One reason why we love Dinah

I hope she didn't put her back out doing that...

Context is for the weak

Personally, I can't believe Hal's not complying.

So, this turned out to be a tie-in week

Spoilers ahead for GLC: Blackest Night #44, Blackest Night: The Flash #2, Starman: Blackest Night #81 (resurrected title), The Phantom Stranger: Blackest Night #42 (resurrected title), Power Girl #8 (not a tie-in, amazingly), Superman/Batman #68 (Our Worlds at War tie-in).
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GLC: Blackest Night #44
Hoo boy this was fun.  Mogo turns up to save the day!  I cannot wait until he faces off against zombie Xanshi.  Next issue: Guy Gardner faces off against everyone.  Oh yes, this is why I buy superhero comics.

Blackest Night: The Flash #2
This is very much a middle issue - we saw the Rogues vs the ex Rogues, with some great scenes between Captain Cold and his sister, and some illuminating (pun intended) panels demonstrating his level of emotion.  The other half of the book delat with Barry acquiring the blue ring of hope.  He tries to save Bart, and Solovar anf Eobard Thawne turn up to provide extra harrassment.  I like that Barry is a member of the Blue Lantern Corps - from what I've read of him in Rebirth and a few other bits and pieces, it does seem to fit his personality quite well.  However in the context of DC superheroes, when you say hope to me I still think of Superman first and foremost.  Ahh well, this is a good mini and next issue will hopefully resolve everything nicely.


Starman: Blackest Night #81 (resurrected title)
I was definitley dubious about this, given Robinson's recent attempts on Cry for Justice, but I needn't have worried, this turned out well.  I've read one other Starman issue which was really very good, and he has kept up the standard here.  There's some incredible art, I can't quite work out by who as the credits list the various tasks as Colours, Letters, Layouts and Finishes, yet no penciller or inker.  I'm assuming Layouts means pencils and Finishes means Inks (broadly speaking), but I couldn't say that for definite.

I think y'all should buy this issue.

The Phantom Stranger: Blackest Night #42 (resurrected title)
Also pretty good.  However it probably won't make much sense if you're not reading other Blackst Night stuff.  Zatanna's on the cover but isn't in the book.  In fact it is mentioned why she's not there, within the book.

Power Girl #8
Jeez, I know Power Girl is meant to have a big chest, and I know Amanda Connor specialises in doing sexy art, but this cover is ridiculous.

Inside it is good fun, Vartox gets even more sleazy than he was last issue, Karen can't help laughing at the Pregno-Ray and she gets to wear the gorgeous ballgown from the Women of the DCU poster that Adam Hughes did.  She even has the earrings in too.  Nicely done, Ms Connor, nicely done!

Superman/Batman #68
An Our Worlds at War tie-in.  I know, what?  Our Worlds at War was a tie in published in 2001.  I thought it was mid 90s and had to google to check the date.  When I mentioned my surprise at the banner in the comic shop they said it was cos the DCU timeline is all in flux now.

But, you see, I buy Superman/Batman because it's not tied in (or shouldn't be tied in) to regualr DC continuity.  I know it brought us Kara back, which is great, but on the whole the other tie in issues have been rubbish.  Blackest Night for example - 2 issues of utter crap.  Although that might be my disdain for Man-Bat, Solomon fucking Grundy and Bizzarro speaking.

Anyway, I was not remotely excited about this issue.  Somehow it surprised me.  Despite Batman looking like All Star Goddman Batman and Supes somehow being all gritty (so wrong), it was fairly enjoyable.  Not particularly memorable, but enjoyable.  There was some retro 70s esque exposition going on which was quite fun.

Over the last few weeks I have also received the following trades - Green Lantern/Green Arrow volumes 1 and 2 (wonderfully funny!), Superman: Last Son (reviewed here) and Wonder Woman: Bitter Rivals.  The WW book was great, as I knew it would be.  Greg Rucka had the golden touch for writing Wondy I think.

I have also ordered Fallen Angel volume 1 (the PAD book which was meant to be Linda Danvers after his Supergirl book was cancelled) and the first Trinity book, by Mat Wagner, not the weekly series.  I borrowed this Trinity book years ago and was quietly impressed, so thought it was high time I bought it.

Diana does kiss her returned from the dead friends!

See?

A prediction

I write this on Wednesday night.  On Friday night I am going out for my old work's late Christmas do.  On Saturday I expect I shall be hungover, but I am also getting a hair cut in the afternoon.

What's the liklihood I'll come out with the world's worst hairdo?

Superhero sign names

Continuing on from my previous post, I give you more ideas of what sign names I would give the various superheroes.  I've also now edited the previous post to give pictures of each hero.  Makes more sense that way.

Regarding Guy Gardner, I've now decided that Guy's sign name should be linked to his lapels, as that is a very distinctive jacket he's wearing.  I do believe no other GL has a uniform quite like it.

How about Power Girl?

It would be the shape of the boob window.  No question.

As for her civilian name, a pun on Starr seems easy, so the sign for star then, whilst you lipspeak her first name.

As for the Wonder family.  Take Wonder Woman:

Before I said you'd just sign Wonder+Woman.  But to make it an actual sign name, you could trace the W shape on your chest and lipspeak either Diana, Wondy, or Wonder Woman.

For Donna Troy:

Again, easy.  Do the sign for sparkle all over your torso and lipspeak Donna.

For Wonder Girl (Cassie) I think it would very much depend on her outfit.  For an early version of her costume:

Whether she's wearing her blond hair short or she's wearing a wig, the goggles are a mainstay.  So let's make the sign for goggles (either on her forehead or her eyes), and lipspeak Wonder Girl or Cassie.

That's all for today's lessons, I'll be back in a few weeks with more!

Action figure wishlist

If I could have anything, I'd want:

Green Arrow in his Mike Grell unfiorm:

It's the sleeves and hood which make it so attractive to me.  That and the tunic style top.

Mia in her black uniform:

Mia is very very cool.

Big Barda:

Barda's on the left.  Now imagine she doesn't have her boobs out and that's what I want.  All teh Barda figures I have seen so far reduce to her to a sex object, aren't delicate enough, or aren't chunky enough, or are a combination of the 3.  I want her in full uniform, big and with character in her face.  is that too much to ask?

Grace Choi:

The tattooed 6 foot Amazon would be awesome.

Rose Wilson (Ravager):

I'd like her with a ponytail please.  She's not Rose without the ponytail.

Battle Armoured Wonder Woman:

I'd like pretty much that toy, except I'd like the helmet and wings to be removable.

Have you got anything on your wishlist?

Events! Comics and LGTBTI Deaf and Disabled ones!

Bristol Comic con, right.  I only found out about this a few months ago and was reminded of it again in the last few weeks.  This year they have actual real DC creators there.  Guess who?

Phil Noto of Batgirl and Ramon Bachs of Red Robin.  Both do the art for their titles.

Waaaaah I can't go :(

It's slap bang in the middle of my next BSL course and I can't afford to miss a day.  Waaaahhhh.  Could you imagine Supergirl as drawn by Ramon Bachs?  And Phil Noto I'd just want to compliment on Stephs new costume.

If anyone reading this is going do you fancy getting me a comission?

And in other news, something else I can't go to.  Glasgow Museums have an exhibition on titled A Spot of Bother: LGBTI Deaf and Disabled cultures.

Norfolk's a wee bit far away from Glasgow.  The exhibition is on until the 21st Feb.  If anyone reading this does go would you mind coming back and telling me how it was?

Aquaman: Kingdom Come action figure review!

Oh yes, I succumbed.  The story goes thus.  I head into my friendly local comic book shop one wet Thursday.  I ask them about the possibility of getting a Black Lantern Wonder Woman.  They say they shall check for me.  I thank them and I leave.  As I go past the shop window I notice a very special looking toy.  It turns out to be kingliest Aquaman I ahve ever seen and I decide I must look at it closer.  I go back in the shop, I examine it and I decide I must buy it.

I go back to work in the afternoon, in a very good mood. I get home, take him out of the packaging and coo rather a lot.  The boyfriend thinks I'm a bit odd, but he indulges me.  Hark, hark at the pictures:

Let's get the good things out of the way first.  His face is fantastic. He looks old, he has personality in his features and the facial hair is detailed and has depth.  His head hair has streaks of grey in it, which to my mind look a bit odd but I understand it's a faithful representation of the comic art, so i'll let that slide.

The gold chain mail is done really well.  The gloves are detailed as is the sword belt.  The sea horse on his tunic has been painted really nicely and the gold bits are embossed.  The cloak and tunic flow just right and is slightly bendy.  In short, the clothes look like they would on a real human person.





  










Regarding the accessories, the sword is pretty big and works well positioned in his hand or in the sword belt.  I like the look of both it and the sword.

 

 He also stands up easily and is stable.  That's kinda a rarity amongst my stuff.

All in all, this is a beautiful figure to look at.  He is only the second male figure I've got (ignoring the minimates), the first being Ares, so this should be an indication of how impressed I was with the figure in the shop.

Now I've got the good things covered, lets get to the bad things.

The articulation is fuck all.  Only one leg moves, which is useful to get him to stand up, only one arm moves at the shoulder (the sword bearing one), and there is no movement at all in the elbows waist and head/neck area.  The wrist of the sword bearing arm does swivel.   This isn't enough to make me dislike the figure, it's more of an annoyance.

The second complaint is that he can't hold the trident.  Try as I might, it will not slot into his fist, as there is not a big enough gap to squeeze it through the fingers.  This is a bigger complaint as not being able to accessorise with an accessory is kinda ridiculous.  So currently I have the trident on the shelf in front of him.  In the efforts of fairness I should point out that over at Action Figure Blues they have no difficulty with this and their figure can hold the trident.  I guess I've got a duff run.

All in all, I'm really happy with the figure and would recommend it to Aquaman fans, but beware of the trident!

If any of you are interested in viewing the rest of my collection you can see it all over at the Action Figure Blues forum.  And if you're even remotely interested in these kind of things then the AFB forum is a great resource for finding information and they've got some pretty shit hot customisers posting pictures of their work.

Comic review party time

Yes dear readers, it is that time of the week again where I wax lyrical about ther stuff I bought.  Sadly this will not include Batgirl #6 as I forgot to pick it up.  What a dunce.  Anyhow, there will be spoilers ahead for Adventure Comics #6, Action Comics # 885, GA/BC #28, Catwoman: Blackest Night # 83 (resurrected title), The Power of Shazam: Blackest Night #48 (resurrected title) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer #31.
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Adventure Comics #6
OK, the cover has a dinosaur on it.  I knew I was gonna like this issue.  Lex Luthor is a really manipulative, power obsessed bastard.  Superboy finally realises he can stop fretting about his genetic makeup and resolves to just be himself.  The art continues to be gorgeous and when Conner met up with Cassie, Tim and Bart at the end I probably gave a little gasp.  Manapul draws a beautiful Tim, not such a great Bart, but a great Tim.  (Image nicked from James Ashelford's blog)

Nect month is a Blackest NIght tie in, so I'll get that, but from March it's focusing on the Legion of Superheroes, who i don't give a stuff about, so I shall be dropping it.  Thsi may cause problems when folloing this years Super family event, but I'll have to cope.


Action Comics # 885
The art in this is sometimes wildly off key and it took several minutes of hard thinking to remember what had happened in this issue.  Maybe I should drop it.  But then I think that with the Superman crossover coming up, will I understand the main plot is I'm not reading Adventure Comics, Superman and Action Comics?

And then the odd issue of Action really impresses me and I'm sucked back in again.
But then I get an issue like this week's one, where I don't really care about the main story and I certainly coudln't give a stuff about Captain bleeding Atom.  I'm pretty certain that I won't be going back and re-reading these issues.  Maybe I should drop it.


GA/BC #28
Bad, bad characterisation of Dinah here - her dialogue seemed very strange.  We find out more about Cupid's background and see Mia get to be awesome again.  But honestly, when isn't she awesome?

Looking back at Cupid's background - the evil government have made her crazy by injecting stuff into her brain via her nose cavity (yes really) and this compound has induced memory loss, given her super strength and increased the levels of the chemical that people feel when they are in love.  So essentially they've made a super strong lady who's driven by her hormones.  Driven by her hormones to obssess/love/lust after men who she will then attack, fight, kill, rape, abuse or generally take advantage of.

Yeah, that's not trading in sexist steroetypes at all.

DC you suck.


Catwoman: Blackest Night # 83 (resurrected title)
Now this on the other hand, this did not suck at all.  This was awesome.  Selina has to rescue her sister from the crazy Black Lantern guy who tortured her before, and who Selina susequently killed.  Harley and Ivy turned up and came up with a pretty inventive way to dispose of the Black Lantern - a venus fly trap endlessly digesting him.  Yum.

Well, I say awesome. It was awesome up till the end when her her sister was turned into Selina's next nemesis.  That was a crap outcome.  Boring, old and tired.


The Power of Shazam: Blackest Night #48 (resurrected title)
This also rocked.  Osiris and his friendly Crocodile mate (last seen in 52) are given Black Lantern rings.  Osiris manages to fight off the urges of the Black Lantern (far more effectively than Wonder Woman did, let's be honest), and succeeds in destroying both himself and his crocodile friend.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer #31
Again, a good issue.  And for once a cover that isn't all about the sexy nakedness.  Buffy learns to fly, fins out about Xander and Dawn, is a jekr about it then gets better and combines forces with Willow to defeat the goddesses.

I must take issue with the blurb for next month's issue that states 'Buffy has fucking superpowers'.  We know she's got superpowers. She's a damn slayer.

So, it's snowed quite a lot over here recenly

For about 4 weeks we've had snow.  That's pretty damn unusual for the UK.  My American readers would be very surprised at how much chaos and worry this has caused, given that some parts of the country have only had a few inches of snow (and still people can't get to work and the trains can't run), but that's the UK for you.  Some areas have been able to measure their snowfall in feet, but not mine.

With that in mind, and because most of the snow has now gone from my part of Norfolk, I'd thought I'd post some of the prettier pictures.

A rose in my garden, the weekend before Christmas (how or why it was still alive I have no idea):

In the city, 23rd Dec:

At the local park in January:

In Buckinghamshire last week:

 

There you have it.  Very pretty, a complete arse to cycle in and very cold.

Words that should be used more

Words that I particularly like that just aren't used enough:

Fractious
Cross (as in I'm quite cross.  Not as in a cross of wood)
Susurus
L'espirit de L'escalier  (ok so that's more of a phrase)
Amorous
Sigh
Breathy
Masticate  (I'm actually undecided about this one, it's rather harsh but also somehow exacting, and good)
Thigh
Looting

What are your favourite words?  What would you like to see, read or hear more of?

Coming out in comics: more amazonian happenings

This post, found via WFA, looks at subtext in the Gail Simone run of Wonder Woman.

Apparently we are gonna get a gay Amazonian couple soon.  That would be good.

Blogger's playing silly buggers

A few times now I've scheduled posts, put in a future date, hit publish, and instead of it going into the scheduled pile it's been published immediately but is viewable with a date in the future.

Is this happening to anyone else?  It's very frustrating.

(In self promotion news - New readers... has We3, Scary Go Round, Teen Titans Year One and Azumanga Daoih reviews up, as well as a link to our facebook group, go have a look!)

Coming out in Comics: Superman and Adam Strange

Check out this cover of Superman: World of New Krypton #11:

Well I saw that and thought it was the most homoerotic cover ever.
Why is this?  Partly it's the poses - they are sticking close to each other, grinning at each other with a conspiratorial look.  We can clearly see Adam Strange's arse, and you could claim that Superman's leg is poisitioned somewhat coyly.  So why did I think Gay! when I saw it?

I think it is a combination of things:
1) We rarely see men's arses displayed and highlighted quite so (Green Lanterns aside).  Usually women's bodies are shown off in this manner.  So when I see men being positioned like women I read it as gay.  Obviously this relies on cultural structures defining what it means to be 'man' or 'woman and what it means if you veer from these norms.  I'm not proud of my thinking.

2) As a culture I think we are still very used to tallking about hotness in terms of the male gaze, so even if we see hot men, we assume the intended audience is men, not women.  So when we see stuff that shows hot men objectifying themselves, we call it homoerotic, not hot images used for women's titilation.  There is an exception to this of course - which is the images used in teenage girls magazines, or topless blokes in films aimed at teenage girls, and stuff like that.  But I'm not aware of similar things explicitly aimed at, or generally labelled as such and recognised as being aimed at, adult women.

3) We are unaccustomed to seeing 2 men have an equal, close relationship that is purely platonic and not sexual.  If we do see men being close friends the authors or artists usually go to great lengths to include a female love interest, to assure us that the characters are still hetero males.  This image is lacking women, so when we see them Supes and Strange looking at each other in a way that was probably intended to look like they were planning and plotting the way out of their fight, we read it as sexual.

4) Relatign back to point number 1, there are the poses themselves.  They don't look ready to fight, they look like they are pirouetting in mid air.  They are off balance - this is an artistic tactic used to sexualise women.  When it's used on 2 men who are focused on each other like Supes and Strange are, it looks like they have a sexual link.

Then there's the thing about equating femininity in men with them being gay - again, I'm not proud of my thinking.

5)  Lastly, the boyfriend thinks Adam Strange is particularly camp.  I'm not so sure of that one, but seeing as when I showed it to him and asked his opinion of it, he immediately yelled gay, I thought it was worth including.

In conclusion, I think that 1), my base reactions show I'm not as lliberated as I thought, and 2), regardless of the liberalness of my views this cover will provide slash fodder among fan fic writers.

Digging stuff out from the archives..

A while ago I wrote about J'onn J'onzz getting genderswapped into Joan J'onzz.  I never did post a scan, so here we go:

It's not the most progressive thing in the world is it?   It is however, a fun read.  And in it's defence it tries to be satirical.

Changing tack slightly, I think more people should be made aware of the existence of the Beefeater.  He had a Sybil Fawlty like wife and was created so the JLE could feature a caricatured, inept, posh Englishman.  He looked like a fool:

Lastly, there was a delightful Tremors rip off.  If you liked Tremors may I recommend you track down and purchase Justice League Europe 24 and 25.  Particularly because the man controlling the giant worms also had a giant tuning fork ready to hum with your hatred.  I shit you not:

Ragnell on the monstrosity of DC's treatment of Wonder Woman in BN

Go read it here.  She's put it far better that I could have done, even if I could write about it, I instantly lost the will to live when I saw the horrible horrible costume.

The rest of Blackest Night is pretty much great.  I did still enjoy WW: BN 2, but that doesn't mean there aren't a truckload of problems with it.

Comics Reviews!

Featuring spoilers for the Batman 80 page giant, Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2, Superman: WONK #11, Suicide Squad: Blackest Night # 67 (resurrected title), Weird Western Tales: Blackest Night # 71 (resurrected title), Red Robin #8.
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Batman 80 page giant
This wasn't quite what I expected.  It's a collection of rather unusual stories.

• The Dick/Damian one was a bit heavy handed and obvious for my tastes.
• Alfred acts like an absolute dick - he must know full well the position he was putting the young woman in, taking her to a fancy do like that, with her prostitute clothes on.  He doesn't come across like a good person, he comes across as a controlling, greedy man who likes to believe he is good. I do not want to read about this Alfred.
• The Saint story was good and took a couple of surprising turns.
• Veil in reveiled shows a lot of promise.  Although this story was a bit weak - too much of the damsel being saved by the man for me - I'd love to read more about Milicent Mayne.
• The Catwoman story, written by ivory Madison, is why I bought this issue.  The art is all photo realistic, which I found unusual, but is good nonetheless, and the story was completely unexpected.  An old couple had been hiding underground for the last 40 years, and just come up so the wife could be admitted to hospital.  This was touching and well executed.
• Poison Ivy's tale takes it's inspiration from the concept of mother nature and the maiden/mother/crone triumverate.  Intriguing.
• Mr Freeze and the Commisioner did nothing for me.
• The final one page story was a nice ending to the collection.
  

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2
The idea and layout of the cover is fantastic:

Unfortunately Mera's face ruins it for me.  In my head that's not what Mera looks like.

This book filled in thsoe moments between Mera taking on Diana, and Diana getting the Star Sapphire ring (in Blackest Night #6).  It worked for me.  As for the Bruce/Diana smooch - I reckon she's just pleased to see him, and a kiss is far more expressive than a hug.  And she's a wee bit stressed anyway.

Superman: WONK #11
Very suggestive cover:

Good issue.  Enjoyable and bringing this particular part of the story to an end.  I look forward to Krypton: The Last Stand and War of the Supermen.


Suicide Squad: Blackest Night # 67 (resurrected title)
OK, I really don't like reading Simone's individual issues.  I'll get Secret Six next month and I'll probably enjoy both together, but individually?  I can't be doing with them.

Weird Western Tales: Blackest Night # 71 (resurrected title)
Waste of time.  I don't like the Western genre and I care nothing for the characters.  Not even the Ray.

Red Robin #8
Ahh, to end on a high note!  Loved it :)
We get to see Tim's battle strategy and pretty much just how awesome he is, in everything.  Great end to the arc, neatly executed and very smooth.  You shoudl all be reading this.

I also bought the Kingdom Come Aquaman figure.  A review will be going up shortly.  In summary, it's nice looking but has a lot of faults.

Hah! A wonderful example of culture bias

This post looks at one of the oldest (yet found) female figurines that has recently been dug up in Stuttgart.  More specifically, it looks at how the archeologists et al have deemed it an early example of porn.

The writer then goes on to pull apart this assertion and show how the men commenting on this don't seem to be able to a) get past their own views on what constitutes pornography and b) coem up with any other reasons as to why figurines of women may have been created.

Gender blind and religion blind then.

Go read it.

Poll results!

Well that was interesting.  For my poll on space travel 2 of you said you wouldn't want to go.
The question was:

Space travel - do you think in the next 70 yrs we'll have:

The full results were:
Cheap travel but I don't want to use it - 0
Cheap travel and I'll be first in line - 4
No cheap travel and I wouldn't want to go anyway - 2
No cheap travel but I'd go if I could - 4
Bugger cheap travel, I'm going with the Russians - 1

Wow, someone's rich!  Would you like to take me with you?

Those of you who wouldn't want to go, would you care to leave your reasons why? You can do so anonymously if you wish.

Thanks for participating everyone!

500th post: In praise of Supergirls

This here posting is my 500th entry on this blog.  What better way to celebrate than to talk about one of my favourite and one of the most enduring characters, Supergirl?

Note: I am not including any comments on the pre crisis Kara Zor-El or Matrix before the PAD run, simply because I haven't read these.

Recently, well a few months ago now, I re-read my PAD Supergirl trades - Supergirl and Many Happy Returns.  This series was critically acclaimed and a favourite with fans.  It has heavy religious themes, Christain based, using angels, demons and concepts of heaven and hell.  For someone like me who adores religious and mythological discussions I basked in it.  At the start of the run we discover that the previous being using the Supergirl moniker, Matrix, has merged with a dying human named Linda Danvers.  They later became an earth born angel.  Matrix uses Linda to connect with humanity and Linda uses Matrix to redeem herself of her sins, of which she has committed a great many.

This run had a variety of different artists on board and so showcased a number of different styles.  From the first trade we have:

She's tall!  She's muscly and imposing and graceful and elegant.  I love everything about this page - the composition, the colours the inks, the poses, the facial expressions.  It's wonderful.

Later on Gorilla Grodd has taken control of Supergirl's mind, and true to comics form, her outfit mysteriously changes:

What I find interesting about this is the similaraties between this outfit and the one Kara Zor-El (post crisi) wore when she was mind controlled by Darkseid:

It's the facial expression and the trousers I think.  And the heels.  Granted, it may well be just coincidence, as good-women-who-turn-evil are nearly always drawn in similar styles.
The other interesting this about this evil-Supergirl(matrix) is how when she is regressing back to her good self, her hair becomes more normal and less bouffant.  Isn't it odd what mind control can do to you?  [/sarcasm]

By the end of the run, Ed Benes was doing pencils but had yet to develop his emphasis on tits and ass art. (see here or read any recent Titans issue). The result is some characters are sexy but not plastic.  My avatar is an Ed Benes Linda Davvers Supergirl and a full image can be seen here:

That image is the back of the Mnay Happy Returns book an features the pre crisis Supergirl who visited for a few issues and Linda Supergirl. This is one my favourite ever comic images because it shows the two girls' very different personalities and also because Linda has such an engaging look on her face.  Kara is sweet, optimistic and ready for a fight, but Linda is actively challenging you to a fight.  Linda looks cocky, self assured, tough and like she could break anyone with one punch.   This isn't a one off fluke image, throughout the book the girls strengths and traits are shown through the art as much as through the words.  It's such a pity Benes doesn't produce art like this anymore.

By this final trade the story had moved away from it's earlier religious themes and the appearence of the pre crisi Kara Zor-El led to some interesting alternate universe shenanigans.  I won't spoil anything here, but this trade is one of the most fun stories I have ever read.  Linda Danvers has grown so much from the start of the run and is now truly heroic, but also rather sarcastic.  There are some great silver age jokes and the two supergirls interactiosn are delightful.

The whole earthbound angel story was retold in the Elseworlds book, Wings.  Again with very different art, this is a short version of the PAD run and is well worth hunting out (click to enlarge):

When the PAD run ended and Linda Danvers as Supergirl was no more, we were not starved of female Kyptonians adventures.  Or at least, sometimes we weren't, for Power Girl was on the scene.  Unfortunately she has had her past retconned so many times it can be difficult to know what her origin is meant to be, when.  Originally she was the Earth 2 version of Supergirl, but since Crisis on Infinite Earths she has also been an alien from an unspecified planet brought here by a Symbioship and a time travelling Atlantean and generally confused.  Her story was retconned yet again in Infinite Crisis and she is now back to being an alternate universe Supergirl.  I recommend reading Power Girl to learn more about her and why she's great:

For she is great, she's not a copy of Supergirl she is her own woman.  She currently has own series, drawn by the the brilliant Amanda Connor.  I review these as they come out and it has proved to be a cheeky, light hearted, satirical and throughly enjoyable title.  Karen Starr is portrayed as a confident and composed young woman who doesn' suffer fools lightly.  Her are some scans from the series:
 

And now we have the current Supergirl run. As with Power Girl, I review each issue as it comes out and back in September 2008 I did a long post about how the whole run to that date had been, well I used the word ruined then, now I think that is too strong a word, but there are definite problems with it.  Should you choose to read it, it will give you an overview of this inarnation of Kara-El up to issue 33.

The title has improved massively since I wrote that post and will reach it's 50th issue in February 2010.  2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Supergirl's creation and she will be heavily involved in 2010's War of the Superman crossover event.  I can only hope that this will lead to more people picking up her solo book and becoming a fan.

I could talk about so much more now - I could mention Supergirl in Wednesday Comics, Supergirl in Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Linda Danver's reappearence in Reign in Hell (which admittedly I haven't read yet), other Elseworlds books with a Supergirl figure in, or all the future and alternate universe Supergirls there have been.  If I did that I'd be here for a year and a day, so instead I shall point you towards the Supergirl Comic Box Commentary's round up of the best Supergirl moments of 2008 and 2009.

Happy reading everyone, and here's to another 50 years for Supergirl and 500 posts for me.  Thanks for reading.

Dollhouse (spoilers)

I got Dollhouse season 1 for Christmas.  After watching 3 episodes (but not the pilot) I have come to the following conclusions:
The first episode was very much setting everything up, in a very obvious way.
Echo's awareness of self and the way her memory is coming back is quite clumsy in places.
I really like the name Echo.
There are obvious allegories with prostitution to be made.  I make no judgements on women who engage in sex work, however I think that people who use prostitutes are weird and I find the whole idea quite disturbing.

By 'Needs' I have discovered:
Eliza Dushku is quite convincing as different people.
Amy Acker is much better than I expected.
The series has got far less clumsy at moving the plot forward.
There is none of the fancy language that Buffy/Angel/Firefly had - unless you count pseduoscience.  I don't.
It's constructed in a very different way to the first few Buffy seasons, or the one Firefly season.
Sierra has one of the most feline faces I've ever seen, at least she does when she has tawny hair.
Echo's first handler has a very comforting voice and manner.

After watching it all I now feel that:
Echo's dominatrix outfit was somewhat unneccesary.
Alan Tudyk was an inspired choice of casting.
Holy crap Tudyk is Alpha.  Well I didn't see that coming.  Although, he's not exactly a specimen of perfect humanity is he?
Dushku has a rather flat Russian accent.  And unless she it is meant to be aregional accent, which I doubt, her intonation is wrong.
I did not expect the final episode to be like that.  That was good.

I  really liked this.  Roll on season 2.  I'm off to read some criticisms of the show now.

Ame-Comi Heroine Steel

Dear DC,

That is not an armoured costume.  She is mostly naked.  Also, Natasha Irons is not blond.

Yours in fury,

Saranga

20th Century Comic Books at the Victoria and Albert museum

On 3rd February, 2010, Ian Rakoff will be giving a talk entitled 20th Century Comic Books at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK.

Ian Rakoff has been involved with the V and A since the late 1980s.  Karen Rubins is their current artist in residence, you can read more about her role at the museum here, and view her website here.

Information about the comics held can be found here.

Information about events at the V and A can be found here (some of which are BSL interpreted).  Unfortunately no information specifically about the Rakoff talk could be found online at the time of writing.  The What's On guide for January to March 2010 listed the talk under Lunchtime Lectures, all of which are free of charge.

Crossposted from New readers...start here! which has reviews on Promethea, Penny and Aggie, Spider-man Fairy Tales, the Muppet Show Comic Book and Terra.

Blackest Night as a character study

Whilst reading Blackest Night #6 it occured to me that Geoff Johns is doing excellent work in bringing both less well known, or well used, characters to the forefront.  He is also defining and revitalising other characters.

Take Mera for instance.  I have read a lot of Aquaman stuf but not much has featured Mera - mostly because the stuff I have read takes place after their son has died and Mera and Arthur have separated.  At the start of Blackest Night we see that Mera has the strength, skill and intelligence to outwit Garth, Arthur, their son, and the Aquaguards.  Later on she is one of the first to realise that the Black Lanterns feed off emotion and the key to getting away is to have the emotional strength to keep your feelings under tight control.  She also knows when  it is best to run and when it is best to fight.  She is an absolute powerhouse, unafraid of anything and a highly proficient fighter.

The one and only time she has let her emotions show is in Blackest Night #6, where she is fighting Black Lantern Wonder Woman and she finally lets her rage out.  I don't know if Mera and Diana have an antagonistic history, but I read this as Mera finally giving vent to her rage at the existence of the Black Lanterns and everything they are trying to achieve.

And remember, that I've got all this from just a few appearances in 6 comic books.  the Scarevrow has even less panel time -he featured in Blackest Night #6 for just a few pages that led to him becoming inducted as a member of the Sinestro Corps.  Here we are shown the full extent of his psychosis.  He is a warped, pained, obsessive and distrubed man.  As a villain he has beocme absolutley compelling.

Another underused character that has been brought to prominence is Dove.  She has her greatest panel time within the Blackest Night: Titans mini, which is written by J.T.Krul and not Geoff Johns, but I have high hopes that she will be used in the main books.  Since their incarnation, this new Hawk and Dove haven't really had a whole lot of appearances in the DCU.  As underused characters Johns could do a lot with them, and considering Dove's white light and it's ability to destroy the Black Lanterns I really hope she'll be used in the conclusion of this event.

In a a bizzare coincidence, after I wrote this I saw excerpts of an interview with Geoff Johns over at The Aquaman Shrine.  He talks about Mera so head on over and take a peek.

Blackest Night #6 (spoilers)

I think there will be a lot of posts in the blogosphere doing a panel by panel recap of this issue, so I shan't bother.  If you need a summary, go check out SallyP's review.  This issue was quite short on story as we were given 8 pages of preview covers instead.  This works very well as an advert, but I'm not sure I wouldn't have wanted more story.  And now we move on to discuss the events and happenings of this latest installment.

I think this whole overarching story is about teamwork as much as anything else and this issue really emphasised this.  Last month we saw Sinestro, Atrocitus, Larfleeze, Saint Walker, Indigo, Hal and Carol work together to destroy the Black Lantern Power Battery.   They failed, because they represent only a fraction of the whole light.

Ganthet realises this, inducts himself into the Green Lantern Corps (thereby formally and obviously leaving the ineffectual team of Guardians and defecting to where he can do the most good).  He instructs each of the above listed individual's power rings to replicate themselves and deputize someone another into their Corps.  And so, the core team is expanded and more people will be forced to put aside their differences and work together.  We now have Blue Lantern Barry Allen, Yellow Lantern Scarecrow, Orange Lantern Lex Luthor (I cannot see how this will end well), Red Lantern Mera, Indigo Lantern Ray Palmer and Star Sapphire Diana Prince.  To join the Sapphires, Diana had to reject membership of the Black Lantern Corps and accept the love of the Sapphires.

The importance of teamwork is also show elsewhere within the story.  We have two black power rings chasing Barry Allen and Hal Jordan.  Barry uses a green contruct in the form of a chain to keep Hal with him and outrun the black rings.  It is illustrative of the deep friendship and trust in each other that Barry acts as he does.  It mirrors the events of Flash: Rebirth where Hal fetched Barry as the Black Flash away from the other spedsters, to protect them from Barry's deadly touch.  Incidentally, this mini and the Flash: Rebirth mini has demonstrated to me why Barry is such a well loved character.  I am now glad he is back in the DCU.

In other examples of teamwork, we have the Atom, Ray Palmer, and Mera inside the Black Lantern rings.  Mera has the power and emotional control to fight the Black Lanterns and Ray has the tech to get them out.  Once out, Mera continues to act as the muscle and takes on Wonder Woman, enabling Ray to get to the Flash and tell him Deadman's news.

So, now we've gont through all these examples of teamwork you're probably wondering why I bothered.  I have always loved team up stories: the trust that gets built, the reliance on others, the knowledge and camaraderie you get with a well functioning team is something that really resonates with me.  It makes for an interesting read, and I suppose I am a little envious as well.  If only life was that simple, eh?  As I cannot be a member of a superpowered team I shall have to settle for reading about them.

Buffy: Scott Allie's response to criticisms of the art in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8

Morgan Stewart, from Memphis, Tennessee, sent in a letter to the Buffy comic questioning the homogoenous body shape of the women in the drawn Buffyverse.  She does say that the 'gorgeous actresses from the show appear leggier, busier and even thinner'.  She also writed that 'the story itself has done so much to empower girls across the globe that I hate to see it take even the tiniest baby step backwards.'  She doens't criticse the qaulity of the art, she names the art beautiful and cool.
Scott Allie first turned the letter over to the artist, Georges Jeanty who provided a response, then Allie added a few more lines.  I reproduce it for you here:
Emphasis is mine.

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[Georges Jeanty]  - I'm kinda surprised that Buffy is receiving criticism for unrealistic body shapes.  This is something that I have paid particular attention to from the beginning.  I strive to make sure that Buffy, a book about many different types of girls, has a diversity not normally seen in comics.  Given that the majority of books published today have little or no regard for how females - or males, for that matter - actually look, Buffy is drawn with a sharp eye for the individual form.
That said, most of the lead actors of the show do have amazing figures!  It can get difficult to promote diversity when many of the characters have been in the pages of Maxim.  It's no secret that society and television tend to favor really good-looking girls for lead roles, and women like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Eliza Dushku have a certain body type, which you're going to see frequently drawn, because they are the leads.
But there is diversity.  You'll notice that Buffy and Dawn have different body types.  None of Joss's characters are particularly chesty, and I think I've stayed true to that.  Whenever I'm drawing these characters I use reference photos to make sure I'm not getting not just actor's faces, but also body types.  As for the other Slayers, I have tried to include girls of all ethnicities, shapes and sizes.  Now, if these distinctions aren't readily visible, that's because most of the Slayers are either dressed for battle or too far in the background to really be defined by their form.
I agree that more ofen than not in comics girls are objectified and aren't true representations of the female form, but I know in Buffy I am making a conscious effort to keep the girls diverse.

[Scott Allie] - There you have it.  Again, I'm sure those who have issue with the book remain totally unsatisfied with our answers - How'd you put it Morgan? "You can talk to me about how it's in the tradition of the art form, and a distinct style, and blah blah blah.  I don't care."  We do care, and we've strived to be respectful.  Recently a piece of art came in from another artist and Georges pointed out to me that a main character's breasts were too large.  All of this is very subjective, very much in the eye of the beholder, and we let our conscience guide us, but in the end, the high concept has always been a beautiful blond who fights monsters.

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Where to start eh?

Jeanty claims he has paid attention to this issue and strived to include different body types.  He points out that Dawn and Buffy are drawn differently and that none of the characters are particularly chesty.  In this he is correct, and this is good.

He points out that most comics draw women with no regard for real human women and he also mentions men.  Why mention men?  This isn't about men.  To bring unrealistic depictions of men into this is to ignore and push aside the specific problems facing women in comics, as linked in with the issues facing women in wider culture and society.  In a word, derailing.  He should go have a look here for an example of why women in comics face different issues to men in comics.


Then he says that most of the actresses 'do have amazing figures'.  This ignores Ms Stewart's criticism that the 'gorgeous actresses from the show appear leggier, busier and even thinner'.  It also ignores her point about the other Slayers.  At the end of the day it doesn't matter if 'society and television tend to favor really good-looking girls for lead roles', because the letter was a) about the other Slayers and b) about how the actresses are depicted in the comics.  His comment is a non-answer and doesn't address the problems.

Jeanty claims that Gellar and Dushku have certain body types.  If he is implying that they have similar body shapes, I disagree.  I think Dushku is more athletic.  If you watch season 7 you can see quite clearly that Buffy and Faith look very different - no one could seriously state they have the same body.

His next point is laughable:
if these distinctions aren't readily visible, that's because most of the Slayers are either dressed for battle or too far in the background to really be defined by their form.

Really?  Does he really want to pull that one?  Does he want to claim that the characters are out of his control  and chosoe to be in the background?  That battle armour hides fat girls, tall girls and short girls?  Who is he trying to kid?

His closing comment of  'I am making a conscious effort to keep the girls diverse' leads me to suggest that he needs to take a step back, reappraise his work and not come up with half assed explanations.  I believe that he is trying to address the problem of overly sexualised women in comics, he has just failed to address the problems that Ms Stewart brought up.  My guess is he is too wrapped up in how priviledge to see these issues.  I'd be pleased to explain further to him.  On the plus side, his is capable of drawing characters from different ethnicities.  Pity that wasn't relevant to the letter.

Now, for Scott Allie's response.
How'd you put it Morgan? "You can talk to me about how it's in the tradition of the art form, and a distinct style, and blah blah blah.  I don't care."  We do care, and we've strived to be respectful.  
Well you're not being remotely respectful now.  I know, he doesn't have to be, but it does seem like bad form to be rude to a fan when they have politely raised some issues with your comic.




Recently a piece of art came in from another artist and Georges pointed out to me that a main character's breasts were too large.
That's great! But that doesn't absolve Jeanty of all problems!

His closing comment, of: in the end, the high concept has always been a beautiful blond who fights monsters simply dismisses the letter writers concerns and all efforts at response that have already been made.  If that was the high concept, and I would argue that it is more complicated than that, it doens't make the criticisms go away.  In fact, it reinforces them.  Just because he's admitted something may have sexist elements, doesn't make the sexism ok.

Christmas comics!

Not ones that I received for Christmas, for I received none this year, but instead the ones I bought on Christmas eve.  There was some comic gift giving in my home this year - I bought the boyfriend a copy of Greg Rucka's Whiteout.  I haven't read it but from reviews I'm hoping he'll like it.

I also bought Secret Six - six degrees of devastation.  I think I will review that for the New readers.. blog as it is pretty damn good.  My only worry is how accessible it is.  What do you all think?

Anyway, for this post please be warned of spoilers regarding World's Finest #3, Buffy one shot: Willow, Gotham City Sirens #7, Teen Titans: Blackest Night #78, Green Lantern: Blackest Night #45, Blackest Night: JSA #1.
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World's Finest #3
I fully intended to get the Kara cover but ended up with the Steph one instead.  I'll be buggered if I can find an image of the Steph cover online though.  At any rate, it's pretty and laid out in a similar fashion.
In this issue, Steph and Kara team up, which you'd think would be enough to make me happy, yet this issue left me a little cold.  I think it's the art.  I'm just not keen.  Kara is muscly but something seems a bit off and I don't know what.  I expect this issue will read better when read with the other issues in one go.

Buffy one shot: Willow
Oooh OOO ooh.  Sexy cover.  Beautifully drawn.  It's go bugger all to do with the story, except that both characters are involved, but they don't embrace within the pages.  Instead, Willow goes on a magical mystery wicca quest to discover her true power.
She drops her guard and we see what is under the surface, i.e. she;s not so innocent, sweet and naeive as she appears.  Sh can be cold, calculating and she has a damn sharp mind.  I think that sometimes the writers forget that Willow was one of the most intelligent people in her school.

The letters column is a whole different kettle of fish.  So much so, there will be another post taking it apart.

Gotham City Sirens #7
A Christmas issue.  Selina raises a glass with Dick, Ivy visit the rainforests and Harley visit her family.  Beautiful art and humourous storytelling that caters to the heroines strengths and associations.


Teen Titans: Blackest Night #78
Ravager, Jericho and Deathstroke fight the Black Lanterns.  Jericho discovers that they can be killed, if another Black Lantern rips out their hearts.  We're actually getting quite a number of ways these revenants can be killed, I wonder if they will all be pulled together for the final Blackest Night main issue?  Jericho's life story gets more complicated and the Wilson family dynamic is changed once more.

Mostly this issue made me question where Jericho's body goes when he jumps into someone else.  You'd think an empty husk woudl be left, but apparently not.  I'd like to read some comic box science explaining how he works.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night # 49
John Stewart faces off against the undead hordes of Xanshi.  He proves very difficult to rile, resulting in realisation of the gameplan and Black Lanterns becoming increasingly frustrated.  He then goes off planet to discover that Xanshi has sped through space and is bearing down on earth.  As SallyP has mentioned, you'd think this would affect Earth's gravity and suchlike.  Mind you, I think Mogo woulId have this affect on Oa, but maybe I don't understand how Oa works.

There's a wee backup feature focusing on Ray, Mera and Black Lantern Jean Loring (wearing a quite frankly ridiculous outfit), in a Black Lantern ring.  There we learn how Nekron came to be and see that Deadman is about to enter the fray (again).


Blackest Night: JSA #1
This would have made more sense had I known more about the history of the JSA.  As it stands, I only know Power Girl.  Peej calls Earth 2 Kal-L her cousin and her uncle, unless I'm misunderstanding of course, and Earth 2 Lois arrive looking her husband.

I'm guessing that by the end of the mini I'll like this.