The Irony of Mockingbird #8 & The Stupidity of Anti-Feminists

I've never thought much of Mockingbird. What thoughts I've had about Bobbi Morse have not progressed much beyond "Black Canary rip-off".

While that's a little unfair to the character - who existed for nearly a decade in a variety of roles before she became Mockingbird - the historical record is clear on this point. Mockingbird was paired up with Hawkeye for the first time in his 1983 solo mini-series. This occurred several months after Green Arrow (famously paired with Black Canary for over a decade at that point) appeared in his own 1983 solo mini-series. And Mark Gruenwald - who wrote the Hawkeye mini-series - was known for taking inspiration from the Distinguished Competition. (There's a reason comic critics call the original Squadron Supreme one of the best JLA Elseworlds stories ever.)

The sad truth is that Mockingbird's writers did little to distinguish her as a unique character. Her most notable story-line before her death involved her being drugged, brainwashed and raped by The Phantom Rider and Hawkeye divorcing her for allowing her rapist to fall to his death, but really because he felt that she'd cheated on him. This is because Clint Barton is the worst, but I digress.

Take that general sense that there's no real character there apart from Mrs. Hawkeye. Throw in my general antipathy towards Marvel Comics at present as well as anything tied into Civil War II (The Search For More Money!) and the odds of my ever picking up an issue of Mockingbird were slim to none.

Then this cover came out and all Holy Hell broke loose.


Faster than you could say "two tubby Tribbles in trilbies", a certain contingent of fandom arrived to take back comics from The Feminist Menace. These attacks drove Mockingbird writer Chelsea Cain from Twitter once she got sick of dealing with sorting through hate speech to get to important messages. Why they went after the writer of this book rather than the artist who drew this cover I have no idea. Then again, this contingent of fandom - well-represented by this one fellow who claimed that "comics are the last safe space for men" - are not noted for their reasoning skills.

Thankfully, their efforts at harassment have backfired horribly. Because if there's one thing the majority of comic readers can't stand regardless of political credo, socioeconomic status or religious affiliation, it's bullies. As a result, the first TP collection of the the Mockingbird series is topping the Amazon sales charts, with the print book at #1 and the Kindle edition at #2. Vol. 2 of the series is at #8 on the charts, despite not being due out until April 2017.

In all this hullabaloo over a cover, I hadn't heard anyone say anything about the content of the book. I sought out a copy of Mockingbird #8 to see how the book's interior compared to the exterior. It turns out you can judge a book by its cover and had any of the people going after Chelsea Cain bothered to read this book before complaining about it, they would have been pissed off royally.


The basic plot of Mockingbird #8 is that Bobbi is on a Comic Convention cruise and is being harassed by the ghost of her aforementioned rapist, The Phantom Rider. He's trying to torment her with news that Clint Barton is on trial for murdering Bruce Banner and trying to win her back with "sweet talk" that will sound familiar to any woman who ever rejected a "nice guy". Thankfully, Bobbi is not without friends and everyone on the cruise - from the superstar nerds to the most humble of cosplayers - are united in fighting "The Phantom" menace.

Let us pause to consider that for a moment. A bunch of anti-Feminists lost their minds over the cover of a book - not knowing the story inside the book is about fandom standing up against harassment - and wound up inspiring a mass uprising of fandom against harassment. The irony is so thick you could slap a trilby on it and call it a Men's Rights Activist.



Ignoring all irony and my instant attraction to anything involving a cameo by The Doubleclicks, Mockingbird #8 is a damn fine comic. The script by Chelsea Cain is full of wit and humor. The artwork by Kate Niemczyk, Rachelle Rosenberg and Joëlle Jones looks fantastic. In fact, I was so impressed by this issue, I went and bought the rest of the series to date on Comixology.

So do I still think Mockingbird still a Black Canary rip-off?  Yeah, I do. But I enjoyed reading this book a lot more than I did the last Black Canary book. And if a dyed-in-the-wool Dinah Lance fan like me can say that with a straight face, there's no reason for you not to pick up Mockingbird Vol. 1 yourself.

Random Thoughts On Mad Max: Fury Road

It's been a week since Mad Max: Fury Road came out, and I think I can safely assume most of you have seen the movie and that we can now have a discussion about it.  So here are some random thoughts - some serious and others not - that occurred to me during the movie and over the past week.

In case you haven't seen it yet, SPOILERS AHEAD!





1.  There's an academic paper just waiting to be written contrasting this movie with Hell Comes To Frogtown. Both deal with a common theme of women being oppressed though HCTF has more comedic irony. Also, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

2. I love the drum-line vehicle. I want to stat this for Pathfinder and create the most awesome bard ever.




3. I can see why the MRA's hated this movie as it preaches radical feminist ideas like women shouldn't be forced into sexual slavery.

4. More impressively, it depicts the escaping brides taking an active role in their own emancipation rather than waiting for a man to rescue them.



5. For that matter, the movie shows that men are victimized by macho cultures too. Consider Nux and his treatment throughout the movie.

6. For all the talk about how feminist this movie is, I've heard precious little talk about how it also features protagonists with physical disabilities - both Furiosa with her arm and Nux with his anemia.



7. The movie is action-packed but also contains a surprisingly amount of artful symbolism. For instance, do you think it's a coincidence that it is the pregnant bride that gives Max water?  Fertility offering the symbol of life itself?

8. Texans and Californians make a lot of jokes about one another but we are united in one thing - making jokes about how Fury Road resembles our states.

Why Fury Road Is Like California - desert wasteland where everyone is dependent on social welfare.

Why Fury Road Is Like Texas - ruled over by violent fanatics who worship guns and oil.




9. Do you think there's a chance the delays in Fallout 4 have just been an excuse to buy time so they could wait for this to come out and then start adding new features/DLC based on it?

10. For that matter, how long before the modding community creates new material based on this for Fallout New Vegas?

Mad Max: Fury Road - A Spoiler-Free Review

Mad Max: Fury Road is a collection of paradoxes. It is both an action flick and an artsy film. It is both a testosterone-fest and a celebration of feminist ideals. It is gloriously over-the-top while simultaneously subtle.

But what it is above all else is a damn good way to spend two hours of your life.

No previous familiarity with George Miller's other Mad Max films is required.  Everything you need to know about Max as a character is explained within a few minutes before moving on to the plot.  I shan't say any more about the story beyond that.

I'll write a more in-depth review for those of you who'd like to talk philosophy later this week.  For now, I think it is enough to say that I liked this movie and I think everyone should see it.

Fast Thoughts On "The Progressive Effort To Ban Booth Babes And Sexy Cosplay"

I'm not going to link to the article that inspired this. I refuse to give them any more traffic.  If your Google-Fu is strong, you should be able to find it easily enough.

Suffice it to say, there's a conspiracy theory going around about a progressive women's effort to ban booth babes from major conventions and how this is the opening salvo before banning sexy cosplay and professional cosplayers who sell pin-up style pictures of themselves at conventions.  The evidence that this is happening?  PAX's ban on booth babes!

Personally,  I find it hilarious that Penny Arcade Expo is being accused of "social justice warrioring" given that the con is run by the same people responsible for The Dick Wolves Fiasco. And I also find it hilarious that - based on the comments I've seen on this issue - most of the people in favor of the booth-babe ban are the same people who support Gamergate.  Not the dreaded feminists or comic book girls!

The honest truth is that every time the topic of banning booth babes or sexy cosplay from conventions has come up before, the movement was always driven by conservative elements. From Pat Broderick's claims that "cosplay are just selfies in costume" to Tony Harris' complaints about cosplaying women preying upon innocent young men, women are always blamed for tarting up the noble and innocent world of comic books.  Never mind that Wizard World sells booth space to strip-clubs...

The sad truth is that sex sells. This is true throughout Western culture and is not limited to the fandom arena. This is why we have cheerleaders at sporting events and why there is a whole sub-category of restaurants devoted toward the female wait-staff wearing very little clothing.

And while I take personal offense to the idea that I can be persuaded to buy anything just by flashing a little cleavage, I refuse to believe that the sudden push to remove booth babes and sexy women from conventions is being driven by angry feminists.  Not when feminist comic writers like Gail Simone and Kelly Sue DeConnick routinely repost cosplay pictures on their Twitter accounts and ask fans to send in pictures of themselves dressed like the characters from their books. Nor when there are companies like Charisma Plus Two, who procure genre-savvy models for those who need one.

Bitch Planet #3 - A Review

Whereas the first two issues of Bitch Planet were devoted to establishing the setting and the theme, Bitch Planet #3 is a character study.  The focus here is upon Penelope "Penny" Rolle - a.k.a. the overweight hell-raiser who had been seen in the background of the first two issues but was never the focus of the action... until now!


Kelly Sue DeConnick has done great character analyses in other series and that talent is on full display here.  We get a good look at Penny's formative years and see how she's been triply-cursed, being a woman, not White and overweight in a society that shuns BBWs. Ironically, this personally focused story does a better job of displaying the culture of Bitch Planet than the first two issues or at least in showcasing the problems such a world poses for non-compliant women.


Robert Wilson IV handles the artwork this time around and proves a capable substitute for Valentine De Landro.  Wilson's style is reminiscent of Mike Allred's, but with a gritty edge that does not diminish its clarity in the least.  All in all, the artwork is once again a match for DeConnick's writing and this series continues to be one of the best comics in existence.

Bitch Planet #2 - A Review

With the basic premise of its world established in the first issue, Bitch Planet #2 travels at a more sedate pace as the basic plot begins to unfurl. We find out that the society of this world is built around an annual sporting event called Megaton - or Duemila if you're a snob.  Apparently general interest in the bloodsport is waning, which displeases The Powers That Be. Luckily, the overseer of Bitch Planet has an idea on how some of his charges might be put to work in solving this problem.


It seems paradoxical that after all the originality we saw in the first issue, that this second issue should prove so relatively mundane. The idea of a dystopia built around bread and circuses is nothing new (Do the words Hunger Games ring a bell?) and The Overseer's plan is straight out of the 1974 Pam Grier film The Arena. Yet while one may have heard a song before, how the band plays can alter the tune. Such is the case with Kelly Sue DeConnick's script, which wrings new life out of the familiar premises.


Talking of Pam Grier, one can't help but see her in artist Valentine De Landro's design for our protagonist Kamau Kogo. Not because the character seems to be a direct caricature of Grier but because she's evocative of the sort of grindhouse heroines Grier built a career on playing.  Whether the homage is intentional or not, it speaks to how effectively De Landro captures the aesthetic of the genre that I should immediately hear the voice of Cofy as I read the dialogue and look at the artwork.

Bitch Planet #1 - A Review

To say that Bitch Planet defied my expectations would be an understatement. The series was originally described to me as as a satire of sexploitation - a feminist reworking of the classic Grindhouse pictures of yore, specifically targeting movies like Black Mama White Mama and Chained Heat with a sci-fi twist. Technically that is true, but it is as helpful in describing this series as saying that the sun as "a big hot thing that can kill you."

In truth, I'm reluctant to describe Bitch Planet as science-fiction because of the optimistic connotations that go along with that phrase. Yes, it does take place in the future on another planet, but this is not Star Trek. The world of Bitch Planet is no Utopia, unless you're a Gamergate supporter or an Evangelic Christian. Let us instead call it Future Fiction, for the story of Bitch Planet is a cautionary tale akin to It Can't Happen Here or The Handmaiden's Tale.


We don't get any details of how this Earth came into existence. In truth, we don't need any. It is enough for us to know that, on this version of Earth, women who fail to conform to society's expectations are shot into space and put to work off-world on an "auxiliary compliance outpost" known as Bitch Planet.  This goes beyond simply sending away murderers and career criminals - it also includes sending away feminists, women who are overweight and wives who fail to submit to their husband's authority! Or wives whose husbands got sick of them and decided to trade them in for a newer model.

Far-fetched? Not really. As an essay by Danielle Henderson of Feminist Ryan Gosling in the back of the book notes, what we see in Bitch Planet is only a slight exaggeration of what is expected of women in modern American culture.  Any woman who fails to live up to the zeitgeist of what is proper runs the risk of becoming an outcast of the culture. And while Kelly Sue DeConnick explores these issues in the midst of a prison riot in space, that does not make the reality of these issues any less serious.


The artwork by Valentine De Landro subtly evokes the same B-movie aesthetic as the script.  For instance, the point-of-view shots linger on nude women in the background but are more modestly framed in the close-ups.  It is a small touch, but one that emulates a time-honored technique used in exploitation films, as the creators could argue with the censors that you really couldn't see the nudity if it is further away.

There is much to recommend Bitch Planet beyond its artistry in emulating the worst aspects of a low art-form. It stands on its own merits as a warning, a satire and a ripping yarn. And if nothing else, it is worth buying in order to piss off some people who need to be pissed off on a regular basis.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned Watching Cheesy Movies With Puppets

All I Really Need To Know I Learned Watching Cheesy Movies With Puppets 
Or: Five Ways Mystery Science Theater 3000 Got Me Through Middle School

You wouldn't think it from my writing output, but my first fandom wasn't science-fiction or fantasy.  And the first publication I wrote for – a fanzine called Brainfood - had nothing to do with comic books.  No, the first thing that drove me head-first into the deep-end of the geek pool was a little show called Mystery Science Theater 3000. 

A quick bit of background for those of you unfortunate enough to have not stumbled across this fine little program.  Mystery Science Theater 3000 (hereafter MST3K) was the brainchild of comedian/magician/spy Joel Hodgson.  It started out on a local UHF station in the Twin Cities before running for ten years across three cable networks from 1989 to 1999.

Set in “the not too distant future”, MST3K centered upon a janitor named Joel who was shot into space by mad scientists for the purpose of acting as a test subject for their twisted experiments.  Their ultimate goal?  Find a movie so bad that they could drive the populace of Earth insane by forcing them to watch it and then take over the world in the ensuing chaos.  Funny stuff, but this plot was just dressing for the core of the show – Joel and two robot friends watching some of the worst movies ever made and making fun of them with the wit of The Algonquin Roundtable and the abandon of a theater full of teenagers.

Packed full of sarcasm and referential humor, the show was a perfect stepping stone for a smartass lad like me who had cut his teeth on what few Mel Brooks and Monty Python movies his parents would let him watch.  MST3K definitely had an influence on my sense of humor.  But looking back, I think Joel Hodgson actually taught me a few things about life in between the riffs and wisecracks. 

1.  You can use comedy as a weapon.

Every other comedy nerd out there probably just thought “Well, duh!  Of course comedy is a weapon!”  All the great comedians from Groucho Marx to George Carlin used comedy to attack the ills of society as they saw them.  Heck, Mel Brooks once said “The only weapon I've got is comedy”.   And that’s just modern comedy.  I’m sure there are 17^th century French satirists I've never heard of who wrote whole novels about the power of comedy as a weapon.

And yet, with the possible exception of Eddie Valiant’s battle with a gang of cartoon weasels, I don’t think any piece of entertainment has made the idea of comedy as a weapon more literal than MST3K.  Every Saturday morning Joel, Tom Servo and Crow faced their tormentors with the only weapon available to them – pure snark.  And the idea that I could do the same thing helped make middle-school a bit more tolerable… even if most of my classmates didn't get my jokes.

2.  Don’t worry about making yourself understood. The right people will understand you.

Isolation is a problem for a lot of teens and a lot of us still haven’t fully left that awkward loner phase as adults.  We felt alone because nobody understands us – not our parents, not our teachers and certainly not our classmates.  

Maybe you were a brain in a village of idiots.  Maybe you were gay in a small Red State town.  Maybe you were a dreamer who wanted to move beyond a town and see the wide world.  In any case, the need for social bonding was there but you were unlikely to find it in the world of middle-school, which is built upon a foundation of superficiality and conformity.  You were better off not wasting time trying to follow the crowd and just finding someone – anyone – who accepted you for you.

Unlike the other lessons on this list, this wasn't something that was preached directly during the show.  But in a documentary on the show – This is MST3K – Joel Hodgson said some words that came back to me as I was despairing over the fact that most of my classmates didn't get my sense of humor.

“We never say ‘Who is going to get this?’  We always say ‘The right people will get this’. “

That phrase clicked with me and made me realize the futility of trying to change myself for an audience that was never going to accept me anyway.  From that moment on, I decided to please myself instead of my so-called peers.  Eventually, I found my audience and my friends.  But until that happened (after high school, not surprisingly) I was at least happy with myself.

3.   “People don’t mean to be obnoxious.  It’s just that they’re all screwed up inside. “

Empathy comes as naturally to the average teenager as flight does to a walrus.  When I was a lad, I nursed a rather extensive persecution complex and was fairly certain that even if the whole world wasn't out to get me, a considerable chunk of my classmates were united in some grand conspiracy against me.  Even after puberty, a lot of adults still have trouble grasping the idea that the people who annoy them probably aren't doing so out of malice.

In Episode 302 – Gamera, Joel tries to drive this lesson home to Tom Servo and Crow, after they forge a make-shift voodoo doll in order to inflict pain on the movie’s child hero, Kenny.  Is Kenny annoying?  Absolutely!  His voice is grating, he’s kind of a weirdo and he gets away with things that should get him grounded until he is 30 over the course of the movie.  But as Joel points out, ignoring the fact that Kenny is a fictional character, none of that is his fault and he’s got kind of a messed-up home life that fuels some of his more obnoxious traits.

Thinking on that, I started realizing things about my own tormentors.  That one bully’s parents were in the middle of a divorce.  That the guy who kept pushing me into the lockers was being beat up by his own dad.  This didn't excuse their behavior but that knowledge probably did keep me from retaliating in kind or worse.

4.  You don’t have to accept the ending they hand you.

In Episode 509 - The Girl in Lover’s Lane, the robots are filled with rage by the film’s ending.  The heroine – a kind, loving waitress named Carrie – is killed, the hero is blamed for the murder and the whole thing is incredibly bleak and depressing even after he is cleared of any wrong-doing.  Carrie’s death was a fridging before the term was ever coined – a pointless death that did nothing to advance the plot and accomplished nothing save giving “Big Stupid” even more angst.

Joel comforts the bots by pointing out that there’s nothing to stop them from writing a better ending to the movie and that you don’t have to accept the bad things people throw at you.  The same concept applies to life.  There are many people who will try and bully you into accepting things as being the way they say they are.  That you're a loser and a failure and that nothing will ever be better.  But you don’t have to accept it.  You can fight for change, even if all that change is amounts to a fan-fiction that lifts your spirits.

5.  Surviving Is Winning

Episode 323 – The Castle of Fu Manchu was widely held to be the worst movie MST3K had tackled for a time.  Certainly the episode’s host segments billed it as such, with all of the skits ending with one of The Bots having a nervous breakdown and Joel doing his best to try and comfort them before even he is reduced to tears.  By the end of the movie, The Mads are drinking a champagne toast to their victory even as Joel, Crow and Servo wail and lament. 

And then, as Dr. Forester gloats one more time, Joel gives a speech that for my money ranks right up there with the “Anyone can win a fight when the odds are easy…” speech from Amazing Spider-Man #33 for sheer awesome and defiance in the face of certain doom…

"You haven't won, Dr. Forester.  You've lost.  And I feel sorry for you.  You're nothing but a sad little man in a hole in the ground, who can only feel power by hurting others!  Well, we've won!  Because we've survived!"

In recent years, the It Gets Better movement has done a lot to reassure LGBT youth that however bad things are for them in their formative years, things will get better once they become adults and that they just have to hold on a little longer.  Similar movements for geek girls and awkward-looking people have also done a lot of good in preaching the message that I learned from MST3K during my awkward years – that survival itself is a victory condition.

*****

I got bullied a fair bit in middle school.  And there were occasions when my jokes weren’t enough.  When I felt all alone in the world.  When I gave in to the hate.  When I felt like there was nothing I could do.  And on those occasions, I just remembered that this was all temporary.  That eventually I’d be free of that place.  I just had to last a little while longer and eventually I’d get to someplace better.

And I did.

Today, I get paid to write about the books and TV shows I once got made fun of for enjoying.  I’ve gotten to meet some of my favorite creators and even befriended a few of them.  I’m part of a Rocky Horror troupe and I get to make people laugh with my own wisecracks as I riff on the movie.  And all of that is awesome and if you’d told my teenage self about all of that he wouldn't have believed it. 

And yet, the most awesome part of my life is my day job as a teen librarian.  Not just because I’m getting paid to talk about books and comics and computers and all the things I like.  But because I get to create a safe place for those awkward teens like me.  A little Satellite of Love in the back corner of the building where – even if just for a little while – they know they aren't alone.

I had the good fortune to meet Joel Hodgson once after a performance of his show, Riffing Myself.  For those who haven’t seen the show, Joel explores his own past and discusses a lot of his influences - including all the kids show hosts he grew up watching.  Until then I had never really thought about how MST3K was a more mature take on shows like Captain Kangaroo and Peppermint Place.  And I wondered if Joel had ever thought about inspiring another generation of kids who liked magic and ventriloquism and other weird things to be better people in the same way that his idols did.

Well, like it not Mr. Hodgson, you influenced at least one of us.  And I thank you for it.

Five Reasons I Hope Jaimie Alexander Is NOT Playing Wonder Woman In Superman/Batman.

SOURCE: Twitter Feed Of Mark Hughes.

About two months ago, Warner Bros posted a casting notice for "an actress in their late 20s who is both tall and possesses physicality" to play Batman's love interest in Superman/Batman.  The big rumor flying around ever since is that the movie would be giving us our first glimpse of Wonder Woman - partly because there is a history of the two having dated in the comics and partly because most comic fans REALLY want to see Wonder Woman on the big screen.

According to Forbes film blogger Mark Hughes (who is reporting from Comickaze this weekend), actress Jaimie Alexander confirmed today that she was in talks with Warner Bros and DC Comics to play a role in the upcoming Superman/Batman movie and that she knew something of the story. 

So the speculation has begun anew - could Jaimie Alexander, long a fan-favorite pick for the role - be poised to be the next Wonder Woman?

I really, really, REALLY hope that isn't the case. And here is five reasons why.




1. Wonder Woman Deserves Her Own Movie!

Wonder Woman is the most famous heroine in the comic book world.  You can't just slide her in for a cameo as a tease of her having a bigger role later in the Justice League movie.  This is Wonder Woman we're talking about - not Black Widow!  Diana's story is an classical epic and requires - nay, DEMANDS a full-length solo picture!





 
2. It Would Mean WB/DC Was Lying To Us About Not Rushing Things

Earlier this year, DC Comics announced their upcoming film schedule.  Needless to say, Wonder Woman fans became worried that there were no plans for a Wonder Woman movie.  Those worries doubled when it was announced that The CW Network was halting pre-production on Amazon - a Wonder Woman inspired TV show.  Comments from DC Comics President Diane Nelson about Wonder Woman being "tricky" to put on the big screen didn't help matters.

Still, there were some signs of hope.  Earlier this month, Warner Bros.' CEO Kevin Tsujihara said "We need to get Wonder Woman on the big screen or TV.”  Later, Greg Silverman, Warner Bros.’ President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production said in a Variety interview that "Wonder Woman is an amazing character." and “We are taking it all very seriously and are trying to do a plan that’s respectful...and maximizes the stories as best they can,” when asked about a Wonder Woman movie.

This mollified fans somewhat.  Better to have to wait for a great Wonder Woman movie than have a bad one rushed out for a cheap buck, right?  Except reducing her to a supporting role as Bruce Wayne's love interest would mean everything we've heard until now was just lip-service.  That there is no great plan for waiting for the right script to bring Wonder Woman into play.  Which brings us to another point...




3. Wonder Woman Should Not Be A Love Interest!

You thought the fan outrage over Superman/Wonder Woman being promoted as a Twilight-style romance and Tony Daniel dismissing female comic readers' complaints about the book with reassurances that you'll get to see Superman's butt as much as Wonder Woman's in the artwork was bad?  Just imagine what will happen if Wonder Woman's first big-screen apearance is as Bruce Wayne's regular Saturday Night thing!  Or - Hera help us - if there's a love-triangle between the three of them!




4. Superman/Batman Is Crowded Enough As Is.

We don't really have any inkling of the plot of Superman/Batman but it's a smart bet that they're going to have to introduce some sort of villain into the mix, even if part of the movie does involve Superman and Batman fighting one another before uniting against the common enemy.  The smart money is on Lex Luthor but it could be just about anything.  And even though everyone in the world and their grandmother knows who Batman is, the movie will have to spend some time establishing who he is because of the basic rules of film-making.  It seems unlikely then - or at the very least, foolish - to bring Wonder Woman into the mix as well if The Powers That Be are already worried about Wonder Woman being too complicated a character to support a solo-movie.




5. It Seems Like Lazy Thinking 

I fear there's little thought behind casting Jaimie Alexander as Wonder Woman apart from "she's a hot brunette" or, at best, "she was awesome as Sif in Thor, so you know she can handle playing a mythic figure."  The fact that she's a talented actress with a diverse range or that she's a comic fan who knows the character well enough to discuss the flaws in the 2011 Wonder Woman TV pilot and how a Wonder Woman movie SHOULD be made don't seem to be considerations at all.

It's the same reason why everyone was clamoring for Lucy Lawless to play Wonder Woman for the longest time - she's a hot brunette who can kick ass who has already starred in a property based on Greek mythology.  Now, I think Lucy Lawless is a good actress and I liked Xena: Warrior Princess as a show.  But you can't just stick Xena in a star-spangled corset and call her Wonder Woman.  There has to be more thought behind it than that.  I fear that casting Jaimie Alexander on the same basis would yield similar problems.

***

All that being said, I would dearly love to see Jaimie Alexander as Wonder Woman.  And if the Superman/Batman title was a fake-out and Warner Bros. is really planning a story akin to Matt Wagner's Trinity, I would be quite happy.  Until then, I shall just give thanks that Warner Bros. isn't planning a Superman/Wonder Woman movie inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey.    

What Can One Man Do Against The Death Of Hope?

Earlier this week, I wrote a column in response to the recent ruckus regarding  J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman leaving Batwoman.  For those who missed the news, the creative team quit in the wake of DC Comics Editorial declaring that they didn't want Kathy Kane and her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer to get married.  My article was based around the idea that the comics industry in general seems to have acquired a fear of depicting happily married superheroes, with most of the married superheroes at DC Comics having been rendered single by the New 52 revamp and Peter Parker still single because of Joe Quesada's belief that a deal with the devil is less inherently sinful than a divorce.

The digital ink was barely dry when another scandal involving DC Comics emerged later that afternoon.  This time the source of trouble was a contest for amateur artists, vying for a chance to depict Harley Quinn in the #0 issue of her upcoming solo book.  The catch?  All four panels are meant to depict Harley Quinn attempting suicide in a number of comedic ways, with the final panel depicting her naked and in a bathtub.  Some fixated upon the nudity aspect of the contest but most were outraged by the suicide element.  Particularly since next week is National Suicide Prevention Week.

I've been struggling with how to speak about this for the batter part of a day.  More than any character in recent memory, Harley Quinn had always been portrayed as one of the most fun characters in comics.  And try as I might, I can't think of a better metaphor for the state of affairs at DC Comics right now than a suicidal Harley Quinn.

As it turns out, I didn't have to think of a better metaphor.  For I learned today that Hope has literally been erased from the New 52 universe! Metaphors are completely meaningless at this point.  For all better writers and critics than me have spoken about the sense of all hope and joy being removed from the DC Universe in recent months, never did we suspect it would soon be a literal truth.



So the question that has been on my mind for the past few hours has been how - how do we fight this?

Protest?  It's already been made abundantly clear that our opinions as mere fans are completely meaningless to The Powers That Be.  So far the only instance where public outcry made a difference was in getting Gail Simone rehired on to Batgirl and even that may have been due entirely to the threat of decreased orders from the distributor.

Boycott?  In most cases, we're already not buying the offending books.  Those offended by Tony Daniel's dismissal of a female fan's concerns over a romance-based Superman/Wonder Woman book that was likened to Twilight by reassuring her there would be just as many butt shots of Superman as of Wonder Woman can't effectively boycott the title without The Powers That Be using that as justification for the belief that all their fans are 45 year old men and that women don't read comic books.

Jessica Mills touched upon another challenge before us quite eloquently in her recent column - DC Comics and Institutionalized Sexism – Purchasing Power is Not Power.  She touches upon the aforementioned  problems with boycotts while pointing out another problem.  Namely that boycotting an entire company does little to strike against the management and only hurts the artists and writers whose work we are enjoying.

"Telling people not to buy DC Comics as a way to change things at DC Comics is short sighted and dismissive.  Not buying those comics means readers have to, not only give up on beloved characters, but pull their support of talented and dedicated writers, artists, and others"

 "I like reading comics.  I love Gail Simone’s work.  I love Greg Rucka’s work.  I’m not going to stop supporting THEM because the DC leadership refuses to acknowledge the terrible decision-making that continually alienates a large portion of their client-base."

I'm in a similar fix.  Any pledge not to buy any more Batwoman comics is meaningless since I was reading the series as the collected editions became available at my local library.  Refusing to buy the upcoming Harley Quinn book would send a message against Amanda Conner - an artist whom I have been dying to see on a monthly series again for some time now.  And boycotting the company as a whole will only hurt Jeff Lemire and Gail Simone and all the other creators whose work I am enjoying.

I already know from experience that boycotts don't work.  I boycotted all things Marvel Comics for a goodly while over One More Day, wrote some rather good articles about why the storyline was a bad idea and it did nothing.  Eventually I focused my personal boycott on all things Spider-Man, purely so I could justify seeing The Avengers and supporting Joss Whedon (Browcoats Forever!).

So what can I do?  What can one man do?



And then it hit me.  We fight them the same way we do a bully.  We treat them as we would any disruptive child who makes a mess just to get attention.  We ignore them. 

Marvel Comics editor and One More Day apologist Tom Brevoort let the secret slip - that they see even bad publicity as good publicity and bad attention is still attention.  That they fear apathetic fans far more than angry fans because angry fans are still buying the comics.

So this is where I will start.

As a fan, I'm not going to pick up any more books out of habit in the hope that they're building toward something big.  If they can't do something to keep me entertained for one issue, it's not worth my time.

As a critic, I'm not going to bother writing reviews for long-running series or crossover events just to keep people informed as to what is going on.  If the book isn't worth reading most of the year, why should I care about it for the three months it's involved with the books I do care about?    

No more angry rants drawing curiosity .  No more hash-tagged Tweets giving you free publicity.  And no more second chances.  I'm that sort of a man.

Fear And Loathing Of Love And Marriage In Superhero Comics

Who said that comic fans don't want to see people getting married?

What prompted this question is today's news that J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman are leaving Batwoman as of Issue #26, citing editorial interference in their plans to have Kathy Kane and Maggie Sawyer get married.  Williams was quick to note that DC Comics' objection was to marriage in general - not a marriage between two lesbians.  The evidence does bear him out, given that nearly every major married couple in DC Comics pantheon of superheroes has either been broken up since the New 52 revamp or not appeared at all. 

Clark Kent and Lois Lane?  Not an item.  Barry Allen and Iris West?  Flirting but he has a new girlfriend.  Wally West and Linda Park?  Don't even exist!  Ditto Ralph and Sue Dibny.  Heck, the only married couple I think is still around is Aquaman and Mera and they've interacted so little in his book you'd hardly know they were married!

Of course DC Comics is far from alone in being guilty of this sort of thing.  Do the words One More Day ring a bell?  Does everyone remember how that whole mess started because Joe Quesada thought the reason Spider-Man's sales were dropping were because the fans couldn't relate to a happily married Peter Parker?  Do anyone but me and the guys writing Spider-Fan.org remember that they tried killing Mary Jane off because of that theory and all it did was upset the fans?

"But Starman," I hear you metaphorical masses say.  "Superheroes get married and divorced all the time!  It's a common element in drama in many genres!" 

That is true, dear masses.  Yet there is a world of difference between simple drama preventing marriage from occurring and a refusal to consider a plot element completely. 

It seems that the very idea of marriage itself is under attack in our comics due to some mistaken belief that young readers do not want to read about married couples.  This seems odd given the belief some publishers have that their key demographic is 45-year old males, but that's a whole other argument.  So we still have the question - where did this idea come from?

Any ideas?  I'd love to hear about them.

Nothing To Prove - New Geek Girl Anthem From The Doubleclicks

The Doubleclicks (pictured above with a far too excitable fanboy) have a new music video out today, for their song Nothing To Prove - a response to the idea of fake geek girls and the harassment of real geek girls by real elitist morons.  It's an awesome song, with an awesome video starring a lot of prominent geek icons as well as a goodly number of fans.  Check it out then check out their website for more great music.

Justice League Of America #4 & #5 - A Review

WARNING: SPOILER HEAVY REVIEW.


I resisted reviewing Justice League of America #4 last month, during the height of some rather heated discussion during a major controversy.  The subject of "fridging" (i.e. killing off, depowering or otherwise causing bad things to happen to a female character purely to create drama for a male character) had come up and this time the victim was Catwoman - apparently killed in action as she was infiltrating the hideout of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.  I say apparently because I suspected from the start that the death would be some kind of fake-out. 

Why?  Well, I couldn't discuss the clues without spoiling the whole story but there was some cynicism at play as well.  You can't kill off a major character well-known to the public without the comic publisher releasing a press release these days and Catwoman's "death" took everyone completely off-guard.  If they were really going to kill off Selina Kyle, they would have made a bigger deal about it.

I was also reluctant to review the book because I disagreed with discussing the "death" and labeling it as a fridging, because the larger part of the issue lacked the unsubtle sexism that lies at the heart of every fridging I've ever seen.  For the majority of the issue, I thought Catwoman was portrayed as the adaptable badass she should be.  She was able to free herself from captivity easily enough and was continuing her mission without needing to be rescued by the team that was coming in after her.  She even took down one super-villain by herself before superior numbers proved her undoing.


After being captured, Catwoman tried to play off of the fears of her captors, knowing as well as Batman that criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot.   She said that killing her would only bring Batman down upon them like a ton of bricks.  To her surprise, this gamble achieved the opposite of what she wanted..  The leader of the villains said that getting Batman's attention was their entire goal just before shooting Catwoman in the head.

I didn't consider this scene to be a fridging by the technical definition.  While the bad guys said that killing her was a means toward creating drama for a male character (i.e. kill her to make Batman angry) they had just as much reason to kill Catwoman for what she had done and what she had seen as a result of her actions throughout the issue.  Annoying Batman was just a bonus.  

Now, I DID find the artwork and layout of the scene to be incredibly exploitative.  The final shot of a dead Selina was particularly disturbing, being almost fetishistic in how it was drawn by artist Brett Booth. And yet, I resisted writing a review and condemning the book on that point because it didn't add up.  I couldn't believe that Geoff Johns - who is usually so good about avoiding this sort of thing in his writing - would allow the fridging of a major heroine this early in a major storyline.  Particularly given that another major subplot of Justice League of America #4 involved Stargirl's rebelling against her assigned role as the team's poster-girl/spokesperson and sneaking along on an actual combat mission.



As you can see from the above scan, Justice League of America #5 rewarded my faith.  Stargirl kicks major ass and proves her worth to the team beyond Public Relations.  And I shan't spoil how but rest assured that Catwoman is alive and kicking and the rumors of her death have been greatly exaggerated.  I'm still not too crazy about how the fake-out was milked but I must admit some honest surprise at the resolution, despite some foreshadowing that was obvious in retrospect.      


The back-up story by Matt Kindt, focusing upon the origins of The Martian Manhunter is impressive as well.  Kindt has revamped the origin somewhat, changing the specific cause of death for the entire Martian race and giving The Martian Manhunter a new means of traveling to Earth.  Issue #4 gives us a look at a Martian culture that is truly alien yet instantly recognizable and sympathetic once it is lost.  Issue #5 has him following the trail of the killer to Earth and discovering a malevolent telepath who may prove to be his greatest enemy ever.  Issue #4 and Issue #5 have different art teams, but they're both top-notch and incredibly good.



Bottom Line: If you were scared away from Justice League of America because of any fears of sexism, I'd say you should give it a shot.  I'm not happy about how the otherwise skillful Brett Booth laid out the aforementioned scene but otherwise I found his art to be quite good.  Apart from that one Trigger-Warning worth scene, there's nothing objectionable in this book and between Stargirl, Catwoman, Katana and Amanda Waller there's a lot for lovers of strong female characters to enjoy.  Now, if only it had Black Canary too...

Star Trek: Into Darkness - A Review

THE QUICK, SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Star Trek: Into Darkness is a standard popcorn movie - enjoyable, if a bit shallow.  The ensemble cast is all-around excellent, though the script leaves most of them with little to do as the movie progresses and there's little exploration of the relationships between most of the major players.  Still, apart from some blatant fan-service and a few cheesy bits that try a little too hard to appeal to long-time fans of the franchise, there's little to actively dislike about this movie.




THE PLOT

Demoted after a major violation of The Prime Directive not to interfere with less-developed cultures. James Kirk finds himself quickly re-promoted to chase after the fugitive John Harrison - a terrorist waging a one-man war against The Federation, who has taken refuge on the Klingon home world.  It's an assignment that Kirk's all too eager to accept, as Harrison is responsible for the death of his mentor, Captain Pike.  Yet there is much about the assignment that troubles the Enterprise crew, from the orders to assassinate a criminal rather than bringing him to trial to the mysterious experimental torpedoes they've been equipped with.  There's also the question of what caused John Harrison to turn on The Federation in the first place and what secrets he may yet know... 

 


THE GOOD PARTS

* The cast is top-notch.  I can't think of a bad performance in the lot.

* Of particular note is Zachary Quinto as Spock (who does a fine job subtly playing the conflict between the human emotions and Vulcan upbringing of the character), Simon Pegg as Scotty (who manages to be convincing as both the comic relief AND the super genius who saves everyone) and Zoe Saldana, who plays Uhura as a tough, competent and no-nonsense officer.

*Benedict Cumberbatch proves a most effective Khan.  I know there's been some protest about Cumberatch's casting, given Khan's status as one of the most prominent minority characters in the last 50 years of science fiction.  The irony of this is that the original show undercut the potentially dodgy issues of discussing eugenics by making the genetic superman villain a man of vaguely Asian heritage and casting a Latino actor to play him.  This film dodges the issue completely, referring to the purpose behind Khan's creation in only the vaguest terms possible while still affirming his status as a super-soldier created for some unspecified war in the past.

* The action of the movie is well-paced and well-shot. 

* The special effects are all great.

* There's quite a few clever jokes for the long-time Trek fans.  My favorite involved the few seconds of worry crossing Chekov's face as he is given a potentially dangerous assignment and instructed to change into a red shirt.




THE PROBLEMS

* I think Zachary Quinto is a fine actor, but his yelling of "KHAAAAAN!" was just ridiculous.  

* The script suffers from the same problems as the 2005 The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie - there's a lot of in-jokes for the fans of the franchise but many of them don't make sense within the context of the universe and any die-hard fan who gets the joke will be unwilling to ignore the inaccuracy for the sake of the joke.  For instance, In Hitch-Hiker's Guide, the movie showed Ford desperately looking for a towel in the wreckage of Arthur's house and later using said towel in a variety of ways and yet the importance of towels in Hitch-Hiker culture is never explained.  Similarly, we see Dr. McCoy - using a dead Tribble (a fictional animal in the Star Trek universe known for being born pregnant and reproducing like rabbits) as a test-subject in his lab - a point that I heard had many Trek fans livid given the volatile nature of the species.

* While the cast does the best it does with what they're given, the script gives some members of the cast more to work with than others.  Karl Urban in particularly is criminally underused as Dr. McCoy and Sulu is confined to the bridge of the Enterprise with little to do save give one impressive speech.

* On that note, there's little exploration of the relationships between most of the characters.  Most of the focus is firmly upon the Kirk/Spock bromance, with Spock and Uhura's relationship getting a little bit of discussion but no resolution. 

* The sexism in the script, unintentionally as it may have been, is still noticeable.  It runs even deeper than the now infamous and pointless (by admission of the writer) scene of Carol Marcus stripping down in the same room as Kirk - a scene made worse by the conversation leading into it, in which Carol confronts Kirk about his womanizing ways and his treatment of a friend of hers.  What real woman is going to risk taking her clothes off in a room with a man like that and trust him not to peek?

* Case in point, re: sexism.  Carol Marcus is supposed to be a weapons expert.  Granting that she's more of a designer than a soldier, you'd still expect her to be somewhat capable in a fight, particularly coming from a military family.  Explain to me then why she spends most of the combat scenes sitting on the floor and gasping in shock like she's auditioning to be the model for a pulp sci-fi cover?  Hell, even three of the four images on Google Images when you search for Carol Marcus depict either Alice Eve in her underwear or Alice Eve screaming in terror.

* Even Uhrua is not immune from this, I fear.  She insists on being allowed to *gasp* do her damn job as a communications expert and try and talk to a group of Klingons, appealing to their sense of honor.  Is this a powerful scene?  Yes.  Does it make Uhrua look tough and capable?  Yes.  Is this completely undercut by her needing to be saved by the men when it doesn't work?  A wee little bit, yes.  It also doesn't help that her major character motivation, when you get right down to it, is wanting to get her boyfriend to open up more about his emotions. 

*The biggest problem in the script is that we've seen this all before.  Literally, all of the best dramatic moments in this movie were taken from The Wrath of Khan.  While Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto prove capable of putting a unique spin on the material - the tragedy now that of a young man dying before seeing his full potential and Spock confronting his own newly realized fear of death - it still feels like we're getting J.J. Abrams' rendition of The Best of Trek, Volume 2.

* So... genetically altered super-soldier blood is a magic cure all for radiation poisoning as well as whatever that little girl at the beginning had?  Kinda puts a darker spin on Khan being "put back to sleep" along with the rest of his people.  For all we know, The Federation may be shipping them off to a blood bank and start slowly sucking them all dry.




 THE FINAL VERDICT

I'm conflicted.  Upon first viewing, I generally enjoyed the film while being troubled by some of the blatant sexism and the shallowness of the script.  On further reflection, I'm more troubled by how poorly the ensemble cast was utilized and some rather large plot holes.  Still, I've had quite a few good conversations as a result of this movie and that, ultimately, made it worth the viewing.  Go see it with a group of friends - preferably a mix of Trekkers and non-fans - and then get ready for some spirited discussion over a Romulan Ale afterward.

Conan The Barbarian #15 - A Review

Last month, I wrote a fair bit about Robert E. Howard, his view of women and the thin line between chivalric Romanticism and sexism.  This was inspired, in part, by a story that centered upon the character of the pirate queen Belit without really involving her directly in the action.  Conan The Barbarian #15 is a similar beast, despite Belit being directly involved in the action of the story.


Brian Wood tells a tale of two romances in this issue.  These romances are, perhaps, not worthy of the name by modern terms and the characters involved lack the words to describe their emotions in those terms.  Hyboria is not a land that inspires sweet words of woo but it is a classically Romantic place, where passions run wild and the power of nature and natural things is greater than any civilization.  It is a place where love is forged amid lust when a pirate queen watches a barbarian rogue fight her men to a stand-still single-handed.  It is where love blossoms where a slavegirl is purchased by a warlord's son with more gold than sense, to be freed rather than to be used.  This later story, we find out later, is the origin of Belit's parents but it offers echos of Conan and Belit's own romance later on, when Conan meets Belit's father and discovers why Belit has returned to the Shemite fortress where she was born.  I've never thought of Conan as a romantic hero, in either sense of the word, but Wood's dialogue firmly establishes Conan as both.


All of this is lovingly illustrated with equal boldness by Andrea Mutti, Pierluigi Baldassini and  Dave Stewart.  Mutti's pencils are detailed without being dirty and Baldassini's inks offer just the right amount of definition and shade.  Stewart's color palette, while being largely a collection of greys and browns, proves quite rich and visually inspiring in spite of that.  This book is as visually amazing as it is well-written and if you aren't reading it now, you should start immediately.

Conan The Barbarian #14 - A Review

Robert E. Howard has been written off by many fantasy fans as a sexist author.  I personally find this to be an unfair consideration but I understand it given how many of the original Conan stories featured women in peril and everyone's favorite burly barbarian slaying the monster, saving the girl and then 'saving her' again several times that night, if you know what I mean and I think you do.  (Thanks Joe Bob Briggs!)  While many of Howard's personal views are undeniably backward by modern standards, his views on the fairer sex and gender equality are less clear.

The original Conan stories do possess many sexist elements but that may have stemmed less from Howard's personal beliefs and more from his catering to the fetishes of his editor at Weird Tales.  Sex Sells and with The Great Depression in full-swing, Howard literally could not afford to stand on principle - hence all the slavegirls in bondage.  And yet, Howard's most memorable female characters - and the ones for whom he seemed to have the greatest personal affection - were the women warriors like the pirate Queen of the Black Coast, Belit, who refused to bow down to anyone or meekly accept society's expectations.   


Howard's personal letters also point to a different sort of man than the one suggested by some of his fictional writings.  Here we find a man who, while defying all but the broadest definitions of a feminist male, could be said to have a chivalric or romanticized view of women without a hint of misogyny.  He wrote that he dreamed of one-day being able to write and sell a "Conan yarn without sex interest." and indeed did so with the posthumously published Beyond The Black River. And in one personal letter Howard chided a friend for his own attitudes about women's influence on Western Civilization and named a number of great historical women (Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great and Sappho among them) in proving his point that there were many great female leaders, poets and philosophers.

I mention all this because the script for Conan the Barbarian #14 by Brian Wood is very much in line with Howard as he wrote Belit, yet she barely figures into the action of the story at all.  After a flashback where Conan remembers the active warrior Belit he chased into the Shemish desert. he confronts the strange new reality of a Belit who passively watches battle from the ramparts of a besieged city.  Forcibly conscripted into the opposing army, Conan quickly grows tired of waiting and hearing his fellow soldiers discuss the mysterious woman on the wall.  He plots to invade the city with a small group to break the siege.  Here we see the early signs of a Conan who will one day become a captain of mercenaries and eventually a general and king on the battlefield. 


The artwork of Mirko Colak continues to amaze.  There is a clarity to Colak's pencils that is as simple and powerful as Cimmeria's favorite son.  The palette chosen by colorist Dave Stewart also deserves praise, for perfectly capturing the muted shades of a city and military camp at night. 

All in all, this issue is worthy of Robert E. Howard's legacy.  The artwork perfectly depicts the excitement of combat and the mystery of a covert mission.  The script provides plentiful action and intrigue.  There's even a curious twist near the end that will leave the readers anxious for the next issue.

Tony Effing Harris and The No-Good, Very-Bad Day

SOURCE: Tony Harris Blasts Cosplay Girls: 'Yer Not Comics'


As you might guess from my nickname, Starman is one of my favorite comic series of all time.  Created by James Robinson and Tony Harris back in the mid-1990s, it is one of the more unappreciated classics of The Dark Age Of Comics and - in many ways - was as much a rebuttal of the ideals of The Dark Age as Kingdom Come and Astro City.  For those of you who haven't read it, despite my numerous reviews and writings on the series, let me thematically sum up what I think the series is about in a nut-shell.

Jack Knight, the youngest son of scientist/superhero Ted Knight, is forced to take on his father's identity as Starman.  A sarcastic bohemian generally more concerned about his collectibles and his junk-shop than the people around him, Jack slowly (and reluctantly) grows into the role of a hero.  More importantly, Jack slowly grows into a better person and realizes the difference between being a hero and being a good person.  By the series' end, Jack matures into both a respected hero and a genuinely good person who gives up everything he previously considered the most important things in the world in exchange for what really matters most - the people who love him.

In truth, I'm somewhat embarrassed about how I got the Starman nickname now.  I was introduced to the comic through a friend who handed me a copy of Starman #29 and said "You'd like it. This guy sounds like you."  Sure enough, Jack Knight did sound like me at the time - an elitist, pseudo-intellectual who resented anyone he saw as a poseur and a fake, who hid his own insecurities behind a veneer of sarcasm and pop-culture references.  I think it fair to say that my emotional connection to Jack Knight as a character helped me to grow as a person as I recognized his flaws in myself and sought to correct them.  I'd like to think that, like Jack, I've gotten somewhat more tolerable over time, acquired some degree of wisdom and become generally more tolerant of those whose ignorance comes form inexperience instead of willfulness. 

That makes today's news all the more painful to me - that an artist whose work I have enjoyed so much and who had always struck me as a down-to-earth and respectable man should say something that, try as I might, I cannot reconcile with the lessons that Jack Knight taught me.

Starman co-creator Tony Harris made several comments today on his Facebook wall, regarding some female cosplayers  I note this because some chose to attack Harris as if he were addressing all female cosplayers.  Indeed, before I quote from those comments, I'd like to note that many people went beyond criticizing the comments to criticizing the man... and some of these people had no clue what they were talking about, descending into libelous personal attacks that did no credit to their arguments.

They said he was attacking all female cosplayers.  He wasn't.  At the very beginning of his speech, he said he was only talking about some female cosplayers. 

They said that clearly he'd been rejected by some cosplaying babe in the past and was lashing out in revenge.  By all accounts, Harris is a happily married man and father of two and I've never heard anything to suggest otherwise.

They accused him of creating gratuitously sexist artwork.  He hasn't.  He isn't in the same league as Greg Horn, Frank Cho or Jim Balent.  Not even close.  Indeed, apart from one of his Conan The Barbarian covers and one sex-scene in Ex Machina, I'm hard pressed to think of anything he's done that I've read which had sexual conten/nudity.  As I recall, all of those were tastefully done.

That being said, let us consider Mr. Harris' comments, in bold, with my own considerations in between.



I appreciate a pretty Gal as much as the next Hetero Male. Sometimes I even go in for some racy type stuff ( keeping the comments PG for my Ladies sake) but dammit, dammit, dammit I am so sick and tired of the whole COSPLAY-Chiks. I know a few who are actually pretty cool-and BIG Shocker, love and read Comics.

A fair start.  Nice and respectful.  Language is a bit saltier than I'd go with, but I try to be even-keeled on these things.

So as in all things, they are the exception to the rule.
And here is where we start to go south - the idea that women who like comics and cosplay are the anomaly - the unicorn, as it were.

Moving on...


Heres the statement I wanna make, based on THE RULE: "Hey! Quasi-Pretty-NOT-Hot-Girl, you are more pathetic than the REAL Nerds, who YOU secretly think are REALLY PATHETIC. But we are onto you.  Some of us are aware that you are ever so average on an everyday basis. But you have a couple of things going your way. You are willing to become almost completely Naked in public, and yer either skinny( Well, some or most of you, THINK you are ) or you have Big Boobies. Notice I didnt say GREAT Boobies? 

You seriously undercut any claim you have to not being sexist when you start off insulting women's appearance/weight and then try explain that big boobs are not necessarily desirable, quantifying the difference between Big and Great.

Just saying....

 

You are what I refer to as "CON-HOT". Well not by my estimation, but according to a LOT of average Comic Book Fans who either RARELY speak to, or NEVER speak to girls. Some Virgins, ALL unconfident when it comes to girls, and the ONE thing they all have in common? The are being preyed on by YOU.

*face palms*  I don't know what's more offensive to me.

1) The stereotype that the majority of male comic book fans are hapless virgins who don't know how to talk to women.

2) The idea that most female cosplayers are some form of predatory animal or monster.

And what's so bad about being a virgin anyway?  There is such a thing as saving yourself for the right one.


You have this really awful need for attention, for people to tell you your pretty, or Hot, and the thought of guys pleasuring themselves to the memory of you hanging on them with your glossy open lips, promising them the Moon and the Stars of pleasure, just makes your head vibrate.

So... the majority of women who cosplay enjoy thinking about how many guys are masturbating while thinking about them in their costumes?

Keep that thought in mind for later.

Moving on...


After many years of watching this shit go down every 3 seconds around or in front of my booth or table at ANY given Con in the country, I put this together. Well not just me. We are LEGION. And here it is, THE REASON WHY ALL THAT, sickens us: BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT COMICS, BEYOND WHATEVER GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH YOU DID TO GET REF ON THE MOST MAINSTREAM CHARACTER WITH THE MOST REVEALING COSTUME EVER.

So the vast majority of women who cosplay pick the skimpiest outfits possible?

If this were even remotely close to true, I'd have seen a lot more of Phoenix Five Emma Frost this past year than Black Widow.  Or any version of Emma Frost, come to that.  


And also, if ANY of these guys that you hang on tried to talk to you out of that Con? You wouldnt give them the fucking time of day. Shut up you damned liar, no you would not. Lying, Liar Face.
 
Yes.  All these women who cosplay, - who are really quite average looking and are desperate to have their egos stroked, whom enjoy thinking about men masturbating while thinking of them in their costumes -  would never think of talking to any of you stammering male virgins outside of a con!

... wait, wha?

Seriously, if I never hear this argument again it will be too soon.  We're supposed to believe that, on the one hand, most of the women who cosplay are repulsed by the average male comic book reader and would never dream of pursuing a romantic relationship with one... but on the other hand, they are utterly dependent upon the approval of said male comic fans and will parade around in next to nothing in public in order to fuel their egos?

If that were the case, there would be a heck of a lot easier ways to get the attention of more socially-acceptable males than by cosplaying!  Hanging around a sports bar in short-shorts and a jersey for the local sports team comes to mind.

At this point, I think it's a toss-up who should feel more insulted - female cosplayers or male comic readers.

For that matter, what about male cosplayers?  Why do they do what they do? 


Yer not Comics. Your just the thing that all the Comic Book, AND mainstream press flock to at Cons. And the real reason for the Con, and the damned costumes yer parading around in? That would be Comic Book Artists, and Comic Book Writers who make all that shit up.

You know what - he's right  The mainstream press frequently is  more interested in the people who dress up at conventions than they are the creators at the convention.  I know that following Dallas Fan Days, I saw more galleries of photos than I did articles about the creators who were in attendance.  But that's the nature of visual media - you need images to hook people and people who bring superheroes to life and do it well are a perfect visual summation of the magic of comics.

Take it from a writer.  My 5000 word essays upon the themes of isolation and martyrdom in Silver Surfer are not going to get as much attention as the guy who spent six months building a screen-accurate set of Iron Man armor out of parts he scavenged from an old '72 charger and a Tandy.  And that's fine.  Creation is creation, whether you draw, paint, build, act, write or whatever and should always be honored.


That being said, I honor Tony Harris as a skilled artist.  I'm sure he's a wonderful husband, a loving father and was good to his mother.  But I'm just as sure I won't be buying any more of his work in the future.  Because I can't reconcile what he's said with any reality I want to be a part with. 

I recognize what he was trying to say.  I have encountered some women who were desperate for attention and saw conventions as an easy place to carve out a niche as a queen bee.  And there have been some Wizard World-sponsored cons I've been to where porn starlets dressed in cosplay had booths where they were trying to sell their swag.  But those women are not the majority.  They are the exception - not the rule.

I know a lot of female cosplayers.  Some of them are models.  Most of them aren't.  And I don't doubt for a moment that they all love comic books and video games and other geeky things just as much as I do.  And I don't think for a moment that they have to try to impress me. 

Green Lantern: New Guardians #13 - A Review

With this issue, Tony Bedard has exhausted my patience as well as what little credit I was able to extend to him.  Bedard's writing has missed with me more than it has hit but I was willing to give the man his due since his Green Lantern writing was largely good up until The New 52 relaunch.  Plus, he was the only writer working with Green Arrow (albeit it briefly, through Birds of Prey) who acknowledged that Oliver Queen was a rape victum that he had never cheated on Dinah Lance until after his return from the grave..

So why now?  Why has New Guardians #13 accomplished what an entire year of completely pointless meandering didn't and made me drop this title?    Because this issue, released over a year since we should have received a full backstory for Kyle Rayner, reveals that the only part of Kyle's backstory that has remained constant is the one part that honestly could have - no, should have been changed.  I speak, of course, of the incident that coined the phrase "Women in Refrigerators" - the death of Kyle's girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt.


I've written before about Alex as a character and the ramifications of her death, so I won't repeat those arguments here.  I will say that given that most of Kyle's previous love life is now impossible since three of his four ex-girlfriends never existed in the New 52 universe (Donna Troy, Jenny-Lynn Hayden-Scott and Soranik Natu, for those keeping track), it really adds nothing to Kyle's character to have Alex exist in this new reality only for her to die horribly again.  It's particularly vexing here since Major Force - the villain responsible for the death in the original universe - no longer exists in the New 52 universe and the flashback we see here just has Kyle refer to non-specific enemies that came with his job being responsible for Alex dying.

It may be unfair of me to blame Bedard for the decision to bring Alex back only to have her die again.  The decision may have been handed down by DC Editorial.  But I can blame Bedard for the poor execution of this story.  Say what you will about Ron Marz but while he freely admitted to creating Alex only so that she could be killed off, at least he spent a few issues building her as a character so that you cared when she was taken away. 

Bedard fails to do that and fails to make this issue, which apparently follows after the most recent issue of Red Lanterns, stand on its' own merits as a story on any level.  What is meant to be the first hard lesson Kyle learned as a hero and his defining tragedy is reduced to a footnote, revealed in the middle of a training montage as Acrocitus of the Red Lanterns tries to teach Kyle how to harness the power of Rage without a Red Lantern ring. 


You wouldn't think the artwork could possibly make this mess of a story any worse.  Somehow, Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna manage it.  In reviewing the last issue, I compared Bressan's artwork to that of Frank Quietly, noting the similar detail-oriented styles while also noting that Bressarn was a poor visual storyteller.  Those problems continue throughout this issue, as well with the pages I think were drawn by Amilcar Pinna, which  resemble nothing less than a poor parody of Rob Liefeld, with tiny eyes and consantly gritted teeth. 

Do not buy this book.  Do not even read it in the shop.  Go spend your money on Green Lanterns Corps and leave this one to die.

Your Logic Bomb For Today

SOURCE: So, The Back Cover Ad on Batman This Month Is a “Fake Geek Girl” Joke
SOURCE: Over 90,000 Copies Of IDW’s My Little Pony Comic Book Have Been Pre-Ordered

You have to love the timing on these two stories breaking at nearly the same time.

On the one hand, we have an ad for a website using material from a piece they did on the super-villains of the fandom world.  And out of all the characters they could have chosen to include in the ad, they chose to focus on the fake geek girl stereotype.

The image in question is presented with my own alteration to make it more truthful.



And then, we have this other news - this news that based on pre-orders, the first issue of a new My Little Pony comic has outsold Uncanny X-Men.  Already this news has caused some to claim that the only reason the numbers are so high is because of the large number of Bronies among male comic fans and that there's no way that many women want to read a My Little Pony comic.

They believe this.  They actually believe there's a large number of men who are buying comics centering around strong female protagonists and cute, funny stories.... and we can't get a Stephanie Brown Batgirl book like the one Bryan Miller was writing just over a year ago?

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

Advertising Fail: Avengers Role-Play Accessories

SOURCE: Avengers, Assem-- Wait, Why Are You Rapping?

*sighs* Just roll it.

My Thoughts....

1. Rap music to promote a line of toys based on an all-white superhero team, modeled by a group of all-white boys?  1991 called.  They want their ad-man back.

2. Those "kids" look a little old to be playing superheroes.  Just saying.

3. No Black Widow props?  Of course not!  Because girls don't want to pretend to be superheroes!  They want to play dress up and look pretty!  (Don't worry ladies - there will be a faux-leather catsuit for you all in time for Halloween!)