Early Fall? Sooner than I expected, in that case.

From Heinberg's blog:

In order for DC's AMAZONS ATTACK event to ship on schedule, DC has temporarily asked Terry and Rachel Dodson to stop working on WHO IS WONDER WOMAN?, PART 5, so they can draw and ink WONDER WOMAN #8 and #9 (scripted by Jodi Picoult). At that point, the Dodsons will return to our story, but that means, WHO IS WONDER WOMAN?, PART 5 probably won't ship until early fall. Sad news on the scheduling front, to be sure, but -- from the pages I've already seen -- it will be more than worth the wait.

The good news is that the extraordinary Gary Frank (SUPREME POWER) is currently drawing a 14-page NEMESIS back-up story I've written for the issue, which recaps the secret origins of Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Wonder Girl, Sarge Steel, and Nemesis. Like the Dodsons, Mr. Frank is a brilliant genius-person, a generous and kind collaborator, and one of my all-time favorite graphic storytellers. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with him.

Friday Night Fights, Round 4

I'm not about to let Bahlactus get away with an open-handed slap here!

More Dresden Files Posting

After hearing a number of people complain about the sexism in Storm Front, I was planning to post about why it didn't cause me to drop the books, but Amy beat me to it:

I was a reluctant Harry fan in the beginning. The first few books make it difficult to distinguish between Harry’s innate chauvinism and the attitude of the book. But as I kept reading, I realized that Harry’s chauvinism, his continuous desire to Save Women From Themselves, was in fact a *huge* character flaw, and therefore Quite The Interesting Character Flaw Indeed! I’ve met other readers who had similar reactions, both male and female alike, and even Mr. Reads, upon handing me the first Dresden novel, told me to give it a book or two before I made judgment.

Some book series suffer from extension. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, for example, and undeniably Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series (which This Humble Author stopped reading at least six or seven books back). But the Dresden Files, on the other hand, get more interesting, more in depth, and *better written* every book. You can’t say that often, and when you can, you revel in it, just a bit.

I complained about some sexist attitudes expressed in the X-Men 3 movie a while ago. Someone answered that they were expressions of the character and not the theme of the story. This is a valid argument when discussing dialogue in a story. The problem I have is when a sexist attitude is expressed ("Hell hath no fury...") and then holds true in the narrative.

Its overwhelming at first because the books are written in first-person from Harry's perspective, and he has seriously idiotic opinions about women early on. As the books progress, these opinions drop off because these opinions keep being proven false. I think its a sign Harry is growing that the attitude surfaces less and less. Certainly, all of the characters in the book series grow and change like real people and when Butcher gets a chance to flesh out a minor character (like housewife Charity, or the background mortician Butters) he can really surprise you (Charity went from unnoticeable to extremely kickass in a single chapter, for example).

Anyway, in the Dresden Files, Harry's chauvinism is characterization and doesn't hold true to the plot. I can understand why a lot of people would like to spare themselves the reading anyway, but I actually like to see a stupid character learn his lessons in a story. Its fantasy, after all.

Spontaneous Dresden Files/King Arthur Comparison

So Kalinara was reading White Night (while online) and laughed at a joke. In this manner, she poked my brain. I realized that that was exactly the sort of joke that would have meaning later on in a series like this and remarked upon it, then realized tow other things. Then it hit me how dense I'd been for 9 books.

I mean, I'm a huge King Arthur buff. I call myself Ragnell the Foul. I know who Morchades is. I know the story with Obie and Obilot. So how in the hell did I miss the insanely obvious Arthurian symbolism in not just the last couple books, but the series as a whole? I mean, not just the outright stated stuff, but there's like a whole Arthurian shadow mythos forming here.

Very Minor Spoilers so I'm not hiding this. Just skim past if you're a wuss.

Now, I have to reread the whole series to be sure and I'll probably post something more in-depth later, but right now I'm seeing:
Harry Dresden = Merlin (Repeatedly suggested, we can be pretty sure that stupid umbrella stand is analogous to the stone that held the sword and that this parallel will materialize in multiple, fiery, dangerous ways.)
Margaret "Le Fay" = Morgan (I still think Le Fay is a pseudonym, but its freaking obvious)
Michael Carpenter = Arthur (the sword implies this, at the end of Proven Guilty I believe)
Carlos Ramirez = Galahad (Dropped as a joke in White Night, but in a way that makes me sure it'll be an important parallel later -- this is what Kali reminded me of)
Elaine Mallory = Nimue (That spell that binds Harry in Summer Knight is a dead giveaway)
Charity Carpenter = Lady of the Lake (Proven Guilty reveals that she makes armor and weapons for Michael)

No evidence, but I'm guessing from personalities we'll see references linking either Thomas Raith or Karrin Murphy to Lancelot, Lara Raith to Morgause, Molly Carpenter to Mordred, Morgan the Warden to Kay, and either Karrin Murphy or her partner to Gawain.

I'm also seeing a few possible parallels to that demon and that nun who were Merlin's parents.

I'm not saying I can predict the series based on loose affiliation with the Arthur stories, but its becoming increasingly likely that the Holy Grail will enter play soon.

Anyone who's read the books see anything I've ommitted?

Blog Against Sexual Violence Day

Its Blog Against Sexual Violence Day, and I'm without a long thoughtful post.

So even though it is probably linked on fifty trillion blogs today, I'm linking this news article about the waitress and the bartender who prevented a rape because they were paying attention.

Then, go to abyss2hope's linklist and read.

Link

"And did you see Romeo and Juliet? Total rehash of La Celestina! Did this guy ever have an original thought?"

Now, what's freaky about that parody is how true to life it is. The Taming of the Shew comment is almost sentence for sentence my reaction to reading that play in 6th grade. Except I called it crap rather than an anti-diversity agenda.

Either way, Mr. Frazier was not amused.

I've been a feminist a long damned time.

Submission Call: 13th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

Where: Words from the Center, Words from the Edge
When: May 3rd, 2007
Deadline: April 29th, 2007.
Announcement:

I would really like to get submissions from people who haven’t been featured in the carnival before (but repeat submitters are of course welcome!) Also since the Hugo’s are in Nippon this year I think it would be great to get at least a few non-Western feminist views on Science-Fiction & Fantasy (though of course everyone is welcome!). Also looking for posts that discuss the intersection of race/class/sexuality/ableism/etc. within SF from a feminist perspective (but again and I cannot stress this enough all articles about SF from a Feminist perspective are welcome!). Hope to hear from you all soon.

Contact: 13thFeministSFCarnival[AT]gmail[DOT]com or submission form.

No Post Today/No Comics Today.

Busy re-reading, as its really unusual to have a book series that I like better with each progressive book. Usually they jump the shark before the 9th one comes out.



I'd comment on it, but Kalinara hasn't read it yet and is begging for clues. I'm really just writing this post to tease her.

(I will say that its weird that Jim Butcher's Murphy description is overpowered by a mental picture of Valerie Cruz, but you get used to it. Oh, and Carlos may have replaced Kyle in my fannish heart.)

I'll get to the comics eventually

Next to my regular blog-wandering, the huge book on pre-Christian Teutonic religion I just got in the mail, and the new Dresden Files book out later today, there's two massive geek-femme offerings on the internet that I must completely devour:

Yes, the 12th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans is up at Pen-Elayne on the Web. Go. Read. And when you're done there, check out the April Sequential Tart.

Also, I find myself completely without a host for lucky 13. Please mail me if interested.

White Ethnic Blogs

Claire has realized that all those white blogs she's been reading really do count as ethnic blogs:

Now that I've had the realization, I feel differently about these white blogs. Everyone has a right--nearly a mandate, almost an imperative--to explore his or her home or group culture, to examine it, to illuminate it, to critique it. I love this about black, brown, and yellow ethnic blogs, and now I love this about white ethnic blogs as well. I no longer need them to change. I no longer have to fight down long emails to each blogger telling them how white they are and that they need to be more inclusive. They don't need to be more inclusive, any more than Cute Overload needs to blog about Iraq.

All they need to do is acknowledge that they are blogs written by white people from a white perspective about white culture. All they need to do is admit that they are white ethnic blogs.

Sounds reasonable. I can't exactly be blogging from a nonwhite perspective here, can I? Let's try it.

This is a white ethnic blog. -- No, no, that doesn't sound right.

This is a blog about comics from a white perspective. -- Okay, technically true but--Ugh! Who wants to get lumped in with "white power" (can't wait to see what kind of asshole finds my blog from that phrase) imbeciles? Also, really don't want to scare off nonwhite readers with this.

This is a blog about comics from a white perspective, but not a white power perspective. -- Okay, that's just pathetic. Let's try dropping the perspective stuff.

This is a blog about comics, by an American white girl-- Ick. White girl.

White woman doesn't sound much better.

I am absolutely certain I'm not the only one reacting like this. No one likes to identify as white. I've heard people say its boring, and I used to think (being raised to identify as Italian-American before white) that the whole default white culture thing gets on my nerves because it mashes Anglo-Saxon and Celtic and Greek and Polish and German and Italian and Scandinavian into one big white Euro-mess. We lose a little bit of cultural identity when we do that. Except, most of white American culture is one big white Euro-mess anymore and ethnicities like Irish and Italian are variations on that. Assimilation. Our parents and grandparents could manage it, so they did. I don't know shit about any other country, but some regions in the US have a long history of "I'm whiter than you" cultures hating the new guy until they could lose enough of their European culture to blend in. It works like the Borg. A big white Borg cube.

Nobody likes to say that because it implies all white Americans think alike, which they don't, but white American culture does absorb and adapt new cultures into the cultural collective. Reminds me of a conversation I had at work the other day about American food versus European food, and how much better European food was. Why? Because we take new foods and Americanize them and they lose all their ethnic flavor. Much as we do with immigrant cultures.

We Americanize to fit in. It comes down to "who's normal" and if you identify as your skin color, suddenly you're admitting that your skin color is not necessarily normal. And that's part of why very few white people blog about race. You can't really not know anything about race or ethnicity. Everyone has race and ethnicity. Its just uncomfortable to admit which side of racism you happen to be on, so if you're lucky enough to be on the side that benefits from racism you ignore it.

That's what that white privilege stuff is talking about.

Which might be why it looks so stupid when I type it out. Because it feels stupid to admit I'm not necessarily normal and I shouldn't be getting all the little perks from a wrong situation. Which is the biggest alarm bell that says Claire has a point about ethnic blogs and admitting you have an ethnic blog.

So we'll go with a white ethnic blog and leave it at that.

Okay, who went to Emerald City ComiCon?

If you did, please tell me there is truth to this livejournal post:

Yes, the rumor is true; based on Gail Simone's very broad "hints" at Emerald City, she is going to be the next Wonder Woman writer.

That's a mean rumor to spread if there isn't, especially given the last issue.

So, what did she say?

Most importantly, did she say it on April 1st?

Fan or Fanatic?

In my more serious moments, I like to read about religion (and not just my own). I'm a sucker for most articles on religion, and will usually go through the comment lists unless it descends into nothing but fifty pages of "Hitler!" "Stalin!" which happens more often than you think). It gets to the point sometimes where my interest in religion overpowers my fannishness and I neglect to read my comics for several weeks in a row. It makes me wonder where I stand when it comes to this. Am I more a fan or a fanatic? While it may be more respectable in some circles to be a religious fanatic neither subject is exactly grounded in reality and both completely absorb me at times.

I never really connected the two until I read Salon's article on the Gospel of Judas and saw this comment:

Since there is absolutely not one shred of evidence that a God (let alone a God of the Bible) exists- this article is no more meaningful than discussing the rehabilitation of the Joker in a Batman comic.

Since my initial reaction to this was to be outraged that he saw no point to discussing the Joker's rehabilitation, I think we can safely say I'm a fan and not a fanatic.

Happy Pranksgiving Everyone

I wanted to do a nice big prank on the blogosphere, or at least post a joke but the Renfaire was this weekend and I forgot.

So I'd just like to state that I owe you all a practical joke.

(Please note that when I post my theory that Frank Miller is homosexual but severely in denial, that will not be a joke.)

Wonder Woman #6

Yes, every bad review you've read is true. She treats the character like a complete fish out of water even though Diana's been underground pretending to be a regular person for an entire year, and before that had been around for years and gotten her lumps in during Perez and Messner-Loebs runs.

Beyond that, she's being vain and petty and existential and it makes me roll my eyes. Why does Wonder Woman give a flying fuck about being "cool"?

And why is Nemesis suddenly acting like Xander Harris?

It might be the first comparison, the milkshake replacement with a Black Canary milkshake, bothered me and set the tone wrong. Even though Diana didn't display overt jealousy, using the Black Canary replacement (and then driving it home with a mention by Nemesis) implied competition. Diana's from Themiscyra, where women can excel without tearing each other down. It also smacked of the Black Canary replacing Wonder Woman in the post-Crisis JLA recon, which irked me.

Still, even taking that into account, the plot was a stock plot (And the art seemed rushed. Drew Johnson is better than this) and the characters were too far off-base to make up for that. Diana's still supposed to be savvier, Tom's supposed to be more competent. This is a fresh off the boat story for an entrenched character.

I've read a lot of stuff that I've been iffy about on the first reading. I've read stuff that was entertaining but not particularly good on the second reading. I've read stuff that was mediocre but still had charm. I've read stuff that was decently plotted and timed but relied on cliched characterization and stereotypes, and therefore ruined my experience.

This issue was just plain bad, and I don't say that about a lot of things.

Cover Cliches

I did it again. I bought an issue based solely on the cover. It wasn't a series I was reading, or had heard about. It was actually the 3rd issue of a 6-issue miniseries. Silent War #3.

Like the last issue I bought just for the cover (the issue of New Avengers with the Scarlet Witch on the cover), it made me sad. I don't know why I'm such a big fan of Magneto's kids, but I always have been. I'm a sucker for any appearance they make. I scanned reprints of early Uncanny X-Men for them. I pick up random issues of Avengers when one of them is prominent on the cover (this is how I have the trade paperback of The Morgan Conquest). The first set of back issues I picked up when I was done with BMT and living on my own for the first time was the first two issues of the Amazing X-Men miniseries that tied into the Age of Apocalypse crossover. It was my favorite, because that was the one where Pietro was leading the X-Men. I have every issue PAD wrote of X-Factor and beyond that. Hell, I even own some of the 1997 Quicksilver series (I have the Heroes For Hire crossover).

So I've had issues with Marvel, or rather I've avoided buying issues from Marvel, since Wanda flipped out. It seems to have soured me on 98% of the Marvel universe and I dropped every Marvel book I read after Disassembled. It was such a wasteful stupid thing to do to a character.

Then I nosed around and picked up the first half of House of M, because I thought they might fix it. I dropped it when they revealed Pietro was the antagonist.

Then I picked up Son of M, just in case they fixed at least one twin. No such luck. Unlike the crossovers where Wanda was featured as insane, Son of M was a wonderful series. It was wonderful comic miniseries in the same way that The Last Sherlock Holmes Story is a wonderful book. Its skillful and engaging, and everything fits as they go through it. this somehow makes it more sickening than when the hero is completely mischaracterized, because the writer draws you into the story and its like a perfect horror picture. You empathize with the main character. That character is your hero. And you watch, helplessly, as they act completely within their nature and destroy their own sanity.

(If only Wanda's story could have been so good.)

Still, it was very depressing and I rationalized buying this because maybe, just maybe, it could get fixed.

It isn't.

But at least I still have this cover.



Isn't that beautiful? Crystal looks strong and protective and powerful here. Looking at the cover makes me forget a little bit about losing Wanda, mainly because I've never seen Wanda get to display such a presence. Not many female characters do. That's probably why I got out of my way for covers like this and like the Spirit #4. Its an image you can just look at and feel strong.

Last week, I saw a picture that looked much the same. It was on a T-Shirt in a souvenir shop and showed a classic poster of Luke and Leia for Star Wars. It was a little different from the ones I'd seen before, because rather than posing at his feet and holding a gun, Leia was wrapped around Luke's leg. It was the first time I'd seen that poster, but it didn't really make an impact on me. I thought at the time that it was the familiarity of the pose. Then I saw this cover.

I wonder if the artists understand what they convey when they do a role reversal like this. As a woman, I'm expected to empathize with the male characters as well as female characters (the whole "if boys will read it, girls will too; so make it for boys" mentality that the Entertainment industry displays) but that doesn't change the fact that when I see a man and a woman on a cover, I tend to identify with the female character.

So a picture of the traditional version, where the man is standing and radiating power while the woman is on her knees clinging to his leg can be offputting because at first glance my mind wants to identify with the female position. But the male character is the stronger in such a picture. He's the one we're meant to empathize with while the girl is the throwaway. So there's a little bit of distancing that has to happen. I have to ignore the gender difference to identify with the stronger character. Something is lost, and I see the art through a filter. I've seen tons of poses like this, with the woman wrapped around the man's leg, and they've never struck me as a good pose.

But looking at this cover the power hit me right away. There was no distance, there was no filter between me as a viewer and the stronger character. I got the full effect of the picture.

Its hard to describe, but when I saw it my heart felt a little lighter in my chest, my cheeks felt warmer and the corners of my mouth turned up in a smile. I think I may have stood a little taller in the store.

Now (because I know some poor soul who's cursed with apathy is misreading this feeling as a comment on the general state of my life) that's not to say that poses like this are as great as finding the cure for cancer, or my first taste of butter pecan ice cream, or that that's the most wonderful feeling I've ever had in my life. It was good enough to shell out the three bucks for a book that featured characters I liked. I've just lovingly detailed the experience so I can ask you all one thing:

Is that what it feels like for men when they see the typical pose?

And now, a meme.

Okay, if I still have any readers left, I did a real entry for Jake's meme.


Yeah, its an old Kevin Smith reference. Best I could do.

Warning: This post contains snobbery, social ranking and unrepentant judgment.

I was going to post a pretty cover, but I ended up getting into a fight in the comments of Kalinara's blog instead. I was a real asshat too (especially at the end there), but that's not what I'm going to discuss here.

Instead, I'm going to be even more of an asshat. I want to pick on this little paragraph of this little comment:

Oh, and I deleted the other post because I had a much better argument to make. You might want to follow example once your a Cass fan.

Let's repeat that last part.

You might want to follow example once your a Cass fan.

Again, so it sinks in.

You might want to follow example once your a Cass fan.

Now, dreadful grammar/spelling (on both our parts) aside, this made me cackle with derision. The statement implies that being a fan of Cassandra-Batgirl carries a higher standard than not being a fan of Cassandra-Batgirl. This of course goes against everything I've learned in all my years of superhero fandom.

Cass-fans are a minor subclass of Batfans. Now what I'm about to explain in no way says that Batfans are the losers of superhero fandom or anything like that. I know Batfans with wonderful taste. But being a Batfan is so common that it is practically a pre-requisite to being a superhero fan at all. Within the Batfan class are subclasses of Robinfans, Babsfans, Cassfans, CommisionerGordonfans, SilverAgeBatfans, GoldenAgeBatfans, MillerBatfans, Catfans, Jokerfans, Villainfans, Alfredfans but all are part of the general Gotham experience. All are members of the Batfamily and all fall under the umbrella of Batfans.

I always pictured superhero fandom as a pyramid. At the base are your wide-appeal franchises like Batman and X-Men. Nearly everyone enters the fandom through one of those classes. (There's a Marvel side and a DC side) Some people remain at the base and divide into little subclasses and have little sub-class wars, while others move on to other wide-appeal (but not quite so large) franchises such as Superman and Spiderman, up to the lesser known but still popular franchises like Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League, Avengers, Captain America, Hulk. Lesser known solo characters like Daredevil, Thor, Firestorm are a step above that. As they move up, they still remain Batfans and keep their cherished memories of brooding lonely RotDK Bruce or a car battery being thrown at a villain, but they expand to be fans of other settings as well.

Above the current character followers you have writer-followers, and art followers, and historians. Those fans of comics that were published before they first started reading comics, Bronze and Silver Age fans who had Modern Age childhoods are a bit higher than those fans who insist that everything be as they first started reading, but both are lower on the hierarchy than the people who go out of their way to track down the Golden Age stories that started it all. A cut above the current writer/artist followers are the ones who follow classic creators like Gil Kane, and Carmen Infantino and Gardner Fox, and at the very top of the pyramid you find your Kirby fans.

Because a fan of Jack Kirby obviously has impeccable taste.

While there's no reason to roll your eyes because someone is a fan of Batman or one of his many spinoffs, there's no reason to be impressed. Everyone has been to Gotham in one way or another. I'm probably going to laugh when someone tells me about the exacting social standards of CassandraCain-fandom. I'm probably also very likely to make fun of them. But when someone who owns Hunger Dogs and has read all of the necessary Adventures of Jimmy Olsen issues talks about what's necessary to be a Kirby fan, that's another situation entirely.


(What? Its not like I'm the only one to ever put cliche dialogue to a Kirby panel. Besides, I needed something for Jake's meme.)

While I Was Out

Yeesh, the stuff you miss while you're on vacation. Among characters I liked I saw resurrection, a death, and a promotion. Plus there was a teamup where Supergirl was actually fun to read and a cover with a setup I love.



In case anyone hasn't noticed, I really like images where there's a woman carrying a man. Its sweet. If I can find enough I might put a gallery together online.

Anyway, finally caught up on my blog reading. The IRIS Network (for female gamers) launched, which is of interest to me as an old tabletop gamer. Also, missed round two of Friday Night Fights.

Out of all of this week's blog posts (and I can be reasonably certain that I monitor a good section of the comics blogosphere through my Bloglines) I think Dear Comics gets the prize. And I don't think I saw anyone point to it which surprised me because its a beautiful piece of writing.

An Open Letter to Ron Marz that Spoils the Events of Ion #12

Dear Mr. Marz,

This is getting out of hand.

Seriously, that's the fourth time you've killed that particular character. I was pretty annoyed with you the second time you killed that character to give Kyle a shot of angst, now I'm rolling my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I love Kyle. I enjoy reading him but really this is getting old and he's an entertaining enough character without the curse.

This isn't like his girlfriends where a different writer killed each one. No, this is you killing this character each time. You didn't even do any proper resurrections the first couple of times. You just seem to change your mind about her death each time so you can bring her in and kill her again.

Come on now. Even South Park got tired of the Kenny thing after a while.

Plus, its just downright creepy that every woman who comes in contact with Kyle Rayner dies, except for Donna. As it is, she's the only possible love interest because she's the only one popular enough to survive the relationship and go on to die in her own storyline. Why don't you kill a male character next time? Just for a change of pace.

How about his Dad? His Dad never died. He went from being quasi-villainous to super-spy, but he never died. Why don't you kill him? You can knock off both the thin version from the Green Arrow/Green Lantern crossover and the fat guy from Winick's run. Then you can change your mind and kill one of them again. Mix it up and alternate for a while.

It'll be different at least.

Regarding Birds of Prey #104

Oh... my... god...

So help me Simone, if this is a trick I will...

I'll...

I'll...

Yeesh, there's really no way to take down an evil writer, is there?

(On the other hand, if this isn't a trick its one hell of a wonderful story to return to. Maybe if I go on vacation again I can get my other fondest comics wish.)