Category Archives: Janelle Asselin

March 23, 2015 · 10:50 am

Kickstarter: Janelle Asselin Fires Back With FRESH ROMANCE

Fresh Romance Issue 1 Cover by Kevin Wada

It was one year ago that comics professional Janelle Asselin was in the middle of a raging storm regarding the comics industry’s ongoing problem with the distortion of women. Catch up and/or refresh your memory on that right here. So, to find Ms. Asselin undertaking a whole new way of addressing this issue is quite inspiring. Sometimes, you just gotta go out and show them all how it’s done, right? Enter FRESH ROMANCE.

FRESH ROMANCE is a new generation’s answer to romance comics. This is part of a new imprint, Rosy Press, brought to you by Janelle Asselin, Senior Editor of ComicsAlliance.com and former DC Comics editor. If funded through the now-live Kickstarter campaign, Asselin’s new imprint Rosy Press will debut FRESH ROMANCE in May 2015. This Kickstarter campaign ends April 22. Visit it right here.

The first issue of this monthly digital comic magazine features sundry stories ranging from a clandestine, queer high school love affair to an impeccably researched and illustrated Regency-era romance. In addition to three forward-looking romances, each issue of FRESH ROMANCE delivers a relationship advice column by a quartet of divorced writers, behind-the-scenes art coverage, and a fashion report.

Full press release follows:

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Interview: Tim Hanley and ‘Wonder Woman Unbound’

From “Wonder Woman Unbound”

Wonder Woman can lead the way out, above and beyond our current state. Wonder Woman commands respect. That respect can carry over to other female characters. It can carry over to respecting all human beings.

That respect is the key to Wonder Woman’s success and popularity. You just don’t mess with Wonder Woman. She is bigger and more powerful than any one person or corporation. With that in mind, it is my pleasure to share with you my interview with Tim Hanley, author of “Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine.” You can read my recent review here. You can visit Tim Hanley’s site here. And you can definitely pick up his comprehensive study of Wonder Woman right here.

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Filed under Comics, DC Comics, DC Entertainment, Gender, Interviews, Janelle Asselin, Sexism, Tim Hanley, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Women, Wonder Woman

Tagged as comic books, comics, DC Comics, Entertainment, Gender, graphic novels, Interviews, Media, Pop Culture, Publishing, Sexism, superheroes, Women, Wonder Woman

May 2, 2014 · 9:36 pm

WE ARE COMICS

Fantagraphics Books shows support for We Are Comics

In the aftermath from a recent incident that rocked the comics industry, something good emerges. Welcome to We Are Comics.

Here are the details from Metafilter.com:

We are comics. When former DC Comics editor Janelle Asselin wrote a scathing critique of the art on the company’s new “Teen Titans” book, the response she got was depressingly predictable: a deluge of insults, some anonymous rape threats and even one (less predictable) attempt to hack her bank accounts. But after much of the online comics community rallied around Asselin, a tumblr-based project to show off the true diversity of comics creators and fans took off.

We Are Comics is the brainchild of writers/fans/editors Rachel Edidin, Arturo R. Garcia, and Elle Collins.

An epilogue: In the wake of Asselin’s abuse, Comic Book Resources – the Eisner-winning news site that hosted her original article – has locked its community forums and started over fresh, with a brand-new civility code.
posted by Holy Zarquon’s Singing Fish

We keep making inroads to a better world. It takes effort. We Are Comics is on the right track. You are welcome to join them.

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Filed under Comic Book Resources, comic books, Comics, Comics News, DC Comics, Diversity, Janelle Asselin

Tagged as Activism, Art, arts, Cartoonists, comic books, comics, Community, DC Comics, Diversity, Entertainment, Gender, graphic novels, Media, Pop Culture, Publishing, Sexism, Social Media, superheroes, Teen Titans, Women, Writers

April 30, 2014 · 3:37 am

Furor Over Basic Comics Criticism: Janelle Asselin and the Attack on Women

As many of you can imagine, there is a lot of cheesecake that makes its way into comics. As a critic, this is a can of worms that you open when you’re ready for the shit storm that follows when daring to criticize a major comics title. This is what just happened to Janelle Asselin, a seasoned professional in the comics industry after she dared to criticize the above cover for “Teen Titans #1,” published by DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Can you guess what Ms. Asselin may have taken issue with?

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