What up y'all? I'm Penn, a Black-Asian genderqueer freelance pop culture critic, and this is my column, Queerly Nerdy, where I critique queer geekiness in comic books, anime, video games, and more. This month, we are talking about the queer punk band Pinkshift, the book and movie adaptation of The Color Purple, the queer noir webcomic Spirelle, and the fabulous Dragon Quest XI character Sylvando.
Let's rock with Pinkshift
Formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2019, Pinkshift features vocalist Ashrita Kumar, guitarist Paul Vallejo, and drummer Myron Houngbedji. Their newest album, Earthkeeper, was released in late August and features a heavier sound and lyrics that discuss how white supremacy has harmed the world, how grief hurts your soul, and how nature can provide healing. It's angry, hurt, and hopeful — and perfectly captures the feelings I've felt these last few years as a queer person of color. My favorite tracks are "Love It Here," "Anita Ride," "Don't Fight," "Freefall," "Suspended," and "Something More".
I've been a fan of Pinkshift since they released their first album Love Me Forever in 2022, which was a fun and delightfully unhinged reflection of being young during the age of a pandemic, social media, and an increasingly volatile state of the world. Earthkeeper takes the spark they lit on their previous album and turns it into a blazing inferno of passion and rage.
Have faith with The Color Purple
Moving from pink to purple, the book and 2023 movie adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple were a pleasant surprise for me recently. The novel is a beautiful examination of spiritual faith between Black families and finding community amid misogynoir, sexual trauma, and racism. It is also much gayer than I expected. The relationship between the protagonist Celie and jazz singer Shug Avery is complex, loving, and sexy. I said that I would read the book before seeing the 2023 movie musical adaptation and I did not regret my choice.
While the movie is very different from the book, the way it uses blues, jazz, and gospel music to elevate the themes of the book is powerful. Some of my favorite musical numbers from this film were "Keep It Movin," "Hell No!", "Dear God - Shug," "Miss Cecile's Blues," and "Miss Cecile's Pants." These songs were bolstered by fantastic performances from cast members Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, Danielle Brooks, Fantasia Barrino, and Taraji P. Henson.
Get into new noir with Spirelle
Now let's turn this color to black-and-white as I spotlight LJ Nakamura's ongoing webcomic Spirelle. Told in stark black-and-white, Spirelle follows Noah Kingsmead, an Eurasian government agent tasked with fighting man-made monsters. Whether grown in vats or a test-tube, Noah has one job: to take them down and the men who create them. His life is complicated by a love triangle with fellow agent Lisha and a naive soldier named Cullen.
Rounding out the cast is Jackie, a friend stranded between genders and involved with a shady biotech genius called Vermeer. Character dynamics are at the heart of the story, as is the question of what it takes to be seen as whole — or even as human — in a world of shifting technology.
Be as fabulous as Sylvando
Since late May, I have been playing the 2019 video game Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age Definitive Edition. It features you playing as the Luminary, a protagonist who must save the world from the Lord of Shadows. Not only is the game's plot more intricate that it appears, the game also has a fantastic cast of characters that includes Sylvando, a flamboyant circus entertainer who was originally trained to be a knight.
Some LGBTQ fans such as myself consider Sylvando gay-coded. At Gayming Mag, writer Jeremy Signor states, "More than anything, though, Dragon Quest XI paints Sylvando as heroic in ways few games do for their gay characters. His bravery is unmatched in the party, and he often heroically comes to the aid of the cornered main character more than once, doing so with the utmost style. This is where his flamboyance works in his favor, as any time he makes a heroic save, he makes a grand show of it."
My favorite aspect of Sylvando is that not only is he heroic, but he often does this in a way to make people smile. After a certain point in the game when things go south, Sylvando creates a happiness brigade dedicated to helping people in need, saving people from monsters, and making them smile. He does this while wearing peacock-like feathers and riding a gaudy parade float, which adds to his charm. Sylvando is one of the kindest gay-coded characters I have ever seen in a video game and I'd love to see more like him.
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