Wonder Woman 19 - WTF cover

It is shown at Newsarama here.  Click the small cover picture to see the full gatefold.

Then go to the Newsarama facebook page and read all the comments about this.  I'll copy the relevant comments into the end of this thread.

People are saying that they think WW is cheating on Superman... why? Because of one kiss?  How do we know she didn't break up with Superman before hitting on Orion?  Assuming that is what is happening.  Then people are calling Diana a slut.. There are references to the Superman 19 cover, which is Supes punching Diana... because in an adult relationship the men must fight over the woman, like she's a piece of meat... Ugh.

It's too early in the morning for this much misogyny.

Then folk are commenting on the butt slap from one issue ago.  It infuriates me.   I wrote about this at the time.  You can't take that panel in isolation, it flows with the rest of the story.  Diana has bigger problems to deal with.

I just don't want the WW/Supes romance to spill over into Wondy's book in any way.  I just don't care for it.

There are some other interesting comments about continuity in the DCU.  I certainly feel that the WW book is very different from the rest, so I guess I can make it my own continuity?  Until Trinity Wars starts.. *sadface*

Relevant comments copied here:

Samuel Lee Smith I think that the Wonder Woman book isn't exactly in the same continuity as the rest of the New 52 at the moment.

Scott Gregson Aren't these characters supposed to be "people"? I'm pretty sure most "people" have had relationships that started out as a good idea then got kinda lame, where someone else has come along and taken your interest in a way that you would never have thought possible. Everyone calls out that comics need to be more "real" and not have a "status quo" but then writers who change things get labelled as jerks and people start calling Wonder Woman a SLUT! Two outsiders who have no human connections outside of a few people who fly around beating up bad guys find each other and realise they don't need to hide who they really are from each other. With both Supes and WW being as young and inexperienced as they seem to be played in the New52, I'm not really surprised by them hooking up. But then WW - who is a warrior princess, first and foremost - meets Orion - who is a warrior prince, really - and sparks fly on a much more primal level. Superman has never had a relationship before (outside MAYBE Lana Lang, idk) so he's going to react pretty badly to the girl he likes either cheating on him or just flat out dumping him. Give WW a chance to realise she made a mistake (and that mistake could be dating superman, or kissing orion, whichever way the story pans out). But I think, long term, BOTH relationships are flawed, both of them relying only on one aspect of WW's character. Lonely outsider (for WW/Supes) and Warrior Princess (for WW/Orion). Much like how Superman WILL eventually come back to Lois because the Lois/Clark relationship is far more healthy and all encompassing than the WW/Superman one. But for the love of Highfather/Arceus/Odin, let the stories play out. Let the writers tell their stories. Let the characters develop and come to the understanding in their own way and in their own time. Like, I dunno, real people. You want real characters and real stories in your comics or do you want rehashed silver age stuff? Cos they have collections of Silver Age comics for you to buy. Just go read them and let the rest of us enjoy these New Ideas - which may or may not be superior to the Old Ideas but are at least different.

Wayne Wonder:  Maybe that's why we get this: http://i.newsarama.com/images/Superman-20.jpg  

Vince Gattuso I guess it wasn't bad enough that Azzarello has sullied Hippolyta, the Amazons, and Hermes but now it appears he's having Wonder Woman cheat on the Man of Steel with the Dog of War. 

Eric Reese They had more chemistry in six panels of one page than Wondy & Supes have had since New 52 JL started. 

Vince Gattuso A butt-slap is chemistry? Diana should have put Orion's head through a wall after that. 

Joshua Shifty Schiffman If you don't like it don't fucking read it you assholes. Jesus Christ people as Ive said before if you don't like the New 52 don't read it. Personally I love the idea of Orion and WW having an affair. She'll end up with Supes eventually(Kingdom Come in my opinion is how its going to all turn out).

Shannon Luchies Ugh. This is the guy who SLAPPED HER ASS. She shoulda taken his head off then. 

Alfred Day I love it! Especially with her as the aggressor. And if anyone has read any of the April Fool's issues, it's pretty clear they are mostly April Fool's tricks where the incident on the cover is not as it immediately seems inside. And I am digging Azzarello's Wonder Woman which is weird because I generally haven't liked anything else of his except 100 Bullets.

Kareem Yasin Supes punches Orion on another cover, so combined with the butt slap...

MeMyself Kris Wonder Woman cheating, Lois and Superman becoming parents, seems to all be working out for the WTF Certified idea. 

 Don Rychlick not good to show kid it ok to cheet on your boyfriend! 

Patrick Gerard The Superman relationship is kinda forced and most likely a setup for them to be exes during Trinity War.

Dion Nellist Slut  

Jacob Dougherty Makes a lot more sense in a story context (if you're reading WW) than the Superman/Wonder Woman relationship makes. Supes/WW felt when it was introduced and still feels like a gimmick that has no justification story-wise, especially since it's never even been brought up in Azzarello's WW.

The gym, the gay best friend, and performative sexuality

So. I'm still going to the gym.  I'm enjoying it again and I'm going regularly.  Tonight I went to a new class, Sh'bam.  It is described on the Les Mills website thusly:

Featuring simple but seriously hot dance moves, SH'BAM™ is the perfect way to shape up and let out your inner star - even if you're dance challenged.
Set to a soundtrack of chart-topping popular hits, dance music that is heard in the hottest nightclubs around the world, familiar classics remixed and modernized Latin beats, SH'BAM™ is the ultimate fun and sociable way to exercise. Each 45-minute SH'BAM™ class is vibrant, unique and varied - and like all the LES MILLS™ programs, a new SH'BAM™ release is produced every three months with new music and choreography.

I thought it might be fun.  It was on at a time that suited so I went.  Now it probably isn't for me, although it was a decent workout, but there were a couple of things that really stood out for me during the class, that aren't what people would associate with a gym class.

The instructor we had is either gay or straight and camp.  For this discussion it doesn't matter whether he is gay or straight, what is relevant is how people read him.  Now, I've had a few male gay friends over the years.  I've read women's magazines, I've seen the films and the TV shows and I've seen how people react to men who read as gay or camp.  There's this concept of the 'gay best friend'.  In popular media the gay best friend is usually a supporting character, who helps the straight woman out with her romance problems, is flamboyant, a great dancer and dresses well. Often they are seen as non-threatening and just like a woman, but better because they are a man.

Then I see straight women in real life around gay men.  And the gay man is perceived in a certain way, they are perceived to be the same as the fictional characters on the telly or in the books.  And it strikes me that the women are treating the gay man as a commodity.  As an idea, not as an individual.  They all want a gay best friend, and they want them to act in a certain way.  They don't care about the individual.  They want the concept.  And sometimes it seems like they are fawning over the gay man, and vying with each other for his attention.  And I wonder why is a gay man afforded more (temporary, assumed) status than a straight man, or a straight woman, or a gay woman?  Or a bisexual woman or man.  What is it about the gender relationships and power balances that drives some women to want a gay best friend as opposed to a friend?

The whole thing is insulting it commodifies gay men and reduces them to their sexuality and an idea, a package.

And I see the women in the gym acting in this way with this instructor.  And it frustrates and saddens me.  Now this is not to say that the instructor is displeased with these women.  It's not to say that they aren't genuinely friends.  But it still saddens me because I think the relationship is riddled with subtle homophobia.

As for the performative sexuality part.  Well, the class was opened with the sentence, 'what happens in sh'bam, stays in sh'bam'.  I wasn't aware that I was signing up to a secret soriety, but that sentence seems to put forward an idea that the class is an exclusive club.  Then throughout the class there were women posing and strutting and checking themselves out in the mirror.  Now, the class is meant to be fun, and silly, and it is based on 'the hottest dance moves', but what I didn't anticipate was something which was encouraging us to shake our arse, our boobs and act like we were the sexiest things on the planet.

And that's what I mean by performative sexuality - I don't want to do that in the gym.  I'm there to work out and to get fitter.  I'm OK doing all that in a club (especially if I'm drunk), but at the gym I don't want it.  I'm not comfortable in an atmosphere that encourages you to perform sexuality, unless it's in a club, and even then sometimes I just want to cut loose and not give a fuck about being hot.  I don't want to have sex and sexuality creep into every area of my life.  I'm not a prude for saying that, I just think that there is a time and a place, and it is not in a gym.

A few months ago I was waiting to go into a CX Worx class.  It's to strengthen your core and improve your abs.  It's good, but it is bloody hard work.  Anyway, before this class there was this 40 something dude and his mate also waiting.  And 3 women in our 20s/30s.  The 40 something dude started the conversation by commenting about the Les Mills name - he doesn't know how to pronounce it. But he was leering, and insinuating that pronouncing it 'Lez' (not 'Lay') would be funny, and why would anyone have a name pronounced 'Lez'.  Which is incredibly childish.  He seemed to want us to join in with him.  We didn't.

One of the women explained how the class worked, what it did and why it is good.  Then he started saying that all of us lovely women didn't need to to work out, and he doesn't think any of the women here need to exercise hard.

I'm sure he thought he was complimenting us, but what he was actually doing was commenting and judging our bodies.  I don't want my body judged at a gym.  I don't want it judged by a  stranger.  I don't want it's attractiveness measured up.  The only possible way I want my body measured at a gym is to discuss how to get bigger muscles.  The other women were either giving nervous titters by this point or just doing half smiles.  I was probably glaring.

The thing is, he asked about the class, but really wanted to talk about our bodies.  he wasn't interested in what the women were saying, just in his own views.  Prick.  I was very pleased to see that he didn't cope very well with the class.

And that's my gym update.

More on Thatcher

So, as I sort of said in my last post I felt sort of conflicted about Thatcher's death.  Not anymore I don't.  I have been in a great mood all afternoon - since I heard the news.

I know this makes me a bad person. I know you shouldn't gloat or celebrate someone's death.  But I don't care.  I'm happy she's dead.

She brought in Section 28 which prohibited schools talking about homosexuality and bisexuality.  Effectively, schools coudln't mentioned lesbian, gay or bisexual people existed.  I regard that law as a hate crime.  It led to thousands upon thousands of kids being unaware they were normal, unaware there was nothing wrong with them.  It denied them access to resources to help them come out, it denied them support.  It allowed schools to turn a blind eye to homophobic bullying.   In all my time in school, being gay was mentioned once, when in the sixth form a Sociology teacher said Section 28 existed which was why they were unable to even mention homosexuality or bisexuality.  When I think of how confused I was growing up, when I couldn't work out whether I was gay or bisexual, when I think of all the self doubt and anxiousness this caused me, I know this could have been avoided or at the very least reduced if schools could even acknowledge that LGB people existed.  For Section 28 alone I am glad she's dead.

Here are a few more choice quotes about her, floating about twitter today:

@PeterTatchell #Thatcher legislated UK's first new anti-gay law in 100 years: Section 28. She mocked the right to be #gay. No such right she said. #LGBT

@LorrieHearts

Thatcher's death is throwing up a lazy misconception that never fails to enrage me: that acting decisively makes a woman a feminist. Wrong.

‏@thisisrjg

I was head librarian at one of my secondary schools. One job I was given was to remove all Oscar Wilde books because of Clause 28. #dingdong

‏@seyd

O' the irony: RT @calumsplath: "I owe nothing to women's lib. The feminists hate me, don't they? I don't blame them. For I hate feminism....

‏@swanstonmuir

“Thatcher on feminism: "I hate feminism. It is a poison." Thatcher on Mandela: "He is a terrorist." Thatcher on Pinochet: "Welcome."

Another Angry Woman ‏@stavvers 5h

Let's remember Thatcher introduced Section 28, which means my school was forbidden for teaching me that I exist.

‏@Paul_Cornell

Except Thatcher's not dead. She's in every bloody atom of this so-called coalition's Britain.

‏@JamesDRobinson

So Thatcher's dead? No loss, fucking hated her.

‏@GigerPunk

"The impact she made here", @bbcwalestoday? That'd be shutting all the mines, surely?

‏@davidwynne

Anyway. I was the child of a single mother who worked in education in the 80s......and experienced extreme homophobic bullying at school in the 90s, while Section 28 was still in force, so maybe I'm biased.

@davidwynne

Thatcher directly and deliberately caused serious suffering for millions of people. Of COURSE a lot of them are happy she's dead.

It's not nice or pretty, but it's completely natural, and frankly, earned. So shut yer fucking pie holes. Let 'em celebrate.

I'd argue that this is maybe the one instance where it's not the people celebrating who lack empathy...

So, yes I am spiteful.   Fuck it.

Thatcher is dead

Good grief.  I can't quite believe it.  I'm not going to have a party because I think that's crass, and as an individual, I feel sad that she suffered and had dementia in her later years, but regarding what she did while in power....I loathe her.  I loathe her legacy, I loathe her politics, I loathe her actions, her rhetoric and I loathe her successors.  I do actually feel slightly cheered that she's now dead.  Which makes me a pretty terrible person, I know.

On twitter, @pgofton writes: This is a woman who had my mother in tears at the thought of her children dying in a nuclear war. Fuck her and fuck her legacy.

@paulcornell says: Except Thatcher's not dead. She's in every bloody atom of this so-called coalition's Britain.

@simon_price01 says: As a friend of mine succinctly put it, "Thatcher is dead. Now we need to kill off Thatcherism."

My twitter timeline is going to be full of rejoicing over the next few days.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  She ruined people's lives.  But I know that it's not a good character trait to celebrate over someone's death.  Mind you, people celebrate over dictator's deaths.  Now I know she wasn't a dictator but she did terrible, terrible things.

Abortion Support Network newsletter April

Here's the April newsletter from ASN.  Please read it an consider supporting them.

• Report from the AGM
• New website
• ASN in the news
• Women we’ve helped
• Putting the “Fun” in Fundraising
• Call for hosts in Manchester and Liverpool

Report from the AGM

Thanks so much to all the volunteers and supporters who came to our AGM and party! From continuing to increase the number of women we are helping to strengthening our relationships with grassroots organisation in Ireland and Northern Ireland, to growing ASN’s volunteer network, we have A LOT to be proud of. If you missed the party, you can follow this link to our 2012 Annual Report  If you would like a hard copy of the report, please email us.

We also wanted to shout out to ASN’s AMAZING VOLUNTEERS. Whether they are letting women stay in their homes overnight, taking calls from women in desperate circumstances, designing our annual report, writing this eBulletin, managing our Twitter account and Facebook page or giving us advice on the best way to move forward, our volunteers are PRO CHOICE ROCK STARS.

And finally, at the AGM we said goodbye to two of our longstanding trustees - our treasurer and the chair of our board. Words cannot express our gratitude for how much they have helped us and we look forward both to working with them in different capacity in future as well as working with the new trustees that will be announced in our next Newsletter.

New website!

If you’ve visited www.abortionsupport.org.uk lately you may have noticed a few changes. We’ve updated our website to be more user friendly for both our service users and our supporters. Hope you like it!

ASN in the News

This month, ASN was featured in the Spring Issue of Bitch Magazine, "The new law of the land: pro-choice meets pro-church in Northern Ireland's first abortion clinic". 

We also took part in a Guardian live chat on access to abortion on 13 March.

 Women we’ve helped

In March, ASN heard from 26 WOMEN, including:

The mother of a teenager who was drugged and raped at a birthday party, which brought echoes of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case to this side of the Atlantic. This family was faced with a number of hardships in addition to this crime, and while they were able to raise a small amount of money, this was used to pay for a passport for the young woman. Before they contacted us, the girl was so desperate to end the pregnancy that she tried to self abort and self harm. ASN was able to cover the cost of the procedure as well as flights for the young woman and her mother. Said her mother: "God bless you all. What you are doing will eventually save my daughter's life".

“Myself and my partner have found ourselves in a very difficult financial situation as he has recently been made unemployed and we are struggling to keep our home. I have suffered from depression for over a year now and am finding this situation very difficult to cope with. I have recently been ill and believe that is why the contraceptive pill did not work.”

A mother living with friends as all her utilities have been cut off. In debt and just out of an abusive relationship where her partner beat and raped her. Receiving treatment for depression and panic attacks and has attempted suicide in the past. Has sold everything non-essential to cover cost of food and other necessities for herself and her children and was also able to raise 50 Euros towards the cost of her abortion. ASN was able to book her flights and pay the majority of the cost for the procedure.

“I'm 19 and a student and I'm approximately 18 weeks pregnant. I can’t financially and emotionally support a child so I'm planning on having an abortion. The problem is my partner and I have both been saving and scraping money together but we're still short. I was enquiring as to whether we could get any assistance, be it monetary or just providing us with somewhere to stay when we get there.”

“I am the mother of one little adorable boy. I have been living in Ireland for many years but am not Irish. My partner has been out of work a while now and last month I have been told that my job was gone too. A few days later I found out that I was pregnant. In our current situation it is impossible for us to rejoice over a new arrival when we don't even know how we're going to manage to pay our next rent. It is with a lot of sadness that we come to the agreement of having an abortion. But we know that it would be unfair to bring up a child in such unstable environment.”

“I am in need of an abortion. I am from Ireland and do not want to continue this pregnancy. I have booked an appointment with Marie Stopes in East London. Are these a reputable clinic?”

Heard from a young woman on her way to the clinic for a termination due to a foetal anomaly. While we were able to arrange a last minute grant, the client wound up being turned away from the clinic as her BMI was too high for them to perform the procedure.

We thank these women and men for allowing us to share their stories.

Fabulous fundraisers!

We keep telling people how easy it is to “fun-raise” for ASN, and here are a few examples!

Aine O'B hosted a cocktail party and raised £111.00 for ASN! Says Aine: “It was really easy to raise money for ASN, and also to raise awareness. Lots of the people I invited to the cocktail party had no idea abortion was so restricted in Ireland, and more said they knew but had never thought about it or had never really thought about abortion at all.”

Bébhinn F helps host monthly Dublin Nights for Choice and in March raised €560/£468 for ASN! The next Night for Choice is this Saturday, 6 April, and will benefit the Abortion Rights Campaign of Ireland.

Mary B is a London-based artist who is having an exhibition from 7-19 April at the Polish Cultural Centre (POSK) at 238-246 King Street, Hammersmith W6. There will be a private view Sunday 7 April from 5-8 pm. Check it out – and should you be an art enthusiast and moved to make a purchase, a percentage of proceeds from sold work will be donated to ASN!

Doesn’t fundraising for ASN sound fun and easy? Please do get involved!

If you are a runner, the Flora Women's Mini Marathon - held annually in Dublin - is the largest all-female running event in the world! This year it will be held on the 3rd of June at 2pm (the Irish June bank holiday) and will start at St. Stephen's Green. If you're interested, please sign up for the Mini Marathon here and email beardm@tcd.ie to find out about raising funds for ASN – and ASN t-shirts!

Or you can check out ASN’s fundraising toolkit which is chock full of easy to implement ideas for fundraising.

Call for hosts in Manchester and Liverpool

ASN has recently had an uptick in calls from women in the Isle of Man, as well as from women travelling from N/Ireland to Manchester and Liverpool. Do you live within 30 minutes of the MSI Manchester, South Manchester Private Clinic (SMPC) or bpas Merseyside clinics and have a spare room, pull out sofa or air mattress and the desire to have a direct impact on a woman in need? Please get in touch - even if you’ve been in touch previously – as we’ll be scheduling a day in both Liverpool and Manchester for host interviews. Contact Mara or 07913 353 530 if interested.

 

Call +44 (0) 7897 611 593 or email info@abortionsupport.org.uk

Abortion Support Network (ASN) is an all-volunteer charity that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel from Ireland and pay privately for abortions in England. The cost ranges between £400 and £2000 depending on circumstance and stage of pregnancy. While other organisations campaign for law reform, ASN is the only group on record providing women travelling for abortions with the thing they need most immediately: money. Registered Charity Number 1142120

Copyright © 2013 Abortion Support Network, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Abortion Support Network

London

London, Greater London W4

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Wonder Woman Wednesday

Aesthetically fabulous.

By Jamie Rimmer.  You can find him on twitter @theyallfalldown and on deviantart.

The Big Bang Theory

I got the season 1 box set from friends for my birthday.  Just watched the first episode.

People say that it is demeaning towards nerds.  It occurs to me that if you took out the canned laughter and look at it as a show about a group of good friends, it's not demeaning at all.  It's fun.  Sheldon is ribbing Leonard a lot about his attempts to score with Penny.  Leonard is trying hard to score.  Penny is very friendly, polite and sweet.  The other two also seem fairly normal.  The only difference between this and shows like Friends is the science references, and the canned laughter encourages you to laugh at the men, apparently for being intelligent.  Which is fairly similar to how Ross was treated in Friends.

But if you ignore the canned laughter, you don't get a show laughing at intelligence.  The text itself doesn't mock the characters.  It's good.

Gender Through Comics

On April 2nd a free online course about gender and comics is starting! Gender Through Comics is a massive open online course and anyone, from any area of the world, can enroll. The course is not accredited and homework will not be marked. What it does have going for it is an interesting syllabus, interviews with creators and online lectures. As well as being free of charge it should provide a great, structured forum for people to discuss gender and comics. Obviously, I have enrolled in it.

The required reading can be bought in digital format from Comixology, or you could get the books from the library. There is an excellent choice of texts here - Strangers in Paradise, Superman: Birthright, Action Comics #1, 2 Wonder Woman issues, Secret Six: 6 degrees of Devastation and Y the Last Man are the ones I am currently familiar with.

When I was at Uni I wasn't reading comics, and my gender analysis skills weren't developed enough to make informed, convincing arguments. I knew next to nothing about intersectionality, and I wasn't really able to apply real world experience to feminist theory. I identified as feminist, but wasn't anywhere near as sophisticated in my arguments and understanding as I am now. Blogging for 6 yrs has really helped me & now I'm ready to do more structured thinking. So I'm pleased the course exists and is running.

My hopes for this course are that people will engage with the topics and discuss it as they would in an academic setting. By that I mean take it seriously, listen to each other's viewpoints and not devolve into mud slinging (this happens quite a lot in the comics blogosphere). I love learning and I would dearly love to do an MA, but there is no way I can (money, mortgage, work etc..) so I'm really glad I can study online, in a (hopefully) academic environment.

I would love to arrange a UK study group (I am particularly interested in the UK perspective on this), so if anyone would like to join in could you leave me a comment, tweet me @sarangacomics or email me paicomics at yahoo dot co uk.

Follow the course leader on twitter @christyblanch, follow the course account @supermooc or the hashtag #supermooc. The course website is here and the reading list is here.

You have until 6th April to enroll.

Other comics related 'things' people might be interested in are:

Women in Comics Europe - a facebook group promoting women in comics.

The Beat website is doing 24 hours of Women in Cartoonists -

Comix 4 Equality - an EU funded project providing an award for the Best Unpublished Comic Strip Authors with Migrant Backgrounds. Women are submitting stories and women's stories are being told. The website is here.  The facebook group is here.

Comixology comic reviews

I am SO behind.  These may be very short.  Since it's been a while since I read them I'll just have to skim them again, oh no, the horror! ;)

Spoilers ahead for: Power Girl 13, Batman L’il Gotham 4/5/6, Green Arrow 16/17, Justice League 16 and Aquaman 16.

Comic reviews for books picked up on 23/03/2013

Spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman 18, Supergirl 18, Earth 2 10, Ultimate Spider-Man 21.
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Pictures!

I'm getting slack with reviewing things and doing proper blog posts.  I know.  So have some pictures instead.

 I got new trainers.  They have Cheetara on them.  They are wonderful.

This is the final panel of Wonder Woman 18.  I think it's lovely.  I have Thoughts about the Wonder Woman comic.  I shall Put Them Into Writing soon.

 Flowers that look like monkeys!  And like men with dangly bits!

I have a story in here!

 I saw a picture of a 'unicorn' on twitter recently.  It was a lady lying with her head against a man's groin, so his erect, aah, member, gave her a horn.  While quite funny, I feel the above picture is nicer!

A Calvin & Hobbes bedroom.  How cool.

This is Hawkgirl by Andy Kappellusch.  I love the muscles and the feathery framing of her!

This is also by Andy.  Not ehow happy kara looks.  I don't think she's looked happy in the new DCU.  Bah.  She also looks older here, and def like she should be called Superwoman.  Which, incidentally, is what non comics readers always call Supergirl.  They never ever give her the 'girl' suffix.  Interesting.

Because it was my birthday recently, Andy drew me a Supergirl waving happy birthday:

:D  It's a Matrix Kara., but looks, personality and temperament wise, like the pre-crisis Kara.  Thank you Andy!

I put a couple of pictures of me in some sort of very casual costumes looking like a dork on my tumblr, and I thought I'd crosspost them here:

See. Dork.

My tumblr is fast turning into a Supergirl tumblr.  There's lots of great images there too.  Go have a look.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

I have never actually seen this show.

Ostara!

Happy Ostara everyone!  Today is the Spring equinox where day and night are of equal length and tomorrow the days will be longer than the nights.  It's also a time of fertility and growth - that can be spiritual and physical.

Here are my decorations:

 

I have an Easter tree on which I have hung little eggs and some Easter chicks.  I have sewn little flower buttons in spirals on 2 corners of the cloth.  I have put a ladybird at each corner as they are normally seen about now, although I've only seen one this year, and that was 2 weeks ago.  The daffodil and the hare are common sights at this time of year, and for me, really do mean Spring has arrived.

About 3 weeks ago a tree in next door's garden has been budding - I can see the yellow shoots now.  The trees at the back of our garden only started showing new growth on the weekend.  I was cycling along a section of the river yesterday, and usually by this time of year the grass is covered in a blanket of bright, blooming daffodils.  Yesterday, the green stalks and leaves were up, but only about 10 daffs were blooming. Further along the crocuses were still bright, as they have been since Imbolc, but this year they were nearly all white, not the usual purple.  With the  patch of snowdrops nearby it made it feel quite wintery.

Last week we had snow again, both here in Norwich and on the continent.  Today it is merely raining.  I dearly, dearly hope that the weather picks up soon.  My determination that Imbolc marks the start of Spring has again meant nothing!

Tonight I shall cook a pearl barley soup and make spinach and thyme pasties.  I shall have celebratory food on the weekend as we have friends visiting for lunch - I expect that will be quiche, salad, perhaps some roasted veg, cheese and biscuits.  I shall also bake a lemon and poppy seed cake and honey and ginger biscuits for their visit.  I shall permit myself one day off Lent for that Sunday.

I see that today is also the UN International Day of Happiness.  As my contribution to this, and in honour of the sun regaining strength, have a listen to The Sun Has Got His Hat On:

Have a great day everybody!

Comic reviews for week of 13/03/2013

Spoilers ahead for Animal Man 18, Demon Knights 18, Fearless Defenders 2, Thor God of Thunder 6, Superman: Silver Banshee 2, Superman Confidential 7.
Really do not carry on reading if you haven't read Animal Man 18.
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More costume photos

I updated my LSCC photo post with a couple more Lanterns.  Specifically, G'nort and Star Sapphire/Blue Lantern (me).  Go have a look!  The new photos are near the bottom of the post.

I have realised I didn't get a full body shot of me, so you can't see my blue boots.  Darn.  Oh well.  It's not like I'm never going to wear it again!  Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow for my picking up new comics day.

Reviews of comics that came out this decade

Well, in the last month anyhow.  In the weeks preceeding March 2nd if I'm being exact.  Here they are:

As you might be able to tell I hadn't been in for a few weeks.

Onwards with the reviews!

Spoilers ahead, obvs.

Mike Grell's Green Arrow

This is not a batch of comics I picked up at LSCC!  This is a batch I picked up from ebay, when I was intending to only buy the Black Canary one. Ooops.  The picture is missing one issue, number 7.

Black Canary 7 completes my collection of this 12 issue run.  It's very good. I adore the cover.  In it, Dinah gets tricked into helping the CIA, but they aren't up front with her so it goes wrong.  The killer escapes, then find him again and it's all over.  I miss the pre New 52 Dinah.  The new one just isn't the same.

Green Arrow 7 has Ollie and Dinah living together above Sherwood Florist.  I would love to live in this building - it's a stone tower, it's amazing.  Anyway, Ollie decides to go off hunting criminals in South America.  Dinah can't follow him because she's got a business to run.  Dinah then bumps into someone who tried to rob her a few months back.  A curious confluence of events later and I suspect that in the next issue Dinah and Ollie's paths will cross.  So it's a pity I don't have the next issue.

Green Arrow 13
Ollie returns from a trip (presumably the one started in issue 7) with some injuries.  Dinah is not impressed.  She forgives him and they have sex in their amazing tower.  Ollie does some deliveries fro Dinah and rescues a cat from a tree, intervenes in a domestic violence incident (not very well I must say), and helps a woman with a flat tire.

Green Arrow 14
Someone is trying to assassinate Oliver Queen.  He goes back to the people he encountered in issue 13, with amusing results.  I shan't spoil it, as it;s worth getting these two issues .

Green Arrow 20
This is about the aftermath of Ollie shooting a teenager.  That's good enough but then he wakes up on a  mountain as Hal Jordan has dragged him though to sober him up and make him deal with it.  They then have a fight.  It's rather amusing.

Green Arrow 28
Travis Morgan, fella who's been living in Skataris for a long time, turns up in Seattle and is mistaken for Ollie - they are identical.  Because Ollie has pissed a lot of people off, Morgan gets the brunt of this and everyone wants to pick a fight with him.  The issue opens with some crooks discussing how to get rid of Ollie/Morgan.  Morgan goes to Sherwood Florist and picks a fight with Ollie and patronises Dinah, so Dinah lays him out.

Then there's trouble outside the amazing tower and they all go out and fight for their property (and the love of fighting, because it is these three).  I had forgotten about this story arc and it really tickles me :)

Green Arrow 47
Oliver is in Africa trying to stop illegal poaching.  I don't know why.  Things aren't straightforward as the anti poaching gang have different ideas on how to proceed.  It does seem to be quite well researched though, as there is lots of detail that doesn't need to be in there.  That and the fact they they list a technical advisor in the credits.

I cannot wait to get my paws on the rest of this run :)

Green Lantern comics from LSCC

Being a Blue Lantern for the day encouraged me to buy old Green Lantern issues.

Green Lanterns 66 and 67 didn't make a whole lot of sense.  Hal is yellow and Guy is red, and they are fighting and evil Guardian, and personifications of the emotional spectrum and then they get captured.  Sinestro and Indigo are stuck in a book (THE book if I remember Blackest Night correctly).  Then in 67 lots of other Green Lanterns arrive and Hal and Guy get free, Carol, Sinestro, Indigo, Atrocitus, Larfleeze are all released from the big black book and the rings don't go where they are supposed too.

All in all both issues are very pretty and colourful so I liked them.  67 had these panels which break my heart:

Green Lantern Corps 1 (new 52) was OK.  Guy and John can't settle on earth, or rather can't get jobs as it is well known they are Green Lanterns and prospective employers can't face the increased insurance, potential abscences and in John's case, safety standards.  So they head to Oa, meet Salaak and piggyback onto a scouting mission.  Interesting stuff, but I don't feel the urge to pick up other issues.  I'm happy dipping in and out of these ones.

Misc DC titles from LSCC

I honestly have no idea if these posts are interesting to anyone.

I have no idea why I bought the GL/GA issue - I have the trades.

Superboy 25 is well worth digging out as Knockout has a large part in it.  It was really nice to be reminded of her role in this series.  Not only do we get her origin story but the other Furies come looking for her and she wins the fight.  Hence the pileup on the cover.  There is something quite bizzare about this issue as there are 5 posters in the back.  One is Superboy about o get eaten by sharks, one is him with a rainbow dinosaur and a groupie, one shows him being carried by Krypto (by the collar).  The fourth is him and Impulse with two ladies and the final one is this:

I'm quite keen on the logos across the top of the page.

Impulse 19 is Bart's efforts to get to sleep and his dreams.  Poor sod.  It must be very boring when you're a speedster from the future forced to do everything in normal time.

Shazam 1
I'm sure I already have this too.  Mary and Billy are powerless as the Trials of Shazam have granted the magic to Freddie.  Mary at first appears bitter about this, but then we realise this si justa  ploy to brign Blaze into the open to Freddie can defeat her.  I forget Blaze's origin, but I do recall how I was pleased when she was woven into the Marvel stories.  This issue is a good one.

Starman/Congorilla 1
Despite thinking I already had this, I don't.  This is much better than I expected.  There is a lot going on but it doesn't get confusing as James Robinson plots it really well.  The art is lovely and the switch between timeframes is nicely done.
Starman and Congorilla are on the hunt for Malavar from Gorilla City as he can help them witha  Justice League crisis.  Tthe only problem is that Malavar has the bad guys after him and has some important business to carry out, so when our heroes do find him, they need to fight until business is concluded.  This works out rather well as it turns out that Malavar was resurrecting Tasmanian Devil in a Lazarus pit.  You may remember that he was killed and turned into a rug in Cry for Justice.  Thankfully, no one stays dead in comics.

Marvel purchases from LSCC

Daredevil End of Days 3 I bought direct from David Mack, because Echo is in it.  She's now a teacher.  I suspect from the way that Ben Urich is talking away from her in most of the conversation she's rather an annoyed teacher.  The scenes with Elektra were also good.  Ignore the cover, she's not actually dead.  I would like to buy the rest of the serie snow, but probably in trade.

Black Cat 1 (of 4) was OK.  Discounting the costume, I don't really see the draw in Felicia Hardy.  She's just like Catwoman.  I suppose she's got better taste in lovers.  And her costume is really awesome.

Fantastic Four 1
This certainly makes Fantastic Four 2 make more sense.  It sets up why the FF are going into space.  Reed Richards comes across as a manipulative arrogant bastard.  I'm not sure even Batman is that much of a secretive git.

Black Panther Prelude to Doom War
This is th first issue I've read where Shuri is the Black  Panther, not T'Challa.  She's a very different character and possibly not the best choice to be the Black Panther.  She's impetuous and rash.  She doesn't think things through and she's not really in touch with the Wakandan people.  I'd like her to succeed, but from this issue I don't think she will.
Namor is revealed to be a badass.  I now get his appeal.  He's far scarier than his DC analogue - Aquaman.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

This piece is by a fella on DeviantArt going under the name Patomiro.  He has drawn a lot of Wonder Woman pieces which you can see in his gallery here.
The original page for this piece is here.

Superman comics from LSCC

I managed to pick up a lot of issues that are the first part of two, or three.  Since they were all pretty good I now want to hunt out the remaining issues.  My method of picking Superman comics was whether I liked the cover or not, who wrote and drew it, and if it had characters in that I liked.  I did pretty well because I enjoyed all of them.

Superman - Silver Banshee (part 1 of 2)
I'd never even heard of this before, but the cover is fab, very pulpy, and it features the Silver Banshee, so I bought it.  It's a Halloween issue and the inside art is appropriately spooky and gothic.  I'd love to track down the second part.  It will make go with my other Halloween specials, to be read every October 31st (or thereabouts).

EDIT - Just found the second issue on ebay.  Hooray!

Superman - Strength (part 1 of 3)
A guy blows smoke in Superman's face.  Lois continues her investigative journalism whilst on holiday (a hot dog vendor is shortchanging every other customer) and Superman ends the issue trapped in a portal.  His head is in a goldfish bowl and his body (up to his neck) is floating in a room where the portal originated.  Interspersed with this is a look back at Clark's early years.  I would like to get issues 2 and 3, but not at the current ebay prices of a fiver per issue.  No siree.

Superman 651 - Up, Up and Away part 3
This is the comic in the bottom row of the picture, with the mostly white cover.  It's by Kurt Busiek.  Of course it's good. It's a One Year Later book and Clark doens't have his powers back yet.  Instead Hawkgirl and Green Lantern (Hal) are looking after Metropolis.  The Prankster is causing mayhem and Lex Luthor is stockpiling Kryptonite.  That won't end well.

Superman 661
I'm fairly certain I've already got this one.  Ah well.  It's about Khyrana, cursed by Zeus to suffer incredible pain unless she has the touch of a man, constantly.  He cursed her because she refused to have sex with him, so the curse is about humiliation as much as about pain.  Wonder Woman is as involved in this book as Superman, but even she can't get Khyrana to see sense.  Lois spends a lot of the issue teasing Clark about eyeing up Diana.
On a frivilous note, every time I see this cover I think it's an Insect Queen story.  I shall have to compare an Insect Queen cover with this one and work out why that is.

Superman 660
It's a Prankster issue, told from his point of view, as a showman.  I bought it because it's by Kurt Busiek.  I enjoyed it.

Superman 202
I bought this because the cover has pretty colours on it and Michael Turner drew it*.  I do like Turner's art.  Unfortunately I do not care much for the story and I certainly don't understand what's going on.

Superman Confidential 6
I bought this one because it's by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, and they are always a winning pair.  Metropolis is underwater and everyone has been turned into a mermaid or merman.  i don't know why, but the story is so delightful I don't need to know why.  It ends with 'to be continued' so I hope that means continued in Superman Confidential 7 because I've just bought that off ebay.

Superman Confidential 7 1**
This is done by Darwynn Cooke and Tim Sale so as you can imagine has that 1950s/1960s feel to it.  It's ok.  I don't really like Cooke and Sale that much but thought I'd try this out.  It establishes Clark, Lois and Jimmy as uncorruptible journalists and has Superman exploring his powers.

That's it for this post.  More reviews coming later in the week.

*EDIT - I thought Turner drew it.  Turns out I'm unobservant and he only did the cover
** I typed 7 instead of 1.  They look similar and I'm a fool.

Supergirl comics from LSCC

I'm writing this on a Sunday, sat in my conservatory and I'm struck by how good life can be with enjoyable stories, fresh air, sunlight greenery and birds.  I've spent the morning looking outside and have been delighted with our visitors - we've had a nuthatch and either a greenfinch or a siskin.  I've had a pretty rubbish week but so far, Sunday seems OK.

And now, I get to talk about these comics.

I read Peter David's run illegally a few years ago.  I then went out and bought the two trades which exist of this series - Supergirl (collecting the first 10 issues) and Many Happy Returns (collecting the final issues, 75-80).  I think it's a crying shame that DC haven't released the comics in trades, or even on Comixology.  Peter David has a vocal and large fanbase and it seems like they would make some money on them.  Perhaps there are other issues (pun not intended) around re-publishing, or perhaps this just isn't a priority at all.  It's pretty difficult to find the back issues on ebay or Amazon, at least from UK sellers, so this year I decided to bite the bullet and go hunting for them at the trade stands at LSCC.  Not many stands had any in, but I did pick up what I could, and luckily I got the Plus One issues, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18, and a Supergirl: Team Luthor collection which is pre David, but I couldn't resist.

I should have resisted because I think I already owned the Plus One and Team Luthor issues.

Anyway, these are (thankfully) just as enjoyable as when I first read them.  Plus One has Mary Batson possibly getting groped by a police officer and fighting back as Mary Marvel.  It's not as crass as it sounds, and deals with a complicated situation intelligently.  Mary is a mess of emotions at the time and it's possible she misinterpreted the copper's actions.  Supergirl gets involved and tries to sort out the issue, but it doesn't really get resolved. Readers can make their own minds up about what really happened.

There's a back up with Buzz, Cutter and Mattie where Linda takes her art in a new direction - from sculpting demons to angels.  It signifies her new, happier attitude to life.

Supergirl 11 - Supergirl accidentally frees the Silver Banshee and discovers the Chaos Flow under Leesburg.  I adore the Banshee and loved this issue.

Supergirl 13 - Many young women in Leesburg talk of paralysing dreams and scary but arousing prescence in their room.  So Supergirl encounters demonic possession for a second time.

Supergirl 14 - This is part of the Genesis crossover, which I really don't know much about.  However Leesburg doesn't seem to be affected.  Then Comet turns up, Supergirl visits the Kents, Linda's parents have sex then Linda tells them she's Supergirl, and they disown her.

Supergirl 15 - A really terrible supervillain team called the Extremists turns up.  Linda's parents still don't want to know her, a new comedian turns up in town and Supergirl's powers start changing.  We get the first hints of the earthborn angel she really is.  We also get this gorgeous piece of art:

Supergirl 16 - The Extremists are still causing trouble but thankfully Power Girl has turned up to help out. Unfortunately she is now vulnerable to unprocessed, natural material, like wood, so she gets stabbed by a branch.  Jeez.  Who made that decision?  We get the backstory of Twilight, the Extremists' leader.

Supergirl 18 - Wally, the weird kid who is really God is in this a lot. The issue switches between Wally and his grandparents and Despero/L-Ron fighting Supergirl, who by this point is properly manifesting her flaming wings.  Linda's Dad forgives Linda/Supergirl and makes up with her.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough.  I am going to make a concerted effort to find all the other issues now.

I haven't actually read Team Luthor yet.

Writing up comics

In the last week I have got a lot of comics.  I promised that I'd write up everything I read, so I am going to do so, but as the pile looks like this...

...and is four and a half inches high I can't promise I'll be writing anything substantial.  I also have a lot of comixology purchases to mention too...

On the plus side all this spending will give me lots of blog fodder!

So, to start, let's have a look at a few odd bits and pieces:

Spandex is about a group of gay superheroes living in Brighton. In this first issue they confront a 50 foot lesbian who is destroying Brighton Pier.  For those of you not aware of Brighton, it's the gay capital of the UK and the pier seems ot get burnt down with alarming regularity.  In fact I do believe they now have two piers.
The art isn't great, but something about the story shines through.  It's a tongue in cheek, campy repsentation of gay culture, and I suspect that is why I liked it.  I'm now quite gutted I didn't buy all seven issues at the con.
You can visit the website and buy copies here: http://spandexcomic.wordpress.com/

The two books at the bottom of the above picture are sketchbooks by Mahmud Asrar.  From Fallout Weekly (on the right) this beuatiful picture is included, which I hadn't seen before:

 From Blowing off Steam this Cloak and Dagger picture is included, which reminded me I must try his X-Men title:

 If you like his art do try and find his sketchbooks.  They are well worth the money.

I also got a copy of MarineMan, by Ian Churchill.  It was written and drawn by him and is very different from his work on Supergirl.  It's far more cartoony than his Supergirl - more of the classic superhero jaw on the hero and more curves on the women.  I am intrigued by it and would like to check out more, mostly because the art interests me.  It's such a big change from his Supergirl work.  Looking on Churchill's blog (and from meeting him at LSCC - he was asking fans to sign a petition for shark protection) he does seem to be very passionate about the marine environment and conservation.  For which I respect him even more.