For Crying Out Loud

Maybe some of you already know that comic book writer Gail Simone has a forum where she and her fans chat about things. She's a very funny, forthright author who loves to interact with her fans online. So, when somebody posted this page from the new, poorly-received Cry For Justice mini-series from James Robinson, she naturally had something to say about it.



"I could see Lady Blackhawk, actually. Two pilots having some sexy fun, okay, I get that.

But I hate to see Huntress get branded as a slut again. The whole point of the Josh story was for her to realize she deserved better.

And I can't see them doing a threesome, that affects their friendship, and the Birds were ALREADY one of the very few books about female friendship which is so fucking rare in comics it might as well be moonbeans captured in mason jars. Not that friends can't have sex, but once again, this is all about the man, and "Well played, sir" is just, ugh.

I love James Robinson. But I really feel like most writers of mainstream comics get the sex thing all wrong over and over. It's all wink wink nudge nudge and women as trophies and thumbs up and it seems so weird and off-character to me.

But I haven't read it in context and I'm just the dumb girl anyway.

But James Robinson is a great writer, he's never written anything I didn't enjoy in comics and I still think Silver Age is an underrated classic. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. But it does feel weird that people can read bop and still come away with the impression that THAT Huntress and THAT Lady Blackhawk would get drunk and be someone's sad Penthouse fantasy.

It just shows again that Bop was an important book for a lot of reasons and its absence is keenly felt in the portrayal of female characters in the DCU. Not my bop specifically, just the book overall."

She comments further on why this page is more than a little sexist and disappointing in the link, if you dig through the comments. I could say a few choice things myself but I'm trying to keep my blood pressure down lately.

. . . oh, what the hell. I'll say them anyways.

First off, I decided against collecting this series since I read the agonizingly boring and annoyingly self-righteous 5-page preview shoehorned into the back of my fun, entertaining issue of Power Girl. Yes, Hal, let's do lecture Wonder Woman about justice. You know, the woman who unflinchingly killed Max Lord and got whined at for two years about it? And hey, while, we're on the subject of smacking down villains, remember Parallax? I sure wish somebody had taken that power-hungry murdering maniac down permanently right about now.

You know, I really wish I could like Green Arrow and Hal Jordan. I like Black Canary, I like Guy Gardner, I like Kyle Rayner, hell, I like Arsenal and Kilowog. I know a lot of great fans that I respect who love Hal Jordan to death, so I keep trying to see what's so awesome about him and, to a lesser degree, Green Arrow. Still, I just can't get into these two characters because half the time I read about them, they're being portrayed as, well . . . how to put this politely? Asshats.

When Hal Jordan's quoting John McCain about bravery and Green Arrow's electrocuting his wife to end an argument, I just can't find much to like about either one of them. And "hey, ain't we studly manly men?" banter like this isn't helping my general disdain for their characters much.

Anyways, I know I'm probably being unfair to both characters by judging them only by the recent stuff I've read but, hey, you know what? Fuck it. If the Powers That Be at DC want to portray two of their most iconic heroes as self-righteous frat boys, then that's clearly how I'm supposed to approach the characters. And I really, really don't like frat boys.

Ahem. Anyways, since I try to be more of a "light a candle" than "curse the darkness" kind of guy, let me recommend some good comics with female protagonists in lieu of Snivel For Peace, Whine for Justice.*



Echo is about a woman on the run with powers given to her by accident via the death of another woman, a fighter pilot in an experimental flight bodysuit. Julie, the protagonist, is being tracked by another woman who is more than just a femme fatale. Julie has to try and reconcile the memories of the fighter pilot whose dangerous experimental flight suit has now become partially bonded to her, all the while avoiding the government, a deadly lunatic and more. Echo is one helluva read, a complex, interesting and smart sci-fi thriller.



The Sword is, to quote the creators website, "a modern-day fantasy series that follows Dara Brighton, a young woman whose life is destroyed by three powerful strangers. Her journey begins when she discovers a unique sword." I've been tradewaiting on this one due to poor finances and haven't yet gotten the new trade but this series has been consistently interesting, suspenseful and surprising. If you don't mind gore (the titular sword sure ain't used for slicing yams), it's a really great read.



And speaking of female sexuality in comics, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the smart, funny and frankly adult Empowered. While James Robinson turns two established heroines into a tasteless threesome punchline, Adam Warren writes about mature, adult superheroines whose sex lives are yes, funny, but also hot, heartfelt and occasionally awkward - i.e., "real". Hell, there's more honest, heartbreaking interaction between lesbian superheroes in volume five of Empowered than in all of Greg Rucka's Detective Comics thus far - and that's saying something, given how much I'm loving Rucka's run on Detective Comics**. It's both funny and kind of sad that Empowered, the series that is supposedly "exploitative" enough to get slapped in shrink wrap and labeled with a "Mature Readers" sticker, treats it's female characters with more respect than a book that says "Justice League" on the cover.

Anyways, feel free to share your thoughts on the above page and Simone's response, 'natch but . . . you know what? I'd like this to be a positive post. Feel free to kvetch with me but I'd rather you go ahead and tell me what comic books you're really enjoying lately in the comments. I'm always looking for comic books that make me happy rather than make that tiny vein in my neck twitch.


*Bonus Points to all of you who know what I'm referencing with that joke.

**Oh, and Detective Comics is kicking all sorts of ass and looking amazing, but I'm sure you knew that already.

¡Viva Mexicanos En Los Libros Cómicos!

¡Hola, cada uno! No quisiera que el mes de mayo fuera cerca sin la celebración de Cinco De Mayo, al menos tardío (muy, MUY tardío).

Pensé de dar una revisión del Escarabajo Azul #26 pero realmente, así que mucha otra gente ha hecho así pues, yo se sentiría redundante en hacer tan. ¡Más, usted puede resumir la edición en una palabra - excelente! No cuido si usted odió el "truco supuesto" del tener caracteres Mexicanos en Español de discurso del Mexicano - si la imagen de Jamie que volaba a su abuela alrededor en el extremo del libro cómico no pudo hacerle mueca como un idiota, usted es interior muerto.

¡Así pues, en vez de pasear sobre cómo el Escarabajo Azul impresionante está en español, en lugar de otro enumeraré a mis Cinco Super Héroes Hispánicos Preferidos! ¡Ole!

Cinco - Victor Mancha de "Fugitivos"



¿Por qué Victor? Bien, para los arrancadores, él viola estereotipos siendo elegante al punto de ser un pedacito de un empollón, se refresca en una crisis y una mitad-robusteza. Lo encuentro inmenso el restaurar que hemos venido suficientemente lejos que, en un equipo de adolescentes californianos, el hothead con el switchblade es el individuo rubio blanco.

Más, hey, energías frescas de la robusteza y una referencia velada de Don Quijote! ¡Consiguió amar eso!


Cuatro - Echo / Ronin - Maya López.



Mientras que no estoy terrible encariñado con el origen familiar del crimen, la habilidad artística de David Mack hizo que ama este carácter. Sí, sé que ella es básicamente poco más que un Taskmaster de la muchacha, pero cuál es original sobre ella es su opción de la ropa. Al ingenio: ¡ELLA USA LA ROPA! ¡Armadura llena, incluso! ¿Cómo raro es eso para un superheroine del cómic? Sordo, schmeff, pienso que el uso de las opciones lógicas de la ropa la pone en una lista incluso más corta que ésta.

Tres - Escarabajo Azul - Jamie Reyes



¡Como dicen en México - Duh! ¿Necesito realmente explicar cómo es impresionante Jamie Reyes? ¿Un adolescente mexicano elegante, responsable quién quiere ser dentista cuando él crece? Significo, me adelanto. Usted SABE es el Escarabajo Azul impresionante. Incluso no tengo que decirle ahora.

Para decirle la verdad, él me recuerda un poco de me detrás cuando era un adolescente - nerdy, respetuoso a las mujeres y a la datación totalmente una bruja del malo-asno. Ah, memorias.

Dos - Linterna Verde - Kyle Rayner



Usted puede ser que no sepa este pero Kyle Rayner es apenas como mí - Mitad-Mexicano, Mitad-Irlandés, El 100% Impresionante.

Herencia Irlandés-Mexicana a un lado, él soy siempre sido mi favorito GL, para su creatividad visual y tendencias dorky ocasionales. De hecho, Kyle Rayner es uno de tres héroes de la D.C. que me presentaron a los tebeos de la D.C. en general en los años 90 - pero es uno poste del S.A. de por sí.

Apenas deseo que él hubiera conseguido su anillo en alguna parte mejor que un callejón trasero al lado de un borracho. Oh, bien. Supongo que es mejor que un lavabo público.

Número Uno - Hombre-Araña 2099 - Miguel O'Hara.



¿Obscuro? Quizá. Pero déjeme dicen le, las señoras y los caballeros, este asno Irlandés-Mexicano ficticio de los retrocesos, y su origen didn' t tiene cualquier cosa hacer con las robustezas, los anillos extranjeros o los servicios públicos. Un genetista brillante, Miguel O'Hara consigue su DNA Irlandés-Mexicana combinada con la DNA de la araña, debido a un compañero de trabajo celoso que intenta matarlo. Consecuentemente, él debe pasar los restos de la vida que guardan a la compañía malvada que él trabaja para que de intentar lo capture y utilice su DNA como su " property" intelectual;. También, él hace totalmente el hombre araña 2099 del golpear-asno.

Debo admitir que no muchos de los caracteres de la Maravilla 2099 dejaron una impresión duradera. No obstante, pienso a Miguel O'Hara y su molde de apoyo merecen ser recordados. Él era inventivo, brillante y un combatiente de vez en cuando vicioso, que cavé. El más, hizo yo menciona su costume' ¿s a partir de un día de la celebración muerta? ¡Puntos de prima! (En una nota no-Mexicana, él también tiene un contestador automático olográfico del AI. Quiero un contestador automático olográfico, la maldición del AI él.)

Más importante, él era el primer super héroe mexicano en un cómico yo leyó que didn' las palabras al azar del grito de t de frases españolas o trilladas tienen gusto del " ¡Ay yi yi! " o " ¡Dios Mio! " (Estoy mirando le, Rictor y El Relámpago Vivo).

¡Tan levantemos un vidrio al Hombre-Araña 2099 y el resto de super héroes mexicanos no-stereotypical en tebeos! ¡Pueden de largo reinan!

¡Contenido del vídeo de la prima!



Things you can tell from this Video without knowing a word of Spanish:

- A man in a lion hair vest with a thick mustache smelling the tablecloth while looking for someone? Almost too creepy for a kids' show.

- Rich people are stupid.

- Spider-Man is kind of an asshole to anyone he dates.

- Highly paid biologists take the bus, even when somebody they love might be dying. Why? Because being eco-friendly is IMPORTANT, dammit.

- Knowing Spider-Man is a bad idea. Always, always avoid Spider-Man whenever possible.