Fantastic Fangirls: Comics and Culture

by Caroline

I have a very short attention span. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s all the TV I’ve watched — all the time I spend reading 22-page stories told in word-balloons and shiny pictures — all the hours I spend on the Internet. I could wax philosophical about it, but if you’re reading this, you’ve probably watched a lot of TV and read a lot of word-picture books too, and you definitely spend a lot of time on the Internet, and in that case I’m about to lose you altogether.

So, quickly, today’s column will be an exercise in Short Attention Span Theater: 100 words each (more or less) about five of the things I’ve been reading.

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In December, I was ready to abandon all other comics, forever, and devote my entire fannish energy to absorbing back issues of Power Man/Iron Fist. I even bought the Essential, as I prepared to read shiny urban exploitation/kung fu crossover crack for the rest of my life.

Then I lost the book. (For values of “lost” meaning, “Put it somewhere in my apartment. Or maybe my car.”) But the essential greatness remains. Luke Cage is an indestructible ex-con. Danny Rand is a kung-fu fighting billionaire. They fight crime. If I can’t convince you this is awesome, then you probably hate fun.

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Recently, DC’s Year One line has been a showcase for sharp, fresh voices, so when the first issue of Black Lightning: Year One hit the shelves last week, written by Jen Van Meter of Hopeless Savages fame, I decided to give it a shot.

BL:YO tells the story of a high school principal trying to do good in a blighted neighborhood. There are hints of super powers and a family legacy sprinkled into the story, but they don’t come too fast or too soon. A strong start to a unique series, whether you’re previously acquainted with the character or not.
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I normally like Jane Espenson’s writing, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer #21 mishandles its central character: Sunnydale High mean girl-turned-airhead vampire Harmony.

Harmony was a brilliant character on the Buffy and Angel TV shows, because she was a much more pleasant, well-meaning, and genuinely sweet person as a vampire than she had been as a high school student. Here Harmony reverts to mean-girl form, for no reason except to satirize rich-kid reality shows. (Harmony Bites!) I know it’s “just” a joke issue, but great humor grows out of character. This issue is all about taking down easy targets, and the whole exercise falls flat.

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A certain number of the comics I read are dictated by the whims of my public library and others by the contents of several longboxes I inherited from a friend, based on my willingness to take them off her hands. It turns out I have a nearly full run of James Robinson and Tony Harris’s Starman, including some issues not collected in trade. I’ve read up through issue 18, and this dense and unusual series deserves more space than I can give it here. I’ll just say that there are good comics artists, and great comics artists, and coming to Tony Harris’s work after reading just about anything else always leaves me saying, “That. That is how good art can be.”

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I picked up Annihilation: Book One because my library happened to have it, and I had a vague idea “cosmic Marvel” was something I should be reading. I couldn’t tell you about the plot (giant space bugs?) but the characterizations are a joy: from Nova — a young superhero who has bitchy dialogues with the Worldmind supercomputer that lives in his helmet — to Drax the Destroyer, and his ten-year-old girl sidekick. I’m going to end up reading a lot more of this massive crossover before I’m done. Damn comics for being this good! When am I going to have time (or money) to do anything else?

Email: Caroline@fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: madmarvelgirl