Language and Power in N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s “Far Sector”

Tag: dc comics

We all know the power of words and the ways that words shape our reality. The student in Ernest Gaines’ “The Sky is Gray” points this out when he gets into a conversation with other individuals in the waiting room at a dentist office. He tells those around him that the grass is black and that the wind is pink. Immediately, they laugh at him and … Read More Language and Power in N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s “Far Sector”

January 6, 2026 + afrofuturism, comics, dc comics, Far Sector, Jamal Campbell, n.k. jemisin

Attempting to Change the System from Within in N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s “Far Sector”

by Matthew Teutsch

I first read N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s Far Sector when it came out in the trade paperback, and I’d been waiting for an opportunity to teach it. When it came out as part of DC Comics’ compact line, I knew that I would teach it in my “Lost Voices in American Literature” course. I wanted to include it in this course because it connects, in … Read More Attempting to Change the System from Within in N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s “Far Sector”

September 26, 2024 + alan moore, christianity, dave gibbons, dc comics, watchmen

“Who makes the world?” Religion and Morality in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s “Watchmen”

by Matthew Teutsch

During Dr. Manhattan’s public reveal in March 1960 in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, a newscaster stares into the camera and says, “The Superman exists, and he’s American.” Watchmen takes place in an alternate history where the United States won the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon remains president in 1985, and superhero “vigilantes,” inspired by the appearance of Superman and others in the late 1930s, protect individuals … Read More “Who makes the world?” Religion and Morality in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s “Watchmen”

December 15, 2022 + carmen maria machado, comics, dc comics, gender, graphic novels, sexual assault, sexuality, the low, low woods

Credibility and What One Believes in Carmen Maria Machado and Dani’s “The Low, Low Woods”

by Matthew Teutsch

When Jaydn DeWald introduced me to Carmen Maria Machado and Dani’s The Low, Low Woods, I knew that I wanted to include it in my “Monsters, Race, and Comics” class. Jaydn also introduced me to Machado’s “The Husband Stitch,” and before starting The Low, Low Woods we read and discussed Machado’s story in class. One of the overarching themes in both texts deals with the discrediting of … Read More Credibility and What One Believes in Carmen Maria Machado and Dani’s “The Low, Low Woods”

February 8, 2022 + comics, dc comics, gene luen yang, Gurihiru, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, superman smashes the klan

Hate, the Oldest Commodity, in “Superman Smashes the Klan”

by Matthew Teutsch

Hate sells, and it’s profitable as hell. This isn’t anything new or revelatory, I know. Lillian Smith pointed it out in Killers of the Dream when she talked about wealthy whites, in order to maintain their power, enlisted poor whites in hate against African Americans and others following Reconstruction and into the Jim Crow era and beyond, flattening whiteness. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed … Read More Hate, the Oldest Commodity, in “Superman Smashes the Klan”

Interminable Rambling

Language and Power in N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell’s “Far Sector”

Tag: dc comics