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Posts Tagged “douglas wolk”

science fiction politics

Wondercon Confronts The Rise Of The Police State

The biggest cheers at Wondercon weren't for killer robots, but for allegories about government conspiracies, endless wars and terrorism. Much of the weekend felt like a poli-sci seminar, except with nuclear holocausts and mutated alien bugs instead of textbooks. If you needed proof that the shadow of 9/11 keeps falling over our formerly escapist narratives, then you only needed to sit in on any one of the con's jam-packed panels. More »

2:30 PM on Mon Feb 25 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
2,866 views, 28 comments

douglas wolk

Hulk Smash Military Industrial Complex!

Over the weekend at WonderCon, author Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics) gave a talk about the not-so-secret allegorical tales that lurk beneath the BAM! POW! of your typical superhero comic book. I caught Wolk on the con floor and asked him to explain the political subtext of Greg Pak's recent World War Hulk series. In this video, he explains how it's all about blowback from 9/11, and why Iron Man represents the military industrial complex. More »

7:40 AM on Mon Feb 25 2008
By Annalee Newitz
791 views, Comment

comics

Ten Kickass Songs About Comic Books, Plus One Weird Ditty

What are the best songs about comic books, other than Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"? I asked Douglas Wolk on IM the other day because he's the only person I know who is obsessed with comic books and music simultaneously. (He's the author of the awesome Reading Comics and Live At the Apollo about James Brown.) The best find was a rare single from 1969 called "Nobody Loves the Hulk!" Ten more after the jump. More »

9:45 AM on Thu Jan 3 2008
By Annalee Newitz
2,186 views, 34 comments