GeekMom: Comic Book Corner -- March 27th, 2013

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week.

Dakster Sullivan — Legend of Oz: The Wicked West This week, I picked up The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West (written by Tom Hutchison, art by Allison Borges and color by Kate Finnegan). It’s nothing like the comics I usually pick up, so I decided to keep an open mind and jump in. I’m glad I did because the story is pretty good.

Just as the title suggests, this version of  The Wizard of Oz  takes place in the wild west. Imagine if Dorothy was actually a cowgirl and Toto was her horse. Her barn dropped on the Wicked Witch of the West and not a house. After that, the only resemblance to the original story are the character names.

If you’ve read the original novel, you will recognize some of the characters you wouldn’t know otherwise. Those of you who have only seen the original movie, you will still enjoy the series, but you probably won’t know who some of the characters are (or you’ll think the writer made them up).

In this version of the story, the Emerald City is run by a woman by the name of General Jinjur. Not sure what her deal is, but she has an ax to grind. For the most part, the Emerald City appears to be run by the women. Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion are all in a prison in Emerald City, that is run by women. Again, I’m not sure what is going on here, so I’m hoping future issue will explain it all.

For the most of issue 1, we see the Tin Man (a real man, who appears to have great skills with an ax and super human strength), a lion (who so far seems to be just a lion) and the Scarecrow (who is actually a female character and looks to be of Indian origin).

I’m interested to see what happens and see how much (and how quickly) they explain the parts that confuse me.

Legend of Oz: The Wicked West is published by Big Dog Ink.

I was given a copy of this title for this review. That in no way hindered by opinion. After all, I had to keep telling myself to keep an open mind through out the story. That should tell you something right?

Curious to know what I’m pulling this week? Check out my pull list on Comixology.

Kelly Knox – Don’t forget to enroll in Gender Through Comic Books!

This is the last week to enroll in the Gender Through Comic Books massive online open course offered by Canvas.net, which explores gender identity by examining noteworthy comics titles. In an interview with GeekMom, instructor Christina Blanch summarized the topics of the course:

The first thing we will cover is what exactly gender is. People often times think it is synonymous with sex or is feminism in disguise. This class is about men and women and how we can learn about gender through its social construction, as politics, as a diffuse concept, and as a lived experience. Constructions of gender vary from culture to culture and change throughout time. In the class we will look at how gender is constructed and how the stereotypes of certain gender traits are perpetrated by the producers of cultural material. Masculinity and femininity have traits associated with them that are not equal with a person’s sex.

If you’ve been waiting to see the course materials, all titles are on sale for a limited time on ComiXology – and even if you aren’t taking the course, it’s a great time to grab titles like the new Captain Marvel, Action Comics #1 (1938), and Superman: Birthright.

The course begins on April 2, 2013 and lasts until May 10.

Looking for something else, readers? Check out this week’s listed books:

All-Star Western #18

American Vampire Vol. 5

Aquaman #18

Arrow #5

Batman Incorporated #9 CP

Batman The Dark Knight #18

Batwing Vol. 2 In The Shadows Of The Ancients

Day Of Judgment TP

Flash #18

Fury Of Firestorm The Nuclear Man #18

I Vampire #18

Injustice Gods Among Us #3

Joe Kubert Presents #6 (Of 6)

Justice League Dark #18

Red Lanterns #18

Savage Hawkman #18

Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock Vol. 4 TP

Superman #18

Superman Family Adventures #11

Superman Vs Zod TP

Talon #6

Teen Titans #18

Time Warp #1

Unwritten #47

Unwritten Vol. 7 The Wound TP A+X #6

Age Of Ultron #3 (Of 10)

All-New X-Men Vol. 1 Yesterday’s X-Men HC PE

Astonishing X-Men #60

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 11 Weaponized TP

Avengers Vs X-Men TP

Deadpool Killustrated #3 (Of 4)

Doom 2099 The Complete Collection By Warren Ellis TP

Fantastic Four #5AU

FF #5

Fury MAX #10

Gambit #10

Guardians Of The Galaxy #1

Journey Into Mystery #650

Kick-Ass 2 TP

Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Human Torch Vol. 1 TP

Marvel Previews #116 (April 2013 For Products On-Sale June 2013)

Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man #12

Marvel Universe Vs The Avengers TP

Mighty Thor By Matt Fraction Vol. 3 TP

Morbius The Living Vampire #3

Scarlet Spider #15

Spider-Man Lizard No Turning Back TP

Superior Spider-Man #6AU

Thunderbolts #7

Ultimate Comics Wolverine #2 (Of 4)

Uncanny Avengers #5

Uncanny X-Force #3

Wolverine And The X-Men #27

Wolverine And The X-Men By Jason Aaron Vol. 3 TP

X-Men Legacy #8

Young Avengers #3 <p> h g> g>

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