Jan: I've actually been back a day, but I spent my Internet time yesterday obsessively updating the Steph wiki.
Feb: Woke up with a bit of a sore throat today. It's gotten much better, but I'm still milking it for all it's worth.
Mar: So, it was a snow day today, and I've been reading Robin to mom, and being reminded of the happy fun times of the good ol' days.
Apr: Getting really sick of high school. Dear God, let it be over with already! Also, starting to have nerves related to my upcoming AP exams.
May: I kind of got onto an impassioned rant about Supergirl on s_d.
Jun: I'd like to direct everyone to innerbrat's lovely post on the murder of George Tiller.
Jul: So, my job at the comic shop is going well.
Aug: I'll seperate all this stuff into sections, so it will be easier to read. Female Force Comics...totally suck, as far as I can tell.
Sep: My laptop's back!
Oct: Sorry I haven't been very active lately- I've been busy with the college workload and working on personal stuff.
Nov: went to the Lit club Halloween party as Supergirl- it was a whole lot of fun!
Dec: bla, I'm studying for math finals and stuff but I keep getting distracted by like...funny twilight recaps and other stupid shit.
...Huh. Well, off to study.
- Mood:
cold
In 2007, I edited it because WTFInvisibleFrankTieri!Spoiler had appeared in Gotham Underground, and I was hoping madly and foolishly this meant Steph was going to bust out of the fridge.
In 2008, I edited it to include Steph's appearance in Teen Titans. She had busted out of the fridge and now she was actually appearing in books that weren't Robin.
This year, I'll probably be editing it to include Steph's World Finest Team up in Supergirl. As Batgirl. She has her own title and everything now.
A lot can change in a year.
So I realized I must have moved the wiki to it's proper wikia home shortly before Christmas (before it wasn't housed on a regular wikia site, it was on a really crappy place that didn't even show up on google).
Heh, I remember at first my submission was rejected because "she has an article in the Batman wiki"
and I was basically like "rrrrarggh look there is a Cassandra Cain wiki, so Steph should be able to have one too, and also the stupid Batman wiki is never updated, I've already SET UP the freaking wiki, so there's definitely enough information about her to make one and I just need to move it over here, and she is not just an extension of Batman (because I say so), and she she is an icon for the feminist comics book community I mean haven't you ever seen Girl Wonder and she was the first female Robin SHE IS IMPORTANT DAMMIT GIVE ME MY WIIIIKKKI." And they were all "geez, okay fine".
Anyway, looking up the wiki description the wiki was officially moved to the main wikia site today two years ago. So I figure I should mark the occasion!
I have met so many amazing people through this wiki. I have met
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
k9feline who is a super-sweet person who whipped up a super amazing chronology page and loves Ted Kord and the JLI, I have met stephsvoice who makes truly amazing live action Spoiler videos with a rad costume and is also super nice and I have met LevraiMrX, who is a french Spoiler fan who seems really nice with the aid of Google translator, and has donated so many scans to the Steph wiki that it is freakin' amazing and I am super grateful. He also gives me summaries, which I always have to edit or completely redo to make comprehensible, but this is great because otherwise I would never ever do issue summaries because I am way too lazy and they are way too boring. He motivates me!Honestly, I've never met a Steph fan who wasn't a pretty awesome person. That's pretty great.
I think if I hadn't put so much energy into the super steph scan series and the steph wiki, I really wouldn't like Steph as much as I do. She would still be one of my favorites, but probably roughly equal with Cassandra and Babs- instead of THE favorite. I did the scans series because I noticed there weren't nearly enough Steph scans on s_d, and I did the wiki because I realized there were no Steph websites, and the poor girl deserves somethin'. I got the idea for it from the Cass Cain Mainframe Ruthborn at superdickery started. I figured if Cass had a wiki, her crimefighting buddy should have one too. Anyway, putting all this time and energy and research just requires me to think about Steph a whole lot and be reminded of all the things I love about her, so she ended up being the fave. I just got swept up in the whole thing!
Anyway, I'd just like to celebrate that the world's most comprehensive Stephanie Brown site has been kicking for two whole years. The site has seen an awesome female character who basically had everything bad that can happen to women in comics happen to her- dying for the angst of the male characters, being used to make they guys look good, being forgotten, tortured and fridged- rise from the ashes and come busting back into the world of comics and then get her own title (exploring her relationship with an awesome character like Babs no less! And a title that is specifically fun and positive and girl-friendly so far!) and prominent role in the DCU. This is amazing, and I can only hope the good trend continues for Steph and other female and minority characters in comics- and heck, comics in general.
And I'd like to thanks k9feline, stephsvoice, LevraiMrX and scottyquick for their contributions to the site. Let's hope for another great year! Viva Steph!
To round the whole thing off, here's a great splash page by Jamal Igle for the upcoming World's Finest teamup.
Beautiful piece as always. Love the Gotham night sky. Heh, I either read Steph's expression as trying not to crash into Kara or "Oh god, I'm gonna see up her skirt- Oh, THANK GOD she's wearing shorts!"
I can't wait to read that issue!
- Mood:
accomplished
Also I found out I have 250$ I need to spend before the semester ends next week @ Highsmith or it all goes to waste. A bit less than that now since I bought pizza for everyone but. I'm going to buy a crate of food or something. Maybe a dozen and I'll donate some to Manna Food Bank or something. I have problemmmms.
Anyway, on the comics front:
Blackest Night Wonder Woman:
My hands down favorite moment has to be when Max is sitting there and Wonder Woman is all: he wants me angry. And you see her coming and glowing pink it just says Love.... and then BAM SPLASH PAGE WONDER WOMAN CHOPS MAX'S HEAD OFF WITHOUT EVEN BOTHERING TO LOOK AT HIM.
Wonder Woman: He never did understand me.
Oh hell yeah, Wonder Woman just casually pwned Zombie!Max while still feeling the POWAH of LOVE. Badass.
Though I'm sure the whole Diana=love thing has to do with the main event and Johns just gave Diana love because "Love is a girly emotion and Wonder Woman is a girl." (I mean, look at the Star Sapphires. Oh god, they had better not stick Diana in that atrocious uniform) Rucka makes it work here. After all, Diana was gifted with a loving heart.
Nicola Scott rocks the house as always, and while some of Diana's dialougue/monologue did feel a little stilted and sacharrine (Max, you fool. Love can't be taken, only given.) The moments of badassawesome made up for it (the cool use of the lasso- in a perfect world, this would mean for once Wonder Woman gets to save the day in a major crossover...but no, that will not happen. Nice for Rucka to give us a look at what coulda been, though...the soldiers sticking around because it's their job...Max's body trying to shoot the guards..."Life is much more that seven simple colors"). This read like a nice Wondy one shot- not so much like part of a miniseries, and it was definitely a quick read- but I liked it.
4.5/5
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1 and 2:
I picked this up because I always liked the concept of Cindy as a superspy (I've read the Fables trades- I grew bored when Snow White retired to raise the kidlets) and I've heard this was pretty good. It was definitely decent, I really enjoyed the opening of the second issue when Cindy did her little flashback to the first time a guy came at her from behind with a knife and she got a truly badass smile going...and then of course, ownage happened. It's always fun to see all the little Fables running around. A fun title, if a little exposition heavy. I'll probably get the rest of the mini.
4/5
Empowered: The Wench of a Million Sighs
Darrin bullied me into getting this. I've been hesitant on Empowered. It looks mildly amusing, but god, I can't stand the art style, with the fish lips and constant sweating. And it's supposed to be great satire and char development and all...but I think I might be uncomfortable with the softcore porn-y aspects, I don't mind that other people like it, but it's not really my thing.
This was okay, but more alien belt guys narration was more annoying that funny and al lot of the jokes fell flat with me. But it was nice to see the hero kick ass at the end? The constant blocked out swears were kinda annoying too. I can understand that the trades are probably better, so maybe I'll look over them in the store or something
2/5
That's really it. I kinda wanna do a rant post of HP fandom misoginy or Twilight, but I shouldn't while I should be studying, so that will have to be later. So...later!
 Dear Santa...Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last Sunday I put money in sanasorus 's expired parking meter (14 points). In March I punched obsessive0514 in the arm (-10 points). Last Thursday I gave katescorner a kidney (1000 points). In May I helped missmayze across the street (6 points). In June I helped looking2dastars hide a body (-173 points). Overall, I've been nice (837 points). For Christmas I deserve an Easy-Bake Oven! Sincerely, |
Kate, I want a thank you for that kidney.
looking2dastars , it was worth it. No one will ever suspect you killed Kreisberg now.I had an Easy Bake oven when I was eight. I'm psyched for my new one!
Actually, the middle was pretty good. Bella was terribly mopey and self absorbed as always, (SULKING FOR THREE MONTHS ON END. ABANDONING HER FRIEND IN HOPE OF GETTING GANGRAPED SO SHE CAN SEE EDWARD TELLING HER TO BE CARRRREFUL. GOD I FORGOT THE HORROR) but I was reminded by how I really liked Jacob's sweetness and banter. Too bad he turns into a sexual assaulting loser in the third book and a creepy imprinter in the fourth (so I heard). New Moon!Jacob is too good for Bella anyway, so she and Edward can have each other. And I also liked all the non-Edward vampires. I forgot how cool they all were!
Also the CGI wolves and the end fight were nice. Oh, though since we need to focus on Edward's fight, Alice gets taken out by a single chokehold, and I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be the best fighter in the books...I can't remember...Anyway, despite being a hundred years old and having all the time in the world, vamps don't know basic martial arts techniques like bending a dudes fingers back when he grabs your neck instead of uselessly clutching his arm.
The rest of it was bad. But giggle worthy! Edward's first appearance was hiiiii larious! Super slow motion walk and dramatic music like he's a fashion model. Funny.
What saddened me was a little girl behind me declaring the movie her "ALL TIME FAVORITE after TWILIGHT!" and telling this other girl "Don't rank it, because I know you only just like it, not love it, and the fact you don't love it hurts me personally."
...noooooo brainwashing our youth into liking stalker bad boys and being useless damsels in distress WHY.
When I was little, I felt that way about Harry Potter. For this little girl to feel fangirlish glee for Twilight...MAJOR step down in terms of everything from plots to characters to strong female role models and good messages.
Now that that's over, comic reviews:
Wonder Woman
Huh. On one hands, the plots and characters are interesting. And Donna gets a good showing.
On the other hand, Diana mopes uselessly in her jail cell and I'm really tired of that sort of thing. She's WONDER WOMAN, dammit. She should be FIXING the problem of Themyscria, she should be fixing the gods, saving the Amazons, saving her mother, getting shit done, not waiting to be executed in a jail cell because "oh no they have my mom". Well, don't let them TAKE her.
Honestly, I don't know anymore. I still LIKE the title okay, and Gail says the self doubt thing will stop with issue 40 (not to mention we'll be seeing some villians be reinvented and all kinds of awesome. I can't wait)- but I don't understand or agree with the direction of the title, and it feels like these plots are dragging out and there's so many OOC things going on with Diana and Hippolyta and the Amazons....I just want this mess to be fixed, and for the Amazons and Diana to be awesome and epic again.
But Diana vs. Cottus promises to be cool, so there's that. Maybe the next issue will make stuff clear and whatnot.
3/5
The Web #3
This issue was very blah and I don't care about the Web at all, but um...Steph was in it so I got it. She helped the Web install some software. Yaaay. Oracle is keeping an eye on the web based hero and making him go on the right path since she's Oracle and all. She controls the internet.
Apparently the Web doesn't know what Facebook is, though. Which is weird, considering his name and modus operandi.
Anyway, Steph got a decent showing and was competent. Although it was very weird seeing her let Oracle say "leave it to the professionals" to someone, but not heinously out of character, since the Web is a douche and not caring that he's putting people in danger- so she wouldn't have a problem telling him off, regardless of any parallels to her own history. And she said "dude" a lot, which rang weirdly to me.
2/5
Detective Comics
Another good issue. As expected, Kate was a victim to the military "Don't ask don't tell" rule. The scene where she drops her ring and says "I'm gay" is pretty powerful. Also, she saves herself from the mugger going "I'm a soldier! I'm an goddamn-"
*BATMAN APPEARS*
...I wonder if that was on purpose.
Anyway, seeing Batman simply be nice enough to help Kate up before grappling off- and how awed Kate was by his amazing presence (which beautifully shown by the contrast between Batman and the art style) was a nice change from the typical "Batman save hero, hero is inspired" origin. However, I hope there's a little more to it, as it should take something other than seeing Batman to wanting to put specifically a bat symbol on your chest.
The question back up- only one thing registers- NO BELLY WINDOW LEOTARD WRECK ON HUNTRESS! Gaudy shoulder pads instead, but I'll take that over the stupid, sexist,impractical,
OOC and even more ugly looking belly window.
Though I'd prefer it if they go back to the BOP fully covering white cross costume, this one is a winner too if they ditch the shoulder pads or replace them with a cape...and maybe make the zipper end above the crotch.
At any rate, THANKS Cully Hamner! You rock!
5/5
World Finest #2
I decided to get this because I might as well, since I'm collecting the last two issues and all. It was very meh, but I kind of expected that, I'm not particularly fond of either character. Damian's amusing sometimes, but the Guardian's just boring. It was an okay read though.
2/5
S'all for now!
- Mood:
blah
In other news, guys, according to the latest ten answers by Didio on newsarama Max and Bart will be interacting lots in the upcoming Kid Flash series! This makes me super happy. I missed those two SO much. Impulse flashbacks are always good (even if there's a new Impulse now. pfah.)
Also, Steph's action figure has been solicited. i can't wait to get my hands on it. I want a Spoiler and Robin action figure too!
Alsoalso Lee Garbett updated his blog. Apparently #5 has a new inker, and she really makes Garbett's art look a lot cleaner. I'm psyched!
And reviews:
The Unwritten #6:
Okay, you have to love a book where the main characters reaction to a Frankenstein Monster telling him stuff he doesn't want to here is "Yeah, well you have a defective brain! And that's in the book! That's canonical!" Tom just said canonical, oh Tom, I love you.
Oh and also there is much suspense building and Tom nearly gets killed and the more magical literary characters appear and it's all very exciting.
5/5
Booster Gold #26:
A "meh"issue. I missed the Jaime back up. There was a nice scene with Diana. and I love that Booster wanted to thanks her for killing Max in his feneraly speech. He completely should have, that would have been the best funeral speech EVAR. It should have been like:
"So Di, thanks for killing Max. The rest of y'all suck. Especially YOU Batman! Guy, Ted loved you even though you were a dick. Oh, and Babs Ted loved you even though you were WITH Dick. Ted rocks, peace out, love Booster." But Jurgens seemed to forget Diana DID offer to help Ted.
Anyway, other than that, there were standard Black Lantern shenanigans. At least it was nice to see Rose and Daniel again.
2/5
S'all!
- Mood:
blank
Lots of 'em! Fortunately for me, I just got some better quality scans donated to the wiki courtest of LevraiMrX (My scanner scans things way too dark and unclear... I don't know what happened to it that made it do this all of the sudden)
So I have tons of iconses! Come and get 'em!
- Mood:
artistic
sharpest-rose.livejournal.com/1117413.ht
I still haven't ordered it! And now there's a second edition out. But it doesn't have Steph on to cover anymore, as adorable as the cover is. But! Now I have remembered and I'll get this for x-mas!
And Mary Borsellino has an LJ how did I not know this... apparently I did since I linked to it in the Fandom section of the wiki but I just forgot or didn't notice what it was...
Anyway, I friended her and she friended me back! Hi, Mary!
Mary is the curator of Project Girl Wonder and wrote the great paper "A lot like Robin if you close your eyes" and all KINDS of awesome.
I'm really going to have to remember to order this...I can't believe I forgot before.
- Mood:
crazy
It is hiLARIOUS. And it always amazes me how Alfred can be awesome in ANYthing. And despite some objections I will bring up, there are some cool things about Yvonne Craig Babs!girl. First, I love how her red hair is part of her mask and she actually has short dark hair. Disguise saavy! I love how she's always ninja vanishing on Batman and Robin and they're like "Where did she go?" In this show, Batman is no ninja vanisher, he says goodbye to Gordon and walks away. But Batgirl always vanishes without anyone seeing, leaving them all stunned and midsentence, EVERY SINGLE TIME. I just love that she's allowed to be sneakier than both Batman and Robin combined.
And it's made clear how smart she is. She's an expert on history, and Batman has to go ask her as "Barbara Gordon" about North Asiatic history and stuff, she figures out all the Riddler's riddles without a problem, prompting Jim (who just isn't the same without the mustache and specs) to say "Smart girl!" and she recognized that the Riddler isn't a foriegner by his CHIN! "That doesn't look like a north asiatic chin!" (SERIOUSLY, Oh, such camp)
And just like in the early comics, she doesn't know Batman and Robin's identities, but they don't know hers either. Alfred does, but only because she thought he was a preacher and trusted he could "keep her secret as a man of the cloth"...it's all very weird and complicated. And the girl's saavy enough that she has her own secret compartment complete with motorcycle in her apartment, she had to be smart to build that crap.
She's sassy too. She likes to tease Batman and Robin and give groan worth quips to each villain, and just like Batman and Robin, it's clear she's having fun. When changing back into Babs Gordon after saving the dynamic duo as Batgirl, she says "I'm sorry to be so helpless" and smiles.
On the other hand... it's astonishingly sexist. On the DVD commentary for BTAS, a show creator said he specifically wanted Babs to slug somebody, because on the old TV show she'd always stand on a table and do dainty kicks. I thought this is weird, why is kicking allowed but punching not? But it's TRUE. She never, ever punches anyone. She always climbs on top of objects and kicks the thugs from up there. Either that, or she hits them with a stray object. But no punching. It's really noticable because she's in every episode, and she does it every single time. And the kicks really are quite dainty and ballerina like, probably due to the heels. I find it weird that apparently there was a ban on women punching thugs, but kicking is okay (I imagine she always climbed on top of stuff to do it because high kicks are very hard...at one point, Robin does hoist her up on his back to allow her to kick someone).
Also, Batgirl will say random weird crap pertaining to her feminity. Like in response to "It's lucky yow were there Batgirl" she says "A woman crimefighter has to rely on luck."
...What does that even mean?
And there's at one point when Batman refuses to use Batgirl as bait for Catwoman (it was Barbara's suggestion) because "I couldn't put that fair damsel in danger. No, Barbara, leave this to the men."
..yuh huh. (To her credit, Babs goes after Catwoman anyway, but she never calls out Batman for keeping stuff from her and being a sexist dick) (I should also mention this is the episode where Catwoman went on a crime spree because Batgirl was voted best dressed in Gotham. And she messed up all the woman's hair ("NOT our hair! Anything but that! Anything! They seriously said that), to which Batgirl responded "Wow, Catwoman really know's a woman's weakness!")
But I actually had to stop watching on episode where women take over the police force as part of an evil plan or something. It's basically the mayor replaces Gordon with evil chick because his wife won't DO HIS LAUNDRY OR COOK HIS DINNER UNTIL HE DOES HOW WILL HE SURVIVE. Then, though the women the evil chick hires to take the man!jobs aren't evil, they are incompetent due to being women and having all those nasty female bits. They don't prevent bank robberies because they're busy doing their makeup, and talk about shoe sales on the police radio instead of crime and CANNOT CATCH THE PLASTIC WIND UP MICE LOADED WITH EXPLOSIVES because to quote Batgirl (who seemed perfectly okay with the mice herself...as did the evil chick) "I should have known! You can't expect policewomen to catch mice!"
Cut to the police women standing on chairs and fainting over the mice.
I should also note that, as far as I got into the episode, it was an unusual one in that Batgirl hadn't done anything remotely competent. She hadn't been INcompetent, but unusually for the show, she had failed to figure anything out and she'd spent most of the episode complaining. And she'd said explicitly "I'll go with you in the Batmobile. The instruments in my Batgirl-cycle aren't quite as advanced". Well of course. The Batmobile was designed by a MAN after all, the Batgirl-cycle is for a lowly WOMAN. (if I was feeling generous, I'd say this was really because Batman was a millionaire, so obviously his instruments would be better- but this show follows no logic whatsoever, after all, a librarian can afford a secret compartment complete with high tech gadgets and a cycle in her apartment).
That's when I gave up. I know it's a campy TV show from the sixties, but come on.
Sixties Batgirl comics had two sexist stories that I know of, but they were never this bad. Thecomics Babs of that era was way more competent and kickass than TV Batgirl, thought TV Batgirl is enjoyable in her own way. Comics Batgirl at least didn't go out of her way to uphold stereotypes and constantly diss her own gender...other than in that one story, at least. ("My femininity is holding me back!)
I wonder how Yvonne Craig felt about having to say those lines, especially considering she appeared as Batgirl in a "Equal Pay for Equal Work" PSA?
I'm going to watch more episodes though. Adam West is HILARIOUSLY hammy, there are some amazing puns, and I love that Bruce introduces himself as "Millionaire Bruce Wayne" every single time. Way to brag.
IT WAS GREAT.
OH STEPH, I LOVE YOU. YOU TOO BABS.
Seriously, I haven't smiled so much in reading a comic in forever. Screw you, Darrin! You can stop teasing me because this comic rocks!
So lets do our page by page review:
( spoilers and whatnot )
- Mood:
ecstatic
So here we go now.
Batgirl Preview
It tickled me to DEATH that that DKR mutant on the cover is randomly shouting the "What's your scene, baby, we really gotta know!" part of the theme song for Batgirl from the old 1960's TV series. I LOVE that theme song. It's TERRIBLE. I saw it on a youtube video and have been singing it ever since. In fact, back when we were speculating about Batgirl I would randomly include bits of the song in my post titles.
So this really made me giggle. And wonder if BQM is stalking my lj. (I wish! I'd have a list of demands!)
I love the panel where Steph snaps her book shut and is all "you know me, I'll sleep when I'm dead!" That smile! That casual joking around about tragic events! So STEPH! She is a doer, people, and she's always super confident and sassy! Man, I wish I could blow off college homework and kick bad guys in the face and hang with Babs. Steph is living my dreams.
And squee! Thirsty for justice! Babs and her dry sense of humor! You can tell she's enjoying Steph's cheeriness, she's just trying to maintain respectability.
Though seriously, that belt is going to FALL OFF. And I don't know if it's the colorist or inker or Garbett just not drawing Steph as well as he did for the character sketch...but someone's not doing that costume any favors. It's OKAY, but it could look a lot better, as both Noto and Garbett himself have proven.
I'm looking forward to this issue, it looks like a lot of fun, and the Batbooks really need fun right now.
Seriously though, ADDRESS that Steph and Babs still care about Cass and get the Charlie situation fixed. I'm going to repeat this until it happens. If you are truly stalking my lj, BQM, I demand you listen to my...demands! Seriously, like parsi put perfectly in her excellent post why do lovers of awesome female characters have to settle? Why do Charlie and Cass have to be shafted for Steph to shine? Why can't Babs run the Birds and Gotham and the world AND mentor Steph? I love them all, why can't I enjoy them all being friends and teaming up and being awesome together?
Also this made me happy:
"Before Stephanie became Batgirl, she definitely had a checkered past and not the highest success rate of being a hero," said Miller. "The whole world before this comic is saying, 'Stop doing what you're doing. We don't want you doing it.' But Stephanie didn't listen, because she's stubborn in the best kind of way."
so it's certainly something that your girlfriend or daughter might like,
OH NO I DON'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND OR DAUGHTER WHAT TO DO.
Also from the DC source Miller said: While very much not dead, wearing a goat skull as a helmet in Africa. It might have been a caribou skull.
It was an iba, for the record, which she got from a cairrage of gifts from the village.
Also: There’s no way Stephanie could have taken down a crocodile.
I SAY THEE NAY! Stephanie wins all battles against crocodiles.
Not a stunning resumé, to be sure
I SAY THEE NAY! Best resume ever.
As for the cover, it demonstrates exactly why Steph should put up her hair, and that is one incredibly phallic ship. But apparently that's just how Roxy rolls. But Roxy is an incredibly FUN and fitting adversary for Steph...I cannot wait. Seriously, Batgirl seems to be filling the niche of light hearted, easy to get into Batbook beautifully, and Steph is perfect for such things. *love*
That's all the silliness I have for one night.
I think it captures her personality well at least.
I pretty much wasted four hours doing it too, since my computer wouldn't let me install fonts and I wouldn't rest until I figured. it . out! And I did. Then I did a pic, but it turned out to be in the wrong size (for some reason I did picture sizes for the wikis advertised on the bottom.) Here it is for your edification:
But it turned out that WASN'T the size, of course, and the actual size allowed for a logo was pretty big, so I was able to fit all of Steph's identities in the pic, just like I always dreamed! And then there was all this trouble etc ect....anyway, it's done. I should probably do homework or something now. There's a novel idea...
The Sweeping Saga of Stephanie's Superhero Suits!
In other news, I hung out with Joanna and John this weekend. It was fun, we went to the mall and I made fun of Twilight a lot (it was EVERYWHERE) and John tried valiantly to defend it and then we went to "This is It" because Joanna loved Micheal Jackson so much, and it was actually pretty good with amazing dancing and special effects and all that.
I got Secret Six and Incredible Hercules this week.
For Secret Six:
The Deadshot character piece was decent and a good read, so 4/5
and Incredible Herc...well, it wasn't bad, but I don't think it was one of the better issues, and having to listen to Spiderman whine about being set up with homeless people (Though I hold vague, smoldering contempt for the whole deal, I'm not even remotely close to being so raged over One More Day that I go CAPS over Peter's every appearance, but honestly, the dude's complaining about being set up with *ohnoes* homeless people and having no luck with his love life after selling his marriage to the devil. As a reader, I can't drum up any sympathy) and seeing the "girl ineffectually pounds fists on man's chest and cries" trope in play (I hate that trope so much!) really dampened my enjoyment. Maybe I should get some back issues. 3/5
s'all for tonight.
Lately at the comic shop Darrin's been teasing me more than usual. About buying Batgirl. (I just spent two minutes trying to describe our argument regarding Batgirl but I really can't. Suffice to say, he teases me about buying it, and it's not like I can really defend the quality as top notch or anything, but I enjoy it, and he's all "You know it's bad but you don't want to admit it" and well, NO, that is not how I feel at all,,, then I got into it with this guy who always hangs around about Stephanie...he doesn't like her because of War Games, and I tried to explain to him it was bad writing, but he seems to have a hard time realizing a character can be written badly and that they don't actually have a mind of their own- if he even brings it up again I have a list of reasons WHY it's was out of character for Stephanie, so there. I will decimate his argument.)
Also, a few regulars seemed to have pegged that I'm a feminist. And 'Darrin has too. Well, he probably pegged it my first visit, probably, when I complained about the fact that the females in Umbrella Academy ended up being broken and mute while the boys were fine, but now he's mentioning it a lot more. So now whenever Darrin tells me to do stuff, some wiseguy will be like "She's going to tie you up and take over the shop like a strong woman should!" And I just ignore it, though now that I think of it, I should have told the guy that he would be lucky if he ever got tied up by a girl.
I don't mind being teased. I have a sense of humor. But the attitude of "look at that strange feminist comics girl!" annoys me a bit. I mean, I don't really think I'm obnoxious about it, I tend to be pretty quiet irl, so I don't see why it's such a big deal. There are other girls who come to the shop, but I guess I just stand out b/c of my opinions and the fact I work there.
What really annoys me is I got myself pulled into the most INANE discussion- a Wonder Woman vs Superman thing. It was like being on CBR. But it wasn't about WW vs. Supes. I just got derailed.but my issue was the "boys club". Basically, for some stupid reason, the guys were discussing what the "next wave of gods" in the DCU would be. Superman, Batman, Flash...they stalled on who next.
I said, semi incredulously "Wonder Woman". Duh.
The guy who started the discussion: "No, I don't think so"
Me: Whhhhy not?
Guy: Because she's not as powerful as Superman.
Now, rather than asking what the hell that has to do with being a god, pointing out that WW is a cultural icon, that she has power over the force of truth, that she has inspired women in REAL LIFE and has her own anti domestic abuse event, that she was an extremely effective and important superhero and force in the DCU, that she has gifts of the gods (actually, I did point that out. I also pointed out she was Goddess of Truth once. My nemesis blathered about some god saying Superman was a cosmological being and Wonder Woman had to be MADE a Goddess or some crap like that) I got sidetracked by WW vs Superman.
I cited how Wondy and Supes had been shown to be equals in various fights, that Wondy has better martial skill and canonically faster reflexes and she had the lasso of truth ("But she doesn't have heat vision"!) He just would. not. accept. it. It was ridiculous. He was so scared of having a girl in his little boys club of gods. Or maybe he just didn't like Wonder Woman. But anyway, I felt really stupid that I got dragged into a "who can beat who" fight like I was 12 when it was really his stupid boys club mentality that ticked me off. The way he just dismissed me, the sole girl in the shop who was sorting comics while he was geeking out with his special guy friends, saying "hey, maybe this chick could be in your special gods club" right off the bat was just...agh. I felt like we were 12 the whole time, to be honest.
The guy who argued with me about Stephanie agreed with me about Wonder Woman though, and last time I went to work, I had two comics somone had bought for me: Wonder Woman #37 and Superman: Secret Origin #1. I thought it had to have been Dad, but when Dad came byand I asked him about it, the guy (I, uh, really should remember his name) said that he had done it. Isn't that sweet? And kind of weird and surprising.
So, let's review those comics:
Wonder Woman #37:
I loved the Zombie Ares scene. It was well wriitten and just wonderfully creepy. I read it to my Mom and I could feel her shivering beside me. Ares must have way more up his sleeve. I'm thinking the whole thing is a massive Xanatos Gambit. I knew he couldn't go down so easily!
I really liked the scene between Donna and Diana too. It's cool to see the depth of their relationship and Diana's utter selflessness and love for her sister. And Artemis returns! Yay! She'll whip everyone into shape.
On the other hand, it seems really out of character for Hippolyta to submit to her island being controlled by crazy Alkyone. She's willing to be chained up to "protect" her island- by leaving it to utterly unstable gods and violent rulers? Wha? I hope there's more to this.
Chang's art didn't do much for me here. His Zombie Ares was good but the other figures seemed sticklike and just not that detailed. It seemed worse than usual, maybe he rushed this issue.
4/5
Superman: Secret Origin #1:
I actually kind of enjoyed this. not enough to get the sequel, I don't care about Superman having another origin story, but I really liked how utterly a kid Clark is, bouncy about using his powers to help people, reluctant about wearing a silly outfit, upset to find out he's so different and has another set of parents to contend with when he just wants to be Ma and Pa's son, worrying that Krypton might be a bad place- and I really liked the moments between him and Pa.
I also liked the art for the most part, especially the scene where Clark is tearing through a cornfield crying and Pa hugs him. Awww. I always enjoy Gary Frank, even if Clark looked like a demented chipmunk in a few panels.
4/5
The Unwritten #6
Back to the story of Tom Taylor! This was another really good issue of the series, and it's really fun to see the story's exploration of how fiction can affect reality. The hysterical parents and captivated little girls are hilariously on point, and it's deep shit for Tommy being in jail and starting to be changed for the worst by his experiences and the stories in his prison walls- and zombies and flying cats aren't going to make him feel better. Both a smart examination of truth and fiction and a really captivating read.
It's fun to compare and contrast "Tommy Taylor" with "Harry Potter". "Sue" seems to be way less cool than Hermione (she doesn't have crazy hair, and the little text experts haven't shown that she has any bossy or kickass tendencies and does anything besides focus on Tommy) but seems to have the worrywart aspect down, Tommy meanwhile, is probably more badass than Harry, since I imagine Harry's reaction to "You will fall for 1000 years'" would be less "At least I'll have some time to myself" and more "OH SHIT!" but I like that Harry's a little squirrely. Oh, and Tommy's school condemns people who run from a fight or steal stuff to dust, so I can't see how they'd toterate Slytherin.
...what? I like to think about these things!
5/5
Detective Comics
Okay, I lied, I can't resist this comic. The art is just amazing, and the story is really picking up. I actually like the twin angle, and the glimpse into Kate's childhood was nice. The military brat thing is fun too, and oh, I just love how JH Williams changes his art for the flashback, and the page where Kate is shut in her cave, slumped but determinedly testing her blood, was great. I'm genuninely looking forward to seeing the origin unfold.
Question was blah again. Hopefully the next arc will be more exciting. Hey, there'll be Huntress at least!
4/5
World's Finest #1
I flip flopped on reading the first two issues of the mini, but decided I might as well.This was a servicable story, nothing special. Tim is still a broody dick, but at least he helped out. I was entertained while I read it, but it was forgettable. Still can't wait for Steph and Kara's team up, though.
3/5
That's all for tonight!
- Mood:
tired
Here is what it looked like- I obviously didn't wear heels under the bootops- that's not canonical! but found some shoes small enough to fit under them.
Anyway, there was a really awesome costume contest. There was a fight between a crossdressing nurse and Nacho Libre midway through the contest and a fight between a pirate and a ninja later on. I'm not joking, this actually happened.
Anyway, I was obviously the chick in the Supergirl outfit, and we all had to give a "clever" line related to who we were dressed as on stage. I just gave Kara's tagline "Rocketed from the dying planet of Krypton, Kara Zor-el fights for truth, justice and the Kryptonian way as Supergirl!" even though it's Linda's costume. Linda doesn't have a tagline, okay? I wasn't going to announce I was a dying girl who merged with a protoplasm being. I suppose I could have made a clever joke about Kryptonite or something, but I could not think...
Erin dressed as a character from a book she likes, "Hunger Games". Hannah dressed as a witch "who got kicked out of Hogwarts for violating dress code."
Anywaty, I'll have some pics up soon enough!
I spent a lot of time with a Mime named Alex, we talked a lot. And a chick whose name I think was Wren? Who was dressed as Buffy. And the IRS agent girl whose name I can't recall, And Dustin, who was a Platypus.
I played pool and did not make. a. single. shot. Wow. Also, there was impromptu dancing and yet another costume contest I didn't win- A huge teacher dressed as Babe the bull won the general category (He has blue balls too- two blue xmas baubles tied to his tail) and someone else won for literary character, I can't remember who- I insisted Supergirl was a literary character, which is how glam rock Watchmen noticed me (and Ozy asked me which Supergirl I was and if I macked with Comet!!!)
Anyway, it was lots of fun and I did meet some people who hopefully I'll see again. Yay for a good Halloween.
- Mood:
optimistic
okay
Oh frabulous day! Batgirl #3 was mega awesomeness for my Steph and Babs- loving heart. Happy days are here again! As always, I have my complaints, but overall I was very pleased with this issue.
I'm going to try to do what I did last time and do a page by page review, since a few people liked it.
Page 1: Cool, moody opening page that just happens to have a mention of Steph's time as Robin. Hurray!
Page 2: Steph, at least all your college parties haven't been boring. Babs is giving Steph a chance to solve things on her own here, which is the first good sign of things to come. She can't stop Steph, so she's working with her. Her little internal monologue about keeping her alive long enough to kill her is acceptably snarky and again gives me a feeling of Babs/Canary.
Page 3: I really like Steph's trepidation about both needles and Black Mask. Really nice character beats. Also, I LOATHE needles myself. Steph is brave to plunge it in there. Here's hoping Steph conquers her fear of the new Black Mask in the same way and kicks his ass, and we can all watch and enjoy.
5/6: Scarecrow kills thugs, Steph kicks thugs.
7: I lovelovelove the panel where Steph crosses her arms and glares waaaay up at Scarecrow. It's such a Steph pose! She's so small compared to him, but she's totally confident and you know she's gonna kick his ass. Or knee him in the stomach, which she does.
8: Steph remains snarky even while drugged. That's my girl! Scarecrow is disappointed he has a little girl thrown at him, but he's about to find out he can't take her. It's such an old comic book trope, but I love it when the villain underestimates the hero because of her size/sidekickness and then gets an ass whoopin'.
9/10: Ah, the ex-boyfriend of rage. The way Tim's acting lately, he would say that shit too (in fact he has). It's very Steph that Tim's one of her fears- she's always measured herself up to him, and of course, she has issues there. I like that even through the mindscrew torture of Tim attacking her, she still kicks out a him.
11/12: Babs starts to root for Steph and show concern for her. The touching the screen in concern was a nice touch. So was the "We've been here before, haven't we? On the brink of death?" from Spoiler!hallucination. She certainly has.
13/14: Steph starts to break down under all her self doubt. And what's more, Bab's breaks down and calls her Batgirl. I think this is partly what motivates Steph to get her heroic resolve on and wake up- acceptance from Babs at last. I love Steph's expression when she breaks Scarecrow's foot. The pop-psychology stuff she spouts may be a bit stilted, but it's fun to connect it to Steph's situation- she could have become someone else wherever she landed, but she chose to come back to Gotham to make things right. That's what makes her a hero.
14/15: Hell yeah, she's brave enough. You coulda seen the "I'm Batgirl" thing coming a smile away, but I still love it. I love it when heroes proudly shout their names, especially goddamn Batgirls. And Babs reaction is great. Finger steepling and mentory pride ftw!
16/17: Steph pulls a stellar bat exit- no cops push her around! But, unlike Batman, she at least leaves a snarky little note saying thanks (so perfectly Steph...but man, now he's going to have to wash it off his window. What'd she leave it in too, lipstick? I'm going to go with water soluable bat-paint. ) Steph making her Mom waffles is adorable. I love that she's working on her relationship with her Mom.
18/19: Professor Babs is reaching out and helping people! She should be more than an assistant professor but whatever, maybe she's trying not to be conspicuous. Also, like Steph asking for class hours. Shows a bond of respect starting to be built.
20/21: Not sure how I feel about Babs appropriating The Vow. She put her own twist on it, but she should do it somewhere else and make it her own tradition. But I do know I love that Babs is behind Steph 100% and I love Steph's utterly sincere smile when she promised to look out for Babs too. All Steph ever wanted was acceptance: no tricks, no manipulations, no stupid boys club games. And now she's finally got it. She's finally got some sincere guidance. Squee!
22: I love the purple Batgirl coming down on crooks with a huge smile. But, when I read this to Mom, she said: "So she's going to leave her hair out like that?" DC, even Mom thinks it silly!
So great issue, and finally no more angsty Babs! I do have a few issues
* Needs more Cass, but aparrently we can't have these good things so I at least want the Cass issue dealt with, to show Steph and Babs are still looking out for her.
*Babs abandoning Charlie needs to be dealt with
*The pop-philosophy was definitely a little stilted and anvilicious, and the fight was pretty standard- however, this is incredibly minor, and BQM's writing in that regard improves each issue, so...
Overall, a good issue with lots of awesome moments. Can't wait for the next.
4.5/5
- Mood:
good
The first comment to tackle is this:
From a dramatic standpoint, there aren't many places left to go with Cassandra. Steph's a work in progress.
At first this comment made me angry, but after thinking it over for a few minutes, I think I got what he was trying to say, though he didn't say it very well. Cass is already a competent, seasoned hero. She doesn't really need any training or mentorship (well, except in reading and writing, but since DC's going along with Beechen's idiotic retcon...grrrrrr...) wherea's Steph still has a lot to learn, a lot of areas to improve on and a lot of failure to deal with. I don't think he meant you can't tell a story with Cass- just that you can't tell a hero-in-the-making story, because she's already as heroic as you can get. Especially since he followed it up with "Steph's a work in progress".
Also, he might just be politely saying DC has written Cass into a corner where Batgirl is concerned.
Maybe I'm being too nice, but that's my interpretation.
But there's no excuse for this:
Bruce "saved" her.
Nope, bullshit. Cass made herself a hero way before Bruce came along. She saved herself by escaping her dad. Not to mention BABS was the first person Cass worked with.
He gave her a purpose.
I suppose that's fair. Before Batgirl, Cass was a wandering spirit/hero. As Batgirl, she got a city to protect and a specific mission.
But the really sad news:
While we'll have another passing reference/flashback Cassandra soon, I'm leaving the rest of Cassandra's story to whichever lucky duck gets to write her elsewhere in 2010.
Cass won't be involved in Batgirl? COME ON. She's an important part of the legacy, but even more than that, she's an important part of Steph and Babs life! Steph and Cass are awesome together, there's no way Steph would let Cass fall to the way side. And Babs cares about her too! Disregarding these female friendships is a horrible precedent.
I don't think this is BQM's fault- from his other interview, it was clear he was planning to have Cass reappear until DC decided they're doing something with her- now he has to leave her open for that.
But it's really sad and aggravating for me as a Cass fan. I'm determined to support Steph and Babs, so I'll keep buying the title- and I will support Cass in whatever DC does with her- and if it turns out to be crap and more screwing Cass over, I will protest it as only an angry fan could.
I really want Steph and Cass to work together again. Their friendship is important to me. Hopefully the "flashback" mentioned will at least let us know Steph and Babs made sure Cass was okay before turning her loose to do whatever. She deserved that.
The last unfortunate implication here is how WHITE the whole Batgirl cast is without Cass. Agh, it's so frustrating. DC, you say diversity means something to you, but your Batbooks sure don't show it.
My last quibble is no mention of Charlie in the interview. I really want that to be dealt with. If Babs has a new lease on life, she should take responsibility over how she abandoned another young mentee and welcome Charlie back. Here's how I want it to be dealt with: I want Babs to invite Charlie over, apologize to her, explain that she was going through an emotional breakdown when she left. I want Charlie to get mad, call Babs out on her selfishness. I want Babs to promise never to do a thing like that again and offer Charlie a place at her home. After some soul searching, Charlie can accept. BQM doesn't have to use Charlie if he doesn't want to. We can just see her in the background every few issues at Babs place, letting us know Babs is living up to her promise. Though of course, I'd love to see Misfit interact with and annoy Steph, acting as her tagalong kid while Babs makes sly comments about "how does it feel when it's happening to you, Steph?"
I don't want these female friendships to be forgotten, I don't want Bab's relationships with her previous charges to be discarded. I want some respect for the characters, or I won't be able to believe DC won't burn this relationship too,
To end on a positive note, good things about the interview: Happy!Babs and Steph learning to be a better hero...and team ups! Can't wait!
- Mood:
cranky
Because this? Not so subtle
Achilles longed for Patroclus' manhood.
...also, yeah, I'll do my joyful review of Batgirl #3 and my unhappy rant about a certain interview eventually. I'm really busy.
Edit: I seriously don't know what alternate universe manofbats is living in where midriff baring shirts are so common. Maybe he's mistaking what women work out in for midriff baring shirts. Those are called sports bras. Anyway, it's not like I can counter him on that. unless I go to his college and prove conclusively to him every single girl he's seen wearing that is clinically insane, which is probably the case. Or maybe I can just show him all the fashion magazine and point out how no one is wearing that.
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