I vividly remember being in the audience at the Women of Marvel panel at New York Comic Con last October as the announcement was made that there was a Black Widow YA novel by Margaret Stohl in the works. I was super excited that Natasha was getting more stories in a new format. Flash forward to a few weeks ago, when I got a package from Marvel with an advance press version of the book to review for GGG. When I was cheering with the rest of the audience after the announcement, I never thought that I would get to read the story early. Let me tell you this: I was not wrong to be excited for this book.

Forever Red focuses on two female protagonists: everyone’s favorite Russian spy Natasha Romanov and a new character, teenager Ava Orlova. Ava has a lot in common with the Black Widow: both women are red-headed Russian loners and orphans who escaped Ivan Petrovich and his infamous Red Room. After saving young Ava from Ivan’s grasp one fateful night, Natasha Romanov called Ava “sistra” and told her that if she ever needed help, just ask and the Black Widow would find her. Years later, the story opens on teenage Ava who is living a scavenger’s life with a stray cat in a YMCA basement in NYC. In the years since their meeting in Russia, Ava had needed help – and had reached out to the Black Widow multiple times. Help never came.

For months, Ava has been dreaming about a boy named Alex. She does not know who the boy is or if he even exists – until she suddenly sees him in person at a fencing competition. Alex does not recognize Ava, but the connection between them is undeniable. As if finally meeting the boy from her dreams was not enough of a shock, that same day is the day that long-lost sistra Natasha Romanov finally reappears in Ava’s life.

I really enjoyed this book. For the first few chapters, I was unsure where Stohl was going with the story of Ava, Alex, and Natasha and was worried that it would fall into typical YA tropes – girl meets boy, etc, etc – but my fear was unnecessary. Every time I thought I knew what would happen to the trio, Stohl added another twist. The plot is interesting and unpredictable and keeps you hooked. The story reads like a spy novel, but even better because it featured a character that I know and love. By the time you reach Part Three of the novel, it is impossible to put Forever Red down.

The book is a good introduction to Ava, who had her first appearance as the Red Widow in the Marvel comic universe in Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary #1, which was released last month. I’m definitely interested in seeing more of Ava in comic book form and watching her relationship with Natasha develop past the events of Forever Red.

I want to talk about female representation and why this book is important. Anyone who has heard me talk about comics knows that I have serious problems with the lack of female characters and with the often problematic ways that existing female characters are represented in comic media. I often feel that the companies creating the comics I love don’t care about me as a female reader. Despite the rising numbers of female readership, the existence of female fandom is ignored and even ridiculed.

When Marvel announced this title at last year’s New York Comic Con, I felt the opposite. Forever Red was clearly Marvel responding to their legions of female fans, saying ‘We hear you. Here’s something just for you.’ They branched out into a new format that they know that young fans love in order to give them something they had been asking for: More Black Widow! More female titles! I, and thousands of other female fans, finally felt our existence acknowledged with the announcement of Forever Red.

I doubt we will ever get that Black Widow movie we have been asking for for years. But who is to say that seeing her represented in a different type of media is any less important? Black Widow is the first character to get the YA treatment from Marvel, and although that is most likely because young girls are the largest audience of YA novels, it doesn’t change the fact that they are finally giving Natasha her long-awaited spotlight.

This book is also important because it could be a gateway for many young people to get interested in comics. If a young girl likes Forever Red, they’ll want to read more about Ava and Natasha. They’ll visit their local comic book store and maybe pick up the first trade of Edmondson and Noto’s recent run of Black Widow, or read about Ava in the recent Mockingjay one-shot. Maybe if we see more young girls getting involved in comics, the publishers will finally start to acknowledge their non-white/male/straight audiences and adapt the media they are producing as such.

It just takes one YA novel for someone to start reading comics, and maybe they will be the author, editor, or artist to diversify the comic book genre in the future and make it a more open community. I wouldn’t be surprised if Black Widow: Forever Red was that novel.

–

Black Widow: Forever Red will be released on October 13, 2015.

Recently, Steven Spielberg made headlines for telling The AP that he doesn’t believe superhero movies are sustainable. At first, I didn’t want to let myself think that he might be right, because the disappearance of my favorite film genre would, in a word, be crushing. I’m not so sure about it anymore, though, and I think the answer to the question, “is this a thing we can keep doing?” is more complex than a simple yes or no.

My short answer is right now, no, this is not a sustainable genre. There are a lot of things that factor into this.

My long answer is this, and I use Marvel as an example because I’m more familiar with the characters and because it’s got the movie thing down to a science.

As much as I would like to believe that Chrises Hemsworth, Pratt, and Evans are going to stay young and in the best shape of their life forever, this is probably not true. (Unless Marvel actually has perfected a supersoldier serum, in which case, give me some so I can stop my pitiful attempts to work out.) All of Marvel’s actors are in their thirties and up, which means that they could potentially age out, especially if non-Avenger films keep getting scheduled between the Avenger-related ones. Since Marvel has been in this game for a while, the actors might not want to renew their contracts, and move on to different projects. It’s already been nearly seven years since Iron Man was released.

It would benefit Marvel to start planting seeds for new heroes now. We have the film schedule for the next several years, and any one of them would be a good way to introduce new minor characters who could go on to carry their own series.

The other factor in the sustainability question is a very tangled web. Diversity is one of those issues no one seems to want to seriously discuss, but I truly believe it will be the downfall of the genre if things don’t change.

“White man makes mistakes that cost him [insert important aspect of personal life here], becomes a superhero in quest for redemption” is a summary that can be applied to Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and possibly Guardians of the Galaxy. Diversity isn’t having one or two white guys who didn’t start out as scientists. Having Falcon and War Machine is a baby step in the right direction, but even though Anthony Mackie and Don Cheadle both did great jobs in the films they were in, they were still relegated to a side role. The fact of the matter is, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will have been around for a full decade before a superhero of color gets their own film.

Strictly in film, female heroes are also underrepresented. We’ve had Black Widow for almost as long as the MCU has been around, but never in a standalone film. Wasp was introduced just to be killed off in Ant-Man. Gamora and Nebula’s relationship in Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the most underdevoped aspects of the movie. The MCU will also have been around for a decade before fans get a female-led title with Captain Marvel in 2018. Who knows how long it will be before we get a non-white female-led title, regardless of how hard we’re all crossing our fingers for a Kamala Khan film.

Okay, where is this going?

My point is not that the existing films are bad, Fantastic Four and Avengers: Age of Ultron notwithstanding. My point is that if these companies continue to release exclusively straight male hero films, the genre will not be sustainable.

I’d like to think that major companies recognize that half of its comic readers are women, and I’d like to think that they know many of their fans came from superhero movie buffs wanting to get into the backstory of the characters on screen. The films are just a jumping point for all of the great characters that exist, and by not showing them in other media, I believe that the wider audience isn’t sustainable. Your brand new fans aren’t  going to wait around forever (ten years is a long time) to see themselves represented in film. Continuing to make movies about male leads (seven of whom have almost the exact same origin story) alienates a big part of the audience.

I do not believe that the comic industry, as a whole, is out to get women, but it also isn’t here to support us. An industry that shows respect for its fans doesn’t dangle a Black Widow movie like a carrot on a stick, nebulously promised but never within reach. There are still very few toys based on female heroes for little girls who love the genre. As a whole, the industry shows a startling lack of reflexivity and adjustment to the new fans who have flooded the market.

Despite the obvious problems, I’m still hopeful it can turn around before this market lapses. I hope Steven Spielberg is wrong, because at the end of the day I still love these characters and want to see more of Captain America punching stuff. It’s not too late to take risks, but I would like to see those risks taken before the market becomes unsustainable. It could be sustainable. I hope it is.

Hey Girl Gang! We’ve added our personal pulls to the blog – check out the “What We’re Reading” tag above! Here are some of our pulls from this week!

• Batgirl #44 (DC Comics) – I know I always rave about Batgirl, but it is truly one of my favorite titles out there right now, and I’m always excited for the new issue. In #44, Batgirl must save Luke Fox from Velvet Tiger. As always, Babs Tarr’s art is a joy to see in a new villain.
• Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #4 (Marvel) – When I started to read Carol’s new book, it was first difficult to adjust to seeing her in such a different setting. However, every issue has been better than the last and I’ve found the Carol I know and love in the heart of the new story. In #4, the Carol Corps must face off against the Thor Corps.
• Power Up #3 (Image) – Power Up is a fun and adorable book that makes me really happy every time I read it. I love the characters and the colorful artwork. In this issue, the team gets together at Sandy’s house and tries to talk out what has been happening.

What other titles should we be picking up that we should be adding to this list or don’t know about? Let us know in the comments or at thegeekgirlgang@gmail.com!

Happy Wednesday girl gang!

Sometimes its hard to know where to begin if you’re a newbie to weekly comics!  Girl Gang Releases is a weekly series where we identify some of our favorite new comic releases for each Wednesday.

• Lumberjanes #18 (BOOM) – This is the first Lumberjanes with the new team of writer Kat Leyh and with artist Carolyn Nowak. I was super excited when Nowak first joined the LJ team because her art is excellent and her sense of humor always on point. I’m super excited to see what both of them bring to the table. Also, this issue has mermaids and who doesn’t love mermaids?
• Black Canary #4 (DC Comics) – Black Canary is one of my favorite books right now. This issue has guest artist Pia Guerra (Y the Last Man) and reveals who kidnapped the band’s guitarist. We will also find out more about the band’s former singer before Dinah, who is not happy that they have been replaced.
• Rat Queens #12 (Image) – It always seems like forever between Rat Queens issues, but that is just because of how damn good it is. This issue is part two from #11 and follows Hannah on the way to Mage University, where she runs into someone from her old life. This figure knows secrets about Hannah that she didn’t want anyone to know.

What other titles should we be picking up that we should be adding to this list or don’t know about? Let us know in the comments or at thegeekgirlgang@gmail.com!

Happy Wednesday girl gang!

After the events of Fandemonium, The Wicked and The Divine has been largely focused on exploring the stories of individual gods. Issue twelve began a string of issues drawn by guest artists, dealing more with the fallout of Inanna and Laura’s deaths rather than advancing the plot. There were few revelations in twelve other than Baal professing his love for Inanna.

In retrospect, this was the calm before the storm, as issue thirteen showed us more of Tara–talented and quiet, but constantly tormented online–and promptly killed her. Tula Lotay’s art was a credit to this issue. Visually, it’s a beautiful issue, coming off as much softer than Jamie McKelvie’s clean lines. (Of course, I have absolutely nothing against McKelvie. His art is on a whole other level.)

The content and themes of online harassment–though “harassment” doesn’t seem a strong enough word–is better suited for discussing at length in another post. The theme of famous people as being commodities to be consumed by their fans was brought up in thirteen and carries over to issue fourteen, which focuses on Woden.

Woden has been relatively unexplored as a character so far. What little readers have seen of him was at the Fantheon, when Woden was nearly killed by one of his Valkyries. So far, Woden has come off as kind of a sexist jerk. He has power to grant others power, and isn’t shy about using it to create more Valkyries. His other strength lies in crafting, but Woden struggles with not having anything that makes him “special” like the other gods.

Overall, this issue raised more questions than it answered. Jamie McKelvie was back on art, because much of the issue was created using art from previous chapters (plus that one issue of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals.) It was fitting that the Daft Punk-EDM-techno artist Woden got a “remixed” issue. The concept was innovative and interesting and the WicDiv team pulled it off well. It worked because it gave a different perspective on previous events while revealing more about Woden as a character.

While there are still many, many questions to be answered, readers did learn a few things:

1. Ananke definitely, for sure, 100% killed Laura and Inanna.
2. Woden has a fetish for Asian girls who are taller than him.
3. Woden is also hiding something or someone from Ananke (the mysterious horn-helmeted person on the last page.)

This issue also featured a lot of Ananke, who, in actual mythological terms, is the most powerful of the fates. She hates Woden, calling him “living shit” and “the pet of a god.” She also implies that many of Woden’s actions have been things she’s blackmailed him into doing.

Toward the end of the issue, Ananke says, “I must act more swiftly than I would normally risk,” in reference to killing another member of the Pantheon. For the first time, I as a reader questioned the two year limitation on the gods’ residency, if it was entirely Ananke’s doing and if so, why.

Lastly, Woden says that three gods have been killed and that there will soon be a fourth. However, his countdown doesn’t include Laura. Was Laura really of the Pantheon, or was her death a cruel trick by Ananke, who gave her that moment of happiness just so she could take it away. Again, this makes me wonder if having twelve gods is the way Ananke wants it, or if there can be any number of gods and if she can grant power to anyone she chooses.

The next issue will be released October 15, with art by Stephanie Hans.

If you’re anything like us, you could always use some more Black Widow in your life. We were in the audience when Margaret Stohl’s Black Widow YA novel was announced at New York Comic Con last fall, and we have been waiting impatiently for its release for the past year!

For all of you Natasha fans, good news! We’ve got a special advance copy straight from Marvel here at GGG headquarters! Stay tuned for a review!

Hooray for super-late Con reports! After an incredible and exhausting first Dragon*Con, I had to immediately return to real-life, with things such as going back to work and taking Maddi to the airport so she could return to Pittsburgh. I have a feeling that everyone needs at least a week to recover after the experience that is Dragon*Con.

Friday

We left Orlando at 3am to start the drive to Atlanta. There were many Queen singalongs to keep us awake. There were also very weird billboards in Georgia to read for entertainment.

This photo was taken after we had stopped at a rest stop in the middle of Georgia to get ready. We did not wake up like this.

We got to Atlanta with little time to spare before our first panel. As we were total newbies to Dragon*Con, we did not realize that it is held across multiple hotels, so we had to grab our badges in the Sheraton and then hurry a few blocks down to the Hyatt. We made it just in time for the Milkfed Criminal Masterminds panel with Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction. The panel was unsurprisingly amazing. Matt and Kelly Sue talked a lot about their current projects. Matt talked about future plans for Ody-C and shared a very funny story behind the customized variant covers of Sex Criminals #11. Kelly talked about the next arc for Bitch Planet, as well as the much-anticipated Pretty Deadly Volume 2, due out this fall.

Waiting for the “Milkfed Criminal Masterminds” panel

Immediately after it over, we had to rush to the Hyatt for our next panel, Quiet Time with Doc Hammer. As mentioned before, this was our first D*C, and so we were extremely unprepared for the horror that is the skybridges between panels. So many people. In giant cosplays. Often with props that stick out and whack you in the face if you are in the shorter range as we both are. We inched forward – almost literally – and made it just in time for Doc’s panel. I am a huge Venture fan, and this was the first time I had seen Doc in person. He said he would answer absolutely any question – except possible Venture spoilers for the upcoming season. Some topics covered: Doc’s problems with the current art world, his new hairstyle, his music, Fuck/Marry/Kill situations (answered in the voice of Henchman 21, naturally), and as always, extensive discussion of his poops.

Our next and final panel of the day was the Complete Guide to Creating Comics. This panel featured Kelly Sue, Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Mastromauro, and Andrew Gaska. They discussed the process behind creating comics, such as collaborating with a writer/artist, researching, and how to market yourself. The members on the panel all came from different backgrounds and had different experiences of establishing themselves in the industry, which added a variety to their opinions and answers. It was an informative and fascinating inside look into the comic book industry.

The one and only Kelly Sue DeConnick, lovely as always

Saturday

Although we had not initially planned on going to the parade, the couple we were staying with decided to go and we decided to join them. More on this later, but if you want to see the parade, you better get up early and be ready to wait. We arrived about 90 minutes early and were still a few rows of people back from the street. The parade was very cool but I don’t think we will wait for it next year.

I cosplayed as Dr. Mrs. the Monarch from the Venture Brothers and Maddi cosplayed as my Henchwoman. It was so much fun wearing costumes that people recognized. We ran into a ton of other Venture Bros cosplayers which was awesome.

Repping the Mighty Monarch

We visited my favorite table, the People’s Republic of Venture, and found that they were having a scavenger hunt. We only had a few panels we wanted to attend that day, so we decided to give it a try. We had to get photos with 18 of the characters on the list to complete the hunt.

NBD just us and the finest and most gifted bowman we’ve ever met

When you don’t need to find Elsa, she’s everywhere. When you need one for a scavenger hunt, she’s no where to be found.

Arrow!

Much of this weekend was documented with Snapchat

We also went to the Gonzoroo III: A Musical Quizodyssey panel, which is music and improv and as awesome as it sounds. I finally got to meet Doc Hammer, who signed my Venture Bros DVD and graciously tolerated me babbling about how much I love the show while in costume from said show. It was the highlight of my weekend.

Sunday

The scavenger hunt continued!

Starfleet Captains!

The cutest family of Firefly cosplayers!

Sorting Hat!

We were in line to wait in line super early for the Venture Brothers panel at 3, and ended up sitting in the center of the third row. If you’ve ever attended a Venture Bros panel or watched one on YouTube, you know that Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick don’t host typical panels. This year they continued the tradition of doing the panel as a ’70s talkshow called Let’s All Smoking. James Urbaniak, Mark Gagliardi, and Hal Lublin, also joined them onstage. They showed a few preview scenes from Season 6, and it was revealed that the first episode of the new season should be premiering on February 7th, 2016.

The hosts of famous talkshow Let’s All Smoking

When the panel ended, I rushed to the stage and somehow got Jackson to sign my DVD as Doc Hammer threw fake roses to the crowd behind me – a bizarre yet fond memory that could only happen at Dragon*Con.

After almost a decade of watching..

At 10pm, I was a panelist at Con Culture & the Changing Face of Fandom. As we waited in the hall before the panel, a man left the room from the previous panel yelling at the people in the room and then yelling at the line of people in the hallway. It was very strange. We found out later that the panel he had left was “Sexuality and Diversity in Comics” and that he had interrupted someone else’s comment to say that panel discussions would never change anything ever and that people should make their own characters instead of trying to make current characters better. He was a jerk. Pro-tip: If you enjoy telling others that their opinions don’t matter and have a problem with discussing queerness in comic books, maybe don’t attend a panel about diversity. Or even better, don’t attend the convention. Stay home and yell at yourself in the mirror. It might be more productive.

The panel itself was a lot of fun. There was a lot of discussion on diversity and intersectionality of both comic book characters and the fandom, how to keep convention spaces safe and how to keep conventions accountable when there are issues, and the advances/setbacks that the fandom has faced in recent years. People in the audience shared their own viewpoints as people from different backgrounds which added openness and diversity to the conversation. I was on the panel with Kari Storla and Chris Brennaman, two brilliant minds who made it an incredible experience.

Definitely ready for bed after a 10pm panel

Monday

We were up bright and early to get to the Comics and Feminism panel. I presented my thesis, “The Fake Geek Girl: Female-Occupied Space and Masculinity in Geek Culture”, part of which I discussed in the previous blog post on Gendered Spaces. This was my first time presenting it outside of a women’s studies audience, and it seemed to go well. Tini Howard did her presentation “Thinking Outside the Fridge – Changing Comics with the Subject/Object Problem”. Tini is very knowledgable on her subject and is a super engaging speaker. She discussed how female comic book characters are often subject to terrible things that result in death or permanent injury, which is usually used in order to advance a male character’s plotline. However, when male characters face tragedy, they are shown defeating the trauma with strength or force and often coming out unscathed. Tini made connections that I had never considered as a feminist comic book reader, and often the entire audience nodded their heads in agreement. It was an honor to present with her. The audience had many questions and comments on our presentations which created an excellent dialogue about the treatment of female characters, fans, and creators within the comic book industry. The panel was definitely one of the best things I’ve been involved with in my life and I hope to someday do it again.

Afterwards, we stuck around for the Kelly Sue DeConnick in Focus panel. Kelly Sue and Matt had to leave the convention for a family emergency, so Kelly Sue was unable to be there, but the panelists still did an incredible job regardless. They spoke about Kelly Sue’s work on Bitch Planet, Pretty Deadly, and Captain Marvel, as well as G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel. Speakers Ahmed Younis, Chandra Jenkins, and John Flowers, as well as moderator Damien Williams were knowledgable, passionate, and extremely interesting. It was great to listen to an academic take on Kelly Sue’s work that I love so much while sitting in a room of people who also love and respect her.

After that, we started the 6 hour drive back to Orlando. Our first Dragon*Con was exhausting and overwhelming but completely worth every minute. We definitely plan to return again next year!

Advice for First-Time Dragon*Con Goers:

1. The sky bridges are PACKED between panels. Sometimes its just quicker to run down to the main floor and walk between the hotels outside.
2. Have a Sharpie and the stuff you want signed with you at all times!!! You never know when you’ll run into the person you want to sign it. I was going to wait for the Venture Bros panel on Sunday, but I ran into Doc Hammer at the merch table at the Gonzo panel on Saturday and was able to run back to my seat and grab my DVD and Sharpie and get it signed.
3. If you want to go to the parade, get there early. Like hours early. Be ready to wait. The parade started late and the sun had started to shine about a half hour beforehand, so we were very sweaty and hot by the time the first group came down the street. I would recommend bringing comfortable shoes, especially if you’re planning on wearing your costume to the parade. I wore heels as a part of my cosplay. Big mistake. You’ll probably see most of the costumes around the con later, so think long if waiting for the parade is worth it to you.
4. Dragon*Con is pretty strict about not letting people wait in line for big panels over an hour beforehand. However, there is often an unofficial group of people waiting in line to wait in line. The volunteers will often let you line up earlier if the panel beforehand goes into the room early. We waited in line to get in line for the Venture Bros Panel about 2 hours early, and they let us into the real line about 90 minutes beforehand.
5. Because Dragon*Con is held in hotels and not a convention center, there is definitely a significant partying atmosphere. If you like alcohol and partying, this is the convention for you. If not, definitely try to steer clear of hotel lobbies at dinner time and afterwards.
6. SLEEP. At least try to sleep. This is the kind of convention you need lots of energy for.

GGG will be at New York Comic Con next month!

Hey y’all! Maddi and Molly are going to be at DragonCon this weekend! We will be all over the place, including most of the Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick panels and the Venture Bros panels!

Molly will be on the “Con Culture & the Changing Face of Fandom” panel at 10pm on Sunday at Hyatt Hanover F and presenting at the “Comics and Feminism” panel at 10am on Monday at Hyatt Hanover F.

Come say hello if you see us!

Cultural geography is the way that humans create and occupy cultural spaces. Humans occupy more than just their physical space; they occupy spaces within their nationality, gender, race, political parties, hobbies, careers, and in many other cultural ways. While studying the cultural geography of gender, feminist geographers noticed that gender stereotypes are not limited to people themselves. In fact, definitions of masculinity and femininity can be applied to particular spaces and group memberships, in what feminist geographers refer to as ‘gendered spaces’. Gendered spaces are spaces that humans occupy that have been socially assigned genders.

When people are treated badly in a space because of their group membership, they obviously tend to stay away from those spaces. Gendered spaces have been historically used to keep women away from information and therefore away from power. If women are not allowed to participate in a space, it is unlikely that the space will ever shift away from its gendered label. For example, consider the kitchen. Although it has been decades since women were the only ones in the kitchen, the kitchen is still an extremely gendered space. So much so that misogynists often instruct successful women to return to that domain.

Geek culture exists as a gendered space. Despite the often-reported increase in female membership, geek culture exists with a clear masculine label. Geek is a gendered noun. When the word ‘geek’ is used, it is almost always used to define a man. Female geeks are considered abnormal. When a woman is a geek, she is always called a ‘geek girl’. Geek is never her noun, just the descriptor before her gender. Women who attempt to occupy space in geek culture face harassment and abuse for seeking membership in a gendered space. Geek culture is such a male gendered space that women who attempt to occupy space are often accused of only doing so for male attention.

Men discourage women from getting involved in geek culture in many ways. The male-dominated feel of many specialty shops often scare women away from attempting to join physical space in geek culture. Many women report that they feel ignored or negatively singled-out when they enter comic or gaming stores. Women who are new and seeking advice find their questions met with condescension or ridicule. Employees laugh at their lack of knowledge instead of trying to help them, or only recommend ‘feminine’ titles and accuse women of only being interested in male characters because of their physicality. Sexist reactions to women in specialty shops is not limited to the customers: female employees also report sexual harassment from coworkers and negative comments from customers.

Women are also guilty of preserving gendered spaces. Due to the generally unwelcoming feeling surrounding geek culture, women who finally feel like they have entered the space successfully may feel defensive. Women who worked hard to get into geek culture may feel that the space for female membership is limited. They may see other women occupying that space as a threat to their own membership instead of as a potential ally. Some women perpetuate the ‘fake geek girl’ trope by attaching the title to other women in geek culture, or challenge other women’s credentials with the goal of discrediting them.

Once a space has a societally-labeled gender, that label is incredibly difficult to change. Despite increased female membership in both the fans and creators of geek media, geek culture’s male label remains prominent. The process of changing gendered spaces to be truly neutral is long and painful, but recent media attention to the inequalities in geek culture has helped. The best way to change geek culture to be less male-dominated is to increase representation in geek media and to always, always, always treat newcomers with respect, kindness, and helpfulness. Always remember that there is still work to be done.

—

Interested in hearing more about geek culture and gendered spaces? Come see me present at DragonCon this weekend! The Comics and Feminism panel takes place at 10am on Monday in Hyatt Hanover F! Hope to see you there!

Sometimes its hard to know where to begin if you’re a newbie to weekly comics!  Girl Gang Releases is a weekly series where we identify some of our favorite new comic releases for each Wednesday.

New Girl Gang Releases for 3/4/15:

• Lumberjanes #17 (BOOM) – We love the Lumberjanes. Even as writers and contributers change, the story remains fun and the characters always wonderful.
• Batgirl #43 (DC) – Batgirl is one of my personal favorites out right now, and I’m looking forward to seeing where they take the storyline with the introduction of tech genius Luke Fox. This issue also features Babs’ friend Alysia getting married, and Babs Tarr’s incredible art will definitely be a joy to see in this setting.
• Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #3 (Marvel) – Seeing Carol in charge of a group instead of flying solo has been a really interesting twist to the Captain Marvel we all know and love. More trouble comes to the Corps in this issue, even some among their own ranks.
• Spider-Woman #10 (Marvel) – Jessica Drew continues her roadtrip and stops at the Alamo. This issue features the “Last Days of..” feature that will hurl Jess and her crew into the Secret Wars.
• Zodiac Starforce #1 (Dark Horse) – The world always needs more magical girls, and Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau are here to deliver! Zodiac Starforce is a team of teenagers who try to balance high school with fighting dark forces. I’m excited to see the modern twists that Panetta and Ganucheau add to this title.

What other titles should we be picking up that we should be adding to this list or don’t know about? Let us know in the comments or at thegeekgirlgang@gmail.com!

Happy Wednesday girl gang!