Review: The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For

The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For.  Alison Bechdel (writer/artist).  Graphic Novels/Comics.

So I have a confession.  Though I have known Bechdel’s name for years and years (I went to art school and studied comics for christ’s sake), her book Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was my first real immersion year into her work earlier this year.  If you read that review, you know I was pretty blown away.  This collection, blew me so away I don’t even know how to articulate it.

One advantage to learning about something suddenly and getting to absorb it all at once (or waiting for too long and absorbing it all at once – see my Y The Last Man post) is that you get the unique experience of just drowning in a new discovery – head first – and without having to look up.  I read Bechdel’s Essential Dykes in less than three days (and since it’s 390 full page, text heavy strips, that is no joke) but I could NOT put it down.  I just fell head over heels in love with these characters and all their beauty and flaws.

The Good: The absolute best thing about reading Bechdel’s work in a collection like this, maybe especially for me as an artist was the amazing experience of seeing her growth as an artist.  Read over time, because Bechdel was a great cartoonist from page one, I don’t know how obvious her evolution would be, but read all in a big chunk like this it was hard to miss the amazing transformation.  Check out the page below, an early strip in the collection from 1987 and featuring Clarice and Toni:

And a strip from 1999, featuring the same characters.

It’s just amazing to see the development, the characters are so much more refined (and defined) their looks really having settled in over the years, and Bechdel’s inking has so much more depth, and she’s willing (and able) to tackle much more complex panels, with greater depth of field, without confusing the eye – a real struggle for many cartoonists.  Every line seems considered and confident, unlike the early strips, where she was still incredibly competent, but in retrospect obviously still finessing her work.  It’s the kind of evolution that a cartoonist of Bechdel’s caliber will probably continue with her entire career and it’s a beautiful thing to behold.

Also fantastic is the subject matter, which Bechdel tackles unflinchingly, whether it be the intimate details of relationships, or potentially unpopular political issues.  It’s a slice of life that very few people ever get to see from the inside in such an honest and open way and we should all be grateful for the opportunity – I know I am.  I think because of Bechdel’s incredible talent as a cartoonist, her writing often gets ignored (I’m half doing it myself) but I do think it’s important to point out, that it’s the very subtlety with which she writes that is so brilliant.  I rarely think about her words – and that – in my opinion – means it’s working – they are effortless and real.  As it should be.

The Bad: Nothing bad to report.  There were times when the political tirades of Mo (or various others at different points in their lives) wore a little thin, but had I been reading the strips as they were released as opposed to in a couple high intensity sittings I don’t think I would have thought twice about them as anything other than an accurate and important reflection of what was going on in the strip.

The only other negative I can offer, is a completely personal reaction I had to some of the material.  Because it is so honest about relationships in particular, including the ways that people often cheat or stray when together for long periods of time, I found that aspect a little depressing.  As someone in a long term relationship, and someone who is too familiar with the horrors of cheating, I sometimes felt like giving up on my real life relationship…that if these amazing smart beautiful characters were incapable of staying faithful, maybe it was just an impossible task period…whether you’re real or fictional.  But, personal depression aside, Bechdel actually deals with all the relationships – cheating or no – so realistically (some characters work through those hurdles and stay together and others don’t) – that I can’t REALLY complain – it’s no fault of the material – but of the world we live in.  But it sometimes made me unbelievably sad.  But again, my reaction to those complex relationships was also likely a symptom of reading it in three giant sittings.

The Ugly:  Nothing.  Let’s look at another gorgeous strip, if only for proof of that:

4.5 Stars.

Review: Funny Misshapen Body

Funny Misshapen Body.  Jeffrey Brown (writer/illustrator).  Graphic Novel/Comics.

If you’re expecting an unbiased review of Brown’s latest book, Funny Misshapen Body, you’re totally in the wrong place.  I’m a huge Brown fan and really, he can pretty much do no wrong with me.  That said, I really enjoyed his latest offering.

Funny Misshapen Body is essentially the story of Brown’s evolution as a cartoonist, and maybe a to a lesser degree his evolution as a person.  Like most of his work, the story is not told sequentially, but in random vignettes that shuttle back and forth in time.

The Good: As always with Brown, he has an incredible way of telling a story simply and honestly – no matter how embarrassing.  In Funny Misshapen Body he covers everything from having Crohn’s disease in highschool, to the break up of his first real relationship, and including the horror of trying to get started as an artist and going through the ‘drunk college experience’ – Brown cuts no corners and spares nobody – least of all himself – and it is that honest unflinching look at his life that so endears him to me time after time.

Brown’s signature scratchy style (which you get to see how he came to in this book) remains one of the many ways that I think Brown keeps things honest – drawing straight on the page in pen, with no pencils done beforehand – almost forces the authenticity of his work.  There’s no chance to filter, water down, or second guess it.  He just draws what he feels and for me, it just works on so many levels.

The Bad: I wouldn’t really rate this as bad, but though I found the subject matter here fascinating, it was slightly less effective for me than I expected, I think in part due to the non-sequential style.  I’m not exactly sure why, because even though an evolution seems like a sequential process, it’s really not.  There are so many ups and downs and back and forths as you try to figure out who you are in life, and what kind of artist you will be that the non-sequential aspect shouldn’t be a problem – and I have loved that unique element in his other works  – but it wasn’t as effective here for me.  I can’t quite put my finger on why it was less effective for me here.  Perhaps the fact that the vignettes seemed like more fleshed out fully realized stories – longer and more complex than his other stories – and so the out of sequence order became more confusing here, whereas in a work like Unlikely, it was almost impossible to tell things were out of order anyway…I’m really not sure.  But at the end of the day it was a bit less successful than I hoped.

The Ugly: For me, there’s not an ugly panel here.  For people that are not fans of Brown’s scratchy cartooning style I suppose this is not the book for them.  As I’ve said to people that are not on board with Brown’s style before, whether you like it or not, you have to remember that it is a stylistic choice he is making.  This is not the only way Brown draws, but he chooses to draw these small, kind of impromtu and unrehearsed panels as a way of further conveying his message.  It’s one of the best things about cartoonists that write and draw their own books – the art is so integral to whatever they are trying to tell you – and in my opinion it’s never more true than with Brown’s work.  If you don’t get it, you don’t get it, and that’s fine.  But for those of us who “get it” there’s nothing better.

4.0 Stars

Review: The Monsters of Templeton

The Monsters of Templeton.  Lauren Groff.  Fiction.

The only real problem with Lauren Groff’s lovely debut novel is that I read her short fiction collection Delicate Edible Birds first and gave it 5 Stars (a rarity on this blog) – and so she had set the bar incredibly high in my mind.  She didn’t quite clear the bar of Delicate but I was thoroughly engrossed, enchanted, and enthralled by Groff’s Templeton world.

The Good: Groff sets the stage beautifully as Willie Upton returns to her childhood home in infamous Templeton (loosely based on James Fenimore Cooper’s Cooperstown) with her tail between her legs after an affair gone awry with her professor and a pregnancy to show for it.

The book opens with a Loch Ness type monster long believed to exist in the town’s nearly bottomless lake to be found dead.  It’s a great entry into the book – a book of myth, history, legend, and the loss of innocence that comes with development both in a town and in a person.  It sets a perfect stage for everything that Willie learns and the evolution that must come with those lessons.

Without a doubt however, the most fascinating aspect of Groff’s book – is her sublime blending of the contemporary story of Willie, with the history of Templeton as she searches for clues from the town’s past to find her real father.  It’s a rich tapestry that must have been quite an undertaking to weave so perfectly.  There were areas that dragged for me a little personally, but only I think because I was sometimes anxious to get back to Willie and her more present (and pressing) woes.  Overall, and especially as a framework to hang Willie’s story on, it worked tremendously.

The Bad: There is nothing really bad to report in this book.  The ending overall, is the only part that didn’t work for me as well as I would have liked.  I found myself disappointed in the final arc, particularly in how Groff handles the pregnancy, which toyed with my emotions unnecessarily and for me personally didn’t resolve as authentically as I had come to expect in the pages prior.

Additionally (and I won’t ruin the ending by getting too detailed) but I felt the resolution with Willie finding her father was a bit neat and phoned in considering it was the arc that held the entire book together.

Clarissa’s arc also faltered a bit at the end.  She’s a character I loved, but like the arc of Willie’s father, the end of Clarissa’s arc is a bit abrupt and too easy…it didn’t feel earned the way the rest of the book did.

So I suppose I did feel let down by the ending of Monsters in general, as I liked all of these arcs (the pregnancy, the father search, and Clarissa) but I didn’t feel they concluded with the same levels of excellence I had come to expect based on the rest of the book.  As complaints go, not so bad.

The Ugly. Nothing.  This book is stunningly written.  Groff’s prose is absolutely pitch perfect, with not a word out of place.

4.0 Stars

Review: Marvel Divas #1…Blech, The Things I Do For You People…

Marvel Divas #1 Variant Cover – which was $7.99 bagged and boarded at my shop…suffice to say I did not purchase it

Marvel Divas #1.  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (writer), Tonci Zonjic (illustrator).  Fiction – Graphic Novel/Comics.

As promised, I read this first issue of Marvel Divas in my local comic book shop, but did not buy, and I’m here to report back…the short version is:

“thank the gods I didn’t waste my money.”

The Good: Zonjic’s art is FANTASTIC.  I LOVE it.  I would buy almost any story with this art.  And when I say almost any story I mean really, almost any story, except this one.  And that my friends, is where the good ends.

The Bad: When Marve/Quesada/Aguirre-Sacasa pitched this to the world as Sex & The City meets The Marvel Universe (i.e. superheroes), they were not freaking kidding.  This is not only a bad episode of Sex & The City in the pages of a comic book, but it is plotline for plotline actually taken from Sex & The City.

[SPOILERS]

The characters here are our heroes – Hell Cat, Photon, The Black Cat, and Firestar and then the Sex & The City characters Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte – all thrown into a blender and blended until they emerge TOTALLY NEW AND DIFFERENT…or wait, no, that’s not right, I guess I meant until they emerge, even bigger stereotypes than they entered.  Which is pretty impressive, considering.

The plot line has (as was much speculated on this blog and elsewhere) Firestar getting cancer.  They’re not saying it’s breast cancer, and maybe they’ll wisely pick something else, but I’d bet even money at this point that it’s gonna be breast cancer.  For the uninitiated, Samantha from Sex & The City had breast cancer.

Hell Cat wrote a book.  Carrie from Sex & The City wrote a book.

The Black Cat is trying to open her own detective agency and her “boyfriend” goes with her to look at the space she’s considering.  He offensively offers to pay for the space because she cannot afford it and she turns him down because (rightly so) how will she look at herself in the mirror in the morning without shame.  In Sex & The City, Carrie is going to be evicted if she cannot buy her New York City apartment, which she cannot afford and her on again off again boyfriend writes her a check to pay for the apartment.  She rips up the check because…well, (rightly so) she would not be able to look at herself in the mirror in the morning.

Oh, and one of The Black Cat’s “pals” says she wishes she could loan her the money for the office space.  And Carrie’s friends also wish out loud that they could loan her the money for the apartment.  The differences here are just…wow…we’re really breaking new ground here.

Oh, Photon has trouble dealing with intimacy and runs away from any kind of commitment, fancying herself an independent woman.  Samantha from Sex & The City also has trouble dealing with intimacy and runs away from any kind of commitment, fancying herself an independent woman. I’m sure they’ll be taught that they’re wrong though…that having a man answers all life’s pesky little problems.  Right?  Boy, I sure hope so!

For my money, that is WAY too many similarities for a 22 page comic book.

I should note that I clearly have a working knowledge of Sex & The City.  Like many women (and men?), I thought the first season was pretty edgy and honest and thought provoking and that it took a nose dive from there.  Like many people I continued watching it, and hating myself for it, hoping it would get better, but knowing it wouldn’t.  Just because me and some other idiots watched this show for too long, does not mean it should be horribly blended with some superheroes deserving of a real and unique story.

The Ugly: Our heroines apparently met and became pals at speed dating.  Not just speed dating though, ’speed dating for single superheroines’.  Hmmm.  The drawing/layout on this page is great, but the concept is pure crap.  Apparently the men our heroes are ’speed dating’ are an attractive well built gay dude, a homeless guy, an overweight Fantastic Four t-shirt wearing comic nerd, and well, I’ve blocked out the fourth stereotype.  Am I expected to believe that any single superheroine would subject herself to speed dating specifically geared towards ‘SINGLE SUPERHEROINES NIGHT’ – that any crazy dude off the street – like psycho fans and stalkers and apparently the homeless can just show up to?  Are you kidding me?  I know this is an attempt at levity, but unfortunately it’s not funny…and is one of the most contrived “plot devices” I’ve ever seen.

So here’s what I’m willing to admit about this book.  It never had a chance with me.

I’ve been so up in arms about this Marvel Divas drama for so long, I really don’t think I could have gotten on board…this book would have to have been the equivalent of Maus for female rights, if I was going to come on board.  However, after seeing Zonjic’s awesome preview pages, and reminding myself repeatedly that Aguirre-Sacasa is generally a talented and non-misogynistic writer, I was at least open to it being good…or funny…or interesting, or something.

And so I am genuinely sad to report that it is none of these things.  Only beautiful.  And gee, do I really want to think about that?  A book about women…and it’s no substance, all beauty.  Boy.  Depressing shit.  I’m off to drown my sorrows in vodka I think.

Now.  That’s really the end of the “review”, but here’s something I’ve been meaning to get of my chest ever since this ridiculousness started…

WHO THE HELL IS THIS SHIT MARKETED TO?  Because I’ll give you that there are women out there that love chick flicks and happy Hollywood endings, if they weren’t out there, we wouldn’t still be seeing the same three or four chick flick movies being churned out every year with slightly different actors and actresses.  But I really don’t believe those are the same women that read comics.  The women I know who like chick flicks (and I do know them – they’re great people – we just don’t happen to agree on what movies to see) DON’T read comics.  And women that read comics…in general, I don’t believe watch chick flicks in record numbers.  So who the hell is this book supposed to be for????

If this book was supposed to be geared for the young jerk off crowd (which judging from the misogynistic solicitation – not to mention all the other PR – it was*), they screwed up by hiring the brilliant Zonjic, because his art is beautiful and expressive, but not titillating in the least.  It’s the art we should have gotten for a book that REALLY tackled the complexities of women, rather than the stereotype of women, that we are all hanging out talking obsessively about our boyfriends and ex-boyfriends…because we are of course not whole people without men.  Jeezus.

1.0 Stars, and that star is absolutely 100% a result of Zonjic’s stunning artwork, which I hope to see much much more of in the future.

*Marvel Divas #1 Marvel Solicitation: Diva (dee-vah), noun: An unusually glamorous and powerful woman. See: Patsy “Hellcat” Walker; Felicia “Black Cat” Hardy; Angelica “Firestar” Jones; and Monica “Photon” Rambeau. What happens when you take four of the Marvel Universe’s most fabulous single girls and throw them together, adding liberal amounts of suds and drama? You get the sassiest, sexiest, soapiest series to come out of the House of Ideas since Millie the Model! Romance, action, ex-boyfriends, and a last page that changes everything! Let your inner divas out with this one, fellas, you won’t regret it! Parental Advisory …$3.99

Batwoman. Alright…Deal Me In For A Hand…

Detective Comics #854.  Greg Rucka (writer) J.H. Williams III (illustrator).  Fiction – Comics.

First, a confession.  I really haven’t been reading mainstream comics.  Sure every once in a while I pick up an issue of X-Men, Batman, or Wonder Woman and such, but with the exception of The Walking Dead (and until recently Buffy) I’m never that impressed and so I never bother to keep up.  Comics often disappoint me.  It’s possible my expectations are just way too high, but comics are just never quite what I want them to be…maybe more to the point…what they were to me in the beginning when I so fell in love.  So, especially unemployed, I can’t afford to spend the money unless I’m almost in love.  Did you know an average full color comic is four bucks?!  Ah, the good old days when they were $1.50…sigh…I’m so old…

Anyway, I only tell you this, so that my review can be taken in the full context of me as a comics reader…compared to the super committed fan.  But onward…

[SPOILERS]

The Good: It was well written and fairly easy to follow considering the fact that with most mainstream comics you need to pick up about a thousand issues to understand what’s going on if you just jump on board randomly.  I thought Rucka did a good job of juggling both the existing fans that maybe have read those thousand issues and new fans that might be trying out Detective Comics for the first time (since there has been such excitement over Batwoman’s premiere).

So the writing is solid throughout, but it’s the art that’s likely to bring fans back in droves.  The art is stunningly good.  From the Batwoman/Kate Kane basic design and execution to the individual pages and panels – really just gorgeous stuff.  Huge credit is also due to Dave Stewart who did the colors as they are just absolutely dead on and badass.

If we must deal with the whole ‘lesbian thing’ – and I think it would be the most progressive of us if we didn’t even have to talk about it – but we’re clearly not there yet as a society so I’ll comment.

I think it was handled perfectly…in that it wasn’t really handled at all.  The scene that gives a glimpse into Kate Kane’s flailing personal life is honest and matter-of-fact, the way I’d expect any other relationship to be handled and so for that, I’m happy.  And I hope it continues as such.  Time will tell.  Rucka tends to write strong women well, whether lesbian or not, and so I have faith that he can handle Kate Kane and all her intricacies.

The Bad: The Batwoman costume design is so perfect – I mean look at those totally sensible – totally badass non-high heeled boots! – that I’m willing to forgive some sins.  I mean really…bright red?  It looks fantastic on the page, but let’s face it, what ‘creature of the night’ would wear fire engine red on their costume?  Anyway, I’m willing to forgive the red, because I am just that generous, but I’m not going to go along with this ‘hair piece thing’.

For those who haven’t seen the designs or read the issue yet, Kate Kane has short very red hair (see below), but as Batwoman she has this same very red hair, but very long and flow-y (see above).  They do make a minor plot point out of it in this issue as Batman makes an offhand remark about it (stating that the long hair is a liability), and it is revealed a few pages later to be a wig attached to the mask/helmet.  I suppose making Kane seem ‘oh so clever and unpredictable’.  But this is forced characterization to me, and one that doesn’t actually work, so I find this annoying and kind of frustrating. Let’s explore…

Do we have this hair situation just so we can have that moment between Batwoman and Batman?  If so, it’s not worth it.

Do we have the long hair because we “think it looks better on the page”, much like the fire engine red in the costume?  If so, I say we should have broken some boundaries there as well – like with the boots and gone for more realism…especially if you want me to buy all the bright red.

It should also be noted (as seen above) that it totally absolutely does NOT look like a wig attached to a helmet…it looks like hair, or MAYBE a wig attached to her head – which we all know would never stay on in a fight.

And as I obsess over this tiny (and really, let’s face it, totally insignificant detail) I realize (as we all eventually do) that Batman is still right.

The hair is a liability whether it’s real or not.  The hair getting pulled as real hair might hurt more – potentially ending a fight by taking our hero down – but if it’s a wig attached to the mask it’s highly likely to aid in yanking the mask off…which is a huge problem.

So at the end of the day, Batman is right (as always) and Kane actually ends up looking a little weak, which I think is probably the opposite of what Rucka intended.  Bottomline:  Kane should ditch the wig.  If she’s concerned about being identified I say she goes with a full head mask/helmet like Batman.  If that’s not the concern then no reason her regular awesome short hair can’t be the hair that goes with her badass costume.

But when this is the only complaint I can come up with for “The Bad” you know you’re doing something right.

The Ugly: Not an ugly thing about this book.  Personally, I found the action page layouts to be a little fussy and unnecessarily difficult to follow.  But I think that’s personal taste.  I tend to prefer more standard/basic comic book layouts – whether action scene or not.  Although I have to give credit to Williams III, if you’re going to do crazy layouts, do them as well as he does – they’re well thought out and from a graphic design standpoint are quite frankly stunning.  I just happen to prefer readability to graphic design achievement (in comics that is).

one of the less complicated action pages

Overall I give this issue 4.0 Stars (out of 5) and I will definitely be following along…until I’m totally hooked or until these guys screw up.  So I’m in for another hand…at least.*

*I didn’t want to confuse the issue by also talking about the “Second Feature – The Question” eight page story in the back of this issue, but it’s a good story – well written and well drawn and is something I’m excited to read – which is rare – usually those “second features” are total throwaways – so nice work Rucka and Hamner.

Review: PS Comics

P.S. Comics.  Melanie “Minty” Lewis.  Fiction – Graphic Novel/Comics

I picked this up totally randomly last week at the comic book store.  And it’s a great little book.  And completely what I was in the mood for.  I’m also glad I purchased it because these are the kind of books that I want (need!) to survive in comics.  Totally off the beaten path, with good, but ‘affordable’ production design (i.e. no color), etc.

After doing a little research I found that Lewis’ P.S. Comics started as mini-comics (I suppose self published) and have gained enough awards and recognition to make the leap to full blown book in local comic stores – which is fantastic.  Lewis’ issue #4 of the original mini-comic even won an Ignatz Award for ‘outstanding mini-comic’.

Lewis’ stories are mostly simple little tales that reveal tiny but important truths and are told via unconventional narrators – fruit, dogs, cats, and sometimes even humans.  My favorite tale of hers (available to read on her website if you’re so inclined) was about salt and sugar falling in love.  Their friends (pepper and coffee) of course make things a bit difficult for them, but their love prevails…at least for a little while.  It’s a great little story and I smiled all the way through.  Her dog and cat stories are good as well, but I personally found myself drawn more to her fruit stories – perhaps because I identified with poor apple – but that’s a whole other post.

Regardless, this is a great little book, and I encourage anyone that likes independent comics, or is looking to discover something new, to pick up P.S. Comics.

3.5 Stars

Review: Runaways Vol. 2 & Vol. 3

Runaways Vol 2 & Vol 3 (issues #1 – 24).  Brian K. Vaughan (writer) Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Mike Norton (illustrators).  Graphic Novels/Comics

Runaways is still better than most mainstream (especially superhero) comics out there.  But I have to be honest that Volumes 2 & 3 fell considerably for me from the bar Volume 1 set.  Like Volume 1, the strongest aspect of Volume 2 & 3 are Vaughan and Alphona’s likable realistic characters and the fantastic art.  But also like Volume 1, the weakest aspect in the subsequent books is the forced plot.

[SPOILERS]

As I read Volume 2 and 3 however I had to consider that maybe I’m just too old to be reading Runaways…maybe it succeeds on all levels and I fail it by simply being too old?  It’s entirely possible, because like Volume 1, Volumes 2 and 3 are beautifully drawn and well written, but I just can’t seem to fall in love.  I found the plot to be weak in these two volumes overall and I really wasn’t pleased that Vaughan killed my favorite character (Gert).  Though it’s possible she could come back, in a way I hope she’ll stay dead as bringing characters back from the dead in comics is one of my least favorite and most overused devices.  There were some great little arcs in these two volumes:  Karolina’s off world love story and subsequent growth is interesting and her fiance a good new complex character;  the ‘Gert from the future’ story was pretty cool and inspired; the bit with Spiderman eating sushi and Wolverine fighting Molly was fun, as was Molly’s one issue adventure as a sewer thief, but that’s about where my enjoyment ended.

Aw Gert, I’ll miss you.

[MORE SPOILERS]

Review: Battle Royale

Battle Royale.  Koushun Takami.  Fiction

Wow.   I got through this puppy in like four days, which is fast even if it wasn’t over 600 pages.  It’s some of the most fun and most riveting reading I’ve done in a long time.  Just balls to the wall action from about page 30 on and I was literally compelled to turn every page, staying up all hours like I used to as a kid because I couldn’t put it down.

Every once in a while I get my pretentious hackles up about ‘commercial fiction’, and I’m not about to sell out my precious short fiction and literary novels or anything, but let’s face it, commercial fiction IS commercial fiction because sometimes it is just AWESOME.  Commercial fiction, when really good, can just be something that you throw yourself into with complete abandon (and want to tell everyone about while you’re reading it).  Also, while we’re talking about things that are awesome, can we discuss the cover?  Best. Cover. Ever. If this cover would make sense for my novel I’d steal it in a second.  Sadly there are no badass Japanese school kids in my novel.

The premise of Battle Royale, in brief, for the uninitiated, is that once a year a handful of junior high student classes (15 year olds) are chosen for a top secret program in which they are dropped off on an island, with only their own classmates and are each given a knapsack containing some supplies and a random weapon (ranging in lethality from machine guns to a dinner fork) and sent off on a mission to be ‘the last one standing’…literally.

They are to literally kill each other off until there is only one of them left, at which time the “winner” will be sent home with prize money (and probably a one way ticket to the loony bin).

Badass, right?  Totally.

So what are the problems with Battle Royale?  Not much. The first 30 pages are a bit of a challenge as Takami tries to introduce 42 characters by their full names – Shuya Nanahara, Norika Nakagawa, and Shogo Kawada being three of them – so you can see how it’s impossible to remember all 42 – don’t even try, just let the names flow over you – you’ll learn them later.  In fact, cruise through those first 30 pages, because after that you’re not going to want to put the book down.

There are a few wonky areas where the translation is not great, but overall it’s not too bad, just a few sticky spots.  Takami also has a bad habit of kind of force feeding us backstory – I suppose so we can care about his characters – but I found it a little forced and frustrating (though perhaps that this is also a problem in part with the translation?).

Regardless of the sometimes unnecessary backstory, the book buzzes along beautifully and I quite frankly recommend it to every single person that has not yet read it – except my mother, who doesn’t love violence so much – so if you’re like my mother, maybe it’s not for you, otherwise – run don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and buy a copy – if you don’t I’ll stab you with my dinner fork.  Seriously, I got one in my knapsack and I’m trying to work my way up to machine gun…

4.5 Stars

Review: The Eternal Smile

The Eternal Smile.  Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang.  Fiction – Graphic Novel/Comics.

I picked up The Eternal Smile because of Vulture’s excerpt of one of the stories in this collection of three – and I was not disappointed (click on the Vulture link to read a large excerpt).  That story, Urgent Request, is one of my favorite short graphic stories I’ve ever read.  I loved the concept and the execution equally and had I liked all the stories in The Eternal Smile as much, I would have been hard pressed to give this collection anything less than a 5 star rating.

Unfortunately, and largely based I think, on personal preference alone, the other two stories just didn’t speak to me as Urgent Request did.  The art is well executed and lovely in all three stories, though different stylistically, which is a nice treat.  Urgent Request is the style that I personally find the most visually interesting and emotionally engaging, though Duncan’s Kingdom is drawn vividly and is complex in its own right.  The pages are really quite beautiful and I wish more mainstream comics were drawn as well as it is.  Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile was the least interesting visually for me, though still, excellent in execution overall.

Excerpt from Urgent Request.

Unfortunately, though there is nothing wrong with Duncan’s Kingdom or Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile and each bring nice stuff to the table, neither really did it for me plot/concept wise.  Neither story was as nuanced or poignant as Urgent Request and thus ended up suffering in comparison.  Urgent Request is a story about a shy, mild mannered office worker named Janet and her experiences with an urgent email request for assistance from Africa.  Janet makes unique choices and as such gets unique results and I found the story to be charming and innocent and missing the cynicism of ‘real life’ in all the good ways.  Duncan’s Kingdom is the story of a knight that makes good, but just can’t leave well enough alone, and through his own curiosity unravels the wonderful life he’s set up for himself.  Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile is a loose parody of Uncle Scrooge and Ducktales (which I was never really a fan of – perhaps why this story didn’t hit home for me) and touches on interesting themes like money and religion.  The ‘Eternal Smile’ part of the Gran’pa Greenbax story is rather insightful and interesting, but that alone couldn’t save the story as a whole for me. But don’t get me wrong – Duncan’s Kingdom and Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile are not bad stories – not at all – they just didn’t live up to Urgent Request for me and so I was left feeling that Yang and Kim could have done better.

Even if you feel mixed about the collection, as I did, it’s still more than worth the $16.95 purchase price – beautiful packaging, stunning artwork, and thoughtful stories, and you never know, you may prefer different stories – or love them all.

Overall I give the collection 3.0 Stars, though if I was rating the pieces separately I’d break it down thus:

Urgent Request:  4.5 Stars

Duncan’s Kingdom:  3.5 Stars

Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile:  3.0 Stars

Review: Runaways Vol.1

Runaways Vol. 1 (issues #1 – 18).  Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa (illustrators).  Graphic Novel/Comics

So here’s the biggest problem with Runaways…I read it after Y The Last Man.

So though it’s very good…it’s not even close to Y The Last Man and so ultimately, I was disappointed.  I’m going to try my best to review Runaways without comparing it to Y…we’ll see how I do.

Let’s talk about the art first, if only because it’s easier.  Alphona is responsible for the bulk of the eighteen issues, with Miyazawa penciling only two of the whole volume (#11 & 12) and it’s to their credit that you almost don’t notice the switch…which is especially important in the collected work, so that it reads flawlessly without the characters changing drastically from issue to issue.  Frankly, I barely noticed the change and part of that credit should go to the inkers and colorists of the book (Craig Yeung and David Newbold inks and Christina Strain and Brian Reber colors) for keeping with the beautiful overall look and consistency.

The character designs are also particularly good in this book, and specifically for a teen book they are well considered and realistic, with some variety in ethnicity and body type and style, as teenagers really are.  The artists (all of them) keep everything nice and consistent within that framework throughout.

Now onto the actual characters.  I like Vaughan and Alphona’s characters.  This is the strongest aspect to me of Vaughan’s work in the book.  They’re interesting and work as teenagers, and it’s nice that there are more girls than boys (Vaughan continues to write women – and girls – very well).  I also really liked their powers, which are unique and not always pretty.  One character (Nico) has to bleed in order for a giant ass scepter to come out of her chest…not exactly like your run of the mill super strength.  Another character (Gert) has a pet velocirapter (Old Lace – which it turns out may not actually be a velocirapter) that is connected to her both physically and mentally.  Old Lace will do Gert’s bidding and will do anything to protect her but when Old Lace is hurt, Gert is hurt; and on top of that, Gert has no powers except for her link to her pet, and so she is pretty vulnerable as ’superheroes’ go.

All the powers are pretty interesting, including the brute strength of the team, which is found in the youngest member, eleven year old Molly.  Karolina wins for best drawn power as her light power is absolutely fabulously rendered.  The book is also well written, especially by comics standards (which frankly, are generally too low for my tastes) but Vaughan delivers – the characters speak realistically and bottom line – it’s just consistently well written.

[SPOILERS]

Yes Thank You, I Think I WILL Skip Query Letter Hell

So, instead of having to go through the horrible process of sending out massive amounts of query letters to agents for my novel (and likely receiving massive amounts of rejections) I got incredibly lucky and had two excellent agents from big agencies competing for my book over the last week.

I’m not going to go into specifics here for a variety of reasons but basically one agent came to me via a query I actually sent last year (long crazy story that worked out beautifully) and one agent came to me through a connection.  It was a brutal decision (one I never imagined I’d have to make) deciding between these two fantastic individuals, but I finally did make a decision this week and I’m proud to say that I’m officially working exclusively with one of the agents on my book.

We’ll be doing revisions for the foreseeable future – I have no idea how long, but I hope I can get it done quickly so we can continue moving forward – but I thought you’d all like to know about this great moment of happiness and success in the deluge that is usually REJECTION!

Please pause of a moment of pure happiness:

Now if only I can get some of these damn short fiction pieces published.  In fact, just to keep my ego in check…let’s do a status update on those.  It’s not looking pretty folks…

Phase III Updated Stats:  6 of 10 Rejected.  4 still out there.

Sidenote:  this is tagged ‘champagne’ because I will be drinking an entire bottle of it on my own tonight.  Whee!

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming…

I wanted to blog about this both because it’s crazy and because I’ve been getting so involved lately in blogging about comics and their continual misogynistic portrayal of women (which for some reason go hand in hand – yay world!), but there’s been a lot going on and I haven’t gotten to it.  However, I see today that Jezebel and io9 did it (and better than I could have hoped to anyway), so I’m just going to link to them.  Make sure to follow the link so you can read about the following:

1.  Contests that women are ineligible to enter (what is this 1909?!)

2.  The L.A. Times being so freaking out of touch with youth culture (and comics specifically) that they should be taken out into the street and shot.

Yay world.  You go.

Review: Personal Days

Personal Days.  Ed Park.  Fiction

First, let’s talk about this badass cover.  LOVE IT.  Though it should be noted that my mother couldn’t tell me what the title was…so I guess it depends who your audience is.  If it’s me, you’re golden.  If it’s my mother, you’re dead in the water.

I really liked this book, though I couldn’t come quite around to love.  Park’s book, especially the beginning,  has a lot of similarities with Joshua Ferris’ Then We Came To The End, if only because of the first person plural voice that he uses in his first section (and which Ferris uses almost throughout).  And I had the same reactions to both of them – I loved the voice – a corporate we – that envelopes both all of the characters and none of the characters – and it worked so well from a humorous standpoint and as a unifying cry (i.e. ‘boy do I know how THAT feels’).  However, that same point of view also distanced me and made it impossible for me to really care about the characters.  Both books worked better for me as fascinating well written experiments than as engaging emotional tales.  The cast of characters in both books is large, and because of the voice (among other things) it’s often hard to tell them apart, which is perhaps done on purpose – when we all work in a cubicle aren’t we all the same worker bee drone?  But ultimately I felt held at arm’s length in both books and while it was successful in it’s experimental task,  it’s an experiment that left me wanting more.

In Then We Came To The End, Ferris switches his novel’s voice just when I was about fed up with it and used a third person POV for one of the characters much speculated about through the rest of the book as she struggles with illness.  It was a brilliant maneuver, and one that saved the book for me personally.  But because we had never been with that character until that point, and we never revisited her in that way again it still felt removed and kept me from embracing the book fully.

[SPOILERS]

In Park’s Personal Days, he does a totally different but equally as risky trick in his third and final section.  Part three is one massive (40 page plus) email written from one character to another.  I’m still on the fence as to how I really feel about it, but regardless of what I decide, it remains a brilliant experiment.

It should also give writers everywhere some hope – since we are constantly told – from readers, agents, editors, and other writers “SHOW DON’T TELL” -  that tell can totally work if done effectively.  Park’s part three is the definition of tell.  One character relaying through email to another character, everything that was under the surface and unsaid in the previous two sections.  Brilliant and risky.  But I still couldn’t really connect with anyone.  And so I remain conflicted.

Parks novel, without a doubt is for anyone that toils (or has toiled) in an office (especially a corporate one) and also for anyone that has faced layoffs (which in this market is just about everyone) so Park’s book should be wildly successful.  I think anyone that has worked in an office can thoroughly enjoy this book and relate, and it’s great for a laugh as you recognize yourself and your annoying office and even more annoying co-workers in the pages, but for me at least, it lacks a final ability for me to be able to connect and empathize with the poor souls trapped in the pages.  It should be easy to empathize because they’re me, but something doesn’t quite click on that level and so for me it remains mostly a brilliant experiment.

3.5 Stars

If you want to read a REAL review of Personal Days, check out the New York Times Book Review of it.  I remain, as ever, not even close to the level of the NYT.  <le sigh> Someday.

Review: Things That Pass For Love

Things That Pass For Love.  Allison Amend.  Short Fiction Collection

This is a solid and lovely collection of thirteen stories that flow together beautifully, unlike many of the collections I’ve read.  It’s no small feat to make all your stories both unique and also connected in some way, and Amend does it here, perhaps solely through her writing style.

Overall though, I was disappointed in about half of the stories.  They skated the edge of brilliance for me, but never quite got there.  The first story, Dominion Over Every Erring Thing,  is a perfect example of this.  From the first line I was absolutely riveted (and it was actually that first line that convinced me to buy this book over another) however, I don’t feel the story finished well.  At all.  It was not as significant as it should have been, or as powerful as it could have been.  Other stories in the collection finished better – The People You Know Best; And Then There Was Claire; and A Personal Matter finish particularly well while others What Was Over There Is Over Here and  Sometimes It’s Like That were filled with potential, but ended unsatisfactorily for me like the first story.

In the end I loved about half of the collection and felt only mediocre about the rest.  For me, Amend’s strongest were:  The World Tastes Good; A Personal Matter; Bluegrass Banjo; The People You Know Best; and And Then There Was Claire.  These were all powerful, emotionally resonant, beautifully written, and had earned endings that felt real to me.

The rest, for me, came very close, but ultimately fell short.   However, the fact that some of these stories did not work for me personally should not imply that I don’t think very highly of Amend.  She has a beautiful and haunting style that I will actively seek out in the future and I look forward to her next collection to see how her work evolves.

3.0 Stars

Review: Water Baby

Water Baby.  Ross Campbell (writer/artist).  Fiction – Graphic Novel/Comics

I loved the hell out of this little book.  Campbell’s art is stunningly beautiful and I wish more artists – men or women – could draw women this way.  They are scantily clad for most of the book (okay, ALL of the book) but it fit the young surfing beaching characters and any concerns I would have otherwise had about it were put to rest by the fact that Campbell not only draws all his women with vastly different body types (as they exist in the real world – gasp!) but also, none of his female characters are window dressing in the first place – they’re the stars.  They’re the characters you love and spend the most time with.  So if they want to wear tank tops and tiny jean shorts and bikinis and such (and it fits their characters – which it does) then I’m on board.

Beyond the art, the writing is solid.  The story is a great (and horrifying) little tale about Brody our badass female main character, a surfer that loses a leg early on in a shark attack.

Brody’s best friend Louisa takes care of the newly shaped Brody and when Brody’s ex Jake shows up it sends them on a road trip adventure that includes a troublesome teen they pick up on the road.  The basic story is enjoyable, but it’s Brody’s internal struggle that is so fascinating and well handled here – her nightmares and fantasies of her attack are disturbing and profound and speak volumes in mostly silent panels about what a struggle it must be to recover from such an accident…and that maybe you never really do.

Overall Brody is a fantastic hero – or maybe anti-hero – she’s strong willed and smart (though no rocket  scientist) she knows who she wants to be and isn’t afraid of it.  She tackles her problems as head on as she’s able and she seems to understand that she’s still figuring herself out – a measure of self awareness rare in the young.  I could have done without the gross factor (she picks her nose – though not too graphically) but otherwise I loved her.  Full of flaws and beauty, as we all are.  Louisa is similarly well-rendered, and is both alike and different than Brody in the ways that best friends usually are.  Jake is a bit of a sketch instead of a full blown painting, but as he’s not the star, or of too much importance I think he’s characterized just enough.

So here’s my confession.

This is a book from the now defunct DC Minx line intended for girls/women.  And I’m a jerk for not getting on board sooner and if not supporting these books, than at least checking them out.  I did look at the line when it first came out and like many fans (female and male alike) I found the first few books a bit lacking and I didn’t like some of the stuff I was hearing about the line.  First of all, it’s called Minx, which is annoying, and just (maybe) one step above Divas or Sirens, but as usual I can forgive the title if that’s the only place they go wrong.  But unfortunately, almost all of the creators (writers/artists/editors/etc.) were men, which is doubly annoying.  It’s not that men can’t write women well (case in point Ross Campbell, or my post earlier about Brian K. Vaughan) but it just stands to reason that if you want to start an entire imprint FOR girls/women you might want to get some amazing talented WOMEN involved.

Anyway, my complaints are valid, and I really didn’t like some of the stuff I originally saw come out for Minx, but if Minx could bring us Water Baby (a title that would likely be impossible to get published with any of the major houses – other than maybe DC’s Vertigo line) then I have to say I’m wrong.  And I wish I had gotten involved in this line (not that I’m some prolific blogger that changes the shape of the world or anything) earlier.  To at least throw my opinion out there, even if initially it couldn’t have been full blown support.  Another missed opportunity for the big publishing houses, gods know how long it will be before we get another shot.

4.0 Stars

If you want to check out more Water Baby, go to the Vulture Blog which has a large excerpt from the book.

We Can All Hope This Is My Last Marvel Divas Post…But Is That Hope In Vain…? Probably

Oh, Marvel Divas, how tired I am of blogging about you.  I’m sure my readers are tired too.  Let’s hope this is the last one for a while.

Comic Book Resources posted an article with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa yesterday that discussed Marvel Divas at length and tried (and partially succeeded) to salvage the reputation of Marvel Divas before it even debuts.

Here’s the saddest part ever…they posted excerpts of Tonci Zonjic’s interior artwork and the pages are (as many, including yours truly, have been speculating they might be) GORGEOUS.  Not a misogynistic panel is to be found – and they have a beautiful almost Jamie Hernandez quality to them.

Thanks to CBR for the images

Many on the web have speculated that Zonjic’s work would do this series justice, and these pages more than prove it, but we still have to lament the horrible “marketing campaign” of shoving J. Scott’s Campbell’s cover down our throats, the terrible “quotes” that were released to promote the series, and the subsequent absolute bungle that was Marvel (in particular Joe Quesada) trying to dig themselves out of a hole and only digging themselves deeper by proving that they don’t even understand the issues comic fans are up in arms about.

Unfortunately, Aguirre-Sacasa in an attempt to ‘explain everything away’, has done some NEW damage.  In fairness to Aguirre-Sacasa, I don’t know what else he could have said, in that he is surely not “allowed” by Marvel to call out Campbell’s cover art for what it is (misogynistic badly drawn crap) and as a professional in the industry I’m sure he wouldn’t want to anyway, but he does damage to himself by saying the following:

“As far as the cover goes, I like it. It’s sexy, it’s fun, it catches the eye, it gets people talking. And it’s no more or less objectifying—in my opinion—than most comic book covers out there. But that’s my opinion. To me, the book stands and falls on its content, which is either your cup of tea or not, but I promise you it’s not misogynistic.”

I’ve tentatively been on Aguirre-Sacasa’s side through all of this, if only because he has a great track record for writing good well-balanced non misogynistic women – in many mediums.  However, if Mr. Aguirre-Sacasa doesn’t know that the Campbell Marvel Divas cover is misogynistic, then I have to question whether he knows what misogynistic means.

And while we’re on the subject saying that it’s “no more or less objectifying”  just skirts the issue that maybe MOST covers ARE objectifying – and can we please deal with that very real issue here?  So what you’re saying is, it’s okay that it’s objectifying…so long as everyone is doing it?  Jeezus.

Comics, you make my head want to go all explode-y.

If you haven’t gotten enough of the Marvel Divas drama – head over to When Fangirls Attack as they’ve got all the important links.

Am I The Last Woman On Earth To Read ‘Y The Last Man’?

Possibly.

But there’s a really really good reason for it.  Sorta.  I somehow missed the boat initially when the issues were coming out, even though I’d heard about it and was interested all along.  And then I missed enough issues that it was going to be difficult to catch up…without missing issues and having holes.  So I figured I’d wait until they came out all collected and I could read them in one sitting (which is my favorite way to read a great series anyway).  But the shit was taking WAY too long.  So here we are.

I finally got my hands on the first two big collected volumes a few weeks ago and plowed through them in a day.  Amazing stuff.  And then, unable to wait for however long it might take for everything else to come out, I hunted down the rest of the issues and read everything else in a couple days.

Amazing stuff.

Y The Last Man.  Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Pia Guerra (illustrator). Fiction – Graphic Novel/Comics.

[SPOILERS]

So for anyone who doesn’t know, Y The Last Man is essentially about Yorick, the last man on earth (along with his monkey – Ampersand – also male) after something kills all the men on the planet except him (er…them).

Yorick is a wonderfully layered character and he is surrounded by fascinating women, of all kinds, which is so refreshing to see in popular comics that I just don’t really have words to describe how happy it made me.  Vaughan’s world is filled with women that are good and bad and beautiful and ugly and horrifying and badass and brilliant, they are all of these things, because women ARE all of these thing, rather than just “sexy” as they so often get boiled down to in comics.  And Vaughan has established himself, at least in my mind, as being a writer that can write the hell out of women.  He gets it and I would welcome his take on any number of things I love any day.  It’s interesting to know that one of his other wildly successful projects, Runaways, also stars a mostly female cast.  Interesting.

Y The Last Man takes place over sixty issues, and one of the great strengths is that artist Pia Guerra is always there – so the art is always consistent and it’s fair to say, consistently gorgeous.  Guerra is a master and it’s such a treat to be able to see an entire series collected together with no deviation in the art.  Even in the best of circumstances an artist is rarely able to do every single issue of the series, so this is a real treat.

Guerra’s style matches Vaughan’s writing perfectly, and the result is one of those perfect books we rarely get to see in comics.

My only complaint, and it’s a mild one, is the ending.  Like many fans of the story, I really did want a satisfying “answer” for what caused the plague.  I understand why Vaughan doesn’t give it to us – life – real life – is rarely that simple and spelled out and so it’s realistic for him to suggest possible answers but not say for sure, but so much time is spent on it over the 60-issues that I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and maybe a little cheated not to get a real resolution.  It felt a little like he’d possibly written himself into a hole he wasn’t sure how to escape from.  Regardless, the story in its entirety will remain a benchmark in graphic novels/comics for years to come and has solidified Vaughan’s status in my mind as both a sensational writer and also one of the few men out there who write women as well as women themselves do.

4.5 Stars

Also, if you want more information on Y The Last Man (though beware of spoilers) the wikipedia page is really detailed about the series – very nice. 

Marvel Divas #2 Cover Released…To Bad It’s Too Late.

Thanks to Daily Scans for the new image.

So Marvel Divas has released their second cover – it’s unclear if Mr. Quesada thinks this counts as a “quiet cover” or not. – I mean they’re in their costumes, but it’s not blatantly sexist and objectifying so maybe it’s a push for him.

Unfortunately, for me (and many others) this cover is too little, far too late.  Though the new cover image is appropriate (and bonus – well drawn!) and the recently released images of Zonjic’s art have been lovely, refreshing, and totally appropriate, the blurb/copy is still frightening:

“MARVEL DIVAS #2 (of 4) After last issue’s shocking revelation, Angelica “Firestar” Jones seeks out medical advice…from none other than Dr. Stephen Strange. (Paving the way for yet another diva to enter the fray: The nocturnal Night Nurse!) Meanwhile, Monica “Photon” Rambeau and Patsy “Hellcat” Walker are drawn back into the lives of their ex-boyfriends of the damned: Brother Voodoo and Daimon Hellstrom, respectively. And Felicia “Black Cat” Hardy contemplates a return to her life of crime…the claws are out as this mini-series continues!”

It sounds like a lot of ‘women in peril’ crap (Firestar maybe has cancer – probably breast cancer – because obvs., what else would we do?) and there’s a lot of “ex-boyfriend” talk (I thought this book was about women – not the men that apparently “define” them) and of course let’s not forget that gem of a last line “the claws are out as this mini-series continues!” which is not even half a step up from “hot sudsy fun” as it has all the same misogynistic tones.  While I won’t thrash Mr. Sacasa for that blurb (I’m sure he’s not the one writing it), I will continue to thrash Marvel and Mr. Quesada for their incompetence.  You’d think after all the foul ups in handling and promoting this title you’d keep your eye on every single thing that goes out about it from here on out.

Of course the more horrifying thought is that they ARE keeping an eye on it and don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.  Yikes.  I just pissed myself off even more.

The funny thing is that this whole Marvel Divas nightmare could have been so easily avoided but they have just stepped in EVERY. SINGLE. TRAP.  If a mistake could have been made in promoting this book – they made it.  If you take one or two of these mistakes away it doesn’t look so bad…it just looks like a couple bad choices that loyal fans might be willing to forgive – especially if someone (that’s you Quesada) would just man up and apologize.  But when you add all of them up it seems like a massive F U to the female positive comics community (and when I say female positive comics community I include all you fantastic men who have been writing about these issues as well).  If I’ve gotten any happiness out of this whole nightmare, it has been in the surprising support I’ve felt from male readers that seem equally as enraged as the obviously pissed female fan base.

Let’s break down the mistakes…just to be SUPER clear:

1.  They started immediately on the wrong foot with a terrible title “Marvel Divas“  – show me a woman that doesn’t think this title sucks and I’ll show you someone that doesn’t understand the modern day implications of the word DIVA.

2.  They didn’t actually put any key women (writer, artist, colorist, editor, etc.) on the book that is being marketed TO women, and is supposedly in part about “asking question about what it means…truly means…to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.)”

3.  Then they hire J. Scott Campbell, who is literally infamous for his horrifying cheesecake style, to do the cover/promo art for a series supposedly marketed TO women.

4.  Then they pair Campbell’s objectifying crap art with one of the worst and most misogynistic descriptions I’ve ever read.  A description that also manages to contradict itself multiple times in a matter of mere sentences (no small feat!).

5.  THEN Joe Quesada gets up in arms while defending himself from a perfectly legitimate question from a female fan concerned about the book by denying there is a problem and then blaming the readers if there is one.

6.  And now, and NOW (too late), they feed us some beautiful totally appropriate sketches from artist Zonjic, so we can wish for how things maybe could have been; give us a respectable cover #2 promo image; but still manage to F up what little good they do by pairing the new images with a blurb that is STILL misogynistic.

Let me say, unequivocally, if they had done this right, I would not only have been someone that laid down cash for this book (despite the title – I could have easily forgiven that misstep) but I probably would have blogged positively about it (assuming they pulled it off).  But now I’ll be reading this book IN my local shop when it debuts, so that I can write a post about whether they are successful or not in the actual execution of what they maybe originally intended to do…but I will never pay money for this…and I ask everyone else that wants comics to be better not to pay for it either.

We’ve given them all the free publicity in the world that they could want, so the only way to send a message at this point is to make sure this book tanks, and tanks hard.

* If you still haven’t gotten enough of this issue head over to When Fangirls Attack as they’ve got all the best links around the web on this and many other ‘women in comics’ issues.

The Real Housewives of New York City Ultimate Crib Sheet

I don’t usually watch The Real Housewives, which is to say I don’t set my TIVO to record it, but I somehow always manage to see it.  I guess it’s on in repeats enough damn times (Law & Order style) that I always manage to catch it.  The Real Housewives is the definition of reality television to me – just riveting and dramatic and horror inducing enough that I can’t help but look, but tacky and terrible and a horrible enough statement about our world that I generally don’t want to admit I watch it.

Last night’s part two of The Real Housewives of New York City was actually crazy enough to illicit a post…and not just a post but a little photo-shoppy fun to create the ultimate crib sheet.  First, meet the players in case you’re not already intimately familiar with them…

And, here is the ultimate REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC RELATIONSHIP CRIB SHEET…and you all better read this, it took like half a day to build in photoshop!

Way To Blame The Readers Joe, How Noble Of You.

to see the full Marvel Divas image, go here

I tried to comment on the latest blog posting for “Cup A Joe” that was an interesting and informative feature on Myspace Comics, but alas I was denied.  Could have been just typical “technical difficulties” (which is what it claimed), or I could have been blocked or the comment suppressed…regardless I wasn’t able to get through, so it’s a good thing I have my very own blog with my very own readers and I can make my voice heard despite “technical difficulties”

Below is an excerpt from Joe Quesada’s most recent “Cup A Joe” interview.  The excerpt includes a question from a woman named Ashley asking about our new favorite subject Marvel Divas!  Below Joe’s asinine response is my response to Joe.  You’re gonna wanna read that for sure.

ASHLEY’S (totally valid and deserving to be actually answered) QUESTION: About the “hating” on Marvel Divas, let’s call it what it really is—criticizing how sexist this book appears to be. If Marvel produces comics that are offensive to female readers, why shouldn’t people “hate” on it? Why would I want to support a company that produces offensive, sexist material? Why shouldn’t everyone speak out against it? While the book hasn’t come out yet, what has been released so far is blatantly sexist. But what troubles me the most is that Marvel thinks people want to read this, and this constitutes strong female characterization. Does Marvel actually want to attract female readers or is the whole point that Marvel Comics are only for guys?

JOE QUESADA’S (RIDICULOUS) ANSWER: Ashley, while I completely respect your opinion as I do every Marvel fan, your calling Marvel Comics and this particular mini series sexist is a bit extreme from where I’m standing.

I’m going to go on a limb here and assume you’re a Marvel reader.  It’s an assumption I’m making based upon the fact that you’re responding to this column.  If you’re Marvel reader and truly feel we’re sexist, then why are you reading our books?  Now, perhaps you’re not a Marvel reader, then if that’s the case, I’m not quite sure what you’re criticizing if you don’t read our books?

Okay, all that aside, I’m going to go with the former assumption. With that in mind, I’m going to be as straight up honest with you as I can possibly be.  That’s what this column is all about.

You haven’t read a lick of this story yet!

Please, I can buy you saying that you’re cautiously pessimistic based upon what you’ve heard so far, but to throw around allegations like that is completely unfair, not just to Marvel or myself, but to the creators and editors who are working on this book.  Have you ever read any of Sacasa’s work?  Have you ever found him to be a sexist writer? Is the cover image provocative, perhaps, but it’s no more or less than any other book we do.

The cold hard reality of publishing and trying to sell our books to as many people as possible, so here’s an example of what happens more often than you may think here at Marvel. From time to time, we’ll be launching a title that doesn’t focus very heavily on the super heroic.  From time to time I’ll get a cover sketch and it doesn’t have a costumed hero or villain on the cover, what we internally refer to as a “quiet cover.”  On those occasions, more often than not, I ask my editors to direct their cover artist to give me at least a first issue cover with the characters in costume.  Why? Because it will help launch a book that will most likely have trouble latching onto a large audience.  We want to give every title the best possible chance to be successful.   Marvel Divas is no different and that’s why you’re seeing our strong female leads in their super hero personas.  Let me try an example outside of comics.  I’m a huge fan of Pink, I really dig her music and love her voice. Love her or hate her, I would say that she’s an amazingly strong and intelligent female performer and song writer in the pop genre.  In many of her songs she even criticizes the over sexualized female pop stars of the day and their over the top videos.  But when you look at Pink’s CD covers, while she’s looking strong and like she’s looking like she’s having fun, she’s also looking really sexy. The reason is simple, she’s trying to grab people’s attention and sell some albums. Comics are no different and as much a part of the entertainment business as any other medium, and the cold hard truth is that if we were to launch Marvel Divas with a “quiet cover,” I guarantee you the book would be canceled before it hits the shelves. That’s it in a nutshell, I could sugar coat it for you and give you a million other reasons that would sound plausible, but that’s not what I do.

So, where does that leave us?  Ultimately, it’s up to you.  If you somehow feel you know what this book is about sight unseen, then by all means just pass it up when it hits the stores.  If you feel like giving it a try, drop me a line and let me know what you think. What I’d like you to avoid however is globally unfair statements like Marvel is sexist.  And if you feel like you’re not being heard or like your opinion doesn’t matter, just look at how much column space I devoted to your question.  Most companies would just duck stuff like this, but you guys are the reason we do what we do and if you have a concern or criticism, I want to try to address them as best I can.  Thanks again for writing and for your question.

MY ANGRY RANTY RESPONSE TO MR. QUESADA: Mr. Quesada you are SO missing the point.  Though I’m not surprised.

It isn’t just Marvel Diva’s J.Scott Campbell sensationalistic cover that Ashley is referring to…she’s also referencing the ridiculous “statement” that went out about the book. The statement/quote has been attributed to you and also to Sacasa – I think it actually belongs to Sacasa – regardless, it was a cluster$#@% of horror.  To say “we’re going to have some sudsy fun” and then in the next sentence say they’re going to try to “ask questions about what it really means to be a woman in male dominated world of testosterone and guns” and then to say in literally the next sentence “but mostly it’s just a lot of hot fun”…is hands down the most sexist handful of sentences strung together in comics that I’ve seen in years…maybe ever.

The reality is that Sacasa is a pretty good writer and I haven’t read anything blatantly sexist of his and Zonjic’s work is interesting and not nearly as sexist as every single thing ever drawn by Campbell, but it speaks to Marvel (and more specifically YOUR) choices that you let this horrible quote go out and pair it with Campbell’s cover art.  Why didn’t you have Zonjic draw and amazing popping superhero costumed cover?  No, you went with a guy whose name is practically synonymous with misogynistic cheesecake.  You don’t want us to judge the book before we read it – well, personally, I’m not and I’ll check it out (though I won’t buy it after the mess you’ve made) – but I AM judging Marvel and they’re failing huge.  The quote, the cover image.  That is ULTIMATE FAIL, and it’s on Marvel, not on me and the many other women and men that are pretty outraged about this ridiculousness.

This dodging answer of yours to a legitimate question just lost you even more respect in my book Mr. Quesada. I understand you’re in a tough position and you have PR people and money people to answer to – it’s a hard job to be “the guy” but I assume rewards come with the horror too and so I expect more from you.

You are absolutely right to say that as a consumer it’s my prerogative to not read your books if I think they’re sexist, but then you undo that by telling me that it’s not my place to complain about it if I’m not a Marvel reader.  Hell yes it is.  Let me say that again.  HELL YES IT IS.  It’s my job as a comic reader (especially a female reader) to both not buy this and to speak out against it, in hopes that it will happen less and comics will make progressive moves forward, regardless of how you deem my (and others) status.

Just the fact that you went on a strange (really long) rant about putting the women in their costumes on the cover – so that you don’t have a “quiet cover” which won’t sell books proves that you have no idea what’s going on, or are hoping we’re stupid enough to fall for your innocent act.  Nobody, and I mean nobody is complaining about the women being pictured in their costumes – we know they’re superheroes – we’re happy to see them in costume – we love superheroes and we love to see them in costume – male or female – if you really think this is the problem with the Marvel Divas cover you’re even more out of touch with reality than I thought.

Way to blame your readers Joe.  It’s so noble of you to push us on your sword like that.  Bravo.