That was three days ago? A Rundown of Wizard World Chicago

This past weekend I set aside my internship and other responsibilities to attend yet another year of Wizard World Chicago with Shions_Glasses. It’s awesome to see every year more and more women and girls attending the con—the first year I went there didn’t seem to be a lot of us, but this year there was lots. It’s a good time to be a fan girl.

I don’t know if it was just me, but Wizard World seemed tiny this year. There just didn’t seem to be as many panels or booths. Hell, the Nintendo booth wasn’t even there. A shame because I was looking forward to getting some more free Pokemon cards and downloading a rare Pokemon or mystic ticket for my copy of Diamond.

Marvel’s booth had me a bit disappointed. I’m always impressed with free swag, even if it’s just DC’s Countdown pins and Batman temporary tattoos. I was crossing my fingers for a John Cassidy X-Men poster or something like that. There was a glossy poster for Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter that was definitely cheesecakey, but a little outside my taste.

I was surprisingly impressed with Sony’s booth. They seemed to aiming for some accessibility by being kid friendly. The PaRappa the Rapper port for the PSP was getting a strong push, as was the strategy-RPG Jeanne D’Arc. I grabbed a gorgeous poster for Jeanne D’Arc, and Shions_Glasses was given a PaRappa t-shirt that’s about five times too large just for posing for a few pictures with the PaRappa mascot.

On Saturday afternoon we made sure to stop by the DC booth to get Will Pfeifer’s signature. Other than that, we didn’t have too much to do with the big two. Instead of going to any of the panels we spent our time flipping through back issues and wandering around Artist Alley. We picked up about 20 issues of Gotham Cental (all for $1.50!) and grabbed Spider-Woman: Origin and the Metal Gear Solid TPB for half-off. In the Artist Alley I searched out David Mack (as I do every year) and bought the second and third volumes of Kabuki. Before we left for the evening we caught some Beck (dubbed, yuck) in the anime screening room. I’m a bit annoyed that they were only showing Funimation licensed anime this year. What about Manga and Bandai? They were there too.

Saturday night was probably my favorite part of the convention, though it wasn’t specifically Wizard World-related. In my part of Chicago they were having a neighborhood festival, and in celebration my local comic book shop invited their regulars to come hang out and drink some beers. There wasn’t too many of us there, which was more than alright with me. I was content with talking the whole while with a woman who didn’t even stop at home to change out of her Catwoman costume. The whole experience was a bit surreal: where I grew up I bought my comics from a video rental store, so there was never a place for me to go and hang out and talk geek.

Sunday was more of buying. For 35% off we picked up the first volume of Monster (manga is always seriously lacking at WW), Coward, the three TPB volumes of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and Tales of the Slayers. We also stopped by Artist Alley and grabbed a copy of Winter Beard by Cathy Hannah and The Exploits of Aimless Boy by John Aston Golden, who is actually a regular at my comic book store. We waited in line for the Wheel of Doom and I won my cat a rubber band to play with (the topic I chose was Lunar: The Silver Star and they unfortunately didn’t know what the hell I was talking about) and Shions_Glasses won a hardcover book of Wizard covers, which he promptly gave away.

It was after this point that the con went sour. We stopped one last time at the Sony booth to check out the Heavenly Sword demo. Some guys came up behind us, and one of them decided that it’d be a ton of fun to verbally harass me. I don’t feel like going into too much detail, but his comments involved such things as upskirt shots, masturbation, and rape. Unable to contain my anger, I told him to please shut the hell up, and went on to furiously explain that rape is not a joke, it’s a hate crime, etc. but as he only seemed to get more belligerent with my every response. So I went to security and he disappeared into the milling crowd. At least I can say that security did take me seriously and even profusely apologized.

Yet getting harassed sucked any fun that was left out of the con. We did go afterward to check out the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, but it was difficult to enjoy.

With all the internet harassment that’s been going on lately in the game and comics community—the avalanche of racist comments regarding Resident Evil 5, the hijacking of GayGamer.com, and Girl-Wonder.org getting hacked— being harassed at the con just fit in too perfectly.

Changing of the Green Guard

One of my pet peeves in comic books is to fall in love with a character, book, and creative team, only to have it ripped from my overzealous heart. A few examples throughout my life: Rucka and Brubaker on the Batman comics, McDaniel on Nightwing, Lobdell and Bachelo on Generation X, and Vaughn on Ultimate X-Men. I understand that the changing of the guard on titles is the nature of comics and the price you pay for having superhero books that will never end. But what really gets me is when a stellar writer or team of writer and artist leave a book and are replaced by the crappiest comic book makers this side of Image. The worst case has to be Hama replacing Lobdell on Generation X. That was a shame.

I can smell this happening again and soon to one of my favorite books out there. I was stunned about how good She-Hulk actually was and took it upon myself to pick up all of the back issues and danced when I found the trade paper backs. It wasn't a perfect run, but the comic was unique, refreshing and fun. It revitalised my love for comics after reading countless clones of over-the-top dramatic comics. But now Slott is leaving to write Spider-man, a character I like, yet I find She-Hulk to be much more interesting and in greater need of good writers.

Slott's replacement is Peter David. I know that some might think having the guy who wrote He-Hulk for longer than I've been alive to be a good thing, but I just can't help but worry. I have my doubts that he can maintain the greatness of the book, and I know for a fact that the tone will be different. For instance, the postmodern jabs at comics and Marvel will be MIA. Marvel is lacking in great female super heroes--they need everyone they can get--and I feel that we're going to lose one more. (RIP Jean.)

Bits & Pieces

Better late than never, please be sure to check out the 6th Feminist SF Carnival over at the Hathor Legacy.

The next edition will be on November 20, and will be hosted Racy Li over at Racy Thoughts. The deadline is November 17.

Also, Ragnell and Kalinara have declared this week to be Cheesecake/Beefcake Appreciation Week. Here's my hunk of cheddar contribution:

This makes me giggle.

The 5th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans! We have a full plate to offer you: from G4 to Wizard, and from princesses to perverts.

Comics

First up, Jenn revisits an old debate between Ragnell and Scipio in her post Sexual Dimorphism and Feminism and looks at the scientific position on sexual dimorphism in the human brain. She notes

Fundamentally, I and other feminists must adapt our philosophy to incorporate the findings of science, and vocalize the fact that science cannot and should not be used to justify unequal treatment.

Over at Snap Judgements , Carla laments Joss Whedon’s impending run on Runaways by bringing up examples of his treatment of Kitty and Emma in Astonishing X-Men. In Unscrewing the Inscrutable, Marionette makes someone at Marvel take a moment to think. Jeremy versus the X-Men and finds a link between comics and being a stay-at-home-dad. And jlg1 looks closely at Pantha in Nobody helped me. Nobody cared.

Soyoerika discusses breast physics, bras and Arisia over at Zamaron:

Brothers and Sisters, I invite you to join me in a round of boggling at this
so-called character design. While I can buy the impracticality of the eighties
outfit, I simply cannot wrap my brain around the current outfit at all.

To go along with this, Kalinara offers up her analysis of Manly Men and Buxom Babes. Meanwhile, Ragnell studies Black Panther and Storm’s first fight as a married couple. She also covers for us the sexist trainwreck known as Wizard Magazine’s “How to Draw” series and the reactions from the female superhero fan community found on livejournal.

We’re all holding our breaths waiting to see who’s going to be cast as Wonder Woman, and Amy Reads over at Arrogant Self-Reliance is no exception. While many of us have an inkling of who we’d maybe want to see, Amy’s main concern is that the actress cast demonstrates the wonder of her namesake.

Web Comics

Though she’s been a fan of Scott’s Kurtz’s PvP for awhile, Robyn discusses her hesitation of remaining a regular reader in her post In Which I am Annoyed by PvP.

Also, make sure to check out how to draw comics the Planet Karen way.

Writing

Cassiphone, at Velvet Threads writes of the camaraderie and literary experience that she encountered after sending in a story to Fantasy and Science Fiction for the Slushbomb. Racy Li wonders why there isn’t and makes her case for there to be more of a connection between science fiction and erotic romance in Erotic Romance: Science fiction’s forgotten stepsister. Malachi explores the relationship between fiction and feminism by looking at the “princess syndrome” in fantasy. In the post On Cartography and Dissection, little light writes beautifully about being the Other.

Video games

Baring all about her love for video games, Blitzgal interprets the implications and frustrations about being a woman gamer, and gives a few helpful suggestions on how games could be better in her post But why do her boobs have to jiggle like that? And at her blog, Wonderland, Alice gives a run-down of Games for the Ladies. Lake Desire points us over to Fiona Cherbak’s piece, the Game Industry’s 100 Most Influential Women and also directs attention to some of the misogynistic elements in the ever-popular Katamari Damacy.

On the feminist gamer livejournal community, tekanji asks for input on how to measure feminist elements in video games. At Old Grandma Hardcore, Tim writes about Grandma’s semi-disastrous appearance for a discussion on women gamers for G4’s Attack of the Show. Bonnie Ruberg asks if there is there a gender divide in the narratology vs. ludology debate.

Television

In Life on Mars: Isn’t that where men come, BetaCandy gives us the goods on BBCAmerica’s show, Life on Mars. Good (as in feminist), it ain’t:

The minute a young woman with stereotypical prettiness gets a closeup, I know
she’s either going to get hurt or get laid.

Mickle, over at The True Confessions of an Hourly Bookseller identifies the Women in Refrigerator syndrome in the Season 2 of Lost. Beware the spoilers! Desdenova takes NBC’s new show Heroes to task for the poor treatment of its two token female characters. Sageness posts her thoughts and discussion with thete1’s about gender and race in Stargate Atlantis.



Anime

We only have one anime-related post for this edition of the carnival, and it’s about a subject that’s near and dear to my own heart: Cattygurl discusses some of the Kick-ass Women of Anime.

Reviews

Martin guides us through Ursula K. LeGuin's young adult novel Voices. Sleestak informs us about Shanna the She-Devil by Tony DeZuniga at Lady, That’s My Skull. Cassiphone looks at the female protagonists of Kylie Chan’s White Tiger and Tim Pratt’s True Adventures of Ranger Girl. And Heidi Meely gushes about Virgin Comics’ Devi.

Megatrouble rebuts Thomas Disch’s claim “that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly and Ursula K. Le Guin’s contributions to science fiction are overrated” in her post Shelly, Russ, and Le Guin: How to Hide the Canons; Or, What Could Have Been a Really Fun Party if Not for Thomas Disch.



The Harlan Ellison Incident

The feminist SF fan community acted in outrage when Harlan Ellison groped Connie Willis at the Hugo Awards. In response to the incident, Kadymae writes her manifesta Nice Girls Don’t… in which she states

if it had been me up there on the stage at the Hugos and Harlan Ellison put a hand where it didn't belong, at the very least he would've been shoved away and asked, "What do you think you're doing, asshole?"

Yonmei points out that Harlan Ellison has always been a sexist creep. Lis Riba reported on the whole incident herself and asks, “What does a woman have to do to get a little respect in this industry?"

Fandom

Peaseblossom, in her post How Much XP for a Blow Job? discusses the sexism that some women have to endure just to play a game:

Telling someone (or implying it, or complaining about it to a third party) that
she gets special treatment from the gm because they're romantically involved is
as adolescent as it is sexist.

Becky encounters in her post Hey, didn’t I used to write for a website called GeekGirls? Time Out New York’s idea of nerd girl, or rather, the NILF.

Melody Kitty loves being a fangirl, but she’s sick and tired of the objectification and depowering of superhero women. In another post, she challenges the geek fan community as a whole to stop stereotyping and be more observant of women within the community. Similarily, Willow wonders how we could open up dialogue with fanboys away from stereotypes to prove that we care about female characters in If The Fanboys Think We're Jealous, How Do We Win?

And last but not least, make sure you swing by Ladyjax’s blog, she’s holding a call of submissions for Boom Tube: a zine about Race, Culture and Fandom. Issue one’s theme will be dedicated to fans of color focusing on their experiences.



Thanks for reading! Mark your calendars; Revena at The Hathor Legacy will be hosting the next carnival on October 16.

For Real?

According to Graham Cracker's site, (sorry if this is old news) tomorrow I'm going to find out who the father of baby Helena is.

My money's on Sam, especially after last month's issue. But I have to say that I'm surprised that we'll learn her dad's identity so soon--I expected the whole "who's-the-father" plotline to be dragged out for longer.

Face, Flyers and Comics

First, before I talk about Wizard World, I want to direct your attention over to New Game Plus. Lake Desire’s put up the third edition of the Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans. It’s not to be missed!

The Flyers

Mid morning, Shions_Glasses and I met up with Dan Jacobson (who really is an incredibly sweet guy). We chatted, and then took to the convention floor with an important mission: handing out Girl-Wonder.org flyers to the comic book masses.

In the past I’ve distributed flyers for various causes before, not to mention that last year I was responsible for giving out condoms on my college campus. It’s always been a bit nerve wracking for me, as I’m not the most outgoing person. But it was different at Wizard World. While I did have to initially muster up the courage so that I was able to approach strangers with a certain amount of confidence, I found that once I started, I couldn’t stop. Our plan of attack was to hit the major exhibitors booths, like Wizard, Marvel and DC, and work our way back to Artist Alley. This included slipping flyer’s randomly in Dark Horse bags, and sliding others into hardcover Frank Cho nudie books. I placed some at the wrestling ring’s booth, and others at booths that were seemingly empty. (Which is how some were placed at Peter David’s booth.) Shions_Glasses and Dan focused more on the fanboys, while I handed out flyers mainly to the fangirls. Nearly everyone was incredibly nice, even supportive, and it was awesome to see many of the women in Artist Alley get excited when I explained Girl Wonder’s mission. My absolute favorite moment was when Shion gave a flyer to Greg Land. Think he’ll visit the site?

Because we received such a great reception, I truly think it’d be worthwhile for Girl Wonder to have it's own booth at Wizard World next year. I’d be all over volunteering to sit at it.

The Well-Known

One of the best parts of Wizard World is seeing those that you admire. While resting by the Snackoteria, we saw none other than Dirk Benedict, aka Face from the A-Team (or you know, Lt. Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica). Shions_Glasses took pictures of him ordering popcorn, but alas, I accidentally erased them. (Sadly, I lost all my pictures from Wizard World). Shion also ran up to shake his hand—I hear he’s a nice a guy.

David Mack had his own booth at Wizard World--just like last year--which he tirelessly manned on his own. I’m a huge fan of his work, and whenever I’ve gone up to talk to him I become hopelessly tongue-tied. No matter; just like last year, he patiently listened to me stumbled over my words, gave me a deal on a couple of his books, and then presented to me, after I gave him a Girl Wonder flyer, a beautiful print which he gave to me for free. A day later and I’m still swooning.

The Loot

I pretty much bought all the comics that were on my list:
--All issues of Catwoman that were penned by Will Pfeifer that I didn’t already have
--The second TPB of She-Hulk from Dan Slott’s first run
--The third TPB of Gotham Central
--The first TPB of Batgirl: Year One
--The first volume of the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga

Not to mention that I learned how the play the Pokemon card game, and loved every second of it.

Ja, mata.

Late tomorrow, Shions_Glasses and I are leaving for Japan, and will be gone for three weeks. I’m not sure the next time I’ll be able to post, but I’ll try to keep things updated here as much as possible. ::Blows internet kiss:: See you around!

It's Like A Holiday

We're a couple days away from Wizard World! I have a pretty long list of comics I'm looking for and have been holding out from buying, so I'm super excited.

I'll really be packing it in. Since I'm leaving the country on Sunday, I'll have to squish in panels, the exhibitors floor, and the artist alley all in one day. Not to mention that I'll be handing out girl-wonder.org flyers while doing so, and meeting up with the fantastic Dan Jacobson.

Also, a plug: when walking through the artist alley, be sure to stop by local Chicago artist Sarah Becan's booth. I adore her work.

Masculinity, Nerds and Me

In one way or another, I found myself in the company of a bunch of fanboys this past weekend. At first, I was thrilled. What new games would I play? (Super Mario Strikers) What comics would I be able to pick up and read for free on the sly? (JLA #0)

And at first, it was good. I felt accepted. I held my own in Strikers even though it was my first time playing. I got to talk about Catwoman and Chris Bachelo. Nerd talk uninhibited.

But then, unexpectedly, it started. Faggot. Pussy this, pussy that. Vagina this, slut that. Dumbfounded and silent, I held my tongue. Sat rigidly on the couch, smoothed out my skirt, buried my face in a comic.

It was naive of me not to expect this. And I thought that I’d be prepared for this situation, where talk turns sour and everything becomes an insult. The amount of sexism and homophobia was staggering. I thought I’d be able to make some quick witty comebacks (filled with insightful knowledge) that would enlighten or at least make them shut up. After all the theory I’ve studied. Everything I’ve written on this blog, everything I’ve read on other’s blogs. You’d think I’d be able to come up with something. The only time that I was able to say anything was when one of the guys asked if I was looking at my own boobs. I shot him down so quickly and defensively that I surprised myself. I shocked him, and I’m sure the group was happy when I left—I was the bitch who ruined all the fun.

I first I felt exasperated. Do these guys represent the majority of the fan community that I want to be a part of? I mean, I desperately want to be part of some sort of group of people who share the same interests as I. But can that even occur because I’m a woman? At Wizard World I’ll be handing out flyers for girl-wonder.org as a way to be proactive, as an attempt to further create a space for women in geekdom. Yet, after my intensive nerd run-in, passing out flyers doesn’t seem to be good enough. Writing in this blog doesn’t seem to be good enough.

As a few days have now passed and my hopelessness has ceded a bit. I’ve been thinking and thinking about the whole situation and managed to come up with this: the guys I was around were taking part in a form of alternative masculinity. They’ve suffered the consequences of not being traditionally masculine: they’re not rich, they don’t have tight bodies or physical prowess. A way for them to prove their masculinity is through wins and game scores, and extensive comic book knowledge. Another way is verbal; by using sexist and homophobic slurs, masculinity can be proved by effeminizing their peers.

I’m not interested in games, comics, anime, what have you, in order to prove anything. My interest is that I simply like them. I think the guys I came in contact with initially started out the same way, but found that as they grew older and had their masculinity questioned, they had to use their hobbies as a way to prove themselves. I, as a geek girl, stand in direct opposition to that, which is why I failed, after the first couple of hours, to find a common ground with them.

Access to Power

Thanks to When Fangirls Attack, I've come across Megham Daum's article for the LA Times that discusses Batwoman's lesbianism. She discusses in her article that strong women in the media have to be lesbians:

I'm allowed to say this because I'm secretly gay too. Or at least I try to be. What choice do I have? Apparently "lesbian" is now the de facto label for any woman who asserts her own tastes and opinions and does not necessarily need to get married tomorrow. Granted, this might be confusing for people who lack opinions and their own tastes, and are desperate to settle down, but happen to be actual lesbians. But, according to the current cultural mind-set, a heterosexual woman who has her act together simply does not exist in nature.

Is it any wonder, then, that we (at least we in the media, who have high rates of secret lesbianism) are so fascinated by Batwoman's newest incarnation? DC Comics might be touting the idea of diversity, but I suspect what we're really seeing is an antidote to the rampant girliness of our era presented — how's this for ironic? — in the safest way possible.

If there's anything scarier than a strong lesbian, it's a strong straight woman. Now there's a superhero we could use.

I understand what Daum is trying to get at: that straight women, or rather femininity, is not viewed in our society as a bastion of strength or success. That in our society, lesbians can fudge the rules a bit, and be viewed as strong because, well, if you're a lesbian, you have to be masculine.

But I have to say, when the label "lesbian" is used in our society, the context is derogatory. Being a lesbian in our society is not a positive thing. When people call Condoleezza Rice (Daum's example) a lesbian, it is because she's being thought of as less of a woman. Are people really impressed with Rice's amount of power? Sure, they may be threatened by her position and whatever power she may yield, and that is because she's a woman. A straight woman. To call her a lesbian is to try to take away some of the power she might have from being in the public eye and serving the current administration. To call her a lesbian is an attempt to further other her and cast her in a bad light.

As far as DC making the current incarnation of Batwoman a lesbian: it's to sell books. DC in no way believes that straight women can't be powerful, that a straight woman superhero isn't the answer to the typical male (straight) superhero. Most of the superhero's that we read about are straight: Wonder Woman is straight, She-Hulk is straight, Phoenix is soo straight, I could go on and on. I can only count on one hand the number of lesbian superhero's I'm aware of.

To say that in our society that only lesbians are allowed to be "powerful" is drastically missing the point. To be a lesbian in our society is about being an outsider. It's about having less privileges. It's about being looked at as just a lesbian-period-and hardly anything else.

Too Easy.

I know, I know, I know. Complaining about IGN, complaining about this, is too easy. The feature obviously distasteful, noticeably sexist. But I can’t stay away.

I can’t stay away because of the cute blurbs about catfights for wank-fests. And I can’t stay away because of images like these:

So who had this costume first?

Four breasts are better than two:

The pain of wedgies:

and of a disjointed hip:


It’s like a car accident.

Link via When Fangirls Attack.

IGN: Digging a Deeper Hole, One Slice of Cheesecake at a Time

I don't know if someone's already wrote about this before--the article is kind of old--but I inadvertantly and unfortunately came across IGN's: Top Ten X-Babes while wandering around the internet.

Never before have I cackled (while experiencing rage and alienation all at the same time).

Yet, I can't tell what's more insulting: the blurbs or being reminded of the way that some of my favorite female characters have been drawn.

One Year Old: Robotech Repost

I've realized that it's been a year since I started blogging--in the beginning I had a Xanga blog. It took a few months for me to figure out that Blogger was better than Xanga, which prompted my move. I'm glad I did--switching to Blogger has made me part of a larger community, one that I can partake in and learn from. Thanks to everyone who's made me feel welcomed, and thank you to everyone who stops by.

In honor of blogging about feminism and pop culture for a year, I'm re-posting a favorite Xanga entry of mine: my first shot at reviewing a comic.
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From October 11, 2005

A Review of Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles

We've all been waiting a good, long time for the next installation of the Robotech Universe and with the first issue of Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, it has begun.

The Cover: It's okay--I don't think it accurately betrays Omar Dogan's talent however. Rick's head is way too small for his body, it doesn't work with the perspective. Also it seems so cluttered, but I do admit that I am a fan of minimalistic covers that go for the visual bang.

The Art and Coloring: Excellent. I love Dogan's work and the colors are vibrant. There's an anime quality, but it's not just "cheap imitation." Definately eye candy.

Character Designs: They're alright. However, I'm not too much of a fan of the uniform--they're not snazzy like they were in the original Macross series, however. Lisa looks good, though not too much older. (Are they afraid to draw an attractive 40-50 something woman? Are wrinkles that unsightly?) Rick does look older and very manly which I'm somewhat disappointed with. I loved how in the original anime he was shorter and more slender than the other characters--plus when you're Admiral, do you really need to be so beefy? Jean Grant's design is good, but what's with that huge purple bow? We don't really get to see Minmei, just the back of her head with a hairstyle that looks way too similar to what it was in her little movie in the original. It's kind of like "Look! I'm Chinese because I have this oriental hair piece!" All in all, it's a mixed bag.

Story: Here's where it gets complicated. I can handle flawed character designs and goofy covers but....well wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's an amount of back story missing when we start off, which is okay, I can deal with that. Either the movie or future issues will handle this. However, I don't think we'll get a step-by-step story that deals with "From the Stars" to this issue, but there doesn't need to be. There's lots of science lingo, mystery and governmental council bickering. There's blood, death, and drama. I'll wait to learn more before I judge these aspects of the storyline--there's only one thing I have a contention with: the treatment of Lisa or rather the attitude of "We don't know how to write for female characters--especially the strong ones!"

What is painfully obvious is that they're going to make Lisa Rick's motivation. She deserves more than that--they did such a good job with her in the original series. To make her pregnant, hurt/hospitalized and miscarry is just rediculous. It's akin to what Lucas did to Padme in Star Wars. They take their strongest woman character--Lisa is the head in command--and make her weak and pregnant. Even though this is the future the problem of women handling family and career has not yet been solved (and neither have the problems with pregnancy been solved either.) We then have Rick saying something along the lines of "I can't wait for Lisa to resign her commission--you can't be Admiral and a mother." This drives me mad--Lisa's father could be Admiral and a father--the double standards, I don't get it. Oh right, Lisa's a lady. Okay, so we start the story off with Lisa and the SDF-3 getting shot down by Edwards, this in turn establishes Rick's hatred for Edwards and then puts Rick in position to be the leading Admiral. I understand that Yune and others are working somewhat with a preexisting story--they have to put the pieces together. However, it's lazy writing to take out your strongest female character, to make her just a womb that has been victimized.

And did anyone else think that the scene where Jean tells Rick about the Lost Baby is horribly trite?

I'm ranting, and it's probably pretty uncomprehensible, but bear with my anger. It's just that I'm so disappointed--I had expected too much, I guess. I was suprised when I went to read the message boards at Robotech.com how many people were so sad about the miscarriage etc. etc.
I will continue to read the rest of the series and I will see the movie. I will remain, however, apprehensive about the treatment of Robotech's female characters.
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Just to note: I did stop reading the comics and I haven't seen the movie yet. I'm a little afriad to.

Etta is a Role Model

Recently at Written World, Ragnell expressed her appreciation for the Golden Age Etta Candy. I’ve loved that incarnation of Etta ever since I came across her: her strength and self-confidence. How she always knew what she wanted. She was a leader, and could help Wonder Woman out of a bind. And most importantly, she took up space.

How could I not write a poem for her? (Granted, at the time when I tried to bring in a Wonder Woman-themed poem every week into my advanced workshop. I admit I'm a bit embarrassed to post this poem, since it's pretty different from the way I usually write. I just had to rhyme it, Golden Age dialogue is so wonderfully cheesy.)

I echo Ragnell’s sentiments, I want Etta returned to her initial self.

Wonder Woman’s Sidekick: Etta Candy

“When you’ve got a man, there’s nothing you can do with him—but candy you can eat.” --Etta Candy

A former patient of Diana Prince’s,
fan-favorite Etta Candy wasn’t your typical sidekick.
She wasn’t quick, strong, or righteous,
was rather, instead, addicted to three things—
sweets, girls and Wonder Woman.

Leader of the sorority sisters, the Holliday Girls,
Etta with her scout smarts and red bloomers
could be contacted by mental radio,
would come to untie Wonder Woman with her enthusiastic “Woo Woo!”

Etta assembled an army of one-hundred glamorous girls,
who she lorded over with a plump fist and box of bonbons.
Together they defeated Dr. Poison’s lecherous horde,
then promptly threw a magnificent slumber party as an award.

In 1986, dear Etta was given a facelift—
she lost pounds, height and self-esteem.
Etta got stationed as an Air Force Lieutenant, instead of queen,
and married Wonder Woman’s longtime boyfriend, Steve.

Swoon

I admit, I was skeptical when I heard that Catwoman was going to be a mom. In fact, I was kind of pissed. A short list of my frustrations regarding motherhood:
1) The societal pressure that every woman should have kids
2) The perception that you aren't a real woman until you have a kid
3) Once you do have kids you can't win, be it the division between work and home, staying at home--No matter what, it's impossible to be the perfect mother, yet our society expects nothing less

It's the kind of topic that makes me want to hide my head in the sand. But then I read Ragnell's series of Mama-thon posts, and then I read this post over at P.M. McRae's Take Back The Knight (which is hosted by the invaluable Girl-wonder.org). I realized that comics could help me sort out my (ill) thoughts towards motherhood, and that I owed it to myself to check out Catwoman.

I love it. Catwoman is my absolute favorite comic right now. The covers, the art, the dialogue, the story--all perfect. I adore the characters and I appreciate how Selina is portrayed as a mother.

And this page from issue 55 is the absolute best:

Deja Vu

From Ultimate X-Men #71:

"I think Ms. Grey constructed split personalities to help her deal with having mutant powers. Nothing more."

My first thought: "God! They just can't go the route of X-3!"

And while the Ultimate's Phoenix storyline clearly won't, I was reminded all too often how comics have to make room for their blockbuster counterparts. I know the movies probably bring in a good deal of readers--hell, the early 90's Fox cartoon was my introduction to X-Men comics--I can't help but wonder what kind of pressure there is to include (awful) elements from the movies.

Cover Girl

Recently, I was nagged by a co-worker to pick up Whiteout for the great story and lead female character. I'd heard a lot about it, so I decided to--finally--order it used and cheap off the internet. It arrived the other day. Excited, I tore open the box and set my eyes on this:

Visible breasts (separated and lifted!) underneath a parka? I know it's a parka, the comic takes place in Antarctica. I'd thought my co-worker told me she wasn't sexualized in the comic. (I do have to say, after flipping through the comic it appears as though she really isn't). And what the hell is wrong with her lips?

Thanks Frank Miller!

Smash

Over at A Blog Found on a Garbage Heap, inspired by the post "And he's hot, too...," I commented on how at my job, I deal with over 100 different faculty members. It can get hairy, and I end up getting pissed off a lot, especially because we've had problems with harassment. In order to help deal with the frustration I've taped up this picture of the Hulk so that my rage can be experienced vicariously. (This isn't the first time I've done something like this. When I was in high school I started carrying around a Hulk Pez dispenser when my parents got divorced.):

We've temporarily relocated the office this summer, so I thought I'd print out a new picture. I thought this time a picture of She-Hulk would be better. I dumbly searched in Google images for it. I say dumb because this is what I came up. (What I'm comfortable with posting, that is.):

Lame. After much searching however, I did find this:

Much better.

A Family Tragicomic

It took an afternoon locked out of my apartment to get me to walk the twenty minutes to Quimby's. I'm glad I did because I happened upon Alison Bechdel's new comic Fun Home.

Here's a little blurb about it from Publisher's Weekly: This autobiography by the author of the long-running strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, deals with her childhood with a closeted gay father, who was an English teacher and proprietor of the local funeral parlor. Fun Home refers both to the funeral parlor, where he put makeup on the corpses and arranged the flowers, and the family's meticulously restored gothic revival house, filled with gilt and lace, where he liked to imagine himself a 19th-century aristocrat.

It is amazing. The art, my god, the writing. I'm totally in love with it and am taking my time with it, pouring over every panel, gesture and word balloon.

Shojo Power

This exhibition has recently come to my school. It's not up completely, so I can't yet comment extensively about it, but so far it's awesome. Original CLAMP artwork. Watch me swoon.

From the website: Shojo Manga! Girl Power! is an internationally touring exhibition. The show includes more than 200 artworks from 23 artists who have contributed to the development of modern Shojo Manga (girl comics) in Japan since World War II. The medium reflects the evolution of the social roles of Japanese girls and women during this period. The exhibition also documents how the visual composition of manga mirrors the developments in Japanese aesthetics.

NAEA Convention Reception, March 24, 5—8 pm

College-Wide Reception, March 28, 5—7 pm

Both receptions feature lectures by Curator Masami Toku and a Shojo Manga artist at 5:30 pm.

This makes me happy, especially since I've been hearing a lot of snooty commentary recently about anime and manga: that it's a sexist, perverted artform. That aspect does, of course, exist in the artforms, but that's like saying all American film is porn, or that all American TV is reality TV. Not the best comparison, but you know what I mean. Sometimes I just can't shake the feeling that people write manga and anime off quickly because it's foreign, an Eastern artform. The best parts of manga and anime is when it challenges societal conventions, such as playing with gender or promoting pacifism.