Saturday, May 22, 2021

Tini Howard Talks Betsy Braddock


Word Balloon: I think much of the pushback people have when it comes to representation and progressivism in modern comics is due to a lack of empathy, and an inability (and refusal) to occupy a different headspace.

Tini Howard: One thing I noticed is that we all read comics and we all engage with media differently. I’ve noticed that sometimes people prefer their version of a character over the realistic version of a character because their version might have been the version they fell in love with, might have been a little more streamlined for “comic coolness.”

Leah Williams and I are two of the first female writers to write about Betsy Braddock. We gave her a lot of interiority that to some people seemed like weird or foreign, but to Leah and I it’s like “this is always how we’ve read this character as women.” But a lot of people were like “Betsy Braddock is Psylocke, the badass ninja who doesn’t care about anything” and that’s fun. Everyone has their take on a character, but sometime when you want to do things like giving Betsy struggles that I’ve dealt with as a woman, that show her struggling as a woman, people are like “I don’t want to see her fail. She’s a badass. I don’t want to be remined that women fail.” But we do. We do fail. I like being able to write about that and that’s important to me. But some people resist. That is progressive. Letting women tell stories about women is progressive. Because of that, sometimes we want to tell stories about women suffering and failing and some people who have really held these characters up as icons are unwilling to occupy that headspace, unwilling to think about the fact that this character is in the hands of a woman who might want to say something about women. It’s not because I’m putting thoughts about women into the book for people to get mad at me about. It’s that I’m a woman. It’s my perspective. It’s part of me. It doesn’t make me different, but it does shape my views.

Word Balloon: It’s the struggles that make them stronger heroes and stronger characters as well. Sometimes people make judgments on a chapter two of a five-chapter story. Let the writer tell the story and then see how things come. I think it just makes them more real because we do fail in general. That’s something that’s part of life.

Tini Howard:
One of the best things that Shelly Bond taught me is that a book doesn’t exist the week it comes out, it exists on the shelf forever. If you’re writing a book and people are like “I don’t get it!”, and you’re like “I know where I’m going!” Sometime you have to do that. Sometime you just have to log out of Twitter and let people freak out at you. Hey, I know where this is going and ultimately in 10 tears, you guys won’t be tweeting about this anymore, but it will be on the shelf with my name on it. Above all else, I have to stand behind it, I have to believe in what I’m doing. I’m so grateful that I feel like I have a lot of readers who are willing to do that with me. I’m very thankful for each and everyone.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

X-Solicits for August 2021

 *Excalibur, New Mutants and S.W.O.R.D. are all skipping the month.

X-Men #2
Gerry Duggan (W) • Pepe Larraz (A/C)
Variant Cover by: Mahmud Asrar
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Cover by: Inhyuk Lee
New Line-Up Trading Card Variant Cover by: TBA
Always Bet on X!
As threats hurtle toward the Earth from all sides, the fearless X-Men fight a seemingly unstoppable wave of annihilation…but even more dangerous threats lurk in the darkness, ready to strike in secret.

Marauders #23
Gerry Duggan (W) • Ze Carlos (A)
Cover by: Russell Dauterman
Variant Cover by: TBA
Screaming into Battle!
As new problems face mutantkind in Ireland, the Marauders bring in Banshee for some assistance. Meanwhile…one prominent member of Verendi has their mind changed.

X-Force #22
Benjamin Percy (W) • Robert Gill (A)
Cover by: Joshua Cassara
Variant Cover by: Marco Mastrazzo
Fatal Flora!
The material makeup of Man-Slaughter has been used to infect and control an army of unwilling agents! Can X-Force get to the root of the problem before Dr. Bloodroot kills again?

Hellions #14
Zeb Wells (W) • Rogê Antônio (A)
Cover by: Stephen Segovia
Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Variant Cover by: Inhyuk Lee
The Locus Vile Returns!
Tarn the Uncaring and his murderous Locus Vile take revenge on Mr. Sinister and the Hellions! But the Hellions are ready for the rematch! Well…sort of.

Children of the Atom #6
Vita Ayala (W) • Paco Medina (A)
Cover by: R.B. Silva
Variant Cover by: Bernard Chang
No One Likes Goodbyes!
The Hellfire Gala is here! A.K.A. the most important party of the YEAR!
The truth finally comes out for the COTA kids.
Plus: A heartbreaking goodbye…maybe, forever?

Way of X #5
Si Spurrier (W) • Bob Quinn (A)
Cover by: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Variant Cover by: David Baldeón
This is the Way!
What happens when the third law of Krakoa is broken?
What happens when all other solutions have failed?
What happens when Nightcrawler finally finds the Way?

X-Corp #4
Tini Howard (W) • Alberto Foche (A)
Cover by: David Aja
Variant Cover by: David Lopez
Single Point of Failure!
When a deal doesn’t go as expected, it’s important to be open to new investors. Enter Selene and Mastermind: two potential stakeholders who stand willing to prove their worth. Everyone loves you when you’re on top, but who comes through in the clutch?

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1 (of 5)
Leah Williams (W) • Lucas Werneck (A)
Cover by: Valerio Schiti
Variant Cover by: John Romita Jr.
Spoiler Variant Cover by: Elizabeth Torque
Spoiler Variant Cover by: David Finch
Variant Cover by: Mark Brooks
Hidden Gem Variant Cover by: Greg Capullo
Variant Cover by: Peach Momoko
Headshot Variant by: Todd Nauck
Variant Cover by: Artgerm
Virgin Variant Cover by: Artgerm
The Story that Will Shake Krakoa to its Core!
A horrific murder. A shocking revelation. A trial that will divide the new mutant nation. Leah Williams and Valerio Schiti bring you a new epic that threatens the Reign of X and will upend the world of mutants. The truth is hidden, the danger is far from over, and the trial has begun

X-Men Legends #6
Peter David (W) • Todd Nauck (A/C)
Action Figure Variant Cover by: John Tyler Christopher
Variant Cover by: Philip Tan
Wolfsbane Unleashed!
Renegade mutants have taken hostages at the Latverian embassy…and Dr. Doom isn’t happy about it! And with one of X-Factor’s own in their clutches, it’s going to be a super-powered battle on multiple fronts as innocent lives hang in the balance!
Experience these villains’ first battle in the dramatic conclusion to this all-new adventure set during Peter David’s original X-Factor run!