Confession

This is the first time I've ever actually done this. Oh, I've joked about it, but I've never really done it.

Not when I was 19 and picking up the habit again after Basic Training.

Not when I was 12 and reading X-Men still.

Not even when I was a young girl and stealing copies of Boy's Life from my brother (One day, I will find the end of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...)

Not even collecting back issues, there was always another angle to satisfy me.

I can honestly say that this is the very first time I picked up a comic book specifically to see the fight on the cover. I had been waiting for this fight since they announced Kyle would be Space-bound and Hal would be the Earth-GL.

I didn't buy the other four issues. I barely skimmed the rest of the plot. I simply read the fight.

It had 31 pages.

2 pages were prose.

8 were ads.

8 had the villain on them.

4 featured the hero fighting the villain.

It cost me 3 dollars.

It was glorious.

There was a refrigerater construct.

The Gods Must Be Cranky..

I'm going to let you, my regular audience, in on some of the behind the scenes workings of When Fangirls Attack!. Mainly, how I find some of the posts.

Now, I get email submissions, and I use search engines, and I have my regular checks (not even half of which are on the blogroll!) for columns, wordpress, blogger and myspace -- but when it comws to livejournal I have a special helper: Community Friendslists.

Yes, dear readers, on slow nights I will scan the friendslists of at least 8 different livejournal comics communities in search of topical posts. I've learned a number of interesting things.. about a number of interesting people this way. I've found a number of topical posts, as well, so it is worth the effort, and the risks, involved.

There is a point to this... Sort of.

I must caution you: Do not try this at home.

I'm serious. This way lies madness.

I am an experienced link-farmer, qualified to do this by virtue of my expertise in the field of just about everything that is important, and the excessive use of prepositional phrases. I will not be responsible for the sanity of those who attempt this dangerous and untested method of linkfarming. Stay with Technorati and Google, for this sidepath leads to depression, euphoria, and the dreaded onset of Emo!

Nevertheless, I've found some damned good posts that way.

This is not one of them.

Before I go on, I'd like to state that this is one of my favorite stops. Sometimes she scans early Justice League panels and posts them all in a row! And I've spoken to the other conversant a few times on the subject of Star Sapphire. Green Lantern fans, good people. And I can understand wanting to archive an unusual conversation (I've considered a few of the ones between me and Kalinara or ISB proprietor Chris Sims) in a public place.

But this shocked me:

Fan #1: Athena would've loved Ollie
Fan #2: she probably writes Ollie/Hal fanfiction
Fan #1: a;dhf;adjf;adjf;adjf
Fan #1: H/C epics
Fan #1: Sometimes she writes Barry in, but then she thinks of Hermes and gets a little weirded out
Fan #1: Hal makes her think of Apollo, which also weirds her out but also totally turns her on
Fan #1: Aphrodite totally knows all this and mocks her
Fan #2: does she write Carol/Dinah femmeslash sideplots?
Fan #1: Naturally!
Fan #2: hot

I have never, in my life seen such a blatant misunderstanding of the Greek Pantheon.

(Well, George Perez... But anyway..)

Athena? Love? BAH! Athena is the Goddess of Wisdom, only Fools fall in love. (Aphrodite is not a fool, nor does she fall in love. She is Love -- and Hot Buttered Lust, and "Let's Just Be Friends"ship, and Painful Yearning, and Fangirl Crushing, and... -- there's a major difference) She doesn't crush on heroes, she makes heroes.

Athena has never crushed on anybody. She sprang fully formed from Zeus' head (after an educational childhood at the feet of her mother, the Goddess of Prudence, inside his skull). She bypassed puberty and the silly girlish afflictions therein. Arguably, she still considered boys "icky" unless they were doing interesting things like fighting. There was a reason Aphrodite had to resort to mocking her appearance, it was because her usual method of revenge simply didn't work. Love did not stick to Athena, and the other trick didn't work either. No one who fell for Athena ever got anywhere near her.

Athena would not write slash-fiction or bother with such fantasies. She was a War Goddess, and an Intellect Goddess. She would write adventure epics! With meticulously detailed histories, and cross-referencing, and culture for the new races and a fully developed language, and mathematical statistics, and dice, and probabilities, and percentages of success, and carefully outlined skill levels and armor classes and realistic weapon statistics...etc...

Yes, Athena is a nerd, but she isn't that kind of nerd.

Artemis, on the other hand -- Yeah, totally into the femslash (Oh, we all know, Silver Sister! 50 nymphs alone in the woods, bathing together, you got so pissed off at Callisto...). Demeter and Hera? Definitely crushing on fictional characters. Aphrodite's bringing them to life to pleasure her. But Athena? No, straight action, no mushy romance, kissing is yucky. Boys have cooties. (You think they don't? Try attending a military public health briefing sometime.)

She did skip puberty and go straight to adulthood, after all.

And what is this nonsense about being wierd out by thoughts of Hermes and Apollo?

Please! It's Olympus! Sheesh, if she wasn't asexual she would be totally in bed with Hermes. Haven't you ever seen that picture on Zeus' fridge? He's the closest diety to her, office-wise. And they are symbolically married in alchemy, computer science, and all sorts of other disciplines according to neo-paganism. Hell, I was half-convinced in Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead we'd see him promoted to Queen's Consort and I'd be really, really pissed off at Greg Rucka. (We didn't, but I saw a possibility. Especially with the ambiguously related Ares coming on to Cassie so often, you could tell that writer wasn't afraid to touch on this!)

There wouldn't be any wierded out by this. Incest is business as usual for the gods! Look at all of the marriages up there. Athena's mother was her father's cousin. Her stepmother is her aunt. Her other aunt is her half-sister's mother. Her sister-in-law is also her sister. Her brother-in-law? Her uncle! The family tree goes straight up and down.

That's just how they roll on Olympus.

And if any goddess is writing slashfiction with Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan, it's Persephone.

That's why they both stayed dead as long as they did.

Eventually Ollie pissed her off.

Whew!

Is it just me or has the content around here been way too heavy lately?

Instead of more analysis, how about a pleasant Tuesday diversion?


Do you recognize that butt?

Monday Misogyny

I was expecting to do a Donna Troy opinion myself, but then I saw it. Buried amidst a jumble of "fishing stories" and personal qualifications, so deeply hidden in obfuscation that you can just barely catch the underlying attitude -- and in the very last place I expected to find such an attitude:

So, to summarize - evocative dress should never be used as a defense for a rapist or other predator, but to say that only the person doing the dressing can state for the record whether or not the outfit is provocative... strikes me as naive.

This Project Is Not Over

Update on the Damned List:

I haven't had a chance to categorize or confirm yet -- I'm in need of so many references still. Categories still stand as listed before, except now there's a cateogory for perpetrators of sexual violence (subcategories will be along the lines of Violent, Mental, and Symbolic -- but I haven't gotten enought for that list to think it out yet).

I've also added a preliminary "clear list" to get your memories working, please, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like to eventually have every female character at DC or Marvel on the lists.

Once you're done here, head over to Kalinara's for the male list.

Our List So Far
Attempted
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#10)
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#51)
Secret (YJ#7)
Jenny Hayden/Jade (GL#109)
Shining Knight (SK#4)
Hawkgirl (Hawkman, ish # needed)
Storm (forced marriage, ref needed)
Kitty Pryde (Forced marriage, ref needed)
Lara of Krypton (false pretenses, forced marriage; World of Krypton trade)

Actual
Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (SM/BC mini)
Elektra (Elektra: Assassin #1)
Grace Choi (Outsiders #17)
Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Ref Needed -- Perpetrator was the Purple Man)
Mia Dearden/Speedy II (GA #42)
Crazy Jane (DP)
Sally Sonic (Statutory, Bulleteer #4)
Spoiler (Robin #111)
Spoiler (Statutory, ref needed)
Rogue (Ref Needed)
Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel (Avengers#200)
Abby (Ref Needed)
Red Sonja (Origin story)
Emma Frost (Ref Needed)
Big Barda (AC#592-593)
Cora (Atlantis Chronicles)
Mirage (NTT -- Need ish #)
Calliope (Sandman)
Catwoman (Her Sister's Keeper)
Queen Hippolyta (WW#1)
Atlanna (Incest, Atlantis Chronicles)
Sue Dibny (IDC #3)
Helen Bertinelli/Huntress (Huntress miniseries ??)
Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (SH#7)
Terra (Statutory, NTT Need Ish #)
The Engineer (The Authority #)
She-Hulk (Sens. She-Hulk ish # needed)
Kate Bishop (YA Special #1)

Implied/Subtextual
Lian Harper (Outsiders #19)
Dinah Lance/Black Canary II (GA: The Longbow Hunters)
Arisia (Warrior #42)
Elektra (Daredevil #181)
Dream Girl (Universo Project)
Phantom Lady (IC#1)
Alicia (Fantastic Four #255)
Cobweb (TS#1)
Barbara Gordon (The Killing Joke)
Starfire (Ref needed)
Debbie Darnell/Star Sapphire (JLA #115)

Symbolic
Arisia (GLC #213)
Susan Richards/Invisible Woman (FF Annual #23)
Susan Richards/Invisible Woman (FF 278)
Jessica Jones (Alias 25)
Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (JLI#30)
Rachel Summers (Ref Needed)
Power Girl (Zero Hour buildup -- Ref Needed)
Donna Troy (WW #136)
Imra/Saturn Girl (Ref Needed)
Donna Troy (RoDT)
Catwoman (CW#50)
Debbie Darnell/Star Sapphire (IDC/JLA-SSoSV Ref Needed)
Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire (Pretty much all of Vol 2 GL)
Dawnstar (Ref Needed)
Zinda Blake (Ref Needed)
Kitty Pryde (Ref Needed)
Jean Grey (Dark Phoenix Saga)
Diana/Wonder Woman (WW#160)

Perpetrators
Martika (GG: Warrior)
Tarantula (Nightwing)
The Mist (Starman #16)
Psylocke (X-Men, ish # needed)
Circe (Wonder Woman)


Mentioned, but even circumstances still unknown -- Kathryn Summers, Sharon Ventura


Clear List
Lois Lane
Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl
Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl
Ma Hunkel/Red Tornado
Maggie Sawyer
Renee Montoya
Hope O'Dare
Cassandra Cain
Sandra Woosan/Lady Shiva
Wasp
Andromeda
Katma Tui

I'm Not Cleaning That Out

For your reading pleasure, I have reread Green Lantern #54.

Yes, there's analysis...Why?

Because we've had activity. A flurry of fine, furious, offensive and friendly activity in the little back alley where feminism and comics meet. You know the place. It's right behind the appliance store where they load the hearses and trucks and.. hearses with their cargo.

I shouldn't joke about this. It's far too serious, even in regards to fictional characters. After all, every character is somebody's favorite (a fact I've recently learned is true), and these stories are meant to be tragic. They're meant to be shocking. And the death and character should be treated with respect. It shouldn't be a joke.

It's inappropriate.

Ahhh, but Dark Humor is part of the impact of the "Women in Refrigerators" list. It's the reason for the title. Otherwise they call it something like "A list of female comic book characters and the tragedies that have crossed their lives." This is not nearly so catchy, nor so funny.

It's the reason the title caught on. The shock of a young man opening a fridge to find his girlfriend. Tickles the unwholesome funny bone of the horror fan in each of us. It allows for an easy joke. When calling for the death of an unliked character ("There's room in the fridge for this one!"), when complaining about a resurrection ("Couldn't they have have kept the fridge door shut?") and when railing against mistreatment of your favorite characters ("Here's another one for the fridge!") or the treatment of female characters in general ("Soon they'll need to rent an appliance store").

Humor is so often used to temper feminist anger, to draw us out of our ranting and bring the conversation to lighter topics. When this is resisted, the "humorless feminist" comments start. There's something grand and fun and uplifting about joking in anger, about making light of a heavy topic even as you seek to impart the seriousness of it. The sarcastic mocking of injustice through your tears and rage that marks the best feminist blogs and websites is captured in the WiR site's title. It enables any of us to go off on a rant with cursory (and sometimes sarcastically worded) link to the list and any of our readers can understand. And it's a free joke. There's no denying the title is funny, in that dark perverted way that a long-time comics reader loves (How else do you think Garth Ennis got so damned popular?), and it's a short well-worded title.

So, is that the secret impact of the Fridge list? The title's funny? Is that all we need to be to replicate the effect of this list?

Well, there's a bit more to it than that.

In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say that although activism, networking, opinion writing, trenchwork, and gathering data to support your argument are all valuable and effective, nothing we do will ever approach the effect of the Women in Refrigerators list.

I'm not downing the recent measures at all. I'm not going away and neither should anyone else. Hell, the very list I'm discussing that inspired these efforts and discussion is completely worthless in itself without the discussion and activity that sprung from it so many years ago.

Nevertheless, just as it's unrealistic to expect voting female candidates into office to have the same monumental impact as gaining the right to vote, it's unrealistic to expect our support efforts to have the same effect as the initial list. The obvious reason being, it was the first. They may have been earlier efforts, but this was the first to catch on. This drew the attention.

The setup helped. It's so innocuous. Just a list. Mailed innocently to a number of professionals and posted on boards. There was nothing angry about it in itself. But when you looked at it and realized the scope of it. The quantity of it. And then you found you couldn't think of a female character who wasn't on the list for something, and if you did it was because she should have been there!

I still see it linked from time to time around the net.

It's crept into our language, even outside the fan community you hear people mention it. For that I credit the name. "Women in Refrigerators." It's strange to hear Ron Marz's writing skills criticized for that scene, it had such an impact. (Though I suspect a lot of the hatred directed at him for that act still revolves around that writer's previous storyline, wherein a beloved male hero was driven completely and utterly insane. And if you'd like to criticize his writing skills, that's a considerably weaker work) A commenter on one of my rants (and I had to force back the crotchety old fan in my response) attributed the emphasis on Green Lantern #54 to the existence of the Internet.

No, I believe it goes a bit deeper than that.

All that said, I can tell you Alex was a character destined to die from the moment she was first introduced in GL #48. I created her with the intention of having her be murdered at the hands of Major Force. I took a lot of care in building her as a character, because I wanted her to be liked and her death to mean something to the readers. I wanted readers to be horrified at the crime, and to empathize with Kyle's loss. Her death was meant to bring brutal realization to Kyle that being GL wasn't fun and games. It was also meant to sever his links with his old life, paving the way for his move to New York. And ultimately I wanted her death to be memorable and illustrate just how truly heinous Major Force was. Thus the fridge. From the reactions, I think I succeeded fairly well at those goals. It's five years later and people are still talking about it. More than anything as a writer, you want the audience to react emotionally to your work, to care.
-- Ron Marz

Before I get into it, I'd like to point out that the above defense does nothing to hurt our case. It doesn't matter that her death was intended from the beginning, or that it could have easily been done to a male character. The intention simply doesn't matter, it's the end result. The end result is what supports or overthrows the stereotypes and the symbols involved in the scene. The stereotypes and the symbols that go back centuries. The stereotypes and the symbols still subtly enforced by all aspects of our culture to this day. The stereotypes and symbols we've been trying to overthrow for decades.

Here's where I get the "thought police" accusations. The "You're trying to censor us!" accusations.

No, I want you to think about what you read and write. I want you to be aware of the message you send. I want you to write and draw and create aware of what you are creating. I want you to be able to receive the message, recognize it for the bullshit it is and toss it out. I want you think twice about the overplayed hack attempts at shock writing -- unless you have a damned good story structure around it, because trust me it's nothing new. That's what the Fridge-list proves, that these storylines are not original in any manner. That's the point of this exercise.

In actuality, censorship does more harm than good. Allow me to share the writer's anecdote about this very scene.

The more infamous example, I suspect, is Alex, Kyle Rayner's then girlfriend. I see a reference to her being "cut up and stuck in a refrigerator." Firstly, you assume incorrectly Alex was "cut up," which is frankly a rather common mistake. The real story behind that page is that as initially written and drawn, Kyle finds her body stuffed into the fridge. Her WHOLE body, in one piece. In fact, I still have a copy of that original page. The Comics Code went bananas and made us change the artwork so that the door was mostly shut. This had the effect of forcing readers to use their imaginations as to what the "unseen scene" was, and a lot of readers went for the most grisly thing imaginable -- a dismembered body. I think this actually says a great deal more about some readers' minds than it does about our original intentions. Score one for the Comics Code.

Left to our own devices, we fill in the default automatically. It will, more often than not, conform to societal norms, stereotypes and symbols that have been drilled into our heads from an early age. A fridge door with an obscured body. Of course it's cut up, that must be why they censored it.

I was comparing Alex's death to another female character's. The other was off-panel, with gendered innuendo and interesting positioning. In fact, as she was killed off-panel, it looked suspiciously like a rape scene would be drawn. Kalinara believes it was done on purpose, so that that character would be remembered for the fight she gave before her death. Alex's death was entirely on-panel, she reasoned, because Alex was to be remembered for her death. I added that it had the added benefit of ensuring no one would read rape into the scene.

Compare Mike Grell's disgust at having to clarify that Black Canary was never raped. But the torture occured off-panel and resulted in infertility. What were we supposed to think? Humans always fill in the worst, supported by the mystery. Nothing's hidden unless it's way too bad to see. We fill in the obvious, the worst, the most unoriginal idea. An original idea would have been shown, this will be stock footage. This in turn, through exclusion, supports the stereotyped message as well as if it'd been printed it on the page.



I'd also love to see the script for this page. I'm morbidly amused by the thought of the artist trying to work out how to fit a corpse into a refrigerator.

Anyway...

On one level, it achieved precisely what the writer had intended. Plotwise, it worked perfectly. The intent was a Spider-man style origin, where the hero is off elsewhere while the loved one dies. Rather than have a random villain as the culprit, the writer also created a completely despicable evil -- he threw some interesting parts on behalf of the villain (the flowers he gave Alex with the death threat note, the note to Kyle that implied she'd cooked food for him, the comment about what a beautiful girl she was). The character herself was respectfully treated, an unpowered support cast-member allowed to put up quite a fight against a powered villain. The convention of placing the body in the refrigerator was pure logic. Where else would be put it while he waited an indefinite length of time for Kyle to return?

It was done to shock the readers. There is no denying that. Alex was introduced as the conventional superhero girlfriend, and it was assumed Kyle's origin was done in one, but it had barely begun. His origin story wasn't complete until she was killed. But we, as the readers, were blissfully unaware of this. We allowed ourselves to get wrapped up in the story, and attached to the character and then BAM! She's gone. More Martha Wayne than Lois Lane.

It worked a little too well.

It certainly got everyone's attention.

It made a catchy and humorous title. "Women in Refrigerators."

From the point of view of any fan, it's a cold, dark place to end up.

I very much doubt he realized the feminist symbolism of this. A woman answers the door and dies in the kitchen. The kitchen, such a potent symbol for women. Traditionally, it's the place of a woman, the center of her life, where her proper work is done. It's a vital room, where the health and life of the family is tended to. Where everyone is nourished. Nuturing, the traditional realm of feminity. Alex ventured away from there to answer the door, and was chased back. The villain puts her in her proper place. Teaches her what happens to those who wander too far outside gender norms. He squeezes the life lout of her (intriguing that she's strangled and crushed to death under the restrictive gender roles being symbolically enforced in this scene).

Then, her lifeless body is laid to rest in the refrigerator. The refrigerator, being the central fixture of the kitchen and the family life. The necessities of life are stored inside. The door is used for messages, communication between the members of the family. Communication, necessary to hold the family together. The Mother's traditional job, nourishing the family and fostering the love and understanding that keeps the family bonded. Alex was chased back into the kitchen by the villain. She was crushed to death and shoved into the fridge, even though she was an ill fit.

It gets deeper. A love interest shoved into a food storage unit. You don't put people in refrigerators, you put food there. Women as a consumable item. Here's what I missed from that alternate timeline women's studies class. I don't know where the theory originated, but I've seen it across the net on feminist websites as they critique the culture. The idea that women are there for the use of men, for the consumption of men. That sexuality is something they possess that men must seek and devour.

Objectification, more so than any show of breasts or chests could ever get across. Alex DeWitt was a vibrant personality, she seemed to have a bright future ahead of her. The character's memory is reduced to a body, inside a refrigerator. Woman as an object. Food, sex. A consumable object. All that matter's in the story is the male character's reaction.



Yes, I know that's not what he meant, but that's still what it says.

It made her a more powerful symbol than the other throwaway supporting cast members that writers have brought in to be taken out. It's why she's on the list and Martha Wayne isn't.

It's why she's the mascot for mistreated comic book characters.

Well, that and it's catchy. And gruesomely humorous.

Bon Appetit!

This Blog Is Going To Hell

When I finished this post, I needed a title. I turned to Kalinara and we started to throw a few out there. I had to share the results, and see if anyone had any better ideas.

Kalinara
All Appliances 50% off
Maytag sale
Sears called, they want their appliance back
Maytags and Misogyny
Sexism Shipped From Sears
Is It Wrong That I Really Want a Freeze Pop?
Your Girlfriend is Behind the Milk
You Know Kyle Wouldn't Have This Problem If He'd Finished School. Dorm Fridges Are Tiny.
I Told You You Had Something Alive In There...Oops
Walt Disney Never Had To Share His Freezer With Kyle's Left overs.
Mom Always Said To Clean Your Fridge
So That's What That Smell Was
No Thanks I've Already Eaten
No Officer, I'm Not A Cannibal.
I Need Stock In Arm and Hammer


Ragnell
Kenmore, Barbie less
Barbie in a Kenmore
Superheroines on Ice!!
Freon Maidens
Chattel, Slightly Chilled
Ron Marz's Contribution to the Feminist Movement
Freon Feminism.
Casual Sexism, Slightly Chilled
And in his second job, my brother sells the hateful symbol of patriarchal heteronormativity...
And Next to the Pickles...
How Do You Fit Someone that Tall in There Anyway?
Why Superheroes Order Pizza
The Word "Leftovers" Takes on a Nasty Meaning Here
So, Who's for Chinese Takeout?
I Think I Can Fit the Pizza Box in Alex's Lap
He Let the Milk Spoil So He Could Make Room for Her
Dammit Kyle, Just Spring for a Pine Wood Box
Cryogenic Cuties
Where Do We Put the Tombstone?
That Wasn't On the Grocery List
Oh, Thank Gawd, I Thought that was the Leftovers Spoiling!
I'm Not Cleaning That Out
Strange How the Meatloaf is Still the Worst-Smelling Item
Mystery Meat
I'm Not Hungry Anymore
I Don't Think Baking Soda Will Help That
Hey, Alex, Could You Hand Me a Beer While You're in There?
Your Honor, I Swear She Said She Was Low-Cal
You'd Have Fit Better in There if There Were Less Cans of Slimfast

And Together
R: Suddenly, I'm Not in the Mood For Leftovers
K: ...I Am.

So, dear readers, how many tasteless refrigerator jokes can you make?

The No-Prize Attitude

Girl-Wonder.org has a new paper up -- a feminist analysis of Jessica Jones from Alias by Karen Healey.

The whole thing is wonderful, you should go read it, but these four lines and the underlying attitude caught my eye.

On one level, we can regard Jessica’s Golden Age style secret origin as an artificial insertion into Marvel continuity. However, this process can also be read not as Jessica being written in, but as being discovered. If we suspend our disbelief, the narrative assures us that Jessica was there all along. She was hidden in the spaces between the panels, slightly off to one side, there just before the comic began, roaming free and foul-mouthed in the margins of Marvel’s history.

That's a beautiful way to see it.

This is the positive of the fandom community. This ability. The ability to see the retcon and fit it in in the established stories in their imagination, explain it away, without complaining that now a story "doesn't count anymore!" I've been on threads at Message Boards where people have asked for explanations abnout little things and have been given creative answers, to which they reply "Do you have an issue number where they give that reason?" Well, no, it's a fan-explanation. They made it up on the spot. It's an imaginative way to stay in the story.

It's not needing everything spelled out for you. Being able to fill in between the panels and adjust for a retcon, or a writer mistake or two.

What happened to the No-Prize Seekers? Are they all writing fan-fiction now?

Weekly Women's Geek-Out#4

I wish I'd chosen a better name for this feature. I was at the point where I'd put it off nearly a full week after promising it.

Anyway I've procrastinated on this one long enough. I've had a little notepad full of links for the past day and a half, but I kept putting off the write-up. I was too busy rereading Wonder Woman #1 and digging out my Brave and the Bold backissues (Did you know Batman teamed up with Lois Lane in that?)

Anyway, as promised, short and sweet, here are your five links:

I should have linked Comics Worth Reading when i first found it, it's a wonderful site. But I'm mainly a superhero reader and Johanna likes everything else, so there was rarely any shared ground between our blogs, and most everyone else had a link to it anyway. Well, I'm rectifying that now, even as I await her promised Castle Waiting review, since that may be the only comic that we've both read.

I also should have linked I Read Comics when I first found it. This is what I get for procrastinating. This is a podcast site, so it's a bit of a change of pace, she reviews comics and discusses the things she's read on blogs every week (She's a regular WFA reader and linker). I really have no excuse for not linking this earlier, as the first psot I saw when I learned of the site was this one.

Also on the list of "Sites I should of linked immediately" is also the Feminist Sci-Fi Blog! "A coterie of feminists blogging about sci-fi." It was new and I wanted to wait and see if it caught on. It has, so far it has a few book analyses up, and some pictures of the Barnes and Noble Octavia Butler Memorial. There will be more written here about this site later.

Now, this lady I just now found at Comic-Bloc. I would have definitely linked her sooner. Yes, it's a MySpace blog, more of a socializing group than a comic book site, but this is the woman who started the Save Manhunter MySpace Group -- a public service for all superhero comics readers. (Speaking of which, Manhunter is still in need of saving despite the reprieve) Let's all give a hand and some recognition to le Krystal Method.

Finally, here's one that I purposefully put off until the end of the week: Blog@Newsarama (Which, by now you all know used to be the Great Curve). Wait, that's a bunch of guys, right? Nope, the team includes web designer Stephanie Chan. She's responsible for the look of the site, occasionally contribues, and can be seen blogging solo at Comic Book Girl and Pulp Arcade.

All of these ladies will be added to various places on the Blogroll, until the site of a woman in comics is a normal everyday thing that won't take everyone by surprise.

Last week's list can be found here, and it links to the list before that and so on until you see me explain my reasoning for this feature.

If anyone here knows of a female-run geek site that would like to draw attention to it (and don't be shy about pointing yourself out), please email me or comment on this post.

As I'm Already Destined for a House on the Corner and Fifty Cats..

Everytime I pick up a Volume 1 Wonder Woman comic, there is always one new thing I learn about the Pre-Crisis Amazons.

Every time I've learned something new about the Amazons lately, it's been about some sadistic decree handed down by Aphrodite "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" Pandemos. The latest surprise (Courtesy Wonder Woman #306) comes after an assassin stabs Steve in the shoulder in a murder attempt, and Diana comes to his rescue. The assassin has throwing knives that will cut through anything, including Diana's bracers. One of them shatters, and she suddenly hugs herself and turns aside.

While Steve is lying injured on the ground.

And the assassin stands over them with a knife.

So what's the problem, Diana?



One of my Mythology Books calls Aphrodite "The Unholy One" and I've never seen the reference. But I believe it. This is totally in-character. That Goddess is mean, and does not take kindly to neglect in any form. She has struck people with madness, struck their lovers with madness, turned them to birds, bushes, and trees, killed daughters-in-law by force of beauty (that's kind of an interesting story), brought inanimate objects to life -- all because they passed up one too many worship opportunities.

Mainly, she sticks to madness when people piss her off.

Take heed, mortal! Cast aside your puritanical ways before it's too late! Don't let your reason be driven away by her power. Your mind is a terrible thing to lose. Join the Cult of Aphrodite (Hourly Rates Available for the Tithe) today.

Worship services for this Goddess are scheduled daily in the early evening, late evening, midnight, early morning, noon, and during coffee breaks whereever two consentual adult bodies can comfortably squeeze together privately.

Partnership is encouraged, but not mandatory. There is a private ritual that can be performed in your bathroom at home that is equally satisfactory to Our Lady of the Midway Motel, and considerably less of a hassle.

Don't neglect this Goddess. Don't fall to stupidity, unrequited-love, nice guy syndrome, self-pity, sadness, whinging. Don't piss her off with cluelessness.

Don't let Emo happen to you.

Upcoming Miniseries

I think I may pass on this. No one should attempt to make G'Nort serious. He was never meant to be.

However, I'm really intrigued by this, so I suppose it works out.

*Sigh*

So, I keep hearing they introduced a lesbian Batwoman to feed fanboy fantasies...

I hope she crashes and burns as a character. In fact, I hope the Joker has the pleasure of shooting her and then raping her corpse. Truly, that right there would be justice. A friend even gave that storyline idea a name: "The Killing Poke."

Flash Theory

(Potentially Spoilerish Interview Quoted, and Theorizing)

Well, Wonder Woman #1 is safely on my pile now, and that is one of just two titles I have consistantly picked up since I started buying my own books. The other is due out on the Twenty-First of June. The Flash.

I hadn't thought much about this one (well, I had a theory but it wasn't really in-depth) until Chris of Two Guys Buying Comics contacted me. He wanted to talk to me for the same reason Chris of the Local Comic Book store (the clerk featured in this anecdote) wanted to see me. Wonder Woman advice.

I assured him it was worth buying. He then expressed his doubts about the Flash. It was being written by the two guys who did the TV show, Dan Didio had warned us not to get attached to the first guy we saw, and then he linked me to a message board, a post that quoted this article as evidence to support those worries.

And reading Joan Hilty's words, everything came together.

NRAMA: Dan also said something to the effect of "Don't become too attached to the first Flash you see"... any idea what he meant and thoughts you can share with us?
JH: You’re going to see a hero giving 150% to carry the Flash mantle against pretty bad odds. After that, Danny Bilson and Paul deMeo are going to turn the story completely on its head.

There is only one way this should go, and I am calling it now.

Wally and Linda had twins. A boy and a girl. They will show up, aged to young adulthood.

The son will take on his father's mantle...

And die.

And the daughter will be the new Flash.

Detective Comics 820

One panel, obscured for the spoilerphobic



Thoughts?

Wonder Woman #1: Other's Reactions

Wonder Woman #1 has already sparked some interesting discussion around the net about varying fan concerns (Spoilers in the links, guys):

Characterization on the DC Message Boards:

She's about making this world a better place for everyone, by helping corrupt and evil people see the error of their ways... and, failing that, by preventing them from harming innocent people.

Accessibility on Comic-Book Resources:

I thought this issue was an enjoyable read. Not being very familiar with Wonder Woman or Donna Troy, I appreciated the extra time spent introducing each of the characters and concepts. I also liked the brief captions about the two major villains.

And on Newsarama:

That shows how cool Donna is--she'll even give the biggest loser a sympathy f*ck

Wonder Woman #1 First Reactions

Vague Spoilers

Upon noticing me enter the store, the clerk imemdiately asked," What have you heard about Wonder Woman?"

After he assured me it arrived, I grabbed a copy. He went on to explain that he wanted to see my reaction, particularly to page two. so, I read the whole thing in front of him.

This is what he saw:

Page 3: *Bloodcurdling scream as I watch my hopes of a good series dissolve*

Page 8: "This actually isn't too bad."

Page 11: "I really like how they're using [male character]."

Page 18: "This is actually pretty cool."

Page 23: "Oh, good!"

Page 25: "Oh, wait..."

Page 26: "Oh gawd... Attempting to disbelieve..."

Page 28: "Oh!"

Page 29: "This is actually really cool."

Page 30: "This. Is. AWESOME."

"Oh, good, I'm glad," the clerk smiled as I went back to the shelf for the rest of my comics.

"If you like it it must be cool," he gives me an odd look as I go back to the Wonder Woman pile, "Since you're the most discriminating Wonder Woman fan I know..."

"I am buying my sister a copy," I answer authoritatively.

Welcome Back, Chris

Chris over at Two Guys Buying Comics has typed up his thoughts about getting back to blogging after a two week break.

Here I'd thought I was the only one who experienced that.

Today's Events

The Carnival of Feminists XVI is up at Welcome to the Nuthouse and Wonder Woman #1 is on sale.

Vanity

Yes, that is Green Lantern, checking out his reflection in the middle of a fight.

The Depressing List: Side A Introduction

Attention Comics Blogdom!

It has come to my attention that Rogue has sexual assault in her backstory.

Rogue

ROGUE!!

Yes, Rogue. The only character I thought was fully and totally safe from sexual assault is sexually assaulted the one time her powers go down.

That's the straw, Ladies, Gentlemen and Yellow Nazi Gremlins from Sector 2816. The Giant Cyber-Camel's back has been broken by the weight of realism. Remember that depressing list idea that cropped up a few months back when I lost my temper? Now is the time to follow through with it.

What I need you, dear readers, to do is a list, with references (because this will be airtight, we will check back on everything before posting a final list), of all of the female superhero characters from DC and Marvel (we're going to follow Jenn's advice to try and stay sane here, and start with the biggest two before we move on to the smaller press) that fit underneath one of the categories below. Drop a comment or email me. Then, I need you to pop over to Kalinara's and list all the male characters who fall into the categories listed.

So open up the back issue bins, check with your friends, link this anywhere and everywhere you want -- it's time to get organized.

(And oh yes, I am aware that just about every superhero in existence will fit somewhere on the list. It's the where that I'm thinking about here.)

-=-=-=-=-

I. Explicit Instances of Actual/Attempted Sexual Assault

A. Rape/Sexual Assault of Adult Victims (Actual):
The primary subcategory will be "On-Panel" (Shown explicitly through current events or flashback) or "Off-Panel" (established in Dialogue but not Visually Indicated).

The secondary subcategories will be as follows:

• -In the Present: Storyline/Plot-Related (For example: In the Killing Joke, Barbara Gordon was shot by the Joker, who then removed her clothing and took suggestive pictures of her. This would count as "storyline-related assault" as it happened in the present tense of that comic.)
• -In the Past 1.0: Backstory Established at Character Origin (For example: In the first issue of the Post-Crisis Wonder Woman series, it was established that Queen Hippolyta and the other Amazons were raped by Herakles and his men in Ancient Greece.)
• -In the Past 2.0: Flashback/Backstory Retroactively Inserted (For example: in the miniseries Identity Crisis, it was established that at some point during the Satellite-Era of the Justice League, Sue Dibny was sexually assaulted by Doctor Light)
• -In the Past 3.0: Flashback/Backstory Retroactively Removed (For example: Helena Bertinelli's backstory used to contain a reference of a childhood sexual assault [Section C] however the later retelling of her origin retroactively removed it.)

B. Rape/Sexual Assault of Adult Victims (Attempted):

• Same subcategory setup as seen in section I.A.

C. Sexual Assault/Abuse/Molestation of Minors (Actual):

• The primary and secondary subcategories will be the same as in section I.A and I.B, but there will be a tertiary subcategory that addresses statuatory rape. (For example, In Robin, Stephanie Brown was impregnated by her boyfriend at age 15. The sexual acts were portrayed as consentual, which would differentiate them from acts of traumatic molestation or assault, but still qualifies as statuatory rape.)

D. Sexual Assault/Abuse/Molestation of Minors (Attempted):

• The subcategories of Section IV will be the same set-up as seen in Sections I.A, I.B and I.C.

II. Implications, Subtext, and Symbolism

A. Implied/Subtextual Sexual Assault of an Adult Victim:
(For example Dinah Lance's torture in Longbow Hunters is commonly believed to have contained rape. Quotes have been attributed to creators to indicate that this was not the case, however the particular scene could be read with that interpretation)
The subcategories will be:

• -Taunts and Threats with Sexual Overtones
• -Physical Assault/Abduction/Torture/Murder with Sexual Overtones

B. Implied/Subtextual Sexual Assault of a Minor:
(For example: Starfire's backstory of slavery contains the implication of sexual abuse, however it has never, to our knowledge, been confirmed or denied)

• This will have the same subcategories as II.A.

C. Symbolic Rape/Violation that are not sexual in nature.
Subcategories will include:

• -Mind-Control, which robs the victim of self-autonomy and will
• -Forced Transformation, which robs the victim of control of physical state.

This Could Get Ugly

A recent disagreement has inspired me to resurrect an old feature.



Yes, there's analysis...Hal Jordan, love of my life (next to John Stewart, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Gawain and the guy who drew this panel), has been watching the commotion recorded here, here, here, and here. He's been watching from a bove.

Now that the situation's been resolved, Hal turns to his companion, the icy and removed Guardian, and complains. Look at the wording.

"That's the man you want to trust with a power ring -- the finest weapon every devised?"
"He has all due qualifications! And we are not interested in your petty bigotries!"

l've gotten some flak for describing Hal as racist, but my accusations are not unfounded.

Hal's definitely an elitist. In the whole series, he's put up as the conservative, the one who supports the establishment while Green Arrow wants to shake things up. It makes sense. Green Arrow's a self-made hero, Hal's a chosen hero. Everything about Hal is elitist. He was a test pilot, known for being the best. His girlfriend was none other than his boss (his former boss's daughter), the highest profile woman in the company. Green Lanterns are specifically picked for their job based on personal qualities. Picked by being the bravest and the most honest available.

The wording in this dialogue catches me. "The finest weapon" like "The finest wines," "The finest silks," "the finest homes" etc...

It's obvious he doesn't think John's good enough for the job.

It's not John's attitude, or he would have worded his objection differently. He wouldn't have added "finest weapon ever devised." He would have, if worried about misuse, said "most powerful" or "most versatile." But he said finest, emphasizing his elitism.

The art supports this. Hal's watching from above, a rooftop. He's perched in such a way that he's removed form the situation, but not from the reality. He's watching it, how it doesn't affect him. Nothing in the situation on John inside is anything he understands. Nor does he understand the "good cop" in this mess. He just sees the authority figure he's going to have to be, and placing himself in that figure's place. Nevermind that that figure was in the wrong, behaving in a clearly unjust way Hal wouldn't. Most likely in the situation below, we'd have seen Hal step in and tell the cop he was overstepping his bounds. But Hal's not putting himself in John's shoes, he wouldn't think to. He's first and foremost putting himself in the "bad cop's" shoes because that's the person in the situation he identifies with.

Since this is 1972 Green Lantern/Green Arrow, written by Denny O'Neill, drawn by Neal Adams, we know for a fact we're in for a social commentary, and in this panel it's obvious. Hal's allegorical, he's the power structure in society. John's the normal one. He's the everyday citizen. Hal's white, John's black. Hal standing so far above John, passing judgement from the viewpoint of the authority figure, shows the racial divide between blacks and whites. It's the Seventies. Hal, the white elitist is appealing to the Guardian, the highest authority, to keep John, the black achiever, out of his restricted, elitist club. And the Guardian says "No. He's qualified. Deal with it."

And once again, before you come after me for reading too much politics into it, I remind you, this is 1972 Green Lantern/Green Arrow. They did it on purpose.

This panel also convinces me that I'm not imagining the yellow thing. There it is again, John Stewart surrounded by yellow. Only, instead of encompassing the background, the sidewalk (previously brown) is yellow. Hal's weakness, yellow. A barrier between the two characters. A color associated with fear, anticipating difficulties when it comes time to train?

John has all the qualifications. Hell, he's arguably the only Lantern who was hand-picked by a Guardian (Guy was chosen when Hal was, and activated during ColE by the Guardians, and Kyle, if not actually random, was one of a limited set of choices for Ganthet). He's one of the elite choices that belong in Hal's club. Hal should accept him unquestioningly like he accepted Katma and Guy (this was prior to Guy's brain damage), but Hal disagrees.

Most of the colors in this panel -- reds, yellows, greens, browns -- are earth tones. Except for the Guardian, white and bright blue. The Guardian has the true bird's eye view of the situation, he has the real objectivity here. He's not a part of the scene, he's observing it. He doesn't even touch the ground.

It's notable that a Guardian is a high-level telepath, and Hal is an open book to him. (You could argue there's no indication of telepathy made, but seriously, when have the Guardians telegraphed when they were mindreading before? It's always been automatic insights, never untrue) When he says "petty bigotries" he's not making it up. He's throwing something in Hal's face that Hal's trying to bury. There are other possible reasons Hal could have for disagreeing with the choice, but the Guardian immediately puts it off as petty bigotry.

I suppose so, since in the next panel (which overlaps this one slightly, note the few locks of hair on the side) Hal cites John's "chip on his shoulder the size of the rock of Gibraltar" as the reason he was giving the Guardian such an attitude about his personal choice. Yes, Hal was defending his own insubordination of saying John was not fit for the Corps by saying John was insubordinate and therefore not fit for the Corps.

Please direct your "Green Lantern was not a racist comments" below.

Stay Tuned

There's a reason I went military instead of college. I couldn't do assignments. All through high school, I read and thought, and discussed in class, but when it came time to do reading that was assigned by the teacher, or write a paper, I procrastinated and skated. It was a common thing, in Spanish class, to see me reading my English text, answering the questions, or even doing the book report. If the paper had to be typed, it was not happening, because all of my work for one class would be done in the class before it. This is why I still don't speak more Spanish than "No hablo Espanol" (though I remember a lot of the Spanish Art History stuff, since that was taught while we were doing poetry readings and in-class analyses), and I had to take three years of summer school in Advanced Math (and they kept putting me in the Advanced Math class -- Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus -- and I kept flunking!). I still don't know how I slid through Biology. Psychology, Criminology and History were easy, listen and pick a familiar answer. But essays, critical thinking, ack! There was no chance.

More of my life story...

So I chickened out of college (I'd only applied to one anyway, a nice, small feminist school six hours away in Pittsburgh -- and my mother said this was too far) and went with the multiple choice military (and ended up, to my mother's annoyance, in San Antonio, Texas instead -- after 4 years of not paying attention in Spanish Class. Oh, and I went to BMT about the time there was a run for Puetro Rican Guardsman, so there were more Spanish-speakers in my flight than English-speakers). Just to be on the safe side, I went for jobs that involved taking things apart and putting them back together again. It made training easy. And for the math bits in electronics, they treated it like remedial math. I relearned everything, and ended up with higher scores on the math tests than the listen and pick a familiar answer tests. Anyway, when I heard I'd be headed to a management school at my current job, and that afterwards I'd be expected to write -- actually write disciplinary papers, requisition letters, policy memos, performance reports, feedback -- I panicked a little.

I managed to make it through school, though, without any trouble. The military training helped at lot here. Going there instead of college was probably the best idea I ever had, because the way I was at 18, college would not have worked. And I'd say the blog helped some. A little discipline, a little writing every day, nothing really riding on it. If I keep it up I might have the fortitude to pound out a novel someday. Or at least a New Age philosophy book. Anyone can write one of those, you don't even need a plot or characters. I didn't get any awards, but I got my certificate, I had fun, and I didn't get into any trouble for missing assignments.

I was cured!

Right?

Wrong.

You should see what never makes it to this blog. There's things I've posted and deleted. Things I've written in great detail and chickened out and never posted (a long one on the POW plotline in Green Lantern #10) I have scans of panels, and half-written posts saved on my computer. There's a megapost on Wonder Woman that I've written in my head a million times, but when it comes time to type I get a blank. I start the post and leave it at the intro, if I can think of an intro. There are half-hearted musings and promises left on comment threads (Kalinara still bugs me from time to time for that Image Analysis of the Johnny Sorrow-Sand scenes in lnjustice Be Done) across the blogosphere. Things I've offhandedly mentions and forgotten about. I have lists, little scraps of paper, ideas that I've jotted down and never elaborated on. I have one taped to the side of my monitor from the first week I blogged. And then there's the stuff in my head that never makes it to the first word, or even a jotted note on a scrap of paper. Why I Hated Camelot 3000 (which can be summed up in one word: Tristan) has been swirling in the back of my mind since I started blogging, and I've never even put that one on a list. I've mentally played the Fridge scene repeatedly, lazily playing with the feminist symbolism, and I've yet to see an analysis that shows the insights I've gleaned (and I'm always afraid that one day I will, and I comment, people will roll their eyes and never believe I thought of it - it's vanity there, pure vanity).

And then there's the memes and requests. I really don't mean to ignore the memes and requests, but they're like assignments. I remember Plok asked me, a long, long time ago (I don't even know what thread) to do an essay for him on Valkyrie in Defenders I considered it in the back of my mind, but it would require I look into back issues. I've had my Marvel moods (in San Antonio I amassed the entire PAD run of X-Factor), but not lately. Still, it settled in the back of mv mind and I figured when I had a little extra time or money I might check it out. As of yet, though, it just doesn t fall in my interest range. (Sorry, Plok, if you're still reading, it still doesn't look likely!). I put it off for the stuff I intended to do on my own, which I never get around to either. When I say I'm busy, I am, busy at work, busy with WFA, busy with other posts, busy-minded. Busymindedness is why I started blogging. The Wonder Woman post, the one I got so much attention for? I thought it out while working, while fixing minor mechanical problems on aircraft. (Yes, that's right, this is where my mind wanders to while I'm putting together parts on an airplane. Like your auto mechanic is any different!)

Even the comment threads suffer from my procrastination. See Kalinara, how she promptly answers and addresses each comment and keeps the conversation flowing. Or Scipio, who steps in when necessary to keep the conversation flowing, knowing when to do it and not feeling that need to address every person individually. Or Megha, just look at Megha. She does address everyone, individually, keeps the conversation flowing, and she has fifty to a hundred comments each post! Meanwhile I post, I see a comment or two, sometimes I reply sometimes I mull it over a bit, return, see more comments, think it over, return, even more comments -- and the conversation is scarily large now, so I wait even longer and address everyone individually and it seems like my comments usually end the conversation.

Which may or may not have to do with a compulsive need to have the last word. I'm not sure. Because sometimes I don't comment at all, and it peters out, and by them it's too late to add further thoughts on the matter so I leave it alone. As it stands, I'm more likely to put up a new post than comment on the previous one. And some of the best post ideas get put off indefinitely.

There's a lot I want to do. Comments. The next panel keeps being put off. I have my lists and scraps of paper. Why I Hated Camelot 3000. Dorian tagged me with a really cool one that I can easily do and want to, but haven't yet gotten around to. And in the comment threads of earlier posts, I've had two suggestions. Two really good, really fun suggestions that I haven't even answered yet. Two incredibly cool ideas. Jade's Frisson of Woo, and "fixing" the oremise of a female heroine.

I'll get around to these eventually.

Maybe.

It could be a while, though.

Dick Grayson

Courtesy of Scans Daily, Neal Adams draws Dick Grayson as he was meant to be seen.

By now you've all heard Didio's vile plans for the boy, and how they were thwarted. While I do agree that thematically speaking, Grayson's death would have made Infinite Crisis a hundred times better, I can easily see the reasoning for keeping him around. His role, as demonstrated in this picture, and cemented in Infinite Crisis is vital to the Batman Mythos.

The only problem is that they insist on giving him a solo book. This character is not a headliner, no matter what you do. He is a teambook character, a supporting character and needs to be attached to a star or a group (that is not written by Judd Winick). Dick Grayson is defined by his relationships. Left alone, he angsts and whines because he's lonely and needs his superhero buddies.

Now, the intricacies of this character have been well-documented by a number of others on their own blogs, so I'm not going to get into the details. They make much better arguments than I ever could.

Instead, I offer a few comments, and this page to the argument -- because it sums up my view of the character and his value better than words ever could.

While I'm at It...

Now, for the record, I appreciate linking. Especially at message boards and especially by people who think I'm right. But...

Randell's Written World has just posted an entry about Winick's Terry Berg story. He compares it to O'Neil's run.

http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/06/sir-step-away-from-pulpit.html

I have to admit, he explained it in a way that I had not considered. I already knew the message, so the lesson in Winick's story wasn't for me. But since I already knew the message, I didn't realize that Winick was very much turning readers off of the book. None of the characters really learned anything.

This guy explains it well. Check it out.

Do I not have a name that ends in -nell? Is my profile picture not feminine?

I want everyone to look up at the banner. Is that not a Wonder Woman picture there? Does it not say "Amazon Queen of the Planet Femnaz"?

Why do people still assume male?

Monday Misogyny

I was linked to this dreadful petition through the Millarworld forums and I looked out of pure curiousity (and to see if I recognized any names). I was not planning to link to it. I didn't want to call attention to such stupidity.

But I saw something I just couldn't resist by one of the signatures.

Me, I would’ve preferred to have seen her as someone(like the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon) be a female who was in “love” with Batman and wanted to be like him, solving crimes, defending his city of Gotham making her become Batwoman. Or even better, had it she comes from another countrywould’ve made for an interesting background than being a lesbian. This is one comic I won’t be reading anytime soon. If Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Oracle, The Huntress and Black Canary are not gay then why have Batwoman gay? Is DC Comics that hard up for story ideas?

Well, it is Monday.

Found While Shadowing the Batwoman

From the Millarworld Forums thread (Post #189):

I run a small comic store in downtown San Diego and most of my clientele are men in their late 20's to mid-30's and the occasional kid..but hardly any women ever. If women do come in it's for a Sandman trade or the latest Strangers in Paradise..and that is rare in itself... but this weekend I had at least 20 women in the store buying 52 because they found out about the new Batwoman from the various sources! I just couldn't believe it, it was great to see such interest from the ladies! A weekly book even, bravo DC!

Who was it who said women have no interest in superhero comics?

Now it's time to Really Save Manhunter

I meant to post this earlier, but was confused by a 5'10 lesbian bat in high heels. It seems the two characters had the same name. Someone should do something to make a distinction, like maybe use a less common nickname for the bat, like, I don't know, Kathy?

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, this is our last chance to save Kate Spencer from a untimely limbo, only to be broken by an appearance in a Justice Society storyline and a future death in a crossover.

Kate Spencer is a damned good character, and she deserves better than that.

And fortunately, her creator's willing to put his money where his mouth is.

And as a kickoff to builing the excitement for the coming issues, Andreyko put on his salesman hat…

"You've never tried it? Why should you try it? Well, where do I start? How 'bout this: it's a damn fun book that I am proud to be a part of - hence, my long-standing money-back guarantee: "buy an issue of Manhunter and hate it? Send it to me and get your $2.99 back!". If you're a fan of your superheroics having equal parts big fights and richly textured characters, this is the book for you. Add in amazing art, coloring, letters and edits and $3 is a bargain!

"And, hey, if people with names like Whedon, Millar, Rucka, Brubaker, Bendis, Oeming, Simone, Hester, Meltzer, Casey are fans of Manhunter, shouldn't you listen to 'em?"

I seem to recall a similar offer earlier on that we all ignored also. But seriously, what can you lose? Don't wait until Manhunter #26 comes out sometime in the fall.

Start Now.

Shadowing the Batwoman

Okay, I've been following this since got home Sunday night, and I have something very important to say to all of you:

DC really isn't making a big deal out of Batwoman being a lesbian.

It's everyone else who is.

Yes, I elaborate.Take the original, two-page, twenty-six paragraph article (which you should register and actually read before going off about).

Here are the Batwoman mentions, quoted for your perusal.

The articles starts with discussing the history comics and what cross-section of society they represented.

Second Paragraph:

But this year will be a banner one for diversity in the $500 million comic book business. At DC Comics, an effort is under way to introduce heroes who are not cut from the usual straight white male supercloth. A mix of new concepts, dusted-off code names and existing characters, the new heroes include Blue Beetle, a Mexican teenager powered by a mystical scarab; Batwoman, a lesbian socialite by night and a crime fighter by later in the night; and the Great Ten, a government-sponsored Chinese team.

(Emphasis mine -- and yours)

Later on, she does get her own paragraph devoted to her -- just as Jaime the new Hispanic Blue Beetle gets his own paragraph

Another effort to link old and new characters centers on Kathy Kane, the gay Batwoman who will appear in costume for the first time in a July issue of "52." Batwoman was introduced in 1956, but she was one of several, often silly additions to the Bat family, including Ace the Bat-Hound (1955), Bat-Mite (1959) and Bat-Girl (1961). In her latest incarnation, Batwoman is a wealthy, buxom lipstick lesbian who has a history with Renee Montoya, an ex-police detective who has a starring role in "52."

Please note that buxom lipstick lesbian is not in quotations. That is because the article writer is an idiot, but not necessarily Batwoman's creator.

Now, to be fair, it was followed immediately by a paragraph on gays in Gotham:

Even so, it's something of a surprise that there are any gay characters hanging out in Gotham City. Last year DC issued a cease-and-desist letter to a New York art gallery for displaying watercolors by Mark Chamberlain that depicted Batman and Robin in intimate positions. "That's not what this is about," Mr. DiDio said. "We're basically showing a different cross section of the world."

And the article wrapped up with an attention-hound writer saying idiotic things.

It also features the infamous costume with the high heels (Damn you, Ross), which is sexist as shit but more of a general misogyny complaint than specifically being objectified for her sexuality.

Almost instantly -- due to the Bat- prefix, the controversy of homosexuality, and mundanes mixing Kathy Kane up with Barbara Gordon -- this was picked up by the Associated press and it makes the rounds through newspapers, message boards, blogs, and watercoolers throughout the world. The New Batwoman is going to be a Lesbian!!!

So, naturally, Dan Didio does an interview in response. Which, not surprisingly, was based on having reconcieved of the decades-dead and erased-from-reality character as a lesbian.

Which naturally caused a lot of DC-bashing because now, suddenly, Batwoman was a lesbian as "Selling point" rather than a smart and unusual way to bring her into the 52 action. You know, 52, the comic in which she debuts? The comic in which Renee Montoya, a lesbian, is a main character? The one where she's coming off of a broken relationship, has a history of being in the closet and have secret lovers, and has recently been going through a bout of promiscuity and anger-issues? Where an easy way to link someone to her plotline might be to have a previous romantic involvement come back on her?

Not so much as case of "Of course the only two lesbians in Gotham know each other!" (a blatantly untrue statement, as neither woman has connections to Holly Robinson, Catwoman II, that I've seen on a number of blogs) as a case of cop's ex-lover is a superhero. Which we've never seen in a heterosexual relationship before, right? (Flash and Julie, Shade and Hope)

But no, we can't treat this as cute romantic awkwardness like we would if it were say, Harvey Bullock being featured in 52 and Batwoman was brought in with romantic complications towards him. Or if Renee were not gay, and a male hero that had a romantic history with her was brought in to complicate the plot. No! Because they're lesbians, so DC is automatically using them to pander to fanboy desires and not to, say, appeal to the large number of gay readers they have.

Here's the thing, I read the interview with Didio. I read the original article. Despite myself, I was intrigued by the story. She sounds pretty cool and interesting, at least from the start. And Didio's "I didn't realize it would be this big as deal" thing may be a lie, but I'm leaning towards truth here. They have other gay characters, have had gay characters for years. Batwoman is a relatively minor character. They were asked to produce a list of diverse characters for a New York Times article on diversity in comics. They gave up their history with Milestone, a Hispanic teenager, and a lesbian socialite. It's not that they're considering gay people a sudden novelty right now. It's that the article was specifically about characters that are not white heterosexuals, like we traditionally see in superhero comic books.

But the more they talk about being diverse, diverse they sound. (Get it, diverse, da verse, the worse.. *Ahem* Nevermind).



I see both sides condemning the character. The message boards and conservative misogynists are bringing their homophobia to the forefront, and then in response the gay-rights and feminist sites are calling her "Bat-bitch" (Yes, a gendered insult on a fucking feminist site. That pissed me off!!) and trashing her from the first sketch. The attention is good, the talking about it is good, and I know for sure a number of people'll pick it up without having intended to before. But honestly, the book's not out yet. Once it's out, we can see how she's handled. The high heels are a bad sign, yes, but the writing might yet be good. The character could be unique and interesting. The interplay with her ex-girlfriend could be fun. All we're guaranteed right now is a female hero who won't end up romance fodder for a male hero, which eliminates a pretty damned annoying convention right at the start.

And guess what, Newsarama asked Editor Stephen Wacker about her in their weekly after-52 Q&A session.

NRAMA: While she hasn't been in the series yet, the new Batwoman who will be debuting in 52 #11 was announced earlier this week, and she's literally been everywhere, with a lot of attention being paid to the fact that she's gay. We you in any way expecting the reaction she received? Has any writer "adopted" her, so to speak to give her voice and motivation, or is she a group project like the others?

SW: I wasn't surprised at all. I knew when the news was being released, so it's been a real countdown the last couple weeks. DC's publicity brigade of Stephanie Fierman, David Hyde, Alex Segura and Sierra Hahn, and many others, did a great job getting the word out and I hope people are interested in finding out more.

Look, you do anything with a Bat or an "S" on it and it makes a splash - see the Death of Superman hubub for an even bigger example of what these symbols mean to people outside comics. I also don't think it's too surprising that anything with the word "gay" attached makes news since it's a subject that really pushes people's buttons. Put the two together and suddenly I can't watch Anderson Cooper without a 36-inch image of Didio's face staring at me like some rogue DC Nation column come to life.

(This tells us the man's either smarter or more honest than his boss)

Creatively, the work is already done on the issue, so it was put together away from the spotlight. We're focusing on just trying to avoid the easy angles on the character and not make her story solely about being gay and, gee, how A) great or B) horrible it must be. Batwoman's appearances in 52 are decidedly not about the struggles of being a lesbian in today's crazy, mixed up world - that's my story!

Like most comics we do in the DCU, at its core, Kate's story is about someone putting their lives on the line for others and why they do it, it's about a hero...errr...heroine...ummm...no offense...…

Anyway, no one's specifically adopted her yet, but in 52 her story does tie into Montoya's, so make of what you will.

Sounds to me like the lesbian angle is just a way to connect the dots to Montoya, a little romantic complication for the 52 storyline. Why, I'd almost go so far as to say they're treating Montoya and Kane's sexuality as normal, as opposed to an unusual circumstance.

So far, I only see two immediate and confirmed gripes -- impractical high heels and impractical long wild hair. (Oh, and that the guy who wrote the NYT article is obviously fetishizing lesbians.) Valid gripes. These may be specifically characterizing her as extremely vain and patriarchally influenced (which might be a nod towards her Pre-Crisis past life) -- personality traits which do not mean she won't still be a kickass complex character. But which would distinguish her from other female characters.

Although I have issues with trading a good-sounding name like Kathy Kane for the clumsy, blunt Kate Kane. Reeks of "women with cute names like Kathy aren't as intelligent or competent as women with serious names like Kate" which greatly annoys me.

Until I see more, I'm optimistic, at least willing to give her a shot. I'd like to see more women in prominent positions in the DCU, and knocking them down because they debut with high heels or in a romantic storyline doesn't help.

New Community Site

Speaking of Mary, the anticipated girl-wonder.org is up and running -- featuring an essay by Trina Robbins on Wonder Woman.

Weekly Women's Geek-Out #3

Diane Duane, writer of the Young wizards series, keeps Out of Ambit for when she wants "to talk about anything but writing." Mostly she links and quotes from around the net.

Comic Candy is a small, female friendly, female run (but not exclusively female) website with regularly updated news, a community forum, reviews, and pictures!

I'm not much of a gamer myself, but I have found my way to a few sites that mix Feminism and Gaming issues. New Game Plus, run by Ariel (Lake Desire of Shrub.Com) is just one of many, linking and commenting on pertinent posts and stories throughout the gaming blogosphere.

I just found Brainfreeze: Comic Love this morning. I've always looking for new viewpoints, and this may be the first time I've seen a mother reading comics along with her children -- and blogging about it. Check out her invaluable Parents Guide to Marvel Legends Figures before you buy.

I'm sure by now most of you know about Monkey Crack Mary and her girl-wonder.org project. She also writes fanfic and journals her feminist beliefs. And in addition to all that work, she still managed to scoop Newsarama. I think it's about time I put her on the blogroll.

Not going on the blogroll, but still of interest is the Georgia State University survey: Daughters of the Revolution: Females Born in the ’70’s & Early ’80’s, Writing, and the Digital Revolution. For American women born between 1970 and 1985.

(Oh, and by the way, I was Virginia Woolf in the What Feminist Icon Are You? quiz. You can judge for yourselves how accurate that seems.)

And you can find last week's list here.

Surreal Larsen

Erik Larsen's latest column... Through the Regenderizer!!

(Here's the real one, in case you are drunk or sleep deprived and easily confused)

Beautiful, Wonderful News

Mary was telling the truth.

Manhunter Lives!!

Asian/Asian-American Characters in Comics

Oh, and one last thing -- While I've been doing my little amateur experiment, Jenn at Reappropriate has been compiling a database called The Outsiders: Asian/Asian-American Characters in Comics. Check it out!

(She has pictures!)

Edit: Related article at Great Curve.

I'm afraid of my comment threads...

That's why I'm babbling tonight.

Anyway, Melchior's got a post up about the Wonder Woman article in this month's Wizard magazine.

He highlights some good points, but neglects to mention what, for me, was the most promising statement of the article (oh, don't be surprised I read it -- it's Wonder Woman, for Hera's sake!) -- the statement made at the end.

This could be spoilerish, I suppose.



Please, please tell me he means going back to the fun-loving Golden Age Princess.

He makes references early on to how her origin story sounds like a fairy tale, which is also beautifully true and part of her appeal.

Is it June 7th yet?

Ten Advantages to Being a Buxom Lipstick Lesbian in the DC Universe

(Under the category of "Signs you're enjoying a concept way too much" I bring you something truly offensive)

10 -- Green Lantern's High Lover-to-Lesbian Turnover Rate
9 -- Always invited to Harley Quinn's slumber parties, no matter what side of the law you operate on
8 -- Not in danger of Green Lantern Curse, as that Doctor Lady rarely leaves Oa
7 -- Bruce says Wonder Woman likes the Batsuit
6 -- Completely immune to inexplicable charms of Green Arrow
5 -- Can always count on a date with a cop or two
4 -- Lady Shiva is easily confused in this area
3 -- Wonder Woman's Mother due for resurrection, pretty sure she swings both ways
2 -- The New Catwoman is currently seeing someone, but Major Force is in town next week
1 -- Themiscyra

I am OUTRAGED!

"Kate" Kane?

Kate Kane? Just what the hell is wrong with Kathy? What do you have against a name like Kathy, Didio?

Please, Kate Kane. Two monosyllabic names. Please! Everybody knows when you have direct alliteration (CL is not alliterative with K, though) you have at least one of the names be two syllables. That's just how it's done. Lois Lane, anyone?

Kate Kane. It sounds hideous. No one would allow themselves to be called such an ugly name. Particularly a socialite so obsessed with her appearance that she ensures her long flowing hair shows despite the mask and wears high-heels to boot muggers. Please! Like such a woman would be Kate Kane.

Now maybe, maybe if she had a name like Spencer -- two syllables, not alliterative -- she might go by Kate. But with Kane?

Kate Kane?

That's a mere one letter difference. It may as well rhyme!

Do yourselves, and her, a favor, and go back to Kathy. Kathy Kane. It rolls off the tongue.

I know it sounds similar to Candy Cane, and that's probably why you got rid of it, but that's part of what makes it work. It sounds natural. It's memorable. It's a classic-sounding name.

That's a name that'll stick with readers.

And Kathy is a fine, underrepresented name in comics. The Kates have Manhunter. The Kitties have Shadowcat. But what about the Kathies? They had Batwoman before, and now they don't. Because you had to take her away Didio. You had to go and name her Kate.

Kate.

It's a serious name. That's why you did it. You wanted a serious character.

Please, I read your interview. She's a high society lesbian socialite who's in the closet about her sexuality and her superheroics. She's dying for something light and cute. She wears high heels, lipstick, and a perfect coif to a street fight. She's made for a name that ends with -y.

Do yourselves a favor and don't take this character too seriously. The situation described in this interview is prime comedic material. Can you imagine the secret identity shenanigans with not only a double-, but a triple-life set up?

And her character design. She's light and girly. She's in black and red but that's a pink person if I ever saw one. You should break your lesbian stereotype. Go for femme as femme can be, but still have her kick butt. Make her vain, and pretty, and still ready to kick ass and resist evil with the best of the Bat-clan. Go Buffy Summers. Have her complain about breaking nails and messing up her hair after she's got the bad guy down. Say things like "But when you said I wore too much rouge, you went too far!" before she opens her can of Bat-Whup-Ass on somebody.

Have her check her reflection in a store window when she sees Wonder Woman.

Please, resist the temptation to make a statement and go serious with this. Don't go for the lesson. You always seem to go for the lesson, can't you just have fun? I mean, stay serious enoguh to keep her a reasonable hero, but a little lighthearted fun never hurt anybody. Even in Gotham. and she is a holdover from the Silver Age, after all.

Don't let Rucka keep her for too long (even though we know he made her). He likes lesbians, and seems to greatly enjoy writing them, yes, but he is short on sense of humor.

Under no circumstances allow Judd Winick near her. Tell him if he wants another GLAAD award he'll just have to cross the rubicon with Grace and Anissa.

She was rumored to go to Gail first. She'd fit in in Birds of Prey, I'm sure. She can make innuendo towards poor clueless Zinda.

Marc Andreyko's free now that Manhunter's on the chopping block. Give her to Marc, he'll take care of her.

Hey, you just lured Allan Heinberg over from Marvel. Try him.

If not, get Dan Slott. They just cancelled one of his books, maybe he's willing to try a different boss for a while.

Just.. please... Someone who can do this right.

Someone who can have fun and still respect her.

Someone who will call her "Kathy."