It seems that over the last year, one of the key themes in comics has been diversity. Whether it is more female creators in comics or the cancellation of titles featuring non-white, non-male characters, fandom wants a more diverse superhero universe.

Unfortunately, they seem to be shouting into a vacuum as nothing really appears to be changing. Thankfully, there are organizations such as the Asian Arts Initiative to show us where we have been in regard to ethnic characterizations in comics and the possibilities of where we are going.

Starting Feb. 3rd and running through March 23rd, they will be presenting the exhibition Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986. In it they will be showcasing how Asian-Americans have been portrayed over the last four decades in comics and graphic novels.

Highlighting the good and the bad, Gayle Isa, executive director of the Asian Arts Initiative, says “Marvels & Monsters illustrates how images of Asian-Americans have influenced contemporary culture. It’s exciting for the Asian Arts Initiative to bring this show to Philadelphia, as an opportunity for our community to reflect on the stories we want to tell and consider ways we can affect future perceptions.”

In addition, the show will also showcase work be Asian-American creators working in the medium today. It will include work by Larry Hama, David Henry Hwang, Naomi Hirahara, Genny Lim, Greg Pak and many more. The idea is to demonstrate how the representation of Asian-Americans in comics has changed and evolved over time.

So if this sounds like something that would interest you (and why wouldn’t it), check out the website for more information and get ready to learn why every superhero doesn’t need to look like Superman.

The Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine St., Philadelphia
www.asianartsinitiative.org

Mark L. Miller might not be a name you’re familiar with yet, but this March that will all change as he and Zenescope Entertainment bring us the latest Grimm Fairy Tales miniseries, The Jungle Book. Mark was nice enough to answer a few questions about himself, what fans can expect from his take on The Jungle Book and what it’s like to be the new kid on the block at Philly’s own Zenescope Entertainment.

Tell us a bit about yourself. You’re an editor at Ain’t It Cool News, correct?

Yes, I still do edit and occasionally still review on Ain’t It Cool as Ambush Bug and have been providing horror and comic book related content for them for over ten years on my weekly AICN COMICS and AICN HORROR columns. I don’t plan on leaving any time soon either, just possibly shifting my role more to editing than reviewing as the demands on writing increase.

I also practice expressive therapy at a residential home for boys and girls in Northern Chicago and have been doing that for about a decade. And then I teach expressive therapy in the grad program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well. Over the last few years, I’ve written some comics; LUNA: ORDER OF THE WEREWOLF for Famous Monsters Magazine and VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS and NANNY & HANK for Bluewater (which was just optioned to be made into a film for 2013).

What is it like to join the ranks of Zenescope as their newest writer?

Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco and Raven Gregory have been great to work with. They are extremely supportive of my writing and have encouraged me to do my best (which I hope I’m doing). They have built a really fun company and so far, it’s been nothing but great as far as my collaboration with them on THE JUNGLE BOOK. (more…)

Ever since 2007, Zenescope and writer Raven Gregory have been taking readers down the rabbit hole to visit Wonderland, easily one of the most disturbing titles of their Grimm Fairy Tales Universe. Up until now we have seen this place through the eyes of Alice’s daughter Calie and the other inhabitants of Wonderland, always returning scared out of our minds and a little worse for wear.

But now Zenescope is finally going back to the beginning and showing us how the story began in the new Alice in Wonderland miniseries. Gregory again returns as writer and brings with him Robert Gill on art. Together they finally show us what led Alice down the rabbit hole in the first place, why she stayed and what happened there that scarred her for life like it did.

It is pretty much a given that if Zenescope is going to publish something with Wonderland in the title, Raven Gregory is going to be writing it. In Alice in Wonderland #1, he somehow manages to show us Wonderland through a new set of eyes and make the place seem original and fresh. We already know what will happen to Alice, but you get caught up in the story and want to see what will happen next, even though you just know it won’t be anything good. It’s like watching a really scary movie; you watch through your fingers because you can’t look away. Alice in Wonderland will give you that same feeling.

On the original Wonderland trilogy, Gregory worked with artist Daniel Leister, who through his amazing work defined what Wonderland and its inhabitants should look like and gave the place it’s creepy as hell vibe. For Alice in Wonderland, Robert Gill steps into these massive shoes and somehow knocks it out of the park. If you need proof, just wait until you see Gill’s version of the Cheshire Cat. It is ferocious, intimidating and looks just a little bit like the Disney version everyone knows so well. His Alice is sexy yet strong and he uses some really unique panel layouts that fit a book like Wonderland like a glove.

Alice in Wonderland has been a long time coming. I guess it was inevitable that Zenescope would return to the beginning at some point to tell how the story began; I just didn’t think it would be this good. Join Alice down the rabbit hole and get scared again for the first time.

Zenescope has given us not only a copy of Alice in Wonderland #1 to give away to one lucky Geekadelphia reader, but a copy of the Return to Wonderland trade paperback that started it all as well. Leave a comment and we’ll pick a random winner at the end of next week. Please make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment and books can only be sent to addresses in the United States and Canada.

The music of the Beatles is something that, no matter whom you are or what you are into, everyone knows and can appreciate. They are one of the few things on this planet that is truly universal.

So imagine stepping into the shoes of one of these icons to play their music and pay tribute to what they accomplished. This is the situation Steve Landes finds himself in every night as he portrays John Lennon in the Broadway smash Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles. The show returns to Philadelphia from Jan. 31st to Feb. 5th at the Academy of Music and, since Steve is a local guy (from Lansdale) he agreed to answer a few questions about being John Lennon, his own music and returning to Philly.

Were you a big Beatles fan growing up?

The biggest! I was born after The Beatles’ time, but my parents and older sisters were fans, and got me into them from pretty much the time I was born! So yeah, I’m kind of a life-long Beatles fan! My first Beatles records were the old 45s, whatever I could find in boxes in the attic. There was other Beatles stuff up there that used to belong to my sisters – posters, magazines, T-shirts. I just pulled it all down from the attic, put it in my room, and it was all mine from then on in!

Is it intimidating to try and become someone as iconic as John Lennon?

I guess it could be, depending on how you look at it. I think the fact that he’s such an icon actually helps – we could never ever be those people, they’re just so huge, so much a part of our world, so well known. No, our main focus is replicating the music as authentically as possible, and then to set the stage, we embody their character in the show. It’s been a lot of fun to study who he was, how he felt at any given time, where he was coming from musically. All of that stuff helps to bring him to life, and as a fan, has been really eye-opening and inspiring, to see him from a whole different angle. (more…)

This week in the Roundup I review the latest issue of Captain America & Bucky, the return of Nancy in Hell from Image and the second half of IDW’s new era of Transformers comics in Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

Captain America & Bucky #626
By James Asmus, Ed Brubaker and Francesco Francavilla

With all the attention firmly on Ed Brubaker’s new Captain America title, it’s easy to forget that the renamed Captain America & Bucky has continued the original numbering and has been presenting some pretty good Cap and Bucky stories of its own. With the addition of Francavilla on the art and Asmus as co-writer, the book went from just good to outright awesome. (more…)

Everyone knows that the Jim Henson was a genius. Whether you watch Fraggle Rock or The Dark Crystal or The Muppet Movie, you know immediately that this was a man whose imagination worked on a different level. He could conceive and give life to concepts that made you think, made you cry or just made you laugh. But with the publication of Tale of Sand from Archaia, we see that Henson’s brilliance was greater than I think any of us realized.

Tale of Sand was originally a screenplay for a Jim Henson movie that, unfortunately, never got made. It was written by Henson and longtime writing partner Jerry Juhl between 1967 and 1974 and has sat in the Henson archives, gathering dust, until now. Thankfully, Archaia has teamed up with The Jim Henson Company and Henson’s own daughter Lisa to bring the screenplay to life as a graphic novel. To accomplish this they have enlisted the insanely talented Ramon Perez to turn Henson’s words into a story you will never forget.

At its simplest, Tale of Sand is a story about a man who goes on a journey in the desert of the American Southwest for some unknown reason. Along the way we meet and experience things that don’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Part parody, part comedy, it is a book that will make you think and make you look at graphic novels, and Jim Henson, differently. (more…)

For most people, the South Pole is one of those places that we know about in the abstract. Most of us will never get the chance to go there and see it for ourselves, but we know it exists.

Now imagine it is 100 years ago and you are part of a team that is racing to be one of the first humans to see the South Pole. Not only that, you are competing with another team to see who will get there first. What would inspire such a journey and what toll would it take on those involved?

That is the subject of the book Race to The End: Amundsen, Scott, and the Attainment of the South Pole. Written by Ross MacPhee, it examines the reasoning behind the expedition, what was learned and what it cost those involved.

For the science geeks among us, MacPhee will be doing a book signing and author talk at the Academy of Natural Sciences Wednesday, February 1st at 6:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public, so you have no excuse not to attend and learn a little something about one of the most remote areas on the planet.

An Evening with Ross MacPhee @ the Academy of Natural Sciences
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
www.ansp.org/adult-programs/lectures.php

Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 299-1009
www.ansp.org

As almost everyone knows, geeks really don’t do the “sports” thing. Sure, when the Phillies won the World Series in ’08 we celebrated with everyone else and we’ll jump on the bandwagon of whatever team is hot at the time, but for the most part sports aren’t our cup of tea.

The exception to that rule is the Super Bowl. Everyone gets excited for the Big Game and everyone, even the geekiest geek, loves a good Super Bowl party.

Well, get a foam finger and get ready to party because on Sunday, Feb. 5 the Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League (or GPFFL) will present the Big Game Event II to benefit ActionAIDS. Activities are going to include food, drinks, an open bar, a silent auction, raffles and dessert. And last but definitely not least, the “Big Game on the Big Screen” at International House’s 350-seat Ibrahim Theater, located at 3701 Chestnut Street.

And the best part? All the donations benefit ActionAIDS. This organization provides an array of services to more than 5,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Philadelphia area. You get to watch the game of the big screen and help those in need? Winning!

Tickets start at $40 and go up to $125 (which includes the VIP reception and other cool swag) and can be purchased at here. So get your game on and watch the Super Bowl in style.

For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

ActionAIDS
actionaids.org

Howard Gordon might not be a name you are overly familiar with, but if you’re a geek, you should be. As well as being one of the creative minds and show runner for the hit 24, he has also written and produced for some geek favorites, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and The X-Files.

Last year, he published his first novel, Gideon’s War, and espionage/thriller starring Gideon Davis, international peacemaker and all around man of action. The book garnered great reviews as fans found a new hero who could stand along side the likes of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and David Hagberg’s Kirk McGarvey. (more…)

For this week’s Roundup we read and review the new issues of the Avengers and Uncanny X-Men from Marvel and Red Hood & the Outlaws from DC. Sit back and enjoy the show.

Red Hood & the Outlaws #5
By Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort

One of the few “second tier” New 52 titles I’m still reading, Red Hood & the Outlaws thus far has been an entertaining, if somewhat shallow, book. Lobdell seems to be taking his time setting up what this series is going to be about and has given no clues in the first 4 issues. My love for the Red Hood and Rocafort’s amazing art is what has kept me around this long, but with issue #5 I might finally be getting the payoff. (more…)

As anyone who likes to read knows, Flash Fiction has taken the literary scene by storm over the last few years. Short, powerful stories that are usually only a couple pages or, in some cases, just a couple paragraphs, they distill fiction down to it’s simplest, most basic form and are full of power and emotion.

Stripped: A Collection of Anonymous Flash, edited by local Philadelphian Nicole Monaghan, takes that premise one step further and gives it a twist. The new anthology, which collects Flash Fiction from authors such as Meg Tuite, Michelle Reale and Robert Smartwood, removes the author’s bylines from the fiction so you will have no idea who wrote what stories in the anthology. It makes the book a unique reading experience and a fun guessing game to boot.

There is going to be a launch party for Stripped: A Collection of Anonymous Flash on Saturday, February 4th at Fergie’s Pub in Philadelphia. The fun starts at 2:00 PM and several of the contributors will be attending and doing some readings from the book. Maybe with enough drinks, you can find out which author wrote what story. Regardless, it should be a great time for all.

Fergie’s Pub
www.fergies.com

If you are like me, you remember a time when being a “gamer” didn’t mean you played Halo or Final Fantasy of Street Fighter. Being a gamer meant only one thing; you lived for role-playing games, the kind where all the graphics took place in your head and a die roll decided if you lived or died. (If you were a Level 1 Elf, it always meant you died. Always.)

Nowadays there are precious few places left where you can join in on a game of Dungeons & Dragons and enjoy a good, old fashioned dungeon crawl or even gather around a board game like Settlers and throw down with some friends. So the news that Recap’s Corner is re-opening Jan. 27th at its brand new location of 3617 Lancaster Ave., right on the Penn Campus, is welcome information to anyone with a 20 sided die and a character sheet.

To celebrate, Redcap’s Corner is holding an all day Dungeons & Dragons gaming event Saturday, Feb. 4th. It will include 5 Dungeon Masters running games for the novice gamer as well as adventures for the more experienced player. Dice, miniatures and character sheets will all be provided and it is even sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. All you need is yourself, some Mountain Dew and your imagination.

So get ready to get your old school game on when Recap’s Corner re-opens January 27th. Dungeons & Dragons, Magic, Pathfinder, Heroclix, no matter how you game, you have a new home.

Redcap’s Corner
www.redcapscorner.com