Realistic superheroes is an oxymoron

Let me approach the fracas du jour from another direction:



This is the cover of the comic that introduced Steel (later Commander Steel, now Citizen Steel, not to be confused with John Henry Irons) to the DCU. Can anyone explain to me how this costume could possibly be drawn, or the character posed, such that it does not draw attention straight to Steel's crotch?

That said...



...what's the difference? Why does it matter now, when it never has before?

In that light, it seems perfectly reasonable that if you're going to make people look there, you might as well put something there worth the trouble.

I've been saying that comics are over-rendered for years now, ever since Neal Adams gave Batman chest hair. This is what it took to get any kind of agreement from the comics community?

Hey, I like Kirby 'n' all...

I realize that now that Jack is safely dead, the major comics publishers have come to a new appreciation of his work and influence, but Devil Dinosaur Omnibus?

And a thousand fanboys and fangirls cry, "Yes!"

Hints dropped left and right by Gail Simone and DC editorial were confirmed yesterday: Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, The All-New Atom) will be the regular, ongoing writer of Wonder Woman starting right after the "Amazons Attack" event, with issue #13.

The title has been floundering lately, with a high-profile, chronically late writer (something about that TV show he's also writing for, Grey's Anatomy) and a coming new high-profile writer who, it was announced going in, will only be staying for six issues.

The thing about having a character do something really dramatic (like, say, killing a long-time supporting character, as Wonder Woman did to Maxwell Lord) is that the editors have to have some kind of plan for where the character goes next. I don't think they had one.

So, if Simone is writing it, who's drawing it? She's said "a dream art team," and she's said "if the readers all made a list of who the best possible Wonder Woman art team would be, I bet this would be the number one choice. It’s that good."

I'm thinking one of two things must have happened: Either Didio looked around and thought, "Why am I asking Adam Hughes to draw an All Star Wonder Woman title when the real Wonder Woman title is in so much trouble"; or else he remembered that it wasn't the artists who made the first five issues of the restart late, and realized that he can't do any better than Terry and Rachel Dodson. I'll take either option, but I'm hoping for the Dodsons.

Are there any civilians left?

Aw, heck, the Fortress Keeper said it already.

Heroic Dynasties and Legacies

Given: The DCU is too white-male-centric.
Given: There are only so many good names/costumes/raisons d'etre.
Obvious Solution: Any property from second-tier on down is subject to being killed off and rebooted as a non-white/woman/both.

Okay, I get that. I like that blacks and women can be superheroes without being "Black This-or-That" or "She-Something".

Corollary Solution: Any property -- any property -- is subject to acquiring a partner/kid sidekick.

I even get that. I have to admit I wondered what kind of powder is in the sugar bowls in the DC breakroom when I saw Miss Martian, but dang it, she grows on me. (If only her breasts didn't grow and shrink from page to page, but then she IS a shape-changer.)

Here's what I don't get.

Did nobody at DC actually read Kingdom Come before they decided to make it happen? It was a dystopia. It was a nightmare. I always interpreted it as a commentary on Marvel Earth as well, since Stan Lee really wrote (heh) the book on leaving the villains out of the story completely and having alleged heroes whomp on each other for whole issues at a time. (Maybe Civil War was inevitable, at that.)

Specifically, it was hell on earth for non-metas, who appear to be drifting out of comics, even as supporting characters.

Things that made Scipio happy

Over on The Absorbascon, Scipio has been keeping a running list of "Things that made me happy" in the week's comics. Taken as a group, they are proof that the rumors are true, and the DC comics universe is getting brighter. Even Bruce Wayne, the poster child for abandonment issues, is learning (in Superman/Batman #33) that it's OK not to be an a**hole all the time.