The Good Daughter

I've been complaining for quite some time about the female characters at DC who, because of certain aspects of their concept, send very uncomfortable anti-feminist messages and reinforce unfortunate stereotypes.

I've read about the younger, female versions of established male heroes.

I've read about a beautiful talented young woman who has strength and confidence but is so uncomfortable with leadership and direction that she turns from a warm caring person to a confrontational bitch when in a leadership position. She also reinforces the stereotype of the beautiful woman who leaves a positive, loving relationship to knock boots with a total sleeze.

I've read about a woman who became the only character in a certain franchise that I couldn't stand. The daughter of two powered parents, and the twin of a powered brother, she inherits powers from the father (as does her brother). In order to be a hero, she has to actively reject her birth mother and everything the woman stood for and embrace her father. She loses that inheritance in order to protect her male relatives, and starts to develop her mother's powers. These are immediately cast aside for a return of her paternally inherited powers, which can only happen through the help of her boyfriend! (This was still a nasty message even before it was retconned into a worse one) From there, she further descends into a symbolic cautionary tale.

I've read about the most skilled martial artist in the world, a 16 year old Asian girl. She is trained from an early age and built into a killing machine by a man who also trains her to complete silence. He is, at least implied to be, her father, and still plays a part in her life. She overturns this man's influence in favor of another father figure, and takes on the mantle of a woman -- who had taken on the mantle of that second father figure. Her mother.. Well, let's face it, this character's situation is a whole post in itself. I'm still waiting on my own copy, but it's got me more incensed than the above character (and I like this one!)

Then we have the female characters who started out with a bright happy future, only to have sexual trauma retroactively injected into their backstory for reasons I'm not quite sure of, but which could be: a) dramatic shorthand for female character strength, b) complete lack of respect for the issue, c) stupid writers, and d) "'Cause we kin't do that to a Guy!" Yeah, real enlightened.

And of course, there's the beautiful situation wherein Wonder Woman is forced to sacrifice everything she hopes for and believes in order to save Superman. She snapped the neck of a telepath who was (at that moment!) controlling Clark's mind. Sure, it wasn't as necessary as Superman's killing the 3 Kryptonian criminals who's power he had already permanently removed with gold kryptonite and who were posing absolutely no threat at the time, but you know, given that she was in a situation where she three options (Kill Max, Kill Clark, or get killed herself) I'd say we can give her a break. No, she gets villified. By the same guy (Holy Double Standard, Batman!) who was so accepting of Clark's confesson about the 3 Kryptonian criminals.

But that's all okay now. All of the above crap can be excused, because I have Manhunter.

(Spoilers for Manhunter #19, which I hope that you have read. If you haven't and have no intention of reading it, I hope this changes your mind.)

Keep Going

Yes, Manhunter, the most progressive female comic book character on the market.

Yes, Manhunter. Kate Spencer.

Yes, the same Kate Spencer who left her primary weapon out so her young son could find it and get hospitalized.

The remorseless killer who brutally slaughtered Copperhead.

Who blackmailed a man in the Witness Protection Program to fix her superhero equipment.

Who stole that superhero equipment from a Federal Evidence locker.

Who smokes in federal buildings.

Despite being a federal prosecutor.

Who sent a summons to the Justice League Headquarters.

Yes, that Manhunter.

Who'd you think I meant? One of the guys?


Kate's concept is awesome. She is the granddaughter of the JSA Founder, the Atom. It's possible (but not clear in any of the issues I own) that she inherited superstrength from him by way of her father, Walter Pratt. Kate's a legacy hero, but not as the Atom. She took a completely different legacy, the Manunter. She took it by way of stealing equipment from a federal evidence locker. A locker she had access to because of her career, a federal prosecuter which was her personal choice. Kate's power comes not form her paternal legacy, but from the suit and accompanying weapons that she acquired herself. Right there, she's past a conceptual problem that plagues female legacy characters.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read the whole series (I have 7-12 and 16-17 on order right now) but I picked up 18 because of Todd Rice. I couldn't help but be struck by the role reversal inherent in the plot. Her ex-husband Peter is kidnapped, tied up and tortured (in a similar position, I believe, to Black Canary in the Longbow Hunters). He's being tormented by a predatory female villain. Kate is on the way to rescue him.

Right there I was thinking to myself, Andreyko is doing this on purpose. He's a subversive. There's role-reversal all over the place in this issue.

Kate's father, Walter Pratt, kidnaps her son Ramsey and her ex-husband Peter in the hope of getting a bone marrow transfusion. Kate's son is not a match, forcing him to go after Kate directly. This is good overturn of the cultural tradition that a male grandchild is worth more to the family than the daughter who bore the grandchild.

Usually, a gay couple in the supporting cast will be female (Maggie Sawyer and Toby, Lee and Leigh, a bunch of Amazons in Perez's run but two in particular who's names escape me). There are exceptions (Pied Piper doesn't count because he was almost always seen single, but there was Mikaal and Tony in Starman -- another comic book that liked to turn convention on its ear -- but Tony was a staunch background character with little personality other than he loved Mikaal) but generally lesbians are more prolific. Here it's a male couple, both of whom have well-developed personalities -- Todd's an established character brought in for Damon, and Damon is a resident supporting cast member tied to Kate since the first issue. They kiss in this issue, and a female secretary in the background watches with a dreamy expression. She's fantasizing.

There's other objectification of men by women in this book, mainly by Phobia, the female villain. She's aroused by Peter's fear, and goes out of her way to lay her hands all over Walter's body when he's waiting for surgery.

Like a traditional story centered on a female hero or any hero who is less than morally spotless, there is a pure-hearted huntsmen/white knight to help our hero fight her evil stepmother father. She (Cameron Chase) spent issue 18 seeking a magical technological artifact from one of Kate's allies. This ally commonly provides Kate with such weapons. Ladies and Gentlemen, the part of the Lady of the Lake in Manhunter will be played by Dylan Battles. (Yeah, that one seems like a reach, but he actually comes out ofa pool of water to give Cameron the teleportation device in issue 19 and I, with all of my reading where they drive home the point of the Goddess as Armorer in old Celtic Legends can't get past that -- I think even subconciously Andreyko is flipping stereotypes. Which, when you realize that even when they do try to flip stereotypes they usually subconciously reinforce them, is pretty damned impressive)


Any doubts I had that this stuff is on purpose were dispelled by the name of the villain's hideout -- "the old Marston place." It's a really unlikely coincidence to play with gender stereotypes in a comic book and then drop the name of Wonder Woman's creator.

And the next issue, we get to see her fight her Dad.

You see, Walt is a total bastard. He killed her mother. He's put her son and ex-husband in serious danger. He's pushing her around and insulting her.

Now, I suppose she's going to be a purehearted heroine here. She's going to be merciful and help save his life and forgive him his wrongs even as he's incarcerated for the rest of his natural life, right? That's what any child in the father emnity stories does. She redeems the family through love. That's how you keep a woman sympathetic, right?

Wrong. She gets to go all the way here. He doesn't get to be the redeemed father figure. He gets stomped like an evil mother/stepmother -- and nobody regrets his death (especially the reader).

Even better, he gets stomped personally by her. She not only denies him his lifesaving medical treatment (for which her bone marrow, and the villainous Dr Moon -- the male villain Kate killed last issue -- are necessary), she fights him to the death. And she mouths off to him during the fight. That's the fun part.

And yes, there is intervention when the fight turns against Kate. By Cameron, who delivers the teleportation device that Kate uses to fry her father.

After this, we find out that the battle caused a miscarriage. Peter Hernandez feels this was a weak story point -- "The only problem with the conclusion was with the final scene and the miscarriage. Only because it was like Walt getting the last laugh as he hurts Kate one final time...and hasn’t he already hurt her enough?"

I think it's just more of the death imagery that surrounds Kate. For starters, she smokes. Smoking is beyond simply representing someone's attitude towards society. It's beyond emphasizing crankiness (effectively done with her contrast to the optimistc, fair-haired Damon). Every message we get in our society drives home the point that cigarettes are connected to cancer and slow lingering death. Kate, most often shown with a cigarette, is toking death.

She is a dark haired woman in red. Now, I know a few of you are going "Hey, that's sex, isn't it?" Maybe with someone else, but Kate's red costume also includes really sharp clawed gauntlets and white eye-lenses. This is blood we're looking at. To me in particular this calls to mind menstration and the associated dark goddesses (Morrigan, Kali, Hecate -- You know, the death goddesses) but I may still be thinking of Shining Knight.

In her first story arc, she kills Copperhead. Copperhead's a snake villain. Snakes are heavily symbolic of rebirth and eternal life.

Her costume is a suit of armor two men have died in. She has the gauntlets that belonged to Azrael, the replacement Batman who is famous for going too far and killing people. Her primary weapon, as Chris testifies, is a "staff belonging to Deathstroke the Frigg'n Terminator"

I've heard superheroes in DC referred to as "the gods" occasionally and compared to the Greek Pantheon a few times. If this is the case, Kate's one of the dark goddesses. She's very much about endings. She's a character that takes us into the "after the battle" aspect of superheroics. She takes the villain to trial and works to get him punished for his crimes. If Justice isn't served at the bench, she takes it on herself to play executioner and end things once and for all.

Her weak spot is being a mother (she fails as a parent in the same way Golden Age male superheroes did, by her absence and dedication to justice), possibly because Motherhood is full of beginnings and middles. That's not her realm. Compassion isn't where Kate's comfortable, because compassion isn't direct and blunt like she is. Compassion prolongs things.

Does this make her unlikeable? Perhaps.

Does this make her interesting and complex? Definitely.

Does she fill a niche that is vacant in the DCU? You bet she does, on more than one level.

I've yet to see a negative review about Manhunter. I've heard several bloggers, like Scipio and Heidi recommend it (but not post on it). When I do see reviews, they tend towards the postive.

I just feel bad it took me so long to notice this book.

Amazing What Good Coloring Can Do

The cover to Wonder Woman #1 as found on Newsarama.

I take back some of the bad stuff I said about Terry Dodson. He can draw a woman with biceps who believably has the Beauty of Aphrodite. That's impressive.

So many artists freak out and remove all trace of organs, showing a little stick-arm figure, and the few who try sometimes go the other direction and lose all proportionality when drawing the figure. It's nice to see definition in her arms.

Unless this is all on the colorist. In which case, I hope the same colorist is on the interiors.

I hope he can manage a distinctive face though. I mean, scenes that feature Diana, Donna and Hippolyta (I refuse to believe she's not coming back) out of costume could be a nightmare telling the three apart.

I wonder if Diana has experiences like this lady describes: "..a significant percentage of men feel absolutely compelled to announce within moments of meeting me whether or not the sight of a muscular female causes them to become sexually aroused."

(Oh, and she'd better be towering over the rest of the Justice League this summer. I'll accept Martian Manhunter looking her in the eye, but Batman had better be craning his neck.)

In lieu of actual content...

A random panel from The Golden Age Flash Archives, Volume II.
Enjoy.

Allan Who?

I'm very tired tonight, and didn't get much reading done. In fact, I hadn't even intended top post, but by way of Respendant Beard I found out some important news.

They've announced the Wonder Woman writer finally.

Allan Heinberg.

Who the hell is Allan Heinberg?

Apparently he writes Young Avengers, which I have never read.

I know there's a featured character named Wiccan. This means that Heinberg is aware of non-monotheistic spiritual movements. I'm afraid to find out, however, if he's going via Buffy-route of Wicca. A superhero named "Wiccan" will almost certainly have mystical powers (to be fair, one named "Christian" will probably be able to turn water to wine), and to me that would indicate Hollywooditis and a total lack of respect for this spiritual path.

I suppose I could pick up Young Avengers and make a final judgement, but don't think I could get past the name to judge the quality of writing. So you know what? I'm not going to.

I'm goign to let Allan Heinberg remain a mystery. I'm going to approach the next Wonder Woman relaunch with a clean slate or, at least, one of minimized negativity). Let the writer surprise me.

I have a unique opportunity here, to form an opinion of a writer based entirely on how he handles the most difficult character in comics, and I'm not going to squander that by reading something I expect to offend before he even picks up the book I'll probably like a lot better.

So, this summer, I meet Allan Heinberg. I'll judge the writing then. (Shame it's going to be side by side with Terry Dodson's art. Dodson has talent, sure, but all of his women look alike. Not a welcome thought for a book that traditionally features a majority female cast)

Am I Dreaming?

Green Lantern #9 came out today. (Kalinara has gleaned more meaning from this one than I was able to.)

This makes the book officially back on schedule.

This, actually meeting a real-life Hal, the disturbing lack of the Flash in my pullbox (The Flash is the one title I have consistantly read since I started reading comics), my unexpected sadness at Jade's fate, and my sudden attraction to Obsidian all combine to make this a truly surreal month for me.

I just hope I don't wake up and find myself on January 31st again.

Todd Rice

Todd Rice has somehow become one of my favorite characters during the last couple weeks. I thought it was because he was outed, and dating a really cute guy. Especially, as that enables me to turn the page and find this (spoilers/slasher's dream) in any given issue of Manhunter.

Really cute blond-haired guy + really cute brown-haired guy = Major Turn-on for me.

But, no, that wasn't exactly right. It's actually what Kalinara has pointed out.

"I spent most of Todd's appearances in JSA thinking "Okay, your life sucks, get over it."
-And he seems to have."

And that is why Todd is now officially the Best Thing to come out of Infinity Inc and will likely be the only ex-Infinitor active next month.

(Oh, and I totally agree with her about Polly too)

Ethnocentricism in the Real World

Since many of us are here to discuss religion, there's a current ongoing controversy to chew on. The Muslim outcry against a few cartoons depicting Mohammed in a less than favorable light (although, I seem to recall from World Cultures class that an image of Mohammed in any light was forbidden to their religion)

On the one hand, there is clear overreaction and a definite lack of reason here. But I find myself empathizing a bit with the offended, if only at their taking offense and not their method of demonstrating that offense.

But other people have laid out far more clear and rational opinions. Peter David points out the obvious insanity of the reaction, and Tegan delves into a more cutting aspect, the manipulative nature of the media (and her followup). On the other end of the opinion spectrum, the writer at Definition centers on the news coverage also.

There's probably more, but I'm not following this particular topic too closely. Religious freedom is a big issue for me, but much as I'd like to empathize more with the offended religion, I can't. I mean, I know of cartoons wherein they have actually killed off someone's patron diety and others where they've demonized them beyond belief. I've seen people express deep offense, but never causing harm. It weakens the sympathetic stance a bit.

And to make it seem wrose, I've seen people take it with a good sense of humor. But, as this is my own particular subculture, it's probably wrong to judge through that standard.

Depressing, all the same.

(Update: There is still this piece of news)

Wonder Woman and Religion

Most of us blame the difficulty some writers have understanding Wonder Woman on gender. "She's a complex woman," I've heard. "They're each writing their ideal woman," I've read.

Read On

Most of these writers, of course, have no trouble with characters like Lois Lane, Barbara Gordon, or Dinah Lance. Those who do, they don't have problems to the extent they have with Diana. Lois, Babs, and Dinah seem to have much more clearly defined personalities than Diana. Diana seems almost schizophrenic, as every writer explores a different aspect, every writer makes their own personal stamp on her. For Perez, she was a total innocent, a full optimist. Loebs wrote a rebellious daughter who ran off to see the world and tried to become part of it. Byrne wrote a stiff, formal princess. Waid played up the warrior side. Morrison played up the disciplined competitor. Luke's Diana seemed lost to me. Jimenez wrote a highly emotional woman. Simonson introduced a rational, thinking woman. Rucka took to the rational, thinking side, too, but he added regality and spirituality. But the other three mentioned tend to be the same. Even lackluster writers have a basic handle on those characters, but it takes a really good writer to make Diana work.

Diana's problem isn't her gender, it's that she's from an alien and ancient culture. Not simply in attitude and philosophy, but in the religion. I think that's where it breaks down.

Most of the writers and editors (though not all, I'm sure) can be presumed to be from a monotheistic religious background. Supreme Deity, pitch perfect in all ways, representing the good and only the good in the universe, that's the measure of divinity. Most of their readers are from this background too. From this background, Diana's Pantheon seems like a kindergarten class with cosmic power. Hardly respectable or acceptable in their view of divinity (even though it's supremely unfair to judge a foreign religion in terms of your own). Divinity is good, and anything that's bad is not divine, after all. And if anyone finds the behavior of the Greek Pantheon acceptable in polite society, they need serious counseling. It's bad sometimes, therefore it can't really be divine.

Here's the thing, though. To the Modern Pagan Mind (I can't speak for the Ancients), this isn't the way to view divinity. Divinity is not good or bad, Divinity is good and bad. The Gods Just Are. Their behavior can be truly awful and truly wonderful. Their nature encompasses the extreme best and extreme worst of their spheres of influence. They aren't "people," they are "ideas." Aphrodite isn't a woman, she's the Love/Lust -- The Need to Continue/Protect the Species. Her arena includes lofty, self-sacrificial love and wild, self-(and other-) destructive lust. Ares' realm is protection and defense in addition to excessive force and violence. Athena's gentle compassionate wisdom exists alongside coldblooded scheming.

Some people who've read the Greek stories ask "How could they worship this?" (which is fascinating because I have a pagan friend who's read the Old Testament and constantly asks that about the Judeo-Christian religions). They have trouble reading in the abstract, I guess. They don't realize Athena and Aphrodite aren't women, they're concepts. Where it says "Athena does this" you should read "Wisdom does this," or "Knowledge does this." Apollo would be Reason or Light. Aphrodite is Love and Lust. Ares is War...etc..

Zeus alternately behaves as a loving father and an utter dick. I've seen it analyzed that Zeus represents Men in Power Positions (Kings, CEOs.etc..), or just Power itself. Power blesses, sets rules, rewards, creates and destroys, exploits, brutalizes, tyrannizes also. Worship of Zeus isn't necessarily embracing the worst indulgence of power, but it's representing Power as it is and accepting that it can harm and help. Aphrodite is the full scale of love and lust -- from the lowest urge to the highest regard. Her worship is respecting and accepting the nature of relationships/bonds between people, at the best and worst of it.

But people don't think this way. So, in order to write a character who worships these gods, and still use them, the writers need to find a way to make it acceptable to the majority.

They usually use one of three approaches: 1) Suck all of the life and personality out of these vibrant, energetic deities, 2) Write down the gods, making them subordinate/lesser than the supreme deity, or 3) both of the above.
Then Greek Gods are just background characters, and supporting cast in Wonder Woman. This would be fine, if they were used to support the story and move along the plot without being without being degraded in the above ways. Since the Post-Crisis Reboot, Diana's gods have been arbitrarily put in danger (Hermes, the entire Pantheon a few times), depowered (Hermes), made evil (Hecate), made ineffective (Persephone), rescued by her (Poor Hermes!) and even killed off (Hermes, Hades) in order to make Diana look stronger, and to make their existence more palatable to the majority of readers.

The trendsetter here was Perez. Sure, he told a fine story about a god being made flesh and suffering humiliation and depowerment as a human when he used Hermes. But in doing so, he drained Hermes of all of the personality that made Hermes so likeable. It could have been an acceptable result of this ordeal, but he did the same to the rest of the Pantheon. He turned Olympus into a funeral home. Even when Zeus acted like Zeus, he was so stiff and formal that it was unbelievable. Every god was the walking dead. A cipher. This is what he expected to represent the most vital pieces of life? Even Hades, the god of the dead represents a primal, energetic force in the universe that every human being knows in the deepest part of their soul. Perez's Olympus just didn't convey that. He couldn't even get their appearances right! (Artemis is Not A Blonde!) I groaned every time I saw the gods (with the exception of Hermes, whom I was excusing for his being weakened) when I read Wonder Woman for a long long time. And the death of Hermes was a continual sore spot which was only healed recently.

As I see it, Rucka seemed to have the best approach. The stories were heavy and plodding, like a Greek Tragedy, because he was playing up the cultural aspect. Ultimately, though, he has had my favorite Wonder Woman run to date. He'll always have a special place in my heart for returning Hermes to the living (conversely, he'll always be a sore spot for killing Hades). He wrote the gods as their personalities, introduced a mildly metaphysical (Cotton Candy Symbolism) explanation for their fluctuating power levels called "Indirect Worship" which reinforced the idea of the gods as Concepts with Consciousness as opposed to Normal Characters.

If you follow the maneuvers of Athena throughout Rucka's run, actually, you'll notice a parallel with what's going on inside Diana's head, which is truly an effective way to use the gods (if he did it on purpose -- and I have trouble believing the Hermes part at least wasn't on purpose). During his run I noticed:
-- Artemis -- the joy of the hunt, isolationist feminism (Themiscyra itself, which Athena and Hermes encouraged Diana to leave), seems to have been cut out of the picture (I know it was a name thing, but it still makes a great subconscious pattern especially considering that during Perez's run she was the one equated with Diana's personality the most) as Diana finally takes serious steps to spread her message to the world at large and tries to get away from chasing supervillains in favor of her professional life. Sure, it doesn't work, but notice the heavy themes of the run -- Supervillains scheme in the background while Diana focuses on the embassy, then they seek her out at work -- unlike the other runs, where the scheming took place during a lot of onscreen fighting and maybe a little side lecturing that is referred to but not shown.
-- Athena moves to take the throne as Wisdom, Strategy, and furthering her Ideological Goals moves to the forefront of Diana's thinking.
-- Diana is practically a cipher, seen through other's eyes for much of the run. She's not communicating herself to the reader, her supporting cast is. First person narrative, which is the standard of modern superhero comics, allows us a glimpse into her thoughts only once before Hermes, the God of Communication, Thought, and Learning is returned from the Dead. (Interesting how the single time we saw this method of narration is the crossover with the Flash -- a representative of Hermes if there is one in the DCU)
Rucka disappointed me, though, in Wonder Woman #225. Athena's narration is reverent of Diana, and hints at self-hatred. As though even the gods themselves cannot accept themselves as they are.
Diana's religion, once again, is undermined by the writer, even as he tries to build the character up. In a way, this cancels itself out. Diana is such a spiritual character, brought to life and empowered by the gods, given a mission by the gods, that anytime you undermine her religion you undermine the basis for her personality, and you start to lose what little ground you had.

I'm still really impressed, mind you (Despite my massive annoyance at Hades' treatment, and my irritation with Athena's attitude last issue) with Rucka's handling of the gods. I love using the events on Olympus as an allegory and a catalyst for the Earthly plot. I even more like the gods with their Homerian personalities, the sometimes benevolent, sometimes malevolent, always interesting Greek Gods that I've read about since Elementary school.

The clerk at my LCS knows this, and so he asked if I was angry by the implication in Infinite Crisis #4 and Wonder Woman #225 that they won't be an active part of Diana's life again. I don't think that's true, but on reflection, I don't think I'd mind if they are shuffled to the origin story and never used aside from retelling that. Too few writers can handle them correctly, and it gets downright insulting after a while.

(And yes, that was another Image stolen off of Poison Ivy)

Promise?

X-Men 3: Last Stand

(They look like CD covers to me)

Satin Worship

One of the best reasons to own The Best of the Spirit (by Will Eisner) is the fifth panel of Page 20.

That's the introduction of Satin. I've liked Satin since I saw her in Vol 12 of the Archives (She's dressed like a nun there for some reason). This was the first time I saw her introduction. It helped solidify my opinion.

I want to be her when I grow up.

In the first half-page of her existance, she walks in wearing what I think is one of my favorite comic-book female outfits ever, and immediately starts to make everyone around her squeamish. She's been shot. Yes, that is her striding in after being shot in the arm. No indication of pain. The entire scene, she doesn't show any indication of pain. Without even the slightest hint of whining about it, she takes the razorblade and hot water she requested and extracts the bullet from her own forearm. The wussies she's working with faint at the sight.

Also, note that she's using her right hand to do this. Later, she uses her left hand to club Spirit with a vase and hold a gun on him. Ambidextrous, too.

And the hat is very cool.

Rare and Awe-Inspiring Panel

I snatched this off of Poison Ivy's Livejournal and it is a beautiful picture for one compelling reason.

It's not because I enjoy seeing Batman says "Ragamuffin" (can't you just hear Adam West there?). It's not because of the angle of the Flash and Green Lantern (I can see Green Lantern from that angle anywhere). It's not because I'm impressed by Aquaman's shaven swimmer's chest.

It's not just because all of the men have strategically torn clothing .

No, its because Wonder Woman is standing in the middle of it, costume completely intact.

I mean, how long has it been since we've seen a team scene with one female, and four males, and the female is the only one still fully clothed at the end of a fight?

Possibly since this panel was first published.

What I Learned in Nevada

I was thinking about you all while I was gone.

Partly because it was a work trip, and I was stuck in a strange city, feeling pretty sick, with a lack of money and no access to the Internet. Partly because I was not with my normal crew (one person for each freaking system!) and I'm actually very shy in person, so I didn't hit it off with all of the others. Partly because I despise the singles scene -- loud clubs and smoky bars -- that everyone else there was so enamored of and so, with my dehydration headaches amplifying my ill-will towards all humanity, I ducked out of most socialization opportunities and I didn't have my cat with me. So I was a little lonely in Nevada.

But mostly, its because of my addictions. I'm addicted to blogging, and even with my normal crew in Oklahoma I can't express my thoughts in person without being tuned out. For example, we were discussing the USAF Academy, and I started describing the guy I knew who went there -- who had had a beautiful head of blonde hair that they had made him shave off, and his head was not shaped for it at all, and as a result I hate most military haircuts -- and the hydraulics guy fell asleep! That never seems to happen online. I'm not sure why you guys read when no one in person will listen, but you guys read and I never tell you how much I appreciate that but I do.

I'm also horribly addicted to comic books, and did not have access to them for two weeks (aside from the too few trades I brought with me) or access to anyone else with an interest in them for two weeks. So, all of these thoughts kept coming to me that I really couldn't share. I wrote some down, but mostly I just filed those thoughts away under "Will blog about, don't need to ramble on."

I planned to do something different when I came back. I read Manhunter, and thought I'd share how much I liked it. I thought maybe I'd discuss Grant Morrison's late cat, or share some of the panels from World's Finest that make me particularly happy.

But after a few days of actual work, I knew I had to go back to Green Lantern.

Read On

You see, I got two things out of this trip: $23 and a deeper appreciation for Hal Jordan. At first I appreciated that character because he was cute. Then, after Emerald Knights, I appreciated him because he could learn that he's destined to turn evil and destroy everything and try to move past that crap. In back issues, we all learned he was easy, which just completely upped my esteem of him. Now, I really learned to love him when Scipio pointed out what a klutz he is. You see, I hit my head a lot, too. On the plane. We have parts in awkward places and if you try to stand too fast -- Ouch! But I digress.

Anyway, I've learned a new way to appreciate Hal. I now appreciate him as Tom Kalmaku appreciated him.

Professionally, I mean.

(What did you think I was going for?)

You see, I got to spend two weeks in Vegas working on aircraft. This isn't the normal stuff I do in OKC, because there was minimum people available. So, they needed help with a lot of the ground crew preparation stuff (Normally I only deal with the plane AFTER the dangerous, unpredictable crew has left).

I got to be a wingwalker (the guy to the side with his thumb up so the pilot knows he has enough room to either side -- not the guy in front in the safety vest with cones. The guy in front is called a marshaller) for two different pilots. I came to call them Hal and Bizarro Hal.

First, we launched Bizarro Hal, the Yellow Lantern. I will say, right away, that I didn't like that crew that much. The co-pilot was a moron, the navigator was a moron, and the radar guy was a fucking moron. I won't go so far as to call the pilot as moron, but he was certainly afraid to taxi (drive the aircraft from parking to the runway).

He asked for wingwalkers not only for his first turn (as is standard), but in front of every other aircraft on the parking ramp -- just in case. Even though there was ample room. But that's okay, it was his first day on the airfield. It's understandable. After everyone was onboard, he took an extra 15 minutes talking to the crew chief to triple check and make sure everything was okay with the plane before he taxied out.

Safety First, huh?

It was a full twenty minutes before he got off the ground.

When he got back, he was late. He had a missed approach (when the pilot is ready to land then changes his mind for whatever reason.) He stopped on the edge of the taxiway for about ten minutes. I'm not sure what he was doing, but he was probably annoying the Ground Controller in some manner. We waited, in our marshalling positions, for a long time. He finally started taxiing to parking. There was a sign to the side of the ramp. He freaked out, and had a wingwalker come in and stand by it.

Again, his first day. Understandable.

By the fourth day, we were all getting a little perturbed with him. Especially the crew chief who talked to him before each launch.

The second week, they switched. Bizarro Hal had to do night flying, and we get to work with Hal.

Hal gets into the aircraft, does his checklist, double checks his stuff, and shoots the shit with the crew chief while he's waiting for the rest of the crew to show up. Once everyone else is onboard, they close up the jet and he asks for the marshals.

"Do you need extra wing marshals?" the crew chief asks him.

"Nah, just enough to make sure all the ground guys are out of the way as I pull out of the spot," he answers, and taxis off once he gets the signal from the marshaller.

After a week of the Yellow Lantern, we're all in awe of this. The same crew chief who cursed Bizarro Hal every day is dancing and singing the praises of Hal.

Five minutes later, we see the jet leave the ground. Wow!

I'm thinking, though, that maybe it's since a week has passed the other guy's gotten better.

Right?

Well, we came into work one morning and saw the notes from night shift about the state of the other plane: #3 was "Crew is a pain in the ass."

It seems that Bizarro Hal behaved precisely as he always did, and, in addition to that, had heard something strange in the first engine. But, of course, the co-pilot stated that it was the second engine. The Navigator heard it in the third engine. Could we please look at that?

Oh, and the radar tech broke his seat.

Nightshift had their engine guy, their flight engineer, and the supervisor of flying listen to the engines. They sounded fine.

We had our engine guy, our flight engineer, and our supervisor of flying listen to the engines. They sounded fine.

This was possibly the eighth thing that radar guy had broken this trip.

The jumpy pilot showed no signs of relaxing, and continued to monopolize the ground crew when taxiing.

Meanwhile, his more relaxed counterpart continued to look better and better. Taxied off every morning without a hitch, got off the ground on time, landed on time and early each time.

We loved him.

I can see why Tom Kalmaku put up with Jordan's stupidity on the ground. His piloting skills were worth it. A jumpy pilot is like a nervous puppy who pees on the carpet whenever he's startled. Tom attached to Hal pretty quick, despite insulting nicknamed. His previous pilot was probably a jumpy, nervous person who needed all sorts of babying whenever he was taxiing. (I wonder how guys with that temperament can fly -- I mean, you can't use your brakes in midair) A confident, comfortable pilot, even an oblivious racist who kept hitting his would be a relief afterwards.

I was originally scheduled for Bizarro Hal's flight home, which had me nervous, until they switched me to Hal's flight. That was fun, but also kind of scary.

He's a great pilot when you're ground crew, but if you're waiting on the plane for everyone to board and he's got "Eye of the Tiger" playing over the loudspeaker, it's a bit intimidating. The hydraulics guy (who had exclaimed "I LOVE this pilot!" the day before) voiced his concern for us ("I'm not sure I'd wanna fly with these crazy motherfuckers") before he left to help launch.

It all turned out all right, though. Even got home with enough time to pick up the cat and my comics before snow started falling.

Go Hal!

Have You Hugged a Psychic Fish Today?

According to my Astrological Calender the Sun Entered Pisces today at 2:25 PM EST.

Celebrate accordingly.

My Bookmarks

I'm going to make myself scarce for a couple of weeks.

I'll be back.

Probably when you've all forgotten about this place.

(Don't worry, I'll get all of your attention back somehow)

In the meantime, amuse yourselves with my archives, my livejournal archives, my blogroll, and the following links from my bookmarks (haven't decided who to add to the blogroll yet).

Click Here for More Links
The Order of the Stick

--Blogs--
Aiee! Run from Kelvin's Brainsplurge!
Blog This, Pal!
The Beat
Beetle's Nest
Big Monkey Comics
A Blog Found On a Garbage Heap
Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog
The Bricktosser
Broken Glass Makes Me Laugh
Center of Gravitas
Comic Book Hoedown
Comic Book Liberation Army
Comic Book Lovers Anonymous
Comics and More
Comics Worth Reading
The Comic Treadmill
Crisis/Boring Change
Dial B for Blog
A Distant Soil
An Ear in the Fireplace
Every Woman is a Goddess
Feministe
Feministing
The Feminist Rage Page
Ferret Press/PANEL Weblog
Fortress of Fortitude
Funnybook Musings
GenderGeek
The Gentle Scent of Pee in your Longbox
Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community
The Great Curve
Greywing's Journal
Gutterninja
The Happy Feminist
Heo Cwaeth
The House of L
Howling Curmudgeons
Hypnoray
The Johnny Bacardi Show
I am not the Beastmaster
Ilyka Damen
Infinite Opinions
Ink and Incapability
Jog the Blog
Lucky White Girl
Mad Melancholic Feminista
Matter Eater Blog
MetroKitty
Mixed Message
Near Mint Heroes
Neilalien
Official Shrub.com Blog
One Woman Army
Pen-Elayne on the Web
Peiratikos
Photon Torpedoes
Postmodernbarney
Precocious Curmudgeon
Quotes Previously From the Door of 707 Beaver
Random Generation
Reading Along
Reappropriate
Resplendant Beard
Ringwood
Royal Academy of Illustration and Design
The Sapient Sutler
Scans Daily
Sententia
Serenity's Journal
The Silent Accomplice
Superfrankenstein
Strange Visitor
Utopian Hell
When Will the Hurting Stop?
Where the Cosmic Buffalo Roams
Who is Bejamin Stove?
Whileaway
The Word on the Sprog
Writing It Slant
Ye Olde Comic Blogge
Yet Another Comics Blog
Your Comic Fix

The Smartest Lantern

Get your copy of JLA/Avengers #3 out.

Don't have one available? Well, here's the cover.

I'll also provide some handy visual aids.

The apparent premise of this cover is everyone who has ever been in any form of the Avengers, and everyone who has ever been in any incarnation of the Justice League is rushing to battle. Apparently, against Krona. It's definitely some reality-altering menace, so they need to bring reality-altering heroes to fight it.

I decided to examine who was the smartest Green Lantern, based on who they have chosen to bring to the fight.

Click Here for the Results

First up is Jade.

According to my key, she's carrying Nikki, Captain America, Madame Masque, Crystal (of the Inhumans), Hercules, Zan and Jayna, Despero's body as inhabited by L-Ron.

(Ralph and Sue don't count, as it's Ralph who's carrying Sue and supporting himself here)

This is a force to be reckoned with, maybe. But I don't see these guys beating Krona. However, I'll admit, she makes a good show.


Moving Clockwise from Jennie, we have Kilowog. Kilowog is bringing Major Disaster, Charlie 27, Aleeta, Demolition, and Cluemaster.

Guess he was pressed for time, because these guys aren't much help either.

Captain Comet, Adam Strange, and Captain Atom don't count, but they certainly do look pretty.


Guy Gardner. Who've we brought today, Guy? "Mockingbird, Steel II, Maxima, General Glory, Red Tornado II, and Big Sir." Oh, Guy, you poor man. You don't stand a chance with this backup.

Hope you packed the Vuldarian powers.


Ladies and gentlemen, Mr John Stewart.

He's usually considered the smartest one, and makes a good case for it here.

He's bringing the Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Zatanna, and Sersi.



That's the lightest load for maximum power there. Scarlet Witch and Zatanna alone have been shown to be able to rewrite reality.

They don't make it to the battle, though. Poor Zatanna spends the whole time fighting Wanda after someone mentions her "kids" and she goes bonkers again. John is knocked unconscious and becomes amnesiac for a few issues, Sersi and Mantis die (and no one misses them), before Zatanna emerge victorious. She has no choice but to wipe Wanda's memory and make her good again. She misses the real fight as she struggles with the moral implications of this. She's right to feel guilty, as Zatanna's actions cause "Avengers Disassembled" and "House of M."


Hal Jordan is bringing nobody.

I can't decide if he's lazy or overconfident.

Or both.


Next up is Kyle Rayner. Normally, Kyle's a heavy hitter all on his own in the cosmic scale. He has been the only one to consistently thwart Parallax on every occasion they run across each other. I guess this has boosted his confidence, because he didn't even try to collect anyone better than Doorman, Agent Liberty, Jocasta, Twin Crimson Foxes, Big Bertha, Rage, and Lobo.

I almost gave him points for Big Bertha. If anyone can finally get rid of that damned Czarnian, I'm confident it's her. But we all know the true power in the Great Lakes Avengers is Squirrel Girl. Without her, they don't stand a chance.


And finally, we have G'nort.

G'nort is bringing Dale Gunn, Maria Brandon, Oberon, Snapper Carr, Maxwell Lord, Catherine Cobert, Jason Blood, Glen Gammeron, Rick Jones, the Mighty Bruce, and Henry Pym.

Now, Pym aside, this is some serious firepower here. G'nort's group includes a 500 year old magician who is bonded to Etrigan the Demon, a short elderly man who regularly hangs out with one of Dark Seid's favorite targets, a Frenchwoman (Not to be confused with a Frenchman), a non-powered guy with no special skills who regularly teams up with the Hulk and Captain America and Captain Marvel (the crappy Marvel one), the most annoying Person in the DC Universe (*snap* *snap*), a telepath who was using Superman as a puppet under such control that Wonder Woman felt it was necessary to snap his neck, and a middle-aged balding mechanic who had Vixen and Zatanna fighting over his affections.

Forget Scarlet Witch and Zatanna. G'nort's brought people who can make reality sit up and beg.

Ladies, and Gentlemen, this proves that G'Nort Esplanade Gneesmacher is the DC Universe's Smartest Green Lantern

I'm scared too.

Sad News Travels Fast

The passing of Seth Fisher, Green Lantern: Willworld artist was recently announced.

Strange that I can ramble for five pages on the death of a character I don't even like, but words fail me when it comes to an actual person. It's a very small, almost unnoticed industry, and this man was very much out of the mainstream.

I think it's a shame we won't get to see anything new of his beautiful, quirky artwork.

Quite a few others feel the same way. Distant strangers mourn an artist this week.
The Funeral ProcessionNewsarama

Barbelith Underground

Comic Book Resources

Comic Book Resources (2)

The Comics Journal

MetroKitty

Comic Asylum

Ye Olde Comics Blogge

Writing Wrong

The Great Curve

Comics Should Be Good

Cory Stauffer

Mister Snitch

Raging Sombreros

Drunkenfist.com

Isotope Comics

Prep Time Posse

Remote Push

Brown Bag Comics

2 Guys Buying Comics

Jim Smash

Ferret Press

Near Mint Heroes

Brill Building

Beaucoup Kevin

Bad Librarianship

View From the Cheap Seats

League of Melbotis

Andrew Dabb

Riot Comics

Scribbles and Lies

Just A Fanboy

General Admission

Jog the Blog

Gutterninja

Dewline

Anadart

One Percent

Raised By Squirrels

Reid Harris Cooper

Colleen Doran

Sharp Like The Edge Of A Samurai Sword

Omedi

Culpable Y Perdedor

Zona Negativa

Pulp Arcade

Fabricari

Gamera Spinning

Lines and Colors

Rogue Dave

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

El Blog De Jotace

The Gentle Scent of Pee in Your Longbox

Drawn!

Newsarama (Funeral Details)

Green Arrow

Shortly after Identity Crisis, I was getting sick of Green Arrow. I mean, he showed up everywhere, was very useless, kept spouting the same caricatured rhetoric, and had a tendancy to screw things up for other heroes.

Then Green Lantern #7 came out.


Awww...

I love Hal too much to deny him hugs.

And Ollie knows just how to turn him so that the readers are happy.

Always Remember

(Just the end of my Reflections and Reactions post removed and separated, no new info but Spoiler Warnings Apply)

Only one thing is certain at this point...Major Infinite Crisis/Rann-Thanagar War Spoilers



(Why, no, I couldn't resist)

(And Dorian'll be gone long enough that by the time he adds it to the list it might not need a spoiler warning)

Reactions and Reflections

RANN/THANAGAR WAR: INFINITE CRISIS SPECIAL
Written by Dave Gibbons; Art by Ivan Reis and Marc Campos; Cover by Gibbons and Michael Bair


Infinite Crisis is here and the Cosmic Storm rages out of control, threatening the fate of the entire universe! While the Rannian and Thanagarian flagships each suspect that the other is responsible for the disturbances, Donna Troy must lead her team of space champions into the cosmos in an attempt to prevent total destruction. But as the war rages on, a startling discovery will be uncovered, one hero will be forever changed, and another will make the ultimate sacrifice.


Guess what I read today.

Spoilers Ahead Pertaining to the Strong Text

Consider Yourself Warned

Read the Spoilers

I should be happy. She's dead, gone. I never have to suffer through another Jade story (unless, of course, they resurrect her -- a possibility which I shall ignore for the purposes of this essay). With her dead, a female Lantern from the Corps will take prominence. My gender will no longer be represented by a character who isconsistentlyy weaker than the others.

I have reason enough to dislike her, I'm not the only one, and I expected this. I've been asking for this for a while now, and not asking gently even. I've been screaming for her head. On a pike. Placed outside the newly-built home of a resurrected Katma Tui.

She'd been in Infinity Inc, that's where she was born. Infinity Inc was the spinoff of the JSA team and the All-Star Squadron book. The members were the various children of the JSA, who were not accepted by their parents so they formed their own team. It was 80s Bronze Age, soapy comics. Nowhere near as flashy or exciting as the late 90s JLA stuff where Kyle Rayner cut his teeth, but it was loved by its loyal readers. It was personal level book, personal threats, personal stories. Soapy. They mainly dealt with their own private problems and JSA leftovers. It wasn't even the hybrid of soap and widescreen action the current JSA is, it was mainly soap. In hindsight, no one could really be impressed with a tenure on Infinity Inc in a world with the JLA. Except for a few teamups with the rest of the Universe (All-Star Squadron, Crisis on Infinite Earths), Jennie never got to save the world.


After this team disbanded, the members floated all over the DCU. She was in a reality TV show, did some nude pictures, and worked a little with the Justice League.

She was an unused Lantern character who was plopped into the title as a supporting cast member. When Donna Troy was pulled, she was there. It was too simple to turn her into a love interest. They didn't think this through. Green Lantern, since the Silver Age, has been a space-faring concept. Kyle would eventually go to space. His creator has said, several times, that his intention was to restart the GLC with Kyle.

I think it's because of this spacefarer concept that the rotating love interest was started with Hal (They introduced Iona Vane within the first ten issues), even though Hal was primarily Earthbound. Any Lantern love interest stood the chance of not being permanent. Hell, this was Kyle's third shot, odds were, it was going to be changed later on. That's the nature of this franchise.

Jennie's family ties were a blessing and a curse in this aspect. The daughter of the Golden-Age Green Lantern, the man who was Kyle's chief mentor figure. Storywise, it was as natural as an apprentice falling for his master's daughter. It held the same promise. Kyle would inherit the Golden Age Legacy of Green Lantern like the "family business." Very natural, very wonderful on the surface. Not very permanent, as Kyle had already inherited the Silver Age Legacy. Withh the revolving Love interest and the responsibility to the extra-terrestrial. Sooner or later, he was going to go, and she was going to go elsewhere. Here's where those family ties became a curse, because Kyle's tie to the Golden Age legacy becamedependentt on his good standing with Jade.


Plots and enemies for Jennie are easily forgotten. She never had an enemy all her own. Her most notable adventures were tied to her family -- the ones with her boyfriend, the ones with her brother, and of course Sentinel: Heart of Darkness, titled for her father -- where she made her best show, but lost her powers. Closest thing to a nemesis -- Her crazed ex-boyfriend Brainwave Jr (now sane), who fought her father more often. Her biggest events involved losing and regaining her powers.

Jade was a mediocre character.

And I hated her for it. It wasn't for the cheating storyline, though that was poorly thought out and had too many irritating consequences that could only be undone with her death. No, it was for her sheer unimpressiveness. She was a Lantern longer than Guy or Kyle, but never seemed nearly as skilled. She was not anywhere close to as creative as Kyle. Hee wasn't even particularly brave or smart. She was, with one exception (the storyline in which she lost her powers) consistently portrayed as less powerful than her boyfriend, her father, or any normal Corpsman.

The day Fatality showed up, and Kyle had to save Jennie's older, more experienced butt from a villain he'd beaten as a rookie, my sister and I dropped the book. We swore off Green Lantern, for a while. I discovered back issues, where Arisia was particularly brave, Katma as faithful, idealistic and creative as Kyle, Boodika and Laira were skilled fighters equal to anyone in the rest of the books. These past females were fascinating, but they were dead, discarded, and forgotten.



Jade, however, had survived a Lantern-wide purge and a cursed boyfriend through the grace of her family ties.

I always had problems with that aspect of her concept. Jade was guaranteed a certain amount of panel-time due to comic-book nepotism. She inherited, if not in-character, butmetatextuallyy, a certain amount of status from her father. She was a princess, present in stories because of her royal connections. The plotlines were dependent on her father, her brother, or her boyfriend. She was defined by them, she was "the Good Daughter" "The Strong Sister" and "The Supportive Lover/Helper" -- she was teacher, mother, daughter, sister, nuturer to the men of the Green Lantern books. She was always defined as reliable and skilled in dialogue. Nightwing called her a "veteran," Kyle called her "the better hero" and Kilowog described her as a "True Lantern" -- she's never had any actions to cement these definitions, but this is how the males around her define her. Mostly, she offered sympathy, a helping hand (but not too much of one) and a supportive shoulder. She tied generations and legacies together as a romantic tie.

No wonder her character became so reviled for the "Cheating plotline." She violated the sacred trust, the sacred contract. She was Guinevere, a princess with an inheritance, tearing the kingdom asunder for passion (and, before you side with her -- passion for a man who did not respect her enough to be faithful to her!). One of her 3 chief bonds, the relationships that defined her character was severed by her thoughtless actions. Her concept as a supportive woman was destroyed.



This wasn't just a mistake. This was a characterization catastrophe. At the core of her very concept wasfamilyl and unity -- bringing generations together, and here she was shutting the door on the latest generation of Lanterndom. This woman who was built on family was becoming a divisive presence in the family.

And so, for the anti-feminist basis on which her concept was built (a womandependentt on males for definition, a female fundamentally less powerful than similar males) in addition to a complete lack of anything of interest in her personality, I always figured it was best that she die. There was an entire Corps of Alien Lanterns out there. We had nuturers in the form of Kilowog and Guy, rough and tough and manly but still supportive caretakers at heart. Our alien females had been young students (Arisia), nuturers (Brik,sherifff Mardin), warriors (Boodika, Laira) and sharp thinkers (Katma and now Soranik). Better to get rid of Jade and her nepotism now, and give some others some screentime, maybe a resurrection or two.

I feel bad now. I was hoping for a noble end to a much maligned character. I figured she'd get a nice swansong, with a good show of power, the chance to save the life of Alan (beloved father), Kyle (spurned lover), or, to really make her selfless, Donna (traditional rival). I mean, Blue Beetle got a decent farewell.

No such luck.

Jennie's quiet and demur, and clearly missed Kyle and regrets the split. She's the sweet young lady from Infinity Inc again. Kyle and her are a comfortable pair of old lovers who've been apart long enough to forget why they were apart in the first place.

She acts to boost his confidence. She tells him he's the creative one (sadly true), how much this feels like old times, and of course, warns him that the enemy will betargetingg him, as he is the bigger threat (which, yes, he is. Jade's always portrayed as a lesser Lantern than a member of the Corps). This used to be her vital role in Kyle's life, but he no longer needs someone to do that.

She is there to help and protect, but she does not die doing so. She's behind him when lightning strikes her.

It was disappointed.

A mediocre end for a mediocre Lantern.

Perhaps the most suitable one, however.

Remember Power of Ion? Jennie had lost her personal power, but was given power in the form of a ring by Kyle. During this storyline, he "awakens" her personal power again, because she cannot do it alone (I was uneasy with this one when I first read it). I don't think Kyle was lying. I think he's very good at deluding himself. It's revealed at Jennie's death that in truth the power she had was his gift all along. He protests, but she insists on returning it.



Perhaps this is a good feminist parable. A truth to illustrate what happens when you draw not on your own personal strength, but on power allotted by the men in your life.

Jennie inherited supernatural powers from her father. When she joined Infinity Inc, she was a sweet-faced innocent, who could easily have become the submissive member of the team. But she had a brother who was needy, and through her relationship with him had power. Shereceivedd both this form of emotional power, and superpowers from Kyle. Jade was a study in borrowed strength. Her power was never hers, it was her fathers, then Kyle's. This derivative power only served to keep her subordinate to her father's, her brother's, and her boyfriend's needs. When it was no longer useful to her, she returned it. She destroyed herself repowering the one who had empowered her.



I'm a big believer in the subconscious in stories. There are little details that make a character fit one way and not another. Her death would have been better, I believe, had this loophole, this connection not been there. Had it been Donna, it would have been a different scene. Had it been Diana or Hippolyta, the same. The Wonders draw power from female deities. Had it been Starfire, Power Girl or Supergirl, it would have been different. These women draw power from the same source their male relatives do. Black Canary? She followed in her mother's footsteps.

I wonder what would have happened if Jennie had inherited her mother's (the Flash enemy, Thorn) powers. She'd already been forced to reject her mother's legacy for her father's. Would the character have been different, personality-wise? Would she have spent her entire life borrowing power from men if she'd originally drawn power from a woman? Would she have lost that power and had it reactivated?

Would she have still died giving it back?

Creature From the Velvet Cage

I finally read The Creature From the Velvet Cage as Kalinara insisted. It was a fun little story, but most of the pages were lacking something very important.
I only saw 3 shots of Hal Jordan's backside.

That's not anywhere near enough.

How could they call this a Silver Age story?


(There was, however, a wonderful panel with Elongated Man that I'll have to address at a later date.)

Disturbing Double Standard

I think I need to join a feminist site where I can just rant off all I want without fear of bringing the site too down.

Then again, some of my highest traffic draws are from When Fangirls Attack so maybe I'd just better leave well enough alone.

Either way, I don't have my Spider-Man/Black Cat fallout aggression worked through quite yet, so here's another rant.

Those of you in the mood for something lighter perhaps involving Green Lantern, try a classic.

Those of you with complaints, please read this primer on feminism first.

Thank you.

Read the RantingWas reading an old review of Guardian Devil, and the reviewer pointed out something. I had to open my copy and reread it, but she was dead on. Foggy Nelson was raped during that storyline. The villain drugged him and then coerced him into bed while his judgment was impaired, forced him to break trust with his girlfriend Liz.

This becomes part of the (aptly named by Kitty) "You Touched My Stuff" plotline where we examine Matt's reactions to this. He is concerned that his friend is in jail, and that his friend's lovelife has been screwed up. He's not the least bit concerned that his friend was taken advantage of under the influence (when he was not capable of giving consent), and they even make a prison rape joke during the prison interview.

Kalinara has pointed out, more than once, that Cyclops was mind-controlled into bed by Psylocke in X-Men once. Cyclops has no psionic abilities. He has no defense against that. He was in an exclusive relationship (marriage by then?) at that point. Even if he were attracted to the woman (someone pointed out to me once that he did want her, which doesn't mean shit because attraction does not equal consent and Cyclops should never be penalized for being a man who thinks beyond his libido), there was no way he would have given consent. When the others find out, was Psylocke ostracized and branded a supervillain like she should have been? No. She was told to stay away from Jean's property like a good girl, and was allowed to continue to play.

From these examples, we can draw some conclusions about comic book men. Apparently, they are wondrous creatures. They can physically and mentally violated, forced to betray the trust of the women they loved and then be blamed for it but they immediately bounce back the next day. So, clearly, there is no reason to offer them shock or sympathy in this case. Or even to confront the perpetrators of these crimes.

Now, I don't know how real men feel about this. They are a strange people with unfathomable minds. I leave it to men to draw their own conclusions on how this affects their gender.

But here's the thing, it's damaging all the same from a female point of view. Whenever guys joke that they "wouldn't mind" this experience, they are trivializing rape. By showing this experience, and not depicting the proper horror in the mood, they are trivializing the experience. By not showing proper attention from the supporting cast, they are indicating that it's not something to worry about. And by not showing the accountability of the offender, they are essentially saying this is not a crime at all.

This is subtly enforcing the monumentally insane idea that "being forced to have sex against your will is not that big a deal."

This is all bad enough. Then they go and use the double-standard, wherein the female characters experience the same trauma and their entire life is spent in recovery, while a male character doesn't even blink and it becomes a footnote to his history that is rarely, if ever, brought up.

Does anyone else find this insulting as fuck?

Damn it. It looks like even superhero women are so overemotional and delicate that the most horrific trauma imaginable for a woman doesn't make a dent in a man's thick psyche. Either male characters as so much stronger that they recover almost instantly from a trauma that is life-defining for a female character, or this crime doesn't matter when the perpetrator's a female and the victim's male.

Oh, and those of you who are forming "Well, it's like that in comics, where you get desensitized..." please keep in mind that you are making the primary argument against using rape as a plotline, and further infantilizing the overwhelming number of female characters who have it as a life-defining moment.

This just plain sucks for both genders.

Writers who have no fucking clue how to handle this issue should not handle it in any form.

How the Hell is the Unicorn a Symbol of Purity?

It has a huge phallic horn on its head. And the legend goes that it will approach a virgin and lay its head (with the huge phallic horn) in her lap.

What the fuck is pure and innocent about that?

And it's considered something desirable to pet these perverts in fantasy stories?

To Hell with that. I see a Unicorn, I'm running, and I'd advise you to do the same.

Stunt

This is funny.

This is Funnier.

(Now I have to read them both regularly.)

Feminine Facts

Gordon of BlogThisPal! fame has a fun list of Random Wildcat Facts up (ala the Chuck Norris List) and suggested others contribute.

I like Wildcat, but I'm not an expert. I do, however, know a few things about his old girlfriend, Queen Hippolyta (better known to Wildcat as Polly), the mother of Wonder Woman.

Random Facts About the JSA Wonder Woman

-- Hippolyta had no need of divine intervention to have children. She brought Wonder Woman into the world solely aided by her own mighty feminity, through intense concentration on her womb and willing it to fertilization. Because even Amazons are overwhelmed by the sheer power of Hippolyta's womanhood, her chief spin doctor Phillipus made up a story about sculpting a baby out of clay, and threw in some deities for good measure.

-- Why are so many comic-book women badly written? The writers don't feel they can stand up to the glory that is Hippolyta.

-- Hippolyta's only son? Chuck Norris.

-- The only man virile enough to satisfy the Queen of the Amazons more than once is Wildcat. When the two finally met in 1941, their very first kiss tore at the very fabric of reality. The resulting breakdown in the space-time continuum was the true reason for Crisis on Infinite Earths. Krona was just a glory-seeker.

-- Hippolyta is not actually Ares' daughter. Hippolyta has no father. She emerged fully grown and wielding a sword from a Volcano during the Earth's formative years.

-- While she is generally believed to be a youthful 3 millenia old, Hippolyta was in fact the first sentient person born on this planet. Her exact age is unknown, but the hot flashes she experienced when she underwent menopause resulted in the end of the last Ice Age.

-- Hippolyta, after her death, does not reside in Hades. The forty-room manor she was offered in the Elysian Fields was too small, and the 72 slave boys for her pleasure were simply not enough selection. Instead she pinched the Ferryman on the behind, and then lept across the river Styx. She took up residence on Olympus, and nobody said a word for fear of her sword.

-- The Mayans were the first human civilization to discover time-travel. When they peered into the future, they saw Hippolyta, in her Wonder Woman costume, wielding a sword and determined that she was the Herald to the End of the Universe, and figured there would only be a few more years afterwards, tops. They set their calenders accordingly.

-- In the 40s, Queen Hippolyta used the last name "Esther" in her secret identity. This was suggestion of the Flash. It's a good thing he can run fast.

-- Hippolyta once convinced the entire Green Lantern Corps to take a group picture, from the back. She has it on her wall.

You Can Always Count on the Flash

I had weekend work today. I got the day shift portion (which is insanely early, who is up at that hour?) Now, as a certifiable night-shift-owl, it's unnatural for me to sleep during the hours of darkness. So, in preparation for this shift, I obtained maybe an hour of rest. We had a light day planned, maybe an hour or two of inspections for Monday's flight. But apparently my regular shift can't get along without me so they left us with a bunch of jets that couldn't fly. I was out there thirteen hours today. Everytime we fixed one problem, another developed. I have to fix three new problems tomorrow morning.

Frustrating, I tell you.

So, in desperate need of relaxation, I turned to my Golden Age Flash Archives, which I haven't touched for a year. I haven't had a chance to read through Volume 2, so I figured I'd do a little glancing around for fun innuendo.

I opened to a random page.

This is what I saw:



I am a childish woman. I couldn't help but chuckle at the first line.

Then I moved on, to the very next panel:



Life is Good.

Because of the Meme...

I've seen a 200% increase in traffic since being linked to Dorian's Always Remember meme.

It warms my heart to see so many of you viewing the best Green Lantern has to offer.

Linkblogging (Been saving some of these)

Hmm.. some of these are old, but too good to pass up.

Click Here for More Links

Firstly, if anyone is still here from Jog's place looking for Seven Soldiers insights, I don't have any for Mister Miracle yet. I suggest you check my archives, and then head over to Melchior's. If you are so inclined, the Bulleteer #3 preview is up at PopCultureShock.

The Comic-Blog Legion -- I found out about this last week, but umm.. Well, better late than never. Check it out.

Now, a concept we really need to see more of in comics. I think it could help. Maybe we could petition the Dark Lord.

Some lovely discussion of Frank Miller.

Alan Scott's son comes out. Fans speculate on Alan's reaction.

They've got to be kidding.

I believe this one may be serious, though.

Here's an interesting Legion of Superheroes/Infinite Crisis Theory (Mild Spoilers)

Well, he's wierd but he has a point. Especially in lieu of this and this.

If you are particularly strong of heart -- Click at your own risk.

And last, but never least, the following people have blogged about Green Lantern (I'm not the only one!):

Mogo -- Kalinara

John Stewart -- Jer-El78, GlyphRich, and myself

Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner -- Kalinara, James Schmee, Mallet, Greywing, Chris of the Matter-Eater Blog, and Devon.

Hal Jordan -- Jerry tells us how to draw Hal. Scipio, Dave of the Longbox, and Marionette discuss Hal getting hit on the head. Sleestak tells us about Hal being stupid. Dave of YACB shows us Hal being badass (mind-controlled).
This all leads to the challenge of Zombie Mallet: Be nice to Hal this week. Mallet's got a head start on us, but I'll do you one better. Do an "I Love Hal" post before the end of February, link me to it in the comments, and I'll link all of them by the time Green Lantern #9 comes out, and then crosspost those links on a few Green Lantern message boards. So, give it a try. It'll get you some traffic...

On a lighter note.

More Banners for Dorian

Click Here


























Okay, I think it's all out of my system now.

Thank you

Feel Like Vomiting

(Sincerest apologies to Kalinara for stealing this rant idea, but I need to vent)

Well, just learned from Chris Sims about Spider-Man/Black Cat #6.

Turns out that its revealed that Black Cat was raped in college.

Lovely, another one for the list.

Yes, there's more to this.

I first read this sort of thing in a comic in my teenage years, when I bought some back issues that included Wonder Woman #1. I was irritated that it was there and chose to ignore it.

I then encountered it in Watchmen. Found it disturbing, but it served the story.

Same with The Killing Joke.

I didn't really mind it in Green Lantern #109, because I didn't care much for Jade to begin with. I just considered it a lackluster issue and moved on.

I thought Mia in Green Arrow having been a hooker was an interesting past for a potential sidekick, and was more bothered by her blonde hair and blue eyes than her traumatic past.

I didn't think the Engineer in the Authority needed this at all.

I honestly didn't care much about it in Identity Crisis. I mean, it was pretty vile, but it was about the only horror that could explain away the irrational actions of the Justice League.

But when you start putting them all together, you get a freaking bad trend. Nearly every female character has sexual trauma in her past.

Someone needs to sit these writers down and tell them to stop. You're not adding emotional resonance to the story anymore, because this ploy is tired and overused. You are not showing the slightest sensitivity to women's issues, so don't consider yourself enlightened for using such an adult subject. And you are not making the female character any deeper and more compelling with this, at all. If anything, they become more superficial because the issue isn't properly explored.

And it really bugs me that these writers find the only way they can emphasize a female character's strength is by giving her a past sexual trauma to overcome. As though this is the only trial fit for a woman.

I blame the guy who rebooted Wonder Woman (not Perez, the guy before him) for taking the Amazon's positive past and attitude and painting them as manhating isolationists with having been raped as justification for their prejudice. And I heard a rumor once that he'd planned on having Diana fend off a rape attempt within the first few issues but was stopped by editorial. I'm sorry, that's just plain stupid. Every crime prevention briefing I've ever attended has emphasized certain behaviors to avoid being a victim. Your standard rapist would not target a six foot Amazon who carries herself like a Queen. Too intimidating, too risky.

But I digress. However it started, it needs to stop. It's not only cheapening the characters, but the depicted trauma which happens to far too many women everyday.

Knock it off.

Or Else.

I can't stop...

Blame Dorien, and to a lesser extent Kalinara.

(I have at least 10 more saved on my computer.)

Okay, One More

"Next time, you give me the paperwork before I get all the way to Oa!"

(Yes, that was Mr. John Stewart in the hooded sweatshirt)

(Check out LiveJournal's Green Lantern art meme)