Q&A #103: In an ideal world, how would you read your comics: in single issues, in trade, or digitally?

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

In an ideal world, how would you read your comics: in single issues, in trade, or digitally?

Anika

I would like to sign up for iBrain beta-testing. All my media sent directly to my brain. I find this entirely plausible, I’ve wanted to be a cyborg since I learned the word, and it would solve all my location and distribution problems.

Of the options listed, I want my iPad and I would certainly read all my single issues on it because I HATE shopping for comics. To address the single vs. trade question, I prefer to own trades but I prefer to read the issues. Because I am impossible.

Caroline

In an ideal world, I want all my comics organized and immediately accessible and not taking up any space. I also want them to be very portable and waterproof so if I drop them in (hypothetically) the bathtub, they’ll be fine. Basically, I want a waterproof tablet computer with unlimited storage. And it should be free. Who wants to send me one?

Jennifer

I can see the advantage of all three media. I love getting trades from the library or flipping through them in book stores, and I wouldn’t want to give up the opportunity to read a story all in one collected chunk. I also support the move to digital, especially if it leads to greater accessibility and lower prices. But if I’m being honest, if we’re envisioning an ideal world, I’d stick with my single issues. I love the weekly ritual of going to my comic shop, picking out my comics, and settling in at a coffee shop to read the next installment of my favorite books. I love my shortboxes and longboxes full of issues that I can browse and pull out and (if I have duplicates) theoretically cut up to make a decoupage for my coffee table, a plan I’ve had for awhile. I’m too much enamored of instant gratification to wait for the trade on most serialized stories, and an all-digital format would destroy the ritual breather in the middle of my week that I’ve come to depend on. Plus, since single issues often include recaps that clarify the events of the last comic, I sometimes find it much easier to read old stories by borrowing a friend’s single issues than by picking up the trade. (It made a huge difference when I read Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, for instance.) So while I totally understand the disadvantages of the single issue format and the direct market, I can’t honestly say I’d give them up if I had the chance.

Sigrid

Ideally, I want what Caroline wants. AND I want to be able to read my digital comics on any platform, once I buy them. This is why I haven’t bothered with any of Marvel or DC’s digital marketing so far — Once I buy them from the company I want to be able to read them wherever I want, I want to lend them to friends, I want to treat digital comics just like physical comics.

Until that happy day, my ideal form is trade collections. I like reading complete stories. I don’t enjoy the monthly cliffhangers and recaps. I especially Do Not Enjoy seeing the comics internet have apoplexy every month over an event that occurs in a storyline that won’t be finished for three months. In addition, trades are how I get other people to read comics. They are sturdy, easily loaned out, and tell stories as opposed to story fragments.

Also, I have rather a lot of them.

So what about you? In an ideal world, how would you read your comics: in single issues, in trade, or digitally?

Fantastic Fangirls (Comic) Book Club: April Edition

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Jennifer

As mentioned briefly before, we’re gearing up for the next installment of the Fantastic Fangirls (Comic) Book Club! For April, we’ve chosen Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang’s original graphic novel adaptation of Neil Young’s 2003 concept album, Greendale. Here’s how Amazon describes it:

“Meet Sun Green. She’s the latest in the familial line of Green women, environmentally conscious girls who are intent on saving the planet. The only problem is, all the other women in her family mysteriously disappeared when they reached her age. Fearful about what she may become and where she might end up, Sun seeks answers from her remaining extended family. When a mysterious stranger comes to town and threatens her brother and her new boyfriend, she may have to figure out a way to tap into her power and defeat him sooner rather than later.”

The book can be purchased here at Amazon, here at Barnes&Noble, here at instocktrades.com, here at Powell’s Books, or anywhere graphic novels are sold.

We’ll be having our usual round-table discussion for the book on Thursday, April 21st, a little less than a month from today, and we hope you’ll play along in the comments!

What My Pull List Means To Me

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Sigrid

This week I asked my local comics store — The Source — to add a couple things to my pull list. A pull list is the list of comics that your regular local comics store will order for you every month. They then hold the comics for you until you get in and pick them up. This makes things easier for everyone, really. You don’t worry that your comics will be gone when you get there, and the store knows how many to order. Also, they know that you will be in that week or month, and while you’re there, who knows what else you’ll buy?

This week, though, I didn’t add titles to my pulls. I added names. The Source very generously offers to pull comics based on a writer, or an artist. Or all comics featuring a character. (Or, for a while, they pulled all the X-Men-related titles for me except the ones by a writer I was avoiding. Talk about excellent service!) I added Kathryn Immonen, Marjorie M. Liu, and Carla Speed McNeil to my pulls. This is in addition to Kelly Sue DeConnick, who was already on the list. In the past my Name Pulls included Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, and Brian Wood. Fortunately for those three, they now put out too many books for me to blanket-pull their names.

I Name Pull the creators I want to see succeed. The ones who have stories scattered across companies and titles. The indie creators who might get a gig with one of the major publishers and I won’t hear about it in time. I do these even though I’m uncertain of the books individually — I may not really want a moody Green Lantern introspective, you know? But I want the publishers to hire these people. I want the pre-order numbers on their books to show that there is an audience not only for the first issue of this series, but the fourth. I have some knowledge of how the ordering system works, how that affects marketing and editorial decisions, how pre-order numbers on a third issue can get a book cancelled. I know that when I am buying issue one, issue two or three or four has already been ordered by my comic store.

By the time I read the title it may already be cancelled.

So I put my money where my politics are and I pre-order with my pull list. I try to do my part, let Marvel and DC know with money that this creator’s name will sell a comic. Sometimes, yes, I put a title back on the rack. Or cancel a specific title’s pull after I read the first issue. And, yes, this does put the LCS on the hook for an issue or two. But mostly not — I Name Pull creators whose work I really want to read. Even when they write a character I’m not interested in at all, like, say, Batroc — Kieron Gillen, I am looking at you — I tend to find that I enjoy it. (I loved the Batroc one-shot!)

Pull lists aren’t feasible for everyone, I know. But mine is a part of my effort to encourage and support the comics I want to see, the comics I want to see more of — by the creators whose work I love. Twitter-conversation is a part of that effort, Fantastic Fangirls is a part, conventions are a part. And so is my pull list.

by Sigrid

Email: sigrid @ fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: sigridellis

Q&A #102: What comic book character would make a good poet?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

What comic book character would make a good poet?

Anika

Rogue is the reason I like the X-Men. I found her when I was fourteen or so and I embraced her. And I haven’t met a version I don’t like. But because I over-identified with Rogue when I was an odd artistic girl in high school, I know she writes poetry. She has journals full of the stuff.

Pritty Pain

she sits alone on the sidewalk
a forgotten cigarette slowly burns in her hand
perched precariously on a knee
dressed in a navy sock.

her expression is blank
erased
her eyes, however, tormented
a wild soul trapped
in the body of a waif.

how old her body
versus how old the pain that drives her hand
drawing the cigarette still lit across the knee
burning her torment into herself.

no tears fall.

Rogue is a poet. Good is subjective.

Caroline

Mullholland Black. Orphaned daughter of two admired-but-notorious early-’90s rock stars. Mutant. Queer. Gang Member. Ex-gang member. Ex-mutant. Imbued by the Fifty States Initiative with synthetic powers that mimicked her lost mutant powers. Superhero. Member of the California Initiative team known as The Order. No code name, just “Mulholland.” Channeled the spirit of the city of Los Angeles. Carried a big freaking hammer.

Deceased.

Shortly after Mulholland’s death in what the Initiative would term a “training accident,” a chapbook starts circulating — first in zine form through the L.A. underground, then quickly online as a PDF — with the title Black Dahlia. The language is indirect, the imagery sometimes opaque, but it’s evident these poems, written in first person, purport to tell the story of Mulholland, from her infamous childhood to the early days of her training with the Initiative. Memos start to circulate through SHIELD headquarters regarding the need to investigate the provenance of the chapbook, and whether any of the statements regarding Black’s participation in the Initiative amount to a release of classified information.

One of these memos reaches the desk of The Order’s leader Henry Hellrung, who reads the thing in slack-jawed horror. Henry fires off a reply. “For God’s sake, we’re talking about a dead teenager. We’re talking about poems. What the hell is wrong with us?” Tony Stark, SHIELD director and longtime friend of Hellrung, takes the rare step of forwarding the email, personally, and without comment. The Initiative finds other things to work on.

A Los Angeles punk band sets the poems to music and releases them as a free download.

Henry has a copy. He listens every day.

Jennifer

In addition to being an exalted royal personage on his homeworld, extraterrestrial tree-creature and Guardian of the Galaxy Groot is a revered poet of the highest order. Here is a rough translation of one of his most famous and celebrated poems:

I AM GROOT
I AM GROOT
I AM GROOT
I
AM GROOT!

(It is, of course, much more beautiful in the original.)

Sigrid

I think to be a good poet one needs a facility with language, a sense of feeling things deeply about the world, and both distance from and perspective on those feelings. Tennyson, for instance. Or T.S. Eliot. Edna St. Vincent Milay. Dorothy Parker.

The poetry of Hank McCoy has been published a few times. In his youth, you understand. He came to be of the opinion, however, that the intellect and facility with language that granted him such ease with words were, perhaps, a product of side-effect of his mutant genome. And hence, until such time as “mutant” is not considered an unfair and illegal advantage, Hank is choosing to sit out of the public poetry sphere.

This view is opposed, vocally and frequently over tea, by Hank’s only real poetry competition among the X-Men, Emma Frost. Emma has never been published, and never will. She has, in fact, only shown her work to Hank. She thinks he should submit more work for publication, arguing that genetic talent is no barrier to competition. Hank says he will if she will. But there are some forms of vulnerability that Emma will not dare.

So what about you? What comic book character would make a good poet?

Fangirl Friday: Margot

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Anika

Posted by Anika

Today’s Fangirl is an old friend of the site who, in my head, was interchangeable with Barbara Gordon for at least the first three months after I met her (this is a compliment, I assure you). She’s my go-to girl for DCU trivia (who doesn’t mind when I text her randomly to ask “what’s Roy Harper’s day job?”) and I wish she was my kids’ librarian. Fantastic Fans, meet Margot!

Name: Margot

Age: 26

Where do you live? Georgia

Tell me about your family: My parents, my younger brother, and a cat. My dad has been reading/collecting comics since the early 1960s, and one day I am going to steal his collection, once I can figure out how to transport it from NY to Georgia. Dad and I are the only ones into comics, though. Most of my reading habits were picked up from him. (Most of my tv watching habits as well.)

How long have you been reading comics? Since I was about 8 or 9. Dad always had comics around the house, but I wasn’t interested until Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series. Dad basically handed me the comics and told me that since I liked Robin and Jubilee so much, I could read more about them. And I enjoyed them, but I didn’t really imprint on anything until I started reading Generation X and Chuck Dixon’s runs on Nightwing, Robin and Birds of Prey. That was when I really connected with comics.

This continued for a while, until I was 16 and Dad introduced me to the people who worked at his LCBS. I knew more about Batman then the manager did, so she hired me, and I worked there until I finished high school.

Nice! What’s your current job? I’m a library tech at a university. I have an B.A. in history (with a concentration in medieval history), half a Master’s degree in education, and I’m one semester away from finishing my MLIS. Eventually, I’m going to be a teen librarian so I can help tweens and teens find the books that they can connect with, and hopefully get more of them reading.

What a great goal. What are some of your favorite tween and teen titles or series? My favorites are mostly fantasy/scifi based – I love anything Tamora Pierce has ever written. For a younger audience, I’ll always recommend Bruce Coville. Susan Collins, who wrote The Hunger Games, also has a middle grade series called The Underland Chronicles which was amazing.

The Ranger’s Apprentice series is a lot of fun, and I’m eagerly awaiting the newest book in Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles. Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief series is fantastic. The Mysterious Benedict Society is another great middle grade series that didn’t get as much attention as it should have.

There’s simply so much wonderful YA fantasy coming out that I am pretty sure I’ll never catch up on my to-read list – I’m rapidly approaching 2,000 titles on that.

What’s your favorite thing about comics? Why do you read them? I love superheroes. I love the relationships between the characters, and the family formed by the different teams. That’s why I love the various incarnations of the Titans so much – they’re a family. They may not always like each other, but they always love each other, and they take care of their own. I love ridiculous crossovers, and I love the teamups.

Honestly, I just love the characters – if I wasn’t so invested in them, comics wouldn’t have the power to make me angry or upset. But just rereading ridiculous moments of Dick and Tim being brothers, or Wolverine and his adopted daughters (Seriously, why isn’t there a Daughters of Wolverine comic? Kitty, Jubilee, Hisako, Laura and Pixie would be the best team ever) also makes me incredibly happy, so it balances out.

Do you have a favorite comic? The Wolfman-Perez run of New Teen Titans, followed very closely by Young Justice, Chuck Dixon’s run on Nightwing, and Generation X.

A favorite character? My favorite characters are Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, and Jubilee. This hasn’t changed since I was 8, and I highly doubt that it ever will. On the other hand, Stephanie Brown is trying very hard to make my list of permanent favorites, and considering how great Batgirl is, this will probably happen.

How about favorite creators? Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Peter David (who I will love forever for Supergirl and Young Justice), Gail Simone, Chuck Dixon, Bryan Q Miller, Matt Fraction and Jeff Parker. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone.

What comics are you currently reading? Not nearly as many comics as I used to. I’m down to pretty much Batgirl, Tiny Titans, and any comic that has Jubilee in it. This is partially because comics are really expensive and my LCBS is horrible, and also because I’ve gotten really frustrated with the direction of comics in the last few years. I don’t particularly like grim and gritty, and so many of my favorite characters have been killed/depowered/are Roy Harper that it’s hard to care. I only have so much energy to be upset about things, and comics were using up too much of it. So I’ve been trade waiting most things, or just waiting to find out from people I trust which comics I should be reading.

“Grim and gritty” is often sold as “realistic”. Do you think realism has any place in comics? Realism definitely has a place in comics, I just don’t think “and now everything is awful” is the only realistic thing. Why does every single superhero’s backstory have to involve rape or the death of a loved one? Why can’t we have the heroes who are just trying to do the right thing? Why does Barry Allen suddenly need to be motivated by his mother’s murder?

And on a related note, why don’t any of these characters actually like each other? Everyone remembers when the X-Men play baseball or the Titans go on a camping trip, but now I don’t even know why these characters are friends, or even if they still are. It was the relationships that got me into the comics, and the destruction of the friendships that are making it harder to care.

Two very good considerations. Though I will say that while “just trying to do the right thing” is a motivation I can admire, it can make it harder for me to embrace that character. That said, layers of motivation don’t have to start at rape and murder. I don’t have a problem with other motivations, it’s just that when pretty much every motivation is rape and murder that it bothers me. I mean, Dick Grayson is my favorite character, and his backstory is murdered parents. It’s when they’ve changed that origin for everyone that it bothers me. Variety – not every superhero needs to just want to do the right thing, but not every one needs to have a horribly angsty past. There’s no reason to retcon Ice’s history, or Barry’s.

All the favorite characters you’ve mentioned are legacy characters, do you think that’s a coincidence? That’s one of my favorite things about comics. I love the complicated continuity and the different generations of heroes, and how they build and change off the previous generations. I love the complicated relationships that the sidekicks have with their mentors, and watching the next generation embrace their roles. (My favorite Marvel superhero team is the Young Avengers, I’m sure you’re shocked by that.)

What kind of fangirl activities do you do? Most of my fangirl activities are focused on Power Rangers these days. I run a recap blog, a fandom newsletter, and a discussion community for the current season. For comics, I reblog a lot of stuff on tumblr, and tweet occasionally, but Power Rangers is pretty much where my fannish brain is these days. I also write a lot of fanfic.

Then there are conventions, which I love. I’ve placed in comics trivia every year I’ve attended Dragon*Con, and usually I’m the only girl who does. It’s annoying. Luckily, Caroline is coming to Dragon*Con this year, so I won’t be alone.

How many girls enter the trivia contest? Sadly, not that many – I was one of a handful the first year I entered, the only one the second year I entered (but they only let finalists play that year) and last year I was one of two.

They restructure the trivia every year, and it’s always a lot of fun. Hopefully next year I won’t forget Bethany Cabe’s name.

So — why Power Rangers? The short answer is “I like superheroes who are good people.” The longer answer is that I like Power Rangers for the same reasons I like superhero comics – the relationships between the characters, the fights, the giant crossovers, and the teams themselves. We’re currently on the 18th season. Some seasons are better than others – RPM, Space and Time Force are probably the best seasons, even if the first four seasons (Mighty Morphin + Zeo) will always be my favorites.

You still get a lot of the same things that comics have – people arguing about how do the powers work or where does this season that involved time travel fit in continuity, and is this still an alternate universe or does it count as main canon since it’s been referenced in other places, etc. Good times.

I honestly had no idea there are 18 seasons of Power Rangers! I watched those early seasons, where everything masked was original Japanese footage. Are they still color coded? And it must be an entirely different cast, right? Are there legacy Rangers or is it all new continuity? The Japanese Super Sentai that Power Rangers is based on is on season 35 right now. It’s about space pirates, and it’s great. I can’t wait for it to be adapted into season 20 of Power Rangers.

They are still color coded. This season’s rangers are pink, yellow, blue, green and red. (The only colors that carry over to every season are red, blue and yellow.) Most of the fight scenes (and the villains) are all based off the super sentai, and this year’s plot line is following very close to the Sentai original.

This season is samurai themed, and it’s absolutely adorable. The cast is new, and most of them grew up watching the show – with one exception. Paul Schrier, who played Bulk on the original series, is back for his 8th season of the show. And his sidekick this season is Skull’s son.

All of the seasons, with the possible exception of RPM are in the same universe. This allows for the once a season teamup with the previous ranger team. We also got two great anniversary specials which had multi-season teamups – the 10th anniversary special brought back 10 Red Rangers, and the 15th anniversary special just decided to bring in all of my favorites. And of course, Tommy (the original green Ranger) came back for season 12, just so he could pick up a fourth color.

What would make a good comic book crossover with Power Rangers? Batman. For two reasons. First, in a really early episode a character makes a reference to the Power Rangers doing to Angel Grove what Batman did for Gotham. Second, I want Carter Grayson of Lightspeed Rescue (season 8 ) to be related to Dick Grayson.

twitter: The2ndBatgirl
–

Thanks for being a part of this, Margot, there are some thoughtful responses here that I will be considering for a while. And my reading wishlist just went up, too.

Posted by Anika
email: anika@fantasticfangirls.org
twitter: magnetgirl

Q&A #101: What’s your favorite comic book adaptation of another property?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

What’s your favorite comic book adaptation of another property?

Anika

Star Trek. I could try to explain but it’s simpler to say “I’m a huge Trekkie” and post a panel I would literally recite from memory twenty years or so ago:

Caroline

I wrote about this book a while ago, while we were covering comics to recommend to new readers. However, it’s an equally good candidate for this category: The Escapists, written by Brian K. Vaughan with art by a number of artists including Steve Rolston and Philip Bond. This Dark Horse miniseries may technically be considered an authorized sequel to (or fanfiction about?) Michael Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. In any case, The Escapists takes place in the same universe as Chabon’s novel, following the adventures of the comic book creators who attempted to write new comics about the Golden Age character created by the heroes of that book. Unlike a lot of straight “adaptations” of existing properties, Vaughan’s series doesn’t try to retell the story of the book it’s adapting, but gets into its world and plays around with a lot of the same ideas. It’s a great comic, providing yet more proof that the worlds of “literary fiction” and of comic books can coexist and enrich each other.

Jennifer

This weekend I attempted to watch the film of Neil Young’s Greendale, a rock opera/concept album from the early 2000s. I rented the film because I’d loved the comic book adaptation of the story, by Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang — loved it so much, in fact, that I chose it for the next Fantastic Fangirls book club. But the source material, as it turns out, is borderline incomprehensible, a loose story told in clunky lyrics and droning vocals that’s more political screed than narrative. Having watched the film (which is really just the album playing over some actors lip-synching the roles), I now have an even deeper respect for Dysart and Chiang and the story they managed to wring out of such rough raw materials.

I’ll elaborate on my thoughts when we post our next book club, but it’s worth saying right now that sometimes, the best adaptation is one that manages to improve upon the original, crafting gold out of straw. Greendale is one of those adaptations, and in its comic book form it tells a beautiful story about family, matrilineal power, politics, war, community, natural and supernatural forces, and a young woman coming of age in 2003. I strongly encourage you to pick up the Greendale comic and read along with our book club (to be posted in mid-April). But unless you’re a hardcore Neil Young fan, I wouldn’t particularly recommend the album, or the film.

Sigrid

This isn’t the most original answer in the world, but my favorite adaptation in a comic book of another work is Midsummer Night’s Dream, originally by Shakespeare, as adapted by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess in the comic Sandman. Scariest, creepiest, most fascinating Puck I’ve ever seen.

So what about you? What’s your favorite comic book adaptation of another property?

Interview: Kelly Sue DeConnick and Captain America and the Secret Avengers

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Jennifer

Posted by Jennifer Smith

Anyone who’s read this blog for any amount of time knows two things: I love the work of Kelly Sue DeConnick, and I love Captain America and the constellation of characters that surrounds him. So when I heard that DeConnick would be writing a one shot for Captain America’s 70th Anniversary featuring the Black Widow and Sharon Carter, I just about jumped through the roof in joy.

Longtime readers know that the hard-working DeConnick has been making a name for herself in Marvel through her work on the Sif and Rescue oneshots, various anthology pieces, and most recently the wonderful Osborn miniseries. To coincide with the release of her newest project, Captain America and the Secret Avengers #1 (on sale March 30th), I sat down with her to talk about that issue, her Marvel work in general, and other things that fill her with enthusiasm.

Captain America and the Secret Avengers cover

First of all, Kelly Sue, thank you for taking the time out of what I know is a crazy schedule to answer some questions. You may have noticed, from our constant praise, that all of the Fantastic Fangirls are huge fans of your work, and it’s an honor to get the chance to talk to you about this project.

Oh, pish. Thank you! I love the FF.

Osborn #1 cover For those who might not be as familiar with your work as we are, can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Sure. I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband, Matt Fraction, two kids, two dogs and two cats. I held a bunch of different jobs from make up artist to medical assistant, but for roughly the last ten years I’ve been a writer. In comics, I’ve written the English adaptations of a whole slew of different manga series, as well as some original English language comics, most notably for IDW and Marvel. I am probably best known at present for the Marvel series OSBORN, though apparently it’s ‘criminally under-appreciated,’ ‘flying under the radar’ and ‘deserving a wider audience,’ which are, you know, meant to be compliments but sort of bum me out.

(It’s like when someone emails to tell you that they went to their LCS on Wednesday and your book was ALREADY SOLD OUT!! They mean it as a good thing so you have to thank them, but it is really anything anyone wants to hear. It’s not good news.)

Now, you’re working on a oneshot for the 70th anniversary celebration of Captain America, Captain America and the Secret Avengers, starring Sharon Carter and Natasha Romanov. How did that project come about?

I had worked with Lauren Sankovitch on a short called GIRLS’ NIGHT IN and she approached me with the Sharon/Natasha project.

Though you’ve done a ton of great work in the past year, one of the stories that really got me excited was your Age of Heroes #3 vignette about the Avengers liaisons to new top cop Steve Rogers. Sharon Carter, Maria Hill, and Victoria Hand all have a lot in common on the surface, as non-powered female former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working closely with the Avengers, but you really did a fantastic job of showing how different they really are through their interactions with each other and their varied approaches to a crisis situation. With this oneshot you’re once again dealing with two characters with surface similarities, Sharon Carter and the Black Widow. How do you approach these kinds of characterizations and interactions?

I’m really pleased with that little piece–thanks! I’m glad you liked it too. Brad Walker was wonderful.

Dirty little secret: I actually based my characterizations of the women on core characteristics of their Avengers counterparts. I used Iron-Man for Maria, Cap for Sharon and, instead of Thor, Loki for Victoria. So Maria’s the thinker and the tech side, Sharon’s first to action and Victoria ends up saving the day through trickery.

You’ve written Black Widow once before, too, in your Enter the Heroic Age short story, and in other interviews you’ve explained that some of the plot points from that story will be carried over into this one. What can you tell us about that plot, and what draws you to this particular story?

Essentially, Sharon and Natasha set out to stop this young assassin-in-training Tatiana from becoming Sharon and Natasha.

That, in a nutshell, is what I wanted to say. For as awesome and badass as Sharon and Natasha are, they’re also… not particularly normal or healthy. They’ve been, over the years, lethal broken dolls. Maybe if they had a chance to change that trajectory for someone else, they would. Particularly Natasha, who had little say in her own career path.

Have you historically been a fan of these characters, or others within the Captain America universe? If not, how did you find your “in” into their minds and their world? What did you like about writing them? What did you find challenging?

I wrote five drafts of this script, several of which were sizable rewrites. I suppose I’ll have to leave it to the reader to determine if I was successful at all, but yes, I most certainly found it challenging. Probably the most challenging comic script I’ve tackled thus far.

Lauren and I talked a bit about finding their voices and her tip with Natasha was to remember that she’s a cold war Russian character at her heart. That was helpful, I think.

You’ve collaborated with quite a few artists at this point, including Emma Rios on Osborn, Jamie McKelvie on your first Black Widow story, and now Greg Tocchini on this project – whose art, from all the previews I’ve seen [see images in this post!], looks gorgeous. What have your collaborative experiences been like? How have they differed, and what have you learned from them?

They’ve each been unique experiences. Jamie was already a buddy of mine, so that was a comfortable collaboration from the start. Emma and I have now worked together on multiple issues, so we’ve grown quite close and we’re talking about doing a creator-owned book together as soon as possible. As much as I love what Greg’s doing, he and I haven’t actually interacted at all. (I’ve also worked with Brad Walker, Ryan Stegman, Adriana Melo and Andrea Mutti over the last year.)

I guess what I’ve learned in general is to get out of the artist’s way as much as possible.

A few more general questions before we go:

In the past you’ve primarily worked in manga adaptation and original stories, but with your Marvel work you’re facing the challenges of working within a shared universe, giving you more freedom than an adaptation but less than something purely creator-owned. How have you approached this new challenge?

The hardest, most humbling thing I’ve learned is that I don’t write fast enough. There used to be a rule of threes–FAST/NICE/GOOD–you needed to be two out of three to keep working. I think these days you need to be all three. I’ve had my misses, but for the most part, I’m pretty good. And I’m sweet as pie. I’ve got to get fast if I want to keep working. Cold, hard truth.

With my manga adaptations I had a page count I had to hit every day and that was how I managed my workload. I’m going to have to set myself up with something similar I think for original work. An amorphous “two-to-three weeks to work on this” isn’t panning out for me because I find myself going through false-starts and rewriting chunks to death before I’ve got a complete finished draft. I think I need to plan the whole project from the get-go in order to keep up the forward momentum. (My strategy had been rough outline, then try to script 4 pages a day. Sounds doable–and is–but I didn’t factor in enough time to outline and would end up rewriting my four pages borrowing time from days ahead, yadda yadda yadda.)

I get the most work done when I’m able to stay up over night and work while the babies are sleeping. Unfortunately, I can’t do that too often. Physically, it’s just too much for me. I get up anywhere from 5am to 7am with the kids and as I’ve been breastfeeding one kid or the other since September 2007, I don’t think I’ve had 8 hours sleep in a row for more than 3 years.

Bitch, bitch, moan, moan. I know. I need to get it figured out. And I will. I just hope I get it figured out fast enough.

You’ve caught me at a moment when I’ve just finished one project and I’m about to start another. I have a plan. Cross your fingers for me.

Our fingers are most definitely crossed!

You’re very active on Twitter, using it to share your thoughts and interact with colleagues and fans as well as your friends and family. How do you think Twitter has changed the comic book industry, particularly in terms of transparency, accessibility, and networking? How does this differ from your experiences with message boards and other, earlier forms of the comics internet, which I know you’ve also been a part of?

You know, I love Twitter, but I don’t think I’ve exactly figured it out for myself just yet. I don’t have the time for social networks that I used to have before we called them social networks and before I had kids.

When I think about how much time I used to have…

But yes, Twitter. It amuses me. It’s my guilt-free internet because it demands nothing and promises nothing. I don’t feel like I have to “catch up” on my twitter feed if I miss it. I read it when I feel like it and let it scroll for hours at a time and never go back.

Brian Bendis was making fun of me the other day, saying he can tell when I’m having a rough work day or a rough day with the kids because my twitter feed reads like a cry for help. I laughed, but it got me thinking about how my feed is received/consumed. I tend to think of twitter as a steam valve, a place I can scream or laugh into the ether, but every now and again I am reminded that my feed is read by a great many people who don’t know me. Their entire concept of who I am as a human being is formed by that feed. So then I go back and look at my feed and I wonder what kind of a portrait that paints. Never mind how accurate it is, is it appealing or interesting at all?

Most of the time I come across as a harried mother of two who wants to share her coupons. Now, that’s probably more accurate than I’d care to admit, but is it serving me professionally? I’d lay money against it.

I always get emails after interviews thanking me for being ‘refreshingly honest,’ or whatever. So, maybe I’m overthinking this. But you know, while sharing my insecurities may make others feel more comfortable about their own, is it really helping me get to where I want to be? I don’t know.

Answering your questions stream-of-consciousness like this certainly isn’t breaking any new ground for me, is it?! Oh boy. I wonder if I’ll ever learn.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d say you come across just fine – professional, enthusiastic, thoughtful, and able to juggle all your obligations no matter how stressful they may be. There’s a reason my co-bloggers and I were so happy to get the chance to talk to you.

Now, most people working in the comic book industry were fans of comic books first and foremost. Have you had any memorable fan moments as a professional?

I made an ass of myself when I met Tori Amos. And I think I get a little lightheaded every time Howard Chaykin calls our house.

Comic Book Tattoo

We here at Fantastic Fangirls like to celebrate enthusiasm in all of its forms. What media, comics or otherwise, has gotten you excited lately?

Oh, let’s see…

I only watch two shows right now– CASTLE and WHITE COLLAR. Neither is earth-shattering, but I suspect both are better than you think. Oh, wait—Dr. Who. I’m very late to the DR WHO party and I was just thinking the other day that it might be my favorite show. I liked 2 of the three eps of SHERLOCK I saw quite a bit too. I wonder if there are any more of those…

Hm. That wasn’t much of a rave, was it? You caught me on a dour day. I actually need to shake this off and get excited about something soon. I don’t write well when I’m blue. (I write well when I’m angry. Maybe I should go read the news.)

I am really into Sergio Leone right now–I’m reading a biography called SOMETHING TO DO WITH DEATH. I’ve got a long plane ride coming up and I think the thing I’m most looking forward to about the trip is some uninterrupted time with that book.

Comics-wise, I love what Bendis is doing with SCARLET. And Fraction’s CASANOVA Volume 3 has me giddy with anticipation. Rucka’s STUMPTOWN is really good. I’m a fan of all things Warren Ellis, Ed Brubaker, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Steve Niles, either Immonen, Jen Van Meter, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman…

But you knew I’d say all that, didn’t you?

I recently went back and watched The Incredible Hulk TV show pilot and you know what? It holds up. There’s an awkward montage, but other than that, I remain a fan. Solid acting, solid writing, the premise is well-conceived… good stuff.

I have a stack of DVDs here that I haven’t had time to watch, but am looking forward to: WANDERING GINZA BUTTERFLY 1 & 2, IRON MAN 2 (No, I haven’t seen it. I KNOW.) and some collections of music videos and short films by Chris Cunningham, Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. For Christmas I got DVDs of the old WONDER WOMAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN TV series and I’m looking forward to those.

I loved TRUE GRIT.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to plug, or any upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

No, sadly, nothing I can talk about yet!

Thanks for asking, though.

And there you have it! Remember to pick up Captain America and the Secret Avengers from your LCS on March 30, 2011 — it’s sure to be a treat. And thank you again, Ms. DeConnick, for taking the time to share your thoughts with the Fantastic Fangirls! It was a genuine honor to interview you, and we all look forward to every bit of your future work, whatever that may be!

What girl comics means to me.

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Sigrid

The trade paperback collection of Marvel’s Girl Comics came out this week. I bought it, and would have read it save that I loaned it to a neighbor on Wednesday evening. That’s okay, though. There’s no shortage of girl comics — comics produced by women, featuring women, talking about and to women — in my life.

I bought and read issues of seven different superhero comic book titles this week. Two are named after their female leads, Batgirl and X-23. One is a majority female ensemble cast, Birds of Prey. Two are ensemble books with female co-leads, New Avengers and X-Men Legacy. Captain America and the First Thirteen is narrated by and stars a female lead. And Hawkeye: Blindspot features Maria Hill in the supporting cast.

On the creative teams on these books we have Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda, Gail Simone, Janine Schaefer, Janelle Siegel, Katie Kunbert, Nei Ruffino, Kathryn Immonen, Rachel Pinnelas, and Lauren Sankovitch.

In X-Men Legacy the overwhelming majority of the female characters wore costumes that covered their whole bodies, including on the cover. More men were half-naked than women. The villain in this week’s New Avengers is female. Jessica Jones continues to dress sensibly in jeans and a t-shirt, much like her husband Luke Cage. The two female leads in Captain American and the First Thirteen continually get the emotional drop on a young, naive-ish Captain America. Also, they are fully dressed throughout the issue, even when changing clothes.

Laura Kinney in X-23 continues to struggle with her insanely abusive and horrific past in ways that are emotionally resonant and superheroic. The walking-the-earth plot device gives Liu the space and time to give Laura’s character something besides “Wolverine’s clone.” It has always been an irritant to me that the heroes I love in comics have terrible things happen to them and then they just move on. People don’t work that way. It comes back to haunt you. I approve of Avengers: Disassembled, I approve of Civil War. I approve of Laura needing to get the hell away from all the various people who try to control and manipulate her — and I do most certainly include Scott Summers and the X-Men in this account. Marjorie Liu is writing this journey, this process, with deft grace when it could all-too-easily be exploitative, glib, or offensive. And Sana Takeda’s art keeps Laura in her traditional costume without making the reader complicit in creepy sexualizing of an abused teenage girl. Kudos to both of them.

I liked both Birds of Prey and Batgirl this week. I admit my enjoyment of the issues was marred by the lack of Cassandra Cain. However, Gail Simone has been saying publicly for some time now that there are background things going on, about which she can’t talk, that tie her hands. (And, presumably, Bryan Q. Miller’s hands as well.) I appreciated Gail taking the time in Birds of Prey to mention Cass’s absence.

Setting that aside, though, I am glad to see the developing relationship between Stephanie Brown and Wendy Harris in Batgirl. As much as I joke about my women-together femslash goggles and my shipping preferences, I do not think every female relationship in the comics I like needs to be gay. I strongly prefer that they not be. What I want, and always clamor for, is diversity. I want the rich diversity in women’s relationships — friendships, rivalries, enmities, romantic liaisons, partnerships, all of it — to be represented in the stories I love. And Steph and Wendy are forming a prickly, defensive, genuine friendship. I approve, Bryan, I distinctly approve.

As for Birds of Prey? A delight. Dinah and Helena are a joy to behold. Thank you, Gail, as always.

This is not merely the future of superhero comics, it’s the present. This is what girl comics means to me.

by Sigrid

Email: sigrid @ fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: sigridellis

Interview with Writer Jason Henderson, Part Two

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Caroline

Yesterday, we shared the first part of Caroline’s interview with writer Jason Henderson, which focused on his Marvel miniseries, Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow. Today we continue with a discussion of Henderson’s work in manga and Young Adult fiction. We also touch on issues related to publishing in general, and — haters to the left! — why people will always love stories about vampires.

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Interview with Writer Jason Henderson, Part One

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Caroline

Recently, Caroline had a chance to interview writer Jason Henderson, whose work includes the Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow miniseries from Marvel. The Q&A ended up being so interesting that we’re going to spread it over two days. Today’s installment will focus on his most recent Marvel work, now available in hardcover. Among other things, Jason will explain how Daughters of the Shadow — which includes the continuing adventures of everybody’s favorite sneaker-wearing samurai detective, Colleen Wing — is the perfect blending of Batman and the Outsiders, a James Bond movie, and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I think all our readers can agree this makes it one of the awesomest things ever.

Now, on with the show!

First of all, Jason, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer some questions. It’s a pleasure to get the chance to interview you.

Listen, I really admire Fantastic Fangirls. I love that it has its own voice and I’ve found several articles, like Where Have All the Silver Age Women Gone? to be very compelling reading. So thank YOU!

For those who might not be familiar with your work, can you introduce yourself to our readers?

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