New SHE HAS NO HEAD! – a review of Kathryn Immonen and Tonci Zonjic’s Heralds #1 is up.
Emma Frost, Monica Rambeau, Hellcat, She-Hulk, Abigail Brand, AND Valkyrie? What could go wrong?! Check it out.
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My She Has No Head! Hope Larson Interview from Monday stirred up quite the shit storm (I think we’re in the 170’s for comments). I honestly still have no idea why the reaction has been as aggressive and hateful as it was, as I find nothing incendiary in the interview or Larson’s survey, but the result is it’s been a long and frustrating few days full of trolls and hate and feeling like it’s never going to get better for women in mainstream comics (as readers, creators, or characters).
So I was relieved to come up for air from whole situation and find this really great looking preview from CBR for Marvel’s upcoming Avengers Academy. I loved these first six pages and will absolutely be picking up the first issue (due out June 9th) to see if it can continue to deliver as these first pages do.
As a sidenote, thanks to all of you who reached out to me personally in the wake of the Larson post, and to all of you what participated in a civilized and intelligent discussion – whether you agreed with what was being said by myself, Larson, or the survey or not.
Avengers Academy #1
The following is a selection of comics released this week (5/26/10)* that focus heavily on women in comics – whether that be characters, creators, or even readers.
The books are rated as BUY, TRADEWAIT, or SKIP.
Tradewaiting, for the uninitiated, is the act of not buying individual issues of a comic as it releases, but rather waiting for them to be collected in a trade paperback form (aka TPB).
*It should be noted that this list will focus on North American/English releases as that’s mostly what I have access to. Additionally, as I am in general unfamiliar with Manga, I will not be including Manga titles in my lists. For some great reviews and discussion of Manga titles I urge you to check out Danielle Leigh on CSBG. I will do my best to include independent and graphic novel selections as they are released as well – but if I’ve missed something excellent feel free to let me know in the comments.
Here we go…
Dazzler (one-shot). Track 1: Jim McCann (writer). Kalman Andrasotszky and Ramon Perez (pencils). Rick Ketchem (inks). Jim Charalampidis (colors). Track 2: Jim McCann (writer). Francesca Ciregia (art). Cris Peter (colors). Marvel. 40 pages. $3.99.
I will admit upfront my bias against and dislike for Dazzler, which makes any story starring her an uphill battle. That said, I’m always looking for positive books featuring women, so despite my dislike of Dazzler I still hoped for the best. This is not the best. A frustrating and pointless story that really goes nowhere and ends quite unsatisfactorily. The art was not bad overall nor was the actual writing, but the plot was horribly weak. I much preferred the art in “track 2” by Ciregia, but it wasn’t enough to save a still weak story. Also bad in this tale is the objectification. Dazzler is falling out of her top from the cover all the way through the first story (which is the bulk of the book) the T&A lightens up considerably in Ciregia’s story, but it was too little, too late. SKIP.
Detective Comics #865 (Question Co-Feature). Greg Rucka (writer). Cully Hamner (art). Dave McCraig (colors). DC. 40 pages. $3.99.
Though Detective Comics no longer stars the excellent Batwoman, and is no longer written by the excellent Greg Rucka, the co-feature finishing out (I think this is the last installment?) remains excellent. The rest of the issue is not bad either, but I’m only going to talk about the 10 page co-feature here. Rucka writes Renee Montoya as The Question wonderfully (as he should, he “made” her) and this issue is no exception. He’s also been doing a great job with The Huntress for the last handful of issues and it’s nice (and sadly refreshing) to see such a great female friendship playing out sans bitchy drama. Cully Hamner and Dave McCraig continue to do an exceptional job with the art. BUY.
Check out my in-depth review of Girl Comics #2 on CSBG’s She Has No Head!
The following is a selection of comics released this week (5/19/10)* that focus heavily on women in comics – whether that be characters, creators, or even readers.
The books are rated as BUY, TRADEWAIT, or SKIP.
Tradewaiting, for the uninitiated, is the act of not buying individual issues of a comic as it releases, but rather waiting for them to be collected in a trade paperback form (aka TPB).
*It should be noted that this list will focus on North American/English releases as that’s mostly what I have access to. Additionally, as I am in general unfamiliar with Manga, I will not be including Manga titles in my lists. For some great reviews and discussion of Manga titles I urge you to check out Danielle Leigh on CSBG. I will do my best to include independent and graphic novel selections as they are released as well – but if I’ve missed something excellent feel free to let me know in the comments.
Here we go…
Air #21. G. Willow Wilson (writer). M.K. Perker and Chris Chuckry (art). Vertigo. 32 pages. $2.99.
From a female positivity standpoint I really can’t fault this book, I never have to see crazy naked tits and ass and inane costumes and Amelia Earhart guest stars, which is pretty much awesome. However, I have never connected with the main character Blythe and she seems, despite G. Willow Wilson’s best efforts, flat and weak willed. Additionally, her obsession/relationship with Zayn never really worked for me emotionally. Also of note in this issue is that there’s a weird bathtub scene that, while not gratuitous just seems a little silly and unnecessary. Though I don’t particularly like this book, I have to give it credit for being a rare starring vehicle for a female character AND writer, and a book that tries to represent women well, so I’ll give it a TRADEWAIT.
American Vampire #3. Scott Snyder and Stephen King (writers). Rafael Albuquerque (art). Vertigo. 32 pages. $3.99.
The Stephen King and Scott Snyder series continues to be very interesting with its parallel stories about Pearl becoming an American Vampire, and how her maker Skinner Sweet first became one. Pearl is a great character that I look forward to reading every week, and the art by Rafael Albuquerque is excellent. This is one of my favorite new books, definitely get on board now. BUY
DV8 #2. (of 8). Brian Wood (writer). Rebekah Isaacs and Carrie Strachan (art). Fiona Staples (cover). Wildstorm. 32 pages. $2.99.
Brian Wood and Rebekah Isaacs’ excellent revamp of this old 90’s superhero team continues to be edgy, forward thinking, and interesting. The story is well-paced and beautifully illustrated and the covers by Fiona Staples are like a delicious cherry on top. If you want to read more about DV8, check out my detailed review on CSBG’s She Has No Head! BUY
New She Has No Head! is up at CSBG. A review of three new superheroine books from Marvel – Firestar, Sif, and Her-Oes.
Tags: sif
Alex Maleev Cover Art for Scarlet
Which I’m fine with. I’d rather have a great new book by Bendis and Maleev (their new book Scarlet, forthcoming from Marvel ICON) than have the fairly lackluster Spider-Woman anyway…I guess. But mostly I just hated the idea that the motion comic…something I despise and don’t think works on ANY level, killed a book that had some potential…and one of the only superhero books at Marvel with a female headlining. It’s particularly a bummer because while I’m confident Spider-Woman will pop up elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, Abigail Brand’s future is less sure. With S.W.O.R.D also officially dead, I have to hope that she gets some love elsewhere. Which it looks like Kathryn Immonen is doing in Heralds…I just hope that’s only the beginning for Brand.
In case you’re coming late to the party, Marvel’s Spider-Woman title by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, ended abruptly after the first story arc ended in issue number seven. Included in the issue was a one page explanation by Bendis, letting readers know that the motion comics turned out to be FAR more work than Maleev had anticipated and meant he had to draw about four times the material for each issue than he would normally draw…turning a seven issue book into more like 28 issues…which, in fairness to Maleev is A LOT. So Maleev after so much time spent with Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman) and likely in part due to having to draw similar things repeatedly in a not too wildly interesting story to begin with…felt burned out on the character.
And with that, though I don’t blame Maleev, one of Marvel’s only headlining female superhero books…dies.
David Mack's Scarlet
Now, Spider-Woman wasn’t great. In fact, though I personally liked it, part of that was due to having never read the character before. So I mostly didn’t mind that Bendis was taking it slow…really slow. However most readers seemed to have real problems with the molasses-like pacing and the storyline which produced little driving action. By the time Bendis got to issue five, I have to agree that I, too, was getting weary of the pacing. It picked up for the finale, however, Drew, the star of the title, essentially had to be bailed out both figuratively and literally in the title by The Avengers. Which is not a good sign…for the character or the book.
So, since Spider-Woman was already dead, apparently killed by the motion comic, I’m excited to see that that may not be ENTIRELY true, and that it may have also been Bendis and Maleev’s creator owned book Scarlet that helped kill her. Too bad we can’t have both…but if we can’t then I’ll take a great creator owned book by Bendis and Maleev over editorially controlled characters any day. If it sounds like I’m hoping for another Alias, and another character as wonderful as Jessica Jones, you’d be right. Bendis has gotten a lot of fan criticism in recent years, which I think is fairly common when a writer explodes as he has, but he’s also been called out for having some sexist and misogynistic storylines…I generally haven’t read the stuff in question, so I don’t know how accurate those complaints are, but I can say that Jessica Jones remains one of my favorite female characters ever created, so I’m fairly confident Bendis and Maleev can hit that same magic once again.
So…consider me excited for Scarlet, mourning Spider-Woman, and hoping motion comics soon die the horrible pointless death they deserve.
New She Has No Head! column is up on CSBG. All about Greg Rucka’s departure from DC and the fate of one of my favorite characters, Batwoman.
New She Has No Head! is up on CSBG. Check it out.
I wish I could say I discovered it on my own, but it was brought to my attention by site co-creator Tim Miner.
5 Minute Marvels began simply with Tim’s six year old daughter Grace drawing superheroes every night before bedtime. Once she asked her dad to join her, something he hadn’t done in nearly twenty years, a new tradition was born. Every night for five minutes before bedtime Tim and his two daughters Grace (6) and Cate (4) draw superheroes, and in that five minutes a lot of quality time happens, not to mention some pretty great results.
Grace and Cate’s Scarlet Witch is my personal favorite:
I love how Grace got Wanda’s curly red hair, and Cate’s creative use of the pointy red aspect of Wanda’s headpiece…it’s actually fascinating I think to see her inclusion of it into the face. Great stuff ladies!
Tim’s story of how this all got started, and his invitation for everyone to get involved can be found here.
I don’t actually have any kids to draw with, but Tim and his lovely girls agreed to draw my favorite heroine from when I was a kid, Rogue, so that I could participate remotely. Below are all of our Rogue versions. I have to say, it was the most fun drawing (even without a child present) that I’d had in a long time. I’d recommend this to anyone that has kids (or even if you don’t)…and if you do try it out, make sure to send your results in to Tim so he can post them on 5 Minute Marvels.
Tim mentioned that Cate (far left) saw Rogue’s white stripe as a star, but noted that she was too tired to draw a star, so she just went with a cross. Hilariously cute! Here’s my Five Minute Rogue…an old school (sorta) punky Rogue version:
Thanks for letting me participate you guys – I had a great time! Spread the word everyone…let’s get a whole new family tradition going.
Tags: things made of awesome