On the Streets of Blogopolis

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Progressive Ruin: I need to amend the store's dress code. He's got a hot redhead in his comic book shop, and he's complaining because she's dressed as Ginny Weasley. Can't he just be thankful she's there at all?

postmodernbarney: And Then There Was That Time Betty Got Kidnapped By Hillbillies. Or, Deliverance II starring Archie.

Occasional Superheroine: Schoolgirl Witchblade. Reserve a place on your knocker knick-knack shelf now, right beside your McFarlane Twisted X-mas Mrs Claus.

Batfatty: presenting Roberta the Girl Wonder. I really want to see the rest of this story. In fact, I'd like to see all of the stories from this era that featured one-shot female knock-offs of the male hero. I've seen the Aquaman, Green Arrow and Superboy stories. The original Batwoman was arguably one of the lot, except that she sort-of caught on. (The first Bat-Girl stole Roberta's color scheme.) So would have been the Super-Girl that Jimmy Olsen wished into existence. I suppose any of the several occasions when Lois Lane became "Super-Woman" might also qualify. I'd include the "Super-Sister" story, in which young Clark Kent became a girl. Are there enough of these for a trade collection? What would you call it?

Living Between Wednesdays: Snuggles in Disguise. Awwww.

Stephen DiStefano: The difference between Brutus and Bluto

Around Blogopolis

Confidence

A dated but still interesting biography of William Marston, creator of Wonder Woman. And an overview of the character from the Comic Book Periodic Table.

In a sweeping example of what passes for feminism in comics, the Big Three Superteams of DC Comics (Justice League, Justice Society, and Legion) are all being led by women. Even though nothing in any of these characters' backstories has indicated that they actually qualify for the position. Black Canary, in particular, just left the Birds of Prey with the stated purpose of spending more time mothering her newly adopted daughter Sin, and now here she is allegedly bossing Batman around. At least over in the Marvel universe, where Janet van Dyne leads the Mighty Avengers, it doesn't seem quite so much like they pulled her name out of a hat.

Over in Lady, That's My Skull, Sleestak offers what should be the final word on the Showcase Presents Batgirl cover controversy.

According to Occasional Superheroine, DC is facing a Countdown to Change that may mean the end of the Didio era. At Journalista, Dirk Deppey writes an overall favorable mention of the post that ignites a feminist firestorm with one ill-conceived, largely misunderstood joke.

(Look: I find Occasional Superheroine to be a thoughtful, sometimes moving blog, well worth the read from the first post in the archive. But at the same time, in this particular post she does repeatedly use the word "c**k-up", complete with self-aware, self-censoring asterisks. It might be insulting to suggest even jokingly, as Deppey does, that she suffers from "fear of c**k". But what if he meant fear of the word? Isn't that what censoring it implies?)

(See also Pretty Fizzy Paradise and the Comics Reporter.)

Just to lighten the mood a little, Devon at Seven Hells presents Subtext Follies featuring Wonder Woman.

What Were They Thinking asks, what kind of student sends a photo like this to their old teacher?

And Jimmy Olsen's Blues presents a review of the recent death of Bart Allen and return of Wally West, by... Bart Allen.

Men are from Krypton, Women are from Themiscyra

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Pretty Fizzy Paradise: I get asked sometimes why I care so much about something as "minor" as feminist issues in comics. Why does it matter? Why don't you find something else? It's designed for guys! ... I've realized, and this is not intended to be an insult, that most men have no idea what it's like to be a woman.

(Read that first.)

Comparing Linda Park to Lois Lane isn't quite apples vs apples. Ms Park is a television reporter, and there may be no environment on the planet where What You Look Like is perceived to matter more than on television. Ms Lane is a newspaper reporter: I won't pretend appearance is irrelevant, but what really matters is who you know and what you know.

Hm. If anyone at DC is listening, I'd love to see a Linda Park / Lana Lang encounter. I'd think they'd have a lot to talk about. I'm guessing "beauty tips" wouldn't be very high on the list. But that's really a tangental issue.

I could argue that if women want men to "get over" caring what women look like, that this expectation is unrealistic. It's hardcoded in us. But it certainly is realistic to expect us to keep our damn' mouths shut about things that are none of our business. Under most circumstances, things that are none of our business include how much makeup is enough, whether we think your boobs hang straight, how much you weigh, or whether the rug matches the curtains.

Women are human beings, and that should be reflected in the way they are spoken to, spoken of, and depicted. That doesn't seem too much to ask.

The Many Moods of Heroes for Hire

Well, having come late to the Mary Jane wears pearls to do the laundry party, I may as well sound off on the other thing that's got everyone's attention. The comic itself won't be on sale until August 27, so I guess it's early yet.

Of course, I'm in real trouble here, because I don't know what the context of this image is. In fact, I'm not sure I can name everyone on it. There appears to be an extra breast and arm at extreme right. Maybe somebody just figured that if six breasts are good, seven is better.

Now, not having recently fallen off the comic-book delivery truck, I have seen the occasional "tentacle rape" scene. I suspect everyone reading these words knows what that phrase means. In fact, apparently, there is only one person in the English-speaking comics-reading world who does not know what it means. And as incredible as it may seem, that person is Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief of one of the largest English-language comics publishers in the world, and the man ultimately responsible for the solicitation (and, presumably, upcoming publication) of the image in question. Of this image, and the attention it has drawn, and most especially the attention it has drawn from female comics readers, Joe said:

First, I think people are reading way too much into that cover than was ever intended. I heard terms such as “tentacle rape” being thrown around when that in no way is what’s happening, nor does it happen in the book. Those tentacles are the arms of the Brood who appears in the issue and is a major story point, the Brood have tentacles, sorry about that.

True, but in the twenty-five years of the characters' presence in the Marvel Universe, every previous depiction has concentrated on their insect-like nature. Previously their tentacles were used as strangling weapons, not mammary palpators. One must also remember that what the Brood want humans for is reproduction (a process fatal to the human egg host), so "rape" is not an inappropriate word for the process.

Secondly, the concept for that cover, soup to nuts came from a female artist.

Whom you've just thrown under the bus, in the process of hiding behind her. What exactly do you do at Marvel, if cover approval isn't it?

Also, HFH is a book that features two strong, lead female protagonist who kick major ass; somehow folks have forgotten to focus on that.

Does anyone on this cover look like they've ever kicked anybody's ass? No. They look like fruit waiting to be plucked from the tree. Out here in the real world (or as real as it gets when middle-aged men read comic books), we call that out of character.


On the left is Sana Takeda's original art. On the right is a "remix" done by Lea Hernandez (a thoughtful and talented creator in her own right) for her own blog, Dangerous Beauty. At this scale, the alterations are trivial, but they support three basic changes:

1. Misty Knight is supposed to be a black woman.
2. Costumes now match how they're drawn inside the book.
3. Misty, Colleen and Felicia are now directly looking at the threat they face.

The situation still isn't appealing, but it's the difference between a PG and R rating, and Heroes for Hire is supposed to be PG (or, as Marvel calls it, T+).

"Face it, tiger, you're doing your own laundry."

The pendulum set in motion by the infamous Mary Jane maquette is swinging back towards thoughtful, intelligent commentary. Imagine that.

"To argue that cheesecake imagery is harmful to women is to argue that male desire itself is harmful to women."
--Dirk Deppey, Journalista

"Male desire is not inherently harmful, the male gaze is not inherently pernicious, and to think otherwise is to set yourself up for a lot of frustration and misunderstanding."
--Laura Hudson, Myriad Issues

Fanboys pay $125 a pop for this thing, buying out the production run months before it actually ships, and women feel exploited. I don't get it.

"Cold water wash, right?"

Well, since every red-blooded blogger has had something to say about this (available soon at a comic shop near you, except that they've apparently already sold out their production run, so if you haven't already pre-ordered it, it may be too late), I will too. Here's what I have to say:

If anyone is looking for an overly-expensive birthday present for me, this is it. And no, the Justice League Unlimited Locker Room figures are not an acceptable substitute.

Thank you.

LATER: Note to Sideshow Collectibles: Consider a 6" version. This dang thing is 14" tall! That's huge! Even Barbie is only 12" tall, and that's standing up straight.

I wonder if it's worth pointing out that most artists suck at faces. Most characters, in most books, the only reason we know who they are is by the costumes they wear or the props they carry. There are exceptions, of course, and this MJ statue is so clearly MJ that she doesn't have to be holding a Spider-Man costume for us to know who she is. Part of that is attitude (the pose that has attracted so much criticism is classic hey-look-at-me MJ), but part of it is that the face is right.

Has anyone even looked at the face?