Posted by Caroline
We’re shaking things up a little bit here at Fantastic Fangirls. Our regular Q&A feature is going to move from Thursday to Tuesday, in part so that we have some more time at the end of the week to talk about what’s new in comics! In this column, I’m not going to include anything I consider a significant spoiler, but bring up whatever you want in the comments!
I thought this would be a good week to launch a semi-regular Fantastic Fangirls new comics report, because Marvel and DC are each releasing a new Number One issue of a series with a female lead. Unfortunately, Marvel’s Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D has only been released so far as a motion comic on iTunes. My laptop has a bad relationship with iTunes and I’m pretty sure by the time I get this thing to play, I won’t feel like writing about it. If you are curious, you can read Jim Mroczkowski’s review at iFanboy. It’s my experience that Jimski is right about most things, and even when I think he’s wrong, he’s really amusing. So I’ll steer you over there while my computer is taking 70 minutes to “Initialize QuickTime types,” whatever sort of diabolical scheme that signifies. Personally, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be excited about a comic by Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev, starring Jessica Drew and Abigail Brand, when the day comes that I’m actually able to read it. If nothing else I’ll get the print version of the book when it comes out in September.
I had better luck getting a copy of DC’s new girl power book, Batgirl #1, and somewhat to my surprise — I had never heard of writer Bryan G. Miller or penciller Lee Garbett, and I didn’t know much about any of the characters — was utterly charmed by it. I don’t mean that to sound like I the book is cutesy in any way. It’s set very much in the dark, violent world of Gotham, and the story makes no bones about the compulsion that attracts the heroine to the vigilante life. (I’m not going to name the identity of the new Batgirl here, because that could spoil the story for some people — though the comments here are fair game.)
Who's That Batgirl?
The sensible grownup in me knows it’s a bad idea for this girl; as a superhero comics fan who knows what kind of havoc the stories can wreak on young heroines, that goes double. But as Batgirl lies on her bed and daydreams about cartwheeling around in skintight leather the way Snow White dreams about the day when her prince will come, I completely understand the part of her that wants to leave “normal” behind. This is one of the most engaging first issues I’ve read in a while, certainly the best introduction to a character who was entirely new to me. I’m really hoping the quality keeps up, and that DC and the fans keep supporting this book.
In lieu of the Spider-Woman review I’m not going to get to, observations on a few other new titles:
X-Men Legacy #227: One of the laws of the Marvel Universe states that, if Rogue and Ms. Marvel are found within a hundred miles of each other, they must have a knockdown dragout fight. That’s understandable because Rogue and Carol Danvers have a long, often unpleasant history. What I didn’t realize was that this rule applies even when the Ms. Marvel suit is being worn by someone else. So Moonstone and Rogue fight here, just like in the last issue, and I’d be complaining about this except that it’s awesome. Mike Carey’s writing on this title has really picked up since Rogue joined into the cast. If you’re intimidated by the Utopia banner on the book, don’t be. It’s basically just a fun fight issue, the emotional beats are easy to follow, and if you’ve got the slightest interest in Rogue, you should be following this series.
If you want a book to intimidate you with continuity, though, never fear! Mighty Avengers #28 was about fifty percent incomprehensible to me, anyway. (Quicksilver and US Agent are fighting some previously unknown Inhuman in China — for some reason?) Still, the other fifty percent, is the kind of thing that’s like crack to Marvel fans. Cassie Lang assembles the Young Avengers to take revenge on the Scarlet Witch, who’s really the god Loki who’s now female. But the Young Avengers don’t know that, and like thirty-three percent of the team thinks the Scarlet Witch might be their mom, which leads to a couple scenes that actually made me cry. And then [spoiler character] shows up on the last page and if you remember what happened in Avengers Disassembled, you know what’s about to hit the fan. Otherwise, you’re looking at this comic (justly) going “WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT ARE THEY GOING ON ABOUT?” Some comics are just going to be for the fans, and if you don’t want to go nuts you have to be okay with that. Me, I want the real Scarlet Witch back, but in the meantime, I’ll take this.
This is the picture of Scarlet Witch in the Marvel wiki! If you know why this bugs me, Mighty Avengers is a book for you.
So those were my notable titles for the week. If you have thoughts about any of these, or if there’s anything new that you’re digging, let us know in the comments!
Posted by Caroline Pruett
E-mail: Caroline@fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: madmarvelgirl
Batgirl is still awesome! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, because [Spoiler] is totally one of my favorites, and I am still holding out hope for a League of Batgirls. Plus, there is Babs! And people were way less OOC than they used to be! And really, it’s a good setup issue, and it really makes me want the next one, even if I still have some concerns about how this will be handled. But it’s a Batgirl title, and I am really happy about that.
… I should probably read the rest of my comics.
In addition to the comics I enjoyed this week, I also grabbed a few trades. Villains United, which I read in issue form. Something called Looking Up, by Ursula Murray Husted — she’s a local writer and artist, and the comic is a really nice tale about life in a coal-mining town. Jane’s World Collection, by Paige Braddock, which I haven’t gotten to yet.
I also — on the recommendation of iFanboy — picked up Essex County by Jeff Lemire. Haven’t read it yet.
The relaunch of Runaways has me giddy. I think it’s it’s a safe bet that the will be some kickass moments for the young ladies on that team
For me this week was all about women-led comics. But I’m definitely more of a DC person than a marvel person. I had Supergirl, Batgirl, Power Girl, and the Manhunter co-feature all on my pull list this week (I’ve sort of given up on Streets of Gotham itself). I find DC’s women much more engaging than Marvel’s women, though I haven’t really figured out why, yet. Maybe it’s the women that Marvel chooses to showcase, or maybe it’s the way they choose to showcase them. Not sure. I’ve heard good things about this Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, but Spider-Man is quite possibly my least favorite comic hero ever, so I don’t know if I can make that leap.
I think I need that Mighty Avengers.
@Sam, I’d go with it’s the way they choose to show them. I asked Joe Q point blank why Marvel only finds women interesting if they are crazy or dead. He denied this but I think the characterization speaks for itself (and I’ve usually been a Marvel Girl though not so much lately).
I think the “showcase” point is a really interesting point of contrast between the two companies. I’m not sure if, looking at portrayals down the line, one company is really notably better than the other. *But* DC has some high-profile writers (Gail Simone and Greg Rucka are the ones I mean, but there may be others) who are particularly *known* for the women they write about, and those writers are pretty pro-active about the characters who they put in the spotlight. And companywide there also seems to be a commitment, despite some missteps, to both established and newer female characters like Renee Montoya and Stephanie Brown and Kate Spencer. I don’t know how much of this is coming from people really wanting to tell those stories versus a perception of what the fanbase is like, but it is there.
At Marvel, I think, if you go through the books they actually put out, you can find a pretty strong set of female characters in most of them. But — the company almost seems afraid to promote or even acknowledge that? The idea of selling a book on the strength of a female character, as anything beyond a pinup, doesn’t seem to be a priority *to the company*. I see writers and titles that do it well, but I feel like that’s more of an individual choice than a Marvel policy. Matt Fraction and Jeff Parker, to name a couple writers I’m familiar with, have been individually proactive about increasing the emphasis on women in the titles they write — look at all the women in ‘Iron Man’ right now, and JP’s been quite vocal about wanting more women in the team books he writes — but it feels like more of an individual effort. I’ve never seen it mentioned as a *selling point* of their books, and when Marvel consciously does a women’s team-up, it’s ‘Marvel Divas’ instead of ‘Birds of Prey.’
@Anika — Also, I meant to say. I was sad it wasn’t really Wanda in ‘Mighty,’ but the way the kids reacted to her is really well done. Cassie is mad and wants revenge (which is understandable), but Tommy and Billy don’t really have a great grasp on “she killed Cassie’s dad”, and are like “Wait, you met her? Did she mention having any kids?” I got a little choked up. (Also, poor Scott Lang, who *nobody* cares about enough to bring back from the dead).
I’m pretty sure that I’ll be excited about a comic by Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev, starring Jessica Drew and Abigail Brand,
Me too!
And following myself up one last time, there’s a good Newsarama interview with the writer that makes me cautiously optimistic (and does spoil BG’s identity, if anybody doesn’t know by now)
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090820-miller-batgirl.html
@Caroline That interview was actually… well, I’m pretty pleased. I’m okay with the direction it looks like it will go in.
@Margot It really does make me feel like they DC realizes they’ve made some mistakes with these characters in the past and are trying to deal with that. And I don’t know anything about Wendy’s backstory, but it would be great if they can do a friendship b/t two disabled characters without it turning into an after-school special. I immediately started having thoughts about Jason and Herc on Friday Night Lights!
@Caroline Wendy’s backstory is… well, she’s Wendy of Wendy and Marvin from basically Super Friends. Except now her father is a Supervillain (like Steph! I wish for them to bond over that) and the Wonder Dog ate her brother and left her paralyzed.
It really does look like they’re trying to make up for the mistakes they made, especially with Cass and Steph. They couldn’t just go back to Cass’s old characterization, she really does need the redemption. It looks like they’re going to give it to her.
As for Babs – back when Tim became Robin, he said that Batman needed a Robin to stop him from getting too dark. Clearly, Babs needs a Batgirl. And all of the comments about her working with new Batgirl make me happy, and yeah, they have some issues to work out, but at least they’re going to work on it.
That is an interesting point about the different marketing approach of the two companies and rings true I think part of the problem is that Marvel is trying to find the balance between reaching a broader multimedia audience (with the films and such) and perhaps forgetting to highlight the good comic content than can be found within their company.
Mark Millar wrote an excellent Sue Storm in the first arch of his run on Fantastic Four run. Dan Slott’s SHE Hulk was excellent, but neither of these books got a huge marketing push.
I appreciate the fact that Joe Quesada is so open and engaging with the fans, but if other people were involved more directly with the marketing of the comics, maybe the gaffs that Joe Q often makes would decrease.
I remember most of the initial buzz for DC’s Batwoman was centered around her sexuality. This is fine and should be celebrated, but there was a missed opportunity there to say “Hey, this Greg Rucka guy has a track record of writing kickass women and lesbians” and thereby steer some of the mainstream media coverage to the good work Rucka and others have done in portraying women, some of whom are lesbians, to the forefront. I’m glad Batwoman got the buzz, I just wish it was slightly less sensational and more meaty.
I’d also add Marc Andreyko to that list of creators who do consistently good things
Oh crickey. I forgot about the “Models Inc” book that Tim Gunn promoted on the Daily Show last night. It’ll be interesting to see how that unfolds.
@Margot — *googles* WOW. I have to admit, I watched SuperFriends and I don’t remember those characters at all. I mostly remember the Invisible Jet and the Wonder Twins, honestly. Maybe I watched the wrong seasons. Anyway, I remember when everybody was screaming about that Titans issue but I didn’t realize why. Still, if this book is about cleaning up past editorial messes, I can see that Wendy’s a good character to include.
@Anonymous — Dunno if you meant to be anon or not! If not feel free to log in and claim your comments. I recall that the Batwoman character was not actually created by Rucka but was kind of foisted on him when word of the character leaked and he had to work her into the 52 storyline he was writing? Still, he did/has done a great job with her.
I’m actually really psyched about ‘Models Inc.’ Much moreso than Marvel Divas because ‘Models’ is resurrecting a storied-but-defunct genre with a long history at Marvel; Divas was trying to do some weird genre-blending, taking superhero characters and trying to put them into straight-up soap opera (based on marketing, anyway; I’m not ripping MD because I didn’t get past the first issue; it was okay, but not my thing.)
@Caroline One day Teen Titans will be good. I have faith in this. And I’d really like to see them do something with Wendy – her dad is pretty much the super villain version of Oracle, so I feel the dynamic of her being an Oracle in training would rock.
Also, Models Inc has a Tim Gunn backup story. Clearly, it will be awesome!
@Caroline To my surprise, I am really liking Marvel Divas.
@Anonymous Oh, good call on Andreyko, he’s definitely on my list of writers who do a good job with female characters.
@Margot and @Caroline I am hoping, very much, that the new Batgirl book will deal with Babs and her relationship to the bat-family, and her relationship to the idea of Batgirl!
Everyone here has said such smart things already, I’m not sure I have much to contribute!
But I will say that I was really very impressed, story-wise, with the Spider-Woman motion comic. (I’m still not entirely sold on the motion comic format, but that’s another story.) I don’t believe that every story needs to pass the Bechdel test, but this one does, and it does it brilliantly. This is Jessica’s story, first and foremost, and her most significant interaction with another person in the story is with Agent Brand, with whom she only discusses work and kicking alien ass. It’s REFRESHING to see something like that.
I’ll definitely have to check out Batgirl, too.
Also — Wanda’s wikipedia picture is from Jeff Parker’s What If? where she orchestrated Disassembled with her boyfriend, Captain America, and Hank discovered it? That’s… odd.
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Batgirl is still awesome! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, because [Spoiler] is totally one of my favorites…
Margot, I see what you did there.
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Cheers! Sandra. R.
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Nice article. Thanks a lot for writing body