Zoe's Blues
Issues # 1-3 (of four)
Story by Carla Rodriguez
Illustrations by Rosa Colon

Price: $3.00 per issue
Email: sodapopcomics@hotmail.com
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I first heard about this comic through the I Read Comics podcast. I'm always interested in indie superheroe comics, so I wrote to Rosa and Carla asking if I could buy copies of Zoe's Blues. In a few weeks, I had review copies of all three issues waiting for me in my mailbox. (Thank you Rosa and Carla!)

Each issue is printed in color on nice, semi-glossy paper and side-stapled. For the production quality alone this comics is worth $3.00, but the story and images support this worth. There is an interesting juxtaposition between the flowing, pencil drawn characters and the precise, thick lines of the settings. A pencil-shaded Zoe moves in a world of bright colors and patterned backgrounds. The first time I read Zoe's Blues, I was thinking, I don't know if you can do this and make the comic work. But by the third issue, I was digging it. This is sometimes the way I feel in my day to day life. The people I know are real and vibrant. But the mundane furniture of my life - the desks and tables - are replicable images. I've moved across the country with two suitcases, but the furniture I have in my new apartment could just as easily have been with me in Alabama. The images  in Zoe's Blues could have been done in completely one realm or the other, but I like the slight discord. It makes me ask the comic questions, and interact with the text.

The story is fun and engaging. Zoe has superpowers (ice!) that she has not quite mastered yet. She wants to go to college, but her parents want her to join their superhero team. Zoe struggles with writing a college application essay and crushes on the cute waiter at the cafe where she goes to take a break from her family. The first two issues set up the world and the minor elements of discord within the family, but in issue three the plot picks up the pace and the villain Speed Demon (who briefly made an entrance in issue two) takes control of Zoe's story.

Issues one and two have great character development. Flashbacks to Zoe's childhood are interwoven smoothly with the current family events. There are several lovely scenes of interaction between young Zoe and her parents. The most moving of these occur when Zoe's optimism is thwarted by her uncontrolled powers.

But issue three is my favorite so far. Speed Demon arranges a chat with Zoe, and in addition to being an incredibly cute Speed Demon he also precipitates the kind of witty dialogue that will make you smile as you read. It starts with Zoe and Speed Demon's first conversation together. Zoe asks, "What gave you the bright idea that I would help you?" and Speed Demon, looking flustered, answers "Well, because you look like a reasonable human being, and..." then in an inset close-up of Speed Demon's face "I know stuff." :).  Yes! Smile. :). These are the geeky heart-warmers that make the third issue of Zoe's Blues extra cool and make me wish for a plush version Speed Demon with whom I can have similarly shyly incoherent conversations.

Speed Demon divulges the story of Zoe's parents and then makes her an offer she will hopefully refuse. As Zoe listens to Speed Demon's story, her parents search for her. Zoe's younger brother, Tommy, sits on the floor beside his sister's bed and worries. The character depictions are very realistic in this issue, and the two art styles interact on a new level. When Zoe's parents fly out of the house to search for their missing daughter, their curvy, pencil outlines move away from the angular lines of the house in a brief but powerful image of movement and intent.

I have not read the fourth issue of Zoe's Blues yet, but if issues one through three indicate the progression to the fourth, then it is likely to be a great comic.

Zoe's Blues is definitely a comic to check out. Rodriguez and Colon have created an inspiring art style, a cast of believable characters, and a female protagonist with superhero powers and a hip outfit. I enjoyed reading the issues, and hope that Zoe will return someday for a graphic novel length adventure.

Phantom Power Comics Podcast
c/o Jenni Moody
895 University Ave, Apt 1
Fairbanks, AK 99709

Check out the original post for the full details. This looks like a great opportunity to get into comics podcasting, so if you like to talk about comics send them an audition!

Four Color Heroines is currently looking for two other people to fill host positions. Four Color Heroines will be a four-person podcast (three regular hosts including myself and one guest) and primarily will focus is women in the sequential art medium, though other elements may at certain points be brought up.

Those interested will need a microphone, the program Skype and Pamela Pro or an equivalent VoIP phone recorder that can record in stereo. Pamela Pro can be downloaded on a 30-day trial basis, so for the audition period you will only need to download it once.

What I'll need in your host application:
- A brief paragraph talking about yourself, your experience, and anything else you feel might be relevant.
- A minimum three-minute recording of you talking about a topic of your choice.

Please PM (preferred) or e-mail hannahdame@girl-wonder.org with your application. Applications must be in by June 24, 2007.

Fresh from the bunny hat:

Paul and Gary Small, Jr. are the winners of the Buffy Giveaway from SiliCon 2007 and Phantom Power. Congratulations!

Each will receive Buffy Issue #1, a 32" x 22" poster, and a 17" x 11" poster.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Team Phantom Power will be attending WisCon 31: the world's leading feminist science fiction convention. The convention will take place May 25-28, 2007 in Madison, Wisconsin.

And I'm going to be on some panels!

Sarcasm and Superheroics: Feminism in the Mainstream Comics Industry.

Saturday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

2006 was declared the year of Women in Comics. Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" was one of Time's 10 Best Books, best-selling authors Jodi Picoult and Tamora Pierce were signed up to write for DC and Marvel, and DC announced a new "Minx" line for girls. However, 2006 was also a year of increased feminist activism in mainstream comics. New websites "When Fangirls Attack" and "Girl-Wonder.org" collected and encouraged feminist debate on issues of diversity and sexism in comics, and there seemed to be plenty to talk about. Moreover, the Occasional Superheroine confessional memoir recounted a disturbing tale of abuse and misogyny within the superhero industry that was reflected on the pages of its comics. What has improved in the comics industry? What is yet to be done? What challenges are posed by the industry's peculiar institutional structure? How can women break into the comics mainstream? How can we critique it? And what comics can you buy for your kids?

M: Karen Elizabeth Healey, Charlie Anders, Rachel Sharon Edidin, Catherine Lundoff, Jenni Moody

The X-Women

Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m.

The X-Men comics are well-loved and have a disproportionately high number of female fans (and strong female characters). X-Men: The Final Stand was nonetheless widely interpreted as quite sexist (out of control sexual women must be destroyed for the good of the world, etc.). Did the problems originate in the adaptation to film, or the source material, i.e., the comics themselves? What attracts women to the X-Men story no matter what format it's told in?

M: Rachel Sharon Edidin, Charlie Anders, Jennifer Dunne, Karen Elizabeth Healey, Jenni Moody

Fun Home

Sunday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

Time magazine named Alison Bechdel's graphic novel "Fun Home" as its top book of the year, and it spent a good chunk of 2006 on the NYT best-seller list. Bechdel is an artist/writer best known for her syndicated comic strip "Dykes To Watch Out For". It's pretty rare for (a) autobiography, (b) lesbianism, or (c) a graphic novel to be at the top of ANY critical list of best books of the year; hitting the trifecta is unprecedented. Which of these 3 aspects is most surprising? Does this bode well for the future?

M: Rachel Sharon Edidin, Janet Lafler, Jenni Moody, JJ Pionke, Vicki Rosenzweig

If you're going to be at WisCon 31, please say hi!

Phantom Power Comics Podcast, Episode 9

• Manhunter continues! Audio from the 2007 New York Comic Con provided by David Arroyo of the Comic Makers Podcast. Thank you David!
• Bitch Magazine talks about feminism in comics
• the Final Taxi Podcast remembers Arnold Drake
• Buffy, Issue #1 Giveaway!!

• Linda Linda Linda
• The Man Who Doesn't Take Off His Clothes vol.1 & 2, by Narise Konohara & Yuki Shimizu
• Less Fun Comics No. 1, by Joe Annabi and Nick Sedillos
• Farmer's Daughter, vol. 1 and E-ROT: An Exploration of the Erotic, October 2006 Edited by Christine M. Baese (To order a copy of these zines, mail $1.00 for each zine to: Christine M. Baese, P.O. Box 624, Northville, MI, 48167.)
• Zine World: A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press #24

Man Who Doesn't v.1		Man Who Doesn't v.2		Less Fun Comics, No.1

Farmer's Daughter		E-ROT		Zine World

The Phantom Power Comics Podcast is supported by the 2006 Women Comics Podcasters Grant from the Lincoln Heights Literary Society.

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