This memorable moment is a twofer, and probably the one nearest to my heart.
We all (should) know that Death of the New Gods was a terrible story that did nothing but muck up continuity and convolute the lead-in to Final Crisis (while also having terrible grammar throughout the series). The last thing Final Crisis needed to be was more confusing. Those annoyances aside, the most tragic part of DotNG were the deaths of some particularly awesome New Gods, specifically … Knockout. Continue reading
I have intentionally been quiet about the new DC books these past couple of weeks. Mostly because every site and its mom is reviewing them, E. has covered a few, too. What more could I possibly say that hasn’t been said? Well, I’ve always got something to say. I’m not picking up all of the titles, but of the #1 DC books I have gotten, I have loved, liked, and loathed. Continue reading
“They call me the Spy Smasher because I kill terrorists, and those who wish harm against our country. You will never, ever be in a room with anyone of a higher authority. Not if you live to be a hundred.”
Combine every relentless hardass you’ve ever known, add a dose of supreme confidence and combat training, provide scary federal credentials, and put it all in one intimidating package topped off with a severe ponytail. The result? Katrina Armstrong, aka Spy Smasher. Continue reading
Our darling Gail has a knack for creating new characters. Misfit, Black Alice, Ragdoll, Scandal! All of them awesome in their own right. But no one quite takes the cake like Jeannette. Continue reading
Enjoy it while you can, Catman.
Girls Gone Geek has been alive with the sound of frustration due to the not-so-flattering portrayals of beloved female comic characters. Today, I would like to celebrate a powerful character moment for a G3 favorite, Huntress. Continue reading
A character, not a "statement"
By now, you’ve probably seen Gail Simone’s fierce, utterly awesome rebuttal to an aspiring comic book writer who said, essentially, that characters should not be forced on publishers for the sake of inclusion. Specifically, gay characters. This person’s argument is annoying for a number of reasons, but what struck me is how frequently I’ve heard versions of this from otherwise reasonable people. Continue reading
I so intensely desired the relaunch of Birds of Prey with Gail as the writer partly because I felt a need for the proper treatment of the character Sin. It is not news that I think Ollie and Dinah’s marriage is some Grade-A bullshit, and that stunt he pulled to hide Sin … yeah, that was the worst. I knew Gail would address that at some point. When Sin was mentioned in the first issue of Birds of Prey, it was clear that it would happen soon.
In Birds of Prey #6, not only did I get Sin, but I got Lady Shiva, too. GOOD GAWD, I love Shiva! The appearance of Shiva and Sin was, indeed, extremely satisfying. But, I was not prepared for just how moved I would be by Huntress.
Helena Bertinelli is the kind of girl you want as a best friend because she has got your back. Huntress decides to take Dinah’s place in a battle to the death against Lady Shiva, one of the deadliest people on the planet. THAT is one hell of a gesture. Not only did Helena hold Dinah down to the tenth power, but she stayed on her feet while taking that ass-kicking of a lifetime from Shiva.
Huntress has more moxie than any lady in the DCU. She is Iron Owl.
Daddy issues much?
Secret Six is a book that was consistently good throughout the year. Gail never ceases to blow the line between morality and immorality completely to smithereens in ways that only work with the Six. While there have been many, many “Oh, Shit!” moments in Secret Six, issue #22 made my jaw hit the ground so hard it nearly broke.
In the final chapter of the “Cats in the Cradle” story arc, Thomas Blake takes his animal inclinations to the extreme. After hunting his son’s kidnappers by blazing a trail of blood and entrails, he finally confronts them. A meta by the name of Wallace is particularly arrogant and sinister upon Catman’s arrival, and the fight ensues. Wallace seems to be under the impression that he has the upper hand because he’s all electrical. Whilst lightning and shit-talking are plentiful, Blake takes one lunge at Wallace, and bites his fucking face off. One bite. Then he kills him with his claw-knuckle thingie and the best one-liner … ever. Gail officially sent Thomas Blake up the river to Homocidal Maniac Town, never to return.
J. Calafiore’s illustration is so epically perfect and gruesome that one cannot help but be utterly shocked.
I’d also like to give Calafiore some major props for his work on Secret Six as a whole this past year. He’s more or less melded with the Six, and I love, LOVE how he draws them. Calafiore has stepped his game up every month, and continues to improve. I’m so impressed by this book’s consistency, which is what Secret Six deserves.
Gail Simone has been a regular on my pull list, thanks to her consistently top-notch work on comics like The Atom, Birds of Prey, Secret Six and, yes, Wonder Woman. But when my LCS owner asked me if I’d been reading Welcome to Tranquility, I stammered.
“If you’re a fan of hers, you should be reading this comic,” he said. “It’s her baby.”
Anyone who’s familiar with Simone’s writing knows that she does funny and macabre very well, often within a single panel. Those talents are on full display in Welcome to Tranquility, a Wildstorm comic about a town inhabited by retired superheroes and villains. And what a cast. There’s Minxy Minerva, a daffy millionaire and former child pilot prodigy who crashes frequently. Emoticon is a young troublemaker who wears a mask displaying text symbols that reveal his mood: smiley faces, for instance. Mayor Alex Fury, the former leader of a Justice Society-type group, presides over the town of Tranquility and lives with his wife and fellow former hero/pinup Pink Bunny.
In the middle of it all is beloved Sheriff Thomasina “Tommy” Lindo, who eschews profanity and instead blurts out words like “bull doody.” Personally, I’m stoked to see a black female comics character in a leading role. Sheriff Lindo is the glue and conscience of Tranquility, perhaps the most ironically named town ever. This place is anything but peaceful, roiling with secrets, intrigue, juicy backstories and crazy developments, which result in good read.
The Liberty Snots
You could easily start with the first three issues of the latest storyline, “One Foot in the Grave,” but I’d suggest going all the way back to Vol. 1, which launched in 2006. This is where the characters and their motivations are fleshed out, and where the arrival of two journalists sets off the town’s alarm bells. (And thanks, Gail, for not making journalists look evil. We appreciate it.)
There’s also a nifty subplot involving the Liberty Snots (formerly the Tranquili-teens), a band of young heroes that has shed its clean-cut, TV show image and gone Goth. And punk. Simone has a lot of fun with old-school comic book tropes, like random product-placement ads, one-page gags and “Scooby Doo”-like stories featuring the Tranquili-teens in their G-rated heyday.
Though Wildstorm is soon to be no more, Simone told Newsarama that the current series has been completed, and that the remaining issues will be published as planned. So go ahead and dive in.
Want more suggestions? Check out the lesser-known titles reviewed on these blogs and Read Them, Too:
Adam Strange at It’s a Dan’s World
American Vampire at Doom Patrol
Astro City at K-Squared Ramblings
Booster Gold and Zatanna at Red Tornado’s Path
Essential Man-Thing at Firestorm Fan
Forgetless at Girls Gone Geek
Franklin Richards Digests at Once Upon a Geek
Glamourpuss at Being Carter Hall
Peter David’s Hulk at Fortress of Baileytude
Jonah Hex at Boosterrific
R.E.B.E.L.S. at Indigo Tribe
Scott Pilgrim at Toyriffic
Son of Tomahawk and Thor the Mighty Avenger at Aquaman Shrine
Spelljammer at HeroPress
Spire Christian Comics at Mail it to Team-Up
Strange Science Fantasy at Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
The Unwritten at Speed Force
Whether it is intended or not, comic books are often a socio-political commentary. The art and stories are a reflection of culture and current events. While much ado has been made about the treatment and portrayal of female characters in comics, there is much to be said about LGBT characters or rather, the lack thereof.
More recently, mainstream comic books have seen plenty of lesbian love, and perhaps that provides extended shower time for the “target demographic.” But, we all know that people who read comics are a much more diverse and intellectual bunch than the stereotype of your middle-aged, straight white guy.
Based on the human population at large, there is a disproportionately low number of gay characters in comics, particularly gay male characters. Continue reading
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 million dollar question: Who is White Canary!? Well, we still don’t know. It’s okay though, this issue was excellent.
Jumping right back into the action from issue #1, Black Canary and Huntress face off with White Canary who is serving the Birds some serious whoop ass. Black Canary manages to get a few licks in. Maybe a few licks too many as she responds emotionally to what seems to be some major hater vibes coming off of this new enemy.
Hell hath no fury like a Canary scorned.
Back up comes not a second too soon in the form of Hawk, Dove and Zinda. White Canary immediately launches Hawk into a brick wall, and makes him bleed. Apparently that’s kind of a big deal. Meanwhile, Oracle is watching as Black Canary is being framed as a murderer on live TV, and not a minute later, major law enforcement shows up to the scene in the alley to arrest Dinah. Being arrested was so not on the agenda.
THIS is Gail's Black Canary
Things go from bad to worse. Upon realizing that they’ve been thoroughly set up, Dinah points the finger at White Canary. Her response: “One of you will die every hour for the next six hours. You choose. Or I will.” Cut to Oracle getting a com from an inconsolable Creote. They were attacked by a woman because of their affiliation with the Birds, and now Savant is dead. Creote is devastated, and kills himself while Oracle is listening.
It's never good when Russian bodyguards start snotting themselves.
Back in the alley, the whole crew happens upon a TV set up for their viewing pleasure. The Action 8 news is on with “breaking coverage” of Black Canary’s messy breakup with Ollie, a wildly distorted version of her almost adoption of Sin, and her identity. Dinah is brought to her knees while White Canary watches from a rooftop above.
Even after all THAT, the high impact moment of the issue is at the end. Oracle realizes that she’s become complacent over the past five years, letting the machines do her work. Whoever this enemy is, s/he is using the grid against the Birds. Oracle dries her tears and reminds herself that SHE IS THE GRID, it exists because she allows it to, and she enacts what can only be the ultimate cyber command “Data Womb Code, Omniscient.” I’m pretty sure that means “IT’S ON!”
The art was fantastic, Ed Benes and Adriana Melo are beyond belief talented. Both artists have a lushness to their pencils – expressive eyes and pillowy lips. Still, their respective styles have some distinct differences. It is quite obvious where Ed’s pencils end and Adriana’s start. REEEMIIIX! Melo makes up for the abrupt shift in art with her up-close face panels and the beautiful splash page of Oracle.
Major props to Gail for immediately addressing some continuity issues that were created after she left the book, like the huge, gaping hot-mess that was the Sin story arc. And I’ve always loved Creote and Savant, but the characters fell to the wayside without Gail’s pen. It’s sad that they met their end, but it’s a memorable scene that tied that loose end right on up. It reminds me that Gail loves these characters as much, if not more, than the fans do. I am certain she will keep on serving up excellence in the form of Birds of Prey for as long as they let her. At least we hope so.
Birds of Prey #2
Writer: Gail Simone
Pencillers: Ed Benes & Adriana Melo
Inkers: Ed Benes & Mariah Benes
Colors: Nei Ruffino
DC
Released: June 16, 2010
Cover art by Dan LuVisi
Secret Six #22
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: J. Calafiore
DC
Released: June 9, 2010
The comics that I deem “good” are the ones that really tug my emotions or shock the shit out of me. The final installment of the Secret Six “Cats in the Cradle” story arc was a full on jaw-dropper, kids. If you haven’t been reading, you need to grab the trade. I went back to issue #19 and read straight through. This story is intense, fast-paced and clever, and it will make you say, “Oh. My. God.” J. Calafiore’s art style works well for the characters, and his backgrounds add great dimension to the story. Jason Wright’s dark colors are a constant reminder that this ain’t the damn Justice League. Not that you’ll need to be reminded.
The issue takes us right back to Alice being possessed by the demon Estrogan on some ultra PMS rampage, picking a fight with Scandal … over Ragdoll. It’s kinda ridiculous. OK, it’s really ridiculous. Black Alice’s inception in Birds of Prey was so interesting and ripe with potential, but it just has not come to fruition. Or maybe, five years later, I just have a much lower tolerance for bratty teenagers. That’s certainly why Wonder Girl grinds my nerves. Whatever the case, her catfight with Scandal is mildly amusing, only because of Deadshot’s ambivalent spectator commentary.
While Gail is the queen of witty banter, and there is plenty in this scene; I just wanted more from Alice. She eventually gains control of her magic and immediately begins snotting herself. I rolled my eyes at Alice’s “emotional” revelation that she probably gave her father cancer by magic, but was pleased with her moment of maturity when she enlightened the “adults” on Catman’s state of mind.
Speaking of Catman’s state of mind, “Holy what the fucking shit!?!” as someone so eloquently put it on Twitter. I’m usually all for the major spoilage, but not this time, homies. You gotta see that mess for yo’ self. Cheshire’s homicidal, maniacal tendencies have caused one hell of a butterfly effect. Gail took it there.
Now, the question is: Where on Earth will she go next? I hope Alice has gone to master her “skills” or grow up or something, but she seems to be exiting scene. Cheshire is 38-hot to say the least, so will Jade finally get some screen time at Gail’s hand? Catman has blazed past the point of no return. The Usual Suspects – Scandal, Doll, and Deadshot are left to pick up the up the body parts. How is THAT confrontation gonna go? Let’s not forget; last time we saw Bane & Jeanette, they were merc’n with the likes of Dwarfstar, Giganta, Lady Vic, and King Shark. It’s a big bowl of “Holy what the fucking shit!?!” soup.
Whatever tumult is in store for the Six, it is apparently time to get off the teat, son.
Variant cover art by Cliff Chiang
The best friendships are the ones where, even after long stretches of little communication, everyone picks up right where they left off. There are no awkward pauses or, worse, internal monologues about how it’s just not the same.
For fans of Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey run, reading issue #1 of the revived series is like that great reunion with an old friend. Simone stepped away from the book three years ago, and it was canceled in 2009. However, she and original collaborator Ed Benes have wasted no time in returning the Birds to classic, crime-busting form — and we missed them terribly. (Spoilers await.)
The four-part “Endgame” story opens in Iceland, where Black Canary has arrived to rescue a diplomat’s 5-year-old daughter from a terrorist/kidnapper. The beauty of this sequence is that it firmly re-establishes Dinah Lance as one of the world’s most skilled combatants, obliterating the sad-sack wife nonsense other writers saddled her with. Let’s just say there’s a lot of blood on the snow in Reykjavik, and it’s not Dinah’s. Or the 5-year-old’s.
"Where my girls at?"
Shortly, Oracle begins reassembling the team to deal with an anonymous mofo who has a frightening amount of information about the Birds and all their friends/associates. Zinda is dispatched to recruit Hawk and Dove, one of whom has some serious anger management issues. (I wouldn’t have held it against Hawk if he’d tossed that silly, bank-robbing cheerleader off the roof, but that’s just me.) The addition of these newbies to a well-established group is potentially rich with drama, and I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone adjusts, or doesn’t.
This is the REAL DC Trinity
Simone’s affection for these characters comes through on every page, especially in the funny, familiar banter that flies between Canary, Zinda, Huntress and Oracle. The Birds also look fabulous, thanks to Benes’ gourmet cheesecake illustrations and colorist Nei Ruffino’s glowing, moody palette, which really suits poured-on leather under moonlight. Those panels of Huntress cracking skulls while talking to Oracle via cell phone could launch 1,000 gym memberships alone.
As if that weren’t enough, the Big Villain Reveal on the final page is a total surprise, and still a bit of a mystery. I figured it would be Lady Shiva, or even a tween Sin, but the ending suggests that our heroines are in for even bigger trouble. It is totally on — and I couldn’t be happier.
Cover art by Dan LuVisi
Secret Six #20 played out like a well-acted revenge thriller. Catman reminded me of Liam Neeson in Taken. Those baddies effed with the wrong guy! Still, I wish Cheshire had come along to help with the revenge portion of the show. Maybe Gail will bring her around later. Let’s hope.
On the whole, this issue was fast-paced and full of that shock factor these characters are known for, and it set the stage for a hell of a story arc. Thanks again, Gail, for reminding me why I buy monthly issues instead of waiting for the trade. Continue reading
