Supes and Wondy sittin’ in a tree

So as you may have heard, the big news out of DC Comics in the past week has been the confirmation that Superman and Wonder Woman will be getting it on in JUSTICE LEAGUE #12. Rawr!

Aren’t you excited? Wait, you’re not?

So far, the reactions I’ve seen have ranged among:

• “so? why is everyone losing their shit?”
• “omg no no no omg lalala I’m not listening”
• “didn’t this happen in the 80s?“
• “whatever, I’m not reading it anyway”

I’m sure there are people who think this is an awesome idea, but I haven’t talked to or heard from any of them. But I’m sure they’re there. (Maybe.)

Anyway, I fall solidly into the “whatever” camp. True, I’m opposed to a Superman-Diana make-out session for a couple of reasons, the obvious one being that Superman + Lois = OTP.* I’m also more of a fan of the Batman-Diana sexual tension they had going on in the Justice League animated series, if we have to give Diana a semi-love interest. But overall, I’m pretending the current JUSTICE LEAGUE doesn’t exist. I prefer the Wonder Woman who is starring in the Azzarello/Chiang series, and I dropped JL like a hot piece of crap aaaages ago. So DC can carry on with their bad selves and it doesn’t really affect me either way.

BUT.

I must voice my main objection to the Superman/Wonder Woman pairing, which is: what lazy fucking storytelling. I’m tired of DC going for shock value rather than taking any care in crafting their stories. This just feels like manufactured drama, made to draw people in and make up for the fact that the story isn’t actually that interesting (and it appears to be working, with people already offering up to $25 for the issue). This Superman/WW snogfest strikes me as being from the same lame toolbox as the “omg these powerful heroes are meeting for the first time let’s make them fight til they realize they’re on the same side!” thing which happened at the beginning of this JUSTICE LEAGUE reboot (and, to be fair, in the AVENGERS movie I loved so much). But it really doesn’t impress me at all as a creative decision. Sorry, DC.

Now, if JUSTICE LEAGUE #13 has Superman and Batman in a kissy embrace, maybe I’ll be interested. Tune in next month.

*One True Pairing

I can’t even handle how amazing this is

And I have it on good authority that not one single word is made up. (Warning: don’t press play if you don’t want your computer to start yelling “fuck,” among other fancy words.)

(Also, almost a million views so I’m late to this game but OMG SO GOOD.)

Power Girl: to boob or not to boob?

Today DC Comics unveiled the new look for Power Girl, who will be starring with Huntress in WORLD’S FINEST.

Today DC also released the results from a recent survey they did to find out the demographics of their readership, but I don’t even want to touch that. Too depressing. Read about it on the Mary Sue if you’re interested.

But I am all about critiquing costumes, so let’s tackle Power Girl, shall we? First, the comparison. Old Power Girl:

And New Power Girl:

The main differences can be boiled down to: boobs, pants, color. Let’s start with the obvious.

new 52 shuffle

DC has announced the first DC 52 comics to be canceled:

BLACKHAWKS, HAWK AND DOVE, MEN OF WAR, MISTER TERRIFIC, O.M.A.C. and STATIC SHOCK, all of which will conclude with their eighth issues in April.

The only two of those I’ve read were two of the only books with black lead characters. (Two of only three in the new 52, according to CSBG.) One of them, Mister Terrific, let’s be honest was pretty dreadful. I’m not surprised. Static Shock was weak but I was holding out hope.

But apparently rather than make their minority-lead books better, DC is just canceling them. Guys, the black lead is not the reason the books didn’t sell. They didn’t sell because they were bad. So don’t go pulling these out as examples the next time you get blasted for the lack of diversity in your comics, because all this shows is that a poorly-written book doesn’t sell, which is probably for the best.

I am kind of excited by this, though:

DIAL H – Writer: China Miéville. Artist: Mateus Santoluoco. The first ongoing series from acclaimed novelist China Miéville, this is a bold new take on a cult classic concept about the psychological effects on an everyman who accidentally gains powers to become a hero.

hope you didn’t think I was done talking comics

It’s been almost two months since I lasted posted on one of my favorite subject, comics. This is partially because I’ve been super busy and not posting much anyway, but I’ve also had the problem of being subscribed to more books than I actually have time to read. I took stock at one point and I think I was up to 14, mostly DC but a few Marvel and indie. So I’m weeks behind except on a few faves, and I really shouldn’t spend that much money on comics anyway, so I came to the conclusion that I needed to winnow down to 6 books.

Yikes.

So I started by looking at the list of books I’m subbed to and thinking about which ones I would miss the most. And… I got it narrowed down to 8. Plus 5 more.

Sigh. I’m bad at this game.

Definitely keeping:

• Archie Marries Veronica and/or Betty
• Batgirl
• Batwoman
• Blue Beetle
• The Flash
• Morning Glories
• Wolverine and the X-Men
• Wonder Woman

On notice but I’m not quite giving up yet: 

• Batman
• Birds of Prey
• Justice League International
• Static Shock
• Supergirl

Extras: 

• 4-issue miniseries Archie Meets Kiss. (b/c I mean really. Archie and Kiss.)
• The Intrepids (a series that seems to be ended, but I’m keeping my sub in case it starts up again)

So that didn’t accomplish much, since I’m still subscribed to 13 ongoing comics, plus 2 extras. But… well, I sorted them out? I know which ones are on the verge of getting the boot?

Ok, so yeah I accomplished nothing except making a list of what comics I’m reading. Anyone else reading these? Reading others I’m missing?

52 shakedown

So last month I was all over DC’s New 52, then this month happened and pfffft. I’ve been reading, just haven’t had time to post on any of the books. SO. I thought I’d do some 1-month-in reactions, now that I’ve read #2 in most of the series and started figuring out what I’m dropping and keeping and loving and tolerating.

It’s a lot of books, so there won’t be a lot of words on each one. I’m going to do them alphabetically I guess, but if you want to just skip to what I think is the best book of the New 52, you’ll find it under W.

After the jump…

this week’s DC books

Again, not reading all the new DC books but of what I have read, this week DC is hitting some high highs and some rock-bottom lows. Here’s my brief rundown of each. Usually my tidy mind would go in straight alphabetical order, but this week I want to start with the best and end with the worst. I’ll go alphabetical in between. /housekeeping

BEST: WONDER WOMAN #1 This rocked, and I am so glad. Last Friday, DC tweeted some character designs from the new Wonder Woman, and I was super-impressed. I had originally been going to read Wonder Woman because I hoped it would be good, and this raised my hopes that it would actually BE good.

And it was. It is such a good intro. There’s no annoying origin story. When the point-of-view character meets Diana, her reaction is basically “holy shit you’re Wonder Woman”—much like yours or mine would be. (Don’t lie. It would.) And the story jumps right into the action, and it draws from mythology with a touch of horror, and it’s great. Best comic of the month so far. Can’t wait for the next one.

I’ve heard rumors the creative team of Azzarello and Chiang might be changing up in a few issues. Dear DC: Don’t.

BATMAN #1 Well hm. One of the worst covers of the new DCU, for sure. But I like the story. Not overwhelmingly amazing, but a good solid story with a good hook beginning and a good cliffhanger ending that nobody will really believe but which is exciting anyway.

Art is okay. Bruce looks young compared to Dick, if Dick is supposed to have started as Robin and is now Nightwing. More like an older brother in college than an adult guardian. Threw me off. I kept expecting Bruce to dash off to a kegger.

So this falls solidly into the “not in love but not giving up yet” category, where most of DC’s new books seem to be falling.

BIRDS OF PREY #1 I liked this, but as another customer at my LCS pointed out, I haven’t read the Gail Simone run. So my comments come with a caveat: with nothing to compare it to, I liked it. For people comparing it to Simone’s run, ymmv.

There was a lot of jumping around in time but it was never confusing. Only two of the four birds pictured on the cover actually appear (annoying, much like in Justice League), though Katana was mentioned. Starling (who is apparently a new character) is the kind of sassy, bitchin’, tattooed girl character who is both fun and veering towards overplayed and obnoxious. We’ll see. Black Canary, no longer wearing one of the best costumes in superhero history, seems fine. Nothing spectacular.

That’s kind of how I’d classify the entire thing. Basically, I’m on board but there’s still a lot to come. Nothing overwhelmingly awesome, but I like it enough. I do wish the art were better.

BLUE BEETLE #1 I wish this one had been better. It’s… okay. It should have started on about page 18. It really felt like the beginning of a high school movie the way it was structured: crazy prologue, cut to somewhere totally different to meet our main characters who are all BIFFERS and TOTALLY NORMAL, then OH SHIT. And I love that Jaime (the Blue Beetle-to-be) is Hispanic, but I feel like I’m kind of hit over the head with how Hispanic he is.

I dunno. Didn’t hate it, will give it another week or two, but I wasn’t too impressed.

Again.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS: DEADMAN #1 Exposition. Boring. The one scene that was actually real-time, that was in the middle of the book and seemed to have nothing to do with anything, was cute, but was not enough to hold the book. Won’t be reading on.

SUPERGIRL #1 I actually enjoyed Supergirl, which for some reason I find surprising. But it’s a smart, quick intro with some little clever bits. I like that it’s an origin story that presumes the reader knows who Supergirl is (but you don’t really need info beyond that she’s somehow a girl Superman) and that Supergirl doesn’t know what’s going on. It seemed short, and thinking back on it I can’t actually remember a lot happening, but I enjoyed it and will continue reading for now.

WORST: CATWOMAN #1 Oh, Catwoman.

I knew I wasn’t going to like this one, I just got it because I was curious. I was hoping I could laugh at it, be all “oh look at Catwoman she so sexy lolzers.” I didn’t expect the issue to be so actively bad.

SPOILERS after the jump. Also I say “fuck” a lot.

diversity is not just a color

DC has done a lot of unpopular things so far during this relaunch. (reboot? I’m still confused.) But the cake, it has finally been taken. I mean, there are two weeks to go but I’m not sure they can top this.

The following two pictures supposedly show the same woman:

Yep, they’ve taken a tough-as-nails middle-aged overweight black woman and made her a much younger, much skinner sexpot.

Oh, where do I begin.

Generalities

There’s been a lot of talk about diversity during this reboot, but DC really seems to be just sticking to the easy ones. Color. Gender. Cool, not every character is a white man, not quite every creator is a white man, that’s an important first step, but there are so many other ways to cut it. Weight is another cut. Sexuality is another cut.

It’s a shame to judge purely by appearance, but be honest. If the two women pictured above hold exactly the same high-level position in exactly the same organization, you are going to have some pre-conceived notions about how they each got there. You may not necessarily jump to “sleeping with the boss” with new AW and it may not necessarily be true, but especially the way they’re dressed you’re going to make assumptions about how they conduct themselves and what they hold important.

There’s also diversity of experience. A black woman from Alabama is going to have a very different life and worldview than one from the Bronx and one from Cape Town. A super-skinny woman in Manhattan is going to have gotten there with a different emotional experience than a kind of overweight woman or a very overweight woman. It would be nice if everyone was treated the same way regardless of how we look, but we’re not. And until we are all one homogenous boring blob, our fiction (comics or otherwise) should reflect it.

Nobody was really asking for a higher proportion of heavyset characters. Nobody expected DC to give Batman a beer belly. But DC has taken yet another facet of diversity out of their universe, and it stinks.

The Wall vs. The Toothpick

Amanda “The Wall” Waller is a badass. This is the woman who goes toe-to-toe with Batman and doesn’t give an inch. My main experience with her is the Justice League TV show, and for being such a small character the woman had presence. She was HBIC.

New AW does not look like a badass. She looks like the kind of inconsequential person Batman would snap in half. Yes, I’m judging her based on one single panel but that’s what they’ve given us so that’s what I’ve got to go on. And it’s such a drastic change—what do they expect us to do, not notice it?

I’ve seen a few people say they’re pissed about this update but they aren’t really sure why. My theory is that the unhappiness and anger isn’t just because of Waller’s weight, it’s because not only did they make her skinny they made her sexy and younger. Original AW could have worn her shirts down to here and no bra—I mean, not realistically, but realism never really comes in to comic women’s undergarments—but she didn’t. New AW could be skinny and boobalicious and still wear collared shirts and pearls, but she doesn’t. If you want to look at it in a certain light, DC is implying that as a big older woman Waller couldn’t be sexualized but now that they’ve cut her weight and age in half she’s supersexyfied. Which I find insulting to large, small, old, and young women, frankly, but that reading could be an entire paper in itself.

So why is Amanda Waller now skinny and sexualized? What’s the point? That’s my main issue, is that it just looks like a thing DC did so they could do a thing. It’s a major negative change with no reason.

And if you think this isn’t a big change, that size and sexy and age doesn’t matter and it could still be the same AW—guys, we can see Amanda Waller’s fucking nipple poking through her shirt. This is not the Amanda Waller we know and love. It’s just not.

Wallergate and Babsgate

One more quick thing to cover. This change obviously mirrors Barbara Gordon’s miraculous new ability to walk—another minority character whose minority is being erased. But in a way I think it’s very different, and kind of worse.

Barbara’s rise from the wheelchair is part of the new story. It looms over her. It is almost a character. Her handicap wasn’t erased, it was built upon, something that writer Gail Simone made very clear as soon as it was announced. And something came out of the change.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s a purpose—maybe not one fans like, but there is a reason Barbara Gordon can walk again: so she can be Batgirl.

Why did Amanda Waller change? Funsies.

Waller didn’t go through some transformation to become this new person. DC just flicked a switch and made her into a sexy supermodel type. Yes this is a reboot and DC flipped a lot of switches, but this is really the most upsetting because it is so drastic to no purpose and it completely changes and undermines a strong minority character.

Conclusions

Someone I follow on Twitter suggests that DC did this “on purpose because it will piss people off and make them talk, and controversy is better than apathy” but like him, I don’t think this is likely. I think DC was all “woooo reboot let’s change ALL the things!” and for some reason this is one of the changes that got past review because nobody thought it was a big deal.

It is a big deal, DC. Yes it is.

comics galore! what I’ve read from the DC relaunch so far

So in addition to pictures of my cat, I know the other thing you guys really missed during my internet hiatus was my spot-on insight into comics. Never fear! I am back with an update on the big comics shebang of the month, DC’s 52 new #1 comics. Now, no way am I reading 52 comics in one month, that’s just crazy talk. But I picked out a few of interest and am here to report.

Unfortunately for DC, the best comic I’ve read so far this month has been Marvel’s ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1. Considering my count is DC: 8 and Marvel: 1, that’s not a great sign for the relaunch.

Let’s do this in order, though.

August 31 books

FLASHPOINT #5 Okay. Not exactly  unsatisfying but, like the rest of Flashpoint, just kind of eh. Read this only two weeks ago and can’t think of a thing to say about it so… take that for what you will.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 DC’s big wow, their big chance to make a big splash. Instead we get “Batman & Green Lantern: The Buddy Cop Movie.”

Ughhhhhh. What a clunky beginning to the big relaunch. Batman and GL are the only two Justice League members we see for the majority of the book, and their repartee is not nearly as witty as they think it is. And the book’s just… clunky. NOT the big wow DC promised or needed.

Unimpressed Grace is unimpressed. But I’m giving them one more issue to see if they can pull their shit together. Next week better knock my socks off, though, or I’m out. Buh-bye, flagship.

September 7 books

ACTION COMICS #1 This is the book DC should have started with. Cranky hipster Superman throws people off buildings and tries to save the day without getting shot by the police. Written by Grant Morrison. Not a perfect book, but very good. I love Lex Luthor. Definitely one of the most promising so far.

BATGIRL #1 The big news with Batgirl is of course that DC is taking Barbara Gordon out of her Oracle wheelchair and somehow making her walk again. And it’s written by Gail Simone, perhaps the only person fandom would trust with such a story.

So far we have no real answers but the story’s pretty good. Barbara has a very distinct character and very distinct issues, and her former disability looms large instead of being brushed under the rug. I’ll be sticking with this one for the forseeable future.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1 This is one of those “I recognize this isn’t great but I liked it anyway” things. It’s not the highest-quality comic I’ve ever read, but it was fun. In comparison to a lot of the new comics, JLI is upbeat and a light, easy read. And I mean really Booster Gold is in charge, we can’t take this too seriously. I also liked that, as opposed to JL, we have the entire league here at the beginning. It’s kind of an origin story, but at least it’s an origin story that takes 5 pages and not… however many issues Justice League is going to take.

STATIC SHOCK #1 I’m kind of excited about this one. Virgil Hawkins aka Static Shock is trying to figure out his way as a superhero and is not necessarily very good at the job yet. It’s fun to see a superhero save the day and piss people off because he doesn’t know what he’s doing. And it’s quite pretty, I especially love the last page. Keeper for now.

September 14 books

BATWOMAN #1 Batwoman is absolutely one of the most beautiful comics out right now. I would continue to buy it for that reason alone. Luckily, the story is picking up right where it left off and is just as intense and engaging as ever.

I’m glad I recently read the Batwoman trade paperback (it’s good you should get it), but I don’t think it’s necessary to enjoy the new series. Somehow, this is (one of?) the only DC #1s that seems to have escaped a total overhaul—maybe because it never technically existed in the first place—so this is one where missing backstory could be an actual problem, but they seem to do a pretty good job of recapping the essentials.

While I wasn’t blown away, it’s a good first issue in that it leaves you wanting more, which is more than I can say for some of these other books. It’s fantasy and it’s tough and the one panel with Batman is more beautiful than any of his other appearances so far this month.

I’m going to go ahead and actively recommend this one. Only took three weeks of comics!

Aside: on the right is the variant cover for BATWOMAN #4, by Amy Reeder, that DC decided not to print for some reason. Which is a crying shame. Look at it (click to enlarge). Gorgeous.

MR. TERRIFIC #1 Bumpy. The first few pages were snappy and exciting and I was really into it (Doctor Who reference!), then I was like “huh?” and then I was like “well okay this isn’t the worst thing I’ve read this month” and then it ended just… blah. I will give it one more issue to see if the bumps smooth out, but it’s going to have to get markedly better to keep my money flowing.

Also, Power Girl. If anyone’s wondering where she went in the reboot, it was to Mr. Terrificland.

So overall the relaunch has been OK with some sidesteps into ugly. There are a few titles that seem promising but only one that was actuallygood in the first issue.

And now on to the one comic I’ve read this month that I loved. I was more excited at the end of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 than any of the DC books—even though it was short and even though it was like $15. (OK, so $4. Close enough.)

But it’s getting close to America’s Next Top Model time so I’m getting lazy and this review from Comics Alliance is a good one that pretty much sums up what I thought. So go read that if you like (there are no spoilers) but, basically, sharp writing, pretty art, and an exciting intro to a new character. So much more than a “Spider-Man is black now!” story.

In Conclusion

I realize having now written all this out that I actually sound pretty positive about the relaunch books. I mean, I haven’t canceled any yet, and overall I’m looking ahead to the next issues. But Spider-Man is still better than any of them, and if DC is averaging “pretty OK” then I think they have a major problem.

One final note: Apparently DC’s ANIMAL MAN #1 is killer. I wasn’t smart enough to put a copy on hold, and it’s now getting rave reviews and is sold out like…. everywhere in the United States. So if you happen to find a copy (I think they’re doing a second printing) you might want to grab it to see what all the fuss is about.

So what have you read of the new 52? What’d you think? Have you read ANIMAL MAN??

reboot it and they will come… right?

Backstory: DC Comics, one of the “Big Two” of comics publishing (think Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) is relaunching/rebooting their entire line of comics, putting out 52 Issue #1s in September. It is the Big News in comics right now.

Apparently pre-orders for Justice League #1, the comic kicking off DC’s reboot next week, are over the 200,000 mark. Six other (unnamed) #1s have over 100,000 pre-orders.

That’s a lot. Obviously, DC’s drastic move is paying off with these increased sales that they had hoped for/promised.

But.

I have said this before, I will say it again, and then I will probably say it again.

I don’t care how awesome a book sounds in theory, I don’t care how drastic and dramatic this reboot is, if a book’s story doesn’t hold up I won’t keep buying it.

So yes, I am contributing to the 200K+ and probably the 100K+ in pre-orders. But rest assured, if the quality isn’t there I will be dropping my subscriptions so fast DC won’t know what hit it. I don’t have the money to spend on shitty comics.

You could say I’m pessimistic, but I’m trying to be real about it. If the quality of the comics isn’t good, no level of marketing can save the industry.

So, fingers crossed. One more week. I’m really hoping the reboot lives up to all the hype.