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Editors: Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, C. Spike Trotman / Creators: Kate Ashwin, Lucy Bellwood, Terry Blas, Jason Caffoe, Shannon Campbell, Ron Chan, Nicole Chartrand, Sabrina Cotugno, Jonathan Dalton, Blue Delliquanti, Nick Dragotta, Cat Farris, Ayano Hattori, Caitlyn Kurilich, Stu Livingston, Nilah Magurder, Nina Matsumoto, Meredith McClaren, Kel McDonald, Carla Speed McNeil, Randy Miholland, Molly “Jakface” Memecek, Jose Pimienta, Andrew Sides, Gene Luen Yang / Iron Circus Comics
The impressively long list of creators in Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories still manages to belie the variety and sheer amount of content in the latest anthology from Iron Circus Comics. Tamamo is the latest entry the “Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales” series, as originally started by The Girl Who Married a Skull, an anthology that focused on updating African folktales. As the subtitle indicates, Tamamo is focused on Asian folktales for aspiring middle school readers. And as someone who once hungered for this content, I’m so incredibly happy that this book exists.
Featuring 288 gorgeous pages of black and white comics, Tamamo features twenty one stories from myths ranging from Japan, India, China, Georgia, Laos, Myanmar, the Arabiran Peninsula, Turkey, and Tibet. Each creator revitalizes old folktales through their own lens, creating a dynamic experience as you work through collection. Some stories are long, enthralling tales of adventure while others are short and sweet stories that act as almost interludes to anthology, adding some much-needed brevity to the large tome. Throughout the various stories, there is such a high level of consistent caliber, between the writing and the illustration.
Some of my personal favorite stories in the anthology include:
• Shannon Campbell’s and Lucy Bellwood’s #EndoftheWorld, a brief 9 page epic that retells a classic myth with the inclusion of Twitter.
• Frog Skin by Nilah Magruder, a particularly clever and unconventional love story
• From the Journal of the Monkey by Gene Luen Yang, which while the shortest story in the anthology still have Yang’s classic wit and sharp observations
• Urashima Taro by Jason Caffoe, which details one of the earliest time travel stories I’ve ever had the chance to read
• The title story, Tamamo the Fox Maiden by Terry Blas, which I will let stand on its own merit
• The Three Rhymester by Meredith McClaren, with a clean, modern aesthetic
• Hoichi the Earless by Nina Matsumoto, which has some of my favorite art of the whole book.
Now, while I choose to highlight on a third of the stories, please rest assured that I loved all of the works that were listed. They each occupied their own little section of the world, and out of the 288 some pages, there will be more than one story that just resonates down to your very story. You may even recognize some art stylings from other popular young adult content like Amulet, Plant vs Zombies, Muchkin, and American Born Chinese. And I say this to empathetically emphasize: there is a very high certainty that there is something in the book for you or your favorite middle-school comic reader.
As much as I love this book, I do wish there was just a few more stories featuring some other Asian inspired folklore. There’s just such a small gap that could have been filled with tales from the Philippines, Vietnam, or South Korea (and this is just the stuff that comes off the cuff) that could have rounded out the diverse collection stories much more completely. It’s a minor gripe in the grand scheme because there is a significant amount of content dedicated to Indian myths and even less represented countries in pop culture, and it isn’t just a collection of popular Chinese and Japanese myths, but one I would still be on the record.
All and all though, Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories is a book I desperately needed as a fledging middle schooler. This book along with its predecessor, The Girl Who Married a Skull, continue to prove that representation matter. That representation is more than just having people of color in the stories. That having creators tell their tales is a fundamental gamechanger. We’re dealing with stories that are fundamentally different than the classic Greco-Roman tales that circulate middle school reading lists. We’re dealing with cultural exchange that reads and evokes different lessons. These “Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales” run parallel to the greats and this anthology is going to mean a lot to a lot of different people.
9.3 “Retellings” out of 10
See more of Iron Circus Comics and their books here .
See our site’s other reviews of Iron Circus Comics books here.
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The post From Iron Circus Comics: ‘Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories’ Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Editors: Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, C. Spike Trotman / Creators: Kate Ashwin, Lucy Bellwood, Terry Blas, Jason Caffoe, Shannon Campbell, Ron Chan, Nicole Chartrand, Sabrina Cotugno, Jonathan Dalton, Blue Delliquanti, Nick Dragotta, Cat Farris, Ayano Hattori, Caitlyn Kurilich, Stu Livingston, Nilah Magurder, Nina Matsumoto, Meredith McClaren, Kel McDonald, Carla Speed McNeil, Randy Miholland, Molly “Jakface” Memecek, Jose Pimienta, Andrew Sides, Gene Luen Yang / Iron Circus Comics
The impressively long list of creators in Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories still manages to belie the variety and sheer amount of content in the latest anthology from Iron Circus Comics. Tamamo is the latest entry the “Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales” series, as originally started by The Girl Who Married a Skull, an anthology that focused on updating African folktales. As the subtitle indicates, Tamamo is focused on Asian folktales for aspiring middle school readers. And as someone who once hungered for this content, I’m so incredibly happy that this book exists.
Featuring 288 gorgeous pages of black and white comics, Tamamo features twenty one stories from myths ranging from Japan, India, China, Georgia, Laos, Myanmar, the Arabiran Peninsula, Turkey, and Tibet. Each creator revitalizes old folktales through their own lens, creating a dynamic experience as you work through collection. Some stories are long, enthralling tales of adventure while others are short and sweet stories that act as almost interludes to anthology, adding some much-needed brevity to the large tome. Throughout the various stories, there is such a high level of consistent caliber, between the writing and the illustration.
Some of my personal favorite stories in the anthology include:
• Shannon Campbell’s and Lucy Bellwood’s #EndoftheWorld, a brief 9 page epic that retells a classic myth with the inclusion of Twitter.
• Frog Skin by Nilah Magruder, a particularly clever and unconventional love story
• From the Journal of the Monkey by Gene Luen Yang, which while the shortest story in the anthology still have Yang’s classic wit and sharp observations
• Urashima Taro by Jason Caffoe, which details one of the earliest time travel stories I’ve ever had the chance to read
• The title story, Tamamo the Fox Maiden by Terry Blas, which I will let stand on its own merit
• The Three Rhymester by Meredith McClaren, with a clean, modern aesthetic
• Hoichi the Earless by Nina Matsumoto, which has some of my favorite art of the whole book.
Now, while I choose to highlight on a third of the stories, please rest assured that I loved all of the works that were listed. They each occupied their own little section of the world, and out of the 288 some pages, there will be more than one story that just resonates down to your very story. You may even recognize some art stylings from other popular young adult content like Amulet, Plant vs Zombies, Muchkin, and American Born Chinese. And I say this to empathetically emphasize: there is a very high certainty that there is something in the book for you or your favorite middle-school comic reader.
As much as I love this book, I do wish there was just a few more stories featuring some other Asian inspired folklore. There’s just such a small gap that could have been filled with tales from the Philippines, Vietnam, or South Korea (and this is just the stuff that comes off the cuff) that could have rounded out the diverse collection stories much more completely. It’s a minor gripe in the grand scheme because there is a significant amount of content dedicated to Indian myths and even less represented countries in pop culture, and it isn’t just a collection of popular Chinese and Japanese myths, but one I would still be on the record.
All and all though, Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories is a book I desperately needed as a fledging middle schooler. This book along with its predecessor, The Girl Who Married a Skull, continue to prove that representation matter. That representation is more than just having people of color in the stories. That having creators tell their tales is a fundamental gamechanger. We’re dealing with stories that are fundamentally different than the classic Greco-Roman tales that circulate middle school reading lists. We’re dealing with cultural exchange that reads and evokes different lessons. These “Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales” run parallel to the greats and this anthology is going to mean a lot to a lot of different people.
9.3 “Retellings” out of 10
See more of Iron Circus Comics and their books here .
See our site’s other reviews of Iron Circus Comics books here.
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here!
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
The post From Iron Circus Comics: ‘Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories’ Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
It’s hard to find good music that gets you in the zone but won’t distract you from relaxing or getting work done. Fortunately, there are some great services like the Humm.ly Music Therapy […]
The post Boost Productivity with This Best-Selling Music Therapy App appeared first on Geek.com.
Warning: This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Game of Thrones season eight premiere
Even the great LeBron James can’t win NBA MVP if he doesn’t play in any games. Then again, he definitely wouldn’t redecorate the Golden State Warriors’ locker room with Steph Curry’s body. That’s the difference between a killer on the court and a blue-eyed ice demon. For that reason alone, even though he didn’t actually appear in the episode, the Night King is the MVP of Game of Thrones’ season eight premiere. But it’s an easy award to give him when every living person was either a loser or acted like one.
This episode’s defining feature was the living’s inability to stop squabbling over titles. The White Walkers have broken through the Wall. They are the biggest army in the world and they are marching through the North. Every person they murder adds to their undead ranks. This should be the only thing any human cares about right now.
Instead Sansa, along with every other lord and lady in the North, is mad at Jon for bending the knee. It doesn’t matter he brought them major reinforcements and two dragons to save their lives, they are more worried about who will sit on the Iron Throne in a month. Obviously that won’t matter if they are all dead in a week. It’s a shortsighted mentality that has not only caused the painful and destructive wars of the first seven seasons, it has brought the living to the brink of annihilation. The episode was like watching a group of Cerseis running around, and it made the living losers.
It wasn’t much better on a personal scale either. Yes, Jon rode a freaking dragon, and it’s awesome to learn your father was Rhaegar Targaryen and you are really rightful heir to the Iron Throne. But he can’t be the episode’s MVP. Not when you discover you’re shacking up with your aunt.
Speaking of Daenerys, Sansa said Winterfell was hers, but no one actually wants her there. We all know how hard it is when your significant other’s family doesn’t like you. Plus, she had a pretty tough moment telling poor Sam she dragon-fried his father and brother.
The only human who probably walked away from this episode happy was Euron Greyjoy, who finally got to sleep with the Queen. He still managed to lose his most prized prisoner though. Now Yara is on her way to reclaim the Iron Islands while he’s fighting Cersei’s wars in King’s Landing. Overall he took an “L” too.
The only human we can even think about naming MVP is Arya, who got to reunite with Jon, Gendry, and the Hound. She played it cool, but she was happy to see him. Plus she was in awe seeing dragons in person. But she also seems concerned by Jon’s decision and appears to have more faith in Sansa, which, right or wrong, means she’s also not totally focused on the White Walkers.
Meanwhile, the patient, focused Night King destroyed the Last Hearth, an important and ancient castle, gained more soldiers for his army, and created the most terrifying home decor the Seven Kingdoms have ever seen. The White Walker leader is not distracted, and for that reason he’s the MVP of the season eight premiere. It’s an amazing reminder of why he’s such an imposing villain.
We’d like to see LeBron James win a game without playing in it.
Images: HBO
The post Why [Spoiler] Is the MVP of GAME OF THRONES Season 8 Premiere appeared first on Nerdist.
Source: Derrick Salters/WENN.com / WENN
Nipsey Hussle’s tragic death broke hearts across the hip-hop community and beyond. His untimely passing inspired a truce between Los Angeles gangs. He had a grand home going service at the Staples Center where fans packed the venue to pay respects the the late rapper and his family. Whether you are a fan of not, this terrible loss was felt. While many outlets covered his funeral with respect, FOX News laughed and joked while covering Hussle’s farewell.
“Yesterday in thousands lined the streets to say goodbye to rapper Nipsey Hussle,” FOX News reporter Laura Ingraham said during The Laura Ingraham Show Friday (Apr. 12). “This dear artist recently released a song called FDT ― F Donald Trump.”
“FDT” is actually rapper YG’s 2016 track that features Hussle and after she played a clip of the chorus she then mocked the rapper saying “That’s a very creative refrain, very catchy. “The chorus, it goes on and on. Is that related to the lowest unemployment ever basically for African Americans.”
Ingraham and her guest Raymond Arroyo also made fun of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for mistakenly calling Hussle Nipsey Russell during his service.
“It’s always a good idea before you give a eulogy to know the name of the deceased,” Arroyo said sarcastically.
As a journalist it is very disrespectful, tactless and insensitive to discuss Hussle’s murder and funeral like it had no meaning or impact. Plus, the comment about the black people having the lowest unemployment rate ever is false. Our unemployment rates were lowest while Barack Obama was in office.
Take a look at a brief clip of Ingraham below.