Jim Balent (and Kim DeMulder) FAIL

From the Elseworlds title, Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham.

This worlds Two Face:

FAIL

This world's version of Alfred:FAIL

The 3 costumes in the top panel:

FAIL

Smallville - Apocalypse (season 7, episode 18)

This is the most fanservicey episode ever! Seriously, it took them an alternate universe to make Lois a Pulitzer prizewinning journalist, Clark to sweep her off her feet, her to see his super powers, give Kara the Linda Danvers name, make Kara work closely with Lex for a number of years and trust him implicitly, whilst Lex is President of the USA, and properly eviiil, and also put Clark in journalist and glasses mode?!

Brilliant. I remember back in season 1 we saw a premonition whereby Lex was in a white suit in the White House, and the countryside had been ravaged by what we assumed was a nuclear war, all burned out and blackened anyway. Well that's what transpired in this episode. My guess is they originally planned for this to happen in the seasons properly, but it didn't pan out that way. Hence Lex destroying the world with Braniac in this episode.

Also, Kara is exceedingly heroic in the fortress. Far more so than Clark. Clark is still a bit of a dumbass, but hopefully less emo after this episode.

2 more to go in this season, then bring on season 8. And please god give him the costume at least once somewhere! And flight!

Smallville - Sleeper

Brilliant! This has stealth Jimmy dressed like a ninja being coerced by the feds into spying on his girlfriend Chloe so that he can find out what secret government info she's after as the feds think she's a terrorist. Chloe gets caught, beaten up by scary tough fed lady, Jimmy distracts the feds by plugging his DS or somesuch into the pc terminal, gets all violent and rescues her. It's all intrigue and double dealing and threats of prison. Wonderful!
THEN when you think it can't get any better we find out Kara is on Krypton in the past and Braniac is trying to kill baby Kal so Clark has to make his way to Krypton asap so that he can prevent Braniac killing baby himself and therefore won't ceased to exist.
intergalatic time portal indeed!

This is FUN.

Comics review again

Finally got down to the comics shop today. I realised that I actually should have gone in last week as I was waiting for Batman confidential 20 and Superman/Batman 51. Nevermind.
This week's haul turned out to be pretty good. In addition to the above, I got:
Teen Titans, 62
Teen Titans yr 1, 6
Final Crisis - Rogues Revenge, 2
Superman, 679


Batman Confidential 20. Pretty enjoyable. I liked Selina and Bruce's exchanges, and Barbara has been pretty fun to read about. It's a shame that the cover features Babs and Selina in strategically ripped costumes, but at least the art inside isn't overtly sexualised. Having said that, I'm not too keen on the art. There isn't enough distinction between Selina and Babs other than their costumes and hair. It's done by a guy called Kevin Maguire, I figure he may just need to develop some more.


Superman 679. Really good. Lois's and Clark morning conversation I loved. Kara's immediate response to Clark's situation was heroic. I'm confused as to why she was sitting in the zoo with all the lions, other than it made a good picture, but it was very random. I am totally hooked to see where this story is going. And it seems that Krypto is here to save the day. I think that's awesome.


Final Crisis Rogues Revenge 2. Again, really really good. The Rogues are a particularly human bunch of enemies, they have their own code, they never kill a Flash (until they did, of course, but that's partially cos Inertia tricked them into it), and we know their back stories. They aren't through and through evil, they care about and look out for each other. And they're all sane (except for this new Trickster, who I'm convinced is actually psychotic). They know what choices they make, they've got everything on their conscience, and they're happy with that. To me, this is what makes them interesting to read about.

And now they've come up against a bunch of pretenders, who think they can take over. Well, they got showed pretty good, din't they? They were destroyed by the current Rogues, because having a weapon doesn't make you deadly. Having experience and viciousness does.
Now Inertia is wearing the Kid Flash costume he's gonna get his arse handed to him on a plate when the other Flashes find out, or any superhero. Except that I've got a feeling the Rogues will find him first, and they'll give him a mighty beating.

Teen Titans yr 1, 6 I don't get this issue. :/ It's been so long since I read the number 5 that I can't remember what was happening before, but for the life of me, I don' recall that it had anything to do with events in this issue. So, I don't get it. :/ Nice art though!

Teen Titans 62 I liked. I know this is unpopular because they killed off Wendy and Marvin, in a particularly violent way (they befriended a mystery dog who turned into a giant killer dog and tore our Marvin's insides then went after Wendy, I reckon Sean McKeever is a cat person), but I enjoyed the issue. Lord knows where M'Gann has gone, Robin had a mini breakdown at Cassie, Eddie is Eddie and I don't know enough about Blue Beetle to have much of an opinion on him.

The dialogue was weird in this issue. I know Cyborg and Eddie waffling on about how much Wendy and Marvin meant to the team was there for dramatic tension to make their deaths more tragic, but they way it was done, and the way that they reacted, coupled with an issue of 52 included in the death panel has led me to a theory.

I reckon that this earth (as in this real life one where DC characters are fictional) and their earth are going to somehow merge and the characters are going to meet the DC writers and staff. That's what the Final Crisis is all about. So basically it's all going to go meta. A bit like the Dark Tower books where Stephen King met his fictional characters (which was a shit part of the series by the way). You just wait and see, I'll be right. ;)

Superman/Batman 51 This is hands down the most awesome and funny comic published in a long long time. In fact, the Impulse issues were the last ones to compete with these. It's THAT good. Lots of l'il leaguers turned up - cutesified mini rotund versions of the JLA. There was a goddamn Batman joke. Lil Batman and Big Batman's conversations were wonderful. L'il Batman's origin story is that his parents got shoved when he was 8 and that made him realize there was evil in the world. L'il Supes origin is that it rained a lot on Krypton so his folks sent him to earth so he could get some sun. L'il Kara cries when people fight and blows up windows.
There's hearts and lip shapes in the air when they see people they crush on!
It's freakin' adorable. So much squeee. Love love love.

Edit: And of course Mister Mxyzptlk said that he brought the l'il leaguers in to sell issues. Which backs up my Meta theory. Right?!

Sometimes

Warning: news re rape of a 12 yr old by a 24 yr old.
I read stuff that just makes me want to cry. A lot of what is said in the blog entry I don't need to repeat.
But -
"“Girls and young women need to be protected from their own immaturity and sexual curiousity at that vulnerable age,” he said."

What? Firstly, yes there's sexual curiosity, but that's not a problem. it's not a mistake, it's not immoral, it's a normal part of growing up.
Secondly, we don't need to 'protect' girls, because by using that word we insinuate that we can't change the rapists behaviour. Which goes back to the whole blaming the victim thing.
Don't say we need to protect girls, say we need to teach people it's wrong to rape.
Thirdly, I can't help but get the feeling that he's assuming that most girls are nymphomaniacs who can't wait to bed an older bloke (at least in the context of the rest of the article). wrong wrong WRONG.

Fucking hell what the fuck is everyone's fuckgin difficulty with a really basic common sense obvious, considerate way of thinking.

Graffitti and Elephants

The top elephant is called the ancient mariner and you can see the second one is a bee. I;'ve really enjoyed having these around town the last month and I'll eb sad when they're gone (this weekend). I still haven't caught all of them.

Also I was wandering back from work today I noticed some new graffitii sprung up.

Isn't that detailed?

I am so very impressed by this next one:

A bit confused about the 'oh aero' comment, but the art is amazing.

From whence came this name?

I call my blog Pai, because *ahem* that's what the boyfriend calls me as a nickname *blush*, ok I call him the same back, but still *blush*. Anyway I've known she was a manga character for a while but haven't quite managed to read any of the books. This shall now be rectified! I've found them on the bookshelf, they're called 3x3 eyes. I hope they turn out to be good or I'm gonna be very embarrassed. At least I'll have lunchtime reading at work. I'm completely failing to finish the English patient, because Catwoman is that much more interesting.

Speaking of manga, I've decided to actually buy some yaoi. I won these off of eBay:
The Moon and Sandals (Vol 1)- Fumi Yoshinaga (rated M)
Black Knight (Vol 1& 2)- Kai Tsurugi (rated M
I'll be your slave - Miki Araya ( rated M)

Does M mean rated medium or rated mature? I only chose these ones cos they were going cheap and from the amazon reviews seemed a reasonable place to start. Anyone read these? Will they be good or awful?

The mighty Selina Kyle

Yep, I am currently reading the Catwoman books. I finished volume 1 (1993 to 2001) a couple of days ago and now I'm on volume 2 (2002 to the present).
I'm mostly impressed, especially with the 90s stuff, I thought they'd be very painful to read, but no! The Selina shown in this run is brave, confident, daring, intelligent, resourceful and independent. She takes on jobs for the challenge and excitement of it as much as the payoff. She's carefree and not an out and out villain, she robs, but she doesn't kill and she always stands up for women and doesn't let anyone pull any sexist shit.

I particular enjoyed 9 deaths of the Cat (45) wherein Selina fights off 9 assassins with the assistance of Z, a very short man who's double crossing a guy named Rumboldt who put the hit on her, because Selina sank his yacht and pissed him off.

Number 54 is the favourite of this run. Selina steals a diamond, decides it wasn't difficult enough to steal so puts it back. This is repeated several times, purely to annoy and test the museum staff. After the final heist, she realises the owner has bankrupted himself with the insurance premiums and is actually hoping the diamond will get nicked. So after a chat with the owner she leaves it with him and a warning not to change the insurance policies or the security arrangements.

Number 58, wherein the Scarecrow gives Selina fear serum was also a pretty good story arc. Unfortunately this fear serum only bonds with estrogen, so apparently it won't affect men. I say that's some dumbass writing. Get thee back to a basic biology lesson please.

So, up until Selina moves to Manhattan it's a pretty Good series. Jim Balent's art was atrocious, but the plots made up for that. However when she moves to Manhattan, it all goes nuts. She decides to take over the biggest company there, becomes CEO, then runs for mayor, has various hits put out on Selina Kyle so as Catwoman tries to fight the assassins, and ends up throwing 'Selina' off a building in order to fake her own death.

Later during No Mans Land she has to break back into Gotham to get Batman some computer discs, which is fine and actually sensible. But then, Gordon decides he has to put her away, so she ends up captured, sent to a correctional facility and goes a bit nuts. She's broken out by Harley, given drugs to make her persuadable and nearly kills Gordon. Meanwhile she is reliving her childhood and talking about a sister who has never been mentioned before. And writing a letter to heretofore non existent sister. And Deathstroke is sent after her. And she and Batman finally kiss.
It made no sense.

Thankfully v2, from 2002 on is wonderful! The lovely Darwyn Cooke did a lot of the early issues' art, Catwoman has a spanking new costume, is no longer mad, has decided to not steal anymore and is trying to clean up the East End. we get 2 supporting cast members - Holly and Slam, and we meet her sister and sister's hubby. She's nearly a hero, but still herself.

Today due to a hangover gleaned from spending Friday night and most of Saturday in pubs, sampling wines and awesome beer, I have mostly been listening to Cold, Human Waste Project, Godsmack, Hole and Marilyn Manson. They helped! I am now going to catch up on Smallville season 7. Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday my UK readers, for the international ones, have a good rest of your weekend! I shall be going back to the beer festival tomorrow ;)

Views requested! What do non comic readers think of comics readers?

Heidi Meely has put up an interesting post here. She has polled a selection of her friends/acquaintances about their views on comics fans. Interesting reading. What I want to ask of anyone reading this blog, is please can you respond to the following questions:

1. When you think of comic book fans, what is your first thought?
2. Why is it acceptable to go see comic book movies but not read the books which the material springs from?
3. Have you ever read comics? Which ones? For what period of time? Why did you quit reading comics?
4. Are you aware of the fact that many of the people reading comics are female?
5. Would you ever attend a comic book show?
6. Have you heard about the sexual harassment that has occurred at comic book shows?
7. Any last thoughts?

Obviously this isn't very scientific, and won't yield a large sample group. Nonetheless PLEASE if you are reading this could you take the time to respond to the questions. I am very interested in the answers.

Thank you. :)

No. No no no no no no

This is really not a good idea. Batman works a as a dark movie, yes. Batman is a dark character, that's fine that works for him. Superman isn't. Superman is about light and hope. That's partly why the Supes/Bats comics work so well - light vs dark. They bounce off each other.
Applying the same methodology and thinking to both of them will result in at least 1 fucked up movie. Plus, the darkness wasn't what made The Dark Knight movie so good. There were loads of other factors - plot, acting, characterisation, detail, thought.
Superman doesn't work when he's made dark. He's uplifting, he shows us there's a better way, and he shows us what the possibilities are. He's not Batman!

And also I thought Superman Returns was a damn good movie and Bardondon Routh made a good Clark and Supes. As a lifelong Christopher Reeve fan that's saying something! The only fault I can find with it is that more dialogue would have been good - it was very action orientated. That doesn't make it a bad movie, but it could have been better. And the apparent stalking doesn't bother me, at all.

EEek

My sexual assualt post got linked at WFA. :o I'm not particularly proud of that post as I reckon it's a bit incoherent. Ahh well.

Comic reviews

Spoilers for Final Crisis Revelations, GA/BC\11, Booster Gold \11, Action Comics \868.
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Final Crisis Relevations \1. I got suckered in. It's gonna feature the Question and Batwoman. And it has a religious theme. I'm suckered. And it was actually pretty good! I do like the Spectre, I like the whole idea and concept. I'm intrigued as to how Renee's gonna get out of this mess, I like the whole moral debate and resentment Crispus has for carrying out the Spectre's duties. It's interesting.
I would have even liked Dr Light apparently getting torched, except that he appears to have Raven, Starfire and Donna Troy cowering in ripped rags, tears and fear by the bed. Now I'm not reading Titans, or any other Final Crisis minis (except for Final Crisis) which I guess is where this led in from, but I can't quite fathom why these 3 women are cowering like that.
Even if they were stripped of their powers, they'd still fight and they wouldn't be scared of him, they'd be disgusted.
And because of that I think the whole scene is a fake. Y'hear that DC? Rampant misogyny makes the storeis fail!

Booster Gold \ 11. Time travelling fun! Alternative histories and a really good cover. I likrd. Lighthearted.

Action comics \868. I don't buy that Kara has never seen breast Implants before. So I choose to ignore that panel and assuem she's taking the piss out of the reporter. Lovely art and a good story. I particularly enjoyed Kara's horror at seeing Brainiac and her gentle puzzlement over where Kal is. Given that I am jumping on in the middle of an arc yet I wasn't lost about the plot, is a testament to good well placed writing. it seems obvious but so often this basic stuff is forgotten. There's a lot of crap out there.

GA/BC \ 11. I love these covers. Thsi issue totally felt like a filler. I know we found out who shot connor and who the faux Ra's is, but this issue really won't make sense on a standalone basis. Still, it moves the plot on and I'm still interested so it's cool!

This weekend, well from Thursday, I re read the first 50 issues of Teen Titans. :o Love that book.

As I've gvien up on Trinity I won't be buying anything this week which will be good on ye old finances. At least until I spend an extra tenner next week buying the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis trade. I've read one issue and the art is breathtaking. Should be good.

Rather creepy..yet fun

Mocked up Batman cover. Actual art, fake words. Courtesy of Like Scratches in the Sand.

Lovely

Something about this is just really lovely (The lady is working at a music store):

Customer: “Hi. I’m coming from the intersection at *** and ***. How would I get to your store from here?”
(I give the guy directions. I can tell he’s tuned me out after the first street or two. He then cuts me off before I finish.)
Customer: “Good, good! I got it. Thanks!” *hangs up*
(The phone rings again five minutes later.)
Customer: “Hi! I just called you a few minutes ago, asking for directions.”
Me: “I remember.”
Customer: “Yeah… I took that turn on *** like you said. Then I got lost again. I’m at *** and *** now.”
Me: “Okay…” *gives him directions again*
Customer: “Okay! I got it this time. Thanks!” *hangs up*
(Phone rings again five minutes later.)
Me: “Hi again. Where are you now?”
Customer: *laughs* “I’m at *** and ***.”
Me: “Okay. You’re almost here. Turn on *** and go straight until you see a gas station. We’re in the strip mall a little after it.”
Customer: “Okay!” *hangs up*
(Phone rings again five minutes later.)
Customer: “It’s me again! I’m at the gas station. I don’t see your store.”
Me: “We’re in the strip mall after the gas station, it’s down the road a little bit.”
Customer: “Oh! I see it. Okay, I’ll be right there.” *hangs up*
(Phone rings again five minutes later.)
Customer: “I’m in the strip mall now… and I don’t see your store. I’m gonna feel SO stupid if I’m in the wrong strip mall.”
Me: “At this point, I’m not even sure you’re in the right state.”
Customer: *laughs*
Me: “Okay. Do you see a donut shop?”
Customer: “Yes! I see a donut shop!”
Me: “Good. Drive to the donut shop. Now, do you see a cell phone store?”
Customer: “Yes! It’s next to the donut shop.”
Me: “Good. Drive to the cell phone shop. Now drive a little past that. Do you see the girl in the next store who’s on the phone and waving at you?”
Customer: “Yeah! Is that you?”
Me: “Yeah. Come on in…”


From notalwaysright.com Well worth a chuckle.

More shameless self promotion

I'm still selling stuff on ebay. Free comic to anyone who buys something and says they foudn ti via this blog.. Yes I will post stuff internationally.

Shameless self promotion over. Thanks for listening!

Assualt, sexual violence and the confusion around this issue

Trigger alert?
It's possible that this post may trigger some people..there won't be anything graphic in here it's just me speaking about the general attitudes around this, but I don't want to set anyone off if I can help it.

This is a really loong (and possibly unfocused) post, but if anyone gets to the end I would appreciate their comments.

-----------------------------------

I've been reading bits and bobs on the blogosphere recently about assault against women. No surprise there, it happens a lot, the sites I want to read cover this.
One site is When Fangirls Attack! This is usually a link blog, but as explained in this case, they sometimes cross post. The post in question is this one, dealing with the sexual assault experienced by women at the San Diego Comic Con this year. And I do believe that what is described is sexual assault, I am not here to debate whether that judgement is correct or not and if you disagree on that point I would suggest you don't read any further.

I'm feeling rather sensitive about this subject, you may have guessed.

Like every single woman I know I have been groped, leered at and had stuff shouted at me. I have been told not to walk home alone at night on my own for my own safety, to expect 'attention' if I wear something low cut or revealing, to be told I look whorish if I wear something revealing. At the same time I've been told I'm prudish and not sexy if I wear something more modest, because god knows my main aim in life as a woman is too look sexy and all my self worth should be tied up in that.
(Do a search for women's fancy dress. Of all the modern costumes, being sold in stores now, do you notice a theme? Is that really the only option we've got? To be consumed by the male gaze? I refute that, that's not what I'm here for, I have other functions as a human being and I am worth more than my body).

Anyway, the link to the WFA post. I soundly agree with that essay. Completely. I don't see how anyone could not. Take a look at the comments. Yep, I got involved, but as this isn't a hey look at me post, please look at what the others are saying. You can see why I got involved, I won't repeat myself here.

But the discussion seemed to spiral away from the initial post (not helped by me, I know) until the options became either/or. It doesn't have to be that way, as Ragnell said there are 3 possible approaches to take. (Although I would take issue with the idea that being assertive helps against attack..I have complicated reasons for thinking that which are muddled enough in my own head that I can't go into here. I don't know if she's right or wrong.)

Nevertheless, the views that upset me are that most or all people are taught that sexual assault is wrong, and UNDERSTAND that it is wrong. People really don't know this. Or they don't know what constitutes sexual assault. They think grabbing someone's ass isn't assault. It IS. But because they think everyone knows the difference, they think that it is just 'some' people who don't care. I don't think it's that 'some' people don't care, I think it's that 'most' people don't know what constitutes wrong behaviour.

Ask 100 random people on the street is sexual assault wrong, my guess is most will say yes. Ask them what if the woman was drunk, or wearing 'sluttish' clothing. Then you'll get different answers. Break it down into someone attempting to kiss another, and attempting to have penetrative sex with another, you'll get different answers. Oh but it was only a kiss! It's still assault.

The education I'm talking about would teach respect for other people's bodies, it would cover all the areas above. It will teach why victim blaming is wrong. I don't think that this will eradicate all sexual violence, but it sure would go a long way towards helping.

I don't mean to insinuate that we should never be prepared, we should never fight back, but if we're talking about this issue and we fall back on the personal responsibility argument, we will never get away from victim blaming. We will never start talking about how we teach people that it's wrong to assault others, in any way shape or form. Personal responsibility, when taken by itself, is a reductionist argument that doesn't allow any other views. It takes the emphasis away from the real problem. Looking at why victim blaming is wrong will force many people to look at their behaviour in the past and consider whether it was acceptable or not. And I bet we've all done wrong things, men and women.

My opinion on tackling this problem? Education first. Rules in the handbook/convention book/whatever stating that assault and abuse will not be tolerated, combined with a real system in place to deal with problems as they happen. And lastly, if anyone tries something on smack them in the face. Without fear of retribution. I'm totally with the Digital Femme on this one.

If you want more views on the SDCC controversy here's a second useful link list from WFA:

http://womenincomics.blogspot.com/2008/08/fallout-from-sdcc-and-other-stories.html

This whole discussion has come up about because we don't understand that women's bodies aren't our own. We don't understand that our bodies are not a public commodity. We focus the whole debate on what women are doing to themselves and with themselves. On a similar note, I found this essay (through WFA again) about the depiction of the female Muslim within comics, in this case, the X-Men. I link to it here because part of it also deals with women's bodies and how we view them. In this case, how America depicts a female Muslim.

I don't know know anything about Islam really, I suspect that if I do read and agree with a comment about the burka and it's role in preserving modesty, that that doesn't show how much I know, but rather how much I've been shown and haven't questioned. I.e. white privilege. Which is really something I should sort out. For my tuppence worth, I think anyone should be able to wear what they damn well like. So long as it's not imposed on you by anyone else, what's the beef? If we in the west say arr it's a tool of the patriarchy and you're subjugating yourself, aren't we saying that our value systems are better than theirs? And doesn't that stink of privilege and colonialism and racism?

WFA's back!

Hurrah!! And it looks liek I'll be picking up Action Comics from now on. It's got Supergirl in it. And a really lovely drawn Kara at that. And what looks like irreverent wittiness as the dialogue.
Hurrah!

I'd also like to point out these panels from a recent Hawkman comic. An example of truly truly bad writing. Who agreed to that?

Comics frenzy!

Yup. It's been a comics frenzy. God I've read so much recently.

Spoilers ahoy.

JLElite mini - re-read this after I finished Batgirl. Really really good. I got a lot more out of it now I know more backstory etc.

Trinity - still reading it, but am no longer offended. I don't really care either way to be honest so I can probably drop it soon.

Joker's asylum - Scarecrow and Two Face - Ooh yeah, I really really enjoyed both of these! I didn't know much about the character's before but now I'm really intrigued.

Two Face year 1 - issue 1. I also really enjoyed this. Bought it from a shop in Romford with a very chatty sales guy, who gave me a discount and also pointed out his sexy corner!*

Huntress number 6 - Wonderful. :) Although the last panel was corny. I shall enjoy the whole mini in sequence soon.

Manhunter 33 - I don't like the art on this. I can see why people like it, but I like my art glossy, and this isn't. The plot and everything else is good though, so I shall keep getting it.

Supergirl 32 - Oh Kara, you've matured! Love the older her costumer. And poise. She makes the right decision, she felt like her own person, finally. Not like a supporting cast member. And Empress is in the next issue! I like Empress, a lot, I still think her powers etc are a bit dubious, but she is great.

Buffy 17 - Not as exciting as I had hoped :/ And I'm quite frankly shocked to see Willow turn to the dark side again. I'd assumed it was Drusilla leading the way. Nice of them not to put a Buffy upskirt shot on the cover.
I'm on Buffy season 3 at the mo, and by god the main cast's attitude towards Faith is irritating. So she has sex, she dresses like a 'bad girl', get over it! I realise this is a fairly accurate portrayal of some teenagers attitudes, but it's so hypocritical. You just know that Willow is the same between the sheets (As evidence I submit to you Evil vampire Willow and her later more open relationship with Tara) and Buffy has a wild streak in her (Spike sex), yet they pretend to be so bloody puritan and innocent. Grrr. I've never understood people like that. It's ok to say you like sex! It's not a character failing! *Gnashes teeth*

Robin 176 - I only bought this cos it's Spoiler. I cannot start buying all the bat titles, I don't have the room or the money. Must. Not. Buy.

Superman/Batman 50 - Aww I love this title! So far I've been buying the trades but decided to sue this issue as a jumping on point. It's great! I love seeing the two of them interact, light and dark and all that. :) And the fathers meeting retcon pleases me too, I like the concept of fate in my books.

Final Crisis 1-3. I wasn't gonna buy in. I wasn't'. I'd bought Rogues Revenge but that's because I'd just finished the Flash and I'm narked that they killed Bart off. But then I saw that gorgeous Supergirl cover. And remembered it was written by Grant Morrison. So i caved. And it's pretty darn good! I'll need to re read it to get it all to sink in - I was a bit stressed on first reading - but yeah I'm impressed. Here's that Supergirl cover:

Isn't it beautiful?

And finally I'm reading JSA 16, annual and 17. For this I blame Heidi Meeley! And the Alex Ross cover. And the Power Girl theme. I didn't like the inside art that much - it felt very static, and some was just poorly done, but the story of a God coming to earth, healing everyones pains, that's the kind of thing I'm a sucker for. And as Heidi says, it is all going to go to hell in a handbasket. The other reason why I like these sorts of stories.

And I still haven't talked about Babs giving Cassandra that teeny weeny bikini in Batgirl yet. Really it's more a piece of string than a bikini. Babs would never do that to a vulnerable girl like Cass. Babs knows she isn't ready or used to male attention and she knows exactly what will happen. In short, Babs doesn't need Cass to look hawt. Babs also understands you can look hawt while wearing more than two very tiny circles and some string. The same plot point could have been demonstrated with Cass wearing a swimsuit.

*gnashes teeth*

*Where the Grimms Fairy Tales and Witchblade stuff was! get your mind out the gutter!

Things that go MMMMM (magazines)

Magazines.
Me, I been reading a few lately. Diva I tend to get every month and last month it did a gender issue. Tres interesting. Articles on drag kings, passing as a man, trans issues, butch v femme, lesbian books, unisex toilets, muff operations, facial hair and why lesbian pole dancing is not a good thing. Twas good to read.
My only complaint, as usual, is that it very rarely looks at bisexuals. We sit neither here nor there, I'm not entirely relaxed in straight company and neither am I entirely relaxed in gay company. I sit in my office and hear the odd joke or comment (nothing outright homophobic) that very promptly 'others' anyone not straight. The few times I go out with gay people I am always assumed to be straight.
I am only truly comfortable with a few friends who firstly remember that I like women and secondly know that's it's not a big deal. And it would be be nice to have a magazine that recognises this, especially as the reason I started buying Diva regularly was because I was having a bit of an identity crisis. You know, we really need some prominent bi people in the public eye, not girls snogging each other to get in the papers. Woulda made my life a lot easier growing up.
But then I read in the editorial Diva's comment on that stupid research I talked about a while back. And they also asked where did this leave bisexuals, hurrah! I'm not invisible!
I haven't found anything in the current issues that recognises Bi people though :/

From the lesbian contingent to the thoroughly straight contingent. Glamour. Christ. At least Diva recognises feminism and there is this underlying assumption that anyone reading it is feminist, and knows that feminism is a good thing. Lesbians - more self assured than hetero people anyone? Probably not. But maybe more self assured about some things. Or maybe that's a very dumb thing to say.

Anyway. the editorial in Glamour rocked! It talked about the media fabricated female rivalry between, well any successful woman int he public eye. It talked about how it's a myth made up by men to demean us all. It talked about the vileness of criticising women simultaneously for being too fat or too thin and the horrible double standard applied to men and women who have sex (Rod Stewart and Ulrika Jonsson being given as examples). It mentioned how despite what some (men) may think or want to think, we are not competing against each other for a bloody man. It even suggested the swap the gender game, where when you read an article trashing women, put men's name in instead and see how ridiculous it is.

Sublime! And then it gets ruined by focusing purely on shopping, marriage, the new rules of sexy, a vile interview with P Diddy who shows himself to be a homophobic dickwad, and dating rules. ugh. But this wouldn't be a problem if we had women's magazines that weren't dedicated to the above. At least Glamour doesn't circle perfectly normal bits of women's bodies with For Shame! printed in big letters. It doesn't put women down for being fat or ugly, and it provides info on work stuff.
But my god it's just fluff. And the underpinning basis of the magazine is that you must buy clothes and make up and look hot. And you must do so in an up to the minute and utterly fashionable way.
Ugh!

Things that make you go MMMMMMM (and ebay) Movies

At the very least, things that start with M, in a roundabout way.
Spoilers ahoy, for The Dark Knight and Hancock. .

But before that, can I start with a shameless self promotion of the stuff I"m trying to flog on ebay? Here is a link to my items for sale. Tell you what, if you buy something and tell me you found it from here I'll throw in a free comic. I can't promise it will be a good comic, as it'll be one I don't want anymore, but hey, comics!
(This isn't really working is it?) Please go have a look anyway!

OK back to the actual point of this post.
Movies
I saw The Dark Knight. Fuck me, it's fantastic. I finally like a Batman movie. Hell, I even like Batman in this movie. Favourite parts? The potato peeler. The fact we have no back story for the Joker. The ways his plans were so delicately and precisely orchestrated, and made fools of everyone else. The detaisl of it. Jim Gordon - wonderful tache! The normalcy of it. I mean, I can see a guy like the Joker turning up on the streets somewhere. It wouldn't be too outlandish. Aaron Eckhart was good. I experienced a moment of joy when I realised it was him from The Core, my favourite movie.
Maggie Glylenhall was also very good, there's alot of substance to her. Unlike the woman from the first film, who was awful.
I gather people have talked about the WiR aspect of killing off Rachel. It didn't bother me. It didn't feel cheap, we got to know her first, it wasn't sexualised, and yes her death was there solely to drive the plot forward and create Two Face, but it wasn't gratitutous.
Tis a shame Montoya wasn't included. Or Babs.

I also saw Hancock. An enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. Had a twist I didn't see coming.
One of my non comicy friends said a whiel ago that he thought it was a pretty good concept for a movie - the flawed superhero. I imemdiately thought, but we've already got lots of them. And watching the movie Hancock reminded me of Guy Gardner. Ok, so Guy's way more arrogant and confident, Hancock is fundamentally lonely. But they're assholes in very similar ways.
Hancock's outfit just reminded me of the 90s Nightwing outfit. I say FAIL.

Blog break

Not blogging for a while. Life stuff keeps happening (to friends, not to me) and I'd prefer to sort that out or at least bury my head in the sand for a while.
When time allows I still want to write a post on Batgirl and that damn stupid bikini. And the Batman movie - is awesome. But more specifically why the Wir aspect doesn't bother me.

2008 is looking to be a crap year.

I'm smarter, daintier and better dressed

Goth couple assaulted a year ago. The woman died. Read the article please.

Cass Batgirl - initial thoughts on her and Batman

So. I'm about 50 issues in to the Batgirl run. Nearly done as I've only got up to issue 75, I think. I'm enjoying it far more than I thought, especially considering my earlier comments about the crapness of Cass's ability and how it doesn't make sense. I still think it doesn't make much sense, but I'm not so bothered anymore.
For those of you who don't know, Cassandra Cain was brought up in isolation with no verbal communication and no language. An assassin named David Cain brought her up, never spoke a word to her and trained her to be an assassin. Her language became body movement - she could read what you were thinking, feeling and intending from your body, the way you moved and stood etc.
I still think that's a bit stupid. And no I don't think Superman, or Wonder Woman, or the Flash, or Green Lantern or Green Arrow or anyone else's abilities are stupid. That's just the way I am, my suspension of disbelief doesn't stretch so far as Cass. Or Batman either for that matter - dressing up a as a giant bat? Ridiculous.

Anyway. Despite that, I am liking the comic. Cass is very intense. For a long time she adores Batman, she worships him. He knows this and he's using her as a weapon in his war. He regards her as the perfect fighter and when he discovers she may have killed someone when she was 6 years old (she's now 17), despite the fact she didn't know what she was about to do, he is ready to dispose of her as soiled. He's a wanker. I don't believe that he cared about her as an individual, yes he cares for life and wants to preserve life at all cost, but it's an abstract to him. He doesn't want to know the individual.
Which kinda makes his preserving all life mantra hollow. Because when you've got people close to you, who you see often or work with often, if you don't open up to them and value them as individuals, if you don't engage with them and treat them with respect, then you don't really value their life do you?
Of course, this is mostly just a problem with Cass. The rest of the Bat family don't let Bruce be such a jerk - they force him to engage with them because they've got strong personalities and are confident and stand up for themselves. But Cass isn't. She's a mess. She was never touched or hugged by David Cain, she's never known physical affection, she knows violence and fighting. And without Babs' interference she could have just wilted into an automaton. And Bruce wouldn't have done anything until it was too late. Jerk.

Now I haven't read any Batman own title comics. I intend to rectify this, but meanwhile, if anyone reading this does read the Batman own title stuff, could I have your thoughts? Have I got him all wrong? I appreciate that he may have been kept distant in the Batgirl title to increase the feeling of isolation to the reader - to show us what Cass is going through. It could be a literary device to help us read more into the character.

Next Cass topic: why the fuck did Babs give her that bikini?

Braveheart and a crazy news day

Following on from this historian's review of Braveheart I read yesterday I was inspired to watch Bravehart again. Yes I know it's a really daft movie, even before I read the article I was very aware that's it's not remotely historically accurate but it's really good fun!
I had forgotten how bloody it is though - it revels in it's violence. Yet somehow it still looks like a Monty Python movie! I kept expecting cries of Ni! to go up. Good stuff.
And I guess as, y'know, this is me, I should point out the WiR scene - William's wife getting killed purely to give him motivation for the rest if the film. That might have happened. But it didn't need to be framed so.

Aside from that, today and the last few days have been crazy for news.

Jill Dando trial The first article up described him in the sub header as a local nutter. Methinks The Guardian suspects he's guilty.
Water on Mars! And earlier in the week lake found on Saturn moon.
Man gets beheaded on bus trip. What. the. fuck.
Britain's prehistoric rock art Cool stuff
Haitian's making and selling mud cakes to feed starving populace Fuck, that's incredibly wrong.

Did people see the new Black Canary as Barbie controversy recently seen on the internets? The story was run by The Sun newspaper, which, if you live in the UK and know this paper you will know to take what they say with a large pinch of salt. They are a tabloid. They lie. They will fabricate and exaggerate to produce an overly simplistic sensational story. They certainly won't do considered research into the character or present an unbiased viewpoint.
But if you don't know the newspaper (actually I am loath to call it a newspaper), you may not realise this.
Anyway what struck me about this was how it was picked it up by many American blogs and how people seemed to think that this reaction, both from The Sun and the religious group quoted, was representative of attitudes generally in Britain. Because we are a pretty diverse nation and we don't all think the same way. I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, I don't think I have a further point. So. We're all individuals (I'm not) and we're not a hive mind. Glad we got that sorted out.

Oh yeah. People compared Black Canary Barbie to Catwoman Barbie. I really like Catwoman Barbie. I'm obviously wrong in the head. I won't buy it though. I'm holding out for the Amazonia Wonder Woman. Isn't she good?!

Butch women to be sex tested at the Olympics

Women who look too manly may have to go through sex tested at the Olympics.

Suspected athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination

Wtf? You just know that this will only apply to women, and I betcha anything there will be physical tests involved too. Wtf is wrong with people? Who thought this up?
Interestingly, male to female transsexuals won't have to undergo the test.

How about intersex people? Where do they fit? Actually that's the wrong question to be asking.
How fucking dare they* take it open themselves* to ascertain and second guess who isn't womanly enough? As the F Word article says what parameters are they going to use to choose who to test? Hips and Arse not round enough? Boobs not big enough? Too lean? Too muscly? They're athletes for fucks sake, they're meant to be lean. is the implication that you can't be a real woman if you're an athlete?

I can't help but think that is meant to put women in their place and publicly humiliate them for not looking like good little wifeys. (I don't mean that this was done on an explicit conscious level, but I think that anyone reading this blog will realise and know about the subconscious effects of living in a patriarchal society that produces and encourages many subtle codes and methods that criticise women for not adhering to the proper model of femininity.)

I think that if Ami reads this she'll go justifiably mental.

On a funny note, read this taken from the Guardian article:
'It is believed that as many as 10,000 East German athletes were caught up in a nightmarish state-sponsored attempt to build a race of superhuman communist sports heroes and force-fed cocktails of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.'

That's just hilarious - superhuman communist sports heroes! It's like a comic gone bad. And before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick (this being the internetz I'm sure I'll find someone to offend) I am well aware that's it's not funny for the individuals involved, and it's a deplorable thing to do to someone, but the idea is very funny. Which is where it should have stayed.**

*No I'm not quite sure who 'they' are. The morons who thought up and then agreed and then put in place the facilities to do this stupid test I think.
**Whew. back covered.

Renee Montoya

Possibly a stupid question. What ethnicity is she meant to be? Cos I'm reading Batgirl now and she looks to be drawn white. I've seen her in other comcis and I thought she was black. Then I've read on the internets she's hispanic.

Now I feel kinda daft for even having to ask this question, but I reckon the DC editors should feel even dafter for not having her drawn consistently.

Someone help me out here?

And talking of Batgirl, Cassandra's intense isn't she?! This series is providing more ammo for my Batman is a jerk view. More on that later when I don't have an exam the next day.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy!

There's gonna be a new Cloak & Dagger mini! Hurrah!!! As you can guess I'm rather keen on these two. It seems that Valerie D'Orazio will be writing it. I quite enjoy her blog, but have no idea whether she'll make a good comics writer or not - she used to edit at DC, JLA and Identity Crisis. And it looks like they'll have a manga style artist in. Which I'm not convinced about, we'll see.
On the plus side, that's a woman writer, artist AND inker. Rock on. Of course I know this doesn't mean the story will be better than in men wrote it, but it's nice to see the comics world opening up (more) to women.

And Neil Gaiman doing a Batman comic? That should be goooood. Neil Gaiman is wondrous. Check out American Gods if you haven't already - (see, I read actual novels sometimes too!)

Today I read Joker's asylum - Scarecrow - very good! lovely art! and Superman 678 - still loving Renato Guedes art, and Supergirl is in the next issue, hooray! Trinity is still rubbish, I only read half the comic. Can't be arsed to read the rest. maybe on the weekend.
I also watched more Buffy and got to evil leather clad vampire Willow episode - Dopplegangland. every time I watch that I'm more and more impressed by the writers and by Alyson Hannigan. And also more lecherous, but that's an aside.

Finished reading Nightwing yesterday. My my, he's a self involved angsty sort of chap isn't he? Am on to reading Batgirl (Cass) then it will probably be Harley Quin. Then I'm not sure, Green Arrow or Wonder Woman? Old Matrix Supergirl issues? Decsions decisions...

Random things...

Isn't this good? See, people aren't all shits.

I'm nervously sitting on my hands trying to avoid Dark Knight spoilers. Can't believe I won't have time to see it for at least a week...

Tips on dealing with exam stress would be much appreciated. Also, ways in which I can get to sleep (without getting drunk!) would also help.

But yeah, its Caturday and there's a new cat on my street so some stuff is alright. Oh god roll on Wednesday evening.

Darwin fraud

This Darwin fraud case..from what I can tell both of them hatched the plan. They are both responsible for defrauding the insurance companies and for lying to their sons and friends. And yet, nearly every headline I've seen has focused on how Anne lied on what she did. One of the Guardian's headlines reported the story as a couple facing fraud and being found guilty. Yet so many of the other newspapers headlines that I've seen, (mostly tabloids), have reported the trial verdict as Wife gets convicted, not Husband and Wife.

Hmm, I wonder why that is?

And from one of The Guardian's articles, a quote from the Detective Inspector who led the investigation:

"For her to say 'I had to go along with it because John told me', I just don't know how any mother could do that. She was out and out despicable and I don't have the time of day for her."

People, you disgust me.
If you want a better written post on this go here. I'm too fucking stressed to think straight.

Nightwing... (spoilers)

I've been hideously busy lately hence the lack of posts. I'm still hideously busy but today I've given myself a day off to just relax and do what I want, instead of what I should do. Hence lots of Nightwing reading and some blogging. I'm looking forward to getting my life back.

So, I am reading my way through the Nightwing series now and I must say it's pretty enjoyable. Far more so than I expected, and has a lot less problems than the Flash run did. Which means less indignation for me, hurrah! This will be another long post, interspersed with pictures.


Firstly, Greg Land did a run on this title and I was very surprised to notice a complete lack of pornface. Obviously I've been doing the guy a disservice before as he appears to be able to draw women in normal looking poses. Whether he's traced them or not I can't tell, and the art isn't particularly stand out, merely average, but still better than I expected. I'm considering giving him kudos for not constantly drawing pornface but then I realise it's a sad state of affairs to congratulate someone on not drawing porn in a non porn comic.

Tells you a lot about the state of American superhero comics doesn't it? *sigh*


Good aspect number 2: There's this new hero on the scene called Tarantula, she's a lady superhero. Her and Nightwing met then she tries to lose him. Of course, Grayson has been trained by the world's greatest detective so works out she's hiding under a ledge. Like a spider. Do you see what they've done there?

Here's the page:



She slapped him, hurrah! There's not enough of that going on. On a bad note, this woman has grown up in Bludhaven, she knows what it's like. And yet leaves her torso exposed. Shouldn't she be wearing Kevlar? Or something protective? Oh no, exposing flesh is more important than a coherent framework.
Now I think I mentioned before about how the Pied Piper's gayness wasn't really talked about in the Flash comic. They've done a lot better in Nightwing. Basically Dick gets partnered with a new guy who keeps getting beat up in the locker room by a bunch of homophobic policeman. Dick steps in, because y'know he's a hero and protects the innocent etc.
One of the muggers says 'What, are you Grayson, his boyfriend?'. There's a pause and Dick responds 'What if I am?'. We're meant to think that shows how wonderful Dick is, he's not a bigot and he doesn't care about what people think. A knight in shining armour for his abused colleague. I think that this is a very heterocentric way of viewing things. And this is dealt with on the next page!
If you can't read the text the dialogue is as follows:
Grayson: I'm going to file a report with Amy [the boss] OK? The problem's theirs not yours. And I'm here for you, you don't have to deal with this alone..
Gannon: No, you know what? As long as they're hitting me, the problem's mine. And I'm not alone, though that's got nothing to do with your smug little moment of PC bravado back there. save your speeches for your girlfriend Grayson. The only thing I need you to do for me is make sure I don't get shot in the back between 8 and 6.
Fucking score. It's really rare to see that point of view put across. To reinforce that gay people don't need to be saved by straight people, that we're not alone and we're not angsty. And in a later issue we go to Gannon's house and see his fella. And it's explicit they are in a relationship, it's not using hints!
Last point. This big guy called Roland Desmond thinks Nightwing caused his mother to have a heart attack and die. So he sets out to destroy everyone Dick knows. He blows up his apartment block, kills all the residents bar 2. He has Dick's circus set on fire, injuring and killing many. He blows up his partner's house intending t kill the whole family, he goes after Babs (who Dick obviously tries to save despite the fact Barbara is more than capable of holding her own. Pfft. Male heroes).
When Dick and Tarantula catches up to Roland he realises Roland will kill everyone he knows, everyone he saves, everyone he smiles at, shakes hands with etc. So Dick makes the choice to let Tarantula shoot him. Predictably this sends him into a meltdown as he's crossed the line. Then something weird goes on with the story. Tarantula takes Dick onto the roof to make their getaway:

Well blow me but that don't half look like they're having sex. Which is a fucking weird plot twist for a start. Now bear in mind that Dick is ranting and raving at this point and really isn't in his right mind..definitely not in terms of consenting to sex anyhow..which makes me think that isn't a sex scene, it's a rape scene.

Trinity number 6 or arrrggh I'd like to tear my hair out now

Someone remind me why I'm still reading this. Oh yes I know, I'm a completest and I'm going to buy the first 12 issues then leave the rest and possibly pick up the trades. Despite the fact I'm really not liking it.
Again, this weekly series is meant to set out Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman's place in the Dc Universe. Establish why they are the big 3. establish why they are so important. And so far we've seen Supes treat Wondie like she's a 5 yr old and a rather interesting new character called tarot. Who I still like.
However, in this issue, we see Tarot establishing how the big 3 relate to Truth, Justice and the American way, and we see them all working out what they mean as a trinity, or unit of 3, and how they relate to each other. Which is where it all gets fucking stupid.

Diana starts it off. 'It's not just what we stand for separately. Whatever it is, it's about the 3 of us a group - about the relationships between us. the two of you are friends. but not always easy one. and I've briefly been romantically attached to each of you. Which I find interesting since you ares o different.'
(emphasis mine)

She's been relegated to a fucking romantic interest! She's Wonder Woman! An Amazon! Once goddess of truth! From an island of women! And now she can only see herself as a romantic interest!
She then goes on to say:
"Clark, you are a solid supportive man. Kind, and giving of yourself - Good husband material - as they say in those magazines of Etta's.....
Bruce Wayne though? Bruce is a thrill ride..fast dangerous, exciting but not Long term. You've given all your focus to your mission, and there's little left for ties beyond that."
(emphasis mine again)

Arrrrgggggh. is this really how she stands? Is that really how she sees herself? And them?
Nothing about her friendship with them coming first? nothing about Bruce and Clark's romantic relationship (come on you know there's subtext there) No no no it's all about how she crushes on them but they're not suitable. What the fuck?
Now there's nothing wrong with being a romantic interest, but to position Diana as so, in a series which is defining these 3 heroes, (and yes I know it's only 7 weeks in and there's a lot more tog o, but this is establishing the bounds of their relationships and tie snow), is incredibly fucking reductionist.

I thought we'd moved past the men and women can't be friends thing. She fights side by side with them in battle. She's trusted and respected. Except apparently not in this. Bollocks to you.

Diana of Themyscria. Defining herself by who she's fucked.

Maybe there's been a weird Marvel/Dc crossover and this Diana is a skrull. I can only hope so.

Tyr - not Norse

From the Faroe Islands instead. I'm rather disappointed by that. Still awesome though.

Edit: Can you say OMFG? Battle Metal band Turisas cover Boney M's Rah Rah Rasputin.
I love metal covers of pop songs. I'm now thinking we should have stayed to watch them at the gig, but hey, I was having such a bad day I just needed to go home.
For bonus points - check out the decidely non metal crowd of models they've got to be the fans. Lame.

Abortion and rape

Saying that abortion is not allowed except for cases where the woman has been raped is all very well, except that most women's rape claims aren't believed.
What are people proposing, that raped women who become pregnant have to prove it through
the courts before they can get an abortion? Cos that'll work, with all 3% of rape cases resulting in a conviction. Or do they just have to prove it to their doctor? Cos that's bullshit as well. Aren't most doctors still male?

And whatever your personal views on the right or wrongness of abortion, safe legal abortion has to be a better option than a dangerous backstreet abortion.

(Me, sitting at home, listening to women's hour, getting inspired and avoiding work)

Arrgggh

Rape trigger warning
Fuck you world
What the fuck is wrong with people. She was 4 years old. Fuck you.

Flash - Linda Parks - Whitewashing

Ar god I'm hungover. Feeling very delicate today as I went out to a party last night and got to bed on my mates sofa at about 6am. Good party - twas a fancy dress theme and there was an awesome Heath Ledger Joker there.

This Wonder Woman guide to Office safety video is very good.

I need muffins. Unfortunately I don't have any. What I do have is a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment at having finally finished reading 250 odd Flash comics. That was a mammoth run, and really really enjoyable. They are all the Wally West and Bart Allen Flashes.

Admittedly, the first 60 were more rubbish as I don't like William Messner-Loebs writing, except for Chunk, who's a bloody brilliant guy. Tis a pity he's not really in the picture any more.

Mark Waid's run was by far the best, and not just because he brought in Impulse, who I adore. His year 1 story arc, 62 to 65, was just wonderful. I can't quite work out why there's another Flash year 1 - Flash Annual number 8 - as surely there is only one year 1 story to tell? And which one is in continuity? *confused*. Anyway I don't know how they compare as I haven't read the annuals yet.

Mark Waid made Wally more human, more rounded and let him grow up. He also developed Wally's relationship with Linda into something real and intense and oh so touching. Despite what my rl friends may say, I think I am actually an old romantic after all. The thing about Wally and Linda is that their feelings for each other act like a beacon and no matter where Wally ends up in the time stream, or the speed force, or other danger, he will always come back to Linda because she's his rock. And I think that's awesome. Everyone needs a rock.

My main beef with these issues is how Linda is drawn and coloured. She's Korean, this is made explicit from the start, yet she morphs into a white person several times over this run, and even when she's drawn Korean she's not always recognisable as the same person.

Picking out a random selection of images:

Flash 28:

Flash 78:

Flash 114:

Flash 159:

Flash 233:

And perhaps the worst, Flash Secret Files and Origins 1:

I think the above is the worst because it's meant to be a definitive biography of the character. And portraying her as white is pretty bloody shit. And I know art styles change over time but c'mon, we always recognise Lois, and Jimmy, why wasn't Linda drawn consistently?
Whiteness isn't the default state of being. Is it really difficult for editors and artists to remember that there are other ethnicities in the world? Apparently not. And it's not just Linda this happens to. DC recently fucked up (yet again) with Vixen. Strange how the white heroes are never 'accidentally' given a new ethnicity.
And on another gripe about that Secret Files and Origins issue, having now read the entire Flash v2 and v3 books, I feel pretty safe in saying that the Pied Piper is not an outspoken gay man. Not outspoken about his gayness anyway. In not one issue did he fight and champion for gay rights, and in fact his being gay was mentioned very rarely. His boyfriend was never labelled boyfriend, rather it was inferred.
This is all lame as a very lame thing.
And I'm still gutted over Bart Allen's death, but at least the storyline was really well done, and 'a gripping read', as they say.

Good grief - vintage ads

Over at Occasional Superheroine's blog.
The bicycling and pacifism ones confuse me. I thought that people weren't so blatant about sex back in the day. Seems I was wrong.
To be fair I just roll my eyes at most of them. Except for the Leggs one.

And this one just makes me laugh!

Heath Ledger Joker clip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2008/jul/08/thedarkknight

Cannot wait!

Women Bishops

This whole debate about women as Bishops has got me to thinking to when I was a kid. I went to church, and Sunday school, I've been christened and had my communion and possibly done other ceremonies that i can't quite remember. My mum is from Dublin so is Catholic. Whenever we went to stay with her family we'd get taken to Church, which I mostly remember as being incredibly incredibly dull.
But you know, my mum tried to bring us up Catholic. It was an abject failure, possibly not helped by my dad being the most sceptical person alive when it comes to religion.

What I mostly remember about my reasons for not believing, as a kid, and a pretty young kid at that, was that I was utterly astonished that someone would be asking me to worship a man. It did not compute. What did men have to do with me and why should I be so grateful and prostrate myself before one? I lived in a predominately female household (mum, sister and my dad. even the pets were female). And my mum has always always been an ardent feminist.
Worshipping a goddess, that would make far more sense, and from there was spawned my interest in the norse, greek and celtic pantheon.

And as I got older I realised that being Christian made absolutely no sense given that they do not allow women to hold positions within the church. Cos we're, y'know, dirty and that.
There was a great debate on radio 4 yesterday morning - the traditionalist guy opposing the ordination of women bishops gave a couple of absolutely rubbish arguments as to why women shouldn't be ordained:
1) There are lots of women who also oppose it. (Yep, the vagina hive mind strikes again)
2) It's not sexism, it's theology.

Wtf? Anyway, I say bring on the women bishops, bring on a female pope. I don't think religion is an inherently bad thing, and allowing women to hold positions of power is not a bad thing. I don't think including women will lead to a more natural, less aggressive, less dictatorial religion, but it's gotta open up more kids eyes to the idea of a god or goddess. I'm liking Alanis Morrisette as God in Dogma. Awesome movie, go rent it out now if you haven't seen it.

And on another note, I'm about to start reading Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti of Feministing fame. I"m very excited about this. Anyone else read it and care to share their thoughts?

Is Trinity in continuity?

I ask because I can't see how it fits in with the ongoing plot of the Superman title (I'm not reading Wonder Woman or Batman), and also, with this whole RIP Batman rubbish that's going on, I assume Batman isn't going to die or ascend to become a god if he's still existing in Trinity.

Help anyone?

I think I'm gonna purchase Final Crisis. Ulp. More wasted money. Or not, cos I'm rather into the whole story now. I'm definitely gonna buy Final Crisis - Rogues revenge cos it's dealing with the death of Bart Allen, an event that has left me utterly heartbroken and made me cry. Nearly.
Yes, you may say I get far too involved in my books, I say it's a good book if it drives you to tears.

Buffy Kara and Huntress win, Superman dickishness, and Titans confusion

I'm rubbish at thinking up titles. Maybe something will come to me after I've written this.
Feels like it's been ages since i've put anything up here. And since I now have real life friends knowing where this is located I'm feeling kinda embaressed again at having a blog.. umm..I think I should just get on with it.
On with the comic news! Real life news makes me too angry to write about. I've had stuff going around my head but I just want to relax now and I can't do that if I think about real life stuff. So, to the comics!

Manhunter 31. Hurrah it's back! And I've got a sneaky suspicion I missed number 32, damn. Anyway. It's goood. The art, i'm not decided on. It's different to my normal fare, but I think that's good. It's definitley not tits and ass everywhere, which I shoudl be very thankful for. the story? Well the fuirst part is reintroducing Kate Spencer to us. Then she deals with a really lame Atomic Skull. Then it shifts to where the next story arc is really going, the US?Mexico border. Real life story. For about 10 years someone or a group of people have been killing women in the area. usually mexican women, presumably travelling across ther border to work. 400 have been killed and the authorities are doing fuck all about it. Look up Ciudad Juarez.
So yeah, the comic is covering this. Kudos to the writers, and double kudos points for calling it a femicide and being explicit about the fact that's it's women getting killed because they're women.

Teen Titans 60. You bastards. You've gone and taken Rose off the team and now I'm gonna be buying terror Titans which will undoubtedly be shit. Rose belongs in the Titans, please don't let this be a permanent removal. Also, Eddie and Rose need to be a couple. That panel with Eddie skipping? Made of win.

Superman 677. Really not remembering a lot from this. Renato Guedes art is always great - there's pants covering the whole bum for a start. Just flicked it open and of course, Krypto! Although, Superman saying 'man'? He says golly, he's not cool and trendy!

Huntress 3 and 4. Number 3 bored me. Number 4 didn't. This mini is so wonderful. And a cameo by Barbara Gordon! Helena is so focused. So dedicated. Next issue will be good. Face off between Bruce and Helena.

Supergirl 31. The art is rubbish. Bring back Guedes, or the Drew Johnson & Lee Ferguson tean. Their art was so simple, yet it worked so well. The story and plot was good though, although I am a sucker for Kara based introspection. I'm rather confused about how this all fits in with the plots of say 8 issues ago though. I think I need to re-read the later issues.
(Side note, what the fuck is up with the ambush bug/Dan DiDio thing though?)

Trinity is bloody rubbish. The covers are shockingly bad. The main plotline bores me, and I'm only vaguely interested in this Tarot lady. Plus, Superman is back to being a dick again. In issue 4 he appears to be telling Diana off, like she's a naughty 5 year old who's not obeying the rules. She's not respected or treated as an equal and this really gets my goat. In issue 5 he doesn't trust her fighting skills, ability or strength. Now, even if you want to ignore my fangirlish sense of entightelment I know I'm displaying, there's another problem with this. This series is meant to be showcasing the premier 3 superheroes in DC, how they work together, why they are important and what bond they share. And I'm not seeing that.
Also, I can't believe Diinah would cecede the fight so willingly to the 3 of them. She's not a rookie, she's hard as nails and can take on one hell of a lot.
Shame on you Kurt Busiek.

To end on a better note, Buffy 16. I am loving this season. Dawn's a centaur! A freakin' centaur! Kennedy's back and calling Buffy a homophobe, something I have always agreed with, and then there's FRAY! Am really trying hard not to jump up and down in excitement here, but I am so excited about this plotline! This issue in particular read just like the tv show.
Of which, I am up to season 3, episode 12, Helpless. I really really like this one. I have no incisive or cuttign edge commentray I'm afraid, I just liked it, a lot.
Oh and Allecto has another Joss post up. I haven't read it yet, but I probably will do. And maybe I'll respond again. If I get a spare minute.

I thought of a post title.