Birds of Prey #109 has been something of a hot topic among blogs this week, especially thanks to a certain continuity error that has been keeping a lot of people talking.
First, we have Tony Bedard’s apology located here at Comic Book Resources.
Karen Healey points out a positive aspect to the whole scene:
But on the side of awesome, a DCU character, and Dinah, no less, acknowledges that Ollie was raped by Shado. And she used the specific word “rape” - not “forced him” or “didn’t ask him” - he was raped. Oh, Tony Bedard, I forgive you your glaring continuity error! You’ve fixed a persistent little misandrist/misogynist thorn in my side that went so long unacknowledged I thought no one would ever pull it out.
Starman Matt Morrison points out another odd element to the scene:
Am I the only one who sees a certain level of irony in Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance - two women who were both, in the late 80s, physically assaulted in a manner which suggested rape - speculating on how a rape victim feels?
SallyP is amused by the Connor-Shado mistake but depressed about certain other events in the issue:
I am depressed that Knockout ends up being murdered by the guy who is going around picking off all of the New Gods. That is a plot that REALLY didn’t need to be examined. Why the desperate need to kill off a bunch of perfectly good Jack Kirby characters? They weren’t hurting anyone. Well, maybe Darkseid was, but that’s his job for heaven’s sake!
So what do you think?
August 25th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Y’know, can anyone name a genre in which the male protagonists get raped or threatened with rape by female villains with anywhere near the frequency they seem to do in superhero comics? This isn’t even a new thing, it’s been going on a while, hasn’t it? I wonder what this means in terms of the psychology of superhero comic writers, if anything.
August 25th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Tony’s apology is in his forum at Comic Book Resources, not Comic Bloc.
August 25th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Oops, quite right. Thanks for the correction.
August 25th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Kallaj, I’m not sure that rape is something that should be in comic books at all. However, if it is, then it would be a male dominated crime. That’s not a superhero thing, that’s just a reflection of the real world.
August 25th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Knockout wasn’t a Jack Kirby character.
August 25th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I never quite understood the need to elevate past creators to demigod status, just because a character is made by Jack Kirby doesnt mean it is any good, deciding what to do with a character shouldnt have anything to do with who created it.
August 25th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
…this was a “hot topic”? Why?
August 25th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Ryan — Because a lot of people are talking about it?
August 25th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
This again proves my point editors do nothing. Come on, with the internet having every minutia of comics on it, you would think someone could check the writer’s script.
August 25th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
On Knockout’s death, saw it coming a mile away, but it keyed the emotional note. Her lover Scandal, think she might become one of Oracle’s agents after the misconception of Barda killing Knockout is cleared up?
August 25th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
“This again proves my point editors do nothing.”
Actually, it doesn’t prove that at all. It proves that an editor missed this one detail, but it doesn’t prove that there wouldn’t have been other problems without the editor.
August 26th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I really appreciated Bedard’s mea culpa.
Gail Simone did such a great job making me love Scandal Savage in Secret Six That seeing her lose Knockout really hurt.
This is a minor nit to pick, but Knockout, while from Apokolips, is not a Kirby direct creation: she was created by Karl “Where the hell am I?” Kesel and Tom “And Why was I stuck doing a Zemo Mini?” Grummett.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Ummm…guys? I know that Knockout wasn’t a creation of Jack Kirby, and I apologize for the misconception. Bad writing I guess. However, what I WAS referring to, is the current story line that has Starlin salivating over his chance to kill off the New Gods.
I really don’t like deaths. It’s getting old and cliched. Maybe it had impact a whilte ago, but not any more. I LIKE Barda and Scott, and I don’t want to see them killed. I even liked Lightray. When you kill off characters, then you lose future stories. They seem intent on wiping a large chunk of history and continuity here for no real reason that I can think of.
August 28th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
You lose future stories if there’s no plans on bringing them back.