Man, I am such a bad person. I have so many things I should do. Mostly fannish things. Like fanart I should draw, fanfic I should write (sooo much fanfic I must write.) Also my own stories and comics I should be doing. Youtube videos. I don't know where to start! So I'm working a little on whatever when I feel like it, but that's a big "when".

In the meantime, my roommate has emailed me back and she seems really nice! She was all enthused about college and getting to know me, and she says she's not a big party-er and she's a book nerd, so we should get along! Yay!

And then there's comics. I have tons to review:

I got last weeks Wednesday Comics and this weeks two days ago, so I'll review them both at the same time:

Batman: Definitely very pretty art, and definitely keeping some interest. I'm enjoying it so far.

Kamandi: Nice and old school, and the art is beautiful.

Superman: Cry moar, Big Blue. I rarely say this, but I agree with Batman. Get over it, stupid people are everywhere and earth is your adopted home, no one cares about your angst. Though I do appreciate the Ma Kent hugz. The art is definitely not my cup of tea.

Deadman: Oh, Boston. What more can I say? I'm enjoying it so far.

Green Lantern: Art continues to be very nice, story is okay.

Metamorpho: Two splash pages. The old comics at the bottom are amusing, (though the kids souless eyes creep me out) but I'd rather we get on with the story.

Teen Titans: Wow, well balanced and faintly self-deprecating Tim! It's been a long time. I actually like the art more as we go along. As for the story...we've got a cliched "hates-superheroes-because-their-fights-cause-so-much-damage" girl. I mean, it's a valid complaint but do they have to be so anvilicious about it? (Sorry for the TV tropes link, but I realized some might not know the term that is just a part of my vocabulary at this point) And who thinks it's good to bring this up when injured people need tending too? But hey, it's better than the current Titans stuff we're getting. And Tim's "I hate Wednesdays" gag is kind of amusing.

Adam Strange: Um, Zeta Beam. Right, that's good. Warrior girl in distress. Got it. I guess I should read Adam Strange or something, because I don't mesh with this.

Supergirl: Continues to be fun and adorable.

Metal Men: Okay. I have no idea why that security guard wanted to shoot at them though. Nice art, decent story.

Wonder Woman: Okay, sure it's very dense and complicated. But if you pay attention and reread, you can pretty much understand it, and it's very nice and mythic and faintly cracky. Garbage spirits? Who knows where that came from! And I appreciate Caldwell taking advantage of the size of the page to tell huge stories. Also how he takes advantage of the "wacky crazy myths abound" setting Diana does so well in. Though the "she wakes up, it's just a dream, back to sleep, OH WAIT NOT REALLY A DREAM GUYZ" is getting old, so I hope we get something different soon.

Sgt. Rock: Continues to get beat up. NO ONE CARES.

The Flash: Geez, Iris, when you married a superhero you should have realized he'd be off, you know, SAVING PEOPLE a lot and weird crap would happen. Don't be a whiner about it. Meanwhile, cute art, good taking advantage of space with the split format, and time travel ahoy!

The Demon and Catwoman: So wait, did this witch lady hire Selina for the job? Since when is Selina hired help? Or did she hypnotize her somehow? And now Catwoman is a cat, literally. 'Kay. Art's pretty.

Hawkman: Okay, Hawkman giving the thumbs up to that little girl was ADORABLE. But he killed more birds and apparently wants to take over the world, but this other guy wants to as well. So now they fight. DICK. Why did those birds think he was compassionate?

So far, this continues to be pretty cool.

5/5

Supergirl #43

Another quiet issue, with lots of nice moments. So looks like Lucy really was Superwoman, though I think Lois is jumping the gun with the funeral arranging. Kara writes to her father and tries to understand her mother, ending up joining the Science Guild to do just that. Like I said, lots of nice moments, especially between Alura and Kara, when Alura explains how she's trying to show Kara the different sides of all the Guilds, not punishing her, and Kara is all "and you didn't TELL me this why?" And I like how Kara clearly has an artistic interest. She's like me! I feel sorry for her, that she's not following her talent to it's fullest in her desperation to figure out Alura. And great Jamal Igle art as usual, with a very pretty Kryptonian gown.

5/5

Runaways #

Chase, you either killed someone or you made it up because your dad hit you. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Lots of Runaways complaining in this issue, but it didn't bother me too much, and I'm interested to see where it goes.

3/5

Legion of 3 Worlds #5

I KNEW DC BOARDS WAS EVIL. I KNEW IT. IT IS SUCH A PIT OF SUCK IT HAS ATTRACTED SUPERBOY PRIME. And does he have his powers or not? Because if he does, Earth Prime is screwed. Earth Prime is us, right? Man, we are screwed.

The Legion fights, Prime is mocked, Bart makes sure to mention Max again (I KNOW, Bart, I want him back too. NOW.) Bart and Kon get reunited with Titans! Cassie is like : D and Tim is like 0_o when this happens. By the way, this makes Tim's attitude even more inexcusable in Red Robin. His friends and ex-girlfriend are back. At this point he's lost no more than Dick has (parents, Bruce) so he can't complain "I'VE LOST EVERYTHHHHIIING!" And judging by recent events, he should just chillax and wait for Bruce to come walking through the door. Sure, Dick replaced him as Robin (which was OOC) but if he hadn't reacted with flaily rage he may have been able to salvage the situation. And the fact he complains he has no one to talk tooooo when he has an entire network of friends and support and his two BFF's recently back from the dead....WELL. I have no sympathy.

Oh yes, this issue. It was good. George Perez art and some decent jokes.

4/5

The Unwritten:

I just got this series, and it's fantastic. All metatextual and on the nature of stories and I just love that stuff. Lots of lit geek stuff and the HP references make me happy and eye- roll-y at the same time. I rec it. I'll talk a little more about it later.

5/5


I also bought from my comic shop Gail Simone's run on Action comics, which was entertaining and everyone from Superman to Lois and Jimmy was funny and awesome. Also a couple of 90's Superman issues Lois was awesome in. (One was right before the wedding where she went on a QUEST TO FIND HERSELF and bust up a drug racket and one during the honeymoon where she saves Clarks depowered ass from evil foriegn people with explosives, sleuthing and kung fu) Also a few 80's Teen Titan issues, which were good, of course.

Anyway, that's all my comic-y news! There's a sale at my lcs tomorrow that I'm going to, maybe I'll bring John. In the meantime, catcha later.

Thanks to the magical working of bluefall , I now have access to the entire Wondy v2! I'm so happy! I am immersed in George Perez goodness!

The Wondy Annual I just read (1989, I think) especially amused me. It's all about Wonder Woman's publicity agency, and there's a story whereMyndi Mayer and Wonder Woman is worried about the comic getting made about her because...and I quote..."Myndi knows comics with a female lead are not usually a high seller...unless they have a lot of T and A.".

I nearly fell off my chair laughing. I bow to Perez. But it gets better! "Wonder Woman was worried her message of peace would get lost in the industries preocupation with violence and sexual exploitation.'"

No! A comic sexually exploiting Wonder Woman? NEVER!

Now, I'm not sure the guy who designed Starfire has a right to talk about comic's focus on T and A, but clearly Perez got that if he wanted to send a strong feminist message and tell a good story, sexualizing Wondy wasn't the way to go, and for that, I love him. And applaud him. And I find it hilarious he was able to rip on DC's sexism like that. No, DC, you don't have a problem. Actually, yes you do, even your creators have noticed.

I also tickled that Wondy got a woman to write and draw the DC Universes WW comic. (It was a cute story, by the way, when they showed an excerpt from the comic) I like the think of that woman as "proto-Gail Simone". Also in the DCU,  the comic sold out. Oh, if only.

There were actually two stories dealing with Wonder Woman and sexual explotation in the annual, in another, Wonder Woman got a dominatrix strip show named after her, and her PR guy went to put a stop to that madness! Only to find out some Wonder Woman cultist had hacked the poor stripper to pieces. Diana was not pleased, and she had to go put that cult that inspired him (he was not an actual cultist, but a rogue)  straight by beating up the statue they made of her. It was glorious.

Also Hermes? He's hilarious. He sacks out in Steve's apartment and bothers him all day, and keeps going on about how he's the god of messengers and so awesome. And he feels sad without his hat. He could just pretend he's a Jay Garrick fan...

But, in the news of current comics, I only got Secret Six #10 this week.

It was good as usual, though this issue felt oddly lacking. It was mostly an introduction to the new arc, and I can't fault it for that. Scandal and Bane are so cute, she's like his cool older sister and he's her boisterous, overprotective little brother. Also, Scandal has nifty boxers!

The villian guy is keeping Artemis as a slave. This is going to cost him dearly, I imagine. Yay Artemis! Nicola Scott draws her very pretty. I can't wait to see her and the Six interact. And for Diana to show up!

4/5

In other news, I have heavily edited and redone my old story about what happened to Ron and Hermione in HBP while Harry ran off to get the locket with Dumbledore. It's here: www.fanfiction.net/s/2948413/1/Gathering_Dark

Now I can start redoing my "Hermione's-relationship-with-her-parents" fic!

Ciao!

...and they were all pretty good.

Thanks to not getting any last week, it was six comics I got today, although I forgot to glance at Flash: Rebirth or get Battle of the Cowl (though judging from the scans at scans_daily and the confirmation of no Steph, Cass or Babs appearing, that was a good thing)

But I did get:

Superman World of New Krypton #2

It was very good. Supes is such a sweetheart here, and I like him best that way. Here's my review for BSR: www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/4883

5/5

Booster Gold #19

Tho I loved Younger!Boosters silly antics, I have no idea what the hell is up with Michelle. How could she NOT know she was dead and missed a huge chunk of Micheal's life? It should have been really obvious as soon as she popped back. At any rate, she MAJORLY overreacted. I wouldn't like being lied to either, but smacking Skeets around, shutting him down, acting hysterical and psycho and running off in a huff to some random time period was borderline crazy. I can only hope she's being influenced by something, because seriously, it's really, really random. I would be dropping this book if it weren't for the promise of Jaime.

2/5

Secret Six #8

What a date! And Little Secret Six, I remember seeing that on the Internet! Oh, RAGDOLL. I really admire Gail Simone for being so involved with the fans she'd spot gems like this that most writers would never get to behold.

The issue itself was a little like filler, but fun. Scandal has a new beau is pretty much the end result. I was hoping to learn more about Knockout's recent body snatching appearances, but ah well.

4.5/5

Speaking of Gail, I found this interview where she gave these thoughts on the WW movie in an interview (www.afterellen.com/people/2009/4/gailsimone-part1):

All right, here's how I see it. I did the first two drafts of this film's screenplay and the basic plot and characters still reflect that. But as I've said, I don't write Wonder Woman as Man Vs. Woman. I just feel that Wonder Woman would have settled that debate in her mind long ago with the universal truth: that there's good and bad in every group.

Seeing a woman as powerful as Wonder Woman debating things like guys opening doors for women seems a little like it's lowering her, that she's stooping.

In short, the gender issue stuff in my drafts was more subtle and a little more about miscommunication than outright hostility.

So when I finally saw the finished product, which I enjoyed tremendously, the one sour note for me was the insertion of all this gender politics stuff. At this point, I don't feel it's right or fair or even interesting for Diana to mistrust men as a gender, in toto.

The feminist discussions they're having felt very early 70's to me, very first wave. I think for most of America, that discussion is past. So I was a bit taken aback by that.

I'm friends with and a huge fan of animation genius Bruce Timm, and the writer who did the final draft, Michael Jelenic, is just this extremely talented, sincere, humble guy. I hadn't met the director, Lauren Montgomery, but she seems pretty wonderful, too.

They really wanted to do right by Wonder Woman and I think they succeeded beautifully. It's a cracking good action story. But the man vs. woman stuff really baffled me on first showing.

Hell YES! I knew Gail wasn't responsible for that gender war bullshit. Nail, meet head.

She also makes some good points about the GOOD side of the gender war stuff, which is interesting.

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures of the 8th Grade

Another great issue, but I think I need a reread, some of the stuff was a tad confusing. Which makes me worry it will be confusing especially for the kids. Liked the Legion references thrown in, and Comet! Also Lena. She's awesome. Especially with her pessimism about graduating 8th grade. The stuff's really hit the fan for Linda, should be interesting. Overall, this book has been so charming and funny, I'm sad it's ending soon.

4.5/5

Teen Titans #69

I thought Barrows was bad, but an artist trying to imitate Barrows is even worse.  As for the writing, Static was pretty bitchy to Eddie and Jaime, but I suppose he's traumatized. It was nice to see Aquagirl kick the Face's ass, and I didn't mind at all that he died. I'm liking Aquagirl so far, and I'm really liking having M'gann back. "Which button is for hugging," hee. Solid issue, nothing special, but noting too bad.

3.5/5

Teen Titans Annual 2009

Going to repeat about the bad art. However, characterization remained solid, Static got to me a badass, Bombshell became marginally more likable, and Eddie got to wear his old costume which was hilariously cool. Also, Dead!Marvin pretty much told Kid Eternity joining the Teen Titans is a death sentence, which is true, and funny to see acknowledged in text. Another very solid issue, though I have no idea how Cyborg managed to hack the Scarab.

4/5

Well, thassall! Gotta go take a shower and reread my comics!
 

So! That thing that I didn't like last post appears to have been miraculously taken care of! Frabulous day!

And comics this week weren't bad!

Reviews!

Wonder Woman #28

Man, this kicked so much ass. Aside from the random Tom stuff, I still don't fully understand it. There's a mystery about it though, and I think we'll get our explanation soon.

But who cares about Diana and Tom macking? What I care about is Diana, Donna and Cassie being a GLORIOUS TEAM OF AWESOME that LOVE EACH OTHER also. Hells yeah! It's about freaking time! Donna and Diana haven't been depicted as being close in...have they ever been? Not from what I've read. But in here, Donna is there for Diana and is all "Get the hell off of my sister!" when Diana is threatened. I LOVE it. And Cassie is a member of the team again, who is confident and wants to help.

Also they have matching armor. Sort of. Impractical wings aside (Gails said on s_d she doesn't like them either, but she came up with a use for them. I can't wait to see it) it looked really cool, especially on the splash page where it was revealed. Especially Donna's, which is all starry and pretty. And I really like the differentation. Diana is gold, Donna is silver, and Cassie is bronze. Not only does that go in order of their age and poweset (Diana's the first "age", Donna's the second "age" and Cassie's the third "age") Diana does tend to favor gold in her costume, while Donna does silver, and Cassie wears bronze. Also, Diana's the eagle, Donna's the hawk and Cassie's the dove. I wouldn't have known this if Gail hadn't told me, but at second look, the beaks of the birds are different. Oh, and Cassie's randomly bares her navel. Like bluefall said, I can only imagine she breaths through it, and that's why she always keeps it exposed.

I got distracted by the armor...there was also the creepy reveal of Genocide's eyes (making her silly spikey thing worth it) and Gorilla action. Also axe action. Diana/axe may be my OTP. And Cheetah was a badass.

Also, Zombie Jason and the Argonauts! What more do you need?

Can't wait for the next installment!

4.7/5

Teen Titans #67

A decent issue, if not a particularly exciting one. However, I wasn't scared off my renewed buying of the series, and Cassie is still a decent and confident person. I did a review on BSR fully exploring this: www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/3801

3/5

Blue Beetle #35

A step down from last issue in terms of quality (last issue being made of awesome). I can only imagine because Sturges is being forced to wrap up the series in a short time. Also, no Raf on art. Nooooo....

We did see Ted's notes on various villians, which were in his usual sarcastic manner. And apparently when dispensing advice of how sometimes your own personal needs can get in the way of your mission, he then apparently gave examples of all the times he'd had to bail Booster out, which Jaime believes are exaggerated. I can only imagine how hilarious these tales would be.

The weirdest thing about this issue is Jaime wondering if he'd be willing to purposefully march to his own death the protect people (he believes he would) when...he's kind of already put himself in that posistion. When he plugged himself in to the sattelite to keep the Reach from hurting anybody, he was willing to go foward with it even though he knew he would die. And not only that, when Booster came to the rescue, he actively tried to stay back to save the most horrible person he'd ever met. So why are you even wondering about this, Jaime, of course the answer is YES, you already DID it. Also he randomly wondered a few other things randomly, but nothing that didn't make sense as much as that little question.

Also, Jaime's secret identity was almost revealed (He tried to cover it up by doing the "Oops, I'm leaving...and two seconds later Blue Beetle arrives!" but no one bought it) until people saw him while he was still fighting the guys as Blue Beetle...so I can only assume that is some trick by Peacemaker or Hector or someone. Who knows.

Also, Nadia runs to fight people! I have a bad feeling she might be the one who "dies" next issue. Seriously, people, why does someone have to die? This is BLUE BEETLE, where senseless death does not happen. I'm only hoping the "die" thing is a metaphor or some random villian bites it.

3.5/5

In other news, I got my final Perez Wonder Woman trade in the mail and Robin: Violent Tendencies (the trade of Steph's return. I couldn't find it anywhere, of course, until I broke down and ordered it, then is magically appeared at my local Barnes and Noble).

What I learned from Wonder Woman is Hermes is a huge diva (All camera's trained on me! I'll give you money if you believe in me! Hey, don't turn that news off, they're talking about me!) and it is HILARIOUS. Oh, Greek Gods. 

Also, Julia has menopause. It's an issue not often tackled in comics (and by not often, I mean, I can think of no other instance EVER where it was reference seriously) so I applaud them for mentioning it, but I had to laugh when Diana said "Julia, I am sorry if I and Hermes made you angry" and Julia's all "No, it wasn't you. In a way it wasn't even Hermes. It was something that excacerbated an already tense situation. I suppose Amazons don't have to be worry about menopause." It was just not what I expected her to say at all. She led up to it really dramatically and everything. "The truth is, Diana, it was....menopause!"

And then Diana going "I've read about that!" Way to rub your everlasting youth in, Diana. And then Julia's response "So have I. But it really sucks having it. By the way, I think Hermes totally has a crush on you."

Diana: "Oh, he wouldn't do that."

Julia: "We are talking about the Greek Gods here, right?"

I addition, we got a nice little mini stories about the Amazons when Julia and Vanessa visited Themyscria. All of them were really neat, though they were all done by different artists considerably less skilled that Perez. (It was very odd, to go from Perez's extreme detail and generally believable anatomy to just...your average artist.)

I also liked Myndi better POST death, because her funeral revealed her backstory- she'd grown up in a very sexist and stifling family, who hated her for being more carefree and independent. Her mother worked herself to death cooking and cleaning, and her sister became 2.0 after she died as her father's favorite. She ratted out Myndi to her father about her wild sexual exploits, and Myndi was kicked out of the family. Myndi responded by becoming a successful and respected (if ruthless and tactless, as well as eventually drug addicted) PR Manager. She was close to her little brother, who was also kicked out of the family for being gay. Myndi was the only one who didn't care, and she encouraged her brother to come out. When he did and his bosses attempted to fire him, she sicced her lawyers on them and he was able to keep his job. She also used her influence to make her sister invite him to her wedding.

That alone makes her kinda awesome. I'm pleased and impressed at the title for commenting on the issue of gay rights. Considering people are still stupid about it today, they must have been even more stupid twenty years ago, so it took some gumption to include it.

Anyway, good trade.

I know Perez's work goes beyond these four books. Is there no trade collecting the stuff after this? Because I haven't seen one. I don't want to go scrounging in back issues...oh well.

I also reread the "Return of Steph" arc too. I forgot how...at home Dixon writing Tim felt. He was not grim and gritty! I miss Chuck. Say what you will, but he wouldn't have had Tim bitch at Steph and then release Jason. And he would have had Steph kick ten kinds of ass.

*sigh*

Oh well. S'all for now.

I've been thinking. I've been thinking many thoughts. And one of these thoughts is that I admire Gail Simone. Not for the usual reason that I love her writing and she's as cool as hell (now there's an oxymoron if ever I saw one) but because she actually goes on the Internet, finds the fans, and listens to their criticism.

Criticism, to me, is about opening doors. You get douchebags that obviously know nothing about good writing and just live to flame, especially on the internet, but there's also the kind of criticism that makes you think. It makes you realize things you're not previously aware of. I think what happens in comics a lot is certain writers are just not aware of the implications of the things they're writing, and maybe they just need to sit down with someone who really loves a certain character and get that point of view.

These people are not saying they are better than you. That they know how to write better than you. They are contributing a certain point of view as someone who is devoted to this character, or this story, and telling you WHY. Telling you how they see the character right now, and what they would love to happen with this character, the directions they think it should go.

I was just thinking. I'd love it if I could, f'rinstance, sit down with Fabian Nicieza and tell him the fears, I have, as a fan, about Steph. If I could explain to him exactly WHY I care about her and where I think she is, where I think she should go. And this is not because I think I'm a better writer than Fabian, or I think he would listen to me. I think it's because every writer can benefit from hearing a fan who's got their head on straight (I like to think I do) who really cares about the character they're writing. I think maybe, a writer talking to a fan, a fan can bring up certain things the writer was not aware of.

Also, I would love to try to drill my thoughts about Batgirl into Beechen's head. Not sure if it would work, but it's worth a try.

Where I'm going with this, is, listen to fans. They have legitimate points of view. But you need to be able to sort out the crap from the truth, find intelligent fans who actually think hard about your work instead of just randomly forming opinions. If I was a writer for comics? I would trawl the Internet. I'd find some intelligent, true fans on the blogosphere and take into account the different points of view. I'd look 'em up, ask them what they'd like to see. Because to sell to your customer, you need to know your customer.

Just sort the crap from the legitimate criticism. It's not selling out creatively, in the end the decision of what to do is yours. You can't let the fans control what you like, but you can't ignore them either. You need to find a balance.

My random thoughts for the day.

Mom wants to save gas, so I skipped the comic book store last week. Meaning I got Blue Beetle, Birds of Prey, and The New Krypton Special this week. Also, I got Superman, though it came out this week. This Superman comic getting is ALL shanealt 'S FAULT.

New Krypton Special #1 

This was actually pretty good. I liked all the art. I mean, Pete Woods, Gary Frank and Renato Guedes! That's practically an orgasm of great comic book art.

Yes, you will never be able to let go of that mental image.

The reasons I picked this up is because shane pestered me to (in the nicest way possible), it's going to tie into Supergirl, which I am reading and actually, it seems like a good hook for a story. 100, 000 Kryptonians! Wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting world.  It's...a good idea. New! Different! It'll change back eventually, but it will be an interesting idea until it does. The ramifications of Kara having her parents back alone is rife with possibilities.

Anyway, it was a good story. Tension between Lois and Lucy (I demand a Lois Lane special now! If Jimmy Olsen gets one, Lois definitely should! And Gail Simone should write it, because she said she would! I hold her to this!), Jimmy's...rambling about something that happened in his special, I'm going to ignore that because I didn't read the damn thing.... random whale killing tells us all that earth is so fucked...

Oh, and Clark is sad because his dad died. I am not impressed with this death. I know having 100, 000 Kryptonians would make Clark too happy, so something horrible must happen tp him simultaneously because THAT IS HOW COMICS ARE! But, you know, in the end it's another death in comics, and I fail to be impressed by those anymore. They elicit a yawn. Jonathan, I will miss you until you get ressurected in five years. Hang in there!

But the writing surrounding it...well, it's sweet. I love Clark's little flashbacks, the
"My father taught me to be awesome" (I am paraphrasing)
"Oh yes, Jor El's crystals?"
"..."

and Ma telling Clark to do his job, she'll be fine...the "I so wish I could beat the shit out of Braniac" fantasy....Lois trying to comfort him...

Yeah, it's sweet. Well done, comics. There were a lot of "silent" pages in this comic, and they worked incredibly well. Really gave it a feeling of "mood".

Kara's dad seems like a total douchebag though. "Oh, we can't really tell them what to do, you know...ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE US LESS KRYPTONIAN?" No, Kara'sDad, he's trying to get you to not totally clash with the inhabitants of the planet you crash landed in. 

Speaking of which, hoping for Kara's reaction to Jonathan's death in Supergirl, since it wasn't in here.

OH AND LOIS'S DAD IS BACK OH NOES!

In conclusion, I give this...4.5/5! Well done.

Superman #I am not looking to see what number. A really high one.

Wasn't as good as the special, but eee, Renato Geudes! Ahem. Apparently the Justice League likes to interrogate Superman while standing intimidatingly on the Fortress of Solitude. Though I can see why they're concerned, what with the whale killing Kryptonians an' all.

Also, Krypto coming to comfort Ma Kent is just the CUTEST THING EVER. My heart melted. Good boy, Krypto. (I love dogs)

Could people stop referencing Amazons Attack? I am trying to pretend it never existed over here. And I fail to care about random Liberty guy. I do wonder what's up with Kara and her best friend who sort of snaps at her. Guess we'll find out later...

And...WTF is that Doomsday crashing down there? Why...Doomsday bores me, but the sheer WTFckery of him appearing out of nowhere...well, interesting.

4/5

Blue Beetle #32

While I fail to be impressed by Polaris, I cannot fault Mr. Reyes badassery with a cane. And Traci 13's badassery and carrot conjuring (why is the magic flooey, though? Is this some crossover I'm not aware of?).

So, um, yeah.

3.5/5

Birds of Prey #123

So! This was okay. O 'Hare, it is commendable you are trying to be Nicola Scott, but you're really not cutting it. The Joker/Babs confrontation led to nothing, but looks like there will be another one. I dunno, I'm interested, yet bored...

3.5/5

S'all folks

Reviews for this week. Two comics and both are written by Gail Simone! And they're both good! She's amazing, this woman.

Wonder Woman #25

Okay, this was freaking hilarious. I didn't expect to see more of the Wonder Woman Movie from Hell, but all the sexist tropes and Diana's facepalming during it was GREAT. Oh, Hollywood.  And Gail managed to sneak some feminism in there too, as is WW's way. Why is it that people feel a belief in women equal as hatred of men? I can't look. DAMN STRAIGHT, Diana. Testify, sister!

And Diana is the MASTER OF THE AMBIDEXTRIOUS DUAL AX TECHNIQUE! Snow White wasn't, but wouldn't the story have been so much better if she had been? I vote Wonder Woman should replace Snow White. And any other female character in fairytales. Her answer to everything would be DUAL AXES! Big Bad Wolf? DUAL AXES! (After some sympathizing, of course. "I can choose to be like the wolf!) We don't need no damn woodsman! Wicked Stepmother? DUAL AXES! Dad tries to cut your hands off? DUAL AXES! Trapped in a tower? DUAL AXES! (They'd help. Somehow.)

Hee, Wonder Woman was just very witty this whole story in fact. "Straight to video" indeed. And then she put on those sunglasses. Just because she could and she's cool like that. And I love the gorillas so. "This film is nothing but a mishmash of better movies and cynical displays of human female fatty tissue!" Gail got all meta on us with the "Waiting for a while for a good movie is better than having a terrible one today." I guess she's saying Hollywood isn't ready to make a good WW movie? Because they're sexist douchbags? But that doesn't mean I'll stop bitching about it! They should be ready by now! It's the 21st century, dammit! I will not have a Green Arrow movie before my WW one! Travesty!

Whew.

Um, anyway, I also really loved the last scene, with the mother and the little girls. It was very Diana and showed how inspiring she was. But is she thinking of having kids? Because I can't see that working out. She's pretty busy. Unless the kid grew really fast and became her sidekick. If not, she's liable to give it up for adoption or have Nemesis send it to a monastary without telling her. Anyway, it also means it would have to be Nemisis's baby and that is just GROSS.

Anyway, 5/5

Secret Six #2

Oh, Catman and your wittisisms. Oh, Batman and your burrito eating. Oh, Ragdoll and your 73 pounds of awesome. Oh, Deadshot and your constant narrating on how screwed up your team mates are. Oh, Scandal and your burden as being the only vaguely sane one on the team. Oh, Bane and your gentlemanlyness.

Did I cover them all? Oh, there's Mammoth and his screaming "NOT ON MY WATCH THING!" That was great. Also, the new villian extracted himself from the box and showed he could stand with aid, but his legs look limp and noodly. I wonder what his deal is. Maybe he's Ragdoll's dad! No, probably not, but that's what I thought when I saw the legs.

It was very good. Great Nicola Scott art and tons of fun as usual.

5/5

And now I must gush about the Mask of Phantasm and Batman: Subzero.

SPOILERS!

( Gushing )

'k, well enough gushing. Signing off!

...it's still mostly me squealing about Spoiler and getting irrationally angry over funnybooks.

But just this once, it is my duty to pimp something. Big Shiny Robot has a contest that's giving away two FREE Alan Moore DVD's in a contest. All you have to do is submit a literary figure you think should be in League of Extraordinary Gentleman!

http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/1404

I'd totally do it if I wasn't part of the site and if I knew anything about League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which I do not. As a bonus, the DVD gives you magic powers.

Look, you never know, it's Alan Moore.

Okay, moving on.

Wonder Woman #24

Gail SAYS she's going somewhere with Diana/Nemesis that will make it all worth it, but right now it's all awkward and forced and eurgh. They just met and already we're talking about baby making and him ruling with Diana? The hell?

Let's ignore that and trust in Gail for now. But there better be a hell of a payoff.

Now, the rest.  I love it. First, we get to see the talking gorillas again and everything is better with talking gorillas. I wonder if it will matter that WW hasn't fully recovered from the Black Horizon business.

Then we have TV!Executive Lady noting Diana dresses like a stripper and wears a flag that barely covers her rear end. I don't believe, like others, this affects how awesome Diana is, but it amuses me to no end to see this lady call her on it (Diana notes it's not a flag and the colors mean something to her, also "Do you want me to be ashamed of my body?)

Apparently this lady has a secret or something, since Diana hugs it out with her and tries to talk, but she runs away. Brainwashed ex-Amazon, maybe? Seems Diana would go after her if that were the case though.

Then we get to the movie, which is the best part. First, Hollywood has somehow managed to make Actor!Diana's costume even skimpier than the real one. Also Actor!Diana "never lies with a man unless defeated by him." Oh god, Red Sonja joke! That had me rolling, since I've seen it it suggested that Diana shares that philosophy with her on the net many a time.

Then we have "you defeated me, yet I've never felt more like a woman!" Diana snaps at this crap since the guy Actor!girl is saying it to is supposed to be Hercules her mother's rapist. Also, especially at the Hippolyta-Wondy-Herc triangle that is suggested. Oh God. Hollywood would totally do it.

She's basically telling them she is willing to fight them (I don't know if she means literally, but since she's holding one guy up by his shirt collar, I'm leaning towards it) to stop this monstrosity and SURPRISE! The cast is evil.

The villian is the Queen of Fables and she has all these people from Diana's past and different Wonder Womans attack. The moments to be remembered here are: 1. Depowered!70's Wonder Woman comes along with I Ching and starts yelling "beware my judo" and using hip slang, to which Diana responds "This movie really is innacurate. I sound nothing like that."  ONE PUNCH. HA!
2.  Diana gets caught by Hercules, and kicks him in the nuts (Her thought captions make it clear she considers this poetic justice) and thinks "For once, I do wish I had heels right now.") DOUBLE HA! and 3. She basically tell Faux!Max she'd kill him again to protect the world. THANK you.

The comic ends with her facing the original 1940's WW with the skirt and all, Lynda Carter WW, Perez WW and the one from that crappy movie. YES, the FANGASM!

Ah. I loved the second part of this, so it makes me sad I must mark it down for the Nemisis...ness.

4/5

Booster Gold #12 (I think)

It was light and fun. Especially Booster in a disco costume. That is priceless. As is Alfred and his shotgun.

But..Babs. got punked. By Michelle. with knockout gas.

Dixon, I thought you loved Babs! Why? Why this? Babs should have been able to knock Michelle unconcious with that kick. She was wearing HEELS.

Okay, she always wears heels, except in Batgirl YO but still.

And she certainly should have hit Booster with that lamp and followed them after Comissioner G got her up.

Poor Babs. First Huntress YO and now this. No respect I tell yas.

3.7/5

S'all for now! I have math homework.

The Awakening is pretty awesome.  It stirred a lot of feelings in me, so I think I will end up writing my application essay on that.  Poor Kate Chopin, outcast for being ahead of her time. Of course, she was liek OMG into the Confederacy, so not ahead of her time in all ways.

..Yes, I was surprised someone could have been feminist and supported slavery. It shows my narrow mindedness, since it's not like that's impossible.

Also, I forgot that while I like Art Class, I sort of hate it as well. Because everyone in the freaking class is better at Art than me, and it makes me feel all hopeless.

But screw that, onto comics.

Supergirl #33

I got this because of the Empress. I was sorely dissapointed because the story was bad, the art was meh and Empress was a total tool. Oh, Young Justice curse, you are so cruel.

Since when can Anita do force feilds and crap? Her magical abilities in YJ were teleportation, temporarily paralyzing people and once she did a locating spell, but it required her to do a naked voodoo ritual.

And since when is she dumb as a post? She should have KNOWN magic could cancel out magic. The Anita I know is smart, INCREDIBLY bad ass, resourceful and doesn't take crap. She would not have let meh villian with cliched origin play her like that, and would have thought up a plan.  She wouldn't have let anyone knock her around.

How the hell did meh  villian know Anita's secret ID anyway? Or did I miss that?

And when did she and Supergirl meet anyway?

God, poor Anita. First being turned white on occasion, now this.

The art was decent. I hope the new team saves this book.

1/5

Secret Six #1

THIS is more like it. Oh, I love you, Secret Six. Oh, I love you, Gail Simone. There was so much to love about this: Nicola Scott's fabulous art, a very intriguing set up with Junior, Deadshot's always lovely snark (I love how he called Catman on totally abandoning those two people in peril while saying he wanted to be a good guy and Blake's response "Dammit!" showing it didn't even register. Oh, Thomas. I love you, you crazy SOB) I mean, how Thomas and Floyd carry on a conversation why people are sticking guns in the back of their heads? And Floyd voicing what we all suspect "I think you like her because it's the closest you can get to doing Batman?"

Then Ragdoll adorably trying to cheer up poor Scandal and Bane just standing there and stating the obvious. And Knockout hallucination! Her random outburst "I AM A NEW GOD! DEATH SHALL NOT DEFEAT ME!" was perfect.

I'm intrigued to who the new female character will be, and why Batman is involved in this.

Oh, and Huntress appearance! Seeing Huntress drawn by Scott is always a treat.

5/5. This was good comix.

S'all for now.

I thought I might have found a way to get a mood theme, despite not paying and failed.(Anyone who wants to get on me about that, IT WAS A JOKE) But it really is an awesome Steph mood theme!

By poisonivory: http://community.livejournal.com/nerd_herd_icons/31227.html

See, if I had a mood theme, my mood would be: disappointed, because I can't have it.


SO DISAPOINTEEEED!

Anyway, I am also gloomy because school will start soon.

I should start applications now goddamn it.

I am so lazy.

Okay, I'll stop that.

Onto comic book reviews

Wonder Woman #24

Amazing as usual. Wonder Woman KILLED THE DEVIL. She is so hardcore. And I liked the gorillas pickin' lice and Donna actually calling Nemesis Mr. Guy-with-a-rifle.

I guess Sergeant Shield Sargent Steel is crazy now or something. I wonder why.

Y'know, WW's enjoyable, but I'm always left wanting more and it makes me feel kind of empty.

That made no sense at all, I'm sure, but whatever.

Like, what is Tom's deal? I want to KNOW RIGHT NOW. Gail keeps hinting at something, but I find no reason to sympathize with him right now and it is annoying.

But geez, the art is gorgeous. I like seeing Donna drawn with out her boobs falling out of her shirt, FOR ONCE. And acting somewhat intelligent too! FOR ONCE.

I miss the Amazon's so much. Just finished reading the first two trades of Perez WW, so that's why.

Anyway, fun, cool and a bit cracky, as all comics should be, so

5/5

Booster Gold #13

Heh. "I get to be Batman? Cool." Babs didn't get a role other than messing up, which is strange since I get the impression that Chuck loves Babs to the zillionth power, so I expected to see her be cool. Eh, maybe next issue. Also, Booster dressing as Killer Moth is HILARIOUS. And one punching Batman.

Then Alfred defends the Batcave! Shoot first, ask questions later! Though I think those were rubber rounds or something, since I saw no blood coming from Rip.

Booster sure is a little cranky this issue. It's like he just lost his best friend!

Oh.

Well, anyway.

4/5

That's all, for now. Except the first episode of the BoP TV show shifted between hilariously bad and almost-good, like ten times. Major whiplash. But enjoyable in a weird way, so I guess it was worth the purchase.

BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE REAL BLACK CANARY?

AND WHY DOES HELENA HAVE SUPERPOWERS?

I find it hilarious that Batman abandoned Gotham just because Catwoman died. "I'm sad, screw Gotham! Babs, I know you just got shot because of me and all, but could you take care of Gotham for me?"

"Uh, I guess..."

"Great, bye!"

Also, it is my canon that they named it "New Gotham" just because Batman left. The sign in the front of the city "A Gotham without Batman...shiny and new!"

Show is definitely a bit SoBadIt'sGood so far. I just wish I could forget the comics so I could enjoy that, so I could stop going "AGH HELENA DINAH WHY WAIT HOW IS THAT HARLEY SHE ACTS NOTHING LIKE HER."

And I've just watched the first episode and have these feelings.

Gotham Girls remains just as awesome in rewatching though, so there's that.

Edit: AGH MY PRINTER IS BUSTED SO I CANNOT PRINT MY LETTER TO JANN JONES.

So I have to review like 50 comics or something.

Or maybe just...*counts* ...seven. Okay, that's not so bad.

Sorry about that freakout last night ladies and gents- the news was just very unexpected, and you know how I get about Steph...

It really torques me off that it appears Chuck didn't leave but someone forced him too. Short of mooning DC, I don't think he could have done anything to deserve that (some people are all "oh the liberal thought police got on him because of his views!" Right. DC was never very liberal, and they wouldn't have hired Dixon in the first place if they were afraid of that little snafu. DC doesn't give a crap about a writers politics. Which, for the record, I VEHEMENTLY disagree with said views, but still like Chuck as a writer, especially since they rarely poke through his work [Sometimes they do, though, but more subtly than most at least *sigh*])

Now, let's pretend my opinion matters and say the only people I would trust to write Robin and/or a Spoiler mini (Do you think that will get canned or someone else will write it?) besides Dixon:

People I would absolutely trust

Jon Lewis
Kelley Puckett
Anderson Gabrych


People I might trust

Peter Tomasi
Brandon Thomas

People who I would trust but would never do either title except in my wildest dreams

Gail Simone

If these people get the title I will cry and listen to emo music

Adam Beechen
Frank Tieri
Judd Winick
Sean Mckeever

...My emo list is longer than any of my others. :(

Okay, lets get onto reviews.

*Sigh*

Wonder Woman #21:

A home run, as usual. I heart Gail's Wondy so. I love her outfits too. I also love Aaron Lopresti's art, the giant Gorilla's, Nemesis referencing Schoolhouse Rock, swordfights, "We prefer to be called trollops, Diana finally being called on abandoning her gods, giant clam vehicles, Alkyone apparently alive and she killed a giant shark (megadon. Or whatever), More Hyppy and the whole epic feel to the arc in general.

I just love this book.

...Did anyone else get a Babs vibe from that oracle lady? Red hair and can't use her legs?

And of course they called her the Oracle.

5/5

Booster Gold #11

Teeeeddd!

Okay, I have to admit it, that last scene was totally gay and I loved it.

I MEAN COME ON THEY WERE LOOKING LIKE THAT AT EACH OTHER THRU THE GLASS LIKE THAT....usually I don't go for subtext in everything and turning friendships into romantic relationships unless they're otherwise hinted at...however, Ted and Mike are an exception after this scene. I won't dwell on it too much though.

(I also want Babs and Dinah to get together solely so Dinah can not be Ollie's sidekick anymore)

(Other than that, I never ship unless the relationship is established in canon)

Also, Ted stepped on Mr. Mind. That is hilarious. Mr. Mind was unexpected too. I liked the whiteout effect in the last few pages.

And the scarab appearing out of nowhere makes me think it's not quite over...because the cliched "I must die" ticks me off, it it wasn't over it would save it from being cliched, please don't be over...

4/5

Gotham Underground

Huh.

I like Frank Tieri's Penguin.

And his Riddler.

WEIRD.

Maybe he should just do a series called "The Amazing Adventures of Ozzie and Eddie" and there are no other characters and it is just the Penguin and Riddler getting drunk and recounting old tales of silly villainy.

Because that's the only thing I'd ever buy again written by him.

Why did the Spoiler leave a note saying she was sorry to the Penguin? How does any of this fit into continuity? NO SENSE IT MAKES.

Though Robin's note was kind of cute, but Jim Gordon was so OOC it didn't matter.

Well. It's over.

And now he's going to write Outsiders. *head desk*

3/5

Huntress Year One #3

This is so awesome. Yay, Sal is alive! Yay, more overt feminism! And the art remains beautiful. I really like the little flashback panels, like when Helena hugged Sal. And "I need to be dressed to kill." Oh Helena. You rock.

Ivory Madison needs a Huntress ongoing. Like now. She is perfect for Helena.

5/5

Teen Titans Go #55

The final issue, that is so sa- HOLY SHIT WHAT IS MY LETTER DOING IN THAT LETTER COLUMN.

I WROTE THAT SIX MONTHS AGO THE FIRST TIME TTG WAS THREATENED WITH CANCELLATION.

Hey, they only printed part of it. The semi sarcastic part. So it sounds like I'm serious when I say if TTG is canceled all hope is lost. In fact I sound really whiny.

Let's see if the whole thing is still on my hard drive...

....GodDAMN I wrote a lot of letters to DC about TTG. They must have though I was friggin' INSANE. Which I am. The only one I didn't appear to save (or I just can't find it) was the one I wrote to Johnny DC.

So you'll just have to trust me when I say it's not as pathetic as I sound.

Johnny DC replies that he is sorry, and publishing the comic just doesn't make sense and I should read Tiny Titans (NO. Not unless there is a tiny Spoiler. Then you will have won me over) or Robin (Already do. Though I would like some STABILITY in the writers PLEASE) or regular Teen Titans (Hahahahaha NO) and I could soothe my broken comic book heart by writing my own comic.

...FINE THEN.

Actually, it was pretty nice. You could tell he was sorry the comic was canceled.

Onto the actual issue, which was really good and made me sadder it was the last. I seriously did not guess Phobia was behind everything until we got to the splash that had everything in dream bubbles and I was like "Waitwait Torres said in an interview he was going to use Phobia..."

BB's and Starfire's phobias were really sad, especially the way  BB was all like "...Mom?" to Rita. And "Don't you guys leave me TOO!" And Starfire's whole "I AM NOT going to get captured by the Gordanians again"

And poor Robin, so completely lost without his fellow team mates.

BUT SILKIE THE SILKWORM SAVES THE DAY! No really he does. That's what's so awesome about TTG.

Especially the way Starfire waved Silkie on the screen!

Robin: We "fear" your plans have been foiled.

Starfire: By my adorable bumgorf! Hee Hee!

Brotherhood of Evil: ....

And then the kids reassure each other. And unlike the (ugh) current Titans book, you really believe these kids are family and love each other. Like Raven's playful ribbing of Beast Boy

Raven: No, Trigon the Terrible is not returning. The only terror we have to worry about here is the green one.
Beast Boy: Hey, take that back or I won't invite you to the Dayton barbeque!

See, Judd Winick? If you're trying to imitate animated Raven, get that she actually likes her friends, and just happens to have a dry wit. Pleezthnx. It's clear when she teases BB here she's doing it out of fun, and she really does consider him her friend.

Aw, TTG. The show you're based is what got me into comics, and both it and this comic were of top quality. I'll miss you. *sniff*

5/5

Jaap on Superdickery was kind enough (heh...Jaap...kind...I do like him though, he entertains me) to point out Blograma quoted me.

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/05/24/variations-on-a-theme-40/#more-8289

I am torn between my anger towards anything related to Newsarama since they totally covered up that interviewer insulting Muslims (http://blurredproductions.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/ah-racism/) and being flattered I was quoted by such a prominent source on the net.

Plus, I still kind of visit Newsarama, so I'm a hypocrite.

Of couse, apparently I'm a nobody too.

, but there are approximately 50,000,000 very accessible message boards to read for anyone who wants to see pseudonymous nobodies blow their fanboy/fangirl stacks every time they don’t get their way, or in this case when they DO get their way.

Hey, I never denied I do that! I did not ASK to be quoted, whatever your user name is..."A Pseudonymous Nobody".

They understand the irony of their posistion but posted anyway.

Why is this damn thing stuck on italics?

Whatever.

Anyway, this comment did no offend me because I never expected to get any attention from...anybody. Hell, I came into this thing thinking I would get no comments. And now WFA's linking me, Gail freakin' Simone commented on my Oracle post and Ami Angelwings actually thinks I'm cool...it boggles the mind. I've made a lot of cool internet buddies here, and it gives me a place to rant about Spoiler and review comics to my hearts content. It's pretty damn amazing.

So, thanks, peoples who comment. You all rock and make my experience as an Internet comics geek that much richer.

Edit: I suspected this was Kalinara's column that quoted me, but was no postive. Now that this has been confirmed, I'm not conflicted at all, because Kalinara is awesome and hated what happened at N-rama.

Wow.

Wonder Woman was freakin' amazing.

I mean, I've been thinking about how I would produce a Wonder Woman movie. I mean, Batman in detective noir. Superman is sci-fi. Wonder Woman is total, epic, mythology. Wonder Woman fights GODS. Wonder Woman's mission is to end WAR. For like, ever. And the best writer will make us believe, that yes, she will do that someday.

What they need to make a good movie is a writer who will screw the cheesecake and really focus on that. Don't waste too much time on her origin. Write from character, but on an epic scale.

Gail Simone should write a Wonder Woman movie. Because she totally gets that aspect of the character.

Because apparently Wonder Woman's new mission is to kill the devil. And Gail makes me believe that this means...the devil is screwed.

There were many amazing things in this issue. My favorite had to be the scene with the wolves. It was so sad, and it showcase Wondy's compassion. I nearly teared up when she put her hand on it's forehead and it calmed down and we heard it's inner thoughts of PAINPAINPAIN.

We also get an awesome costume, a promise of a forthcoming explanation of why the Avatar of Truth is working a job based on deception, a Beowulf team up, Etta Candy being badass and funny, and a reference to when Diana worked at Taco Whiz. What more could youwant?

The art was great, but Etta Candy was too freakin' THIN. Give the woman some meat, dammit. And one shot had Diana Wundie's not completely covering her ass. But it was totally non-sexualized and beautiful otherwise.

5/5

Huntress Year One

This was amazing and the are was gorgeous and dark, which totally fit Helena. The writing was dark and really fit, too. I'm very glad we have another female writer breaking into the biz, and one that so far, seems to be excellent and *gasp* a feminist! In her interview she said she expressly told the artist  "no sexay poses for no reason pleez" and this book had a very feminist undertone. I especially liked the scene where they were discussing the difference between actress and actor, and she says to her surrogate brother "A heroine is someone who gets saved by the hero....I don't want to be heroine. I want to be a hero, like you." And then when she saves Salvatore from the boor (with her crossbow and knife!) he says "Helena, you're the best hunter I've ever seen." And she says sarcastically "That's Huntress, Sal." and he says "Huntress, you're my hero."

Awww. Best origin for superhero name ever!

5/5

Booster Gold #10

JLI reunion! Admittedly, this seems to be going more and more towards "Ted must die for the timeline" which is SO boring, and it wasn't as good as it could've been, but for the moment, it's really fun. Dr. Light totally killed Max and nobody got on HER about morals this time, though. Why? Because MAX MURDERED LOIS FOR REALS! But it was still badass.

4/5

Gotham Underground #8

You know, if I had stopped expecting ANYthing from this series, I would be upset that despite the fact the SOLICIT said "Featuring the Spoiler!", the preview blurb in last ish said "Spoiler spoils Penguins plans!" and the COVER had her on it, she wasn't in it. At ALL.

But I don't care, so I'm just waiting for Robin (less than one week away!)

This was boring otherwise. Basically Penguin got owned and Batman beat up Vigilante. That's all that happened, I'm not kidding.

1/5

So, pretty awesome comics.

...Did I mention less than one week until Robin #174?

Babs as Oracle! And really, where I think the character reached her true potential.

Babs retired as Batgirl, and since Alan Moore considered her "expendable" got shot in the spine by the Joker in a story that was really all about Batman. Fridddgeeed. But Kim Yale and John Ostrander thought this was a shame, and decided to use her on the Suicide Squad.

HOW DARE THEY RE-CANCEL TTG AFTER HOW HARD I WORKED TO SAVE IT????

Okay, got that out of my system. The news that TTG is being canceled, AGAIN, after issue 55, and after how hard I worked to save it, makes me sad. I would have appreciated a little more warning than getting a letter in the mail telling me my subscription is being replaced with Tiny Titans after #55 (and yeah, really great job convincing me Tiny Titans isn't replacing TTG, DC.)

Well, I guess all I can do is send Paul Levitz a letter. I'm not really up for another huge campaign that will only end with me getting screwed over again. It's a shame, that's all.

Okay, happier subjects...reviews!

Wonder Woman #17

Woo Woo! This was fantastic! Diana was truly badass! I mean, she painted a W on her face in her OWN BLOOD!!!! That is amazing. And Etta Candy got two pages at the end, right, and she was PERFECT. She called Diana "Holiday Gal!" Yay Marston  references! And she glomped Diana, AND she knows WW's secret identity and is helping her protect it through secret agent badassery. Etta Candy is BACK, baby!

Anyway, I can't think of much more to say than the story with Alkyone was very intriguing, and I'm interested in the plot this has set up. And Hippolyta has been redeemed, at last.

Gail has rocked the house once again. Can't wait for next issue

5/5

Booster Gold #0

So, I'm not really sure why the zero hour crossover was necessary, as the issue could have easily progressed without that, but this definitely had some classic moments. My favorite was when Ted told Jaime he'd be honored to call him Blue Beetle. Awwww...I mean, we always knew Ted would be proud of Jaime, he's have to be insane not to be, but now it's official. And Dan's "Jaime, we're five grown men dressed in bright colors in a clear plastic bubble against a rainbow background. They saw us." That just made me a fan of Dan Garrett. And I've never actually read anything with him in it that's not a flashback, besides this.

And at least the "Dan remembering" problem is solved. Ted took the fact he's supposed to be dead rather well. I'd have all these questions. Maybe he was saving them for later. I guess Ted's used to weird shit.

Also, liked how Booster's origin was expanded while still staying faithful to the original, um, origin.

Who knows what's going to happen with the OMACs. Hope Ted pull through.

4.5/5

Gotham Underground #5'

Egh. Blood. Gore. Joker kills people. Boooring.

It appears the Penguin is responsible for the Spoiler person, and the identity of the girl in it remains a mystery, as a blank puzzle piece covers her head. It seems less likely it's Steph though. I wonder why the heck the Penguin wants to dress someone as Spoiler. He does have a history with her, but only when she was Robin. Though I guess since her identity is public now (stupid War Crimes) he knows the female Robin was Spoiler. But seriously, why. That's the only thing that has be considering picking up next issue, and it will probably turn out to be something really stupid. Maybe I'll just wait for scans.

1/5

BUT,  Robin #171 comes out NEXT week, and promises to be Spoiler-tastic! Also, Batman and the Outsiders with Cass! I can't wait!

...*waits*

So, over at Inside Out, a column on Girl Wonder, Rachel asked us crazy feminists what Wonder Woman means to us. A bit in a hurry, I posted this:

"It's interesting for me...I mean, I didn't really care about her much until I read Greg Rucka's run, and then I fell in love with her, but even before that, I liked her. I mean, a lot of it has to do with her being THE superheroine of course, the most prominent one and the one who is the most unapologetically feminist... the concept that girls would look up to a woman who is ready to kick ass if need be- is a warrior- but at the same time strives for equality and is truly on a diplomatic mission. Someone who is wise, fearless and a true leader. Out of all the women in comics, Wonder Woman is a LEADER. And a good one, as well, a better one than Batman and sometimes better than Superman....


"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power," -this quote from Marston always kind of got me (the rest of it's a little iffy, but whatever) because that's what Wonder Woman is about. Girls DON'T want to be girls if they don't have an archetype that shows the best of what superheroines can be...and she fights in a bathing suit yeah, but she still has a MESSAGE....

Uh, I gotta go, damn, maybe I'll finish this later. Just, Diana rocks, and I also like the Greek Mythology aspect, because I'm a total mythology junkie, and I really love seeing that incorporated into comics."

The more I thought about it, the more complicated my thoughts got. I mean, I LOVE Wonder Woman. I fangirl her. She roxxors my soxxors. But when I think of WHY...I keep going back to certain quotes, like that Marston one. Things people have said about Wondy that make me go "YES. That's why Diana is cool."

Shall we?

Much information can be gleaned from the letters pages of a comic. The original Golden Age Wonder Woman comics had no letters pages, but as late as the early 1960s, when Robert Kanigher was writing and editing the book, the letters page reveals the demographics of his readers. The April, 1962 issue contained letters from two girls and one boy, the May, 1963 issue had letters from five girls, and the October, 1964 letters page was another all-girl affair, with letters from five girls. Judging from their letters, the writers were all young, and they wrote to Wonder Woman herself, rather than to the writer or editor (in this case, the same person), as later, older male fans would do. In her letter from the 1963 issue, Linda Parson, from White Castle, La., wishes to actually visit Paradise Island:

When another reader begged you to take her to Paradise Island with you, you answered that Paradise Island is imaginary. Well, how about taking me on an imaginary trip there?

-This is a quote from the a paper over at Girl Wonder, called "Wonder Woman: Lesbian or Dyke?" And it always breaks my heart, like the "I look a lot like Robin if you close your eyes" quote from another little girl back in the day. I get tears in my eyes thinking about them, honestly. I want to hug Linda Parson, I want to say "YES, you can go to Paradise Island and learn how to be strong and not always have boys telling you "You can't do this, you can't be strong..." YES, you can go there and play and fight and be yourself, be all you can be!" That's what the Amazon's are to me. I'm not saying the world would be better if it was an island of all women, I just imagining being a little girl, in the 1960's, wanting SO BADLY to go to a place where you didn't have to deal with that crap. Where you could be strong.

Sometimes I want to go to Themyscria just like that girl. Especially when I was younger, I longed for a place where no old man could leer at me, where my Dad wouldn't give me CONSTANT LECTURES on how not to get raped, where I could run my mouth about feminist theory without some guy making a stupid joke about it (that happened to me a lot in sixth grade. Eventually I learned it wasn't worth talking about around those teenage boys)

To me, Themyscria, Paradise Island, Wonder Woman...that's what she's about. What she, they should be about. Just...that place where that little girl in the '60's would give anywhere to go. So she could be strong without anybody trying to stop her.

Then of course, there's this quote by Gail Simone, She Who Is Awesome:

 "The book is about the best goddamned warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the hell of it.

If a writer can’t make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn’t be writing superheroes.

There are layers upon layers of the character, and we’ll get to them all. But let’s just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere asskicker in the DCU, period. Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.

This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, “When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that’s when you call in Wonder Woman.

Simple."

This is Wonder Woman. She is the premiere superheroine who will kick you ass. Unapologetically. She was created to be a feminist icon, that's why she is one.

She is the warrior of the DCU. Superman isn't a warrior. He's a savior, he stands for truth and justice. Batman isn't a warrior. He's a dark avenger of the night. Wonder Woman is a a warrior, plain and simple, and always has been. A warrior and a diplomat. And she's willing to kill if neccesary (even before Maxwell Lord) which I approve of. She doesn't like it, she's compassionate, but she's not stupid enough to trade the lives of thousands of innocents for the life of one messed up evil being/person. And that is great, because letting the Joker run free is bullshit.

She is also this:



Wonder Woman isn't perfect. She was a conduit for her creators bondage fetish. She's been mangled by editorial so many times it's ridiculous *coughAmazonsAttackcough* She's been mariginilized and written horribly. She was created by a man and is a product of a male dominated culture. And she fights crime in panties.

But really, that's WHY she is a feminist icon. She's changed, and grown, been beat down and twisted, but always gotten up and dusted herself off again. Like feminism itself, like womankind itself. Flawed, sexualized, marginalized, she is an important part of pop culture... and a lot of times, of the best it can be.

I close on this quote from WW 16:

Tolifhar: "Majesty, look. A  golden eagle, hovering above. Does he wait for us to die?

Wonder Woman: She, Tolifhar. I believe it's a she. And I think she wants us to live."

SO. Wednesday tomorrow, which means I shall be getting Batman and the Outsiders and Birds of Prey. And maybe Supergirl, since I didn't get it when it actually came out. So I figure I might try doing comic reviews here, see where it takes me. Last Wednesday I got Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Booster Gold and the Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood trade paperback.

Wonder Woman #15

This was fantastic. #14 was good, but it didn't really wow me. But this issue convinced me that Gail and Diana are a match made in Olympus. Gail seems to capture that "essence" that is Diana- incredibly compassionate, but also slightly regal as well as determined, straight foward, down to earth and in love with kicking ass. Also, Hyppolita (sp?) looks to be on her road to redemption, not to mention totally BADASS. I love how she cut her hair before going into battle and her cool armor and her prayer to Athena "Grant me the wisdom to avoid further bloodshed...and forgiveness for my enemies...but failing that, goddess...at least grant me the gift of good aim." Also, the GORILLAS! The inclusion of the Polynesian god is great, not only because it's nice to see a lesser known mythology but because he was HOT. The plot with Diana's birth continues to be intriguing, and well as the character Alkyone (which is just a cool name, as well) Finally, Wonder Woman is as it should be: awesome.

5/5

Wonder Girl #4:

Was not as good as #3 which was fantastic (Cassie told Cissie and Anita she was FINALLY OVER CONNER (YES GOOD RIDDANCE MOPEY CASSIE) and kneed Hercules in the groin AND used her earrings as weapons. Doesn't get much better than that) but still really good. I still don't like the fact Cassie's "warrior" outfit has heels, but I love this snarky, determined Cassie who uses strategy and fighting skills and has a brain! Really, Young Justice fans should get this mini, because it brings back great memories. And for the capper? EMPRESS AND ARROWETTE are going to help Cassie get her mom back! And this is J Torres, so don't worry about anything bad happening to them. Can't wait 'till number 5.

4.5/5

Booster Gold #5

Hm. Well, I liked it less than the first four issues. I'm kind of torn about the use of Babs between "geez, she was just...a prop..." to "well, it wasn't as bad as everyone's making it out to be and the books about BOOSTER not Babs..." Both sides have a point. And I've had a pretty easy time understanding Booster's time travel until Rip's "solidified time" speech? Wha? It makes no sense. But I'm trying not to think about it to much. And the last page: JAIME! DAN! SOME OTHER GUY! Ted may have a chance of coming back yet!

3.5/5

Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood.

This was amazing. Well, the Batgirl parts were. The Robin parts sucked, but this was back when Willingham was writing and Damion Scott was drawing, so what do you expect. But the Batgirl parts...so much squee. And win. From the very start Cass trying to figure out the difference between journal and diary and talking about how Nightwing acted out the parts to Cinderella to her and made her laugh? (I would have liked to see that) to her little eulogy on Stephanie (it broke my heart) to the dynamics between her and Tim...it was a clear clash of personalities and ideals there (I like Tim's speech on how Batman's mission is an ideal...but not reality and we can't force reality to conform to that ideal. THAT is one hell of a well written Tim: very smart, down to earth and a little geek who know what's up) but they found a common ground. And of course, there was just amazing dialougue. My personal favorites:

Tim: blablabla...you'll never be Batman!
Cass: And you...talk too much. *kicks him in the face*

The Penguin:...like that hot little blonde number who was traipsing around as Robin ever so briefly. What happened to her? She get killed too? Oh, why do the girls always meet such tragic-
*Cass headbutts him*

(That is just pure win, there, on textual and metatextual levels)

*Cass explains how she and her father used to play "two for flinching"...with bullets.*
Tim: Whoa...that's horrible.
Cass: It's nothing. Stephanie and I used to laugh about...wait...I...Tim...I'm so stupid...
Tim: You're not stupid. Want tea?

Seriously, this book, as well as being awesome Cass/Tim action, provides the best examination on Steph's death that she ever got. I love it so.

5/5 for the Batgirl parts.

Well, that's it! I can't wait to see Cass in Batman and the Outsiders tomorrow. There may be hope for DC yet!

Bye!