Okay, so before I get to my super mega review of Batgirl #3, I'm going to give my thoughts on this interview by Bryan Q. Miller.
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!

I. am. so. TORN.

( Spoilers )

Okay, before we get into the comics I bought, let's talk about one I by all rights should have bought, but that I ended up not getting out of sheer disgust (and not wanting to waste money on a comic I wouldn't enjoy...) after reading at work.

Yes. Red Robin.

Okay, so I just skimmed the parts that weren't Steph-related. But the part I did read gave me a pretty good idea of the books tone, and it's one I'm very much not interested in. I'll just list my problems so we can all get on with our lives.

Tim is a complete ass. I mean, he kicks Steph in the stomach when she comes up to talk to him (and I'm really unclear to whether she was walking through the door to say hi and couldn't help but do it stealthily, because hey, Gotham vigilante- or if, as the art indicates, she was lurking in the corner. If the latter is it, what the hell? Did she get there before Tim did? Did she actively walk over to a corner so she lurk in the shadows for no reason and Tim just didn't notice this somehow? Did she borrow the JLA transporter and beam into that corner? What? WHAT? My head hurts)

And it's hard enough to make her want to barf, and he doesn't say "oops my bad" or even HELP HER UP when she asks. I don't care how upset Tim is, that is just rude.

But what really irks me is the continuity thing- Tim gets ragey ranty all over again about how he can't trust her to wear that costume and they already AGREED HE DIDN'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BE MAD OVER THAT IN GOTHAM GAZETTE. In fact, they had a perfectly amiable and in character parting where Tim wasn't a complete machismo filled jerk to Steph. I miss Fabian. This conflicts with that! It makes my head hurt.

But no, we're ignoring that and back to RAGEYTRUSTISSUES because THAT'S not getting old. And Tim continues to add to the creepy abusive trend by grabbing Steph's wrist when she tries to pat him on the shoulder, roughly enough that she winces and he doesn't let go for like, five lines of dialogue. Under Fabian, he just swatted her hand away, at least, no "look at me I can crush your wrist I so dominant".

And apparently another reason Steph can't be trusted is because...she said eveyone was worried about Tim and Tim guesses Dick asked her to track him down...and this makes her a lying bitch who can't be trusted. Because Dick was worried and so was she and they collaborated. Yeah! How dare you, Stephanie!

And despite the fact Steph is begging him to talk, he wishes he could talk to her, but he can't, because she's such a bitch! And he leaves. So emo.

Seriously, between Fabian and Yost, I guess the Bat Writers have a pact to dump abuse of Steph- whether physical or just lecturing her over what a lying hor she is. At least Fabian had the decency to give Steph a decent make-up with Tim- only to have Yost undo it. Brutally.

But I'm not really sad about Steph. It doesn't really affect her, though I consider it OOC she didn't yell at Tim to snap out of it- the whole scene made her look like some sort of whimpering pushover (I exaggerate, but allow me my rage)

Nah, it's Tim. He's been through a lot yes. (Though as Bart, Steph and Kon are now ALL back, he really hasn't lost any more than the rest of the Bat Family at this point) But I am really sick and tired of Tim being a grimdark raging mini-Batman. They've been doing it for OVER A YEAR and this was really it's apex- and I'm not interested in it anymore. It's made him unlikable, it's obscured all the qualities I enjoyed about the character. He's just gotten progressively darker and angrier and there's no sign of him stopping, and I am just BORED with it at this point. He's another generic angry "badass" character...and now he's treating his friends and family like crap. It's not Tim. It's not entertaining to me.

So I hope Steph and Tim don't get together again soon, until Tim snaps out of it (If that ever happens). All that happens when they get together these days is Tim yelling at her about what a untrustworthy screwup she is and Steph cringing and crying. Away from Tim is the best place for Steph to be right now. Hopefully Steph will have a fun role over in Batgirl and get to be her sunny self, along with being friends with Cass plzthx. Meanwhile, Angry!Tim can do whatever the hell he wants. I hope he gets better and likable again, but for now, I'm done with him.

Whew! Now that's over, I can talk about good comics! You know, other than Tim I'm pretty happy with DC these days. Assuming they don't mess the Batgirl thing up, I'm perfectly content to let Red Robin suck and enjoy all the other cool titles including...

Wednesday Comics #1:

This was pretty good, just like I expected. I enjoyed most of the features:

Batman: Big panels, nice art. I liked the dialogue between Batman and Gordon about how Gordon feels like he's failed when he turned on the Batsignal. And Batman's replying quip "I don't know how I should take that." Oh Bats! And I feel for Gordon, but seriously? You waited till 11:59 to call Batman and the guy is going to be murdered at MIDNIGHT? I don't think wounded pride is an excuse for that kind of crap. But nice cliffhanger!

Kamandi: is adorable. I'd date him if he were the last boy on earth! See what I did there? Very pretty art, old fashioned monologue, I've always like the scenario and setting behind Kamandi, so this is cool with me.

Superman: Thought this art was a little to dark for Superman, but that alien sure is wacky. Looks like Superman's going to bond with it over how allllooone he feels.

Deadman: I really like this one. Boston Brand is so kitschy and the art was pleasantly kitschy as well. Dead people solving murders are always fun.

Green Lantern: VERY pretty art, set in the late 50's, which is probably the area where Hal best works (New Frontier proved that) not much happening so far.

Metamorpho: Kitschy, 60's style, looks wacky and promising.

Teen Titans: Never been a huge fan of Cheeks art, but TT needs a dose of fun. Not much happening here, we'll see where it goes.

Strange Adventures: Okay. I found it pretty boring.

Supergirl: Adorable Amanda Conner art! Matrix costume! Super pets! Hopefully it won't all be one note gags about Krypto and Streaky destroying stuff, but lead to an interesting plot line. But it was certainly cute and awesome.

Metal Men: Not bad.

Wonder Woman: I actually found this one the most intriguing. A bit confusing, but Caldwell certainly took advantage of the space to put in lots of action and dialogue, and I dig the talking pigeons and Oracles. Definitely the most interesting start to a plotline, and Diana is very much an innocent about to go on an incredible journey.

Sgt Rock: He gets beat up a lot. Boooring. And the art ain't my cup of tea.

Flash: Barry and Iris are MARRIED and he STILL hasn't told her he's the Flash? Isn't that an important thing to tell someone before you take the vows? What a dick. And what a dimwit Iris must be if she doesn't know. Much as that annoys me, I like the gimmick of Iris having her own comic, and the art is cute. (Of course it is, it's Kershl)

The Demon and Catwoman: Oooh, this was cool. I loved the art. Yay Selina!

Hawkman: Somone should led Baker know "flap" is not a very dramatic word. In fact "And so we flap" being repeated so many times, so dramatically, made me giggle a whole lot. And Hawkman is making the hawks fly after them when the weaker ones are falling unconcious and SPLATTING on the EARTH? What a DICK. Filled with compassion, my ass.

5/5, very enjoyable.

Booster Gold/Blue Beetle:

The Booster Gold story was merely decent. How the hell did Starfire and Donna get killed by a grenade? Must have been a hell of a grenade. Nice to see the old school Titans though. Cyborg yelling his typical thing about his "decibels of white sound" and Booster actually being IMPRESSED made me giggle.

The BB backup however, was great. Norton's are really complements the title, I love Milagro's action figures and the quips are on as usual, and the plot has taken an intriguing turn.J aime forever!

Booster Gold 2.5/5, Blue Beetle: 4/5

New Krypton #5

This title is just consistently good. I loved the depth added to Zod, and I actually didn't see the ending coming. Also, more depth to one of the supporting characters, and Supeman being cuddly. And Pete Woods! Such a good title.

5/5

That be it for today! Hope you weren't to whiplashed by the NERDY FANGRRRL RAGE suddenly switching into NERDY FANGIRL LOOOOVE.

I'd like to direct everyone to innerbrat's lovely post on the murder of George Tiller. As you may have guessed, I am very pro choice, but even if I was not, this would still be a horrible tragedy.

It makes me sick, the willful ignorance and hypocrisy of these people. And those internet trolls calling Tiller a murderer and saying he deserved what he got? You almost as bad as the murderer. You are spreading hate, and misinformation and lies. You are compounding a families grief, claiming to support life while you support the taking of it. Your religion is not excuse. People who do not believe what you believe are not worthless. Any God who supports an act of violence like this is not worthy of being worshipped, and I wouldn't care if I really were to burn in hell for saying that. I have a right to my body, my choice and my life, and so did Tiller.

A family is without a father. Women (and their fetuses, believe it or not, by extension) are dying every day because they aren't able to get the services of people like Tiller, because of terrorism like this.

Rest in peace, Dr. George Tiller. You performed a great service, and you will be remembered.


http://innerbrat.livejournal.com/640139.html

I try not to lose my temper on the Internet. I try. And fail miserably. I am often filled with righteous anger. I like to blame it on genetics, since my Dad's an angry man. Also I'm Irish...and I have red in my hair! Trifecta! Or maybe I just have poor anger control. Whatever.

The point is, sometimes it's verrrry tempting for me.

I go to WFA. parsimonia has posted new links! Hurray! She is less negligent than I and posted hooded utilitarians newest Wondy rant. Trust me, you guys, it's lucky she's around, because she finds the good stuff.

Then I clicked on the Wondy rant.

hoodedutilitarian.blogspot.com/2009/04/diana-sue.html

...and that's where I lost my temper.

Maddy and I have been linking Noah for a while. He often rails against the current version of Wonder Woman while praising Marston's version.

Honestly, I adore both. I like the current version more for lots and lots of reasons, but Marston's is good fun, and I appreciate, er, some of the message he was trying to send. The crack, the silliness, the bondage and "girl power", it's all very entertaining and crazy, and I think as far as inspiring girls, 40's Wondy was a good start.

Maddy urged him to check out bluefall's posts, and I gave my support to that. I've posted in Noah's blog twice, both times taking issue with something he said, but I respected him, since he seemed fairly intelligent and concerned about women in comics. However, I pretty much disagreed with him about several things, but that's perfectly okay.

But with this post, I think he crossed a line.

Because not only did he center his PUBLIC post on assumptions about bluefall's intentions and acted like he could analyze her and  comment on what kind of "fan" she was when he didn't know her, but used that to make a negative generalization about Wondy fans, he outright misrepresented her about some things.

The point is, I did lose my temper. I made a comment which you can see if you go to the post. And he responded politely and logically.and it made me feel bad. So I hope bluefall doesn't feel I made her look bad or anything. Just saying that publicly.

I could pick apart the post in a calmer manner, but I'm far too muddled and tired at this point.

(Though his reply did make an assumption about me, that I cared if Wondy could beat Superman. Whiiiiiiiich I don't. And I don't think bluefall's post implied she did either, she mentioned that the WRITERS specifically have them fight a lot, and they seem evenly matched. So his claim he was "poking fun" at Wondy fans when he said bluefall said Wondy should beat Superman...is...actually, it doesn't make any sense at all, other than him misrepresenting her. I pointed out he was misrepresenting her WITH MUCH VEHEMENCE CUZ I AM AN ANGRY ANGRY GIRL, because misrepresenting people I like makes me angry. ANGRY I TELL YA! All the time, me angry. Though apparently he thinks I misrepresented him in my reply, so, I guess the wheel keeps on turning.)

So in conclusion, I am angry and sorry, Noah's not, the end.

In other Wonder Woman related news, I read an issue of Superfriends at Books a Million, and there was this letter that made me MELT. This brother and sister wrote in. The brother wrote "Mwahahahaha Superfriends I have captured Superman with Kryptonite!"

The sister wrote (from my memory) "Dear Wonder Woman, I love you. Why don't you see your family again? What do you think you would do if I met you?"

Isn't that ADORABLE? Girls don't look up to Wonder Woman, my ass.

And Johnny DC had a reply: "I see my mother and the other Amazons at Paradise Island a lot. If I met you I would hug you and talk to you, but then I would have to go rescue Superman from the Kryptonite trap set by your brother."

BEST REPLY EVER. Wonder Woman WOULD hug that little girl (and rescue Superman, obviously.)

I must get more Superfriends.

I run that little wiki remember? Well there's a little Spoiler fansite a girl linked to one of the Fandom pages, and I checked it and found...Steph slut shaming.

Oddly enough, I haven't run across this on the internet before. Considering Steph got OMGPREGNANT once, it's surprising I haven't heard more internet idiots saying she's a bad person because of it. But this still pissed me off.

Eww, I never even considered the possibility that Steph might be the new Batgirl. I hope they don't go that way.

She's so promiscuous and will probably just get pregnant again.

Yes. That's right, boys and girls. If you get pregnant once, you will probably just get pregnant again and again and again. Even if you, IN CANON, said you regretted your decision, if you regretted making this mistake, if you carried the baby to full term and CRIED when you had to give it up. Clearly, you will jump right back into the bed, because, OMG underage sex, that makes you a FILTHY FILTHY WHORE who just LOVES it.

The girl who runs the fansite replied like this:

All we know is that she slept with one guy. One. If that makes a person promiscuous, every being in this world is a whore.

(Well, not me, I'm a virgin) But, good point right? Unfortunately, apparently your whoreishness is not measured by the number of people you slept with, but the CHARACTER of the person you slept with. After all, falling for someone who is a jerk...NEVER HAPPENS. Or hey, maybe you just wanted to have some sex for fun, and the guy was good at it. WHORE, ONLY GUYZ ARE ALLOWED TO DO DAT.

Did you actually see the guy who got her pregnant? He made a brief appearance in an issue of Robin (Steph kicked his ass).

He's some stonerish white guy with dreads. If her standards are so low that she'll sleep with him, I find it hard to believe he's the only guy she's had sex with.

I'd argue that dating Tim has only made her more promiscuous. If she couldn't control herself before (as evidenced by stonerish white guy with dreads), trying to stay faithful to a no-sex guy like Tim has probably had a compressed spring effect on her. She no doubt goes off every so often. A dirty weekend here and there.

OH GOD, it couldn't be that she was depressed because her life SUCKED and she wanted to some comfort and Tim was avoiding her at the time? If I had a stoner mom and a criminal dad and a avoidant guy who screwed with my head, I might engage in some sex with the nearest loser to forget my troubles too too.

And I love the epic logic...staying faithful to Tim was just keeeping her WHORISHNESS INSIDE. It is READY TO COME OUT. Ignore the fact she MANAGED to stay faithful to Tim with no effort whatsoever, that she was upset when HE supposedly cheated on HER. Clearly, she defiled her body once (and kicked said boy's ass, but that doesn't mean she didn't realize sleeping with him was a mistake NO WAY)

And clearly once you have sex, you are ADDICTED TO IT and can never give it up. It like, boils inside you or something.

And oh god...a DIRTY WEEKEND. Whatta slut, having sex and enjoying it. Sooooo wrong.

Y'know what, Steph could have all the sex she wants, and it still wouldn't make her a worse person or a bad Batgirl. She'd just have to remember to use protection (and get over her Dixon-implanted issues with abortion, in case that doesn't work.)

Because guess what? Being sexually active isn't bad. Even casual sex isn't even if you're responsible about it and consider people's feelings.

So stop with the slut-shaming, stupid internet person. Steph had sex. Just because you can't get any, doesn't mean you have to be mad at her for getting some. (low blow, but he was asking for it. He was so projecting. And you KNOW it's a guy. )

Golden_tuna (girl who runs the Spoiler site) did a good rebuttal too. Here's the site: www.geocities.com/never.hide@ymail.com/home.html

Those of you who read my s_d post know the depth of my anger. I wasn't going to bother Fabian about it, just seethe silently, since it's not like it would make any difference. But what the hell. The war is so back on.

***
Okay, I'm going to be honest here. I'm with jbramx2. I don't mind Tim being mad at Steph, them hating each other, whatever.

I do have a problem with him telling her what to do as if he's her boss. "Get out of my life" is fine, but telling her what she should do with HERS isn't.

You said you were going to try to take Steph in a direction both fans and h8terz would like. I don't really see that with this. What happened in this issue ticks off her fans and gives not-fans more reason to dislike her.

I wanted to wait for the arc to be finished before I judged it. It is. And this is what I think: I found Steph's actions to be out of character. She has a history of not following Bats orders when they make her uncomfortable, which these clearly did. Not to mention she employed the woman who helped create the situation that got HER fired as Robin, who she KNOWS is a murderer, to implement this plan. I can't see her doing that.

It is also out of character for Bats to give her such a task, after War Games. I posted a couple scans on s_d and I think someone put it rather humorously:

"Dear Spoiler: The last time you tried to follow my plans (involving deliberately starting a gang war, so don't tell anyone, least of all Robin) without me around, it caused a major disaster and nearly got you killed. That said, here are a new set of plans for you to follow (involving deliberately starting a gang war, so don't tell anyone, least of all Robin) without me around.
Yours, the Goddamn Batman"

I won't comment on the darkening of Tim. It dissapoints me, since I originally liked the character as a sweet, practical little geek, but it's been inevitable since Infinite Crisis. Sad, but inevitable.

Tim says he loves Steph this issue. You do not demean, threaten and insult people you love (neither do you manipulate them with master planz, but like I said, I don't support that either). What does he plan to do if he catches her in the Spoiler costume again? Beat her up? He's not her lord and master. No on gave her that costume, she made it herself.

My main problem is this is a rerun, and a step backward for Steph's charcterization. The "Steph screwed up and iz fired, also she haz cooties" has been done time and time again, increasingly ridiculous each time. I was hoping when DC bought her back, she'd be able to move past that. She'd have learned from her mistakes and matured, and would redeem herself to the Bat Family, and they'd at least reach some agreement. (I think that WAS the direction Dixon planned to take her in. The Robin/Spoiler Special made it seem that way). But it's always a step forward, ten steps back with her characterization.

Since you're writing her in Gotham Gazette, maybe this is some redemption thing. Maybe you plan to tear her down and build her back up. I certainly hope so. But you didn't need to. She was already torn down. She has been for years. Doing more of it just damages her character further.

As for the hypocrisy of Tim dissing Steph and then letting Jason off the hook...well, s_d put it better than I could, again:

***
s_d member :So in the same issue Tim decides that Steph isn't allowed to be a vigilante but busts Jason out of jail so that he can be?

...epic logic there, Timmers.

 in reply: But he never got anybody ki-

Well, he's better at following Batman's ord-

He's at least got less of a history of trying to kill Tim himse-

LOOK, HE DOESN'T HAVE ICKY GIRL COOTIES, OKAY?
***

I'm sorry to rant and to rag, and I know you did the best you could. But I'm a comic book fan, we're notoriously whiny.

I will be getting Gotham Gazette, and I certainly hope there's a bigger picture here, though I'm not sure I'll be completely happy even if there is. I'm glad you want to continue her story anyway, and hope you do it well, though this ish has made my optimism drop a bit, I'm sorry to say.
***

...I just realized I should have asked s_d peeps permission before quoting them. D'oh! I just couldn't express the ridiculousness myself!

It doesn't help that yesterday I took my  first college credit elective at AB Tech, and I was supposed to walk there from my high school. Well, I got lost on the campus. I kept asking for directions but got conflicting ones. It was to the point I was crying in frustration, yelling at myself "FUCK FUCK I AM SO STUPID I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" I finally got a ride to my building from a nice security guard. I was twenty mins late but the teacher said it was okay because it was the first day. She seems really cool, and the Psychology class will be fun. My feet hurt badly from running around in the wrong shoes (I was wearing brown loafer things with fake fur in 'em to keep my feet warm)

Well, after that, I was gonna call me dad to pick me up, but I couldn't find my new cell phone. I looked around frantically for it, even calling the security guard back to look for it in his car. I feared my parents wrath at me having lost it, even though I never wanted the damn thing in the first place. Fortunately, I just put it in an obscure side pocket

Then I couldn't find my Dad, he was in another parking lot, and there were a bazillion. When he found me I was nearly mad with frustration.

Then I got comics. And read Robin first.

I imagine I got far more pissed off than normal over it because of the rotten day.

Speaking of Psychology, I better go do the homework.

www.cinemablend.com/new/We-Don-t-Need-More-Female-Superheroes-11455.html

OH MY GOD, what a MORON. I'm barely restraining myself from swearing here. That IDIOT.

Compulsory frustrated Steph:



I couldn't even get past the first paragraph. It made me want to bang my head against the keyboard. Hoping that scrolling down would make me feel better, to see people calling him out. The first poster's user names was Stephanie Brown.

YES GO STEPH.

Ahem, I know it's not really Steph, but just imagine her seeing this essay and hunting this guy down.

"Hi, I'm a female superhero, the kind we don't need more of. Now excuse me, I'm going to shove your head up your own ass, since it's clearly already there."

Then this would happen:



Asskicking for justice!

Okay, I'll actually read it now.


I'm sorry, but none of the girls I know have the sole dream of dancing till dawn and finding the right guy. I mean, some do, about the same amount of guys who just dream of dancing till dawn and having the right girl. But girls tend to have other interests. You know, like making money, funny situations, stirring adventures, gaining knowledge...and they like seeing that in entertainment. It's almost like they're people! A LOT of the girls I know like action. It's a human thing. People love the rush they get from seeing really awesome stunts and asskicking. It's visually nice to watch and it makes you feel all active and heroic even when yer not.

This guy takes up the argument that women who like superheroes are some kind of freaky abberation, like "men who like touchy feely movies". Therefore, we should be totally ignored, us freaky women. We don't count.

He even calls us "You women" in the comments.

Also, he knows shit about Wonder Woman. TONS of little girls read her comics in the early days. Just look at the letter columns. Also, women were an audience for that show about her. And a WOMAN is writing her comic right now. Golly gee wow. And she's like, an icon of feminism. Which means a lot of women must like her! Again, wowsers. And more woman would read comics if (here's a secret listen closely) they weren't constantly treating their female characters  like crap or sexying them up. Or if they actually attempted to attract a female audience. It's amazing, I know.

The best part is it's a guy pretending he somehow knows how a woman thinks and feels. Despite the fact he's not. A. Woman. I love it when guys do that. They complain about how we are sooo complicated, yet apparently they get to speak for us as a whole. Because they just KNOW what's best. Now get me a sammich!

God, I am so angry. I know it's just some stupid guy's opinion, but the fact it EXISTS ruins my good mood.

I'm a woman so I'm like so emotional ya know how it is. Oh, if only I could dance till dawn and find the right guy. Never mind that I hate to dance. That's because I'm some freakish minority, a girl who likes action. Who knows how many other things are wrong with me!

Oh boy, the computer has now figured out I'm a girl and a thingy telling about someone's amazing weight loss story has popped up. I'm not kidding that actually just happened.

The world just HAD to remind me how sexist it was.

Random guy, I'm not signing up for your site to cuss you out, but I hope you see this and try to argue with me. I will roast you, and then end each post with a pic of Steph beating up someone. It will be glorious. And very touching, like any woman wants!

Doubtless, everyone has heard of the casting for the Avatar movie. I wasn't going to make a post on it, since so many others have managed much better ones than I could have, but I realized I could link to those posts and spread awareness! So here.

Get the skinny! The sad, white, skinny.

community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/6745259.html#cutid1


glockgal.livejournal.com/375625.html



Sokka is not pleased.

Almost as facepalmy as the casting decision in the first place, are, the as always, wonderful Internet arguments. My favorite is "Kids want to see white people!" Yeah. I mean, otherwise, how would so many kids watch Avatar, that super well done cartoon starring ASIAN AND INUIT PEOPLE?

Oh, but they're not Asian! Because, um, Aang and Toph have round eyes!

Yeah, Asian people, all their eyes look the same! I mean Aang? Such a totally WHITE nomadic monk with such a WHITE name! Bei Fong is also clearly meant to be a caucasion last name.

And Aang and Toph aren't even the ones we're complaining about in the first place! We're complaining about Katara and Sokka and Zuko being cast as white people! Look, that pic above is of Katara and Sokka. Tell me they are meant to be white. And Zuko is pretty clearly Asian.

But they're FICTIONAL RACES!

Thaaaat are clearly patterned after Asian and Inuit people. In fact, on my Avatar First Season DVD they have an explicit quote from the creators "So we later made Katara's little hair loopies to resemble an actual Inuit hairstyle!"   It almost makes you think Katara is meant to be sort of INUIT, right? OMG!


Honestly, those people claiming we are far too outraged because "sometimes black people are cast as white people!" are like those "it's reverse discrimination" idiots. "OMG they have an African American club in the school REVERSE DISCRIMINATION!"  I want to smack those people. Reverse discrimation is an oxymoron. The reverse of discrimination is...non-discrimination. That should tell you something. African Americans get to have their own club because whites have been opressing them for years. We are the opressors, so, yes, we ARE racist if we get out own clubs and bar other races. We have a lot more making right to do before WE can have the gall to bitch about being discriminated against. The entire white washing of a wonderfully diverse show is not the same as "Black dude as Kingpin".

Wow, despite linking to better arguments, I ended up arguing just because I felt like it. Oh well.

I'd advise you, like glockgal did, to write letters. It's time Hollywood learned to stop being such a racist pool of suck. White is not the default. I wasn't planning on seeing the Avatar movie anyway, considering the incredible amount of acting ability and special effects and CGI needed to capture the magic of the show, I saw no way they could pull it off. But with the current casting, I'm DEFINITELY not going to see it.

It should be noted it's not a good time to be a female and non-white character at DC either, between Vixen's whitewashing and speaking "African" (at least her mini is good and she's drawn black there. *sigh*), Thunder's coma and of course, poor, poor Cass.

Apparently things aren't going too well at Marvel either, according to scottyquick .

Those of you who said racism would end now Obama's president elect...

well, you were idiots, but that goes without saying. (Unless you were Stephen Colbert, but he was joking)

So, I've sent my questions to Fabian off to Swank at Big Shiny Robot to edit. There's an awful lot of 'em, and I included as many of yous guys as I could. I was rather ruthless in my interrogation about "Created Equal". All part of the war, I imagine.

Other things I touched upon is whether he has any idea why the hell Spoiler is invisible with Tieri, and who the Batfamily girls are in the Brady Bunch. (What? I want to know! I've got Steph pegged for Bobby, but otherwise, not sure.) Also asking if he ever managed to fit Cass and Steph's reunion in, or if he was just LEADING US ON. Other stuff too, general things and bits about his Batman Confidential Arc...I'm a bit low on Marvel questions, not being familiar.

Today, Ben in my art class was complaining about how Two-Faces face wasn't accurate in DK. "It's supposed to be purple!" I pointed out the color of Two Face's face varies from artist to artist as well as how it looks. Ben told me to shut up and he knew more about Two Face than me, because he has a poster or something.

Excuse me if I doubt this.

Oooh! I should have asked him "Soooo, who did Two Face almost beat to death with a baseball bat? Think hard, I'm sure you can get it!"

(In the unlikely event anyone doesn't know, it was Robin. Dick Grayson to be exact, in Robin Year One. Poor kid.)

Or "What is was his wife's name in the comics? Is that too hard? You can go with the cartoon, who was his girlfriend?'

(Again, Gilda for the comics, Grace for the cartoon.)

...Yeah, I'm thinking about this too much. (If you were amazed at Ben's rudeness, pretty much all the boys tell me to shut up when I intrude on their conversations, which I often do cuz I'm obnoxious. But they do that to everyone else too)

Frank made the better point of asking how the hell Two Face was magically in the two part suit in the last part of the movie. I am ashamed to admit I have seen the four times and not noticed anything about the suit. I just tend be either seething with rage about Babs or utterly fascinated by his face, I suppose.

Frank says he cannot imagine Harvey randomly nipping into a tailor on his quest of vengeance. Sadly, I can. C'mon, it's Harvey, he's like that.

So there's your randomness for the day.

Also, did you know there are only 100 Florida Panthers left? And they get hit by CARS of all damn things? 14 in 2007? C'mon people, it is a fucking huge subspecies of puma, I THINK YOU CAN SEE IT COMING. And for god's sakes, wildlife protectors, move the things into a reservation aways from the roads.

Of course, that kind of funding would come from an act BUSH IS TRYING TO CANCEL (Excuse me, but FUCK YOU George). Of course, as soon as Obama comes on, he should uncancel it if he doesn't want to deal with me! Okay, I have no idea how politics works.

This is not suggesting anything, but wouldn't having a Florida Panther tear Bush apart be an awesome presidential assassination? Not that I'd actually want to do that, and not that murder is awesome. But wouldn't it?

The snag in that plan is Florida Panthers are afraid of humans (with good fucking reason! Okay, I'm over cursing) and have never attacked one, and the Secret Service would surely shoot it, and that would be a horrible waste!

A ROBOT Florida panther? I would have Babs build it for me, since we're dreaming. What, she can build robots I'm sure.

I am so fucking sick of seeing gendered insults like skank and whore being thrown around and misused in online forums I LIKE. Especially since it just seems a goto whenever someone disagrees with a girl.

I know, newsflash. But it happened in Superdickery, which is new, so.

Also OBAMA WON YAY.

There was much embracing at my high school today.

Secret Six was fabulous. Yay for Cheetah being formidable and awesome again!  Also I love the banter and the art and the end of the issue was great. I loved the concept.

5/5

Terra was okay. I just love Amanda Conner's art so much.

3.5/5

Agh, too weird feeling to typed much.

Also I need news about Robin NOW.

A while ago, I got an email in response to my Stephanie Brown Fave Covers OMG post: (http://nevermore999.livejournal.com/30288.html#cutid1) It was from this dude names Newton, who listed a gigantic litany of his favorite Steph covers. He did not introduce himself in any way.

I recognized him though, as someone who sometimes sent nonsensical emails to peeps at Superdickery (Frex, he emailed shanealt when he said he wasn't impressed with McKeever's BoP run so far, going all "TWO ISSUES IS NOT A RUN!" and basically dodging the question when shane asked him who the hell he was) I was very amused I was the newest target, and asked newton what his deal was, keeping a jovial tone. Lemme dig the correpsondence up, I catalogued it on Superdickery.

( Newton: Cyber Stalker )

I am somewhat vexed. Before I go into my rant, I will note I have replaced about six mood icons where I was ambivalent about the art used with my own, a lot of it because I wanted mood icons from the Robin/Spoiler special, like above.

Today, I got another of those "you're not good enough" speeches from my dad. Basically,  for some weird reason, he had decided I did not appreciate the martial arts lessons he's given me since I was six. That he's never going to give me another one and he's given up teaching me things. Apparently, I don't try hard enough or whatever. Since the age of six, I have put my heart and soul into pleasing my dad. I may not enjoy martial arts lessons, but I understand the neccessity and ALWAYS try very hard.  But apparently, I had to do it with an enthusiasm unparalleled by Hercules or something. I can't be in a bad mood ever, or show weakness or fatigue.

He says this is not my fault, and then tears me apart for all the faults I have. I'm not observant enough, I'm too slow, I'll never make it in the real world. I had to bite back tears during the whole thing, because he always gets so pissed off when I cry, but it's hard not to when someone acts like you've failed them.

The thing is, I can't think of one thing I've done wrong. Why I deserved this tongue lashing. It's not like he was screaming at me, he was just basically saying "I've given up on you."

He doesn't give a crap about how this speech makes me, so scared right now of whats to come, feel.

My dad is the one who had the substance abuse problem until recently, yet apparently the amount of time I spend on the computer is a sin unpardonable. It doesn't matter that I follow his every order, clean the house, take care of the pets and get damn near straight A's. (He mentioned "I am proud for what you've done in school and then trailed off like "that's not good enough."  Nothing I do is ever good enough. And God, I try so hard.)

I write. I draw. I am on the debate team, I have not gotten in trouble since middle school ( I got one day suspensions a couple times for getting into fights back in the day. One of these was punching my best friend when she attempted to strangle me for no apparent reason. Apparently I was supposed to let her choke me or something.) I have never touched a drug, or smoked. I am a virgin, and I haven't even had a goddamn boyfriend. I've never been to a wild party or hung out with a rough crowd, or violated anything my parents have said ever. I have never cut class, stolen and I have not gotten a referral my entire high school career. The worst thing I ever do is throw away my food sometimes at lunch. That is my great sin.

I am still not good enough for him.

He ranted that if I told Mom about our "chat" and said if I told her, he would never spend time with me again. He would show me how "he could be an absentee father".

He seems to think I should give him a fucking gold medal for not walking out on me and Mom. For spending goddamn time with me.

It's then I want to show him what I could be like. These imaginary indiscretions make him feel like he should be a rotten dad, because obviously he was forced into this whole parenting thing, and I should be thankful he deigns to come home at all? Well, how about if I was anythng like a goddamn typical teenager. That would mean I would be out at night, at parties that got crashed by the police. I'd be with older boys and fucking them while lying to my parents about it. I'd have smoked all manner of things.

I'm not exaggerating, the girls who sit with me in my art class are all smart, adjusted, middle class white kids, and they are not virgins, and their parents know it. They date older boys and they do drugs and they lie all the time to mommy and daddy.

I could be. So. Much. Worse. I would love for him to trade daughters with someone else. What a wake up call that would be.

I suppose I should be grateful. When I was little, he's scream in my face, not just reprimand me. Make me think he was going to hit me. I'm lucky he never went that far.

Still, I better get off my ass and work on scholarships. I want to be entirely self sufficient. I want to show him I can make it, without his help. I want to be on my own.

Was just thinking about the term (okay for a reason, but best not to get into that)

It is HORRIBLE to compare women (or men) who get passionate about feminism to nazi's.

Maybe I'm just a very sensitive person. I am not Jewish, or close to anybody Jewish, but I am human, and just hearing the word "nazi" if I'm in a particular mood, will send me into a flashback of all the literature I've read on the subject (for some reason, I do find myself reading about World War II a lot. It's inexplicable, sort of like how I ended up reading a lot about anorexia...actually, I think I was trying to convince myself not to obsess over my weight...it worked, though the growth spurt helped) and all the videos and my stomach just CHURNS and I get so ANGRY over what happened.

I'm not perfect, I have used the term  "nazi" lightly. In a fit of anger I called my Mom one a few weeks ago actually. But then I thought "Did I REALLY just compare my fairly awesome if not obsessed with my grades and every little detail of my life mother to a friggin' NAZI?" And I said sorry.

I mean, it's so CUTE. "Hey, you can put nazi at the end of feminism! Whenever someone argues with you, you can call them a feminazi! It will automatically shame them and render their opinions invalid. Look how the words go together it's like "rawesome" !

To compare someone passionate about sexism in COMICS to a nazi?

YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A COMIC BOOK. SOMEONE WHO DISAGREES WITH YOU or hell, even if they DO think they're superior to you, is not a nazi.

This is debating on the Internet about comics. Consider that this is actually not that big a deal in the big scheme of things.

I try to keep myself in check when I debate about comics. I catch myself getting too passionate about Steph or something, and I have to remind myself there's REAL injustices out there.

I have never, ever met a women complaining about sexism in comics who does not actually love comics. I love comics. But I will complain if it is called for.

And no, I don't mind seeing heroine's in peril. In fact, I love to see my favorite superheroines  and get the shit beaten out of them. It makes me root for them harder. I don't mind when they die. Ferinstance Gert in Runaways was my fave character in that book yet you never see me complain. Cuz it was good death. An awesome, heroic death. It was touching, and she was strong 'till the end, and it actually served a purpose in the story.

Oh right, I was talking about feminazi's or something.

It's not cute or a good descriptive word. It's like saying "You're like Hitler!" in an argument, it shows you think you're so great obviously your opponent is an EVIL FASCIST! That somehow, by insulting them, by hurling this loaded word at them, you've defeated them.

I don't care if they are the most annoying person in the world, if they call mysogyny everywhere and hate comics. That doesn't make them a nazi. It just makes you pathetic for calling them one.

Oh, and while we're at it, you're arguing on the INTERNET. Making the assumption someone hates men or something is very grand considering you don't know who they ARE.

And, yes, I have been called the feminazi. It made me laugh in an incredulous sort of way. YES BEWARE MY HORRIBLE HATRED YOU HAVE ANNOYED ME RARGH! I'm so frightening.

http://browngirl.livejournal.com/1064145.html

A quote:
To attempt a coherent summary: Melissa Bruen, a senior at the University of Connecticut, was walking in a public place on campus when a man grabbed her and sexually assaulted her. She fought him off as several bystanders gathered. They stopped her from hitting her assailant, restrained her, and as one man said, "You think that was assault?", pulled her top off, and groped her breasts, others cheered and shoved her around until she fought her way free."

When this girl published her story, she` was called a liar and flamed by many people.



Just. WHY.

HOW.

Why do these things keep happening?

Well, I know why. Because the a portion of the human race is screwed up, and horrible, and mysoginist and sleazy.

This girl is a hero. She is a hero for fighting back and a hero for publishing her story. That college, if it has a place called the "rape trail?" It needs to have security there 24-7. No excuses. I don't care what's happening elsewhere. I don't care how much that costs. THEY NEED TO HAVE THAT THERE.

She fought back. And she was punished for it.

She published her story. And she was punished for it.

She was brave, and strong, and tough. And she was punished for it.

Fuck you, everyone who punished her. I hope you die and rot in hell. I am tired of hearing these things and being afraid. Even if I fight back, I'm screwed.

...Okay, let's try some good news/bad news.

My grandfather took a turn for the worse. However, in a short time, he miraculously got much better. This makes me feel very lucky, and impressed with my Papa's will. He's still in the hospital and anything could still happen, but he's much better.

Annnnd comix reviews:

Raven #3:

This continues to be average, but entertaining enough. I sympathize with Raven a lot, and Scott's art isn't too bad. I really do appreciate the positive potrayal of high schoolers. Though I despise my high school, many teenage girls are genuinely friendly, even to introverted girls like Raven, and I'm glad for once high school age girls are not being potrayed as teeny-bopping bitches. I also like how Raven's speech bubbles go all classic squiggly when she's in costume. The plot moves very slowly, but I'm okay with that, I suppose.

3.5/5

Supergirl #29

Oh noes! Little boy is dead! I do enjoy Kara's characterization. She's optimistic, but she's not stupid. And Rez Man would have saved li'l boy had he not randomly died, so she was right! The plot still intrigues me, so that's good, and I like Kara's handling of Villian guy (though she showed a lapse in judgement by not watching him closely enough when he was experimenting, but I guess that's the point...and I'm not sure what she pulled out of him...the nanites I guess?) It wasn't stellar, but good enough.

3.5/5

DC Universe Zero

A week late! It was a glorified preview book, but only 50 cents and reasonably well written, I suppose. Could care less about Barry, though WW's plot looks intriguing.

3.5/5 (Wow, lotta those!)

Okay, s'pose that it. Well, actually, here's so me art of mine, my War of the Wild chars in a new, more stylized style.
( Think it looks better? )
EDIT: OH AND IRON MAN WAS SO AWESOME.

There are very few things that offend me so much I feel the need to blog about it. Especially when several others have already done so.

But this.

But this.

"At Penguicon, we had buttons to give away. There were two small buttons, one for each camp: A green button that said, "YES, you may" and a red button that said "NO, you may not." And anyone who had those buttons on, whether you knew them or not, was someone you could approach and ask:

"Excuse me, but may I touch your breasts?"

And if you weren't a total lout - the women retained their right to say no, of course - they would push their chests out, and you would be allowed into the sanctity of it. That exchange of happiness where one person are told with gropes and touches that they are desirable and the other is someone who's allowed to desire.

For a moment, everything that was awkward about high school would fade away and you could just say what was on your mind. It was as though parts of me were being healed whenever I did it, and I touched at least fifteen sets of boobs at Penguicon. It never got old, surprisingly.

Some women didn't want to. That was fine. We never demanded anything of anyone. And if you didn't want to put yours up for the Project but you wanted to touch, well, that was fine, too. It was simply for folks who felt like being open.

It was a raging success at Penguicon.... And there haven't been any hookups that I know of thanks to the Open-Source Boob Project. It is, as I said, a very special thing. (Though I wouldn't rule it out if two single people exchanged a moment.) And we'll probably do it at other cons, because it's strangely wholesome and sexual at the same time.

I've left off the names, because frankly, people should reveal for themselves whether they're Open-Sourcers or not. Not everyone wants to go public with it, and what happens at the con stays at the con. But trust me. If you are, and I meet you, I will ask. And you'll understand the beauty and simplicity of the Open-Source Boob Project for yourself.

Touch the magic, my friends. Touch the magic."


What the fuck.

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK.

ANYone who looks at this and says it is harmless? HAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEM. And guess what? Even women with the "No" buttons got groped. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.

Great job showing that sci fi geeks and comic geeks are open to females in their fandom. Great job making everyone feel safe. I feel unsafe just reading this.

YOU DO NOT GO TO A COMIC CONVENTION TO GROPE PEOPLE. FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL CONSENT TO LET YOU IN PRIVATE. IF YOU CAN'T, THEN GO CRY OR SOMETHING. OR GO TO A...SEX CONVENTION. BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT.

"What happens at the con, stays at the con?" Holy fucking shit, does he have any idea the connotations that phrase has?


"Touch the magic, my friends. Touch the magic." THAT IS NOT MAGIC. Those are BOOBS. They are perfectly natural. You see them every day. Just like I'd doubtless see your fucking erections everyday They belong to whoever owns them. People shouldn't need to wear a button to not get groped. NOBODY should go to a sci fi convention and expect to be groped.

" It was as though parts of me were being healed whenever I did it" BOOBS ARE NOT A PSYCHIATRIST. WHAT ARE YOU BEING HEALED FROM? Being rejected in high school? That time Connie teased you about your zits? Boo fucking hoo. At least you didn't have to put up with people staring at your ass or making cat calls. OH WAIT, I bet you were THAT guy. Whatever your sob story is, I can have it multiplied by eighty. I've been teased, hit, and groped, abused and used by all kinds of guys. THAT IS HIGH SCHOOL IN AMERICA TODAY. I deal with it. I don't need to "heal" myself by grabbing random fanboy's balls.

I..can't talk about this anymore. The rage is too much. I really, really hate my fandom at times.

A funnier and better proposal:

http://misia.livejournal.com/1055120.html