Caution - big spoilers ahead.
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I decided to re-read it the other day, for the humour. And then I realised something, so many bloggers talk about it like it's absolute crap, but that's not a particularly accurate representation of it.
I admit, when I first read it I found the first few issues hilarious. The dialogue and the narration seemed quite, quite funny, and not intentionally so. On a re-read, with the benefit of hindsight and having had time to mull it over, I can see more nuances in it that I didn't see before.
Some of the narration in the first couple of issues if pretty dire, especially that around Congorilla and Mik. The dialogue, on the other hand shows real wit and a deft handling of (some of) the characters. A lot of it is banter - teasing between friends, mocking each other, being comfortable with each other. It seems to me to portray a group of people who are comfortable in themselves and with each other and have the confidence within them to speak as they see fit. A lot of the dialogue is very natural. It showed to me how Robinson could be really really good, and probably was in Starman.
Ollie's repetition of 'Oh Boy' in issue number 1 seems real, as does Dinah's reaction to him. What doesn't fit later on is when Ollie tells Dinah 'Pretty bird..you've just turned real ugly' because Dinah told him off for running off with Hal. I don't think Ollie should be that cruel and petulant.
There are still things I don't like - Ray Palmer using torture, the killing and skinning of the Tasmanian Devil, Roy's maiming and Lian's death (which wasn't fully explored and was, I still feel, dealt with badly). Ollie and Hal deciding to go on another walkabout also didn't make a lick of sense, especially Ollie. To reconcile this in my head I think I shall have to believe that Ollie has been pining for the old days and has wanted to do something different and juvenile, so Hal's offer came along at just the right time.
I am pleased by Kara's detective powers in the series, not just as a Kara fan but also because It would seem to complement and back up her science training as seen in her own book. I am not best pleased by her crying as soon as Hal questioned her motives - that seemed bizarre. Although possibly it could have been improved with a different artist - imagine her being shown to be crying tears of frustration instead of sorrow. Compare this with Kara's developing crush on Freddie which was nicely handled.
The other thing which impressed me as much as it did the first time, was Donna saving the day. Despite being crucified to a wall, despite being shot in the leg with an arrow, the way she barrelled through there and took Prometheus down took my breath away. That is the single most impressive thing I have seen Donna do, and it was joyous. It gave me new respect for her as a character.
The last couple of things to mention about the plot (and then I will move onto the art) is that on a re-read, with knowledge of the new Justice League about to be formed, this story makes a lot more sense. You can see why and how things were set up the way they were and it feels more satisfying when you know where it will lead.
Then there's Ollie killing of Prometheus - I wrote at the time this issue came out that this did seem in character for Ollie. In his own book he'd been getting darker and more savage for a long time. I didn't particularly like this new direction, I prefer a happier, confident more carefree Ollie, but we got some good stories out of it and I continued to read and enjoy it. On re-read, I still think that this is in character for him, as he was being written at the time.
Now, the art. I think this book would have been very much improved (for myself), with a different artist(s).
Mauro Cascioli does paint some very pretty pictures, but there's not a lot of movement in them. It's static - each panel looks like a snapshot. I prefer my comic art to have an air of movement about it. He also doesn't always manage to convey expressions or feelings to the same degree that simpler, less complicated pencil lines can do. For me, this is a negative. Others may feel differently. Then there's his tendency to draw women's costumes with really high knicker lines, to the extent that I can tell they've all shaved or waxed to at least a Brazilian standard, if they haven't had it all taken off. This is purely a political viewpoint of mine, I don't expect everyone else to agree with it. On the plus side, although he can't draw realistic clothes (in terms of how they hang and fold) the bodies he draws are of a more realistic body shape, which is something that simpler drawings always achieve.
For the last 3 issues we had Scott Clark provide a lot of the art. It appears that Clark is trying to ape Cascioli's style but he doesn't quite have the ability or finesse to pull it off. The art isn't detailed enough, there's less character and expression in his subject's faces and the women are even more (and needlessly) sexed up. There's a particularly bad panel of Speedy, here, where for some reason she appears to be posing on a rooftop with her bow. It would make more sense if she had an arrow in her hand, but she doesn't.
, fun fluff. It's not groundbreaking. The idea of heroes stopping the bad guys before they do something really bad was done in Justice League Elite. There's lots of bad editorial decisions, but I can see why Robinson has so many fans. There's a hint of greatness in there that was stifled and overshadowed by many poor events.
Showing posts with label cry for justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cry for justice. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
James Robinson's response to Cry for Justice
From his twitter page.
It says:
"Oh and to all the fans and haters both of Cry For Justice 7, thanks for your comments. I appreciate your feedback."
Well, thats gracious at least
I was interested in buying Starman. Not anymore. Mr Robinson, you should be thoroughly ashamed of this godawful badly put together, badly executed, and badly written piece of tripe.
Arg, it wasn't even about Roy Harper for fuck sake. Lians' mother hasn't been given a look in.#
Arg.
Another edit - 2 remixes of CfJ.
It says:
"Oh and to all the fans and haters both of Cry For Justice 7, thanks for your comments. I appreciate your feedback."
Well, thats gracious at least
I was interested in buying Starman. Not anymore. Mr Robinson, you should be thoroughly ashamed of this godawful badly put together, badly executed, and badly written piece of tripe.
Arg, it wasn't even about Roy Harper for fuck sake. Lians' mother hasn't been given a look in.#
Arg.
Another edit - 2 remixes of CfJ.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Where I weigh in and. give. my. thoughts.
So Cry for Justice huh? I always like it when the blogosphere explodes, it's fun. And Cry for Juastice has degenerated into being unbelieveably bad. Issue #1 was a bit dull with nothing happening. Issue #2 and #3 were hilarious. #4 was boring. Issue #5 had the Kara/Freddie kiss which didn't come to fruition and some truly bad costuming decisions for the ladies in the book. Issue #6 had Donna being awesome and saving the day, which I loved - see posts with Cry for Justice labels for my previous reviews. (And looking back through my old posts I've noticed some truly terrible typos - how do you all put up with me??!!)
Anyway, issue #7. There's been a hullabaloo. I was going to do a link round up but then I found out that WFA are doing Lian themed posts so I'm not gonna bother.
So, final issue, Prometheus is blowing up Star City, and many others, and all the the heroes in the DCU are out trying to fix this mess. In the process, Lian dies. Roy Harper's daughter, Green Arrow's granddaughter. This allows Ollie to get very very angry and kill Prometheus at the end of the book, with an arrow to the head.
Lian didn't need to die for Ollie to get this angry, given the mood he's been in during the last few years of his run he could have got very angry over Roy losing his arm and thousands of people dying.
Lian was quite a cute character, there's not enough young kids of heroes in the DCU, and now there's one less. Plus, given that a lot of us comics fans on the blogosphere harp on about wanting diversity in our comics, and I'm sure that DC are aware of this, to some degree, killing/getting rid of all the GA family kids (Sin, Lian, Connor), who just happen to not be white, seems a bit stupid. I don't think DC are deliberately getting rid of the non white kids, but unfortunately this is what they have done.
Her death was treated as throwaway and used only as a tool to motivate the other heroes. Or, Ollie. Cos no one else is given time to give a shit. I mean, if you're gonna try and positiona s a death as a pivotal moment in a story arc, at least demonstrate how it's affected the other protagonists, instead of just assuming all readers know who the kid is.
And, the whole issue was just badly executed. Every hero is involved, but we don't know how. I already blogged about the incredibly bad depiction of Mia, the women are all tits and ass with impossibly thin middles, Dinah is actually facepalming Lian's death, we don't get to see Roy's reaction to Lian's death, we don't spend long enough on her death, the art changes every few pages, Ollie does an inspirational speech which just comes off as cack handed and empty or devoid or all feeling, and not in an i'm so shocked i've just lost my gradnkid kind of way, and have I mentioned the bad art?
Some of the women's faces are just awful. I think the pencillers decided to go with this approach to female faces - in that to make faces feminine you must draw fewer lines. Hmmm. I think someone needs to re-assess their definition of female.
I actually quite liked the last few pages, of Ollie killing Prometheus. By this point I was convinced that Prometheus was a bad ass and so to see him get taken out like that was quite something. Unfortunately the information about how Ollie got in to the other worldly dimensional portal was contained in the latest JLA issue, not this one.
So, more bad writing. What a load of shit. Still, I bought it, knowing it was gonna be rubbish, so I can't complain about it being a waste of money. Although I feel I have every right to complain about it not being a good story.
Anyway, issue #7. There's been a hullabaloo. I was going to do a link round up but then I found out that WFA are doing Lian themed posts so I'm not gonna bother.
So, final issue, Prometheus is blowing up Star City, and many others, and all the the heroes in the DCU are out trying to fix this mess. In the process, Lian dies. Roy Harper's daughter, Green Arrow's granddaughter. This allows Ollie to get very very angry and kill Prometheus at the end of the book, with an arrow to the head.
Lian didn't need to die for Ollie to get this angry, given the mood he's been in during the last few years of his run he could have got very angry over Roy losing his arm and thousands of people dying.
Lian was quite a cute character, there's not enough young kids of heroes in the DCU, and now there's one less. Plus, given that a lot of us comics fans on the blogosphere harp on about wanting diversity in our comics, and I'm sure that DC are aware of this, to some degree, killing/getting rid of all the GA family kids (Sin, Lian, Connor), who just happen to not be white, seems a bit stupid. I don't think DC are deliberately getting rid of the non white kids, but unfortunately this is what they have done.
Her death was treated as throwaway and used only as a tool to motivate the other heroes. Or, Ollie. Cos no one else is given time to give a shit. I mean, if you're gonna try and positiona s a death as a pivotal moment in a story arc, at least demonstrate how it's affected the other protagonists, instead of just assuming all readers know who the kid is.
And, the whole issue was just badly executed. Every hero is involved, but we don't know how. I already blogged about the incredibly bad depiction of Mia, the women are all tits and ass with impossibly thin middles, Dinah is actually facepalming Lian's death, we don't get to see Roy's reaction to Lian's death, we don't spend long enough on her death, the art changes every few pages, Ollie does an inspirational speech which just comes off as cack handed and empty or devoid or all feeling, and not in an i'm so shocked i've just lost my gradnkid kind of way, and have I mentioned the bad art?
Some of the women's faces are just awful. I think the pencillers decided to go with this approach to female faces - in that to make faces feminine you must draw fewer lines. Hmmm. I think someone needs to re-assess their definition of female.
I actually quite liked the last few pages, of Ollie killing Prometheus. By this point I was convinced that Prometheus was a bad ass and so to see him get taken out like that was quite something. Unfortunately the information about how Ollie got in to the other worldly dimensional portal was contained in the latest JLA issue, not this one.
So, more bad writing. What a load of shit. Still, I bought it, knowing it was gonna be rubbish, so I can't complain about it being a waste of money. Although I feel I have every right to complain about it not being a good story.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Cry for Justice #7 preview
Hmm. Can't seem to be able to download them, so instead got to the link.
And answer me why does Speedy appear to be drawn in a position that shows off her fab-u-lous body more than it shows her leet archery skills?
Even the commenters on The Source blog agree with me.
Fucking fail.
An slightly off topic, I don't think I mentioned before but you may all have seen it anyway, I've put a reactions type thing at the bottom of each post...any feedback to be given by the ticking of the boxes would be lovely!
And answer me why does Speedy appear to be drawn in a position that shows off her fab-u-lous body more than it shows her leet archery skills?
Even the commenters on The Source blog agree with me.
Fucking fail.
An slightly off topic, I don't think I mentioned before but you may all have seen it anyway, I've put a reactions type thing at the bottom of each post...any feedback to be given by the ticking of the boxes would be lovely!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Flying Death Toys. Perfect.
Spoilers ahead for: Teen Titans #79, Blackest Night: JSA #2, The Atom and Hawkman: Blackest Night # 46 (resurrected title), Green Lantern: Blackest Night #50, Gotham City Sirens #8, World's Finest #4, Cry for Justice #6 and Supergirl #49
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Teen Titans #79
Really crap art. Half the time Static looks female. The dialogue and pacing was weird - sometimes it felt like we were misisng a scene or two. Rose's back up story was ok, but I've read better. On the other hand, it may just be that i was disillusioned due to the mains tory.
I really hope this improves, I love the Teen Titans and don't want to drop the title but so far Henderson's issues have been somewhat underwhelming.
Blackest Night: JSA #2
This isn't one of the better minis. Regarding the art, the faces are good but the bodies are weird and I don't want to think about what they've done to poor Peej's breasts to make them stay in that top. Oh, my world for a scanner.
I think my main problem with this mini is I have no feelings towards most of the characters, and this is a book for people who care about the characters. It's not something for new readers to jump in on. Which is what I am, at least in terms of the JSA. Still, DC are getting my (completist, nerdy) money so I don't really have cause to complain!
The Atom and Hawkman: Blackest Night # 46 (resurrected title)
Love the cover. Love Ray's new costume. I'm really interested in a Corps centred around Compassion and I've been wanting to learn more about them, and I loved the panel of Ray riding a frog (anyone put this up online or seen it anywhere?). We are promised such a lot by the end of the issue, I am, again, left wanting more.
Green Lantern: Blackest Night #50
Oooh, svenes of violence and carnage! Wonder Woman is still in that fucking ridiculous costume, but at least she's muscled. Can't believe I'm reduced to saying that. Mera is simply wonderful as a Red Lantern. In fact, we get to see all the new Corps deputies and oh are they ever so suited to the roles!
And THEN! It's Hal vs the Spectre. The Spectre tries to eat 2 Guardians.
So THEN! Hal Hammers half the Spectre's face off!
And THEN! Hal merges wiuth Parallax! And we get a lovely 2 page spread of Parallax, all delivered in yellow, of course.
And NOW! It's Parallax vs the Spectre! Woo hoo!
Gotham City Sirens #8
This had a lot in common with the Ivy tale in the Batman 80 Page Giant. I have a lot of sympathy for Ivy. Her motives are of value but unfortunately her methods are, to put it mildly, flawed.
A good issue. Well paced, well told and with good art.
World's Finest #4
Last issue was a bit rubbish, this is now sorted out. We still have Steph and kara, and Kara had a heart tingling scene (to me, anyway) where she yelled at Damian telling him why he shouldn't call people fat. This is because he'd called Steph fat earlier. This makes Kara a), a good friend, and b) a good person. Anyway, if I didn't already have a blog banner, that panel would be it.
Much like Gotham City Sirens, this is well paced, well told and an enjoyable read with some stellar moments - Kara's fat talk and Batman's encounter with 'flying death toys', to be specific. We end with a nice lead in to this year's Krypton crossover. Most of which I won't be buying. The main title I will purchase, but I've just cancelled Action and Adventure Comics, and won't be buying this 3 parter that's coming out shortly. Although I'll probably get the main maxi series.
Because I don't want to end on a down note, I shall talk about Cry for Justice #6 next.
There was a change of artist in this issue, but one who has a very similar style to the regular guy. he draws a very captivating Kara and a ridiculous Zatanna (stockings? please.)
Kara is bright enough to figure out who the villain is, then gets dispatched really easily, much like the rest of the heroes. Donna gets cruxified to the wall by Prometheus, then rips herself off the wall, takes an arrow in the leg, drags herself to Prometheus and proceeds to be the only one who can beat him down and defeat him.
Seeing Donna, a woman, an Amazon and a second leaguer, save the day in such a manner gave me a little (big) thrill.
At the end of the book Robinson acknowledges that his characters have cried Justice! a lot but stops short of an apology. He also claims he has done something new within this mini. I disagree. Reading this issue in particular gave me a sense of deja vu, and reading the series as a whole has reminded me of Justice League Elite.
Supergirl #49
I bloody knew it! Lana is the new Insect Queen! I feel triumphant. In other news, Kara's defeat of the Banshee was handled well and gave her a chance to shine. Overall, this issue flowed better than # 48, and felt, again, like a Kara centric issue. Next issue is #50, and Cliff Chiang is providing pencils for one story! Hurrah!
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Teen Titans #79
Really crap art. Half the time Static looks female. The dialogue and pacing was weird - sometimes it felt like we were misisng a scene or two. Rose's back up story was ok, but I've read better. On the other hand, it may just be that i was disillusioned due to the mains tory.
I really hope this improves, I love the Teen Titans and don't want to drop the title but so far Henderson's issues have been somewhat underwhelming.
Blackest Night: JSA #2
This isn't one of the better minis. Regarding the art, the faces are good but the bodies are weird and I don't want to think about what they've done to poor Peej's breasts to make them stay in that top. Oh, my world for a scanner.
I think my main problem with this mini is I have no feelings towards most of the characters, and this is a book for people who care about the characters. It's not something for new readers to jump in on. Which is what I am, at least in terms of the JSA. Still, DC are getting my (completist, nerdy) money so I don't really have cause to complain!
The Atom and Hawkman: Blackest Night # 46 (resurrected title)
Love the cover. Love Ray's new costume. I'm really interested in a Corps centred around Compassion and I've been wanting to learn more about them, and I loved the panel of Ray riding a frog (anyone put this up online or seen it anywhere?). We are promised such a lot by the end of the issue, I am, again, left wanting more.
Green Lantern: Blackest Night #50
Oooh, svenes of violence and carnage! Wonder Woman is still in that fucking ridiculous costume, but at least she's muscled. Can't believe I'm reduced to saying that. Mera is simply wonderful as a Red Lantern. In fact, we get to see all the new Corps deputies and oh are they ever so suited to the roles!
And THEN! It's Hal vs the Spectre. The Spectre tries to eat 2 Guardians.
So THEN! Hal Hammers half the Spectre's face off!
And THEN! Hal merges wiuth Parallax! And we get a lovely 2 page spread of Parallax, all delivered in yellow, of course.
And NOW! It's Parallax vs the Spectre! Woo hoo!
Gotham City Sirens #8
This had a lot in common with the Ivy tale in the Batman 80 Page Giant. I have a lot of sympathy for Ivy. Her motives are of value but unfortunately her methods are, to put it mildly, flawed.
A good issue. Well paced, well told and with good art.
World's Finest #4
Last issue was a bit rubbish, this is now sorted out. We still have Steph and kara, and Kara had a heart tingling scene (to me, anyway) where she yelled at Damian telling him why he shouldn't call people fat. This is because he'd called Steph fat earlier. This makes Kara a), a good friend, and b) a good person. Anyway, if I didn't already have a blog banner, that panel would be it.
Much like Gotham City Sirens, this is well paced, well told and an enjoyable read with some stellar moments - Kara's fat talk and Batman's encounter with 'flying death toys', to be specific. We end with a nice lead in to this year's Krypton crossover. Most of which I won't be buying. The main title I will purchase, but I've just cancelled Action and Adventure Comics, and won't be buying this 3 parter that's coming out shortly. Although I'll probably get the main maxi series.
Because I don't want to end on a down note, I shall talk about Cry for Justice #6 next.
There was a change of artist in this issue, but one who has a very similar style to the regular guy. he draws a very captivating Kara and a ridiculous Zatanna (stockings? please.)
Kara is bright enough to figure out who the villain is, then gets dispatched really easily, much like the rest of the heroes. Donna gets cruxified to the wall by Prometheus, then rips herself off the wall, takes an arrow in the leg, drags herself to Prometheus and proceeds to be the only one who can beat him down and defeat him.
Seeing Donna, a woman, an Amazon and a second leaguer, save the day in such a manner gave me a little (big) thrill.
At the end of the book Robinson acknowledges that his characters have cried Justice! a lot but stops short of an apology. He also claims he has done something new within this mini. I disagree. Reading this issue in particular gave me a sense of deja vu, and reading the series as a whole has reminded me of Justice League Elite.
Supergirl #49
I bloody knew it! Lana is the new Insect Queen! I feel triumphant. In other news, Kara's defeat of the Banshee was handled well and gave her a chance to shine. Overall, this issue flowed better than # 48, and felt, again, like a Kara centric issue. Next issue is #50, and Cliff Chiang is providing pencils for one story! Hurrah!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
What, no crying?
And so begins my catch up comic reviews. To make this manegable I shall split them into 4 areas: Superman/Batman themed, back issues, Blackest Night issues and finally Wonder Woman trades (yep, I bought some Simone books). And there'll be a post gushing about my super cool awesome new Ares action figure (complete with skull motifs!!)
Anyway, spoilers ahead for Cry for Justice #5, World's Finest #2, Superman: World of New Krypton #10 and Gotham City Sirens #6.
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Cry for Justice #5
No tears to be shed, none at all. The shame. The writing is somewhat improved from previous issues, however Batwoman's dialogue is oddly stiff. I get the impression Robinson was going for a noirish feeling, but something is not quite right. On the other hand, the art is far less static than in previous issues and it is a joy to watch Batwoman operate.
Speaking of the art, I found the bikini scenes gratuitous and uneccessary. Zatanna's leotard is cut far too high to be comfortable and Kara's top should be riding up. The only way it wouldn't ride up is if she never moved her upper body or if it was made baggier. However Batwoman is drawn fairly sensibly and the men have knob bulges, which is a very unusual. Why Red Tornado gets the biggest bulge when he's an android I have no idea.
Edit: On this subject, what bothers me about the art is he has a fairly realistic style, but this doesn't translate through to the women's clothes. Alex Ross also goes for realism but I can believe that his Dinah is held in by the basque/leotard she wears. I cannot believe that Vixen's breasts, as drawn in Cry for Justice, can stay in her top.
Back to the plot and Oliver Queen is treating Dinah like dirt - in an earlier issue where he and Hal Jordan were acting like frat boys it was amusing, but this is going further and he is being a vile person. Then Red Arrow, Ollie's adopted son, arrives with his right arm torn off at the elbow. Gruesome scene, but oh my, this artist can paint. The last page shows Congorilla and Flash defeated on the floor, with Kara and Freddie facing off against each other. Kara is mad as hell with glowing red eyes and looks utterly dangerous.
There is a good discussion of the various red herrings/art problems going on with this issue over at Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, so I won't delve into them here.
My final area of dissatisfaction with this issue concerns the cover. Although beautiful, it is a lie. Harrumph.
World's Finest #2
I was initially put off by the cartoony art, but as I read the issue I think that actually it fits the story rather well, mostly due to Damian. I find Damian to be something of a comedy extra anyway, so buggy eyes and overlarge heads suit his character. I also enjoyed the panel where Damian is leaping off a roof and gliding downwards - it very much reminded me of one of the Batman and Robin (new series) covers.
Sidenote - whilst (unsuccessfully) searching for that cover I came across this. Pretty cute huh? They'd probably make a terrible pairing but I do like the image.
The final page reveals the Toyman building a giant Superman/Batman robot. Now, I like me a giant robot as much as the next fun lovin' sci fi fangirl, but we've seen this before in the Superman/Batman storyline. In this book, a Japanese teenage boy genius built a ver-ry similar giant robot to deflect and destroy the big kryptonite asteroid hurtling towards earth. The robot was then manned by Captain Atom (I believe), who purportedly died in the robot. The asteroid contained our beloved Supergirl, mark 2. With this in mind, I hope this mini addresses the similarities. Preferably in the next issue, with Kara and Steph!Batgirl.
Overall this is a good fun issue. I've completely forgotten how it ties in to issue 1, but when it's this fun, I don't care.
Ouch. That last sentence is very bad writing. My apologies everyone.
Superman: World of New Krypton #10
This title is still coming up roses for me. Adam is a very good choice of guest star as we can experience surprise and frustration through Adam's interactions with the Kryptonians, particulalry regarding their lack of knowledge about basic CSI techniques.
The art's great, the story is great, the plots are coming together and I'm really interested to see how it will all end.
Gotham City Sirens #6
Wow, that's a boobilicious cover. Still, this book isn't meant to be high literature, it is fluff and is intended to partly focus on sex.
Harley gets to shine in this issue, outwitting the villain, Mr Gagsworthy, an old silver age character that was around in the Joker's early career. More retconning takes place and we find out Gagsworthy used to work in the same circus as the Flying Graysons and was there when the elder Grayson were murdered. The background was quite useful to me, as I'm not familiar with these old stories.
Selina and Ivy get a few panels to themselves and prove to be engaging characters with sharp wit.
Still a good book, still well worth buying.
PLUG: Reviews for Wonder Woman - the Hikieteia, Batman: the Bat and the Cat and Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade are now up at New readers...start here!
Anyway, spoilers ahead for Cry for Justice #5, World's Finest #2, Superman: World of New Krypton #10 and Gotham City Sirens #6.
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Cry for Justice #5
No tears to be shed, none at all. The shame. The writing is somewhat improved from previous issues, however Batwoman's dialogue is oddly stiff. I get the impression Robinson was going for a noirish feeling, but something is not quite right. On the other hand, the art is far less static than in previous issues and it is a joy to watch Batwoman operate.
Speaking of the art, I found the bikini scenes gratuitous and uneccessary. Zatanna's leotard is cut far too high to be comfortable and Kara's top should be riding up. The only way it wouldn't ride up is if she never moved her upper body or if it was made baggier. However Batwoman is drawn fairly sensibly and the men have knob bulges, which is a very unusual. Why Red Tornado gets the biggest bulge when he's an android I have no idea.
Edit: On this subject, what bothers me about the art is he has a fairly realistic style, but this doesn't translate through to the women's clothes. Alex Ross also goes for realism but I can believe that his Dinah is held in by the basque/leotard she wears. I cannot believe that Vixen's breasts, as drawn in Cry for Justice, can stay in her top.
Back to the plot and Oliver Queen is treating Dinah like dirt - in an earlier issue where he and Hal Jordan were acting like frat boys it was amusing, but this is going further and he is being a vile person. Then Red Arrow, Ollie's adopted son, arrives with his right arm torn off at the elbow. Gruesome scene, but oh my, this artist can paint. The last page shows Congorilla and Flash defeated on the floor, with Kara and Freddie facing off against each other. Kara is mad as hell with glowing red eyes and looks utterly dangerous.
There is a good discussion of the various red herrings/art problems going on with this issue over at Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, so I won't delve into them here.
My final area of dissatisfaction with this issue concerns the cover. Although beautiful, it is a lie. Harrumph.
World's Finest #2
I was initially put off by the cartoony art, but as I read the issue I think that actually it fits the story rather well, mostly due to Damian. I find Damian to be something of a comedy extra anyway, so buggy eyes and overlarge heads suit his character. I also enjoyed the panel where Damian is leaping off a roof and gliding downwards - it very much reminded me of one of the Batman and Robin (new series) covers.
Sidenote - whilst (unsuccessfully) searching for that cover I came across this. Pretty cute huh? They'd probably make a terrible pairing but I do like the image.
The final page reveals the Toyman building a giant Superman/Batman robot. Now, I like me a giant robot as much as the next fun lovin' sci fi fangirl, but we've seen this before in the Superman/Batman storyline. In this book, a Japanese teenage boy genius built a ver-ry similar giant robot to deflect and destroy the big kryptonite asteroid hurtling towards earth. The robot was then manned by Captain Atom (I believe), who purportedly died in the robot. The asteroid contained our beloved Supergirl, mark 2. With this in mind, I hope this mini addresses the similarities. Preferably in the next issue, with Kara and Steph!Batgirl.
Overall this is a good fun issue. I've completely forgotten how it ties in to issue 1, but when it's this fun, I don't care.
Ouch. That last sentence is very bad writing. My apologies everyone.
Superman: World of New Krypton #10
This title is still coming up roses for me. Adam is a very good choice of guest star as we can experience surprise and frustration through Adam's interactions with the Kryptonians, particulalry regarding their lack of knowledge about basic CSI techniques.
The art's great, the story is great, the plots are coming together and I'm really interested to see how it will all end.
Gotham City Sirens #6
Wow, that's a boobilicious cover. Still, this book isn't meant to be high literature, it is fluff and is intended to partly focus on sex.
Harley gets to shine in this issue, outwitting the villain, Mr Gagsworthy, an old silver age character that was around in the Joker's early career. More retconning takes place and we find out Gagsworthy used to work in the same circus as the Flying Graysons and was there when the elder Grayson were murdered. The background was quite useful to me, as I'm not familiar with these old stories.
Selina and Ivy get a few panels to themselves and prove to be engaging characters with sharp wit.
Still a good book, still well worth buying.
PLUG: Reviews for Wonder Woman - the Hikieteia, Batman: the Bat and the Cat and Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade are now up at New readers...start here!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Poll results!
8 votes received and thanks to all who took part!
The question was Which team should Supergirl join? and the results were:
1 for the Teen Titans
1 for the JSA
3 for the Birds of Prey
3 for her to stay solo
I think the Teen Titans are the obvious choice for her, and I would love to see Kara interact with Bombshell and Aquagirl. Bombshell doesn't take kindly to anyone much, and I think she'd view Kara as a peppy cheerleader type and hate her on sight. Plus Kara and Cassie are friends so that would probably set them apart before they'd even met.
As for Aquagirl, I just don't think she'd like Kara. I think she'd view her as immature, inexperienced and a liability for the team. We all know that Kara has moved on a lot since her stroppy days, but I don't think Aquagirl would acknowledge her newfoudn (semi) maturity, at least not at first.
I don't read the JSA, but I'm guessing that the person voting for this team was going for the mentoring young heroes aspects of it. If I'm wrong, tell me in the comments. I'm not convinced this is the right team for Kara, but as I said I don't read the title. I wonder how Kara gets on with Power Girl now? I reckon if Kara met Terra Kara would be very surprised by Terra's naeivty and would gently tease her and wind her up. Peej probably wouldn't approve of this.
As for the BoP choice, well Kara would be ace in the Birds of Prey! With Babs leading, Dinah as second in command, Helena, Zinda, Misfit, Steph and Kara all working together, we'd be for a fabulous book. If anyone important at DC is reading this, (which I highly doubt, but if you are, Hi! Stay awhile!), please reform the Birds and put Kara in with them....pretty please.
As for the none choice, you're all spoilsports :p Seriously, I think Kara would be good on a team. She'd be fun to write and interact with.
I'm glad no one said JLA (I'm guessing this is partly to do with the new JLA team and the Cry for Justice fiasco), and the Outsiders (bunch of boring D listers).
Kara *could* work well on the Titans - it would reflect her powerhouse status and give her more respect and status than being on the Teen Titans (young people who still have a lot to learn) team.
And compeletly off topic from this, London's Reclaim the Night march happened on Saturday and a female marcher was sexually assaulted whilst on the march. How full of hate do you have to be to do that? I went on last year's march and nothing like that happened, but then again it was the first march in a reaally long time. I guess this time around more foks were prepared for it.
In betetr news, you can view pictures of the march and a short write up here.
The question was Which team should Supergirl join? and the results were:
1 for the Teen Titans
1 for the JSA
3 for the Birds of Prey
3 for her to stay solo
I think the Teen Titans are the obvious choice for her, and I would love to see Kara interact with Bombshell and Aquagirl. Bombshell doesn't take kindly to anyone much, and I think she'd view Kara as a peppy cheerleader type and hate her on sight. Plus Kara and Cassie are friends so that would probably set them apart before they'd even met.
As for Aquagirl, I just don't think she'd like Kara. I think she'd view her as immature, inexperienced and a liability for the team. We all know that Kara has moved on a lot since her stroppy days, but I don't think Aquagirl would acknowledge her newfoudn (semi) maturity, at least not at first.
I don't read the JSA, but I'm guessing that the person voting for this team was going for the mentoring young heroes aspects of it. If I'm wrong, tell me in the comments. I'm not convinced this is the right team for Kara, but as I said I don't read the title. I wonder how Kara gets on with Power Girl now? I reckon if Kara met Terra Kara would be very surprised by Terra's naeivty and would gently tease her and wind her up. Peej probably wouldn't approve of this.
As for the BoP choice, well Kara would be ace in the Birds of Prey! With Babs leading, Dinah as second in command, Helena, Zinda, Misfit, Steph and Kara all working together, we'd be for a fabulous book. If anyone important at DC is reading this, (which I highly doubt, but if you are, Hi! Stay awhile!), please reform the Birds and put Kara in with them....pretty please.
As for the none choice, you're all spoilsports :p Seriously, I think Kara would be good on a team. She'd be fun to write and interact with.
I'm glad no one said JLA (I'm guessing this is partly to do with the new JLA team and the Cry for Justice fiasco), and the Outsiders (bunch of boring D listers).
Kara *could* work well on the Titans - it would reflect her powerhouse status and give her more respect and status than being on the Teen Titans (young people who still have a lot to learn) team.
And compeletly off topic from this, London's Reclaim the Night march happened on Saturday and a female marcher was sexually assaulted whilst on the march. How full of hate do you have to be to do that? I went on last year's march and nothing like that happened, but then again it was the first march in a reaally long time. I guess this time around more foks were prepared for it.
In betetr news, you can view pictures of the march and a short write up here.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hal reveals himself and has some thoughts on the nature of Justice
I've just come across the scenes where Hal unmasks in front of Carol and it's so sweet I thought I'd post it.
The backstory is that Ollie has risked his life to save Dinah from angry wasps (and the villian) and the seemingly evil but is really just manipulated and innocent child has just been buried alive (accidentally) in a burning house.
I wish he'd remember that..
The backstory is that Ollie has risked his life to save Dinah from angry wasps (and the villian) and the seemingly evil but is really just manipulated and innocent child has just been buried alive (accidentally) in a burning house.
From Green Lantern/Green Arrow 83 and 84.
For bonus fun, here's Hal ruminating on his role as regarding that elusive concept, Justice:
I wish he'd remember that..
Friday, October 09, 2009
There's a reason no one's written a suspense novel where the conflict is wolves vs tank
Except now they have! Oh hooo-rah!
Spoilers ahead for Buffy #29 (rather damn good), Superman: World of New Krypton #8 (also pretty special) and Justice league: Cry for Justice #4 (sadly lacking in laughter).
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Buffy #29
This series can be so hit and miss, but this week it's definitley a hit. I recognised Kennedy several times throughout, without having her mentioned by name, (I do hope it actually is Kennedy). Willow gets angry and has some wonderful scenes dealing with her anger over her magic being put into the earth, including a very acerbic (?) comment about her black of black eyes. Xander and Willow continue to be close and Buffy is finding it difficult to deal with. The slayers have to fight with radars, guns, ammos and torpedos because they've given their magic powers up. They have to learn how to be normal.
There are wolves versus tanks.
There is fake magic.
And then, after all this awesomeness, there are wrathful goddesses rising from the earth. Which, incidentally, happen to be beautifully coloured and completely un booby.
This issue is written by Jane Espenson, and when she's good, she's very very good.
Superman: World of New Krypton #8
This is also a corker. (That means good).
The Thangarians are fighting the Kryptonians. The Thanagarians are now what I expected. They are led by a woman, have their own jargon and rather battle heavy. By that I mean quite gung ho on slaughter and sacrificing their pawns. Despite this they also listen to the Kryptonians, show great diplomacy, gallantry and respect (if mingled with distrust), and are quite intelligent about the whole thing.
We still don't know exactly why they attacked, but they nonetheless helped deal with the errant moon, Callisto, and got it into a position where the Kryptonians could deal with it themselves.
My favourite scenes were with the Kryptonian army trying to slow the speeding moon down by pushing on it, (this didn't work and is where the Thanagarians intervened, despite the fact if meant they lost lots of power themselves), and the scene where the rest of New Krypton (I assume it was the rest), flew up to help with the final restoration of the moon. The whole planet working together to help the whole planet.
Honourable mentions must go firstly to the scene in which the Thanagarian leader is meeting with the council. I just love the council heads as holograms approach. I am a massive, massive fan of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Second mention goes to the final page. Who are these new aliens? What is their beef with Krypton? I shall have to wait and see. Or someone can tell me in the comments. Or Supergirl Comic Box Commentary will tell me.
Oh one last thing, the cover. I love how the steps look like a spine, I think that's a wonderful touch. In fact, I love the whole layout of the cover. It is very very good. I do not love how the main guy on the cover is, well a guy. The Thanagarian leader is female in this issue, wouldn't it have made more sense to have a lady leader on the front. I'm not suggesting this was done on purpose, I can easily see how a vague cover desciption was given to the artist, who just happened to draw a male leader, because hey, male is the default on society. I call it sexist.
If this leader dude is important in Thanagarian society or stories, there is no indication of it in the book. So I still call sexist, because it's ignoring the role of the woman in the story inside, for a default, nameless other male entity.
This could probably be explained better, but it's late and I'm tired.
Justice League: Cry for Justice #4
Sadly, no lols for this one. This meant it was a rather boring issue. Congo Bill and Starman are beating up bad guys and are on the trail of Prometheus, sort of. The rest of the bunch are torturing other bad guys via the Atom, and have no idea where Prometheus is. Ollie then has a face off with Hal about the torture methods (about bloody time), which felt rather forced and the JLA turn up and demand to know what is going on.
Memorable points -
Bill and Starman debating the nature of Justice. snore.
Kara badly crushing on Freddie. Very sweet. Ollie thinking he's being clever, and her 'no shit sherlock' response.
Jay Garrick running around the world talking to heroes - could he be the speedster in the new league?
The godawful version of Zatanna's costume on the last page. I can practically see her labia.
Kara's ridiculous pose on the front cover.
Spoilers ahead for Buffy #29 (rather damn good), Superman: World of New Krypton #8 (also pretty special) and Justice league: Cry for Justice #4 (sadly lacking in laughter).
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Buffy #29
This series can be so hit and miss, but this week it's definitley a hit. I recognised Kennedy several times throughout, without having her mentioned by name, (I do hope it actually is Kennedy). Willow gets angry and has some wonderful scenes dealing with her anger over her magic being put into the earth, including a very acerbic (?) comment about her black of black eyes. Xander and Willow continue to be close and Buffy is finding it difficult to deal with. The slayers have to fight with radars, guns, ammos and torpedos because they've given their magic powers up. They have to learn how to be normal.
There are wolves versus tanks.
There is fake magic.
And then, after all this awesomeness, there are wrathful goddesses rising from the earth. Which, incidentally, happen to be beautifully coloured and completely un booby.
This issue is written by Jane Espenson, and when she's good, she's very very good.
Superman: World of New Krypton #8
This is also a corker. (That means good).
The Thangarians are fighting the Kryptonians. The Thanagarians are now what I expected. They are led by a woman, have their own jargon and rather battle heavy. By that I mean quite gung ho on slaughter and sacrificing their pawns. Despite this they also listen to the Kryptonians, show great diplomacy, gallantry and respect (if mingled with distrust), and are quite intelligent about the whole thing.
We still don't know exactly why they attacked, but they nonetheless helped deal with the errant moon, Callisto, and got it into a position where the Kryptonians could deal with it themselves.
My favourite scenes were with the Kryptonian army trying to slow the speeding moon down by pushing on it, (this didn't work and is where the Thanagarians intervened, despite the fact if meant they lost lots of power themselves), and the scene where the rest of New Krypton (I assume it was the rest), flew up to help with the final restoration of the moon. The whole planet working together to help the whole planet.
Honourable mentions must go firstly to the scene in which the Thanagarian leader is meeting with the council. I just love the council heads as holograms approach. I am a massive, massive fan of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Second mention goes to the final page. Who are these new aliens? What is their beef with Krypton? I shall have to wait and see. Or someone can tell me in the comments. Or Supergirl Comic Box Commentary will tell me.
Oh one last thing, the cover. I love how the steps look like a spine, I think that's a wonderful touch. In fact, I love the whole layout of the cover. It is very very good. I do not love how the main guy on the cover is, well a guy. The Thanagarian leader is female in this issue, wouldn't it have made more sense to have a lady leader on the front. I'm not suggesting this was done on purpose, I can easily see how a vague cover desciption was given to the artist, who just happened to draw a male leader, because hey, male is the default on society. I call it sexist.
If this leader dude is important in Thanagarian society or stories, there is no indication of it in the book. So I still call sexist, because it's ignoring the role of the woman in the story inside, for a default, nameless other male entity.
This could probably be explained better, but it's late and I'm tired.
Justice League: Cry for Justice #4
Sadly, no lols for this one. This meant it was a rather boring issue. Congo Bill and Starman are beating up bad guys and are on the trail of Prometheus, sort of. The rest of the bunch are torturing other bad guys via the Atom, and have no idea where Prometheus is. Ollie then has a face off with Hal about the torture methods (about bloody time), which felt rather forced and the JLA turn up and demand to know what is going on.
Memorable points -
Bill and Starman debating the nature of Justice. snore.
Kara badly crushing on Freddie. Very sweet. Ollie thinking he's being clever, and her 'no shit sherlock' response.
Jay Garrick running around the world talking to heroes - could he be the speedster in the new league?
The godawful version of Zatanna's costume on the last page. I can practically see her labia.
Kara's ridiculous pose on the front cover.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Catching up on reviews - the team edition
Spoilers ahoy for Justice League Cry for justice /3, Red Robin /4, Blackest Night /2, Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps/40
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Justice League Cry for Justice /3
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Ha ha ha ha!
Red Robin /4
Another split time issue. Dick turns up to confront Tim and Tim gets in the with the League of Assassins. They bail him out of a potentially bad situation and he looks oh so damn cute.
Tim pulls a kung fu move on Dick that I found particularly enjoyable - maybe I've been reading Kalinara's blog too long - and Tim finds a clue to where Bruce has gone. I liked that scene a lot.
Overall this gets a thumbs up.
Blackest Night Batman /2
This is a stonking comic book cover:
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps /40
Not as good as the rest of the issues so far, but not bad nonetheless. Arisia and her dad worked well after her adventures in Tales of the Corps. I do like how the black rings see the other emotions as colour in the folks they are about to kiill. Kyle and Jade get dirty and the Star Sapphires show compassion to a yellow lantern. Guy fights off a teeny tiny fly black lantern then gets his leg skewered by a horned dude.
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Justice League Cry for Justice /3
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Ha ha ha ha!
Red Robin /4
Another split time issue. Dick turns up to confront Tim and Tim gets in the with the League of Assassins. They bail him out of a potentially bad situation and he looks oh so damn cute.
Tim pulls a kung fu move on Dick that I found particularly enjoyable - maybe I've been reading Kalinara's blog too long - and Tim finds a clue to where Bruce has gone. I liked that scene a lot.
Overall this gets a thumbs up.
Blackest Night Batman /2
This is a stonking comic book cover:
They are practcially foaming at the mouth. And it's chanelling the spirit of Ash in the Evil Dead movies.
Inside, the Bat guys use flame throwers on the revenants. Could you ask for anything more?
Oh, you could? Well how about Damian being a brat and Dick putting him in line, some bonding time betwen Babs and her dad whilst dodging revenants, Babs kicking dead arse (while posessed by Deadman), and Tim turning up in a big plane to save the other 2. Oh and magentic signature harnesses. And dead parents coming back to torture our beloved heroes.
Made of absolute win.
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps /40
Not as good as the rest of the issues so far, but not bad nonetheless. Arisia and her dad worked well after her adventures in Tales of the Corps. I do like how the black rings see the other emotions as colour in the folks they are about to kiill. Kyle and Jade get dirty and the Star Sapphires show compassion to a yellow lantern. Guy fights off a teeny tiny fly black lantern then gets his leg skewered by a horned dude.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Cry for Justice #2: not sexist at all, actually
Wow, WFA already has 4 posts about this issue up. May as well add to the debate then.
View the page in question here.
I don't see how Hal having a 3some with Zinda and Helena is sexist. They're adults, it's pretty well established that Hal hits on women a lot and I don't think it's too out of character for Helena or Zinda to have a one night stand. *Maybe* that's because I don't think one night stands are bad or morally wrong, unlike most everyone else I know. Having sex, not a bad thing ok? Anyway, from what I've read of both Zinda and Helena, they both seem like they like sex and booze. Having Helena have another one night stand does not make her a slut. While we're on it, The use of the word slut? Really derogatory and disrespectful.
I have a lot of issues with some comments in the CBR page that I linked to above. So lets go through them.
After storming out on a JLA meeting, Ollie thinks that Hal needs to confess a threeway? How does that make any sense?
How about because they're friends, they're used to ribbing each other and they've been waiting on the rooftop for a while so their anger has probably abated?
This throwaway line of dialogue adds nothing to the story, except making Hal seem like he uses alcohol to get laid.
Yes, he probably does. What's your point?
It also paints Blackhawk and Huntress in a very negative light; they never had serious romantic relations with anyone during a lengthy run of a team comic, but a bottle of grappa gets them naked together?
You'll only think that's portraying them in a negative light if you think casual sex is bad. Consenting adults + sex generally equals fun. And yes I do think you can consent whilst drunk. I don't like the commenter's insinuation that the women have to be duped, tricked or made drunk. For all they know it could have been Zinda or Helena's idea. But oh look, that would give the women some sort of agency over their sex lives wouldn't it? I get the impression the commenter doesn't think they would ever willingly have casual sex. I disagree.
Vehemently.
They go from being professional teammates and friends to some fantasy groupies.
Erm, no. Having a one night stand with Hal and each other does not stop them being professional teammates. People sleep with folks they work with all the time, it doesn't stop them doing their job. I also don't see how sleeping with Hal makes them groupies - that term intimates that the night was all about Hal. I betcha both Zinda and Helena enjoyed the shag too. And a 3some doesn't mean they got down with each other either. Even if they did, so what?
With one line you did a good job at tearing down years of progressive writing by Simone.
By giving the characters a sex life? Get stuffed.
I think if Huntress was congratulating Black Canary on a threeway with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, fanboys would be up in arms.
They probably would be. But that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing that Hal had a 3some with Z and H. And of course Ollie congratulated him on it, he had a fun night! I congratulate my friends too if they have a fun night, that doesn't mean the other participants are being disrespected.
Gail Simone's comments:
I hate to see Huntress get branded as a slut again.
Who's branding her a slut? No one in the story is. If the readers then decide she's a slut, that's their issues.
Once again, this is all about the man
Only because it's a conversation between 2 men, talking about their experiences.
I really feel like most writers of mainstream comics get the sex thing all wrong over and over. It’s all wink wink nudge nudge and women as trophies and thumbs up
I really didn't feel that it read as women as trophies.
But it does feel weird that people can read bop and still come away with the impression that THAT Huntress and THAT Lady Blackhawk would get drunk and be someone’s sad Penthouse fantasy.
Now that's fair enough. That's an is out of character type comment. Well, Gail Simone wrote BoP, she'll know the characters, I haven't read all of BoP and I don't know the characters. But, in my knowledge of them, I can definitely see them both getting drunk and laid. I'd be surprised if Zinda and Helena actually shagged each other, given that Zinda's from the 40s and Helena hasn't revealed any lady loving tendencies, so far as I know. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't shag Hal.
So yeah, I liked this issue a lot, far better than #1. It's a bit of a shame that Kara's costume isn't longer in the torso area, but then again they changed her cape several times in Superman: WONK too. The rest of the issue was great.
I'm really surprised no one has commented yet on the text bit at the end of the issue - the bit about the Atom, and Jean Loring. If anything was gonna get called out for sexism that would be it, I'd have thought. Man, the writer, (Is it Robinson?) really hates Jean Loring doesn't he?
Man, looking back on those stories now, she [Loring] is a major pill. Yeah that's one thing me and Ray have in common. I was even married to a girl like that for a couple of weeks. (Boy was I relieved to learn that marriages in Bolivia aren't legal in the US.)
Dismissive. Rude. Playing for laughs. No idea if the marriage story is true or not, if it is, it's a rather ugly thing to say in your public place of work. If not, it seems an odd thing to put in.
After having to put up with what I was sure was a marriage of headaches for Ray (except in the bedroom, where I'm sure it was Jean who had the headaches)
So not only is she not a nice friendly compliant wife, she also won't put out? Oh noes, poor Ray, how will he cope. Hey guess what. Sex - not a right. Not happy with how much you're getting? Have a wank.
And then Jean returns to his life an even bigger nutjob than we realized, and kills poor Sue Dibny.
That's just a sentence filled with bile. We know that Loring wasn't all there, she had quite clearly gone to the dark side, but why all the hate?
I think it's pretty clear that the writer of the text piece doesn't like Jean Loring. I'm not suggesting that the writer hates all women. I do think the above pieces of text uses sexist and demeaning language.
View the page in question here.
I don't see how Hal having a 3some with Zinda and Helena is sexist. They're adults, it's pretty well established that Hal hits on women a lot and I don't think it's too out of character for Helena or Zinda to have a one night stand. *Maybe* that's because I don't think one night stands are bad or morally wrong, unlike most everyone else I know. Having sex, not a bad thing ok? Anyway, from what I've read of both Zinda and Helena, they both seem like they like sex and booze. Having Helena have another one night stand does not make her a slut. While we're on it, The use of the word slut? Really derogatory and disrespectful.
I have a lot of issues with some comments in the CBR page that I linked to above. So lets go through them.
After storming out on a JLA meeting, Ollie thinks that Hal needs to confess a threeway? How does that make any sense?
How about because they're friends, they're used to ribbing each other and they've been waiting on the rooftop for a while so their anger has probably abated?
This throwaway line of dialogue adds nothing to the story, except making Hal seem like he uses alcohol to get laid.
Yes, he probably does. What's your point?
It also paints Blackhawk and Huntress in a very negative light; they never had serious romantic relations with anyone during a lengthy run of a team comic, but a bottle of grappa gets them naked together?
You'll only think that's portraying them in a negative light if you think casual sex is bad. Consenting adults + sex generally equals fun. And yes I do think you can consent whilst drunk. I don't like the commenter's insinuation that the women have to be duped, tricked or made drunk. For all they know it could have been Zinda or Helena's idea. But oh look, that would give the women some sort of agency over their sex lives wouldn't it? I get the impression the commenter doesn't think they would ever willingly have casual sex. I disagree.
Vehemently.
They go from being professional teammates and friends to some fantasy groupies.
Erm, no. Having a one night stand with Hal and each other does not stop them being professional teammates. People sleep with folks they work with all the time, it doesn't stop them doing their job. I also don't see how sleeping with Hal makes them groupies - that term intimates that the night was all about Hal. I betcha both Zinda and Helena enjoyed the shag too. And a 3some doesn't mean they got down with each other either. Even if they did, so what?
With one line you did a good job at tearing down years of progressive writing by Simone.
By giving the characters a sex life? Get stuffed.
I think if Huntress was congratulating Black Canary on a threeway with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, fanboys would be up in arms.
They probably would be. But that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing that Hal had a 3some with Z and H. And of course Ollie congratulated him on it, he had a fun night! I congratulate my friends too if they have a fun night, that doesn't mean the other participants are being disrespected.
Gail Simone's comments:
I hate to see Huntress get branded as a slut again.
Who's branding her a slut? No one in the story is. If the readers then decide she's a slut, that's their issues.
Once again, this is all about the man
Only because it's a conversation between 2 men, talking about their experiences.
I really feel like most writers of mainstream comics get the sex thing all wrong over and over. It’s all wink wink nudge nudge and women as trophies and thumbs up
I really didn't feel that it read as women as trophies.
But it does feel weird that people can read bop and still come away with the impression that THAT Huntress and THAT Lady Blackhawk would get drunk and be someone’s sad Penthouse fantasy.
Now that's fair enough. That's an is out of character type comment. Well, Gail Simone wrote BoP, she'll know the characters, I haven't read all of BoP and I don't know the characters. But, in my knowledge of them, I can definitely see them both getting drunk and laid. I'd be surprised if Zinda and Helena actually shagged each other, given that Zinda's from the 40s and Helena hasn't revealed any lady loving tendencies, so far as I know. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't shag Hal.
So yeah, I liked this issue a lot, far better than #1. It's a bit of a shame that Kara's costume isn't longer in the torso area, but then again they changed her cape several times in Superman: WONK too. The rest of the issue was great.
I'm really surprised no one has commented yet on the text bit at the end of the issue - the bit about the Atom, and Jean Loring. If anything was gonna get called out for sexism that would be it, I'd have thought. Man, the writer, (Is it Robinson?) really hates Jean Loring doesn't he?
Man, looking back on those stories now, she [Loring] is a major pill. Yeah that's one thing me and Ray have in common. I was even married to a girl like that for a couple of weeks. (Boy was I relieved to learn that marriages in Bolivia aren't legal in the US.)
Dismissive. Rude. Playing for laughs. No idea if the marriage story is true or not, if it is, it's a rather ugly thing to say in your public place of work. If not, it seems an odd thing to put in.
After having to put up with what I was sure was a marriage of headaches for Ray (except in the bedroom, where I'm sure it was Jean who had the headaches)
So not only is she not a nice friendly compliant wife, she also won't put out? Oh noes, poor Ray, how will he cope. Hey guess what. Sex - not a right. Not happy with how much you're getting? Have a wank.
And then Jean returns to his life an even bigger nutjob than we realized, and kills poor Sue Dibny.
That's just a sentence filled with bile. We know that Loring wasn't all there, she had quite clearly gone to the dark side, but why all the hate?
I think it's pretty clear that the writer of the text piece doesn't like Jean Loring. I'm not suggesting that the writer hates all women. I do think the above pieces of text uses sexist and demeaning language.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Yet more reviews (part 6): The Justice filled edition
First of 2 posts today.
I have a new banner! Very kindly produced for me by Charles Yoakum at Ink Destroyed by Brush, who incidentally has done a very nice sketch of the Black Cat which I've been admiring.
Thanks also to ComicsAllTooReal'sChris and terrylegend42 for the offers of help. I'm sure all would have done a great job.
Onto the reviews. This post covers Justice League: Cry for Justice, Starman #43 (featuring the JLA), Young Justice 31, and Extreme Justice
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Justice League: Cry for Justice # 1
The art is gorgeous, but we already knew that from the previews and the cover. The actual plot is very much a set up issue with lots of posturing from the current JLA. Essentially, Hal has a strop because he feels the current JLA doesn’t actually do much Justice. So he resolves to form his own league, one that is more proactive. We’ve been here before with Justice League Elite. The JLE also included Ollie, which is interesting, and they spent a lot of the time undercover. The whole shebang didn’t work then so I’m a bit confused how it is going to work differently now. What does being more proactive mean? I understand that once this mini is finished the team will become the Justice League proper so I hope that they will manage to overcome this hurdle.
When Hal is talking to the JLA he is mostly talking to Supes and Wondy, which is odd considering Dinah is meant to be the leader. Yet she is just in the background muttering to Ollie.
The rest of the issue introduces us to the Atom, Starman and Congorilla. While this is useful it doesn’t really start the story. Detective Comics 854 and Gotham City Sirens were much better opening issues in this respect.
There was a nice additional text piece at the back of the comic about how this mini came about and why Robinson picked the team members. I presume this is to justify the price of the comic. Works for me. There will be a text piece about Kara in future issues too, so huzzah for that. The 2 page origin of Congorilla was nice but could have been done in the main body of the comic.
I’ll keep buying this mini but I sincerely hope the actual story starts next issue.
Starman #43 featuring the JLA
I picked this up in a second hand store because it’s written by James Robinson and I wanted to get more of a feel for him while Cry for Justice is going. The cover is also absolutely wonderful:
I really liked this book. I’ve never read any Starman before but that wasn’t a hindrance. The current Starman has just opened up a store called Knights Past and he is showing it to his Dad. I’m guessing they either haven’t gotten on in the past or that they were estranged. Anyway, the current Starman then asks his dad if he can help locate a rocket for him because he needs to go into outer space. He needs to go into space because his girlfriend, who is the sister of the previous Starman, believes that her brother is still alive in space and she wants this Starman to go find him.
And I’ve realised how ridiculous that will sound to non comic fans.
Anyway, the current Starman’s dad calls up Jay Garrick, who calls up Wally West, who speaks to the JLA and so Starman gets an invite to meet them all and state his case. They say no as they’ve only got one rocket and won’t lend it out on a hunch. At the end of the book a guy called Shade has sourced a rocket for Starman and I suppose next issue he’ll be in outer space.
The lay out in this book is great, it reminded me a bit of Promethea, and by extension the last Detective Comics issue.
This book is recommended and I shall try and read the rest of the run.
Young Justice #31 – When Mimes attack!
The silent issue! Purchased from ebay and an absolute delight. Bart is bored (as usual) and wants to hang out with Kon. Kon however is settling down to watch the Cheerleader Championship with Wendy the Werewolf Slayer. I’d forgotten about these nods to current pop culture, very funny. So Bart heads out the house to find excitement elsewhere.
He comes across a fella tying a damsel to some railroad tracks, saves the damsel then finds out that it’s a shooting of silent film. Next he goes to a book fair and imagines that everyone will want his autograph, only to discover it’s librarians book fair and they all shush him. Then he sees some silhouttes in the park, assumes it’s the trinity, then sees that they are mimes (god knows how he got confused). Whilst sitting on a step very bored some guy comes up to him to chat, Bart tells him about his crappy day then the guy produces a card saying he’s deaf and asks him to buy a card showing the fingerspelt alphabet - kudos to Peter David for bringing Deaf issues into his books, even if he sometimes gets it a bit wrong.
Next Bart finds some monks who invite him to share lunch, chuffed to bits he races over and chats, then finds out they have taken a vow of silence. Lastly, he discovers the Cheerleader Championships and finds that the mimes from earlier are thieves and are making their getaway via the competition venue.
It’s a great issue. There’s thought bubbles all the way through and it even made the boyfriend laugh. Hunt it down if you can.
Extreme Justice – last few issues
It remained rubbish. The most interesting part was at the back of issue 0 which showed what an inker does. Here’s a scan for your edification and learnings:
Pretty interesting huh? I didn’t know what inkers did before I saw that. Now I’m educated.
Currently listening to: The British summer rain and Garbage's Only Happy When it Rains. Tres apt.
I have a new banner! Very kindly produced for me by Charles Yoakum at Ink Destroyed by Brush, who incidentally has done a very nice sketch of the Black Cat which I've been admiring.
Thanks also to ComicsAllTooReal'sChris and terrylegend42 for the offers of help. I'm sure all would have done a great job.
Onto the reviews. This post covers Justice League: Cry for Justice, Starman #43 (featuring the JLA), Young Justice 31, and Extreme Justice
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Justice League: Cry for Justice # 1
The art is gorgeous, but we already knew that from the previews and the cover. The actual plot is very much a set up issue with lots of posturing from the current JLA. Essentially, Hal has a strop because he feels the current JLA doesn’t actually do much Justice. So he resolves to form his own league, one that is more proactive. We’ve been here before with Justice League Elite. The JLE also included Ollie, which is interesting, and they spent a lot of the time undercover. The whole shebang didn’t work then so I’m a bit confused how it is going to work differently now. What does being more proactive mean? I understand that once this mini is finished the team will become the Justice League proper so I hope that they will manage to overcome this hurdle.
When Hal is talking to the JLA he is mostly talking to Supes and Wondy, which is odd considering Dinah is meant to be the leader. Yet she is just in the background muttering to Ollie.
The rest of the issue introduces us to the Atom, Starman and Congorilla. While this is useful it doesn’t really start the story. Detective Comics 854 and Gotham City Sirens were much better opening issues in this respect.
There was a nice additional text piece at the back of the comic about how this mini came about and why Robinson picked the team members. I presume this is to justify the price of the comic. Works for me. There will be a text piece about Kara in future issues too, so huzzah for that. The 2 page origin of Congorilla was nice but could have been done in the main body of the comic.
I’ll keep buying this mini but I sincerely hope the actual story starts next issue.
Starman #43 featuring the JLA
I picked this up in a second hand store because it’s written by James Robinson and I wanted to get more of a feel for him while Cry for Justice is going. The cover is also absolutely wonderful:
I really liked this book. I’ve never read any Starman before but that wasn’t a hindrance. The current Starman has just opened up a store called Knights Past and he is showing it to his Dad. I’m guessing they either haven’t gotten on in the past or that they were estranged. Anyway, the current Starman then asks his dad if he can help locate a rocket for him because he needs to go into outer space. He needs to go into space because his girlfriend, who is the sister of the previous Starman, believes that her brother is still alive in space and she wants this Starman to go find him.
And I’ve realised how ridiculous that will sound to non comic fans.
Anyway, the current Starman’s dad calls up Jay Garrick, who calls up Wally West, who speaks to the JLA and so Starman gets an invite to meet them all and state his case. They say no as they’ve only got one rocket and won’t lend it out on a hunch. At the end of the book a guy called Shade has sourced a rocket for Starman and I suppose next issue he’ll be in outer space.
The lay out in this book is great, it reminded me a bit of Promethea, and by extension the last Detective Comics issue.
This book is recommended and I shall try and read the rest of the run.
Young Justice #31 – When Mimes attack!
The silent issue! Purchased from ebay and an absolute delight. Bart is bored (as usual) and wants to hang out with Kon. Kon however is settling down to watch the Cheerleader Championship with Wendy the Werewolf Slayer. I’d forgotten about these nods to current pop culture, very funny. So Bart heads out the house to find excitement elsewhere.
He comes across a fella tying a damsel to some railroad tracks, saves the damsel then finds out that it’s a shooting of silent film. Next he goes to a book fair and imagines that everyone will want his autograph, only to discover it’s librarians book fair and they all shush him. Then he sees some silhouttes in the park, assumes it’s the trinity, then sees that they are mimes (god knows how he got confused). Whilst sitting on a step very bored some guy comes up to him to chat, Bart tells him about his crappy day then the guy produces a card saying he’s deaf and asks him to buy a card showing the fingerspelt alphabet - kudos to Peter David for bringing Deaf issues into his books, even if he sometimes gets it a bit wrong.
Next Bart finds some monks who invite him to share lunch, chuffed to bits he races over and chats, then finds out they have taken a vow of silence. Lastly, he discovers the Cheerleader Championships and finds that the mimes from earlier are thieves and are making their getaway via the competition venue.
It’s a great issue. There’s thought bubbles all the way through and it even made the boyfriend laugh. Hunt it down if you can.
Extreme Justice – last few issues
It remained rubbish. The most interesting part was at the back of issue 0 which showed what an inker does. Here’s a scan for your edification and learnings:
Pretty interesting huh? I didn’t know what inkers did before I saw that. Now I’m educated.
Currently listening to: The British summer rain and Garbage's Only Happy When it Rains. Tres apt.
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