Sunday, May 29, 2011

Super Silly Sunday


Who else wants to see more of her educated feet?  All in favour say aye!

Aye!
From Adventures of Superman 547

PS: I'm now on holiday for a bit so won't be responding to any comments.  There are a few Super Silly Sunday and Wonder Woman Wednesday posts scheduled for when I'm away though.  I hope you enjoy them.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

GCSE in British Sign Language?

Signature, the accrediting body for all British Sign Language, Deaf Awareness, Communication Support Worker, Lipseapking, Notetaking etc courses, are developing a GCSE in British Sign Language.  they would like to seek evidence of support and demand for the course, and are asking people to show support by going here.

For non UK people, GCSE's are the exams you take at 16.  After 16 you can leave education, but if you choose to continue studying you can take A-Levels (at 18) and then go to university.

Obviously, I support the creation of more BSL courses, so long as they taught to a high standard and native BSL users are involved in the programmes.  If you support the creation of a GSCE in BSL please go visit the page and leave a message.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Making fun of Batman

SallyP over at Green Lantern Butt's Forever posted this great sketch of Booster and and Beetle:





She has also written a great post on why you shouldn't have to prove your nerd credentials, which just shows how great Sally is.  You all should go over there and take a look.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Make Mine Milk

Uhh, so I saw this on a bus recently -

I've seen stranger marketing ploys.  But, Hal Jordan advertsiing milk?   I'm convinced he's thinking something rude.

There's also a Ron Weasley advert:


I certainly would have associated Ron more with milk, than Hal..his face seems to fit better.  I can believe that Ron drinks milk.  I only believe that Hal drinks milk if it's laced with whiskey or rum.

I wonder if the GL one will have a bigger effect on milk or the film?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Signing Choir

Some of you may know that I am in a BSL signing choir.  This means we interpret songs into British Sign Language (or sometimes Sign Suported English) and we perform them at various venues.  Lots of people are curious about this, they don't know how it works, what it entails or how we perform.  So, to increase awarenness I am providing links to our videos (eep).

The following videos were recorded on 4th May at the Forum in Norwich, for the Norfolk Deaf Awareness Festival.  For me, I was having a bad (terribly nervous) day that day, so my performance is not very good.  Others in the choir are far better that I.

Whole choir doing Take That's Rule The World

Whole choir doing Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight

Whole choir doing John Barrowman's Love Changes Everything

Solo of Alanis Morrisette's Ironic  (My favourite of all the performances)

For a taste of other ways to interpret songs, this is a you tube channel for one of my friends doing solo performances, under the name V Sign.  She's fabulous.  Really really good.

Of course, there's always Lee's BSL songs as well, which are jaw droppingly excellent.  I don't know him, I just wish I could sign like him!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Making fun of Batman

SallyP over at Green Lantern Butt's Forever posted this great sketch of Booster and and Beetle:


She has also written a great post on why you shouldn't have to prove your nerd credentials, which just shows how great Sally is.  You all should go over there and take a look.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thor!!!

I really really liked it!  I hadn't read any Thor comics before I saw the film (although by the time this post goes live I should have my grubby mitts on at least one trade) and so I didn't really know what to expect from it.  It soon became apparent that the Marvel story is very different to the Eddas (I wasn'nt surprised) but it was fun nontheless.

Heimdall was ace.  As was Looki and Thor.  All the actors were great and Thor and Heimdall were huge!  Thor is also really fucking hot.  I got quite excited.  Asgard was impressive as was bifrost (although I'd have preferred something a little more ethereal and lighter in colour).

Thor was all gung ho until he lost his hammer, and the poor guy just deflated.  He looked utterly crestfallen.  the final fight was great fun!

In terms of the female characters, Sif was a warrior in this, not the earth goddess I thought she was, and Frigga was, well, not named.  I mean, what the fuck?  She's the Queen of the Gods and not once was she named in the film.  Ahe was stately and regal (and handy with a sword), but she wasn't NAMED.


Add to this the secret scene at the end of the film where it's the male scientist who gets invited to SHEILD, depsite the fact that Jane is the major character in this film, and I get cross (again).  This casual sexism makes me angry.

Apart from that, it was good.  Jane was a typical eccentric scientist type (this is usually a male character) and the comic relief was female (again, usually male).  One of my male friends commented that he was annoyed the way the comeptent female characters tend to get sidelined as love interests (at least that's what I think he was saying).  I'm not sure that's appropriate in this film's case but I thought it was an interesting view.

I also got to see the Green Lantern trailer on the big screen!  It still has it's problems but I am now really really excited to see it!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I played around with the format!

What do you all reckon?  I'm rather keen on the orange.  It's nice and firey.

Comments

I am getting a heck of a lot of spam comments lately.  It's incredibly infuriating.  I delete them as fast as I can, but they still show up on the comments thing on the right hand side of the blog. :/  Anyone know any way I can decrease the amount of spam showing up?

Anyway, for all the rest of you non spam bots, I do read all your comments, and I thank you all for commenting.  Sorry I don't respond to them all.  I easily run out of energy and time.

Now, I think I shall play around with the format of this thing.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Some BatWondy love for you this WWW.




Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Brightest Day (ooh I get a bit cross)

Ok, so it's now all over.  I can't say I was too impressed.  I expected something bright and cheerful, perhaps along the lines of the (old) JLI.  What I got was more of the same (mostly) dull dramatics, misery, death and angst.

I liked the Hawks' story (to a point), and also Aquaman's (mostly because of Aqualad, who is a fantastic addition to DC's universe.  I didn't see any of Osiris' or Captain Boomerang's story in these pages.  That was disappointing.  Deadman's, Firestorm's and the Martian manhunter's story also did not intereste me much (and I thought I was J'onn fan).

If this story was designed to hook new readers into less popular B-list characters, it didn't work on me.  I was already an Aqua and Hawk fan.  I am not drawn into reading up on Swamp Thing or Constantine either.  I was however highy HIGHLY amused by the black and green Swamp Thing fight scene.  I guffawed.

The elementals idea was perfect, and it's a damn shame it wasn't continued.

Of course, this was somewhat ruined by the fatc that they killed off Sheira.  I sincerely hope that she comes back soon, and in her own right, because her death did nothing for the story except to provide another reason for Carter to angst.  Like he doesn't angst enough anyway.    It looks like a classic case of Women In Refigerators syndrome.

For Gods sake why didn't they kill off Carter and make Sheria angst?  Oh right, that's because male characters can exist in their right whereas female characters only exist as motivations or plot devices for the male characters.



*fumes*

Monday, May 16, 2011

That kerfuffle about Superman and Guy Gardner (not together)

I don't really understand the opposition to Superman giving up his US citizenship.  As I read it, he gave it up because he didn't want to be used a s political pawn (i.e. much the same reason as he refused to say which party he supported in the Decisions mini).  It wasn't because he was ashamed of being American (even if he had issues with the current administration's actions).

I guess it's a culture difference thing.  I just can't imagine British people becoming indignant and hurt is one of our heroes refuted their British citizenship.  Granted, we don't really have a lot of British heroes (Captain Beefeater doesn't count), but my point still stands, I think.

Green Lantern Emerald Warriors
I bought the issue and I STILL don't know what's meant to be happening in this picture. 
It makes no more sense in context.  Unless you read the whole comic as Guy wanting to jump Hal's bones.   This doesn't stop me loving it though!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The referendum was not a success.

40% turn out, only a third voted for AV.  Well done Britain, that's screwed us out of having a decent electoral system for about another 30 years.  I hope you're proud.

*scowls*

I'm narked and people are stupid.  So, to cheer myself (and you guys up) I looked at a couple of posts by notintheface.  One shows Jaimie Reyes mother and the other shows Lois kicking ass in a wedding dress, with a champagne bottle.

Jesus. 40% turn out.  With results like that this nation doesn't deserve a decent elctoral system or a decent government.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Nonsenical trade decisions

It appears that best issues of the Adventures of Superman run have not been collected into trade.  This is infuriating.

Which are htese I hear you cry?  Well it's the hero-ville saga, from these issues:



 And then there's the double Mxy story, from these issues:

I is not best pleased with this.  Harrumph.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Blogging against Disablism Day

I missed it.  Again.   It was on Mayday (1st May). So I am going to cross-post the entry from The F Word.

What is disablism?
Disablism is arranging a meeting in an inaccessible venue.
Disablism is sitting in the ‘priority’ seats on public transport and not offering those seats to a disabled person, if you are not disabled yourself.
Disablism is when a doctor ignores physical health problems because you have mental health problems.
Disablism is parking in a disability car parking space when you are not disabled (even if it is *just for a minute*).
Disablism is using words like retard, psycho, spastic, handicapped and lame.*
Disablism is thinking that making buildings accessible is ‘bending over backwards’ and political correctness gone mad.
Disablism is presuming that disabled people are less than you.
Disablism is not hiring a disabled person because of assumptions you have about their abilities or needs.
Disablism is staring at someone because they look different.
Disablism is making assumptions about what someone can and cannot do.
Disablism is making offensive jokes about a group of people on the basis of their impairment.
Disablism is presuming that disabled people’s lives must be awful.
Disablism is casting a non-disabled person to play a disabled person in a play or TV show.
Disablism is disability hate crime.
Disablism is refusing to prescribe contraception to a learning disabled person because they can’t possibly want to have sex.
Disablism is not acknowledging that many disabled people experience discrimination on multiple levels.
Disablism is frequently institutionalised.
Disablism is assumptions.
Disablism is not asking whether your event needs a sign language interpreter**.
Disablism is going ahead and doing what you think might help, rather than asking someone what would help.
Disablism is refusing to prosecute men who rape mentally ill or learning disabled women, because the women are ‘unreliable witnesses’.
Disablism is thinking that you don’t need to consider access needs, because disabled people don’t come to your events (and not wondering why they don’t).
Disablism is assuming that someone you haven’t met (or even that you have) is not disabled.
Disablism is presuming that people diagnosed with schizophrenia are dangerous and violent.
Disablism is thinking it is less tragic when a disabled person kills themselves than it is when a non-disabled person does.
Disablism is presumptions about ‘quality of life’.
Disablism is behind all these news stories.
Disablism is sacking somebody when they become ill or disabled.
Disablism is not in the dictionary.
Disablism is telling us we are being punished for something we did in a past life.
Disablism is thinking that if someone doesn’t look disabled, then they are not.
Disablism is ignoring somebody because you don’t understand.
Disablism is thinking that disabled people ‘have it too easy these days’ and are therefore being overly demanding if they want to be able to get into a building.


* I do this.  I say spas a lot.  I need to stop it.
**I would add to this, disablism is also assuming a Ddeaf person needs a sign language interpreter, and not for instance, a lipspeaker, notetaker or other form of communication support, or even assuming that communication support is what they need at all.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Wonder Woman Wednesday

I love it when in universe kids dress up as superheroes.  What a cute lil Wondy.

From and Adventures of Superman comic.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Thoughts on the gender binary and religion

So, when looking up Beltaine stuff recently I came across something called The 13th Principles of Wiccan Belief which I found quite interesting.  As the webpage is blue text on a black background (whoever thought that was a good idea?) I will repost the principles here:

1.     We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross Quarters.
2.     We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment.  We seek to live in harmony with nature in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.
3.     We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person.  Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called ‘supernatural’, but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
4.     We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity – as masculine and feminine – and that this same Creative Power lies in all people and functions through the interaction of the masculine and the feminine.  We value neither above the other knowing each to be supportive of the other.  We value sex as pleasure as the symbol and embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energy used in magical practice and religious worship.
5.     We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconsciousness, the Inner Planes etc – and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magical exercises.  We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
6.     We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
7.     We see religion, magick and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it – a world view and philosophy of life which we identify as Witchcraft – the Wiccan Way.
8.     Calling oneself ‘Witch’ does not make a Witch – but neither does heredity itself, nor the collecting of titles, degrees and initiations.  A Witch seek to control the forces within her/himself that make life possible in order to live wisely and without harm to others and in harmony with nature.
9.     We believe in the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to the Universe we know and our personal role within it.
10.Our only animosity towards Christianity, or towards any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be ‘the only way’ and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practice and belief.
11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions.  We are concerned with our present and our future.
12.We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as ‘Satan’ or ‘the Devil’ as defined by Christian tradition.  We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor accept that personal benefit can be derived only by denial to another.
13.We believe that we should seek within Nature that which is contributory to our health and well-being.

As you can see, it's an American charter.  More info on the background regarding how it was drawn up etc can be found on the website.  I should also point out that wiccanism is a sub branch of paganism, so not all pagans refer to themselves as wiccas, but all wiccas refer to themselves as pagans.

Anyway, what particularly interested me was principle number 4 -
"We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity – as masculine and feminine"

See, this is where I fall out with most pagan teachings.  So much reference is made to the polarity read: binary) of masculine and feminine gender.  What about intersex people?  Trans people?  Those who regard themselves as gender free?  This polarity doesn't seem to allow room for them.


I think that most pagans would argue that the masculine and feminine labels are ways of understanding human and divine nature and don't mean that only male and female people (or Gods) exist.  That, for example, a man can identify with feminine traits and a woman identify with masculine traits (or that many people will identify with both).  Certainly pagans believe that both the masculine and feminine are worthy, that one isn't superior to the other and that both are important facets of life and should both be embraced.


My issue is that we are only human and we frame our ideas and understanding with human values and experiences.  We cannot know the absolute divine truth because we are only human.  Along with that, we (in the West at least, I am not qualified to talk about different cultures) live in a patriarchal society which is obsessed with the gender binary and tries to rigorously enforce it.


So, when pagans talk about the masculine and feminine aspects of the divine, I can't help but feel that
they are feeding into this ciscentric view of gender.  It prioritises conventional gender presentation over other 'hidden' genders (intersex, trans, gender free etc).  Either/or.

Ok, so there are some Gods who are a mixture of both sexes, Hermaphroditos (the son of Hermes and Aphrodite) comes to mind.  However, this God is mostly referred to by the male pronoun and often is presented as being more about a mixture of sex (and sexuality) than gender.  Of course the confusion between sex and gender and their linkage tends to confuse most cis-gendered people (I include myself in this) and I think helps feed into this obsession with the male/female binary.


I am just not comfortable with that.  This creates a conundrum in my mind and I have trouble rationalising where I fit amongst these beliefs.


In my (limited) readings I've come across some authors who state that past pagan societies weren't sexist, women were revered and not treated as second class citizens and part of the evidence for that is the worship of the Goddess.  It will surprise no one to read that I think this view demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of history, culture and gender relations.  Having said that, I haven't found another religion which has as much pro-feminist leanings as this one.  Plus, the lack of structure and ability to choose your own way is very appealing to me.


I don't know, if anyone reading this considers themselves pagan and has thoughts on this masculine/feminine binary I'd be really keen to read your thoughts.  Please no one comment to the effect of paganism being wrong, or cisgendered people being the only real people.



Note: I really hate the way blogspot's spellcheck doesn't recognise 'cis' or 'cisgendered' as words.  Rubbish.

Monday, May 09, 2011

Introducing Super Silly Sunday!

I've got a new series, Super Silly Sunday!  I'm going to use it to post out of context, amusing, bizzare, dickish or silly moments form the Superman family of comcis, or from any comic featuring a member of the Super family.

Let's start with a personal favourite from Adventures of Superman #520:

The flare surprised them into becoming tangible.

Right.

Surprising tangibility!  That's gotta be one of the worst weaknesses ever.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Leah Betts and the misinformation given out to teenagers about drugs

Rachel over at Bellis Perennis has written a rather good blog post about the Leah Betts case, a teenager who dies in 1995 after taking 1 ecstasy pill and then drinking 15 pints of water.  It's a rather good post so I am going to crosspost it in it's entirety, with my comments after her words:
------------------

The failed legacy of Leah Betts

This is a thousand-word post about drugs and death. Sorry.
I was eleven when Leah Betts died and she has haunted me since. For those of you who weren't eleven years old, who grew to maturity without her icon hanging in the cluttered gallery of your subconscious, she was a teenage girl from Latchenden, Essex. She lived eighteen years, took one Ecstasy pill, drank fifteen pints of water and died.
Fifteen pints of water will do that to a person.
Leah's death became a cause célèbre throughout the country. Her picture was printed full-page in every newspaper, shown nightly on the news, pasted on billboards. It billowed above the roads on my way to school, unavoidable, that failed ex-voto image of the girl-next-door shrunken to a silkworm, spun around with so many life-support tubes that they obscured her face and, even then, couldn't save her. A ghoulish epitaph accompanied the image: Sorted.
Understandably, Leah Betts's parents wanted her death not to be meaningless, to fulfill some purpose as their daughter's short life had prevented her from doing. They had the support of the government, the media and the schools and this powerful alliance went after the cause of her death with a massive publicity campaign. Rather strangely in my (adult) opinion, they went after the Ecstasy and not the water.
The story was a perfect one for this purpose. Leah seemed completely normal, just pretty enough and just clever enough and, crucially, just the right age for her fate to strike a chord with my cohort of awkward adolescent girls. With the icon of the Blessed Leah before us -- struck down so gruesomely and at such a romantic point in her life, the threshold of freedom and adulthood -- we pledged to never to succumb to the same fate.
Hmm. What I mean to say is, I can't have been the only one who was terrified of dying the same way as her, despite having no desire to take drugs in the first place, can I? The narrative was detailed in its grisliness. The heat, the panic, the collapse. The vigil at her bedside. At first we were told it must have been a bad pill -- it's so easy to get them, even when you think you know what you're buying! Then the tests revealed that what she'd taken had been as advertised. Just one pill can do this to you! Sorted. They never mentioned the water. I didn't know about it until I was in my twenties.
One thing that did strike me as strange about the parable was that Leah had taken her pill at a birthday party in her own house. In my adolescent mind, as in the pamphlets pressed on us in school drug awareness classes, Ecstasy was inextricably linked with nightclubs. I had never been into one and did not intend to. Nightclubs were filled with all of the things I hated: disorienting lights and noise, pop music, dancing and -- most of all -- other people. As such, I felt pretty sure I was also immune from the shadowy pushers who, the pamphlets assured me, lined the walls of every club looking for teenagers to poison. Why would you take it in your own home, even at a party? Maybe that was her first mistake, after all. She had gone off-script.
Now, of course, I think that was a pretty sensible idea. Much better to try something new at home, where your kitchen and bedroom are and you won't get lost, where your friends can look after you, than out in a club. The tragedy was that her friends didn't know enough to look after her. Water seems so safe. Drugs and dancing overheat you. Who would have guessed that fifteen pints was too much, that she'd dissolve as irrecoverably as an aspirin tablet?
I think it's disgusting that we weren't told what really killed her. I get angry, even now, that nobody told her.
People have been taking drugs of various kinds since we've been people. Despite the best efforts of prohibitionists, they will probably continue to do so for a long while yet. Even the ghost girls invoked by the media, hovering mournfully in their phantom hospital gowns, can't dissuade everyone.
It's ridiculous to tell young people nothing more than, "Don't do it!" when we're talking about a recreational activity no more dangerous than horse-riding, and criminal to lie about the ways in which they can make themselves safer. You wouldn't send an eighteen-year-old on their first horse ride without a helmet or bridle, would you? I'm not trying to argue that Ecstasy use is without risks, simply that those risks should be honestly set out by those taking it upon themselves to do so.
Leah Betts's pointless death could have been used to point out some useful facts about hyponatraemia (it's bad; it's avoidable) and SIADH (not being able to pee enough, which can be caused by MDMA). That could have been useful. Instead, they lied to us and terrified us with her picture. Terror may work for a while, but when young people eventually realise they've been lied to, any lessons that were supposed to go down with the lies are usually discarded too.
In death as in life, she was a martyr to dishonest education.
---
I wrote the above in my lunch break and mostly from memory; when I'd finished it, it was time to go and find some links. Leah's Wikipedia page is pretty good (warning: contains the photo of her in hospital). From there, I found this retrospective article on the BBC from 2005.
There's a long section about Leah and the rest of the "Public gallery of dead young women" used as propaganda tools against drug use in Chilling Out: the cultural politics of substance consumption, youth and drug policy by Shane Blackman. I had no idea there were so many of them; I could certainly only have named Rachel Whitear, whose post-mortem photograph had a similar chilling effect on me at sixteen. I have lain awake on more than one night thinking unhappily about her, despite never in my life having had the thought that taking heroin might be a good idea. The works of William S. Burroughs had put me off that many years before. Chilling Out looks pretty good. I might see if they have a copy in the library.
Here are some more things I didn't know but found out today: about SIADH (biochemistry is fascinating); that, so much for the menace of ONE TABLET, Leah Betts had taken Ecstasy at least twice before; that the Times Style Guide still recommends spelling Ecstasy with a capital E, so I have done.
Wikipedia claims that the Sorted poster actually showed a picture of Leah alive and smiling, but the only references linked to mention it as showing the more sensational picture of her in the life-support machine, the same as I remember. If Wiki is right, it's interesting that so many people share the same constructed memory. I couldn't find any images on Google to decide one way or the other.
Here's FRANK, the current state of the art of government drug awareness initiatives. I've never Talked To Frank so can't really recommend or unrecommend him, but there he is for the sake of completeness.
Finally, here's the Erowid page on MDMA. I haven't poked around much in there, either, but Erowid is generally a fantastic resource so I feel comfortable recommending it.
Edited to add: I also meant to link to this report from the RSA, Drugs - Facing Facts. It's nice to have the RSA backing me up on this one. The publication itself is also an interesting read.
Many practitioners are convinced that close-range campaigns with a specific harm reduction message – safer clubbing, avoiding driving under the influence, the risks of heroin or methadone over-dose after leaving prison – are more likely to have a positive effect than highly visible general-deterrence campaigns like the largely unsuccessful ‘Sorted’ posters that featured photographs of Leah Betts as she was dying. Information presented neutrally and in a less alarmist form stands a better chance of convincing an audience that is naturally inclined to be cynical. (Page 163)
 ---------------

My comments to Rachel on her post were as follows:
"Very well put. I was 15 when Leah died, and I seem to recall my mother using it as an excuse to tell me about the dangers of drugs.
This didn't go down too well with me, (mostly cos I was 15) and when, at some point later I did find out that it was the water that killed her, and told my mother this, (and possibly other adults too) I believe they ignored me as dying from water consumption doesn't fit the anti drug narrative.
This, I suspect, is why you didn't find out about it till you were an adult. It does piss me off when people don't tell the truth."

It does piss me off when people aren't honest about dangerous substances.  I have never really seen the appeal of drugs (beyond weed), but once took half an e and proceeded to get depressed.  So, that sort of thing isn't for me - not because I think it's dangerous, I'm just not interested.  I'd still like the truth though.

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Lex Luthor - evil man

I've never really read much Lex before.  That sounds odd for a Super family fan, I know, but the Super issues I've picked up haven't tended to centre on Lex, and I dropped Action Comics when Superman left it.  So, my knowledge of Lex is the movies and Smallville.

Hence, I was surprised to find a number of differnet portrayals of him within Adventures of Superman.
From issue #552:
The point of this is he doesn't usually lose control, or get his hands dirty.  He tends to hire goons to do his dirty work.  Or renegade Amazons:

He rules by fear, manipulation, blackmail and politics.  He's clever, devious, ruthless and arrogant.  This was demosntrated nicely in last week's Action Comics 900 when he got ultimate power.

Anyway, learning all this, this next page put the wind up me:

I knew he was once president, that wasn't a surprise.  That is a nice piece of comic art though - he looks so foreboding, and, well, evil.

Long live Lex.  One of comic's most interesting characters.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Kismet

Ancient Lord of order, I think.  She sure makes a pretty picture:


Green, yellow and blue should clash.  But they don't here.  It's such a lovely surprise when I come across art like this in my comics.

From Adventures of Superman 494 and 500.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Alternative vote referendum

Today there is a UK wide referendum on our electoral system - should we change from First Past the Post to the Alternative Vote system.

I will be voting yes because although AV isn't perfect it's better than our rotten system.  It will decrease the chances of governments winning with huge majorities, it will give us a more representative parliament and it might go some way to changing the 2 party system that we've got now.

I feel I should say far more about this important referendum, but I don't have it in me.  Maybe I'll have more to say once I know the outcome.  Anyway, I hope you all vote yes.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Wonder Woman Wednesday

I'm getting in on this.  Amazon Princess started the idea.  So, to kick things off, I present this Phil Noto sketch:



Dirty Diana. Disconcerted Batman.  I like!

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Supergirl with wings

I will never get tired of seeing Supergirl with her fire wings:






From Adventures of Superman 580, 582, 583, 583, 580 and 582 again.

This panel from issue 529 is also gorgeous:

Monday, May 02, 2011

Cat Grant

Poor Cat Grant gets harassed quite a lot in Adventures of Superman.
While she worked as a telly newscreader for the WGBS Corporation Vincent Edge groped her, made lewd comments and promised her she'd get a better job if she had sex with him.

In Adventures of Superman 510 she dealt with him in style:
 

Unfortunately, this did not do her career much good:
The above scans and the one below are all from Adventures of Superman 526, and it's interesting because they show how Cat is still a good reporter.




So much so that she gets offered a new job by Vincent Edge.  Who thinks this will end badly?  I do.

I also like the above scans because they show a Cat who is friendly with Lois.  She seems a completely different person to the character we've seen in Supergirl.  It's nice to see her history and get her background.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Beltaine/Mayday

It's the first of May!  It's a traditional holiday in the UK and yet another old celtic one.  It's a fire and fertility festival and is held to mark the coming of summer.

Sometimes spelt Beltane, it's that day of the year where you get the young maidens of the village to dance around a giant pole, singing to it and bedecking it with ribbons.  Cos it's a phallus substitute.  I have been wondering why we don't traditionlly dance around a hole in the ground, or a cave opening or something as a womb substitute, but I have not yet found any literature which explains this.

Anyway, May 1st (or the nearest Monday to it) is a a bank holiday in the UK, so most of us get the day off work.  Having said that, today is a Sunday, so if I choose to get boozed up tonight I shall have tomorrow to recover (hurrah!).

The name Beltane apparently comes from the celtic Sun God Bel, he is a being of light and fire and he impregnates the earth.  At this time of year all the fresh new veg is coming through and for folk like me who try to buy food in season it means that I get a sudden expansion of my diet.  This week, I have been eating asparagus.  Spring veg is great!

We've been having delightful weather recently and I'm hoping it will have continued until Mayday.  So all of you, enjoy the day, enjoy the changing of the year, eat some nice food and if you're UK bound, enjoy Monday off work!  Happy Beltane all :)