tropes

Is It Better to Reinvent Fantasy Tropes or Pay Homage to Them?

In August, we brought you the first part of this roundtable conversation between three of speculative fiction’s most exciting up-and-coming authors: Emily Tesh (Silver in the Wood and its sequel Drowned Country), A.K. Larkwood (The Unspoken Name), and Everina Maxwell. In honor of today’s publication of Maxwell’s queer space opera Winter’s Orbit, we’re publishing the second part of their conversation. In it, the writers and IRL friends have a funny and insightful conversation about elves and the value of a homage, the difficulties of writing sequels, and how to name a book. Q: EVERINA MAXWELL: Fantasy as a genre is…
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How The Venture Bros. Helped Comic Book Tropes Evolve

There’s nothing new about comic book and superhero parodies. Many films within the current superhero cinema system like Deadpool even turn a self-aware eye to the source material, while shows like The Tick poke fun at the medium with exaggerated character types. A lot of the material that pokes fun at comics, however, does so for the simple joys of parody or to highlight the intrinsic silliness of superheroes. Adult Swim’s classic and now sadly-concluded animated series The Venture Bros. goes about things a bit differently. The Venture Bros. didn’t begin as a direct analysis of the form and genre,…
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