Comic Review – Zatanna #4
This review is for Zatanna #4, Zatanna vs. The Royal Flush Gang, from DC Comics. It is written by Paul Dini, penciled by Chad Harden, and inked by Wayne Faucher.
Bloodstar
Liberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing
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BloodstarLiberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing |
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This review is for Zatanna #4, Zatanna vs. The Royal Flush Gang, from DC Comics. It is written by Paul Dini, penciled by Chad Harden, and inked by Wayne Faucher.
Yesterday I finished reading Girl Genius vol. 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank. This is the graphic novel written by Phil and Kaja Foglio with pencils by Phil Foglio, inks by Brian Snoddy, and colors by Cheyenne Wright. I don’t know where to begin praising this book. Everything about it, I love. I even love the paper they used for the cover!
(Read Below for the Review!)
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Oy, was this a bad week for comics (to me, at least)! I am only reviewing one comic before New Comic Book Day because, of the 10 comics I bought this week, they were all “blah.” None of them were good enough for an exciting positive review and none were horrifying enough for a negative review. There was only one comic I read that gave me any strong feeling I felt worthy of writing about…and that feeling wasn’t a good one.
This review is for “L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress” written by L.A. Banks and Jess Ruffner and penciled by Brett Booth. This comic series is the epilogue to L.A. Banks’ The Vampire Huntress Legends, which I didn’t read.
(Read on for the review!)
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With bloodstar down for the count with a pulled neck (wimp) I thought I’d write about Gotham City Sirens #14, “Strange Fruit,” which was written by Tony Bedard and penciled by Andres Guinaldo. It pains me, but this was not the best GCS I’ve read, and I love love love this series (hello, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and, my love, Harley Quinn).
Today is a good day, I read a great comic and I am so happy! Today’s review is for Torchwood #1, which is actually two comics put together. The first story is by Carole and John Barrowman (THE Captain Jack Harkness f.y.i.) with art by Tommy Lee Edwards and Trevor Goring. The second is “Broken” by Gary Russell (who is no stranger to Dr. Who and Torchwood, writing novels and the Dr. Who comic) with art by Adrian Salmon.
The first story is called “The Selkie” and it follows our beloved Captain Jack Harkness on Seal Island, off the Northern coast of Ireland. His is following a slew of deaths in which the male victims are found dead and completely skinned. We find that the culprit of these crimes, the Selkie, is actually an alien that Captian Jack brought back to earth and now he’s got to deal with in. There are some good Captain Jack lines in this comic and I love the art. There is one panel in the story that took my breath away. It’s just Jack in a bar, his back is to us, and all we are really seeing is his coat. But the coat is what makes him what he is and you really feel like you are watching an episode of Torchwood.
Then begins “Broken,” a tale where were are again introduced to Bilis Manger, a manager of a hotel. By opening the doors of these hotel rooms, you are sucked into what must be the rift. However, this hotel was not a trap to capture our beloved characters (all the gang is here, Ianto, Gwen, and of course, Captain Jack Harkness) for Bilis Manger himself is trapped, trying to keep the rift from opening. I like this story, it has a lot of Torchwood humor and I love seeing Gwen and Ianto, the only issue I had was the art. I am all for simplistic art but it was like Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
All in all, a great buy and I can’t wait for more. Sure, I am bias because I love me some Dr. Who and Torchwood. It truly was a great read, which I was so horribly in the need for.
*slams face on keyboard and vomits profusely*
Oh sweet mother of whomever is up there, why? I need to stop reading comics that start with the word “Lady.” I literally just finished reading “Lady Deadpool.” I don’t quite know what I just read and I don’t quite know how I feel. Why do I keep reading comics I so badly want to love but yet cause me physical pain in the end?
Let me first state two facts that are relevant to this review:
• I haven’t read any other “Deadpool” comics and I suppose if I had, maybe I’d like this comic more. This was, however, a one-shot, and I am a one-shot whore.
• Many of you may know that I love Harley Quinn and I really got this sense that this character was making fun of her. I could be totally wrong. Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?
Skin tight clothes, full, red lips, a small waist, voluptuous hips, and, of course, large breasts. This may seem like someone’s dream come true, but this is actually the description of almost all female comic book characters. In fact, up until recently, the only leading female roles in comics were the “damsels in distress” and the object of the superhero’s affections (which usually end up as “damsels in distress” more often than not). Some other common female roles in comic books are mother, sister, daughter, model, “hottie” girlfriend, “girl next door,” shrewd unmarried professional, prostitute, nurse, victim and the popular girl who ignores the hero.
When picking up a comic book one must realize that most comic books are written by heterosexual males, writing about heterosexual males, for heterosexual males. Therefore, the women in comics are drawn for these men. Women in comic books have similar features such as large and overly exposed breasts, very thin stomachs, muscular thighs, and the head, hands and feet are much smaller than normal. However, their features are so similar that if the characters were not in a specific costume and the hair was generic, you literally could not tell the female characters apart. This is not to say that men’s bodies are not exaggerated, however, their bodies vary and reflect the personalities and powers of the hero or villain. If pictures of Batman, the Hulk and the Joker (male superheros and villains) were placed side-by-side, the differences would stand out immediately. The Joker is not muscular in the least and wears baggy clothing. The Hulk is a huge, green, muscular man. Batman wears his distinctive black suit and cape fit with numerous gadgets. However, without their costumes, each character is drawn differently. Now, if pictures of Harley Quinn, Ms. Marvel and Power Girl were placed side-by-side the only thing you would notice is the different costumes. When these characters are in “street clothes” they look identical!
Gail Simone coined the term “women in refrigerators” after an incident in Green Lantern #54, in which Kyle Rayner (the hero) comes home to find that his girlfriend had been killed and stuffed in a refrigerator. Later this term evolved into “women in refrigerator syndrome” which is defined as the use of death or injury of a female comic book character as a plot device in a story starring a male comic book character. Harley Quinn was a major victim of abuse and death attempts by her boyfriend, the Joker. This was merely a plot device to show how crazy the Joker was.
Another problem facing females in comic books is their population. In the comic book world, the female population is less than 1/3 of the overall population. Men are usually used as “extras”, such as the bank teller when Clark and Lois go to try to cash Clark’s first check or the mechanic who fixes the batmobile.
The female mentality in comic books is a very interesting topic. When a female is victimized, her personality, world view, disposition and sense of self is never altered. Superman, for example, has almost killed Lois Lane several times and Lois will simply hug Superman afterward. It will be written in the book that Superman is filled with grief and anger but Lois doesn’t seemed bothered by the fact she could have died. Also, when a female character is kidnapped, she rarely demands answers for her own well-being. Instead, she demands answers on how the superhero is doing. This reiterates that fact that women are portrayed as little more than plot devices.
There is some good news for females in up-coming comic books. The comic book company DC is striving to make comics that are more appealing and less degrading to women. Gotham City Sirens and Birds of Prey are two comic book lines lead by very intelligent women. In Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman have changed their previous lives of crime into that of a life of crime fighting. Also, Harley Quinn and the Joker are no longer together, freeing Harley Quinn from her long run with abuse and servitude. Birds of Prey is lead by the former Batgirl who was shot by the Joker and paralyzed. She is know known as the Oracle (a.k.a. Barbara Gordon) who is confined to a wheelchair and helps partners Black Canary (a.k.a. Dinah Lance), Huntress (a.k.a. Helena Bertinelli) and a few other female superheros with her amazing computer skills. In these comics, the superheros still have very form-fitting outfits on, however, not much skin is being shown. Also, the size of the characters breasts have decreased to a size that is, at least, plausible. These comics really give a sense of feminism.
Sexism in comic books has been an issue since comics were first made. However, no light was brought to the issue of sexism in comics until feminist movements began. Now, DC comics is making the first step to rid sexism from comics by making the story lines revolve more around the female superheroes. The artists on these comics are also drawing the female characters more proportionally. However, there is still quite a way to go before comics are rid of the complete patriarchy.
I hope i can make this an occasional feature on here, after all, we all need comics in our lives. So I hope I can steer you towards comics that are awesome, and help you avoid the comics that aren’t. I’m going to start things off with a review of “Lady Robotika” Let’s just say that I think this comic falls in the not awesome catagory. (read the full review below the fold)
Comic Con is this weekend, so I thought I’d use it as an excuse to write a little bit about Storm Troopers for Sociology (the geek in me is appeased):
On the outside, they all look the same: White armor, white helmets, black blaster rifles. Imperial soldiers from a galaxy far, far away, they’re loyal only to the Empire and recognizable everywhere as “Star Wars” storm troopers.
Inside, though, are different stories. Those armored clones are lovingly occupied by moms, dads, doctors, cops, lawyers, exterminators, artists and other passionate “Star Wars” fans who devote thousands of dollars and countless hours to building screen-accurate costumes and wearing them all over the world to support the beloved franchise as well as dozens of children’s charities.
They are the 501st Legion, an international, all-volunteer costuming group. And this week, they’re coming to Comic-Con.
In short, the article talks about The 501st Legion of storm troopers (which holds about 200 members) will be in full costume at Comic-Con in San Diego this week. Comic-Con is only one of the many events the Legion participates in. The Legion is also a charitable organization working with children’s hospitals, the Ronald McDonald House, the American Cancer Society, Toys for Tots, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and March of Dimes.
According to James M. Henslin and his works, collective behavior is extraordinary activities carried out by groups of people. In this case, the collective behavior would be of the over 200 people dressing in hand-made, highly specified costumes (which can take up to 3 years to make) to work for charities and entertain. The collective mind, according to Henslin is Gustave LeBon’s term for the tendency of people in a crowd to feel, think, and act in unusual ways. For most of the public, finding out that your a hospital’s staff officer who works through the week but also shows up during the weekend as a storm trooper for the children would probably find that generous, but unusual if they were to find out.
The last sociological concept in this article is that of role extension which is described in Henslin (pg. 633) as the incorporation of additional activities into a role. In the beginning, people who were fan of Star Wars movies put time and much effort into the creation of the costumes, and when it gets down to it, many members of the Legion still say the group is “about the costumes.” However, with their collective charity work, the 501st Legion of storm troopers has come to mean much more than that.
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? I am 26, married, mother of one. That’s where the normalness ends.
I am obsessed with many things, like changing my hair color (it’s back to brown after a whole day at the salon treatment to get the blue out – ugh). I can’t control myself in a comic book store. I spend about 50 dollars a week on comics, although this week I only spent 30 and was quite proud. A certain someone has me hooked on Doctor Wh;o which then led me to be hooked on almost anything on the BBC (Being Human, check it outsies!). I am in nursing school and my current obsession is trying to incorporate geek culture into any papers I have to write. Must open people’s eyes to the geekiness they are missing! I love photography and I love make-up and since my friends are lacking I do myself quite a bit. Did I just say, “I do myself quite a bit.”? Why, yes, yes I did.
In my younger days, I was involved in volunteering for the democratic party. Sadly, Bush still got elected and that may have been the first time I felt my heart break. This was around the time I was introduced to my lord and master, Jhonen Vasquez, and the comic obsession started. Now, I’m more mainstream. Oh in case you didn’t catch that bit there…I have, among other things, ADHD. Look! Squirrels!
So, what am I going to write about? I don’t know yet, probably comics (ooo, Harley Quinn!) and just thoughts on the world we live in.