"Welcome to Wanderland": Beyond Gay-Inclusive

Welcome to Wanderland, a 4-issue limited series by Jackie Ball and Maddie Gonzalez, is set in a Disney-style theme park that has fallen on hard times.  Middle schooler Bel has practically grown up there, and her older brother/guardian Mike works there as a costumed character, the Princess Lark.

Mike is gay; although his romantic interests are referenced only once, he says things like "I swear to Gaga" and spends most of his scenes in drag.

Thanks to a magic door, Bel finds herself in the real Wanderland, a magical sword-and-sorcery world ruled by the tyrannical Sylvia.  The real Princess Lark, who prefers the kick-ass name Riot, is in exile.

Riot and Bel become buds, and use the magic door to travel between their worlds whenever they want. Mike assumes that they are a couple, but Bel explains that she is not interested in anyone in that way.  Presumably asexual.













But Riot is gay.  She has a crush on a female pirate captain, who shows up to help them in the final battle (to restore the rightful king to the throne), and then becomes Riot's girlfriend, kiss and all.

Heterosexual romance is only referenced once in the entire series, when the minor character Keith mentions his "girlfriend."

This is a world I can get behind.

I only have a few quibbles:

1. Apparently Bel has the ability to make magical changes to the theme park. But that plotline is underdeveloped; the few changes she makes are uninteresting.

2. There are several loose ends left hanging.

3. Mike doesn't get a boyfriend.  Granted, he only appears in a few scenes to "big brother" Bel, and then to participate in the climactic final battle.  But an occasional flirtation with a hunk would be nice.

Bowling Green: Popular Culture and Beefcake

You've probably wondered through your whole life about Bowling Green State University, the only university in the U.S. where you can get a Ph.D. in Popular Culture.  I wonder about the job prospects in an academic climate where you will be ostracized for admitting that you own a television set or have heard of the X-Men.

Of course, it's not just watching tv.  The most recent issue of the Journal of Popular Culture had articles on:

"The Motion Picture Trailer and Problematic Synecdoche"
"Quilts and Community in Barbara Graham's Southern Cozies"
"The Multimodal Appeal of Instagram Poetry"
"Patrick Bateman, Donald Trump, and the Hermeneutic Maelstrom"
"Authenticating Identity Claims in the Craft Beer Inudstry"

Well, what did you expect?  Chemistry and physics have a specialized vocabulary, too.

But aside from the PhD. in pop culture, the biggest question of Bowling Green is, where did the name come from?

It was settled in 1832, named after Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Bowling Green, Kentucky, settled in 1778, was named after either Bowling Green, Virginia or Bowling Green, New York

Bowling Green, Virginia, founded in 1803 -- wait a minute -- was named after the plantation of founder John Thomas Hoomes.

Bowling Green, New York is a park built in Dutch New Amsterdam in 1733 for the purpose of outdoor bowling.

Bowling Green, Ohio is a typical college town with a depressed downtown area and a lot of brewpubs and pizza places, but only one bowling alley.  It's known for the Black Swamp Arts Festival and the National Tractor Pull Competition. 

Kurt Erichsen's gay comic strip Murphy's Manor, which is still being published online after all these years, is set in a gay neighborhood in Black Swamp, Ohio. I had no idea he was reflecting Bowling Green.



Not much beefcake in town.  Bowling Green High School offers wrestling, swimming, football, lacrosse.

And of course bowling.

There's also a swim club. 300 pictures arranged boy-girl-boy-girl.  I couldn't decide on a boy, so I just removed the girl.

But Bowling Green State University doesn't have a wrestling team, a swim team, or any powerlifters, at least none who get photographed.

For that matter, they don't have a bowling team, either.

I guess everyone is too busy studying popular culture.

See also:Gay Comix of the 1980s