Girls Gone Geek

Nimue does not take kindly to impending doom.

As with so many other things that are artistically awesome, they come to an end long before they should. Over at Bleeding Cool, rumor has it that Madame Xanadu will soon meet her demise at Vertigo (winks at Shag for shooting me the link). Whether because of corporate rearranging of characters, low sales, or the creators having other projects they deem priority, this falls under the category of tragic.

I only recently discovered Madame Xanadu. The first trade, “Disenchanted,” was exceptional. When I finished reading it, I immediately re-read it. Amy Reeder’s art is out of this world. She draws Madame Xanadu so beautifully, with ethereal hints of Manga that make her work bright and unique. Matt Wagner’s story is nothing short of brilliant. He depicts a character who is so powerful and ageless, yet internally flawed by deep emotional wounds a thousand years old. Wagner ingeniously weaves in characters like Merlin, The Phantom Stranger, and Morgan Le Fey, which entices the continuity hound in me. The second trade was also very good, albeit quite different. An alternate artist, Michael William Kaluta, added a rugged vibe to the arc. It worked for the time-period of the story. Think Spanish Inquisition and Jack the Ripper. The writing continued to be fanfuckingtastic as we see a more mature Xanadu, settling into who she’s decided to be. So good in fact, I started buying the issues. The most recent arc, beginning at #26 (check my review over at Newsarama), is very promising.

I could sycophantically profess 100 other things I love about this book, but I’ll stop here, as it’s not going to change anything. I’ve learned to accept that when I really, really love a book, it will inevitably get canned. I’m not so completely narcissistic to believe that I’m one of the few who recognize true excellence. But how does a book like Brightest Day (aka the UBER-MEH) continue on while Xanadu must cease? Sales, I’m sure. To that, I say: Advertise the damn book! I’m so over this “It’s not selling” cop-out. If Xanadu got nearly as much ad space as Brightest Day, I bet it would sell. Pardon me, Mr. Wagner, if I’m being presumptuous and assuming it wasn’t your decision. You are a gifted writer; perhaps you decided to move on. I know Ms. Reeder is taking on Batwoman (aka the MEGA-WIN), and covers for Supergirl, which I’m sure will be splendid. But why do the books I love have to go?

Birds of Prey is back, and that’s great. DC previously discontinued that book and let the characters get turned into feminine frailty. Gail Simone is very quickly rectifying that, but it took four years for DC to figure out what a gem they had with Simone and BoP. Amid the hoopla surrounding Wonder Woman, DC claimed her books weren’t selling either, thus justifying the redesign/reboot. Again, perhaps the books would sell if she got even half the ad space as Batman. Issue #600 sold like hotcakes because it was advertised out the wazoo, combined with the gimmick of changing her appearance. Surely, there aren’t that many JMS fans. Sorry.

Vertigo books consistently have solid writing and good art. I’d say that about a third of the books at DC prime are working with that combo. I acknowledge the factor of sheer numbers. Fine. But this cash cow momentum is a ruthless executioner. If the rumor is true, Madame Xanadu is being unjustifiably sent to the guillotine.

By the absurdly slim margin of 51.7% over 48.3%, it has been decided that I should finish reading Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hooray for me.

For those who voted for me to move on, thanks for trying. I’ve got some juicy stuff waiting for me. Now it’s taunting me. Perhaps that will get me through the 200 and some odd pages remaining.

For those who voted for me to finish, I am a woman of my word. I will do it, however begrudgingly.  Once I am done, I will also write about it honestly. So, if by some slim chance I end up liking this bullshit, I will tell you that I liked it. BUT if it continues to suck, my review will contain as many four letter words as possible.

I do know one thing, Crisis will be the last time I tolerate the uncreative, plot-devouring, manga-robot mothafucka that is the Anti-Monitor. Brightest Day, consider yourself dropped from the pull-list.

It’s time to go rip this band-aid off.

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.

Secret Six is one of the best books on comic store shelves right now, so I’m puzzling over the 2010 Eisner Award nominations. Based on conversations with my geek posse and articles about the nominees, it seems that most of the nods were totally deserved. However, I have a bone to pick with the judges in a specific category — Best Writer. The five MEN nominated were Ed Brubaker, Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Mark Waid and Bill Willingham. My thoughts:

I haven’t read anything by Brubaker or Waid, so I can’t give an opinion. I’ve heard from several fanboys that Brubaker’s Captain America and Waid’s Irredeemable are excellent. OK. Fine.

Willingham rocks. I LOVE Fables, and I’ve lost hours of sleep because I couldn’t put the trades down. His work is consistent and intriguing, so this nomination makes perfect sense to me.

Johns? Meh. Insert Greg Rucka instead. Sure, Johns is a solid writer, but I’ve never loved his work. The Flash: Rebirth was a snore. Blackest Night was a good time, but I’d liken it to Avatar getting the award for best movie at the Golden Globes over Inglourious Basterds. Johns is just so … mainstream.

(Deep Sigh) At the risk of beating a dead horse, I have to say it: James fucking Robinson got an Eisner Award nomination for the steaming load that was Justice League: Cry For Justice! What. The. Hell?! I’ll spare you the bullet points of why it sucked (click here and here and here AND here if you must know). The bottom line is that Robinson doesn’t deserve it, at least, not for this comic.

There are other writers who are more worthy of a nomination —writers like, I dunno, Gail Simone for Secret Six. Duh. Her writing in this book has been unwaveringly good, and every issue makes me laugh out loud. Secret Six is pure, debauched entertainment, and I love it.

Robinson is up against some heavy hitters, so surely he can’t win. But Ms. Simone’s absence from the ballot is both a mystery and a damned shame.

To paraphrase our friend Shag of Once Upon a Geek, sometimes our hobby hurts us and it doesn’t love us back. That’s a pretty good summary of how I felt last week when V. dropped the news that Greg Rucka, one of our favorite comic book writers, was parting ways with DC.

I’m running out of ways to say how much this sucks. Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman was, in my opinion, second only to George Perez’s 1980s reboot — and a close one. Along with artist J.H. Williams III, he created a killer origin story for Batwoman via Detective Comics, which was easily one of the best stories I read last year. I was looking forward to their rumored reunion on a standalone Batwoman comic, and I was frankly crushed to learn that he wouldn’t be stepping in for Gail Simone once she departs Wonder Woman.

I know Rucka has his critics, and I’ve heard all the lame jokes about how he specializes in troubled lesbians. (No one ever jokes about Geoff Johns specializing in idealized white guys, but I digress.) To many a fangirl, he is one of a handful of writers who not only gets strong, female characters, but seems to genuinely like them. In a candid interview with Comics Alliance, Rucka shed some light an an issue that V. and I have talked about many times — people who either dislike Wonder Woman outright or don’t know what the hell to do with her: “A lot of the guys who have written her don’t like her; they just want to f–k her. … And people want to simplify her, so they go, ‘She’s Superman with tits.’ No, she’s not.”

As RuPaul would say, “Can I get an amen?”

I’ll leave it to others to speculate about the reasons behind Rucka’s departure, though he certainly has a lot of other cool projects on his plate. I’m willing to believe that the man simply has other stories he wants to tell, and that he’s looking for new challenges as a writer. But … but … but. While talking about the Batwoman stories he and Williams had hoped to do, Rucka said something that stopped me in my tracks: ” ‘Elegy’ was supposed to be four issues; there were supposed to be three issues that were ‘Go,’ and then there was a five-part story that Jim and I had, but because of a variety of things in-house at DC, we were moved out of Detective [Comics] and we couldn’t tell the story there.”

Seriously? He and Williams were moved off of Detective Comics, despite making it one of DC’s most buzzworthy books of 2009? What the hell?!

Anyone who reads comics for any length of time is going to be disappointed by something — a character dies, a beloved writer or artist moves on, an awesome book is cancelled. That’s life. But something about this announcement, on top of recent DC bombshells about Wonder Woman and Power Girl, put me in a seriously foul mood. Aside from Gail’s return to Birds of Prey, I can’t think of a single upcoming DC event that I’m genuinely excited about — and that makes me wonder whether it’s time to back away from the caped entertainment and start exploring more independent comics.

I’m tempted to say that I might be expecting too much, but my standard for comics is no higher than it is for any other form of entertainment. And thanks to dream teams like Rucka and Williams, among others, I know what comic books are truly capable of.

DC announced on Friday that Gail Simone will be leaving Wonder Woman. As much as we’d like her to stay on the book, she is not Wonder Woman. With the return of the Birds, I suppose she can’t do it all. I was disappointed, but not surprised. Gail’s replacement, announced this morning, will be J. Michael Straczynski. This guy has got some serious writing cred behind him, but in his interview he seemed more stoked about writing Supes than Wondy. Through hell or high water, Wonder Woman will stay on my pull list, but I’m a little worried.

My stylist is so fired.

Nothing raises our hackles quite like hearing someone say Wonder Woman is lame. (Hello, Megan Fox.) For example, one of V’s friends (we’ll call him The Antagonist) takes great joy in claiming, among other things, that Bobby Drake could kick her ass, and that the princess would “look real pretty in a pink tutu, carrying a little purse with a little dog.”

We did not handle that well. Words were exchanged via Facebook.

It was even worse once we figured out the context. The Antagonist had already read Blackest Night #6, in which Wonder Woman was transformed into a member of the Star Sapphire Corps. OK, technically the Star Sapphires wield violet light, but the costume’s color was close enough to pink for it to sting. Say what you want about Wonder Woman’s usual getup, but there is a certain dignity (depending on who is drawing her) to her red, white and blue uniform and golden breastplate. The Star Sapphire look is equal parts Dollar Tree and Strip Club. No offense to Carol Ferris, but only Starfire has a trashier costume — and she’s an alien, so she gets a pass.

Wonder Woman as a love-powered being? That’s awesome. But somewhere, The Antagonist is having a good laugh.

Bills, Bills, Bills!

When she isn’t channeling animal powers to fight crime with the Justice League, Vixen — aka Mari Jiwe McCabe — rolls as an international fashion model. So why does her costume look like one of Tina Knowles’ rejected sketches from the 1999 Destiny’s Child Tour?

Of course, there’s no shortage of fashion crimes against female comic book characters (Star Sapphire’s stripper-inspired getup comes to mind), but there’s something especially jacked up about Vixen’s situation. The woman is a runway model, and she’s in a mustard-colored bodysuit with a butterfly collar and an animal tooth belt? For real? Liya Kedebe or Gisele wouldn’t be caught dead in that madness.

Maybe this seems like a quibble, but a superhero or villain’s costume is, for better or worse, his or her calling card. Vixen is by far the most prominent black female superhero on DC’s roster, but her spectacularly unimaginative yet tacky costume suggests that she’s nothing special — just another random chick in Spandex. As Manhunter and Catwoman’s costumes demonstrate, even a simple bodysuit can make a powerful (and sexy) design statement.

Some enterprising person at DC ought to get Lifetime on the phone and pitch a Vixen costume redesign challenge for the next “Project Runway” season. While they’re at it, they might want to offer up Star Sapphire, too, because that fuchsia shit is just crazy.