My OTHER Comic book blog

Slap a Supergirl Badge on Your Ass and be Empowered!

2008-08-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

There's some kind of new clothing line in the works involving Supergirl. Instead of being honest and saying this is a venture to exploit a potentially powerful brand Barry Ziehl, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products says this:

“The whole idea behind the Supergirl shield is a feeling of empowerment — when a girl wears the clothing, she will feel empowered,”

Why not just admit you're in it for the money? So what if it doesn't sound so selfless, at least it sounds rational. A fabric badge will invest a person with the feeling of empowerment? How does that work? Magic? Does it come with a matching pyramid hat?

Mr. Ziehl, if you're really interested in helping girls feel empowered then push your company to start funding some high school philosophy clubs. Something that encourages girls to use their rational and critical thought processes rather then switch them off.

Heroes Sucked.

2007-05-08T04:07:00.000-07:00

I sat down last night with popcorn and a blanket ready to be entertained. Heroes was on and last week's episode was pretty good, completly confusing time travel aside. But this week...Oh boy. What a stinker. One moment of fantastic promise was tossed aside, three boneheaded moments spoiled the fun and one overarching pattern seemed to become clear.

First, that moment of promise. For me that was just after Sylar realized he was going to flatten New York in a huge explosion. The despicable, hated villain was scared. More then that he was concerned for all the innocents who would die. So he picks up his phone and dials Suresh. Now how cool would it have been if Suresh had handled his fear and listened to Sylar? Walked quickly to a public place, yes, but just listened. And then maybe, somehow, tried to help. I don't know how this would have gone but more interesting to me then bad guys and good guys have been the guys who straddle the middle or cross back and forth. Sylar, worried to death that innocents would die and seeking to charge that. Suresh knowingly helping a serial killer in aid of the greater good. Ah well. Suresh dialed 911 and Sylar got pissy. Opportunity lost.

Then comes the bit where Syler runs home to Mommy. It appears that Sylar was a spoiled single child who's mother put a lot of pressure on him to be special. If only she'd spanked him more. The whole bit felt like it was tacked on to quickly establish how Sylar got to be so bad (it's always the mother), make him even badder (ooh! He killed his mother! And doesn't mind killing millions more!) and give him presidential ambitions. It wasn't interesting or compelling and the silly Edward Scissorhands bit with his mom dancing in snow with the dark-fairgrounds type music was just distracting.

Next was little Molly. There's this bin in studios where horribly cliched characters/plot devices are stored and whenever a writing team has a mass brain fart and is lost for ideas they run over to the bin and grab something from it. You'll find magic negroes, mystical natives and gay best friend in there. You'll also find the little oracle girl. You've seen her before. Remember Newt from Aliens? They generally have seen evil and will tell other characters about it in 'boogeyman' code. They are very sad and very cute. (Take little oracle girl further, have her not just see evil but know it and you get little spooky girl who generally wears black and carries knives and/or decapitated teddy bears. Think Wednesday Adams and American McGee's Alice.) The one thing all the characters in the box have in common is that they're there simply to move the lead character forward. I suppose that's why they have power but in a neutered form. The oracle female is a child, the magic negro is a janitor, the mystical native is an old man, etc. Anyway, so there was Molly. Little Oracle Girl. I almost flicked the TV off. Good thing I didn't or I would have missed the next bit boneheaded moment.

Suresh cures a virus in a matter of hours by looking at a family photo and then givng little orcacle girl a drip filled with his freshly drawn blood. If the whole crisis of a dying child was going to be introduced, solved and cured in less then an episode then why the fuck even bother with it in the first place? Especially since it was so rushed Suresh was resorting to weird and crazy on-the-fly medical procedures.

This was also the episode that made a pattern clear for me and the pattern is this; All the women in the show are there to push the men and all the men are there as the actual power brokers. The power players are Linderman, Sylar, HRG, the Petrelli boys and Hiro. The women are their to prod their sons, die tragically or further the plans of the men. Even Clair, as much as she's the supposed center of the show isn't an honest player. She's there as the prize...Who gets her powers? The women are the the middle of the wheel, spinning and getting nowhere while the men are at the rim being the actual movers and shakers.

I hope it gets better. This episode ended with Peter glowing for an awkwardly long time so maybe next week we get around to the big bang. Heroes, at the best of times, is almost never brilliant (the ONLY exception being Hiro and Ando who, to go off on a rant, were basically sidelined as peeping toms last episode) but it's usually decent and leaves a person anxious to see the next episode. Last night though, to repeat, was a stinker and I won't be watching the next episode with the same anticipation as I have every episode fo far.

DC Salt & Pepper Shakers!

2007-04-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know that everybody and their dog and their dog's squeezy toy has commented on this picture now (heck, this is my second post on it) but I just realized what was going on with the picture.

See, this picture wasn't initially meant for a cover. It was intended to be Michael Turner's contribution to the new DC Comics line of kitchen Accessories. Along with the Poison Ivy Spice...er...Rack and the Big Barda Mega-Rod Pepper Mill (The Citizen Steel Pepper Mill was axed unfortunately) it was meant to be part of DC's strategy to bring more women into the comic book reading fold.

Yes it was. Stick with me.

DC understands that it's main problem in appealing to the fairer sex is simply that the women are in the kitchen. We're cooking meals, washing dishes...you know. Girl stuff. So they thought introducing a line of kitchen accessories styled after DC characters might lure the men into the kitchen long enough for us girls to read about Supergirl's latest adventure. Now this line never got off the ground because in testing they realized the women never left the kitchen after all. Sure, the men came in but they generally spent all their time caressing the products instead of using them.

The above picture was Michael Turner's vision for salt & pepper shakers. Power Girl was salt, Black Canary pepper. Though the design isn't clear with Black Canary you can see how it works with Power Girl. You simply lift her head and arms off the bust revealing the holes where the salt comes out. Unfortunately the caressing issue again reared it's head. Not to mention health concerns when product testers' sodium levels reached alarming heights.

It's a shame it didn't work out. At least we now know that DC really does have the interests of female readers at heart.

Black Cat Re-imagined

2007-04-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Lookee what I found!

This is the work of Chad Townsend. I originally saw this picture at The Drawing Board (which offers a largr version of the picture) and it blew me away. It instantly seems to open up Felicia Hardy as a character and present more depth. It shows more skin then her classic costume but is more about getting down to business rather then inducing drool.

I love the look. Thank you Chad!

I Had No Idea.

2007-04-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I was absolutely sure Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane had nothing to offer me. It's a comic book aimed at teenage girls and all full of high school dating stuff that I missed out on myself because I was so much of a geek. And it's about Mary Jane, who is an okay character but never seemed very deep to me. And it looks like friggin' manga. Three strikes.

Despite my prejudice I went and downloaded the series and two previous mini-series. I'd finally given in to all the talk around Manhunter, downloaded and read it and was completely hooked. So maybe people knew what they were talking about with Mary Jane as well?

They did. They so did. I really didn't think a comic for teenage girls would be done with so much respect and careful attention to characters. I had visions of some Archie-True Romance cross. Thank godness I was so wrong. Mary Jane is compelling and characters like Flash and Liz Allen, despite how easily they could come off as shallow and unsympathetic, are people a reader ends up caring about. And the art is perfect. It's like Archie with less of the formula and a lot more humanity.

So I'm sold. Now that I have a local shop that will order in comic books so first chance I get I will be heading down to put money down for Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Manhunter.

Wonder Woman...Of course.

2007-04-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I am so happy at the moment. Having Gail Simone write Wonder Woman makes me feel completely joyful. Now I just have to wait.

So of course I whipped up an image to express that...

If anyone wants to grab this, feel free. It's already on my sidebar.

Boys Who Need Breasts.

2007-04-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

There's a distinct lack of compassion in the fangirl community these days. The poison unleashed on men who draw female characters with ample cleavage is awful. I'm asking you all to please stop. Just stop. Let me explain to you why these men deserve our compassion.

Take the following picture,

Although Power Girl has always been known for her extraordinary cup size this picture has attracted a lot of negative attention. A lot of whining from female fans that this is a ridiculously sexualized pose. Take another look. Note how the breasts are presented, yes presented, to the viewer on a shelf of fabric. How uniform, how smooth...how milky white. Are they not presented with the perfection of honeydew melons on a grocers shelf? Sex? the furthest thing from the artists mind. This is about nourishment!

The primary function of the female breast is to nourish her young. This is about men who crave a mother's milk! This is about men who were once boys who were once infants whose mothers fed them from sterile, cold bottles!

This is hard to accept, I know, but please bare with me. Look into Power Girl's eyes. See how she tilts her head as if to look down on her child. See how her eyes widen with a mother's love. See how her lips pout as if to give her infant a tender kiss!

It's so obvious once you overcome your militant feminist programming. Power Girl is the mother. She is the one that beckons the infant in all men to come and embrace her and to suckle. The men who you recklessly dismiss as pigs are in fact little boys simply craving the love and milk denied to them as infants!

Frank Cho, who so sadly uses the dog to express his own need...

Michael Turner who so mourns the lost bond with his mother and her breasts that he seeks to frame the twin orbs in divine light...

Greg Land, obviously remembering the moment when he bit and his mother switched him to that unfeeling bottle...

Rob Liefeld who...um....

...ah...Well, nevermind. In the context of this blog post, that's just disturbing.

Back to the point of this plea. It's not about sex, it's about infants denied their basic right to motherly milk. This is not the fault of the men who draw these women but the natural concequence of foisting a glass cylinder filled with a poor imitation of the breasts' most natural gift. Feel for these men! Feel for the infants that cry in their hearts! The inner infants that chew on their fists and sob for the bond that nursing produces! Look in the eyes of the next well-endowed superheroine you see and notice the plea in her eyes. It's a reflection of the plea in the heart of the man who drew her.

Don't hate them. Don't belittle them. Weep for them.

*sob*

Check out the other blogs!

2007-02-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I posted to this blog and I don't know if anyone's still checking it out but I think I'll let it rest in peace for awhile. Between a change in our style of homeschooling that demands more time from me and some extended family matters that hit me a little harder then I think I cared to realize over the past few months, I think three blogs is a little too much. My other two blogs focus on things I really need to do and stay passionate about and any issues surrounding comic books that I just can't keep quiet about can likely be addressed by the occasional post in my drawing blog.

In short, I got excited about blogging, bit off a bit too much to chew and then got blindsided by a few changes and events in real life.

Apologies.

test

2006-12-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

Peeling her skin off

2006-11-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

"Drawing Blood," is a horror novel by Poppy Z. Brite. I remember it had something to do with vampires and had the first bit of gay sex I'd ever read in a novel. The thing that, ten years later, I still remember is something the lead female character had to say. She's a stripper and remarks that,

"The men who came here could never see enough of her body; it was as if they wanted to take her apart. If she could remove her G-string, they’d want her to bend over and spread her cheeks so they could look up her twat. If she could do that, she supposed, they’d want her to unzip her skin and peel it off."

And what in the hell does that have to do with comics you ask?

It has to do with the way the costumes of female characters are tweaked. The way low rise bottoms become bikini cuts (M. Marvel), covered breasts become exposed cleavage (Wonder Woman), midriffs are bared and skirts exist only to give readers a peek at underwear (Supergirl). The way that a certain level of exposure is not enough. And if that level is tweaked, if Carol is flying around in a costume that's graduated to bikini cut from low rise then Ms. Marvel gets letters like this one (Ms. Marvel #7);

And if Carol wore a thong? What next? Will he want her in pasties? Will he want her naked? Will he want her to unzip her skin and step out of herself?

There's more to say on this but I'm having a hard time getting it out. More on the importance of uniforms for heros and heroines, on a letter about a thong even being considered for publication, about the implicit understanding that these women exist to cater to the male readers...This is certainly related to Ratcreature's now famous post about how to draw female comic characters (according to Wizard)....

So I'm throwing Ms. Brite's quote out into the blogosphere. I plan to think on this more but I'm hoping some other people who are more articulate can flesh this out more.

(Thank you to Aimee for tracking down the 'Drawing Blood,' quote!)

Greg Horn wil do Ms. Marvel covers.

2006-11-14T04:24:00.000-08:00

I just don't understand Marvel marketing. They have this nice little book which seems a natural to attract female fans. It's got solid writing, a powerful female lead and lots of potential for the future. The art inside isn't cheesecake and the focus isn't always on Ms. Marvel's assets. So what do they think would be a great move? Stick a cheesecake artist on cover art duty.

As long as the fanboys are happy, eh?

I shouldn't be surprised. She-Hulk has the same burden. Emma Frost, a title that seemed not only natural for women but specifically geared to us, had to put up with Horn's pin up covers. That was a horrible mismatch. While the stories inside were thoughtful and dealt with a young brunette Emma, the covers portrayed a fully blossumed, but barely clothed, White Queen in various Valentine's Day themed poses. Just bizarre.

I don't mind cheescake but it's got a certain place. The Heroes for Hire series would be a natural for cheesecake covers. It has page after page of T&A and putting a Greg Horn cover on it would be an accurate reflection of what you find inside. But Ms. Marvel?

I know what the assumption is. Guys read comics and just guys. Turning off female readers from a title isn't a concern because we just don't read superhero comics.

They couldn't have had any particular artist in mind, could they?

2006-10-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Over on 'Lying in the Gutters' at Newsarama, Rich Johnston reveals Marvel's 'Original Artwork Policy.'

From the letter,

There is a fine line between homage and a rip-off -- Make sure you are firmly on the side of using your own creative elements. A simple rule of thumb is to consider whether someone looking at your drawing and the reference material will think that one is a derivative of the other. If so, you have gone too far and taken too much.

Congrats to his swipe file if this is indeed the result.

For me at least, it had gone beyond wondering why a certain artist could justify what he was doing to why on earth Marvel seemed content to let it go on. Yes, he sells buckets of comics but a company as anal about it's property as Marvel should be showing a bit of respect for the property of others, shouldn't it?

Hopefully this means a little less pornface in the future.

Batgirl; More goodness from Johnny Lightning

2006-10-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

I'm becoming a serious fan of this guy.

This is how to draw Supergirl.

2006-10-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

Over on the Drawingboard.org forums an 18 year old by the handle of Johnny Lightning drew a couple of pictures of Supergirl. Fantastic pictures. He gave me permission to post them and you'll see why I desparately wanted to;

Aren't those just exactly what Supergirl should be? She's strong, confident and standing in a classic and powerful pose. She's wearing a uniform instead of a stripper costume and those gloves...I love that. Gloves mean business. Heck, she's even got a practical streak and has pulled her hair up out of her face. Johnny said, "I tried giving her a
touch of my own personal style of female anatomy." Johnny, I just have to say that I wish most comic book artists had your style. Your version of Supergirl is now the standard I'll be carrying around in my head to judge all the other versions by.

Please don't hesitate to leave adoring comments for him here. He deserves our encouragement.

White Tiger Research.

2006-10-20T03:29:00.000-07:00

Since White Tiger is coming out soon I thought I'd post a list that co-writer Tim Liebe was wonderful enough to give me in the comments section of my previous White Tiger post. It's a list of Daredevil books they, "considered germane to writing WHITE TIGER." Tim also warned that some of it is tangential. But if you're unfamiliar with the character and want to get caught up, as I do, before her series hits the newstand this is what you need. Here's the list;

DD eps germane to WT:

DD 38 - 40 - Hector Ayala arrested for murder, trial, conviction, death

DD 44 - mention of "Officer del Toro" (male? Angela's relative?)

DD 45 - introduction of Special Agent Driver (pre-Angela as partner)

DD 47 - introduction to Sano, Driver in flashback w/Kingpin (again pre-Angela)

DD 48 - Agent Driver questions Murdock in his bedroom, sees Milla sleeping there

DD 49 - Agent Driver arrests Bullseye after DD beats the crap out of him

DD 56 - Murdock gets an (unsuccessful) intervention by Cage, Spidey, Strange and Reed Richards
Driver is shown surveilling Murdock
Murdock confronted by Sano

DD 57 - Murdock fights (as Murdock), beats Sano while Driver and FBI surveillance van watch
FBI backup shows, Murdock disappears - Driver comes out of van and sees Murdock gone
Milla tells BUGLE's Ben Urich she and Matt are married

DD 58 - Driver and "Special Agent del Toro" on Yakuza Task Force interrogate Sano - ANGELA'S FIRST APPEARANCE! (Driver calls him "Sano Orii")

DD 59 - Sano gets out of jail while Driver & Angela, in Driver's car, watch - Driver references Angela being his new partner
Driver bad-mouths Matt to Angela ("Murdock is a piece of crap - he's clearly Daredevil" yada yada yada), Angela disagrees w/him
Yakuza shoot up Driver's and Angela's car, blow up car, killing Driver - Angela gets clear and shoots back
Ben Urich and Foggy reference "Yakuza gone wild" in aftermath of Driver's death
Matt visits Cage, apologizes for his behavior during the intervention and asks for Cage's help - Cage forgives him and agrees to help
Sano at hangout spews large plans - when DD, Cage, Iron Fist and Spider-Man come callin'!

DD 60 - DD, Cage, Iron Fist and Spider-Man clean Sano's Yakuzas', and Kingpin's former minions', clocks
DD tells Sano to pop his MGH so DD can beat the crap out of him one-on-one (Sano calls himself "Sano Ren" here)
DD and Sano fight, DD turns beaten Sano over to cops
- Sano confesses killing Driver and where the MGH lab is (under duress?)
- Street cops, unlike Feds, are good w/how DD does things
- DD tells cops to apologize to Angela for not saving Driver's life
Milla confronts Matt over what Foggy told her of Karen Page's death (GOOD ONE, FOGGY!), leaves Matt

DD 61 - 64 - Black Widow shows up in Matt's apartment hiding from US Government
BW tries to get back together w/Matt, Matt tells her he's still married even though Milla filed for annulment

DD 64 - Matt signs annulment and gives to Milla in person, telling her he still loves her

DD 65 - Fury offers Matt a job w/SHIELD, Matt says "No", Fury says "Offer's still open"
DD 65 - Angela is on Task Force Murdock (as was Driver? unclear)

DD 67 - Angela investigates murder in strip club related to "former Kingpin" Bont (who kidnaps Matt to prove he's DD)
DD 68 - Angela reaches out to Matt re: WT amulets for the first time (Foggy seems to have a crush on her)
- Angela explains she's Hector's niece (Matt wouldn't KNOW this already?)

DD 69 - Flashback to DD, Spider-Man and Hector as WT meeting and fighting Doc Ock
Continuation of scene in DD 68 where Angela asks for Matt's help (confirms Hector's sister Awilda from 70s WHITE TIGER is her Mom, and references Hector's trial and death)
- Angela says she ASKED to be put on the Murdock Task Force
- Angela says she's planning to quit the FBI
- Matt has her meet him at St. Catherine's at 11 PM - shows up as DD and gives her her first lesson (jumping across street, fighting him)

DD 70 - Continuation of scene in DD 69 - DD and Angela fight, and Angela gets to whale on DD some
- DD brings her along to foil a bodega robbery - and leaves her to do it herself, which she does very well!
- "That's why - costume's a symbol. Good luck." - DD
Angela finds Matt chained up and beaten up in DD outfit, Bont (who took MGH) dead from a heart attack after not breaking Matt's will
FBI (w/out Angela - bunch of guys I don't recognize) neither accepts nor refutes Foggy's and Matt's story that Bont must've believed what he read in the GLOBE, and tortured Matt as a result

DD 76 - Kingpin tells Ben Urich he's negotiating w/FBI, claims to have "The Murdock Papers" (written evidence Matt's DD)
Milla shows up at Matt's office, wanting to reconcile
Foggy sees BUGLE headline of Fisk's tell-all

DD 77 - FBI Director tells Angela he's going to deal w/Fisk to get Matt
- Fires(!) Angela when she objects
Black Widow tries to intercede for Matt at SHIELD, is told by Acting Director Maria Hill Matt's going down
Matt and Milla are sleeping together when Electra shows up!

DD 78 - Matt and Electra fight and Electria tells Matt to turn on his TV
Milla freaks and runs outside in her underwear
- FBI "National Director" is on TV saying he expects to have evidence to bring Matt down
Kingpin makes the FBI ND squirm for a bit before agreeing to help him
Widow shows on rooftop and she and Electra have a bit of a squabble before agreeing to join forces and help Matt
ANGELA shows up to help out (boy, that is one crowded rooftop!) - says she's out of the FBI, and wants to help
Bullseye goes for Electra w/his playing card of death

DD 79 - DD throws Angela off the roof so she breaks her arm and is out of the fight (nice guy)
DD asks Widow to find Milla, get her out of the country
DD and Electra kick the crap out of Bullseye
- But Bullseye manages to kill a female bystander first
DD is shot by one of Kingpin's people so he'll have to go to Night Nurse and the FBI can arrest him there
- There are NO "Murdock Papers" - Kingpin made the whole thing up to get out!
- Kingpin has FBI ND pressure Ben Urich to reveal Night Nurse's location

DD 80 - Matt is arrested by the FBI at Night Nurse's

DD 81 - FBI ND has his people arrest Kingpin
FBI ND tells Ryker's Island Warden he intends to leave Matt and Kingpin in there to kill each other(!)

DD 81 - First Appearance of DD 2.0 (some guy running around in DD's outfit, pretending to be him)

DD 87 - Matt, having escaped Ryker's Island with Punisher's help, confronts DD 2.0 - who turns out to be Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist
- Danny was hired by persons unknown (he assumed Foggy, but was wrong) to impersonate Matt

No I've got reading to do! Thanks Tim.

Emma Frost and homeschooling.

2006-10-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

This is off on a tangent but it's sort of cool when you see a piece of your life referenced in a comic book. This is from the strangely good Emma Frost series. She's in a college class and homeschooling comes up. And it's not about the nutty christian wing of the homeschooling family...It's John Holt!

John Holt was an educator in the 60's who came to believe that school wasn't simply inadequate for kids but actively hindered their learning. He coined a term, "unschooling," that at first meant homeschooling but has now come to represent a style or subset of homeschoolers who sort of chuck the idea of lessons and formal schooling out the window in favour of natural or child-led learning. It's what we do in our house and it's changed my ideas of what learning looks like and even how I learn.

Basically we read a lot, play a lot and take it for granted that the kids will learn what they need to learn. It looks a little funny at times. Car games are where my 8 year old plays with algebra and though she has a little trouble with reading words like 'this' or 'which' she breezes through 'millions of species'. And the kids pick things up one time and retain it, no drills or constant practice needed.

Anyhow, I wonder if the writer on the series was a homeschooling parent. I must look into this. If anyone's interested I've got some links.

Life Learning Magazine (An unschooling magazine - free PDF downloads of past issues)

John Holt and Growing Without Schooling

Radical Unschooling

Hawkeye of the Young Avengers

2006-10-12T15:20:00.001-07:00

So I finally read the Young Avengers run and I admit, I really liked it. Lots of great characters, good stories and good art. I especially liked Kate, the unpowered young woman who decides to become a superhero simply on the strength of her will. Well...Until I read the Young Avengers Special that had short 'motivation' stories for all the characters. Now I'm a little put out because Kate's story really took away from Kate's character.

She was attacked. Possibly raped. That's why a nice girl would want to run around with a bow and arrow when she should be shopping and talking about boys! I get it now!

Actually, I got it before. Kate wanted to run around with a bow and arrow because she wanted to. Because she knew she was capable and wasn't a person to wait to be rescued or wait for someone else to do the rescuing. This is the girl who, when faced with armed bad guys and having the police AND superheroes ready to save her STILL decided she needed to take the situation in hand and stab her assailent in the leg to take him out. This is the girl who entertained no doubts about her ability to be a superhero despite a lack of powers or intense training. This is the girl who got on a superhero team by pure force of will.

Kate didn't become Hawkeye because of the half-assed, overused motivation of striking back after an attack. She became one because that's already who she was. Kate knows herself and what she is capable of and pushes herself and others without entertaining a doubt of her ability to acheive her goals. She told off Captain America when he threatened to get in her way. Captain America!

Hopefully that dumb little origin will be buried. Hawkeye is who she is because that's who she is and that's all I need to know.

Michael Turner's Homework.

2006-10-04T13:41:00.003-07:00

Lookee what I found (it pays to be a homeschooling mom)!

Comic Book Character lesson plan

Level: Grades 5 to 7

Overview

In this lesson, students look at how male and female characters are depicted in comic books. Using a Comic Book Analysis sheet, students will record the attributes of male and female comic book characters. As a class, students will record common attributes on a master sheet and discuss what messages about men and women are reinforced. In groups, students will be asked to design and create a non-stereotypical comic book character.

It's availible in a PDF download. I think Greg Land should get a copy too. However, I recently saw a bit of Tarot; Witch of the Black Rose and I think the lesson may a little too advanced for Jim Balent.

Fat Wonder Woman

2006-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

With all the recent kerfuffle over Wizard and how females are drawn in comic books I thought people might like to take a look at a couple of sites that challenge the norm.

Fat Wonder Woman. This blog has been posting different artists' ideas of what Wonder Woman would look like if she gained a few pounds. There are a few with themes of gluttony but the majority depict a strong and/or sexy overweight superhero. Here's a quote from an interview at Pop Culture Shock with the blogger, Jamar Nicholas;

"I remember when I was a teenager and I had those girly posters from the Spencers on my wall, but now, In the real world, you find that most of that is make-believe, and you learn to understand that real women have believable, real-world shapes and curves. Wonder Woman is, for all intent and purposes, is supposed to be the ideal woman."

Another one along a sorta similar vein is Ruben Esq's Sketchblog. This guy loves to draw cheesecake...Big cheesecake. They aren't superheroes and the pictures aren't appropriate for the young or prudish but it's just so damn nice to see an artist with an eye for the lines a bigger figure can produce and an obvious love of the fuller figure.

Much love to Jamar Nicholas and Ruben Esq.

Wonder Woman vs. Superman

2006-10-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

A great thread at Z-Cult FM discussing who would win in a fight to the death. Weird I know but these guys put forward good arguments that show a lot of respect for WW. Most seem to think WW would put poor Supes down if she needed to.

From Seakay;
"I'd have to agree, Diana is a Warrior. She would have a level of ruthlessness that Supes doesn't. If we go back to the Tower of Babel arc in JLA, her biggest weakness was the ferocity and determination in battle where as Supe's was a form of Kryponite.

Wonder Woman beat Batman in one issue of JLA in a sparring match IIRC and in her own book took down a large chunk of JLA whilst blinded.

She is far more of a martial warrior than Superman, she could take him down ( I don't mind saying this as I'm a massive Supes fan) as he would like pull his punches., even when he doesn't she's shown she can hold her own against the likes of Doomsday and Darkseid."

I can't tell you what a relief it was to read a thread with posts from guys that GOT Wonder Woman. I shouldn't be TOO surprised as I know from experience the guys at Z-Cult tend to be more mature then fanboys I've encountered on other sites. And yes, I'm Alpha Dawn.

Speaking of women writing comic books...

2006-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Tamora Pierce's self-proclaimed dreaded spouse-creature, Tim Liebe made sure I knew about the upcoming White Tiger comic book that the two of them are writing. It looks gorgeous, it sounds thrilling...I'm getting it!

Thank you Tim!

Here's the link to the page with all the info...White Tiger

Maybe when I'm pencilling at Marvel in a couple of years (details on my drawing are over at 'I Wanna Be a Comic book Artist" on the sidebar), I'll get to work with them! A housewife can dream, can't she?

Writing Wonder Woman.

2006-09-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

This is a little late but back on the 18th of September Blog@Newsarama had a little story, Wonder Woman defeats another foe: Writers. One of the commenters (Devon at "Seven Hells") had an interesing suggestion;

"Ummm… Gail Simone should be writing Wonder Woman. Not because Wonder Woman should have a female writer but because no one out there is doing “two-fisted” better than her."

A good suggestion I think but I have to wonder at the, "Not because Wonder Woman should have a female writer," part. Maybe it should.

Over on Mortlake on the Schuylkill, Melchior has a post (September 12) about Marie Severin. It seems that in the early 70's she was the penciler fot 'The Cat', a book Marvel decided should have a mostly female creative team on so might appeal to women more. How radical and revolutionary! How common sense and practical!

Wonder Woman is a natural title for female fans. Even for those of us who haven't closely followed her comic books, she's been an icon. TV shows, sheet sets, Twinkie commercials and, in my case, a completely awesome WW bathing suit when I was 7 or 8, placed her squarely in our collective consciousness. She represented a side to being female that rarely gets explored...The warrior. She's special. Unfortunately, a lot of guys don't get that and depressing threads seem to follow when she's discussed. Example. Example.An art thread with some great pictures and some depressing 'Wonder Woman as lingerie model' pictures.

Anyhow. Lots of guys don't get her. Lots of girls feel she represents something important about us. Why not stick a female writer, heck, a whole creative team, on Wonder Woman to explore and appeal to her natural audience?

Sue would SO leave her children!

2006-09-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

Over on Christians Read Comics Too!, the Mad Monk asserts that the Sue he knows would never leave her kids with Reed.

I beg to differ of course. Sue is leaving to join the resistance. That's no envionment for kids. It's dangerous and desperate and she needs to direct her energies to the fight. And this IS a fight that she would wage out of concern for her children. One has superhuman powers and the other may manifest them in the future. She has to leave and fight to try and secure a future where they won't have to.

The Mad Monk doesn't argue that though. What he suggests is that Sue would never leave them with Reed, who is, " wacked out on evil scientist juice."

But I don't think SHE sees him that way. I doubt she thinks he's evil. Does she think he's misguided? Wrong? Yes, but not evil. And while she feels he's misguided about registration, she doesn't doubt that he is still a good man at heart and would never be irresponsible in the care of his children. Further, knowing they're safe with him, she hopes their influence will help him see the harm in what he's doing. I don't think her comment, "beg you to give them the time you have so often denied them in the past," in her goodbye letter was made without the understanding that if he got closer to his children he might begin to see why what he was doing to their future was so wrong.

Sue's great faith in Reed's fundamental goodness is completely consistent with the Sue I've always known.

My Wonder Woman is Gina Torres.

2006-09-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Due to the absolutely overwhelming response to my call to form a search commitee for the role of Wonder Woman (Thank you for your comment Dustdaughter! We are up to two now! Whoo hoo!) I've decided to forge ahead and make myself a banner with who I want Wonder Woman to be. See on the right?

Yes, I know it's a godawful attempt but it's clear and to the point. If you're desparate and worse at Photoshop or Gimp then I am, feel free to copy the image for your use. If you're more talented then I am at making these things then FOR THE LOVE OF GOD make a better one and let me use it! I feel guilty about what I did to Gina.

I'm not giving up on this. We are going to cast Wonder Woman. I have this thing where I make up my mind about something and it happens. See my other blog on the sidebar. I decided I will pencil comic books and it WILL happen. Same deal here.

And if anyone has an idea on how to give this some anchor or central site for discussion, images, etc., please just make it happen.

P.S. If anyone could make a nice banner for sigs in forums, that would be spiffy too.

Let's cast Wonder Woman

2006-09-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

So I think there's been enough speculation and it's time for us, the female fans of comic books to TELL Joss Whedon who we want as Wonder Woman. Seriously. If some bloggers can manage to get a studio to reshoot bits of 'Snakes on a Plane,' why can't we wield influence when it comes to casting Wonder Woman?

When we have a national or provincial election here in Canada, the party candidates for each riding are decided on by party members in that riding through a vote. Prior to the vote though any party riding association worth it's salt forms a search committee. The purpose of the search committee is to look for a group of candidates. They brainstorm about who in the community would make a hardworking candidate, who has ideals similar to the parties, who would represent the riding best. Or at least that's the ideal. From that committee there should be a list of nominees who go on to compete for that aforementioned vote that will have them becoming the party's candidate in the next election.

I'm thinking that those of us in the fangirl community should start an informal Wonder Woman search committee. We should come up with a shortlist of acceptable candidates. I have no idea how we could track this but I'm pretty sure someone out there would know. This is something that's already under way anyhow. Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin and Monica Bellucci seem to be mentioned quite often. We'd simply be putting a clear goal in front of us when we discuss who Wonder Woman should be.

What do you all think?

AGAIN with the Storm and Black Panther thing!

2006-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Black Panther #19 has been generating a lot of comments around Storm's treatment by T'Challa. The main issue is, of course, how T'Challa marginalizes Storm in a battle with Dr. Doom. The little wife gets shown her place and that place is definately NOT out front defending her husband.

What's being done is essentially devaluing Marvel property. I've always thought of T'Challa as an honourable man with a keen sense of justice. It's why he's appealled to me in the past. To find out he's an old fashioned idiot who puts macho ideas before the fact that his wife is his partner and a force of friggin' nature is really disapointing. I'm simply not interested in buying his stories.

And Ororo. To me she's been the Marvel equivilent to Wonder Women. Almost a Goddess, insanely powerful and a person with great character. Now she's second to the Black Panther and I (along with a large chunk of Marvel readers it seems) have a really hard time with the idea that she's second to anybody.

Why does Marvel let it's writers degrade the value of it's characters like this? Is there anybody who's in charge of making sure characters are handled in ways that are consistent with their established character? Does no one at Marvel care that damage is being done to the marketability of these two fantastic heroes?

Both the Black Panther and Storm deserve much, much better. It's a shame Marvel has no interest in ensuring they get it.

Women of the Avengers

2006-09-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

A very funny Monica flashback panel from Warren Ellis's Nextwave; agents of H.A.T.E.,

Didn't we always suspect this? :)

"Janet, I'll get this attack, just pick me up some underwear when you're out doing your shopping thing."

"I's nice you want to come along Jennifer but we've already got Hercules and honestly, that ring around the tub could use some super strong scrubbing."

"Wanda! Calm down women. I mean GEEZ, stop getting so emotional. Is it that time of the friggin' month or something?"

Poor Patricia

2006-09-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

My contribution to the challenge at Dave Ex Machina

Sue should dump Reed, Part 2

2006-09-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

So she's out on her own.

Now she gets a miniseries. I'm not sure what would happen in it but it would have to involve her beating some major bad dude, something that would establish her as a superhero in her own right. In the last issue she'd be feeling confident about her abilities to fight villains as a solo act. And then maybe she'd meet another female superhero. It might occur to them that superhero teams seem to overflow with male heros. It might occur to them that they should start their own team. And Sue would get a chance to be a leader.

On to a new series. A team book with mostly women. Nothing like Heroes for Hire though because this isn't cheescake stuff. I'm not sure who else would be on the team though. Maybe She-Hulk? Fortress Keeper, in the comments section of my last post, pointed out that her reaction is going to be interesting. Maybe part of that is feeling isolated from conventional superherodom. Maybe when Warren Ellis is done with Monica Rambeau my book could have her? (yes, fantasies of writing a marvel book here) Other members could be powerful female and minority characters that are overlooked and under used.

Anyway, Sue could lead that team for awhile. Reconciliation with Reed would have to happen sooner or later and she would head back but with different expectations of her role in the marriage and team. Someone else would take over as leader of the new team.

Sue should dump Reed. Part 1

2006-09-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

...For awhile at least.

A bit of background. Reed is part of a group called the Illuminati consisting of him, Black Bolt, Namor, Professor X., Dr. Strange and Iron Man that 'represents' the superpowered world and make decisions on their behalf. Of course the thing is, they aren't elected or appointed, they aren't even known about outside their little boys club. And it is a boys club. Everyone is male and everyone is white.

I love the idea. These are the big boys of the super powered world and people who've become so comfortable with their power and authority that they aren't even asking the basic question about whether this is right. It doesn't seem to even enter their thinking that they may be very wrong in presuming to speak for and direct the concerns of people that don't even know they exist. They know they're good people and they look across the table and see men they respect and gosh, no need to entertain any doubts. The claiming of power with no understanding of the need to be representative of and responsible to the people. That is entitlement and it's such a bad thing.

So then these 5 men (Namor violently disagreed) decide that the Hulk is a problem and he must be exiled. Abandoned in outer space. Reed Richards, a man who's known Bruce Banner for years, agrees to this. Why? I imagine because the club thinks this is a good thing. They've given themselves to power to act as gods and human considerations such as friendship and compassion are quaint, but not relevent. Reed does not see Bruce, he's sees the Hulk and the Hulk is a problem.

Now back to Sue.

Namor should tell Sue what her husband did to Bruce.

I imagine this would turn Sue's view of her husband upside down. She's been entertaining a few questions with his secrecy and enthusiasm about building a superhero community (again, build a place for superheroes to live without asking the people themselves?). But this...? This is Bruce. This is a man she's known and respected. I imagine she'd try to justify Reead's decision. The Hulk is a danger. People die as a result of the Hulk's actions. Maybe.

But I think the thing that would really anger Sue was that this was a decision Reed made without consulting her. Screw secret clubs, this man is her HUSBAND. She is supposed to be the person he comes to with major decisions and crises. And that this was a decision that decided the fate of a friend? What if the problem had been Ben? Or Johnny? Or herself?

Reed has chosen to assign the Illuminati more authority then Sue. She's second fiddle now when it comes to the most important matters. But he wouldn't see this. Sue would confront him, try to force him to see the issue but he wouldn't get it. He's Reed Richards. Mr. Fantastic, a superhero and a brilliant scientist. And he's a good man. How could Sue doubt that? How could Sue doubt his character and morals like this by implying he's not worthy to decide important matters?

How could she doubt his entitlement?

So she'd leave the marriage and the team. She'd still live in the Baxter Building and talk to Reed because they have children and she does still love him. But he doesn't value her as he should and doesn't trust her judgement when she points to cracks in his character. Being around him, taking orders from him in the team would be poison.

Cue Sue Storm 4 issue mini-series.

John Byrne - Sexist?

2006-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know myself but this blog seems to think so.

"Between his debut in comic books in the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, there were quite a few books he wrote where sexism had a presence, even if you couldn’t always see it. To enjoy any of his works can often require big doses of salt. Here is my own list of discriminatory acts Byrne included in his own writing resume in years past"

I have trouble with this because one of my all-time favorite women in comic books was a creation of John Byrne's. This was Heather Hudson of Alpha Flight. Over the course of John Byrne's run she went from secretary and housewife (of Canada's Guardian) to leading a nation's superhero team despite not having any powers herself. She was smart, wore glasses, had a funny nose and a sensible looking ponytail. AND would fearlessly tell off Wolverine when he needed to be told off.

After Byrne left she eventually slipped into her dead husband's super powered suit and became 'Vindicator' (yes, a stupid name if I ever heard one) and later Guardian. Later artists changed her from a distinctive looking woman to another curvy redhead with seductive, flowing tresses. Her husband eventually came back and she gave up her colours (the red and white of the Canadian flag) so he could have them back. Which killed me. She'd worn the suit and led the team for longer than him and yet years later she takes off her nations flag and steps aside. She then has a baby and gets killed (a Marvel death so hopefully temporary) along with her whole team in a repugnantly throwaway manner by Brian Michael Bendis (If we ever meet Mr. Bendis, you and I will have words) in New Avengers.

But the Heather Hudson I adored is Byrne's Heather. Despite having the dubious qualifications of being a housewife and secretary she took leadership of a group of superheroes simply on the strength of her character and belief in herself. She was the normal person who walked with gods (sometimes literally) and led them. And her team admired her for it.

We all have prejudices and stereotypes that come out in our life and work. I don't think John Byrne is any exception. But on this issue, sexism, I think the contribution of Heather Hudson to comic book literature outweighs the crimes listed in The Comic Book Discrimination Dossiers blog.

Heather at her best...Alpha Flight #1-#30 (John Byrne), X-Men and Alpha Flight; The Gift (Chris Claremont & Art Adams)

The New Avengers and Herman's Head

2006-09-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, I should warn you that this column is behind the times a bit. I just finished reading the New Avengers up to issue 11. I'm well aware that the run is now up into the 20's but I just got back into comics again so cut me a bit of slack. Besides, the issue I wanted to point out still applies.

The issue is the makeup of the New Avengers. Thus far in my reading it's been Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman (WTF?), Wolverine (WTF The Sequel!?!), Luke Cage and Spiderwoman. So that's 5 guys and one gal. And the one gal is Spiderwoman. OoooOOhh! Venom blasts! OOoooOOOooh! Pheremones!

I'm not going to accuse B.M. (unfortunate abbreviation there Brian) Bendis of sexism because I really don't think that's the case. He's the man who writes Powers which has some great female characters in it. I think the root problem here is a great writer who's building a team around the male ego. The Herman's Head Syndrome.

To explain;I remember watching an episode of Herman's Head when I was much younger. It was a sitcom from the early ninetie's that lasted about 5 minutes. The main character was a man who's inner workings (in terms of his mind) were personified by four people. There were three men and one woman and she represented, I think, his emotions. I watched that show and it occurred to me that the people who made up Herman's mind reflected the makeup of many superhero teams. The people on the team were there to represent certain aspects of the (male) writer's ego. There was the leader, the physical strong guy, the darker character, etc. On the roster there's generally be a woman to signify the feminine aspects and as such she'd often be weepy and irrational, an avid shopper or prone to wearing just panties and bras at inappropriate times. This was Jean Grey of the original X-Men, Sue Storm, the Wasp, etc. Those odd women were doubly useful because of the panty and bra thing. If you, as a fanboy, couldn't identify with your feminine qualities, then she still had nice, bouncy melons.

So fast forward a quarter of a century. Mr. Bendis gets the New Avengers and instantly indulges in Herman's Head Syndrome. It's pretty easy to see that Jessica is the token chick and representative of the 'feminine'. She gets, "Damn woman," when she prances about in her costume, makes the men dizzy with pheremones and answers the door in her panties (I haven't seen that comic book yet, it's later in the run, but I've heard about it. Oh yes.). All of this wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb if there were more women on the team but, well, she's it. She's the representive of the male ego's feminine bits. Of course, what are the guys?

Captain America - the honourable bit
Spiderman - the humour bit
Wolverine - the killer bit
Luke Cage - the tough guy bit (black men often seem to get stuck with this role)
Iron Man - the playboy penis bit

Now I don't have a problem with building a team like an ego but to build it from a male POV, where almost all the roles are filled by guys with whom you have a penis in common, means you're excluding great characters and female readers. If you want to use the ego thing consider females in the humour and honour roles. Mix it up and take a few chances.

Spectacular inaugural post!

2006-09-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

So I have the original blog, 'I Wanna Be a Comic Book Artist,' where I'm posting the artwork I come up with as I hone my drawing skills. It's a fun blog but I'm back to reading comics and boy, it's hard to read them and not find things you want to rant about. Dumb characters, the death of Alpha Flight, the floaty D-cups and Greg Land all make me a little crazy and I need a release. So, since between the house, the kids, the homeschooling, the upcoming bible course, the local choir and the new drawing blog I just have WAAAAY too much free time I though the obvious remedy was another blog.

For anyone unfamiliar with me, check out www.combicbookwoman.blogspot.com. Yes, I KNOW it's comBicbookwoman. All I can say is don't drink and blog. It explains that I'm a nice traditional housewife who wants to be a comic book penciler. And it has nifty pics of busty women in tight spandex.

Rant coming soon.