Panels and Gutters: Comics, Games, and Gender

Welcome to Binge Thinking! We host professors at local pubs to give talks on fascinating topics.

Topic: Panels and Gutters: Comics, Games, and Gender
Speaker: Brandon Sichling (Northeastern University, Art + Design)

Brandon Sichling is an Associate Teaching Professor in Art + Design at Northeastern University. They create games, comics, and films that explore the intersections of gender, storytelling, and the politics of violence. Trained in experimental narrative at Columbia College Chicago and Emerson College, their work spans genres and mediums — from indie games to visual storytelling — often blending humor, critique, and unconventional design.

Their projects include The Beauty of Poppies, a game about the banality of war, Very Pleasant Queer Makeover Show, a role-playing game inspired by an anarchistic take on Queer Eye, and Snifelheim, where Norse gods make chicken noodle soup. Their upcoming project, Habit of Force, combines giant robots with poetry.

In this talk, Sichling will explore how comics and games have historically engaged with gender, and how those representations have evolved over time.

We’ll look at iconic examples from both mediums, tracing how storytelling tools like panels, mechanics, and player choice shape the way gender is represented and experienced. From mainstream franchises to experimental indie work, these forms don’t just reflect culture...they actively shape it.

Brandon will also share insights from their own creative practice, unpacking the choices behind their work and how artists can use these mediums to challenge norms, explore identity, and tell new kinds of stories.

Because the way a story is told can change what that story means!

7:00 PM – Doors open: find a seat and order some drinks
7:30 PM – Host introduction
7:35 PM – Lecture begins
8:15 PM – Audience Q&A
8:30–9:00 PM – Mingle with the speaker and other guests

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