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  Segment 1: Comic book writer, editor, and podcaster Marc Bernardin joins is to chat about his latest projects including a new Genius comic and his work with JJ Abrams in Castle Rock Hosted by: Jamie, Joelle and Jacqueline Segment 2: Writer Dwain Worrell chats about his latest work on the war thriller The Wall [...]

The post BGN #117 I Geekin Out with Marc Bernardin and The Wall appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Writer: Marjorie Liu / Artist: Sana Takeda / Image Comics

This issue of Monstress ends the second story arc and the creative team decided to to do the most to wrap things up here. Deals gone bad, betrayals, ambitions, and overachievers are sure to be a constant because this issue brings it all to a head.

The plot thickens incredibly as more information about Morkio bubbles to the surface. The drama bomb surrounding Maika’s mother and her reason for bringing Maika into this world is revealed and it’s both heartbreaking and totally ingenious. This totally puts her struggle in a new light, and I’m sitting here still stunned by the revelation and what this means moving on.

Throughout this series I had redemption, the act of seeing it as possible, as a reoccurring theme as I reviewed each issue. While last issue was a weaker piece in the story, this one starts to right the ship, gathering up loose ends that I felt were perhaps taking too long to connect. Previous issues I thought of characters seeking redemption versus salvation — how Maika and the now-named Zinn, the Monstrum inside her were fighting and making their way to redeem themselves of past sins… of past traumas.

I even speculated Maika seeking to redeem her mother of whatever unspeakable trials and tribulations she had participated in that brought about her death. Now I’m convinced that redemption is truly a theme here to stay; that being in a constant state of fighting back, biting for your survival, doing all the awful shit that doesn’t get talked about (until it does and it’s never pretty) means you’ve got red on your ledger and you don’t hope to ever be spotless again. I really get the feel of desperation to a point where survival becomes something else, that it takes on a new name, that it transforms itself into something different altogether. There is a breaking point here in the second half of this comic that demonstrates this and it is a beautiful thing to witness as the artwork syncs up in near perfection on the pages.

The fact that this all takes place on a island of bones, a cemetery, a prison where those who visit may never leave, a perpetual birth place of death is astounding. Maika is the girl who lived. Whether you think she has her soul intact, she could care less because she, and Zinn, have survived up to this point, way further than anyone thought they would. Here’s to seeing more of the trouble they get into come fall when the series returns.

8.5 Fatherfuckers out of 10

Reading Monstress? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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Singer Mario has spent the past few years under the radar, but every now and then he sets music world on fire with hit singles like “Somebody Else” and “Break Up”. In sad news, the singer took to Instagram late Friday night to share with fans the sad news that his mother recently passed away:

Details have not been released about Shawntia Hardaway’s death, but Mario has always been open about his mother’s struggle with a heroin addiction even bringing their story to the MTV documentary, I Won’t Love You to Death: The Story of Mario and His Mom in 2007. In the doc, the singer tries to help his mother overcome her drug use.

Their relationship was tumultuous as relationships can be when substance abuse is involved. In October 2010, Mario was charged with second-degree assault after allegedly pushing his mother. He was released from a Baltimore jail after posting $50,000 bond. Shortly after, Hardaway dropped the charges. In response to the event, Mario’s lawyer, Hassan Murphy III, disclosed to CNN:

“Anyone who has waged the battle to save loved ones from the forces of drugs knows the irrational behavior that almost always accompanies their actions.”

In 2011, the mother and son even hosted a charity event for the Mario Do Right Foundation, which works to create a support system for kids who, like Mario, are raised by addicts and recovering addicts. The event raised over $50,000.

Addiction can be a difficult for not just those who are abusing substances, but for their loved ones as well. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding her death, our thoughts are with Mario and his family at this tragic time.

The post “Your Soul Lives Forever Beside Mine” Singer Mario’s Mother Passes Away appeared first on MadameNoire.

Writer: Nicole Perlman / Artist: Marco Checchetto / Marvel Comics

In the grand finale of her solo series, Gamora ends its run as one of comics’ best-kept secrets. Escaping from Ubilex, Gamora is left with a choice of whether to kill L’Wit – and exact the revenge that had been her life’s purpose – or to challenge what Thanos made her become, and live. The interactions between Gamora and L’Wit had long been the most compelling element of this story, and Perlman masterfully writes their dynamic while side-stepping the pitfall of being overly cheesy or clichéd. Gamora’s a stone-cold killer, yet her emotional inner conflict consistently rings genuine, and L’Wit, to her own credit, is no bystander as she actively fights for her life and exposes Gamora to the truths she had never faced in herself.

Yeah, this entire series had bars as it balances frenetic action scenes with clever one-liner style dialogue, frequently enough to be a consistent staple but sparse enough that they feel like haymakers when they land. We have all seen the overly clever character whose wit is so frequent that it can be annoying sometimes – from Juno to Tyrion – or the hero is only speaks in hero-tongue, but part of what makes Gamora feel relatable is the tone of her inner dialogue, thoughtful in its reflection, and how she communicates those thoughts with others, especially when the stakes are high. When Gamora’s own flesh and blood pleads “We’re your family,” and Gamora says “No. You’re just my relatives,” I nearly had a stroke.

Overall, Gamora is one of the most unexpected gems on comic shelves this year. The conclusion makes it feel like one hell of a prequel to what will happen next in her life, which is one hell of a chapter in her life and the actual payoff from her childhood trauma. Killing the entire Badoon bloodline would not bring her peace, but the journey of that discovery led her a step closer to deciding what might.

9.2 out of 10

Reading Gamora? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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