awaiting review
Spider-Man Fights Substance Abuse
by Matt Peters Content advisory: Bullying and gun violence in the book’s final section On top of their usual heroics, many of Marvel’s characters have had short-term roles promoting a variety of social causes and educational campaigns. Sometimes these secondary roles have been worked into their regular serial publications, usually at the volition of writers who want to address issues that are important to them personally. For example, in The Incredible Hulk #420, released in 1994, writer Peter David promoted AIDS awareness in a story that saw Hulk lose a close friend to the disease. Other times Marvel… Read More
The Incredible Hulk #420 – AIDS issue
by Matt Peters With his work on a long list of titles at Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and First Comics, the late Peter David (died May 24, 2025) had many claims to fame as a comics writer. Perhaps foremost among them was his 12-year run writing The Incredible Hulk. He took over its writing in 1987, when sales of the long-running series (published from 1962 to 1999) were so low that other writers didn’t want the assignment. David’s storytelling approach soon turned things around, making the series a commercial success. Much of that success was due to David’s ability… Read More
Cuckoo – One Woman’s True Stories of Living with Multiple Personality Disorder
awaiting review
The Book of Niall
The Book of Niall merges dream life, acting, magical thinking and diagnosis (not to mention exquisite artwork) to create a mesmerising work well worth reading. The main character, Niall Adams, is an actor, known for his part as a superhero in a series entitled “Logos: First Order”. He is a handsome man with an Irish name, a British accent and an American character role. His recently completed movie series is poorly reviewed, and his womanizing, superficial agent manages to get him nominated for a Best Actor award, with the express aim of distracting public attention from the negative reviews. But,… Read More
The Third Person
Guest Book Review by KC Councilor Emma Grove’s book The Third Person is a memoir about a trans person with Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.) healing from trauma and struggling to access gender-affirming care. It is also a story about trust and vulnerability in the context of mental health care. Both simply and expertly drawn, Grove renders a complex narrative with impressive clarity and insight. The book is a chronological story of Grove’s coming to understand herself as a trans person and as a survivor of trauma with “alters” or D.I.D.—a term to describe separate personalities formed to protect… Read More