Girls Gone Geek

The ladies of Girls Gone Geek are hitting the road today for a giddy, Starbucks-fueled journey to Dragon*Con in Atlanta. While not as well known as SDCC or Baltimore Comic-Con, Dragon*Con is the largest science fiction/pop culture convention in North America — and it’s produced by fans. It’s also a hell of a good time, and if you’re anywhere near the ATL this Labor Day weekend, you should check it out.

Among the notables who will be in the house this year are Stan Friggin’ Lee, Darwyn Cooke, Paul Dini, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and the venerable George Perez. And those are just the comics track guests. V. is ecstatic that various True Blood cast members will be on the premises, as will the Venture Brothers and many more. (My son’s head might explode if he finds out that Brandon Routh — his Superman — will be there.)

Girls Gone Geek will be quieter than usual over the coming days while V. and I tackle the Con.  We’ll be back with plenty of observations and photos. In the meantime, below are a few images from last year’s Dragon*Con, which was tons of fun. For more (and better) pictures from ’09, check out Once Upon a Geek’s gallery.

Gandalf adjusts his owl.

Dragon*Con is a family affair, and these guys were a hit.

Someone's not happy about that whole Disney/Marvel thing.

Nattily dressed Steampunkers

Wonder Woman No. 1

Wonder Woman No. 2

Cute Ghostbuster

E. and I are generally not “rebloggers,” but for this I make an exception.

Here at Girls Gone Geek, we are not shy about our reverence for writer Gail Simone. Her stories are wildly entertaining, witty, smart, and depraved in the best kind of way. I’ve never met her, although I hope to one of these days. Off the books, she comes across as a gracious and passionate person who cares about her fans and the dignity of people in general.

She’s known to take to Twitter, her tumblr, or the message boards voicing her opinions about various things. She is particularly froggy when injustice or dumbassery is at hand. I tend to agree with her on just about everything. Gail’s poignant letter about why people should care about women who read comics is one more instance of that.

I wanted to share what she wrote.

Please go look and see…

http://womenreadcomicsinpublic.tumblr.com/

That is part of your audience, comics industry. Please note that they are all colors and orientations and from many different faiths and countries.

And please note they are women. And they are reading comics.

Take a look at what comics they are NOT reading on this photo list, it may be the most important detail you take from the entire affair.

Women are embracing comics fandom with a vengeance, as they have already done with sf/fantasy and as they have done with many other media. Women were key to keeping Star Trek’s memory alive in the days when such a thing was unheard of. Women have made the careers of too many beloved film creators to mention.

They can do that for comics, too.

It would be better for everyone if you made that easy. But if you don’t, they’ll do it without you. They don’t NEED to support you. They can always find someone putting out stories that don’t alienate, infuriate, and insult them.

Take a good look because these women are a huge part of our shared future. If doing the right thing because it’s right isn’t enough motivation, then do it for purely selfish reasons, because the female audience is out there, and those publishers smart enough to realize that will benefit while others do not. People like Joss Whedon, Greg Rucka, Brian Bendis, Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Stephanie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, Brian Lee O’Malley, Terry Moore, Brian Vaughan, Allan Heinberg, and many more already know the buying and buzz-creating power of the female readership. It is no longer hypothetical. It requires no more proof than the repeated successes of these people.

Most of the women involved in Read Comics In Public Day were doing it for fun, just as a shared bit of love for the medium, and that’s wonderful. But sometimes fun is the best activism. Many of these women don’t just buy comics, they cosplay, they write fanfic and draw fanart, they write columns about their favorite books, they convert their friends and sisters and boyfriends and girlfriends to their favorite titles in droves. Time and again, when looking at the surprise hits of the industry, the game-changing titles that came out of nowhere (Sandman, Teen Titans, Swamp Thing, Scott Pilgrim, Strangers in Paradise, Batwoman, on and on), women were at the center of those tornadoes. No simpler lesson is out there than the decades-long support system for the X-titles that has always included huge numbers of female readers.

Don’t be afraid, industry people. You already know how to tell great stories. All you have to do is take a moment to realize, as many of the most successful people in comics and film and prose already have, that the audience is a lot more diverse than you have been told over and over. And they WANT to like your stories.

It doesn’t have to be threatening. It might even be a great deal of fun.

I do believe we’re on the cusp of some wonderful things. Let’s be the highway, and not the roadblock.

And thanks to all the awesome women who participated in this fun event. See you next year with an even louder response!

And again, thanks to the mighty, mighty http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/ for spearheading this idea. I don’t know who came up with it, but she definitely seemed to be the chef who baked this delightful cake, so please follow her and drop her a note of thanks!

The hilarious Dana, host of the internet talk show Stimulated Boredom, was gracious enough to have me on his show this week. He is super effing nice, and I had a blast.

We talked about Comic-Con, comic book culture, cheesecake, and Girls Gone Geek. Props are given to my favorite artists, writers, and characters.  I run down my list of must read books for prospective Padawans. I also felt compelled to let the world know why E. Peterman rocks and other general shit about this fangirl’s world.

Check me out as I wax geek with Dana over at Stimulated Boredom. Please and Thank you.

Images are ™ and © DC Comics, unless otherwise noted here.

Nothing makes me tingle in my star-spangled panties quite like being asked, “I’m new to comic books. What would you recommend?” It confirms that my hours of reading comics and writing about them are not in vain. Thus, I’m sending an über grateful shout-out to my satirically superior home-slice Dana over at StimulatedBoredom.com.

Stimulated Boredom is a weekly Internet radio show where Dana talks about movies, music, politics, social issues, history, and whatever else he can think of. He does it well, and is a geek in his own right.

Dana recently showed some major love to G3 on on the show, and on his website. I had the pleasure of writing a guest article, as well as being a catalyst for Dana’s journey into the comic book world. His “newbie” experience at a Local Comic Shop (LCS) is wildly entertaining, and he talks about it on the “Geeks Rule” segment of this week’s show. Give it a listen.

http://stimulatedboredom.com/listen-now/

Barbie has been Supergirl, Black Canary and Wonder Woman, so we know she’s into cosplay. However, Mattel officially confirmed her geek credentials with the recent unveiling of Computer Engineer Barbie. OK, technically, the credit goes to Internet voters who decided Babs’ next career should be in IT (She’ll also be a news anchor in late 2010). But given Barbie’s reputation as a high-maintenance glamour girl, it’s fantastic to see her rocking pink glasses, a binary code T-shirt and the ultimate unsexy accessory — a Bluetooth.

Still, I think Mattel could have kicked this geek thing up a notch by outfitting Barbie with the following:

-  Low-top Chuck Taylor kicks, preferably black. But since this is Barbie, we’ll let her slide with hot pink.

-  A special edition “I heart my geek” Ken doll, dressed in the requisite T-shirt. (I’m not sure I buy the relationship either, but that’s their business.)

- Pink, monogrammed longboxes! Her dream house office should be filled with them.

- Tiny RPG dice for weekly game nights with P.J. and Midge.

- A lanyard with an all-access comic convention badge. Where else is she gonna wear that gorgeous Athena costume?

Valentine’s Day is over, but we’re spreading the love for one more day. Today’s post is dedicated to some  romantic comic book moments that sorely tested our smudge-proof mascara:

Barry and Iris Allen’s Final Crisis reunion

Final Crisis had a surplus of WTF-ery, but Barry (the Flash) and Iris Allen’s reunion in issue #4 was a high point. Emerging from the Speed Force after his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry finds his wife under the influence of the Anti-Life equation. After breaking the spell with a kiss 25 years in the making, he tells her, “Sorry I was late.” That kind of connection is just plain hot — and romantic as all get out.

Yorick to 355: ‘It was you.’

Y: The Last Man succeeded on the action/adventure/sci-fi epic level, but one of its best elements was the evolving relationship between Yorick Brown, the only man on Earth to survive a mysterious plague, and his guardian, a female secret agent he knows only as 355. (Major spoiler ahead!) For much of the series, Yorick is obsessed with finding his girlfriend, Beth, who was on another continent when all hell broke loose. But near the book’s end, he tells 355 that she’s the one who made him want to survive — and he learns that she’s also in love with him. Moments after 355 whispers her real name in Yorick’s ear, she’s killed by a sniper’s bullet. Heartbreaking? Absolutely. But for a brief moment, it’s absolutely right.

Peter and Mary Jane’s true love waits

I don’t care what Brian Michael Bendis’ detractors say. That man can write the hell out of adolescent angst. Bendis channeled his inner sophomore perfectly for Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3, in which Mary Jane presents Peter with a doozie: “Should we …?” They don’t, but the question leads to a series of awkward hallway encounters and nutty arguments that should be familiar to anyone who’s been young and in love. In the story’s closing moments, Peter does end up in Mary Jane’s bedroom, but only to tell her that even though he’d like to, there’s no pressure — and that he loves her enough to marry her. Sweet, sincere and touching. Keep those pants on, kids!

Bigby’s big reveal to Snow White

In the “Storybook Love” arc of Fables, Fabletown Deputy Mayor Snow White gets more than she bargained for when she asks Sheriff Bigby Wolf to elaborate on his feelings about her. Our favorite wolf-man reveals that he can read Snow’s emotions based on her scent. A scent he has been unable to forget since their first encounter some 500 years prior, and is so attuned to that he’s able to ascertain a dead-on assessment of her inner life pretty much all the time.  The moment Bigby shares this with Snow (and she manages to pick her jaw up), the stage is set for a future fairy-tale ending.

Green Lantern Unmasks Hawkgirl

OK, technically, this isn’t a comic book moment since it took place in season 2 of Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited series. However, I’d put this TV series up there with some of the best DC Comics in terms of writing and character development, so sue me. After some serious hint-dropping, the romance between GL John Stewart and Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol) finally took flight, no pun intended, with a smoldering, mask-free kiss in the JLA Watchtower.

Valentine’s Day got us thinking about love in comics, and how the romantic chemistry between characters can really enhance or diminish a story. Since we’re primarily DC gals, we’re presenting a sampling of DCU couples we love — and those that leave us cold. In no particular order:

HOT!

Renee Montoya (The Question) and Kate Kane (Batwoman): As a couple, Kate and Renee shared a relationship that was tender and passionate. But even before they became superheroes — Renee was a cop and Kate was a soldier — these two could kick some serious ass. The relationship proved too turbulent to last, though issues of 52 and Detective Comics indicated that these two still love each other. Maybe their troubled past or their vigilante alter egos are keeping them apart, but the sparks are definitely still there.

Sasha Bordeaux and Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific): For starters, these two are equals in the hotness department, especially in Lee Bermejo’s cover art. The secrecy of their relationship in Checkmate made it kinda naughty, and it was obvious that they had a deep connection. But once they were found out, duty trumped desire. Their romance, woven into the overall awesomeness of Checkmate, was a Grade-A love affair. Michael watching Sasha “die” in Final Crisis was devastating.

Black Adam and Isis: Isis made Adam a better being, and her love redeemed him. She softened his edges, making him a viable and sympathetic anti-hero as opposed to a one-dimensional, all-powerful villain. Her death, and his subsequent suffering, was incredibly moving.

HATE!

Dick Grayson (Nightwing) and Koriand’r (Starfire): We get it. Starfire is essentially a stripper with superpowers, and we’re certainly not mad at her for rocking Nightwing’s world. But alas, she’s no Barbara Gordon, and their relationship always struck us as, well, lame. It appears that Dick thought so, too, given his final answer to Kori’s do-you-love-me query: “No.”

Dinah Lance (Black Canary) and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow): Let’s face it; Green Arrow is a well-known douchebag, and their marriage completely undermined Gail Simone’s development of Dinah in Birds of Prey. (And how come every time this super-couple gets called to action, the comic cuts to a scene of them getting out of bed and/or Dinah in some truck-stop lingerie?) The nail in the coffin was Ollie’s utterly fucked-up decision to send away Dinah’s adopted daughter, Sin — and letting her think the child was dead before explaining. Dinah can do so much better, and she doesn’t need Ollie (or any guy) to be awesome.

Diana (Wonder Woman) and Tom Tressor (Nemesis): Chocotaco said it all in his earlier guest column. Diana is way, way, way out of Tom’s league, and she’s destined to be with Bruce Wayne anyway. Go, BatWondy, Go!

Tomorrow: Five moments in comics that made us swoon.H34QFP8ZRFQN

My LCS isn’t exactly conveniently located, so I have to plan my Wednesday pick-ups strategically. If I don’t get them on my lunch break, I have to be sufficiently motivated to drive in the opposite direction of my house on a cold winter evening. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to brave some crappy after-hours weather to get my books. It turned out to be worth it in ways I didn’t anticipate.

While I’ve gotten used to being one of the few female regulars at comic shops, it’s really not all that unusual to spot another woman browsing the aisles. However, in all my years of fandom, I had never encountered another black woman in a comic book shop — at least not since college, when my friend C. and I visited the one near campus. Um, that was 20 years ago. So when I looked up to see a twentysomething black woman — one also wearing geek/hipster specs! — walking into my LCS, it was like seeing a unicorn. A fellow unicorn. I started to whip out my cell to send my husband photo evidence, but I didn’t want to frighten her away.

Fortunately, she was as tickled as I was to see someone in our shared demographic leafing through Marvels and Blackest Night tie-ins. After we traded wow-this-is-cool comments, she (I’ll call her M.) told me that she was a college student and an aspiring writer who had been frequenting my LCS for a few months. She also said her friends gave her a hard time for spending so much money on comic books. (Yeah, I’m sure they’re all squirreling away cash in Roth IRAs.) Then, she asked the question every experienced geek longs to hear: “What do you recommend?”

Best. Wednesday. Ever.

M. and I traded phone numbers, and I went home feeling like I had actually helped someone. I realize this is hardly the equivalent of mentoring at-risk youth or building a Habitat for Humanity home, but when you’re a minority in your chosen subculture, it’s nice to see a face that looks like yours once in awhile.

This is probably less of an issue for M.’s generation, but when I was growing up, other black girls my age found my love of sci-fi and costumed heroes a little … eccentric. Dabbling in the geek arts was socially risky for me — at least as risky as it could be for someone who wore Bass Weejuns and played second-chair flute and  piccolo. I wasn’t exactly sitting at the Unfriendly Black Hottie* table to begin with.

By the time I went off to a historically black college in the late ‘80s, I decided those interests were best shared on a very limited basis, with people like my pal, C. (There’s a street in our college town named Jim Lee Road, and I’m fairly certain she and I once talked about taking a picture of the street sign and mailing it to Jim Lee. Does that make us geeks or dorks?) I stopped caring about being alternative a long time ago, but it sure would have been nice to occasionally bump into a woman of color — any color — back in the day. So if talking to me made M. feel even a tiny bit more confident about loving comics, well, that makes me happy.

Which reminds me: I need to check in with my padawan to see if she wants to borrow some Fables trades. Geeking ain’t easy, or cheap — but it’s worth it.

*This is a term from the movie “Mean Girls,” which you should have seen by now.

The “Cheeky Ones” hope that you are enjoying your holiday!

Yesterday was unusually warm for this time of year, but also rainy.  So I decided to wear a dress — one of my more flattering dresses, if I do say so.  But since it was wet outside and late in the year (id est fall fashion time), I threw on my favorite sparkly hat and my knee-high black boots.  The males in our geek posse informed me that they are indeed “naughty” boots, and that I happened to look pretty hot. Thanks, guys.

While I was at the LCS, I picked up a couple of trades for my daughter. She is a fan of The Runaways series, and she has really been bugging me to get her more.  I grabbed the two I thought she didn’t have, but it turned out I got the wrong ones. So back I went to the comic shop to swap them out.

I made it there about 20 minutes before closing time. From my parking spot, I could clearly see a group of four guys inside holding court, and one of them had made an epic purchase. Like, a whole box of stuff.

Anyway, I got out of the car and walked in with the usual chiming bell thingie that announces someone’s presence. The owner knows me and gestured toward the shelf with the Marvel trades. The other guys turned around to see who had come in, and the glancing turned into prolonged gawking. Oh, and conversation ceased until I disappeared to the back.

I quickly found what I came for then browsed for a bit. Eying again the trade paperbacks of Rucka’s entire run on Wonder Woman, wishing they were in hardcover while mentally calculating how much I had in my checking account inevitably telling myself (*sigh*), “Not today V.”

I overheard one of the guys tell his friend that he wasn’t excited about going home to Compton for the holidays because, as a comics geek, he doesn’t fit in.  He said he was even ridiculed sometimes. But he ended on a positive note, saying that he wouldn’t give up his comics for anything, and that it made him appreciate his fellow geeks in town even more. I turned around and gave him a big smile, swapped out my trade, and left.

I’m not writing this because I was offended by them staring at me.  Flattered, actually.  It was just another day in the life of a geek girl who doesn’t look like the stock patron of a comic book shop. But therein lies my point. I do look like a stock patron of a comic book shop simply because I am. That’s the spirit that informs this blog: No matter what you look like, where you’re from, male or female: it’s all about the love of comics, baby (and the naughty boots).

I haven’t wanted a doll this much since 1978. Available in February 2010, Mattel’s Athena Barbie is flat-out stunning and a treat for fans of a certain Amazon. She’s gonna look great next to my collector’s edition Wonder Woman Barbie doll.