So I was chatting with a friend earlier in the week and the subject of The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special came up. More specificially, we talked about how the reviews for the special, for the most part, have been overwhelming negative. Now, both of us have been harsh critics of Winick's work with Green Arrow and Black Canary for quite a while now. So all the recent complaints on the blogosphere about how Judd wrote Dinah Lance as a helpless bimbo and Oliver Queen as a shallow liberal stereotype were no surprise to us.
And it was at this point she lamented, "I need a t-shirt that reads 'I Hated Judd Winick Before It Was Cool'.
Well, I can't afford to make t-shirts but I am pretty handy with Photoshop. By the end of the evening, I had icons made of Green Arrow and Black Canary saying her slogan.
I posted the icon to my journal and used it to answer a few posts around the blogosphere. To put it mildly, it struck a chord with the annoyed and the frustrated left in the wake of the Wedding of Doom! And this lead me to think; there's a whole lot more characters Winick has messed up. And a whole lot of icons that people might want made for their character of choice.
So here it is; the complete works of an evening's labor. Something for everyone, I think.
Are you a Kyle Rayner fan who was saddened to see your favorite hero's book slowly turned into a platform for Judd Winick's personal pet issues? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Jade fan who was shocked to see your favorite heroine get stripped of all personality; first as a generic girlfriend to Kyle and then as a generic female in Outsiders? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Green Arrow fan who has loathed every single thing about the last four years and how your favorite hero went from being a Hemingway-quoting man of the people into a Bill Clinton caricature with a goatee? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Black Canary fan who despised The Wedding (not very) Special and how your favorite heroine was turned into an empty-headed bimbo with all the fighting skills of a trout? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Connor Hawke fan who grew depressed as your hero became more and more of a bit player, with little of the spark he had in the good old days under Chuck Dixon? We have an icon for you!
Are you a fan of Mia Dearden, who was sickened that her entire past was rewritten for the sake of a Very Special Episode of Green Arrow? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Black Lightning fan who hated how the man who once retired from superheroics when he thought he couldn't use his powers safely was turned into a cold-blooded killer in defiance of decades of characterization? We have an icon for you!
Are you an Arsenal fan who can't stand how your favorite character was turned from the competent leader of two separate Titans teams into the biggest idiot ever? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Nightwing fan who was annoyed that your favorite character was written so badly out of character that you couldn't tell if the man calling himself Nightwing was Dick Grayson or Jason Todd in disguise for several months? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Dr. Light fan who was flabbergasted that the man who once decried the lack of Asian female protagonists in popular culture would take one of the few Asian female heroes DC Comics has, depower her in the most degrading way possible and then leave her bleeding to death on the floor without ever resolving her story? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Deathstroke fan who is disappointed that the once moral mercenary has been transformed into yet another generic ninja villain with no code of honor at all? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Captain Marvel fan who can't believe that Judd Winick has been selected to rewrite Captain Marvel and Shazam for the 21st Century while Jeff Smith's stories are taking place on another Earth? We have an icon for you!
Are you a Mary Marvel fan who is irked that, for some reason, Mary wasn't good enough to be considered as the next heir to the title of Captain Marvel (despite years of stories to the contrary) and that she was left falling to her doom with no resolution in Winick's Shazam series? We have an icon for you!
These icons are free for anyone to use, so long as credit is given where credit is due. Use them in good health and spread the word of why you use this icon wherever you may go on this wacky place we call the Internet.
I want them all! Okay, most, but I think I'll just take the Deathstroke one.
ReplyDeleteThese would make great color...whatever the hell those are(like the Jason Todd one I use).
You should post a link to these at .
Dude ... you really are becoming a hero to me.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that group existed. Thanks for the tip. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hero. I'm just a man who really wants Judd Winick to stop messing up my favorite characters.
ReplyDeleteI've nabbed the Dinah icon. Looks like Robin's going to need to find a new home. Thanks for making these. They make me feel a wee bit better.
ReplyDeleteThese are hillarious, but I didn't hate Winick until the GA/BC wedding special. (mostly cuz I didn't read those titles...) So I don't know if I'm deserving of them. XD
ReplyDeleteGlad I could make you feel better.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not like there's an official Judd Winick Haters club that is going to check your membership date. :)
ReplyDeleteSo go ahead and take one, if you like!
TOOOo MANY FOR ME!! ZOMG..
ReplyDeleteAIEE... I snagged four.
no wait...
ReplyDeletesix... >_< he's DONE SO MUCH WRONG TO ME
I nabbed the Dinah icon, the Nightwing icon, the mary icon...
ReplyDeleteYou see, there really are so many reasons for me to have a grudge against Winick that it's hard to pick just one...
Indeed. Which is why I tried to make as many as possible to cover everyone I've heard complain about Winick for one reason or another after I made Ollie and Dinah.
ReplyDeleteRe: no wait...
ReplyDeleteI know. And yet, I can't help but think I'm forgetting someone.
Yet, you know... I ENJOYED the way he wrote Jason in Under The Hood...
ReplyDeleteThen, I thought to myself "Wait a minute, he writes EVERYONE like an idiotic asshole. It just happens to WORK here." :)
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am the guy who always makes that complaint about Winick whining about the lack of powerful Asian females, and then completely mistreating Dr. Light. Needless to say, you have my full support on the whole Winick issue.
And thank you for all the avatars. I liked 11 of these characters, so I may be alternating between them quite a bit!
Matt - may I recommend Cafe Press (http://www.cafepress.com/ ) to you? Your PhotoShopped illustrations can be EASILY adapted into attractive t-shirts, hoodies, coffee cups, beer steins and even teddy bears at NO cost to you! :) Of course, Cafe Press takes out a fortune for every order, and does have a "no copyrighted/trademarked images" rule - but until they catch you, it'd be a blast to buy these!
ReplyDeleteParanthetically, after reading this I'd like to apologize for having ever stood up for Judd Winick...for ANYTHING. WTF, anyway? I think Gail Simone and Tammy are forming a support group to deal w/the trauma of what Winick did to one of their favorite characters (well, two in Tammy's case, since she always felt Ollie wasn't bad, just badly-written after Grell left GA & BC),
Best,
Tim Liebe
Dreaded Spouse-Creature of Tamora Pierce - and co-writer of Marvel's WHITE TIGER comic (TPB out now - at LAST!)
Re: Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell, I actually made that one with Marionette of Dance of the Puppets in mind. She was the first one I knew of who articulated that particular complaint.
Still, I'm glad you liked it. :)
Tim-
ReplyDeleteYou'd be the second one to recommend them to me. Sadly, it's not going to happen.
First, because my acting troupe tried using CafePress once upon a time and their products are of such poor quality that we never used them again nor will I ever use them again.
Second, there is the copyright issue. I can get away with making icons but the minute I make one dime off of a Green Arrow "I hate Judd Winick" shirt, I will have a swarm of lawyers upon me. And even though all they'd be able to claim is my computer and about 40 grand in student loan debts, I'd rather not deal with that.
Third, I'm pretty sure that Gail is a fan of Ollie's too. She wrote him too well in that one JLU episode and that one Birds of Prey not to be.
Fourth, where can we all sign up for that support group? :)
In fairness, he doesn't write everyone like an idiotic asshole.
ReplyDeleteHe also writes assholes who know everything and are oh so smug about it, ala Batman and Deathstroke.
Re: no wait...
ReplyDeleteDidn't Judd write Graduation Day....
Donna Troy
Re: no wait...
ReplyDeleteCo-wrote with Geoff Johns. So we really can't be sure that was his idea. Besides, didn't she just wake up on another planet as a goddess instead of really dying?
Lilith Clay though... SHE got killed and never came back...
I stand corrected. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah on the CafePress thing - though I've got a couple of their shirts and mugs and don't think they're so bad, myself. But the trademark issue - they'll hit you from all sides, six ways from Sunday on that one!:o OTOH, if they'd take your student loan debts away from you.... ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's true about Gail - I remember her writing Ollie in BoP, and liking his portrayal better than the concurrent one in GA. I just didn't want to put words in her mouth.
As for where you sign up - I'll ask Tammy and find out,
Best,
Tim
Can I get one with Tony Isabella's picture on it?
ReplyDeleteNot unless you make it yourself.
ReplyDeleteI thought about it. But I decided against making one of him.
Because whatever Isabella's issues with Winick's writing (a Google-search should tell everyone else that whole story), it's clear that he blames DC Editorial more than Winick himself or is at least more willing to blast them for how his creation was treated than another writer.
As such, I'm reluctant to put words in his mouth.
No problem. I was just kidding anyway. Besides, this Nightwing one is cool! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRe: Thank you!
ReplyDeleteActually, she didn't point out Judd's hypocrisy in the article in question (http://marionetteblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/incandescent-losing-light.html - for those who want to read it). I did (as Herald) in the comment section of the article.
I dunno. I think I'm the guy who liked Winick before it was cool. I read some of his early stuff for Marvel and thought he was maybe the worst writer the company had, but his revampy DC work pretty handily won me over.
ReplyDeleteAnd if your argument is that Winick is a bad writer, how on early can you hold up a charmless mediocrity like Chuck Dixon as a plausible alternative?
Re: Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI meant articulated the complaint about Dr. Light being treated badly and not the more specific complaint about Judd's hypocrisy. But I did write that in a somewhat confusing manner. Mea culpa.
Good on both of you and thanks for your complements on the icons. :)
I dunno. I think I'm the guy who liked Winick before it was cool. I read some of his early stuff for Marvel and thought he was maybe the worst writer the company had, but his revampy DC work pretty handily won me over.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, I have a group of close friends - whose judgement I trust completely - who think Exiles is one of the best books to come out of Marvel in the last ten years. I've actually enjoyed some of Judd's work for Vertigo and what little bits of Barry Ween I've read. I just don't think he can write established characters worth a damn.
And if your argument is that Winick is a bad writer, how on early can you hold up a charmless mediocrity like Chuck Dixon as a plausible alternative?
I'm not the biggest Chuck Dixon fan in the world. I find his personal politics offensive (he was the brains behind American Power - the book which basically killed Crossgen Comics) and I think "Last Laugh" is the worst Big Crossover Event DC Comics ever did. But I respect the guy for a number of reasons.
1. He's Accesible
Unlike many other writers, he'll talk to people who don't like his work and try to explain himself on his personal message boards.
2. He Does His Homework
Like Clancy or Griffin, you can be reasonably sure that when Chuck starts writing about the technical aspects of spycraft, he's presenting factual information and even the stuff he makes up is kept well grounded in reality.
3. He Can Write Action
Sometimes, his comics may be the graphic novel equivalent of a mindless summer action movie... but they're almost always a GOOD mindless summer action movie! Even us Gaiman-reading, tea-swilling critics like a comic that is as simple as 'Black Canary fights dinosuars on a tropical island while trying to vacation' once in a while.
4. He created Birds of Prey specifically to bring Black Canary back into the Spotlight after she all but went into limbo after kicking Ollie out of the house.
For that alone, I can forgive a lot - even the Greg Land artwork.
5. He Can Write Characters He Disagrees With
In his time on Green Arrow, Dixon developed a character who was his total opposite and still prestened him as a good role-model. Dixon is, by all accounts, a conservative, caucasian, red-meat eating, red-blooded American Christian. Connor Hawke is a basically liberal, mixed-heritage, vegetarian, red-blooded American Buddhist. And yet, Dixon wrote Connor as an intelligent, well-adjusted young man who was very much a heroic and positive role-model with no bad qualities other than being naive and overly-hopeful.
Compare this to Judd Winick, whose conservative characters are always villains and never have any justification for their opions other than being just plain evil (the gay-bashers from Green Lantern) or out to make money in the most improbably stupid fashion (the CEO from 'Straight Shooter', who decided the best way to cover up his crimes was to turn his minority construction workers into drug zombie demons and start killing lawyers).
Chuck Dixon knows how to write characters in-character.
ReplyDeleteRe: Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget me too! I'm the one who first pointed out what happened to Dr.Light to her in the first place
funny :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a bunch of losers!
ReplyDeleteOh no! Winick writes gay bashers as evil! How awful!!
Two points.
ReplyDelete1. You obviously must not have read a lot of my writing to assume that my problem with Judd Winick's writing lies with his portraying the evils of extreme homophobia. Remember what happens when you assume.
2. Get a LJ and a logon so we can all know who you are. This is the first and last time I will say this and the first and last time I will respond to your trolling.
(here from WFA)
ReplyDeleteTechnically it's written for nostalgic adults rather than kids, but can I refer you to PS238 -- http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ps238/index.htm
Re: No Santa?
ReplyDeleteHe has.
Of course it should be noted that Hal is kind of an idiot and has probably been on the naughty list for years given everything he put his mom through. ;)