporations… but when the going gets tough, these dudes get going real quick. 

Believe in the work

You may be asking if my Iceman book was any good, or if I’m just being sour grapes over a bad work experience. Believe me, I asked that, too. From the get-go, my first editor asserted that Iceman would be DOA if it were “too gay,” while also telling me to prepare for a cancellation anyway, given that most solo X-Men titles don’t last beyond a year. Never mind that my work on Iceman had gotten positive press in the New York Times (in-print), or that in spite of (since-deleted) critical sandbagging, the series nets glowing reviews on Amazon… Marvel still treated me as someone to be contained, and the book as something to be nervous about. Do you know how hard it is to not argue with a publicist when he’s explaining the value of announcing Iceman’s revival via the Marvel homepage? Sis, that’s a burial. Instead of clapping back, I just went and got myself more press from the New York Times. From there, they tightened my leash. I had to get all opportunities pre-approved, and all interviews pre-reviewed. This would be fine if it was the standard, but I assure you: none of my straight male colleagues seek permission to go on podcasts promoting their books. 

What Marvel should have done is assign me a special projects editor. They should have worked with a specialty PR firm, rather than repeat a tiresome cycle of treating the book like a square peg, and getting confused when it’s a hit. 

Give us a real seat at the table

There was a moment before Iceman was cancelled where I wrote then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso an email, pleading for a Hail Mary arc. I explained that Iceman was landing with a newer generation of readers who focused more on binge-reading than month-to-month periodicals. The series needed time in the book market before its true strength could be assessed. To Axel’s credit, he was warm to the idea and even gave me an extra month, but when he left Marvel that idea got brushed away. Of course I was right. The first two volumes sold like gangbusters thanks to word-of-mouth, librarian love, and support from retailers big and small. 

When the series returned, no one at Marvel asked me: “What do you think landed with readers?” Nor did they ask the question that Axel did: “What matters to your community?” So when I wrote what I thought the fans would be into, a story about a man learning to be a better ally in the war against hate, editorial totally missed its value.

Seat at the table pt II: The Shade of it all

All of the weird drama I put up with crystallized when I created a drag queen mutant, first called Shade, now called Darkveil. I told my editor that Shade would be a big deal for X-Fans, and asked how we should promote her. He said: “leave it up to the reader’s interpretation.” Everyone at Marvel shrugged off two years of goodwill and acted like I’d coordinated behind their backs on an announcement that made headlines. Beyond mentioning on Instagram the queens who inspired the character, I didn’t coordinate shit. Of course, their head publicist can’t admit that my quotes were pre-approved from an unreleased interview. At this point, I stopped believing that there’d be any more work for me. There were so many shady moves on their end that I’m still having trouble putting into language, but it all aligned with an experience I had in retail where a corrupt manager kept lying and moving the goal posts in order to keep me selling in a department I didn’t want to work in. I offered to give Darkveil a proper character bio, and I walked away.  

I recognize that some of my complaints can be filed under “this is freelance life.” I am aware that it was not a queer person of color who joked to me that “it’s not a matter of if Marvel fucks you over, it’s a matter of when.” That came from a cis white male. The same-day turn-arounds without warning, the work emails on Christmas week… that’s the freelance bullshit. Truly, I don’t even think of this as discrimination, I call it general ineptness. It is my belief that if we are telling stories about heroes doing the right thing in the face of adversity, wouldn’t the hope be to embody those ideals as individuals? Instead of feeling like I worked with some of the most inspiring and brave people in comics, I was surrounded by cowards. 

Truly, I hate writing this. In keeping with Pride Month, I am proud of the work I did on Iceman… I love the book! It sucks that I may be tarnishing its legacy going public about how the cookies were made. That said, the time for self-congratulating is over, and folks should be earnestly listening when they ask: what could we have done better? 

[turtlereviews]

Culture and media / May 2019

Summary: books: 9. movies: 5. 1 play.

Books:

Katherine Arden: The Winter of the Witch (2019)

Tom Egeland: Codex (2018)

Maria Lang: Hvem venter på vertshuset (1972)

Linda Skomakerstuen: Uten vesentlige feil eller mangler (2017)

Maria Lang: De røde kattene (1965)

Patrizia Cavalli: Diktene mine vil ikke forandre verden (1974)

Viveca Sten: Farlig farvann (2008)

Eva Ramm: Med støv på hjernen (1958)

Sigrid Boo: Selv i tider som disse (1932)

Movies:

Step up (2006)

Dust on the Brain/Støv på hjernen (1961)

Olsenbanden tar gull (1972)

Trafic (1971)

Mortal Engines (2018)

Other:

Venter (play)

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/April 2019

Summary: 8 books (plus some crime book rereads for Easter i didn’t bother registering), 2 comics, 11 films at home, 2 films at cinema.

Books: 

August Strindberg: Ett Drömspel (1901) *

Sara Stridsberg: Medealand (2011) *

Georges Simenon: A Maigret Christmas (2017/1951)

Karen Thompson Walker: The Dreamers (2019)

Jørn Lier Horst: Det innerste rommet (2018)

Sigrid Boo: Vi som går kjøkkenveien (1930)

Xiaolu Guo: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (2007)

Oyinkan Braithwaite: My Sister, the Serial Killer (2018)

Comics:

Xueting Yang: Et annet sted (2014)

Marvel: Civil War II

Films:

Venom (2018)

Iron Man (2008)

Cowboy Bebop (2001)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Runaway Train (1985)

Evil under the sun (1982)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Captain America: The first avenger (2011)

the avengers (2012)

Avengers: AoU (2015)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Cinema:

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Mid90s (2018)

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/March 2019

Summary: 8 books, 2 comics, 17 movies at home, 2 movies at the cinema.

Books:

John Scalzi: Redshirts (2012)

Laura E. Weymouth: The Light Between Worlds (2018)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Cryburn (2010)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Sword (2014)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Mercy (2015)

Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes (2017)

Emma Newman: Planetfall (2015)

Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants (2016)

Comics:

Pamela Ribon: My Boyfriend is a Bear (2018)

Tee Franklin, Jenn St. Onge + others: Bingo Love vol. 1 Jackpot edition (2018)

Movies:

Dune (1984)

Jurassic Park (1993)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Ocean’s Eight (2018)

Waterworld (1995)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Total Recall (2012)

Pathfinder (1987)

The English Patient (1996)

GoldenEye (1995)

Den Forsvunne Pølsemaker (1941)

Deadpool (2016)

Isn’t It Romantic (2019)

Pitch perfect (2012)

Jurassic Park III (2001)

I, Robot (2004)

Cinema:

Captain Marvel (2019)

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/January and February 2019

Summary: 3 comic books, 12 books, 24 movies at home, 2 movies at cinema

Books:

Mieko Kawakami: Pupper og egg (2013)

Daniel Tudor: Korea. The impossible country (2012)

Våte kyss (2018) - short story collection by various

Martha Wells: Rogue Protocol (2018)

Martha Wells: Exit Strategy (2018)

Martha Wells: All systems red (2017)

Martha Wells: Artificial Conditions (2018)

Agatha Christie: Appointment with death (1937)

Rebecca Roanhorse: Trail of Lightning (2018)

Seanan McGuire: Rosemary and Rue (2009)

Nnedi Okorafor: Binti: The night masquerade (2018)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (2013)

Comicbooks: 

Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda: Monstress vol. 1-3 (2016-18)

Movies:

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

A year in Champagne (2014)

Death is a caress (1949)

Høysommer (1958)

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)

Tulip Fever (2017)

Meet me in St. Louis (1944)

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

Transformers (2007)

Daisies (1966)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

You were never really here (2017)

Wreck-it Ralph (2012)

Goodbye Mr. Loser (2015)

Deep Impact (1998)

Easter Parade (1948)

Night Watch (2004)

Final Destination (2000)

Cafe. Waiting. Love (2014)

Incredibles 2 (2018)

The first purge (2018)

The Wandering Earth (2019)

Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)

Cinema:

Bumblebee (2018)

BTS World Tour: Love Yourself in Seoul (2019)

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/December 2018

Summary: 9 movies, 8 books.

Movies:

DuckTales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

John Carter (2012)

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961)

Evolution (2001)

Train to Busan (2016)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Back to the Future (1985)

Cinema:

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

Books:

Georges Simenon: Maigret and the Dead Girl (1942)

Anne McCaffrey: The Ship Who Sang (1969)

Alexandra Oliva: Den Siste (2016)

Tove Jansson: Sommerboken (1972)

Michelle McNamara: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2018)

R.F. Kuang: the Poppy War (2018)

Tara Westover: Educated (2018)

Peter Temple: Shooting Star (1999)

[turtlereviews]

Venice (Veneto, Italy) by Petrana Sekula on Flickr.

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/November 2018

Summary: 11 movies, 8 books, 2 comics, and one symphony orchestra concert. 

Movies:

Illang - the Wolf Brigade (2018) (well half of it)

My Neighbours Yamada (1999)

All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

Jumanji: welcome to the jungle (2017)

Die Hard 2

Battle Royale

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

Cinema:

Venom (2018) (yes, again)

Grensen (2018)

Burn the Stage (2018)

A Simple Favor (2018)

Books:

Garth Nix: Clariel (2014)

Kiersten White: Now I Rise (2017)

Kiersten White: Bright We Burn (2018)

Sabaa Tahir: Ember in the Ashes (2015)

Han Kang: The White Book (2016)

Takashi Hiraide: Katten (2001)

Tomi Adeyemi: Children of Blood and Bone (2018)

Margaret Atwood: the Penelopiad (2005)

Comicbooks:

Wandering Son vol. 1 (2003)

World of Wakanda vol. 1 (2017)

Other:

BSO: The Horror

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/October 2018

Summary: 30 movies, 10 books, 2 comics, 4 performances. This is the first month I think that really feels like what my ‘normal’ habits are. Not the film festival and the dance festival, but, like in terms of books and other movies.

Movies (film festival) (pt 2)

Citizen Jane (2018)

The Real Thing (2018)

Cielo (2018)

Mirai (2018)

Wild Relatives (2018)

Into the Okavango (2018)

Rafiki (2018)

Movies (cinema)

Anchor and Hope (2017)

Venom (2018)

Movies

Bleach (2018)

Alien (1979)

Escape from New York (1981)

Alien vs Predator (2004)

Hail Caesar (2015)

Predators (2010)

State Fair (1945)

State Fair (1962)

Valerian (2017)

the House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Next Gen (2018)

The Girl with all the gifts (2016)

Solo (2018)

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

The Babysitter (2017)

Gone with the bullets (2014)

The Conjuring (2013) 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)

The Lego Movie (2014)

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Katteprinsen (2002)

Books

Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (1937)

Anna Day: Fandom (2018)

Hiromi Kawakami: The Nakano Thrift Shop (2005)

Patricia Briggs: Burn Bright (2018)

Caleb Carr: The Alienist (1994)

Dong He: Stjernelysregn 

Seanan McGuire: Down among the sticks and bones (2017)

Kido Okamoto: The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi (1937)

Sarah Tolscer: Song of the Current (2017)

Lonely Planet: Food Lover’s Guide to the World (2012)

Comic books

All-New Wolverine vol. 1 (2016)

Mystik U (2018)

Performances

Gunilla Heilborn & Kim Hiorthøy: Why I wear this shirt

Human Works: Carousel

Eisa Jocson: Princess

Marie Bergby Handeland & Morten Liene/Landslaget: Null

TVShows:

Currently watching: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Black Lightning, Miss Ma, Bon Voyage.

[turtlereviews]

Movies I’ve seen: BIFF18: By male directors

Mirai (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)

Citizen Jane (dir. Matt Tyrnauer)

Into the Okavango (dir. Neil Galinas)

People’s Republic of Desire (dir. Has Wu)

Three Identical Strangers (dir. Tim Wardle)

Prospect (dir. Zeek Earl, Chris Caldwell)

The Real Thing (dir. Benoit Felici)

Letter from Masanjia (dir. Leon Lee)

Sunset (dir. Laszlo Nemes)

+ Pick of the Litter. 

A very, very subjective ranking!

[turtlereviews]

Movies I’ve seen: BIFF18: By female directors

Rafiki (dir. Wanuri Kahiu)

Battle (dir. Katarina Launing)

And Breathe Normally (dir. Isold Uggadottir)

Wild Relatives (dir. Jumana Manna)

Pick of the Litter (dir. Dana Nachman, Don Hardy)

The Night of All Nights (dir. Yasemin & Nesrin Samdereli)

The Heat: a Kitchen (r)evolution (dir. Maya Gallus)

Cielo (dir. Alison McAlpine)

Føniks (dir. Camilla Strøm Henriksen)

There are 4 fiction films and 5 documentaries. I’ve ranked them solely on personal preference, not on some attempt at objectivity. This doesn’t mean I think any of these movies are bad, but I think Cielo and Føniks are Not For Me. I found Cielo meandering and pretentious but occasionally very pretty, while Føniks was well acted, but child-has-to-be-the-adult isn’t a genre I’m particularly into. I don’t regret seeing either of them though!

Rafiki was my last film of the festival and I liked it a lot. It’s sweet but definitely not cloying. There was a moment that had the woman sitting behind me gasp loudly in shock. Both main characters are very likeable! I believe in Love damnit!

Battle is a Norwegian dance movie, with a girl ballerina and a boy hip hoper and it’s very enjoyable, and pretty much the only bad guy in it is the girl’s lies that eventually catch up with her. Probably there didn’t need to be quite so many side characters with 2-3 lines, but that’s a minor thing in a movie that does exactly what it says on the box.

And Breathe Normally is probably the actual best of these three movies, and if I were to rec one, it would be this one. It’s about a single mom who has no money who gets a trainee position as a border guard at the Icelandic airport and spots a woman with a fake passport trying to get to Canada. Their lives get tangled in each other, and it’s genuinely just a good movie? It’s much funnier and less tragic than it sounds.

Wild Relatives is about the first seeds withdrawn from the Svalbard seed vault, and what happens to them, and how they’re re-deposited. Super relevant to my interests!

I don’t know if I have a lot to say about Pick of the Litter, Night of All Nights and The Heat except that the first two are very touching in different ways (puppies grow up to be dogs! old people being together for more than 60 years!) and the last one is an interesting look at some top female chefs and how they run their kitchens.

I may have deliberately gone for a mix of Relevant to My Specific Interests and Fluff when I’ve chosen movies, but I’m only watching for my own personal enjoyment so I’m fine with that. 

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/September 2018

Summary: 38 movies, 11 books and 4 comics

Movies

The Boy and the Beast (2016)

Pom Poko (1994)

Platform (2000)

The Host (2006)

Hero (2002)

North by Northwest (1959)

The Mummy (1999)

The Maze Runner (2014)

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)

Gatsby (2013)

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2015)

Before Sunrise (1995)

Belle (2014)

The Maze Runner: Death Cure (2017)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Wings of Desire (1987)

Twelfth Night (1996)

Logan (2017)

An (2015)

Tomb Raider (2018)

Movies (Cinema)

Skjelvet (2018)

Rent-A-Cat (2012) (Film Club)

Close-Knit (2017) (Film Club)

Movies (Film festival)(part 1)

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

Battle (2018)

Sunset (2018)

And Breathe Normally (2018)

Letter from Masanjia (2018)

Pick of the Litter (2018)

People’s Republic of Desire (2018)

Føniks (2018)

The Night of All Nights (2018)

Prospect (2018)

The Heat - a Kitchen (R)evolution (2018)

TV Shows

Vera s.3, Free! Dive to the Future.

Books

Kiersten White: And I Darken (2016)

Wisława Szymborska: Livet er den eneste måten (2013)

N. K. Jemisin: The Stone Sky (2017)

Sarah Rees Brennan: In Other Lands (2014)

Ayane Kawata: Tid av Himmel

Claire Kahn: Let’s Talk about love (2018)

Gregoire Delacourt: Ønskelisten (2012)

Madeline Miller: Circe (2018)

Kiera Cass: The Selection (2012)

Donna Leon: A Question of Belief (2010)

Naomi Novik: Spinning Silver (2018)

Comics

Saga vol 2 HC (2017)

Black Vortex (2015)

Tillie Walden: Spinning (2017)

Batman Eternal vol 1 (2014)

Concert

Bernstein i 100

Autumn Melodies

[turtlereviews]

Some August faves:

Legion s. 1 - I have no idea what’s happening most of the time and I enjoy it very much. It’s like the tv version of a very trippy comic book in all the best ways.

The Handmaiden (2016) - It is good.

Badehotellet s. 1-3 - I was watching it in the mornings. Up until season 3 it was quite relaxing! Idk if I’ll keep watching but I like Amanda and Fie very much.

Alt Dette Er Tokyo (2018) - Fun and informative and very well written. 

Levende og Døde (Human Acts) (2014) - Illuminated a moment of South Korean history I know very little about, plus it’s very good.

Olivia (1949) - Teenage girl crushing hard on her older teacher.

The Fifth Season (2015) - the Broken Earth trilogy, really, but I haven’t finished the Stone Sky. I like the world building and really admire the way Jemisin does everything I hate with narrators and somehow makes me like it. 

My Neighbour Totoro (1988) - <3

The Girl in the Tower (2017) - I want it as one of my pet books.

Hello Mr Billionaire (2018) - Funny! I liked it a lot. (with caveats but i only winced a couple of times and not to the point that it really bothered me personally.)

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/August 2018

Summary: 20 movies, 16 comics, 36 books, and 5 tv shows (sort of)

Movies

Akira (1988)

James Bond: Quantum of Solace (2008)

James Bond: Skyfall (2012)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

The Handmaiden (2016)

Baby Driver (2017)

Flavors of Youth (2018)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Justice League (2017)

Murder, she said (1961)

Arrival (2016)

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

Lån meg din kone (1958)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

Spirited Away (2001)

Sandome no satsujin (2017)

Your Name (2016)

Hello Mr. Billionaire (2018)

Movies (cinema)

Summer 1993 (2017)

TVShows

Badehotellet s. 1, 2, 3

Legion s. 1

Luke Cage s. 2

Vera s. 1

Cormoran Strike: Cuckoo’s Calling

Books

Maria Lang: Kirsebær i November (1963)

Maria Lang: Svart Sommer (1966)

Maria Lang: Hvitkledd med lys i hår (1967)

Maria Lang: Byen Sover (1970)

Maria Lang: Svar til ensom Eva (1979)

Maria Lang: Dødelig Drama på Dramaten (1986)

Maria Lang: Anvend Aldri Arsenik

Maria Lang: Mord på Lok 16

Maria Lang: Skyggen av en Morder

Maria Lang: Arven etter Alberta

Maria Lang: Mord i Silke og Fløyel

Lisa Williamson: the Art of Being Normal (2015)

Kimberley Freeman: Evergreen Falls (2015)

Åsne Seierstad: En av Oss (2013)

Jan Boris Stene: Lucifers Fall (2018)

Nnedi Okorafor: Binti (2015)

Natalja Kljutsjarjova: Russland rundt på tredje klasse (2011)

Fiona Barton: The Child (2017)

Marissa Meyer: Cinder (2012)

Ben Aaronovitch: The Furthest Station (2017)

Dorothy Strachey: Olivia (1949)

Melissa Albert: The Hazel Wood (2018)

N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season (2015)

N. K. Jemisin: The Obelisk Gate (2016)

Sang Yi: The Wings (1936)

Katherine Addison: The Goblin Emperor (2014)

Ina Strøm: Alt dette er Tokyo (2018)

Holly Black: The Cruel Prince (2018)

Dorothy L. Sayers: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)

Dorothy L. Sayers: Clouds of Witness (1926)

Niroz Malek: Slik Natten Er (2015)

Unica Zürn: Mørk vår (1969)

Katherine Arden: The Girl in the Tower (2017)

Johannes Anyuru: De kommer til å drukne i sine mødres tårer (2017)

Angela Marsons: Silent Scream (2015)

Han Kang: Levende og Døde (2014)

Comics

Lumberjanes vol. 4-5 (2016)

Faith vol. 1 (2016)

Brecht Evens: The Wrong Place (2009)

Tokyo Tarareba Girls vol. 1 (2014)

Princess Jellyfish vol. 1 (2008)

The Backstagers vol. 1 (2017)

X-Men: Battle of the Atom (2014)

All-New X-Men vol. 1-7 (2013-2015)

Alison Bechdel: Fun Home (2006)

[turtlereviews]

Some fave things from July:

Set It Up (netflix) which is very funny. Speil Speil Blink by Dorthe Nors which is funny in a different way. I’ve been reading a bunch of Maria Lang books and they are in my opinion the correct length for a crime story. They’re not very complicated usually but they are very enjoyable. The Odyssey in Emily Wilson’s translation which is on my ‘to buy when i’m rich’ list. Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker which is sweet and about friendship and fashion and gender and romance. 

I liked a lot of the things I read and a lot of them are very good, but these are the ones I enjoyed the most.

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/July 2018

Summary: 7 movies, 35 books and 12 comics.

Movies

Set It Up (2018)

It (2017)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Megane (2007)

De Dødes Tjern (1958)

Casino Royale (2006)

Contagion (2011)

TV shows

RUN! BTS s2, Sugar Rush, Great British Menu 2012

Watching: Free! s3, Luke Cage s2, BnHA, Cloak & Dagger, Legion, Eureka

Books

Jo Walton: The Just City (2015)

Kjell Arild Nilsen: Kina vs. Norge

Johan Harstad: Ferskenen

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1966)

Rita Indiana: Tjenestepiken til Omicunlé (2015)

Marie Darrieussecq: Livet i Skogen (2017)

Helen Oyeyemi: Boy, Snow, Bird (2013)

Antonia Pozzi: Ved Livets Bredd

Amal Aden: Om håpet glipper, er alt tapt (2012)

Alejandro Zambra: Bonsai (2006)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir: Dragsug (2015)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir: Jeg vet hvem du er (2010)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir: Løgnen (2013)

Chris Tvedt: Dødens Sirkel (2010)

Chris Tvedt: Fare for Gjentagelse (2007)

Canek Sanchez Guevara: Hakk i Plata: 33 Revolusjoner (2016)

Bjørn Vassnes: Frostens rike

Yukiko Motoya: Kunsten å bli glad i seg selv (2013)

Dorthe Nors: Minna mangler et øvingslokale (2013)

Dorthe Nors: Speil, speil, blink (2016)

Amalie Skram: Fru Inés (1891)

Maria Lang: Mord i August (1956)

Maria Lang: Ikke flere mord (1951)

Maria Lang: Mord på kirkegården (1954)

Maria Lang: Se, døden på deg venter (1955)

Maria Lang: Liljekonvaller er hvit som snø (1957)

Cathrine Kundsen: Den siste hjelperen (2018)

Aimee Bender: Smaken av følelser (2010)

Andre Bjerke: De dødes Tjern (1942)

Fredrik Larsen Lund: Nedenunder og hjem (2014)

Kristin Berget: Og når det blir lyst blir det helt fantastisk

Marissa Meyer: Renegades (2017)

Sylo Taraku: Balkanisering av europa

Seanan McGuire: Beneath the Sugar Sky (2018)

Homer: The Odyssey (trans. Emily Wilson)(2018)

Comics

Gail Simone &  Walter Geovanni: Red Sonja vol. 1 (2014)

Sophie Goldstein: House of Women

Gillen & McKelvie: Wicked + Divine vol. 6 (2018)

Jillian Tamaki: Boundless (2017)

Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki: This one summer (2014)

Kevin Panetta & Paulina Ganucheau: Zodiac Starforce vol. 1 (2016)

Jeff Lemire & Matt Kindt & Paolo Rivera: The Valiant (2014)

Brandon Thomas & Roger Robinson & Juan Fernandez: Noble vol. 1 (2017)

Mariko Tamaki & Nico Leon & Matt Milla: She-Hulk vol. 1 (2017)

Mariko Tamaki & Duarte & López & Gaston & Carrillo: She-Hulk vol. 2 (2018)

Various: Bitch Planet: Triple Feature vol. 1 (2017)

Jen Wang: The Prince and the Dressmaker (2018)

[turtlereviews]

My favourite June things: 

Westworld season 2: I watch mainly for Dolores and Maeve’s journeys, so as long as they get more or less what they’re aiming for, I’m happy. 

Maja Lunde: Blue, is a book about water scarcity in a Europe on literal fire. She has a book about bees which I intend to read next.  Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summer is a less dystopia and more hopeful, though the stories do not assume utopia. I liked about half and was pretty meh about half, but I thought they were all interesting! My faves: The Spider and the Stars by D.K. Mok, Women of White Water by Helen Kenwright, Grover: Case no C09 920: "The Most Dangerous Blend" by Edward Edmonds & The Heavenly Dreams of Mechanical Trees by Wendy Nikel. + Fyrewall by Stefani Cox and Caught Root by Julia K. Pratt which are two stories I liked, but wanted to be bigger. (this was a netgalley ARC, but idk if it’s still available there)

Leslie T. Chang: Factory Girls. It’s a really interesting look into the lives of some of the girls who work in factories in China (+ doing other things) and their lives and dreams, as well as Leslie discovering her own family history. It took me about a month to read it because I kept pausing to think about it. And also because I enjoyed it in that “i want to keep reading it slowly” kind of way.

Dhonielle Clayton: The Belles. A New Orleans-y fantasy world where there are girls who have the power to alter what people look like. There is a LOT going on under the surface of this world, and I will definitely read a sequel. 

Ribon & Fish: Slam! vol 1. Roller derby newbies learn about roller derby and friendship and I like it very much. Recommended if you like sportsfic and girls being friends.

Julie Morah: Body Music. A collection of short comics about love of all kinds. I thought if was tender and beautiful.