Thursday 21 April 2022

Comics Wrap-Up - This Precious Ball of Nerdyness

 

'Comics Wrap-Up' with lined-notebook-style background and speech bubbles containing heart symbols

It's Thursday, it's still April, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!


Film Trailers


Our first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder is here!

I mean... I honestly have no idea where Taika Waititi is taking this, but it has an 80s/90s rock vibe and I am here for it! Lol.

Taika Waititi's super-gifted (pun not intended, but I'ma leave it in,) - I'm so looking forward to this!


Warning: flashing images






TV Shows


Warning: this section discusses Ableism, mental health issues, murder, and general violence


OK, let's talk Moon Knight, episode 3!

As with my little talky-talks about previous episodes, there'll be a SPOILER section, clearly marked, at the end.


Moon Knight chibi swooping down and into frame
Via Giphy


What stood out to me the most in this episode was the Ableism - the discrimination against Marc and Steven because of their mental health problems.

It was actually, imho, a big step forward compared to the mental health representation we normally get - the stigma is very much used by Harrow (Ethan Hawke's character name,) who is the bad guy.

(And yes, I do still keep getting distracted by Ethan Hawke's hair - it's just so floofy...)

Like, we've firmly established that he is the Bad. Guy.

So him using Ableism - and the way in which he uses it - is excellent. 



Because it shows how insidious it can be, and that, actually, it's a thing the villain does, not the hero.

...It's a little concerning that in 2022 it still feels like a leap forward that the hero has mental health problems and the villain is Ableist, but there we have it.

Like I've said before though, I don't have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) - and if anyone knows of any #OwnVoices discussions on Moon Knight, I'd love to link to them!



I also love that there's no attempt to entirely cover the mental health issues with the mysticky aspects of the series.

The mental health issues aren't something that's inherently linked to the mysticky-ness - they interact with it, yes, but only because Marc and Steven are interacting with it and Marc and Steven have mental health issues.

I mean, Khonshu clearly has never had to deal with this before, and he's an Egyptian god with a bird skull for a head.



Speaking of, I liked Khonshu a little more in this episode.

Only a little - he's still something of a jerk - but he has a bit more of a grudging appreciation for Steven's adorkableness. So, progress!

Also, there's clearly a bunch of sh** going on between him and the other gods, so he's more than a little stressed here!

And, what can I say? I appreciate Khonshu's extra-ness. 😅💅💃 Dude's a total drama queen! Lol.



I really liked Layla - who has clearly done a sh** tonne of Googling between episodes in order to be quite this chill about the mental health stuff - interacting with Steven.

Like, there was something so wholesome about the two of them together.

...And she's working on relieving Marc's emotional constipation, which can't be a bad thing!



SPOILERS!!!!


Speaking of Layla and Steven - 

I love the way Layla recognises Steven's knowledge and nerdishness about ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics, languages etc., is exactly what they need right now.

The way she not only sees Steven as Steven, but actually appreciates his adorkable cinnamon roll self, was just awesome.

...And that nerdy hobbies can be potentially life-saving is never a bad thing. Lord knows, I have enough of them to power a small geeky army 😅


Layla chibi holding the scarab. Caption: Summon the suit!
Via Giphy


I loved just how much Steven was geeking out and having full-on fanboy moments in the pyramids.

Like, there's someone else involved here, Marc - you have another alter or something -  because this precious ball of nerdyness did not just murder a bunch of people.

He actually took over to stop you from murdering people. Why would he then go all stabby on those same people?

But I will accept that Marc, like Steven and Khonshu, is having a somewhat stressful few days... so I'll give him and his working logic a little leeway for that. 😅



And Layla's really great, as a character - she's pretty bad-a**.

Between her saying Marc was praying when he was arguing with Steven by the sarcophagus, and her deadly jewellery - noice touch, btw, whoever thought of that! - she's pretty damned impressive!



More, please, Marvel! *gimme hand motions*


END SPOILERS!!!!




Other Stuff


If you wanna catch up on what I thought of episode 2 of Moon Knight, you can see that on Medium here, or right here on Dora Reads in last week's CWU.

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Also on Medium, you can read 'Superheroes at the Supermarket' - about the domesticity of fanfiction - or check out the original post right here on Dora Reads here.
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To end with yet more shameless self-promo - last week's F3 was a SamBucky rec list, with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes from the MCU





Have you seen the new Thor trailer?

Is anyone else distracted by Ethan Hawke's hair?

Talk to me! 😀💬








You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page




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2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed episode three a lot. It was great to see the action picking up, and the representation of mental illness. I'm waiting on a few creators with DID I know to review the series. I'd be curious to know what own voices reviewers would think. It's definitely a step in the right direction! I really appreciate how supportive Layla is through it all, Marc and Steven really need it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm hoping to be able to link a few #OwnVoices DID opinions next week :)

      Lol, they def. need it! I love that Layla's like, 'OK... let's just deal with the problem!' Lol.

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