Looks like one of those shadows is now filled in...

Newsarama has the DC teaser solicits up already (full solicits on Monday). Down at the bottom they have a picture of the JLA#4 cover with what looks to be a slight spoiler on the lineup.

A few more thoughts before the full solicits come out:

On Birds of Prey's cover, we see prospective membership candidates. This may be some character's one chance to get away from Judd Winick or Daniel Acuna...

Why isn't Beau Smith writing this?

Adam Hughes on Deadlines and All-Star Wonder Woman

I've only seen this on the Beat, and have just gotten around to posting it now that I've also seen it on a message board. Adam Hughes talks about All-Star Wonder Woman on Byrnerobotics:

Secondly, I am not doing a 'monthly'. My commitment to ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN is for 6 issues. My schedule is to hand in 10 pages, pencilled and inked, a month. The issues will be released monthly, on-time, because we're starting far enough in advance. You will get your ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN every four weeks.

I think that if the announcement had been worded that 'Adam Hughes is doing 132 pages of WONDER WOMAN', there'd be less confusion and consternation.

Later on, he gives us his intentions for the series:

As for ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN, wish me luck. DC is really letting me do my thing, and if the books stinks like a fishwife it'll be all my fault. :-) I'm supposed to do 10 pages a month (I'm shooting for 11) so that way I'll (hopefully) have a 22-page issue done every 2 months. I'll be staying on the covers of CATWOMAN while doing this, so that no one thinks I'm dead. Laura Martin is going to be coloring the book; I'll be working hand-in-hand with her to make sure the books looks as good as it can. Check out our 2-page Wonder Woman origin in DC's 52, #12 for a taste of how ASWW will probably look. My dream for ASWW is to cram as much character & story into Diana's tale as humanly possible, with the type of action set-pieces that will make Joss Whedon scream "Damn you, Adam Huuuuuuuughes!!!" into the rain, shaking his tiny fists in impotent rage.

Hopefully he means that he has an issue due every two months for the company, and that it will actually ship every four weeks as he said in the original post.

It's still bothering me...

This quote from Reginald Hudlin.

"Why did you choose T'Challa's [Black Panther's] first love over his ex-fiancee, Monica Lynne?

RH: Because Superman should be with Wonder Woman, not Lois Lane..."

No, not for the previously mentioned reasons.

I've seen people pair up Wonder Woman archetypal Equivalents with Superman sorts before. It's not a bad thing in itself (though I still maintain that it is a terrible idea using Wonder Woman herself and superman himself), but still, I have a problem wtih that quote.

It's the comparison of Black Panther to Superman as Storm is compared to Wonder Woman.

You see, Storm is part of one of the most popular comics of all time. She was a regular in two cartoon series, a headliner in three movies, part of six video games and has been seen on a fairly regular basis in various X-Men books since 1975. She was even voted by fans, during the Marvel vs DC crossover eyars ago, to beat Wonder Woman in a fight.

Black Panther has appeared as a cameo in a Fantastic Four cartoon, on and off as an Avenger, and in various, oft-cancelled comic book series. He's projected to appear in an animated film.

Storm, having the more consistant media explosure, is considerably more popular and well-known despite being all but written out of X-Men in recent years. Black Panther is getting a push right now for the big time, but really only appears in his own book and has very little outside of comics media coverage.

Based on cultural impact and exposure, a far better analogy (much as it breaks my heart as a Wonder Woman fan) is that Storm is to Superman as Black Panther is to Wonder Woman.

Now, as a Wonder Woman fan I am vehemently opposed to a marriage between Clark and Diana. However, were it (one of the signs of the Apocalypse) to occur, it would occur in either an extra-sized wedding special, or Superman's book. The two characters would either both appear in both books, or Wonder Woman would become supporting cast in Superman's book. Because, as a Wonder Woman fan, I am realistic enough to know that Superman is the more popular character, and that the plotline would revolve around him.

So why is this marriage occuring in Black Panther's book and not one of X-Men series?

I was going to leave Marvel alone this time...

(In the end, I just couldn't resist)

In case you don't believe me.

August 14th

(EDIT: Oops. I worked dayshift, so I was in a hurry to get to bed last night. I made a slight boo-boo. Didn't see it until I came home from work. The WFA-list is now back on WFA. Sorry!)

Call for Submissions: Fourth Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

(Okay, Jenn is right, we need an acronym)

Anyway, because of the fuss of Wizardworld Chicago, I was remiss in my organizer duties and didn't get this information out as immediately as I should have. You still have ten days, though.

The Fourth Edition will be at Shrub.com on August 25th. Deadline is August 23rd

The suggested writing theme is feminist utopias and dystopias, but (as always) you’re free to write on anything that fits into the official guidelines.

Submissions are due by Wednesday, August 23, and can be mailed to me here (please use the subject heading Feminist SF Carnival) or submitted it via the Blog Carnival form.

The Sound of Nobody Disagreeing

You scored as Green Lantern. You would marry GREEN LANTERN! You like hotheaded flyboys. This guy is also a test pilot. Don't wear yellow and he will take you on the ride of your life.

Green Lantern		75%
Superman		64%
The Flash		61%
Batman		57%
Captain Marvel		57%
Green Arrow		43%
Aquaman		39%

What Justice League Member (Male) Would You Marry?
created with QuizFarm.com

Okay, I am surprised Green Arrow scored so high...

Good News for Supergirl Fans

From the DC Nation Panel at Wizardworld:

When will we see Supergirl act more like Supergirl, and less like the Punisher?

Didio: “When sales drop.”

Wayne: “I’ll second that.”

Strange, my question would have been when do we get to see the writers and artists handle her more like Supergirl and less like the Bomb Queen?

Anyway, found this information earlier at Kara Lives:

So before Loeb left, Supergirl was a top 10 book. Now that there were creator changes, delays, subpar plots, Supergirl has now been pushed back to the 20s. Here are the sales numbers provided by Newsarama.com :


21. Supergirl #7(res) -- 81.99 (thousand copies sold)
27. Supergirl #8(res) -- 74.07 (thousand copies sold)

Okay, who's still buying? I know I'm not buying. I tried it out for Greg Rucka, and a scan of issue #7 told me the followup writer wasn't for me.

I know the incest love triangle thing is really interesting in a Jer-El Spring-Er sort of way, but if you want a real Supergirl, you're going to need to give it up. Save yourself three dollars. Buy the LSH one instead.

Because if sales keep dropping, we'll get Supergirl back!

Raquel "The Rocket" Ervin

I don't know why I was looking through the "I" section of the back issue bins at the store this week. Maybe it's because I know the "G" section by heart by now, and this was a change. Either way, I managed to find, for a dollar an issue, just about the entire run of Icon from Milestone Comics (I'm short issue 15 and 16). I felt guilty snatching them up, because they're tough to find, so I grabbed the first few issues and a few with Rocket (his sidekick) on the cover. I went back today and snatched up the rest of them.

Icon, on first glance, looks like the Milestone Comics version of Superman. Hell, he had the "Strange Visitor from Another Planet" bit down in the first two pages. There's a few major differences. For starters, he's black, and wears red and green as oppose to blue and red. He does some funky energy thing with his hands. Has no vision powers. He landed on a plantation in 1839, as opposed to a Kansas farm 30-40 years ago. He was a fully grown and matured alien being, but the ship physically changed his body to that of an infant human to keep him safe. He was raised during this false childhood as a slave, ended up in the Underground Railroad, fought in the Civil War, amassed a huge fortune, and works as lawyer Augustus Freeman IV (said as "the Fourth" in a snooty accent) in the rich part of Dakota (Milestone's fictional city). He's conservative, keeps to himself, and believes people can pull themselves out of poverty by their bootstraps. Actually his teenaged sidekick Raquel Ervin, Rocket, talks him into putting on the tights when she finds out he has superpowers. Seh designs the costume, she tells him what he needs to be. Tells him he has a responsibility to inspire and protect people, and, fortunately, he's just idealistic enough to listen.

In Icon #2, on their first night out as superhero and sidekick, Icon and Rocket leap into a hostage situation, and find the Dakota Universe equivalent of the Metropolis MCU pointing guns at them.

Icon, like any innocent citizen who's spend the last few decades in the rich part of town, and votes Republican, puts his hands over his head and offers to explain.

This could have gone one of two ways. Later on in the series, the cops are indeed established as decent people. But this was a tense situation, there still might have been a fight even if Icon got a chance to explain. Or, they could have treated him like Superman, and given him a shot. It could have been good or bad.

But we shall never know, because he was with Rocket.



It is a page and a half before we see Icon again, but it's worth it.



I think it's safe to say he's never had a teen sidekick before.

Never fear, they actually get to fight the villain in Issue 3.

(This post brought to you in honor of the last ten minutes of Chris Sims' birthday, Central Time. There will be more Rocket Awesomeness to come in the future.)

Hmmm...

Going over an old post I found...

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?

Would anyone consider that paragraph a justification for the convention of killing a girlfriend to further the hero's story?

Happy Birthday

Today is the anniversary of Chris Sims' birth, and I searched through my back issues for a piece of art awesome enough to honor the occasion. I found a couple of panels that caught my eye.

Chris, for your birthday, I give you...

Kyle Rayner and Barda Free in an Art Museum.



Hope you like it!

Thank Heavens!

I feared I would be too tired to blog tonight, but Mike has saved me! With a Green Lantern version of the Random Panels meme that's been going around. What would Tom Kalmaku write in his GL Casebook?





And here's my shot at the Bat Blank, though I'm sincerely surprised I hadn't seen it yet:

Crossposted from Comic-Bloc

I can't seem to keep out of these arguments, this one's about Pantha, but I ended up with some insights I thought I'd share. I'm arguing with this guy, not about specifics, but on dismissing the sexism argument at the outset. Here's my argument:

There's a wealth of symbolism and story cliches that enforce gender roles that people are thinking of when they bring this up. They are also thinking of superficially similar situations with men where things were treated differently. Instead of arguing these points with valid counters -- men who have been injured SPECIFICALLY to bring angst to a female character, which is the actual equivalent of the Fridge accusation; or reasons the character may have been considered disposable -- you're just plain dismissive of the person arguing because heaven forfend, someone may have brought up sexism.

Here's the thing, we live in a society with still very strict gender roles, as a guy you must know this -- its it socially acceptable for you to wear certain clothing, to express certain emotions? Well, on the female side we experience our own problems, where you are not expected to be able to do a certain job (science, math) or think a certain way (mechanically, logically) as well because of your gender. Sexism still exists, as we still have assumptions in our society about behavior that's proper for a man yet is not proper for a woman, and vice versa.

Since society has these gender roles and presuppositions, they are going to show up in stories also. Probably moreso than they show in real life. It's worth examining a female role in a story and how it may differ from a male role, sometimes it turns out to be inconsequential, yes (I can think of a few anti-Arisia posts I had to read twice before I decided it wasn't a putting the blame on the woman attitude so much as a "The main character can do no wrong" attitude), rarely does it turn out to be malicious (Actually, I can't think of an instance where I've believed a moment of sexism in comics to be intentional or malicious), but sometimes it needs to be looked into and changed.

You can't simply dismiss the argument offhand because sexism comes up. You have to actually address the person's concerns on a mature level. It's not only perfectly acceptable to examine the possibility of sexism, it's downright important to consider the option, not only in the stuff you dislike but also in the stories that you do like, and in your own attitude. Considering the possibility does not lead to conclusion that it exists and even more importantly, Concluding that it exists does not imply that it was malicious, or that the writer is a bad person or an unskilled writer, just that the cliche appeared. Gender roles are a common storytelling tool, but they're restrictive for all characters and looking into them opens up creative opportunities by expanding your range of character types and situations.

Again, I personally disagree with JLG on Pantha's death. I don't even think that a Fridge moment is necessarily a bad thing (I do think it's a terrible thing when we only see women on the one side of that narrative tool. And at the moment I can come up with men injured to give angst to other men before I can think of men injured or killed to give angst to women). But that's no reason to dismiss his concerns out of hand as "Freaking out over a female character."

What do you think? Effective, or cause for more defensiveness?

Why I was lazy earlier...

Because at this point, I still can't do anything but babble about Chicago. Content will be coming once that wears off. In the meantime, I've told yet another con story at Zamaron.

Oh, and forgot to mention earlier. We cornered Keith Giffen and asked him a very important Blue Beetle question. Jaime is pronounced like HI-mee, with the Spanish "J" rather than the Jamie I've been using in my head.

Hopefully I'll have something of substance tonight.

Meme: Influential Books

Tagged by Reappropriate

1. One book that changed your life

Magickal Herbalism by Scott Cunningham

2. One book you have read more than once

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

3. One book you would want on a desert island

Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters edited by Kathleen Regan.

4. One book that made you laugh

Tantra: The Way of Acceptance by Osho

5. One book that made you cry

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

6. One book you wish had been written

Respecting Your Character's Religion: A Resource for Comic Book Writers by L. Fortuner

7. One book you wish had never been written

I'm going to cheat here and give two broad categories that cover the absolute worst of two religions. All books analyzing current politics for signs of the Endtimes and all recipe-style Spell-books should be retconned out of existence.

If that's unacceptable, then The Once and Future King by TH White (On my bookshelf there's a collected edition, so it counts as one)

8. One book you are currently reading

Tarot Journeys by Yasmine Galernorn

9. One book you have been meaning to read

The Second Sex by Simone Beauvoir

10. Now tag five people!

Damn, I hate tagging people. I almost never respond to tags myself, but I liked this one. Anyway, Kalinara, Chris Sims, Steven, Tekanji, and Kevin should offer some variety, should they choose to accept this.

Wow, look what I missed...

I was at the DCU Panel and was generally very satisfied with their responses, but I've found out something very interesting since coming home.

From Newsarama:

Static or other Milestone characters? Levitz: "We keep talking about it. Nothing's come together yet. Dwayne McDuffie has been talking to Dan about bringing him into the DCU. But Dwayne's had some health issues."

I saw the above question. When I mentioned it in a conversation with West I was promptly shown this (he found it here):

Two things: Not that it's any of Wizardworld Chicago's business, but I didn't have surgery until May of this year. Eight weeks later, my doctors told me I could go back to work. Since then, I've written two comic books for Marvel, a series bible and development work for a new cartoon at Nickelodeon and sold a new animated series to BET. If Paul actually did imply that my illness interfered with ongoing negotiations, he has been misinformed.

It's been over three years since anyone from from DC Comics has spoken to me about using Static in the DCU. Dan DiDio and I had a single, preliminary discussion. I heard nothing else from DC until I was called on the phone a few weeks later by someone introducing herself as "the editor of Static Shock." I informed her that this seemed premature, as no agreement had been made between DC and Milestone. Since that call, I've heard nothing further on the matter from Dan or anyone else at DCU.

Looks like Paul Levitz has a little bit of explaining to do.

So I've Returned...

There are too many miles between Chicago and Oklahoma City. Maybe we could move Missouri out of the way.

Anyway, after a two day drive, I've finally made it back and I'm afraid to look at my bloglines. Wizardworld was a lot of fun, I got to see my sister, hang out with her, found a present for her, got my hands on Dracula vs King Arthur, picked up random independant books in Artist's Alley (mainly based on which sellers I liked best and how much cash I had on me at any given time), found a discounted copy of The Traditions Gathered sourcebook from White Wolf Games that had the Sons of Ether in it, read Tarot, fight on the way to the airport, make up at the terminal.

We had fun and a instant ice-breaker for all of geekdom ("So what happens When Fangirls Attack?") with our shirts, but sadly, no canned response. This was embarassing when, as I mentioned earlier, Dan Didio asks me for one at each Planning a repeat trip next year (not sure to which con) so we have until then to think of one.

I could have asked something insightful and relevant, but instead decided to ask about Carol Ferris and Katma Tui. Geoff Johns answered that we'll get an appearance by Star Sapphire, the Zamarons, and/or Carol in Green Lantern and the end of GL: Mosaic (Okay, I disguised my Katma question as one about John Stewart) is still in continuity. I asked that one a second time for clarity, and he answered in the affirmative in from of everyone. Then, as related by Kalinara, we approached him afterwards and clarified that I meant the resurrection. So, this could be interesting.

Two other people asked about John in both panels. More prominence for John Stewart is still a vague promise. I hope we won't have to wait for all of Hal's personal issues to be sorted out, or else we'll be waiting forever.

Dan Didio reminds me of an extra-enthusiastic Uncle who likes to give out presents, or a First Shirt.

Keith Giffen told me to not call him "Mr Giffen" anymore. "Sorry Mr. Giffen."

Got autographs from Ron Marz, Geoff Johns, Dan Didio, and Keith Giffen -- now I just need to wait for that order of Dragon's Blood and Wisteria to come in at the New Age shop and I'm all set to control DC Comics for the next seven years! (Kidding... Put the torches away...)

I have a 52 poster with Grant Morrison's signature on it, and a beautiful poster of Hal Jordan in front of Saturn drawn (and signed) by Mark Sparacio.

I have pictures of all four of us together with Geoff Johns, and I desperately wanted one of me and Kalinara with Ron Marz but Kim went to a panel while he was signing autographs and my own camera didn't have working batteries. I have some nice pictures anyway, and someday I'll get one with Ron Marz for the website.

I was surprisingly excited to see Liberty Belle on the JSA cover.

Kalinara showed me the first part of Lexx which was appropriately weird.

I've now been lost in Chicago driving three times now, riding while someone else drives twice, and walking once.

On the way home I was lost in two Springfields, St Louis, Joliet, Joplin, and Tulsa.

Psychocat is still alive. (I had the apartment manager check in on him.) For an hour after I got home he whined if I wasn't petting him, and a few minutes ago he bit me. Twice.

I never called that guy who left me the love note (Dammit Kevin, learn to spell!), and I didn't see the Girl-Wonder.org folks at all!

But I still had a lot of fun!

Lost in WizardWorld, No Cyberspace in Sight

Well, I made it to WizardWorld Chicago, without my power cord for my laptop. This is why I haven't posted since Monday. I'm borrowing Kalinara's laptop (the keyboard sticks) right no. Yesterdy, we were too busy at the con to check. We got Geoff Johns' autograph. I have to go back with a copy of Green Lantern, but we got a picture of all four (myself, Kalinara, my sister, an Kali's roommate) of us with him. We know Ron Marz is scheduled to be there and I fully intend to find him and get his autograph and picture.

Yesterday, we were wandering the con in blue polo shirts with "When Fangirls Attack" and the url on our chests (Those weren't ringers, as someone asked my sister). Last night, I did laundry so we'll be wearing them again. We sat in the front of the DC Nation panel and annoyed the staff (Dan Didio called on me and my older sister at once), and we have the same plans for today.

Looked for the Girl-Wonder.org folks, didn't see anyone. Kim saw a few of their flyers left at Peter David's booth, much to the writer's apparent confusion.

My sleeping schedule is all messed up, I'm awake while the sun is out.

And last night I saw a note attached to my windshield. It was from a guy I met while waiting on AAA to change my flat tire. He left me his phone number and had postscript telling me he thought I was cute. He saw me for five minutes on Wednesday, before any other conventioneers came in!

In other news, my sister turned twenty-nine today so I must find her a present.

See you all when I get back!

Monday Misandry

Well, I'd have been satisfied letting the conversation fizzle out on this earlier post, but one last commenter showed up with some rather unusual ideas. He seems much more interested in talking about Harlequin romance being unfriendly to men right now, which would be fine except this is my blog and I don't know a damned thing about Harlequin romance books. I really don't care about Harlequin romance books, I want to read comic books. He also has some interesting views on what an "independent publisher" is, along with a rather questionable resume. I'd be inclined to just ignore him entirely, except his argument had an underlying idea that needs to be addressed.

His first comment:

The Big Two have no reason to publish shoujo-esque manga unless they wish to lose their core, primarily male fan base.

After we set him straight that we didn't want DC to market Manga, he continues:

Ragnell, the same arguments you made can be applied to any number of industries. Yet no one is suggesting that Harlequin market towards males. Why? What is the fear about marketing to men?

So I replied that I knew very little about Harlequin, and wouldn't argue against a male romance reader who suggested that they could be better marketed for men. I never once said that the way Harlequin practices business or writes books is okay in the least. I simply said, I knew nothing about the subject. He comes back:

Various companies appeal to certain markets regardless of whether people outside those markets also enjoy the stories. You seem in favor of it when the market is largely female. That’s quite hypocritical, and honestly you lose the support of male fans by doing that.

The commenter in question is from a blog I found by way of his linking to Girl-Wonder.org. I'm going to assume that he's aware of their complaints -- Stephanie Brown's treatment in particular -- as well as the ones I've brought up on this blog. In the comment thread he posted on, I had suggesting marketing a few superhero comics where women could find them, and having covers which were friendly to female readers.

Yet, and I believe this because he keeps bringing it up, he seems to feel that if something was done to make the superhero comics industry friendlier to female readers, that somehow male readers would be driven away.

As though male readers feed on the degradation and humiliation of female characters. As though, female characters must be disposable and never once in the spotlight for male readers to feel comfortable. As though bad art portraying practically pornagraphic images are what is necessary to sell to a male reader.

See, I simply must disagree. I very much doubt my father or my brother would be bothered by the suggested improvements in their entertainment. I've watched TV and discussed books and movies with the men I work with, and while they enjoy raunchy pictures found online and in their magazines, I've yet to see one of them flee from a story with a respectful portrayal of a woman. In the comic book store, when I point out that a female character got shafted in a storyline and describe a better way to handle her, most of the men in the store either agree that they would read a story about her, or come up with a better idea. I'm willing to bet a lot of Birds of Prey readers are male, as well as readerrs of Rucka's Wonder Woman and other stories that have "gotten it right" and would probably have been widely enjoyed by a female audience were they marketed to them. I've yet to see a man give up buying manga or name because he's seen it in a bookstore with female customers perusing the shelf. On the whole, I'd have that I have a high opinion of the male comic-book reading public, and I believe that good stories would be read by readers of both genders.

So, I have a question to ask that commenter, and anyone who agrees with him -- Why do you have such a poor opinion of men?

Blogging Survey

Heidi conducted a survey about blogging (Why, how, when people chose to do it) over at Comics Fairplay, and the results are up right now, in case anyone is interested.

Part One
Part Two
Summary