Wonder Woman Earth One

This was a disappointment.  I was curious how Grant Morrison would write her and excited about Yanique Paquette drawing.  Unfortuantely the end result is terrible.

It would be kind to say it is a riff on the golden age.  It is golden age Wondy ideas packaged into a cold, heartless, sneery mess.  It’s a really cynical origin story and Wonder Woman should not be cynical.  I can’t think that Morrison is a fan.  I think he views her as an interesting character, but he has no connection to her.  I don’t think you should write or draw characters you don’t feel a connection with.

The story itself is boring.  Dull.  It flows badly and there’s nothing to keep you interested, no suspense, even thought there are things which should be suspenseful in there.

The art is lacklustre.  The character poses are a bit too much on the sexy side for my taste, and there’s little of the detail and originality and joie de vivre that I’ve seen Paquette do elsewhere.  The colours are nice enough but the inking is one dimensional.  The Amazons look like pin ups, but not very exciting pin ups.

There is so much good Wondy stuff out there.  Bombshells, Legend of Wonder Woman, Sensation Comics and Ame Comi Girls are so much better than this. So much better.  Bombshells would do really well with a non traditional comics audience, it could capitalise on the retro love that is still going around.  And it’s a good story.

Supergirl to become a Red Lantern

As of Green Lantern/Red Lantern 28 in February.
http://www.newsarama.com/19526-guess-who-s-a-new-red-lantern-as-title-smashes-with-green-lantern-for-february-flipbook.html

So that's what DC meant when they said they were moving her out of the Super family set of books.  Fuckity fuckity fuck.  I bet you I can tell what's going to happen.  She becomes the lead Red Lantern, sales don't do so well, her own series gets cancelled then she gets removed from the lead in the Red Lantern books and then we get to see bugger all of her.  Fuck fuck fuck.

Hells, reading this I'm nearly a Red Lantern.  Godsdammit.  Look, I like the Red Lanterns OK.  I like the rainbow corps.  However, Supergirl at her best has always been a fundamentally good character.  Friendly, sweet.  Before the Crisis she was almost saccharine at times.  She was naive, she was innocent, she was trusting and she tried to do her best by people.  Post crisis, we got Matrix.  A confused protoplasmic alien who chose to live with the Kents and become a hero.  Then we had the earthborn angel saga, where Matrix fused with Linda Danvers.  Linda was a nasty, violent piece of work, but by fusing with Matrix Supergirl she was redeemed herself.  She became a good person.  Then we had the reintroduction of the Kryptonian counsin Supergirl, who was an angry, confused mess until Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle made sense out of her convoluted back story and gave her a stable personality.  They gave her friends and relationships and a supporting cast and gave her humanity and a purpose.  And a desire to be a hero.

My point is, people don't like an angry Supergirl.  They don't buy it. Literally.  The post crisis Kara who was angry and violent and bitter was not received well.  The last series got good when Gates and Igle started, and made her a pleasant person to read about who wanted to be a hero.

What the fuck are DC playing at.

Now, trying to lok on the bright side here, Charles Soule is writing Red Lantern (I think?) and he's a pretty good writer.  he made the Superman/Wonder Woman issue 1 readable.  Nearly good.  So maybe this will work.  I'd like it to work. I really would. But I don't think it will.  Hopefully I'm wrong.

Prepare for more angry posts when this book comes out.

Incidentally, my boyfriend said that me typing this is the sound of someone wrong on the internet -  vocal silence accompanied by angry smashing of keys.

Excellent article on DC's 'Normal Course of Business'

I just came across this article on Comics Alliance - it's really, really good and I would urge you all to read it.  Particular highlights are:

DC currently has a policy against married superheroes that extends across the line regardless of character sexuality.....
DC would have been smart to make an exception to their rule for a Batwoman marriage....I also think it would be extraordinary and wonderful to make Kate and Maggie the Reed and Sue of the DC Universe. It would make a positive statement about same-sex marriage, and DC could have sold the story internally and externally as exceptional; deserving of exemption from their anti-marriage policy precisely because of its cultural importance.
....
Here’s the way it’s supposed to work: The creative team pitches an idea. The editor comes back with notes. The creative team makes changes. The editor approves the idea. Sometimes there are no notes and no changes. Sometimes the idea gets thrown out completely and the creative team comes up with a new pitch. But once an idea is approved, it’s supposed to be the idea that sees print.
....
By all reports it is now standard practice for DC editorial to approve a story and let the creators start work on it, only to then “unapprove” the story and demand drastic changes at the last minute. That level of interference is why Williams and Blackman left. It’s why Jenkins left. It’s why Pérez left. It’s why Rozum left. It’s the “normal course of business” at DC.
....
DC is not wrong to value and court its core audience, but the publisher has 52 titles to play with, and no-one in that core audience is reading 52 DC titles a month. There are other niches to crack besides “straight white men who like horror” and “straight white men who like westerns.” Straight white men who grew up reading comics and want to buy something for their daughters might be a place to start.

Ame-Comi Girls is 'on hiatus'

Just found this DC Comics twitter status from February where it says that Ame-Comi Girls is on hiatus, which I can't help thinking is code for cancelled.

Arrgggh.  I adore this series.  It is rather flimsy looking, and some of the costumes are ridiculous, but it's also a series about all female heroes, written with intelligence and empathy and they are so much more than the sum of their costumes and bodies.  Women get to save the world on a daily basis!  Women have different personality types!  This makes it sound all a bit political and agenda driven but it's not.  It's solid superhero stories that happen to be about women.  I loves it. So much so I did a reveiw of the series for New readers...

Bad DC :(

Comic reviews for week of 13/03/2013

Spoilers ahead for Animal Man 18, Demon Knights 18, Fearless Defenders 2, Thor God of Thunder 6, Superman: Silver Banshee 2, Superman Confidential 7.
Really do not carry on reading if you haven't read Animal Man 18.
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DC's April comics

DC's April releases are WTF certified.

This is a fucking awful idea.  If they want more readers they should concentrate on creating better stories.

Truly, truly stupid.

The new 52 isn't working for me

So, before making the weekly pilgrimage to the comic shop on Saturday I asked twitter for opinions on what the good Marvel series are.  I have expressed my frustration about DC's titles here before.  My feelings aren't lessening so I am considering dropping most of my DC focused pull list.

My problems with the new 52 are many.  I appreciate they wanted to provide an all new jumping on point for new readers.  I appreciate they wanted to revitalise their intellectual property.  However, part of the reasons I love DC's comics is the 70 odd years of history you get with each title.  That tightly wound continuity, the banter and Easter eggs you get within titles.  The knowledge that what is happening in one title will impact upon and be referenced by other characters - maybe not in the same week, maybe in a years time, or five years time.  I loved discovering what each new chapter brought and immersing myself in the world.  I loved building up the history of the cities, the houses, the philosophies, the religion, the characters, the technology, the leaders, the poor, the everything.  Most of all, I loved how the old DCU worked.

Now I don't have that.  Not in my titles.  My current pull list (for new 52 titles) is:
Animal Man, Green Arrow, Superboy, Demon Knights, Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans.*

I used to buy 20 odd titles a month.

But for those I am buying, all those series have been restarted from scratch.  I was getting Justice League and Aquaman.  Aquaman wasn't rebooted (much) but Justice League was.  I know Batman and Green Lantern kept their history but I am not interested in reading them regularly.

Now the DCU is just 5 years old I cannot understand how Batman has had so many teen sidekicks.  I have no idea how the old Justice League stories that I love fit in to the new history.  Guy Gardner's origin has changed (he's now no longer an ex-teacher but an ex-cop) and I am just not interested in reading a rebooted version of him.

Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen - one of my favourite couples in the DCU - no longer are a couple and haven't even met yet.

Superman is no longer a source of hope and compassion.

Wonder Woman's backstory has been pulled away from the women led utopia.  She is no longer an inspiration to me.

Supergirl is an entirely new character, losing all the history and humanity the Gates/Igle run put into her.

Superboy has been rebooted, yet we seem to be retreading the same old ground.

Birds of Prey is all new, and again, has lost all the rich history.

Teen Titans, well Wonder Girl, Solstice and Kid Flash are entirely new characters.  They are not anywhere near the same as they were pre-new 52.  Robin also seems like a new character.   Bunker and Skitter are actually new and I am vaguely interested in reading about them.

The good things are that Animal Man has kept his history, and has always had a slightly odd series of his own anyway.  Demon Knights provides historical context to the DCU.

Another thing I do not like is the way DC is approaching their 18-35 demographic.  They seem to be going for a very narrow interpretation of what this demographic will like, and they appear to be going for mindless shallow fight scenes and little depth of storytelling.  Like the very worst of Hollywood blockbuster films.

Most adult characters have been de-aged to mid-twenties.  I am not interested in reading about characters that are all of an age, and an immature age at that.  I want heroes in their 30s, 40s and 50s.  I want a rich life tapestry for them to draw on.  I want the conflict and discussion that comes when you have a group of people from different backgrounds forced to work together.  I want heroes with different personalities and aims.

Most of all, the stories just aren't very good.

I just don't feel like I'm getting that in the new DCU.

I have a theory about what happened in the DC offices.  I believe they got taken over by Warner Brothers a couple of years before this new 52 started.  I think that someone came in to investigate DC's creative output.  What was selling, why it was selling, who they could sell to, what was and wasn't working and what the potential for new sales is.  Basically to recommend an overhaul of the company so it could become viable.  We all know that the big 2 comics companies are in trouble, sales wise.

I think what happened was that Warner Brothers took over they told the top brass to raise their sales figures or get sacked.  I think the new 52 is a last ditch attempt by the parent company to squeeze some money out of the publishing arm and I think that if it doesn't succeed DC comics will be downsized and only the biggest sellers will continue being published - Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Justice League and anything else that ties into film and TV products.  I think anything that does continue being published will look radically different to what is being published now.

Maybe it will all be electronic.  Comixology has shown that the market is there for digital comics.  I'd be happy with that.

I am not willing to support titles I am not enjoying.  So I am going to cancel Superboy, Birds of Prey and Teen Titans.  Animal Man, Supergirl and Wonder Woman I will continue buying in hardcopy format and Green Arrow and Demon Knights I will buy ad-hoc digitally.  I will dip in and out of titles on the shelves but I will not make myself beholden to any one title. If Wonder Woman, Animal Man and Supergirl don't improve I will probably also drop those. I will replace my old DC floppies with trades.  I will sell the floppies on ebay (or to anyone who wants them) and buy the collections that I treasure, love and enjoy.

I shall try out some Marvel titles.  Because I think they are going to offer me what DC aren't - character depth, history, continuity and complex storytelling.

If you've got this far through, please can you recommend me non-DC titles you think I might enjoy.  As I told twitter, I like pretty art, good characterisation, good storytelling and dinosaurs.


*I also buy Ame-Comi girls and Smallville, but they are not new 52.  It is quite telling that these are my absolute favourite series currently being published.

Making Jay Garrick's costume

So I promised you a post on how I made my Jay Garrick costume (see here and here if you haven't already).
EDIT- eek, I realised I hadn't credited the blog which gave me a start on working out how to make it!  Anyway, the blog in question is Speed Force and the 2 blog posts in particular are this one and this one.  I didn;t end up following their method, but it was certainly good food for thought.

First off, the costs.  I may as well round up from the previous post as well. 
T-shirt - already owned, as a birthday present.
The boots - bought from ebay for £2.42 plus £2,50 postage.
The jeans - bought from New Look for £25.99
The hat - bought from ebay for £9.95 plus £3.75 postage.
The spray paint for the hat - £4.55, from a local DIY shop.
The primer, to prepare the hat for the spray - £8.53
The fimo - to make the wings, £4.30 from a craft shop
The acrylic gold paint - to paint the wings, £1,75, from a craft shop.
Black canvas skater belt - £4
Lightning bolt charms, to glue onto the belt - £2.20

Glue, to attach the wings to the hat and charm to the belt - £1.80

Gold feather charms, for general decoration, bought from ebay, £0.99 plus £0.85 postage (not used in the end).
Leather belt - £5.99 (also unused)

So, £79.57 in total.  Eek.  Good thing I didn't buy it all at once.  Or add it up before.

First I looked for the jeans and boots.  Jeans I finally got from Next, after trying several on from New Look, getting stuck in some (very embarrassing), ordering the wrong ones from the shop and then returning them.  It all turned out OK though, because the pair I ended up getting from Next had belt loops round the top of the jeans, not on the hips, and were, I feel a better colour and fit.

The boots I bought off ebay very cheaply.  They arrived in gold condition with little kitten heels.  I was going to save them for the con but then ended up wearing them to work for one day, by which point the heels were ground down and, well, fucked.  But that's OK, because they should really be flat anyway!  By the midday the left boot's sole, which had been glued on in the manufacturing process, was half off, but it did end up lasting the day, just.  I shall see about getting them resoled to last.  I quite like them and re-soleing will be cheaper than buying new boots.

I ended up not trying to do wings for the boots, because a) I couldn't figure out how to effectively attach wings to the boots, b) I wanted to wear them again, c) I'd feel silly later in the day, away from the con, wearing winged boots and d), I was scared about making them and worried they'd go wrong.
I decided having un-winged boots was OK as jay doesn't always wear winged boots (thank you artists!).

The belt I only remembered 2 weeks before the con.  This left me with a bit of a problem, because the shops round where I live don't sell black leather belts with plain rectangular buckles.  So I found this on ebay:

It's perfect!  I thought I'd just need to get a lightning bolt engraved onto it (cost would be about £15) and It would be good to go.  Plus, I'd then get a really cool belt to wear at other times.
Unfortunately it didn't look like it was going to arrive in time, so I bought a very similar belt, but made out of canvas, not leather, from the local market and stuck a lightning bolt charm on it.  Et voila:

Yes I know the text on the buckle isn't accurate, but I had to make do, OK?

Because the buckle was slightly curved the charm fell off at some point during the day.  Nevermind, I will be getting the leather belt engraved with a lightning bolt symbol anyway.

I already had the T-shirt so nothing needed doing there.  I considered buying a long sleeved red undershirt but decided I'd be perfectly happy going as the summer style Jay.

Now the hat!  I got it from ebay.  I searched for 'World war 1 Tommy replica helmet' and it came up.
I took the straps off, then sprayed the underside and topside with primer over a couple of days.  The top side got 2 coats, the underside got 1 coat.  I did this in the shed each morning and left the hat in there all day to dry, taking it in the house at night.

However, due to low temperatures in the weather, parts of the primer looked like they crystallised a bit. Once I'd sprayed 2 coats on the outside of the helmet and 1 coat on the underside, you really couldn't tell any problems though.  Although you could tell that little bits of dirt etc had got caught in the paint as it was a bit bumpy.  I think it could have done with some sort of finishing paint, as it is now covered in fingerprints and hints of paint came off on my fingers during the day.

Then I started on the wings.  Well, my boyfriend did.  He cut out paper templates for the wings.  We decided on sharped edged wings over Jay's traditional wings because it would be easier to cut out and craft.  Dan rolled out the fimo and used a craft knife to cut the shapes out.  Et voila:

Once cut, he used a thin stick, like a chopstick, to carve grooves into the wings, like so:

As you can see, they aren't fully correct Jay wings, but I liked the angularness.  I think it fits with the lightning bolt theme and the zippy fastness of the Flash.  We left them to airdry overnight.  2 days later we noticed they hadn't dried flat and instead had a slight curve, thankfully, the non-scored sides were the concave sides (whew).

I used gold acylic paint, soluble in water, to paint the wings.  They came out nice and shiny.  One point to remember - if you use paint that's soluble in water, make sure your paintbrush is dry before applying a second coat of paint.  Eek. It turned out OK, but I was a bit concerned for a while.  Here are the finished wings:

Then we had to glue them onto the hat.  We didn't use superglue, we used epoxy resin.  The boyfriend thought it would be better than superglue.  I went along with him.

We decided to place the wings a little way above the hat brim.  We put glue on the bottom inside of the wings, the handle like bits below the main body of it, and held the wings in place for 6 minutes (as instructed on the packet).  Then we noticed that they were slipping, so held them in place again for a further 5 minutes, at which point they were properly attached.  Here's a view of the hat from the front.

The next morning the wings were still in place (whew, I was so relieved), and this is a picture of the helmet from side on:

I think it looks fricking awesome.  The wings stayed on all day until I put the helmet in a bag (n the evening, after the con), then one came off, but it is still in one piece so will be glued on again at a later date.

I put the straps back on the hat as I wasn't sure how well it would stay on.  As it turned out, the helmet jammed on my head pretty well (when I'd put my hair back in a bun) but did end up a jaunty angle for the afternoon.  I tucked the straps under the helmet, above my head, so you couldn't really see them.

And this is the finished thing:

Ta-da!!!

And as I write this I have just seen Jay's new costume in the nu52.  Oh my gods it is awful.  Jay, well Jay had style.  He was unpretentious.  He dressed simply and traditionally to get the job done.  Ok, so the hat is flashy (pun not intended), but Jay is a man of the old school and he'd know the historical/mythic connotations of the hat (I have no idea if there is an in canon explanation of the hat, but that's my theory).  He has integrity, and honesty and loyalty and dedication and his costume reflects that.  It's old fashioned (those high jeans!0 but he's old fashioned.

This new costume isn't him.  There's no style, no character, the headgear is fucking ridiculous and the ribbed part on the top are pointless.  It's awful.

Definitely not a Wonderful Wonder Woman Wednesday

Dear artists.
Pants like you've drawn on Wondy here won't stay like that. The gusset will shift about and expose her labia.  The only way it won't is if it's pulled really really tightly and then you'll probably see her labia anyway, and quite possibly it will cause a serious chafing injury.
Please, draw underwear sensibly, even if it's outerwear.

Thank you.
Also, those poses are candidates for Escher Girls.

Regards,

Saranga

Definitely not a Wonderful Wonder Woman Wednesday

Pencils by Mike Deodato.  Yeuch.

Wonder Woman pilot

Well a couple of clips from the Wonder Woman pilot made it onto the web.  Two were posted by DC Women Kicking Ass, both have now been removed, presumably for copyright reasons.  If anyone knows of anywhere else the clips are still live, let me know.

They were bad.  They were very very bad.  Diana killed a common criminal by throwing a pole through his neck.  She is mean, she is angry, she is unlikeable.  That is not a Wonder Woman I want to see.  That is not Wonder Woman.  There was no Wonder!  Diana of the Amazons should inspire hope and joy.  a sense of the mythic and the magical.  She should look like she could beat you up, but also like she would give you a hug (thanks to either innerbrat or fullofwhoa for pointing this out, I forget who said it, sorry!).  She's truthful, optimistic, graceful, compassionate, polite, understanding, wise, mature, funny, dedicated to her mission and believe in peace.

None of these thing were shown in the clips.  Here is a transcript from one clip, where they are discussing new action figures:

Diana (talking over the man): I never would have done that

Man: You had the idea to merchandise--
Diana: (standing up) I never said merchandise my tits.
Etta: Wonder Woman isn't vulgar.
Diana: No. Of course Wonder Woman isn't vulgar. Wonder Woman is perfect. Perfect tits. Perfect ass. Perfect teeth. I mean, look at these teeth. She always does everything right. God forbid she make a mistake. It's not like we should expect the world to accept her being human.

(Thanks to Ragnell for the transcript).

She says all this with a sneer of contempt.  And she should be swearing by the GodS, plural.  Wonder Woman without the pagan background is simply not Wonder Woman.

The other clip had her chasing, catching and then murdering criminals.  When she catches the first one she is reluctant to hand him over to the cops because they "won't give him what he deserves" or something.  The cop then says something back to her about him needing to face justice, I think.  The initimation was Diana thought he deserved to be killed (there and then) and not go through the judicial system.

Diana has never, never been above the law.  That's what the aftermath of killing Maxwell Lord was about (contained in Greg Rucka's Mission's End trade).

Ugh ugh ugh, it was horrible.  I know I was excited about the series, but based on those clips I would not have watched it.

Edit - I also thought this had posted.  It hadn't.  Damn blogger.

Dan Didio has some odd ideas about Superman

From notintehface's blog:

"We've made Superman such an iconic figure over the years that we've lost some of the character and the ability to tell stories with that character," said Dan DiDio, co-publisher at DC. "There's so much continuity that's been built on this character. We really wanted to get a Superman that is more accessible to the audience."

(emphasis notintheface's)
Words fail me.  I mean what the fuck?  DC seriously think that an iconic character is not accessible?  Do they not know what iconic means?  Do they not see the thousands of people wearing S shields on their jumpers, vest and t-shirts, with the key rings?  If they think the story is too continuity heavy you remove the minor stories, - the 1000 yr war on another dimension.  The insect queen.  World of New Krypton. A fortress in the Amazon.  You remove the minor characters, not the main ones.  Not Lois, his parents and his humanity.

Superman too iconic to be accessible my hairy fat arse.

The sexy side of Batman

Prompted by the DC roadshow's news that Catwoman will be the sexy side of Batman, Curious Intent drew this:

Great huh?

I also urge you to check out Kate Beaton's take on it.  It features Batman in arseless chaps.

Dan DiDio, and DC, seems to have lost the plot.

Check out this article on Bleeding Cool for why.  I heartily recommend you read it all.  It's a report from the DC Retailers roadshow.

Ready?
OK, so I fully endorse the idea of not writing for trades, of just writing good stories.  On the other hand, I ahve also heard that if books do not get good sales immediately they will be cancelled.  Gah.  Sometimes great books aren't recognised in the early sales figures.  I have a feeling that the less well known characters will not sell as well and then be dropped.  But I digress.

Not putting up with delayed content is also something I approve of.  I don't care if your job is also your vocation, or how much you love it, be a damn professional.

I am also quite pleased with the lineup of the new JLA.  Yes it could be more diverse.  Yes it is very white.  But I also love these characters (except for Hal, and maybe Deadman) and I want to read about them.

But then, then I got to the descriptions of the new books.  I shall share some of the prizeworthy* ones.  My comments will be underneath each entry

Supergirl- Another area of improvement DC is looking for is characters to sound true.  Supergirl, as she has been written, sometimes comes across as mature and responsible as a 40 year-old adult.  She shouldn’t.  She’s a teen who is still finding herself and her character should reflect that.

 Does he mean Sterling Gates near universally acclaimed run?   You know, the one that brought nearly all Supergirl fans on side, that everyone thought was fab, that turned around a very unpopular title?

 Batwing- Based on fan interest in this character from Batman Incorporated, DC wanted to give the character an ongoing title.

I have no idea who Batwing is.  People on twitter seem to favour Nightrunner over Batwing.   I know, I have a small sample group, but still.

Batgirl- Barbara Gordon is back as Batgirl.  The events of Killing Joke and her tenure as Oracle have occurred and this title addresses her return to the role.

 Oh great. So she is in some way out of the chair. I've documented my thoughts on this before.

Catwoman- The sexy side of Batman.

What the fuck? Is that all Selina is to you?  That's your synopsis?  I accept that it may be the reporter's words and not DC's, but something has gone wrong somewhere.

Birds of Prey- Barbara Gordon will still be part of the book.

Well, that's something at least.

Red Hood and the Outlaws- One of the most requested characters for a book is Jason Todd as an anti-hero.

What, over Cassandra Cain?  Seriously?  Over Stephanie Brown? of which...

Teen Titans- All four Robins star or co-star in a book.  (I know, what about Stephanie Brown?  It was hinted that we would see her in Batman Incorporated. Dan Didio said she worked better as Spoiler.)  This book is Tim Drake’s showcase. There will be some synergy between this and Superboy.

FIVE Robins.  There have been FIVE Robins.  You'd think DC would remember the girl wonder campaign, and why they brought Steph back in the first place.  I bet Bryan Q Miller is feeling reaaally happy about this.

Suicide Squad- Combining elements from previous iterations of the Squad and the Secret Six with Harley Quinn’s fashion sense from the Arkham games.

OK,  a character's fashion sense should not form part a pitch for a comic.  Unless you are writing a fashion comic.  Suicide Squad isn't a fashion comic.

Blackhawks- They wanted a book that had a G.I. Joe feel to it, so they went out and got a G.I. Joe writer to work on it.

Or, you could write a GI Joe book.  I still want to know where Zinda is.


I am not a happy fangirl.

*not really prizeworthy

DC milks it

From the source: 

"It’s no secret – especially if you’ve been reading this here blog – that SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE has press and fans alike talking about it. In fact, the book debuted at #1 on THE NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list for graphic novels.
So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the creative team behind SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE will be reuniting for a sequel.
It’s too early to talk art, story or release date"

So what, you waited a week, maybe 2, to get enough sales and press attention and you decide to do a sequel with NO thought as to the content of it?  That strikes me as mercenary and to be honest, just a bit crap.

Ben Caldwell Wonder Woman pitch

Ben Caldwell did the Wonder Woman strip in Wednesday Comics.  That, next to the Supergirl strip, was one of my favourites of the whole thing.  Caldwell has put a pitch to DC for a manga Wonder Woman.  Usually this would annoy me as I'm not really a fan of manga versions of American books, but his work is so lovely I'm quite excited about the idea.

Here is some artwork and pitch info he has posted:

Steve Trevor's looking rather hot!

If DC ever get serious and decide to start marketing their comics to girls, they should start with Wonder Woman.  As someone (can't remember who tho) on Twitter said recently, Wonder Woman is a warrior princess.  She should be easy to sell to a certain age bracket of girls.  She's got a well developed history, a great supporting cast, lots of interesting mythological stuff and the purity of a hero.  DC could make a lot of cash out of this, and produce some great comics at the same time.

I wish they'd get on with it.

You can see the (nearly full) pitch here and some character sketches here.

Addicted

Well I'm at my Dad's and it turns out I am truly addicted to the internets. So hello all.

Whilst looking for the Hal Jordan/Star Sapphire DC minimates (he's got his own lantern!) as mentioned by Sea of Green I found this:

Black Canary Ami Comi
Oh dear god that is ugly. I mean, really truly, bad. On the whole, this line sucks. The Huntress one, ok, actually not *too* bad looking, if you ignore or accept the huge perky boobs. Harley is playful and fun, could be improved with the removal of the fishnets, but is perfectly good with, and I have a total soft spot for the Diana figure.
The rest make me shudder or at the very least wonder why they bothered, (Zatanna and Cheetah, for instance).

Still, Huntress vs Batgirl, looks pretty special, would be better if Huntress had more clothes, but I can easily get over that gripe, cos it's so lovely anyway, and at least is in line with some depictions of her costume. :-)

I'm also hoping for Wonder Woman: Amazonia but I know I'm not going to get it.
Christmas makes me not buying stuff easier, I think. Except i spent £19 on comcis today and bought two books for me on Tuesday...

They bleedin' well cancelled Manhunter again

Arseholes. One of the few comics that doesn't treat it's women as Tits and Ass in any way, and it's been cancelled.

Arseholes.

No. No no no no no no

This is really not a good idea. Batman works a as a dark movie, yes. Batman is a dark character, that's fine that works for him. Superman isn't. Superman is about light and hope. That's partly why the Supes/Bats comics work so well - light vs dark. They bounce off each other.
Applying the same methodology and thinking to both of them will result in at least 1 fucked up movie. Plus, the darkness wasn't what made The Dark Knight movie so good. There were loads of other factors - plot, acting, characterisation, detail, thought.
Superman doesn't work when he's made dark. He's uplifting, he shows us there's a better way, and he shows us what the possibilities are. He's not Batman!

And also I thought Superman Returns was a damn good movie and Bardondon Routh made a good Clark and Supes. As a lifelong Christopher Reeve fan that's saying something! The only fault I can find with it is that more dialogue would have been good - it was very action orientated. That doesn't make it a bad movie, but it could have been better. And the apparent stalking doesn't bother me, at all.

For the love of god DC

I'm really really bored with all these Crisis-es. Really bored. It's been, what, 2 or 3 years of buildup? Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, 52, then Countdown, now final crisis. Have a I missed anything? 52 was good,I enjoyed that. I just wish they'd collected the extra bits at the end of the comics, the history of the DCU bits and the origins stories, into the trades. Or into another book I coudla bought. grrr.
anyway now they've killed off J'onn J'onzz. why? just to spice things up a bit? god i'm bored with all this.
and I couldn't get a copy of manhunter #31 or the robin/spoiler special because my shop had sold out of both in one day. grr. got them on order now which is ok.
I did get the new Buffy and supergirl issues though and my god they were good. Kara is now her own person, she's not a pale imitation of Clark. the storyline and Kara herself has depth and maturity. It was really really good. and the Buffy one was also fantastic. it took a while for this comic to get into the flow of things, but Wolves at the Gate has been a really really good story arc. Giant mecha Dawn fighting realy Dawn on the streets of tokyo! with a tail! Buffy jumping off the building to save Willow was also made of cool. and Dracula and Xander's conversation at the end. and buffy comforting Xander. so many good things. so many! loved it.
i also forgot to get Trinity #1. Should I buy? Should I wait for the trade? but oh how I love those 3 together. hmm. what to do, what to do.