Webzines

May's Sequential Tart is posted, and for gamers the first issue of Cerise is posted.

Cerise is also asking for submissions for its June issue, but May 15th.

And if you still have time to read, Planet Karen did a few lessons on "Misunderstanding Comics" the other week, in case you missed it.

He makes my Steve Trevor argument for me.

This link was mailed to me:

"In the comics, the easiest way to bring real life into the life of the hero is to give him a spouse," said Avi Arad, another producer on the "Spider-Man" franchise.

"Lois Lane and the other women, in the comic books, the woman is the other world that represents all of us, and she is there to support, she is there to demand, she is there to observe and to make you think of her as an ambassador of the rest of us," said Arad, who also headed Marvel Studios, the comic-book empire's Hollywood branch, until last year. "Otherwise, there is never a personal story to bring all of us into the room."

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Steve Trevor can not be replaced in this aspect and we lost so much when they threw him to the background after Crisis.

Edit: I commented on Tom's reaction post, and though I'd share what I said with you:

Steve's not there to complete Diana, he's there to complete culture Basically, if you look at the original Avi Arad quote, he says women. Not a general character type, but general female character type.

Steve was the male character who served that role for the iconic female superhero. He's gone now.

The iconic male superheroes have specific dramatic setup in their casts. Oour iconic female superheros (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl -- Hell, even Storm over at Marvel) do not have the same dramatic setup. There is no dude-in-distress to balance the damsel-in-distress.

Diana doesn't need Steve Trevor. We do.

That's the point I thought was self-evident that actually isn't.

Wow, Dorian has a lot of friends.

Dorian's latest post answers a question that has been driving me insane.

I only read your blog to forward links to posts to my friends. And then we make fun of you. Because that's all your blog is good for.

I'd been wondering where all those "no referral site" hits were coming from.

Realism

The Heroine Next Door is discussing realism in roleplaying games:

Meanwhile, in Gaming Group Two, we're playing a game set in South America in the 1970s. Again, not the most egalitarian society in terms of women's rights. Needless to say I'm the only female player (and character). Am I surprised that the non-player characters harrass and try to flirt with my character, no, not really. Does it have to be mentioned all the time? No. Does it have to happen every scene? No. Would it kill the GM to just lay off? Okay, we get it, the NPCs ignore what I say because I'm female, and only pay attention to me when they want to flirt. Listen, we're playing a game, folks, make believe: can't we make believe that I'm being treated with a bit of respect, can't we stop dwelling on all the sexist crap and treat me like a human, here?

Really, that's what it is about, respect and being treated like a human. In either group, these guys show up to a session and they sit down and have fun gaming. When they leave, they never feel like they've been belitted or lessened because of who they are. They never get made uncomfortable for being male, they never sit there feeling like a hunk of meat, and they never have to even worry about being put in a situation that would make them feel sexually harrassed (I mean, except for Deliverance-type situations, I suppose. But, funny enough, those never seem to arrive). Meanwhile, because I'm female, situations arise all the time that make me uncomfortable.

Its easy to see where this applies to video games and anything set in a fantasy or historical setting.

Of course, she gets me thinking about comic books (lint gets me thinking about comic books). People tend to pull out the "realism" defense when discussing violence, especially rape, in comic book stories. "We want to deal with realistic issues," they say.

My response to that is if they really wish to draw attention to the problem of sexual assault and do some good about it, try volunteering, fundraising, or writing a check to RAINN or Men Can Stop Rape. Stick to these rules when it comes to your writing. Because thus far the major comic book companies have managed to flummox at least 99% of the depictions, and those flummoxed depictions are becoming more common nowadays than radiation was in the Silver Age.

They're talking about bringing realism to worlds where characters fly, throw cars across the street, travel to other planets. We're obviously up for a little escape from the most hellish aspects of human existence here. Realism is no good reason to put any part of the plot in.

Funny though, how the weirdness of superpowers is often brought up to support the persistence of dreadful sexist art in superhero comics, at the same time realism is cited to defend the use of rape as a plot point. Now, the same people aren't always using both arguments, but its a fascinating tendency of comics companies to use both in their own defense.

Looks like realism is okay, so long as it alienates women. And it looks like fantasy is okay, so long as it alienates women. I can see the ground rules are being adhered to.

Time to change them.

Hey, Green Lantern Fans

Moose Baumann has some preview art up on his MySpace.

Wow.

Cheryl Lynn found a fashion line that must be using the same ad agency as Sony.

Oh, and for those of you who missed 52...

Here is the new image of the Justice League's very first adventure:


I'm sure its no surprise by Saturday, but I've only see it mentioned on 52 Pick-Up so far. That's weird. I figured I'd see more rejoicing at this. I mean, it fixes Diana's spot in the universe without robbing Dinah of hers. We still have the JSA generational connection in the JLA founders. And best of all the two characters are no longer treated as interchangeable based on gender.

Of course, this means its just a matter of time before we see another JLA: Year One story, probably in JLA: Classified. That could be a blessing or a curse based on who they hire to do it.

They may be in need of a comics article.

Found through Feminist Writers:

Deadline: June 15, 2007

About off our backs: Off our backs is a newsjournal by, for, and about women. It has been published continuously since 1970, making it the longest surviving feminist newspaper in the United States. It is run by a collective where all decisions are made by consensus. The mission of off our backs is:

* to provide news and information about women's lives and feminist activism
* to educate the public about the status of women around the world
* to serve as a forum for feminist ideas and theory
* to be an information resource on feminist, women's, and lesbian culture; and
* to seek social justice and equality for women worldwide.

About the special theme issue: Feminisms and Cultures Culture is what we do and the importance of what we do. Feminist culture has always been important to the feminist movement. Cultural Feminism seeks to both re-discover women’s cultural contributions from earlier eras and to build a contemporary women’s culture. In the current millennium, womyn’s culture and cultural feminism continue to change and evolve providing new and important insights for feminist struggles and feminist liberations. This special issue of off our backs will explore the contemporary connections between feminisms and cultures considering the broadest possible definitions and intersections of those two words. Some of the questions we wish to consider include:

* What are feminist(s) culture(s) today?
* Where are cultural expressions of feminism found today?
* What is the role of music, art, film, literature, and poetry in feminism today?
* How does feminist cultural production confront patriarchy and other systems of oppression?
* How do feminist cultures support and sustain our political and economic work for liberation from patriarchy?

We are interested in articles that explore and engage feminist cultural production from the past and in our contemporary world. We are interested in personal accounts of artists, writers, and feminist cultural workers about the meaning and significance of their work currently. We are interested in analysis of feminisms and cultures. We are interested in reports of feminist cultural work in the United States and around the world. For our special issue on Feminisms and Cultures, we are looking for manuscripts of 500 to 2,000 words. If you are interested in writing a longer piece, please query first.

Deadline: June 15, 2007.

For manuscript submission guidelines, please visit the off our backs website here: http://www.offourbacks.org/Write.htm

Submit manuscripts to offourbacks@cs.com AND to JREnszer@aol.com Questions, queries, comments?

Please email the special editor of this themed issue, Julie R. Enszer at JREnszer@aol.com

Please distribute this call for manuscripts widely.
off our backs
2337B 18th Street
NW Washington, DC 20009
voice: 202-234-8072
fax: 202-234-8092
email: offourbacks@cs.com
web: www.offourbacks.org

Friday Night Fights, Round 7!

As Bahlactus demands:

After a post in which really only the Anonymous commenters agree with me, and I don't feel inclined to change my opinion, I like to post something lazy, mindless and frivolous. So, fill in the blanks (original image courtesy of Sally):



If you must insist on substance, I have a pleasantly short post long essay up on censorship on Blog@Newsarama. There are no pictures with it.

A Wonderful Wednesday

Sometimes we forget what we're dealing with when we read about the Amazons. They're a family, right? Diana's island full of good-natured kick-ass Aunts? Sure, when we look at them through Diana's eyes.

Through a stranger's eyes, things look different.

These are not a peaceful people. The Themiscryans are a warrior race patroned by a war-goddess, a hunting-goddess, a love goddess who is not the nicest of love goddesses, and a mother goddess who didn't mind letting the entire world starve to death over her daughter. They're also the reincarnated souls of women who were violently killed by men, and who have characteristically distrusted the male gender since Perez was writing. They had peace because they were on an isolated island. The Bana-Migdall tribe, which is now intermingling with the Themiscyran tribe, was not nearly so peaceful when we met them. They are also, by tradition, a Monarchy.

As far as they know, they have just been grievously wronged as a people again, through the treatment of a member of their Royal Family.

There've been complaints about Amazons Attack. On this one point, I must respectfully disagree (and insist those complaining learn continuity and context). The Amazons are not a sweet, peaceful people. They like quiet afternoons and intellectual pursuits, but they will not hesitate to kick ass when wronged.

After Wonder Woman #8, it makes perfect sense and is in character. Granted, that first scene made me cringe, but I'm suspecting another divine enemy's hand in all of this, someone last seen very close to the primary villain here. Beyond that, it is perfectly logical they'd attack the USA, given the events in Infinite Crisis and the end of Wonder Woman #7, and especially given the development in Wonder Woman #8.

Remember, an ongoing theme in Wonder Woman since the 80s has been that Diana carries the olive branch to both groups. She preaches peace at home and abroad. Without her, the island would not be open to talking to the other countries.

There's also a really obvious and traditional resolution ahead of us. I hope Pfeiffer plans on it, because it takes this mess and ends it with something other than "Feminism is a bad thing." I can see why so many people are annoyed, because the implication is there, but as long as I can see a few options past that I'm with Pfeifer.

If the moral does end up being "Feminism is a bad thing" I very much doubt I'll be persuaded to read anything by that writer again.

There's really nothing that can prevent mass Amazon casualties, though. Unnamed Amazons are the Red Shirts of the DC Universe, even more so than non-human Green Lanterns.

That is the problem I see developing.

Pfeifer treating the Amazons as an allegory of All Feminism? Not such a workable analysis at this point. We have to see how Diana factors into this first, and how her viewpoint is treated. She's clearly marked as a peacemaker, but how's she going to approach it? Is Diana going to be allowed to represent Feminism here, rather than the Amazons? Too many options yet, and I figure the writer deserves the benefit of the doubt on this one. He hasn't actually made a mistake so far, its the First Act, and this day's reading started with a wonderful revelation.

Too bad about the fourth page, though. I do hope there's an external influence to explain that. But we are dealing with a raid from a three-thousand year-old warrior civilization here. They didn't have the Geneva Conventions three thousand years ago. Its nasty as hell and Diana certainly won't approve, but its still in character.

Open Letter to DC Comics

Dear DC,

If what I saw is true, I love you and I forgive Jodi Piccoult's stupid meta-jokes and will assume Diana was hit on the head right before Wonder Woman #6, because this development must never be edited out of continuity.

Sincerely,
Ragnell the Foul.

PS. This had better not be a trick.

Sour Realization

I was devouring Patrick Gleason's art in Green Lantern Corps #11 (for only the third time this week) when I reached this panel and realized something awful.

Those two faces? Both belong to female characters.

Gleason draws them differently, and I was gushing over his ability to give female characters different noses, eyes, and chins.

I love this guy's artwork, but really this should be the standard, not exceptional. Its the same with body types. We should not be gushing over an artist just because they draw a women with differing bra sizes.

They should all be drawing women as individual characters. And we should be able to dismiss anyone who can't differentiate Black Canary and the Invisible Woman outside of costume as a lazy bastard or a talentless hack (or both) without running into legions of rabid fans who swear that they draw the best women in the business and should be given Wonder Woman or Birds of Prey in recognition of that.

Yeesh, that annoys me.

Love Gleason's art, though. Just found his blog today.

Odds and Ends/Requests and Demands

I saw Hot Fuzz. Everyone with similar tastes to mine should see this movie. Especially my father. If you're reading, Dad, go see that movie. Funny cops in rural England. I think you'll like it.

Also saw and enjoyed Meet the Robinsons. Mom, if you're reading, I suggest you see this movie while Dad sees Hot Fuzz, since there's a fair amount of gore in Dad's movie, and this one is a cute time travel movie.

Okay, I need participants for a little sociological experiment. Mario Wytch wants people to read his and Mykal Adams' webcomics, and email him (his address is by the little picture of him on the contact page) with what comic they laughed at, and their gender (If that makes you uncomfortable, comment here and I'll send him this link). There's only four comics up so far, so it shouldn't take long.

Finally, tomorrow (Monday the 23rd) is my birthday, and would be an appropriate day to post a rear-view image of your favorite Green Lantern, if you are so inclined. (Hey, its worth a shot!)

Edit (25 April 2007) -- Thanks, everyone who wished me Happy Birthday! (And this one was a sharp eye, took me a second look to see it!)

Who Does Mary Love?

Yeah, this one is Sleestak's fault.

Well, someone was going to do that one. It was just a matter of who got it first. And its not like anyone remembers what his mask looks like now.

I Thought I Knew Her

From Wonder Woman #7:Does anyone seriously think Wonder Woman, as characterized up to now, would do that? He made a joke. A stupid, sexist joke, but that doesn't deserve that kind of treatment.

I admit, Wonder Woman is a very strange character. Nearly every writer makes a point of talking about how hard she is to define, and a common complaint on message boards is that she's a cipher. She's been said to be the hardest character at DC to write.

Personally, I just see Diana as a complex and multifaceted individual, much like the ones you meet every day. Not entirely predictable, and you see different sides of her personality in different situations. Most writers have had a slightly different take on her, to the point that I've seen it described as "schizophrenic," but I always looked at her as a person made up of the gifts of seven very different deities (her six patrons, plus Ares who as her enemy seems as much a part of her as the others). With that in mind, the different portrayals fit together nicely, and there's even a single underlying personality trait.

You see, the secret is that, even though none of us can say we know who Wonder Woman is, its always been very clear that she knows who she is. There's trouble connecting with other people, and the gods, and her purpose, but Diana has always been centered in herself. Confident. She knew exactly what she was inside.

Its a great departure from a lot of the other characters in comics, always soul-searching. Diana had her soul, her problem was where it fit with everyone else's. The world would fall apart, and Diana always knew who she was and what she was doing. to the end of Rucka's run, she knew. It was comforting.

Even in Heinberg's story, where she professes she needs to find herself and get to know herself, that confidence and comfort is there. She has herself, she knows herself in her heart, she just can't define herself and how she relates to others anymore, so she intellectually wonders. But she knows.

It was the one consistency in Wonder Woman's characterization, and now its gone. All of that wistful mirror-gazing and angsting and confusion and loss of real-life skill has knocked that confidence away from Wonder Woman.

All of the other writers may have been confused as to exactly who Wonder Woman was, but hey, even Mark Waid who wrote her in a dystopian future where she'd lost her way and professed that he didn't understand the character seemed to understand that Diana knew who she was and was comfortable in her own skin.

Its how we, as fans, can disagree on a description of her personality but look at a scene like the one above and immediately know that that's not right That's not Diana.

Who is Diana? Who is Wonder Woman?

Hell if I know who she is, but I know who she isn't and I know she knows who she is.

Its not the usual characterization for a woman. According to what I've seen of women in fiction, we're unsure of ourselves. We're uncomfortable with ourselves. We're uncomfortable with our bodies. We're uncomfortable with our sexuality. We don't know what we're capable of. We second-guess ourselves. We surprise ourselves. We hate ourselves. We hurt ourselves and the people around us. Society seems designed to make us that way and that's what I see in most female characters. Every woman's story in fiction seems to be a coming into herself. Learning those traits.

Wonder Woman is not supposed to be like that. Wonder Woman is supposed to already be the woman other women in fiction learn to be. She's at the point where you are done working on your inside and ready to work on the outside world.

Wonder Woman is not for a deep, thoughful, soul-searching journey where, through the character, you learn your own self-worth despite the crap thrown on you by society. Wonder Woman is for when you want to sit down and vicariously kick misogyny's ass, because it seems like the world is working against you're fed up with not being able to make a change for the better externally.

That may be hard to plot, but really, how hard is it to understand?

Poor Zauriel

Admittedly, the classroom scene was worth the price of the issue.

Well, that was MY reaction when I actually read it.

(Blame Mark)

For those of you interested...

My sister, suffering from the usual delusions of bilingualism, attempts to translate the last DC Nation column from Italian to English.

And Wonder Woman fans collectively breathe a sigh of relief

It's official, Gail's in:

Newsarama: First off Gail, how long has this been in the works? Has this been something that was out there along with the relaunch, or was this all kind of sudden?

Gail Simone: To my knowledge, it was pretty sudden, for my part. Dan Didio called me into his office when I visited New York City (and the DC offices) for the first time during the New York Comic Con. So it was, stay in the beautiful Parker Meridien hotel overlooking Central Park, see three Broadway shows, attend a really fun convention, get VIP seats for David Letterman (thanks, Mike Carlin!) and get offered Wonder Woman all in the same week.

It’s gonna take a lot to top that week, for me, actually.

So to answer your question, it might’ve been in Dan’s head for some time, but it was pretty recent stuff on this end, which is great, because if I’d had to wait months before starting writing on it, I think I would have burst at the seams from excitement.

It’s just a book I want to write. I’m dying to do it. When I first started in comics, it was the one book I really made it clear I didn’t think I should take, partly because of fear of typecasting, but also because it’s just such a huge, important character. The superheroine, not just in comics, but in all media, period.

But I got over the stage fright, and got to write her a few times, in Birds of Prey and JLA: Classified, and I realized, DAMMIT, I love this character! I mean, it was just an amazing feeling. That feeling some writers get when they write Batman or whomever, that’s me with Diana, except times ten and covered with sprinkles.

She'll be in starting issue #13 and "for the foreseeable future."

Now, this is a huge relief after the last couple issues, but I've still got a lingering worry. That's because I'm a neurotic person. My naturally high-strung state was just amplified by my day at work. It started out very nice, I was thinking about an old boyfriend. Nice memories, actually. But then I walked into work today and got word that Alpha Boss wanted to hold a huge meeting a half-hour after my shift ended, very late at night. Because he was worried about how the night shift missed all the meetings. And that, since all the people who normally do such things work on days, they wanted me to do the presentation coordination of this last-minute meeting. Oh, and Mark wasn't there, and neither was Latasha, and Rebecca's fucking useless, so I had to run the shift even though I missed turnover while I was talking to the beta bosses about how to do the presentation the Alpha Boss wanted to do. And then, soon as I thought I was situated, every jet on the airfield (and a few in the air) seemed to simultaneously break. And not just with my system! With systems that needed my system running to fix them! Oh, and at lunch (which had to wait until after the LCS closed, because I needed to wait for Latasha to get to work) I had a traffic accident. And got a traffic ticket on the way home from the super-late meeting, the one after which all of middle management got yelled at by Ranking Beta Boss. I'm suspicious of anything right now, especially something that sounds so good.

Anyway, I like Simone, I like Simone's writing, I'm happy for her, but I can't shake the worry she's getting pegged as the "chick writer." It underscores that we really need more women to break into the business.

Okay, now that that's voiced...

YAY!!!

Finally, an action writer on Wonder Woman!!!

Anger, Angst and Anticipation

I didn't get my comics today, but just skimming the blogosphere I can tell that Wonder Woman would probably make me angry.

The question is, what kind of angry?

There are many kinds of anger. There's anger that floats on top of your heart and seeps into the front of your throat from there. There's anger that forms in the pit of your stomach and hovers stiffly around your collarbone. There's even that special kind of anger that in addition to the other effects also charges the bottom of your feet and settles below your intestines, that anger that gathers there until you get out of your seat and make some kind of movement. That's good anger. That's anger that energizes you. That's anger that makes you do something. It makes you write, it makes you rant, it makes you go to the gym and run or beat the stuffing out of the punching bag. Its anger you can taste, anger that you breathe. It ranges from mildly annoyed to fully outraged but no matter the severity its always a living anger, that can be channeled into incredibly productive actions if cultivated and handled properly.

Mixed with vicious dark humor, it can be very fun!

I like to think of it as Larsen Anger.

On the other hand, there's dead anger. This doesn't float on top of your heart. It lays on top of your heart like lead. Its solid in the pit of your stomach, but still manages to churn with the liquid there. It collects in every muscle of your body and when it seeps into your throat it forms a lump. Its heavy anger, that you can't do anything with. It'll turn to fear, disgust and depression almost immediately.

The sad thing is, that if you stop channeling your living anger into something productive, it tends to turn into dead anger and weigh on anything you do. After a while of holding back that rant (or working and getting no results!), you just get disgusted with the whole thing and can't muster the energy to react anymore.

Ever heard anyone say they were "all out of outrage"?

Yeah, that's the feeling.

I haven't named it yet, but I've been toying with "Reis Heartbreak" after the guy who designed Star Sapphire's current costume. I held back from ranting about the Arisia costume constantly for a week, but Star Sapphire just depressed me.

I'm worried Wonder Woman #7 will just depress me too.

I hate to skip it this week, partially out of curiosity, but mostly because I already trimmed my pull-list at the shop and Steve orders these books thinking he has a sure sale. Seems a waste to trim the list again when I'll just be adding this book again for the next writer.

Maybe this is one of those points where I expect something so bad I'm pleasantly surprised.

Maybe not.

Links

Pink Raygun's Guide to Recognizing Your Zombies:

Your complete zombie arsenal should include at least one basic garden tool, a Molotov cocktail kit, a lighter and some tampons. You laugh, but they’re very useful. They’re absorbent; soak one is gasoline and light it for an instant mini-fire bomb. They’re sterile; in a pinch you can tape one over a gaping wound to absorb the blood. So, next time your girlfriend or wife asks you to get her a box of Tampax on your beer run, don’t roll your eyes and conveniently “forget”. One of those tampons might just save your life.

This monologue by Sherin the Orange made me smile today as well.

A Sign This Blogging Thing is Not Working

Had a conversation at work today about gamers telling random strangers about details that happened in their games. I contributed a story about my encounter with a Werewolf: The Apocalypse player at a comic book store, which made another technician, McElroy, scratch his chin awkwardly.

"Uhh.. To be fair, whenever someone mentions superheroes or comics, they get a 20 minute rant from you."

The little rat had a point, but I wasn't about to let it stick.

"Well, here's the thing," I argued, "You all know me. You know mentioning Superman or Wonder Woman will get a three hour explanation of what's pissing me off this month in the world of comics. I'm actually surprised you haven't sent the unsuspecting new guys into that trap."

"Oh yeah," he answers, "that's why I brought up Captain America that one day. I've been trying to get the new guys to do it, but no one will take the bait."

It all reminded me of Spanish class, when we tried to get the teacher to talk about sociology to distract from the actual learning. (It was amazing how often her tangents tied back to Nazis.) We were remarkably successful, as evidenced by my utter lack of any Spanish language skills.

This blog, however, has been a failure. At least in one of its original objectives, which was to give me a place to rant and rave about comics without driving my co-workers completely insane. I now rant and rave here and at work (and on dates), and my coworkers are driven quite up the wall. (And if I'm not talking comics, I'm talking religion or politics and nobody wants to discuss those here, at work, or on a date.)

In my defense, there's really no time to blog at work and things can't always wait until I get home. Especially when the Wonder Woman writer pisses me off.

The Kincaid Effect in Comics

The Hathor Legacy has a post and comment thread about female characters on TV that start off absolutely wonderful, but change their personalities after a point as they get romantically involved with a male character they wouldn't normally be with and you end up with a character you despise. Betacandy calls it the Kincaid Effect, after the Law and Order character.

Its probably something to do with a changing writing team and cast, which of course makes me think of how comic book character personalities change as the creative team changes. Often with the female characters, you get the Kincaid Effect where a once-likable female character is suddenly the embodiment of every feminine stereotype you hate and coupled with a male character she shouldn't look twice at.

I've seen this happen in comics. It seems a common thing in team books, and outside of team books it can be very, very abrupt. I think the Kincaid Effect happened to both Jade and Donna Troy when they got paired off with Kyle Rayner.

Funny how the opposite effect happened with Guy Gardner when he got paired off with Ice in JLI. You'd think Ice would have to be changed to get with him, but really it was Guy's personality that was altered to fit her. Resulting in a much more likable Guy Gardner. (I'd call that skill on Keith Giffen's part. He could probably make me like Jade or Donna.)

This bears some thought.

Happy Easter

Its Easter Sunday and the blogiverse (all of the parts I frequent, at least) is filled with blasphemous Zombie Jesus jokes, and adorable Peeps links. So, here's a change of pace:



(My sister tells me that's actually a fun movie.)

Anyway, you'll get no Easter Zombie post from me until someone puts this song to footage from King of Kings.

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

From Heinberg's blog:

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

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

Friday Night Fights, Round 4

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

More Dresden Files Posting

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spontaneous Dresden Files/King Arthur Comparison

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blog Against Sexual Violence Day

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

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

Then, go to abyss2hope's linklist and read.

Link

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

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

Either way, Mr. Frazier was not amused.

I've been a feminist a long damned time.

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

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

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

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

No Post Today/No Comics Today.

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



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

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

I'll get to the comics eventually

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

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

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

White Ethnic Blogs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

White woman doesn't sound much better.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, who went to Emerald City ComiCon?

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

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

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

So, what did she say?

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

Fan or Fanatic?

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

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

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

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

Happy Pranksgiving Everyone

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

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

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

Wonder Woman #6

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

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

And why is Nemesis suddenly acting like Xander Harris?

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

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

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

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

Cover Cliches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It isn't.

But at least I still have this cover.



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now, a meme.

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


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

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

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

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

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

Let's repeat that last part.

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

Again, so it sinks in.

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

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

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

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

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

Because a fan of Jack Kirby obviously has impeccable taste.

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


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

While I Was Out

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



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

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

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

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

Dear Mr. Marz,

This is getting out of hand.

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

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

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

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

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

It'll be different at least.

Regarding Birds of Prey #104

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

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

I'll...

I'll...

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

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

I'm Back

5 different amusement parks (run by two different companies) over 5 days. I think I may be more tired than when I left. I believe my sister and mother are quality-timed out.


I had a wonderful time. I also got a picture with Cyclops, and yes, I did get mouse ears at the other park.



(That's me and my sister -- who comments as Sinspired -- by the way. I fully expect anyone who mocks either picture to comment in the comments, by the way.)

Predictably, Tower of Terror and Space Mountain were among the best rides at Disney, but I was surprised that Men in Black topped out Universal's rides. (I did personally like the Jaws boat ride, though).

I'd advise you to avoid reading and asking about anything before you do Tower of Terror, though. Part of the fun is in not expecting what they do.

We also got to taste the original recipe for Alfredo sauce at Epcot. They have a branch from Alfredo's in Rome in their Italy section, the restaurant founded by the guy who invented Alfredo sauce.

Epcot's little World Showcase section was a bit surreal, though. There was a sign in the bathroom saying the baby care center was in Mexico. Mexico was right next to Norway which bordered China which Germany which bordered Italy and so on. All of the salesmen and waiters were from whatever country they represented, which made me wonder if there's some sort of amusement park employee exchange program. Are there people from the US in Japan or Norway wearing cowboy hats and doing rope tricks to replace all those people in the folk costumes?

Anyway, I think I need to recover from vacation now.

Did I miss anything big this week?

Friday Night Fights

Friday Night's just passed in my timezone, but Bahlactus demands I represent:

With that burst of violence, I leave for vacation. This blog is closed for a week.

Unless you'd like to brawl in the comments, in which case feel free.

The Sound of Meme-ing.

While I was trying to think of something for Dorian's Batman picture, the infamous Dave Campbell posted a panel I couldn't resist. (I hope its readable, I don't have a good image editor.)


This, of course, led to my nonsensical answer to Dorian's meme.


Yeah, that's all I've got tonight.

(Chris wanted another post about him, but he can take his rage out on Gordon.)

Once you think of the joke, you can't leave it alone.

Always Remember...


Heaven have mercy on us all.

(Blame both this and this.)

Missed some things.

I had a crummy week, and ended up missing Blog Against Sexism Day on Thursday, which was also International Women's Day.

We don't do much on IWD in the US, so really no one offline reminded me of it. I found out when Chris, of all people, asked me when "Mighty Uterus Day" was. (I'm suggesting sometime in May).

Anyway, some good posts at the linked blogs (I can't seem to find the direct link to the theme posts, though), and I found one other neat thing through Feministe.

It seems that there is finally a Feminism 101 Blog. Its called Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog.

I thought some of you might be interested.

I'll always have DC...

Even though I'm sure it will be undone, seeing the lengths Marvel will go to to get attention depresses me. They've stooped low enough I don't really care what happens in the Marvel Universe anymore. Considering that I'm still a loyal DC reader after Infinite Crisis, that's quite a feat.

At times like this I turn to my trusty trade paperback/back issue collection to cheer me up. It rarely disappoints.


The beauty of Doom Patrol is that in context this panel makes both more and less sense than it does on its own.

How long will this last?

Since the news of Captain America #25 has reached even the underside of my rock, I feel I can safely assume we're beyond spoiler warnings by this point. (At least, I am, since someone at work read it off of CNN before I had a chance to run to the store.) If not, this poll is pretty vague anyway.

[Poll Closed. Results.]

I have an idea of what this and Civil War probably symbolizes, and what happens next based on that idea, but I think I'll spare you because its absurd to postulate that a story centering on Captain America is necessarily about the United States. That sort of absurd self-centeredness is why people hate Americans, after all.

Returning to sanity...

That was fun.

Now, before I get into this, let me thank all the thoughtful people who disagreed and agreed and conversed about propaganda. The majority of the responses.

To the rest of you, I'd like to mention a few things:

1) Despite the fact that I prefaced and ended the post pointing out that I, even possessing the opinion, knew that the opinion was batshit insane, there were a few commenters who felt it was necessary to point out that it was batshit insane. I appreciate your concern.

2) It feels weird to be accused of being overly Americentric because I saw a US-related metaphor in a project involving known Americentric propagandist Frank Miller. (This goes for the person who thought my opinion it would be homophobic and misogynistic was unethical. I've read enough Frank Miller stories to know what to expect, thank you.)

3) Its always fun to see responses to expressing an aversion to seeing a movie based on the marketing for the movie complain about how someone is judging the movie based on the marketing for the movie. You know, the stuff designed to make us want to see the movie. This really fits the mood of the comics-reading community, where we spend hours commiserating about editorial decisions about comic books that we dropped months ago. (And comparing the war in Iraq to my decision not to see a movie was an interesting analogy. Plus the 3 blind men story is cliche, overrated, and quite probably offensive to blind people.)

4) Not a criticism, but its oddly gratifying to find out that people in Iran are having much the same debate.

(Also, this response thread was fun to read, it made me imagine what archaeologists and historians three thousand years from now will say about the 21st Century world. That made me laugh myself silly.)

I've heard he says he writes strong women too...

Okay, everyone has their own crazy idea. I spend all of my time mocking the crazy ideas I find across the internet.

Well, now its time to reveal my own special insanity. The idea that is so strange that I know it will probably make the entire internet sit up, blink, and ask when I went so insane.

I won't watch The 300 because the trailer makes it look like Anti-American propaganda.

Okay, hear me out here. Yes, I know what Frank Miller has said about his patriotism and that, in all likelihood, this movie was meant as war propaganda in the USA's favor, but every time I see the trailer I get this little creeping feeling in my stomach that its not going to show that way.

What makes me think this?

Because the premise is a group of 300 poorly armed men against the greatest fighting force in the known world. The voice-over refers to the "thousand nations of the Persian Empire" and shows an ethnically diverse group of people in power positions who are obviously villains. The Spartans, vastly outnumbered and overpowered, are all the same race, gender, and religion.

I'm absolutely certain that the US parallels better to the Persians, and I do not want to watch two hours of such an obvious US-parallel getting the Frank Miller-villain treatment.

There it is, Internet. My seemingly batshit crazy aversion to The 300. That's right, I'm not thrown by the misogyny and homophobia that is guaranteed to be contained within or any of the already stated reasons to not want to see this movie, but I'm obsessed with the unpleasant political parallels that so very few people have pointed out.

And I wonder who Frank Miller thinks he's fooling.

I await your reaction.

(ETA: See, I'm not alone!)

Submission Call for the 12th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

Elayne Riggs will be hosting the 12th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans.

Deadline: March 29th
Contact: elayne[dot]riggs[at]gmail[dot]com or submission form.
Carnival Date:March 31st.
Guidelines

If anyone is interested in the 13th, email ragnellthefoul[at]hotmail[dot]com to volunteer.

Digital Lantern

Remember a while back when we had the suggestion that Barbara Gordon be a Green Lantern, and Kalinara argued against it? Well, the idea that the ultimate Green Lantern would have be a computer programmer still persists in some circles, and I have to say, as presented, it bothers me for one main reason.

The logic is that a computer programmer would use his or her technological knowledge to take Oan technology to a level previously unimagined.

That's arrogant as hell.

With Oa, we are talking about the race so advanced, that knows the nuts and bolts of the DC Universe so well, that their technology is indistinguishable from sorcery. Abara Kadabra is a picker by comparison. Coluans look at their artificial intelligence system and wish they could come up with something so beautifully advanced.

Hacking a Green Lantern ring using your 21st century human computer knowledge is akin to tapping a fiber optic line using your l33t skillz at the electric telegraph.

No, that's too generous. Its like tapping a fiber optic line using your l33t skillz at semaphore flag signals.

Either way, its not going to happen.

I'm not ragging on the engineers and the physicists here. They're brilliant. We've come an amazing way as a species and our technology is awesome. But to think that we don't have an immense way to go is simply delusional. Actually, to think that we have figured out how the universe works and only have to refine it from there shows a distinct lack of imagination.

No one is saying that a computer programmer, by nature of the job itself, would not make a good lantern. However, they would have the type of person who learns very quickly that they don't know as much about how the universe is put together as they think they do or else they'll find themselves limited by their assumptions. In short, they need their imagination much more than they need their technological knowledge.

Its a story I'd love to read, on reflection. But not for the same reasons I've been hearing from the people who suggest it.

I'm sorry.

To Christopher Sims, Humorist/Comics Blogger,

I lost the banner you made for me when I updated my blog template. I am a truly horrible person, unworthy of your friendship. Please Forgive me.

Guilt-fully,
Ragnell the Foul, Ranter/Comics Blogger

Guess who has a blog.

(I was planning to totally ignore the guy, but Kalinara showed me this post and it was so funny I had to play with it.)

Fifteen Absolutely Absurd Things Dave Sim Seems to Believe Wholeheartedly

1. A father who works a full-time job and delegates to a woman the raising of his children twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week does just as good a job as a father who hand-rears his children full time.

2. It makes great sense for a full-time waitress to have to pay 10 to 15,000 dollars a year to fund a daycare space for a child so its divorced father - who pays no child support and spends no time at home - can be free of any responsibility.

3. A man or a doctor has more of a valid claim on the contents of a uterus than does the woman to whom that uterus is a part of her body.

4. So long as a father makes a decision in favor of the potential life, he is incapable of making an unethical choice.

5. Two people work in exactly the same manner as a single automobile so there is no reason for marriage to be an equal partnership.

6. There is no reason for women to be allowed to join or participate fully in any gathering place for men, just as it is absolutely necessary that men never be excluded from a female-only environment.

7. Because it requires that women be actually considered for a job that could otherwise go to a less qualified man, affirmative action is a terrible injustice.

8. Women are incapable of using a gun or driving a firetruck because none of them can even bench press the bar.

9. Affirmative action at colleges and universities needs to be destroyed because now that more women than men are being enrolled, there is absolutely no chance that the majority white male academic boards will start favoring white male applicants ever again.

10. Because a woman told me I was a asshole for saying any of the above, there is a feminist conspiracy to eliminate my constituional right to be an asshole without being called on it.

11. Paying a few hundred dollars a month is far more of a hardship than carrying a child to term, squeezing it out your vagina, and offering it love, attention, and support for eighteen years on your own.

12. An untrained woman who married a man and let her education and career lapse in order to supoport his dreams deserves to starve and live on the street once he strikes it rich and decides to find a younger wife.

13. A man who takes no personal involvement in raising a child aside from throwing money at it knows more about what that child needs than a woman who dedicates the majority of her life to that child.

14. Despite the fact that every man is a unique individual, and each man relates to women differently, saying that one man is being an asshole to a woman automatically means you think all men are assholes all the time.

15. Disagreeing with any of these statements makes you a hairy-legged man-hating lesbian separatist.

(Yeah, I know, this was too easy. But I was trying to relax this weekend.)