River Tam

The girl's ultimate fantasy is the above picture.  Isn't she adorable?

Taken from the Serenity Better Days trade.  That one with the awful cover.  Not a bad story though.

General Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong

As seen in Chuck Dixon's run of Robin.  He's young, obnoxious, pompous, sociopathic and generally reminds me of Damian.  Wikipedia says he became Anarky.  Is this correct?  Did he suddenly age up or something?

Tim Drake is pretty darn cool

Not only is he pretty:

He has good music taste:

He has his comic filled with moments like these:

Admit it.  You wish you were him.

Wonder Woman bust

So, I'm a member of the AFB message board, where we generally geek out about action figures and suchlike.

One of the posters, sinigang, has recently produced a Wonder Woman bust (based on the Alex Ross Wondy) and I just had to share some pics with y'all.

Isn't that just beautiful?  She's got a personality.  I love how the lighting in the last picture gives her a different sense of emotion and character.  25 of these are getting made and will be sold in Australia later this year (I believe).  You can view work in progress pictures here on the AFB board, and view sinigang's website here.  He's got some other amazing Hulk and Superman pieces too.

Superman - Sacrifice

Warning: this is quite a long post and includes spoilers for the Superman: Sacrifice trade and Green Arrow #2.

Sacrifice collects Superman 218, 219, 220, Adventures of Superman 442 + 443, Action Comics 829 and Wonder Woman 219 + 220.

The cover to Wonder Woman 219, and the cover to the trade.  An interesting choice as it depicts Diana as the emotional aggressor and Superman as the calm one one defending himself.  This is at complete odds with the content of the book.

I've been thinking about this new dark age of superheroes that people keep saying DC is in.  I've felt that I've not really understood this complaint as I am not that well read in DCU history.  I've read a few titles extensively, but not really that many and most of them have been post Crisis.  Recently However i purchased JLA Showcase 4 from a local charity shop.  I was very pleasantly surprised to discover how much fun it was.  there was tongue in cheek teasing and banter between the main heroes.   There was also some silly exposition and convoluted plots but there was also character development and a sense of awareness of itself.  Hal Jordan got hit on the head a lot.  But mostly, the creators seemed like they were having fun with it.

Well, pretty soon after reading JLA Showcase 4, I read Superman: Sacrifice.  While I do really really like Sacrifice, for the first time it struck me how dark it is, and how full of misery the DCU has become.

Sacrifice collects a number of issues, but starts with Superman #218.  We open with a tabloid television programme exploring what would happen if Superman were to turn his powers against the people of Earth.  What follows is a fight between Superman and the new keeper of the Blackrock, and results in the citizens of Metropolis fleeing in fear from Superman.  I'm not sure I buy this extreme reaction after just one fight, but lets put our disbelief aside for a moment.  The issue ends with Jimmy Olsen contemplating Superman's thoughts and actions.

Superman #219 is next and is a fight between Superman and Brainiac, where Lana, Perry, Jimmy and Olsen die.  It ends with a confused Superman wondering who the blood on his hands belongs to, and a very pissed off JLA glowering at him.

We next move onto Action Comics 289 with prominent members of the JLA and JSA watching over Clark's loved ones - it is evident that the deaths in the previous issue didn't really happen.  Clark is forced to account for his actions on the satellite and this time his recollection is of fighting Darkseid who was holding Lois captive, then killed her.  Superman loses his rag completely at this and attempts to kill Darkseid.  This sequence of events is more violent, more monstrous, than the Brainiac one.

I think it is at this point that we realise how much the DCU has changed.  Superman doesn't kill.  Not for anyone or anything.  If he is moving to murder someone, out of rage, despair and hatred then something fundamental has changed.  In the older comics his close friends and allies weren't killed either - not like this, and not in such a manner.

When the riddle of Superman's memory is solved (adventure Comics #642) we discover that he has been fighting Batman and Wonder Woman, and he nearly killed Batman.  It is revealed that Max Lord has been controlling Superman, and is also responsible for the OMACs going wild, and Ted Kord's death.

My biggest exposure to Max Lord was in the JLA/JLE issues of the 80s.  He struck me as a bit of a con man,a smooth talker and not someone you'd trust, but not in any way evil.  Yet by the end of this book he is a monster, holding Superman captive and truthfully promising to never relinquish his grip.  It is for this reason that Wonder Woman breaks Lord's neck.

By this point we have already seen Superman and Wonder Woman fight, and have read a particularly dramatic scene where he uses his laser vision to burn her face:

The reason Lord did what he did is jealousy.  He argued that the heroes are Gods and if they were to ever turn against humanity we'd be fucked.  His logic that if he could control Superman, anyone could, therefore he has a moral duty to try to control Superman, I find more than a little warped, but then again, he is by now a villain.  I don't have to understand his motives as he has become something truly horrendous.

In the old JLA comics, of the Showcase era, this situation is completely unheard of.  I wonder if maybe the creators are conflating fun/light hearted/entertaining with lack of quality.

But, I am still glad that this story was told.  It demonstrates an important difference in the Trinity.
Wonder Woman is a warrior.  She was a member of a trained army and is combat ready.  She is not against all killing, just unnecessary killing.  She regrets the need for her actions, but she does not regret the actions (Wonder Woman 220).  Superman and Batman, on the other hand, are against killing in all it's forms - in any circumstances.

As such, they cannot understand or forgive Diana for what she has done.  In my eyes, it was a combat situation and there was no other option.  Diana has always been a warrior.  This is not some retconning of her origin, but I suspect that Superman and Batman may not have fully appreciated what this means.

Clark comments that he sees no remorse in her eyes.  Well, she is not remorseful.  She shed no tears for her actions.  It was not a decision taken lightly, and she didn't start the fight intending to kill Max.  However there was no other way to end it, and no one else would have been able to stop Superman.  She didn't enjoy it, she doesn't like killing, but that doesn't mean she regrets the decision.  We expect soldiers in war to make tough decisions and Wonder Woman shouldn't be any different.

There may be an argument for Diana knocking Max out and keeping him in stasis (or similar) until they could find a way to break his control, but tampering with people's minds and keeping them drugged up and immobile is not a more ethical course of action than killing them.  Max knew what he was doing and he knew what could happen if he got caught.  He started a war and under the influence of the lasso he gave Wonder Woman her only option.  He couldn't be made to stand trial as he promised that every moment he was awake he would make Superman suffer.

The other aspect to this book that I liked was the comparison that can be drawn between Superman's killing spree and Wonder Woman's one murder.  Superman's visions get increasingly more violent and by the last vision he was killing out of rage, despair and hate.  He was killing the guilty as well as the innocent and he was out for violent bloody vengeance,  The visions may not have been real but his reactions and moods were.  To my mind this makes Kal-El/Clark far more dangerous and far more worthy of shame than Diana.  Her actions were rational and considered.  His were visceral and immediate.  Of course, this is also one of the points made in the book, and is something both Bruce and Clark ponder on.

So, given that we have got to this point, and given that this is *so* different from Silver Age comics, I can understand people's protestations.

I am myself getting a little tired of the endless misery and death.  We are allegedly in this new brightest Day, and on the one hand we have the white rings exhorting the revived to live life to the full, and on the other hand we have Green arrow getting shot in the head at the end of his second issue.  Where's the joy?  Where's the hook?  I know that Ollie isn't dead but I don't particularly care why.  It would be easier to bear if the art was good - at least Sacrifice brought us some truly iconic panels - but the art in Green Arrow is rubbish.

I want books filled with fun that are also well written.  I want books with darkness within that adds to a character's story and builds on their history.  I want my books to be important (because of the quality of the tale, not because an editor says they are important) and a worthy addition to DCU history.  I don;t want death to be used as an easy shock device.  It's not shocking.

Remember the first rule

People never remember the first rule.

They also don't know a lot about yetis.

(If you get the reference let me know in the comments!)

This week's comics!

See I CAN do it on time (sometimes!).  No spoilers.

Superman #702.  Shit cover.  He looks like he's wearing a nappy - where's the creases and folds?  Why are his pants so bulky?  And it's boring as anything.  I think they may have been going for iconic, but it;s just rubbish.
And inside, Superman is a massive knob.  He wants to get in on humanity and ordinary people but he just comes off as a patronising, interfering, self righteous jerk.  Am not impressed.

Batgirl #13.  Better.  Proxy (Wendy) gets some screen time and Steph does her usual dive-right-in-and-ignore-subtlety kind of heroing.  I've worked out what's been annoying me about this comic.  It's the slang.  It's calling Babs 'O' and saying gross or ewww.  I don't like it.  I also think the art could do with more definition - more lines on the faces and the costumes.  But then again, this comic always seems much better on the re-read, so it can't be that big a problem.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1:  Someone tell me why Guy was never an earth cop, and was instead a PE teacher.  He loves being in charge I'd have thought he'd tried out to be an ordinary copper.  This has promise.  Black/Red/Multicoloured Lantern promise.

Antique Bakery vol 1:  It's a yaoi title, by the same lady that wrote the The Moon and Sandals.  there's no sex in this one.  I feel cheated.  But I guess the story was alright.  It was very funny in places.

Robin backissues - I got 20 back issues of Robin for £12.99 a couple of weeks back.  Am now reading them (and only one is a duplicate of an issue I already have, hurrah!) and realising how good they are.  Look out for a post on General Ulysses.

Bugger.

I completely missed Lughnasa.  It happened on 1st August and completely bypassed me, due to several life things hapenning and also, my wonky brain.

Anyway Lughnasa is the season of ripening, the start of the harvest and the start of the abundance that we should have before Winter kicks in.  Read some stuff about it here and here.

Link time!

Because I haven't had a chance to write anything.

Campaign to keep our NHS public.  Because the government (and I put the blame squarely on the Conseratives here) are wanting to cut everything, and we're all fucked if they do.  I don't know who's set up the campaign, or how effcetive it will be, but ii looks like you have to pay to join it.  I'm not sure about that, but go have a look anyway.


A 101 Wankers.  New tumblr chronicling the abuse one London cyclist gets, complete with reguallry update dmap of wankers!

Read Comics in Public Day!  August 28th.

The ten greatest all nude fight scenes in comics.  For your voyueristic pleasure.

Enjoy!

I did a review for Prism Comics!

And they published it :D.
It's the Secret Six: 6 degrees of separation book.  You can read the review here.  I had fun writing it up and I hope to submit more reviews to them in the future.  They're a great site - they basically promote all sorts of comics with LGBT themes or characters.

Readers with good memories might notice I also reviewed the book for New readers... a while ago.  Being totally honest, I put together the Prism comics review from the New readers... one but tried to give it a different slant as it's for a different audience.  I hope it worked.

Well, my weekly reading just got a whole lot more interesting!

(Not really spoilery)

Well!  In Brightest Day #7 we found out what the White Lantern's missions are which means the story will really pick up the pace.  Hurrah.  I really liked the artists for Dawn and Boston Brand in the diner.  Whoever it was seemed to have a really good feel for Dove.  The pencils for J'onn J'onzz and M'gan M'orzz seemed a little undefined, but they ARE shapeshifters so blurry features aren't really a problem.  Sheira in the cage was also drawn really well.

In Red Robin #15we see Tim developing a clever ruse to put Vicki Vale off the scent of his secret identity.  Gosh.  It's quite an extreme ruse.  This *will* be interesting.

Secret Six #24 sees the Six in what I presume is a past life, which seems to be a Western where Scandal is a sheriff.  It was great!

AND I got The Question: the 5 books of blood which I should have read by the time this is posted, and I haven't even started the assorted bag of 20 Robin comics that I got last week.  As there are no job applications for me to do this week I foresee a lot of comic reading going on!  And mayhap some blogging and reviewing.  If you're really lucky.

Transphobic crap strikes again

Crossposted from A.E.Brain's blog:
-----------------
 From the UK Equality Act 2010 :

Equality Act 2010 (c. 15)
Schedule 3 — Services and public functions: exceptions
Part 7 — Separate and single services

Gender reassignment
28
(1) A person does not contravene section 29, so far as relating to gender reassignment discrimination, only because of anything done in relation to a matter within sub-paragraph (2) if the conduct in question is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

(2) The matters are—
(a) the provision of separate services for persons of each sex;
(b) the provision of separate services differently for persons of each sex;
(c) the provision of a service only to persons of one sex.

Equality Act 2010 (c. 15)
Schedule 9 — Work: exceptions
Part 1 — Occupational requirements
(3) The references in sub-paragraph (1) to a requirement to have a protected
characteristic are to be read—
(a) in the case of gender reassignment, as references to a requirement not to be a transsexual person (and section 7(3) is accordingly to be ignored);

So what does that mean? It means that there is one "protected" class where protection is explicitly removed, not granted. It means that a gender recognition certificate is not worth the paper it's printed on. Rather than being a recognition that they are of the target gender, it's a nullity, as the law states that they're not, not really. This is made clear in the explanatory notes.:

Gender reassignment: paragraph 28

749. This paragraph replaces a similar provision in the Sex Discrimination Act
1975.
Example
A group counselling session is provided for female victims of sexual assault. The organisers do not allow transsexual people to attend as they judge that the clients who attend the group session are unlikely to do so if a male-to-female transsexual person was also there. This would be lawful.
...
Schedule 9: Work: exceptions
Part 1: Occupational requirements

A counsellor working with victims of rape might have to be a woman and not a transsexual person, even if she has a gender recognition certificate, in order to avoid causing them further distress.

The provisions of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 that over-rode that 1975 act have now been repealed. There is a distinction between "women" and "transsexual persons with (or without) gender recognition certificates" now.

Now of course, who could reasonably object to a councellor whose appearance might be upsetting to a rape survivor? In such cases, we cannot afford to be too precious about rights of employment, we must consider the victims first and foremost.

But it's not about appearance. It's not about the victims and their feelings. It's about transphobic prejudice. It's now legitimate to refuse help to victims who are "transsexual persons" because of the transphobia of others. There are other consequences too.

Good	Bad
Noted "Womyn born Womyn" Female At Birth founder of the New Radical Lesbian Feminist Front, dedicated to keeping Trans women out of women's space, including rape crisis centers. A "real" woman who it is illegal to discriminate against.	Not a woman, but a transsexual person. Someone who it is explicitly legal to discriminate against as their presence - either as councellor or as victim - may be too upsetting to other rape victims.

As for those women transsexual persons with gender recognition certificates who have been raped... I guess they're out of luck. The "Equality Act" is anything but.
----------------------------------------------
From The F Word's coverage:


So apparently, even though I have a full GRC, and all my other documentation shows my gender correctly, I will no longer legally be a woman when this Act comes into force in October; I’ll be a “transsexual person” and that means I can forget it if I think I can count on UK law for any protection of my civil and human rights.


I’m already seeing a groundswell of outrage and anger amongst some of my trans sisters online; I think it’s entirely understandable, even justifiable. Because, when you get right down to it, cis society is transphobic, by default and to its core; there is precious little respite for trans people and, like most humans, repeatedly backing us into a corner isn’t going to put us in the best of humours.

But anti-trans prejudice is so deeply embedded in cis society that all the legislation in the world is never going to change anything for the better, least of all the attitudes of cis people. There’s no logic, no acceptance and certainly no justice. There never really was - all this legislation will do is formalise a state of affairs which already exists.

Cis people may, rightly, feel aggrieved about the low proportion of reported rapes that end in a successful prosecution - but has anyone ever seen statistics for reported rapes of trans people? Has anyone ever heard of even one trans person who’s seen a successful prosecution? And there may well be too few rape crisis centres available to cis women - but how many of them will even let a trans woman through the door, let alone offer help and support?

The fact is that the law - like many other aspects of society which the majority of cis people take for granted - is simply not accessible to us. Trans people are routinely dehumanised and demonised, excluded and harassed, attacked and even murdered with impunity by cis people from across the entire class spectrum - and, be honest, would you trust a system in which nearly everyone you meet treats you as less than human?

As the old joke goes: it doesn’t matter which way you vote, the government still gets in. And as far as I’m concerned, with this legislation, the government looks set to do a far better job of morally mandating people like me out of existence than Janice Raymond could ever dream of.

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

I don't care which goverment was responsible for this, it's bullshit.  And calling it Equality?  They've got a bloody cheek.

Things I have enjoyed in comics these last 2 weeks

• The art in Wonder Woman 601
• The Diana in Wonder Woman 601.  I don't care how she's dressed or what she remembers.  Thsi Diana, brimming with anger is who I want to read about.
• Green Arrow creating rope contraptions and battering rams out of tree trunks.
• Jason Firestorm asking what the atomic structure of mouthwash (and everything else is)
• Then vomiting over his rescuee.
• Supergirl being an all round great book.  Particularly the artwork.
• Les Luthor being a cruel arsehole
• The answer to Star City's mystery forest turning up in Gotham City Sirens.

They'll break your face!!

Stolen from DCwomenkickingass:

Go Dinah and Babs!

(Blogging will be short and to the point, if at all.  I have another job app to do this week).

Fawcett society to take government to court over unlawful budget

This is hilarious!  (Hilarious because someone needs to give that ridiculous government a kick in the arse, I fully support this).  Taken direct from the press release:
-------------

FAWCETT SOCIETY TO TAKE GOV'T TO COURT OVER 'UNLAWFUL BUDGET'

The Fawcett Society has filed papers with the High Court seeking a
Judicial Review of the government's recent emergency budget. (1)

Under equality laws, we believe the government should have assessed
whether its budget proposals would increase or reduce inequality between
women and men. Despite repeated requests, the Treasury have not
provided any evidence that any such assessment took place. (2)

Even a top line assessment of the budget measures show 72 per cent of
cuts will be met from women's income as opposed to 28 per cent from
men's. This is because many of the cuts are to the benefits that more
women than men rely on, and the changes to the the tax system will
benefit far more men than women. (3)

Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, said:

"Successive governments have failed to give enough consideration to how
their policies will impact on equality between men and women, but this
budget shows a whole new level of disregard for the importance of
equality law and everyday women's lives.

"The blatant unfairness and the sheer scale of the impact this budget
could have on women have left us little choice but to resort to the
courts for action.

"In times of economic crisis it becomes more not less important to
consider women's basic rights, and observe the laws put there to
safeguard them. We know action is needed to cut the deficit but such
critical decisions - especially such eye-watering cuts to public
spending - should not have been made without considering the impact on
women.

"It's ironic that a budget that in many other ways was the most
transparent for decades seems to have failed to consider and publish its
impact on half the population. We are sure that many MPs would think
twice about these measures had they realised the basic questions hadn't
been looked at.

"Women already earn less, own less, and have less control over their
finances than men. Yet some £5.8 billion of the £8 billion of cuts
contained in the budget will be taken from women, who will also be worst
affected by the coming cuts to public services - 65 per cent of public
sector workers are women.

"We are calling on the government to look again at the budget, and to
ensure that all government departments undertake a robust and
transparent gender equality impact assessment of proposals being
discussed in the current spending review before final decisions are made.

"If they believe women should bear a greater burden of cutting the
deficit they should come out and say so."

The Fawcett Society's solicitor, Samantha Mangwana, of Russell Jones &
Walker solicitors, said:

"Although public authorities have been subject to the gender equality
duty for several years now, there is widespread ignorance not only about
how strong these laws actually are, but also what specific steps are
required to be undertaken. However, the case law is crystal clear in
spelling this out. Firstly, an equality impact assessment must be
conducted before policy decisions are taken.

"Secondly, where an assessment reveals a risk of discrimination, urgent
action must be taken to address those risks. Clearly, if the equality
impact is not even assessed as a starting point, a public authority
cannot start to consider what steps to take to mitigate any inequality ."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

(1) A permission hearing will be held to determine whether the judicial
review is granted. No date has yet been set.

(2) In not assessing the way in which the budget will impact differently
on women and men, we believe the Treasury has not met the requirements
of the Gender Equality Duty, under sections 76A and 76B of the Sex
Discrimination Act 1975.

(3) More on the impact of the budget on women and men can be found in
the Women's Budget Group's response to the emergency budget, the recent
House of Commons Library gender audit of the budget, and the Fawcett
Society's initial response to the budget. All are available on our
website: http://www.fawcetts ociety.org. uk/index. asp?PageID= 9

(4) A written background briefing (also available on our website) and /
or a legal briefing about the case are available.

Please call 07767 297 812 or email
Charlie.woodworth@ fawcettsociety. org.uk
Charlie.woodworth@ fawcettsociety. org.uk> for further information.

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

Oh Gods I hope they win.  I don't think they will, but I really hope they do!

Dering Employment Services in administration

News found here.

Dering provided employment support to anyone in the UK with a hearing loss of difficulty, e.g. Deaf, hard of hearing and Deafblind folks.  And now they've gone into administration.  Rumours are flying around about cashflow problems forcing them to close, but who knows what the full story is.

I have had the privilege to meet some of Dering's staff and I can assure you that they delivered a superb service that was well respected and held in high esteem by their service users.  Now the (mostly Deaf) staff are on garden leave and out of a job.  That's a horrible situation to be in.
Now that Dering itself is closed their Ddeaf clients are gonna have a lot more difficulty finding jobs, because mainstream employment support provision is simply not good enough for most Deaf people.

At The Rim has also covered this, and I expect by the time of posting this will be all over the Deaf Read bloglist.

This is a sad day.

Nicola Scott on Teen Titans

heartbart has a preview page up of Nicola Scott's artwork for Teen Titans.

Ahh I don't really care if the writing's crap, the art is gorgeous!  Such a lovely Bart, and such a square bodied Con!  Oh I am so looking forward to this.

And you can buy this page!!  Be still my swooning (skint) heart.

30 days of Buffy! Day 30!

Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great

And so we come to the end of this meme.  I feel like I should go out with a bang here and write a long essay about the greatness of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  But I don't think I will.  Instead, here's my short reasoning as to why it's so great:

Women characters on screen, not just talking about boys, in a show that wasn't a romcom.  Kicking ass and not being guilty about it.  There was nothing else like this before Buffy came on our screens.  Combine that with awesome dialogue, some really good character development and wonderful relationships and I was sold.  The fact that the characters were women wasn't important.  It was a sci -fi magic monster beat em up comedy drama tragedy apocalypse end of the world saving the world heart wrenching life affirming wonderful wonderful show.

Thanks for reading this everyone.  I'd like to invite you to leave your thoughts on what made Buffy great, in the comments section.

Ben Caldwell Wonder Woman pitch

Ben Caldwell did the Wonder Woman strip in Wednesday Comics.  That, next to the Supergirl strip, was one of my favourites of the whole thing.  Caldwell has put a pitch to DC for a manga Wonder Woman.  Usually this would annoy me as I'm not really a fan of manga versions of American books, but his work is so lovely I'm quite excited about the idea.

Here is some artwork and pitch info he has posted:

Steve Trevor's looking rather hot!

If DC ever get serious and decide to start marketing their comics to girls, they should start with Wonder Woman.  As someone (can't remember who tho) on Twitter said recently, Wonder Woman is a warrior princess.  She should be easy to sell to a certain age bracket of girls.  She's got a well developed history, a great supporting cast, lots of interesting mythological stuff and the purity of a hero.  DC could make a lot of cash out of this, and produce some great comics at the same time.

I wish they'd get on with it.

You can see the (nearly full) pitch here and some character sketches here.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 28 and 29

Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Angel.  spit spit bleurgh. Horrible self centred man.

Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Innocence.


Last Day of Buffy coming up soon folks.  I'll have to think of actual blog topics. Eek!

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 26 and 27

Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment

What does this even mean?  Favourite team work?   Favourite group scene?  The scoobies at their dore don't mean a lot to me.  Buffy/Willow/Xander are not the most interesting characters to me.  Giles is awesome, of course, Oz is great. Cordelia and Wes have their moments.  But when I look back over the show my favourite seasons and my favourite chars are those from later in the programme's life - Anya, Spike (reformed), Tara, the potentials, Dawn, Joyce, Faith.  All those on the peripheries who were really important to the show but weren't at the heart of the Scooby gang.

So, I have nothing for favourite Scooby moment, because the core group of 3 are not the most interesting.

Day 27: Cutest Moment
Preparing for Joyce's funeral.  I know that may seem odd, but take cute as to mean something that makes you feel warmth for the chars, and I reckon it would be Willow despairing of not having grown up clothes and Anya despairing of how humans cope with death.

I don't really like 'cute' things.

There's so much stuff I should be doing right now

Namely, job applications, but fuck it, I'm gonna talk about comics instead.  Y'see, I got a second hand copy of JLA Showcase volume 4 the other week.  I expected it to be rubbish but entertaining, but it's actually turned out to be good!

For example, (I was going to start the sentence with 'like', but then common sense got the better of me), there's characterisation!  And nearly poetry!

JLA #68: Neverwas - The Chaos Maker!  The narrative starts thusly:

Look through the eyes of Neverwas!  Look upon a bleak landscape through eyes which see no colour...perceive with a mind that does not think!


You are Neverwas!  You are not human...rather you are a freak of nature!  A one celled animal mutated, grown huge, possessed of a dim, formless intelligence...


In your world, there is peril, Neverwas!  For you life in an age undreamt of eons past..when the earth is young and cruel!


Flee, Neverwas!  Find that the material of your body can assume many shapes!  Fell it now becoming wings to lift you free of danger...


Fear, Neverwas!  Realize you have trapped yourself.  That death is only cold instants away...

Isn't that lush prose?  It's got a feeling of the early 20th century sci fi novel about it.  There's still dodgy science and some bad prose (dialogue) within the book, but there's far more awareness and effort put into the issues than I had anticipated.
---------------------
Batman: That reminds me.. I've been meaning to draw plans for a Batsubmarine!
Aquaman: Hey, Batman!  When you eat dinenr do you eat Batfood?  And at night do you Batdream?   And..
---------------------

Some of the art is just gorgeous, especially in black and white.  There are some wonderful depictions of Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Superman within the book.  Just beautiful portraits of each of them, with character and sternness, and strength in them.

In an earlier part of the book Wonder Woman got hacked off with the state of JLA HQ and promptly started taking charge of the cleaning - by ordering Superman to move the furniture and Green Lantern to paint the walls.   Again, the art is wonderful.

This a damn good buy and I can't wait to read the rest of it.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 24 and 25

Day 24: Favorite Example of 90s Special Effects
The bloke dressed up as Buffy carrying dawn away from Glory in the finale of Season 5.  Hilarious.  They didn't even try there did they?

Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Cup of tea? Cup of tea? Nearly got a shag, cup of tea?

Oh Spike, how I love you when you mock other people.  He's describing Giles.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 22 and 23

Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Xander - another character I have little love for. Let's be honest, he's a bit of a prick.  He treated Anya abominably, he mooned over Buffy for years and regularly put his feelings ahead of hers (when he told Buffy to kick Angel's ass for instance?).  He liked Riley for gods sake.


But, I enjoyed the split Xander episode, if only cos Anya suggested she have a threesome with the two of them.


Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
I did rather enjoy Joyce and Giles.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 20 and 21

Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
The one in Season 7 where they work out what his trigger song is and then Robin takes him into a warehouse and attempts to kill him.  Spike then beats the crap outta him.

Don't mess with Spike guys.  He may be good, but he's still vicious.

Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Erm, I'm not really keen on Willow.  Doppelgangland for evil vampire Willow was good.  The finale of season 7 where she turned into a goddess was satisfying.  The one at the start of season 7 where she's in England and you see Giles riding on a horse is hilarious.  The start of season 6 where they resurrect Buffy is important for Willow, but not really Willow centric.  Same for Once More With Feeling.  The one where Oz comes back and she tells him about Tara was good. Gut wrenching, but good.


I can't decide which one I prefer.  You all pick one and we'll pretend I agree.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 18 and 19

Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Spikes skin condition demon friend.  Or evil vampire Willow.  However I suspect vampire Willow's potential extra screen time may have been relegated to showing how hot she was, whereas Spike's scabby demon friend was actually interesting.

Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Dawn.  I used to hate her, now I have a lot of time for her.

And Kennedy of course.

News from SDCC

Which I am obviously not at, being British and skint.  I am however following DCwomenkicknass on twitter and getting lots of info from her.  So, the news..

• New Flash ongoing for next year, including BART and Wally and Jesse and Iris!  Woot woot! So even if Krul's Teen Titans turns out terrible I'll get my Bart fix somewhere else. Hurrah

• News about Wonder Woman's new direction (I don't know how to do screen shots I just copied and pasted the text, I don't know where the numbers have come from :/) :

1. dcwomenkicknass
     
   Schrödinger's cat. is key to Wonder Woman according to JMS. Oh boy.
2.  
3. WonderWomanV2
     
   What the actual fuck? RT @dcwomenkicknass Schrödinger's cat. is key to Wonder Woman according to JMS. Oh boy  
4. WonderWomanV2
     
   @dcwomenkicknass Because fans can't know if you killed her so long as they just keep the book shut?  

I enjoyed that exchange.  I think this backs up my theory of this new directions lasting 12 issues then the timeline is pinged back to normal.

• The Green Lantern movie will apparently take us to Oa and we will see all 3600 Lanterns - They'd better not fuck up the CGI on that.  Or go 3D.  3D doesn't work very well when you already wear glasses.

•  Gail Simone is thinking really really hard about whether to have Babs walk again.  I say no.

• And here is a report on the Writing Queer: Creating and Writing LGBT Characters” panel moderated by Justin Hall and including Gilbert Hernandez, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Judd Winick, Paige Braddock and Howard Cruse.

• Batman is gonna be turned into a franchise - Batman Inc.  What a terrible, terrible idea.

Well that's all the stuff I was interested in.  I say again, hurrah for a Bart book!
Gods I wish I was at the comi-con.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 16 and 17

Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
I have no idea what episode everyone else hates.  Unless you count Season 7.

Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
The most huh?  I can relate to Buffy's misery, Anya's awkwardness and straightforwardness, Dawn's cutting, Giles love of jaffa cakes, the potentials who realise their influx of power and think it's awesome, Tara's shyness, Faith's flirting and desire to get loaded and have a good time and Spike's couldn't give a fuck attitude.

I don't see myself in any one character.

Wonder Woman #600, or, the goddess within us all

I finally got my hands on Wondy #600, and the first printing no less!

There's a whole lot to talk about in here.

The cover - I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like George Perez.  He's given her a rictus grin for gods' sake:

Lynda Carter provides the introduction, which is where the goddess part of the title is taken from.  Carter clearly has a lot of love the character.  Or, she's good at acting like she's got a lot of love for the character.  I'm such a cynic.

There are so many great full pages of art within this book.  All are pretty incredible.  Like this one.  And this one.  These special pieces and all the differing stories really make this issue feel like a true celebration of the character, in a way that Superman 700 didn't.

First story is a team up between Wonder Woman and every other important woman in the DCU.  She called them, they came.  Supergirl and misfit come out with some great dialogue.

Next up is an Amanda Connor written and drawn piece, with Peej and Cass Cain.  And cats!  My favourite thing for Amanda Connor to draw.  This story has a similar cat centric ending as the Wednesday Comics Supergirl strip had.

Louise Simonson's story - a WW/Supes team up - is oh so playful.

And then we have the final story.  Cause of many an outraged squeal.  OK, here's my viewpoint.

This Diana isn't in the same position as she was a few pages before.  She's no longer an experienced fighter, no longer in the trinity and no longer has thousands of years of Greek heritage behind her to support her sense of self.

But.
She is still a warrior.
She is still confident.
She is stills elf sufficient.
She is proud, she is haughty.
She knows her own mind.
She is still regal (even if the outfit isn't).
She is not ordinary.

She is not fragile, incompetent or completely without experience.  She is not soft or trembling, or nervous (which from the Internet outrage I feared she may have been).  She has a change of costume because there if no longer a Themscyria on which she can battle to win the armour.

She doesn't hold all the titles and status she once had, but I have a feeling this Diana will earn them all back, and maybe some more on top of them.

The oracle said '...to see what you are fighting to restore...to save...to avenge..".  The story ends with the oracle showing Di what has become of Paradise Island.  This has all happened due to a fuckup in time.

Now, here's what I think will happen.

Over the next 12 issues Di will investigate what has happened to her history and her people.  Heads will be cracked.  At the end of the arc the timeline will be restored (hopefully without the Amazons being victims of a mass rape), Diana will have memories of this past year, as will the other DCU heroes (if they interact) and it will weave into part of her backstory, easy as pie.
The costume will at some point revert back to the old familiar one.

I am happy with this option.  I think there is room in the mythos for this story and I think I will enjoy it.  I cannot see this Diana deferring to anyone, so i think it won't be long before she retakes her place in the trinity.

The afterword helps in making things a little clearer.  I wasn't of the opinion that Diana needed a new direction, but then again I didn't buy Simone's run.  Strazynski seems to want to address the tendency among writers to leave WW to stagnate or note use her, because they don't really understand her.  Now, every WW fan will have their own interpretation of the character.  Personally I love Rucka's and Jiminez's run.  Other think Simone's is the best.

Stracynski tackles (albeit obliquely) the sexism surrounding WW, but at the same time displays similar feelings to those he is criticising.  This is unfortunate but sadly not uncommon.

As much as I would never have suggested that Wonder Woman needs a new direction, if they are going to proceed with one, this will hopefully be alright.

I've even forgiven them the jacket.

I shall leave you with this sketch of Wonder Woman, by Nicola Scott (not included in issue 600, but found on the wonderful DCwomenkickingass tumblr.  Her current background art is from WW600).

Batgirl 12 and Superman 701

Spoilers ahead....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(pun honestly not intended)
.
.
.
.
.
Batgirl 12
I'd picked up issues 4 to 7 before, but not been hooked in enough to add it to my regular pull list.  I kept thinking I should buy it (because that's what feminist comics fans like me like, right?) but I resisted until issue 12.  Chiefly because while I enjoyed the other issues I jsut didn't feel they were special enough.  So what prompted me to buy #12?
1 - The cover.

Bee-yoo-tiful!  There's so much character in this portrait.
2 - issue # 14 is gonna have Supergirl as a guest star (and vampires!) and I wanted to be set up for that.

So, was this issue any good?
#12 wraps up Steph's first year under the cowl.  I got the distinct impression that up until now she has been finding her feet - learning the ropes if you will.  Now she knows who she is, what she can do and she has nothing to prove anymore.

This issue is also the final installment of a 4 part arc - Calculator has turned Gothamites into drones and captured Oracle.  Steph is out to save her.  Jumping into this arc at the end worked well for me.  I dislike the Calculator, immensely, and I believe he has been overused these past few years.  At the end of this book he is deafeated, and with any luck we won't see him again for a good long while.

In the book, Calculator  has mindlinked himself to Oracle.  In her mind, Babs can walk.  So much for disability pride.  (Not that Babs has disabality pride, so that's probably a stupid thing of me to say.  Acceptance of your situation does not equal pride).

But then, by the end of the book, Wendy has taken a role as Oracle's backup and is calling herself Proxy.  That makes 2 wheelchair using superheros in the DCU now.  Two!

I particularly enjoyed Wendy crashing her plane into the robot that was attacking Steph.  A very over the top and stupid thing to do, but that's the sorta thing I like.

I am glad this book is now on my pull list.

Superman 701
And so begins his long walk across America.

The thing about Superman is that he means a lot of different things to different people.  Sure, wecan agree on the basics - goodness, truthfullness etc, but after that, we get a little muddled.

This issue we see anew type of Clark - short tempered, testy, but also caring and helpful.  I don't quite understand how he's left Lois so soon, but this is a version of Superman that I can get behind and appreciate.

Prism Comics Seeking Submissions for 2010 Queer Press Grant!

In case any of you reading this are aspiring comic creators.... see here.  From the article:

Prism Comics is accepting submissions for the 2010 Queer Press Grant, with a deadline of September 15, 2010. The annual grant was established by Prism Comics to assist in the publication and promotion of LGBT comics.

Prism will be offering portfolio review at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con International for those interested in applying to the grant. Howard Cruse (Stuck Rubber Baby), Eric Shanower (Age of Bronze), Paige Braddock (Jane’s World), Bob Schreck (IDW), and Brian Andersen (So Super Duper) are among the reviewers scheduled to evaluate and to dispense advice this year at the Prism Booth. (#2049, 2146, & 2148). Check the Prism website or stop by the Prism booth for the latest schedule.
“The Queer Press Grant is the only American grant besides the Xeric Award dedicated to independent comic books,” says Justin Hall, Prism Comics Talent Relations Chair. “Since 2005 it has provided a significant annual sum of money, which varies according to Prism’s fund raising but generally comes in at around $2,000, to an LGBT cartoonist who is self-publishing a comic book with queer characters and/or themes.”
Entries are judged first and foremost by artistic merit, followed by concerns such as financial need, proposal presentation, and contribution to the LGBT community. They are reviewed by the Prism Comics Board and past recipients of the grant, with the larger advisory board brought in when a tiebreaker is needed.
For a full breakdown of the Grant’s guidelines, as well as for the application itself, please go to http://prismcomics.org/grant.php. Questions about the grant can be directed to Justin Hall at justin@prismcomics.org.

The Grant is entirely funded by donors, both comics professionals and fans who want to see more LGBT comics creators get published in a market in which it is still difficult for queer stories to be heard. If you would like to support the cause of queer, independent cartooning and donate to the Grant, please go to our: Facebook Cause page.

The previous Queer Press Grant recipients are:

Eric Orner (2009: Storybox) Ed Luce (2009: Wuvable Oaf) Pam Harrison (2008: House of the Muses) Justin Hall (2007: Glamazonia) Tommy Roddy (2007: Pride High) Megan Gedris (2006: YU+ME) Steve MacIsaac (2005: Shiftlifter)

Venus Envy

So, I started reading Venus Envy a few days ago, a webcomic about a transgendered teen, her high school life, home life, and friends.  It's pretty good and funny.  And not at all about superheroes.  I mean, Zoe (the protagonist) wears a Batman vest once but that's it.  And then I came across this awesome strip.

And I was roaring with laughter because it's just so damn unexpected.  And funny.

That's not the usual style  of the comic btw, that particular strip is a fill in one, but the humour is spot on and matches the rest of the series well.  Anyway, I highly recommend reading Venus Envy.

30 Days of Buffy!! (Days 14 and 15)

Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Drusilla.  Or evil vampire Willow.

Who to choose who to choose?  Drusilla, we see more of her.

What's not to love? Her choice of clothes, her utter utter bonkersness, her awful English accent, the way she speaks and explains herself, the very physical way of acting that Juliet Landau has, her specific set of morals.

What's not to love?  Drusilla is an absolute delight.

Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Spike.

He's tough, he's hot, once the chip is in his brain he gets to get really interesting, and he's hot.

Oh wait, this is for a villain right?  Well, for me, Spike only got interesting when the chip got in his brain and he became less villianous and more friendly.

So, this will either be the Mayor or Caleb.  Caleb is a religious fool who hates women.  The Mayor is a very well to do fool who on the surface is nice if a slight bit creepy, and he cares about things like doilys.  Below the surface he's a megalomaniac who's willing to be turned into a demon in order to rule the world.

The Mayor it is.  Doilys are evil.

30 Days of Buffy!! (Days 12 and 13)

Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Innocence.  I hate the whole bullshit morality about how sex is bad that went along with that storyline.  I've written about this before, here.  Even if I wasn't bothered about the bloody sermon that was not a great depiction of a woman's first time of having sex, even if it's with someone you love.

Plus, I hate Angel.  Have I mentioned that already?


Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
I've been thinking and thinking about this, and I just can't decide.  It doesn't help that I can't remember their names, but I do remember watching season 7 and loving all of them.  Even the ones with terrible English accents.  All the slayerettes are special and they are all amazing and deserve to be honoured.

30 Days of Buffy!! Days 10 and 11

Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Season 5.  Ok, so we got Dawn, and she is a great addition, and we got Buffy's death, but I really really dislike Glory.  She is the most irritating character ever.  She's got no depth, no redeemable qualities and to be frank, she's a pretty shit god.

This meant I spent a lot of season 5 getting very annoyed.  There are good bits in there, Amber Benson did great with Tara getting her brainmind eaten, and Joyce dying was unbelievably sad.  But, when I think of season 5 I think of Glory and a I cringe.

Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Buffy and Angel.  I hate Angel.  Their relationship didn't make sense.  I don't hold with this pre-destined made for each other nonsense, so their falling in love felt like a plot device and not something natural.  I never believed in them together.

New toys!

See them here:

Oooh a hooded GA!  and check out Mera!

What with these and the Steph!Batgirl figure due out, this year will be a good year for toys :)

This Green Lantern move costume...

You can see it here.  Well, ribbed?  I don't think so.  Not for Hal.  Crude jokes about Hal Jordan's condom use aside, I just don;t think he'd got for a ribbed costume.  Kyle would, but not Hal.

On the other hand, I also found this image on google.  So who knows what is correct.

What do you all think about the costume?

Nicola Scott to take over art duties on Teen Titans

From the DC Source blog:

Not long ago, we announced that GREEN ARROW writer J.T. Krul would be adding DC’s top teen team to his resume and taking over as the ongoing writer of TEEN TITANS, starting with October’s #88. But who’s handling the art side?
None other than Nicola Scott, who’s built up a long list of credits at DC, including SECRET SIX, BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN and the main WONDER WOMAN title. Scott and Krul will join forces to usher in a new era for the teen series, featuring some familiar faces and a few surprises.

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

And, Damian will be in it :o

I have mixed feelings about JT Krul but I am positive that even if his writing is a bit low in quality, Scott can save it all with her art.  I have got the entire run of the current Teen Titans, in trade or floppy, with the exception of a few written by Felicia Henderson.  I always thought TT would be one I'd stick with through thick or thin, but sadly not.
However, with Krul and Scott on creative duties I again have high hopes for this book.  It may not be as good as Geoff Johns run but it will definitely be a lot better than the current sack of shit being produced.

30 Days of Buffy!!! Day 9

Day 9: Favorite Romance
Buffy and Satsu?
Straight girls can fuck women too you know!  And I'm all up for giving Buffy some meaningless fun sex.

Howabout Xander and any women he desired? (Not including Anya).

But honestly, It's probably Dawn and Xander in season 8, or Kennedy and Willow in season 7.  Kennedy made Willow more interesting, more capable and less bloody woolly.  She made her a better person.

30 days of Buffy! Days 7 and 8

Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Angel.  What a fucking waste of space

Or Riley.  But I think I despise Angel more.  Riley didn't get a spin off show and he's not such a posing emo prick.  Angel is stalker like, but Riley went out of his way to hurt Buffy because she's stronger than him.  Old fashioned sexist chauvinism there.

However, I get the feeling Riley might have changed his point of view, given training. Angel was never gonna change and Buffy would never try to change him.  Ergo, Angel wins this round.

Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Spike and Dawn.  It's lovely how he looked out for her but never patronised or condescended to her.  No one else treated her that well at the time, and so she responded by trusting him and talking frankly to him.  So he was doing it out of respect for Buffy, not Dawn.  That's not important.  He became fond of Dawn and treated her like an equal.

30 Days of Buffy!!! Days 5 and 6

Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Oh, um, it used to be Buffy, but today I think it's Willow

EDIT: at least when I wrote this, 4 days ago, I thought it was Willow.  Today I feel that Harmony has less going for her.  But on the other hand, I have never felt anything for Jenny.  I feel for Giles, having lost jenny, but not for Jenny herself.  She made so little impact on me.  So, Jenny it is.

Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Spike. Hottest thing on screen.  Until Justin Hartley as Green Arrow came along.

I also did enjoy Caleb, as a villain.  He was a good villain.  The mayor was pretty good too.  A very intriguing character.  He had morals, but not about the right things.  He always wanted Faith to be polite and a proper young lady, but to him, proper young ladies were also allowed to kill things.  A twisted morality and a fun character.

But still,  Spike wins out.  There's the shallow reasoning, and then there's also his journey of redemption.

30 days of Buffy! (Day 3 and 4)

Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
The montage song in Once More With feeling where Giles and Tara are singing about leaving Buffy and Willow.  Or, Walk Through The Fire.  Because it's a team up, and team ups get me in the centre of my being, every time.

I've never really registered the bakcground music that is played.

Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Hem. Illyria always seemed to have a lot of potential, her and Spike were the only good things about Angel.  I empathise with Tara a lot, but when it comes down to it, I think evil vampire Willow is my favourite (that leather corset? Hot as).  Or Drusilla.  Or actually, Anya.

Most of the regular 'good' Buffyverse characters have too much of the negative in them for me to really adore them.  At their worst, Buffy is an isolated wreck, and I empathise too much with the loneliness and abandonment she feels to love her too much.  Plus when she's peppy she's irritating.  But I admire her strength, determination and straightforwardness.  And she's a great leader and warrior.
Regular Willow I have always found annoying and not assertive enough, cutesy doesn't do it for me.  Dawn is a brat most of the time - not through any fault of her own, the others treat her abominably, especially after her mother's death.
Cordelia suffered from having to star in the godawful Angel seasons.

But back to my possible favourites.  Evil vampire Willow is hot as anything.  Drusilla is wonderfully bonkers, and I love her accent.  Anya, although meant to be annoying, I have never found her so.  I sympathise with her difficulties understanding cultural references and she's just damn funny.

I can't choose between the 3 of them.

30 days of Buffy! (Day 1 and 2)

Day 1: Favorite Season
Season 7.  I know it has it's weak points, but the bringing together of all the slayerettes, and the epic fight scene, and Willow's a goddess, and it links so much stuff from earlier episodes.  And it's got Kennedy in it, and Andrew.  And Dawn finally grows up and gets mature.  It's full of hope.  It ends on a really positive note.  I know I like tragedy, but you gotta have a little hope at the end (or all the wway through) to counteract all the misery.


Day 2: Favorite Episode
Oh lordy, Hush maybe,  Or the Prom episode, for Buffy's umbrella.  But I think I'll be going for the musical episode, Once More With Feeling.  So much important stuff was revealed in that episode, and it's got the mustard song in it, and I just love musicals and choreography.  Tara singing to Willow just breaks my heart, as does Buffy singing about her death.

Of course, that episode where Warren, Andrew and Jonathan are testing Buffy and she gets stuck in that loop in the shop, love that one too.  Or the double Xander episode, where Anya suggests a threesome because it wouldn't really be cheating.

OK, Buffy has too many good episodes.  I'm gonna go back to Once More With Feeling.

Review backlog - the 3 sentence version

Possibly cryptic spoilers ahead for Superman #700, Jokers Asylum: Harley Quinn, Superman/Batman #73, Gotham City Sirens #13, Teen Titans #84, Brightest Day #5, Red Robin #14
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Superman #700
The reunion of Lois and Clark was worth waiting a year to see.  Seeing Bruce trying to be an effective father is highly amusing.  Clark's walkabout makes no sense given his reunion his Lois.

Jokers Asylum: Harley Quinn
A Valentine's day edition!  Harley is a loon, but an adorable loon.  Lemon ganache, indeed.


Superman/Batman #73
For some unknown reason they haven't fixed Lois's gaping shirt (did they not get my memo?).  However, strides are taken towards redeeming this as she makes like Buffy and uses the tree trunk as a weapon.  Supes, Bats and Lois then try to apprehend the criminals in their own indomitable ways.


Gotham City Sirens #13
Selina's sister Maggie gets a whole lot more interesting, partly because her guardian angel looks like He-Man.  Maggie as avenging nun also reminds me of Lee the Fallen Angel who used to be Linda Danvers Supergirl.  I think the artists has been studying up.

Teen Titans #84
This could be a really interesting, fascinating, mythological and fantastical story.  Instead it's inept and grating.  As for the backup, I can take it or leave it - it adds nothing to the value of the comic.

Brightest Day #5
Aquaman gets topical!  Arthur and Mera try to stop the oil leak, Deadman tries to resurrect Don Hall and the Hawks continue their foray into floating lumps of earth world.  Hawkworld (aka floating lumps of earthworld) is a fantastical dimension and it's story is told well (unlike the Teen Titans story).


Red Robin #14
Tim is following in Batman's footsteps a little too closely.  Damian shows some vulnerability and humanity.  Tim and Dick prove they are inept at creating passwords.

The ever lovely Renee

Spotted at the DC Women Kicking Ass tumblr:

Originally from here.

The artist claims it's a modern Artemis.  I shall ignore the desription of pimp and hoes cos in my mind that's Renee Montoya and a group of fans.  I particularly like how most of them are besotted with Renee except one of the left who is very impressed with her breasts.  Love this artwork.

30 Days of Buffy!!

I found this meme on Let's Fold Scarves.  I shall commence with it as a) I am at a loss for other blog topics and b)work has gone a bit iffy - I really shouldn't be working in the third sector in a recession..either that or I'm cursed..but enough about me, here's the meme below, once you've read it go look at this great Scans Daily video.   

30 DAYS OF BUFFY!
Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Favorite Example of 90s Special Effects
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great

I'll probably miss some days, or post more than one answer on the same day.  Cos, why not?

Boom de yada boom de yada boom de yada boom...

*Snarls*

Crossposted from The F Word:

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

Women will bear the brunt of three-quarters of extra taxes and benefit cuts, according to a gender audit of the Budget carried out by the House of Commons library.
And that does not even include the impact of the astounding 40% cuts in public departments expected across many government departments, reports the Guardian. (Although also take note of one story in the Independent, suggesting the 40% figure is being raised to soften the ground and make stringent cuts more digestible).
Labour’s Shadow Welfare Secretary Yvette Cooper, who requested the audit, said:

“David Cameron promised the most family-friendly government ever. Yet they have just launched the fiercest attack on family support in the history of the welfare state,” she said. “This budget seems to be reaching back to a prewar approach to families. They’ve cut support for children more savagely than anything else so far, with billions of pounds being cut from child benefit, child tax credits, maternity support and child trust funds.” She said her research showed that women would suffer disproportionately, even beyond the cuts to family benefits.
“Even if you put aside cuts in support for children, women are still more heavily hit,” she said. “Women are more affected by the cuts in things like housing benefit, cuts in upratings to the additional pension, public sector pensions or attendance allowances, and they benefit less than men from the increases in the income tax allowances. Even putting children aside, they are hitting women hardest.”
After looking at other budgets, she believes last month’s must be the hardest on women with Nigel Lawson’s 1988 budget - which abolished top rates of tax and froze child benefit and pensions - coming close.

The Guardian reports the audit found that of an additional £8 billion net revenue to be raised by the financial year 2014-15, almost £6 billion will be from women, while men will pay for £2 billion. This will be raised through direct taxation and changes to benefits.
This comes on top of warnings by Fawcett, that women make up 65% of the public sector workforce and stand to be hit hardest by the LibCon coalition’s ‘austerity’ Budget.
--------------------------------------

Let me point you back towards this video released before the election.  Quite prescient huh?

What the effin hell?

Go here to view a video of the G20 protests, where the folk protesting are doign so peacefully and then the police rushed them.  It's frightening, and so far as I can see it's not being picked up by anyone outisde of the blogosphere.

(I have no idea how to embed videos, sorry.)

Scarecrow year one

Has anyone read it?  Is it any good?

Bart, Kon and Ray get narked at Tim

I've founf so much fun stuff recently I am gonna share it.  This is swiped from Speedforce and the scans are from Young Justice.  It occured just after the Impulse comic was cancelled.

Oh Young Justice, how I miss you.  Hopefully Teen Titans will recapture some of the fun when Bart rejoins.  Now, if they could only get Kara on there too I'd be really happy.