I'm probably the last person posting this but there's some serious thoughts on a big problem within ComicCon here. Well worth a read. I seriously hope it spawns an online petition to add something to the ComicCon bylaws to respond to sexual harassment.
The actions described upset me on a variety of levels. I'm furious for the women who were harassed and I'm also incensed by the way these "men" seemed to think that their behavior is somehow acceptable. Is it naive of me to say that I'd hoped - nay, prayed - that we were beyond this? That men at a comic book convention were cool enough and God, grown-up enough to not act like disgusting, entitled cavemen? Any woman who enjoys comics and participates in the comic book industry shouldn't have to deal with a swarm of jackasses living up to the "Immature, Misogynstic Mouthbreather" cliche. A part of me wants to go off on a multitude of angry tangents but I'll rein myself in as much as I can.
The worst part is that I make a genuine effort to think the best of comic book fans (which is, admittedly, not always an easy thing to do sometimes). I try to focus exclusively on the positive parts of this industry that make me happy and show all the good we're capable of achieving. I want to believe that the assholes described in this post are the exception and not the rule. I want to believe that, as a whole, comic book fans of any gender are fun, pleasant and generally awesome people. Call me naive, but I like to think that comics - especially the superhero comics SDCC tends to focus on - are mostly about inspiring people to have a sense of wonder, to implore people to hope and, most of all, to treat those who are different from you a little nicer. If these male comic book fans can't understand the most basic precept of treating another human being with the exact same dignity they'd expect from a total stranger after reading tale after tale where people fight for justice and equality, I have to wonder - what questions should we be asking? Has the superhero comic book industry failed to instill a sense of real, potent equality between the sexes in it's fans? Or does the only real failure fall at the feet of these "men" who just aren't paying attention to the basic laws of human decency?
I'm sorry if this is rant-y and possibly over the top but I tend to take this sort of thing personally. Every asshat who behaves like this at a comic book convention tars the reputation of every other genuinely decent guy at the Con. If I'm going to be attending SDCC next year, I don't think it's asking too much for a standard of behavior, ethics and respect in my fellow attendees. Jesus Christ, this depresses me.
Showing posts with label criticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label criticism. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Fanboys?
From everybody's favorite guy, Mr. Joe Quesada, over at a Marvel MySpace page, in response to the questions, comments and concerns of his readers:
Joe Quesada on the "reversal of reality" caused by "the 'net":
JQ: A strange occurrence that also happens on the ’net is an almost "reversal of reality." It’s like people switch around the 2-D characters with the 3-D people. I totally understand that there are times when fans aren’t happy with a storyline, or how a character is treated or portrayed. That’s completely cool, and voicing an opinion on that is appreciated and necessary. But what’s always strange to me is when someone comes to the defense of a character as if they are a three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood person; with feelings and family and all the trappings of a real life. These people sometimes speak to or speak of creators and editors as though we are two-dimensional villains on the comics page, twirling our mustaches, plotting some insane demise for a character, all for the express purpose of pissing them off. Which of course doesn’t make any sense to me. Does anyone honestly believe that anyone here at Marvel is trying to destroy characters or the universe? Last I looked, this is how we make our living and feed out families. More than anything, this is the "distortion" the net causes.
Fair enough. Certainly something worth discussing. Of course, they're all doing what they feel is best - by only writing and publishing stories that they think people will want to read. That's an undeniable fact.
But I now post this second quote, which might end up being important, if just for purposes of irony later. Call it a hunch.
12. From Edward
I didn’t really like how the One More Day storyline ended, but I do like Brand New Day. Now Marvel has this massive new storyline called Secret Invasion coming up, so why didn’t you make MJ a Skrull?
This would have ended Peter and MJ’s marriage, because she would have been a Skrull since the marriage. I know this story is similar to what happened Johnny Storm in the FF, but I just find it hard to believe that Mephisto would be interested in Peter and MJ’s love.
JQ: Edward, yeah, for starters it’s exactly the story of how Johnny Storm’s marriage situation was resolved, but even moreso, it meant that for all these years you were reading the story of Peter and the Skrull. It just seemed like a huge cheat to be honest with you, and also once you open up that can of worms, what’s to keep you from doing that with every little problem within the Marvel U? [emphasis Mine]
*takes deep breath*
*exhales loudly*
Sooooooooooo . . . yeah.
While I wholeheartedly agree that rabid fanboyism is neither attractive or sane (says the guy poised to type up an exhaustive bio on Emma Frost), lazy storytelling is also something I really don't much care for. And I hate to break it to you, Mr. Quesada, but "A Deal with the Devil" really isn't that far removed from "Alien Impostor", in terms of pure cheese ex machina.
Your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Question of Empowerment
While taking a break from trying to hammer out a decent Scott and/or Emma post, I found David P. Morgan's thoughts on Vol. 3 of Empowered at this link, over at the Precocious Curmudgeon (via the always awesome When Fangirls Attack). I generally try to keep things light and breezy here at The LookOut but I did get into a discussion with David P. Morgan on his critique of a portion of the book that he felt took away from his overall enjoyment of the volume. My thoughts in response to his are here.
Here's the thing about Empowered - it's one of my favorite books on the stands. Adam Warren's always been one of my favorite writers (he once created a "Proust Bomb" that stuck people in an extended flashback for God's sake). I'm not alone in my love of this series, by any means. Empowered is hilarious, romantic and filled with wonderful character vignettes.
The problem is that the series itself can often be misinterpreted or flat-out problematic due to it's origins and recurring themes. Defending the series can get a person into tricky waters because not many people realize how smart, self-aware and thoughtful it is. The major trouble with Empowered stems from the fact that Adam Warren was paying the bills by doing commissions of the "Damsel in Distress" variety - a fact he flat-out admits in the 4th-wall breaking early chapter ilios of Empowered itself. Understandably, a great many people have a problem with enjoying any superheroine whose origin is so steeped in bondage tropes, despite the high quality of the story.
(more on Mr. William Moulton Marston can be found here)
Being a ferociously intelligent, creative writer/artist whose previous works have (with only two exceptions) all been focused on powerful female leads, Mr. Warren inevitably found himself transforming these commissions into a full-fledged character study. He began to explore and turn the unpleasant trope on it's head by flip-flopping the power dynamic. One assumes that people who are entertained by the distasteful notion of superheroines in distress (and Ami Angelwings discusses that unpleasant kink at considerable length here) are seeking out a negation of the most powerful woman they can find.
But instead of a stalwart, uber-powerful Amazon Princess being tied up by her own lariat, Empowered is a neurotic, unhappy C-list superheroine whose capture is often the result of her own lack of faith in herself. Empowered becomes a real, hurting human being and the reader is called not to revel in her failures but to feel for her defeats and enjoy her personal and all-too-rare professional triumphs. This is a character whose problems seem very real because she has her feet planted so firmly on the ground.
In another "real world" touch, Empowered is extremely self-conscious about her body and how it is shown in her supersuit - a suit which embarrasses her because it is mercilessly revealing and not at all the sort of thing she dreamed of wearing growing up. In one of the ilios, she flat out begs the reader not to stare at her butt, which is the part of her body she's most self-conscious about.
Empowered has an equally fleshed-out supporting cast, full of characters I love. There's her best friend, former superninja for hire Ninjette, The Caged Demonwolf, who is an amusingly verbose world-destroying demon trapped in a belt on her coffee table, and her loving boyfriend and former minion, Thugboy. As an interesting aside, the trope of a "bad girl gone good for the love of Superhero X" is prevalent - i. e., Catwoman - but I can't think of any other bad guys gone good besides Thugboy. I digress but it's an interesting note to make that Warren's turning yet another trope on it's head here. Not only is Thugboy redeemed by Empowered's genuineness and sweetness, her best friend and even a would-be world destroyer are all mellowed and intrigued by her honesty and openness. People closest to her love her for who she is and she loves them back in kind.
The dynamic between Empowered and Thugboy remains one of the most surprisingly sweet romances I've read in a long time. When Warren writes something as simple as how to comfort the person you're sleeping with when they have nightmares, I get a little gooey inside. This is a relationship I can believe in because it is a relationship of equals. Empowered is a real person with real problems, much like her boyfriend's own negative and unhappy past. He is amazed by her and her bravery - fighting in an unreliable supersuit with teammates that either hate or dismiss her, all because she feels compelled to do that which is right - and woos her on her own terms. He may have been a thug once but now he's her thug and trying to make amends, for both their sakes.
I know I'm taking some fairly cheap shots at Wonder Woman here, which is another title I actually adore (well, under Simone or Rucka's hand at least). It's not entirely a fair comparison but it is one I thought I'd bring to people's attention. The real failure, if we want to throw stones, is that I can't find Supergirl or Batgirl even remotely as interesting, real or emotionally affecting as I do Empowered. When Empowered puts on a costume, she's a scared young woman trying to do right. When Supergirl puts on a costume, she's a blow-up doll no real emotional center for the reader to latch onto. She's a walking torso nobody's bothered to give a personality yet.
The tragedy is that, as a wit on Scans_Daily (and yes, I know Scans_Daily can be more than a little abrasive sometimes) put it, "Define Irony:
A) When DC and Marvel try to create "deep," "meaningful," "realistic" stories, they produce sexist, fascist, retarded exploitation pseudo-porn.
B) When Adam Warren tries to create exploitation pesudo-porn, he produces adorable, relatable characters who manage to reveal hidden depths."
DC responds to criticisms of Batgirl's character assassination by offering a new mini-series to explain the changes . . . written by the very writer who mutilated her in the first place. Brian Michael Bendis responds to having Tigra be repeatedly beaten and threatened in her own bedroom with a snarky Fish Man allegory. Supergirl gets writer after writer and none of them succeed at making her interesting or creating a core to the character people can relate to. Adam Warren, on the other hand, has responded to criticism of the series on his Deviant Art page with apologies and a promise that future reprintings will ship with a clarified and redrawn page of a scene that troubled some people (and the person I link to here admitted in the same enraged thread that the ending was so touching, she cried). His series has several problematic aspects but, shock of shocks, he actually admits they exist and tries to address them.
So my major problem here isn't that Empowered, vol. 3 has taken a misstep because an intelligent, thoughtful writer tried to deepen the series - taking the comedy out of the equation in two of the chapters to provide contrast between how she is treated and the true potential she wields. No, my real problem is that so many more well-known superheroines aren't being given the same basic consideration as Empowered.
How many of them are treated like human beings with hearts, minds and feelings? Batgirl and Supergirl are unrelatable girls who either turn evil or fly around aimlessly from alternate reality adventure to future adventure. When Wonder Woman seeks out a romance, fans decry her for trying to step off a pedestal and act like a human being. Diana's swung away so hard from her unsavory beginnings as a bondage trope, Simone's facing scathing criticism for daring to suggest she's lonely and willing to date somebody (incredibly) less than perfect. And poor Tigra's probably never going to be seen again. If Bendis actually makes her a New Avenger like he should (considering she sacrificed the safety of her own family to help them), I'll be flat-out stunned.
With all that said, here is where Empowered's story is going in the next volume:
I think that speaks for itself, really. Now the question becomes "Where are any of the more famous Superheroines' stories going?"
Okay, so I have to add one last thing - the guy in the French Maid costume in the back? That's going to be the Empverse version of Batman. I told you all it was hilarious.
Here's the thing about Empowered - it's one of my favorite books on the stands. Adam Warren's always been one of my favorite writers (he once created a "Proust Bomb" that stuck people in an extended flashback for God's sake). I'm not alone in my love of this series, by any means. Empowered is hilarious, romantic and filled with wonderful character vignettes.
The problem is that the series itself can often be misinterpreted or flat-out problematic due to it's origins and recurring themes. Defending the series can get a person into tricky waters because not many people realize how smart, self-aware and thoughtful it is. The major trouble with Empowered stems from the fact that Adam Warren was paying the bills by doing commissions of the "Damsel in Distress" variety - a fact he flat-out admits in the 4th-wall breaking early chapter ilios of Empowered itself. Understandably, a great many people have a problem with enjoying any superheroine whose origin is so steeped in bondage tropes, despite the high quality of the story.
(more on Mr. William Moulton Marston can be found here)
Being a ferociously intelligent, creative writer/artist whose previous works have (with only two exceptions) all been focused on powerful female leads, Mr. Warren inevitably found himself transforming these commissions into a full-fledged character study. He began to explore and turn the unpleasant trope on it's head by flip-flopping the power dynamic. One assumes that people who are entertained by the distasteful notion of superheroines in distress (and Ami Angelwings discusses that unpleasant kink at considerable length here) are seeking out a negation of the most powerful woman they can find.
But instead of a stalwart, uber-powerful Amazon Princess being tied up by her own lariat, Empowered is a neurotic, unhappy C-list superheroine whose capture is often the result of her own lack of faith in herself. Empowered becomes a real, hurting human being and the reader is called not to revel in her failures but to feel for her defeats and enjoy her personal and all-too-rare professional triumphs. This is a character whose problems seem very real because she has her feet planted so firmly on the ground.
In another "real world" touch, Empowered is extremely self-conscious about her body and how it is shown in her supersuit - a suit which embarrasses her because it is mercilessly revealing and not at all the sort of thing she dreamed of wearing growing up. In one of the ilios, she flat out begs the reader not to stare at her butt, which is the part of her body she's most self-conscious about.
Empowered has an equally fleshed-out supporting cast, full of characters I love. There's her best friend, former superninja for hire Ninjette, The Caged Demonwolf, who is an amusingly verbose world-destroying demon trapped in a belt on her coffee table, and her loving boyfriend and former minion, Thugboy. As an interesting aside, the trope of a "bad girl gone good for the love of Superhero X" is prevalent - i. e., Catwoman - but I can't think of any other bad guys gone good besides Thugboy. I digress but it's an interesting note to make that Warren's turning yet another trope on it's head here. Not only is Thugboy redeemed by Empowered's genuineness and sweetness, her best friend and even a would-be world destroyer are all mellowed and intrigued by her honesty and openness. People closest to her love her for who she is and she loves them back in kind.
The dynamic between Empowered and Thugboy remains one of the most surprisingly sweet romances I've read in a long time. When Warren writes something as simple as how to comfort the person you're sleeping with when they have nightmares, I get a little gooey inside. This is a relationship I can believe in because it is a relationship of equals. Empowered is a real person with real problems, much like her boyfriend's own negative and unhappy past. He is amazed by her and her bravery - fighting in an unreliable supersuit with teammates that either hate or dismiss her, all because she feels compelled to do that which is right - and woos her on her own terms. He may have been a thug once but now he's her thug and trying to make amends, for both their sakes.
I know I'm taking some fairly cheap shots at Wonder Woman here, which is another title I actually adore (well, under Simone or Rucka's hand at least). It's not entirely a fair comparison but it is one I thought I'd bring to people's attention. The real failure, if we want to throw stones, is that I can't find Supergirl or Batgirl even remotely as interesting, real or emotionally affecting as I do Empowered. When Empowered puts on a costume, she's a scared young woman trying to do right. When Supergirl puts on a costume, she's a blow-up doll no real emotional center for the reader to latch onto. She's a walking torso nobody's bothered to give a personality yet.
The tragedy is that, as a wit on Scans_Daily (and yes, I know Scans_Daily can be more than a little abrasive sometimes) put it, "Define Irony:
A) When DC and Marvel try to create "deep," "meaningful," "realistic" stories, they produce sexist, fascist, retarded exploitation pseudo-porn.
B) When Adam Warren tries to create exploitation pesudo-porn, he produces adorable, relatable characters who manage to reveal hidden depths."
DC responds to criticisms of Batgirl's character assassination by offering a new mini-series to explain the changes . . . written by the very writer who mutilated her in the first place. Brian Michael Bendis responds to having Tigra be repeatedly beaten and threatened in her own bedroom with a snarky Fish Man allegory. Supergirl gets writer after writer and none of them succeed at making her interesting or creating a core to the character people can relate to. Adam Warren, on the other hand, has responded to criticism of the series on his Deviant Art page with apologies and a promise that future reprintings will ship with a clarified and redrawn page of a scene that troubled some people (and the person I link to here admitted in the same enraged thread that the ending was so touching, she cried). His series has several problematic aspects but, shock of shocks, he actually admits they exist and tries to address them.
So my major problem here isn't that Empowered, vol. 3 has taken a misstep because an intelligent, thoughtful writer tried to deepen the series - taking the comedy out of the equation in two of the chapters to provide contrast between how she is treated and the true potential she wields. No, my real problem is that so many more well-known superheroines aren't being given the same basic consideration as Empowered.
How many of them are treated like human beings with hearts, minds and feelings? Batgirl and Supergirl are unrelatable girls who either turn evil or fly around aimlessly from alternate reality adventure to future adventure. When Wonder Woman seeks out a romance, fans decry her for trying to step off a pedestal and act like a human being. Diana's swung away so hard from her unsavory beginnings as a bondage trope, Simone's facing scathing criticism for daring to suggest she's lonely and willing to date somebody (incredibly) less than perfect. And poor Tigra's probably never going to be seen again. If Bendis actually makes her a New Avenger like he should (considering she sacrificed the safety of her own family to help them), I'll be flat-out stunned.
With all that said, here is where Empowered's story is going in the next volume:
I think that speaks for itself, really. Now the question becomes "Where are any of the more famous Superheroines' stories going?"
Okay, so I have to add one last thing - the guy in the French Maid costume in the back? That's going to be the Empverse version of Batman. I told you all it was hilarious.
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