I've caught up on Brubaker's Captain America run.

(Seriously, that's what I've been up to all week. I've read everything Brubaker wrote about Cap or Bucky that I could get my hands on.)

And I have new favorite Marvel couple.

Bucky and Natasha, who the hell would have expected them to fit so well together?

It may help that Buck doesn't seem to smile at all in the entire run until that point she implies there might be a future for them.

And that even though Natasha is the ever-present ex-lover of half the Marvel Universe, this is the first time the romance backstory has actually seemed romantic. Normally it's more like she's been fooling around with a good friend she finds hot. (Not that I have anything against Natasha's healthy attitude towards sex, she just never seemed to be in love with a lover before Brubaker wrote her, so I've never been able to see her as part of a couple before.)

This must be explored.  And made into a normal thing.  With teamups.  And pillow banter.  And riding together on a motorcycle.  And staying in and whispering sweet nothings over takeout food.  And (once he gets back) the awkwardness of Steve accidentally walking in on them messing around.

Comic Art Indigene

May 11th-January 4th at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, Nex Mexico.

Comic Art Indigéne which opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on May 11, 2008 looks at how storytelling has been used through comics and comic inspired art to express the contemporary Native American experience. Under the larger definition of narrative art, comic art is more related to Native American art traditions than one might expect. The earliest surviving examples of such narrative art is rock art. The historic examples used in the exhibition, such as photographs of rock art, ledger art, and ceramics are meant to link Native American art traditions with contemporary voices.

PoA has a map embedded for anyone in the Southwestern US who can make it.

Oh, and for the record...

I did not miss Mother's Day. I just called her this time instead of posting on the internet.

And now for something awesome.

Remember that Marvel/DC Olympics poll I linked to?

Here's the results:

As for the swimsuit competition, well, I got about 100 different nominations, which would have broke your LJ to have a vote, so I'm gonna declare all you fanboys and fangirls and your dirty minds winners!

Although if we went by nominations, our overall swimsuit champion would be Nightwing, Mr. Dick Grayson himself, who snagged 20 nominations all by himself. Must have been his early green Speedo years.
As far as the girls went, Power Girl got 4, the most nominations for a girl nominee.

I love the Internet some days.

Blogdrama

He actually lasted longer than I expected.

(Found out through some livejournals I follow before I reached his blog in my feeds, actually.)

I don't want to comment on his little blog but because I'm adverse to one-sided stories and this'll be on WFA I just wanted to let everyone know that that postscript was meant for me, and that this was not an offer.  It was a suggested course of action.  Also, that my anger had shit-all to do with feminism and everything to do with military and family history, but if he's whiny enough to assume every disagreement with me is about women he may as well do so.  I was mainly thinking of my grandfather but there were also female veterans of WWII.

Admittedly, I dismissed him as a troll due to his asinine beliefs on rape. There is no excuse for this idiocy.

Anyway, contest: Read through Brett's "Goodbye Cruel Blogosphere" post and see how many logical fallacies you can find.

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I had to be out of my mind thinking I’d soon be over you.

I know this feeling.

Today in the comic book store, on a high from the lovely lovely movie this weekend and curious as to how well this translates to paper I picked up the Invincible Iron Man relaunch. I'd been meaning to investigate the praise this writer's been getting anyway. While I was there I grabbed American Dream and ran my hands over the Marvel trades from all the years I've missed.

This has happened before. I started out as Marvellite, a happy middle-schooler stealing her sister's Generation X comics to read between the pages of her textbooks in study hall. As my sister turned to DC and its imprints. so did I I flirted with the House of Ideas again when Quesada took over and he teased us with Wolverine's origin. In tech school I stayed up late studying Fantastic Four trades in tech school when I should have been studying FAA regulations and hunted through back issue bins in Mississippi looking for ever available appearance of Magneto's children. (I am the only person I know of who read that 90s Quicksilver series with the Knights of Wundagore, and I'd snap up issues to fill the holes in this run in a heartbeat.) I had a fling with Bendis' Daredevil (I was really more interested in Maleev's Daredevil, though) and poked around Avengers Mansion until Wanda moved out.

Between the destruction of my favorite aspects of the 616 universe and the rise of their nightmarish Ultimate counterparts (which I'd found entertaining at first, but which horrified me as time went on) I slowly made my way to a Marvel-free Wednesday. I didn't fuss. I didn't yell. I didn't to my recollection write a long essay on why I was leaving Marvel forever or complain endlessly about the loss of my childhood favorites. I did acquire an anti-Quesada affectation. I dd go off a time or two when the subject of Scarlet Witch came up. But on the whole I just quietly crossed the Marvel books one by one off my checklist over various transgressions until I was down to Spider-Girl, and I wasn't too inclined to talk about her.

Then someone in my feeds blogged about a teenage female Captain America in Spider-Girl's world, getting a miniseries this month. And someone posted this shadowy image online with "The Return" on it, and I found my excitement wasn't dulled by the inevitability. But the kicker was this shiny new movie, which I thought wouldn't get me because I never much cared for Iron Man (he seemed like a stiff), but here I am walking out of the store today with an armful of Marvel trades. 1 Image book, 1 DC trade, 4 Marvel trades, 3 Marvel books (would have been 4 had the one with Quicksilver not sold out). I've no interest in the skrullification beyond it's opportunities to retcon out all of the stuff I disliked. I mainly want to read about the guy in the movie who seems to have ADHD and a 340 IQ, and who shares my love of taking things apart. Also I want to read about Captain America--the one who isn't an asshole.

I roll my eyes when I see the "WHY DO YOU HURT ME DC!!!!" melodramas on the internet, but I find this is just like going back to an old boyfriend. Memories of a summer breeze turning the page on your hardcover, interrogating your friends to find out all the juicy stuff you missed, the familiar musty smell of back issue bins in used bookstores on the outskirts of town... And a heavy dread anchoring your heart because you know why you dropped it all before and you know it'll end in a night of tears and country music but you have this warm sensation in your cheeks when you open the cover and you just can't stop smiling as you turn the pages. It's unsettlingly similar to the time Sean stopped to visit me in San Antonio.

A week or two ago a friend asked me repeatedly why I was so damned reasonable about a particular situation. I supposed I can hold this up to reassure her I'm still a crazy fan at heart. Or at least short of memory and susceptible to hype.

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On the other hand, this is awesome.

Everyone see this idiot commenting on Kalinara's Variations post?

I thought it was the first ever comic that bordered on racism.

Yeah, he's not talking about The Spirit, he's talking about the latest Blue Beetle issue.

And not because they screwed it up, but because they were "forcing" the readers to read Spanish. (GOTI covered this one yesterday.)

At the end of all that xenophobic inanity comes this comment:

Hi, John Rogers, previous writer of BLUE BEETLE here.

Just to point out — this commenter’s problem is even more insane than first appears, because the issue in question ACTUALLY OCCURS IN MEXICO, where our born-in-the-USA teen superhero who is the son of two legal immigrants — one of whom is written to have served his country in the 101st Airborne — has gone to visit his grandmother.

This guy and people like him are one of the reasons comics are dying.

The Internet is a wonderful and miraculous place. We must never forget this.

I am so very angry I can't come up with a rant for this one.

Our newest community troll, discussing Captain America in Kalinara's comments:

Realism for portraying a WWII-era soldier (super or otherwise) is unfortunately being a xenophobic flag hugging bible thumping asshole. They might actually give him some depth that Ultimate Cap lacked, but I think he'll be pretty much right there as far as characterization.

Now I've been on the internet for a few years now, so it's not normal for me to see something that has me literally shaking with rage. You've accomplished quite a feat, Brett.

Congratulations, and FUCK YOU!

Apparent Marvel/DC Olympics Misunderstanding

Marvel/DC Olympics poll on livejournal.

Now, we can clearly see from the first eight matchups that we're only watching the men's events but it seems some misguided fans have nominated women for the final event. And twice as many women as men.

If you have a livejournal account, please go and nominate some men (particularly Marvel men since right now we just have Roy and Kyle on the list) for the swimsuit competition that makes up the final event.

Carnival Notes

PoC in SF Carnival #9: What I Heard about You, And What That Meant For Me at Soaring

Willow's looking for a host for #10, contact her if you're up for it.

The 21st Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans up at Heroine Content

Looking for a host for the 22nd issue. Please contact me if interested.

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Dear DC Comics,

I am writing to inform you of a mistake regarding this week's release of DC Universe 0. DC Universe 0 was released on Wednesday April 30th, 2008. I believe the date you were shooting for was April 1st.

I still commend you on an excellent prank idea. Perhaps next year you might try something with the Waynes.

Sincerely,
A loyal customer.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Good News, Everybody!

Anna from Tangognat will be joining us at WFA on a regular basis. So we're now a 3-woman team!

Her first post is up.

The Many Loves of John Stewart

Kalinara and I joke endlessly about how John Stewart is only interested in alien women. But from my log of back issues I know this wasn't always true. There was a point in the O'Neill run where Hal was incapacitated and they needed John to take him to Oa. They found him in bed with a black human woman (I can't find the issue, so I don't know her name). I thinks he was meant to be John's first love interest, even though she never appeared again.

Later, when Englehart took over the series and John got activated as the center, he didn't have much of a supporting cast. He was briefly involved with Tawny Young, a black female reporter who spilled his identity on national television. I recall she felt guilty afterwards. The story was just plain annoying, because it retconned a piece of John's character away. In his first appearance he'd thrown the mask away, saying he had no reason to hide. It was one of those actions that establish personality. John was honest and forthright. For that storyline, he had to hide his origins and his name until he was forced to go public.

After that came Katma. The love of his life was an alien woman from Korugar. Katma was assigned as trainer (there seems to be some sort of 1417-2814 exchange program going on in the Corps) after John complained he hadn't been properly trained by his predecessor. The two clicked. Katma made a considerably better trainer than Hal. Hal's one of those people who's very physically-minded, who automatically focuses and concentrates without much thought into the process. A "Just do it like I do" teacher, which works for basics but it incomplete in the end. Katma was more cerebral and trained by explaining how the energy worked.

And in return for teaching him about Lanterning (for lack of a better word), John taught her about human culture. Especially mating rituals.

They were evenly matched, and complimented each other. After Crisis on Infinite Earths they turned into one of those annoying couples who wear matching outfits and are never seen separately.

Katma's death was followed by a focus on Hal and apparently a long dry spell for John until Mosaic. Mosaic was when a Guardian set up a zoo on Oa with populations from planets across the universe. John was the lucky guy who got the job of keeping them from killing each other. The population from Earth contained Rose Hardin, an ex-love interest of Hal's. The relationship with Rose seemed to be mainly about providing a father figure for Rose's son and winning a power struggle with Hal. He turned her over the second something better came along came back to life.

When Kyle took the lead in the mainbook, the end of Mosaic seemed to be soft-retconned away. John resurfaced as a member of the Darkstars. The editorial direction in Green Lantern at the time was something of a "Scorched Oa" policy, and just sending John off to space wasn't enough for them. I haven't read the issue (though it has to be Kyle's fault somehow), but in a fight John was paralyzed from the waist down. He returns to Earth with his brand new girlfriend from the Darkstars, Merayn.

The less said about Merayn the better. She was a pretty blue girl with no substance whatsoever. The relationship consisted of John brooding and her hanging on his shoulder. She didn't seem particularly restless on Earth until John got the use of his legs back. When Kyle left Earth and John got re-activated as the Earth Green Lantern, Merayn left him.

He hasn't had a love interest in the comic books since.

In the JLU TV show, John dated one alien woman (Hawkwoman) and one human woman (Vixen).

There's an interested pattern here. The first two, the girl who got left halfway through the night and Tawney Young, were the only black women John ever dated. Neither were substantial relationships.

K