Happy Thoughts for the Holidays: The Six Most Fascinating Women of the DCU

Gail Simone asked a question on her tumblr:

Who are, to you, the most FASCINATING DC female characters?

They don’t have to be heroes, or fighters, or any particular label. But which female characters do you find the most fascinating?

I answered with a quick list on my Tumblr, but I think something like this deserves a little elaboration. I came up with six off the top of my head:

Iris West II/Impulse II -- It's no secret that I love speedsters, and really Wally and Linda's daughter has had my attention since she was just a Kingdom Come Easter Egg. Now she's in continuity, as a little girl speedster with a superhero father. I want to see more of her, in any timeline.

Katma Tui/Green Lantern -- She will always be compelling to me beyond her status as a Green Lantern or her romantic entanglements for this scene:



She built a MACHINE to measure the strength of her own devotion. What kind of mind does this?

Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire -- Carol's a Silver Age love interest who dumped the hero because she got promoted above him, then developed a secret identity to woo his secret identity. And that identity is now retconned to hosting the embodiment of love, and wielding pure love as a weapon.

I don't care what they do to their costumes, or what icky issues about relationships the writers let spill into the page. That concept will always be interesting.

Queen Hippolyta -- I would be so very happy if when this WW reboot is over if they kept Hippolyta as the WWII Wonder Woman somehow, and had her alive again. First off, her dynamic with Diana is one of the things that makes Wonder Woman unique as a hero. Most major heroes seem to be orphans. Diana's mother is still alive, breathing, and used to getting her way in all matters without any questioning. Diana, on the other hand, is a deeply independent woman.

This is a woman who talked the gods themselves into letting her have a kid without going through all the annoying dating motions. This is a Head of State, and a full-working one not a figurehead, who is still a devoted mother.

I think the most sriking thing for me is that the Golden Age Wonder Woman traits--the passionate lover and fighter--that I adore so much are very prominent in Hippolyta. Not only that, Hippolyta's the one who, unlike Diana, can let those traits take her too far in battle and in romance. She's my favorite Wonder Woman supporting character, and if they wiped the cast clean of everyone but Diana and her and started over tomorrow I wouldn't really be pissed off.

Kate Kane/Batwoman -- The majority of Gotham heroes aren't just Bat-followers, they're downright Bat-worshippers at times. Whether they get along with Bruce or not, most of them seem to pin their every move on what he approves of. Catwoman, for a long time, was the only one who seemed immune to this Awe of Bat. Then they gave us Kate.

Batwoman, though, is not a follower or a worshipper of the Batman. She was inspired by him, but she's driven by a greater need to serve than emulating him./ That's what made the point when she first saw Batman in her origin tale so compelling. Someone attacks her, and she beats the crap out of him and when he's subdued she looks up to see Batman standing there and smirking at her. He'd been meaning to help her, but it was completely unnecessary and the fact surprised him enough that he had to stop and watch. He does, however, help her to put two and two together and realize that she can do the same thing--to her he's the bat that flies through the window. It's their entire relationship right now. He thinks she needs help, or needs him, but ends up watching in surprise because all she's ever needed from him was an idea.

More than any other character in the DC Universe, Kate is like Bruce. She's a perfect female counterpart. She has more than just the cosmetic similarities of a childhood tragedy and a ton of disposable wealth, she has the same reaction to that tragedy, she has the same drive, she even freaking FIGHTS like him. Think of the predatory aspect to Bruce in the Arkham Asylum game. Dick doesn't have that when he fights, Babs never had that, Helena doesn't have it and none of the younger set have it. Kate, though. Kate has it. She's like a freaking demon when she hits up the underworld. Red and black and pale as a fucking ghost, she's cultivated that manner that makes a criminal scared shitless not that she'll kill him, but that she'll wrap him in darkness and drag him to hell not if she catches him (because the second she's there he's caught) but just if she wants to. That's what keeps Bruce scary as hell without killing anyone, he just seems supernatural. Kate's got that feeling, possibly even moreso because she'll grin while she's after you.

Soranik Natu/Green Lantern -- Soranik was immediately interesting to me because from her first panel in Recharge #1 she had an obvious, unique role in the GLC. When you introduce the Chief Surgeon during a medical operation as your new Lantern, you pretty much guarantee that even if she's out on her first day with no training, and the only rookie on a mission with veterans she will still have something vitally important to add to the team.

It got better when they revealed that she did not want to be a Green Lantern. Being from Sinestro's homeworld of Korugar, she had a perfectly good reason to. By this time, Sinestro's long since been overthrown and replaced Katma Tui, and Oa's had time to make Korugarians aware that Lanterns are not MEANT to be evil. But knowing in your head and knowing in heart are two very different things, and no matter how beneficial a Green Lantern presents themselves to be Korugarians are going to be rightfully skittish and good many of them are distrustful of this organization at the root. She's got no reason to love the GLC, or admire them, and she knows joining will make her a pariah in her community. Her stated protest that the ring is "cursed" is what really intrigued me, though. She's a surgeon, and later on in the book they establish that she has a clear, logical mind, but she's still a superstitutious person to a point. Sinestro went bad. Katma Tui died across the universe from her homeworld. Bad things happen to people who wear that ring.

And of course, she swallowed her fear and took on the cursed and hated job of being a Green Lantern. Then later on, she gets romantically involved with Kyle Rayner, a guy who is 0 for 3 in surviving ex-girlfriends. She takes a cursed job, and a cursed man. I can't help but love that.

Then they make her concept better by revealing that her Dad is Sinestro. This is not just like finding out your Dad is Hitler. This is like being a German girl who was raised by the resistance and grew up DURING World War II and finding out your Dad is Hitler. It's actually rather disappointing in hindsight that they've focused on her relationship with Kyle rather than this insane bombshell of a revelation. She's the most fascinating woman in the DCU to me right now, and that's not an exaggeration.

In other positive-blogging Tumblr news, I wrote up a memorable moment for DC Women Kicking Ass. Flash Fact: the guy in the comic book store showed me that very moment to sell that book to me. Got me to buy the whole series.

Happy Yule, Everyone!

This is getting old.

Dear David,

I believe I aptly explained why I feel that Rucka has merely copied the Indigos with his rationalization, and that Diana was clearly placed in Violet due to the combination of her prominence and her gender and not because of any suitability in her modern age character. (Aside to the spectators, supposed pre-Crisis know-it-alls should RTFP and RTFC before piping up--DC's made a conscious effort to remove Aphrodite's influence as of the reboot, and it was quite successful.) As such, I figured you should understand just why I find the situation unacceptable.

Then I read your statement regarding love:

I think you could have as easily made the argument that Superman loves all creation and is willing to fight for it, and thus could have easily been a Sapphire. But perhaps Johns has a story reason for wanting Supes to remain undead a bit longer... or (more likely) no one ever thought Superman could rock the pink outfit. And at the same time, I try to see the positives here, in that we're talking about Love, dammit, and I actually LIKE the idea of super-heroes filled with love for humanity, love for the world, as the M.O. for doing what they do. In a world of vengeance-driven characters like Batman, I WANT someone to say "love must triumph," so I admit -- I can't get too outraged at the continuity/treatment/event/momentary-lapse-that-won't-affect-her-solo-title-four-months-from-now.

Before I get into the sweeping problem here, let me note that not wanting to put Superman in a pink costume but being willing to change Wonder Woman--who has the same hair/eye/skin color and costume color scheme--to a pink costume is homophobic and sexist and therefore wrong. So it's not a good excuse for using Diana rather than Clark for this particular twist.

But that's not where we get screwed up. You seem to find the idea that Love is what saved Wonder Woman from Death to be unequivocably positive, but even without the promblematic setup of the Star Sapphires Love is quite a loaded word, and there is definitely a gender disparity here. For male characters, Love is a positive addition to an already heroic character. It makes a powerful character more powerful. It adds to their supporting cast and gives them inspiration to achieve greater heights. They tend to be the hero first and the brother/father/husband/son/lover afterwards.

Female characters more often than not from conception have their LIVES revolve around Love and relationships. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, lovers (even as bad guys, they are often potential lovers) to male characters first of all. They live, sleep, and breathe love and romance. Most of them are introduced as love interests and many that begin as heroes in their own right find themselves quickly paired off with the writer's and fan's favorite guys. Precious few gain and keep satellite male love interests that enhance their stories. Most female characters are used to enhance a male character's story, to teach them the power of love and the ways of the heart.

And outside the superhero genre? Men get to be reluctant romantic leads and learn to open their hearts, but they are also action and adventure and dramatic leads as well.

Women are overwhelmingly romantic leads and workers of love with hearts that yearn to be open. They are sometimes dramatic leads, but that's usually folded in with romance. They are RARELY solo action and adventure leads who explore their problems with wit and courage. Even when they get action and adventure roles, they tend to be romantic and emotional in nature, or learning the value of love for family, for men, or for strangers.

See, it may be an amazing and special thing for you to read a male hero learning to open up himself to love and it making him stronger. And it may be fun for you in the same way to read a woman tap into love to draw strength. That's because to you, it's not the same old theme to every story about you. You get a variety of themes about human nature.

We get love conquers all. In the large and the small, in the personal and the global. Love conquers all. All the time.

That's why for many of us the amazing and beautiful thing is watching a woman be independent and confident and hopeful without attaching herself as a helper to a man. The special thing is watching a woman reach wholeness by opening herself to other emotions--emotions like righteous anger (that we're often urged to repress) and enduring hope that aren't the theme behind every story we've ever read

And for a lot of women, there is nothing special in watching a woman tap into a reservoir of love so that she can draw strength from that because that's what 99.9% of female characters do when they're strong anyway. And though a lot of women still greatly enjoy it, it's as common as dirt and they can find it anywhere. And everyone enjoys variety. Even those of us who adore apples like to eat a pear once in a while and don't like when that pear we were in the mood for suddenly turns out to be another apple.

To clarify, I'm going to have to discuss spoilers for Green Lantern Corps #42-43 here.

Now, I have said in the past that I absolutely adore Miri, and I have blogged in the past that I was surprised at how well the Kyle and Soranik relationship worked out. Soranik is a very clinical, willful woman. She's never allowed herself to be in love because she's specifically been afraid of being hurt. And she has a superstitious streak (she insisted back in her first appearance her ring was cursed because Sinestro went bad and Katma died), so she must have been afraid of Kyle's fucking amazing bad streak. Not only that, she's from Korugar where Green Lanterns are despised and Kyle is The Green Lantern, the Torchbearer, the reason we all HAVE Green Lanterns right now. It's a beautiful blend of complementary personalities. He's artistic and neurotic. She's logical and hot-tempered. He's from a chaotic and diverse world and she's from a very well-ordered world that hasn't had freedom long enough to be accustomed to it. (We can infer the difference in natural states from how Sinestro reacted to Earth in the Secret Origin storyline, suggesting that Korugar was never so wild even before he took over.)

So opening herself up to love was a multifold experience. She was overcoming a number of fears and exposing herself to a completely different culture and mindset. It worked beautifully, and wonderfully. It wasn't innovative, but it was well-crafted.

Then Blackest Night started. And Kyle and Soranik's relationship was tested by Black Lantern Jade. It came out ahead. Then Kyle sacrificed his life, blowing up in the middle of telling Soranik he loved her.

It was heartbreakingly beautiful.

It was clearly not the end.

Kyle's sweetheart, after all, is a neurosurgeon, and the best medical professional on Oa. so one of the expected solutions is that she would be able to work through her panic, desperation, and grief to revive him from the dead. That she would, through her skill be able to save her love.

There are times when you expect a plot to continue in the obvious direction along a well-worn path, only to have the writer pull the rug out from under you. Before you know it you see the tips of your shoes cross the backdrop of a beautiful summer sky, but it doesn't hurt. You landed on soft grass and you can feel the warm sunlight on your face, so you laugh because you got surprised and you loved it and it was part of this wonderful game!

Kyle's death was one of those times.

Kyle's resurrection was not.

The plot had been marching down an obvious direction (though there were still many forks available that weren't cliched) but it was not a well-worn or unwelcome path. It was an unusual path because the Doctor with the material skills and logical mind was a female character and the one who'd sacrificed himself for love was a male character. This may not be as unusual as it used to be, but it was still a riveting departure from the typical setup and the romantic fairy tales of our youth. Tomasi pulled Miri--thus far the best of the Star Sapphires so I credit him with creating her--into the mix. Soranik finds herself without the skill to save Kyle, and is unable to balance her emotions in the center of the battle. Miri creates a link between the two lovers and uses Soranik's love to resurrect Kyle.

An inspiring example that love conquers even death, no? I'm sure Tomasi thought as much. He was thematically incorrect, though. Since it was Miri swooping in as a Deus Ex Machina, this was solely Love conquering death while Will sat on the sidelines. But if Soranik had done so using her measured skill with or without the quasimystical help of Miri, it would have been an example of will mixing with love to conquer death, and a better echo of the overall theme of Blackest Night--that these forces cannot prevail alone. You neglect in your argument that "Love Must Triumph" is most certainly not the only thematic alternative to vengeance-obsessed protagonists. I enjoy reading about people who achieve their goals through strength and intelligence and just plain never giving up. I enjoy watching a protagonist who wishes to preserve the thing they care for above all else, but I also like a protagonist who has a strong sense of what is fair and just and acts in order to correct injustice and balance. I like heroes like Green Lanterns, who apply their skill and their wits and their courage to make sense of the universe. Love's a wonderful experience, but it is not the prime motivating factor for everyone who does something altruistic or even just good, and stories where love alone doesn't get the job done can be incredibly uplifting.

More importantly, the sour taste I found in my mouth came from this: A woman's love can conquer anything is a theme that reverberates across fiction. You can find it anywhere if you want to look for it. But here Tomasi had a storyline that was different and exciting, and he threw it away for the sort of cliched climax that can be found in a 13-year-old's Mary Sue fanfic.

(I will give him that the potential fallout from this impromptu battlefield marriage is juicy as all hell, so I'll continue reading, but the resurrection sorely disappointed me. Also, Miri is a fairy godmother, but she's also fairly awesome--the first genuinely positive example of a Star Sapphire so far. This is a misstep that hasn't soured me on his using her.)

But I'll even give you that Miri's solution could have been quite ingenius if Kyle had been the one standing helplessly at Soranik's side (this wouldn't have sent Guy into a rage, but they could have placed it afterwards--like she got hit while reviving him), and Miri had linked hearts to bring her back to life. Why is it so different? Because a man's love in stories tends to be expressed by the physical deeds he does for it, and doesn't need to manifest as a mystical quality.

Female heroes don't often get to express love through feats of strength or skill. Love wells up from the bottom of their soul and springs forth as inspiration or magic, and puts things right on a spiritual level. (And at DC, love wells up from the bottom of a crystal cocoon and springs forth in a neat little pink package that shows lots of cleavage!) It would have been a hell of a thing to see Soranik Natu save her lover through her skill, and then be saved by the pure power of his love because that would be her love-driven skills and his pure emotion rather than the usual trope of emphasizing the woman's pure emotions and the man's skills.

Love stories may be an undiscovered country for men, but this is far from a new frontier for women. It's always been our playground. It's where we're assumed to have our greatest power, and it's the place we're relegated to in story and song.

Love is the kitchen of genre fiction.

So to a lot of us? Yes, this is a negative.

And the fact that in DC, love is overwhelmingly personal (Wally and Linda, Kyle and Soranik, Miri and her late husband are all examples of when the power of love has manifested supernaturally, and it has ALWAYS been personal), sexual and seems to be exclusively the domain of women--to the point that even a character like Diana who is established as downright virginal and much better suits another established realm is STILL rationalized into that domain (with the description of the other established realm, which went to a male character... which had a history that even suited the established description of what makes a Star Sapphire)--is an incredible negative.

I will say this much... I do want a love story. But not the one we've been getting. I want the undiscovered country.

I want something starring a male Star Sapphire.

Why Soranik Natu Should Survive Dating Kyle

Back when they first introduced Soranik Natu, I was one of the crowd of people begging them not to make her into Kyle's girlfriend. It was right around the time Jade got killed and The Curse was in full height.

Now that they've actually done it, though, I'm finding myself pretty happy with the couple. This took a bit. I was adamantly opposed to this as of the end of Recharge, she was already a hundred times more fun than anyone they'd set Kyle up with and I worried I'd be upset about them killing this one. After the Star Sapphire storyline I was more open to it, but still cautious because we all know what happens to anyone who gets near Kyle's bed. It grew a bit on me when the two approached each other in the aftermath, mainly because Soranik said she'd never been open to love and it looked like it would be a decent story for her. Most female characters are really developed on the side of love and family, and so get neglected with storylines that aren't about relationships. Soranik up until then had been a career-centric character, we'd never seen a boyfriend or a family member. She was established as a hero to be reckoned with already, so this was genuine character growth on her part. Plus, I wasn't expecting it to last.

Now that they've revealed Sinestro is her father, I'm completely in love with this idea. I really do believe it makes her less likely to be casually killed off. Sure, being Alan's daughter didn't save Jade but on this end the father is already so filled with fear and angst and misery that he's a bad guy on a massive cosmic scale. They don't really need to give Sinestro anything else to be freaked out about, Johns is setting him up quite well with the tragic past. Soranik's death would be an even more unnecessary character death than usual on that point.

Of course, Kyle already has enough death and misery in his past and that's never stopped anyone from offing a relative for him.

Still, I think her place in the relationship arc between Kyle and Sinestro is a potentially safe one. She hates her father, but from the position of a person who cherishes life in all forms. As it is Kyle now has a very tense reason to keep Sinestro alive (beyond his usual moral objections), and Sinestro has yet another reason to hate and target Kyle, but new consequences for it. If Soranik were to die and they were to blame each other, that dynamic would be fundamentally less interesting and both characters would lose a dimension of angst.

Beyond being comfortable with Soranik's chances of survival, I have to say she is the first girlfriend of Kyle's that I've actually liked. Part of that is how she was established before she got involved with him. Donna and Jade were both well-established heroes from teambooks before Kyle was even created, but neither were properly rooted anywhere.

Donna had been bounced around from Teen Titans to various identities and power sets and even personality changes when she was pulled into Green Lantern and depowered. She fulfilled a joint girlfriend/mentor role where she was wise, experienced in heroics, and more emotionally mature than Kyle, but she was still insecure and jealous of other women. She also didn't properly belong in Green Lantern so she walked out on him in as soon as someone wanted to pull her. (The "lost all memory of why she loved him" explanation was brilliant, though. I wish he'd whine about that more.) She's considerably more likable as the Ex-Girlfriend who is still friendly but will never likely be involved with him again.

Jade was arguably a Green Lantern character, but not Kyle's sort of Green Lantern. She was one of those Infinity Inc characters that DC didn't know what to do with, so she never really got a proper fit outside of Green Lantern. I don't think she got a proper fit insider of Green Lantern. It always came off as a rather clumsy attempt to mash the Golden Age mystic legacy with the current space-opera version. Don't get me wrong, I like the explanation that the Starheart is the same sort of energy (it may even be a Parallax-style entity), and it comes from outer space so Jenny and Alan are connected, and friendly, but not really a part of the GLC. But the relationship between Kyle and Jade just seemed like an arranged marriage to join the earthbound and spacefaring Green Lantern families together. Every time they got together, I cringed. It seemed inorganic. As a result, I suspect I hated Jade more than she deserved. She just didn't fit the parts of the franchise that appealed to me. She ended up filling the same role as Donna, only a little less competent, a lot less openly jealous and a lot more insecure.

Careerwise, both women were said to be photographers but never seen holding a camera. Both women were professional heroes, but both were depowered. The one that was repowered during the relationship (Jade), was normally shown to be simply not as a good a hero as Kyle was. Not a bad hero, just not as good as Kyle. And since she had the same power set and more experience, one could only conclude that she was either inherently inferior or just wasn't putting in the necessary effort. (I suspect its the latter.) Ultimately, the career didn't matter because their primary role in the book was "love interest" from the moment of introduction, and their primary occupation was "girlfriend/nursemaid."

Soranik is different. She is pretty firmly established as a space-faring Green Lantern character. If Green Lantern Corps were to end next month, it is possible that she would surface as a member of the Global Guardians or a contestant on a reality TV show, but as of the start of this relationship she doesn't have a history of being traded from office to office as writers try to figure out what to do with her. (Neither does Kyle, even though he switches books a lot. He's still in the same franchise.) She's in the franchise that she belongs in, and no other editor or writer will have a claim.

In-story-wise, she fits Kyle's world better than the other two. People argue that in Marz's run Kyle was an earthbound character, but I read that run too. He spends the second storyline lost in space. Every other storyline, he goes to outer space. He spends one-shots in space. In Morrison's JLA, where he most shined as a character, he was on a team based on the moon and a large number of the threats he was called in for were space-based. He has always been a space Green Lantern, even when he was living in New York. He's where he's best suited to be right now, in outer space turning the beauty and weirdness of the universe into something relatable. Yes, Kyle has a very down-to-earth temperament, but that's part of why he and Guy suit the wider universe best. They bring Earth to Oa for us, and their interactions and insights during adventures highlight the humanity in all of these strange alien characters.

Jade was never a good fit for outer space (this may have something to do with her mother being a plant-based villainess), and one of the few good things Winick did was have her realize that and go home. One of the really unsettling things about Jade's death was that it happened in outer space rather than on Earth. That just wasn't her arena, and the fact that she died out there just underscored it. Come to think of it, that may be why I so despise Jade as the primary female Lantern in the DCU. Because she's ultimately an earthly character, and the things I love about Green Lantern aren't even in orbit. She inadvertently sends the message that girls don't really belong there because the only female character obviously doesn't belong in outer space. Katma Tui, Arisia, Brik, Boodika, Soranik Natu, Iolande, even Carol Ferris (she has the same hook Hal does, an Earth pilot who gets hired by aliens) are all preferable because they suit the setting better. I wish I could explain just what it was, maybe its just that all of Jade's legacy ties are earthbound Infinity Inc and JSA matters, or maybe it was that no writer ever took her out to space on her own (she only ever seemed to go when Kyle went), or that she just didn't do well against space-based baddies, but Jade just didn't work in space.

Donna does considerably better in outer space, but she's still a freaking Amazon. I don't care how many times they send the Titans to outer space, or how desperately they tie the Olympians to the Source. It's like Wonder Woman in outer space. It's pretty cool if you write it right, and she can handle it, but ultimately she's just visiting. She's not at home there either.

Soranik is a space alien and a space-faring Green Lantern, and the daughter of a well-established space-alien villain. In temperament she bears a striking resemblance to Bones McCoy. She definitely suits outer space.

Careerwise, Soranik is already established as a Doctor first and everything else second. In speculative fiction, medicine seems to be a safe female niche but that doesn't erase the respectability and importance of Natu's position. She's instantly valuable in every adventure for her professional skill set. She will never be relegated to the background position of "supportive girlfriend" simply because she's dating Kyle. Her job is too damned useful. If she's there and just standing around while he takes charge of the situation, a male character who was not dating Kyle would be there and simply standing around waiting for someone to get hurt so he could be useful. If she breaks up with Kyle so that he can go to his old girlfriend, she'll still be useful to the team because she can do things like deliver a baby in the middle of a battlefield. If in the brainstorming session a writer suggests killing off Soranik, someone can argue that they don't want to kill off the character with all the healing skill and then have to introduce another doctor. (I haven't the slightest idea what happens in brainstorming sessions, but you have to admit that argument couldn't be used to save Jade or Katma.) Hell, if it does get public that they're dating, and Kyle selects Soranik for an important mission there's a very obvious reason for it besides they're sleeping together -- because he wants someone around who can jumpstart his heart more than just figuratively. Just in case, y'know. She's never going to just be the girlfriend, and that's because of something that was set up from her very first appearance over two years before she started dating Kyle Rayner. Something that makes her character unique among Green Lanterns, and valuable beyond just her emotional impact.

Personality-wise, she's a pleasant break from the pattern. Jade and Donna both seemed to have same sunny, friendly attitude. Jade got passive-aggressive and Donna would start snapping at people when under stress. They fought when actually threatened, but tended to be conciliatory otherwise. They would only pull out the arrogance when someone was being a jackass and needed to be put in their place. They were sweet girls with highly developed social skills. They were both more emotionally mature than Kyle, and mentored him in both heroism and love.

Soranik has a short fuse and a surgeon's ego. She's insecure about a lot of things but hides it behind a very harsh demeanor. Her default attitude is arrogance, even though she fights less with the other Lanterns (Guy, Isamot, Iolande) now she still carries a cold arrogance when dealing with them. She softens when treating patients or talking to Kyle. She's confrontational even when there's no threat of violence. She's not a friendly person by nature, and social skill isn't really a priority for her. She's never sweet, even with Kyle. She's never, ever passive about anything.

In emotional maturity, I'd put her maybe at the same level as Kyle, probably a bit behind the curve in some aspects, but a bit ahead of him in others. She strikes me as physically older, and definitely more scholarly which offsets his greater experience in love and heroism. She helps him with a major emotional problem right after they get together, but the way she approaches the problem (his drawings of dead lanterns) is unusual. She's caring but keeps a clinical distance the other women wouldn't have been able to pull off. Jade and Donna's heart to hearts with Kyle always struck me as having a strange half-patronizing/half-pleading tone to them, where the girlfriend would protest that she cares for and loves Kyle but to listen to her because she knows better. Soranik doesn't plead that she loves Kyle, she tells him she cares about him as a way of shifting the debate away from her position as a medical expert who can just dole out orders to that of a friend who wants to understand him but might not necessarily know better. She actually acknowledges that the drawings themselves are a positive step in working through his traumas, which is something I can't see his previous girlfriends having done. (I've no doubt I'll be corrected if I'm wrong in this area.) In the end she offers a solution as a suggestion rather than a prescription, which is a pretty impressive feat for a Doctor.

Kyle's got a very friendly, approachable attitude. As Green Lanterns go he's pretty short on arrogance. He can be sweet, and passive aggressive. He was very much like his last two girlfriends, except he wasn't as mature as they were. Soranik has a completely different personality. She and Kyle share a common set of values, so the differences complement each other rather than clash.

Some of those common values come from just fitting the same part of the DCU. From the first time Kyle fought Parallax, he was tied to the betterment universe above all other things, above self, above family, above even his own species. Jade was always a personal-level hero, who would show up and do her duty during the giant crossover but ultimately be focused on her own loved ones. That's not bad, it's just earthly. Soranik Natu has the same calling Kyle does, for the universe above your own comfort, your own ambitions, your own planet. After the universe itself, Soranik and Kyle share a dedication to the sanctity of life, to the Green Lantern Corps (the people, not the rules or the bosses of the Green Lantern Corps), and to stopping the spread of fear across the universe.

Even before that awesome scene in Green Lantern Corps #41 (though it was nice to see dating Kyle didn't make her suddenly suck), she was considerably better than any girl Rayner's ever dated. Her career cushions her from falling into the "just a girlfriend" trap, her personality makes the relationship more interesting than the previous ones, and her connection to the franchise's major bad guy adds a layer of protection against being casually tossed into a refrigerator. So I have to say I'm pretty happy with what I've seen so far, despite worrying a bit about Kyle's Curse.

Quick Check-in

Soranik, Guy, and Kyle
Originally uploaded by Ragnell

Okay, I made one more resolution. I want to try to post daily because I leave this place for too long at a time. (I'm trying a "Watercolor A Day" calender as well, and the prospects for that one don't look any better. I'll give them both a try, though.)

I do have a post idea (I was going to explain which character I hated more than Jade and why) but my first resolution is cleaning my habitat so I'm too busy arranging a make-shift night stand with my shortboxes to do a detailed post. I just wanted to get one done before the day runs out. Here's a picture of my Soranik Natu mini-Barbie repaint (from back in August) instead. I threw in the Guy and Kyle figures for a vacation group photo feel.

Nikki's a real lantern now!

I don't know how I missed this last month, but in accordance with DC tradition Soranik Natu (Kali and I have been calling her Nikki between ourselves) has finally gotten a butt-showcasing cover all her very own.



The artist has the concept sketches posted on his blog.

Green Lantern Fun

Then there's Kyle Rayner. I mustn't forget Kyle Rayner, it's a very bad idea to ever forget Kyle Rayner on anything that's going to appear on the Internet.

-- Dave Gibbons (Wizard Entertainment interview)

The rest of the interview is fairly interesting. Please bear in mind that when he describes Soranik Natu as "hot" it's in reference to liking to draw her should you choose to examine artistic attitudes towards women (I won't, as I'm overflowing with Green Lanterny love right now.)

As for Kyle fans, his sweet doofiness is due out this week in Ion #3 with previews scans here (I dislike this artist, but Page 3 actually looks nice. Sure, not a butt in sight, but this is merely a preview).

The writer of the book is interviewed here, the last two questions are pertinent.

And the esteemed Devon of Seven Hells pauses from making light of Kyle to reconsider his value as a character.

Sadly, there is little Hal fun in sight (I suppose we were too blessed last week with him in 52 and Battle for Bloodhaven), but I'll keep my eyes open.

Girls and Green Lantern in Infinite Crisis

Why yes, I did get the Jim Lee cover.

Aside from the obvious goodies featured in this cover (Mmmm... Green Lantern Uniform Pants...), I want you to note 3 things here.

1) G'nort.

2) Wolverine.

3) This orange person.

Hmm... Shaped like and Hourglass, Bare Midriff, what appears to be Breasts... That looks like a woman.

Holy Cats! They let wimmens in the Green Lantern Corps? Who knew?

Yes, There's MoreMild Infinite Crisis #7 Spoilers Below (But you'll barely notice them)

Seriously, I was a little disappointed at the end of Green Lantern Corps: Recharge Remember that big spread with everyone in the Corps by the Central Power Battery on it, the one that had Elvis?

I looked carefully. There were three females -- Brik, Soranik, and this unidentified woman.

And I can hear it now. But Raaaaagnuuulll, they're aaaaaliens! They won't have the same sex characteristics as humans. A lot of those people could be female, and you just can't see it.

Okay, well, then, explain Brik. Brik is a rock-type person, from one of two stone-races on the planet Dryad. She is not an animal, she is a mineral. See the blocky shape and the gray coloring. That is how the artist indicates this.

So why the hell does she have breasts?

Easy, so that we know that she's a female.

You see, in our society, for reasons that remain a mystery to me, males are considered the default. If you see a person who is not obviously female (Breasts, Long Hair, Hourglass Shape, Pink Accessories of some sort are various ways of indicating this) then they are assumed to be male. In a book like Green Lantern Corps, where there is an unnamed background cast of 7200, all you have to go on is visual clues is for most of them. Even being generous, and not making assumptions, there's still a number of humanoid races. These can be obviously male or obviously female. In my experience, most have been obviously male. Male is likely the default to the writers and artists, otherwise why bother to give a rock creature a D-Cup Rack to emphasize her femininity?

This gives us three gender options when looking at the background of Green Lantern stories. 1) Male-Shaped, 2) Female-Shaped, and 3) Funky Alien-Shaped (Assumed to be Male by Default).

I got into a big argument on Comic-Bloc about this one. (And I remember who with this time, his name is associated with Hector Hammond, prison, and showers) All I said was "I'm disappointed we didn't get more new female Green Lanterns during Recharge." I mean, that's an opinion. How can you argue an opinion? I should have known better with Green Lantern fans. We can argue about anything.

It didn't get violent, to our credit. But we did end up listing all of the new Green Lanterns who had lines in the miniseries and the regular series. All of the returned vets. All of the projected returning vets in the upcoming Green Lantern arc (that starts this month). And then working out the ratios. We decided that the Golden Age magic Lanterns shouldn't count. We came up with 5 to 20, a 1:4 ratio, which we estimated to be near what the active duty military gender ratio is. Still, I figure, with Green Lantern, where the concept is warriors chosen specifically on strength of will, the gender ratio should be closer to 1:1, which led to the actual argument. Hammond's bath-giver told me I was putting my hopes too high and we'd never see that. He seemed to find this unreasonable. I didn't. Eventually we started talking about Raker or G'nort and peace came to the Green Lantern chatroom once again.

It weighed on my mind afterwards, so I decided to re-tally it. Going by speaking parts and named people.

Established Male/Male-Shaped/Masculine Characteristics
Hal Jordan
John Stewart
Kyle Rayner
Guy Gardner
Salakk
Kilowog
Shorm
Stel
Green Man
Torquemada
Isamot Kol
Vath Sarn
Mogo (although assigning gender to a sentient planet makes no sense to me, they refer to Mogo as "He")

Xudarian Male (GL#4)
H'lvenese Apparently Male (GL#4, GLC:R#1, GLC:R#5)
Goblin Female's Rocky Apparently Male Partner (GL#6)
Injured Primate Apparent Male (GLC:R#5)

3 Injured Masculine-Appearing Humanoids (GLC:R#5)


Established Female/Female Shaped
Brik
Soranik Natu
Goblin Apprently Female (GL#6)

This gives us a 3:20 Female:Male ratio. 13% Female.

Foreshadowed in Green Lantern #3
Male
Graf Toren
Hannu
Jack T. Chance
Ke'Hann
Kreon
Tomar-Tu

Female
Boodikka
Laira

5:26 now. Roughly 24% Female. A little better, but still not at the 50% it should be at.

So, why did I feel a need to do this? Well, because of the crowdscenes in GLC: Recharge. Aside from the two named Females (Soranik and Brik), I saw two other apparent females in the crowdscenes.

In the Crowdscenes:
Apparently Butterfly-type Female (GLC:R#2 Morning Briefing)
Female with the Funky Hat (GL:R#5 Crowdscene)



The rest were all either Male-Shaped or Funky-Alien Shaped and therefore assumed as male by default. It must be the default again, because why else give Brik Bouncy Breasts?

In light of the recent Green Lantern resurrections (Hal, Kilowog), and who had not been resurrected (Katma, Arisia), these background problems jumped out at me. Green Lantern is my favorite franchise you see, and I found it immensely annoying when the only prominent female is there not because she is chosen (like virtually every male character there, now that Johns has retconned out the randomness) for her courage and honesty, but because she was born into the business. In fact, because the heroes in this book are specifically chosen for courage and honesty, I think its even more important to have visible female characters here than in other superhero franchises. All men and no women in this mess sends me a message I am sick of hearing.



This was downright annoying me until I read Infinite Crisis #7 today. From the point where I saw the Lady pictured above, this issue could do no wrong. Inside the issue, when they have the first panel showing the Corps, there are at least four very obviously female characters there. There's more as the book continues. Quite a few, actually. Enough that I still don't feel the need to count and figure out the percentages (maybe later).

Even now, I find myself incapable of giving an objective review, overwhelmed by the pure joy of finally seeing some gender-diversity in my favorite franchise.

Even if background characters are cannon-fodder, it's still pretty damned cool to see a decent number of women there.

It's Too Early In The Day For This Much Misogyny

I'm going to cheat today and share with you some e-mail correspondence from last week. Those of you who have a weak stomach for criticizing writers may want to skip this one (Though I did link to those who already had a chance to respond to the Refrigerator list)

Hey Ragnell,

You're way more the Green Lantern fan than I am so I was wondering if you could tell me whether I'm being oversensitive or whether GL is very misogynistic? I knew they'd killed off Katma Tui, Jade, and Alex DeWitt, but I hadn't realised that Arisia had gone too (after having various nasty things happen to her). A couple of months ago I saw the GL episode of Duck Dodgers and there was a female GL I hadn't seen before so I looked her up in the the unnoficial guide to the DC universe website, and guess what? Dead. Add Carol Ferris turning evil and it's beginning to look like the odds are stacked against any female who spends any length of time near one of those rings.

Am I mistaken? Is there just a high mortality rate generally in and around the Corps? Are there any female characters in GL that have lasted long term without becoming vicious murderers? 'Cos right now the whole thing is just depressing me.

Mari

Yes, I did answer her.
Actually, I think about this one all the time. I don't think the concept or the franchise itself is misogynistic, but there's so many disposable characters and so few of them visibly female that one misogynsitic writer can do a lot of damage. Carol Ferris, for example, started out a really amiable "villainess" -- She was basically powered by the Zamarons to make a little trouble. She didn't turn evil, I think, until Preist got ahold of her in Action Comics Weekly. He's the same writer who killed Katma Tui, another character who'd been treated respectfully up until then.

I can see a lot of misogyny in Denny O'Neil's run. He played with all sorts of social issues but for some reason couldn't do feminism without making the guest-women evil (Mother Juno, the visiting Amazons, Sinestro's Evil Sister). He crippled Carol (a later writer fixed her legs, haven't seen that yet) and created Kari Limbo (Check out Kalinara's post). Black Canary got alternately moronified and glorified, though I can't get over her first appearance in the run (she gets brainwashed, dammit). Fortunately though, his punching bag was Guy Gardner. Guy was injured so that John could be brought in, then Guy was kidnapped and driven insane to give Hal some angst. Then he put him in a coma for safekeeping for next time he needed to cause Hal angst. This kept the run free of the Fridge Factor.

I haven't read all of Steve Englehart's run. I do have to say the very concept of the Arisia aging story -- where she's the sexual predator artifically aging herself and tricking Hal into bed doesn't look good at all. I also hear this was where the Predator/Carol storyline was introduced, and I've heard bad things about that. Green Lantern #192 made my blood boil from the displayed sexism (Though, as Kalinara pointed out, that was sexism attributed to a character, not stated in the narrative, so I have to read the whole story to see how it turns out). But most of the stuff he wrote with Katma was absolutely beautiful.

I'd say the turning point into misogyny was the Death of Katma Tui. Because Action Comics Weekly #601 featured three awful blows to femininity -- Katma died (on the kitchen floor!), Carol was made into a psychopath (a far cry from the playful rival of Broome and Fox's days), and Arisia was turned from a mixed-up kid who still had the willpower to save a planet, into a bubble-headed model/sex-toy for Hal. Come to think of it, Hal and John didn't do too well in this run either.

Earlier writers like John Broome and Gardner Fox were much better. They created Katma and the Zamarons (who were actually pretty cool and reasonable, if chauvinistic, at the start), and set Hal up with I think the only Silver Age girlfriend who was actually her boyfriend's boss.

Gerald Jones introduced Brik and Boodika, resurrected Katma but kept Carol insane. During his run, we had GLC Quarterly, which while not always written by him introduced some decent female characters. We got the story of Laira, a conflicted daughter; Sheriff Mardin (Her origin is on Scans Daily if anyone's interested), who preferred not to use the ring at all when taking care of her territory; and Donna Parker, an Earthwoman who was offered the chance to be a Green Lantern, but turned it down (she was a 50s mother). I got the indication he had more for them to do, but unfortunately, Emerald Twilight screwed all of them over. Boodika and Laira were cannon fodder for Hal's rampage, and everyone else lost their powers. This abruptedly ended Green Lantern: Mosaic, where they'd resurrected Katma, which led to a retcon of Katma's resurrection.

Ron Marz's run doesn't really bug me so much, even though he is the one who did the infamous Refrigerator Scene. I don't think he's a misogynistic writer, as he writes Sara Pezzini pretty much the same way he writes Kyle (which is what gave me the problem with the sexual harassment storyline. He's done that story setup to Kyle too, handing the Act III victory to a guest-star, but he never handed Kyle that subject matter), though he does have crappy moments he should be called on. The main problem with judging him was that during his run they were doing an All-Lantern Purge. He was building a period of darkness, tearing down every element in the mythos and creating an atmosphere of death and destruction. Minor Lanterns, which was most of the remaining female ones, got killed off or never shown again. Kyle's first girlfriend Alex was created to die, but she treated fairly up to then. Hell, as a hapless girlfriend she made a better showing in her death story than Katma Tui, an experienced hero, did. He got two editorially determined love interests (both of whom were photographers, just like Alex!) that, unfortunately, he wrote in character. Both of them got pulled by the editor. He removed Carol's insanity, but also removed her power (her connection to the Zamarons), in an attempt to remove her from the franchise. Kyle's most formidable (until the next writer got ahold of her) enemy was female. Kyle's mother, Maura Rayner was actually a pretty good character. The real test of Marz and Green Lantern is how he'll handle Kyle's next love interest, the one (hopefully) that he's created himself that's not editorially controlled by another book.

Arisia seemed safe for a while, shuttled over to Guy Gardner: Warrior. Beau Smith had several fun and interesting female characters in the supporting cast (Lady Blackhawk and Fire made appearances; Arisia, Guy's mother Louise, and Verrona were regulars) and if you do searches you'll find rumors that he'd planned to bring Arisia right back, so I don't think misogyny factored into this one.

I'm a bit worried about Geoff Johns right now. In Green Lantern: Rebirth, he brought everyone back but Katma and Arisia, for starters. He shuffled Carol off to married life. He introduced one female supporting cast member, as a rival pilot. On the other hand, he has added an important mother influence to Hal's backstory -- which is important in the father-obsessed DCU -- and he's done a good job with females over in the JSA franchise. Green Lantern #10 put me more at ease in this respect. Yes, OYL he still has no viable love interest. It had a plot point that seriously put me off the story, but on the plus side it brings Cowgirl to prominence, removes the rivalry and effectively saves her from "notch in the bedpost" status by forming a non-sexual basis for their relationship.

Dave Gibbons has two good points for him -- returning Brik and creating Soranik. I personally consider killing Jade a pro-feminist act for reasons of my own, but he the way he did it was pretty damned symbolic and insulting (using a door that was opened by Winick). That's one against him. There's also a severe lack of visibly female background characters. I think I counted only two (An insect lady at the morning briefing and the girl with the hat in my in the recharge scene -- this could be the decision of artist Patrick Gleason) in the entire Green Lantern Corps: Recharge miniseries.

The worst, however, had to be Judd Winick. Because he tricked* us (and possibly himself) into thinking he was pro-feminist. He repowered Jade, right? That's good, returning a "strong" female to the cast, right? Not if she has to depend on Kyle to get her powers back. He outright tells her "You can't do this alone." That set up my warning flag. She can't get her powers, which are her inheritance back unless he gives them to her. It's a backhanded way to empowerment.

Winick then took Maura Rayner and turned her from a realistic looking woman into a Middle-Aged Barbie Doll. (Though, as Kalinara points out in the comments, that may be more the result of Dave Eaglesham's art). He takes a formerly formidable villainess, Fatality, and turns her into a crying little girl who doesn't have the willpower necessary to tame a weapon that matches Kyle's (a weapon used successfully in the next storyline by a male villain who is also a mental patient). He brings back the Guardians as both genders, then shows that the female adult version is strong and formidable by quickly aging one of the little girls, dressing her like Vampirella, sending her on an uncontrollable rampage because her mind is so childlike, weak, and simple that she needs Papa Smurf--err, Ganthet the oldest Guardian to step in and take control. Then he adds insult to insult, insult, insult and insult and brings the Zamarons back, as Nursemaids.

On the whole, I'd say Green Lantern history has been more misogynistic than feminist. I don't think this is an evil inherent in the franchise or even started by the early stories, but that could be my own natural inclination to give it a pass. I love the Green Lantern concept. Instant Manifestation of whatever you imagine in beautiful glowing green light! Such wonder and power in your hands. I hate to think of it as a boy's club. But sometimes, you have to just bite the bullet and open the fridge. And sometimes, it's mighty crowded in there.

*Judd Winick also introduced a gay character specifically to be beaten to a bloody pulp. When he cured John Stewart's paralysis he made sure to add a horrific and unnecessary mistake of causing his younger sister's death to John's already smeared backstory. He introduced Hispanic heritage to the Green Lantern mythos through Kyle's long lost father, Gabriel Vasquez. Gabriel had been successfully posing as an Irishman named Aaron Rayner when he met Kyle's mother, he left shortly thereafter. Thus, the big-name Hispanic hero Winick "snuck in" under the radar (in what smells awfully like an attempt to cheat us out of brand-new quality characters of diverse background) looks white, and was raised in an Irish pride household completely and utterly ignorant of anything other than Irish heritage.

Favorite Women of DC Comics Part II: Green Lantern

Soranik Natu (Green Latern: Recharge #1)
-- One Issue. A great concept. She does not want to be a Green Lantern. She's happy where she is, and Green Lanterns are reviled and cursed on her homeworld, which spawned Sinestro. But, she's a Doctor, and accepts entrance in order to save a life. Now, she wants out, but it's much too late. Even though she's currently playing damsel-in-distress, I am dying to see what happens with her.


Alexandra DeWitt (Green Lantern, Volume 3)
-- I've mentioned before that I thought from his depictions of Donna and Jade that Ron Marz couldn't write women. Then I actually read "New Dawn" and saw Alex. Alex was smiling, bright, and optimistic. Pretty, fashionable, and vivacious. Strong, capable and intelligent. Alex came alive in very few pages. Alex's death was tragic and shocking not because of grotesque details, but because of her personality. She seemed to be a character who would last a long time.

That may be why I have such a problem with Kyle's other girlfriends. Alex is a tough act to follow.


The Space-Amazons of Zamaron (Green Lantern, Volume 1)
-- The all-female sister tribe of the Green Lantern's bosses, the Guardians of the Universe.
Their attitude about men becomes understandable when you realize their natural mates are the Guardians (Smurfy goodness, with none of the enthusiasm) and the Controllers (Tall, thin, cerebral, perpetual stick up the butt).

Their chosen replacement mates: Korugarians.

That's right, Sinestro's race.

Starting to get their picture of masculinity?

Then they have the extremely amusing custom of choosing an alien based on very specific physical requirements, and making her their Queen, the Star Sapphire. While this may seem unwise, consider the stagnation and isolationism of their male counterparts. This might be an extreme measure to avoid those pitfalls. And they've proven already that they won't keep an incompetent or evil Queen. The Golden-Age Flash villainess was one they'd booted for stupidity.

So, they have these very specific physical requirements, basically that each Star Sapphire look identical to the previous one (Man, would I love to see the Green Lantern story that explains how this custom came about -- probably involving a tragic death of their first Queen) but nothing else (personality, experience, planetary origin) needs to amtch up. Coincidentally, these physical requirements fit Hal Jordan's girlfriend, Carol Ferris, to a T. Wackiness ensued.

It was fun, it's always fun to see them. They are just such an awesome concept. I badly want them active again.


Anamede of Zamaron (Showcase Presents: Green Lantern)
-- I love the entire Zamaron race, but I like her (the fair-haired one on the spaceship in Green Lantern #16) best.
Why?

A) She gets the best lines: "We are aware that this Green Lantern is a hero of considerable prowess on your world! We will show you what a weakling he really is! Better yet, you will prove it to yourself!" "Her loyalty to this mere man is astonishing." "Look, she is fainting from the excitement! Such a disgrace to our sex!" "Since you were defeated by a mere man, Carol Ferris..."

B) She gets to use all of the cool looking gadgets on the Zamaron spaceship.

C) She is the only Zamaron given a name, ever.


Katma Tui (Green Lantern, Volume 2)
-- After the glory that was Katma Tui-Stewart (and the hope from her resurrection in the now retconned-away Green Lantern: Mosaic), how could any Green Lantern fan be satisfied with Jade?! How?

Case in Point: Issue 189
Katma uses her ring successfully while blinded. Katma trumps Kyle (JLA: Tower of Babel) and Guy (OMAC Project) and shows that she could beat the snot out of an OMAC and Batman.

Katma carries grace and confidence while training John, and does not once come off as a bitch.

Katma needs no Oath to teach respect for the Emerald Power.

Katma can falter and need to be rescued without seeming incompetent or evoking the damsel-in-distress slander because she is so clearly an equal to her rescuer in the preceeding circumstances (and she's just so wonderful I can forgive it).

Katma is an alien ingenue who does not look stupid.

Katma is quietly dignified.

Katma is beautiful without a trace of tramp.

Katma is the foremost Emerald Lady.

Katma is the Ultimate Female Green Lantern.

Bring Back Katma!!