Sometimes, the graphic novel gets a bad rap as the format that screwed over Alan Moore (in that regard, there are probably valid complaints). However, the format also brought with it previously unknown creative freedom.

The post The 17 Best Graphic Novels of All Time (Ranked) appeared first on The Mary Sue.

In March, Marvel Comics revealed that she’s set to take over as the new Uncanny X-Men scribe in August, making her the first female solo writer of the X-Men’s flagship title “in its 61-year history.” Shortly after that news, Simone announced that she’s helming Rebellion Publishing’s resurrection of horror host Misty in an all-new one-off 48-page anthology, Misty 2024, arriving on July 17.

The post Gail Simone Is Doing Her Best To ‘Make It Kill Again’ by Resurrecting a Classic Horror Host appeared first on The Mary Sue.

On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe announced that the first Scooby-Doo anime has been greenlit. Per Variety, the new series is titled Go-Go Mystery Machine, and will send Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and their new pals “on the ultimate food adventure” through Japan. My question is: Will Shaggy and Scooby be getting to Japan with the help of Vacations Travel?

The post Scooby-Doo’s New Series Takes the Franchise Somewhere It’s Never Been Before appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Have you had a chance to watch the finale, but still find yourself plagued by questions regarding what you just saw? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are the secrets of the Discovery season finale explained. And while this almost certainly goes without saying, be forewarned: This article contains spoilers for the entirety of Discovery.

The post ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Series Finale Secrets Unlocked appeared first on The Mary Sue.

No, it wasn’t the hot romance between Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), though that ultimately contributed to my enjoyment of the series, as it was refreshing to see able-bodied Michonne stick by her man. (Honestly, George A. Romero’s Monkey Shines is one of the few other on-screen examples of sex between a disabled man and an abled-bodied woman I can think of.) Instead, it was because it decided to return to a popular disability storyline from the Robert Kirkman-penned comic books: when Rick loses his hand and then learns how to adjust to the amputation.

The post When Rick Grimes Lost His Hand, ‘The Walking Dead’ Gained a Disabled Fan appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Star Trek (now dubbed Star Trek: The Original Series or TOS), Gene Roddenberry’s “Wagon Train to the Stars” debuted on NBC on September 6, 1966, and has since logged over 600 hours of entertainment over 12 original series. After Star Trek: Discovery rebooted the franchise (it was nearly “killed” by Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005) and ushered in its “Golden Age of Streaming,” Trekkies have enjoyed a Renaissance with new Prime Timeline shows coming out rapidly for the past decade.

The post Oscar Winner Holly Hunter Cast as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy in ‘Star Trek’s First YA Series  appeared first on The Mary Sue.

One of the most popular video games on Steam, Palworld, which Pocketpair released on January 19, 2024, has been described as “Pokémon with guns.” Many are furious over the game—for infringing on Pokémon’s copyright and for the possible use of generative artificial intelligence in the game’s designs.

A few weeks ago, Nintendo’s The Pokémon Company released a statement implying that it would investigate the video game Palworld for possible copyright infringement. “We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game,” the statement reads. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.”

The post ‘Palworld’: Why a ‘Pokémon’ Parody May Be Considered Fair Use (but Satire Isn’t) appeared first on The Mary Sue.

The When Brooklyn Was Queer virtual reality series is adapted from Hugh Ryan’s eponymous book exploring the LGBTQIA+ history of one of New York City’s most famous boroughs, Brooklyn. It spans from the early days when, in the 1850s, Walt Whitman would cruise the waterfront to meet “comrades” to the 1940s when the February House was established, a Brooklyn Heights arts commune where mostly queer creatives frequented, including W.H. Auden, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Jane Bowles, and beyond.

The post Elliot Page to Executive Produce a Series on Brooklyn’s Fascinating Queer History—in VR appeared first on The Mary Sue.

All six seasons of the Emmy-winning series Northern Exposure are currently streaming for the first time EVER on Prime Video. Previously, viewers could only return to Cecily, Alaska via digital purchase or on DVD. (And before that, VHS.)

Northern Exposure ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995. Created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey of St. Elsewhere fame, Northern Exposure is about Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow), a Jewish physician who recently graduated from Columbia University’s medical school in New York City. To pay back the State of Alaska for financing his training (a real-world practice where the state subsidizes someone’s medical education), Fleischman is forced to open a small practice in a town of approximately 850 people in the fictional “Alaskan Riviera.”

The post A ’90s Favorite Has Hit Streaming, and I Can’t Decide If It Holds Up appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Apple TV+ announced on December 14, 2023 that it had officially picked up Murderbot, a 10-episode science-fiction series based on Martha Wells’ bestselling Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries, published by Tor.com. The series is directed by Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Mozart in the Jungle) under their Depth of Field banner and hails from Paramount Television Studios.

What is Murderbot about?

Based on Wells’ award-winning books, Murderbot is an action-packed sci-fi series about an android, known in-universe as a ‘Security Unit (SecUnit)’ or ‘Murderbot,’ who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable “clients.” Occurring before the beginning of the Murderbot Diaries, the series’ titular android develops independence after hacking into and overriding its governor module, a construct designed to monitor a SecUnit’s behavior that can deliver painful, sometimes fatal punishment if a ‘bot does something anomalous. 

The post Everything We Know About ‘Murderbot’ TV Series (So Far) appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Need some new books to add to your TBR list? Here are the 11 most anticipated books of 2024!

What Have We Here? Portraits of a Life by Billy Dee Williams (February 13)

In Billy Dee Williams’s recently released memoir, What Have We Here?, the legendary Lando Calrissian actor recalls his nearly six-decade journey overcoming barriers in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed, having appeared in over 100 film and television roles.

The post The Most Anticipated Books of 2024 appeared first on The Mary Sue.

According to a recent press release, later this month, McDonald’s is turning its iconic arches upside down, but this time, the concept is sooooo much cooler than their International Women’s Day fumble in 2018, when restaurants worldwide flipped their signs so that passersby would see an “M” was a “W.” 

This isn’t the first time that McDonald’s has courted anime fandom. WEBTOON partnered with the casual dining chain in 2023 to celebrate its 9th birthday with fans live at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California. I’ll admit I attended, enthusiastically agreeing to be interviewed by the WEBTOON team about my experience and favorite scrolling webseries.  

The post McDonald’s Is Courting Anime Fans (Again) with WcDonald’s appeared first on The Mary Sue.

These projects lead me to believe that maybe Marvel isn’t failing; it’s catering to a wider audience, and the largely white, cis male critical base just cannot relate. Sometimes, partiality toward certain social categories isn’t explicit; it’s implicit. While that means it’s not a conscious discriminatory behavior, it still causes harm. In criticism circles, there doesn’t seem to be an understanding of how reviewers’ implicit biases impact a film.

The post How Responses to the Marvel Cinematic Universe Reveal Unexamined Critical Biases appeared first on The Mary Sue.

A while back, The Mary Sue ran an article titled “Britney Spears’s Depiction of Justin Timberlake Gives Off Massive Ken Vibes in All the Worst Ways,” and I just can’t stop thinking about it.

In that piece, writer Kate Hudson extensively detailed the off-the-charts levels of Kenergy (not the in-touch with your feminine side type either, but the Mojo Dojo Casa House type) of Spears’s ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake when the singer became pregnant with their baby during their relationship. 

The post No One Needs or Wants Justin Timberlake’s Tell-All on Britney Spears appeared first on The Mary Sue.

The 51st Saturn Awards ceremony was held on February 4, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. With a franchise record-breaking number of nominations, Star Trek swooped up numerous Saturn statutes across categories and was awarded one of the most talked about achievements of the night.

Presented by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was honored with the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror’s Lifetime Achievement Award, underscoring the profound impact of the franchise on science fiction and popular culture (and particularly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

The post ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Cast Gets Well-Deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the 51st Saturn Awards appeared first on The Mary Sue.

In a change not prompted by a new law, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles quietly announced in an internal memo to tax collectors that state residents can no longer update the gender marker on their driver’s license to their correct gender identity, according to a screenshot posted by Alejandra Caraballo on X, formerly Twitter.

The post Trans Floridians Could Now Face Fraud Charges for Living Authentically  appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Amazon released the first trailer for Road House, from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow)—who recently revealed that he’s boycotting the SXSW premiere of the film following Amazon’s refusal to release Road House in theaters. Watching this trailer, I think he’s making the right call because this thing deserves to be seen with a CROWD:

The post Jake Gyllenhaal Is Going Over the Top in ‘Road House’ appeared first on The Mary Sue.

This year, Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, leads the 2024 Oscar nominations with 13 nominations. It’s followed by Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, with 11 nominations, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon with 10, and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie with eight.

The post Surprising No One, Female Directors Are Nearly Entirely Excluded From This Year’s Oscar Noms appeared first on The Mary Sue.

J.J. Abrams is once again boldly changing the Star Trek timeline, or is he? It’s complicated, just like Nurse Chapel and Spock’s relationship status on Facebook. 

Originally reported by Deadline, Paramount has teased a forthcoming Star Trek prequel movie set in the same continuity as the Abrams series of films in the iconic science fiction franchise. While the exact details of the new film are still under wraps, the report states it will take place “decades before” 2009’s Star Trek and is set to be penned by Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and The Lego Batman Movie) and directed by Toby Haynes (Star Wars: Andor, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and Doctor Who).

The post Will the New ‘Star Trek’ Prequel Movie Change the Kelvin Timeline? appeared first on The Mary Sue.

2023 was America’s first full year in the post-Roe era. In 2022’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the U.S. Supreme Court did something unusual (not to mention devastating) and overturned one of its own decisions.

The Dobbs decision eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability, originally guaranteed in 1973’s Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Of more than 25,500 decisions handed down by the Court since 1789, it’s only overturned precedent 146 times, History Channel reports—and historically, those decisions have expanded people’s rights, not restricted them.

The post How TV Tackled Abortion in the First Full Year Post-Roe appeared first on The Mary Sue.