From “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to “Xena,” there has been a flood of pseudo-feminist, ass-kicking women on television and in movie theatres. The anthology “Girls Who Bite Back” takes a closer look at the phenomenon that has given us a whole host of women who seems to be liberated and in control of their destiny. The book, however, takes a decidedly critical viewpoint and many of the essays challenge whether Buffy, Storm or other comic book heroines are really feminist role models.

Emily Pohl-Weary's book combines sociological critiques on the topic of super women along with short fiction and art. Although the fiction angle is interesting, it's the essays that really are the center of the book. From Candra K. Gill's fascinating take on race issues in the Buffy series to Elizabeth Walker's astute analysis of women in comics, the mostly female writers of the book tackle the tricky question of whether merely having a heroine that is capable of kicking ass makes her a feminist and a useful role model for girls and women.

For many of the writers in this anthology, “Buffy” was a complex and interesting television character that seemed to have all the elements of a feminist heroine—she was determined, liberated and knew how to kick some ass. But essays like Gill and Nancy Gobatto's “Ready to Be Strong” show she may not be the feminist role model she appears to be. “Girls Who Bite Back” is a welcome voice in the dissection of women-fronted television series and movies. It challenges the narrative Hollywood is giving to women in their female-fronted shows while offering another view of feminism. Talk about kicking ass. —Stacy Lowe

Cheap Date
Self-published, $7

A funny and subversive take on the traditional fashion magazine, “Cheap Date” has moved from it's humble beginnings to a slick, glossy publication. Having left New York City for merry ol' England, “Cheap Date” manages to subvert the fundamental paradigm of fashion rags and inject it with humor and bite. From shop dropping—in which re-contextualized clothes are dropped in the window display of high-end fashion houses—to their re-claiming of fashion ads with new slogans, “Cheap Date” is the perfect gift for the fashion horse in your life. There's even a call for a fashion strike and a letter that you can send to the editor of “Vogue” to get her to stop trading on May 14. My biggest beef with the magazine is how expensive it is. At $7 a pop, it seems overly priced. I guess it must be expensive to print magazines in the UK. Nevertheless, slip this in between their copies of “Mademoiselle” and “Vogue” and give your friends a different sort of education. — Brianna Nevin

Rivet #9
The Invention Issue, Shunpike Arts Collective, $4.95

I enjoy the facts. It's part of my clinical nature to understand how things are, versus how they might be. Science and technology fascinate me to no end. That's why “Rivet's” ninth issue was something that I read, cover-to-cover, in about two hours. It is chock-full of factual tidbits—covering everything from horticulture to Space Invaders—that are often humorous and unbelievable (check out the list of ten pending patents in the upper margin of pages 7-27), but all completely true. Throw some well-written essays and poetry into the mix, and you've got one fine magazine. That's a fact. — Steven Seighman

IdN: International designers
Network Systems Design Ltd., $12

Slightly pricey and a somewhat hard to find graphic design magazine, but if you can get your hands on it, it's well worth it. Each oversized bi-monthly issue comes with a CD-Rom and is so handsomely designed that it could serve as a coffee table book. It covers everything from digital, print, textural, and 3D design to multi-media. The current issue includes a CD-Rom with incredible Mars Exploration Rover animation and the sci-fi short “RockFish.” — KM