For those of you who haven’t been paying attention the last year and a half, Project Girl Wonder is a letter-writing campaign aimed at getting DC Comics to put a memorial for Stephanie Brown–the female Robin who was fired and killed shortly before Infinite Crisis–in the Batcave.
On Wednesday, Batman #673 featured the appearance of a memorial case.
The reactions from the people behind Project Girl Wonder were mixed. There was praise, cynicism, and dismissal because it was just a dream sequence.
Without getting into the details of the usefulness of Stephanie Brown as a feminist cause, the ability of DC Editorial to understand how a memorial case for the character relates to how female characters are portrayed, the amount of time it took to get them to notice there was a fanbase, or the permanence of the sequence in question — I’d just like to point out that we are seeing a major mainstream superhero publisher alter the direction of their biggest franchise (not just with a couple memorials, but with the Gotham Underground and Robin storylines) in order to court a primarily female fanbase.
That is a huge accomplishment. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:44 am
Between this and learning today that Morrison placed Emma Frost into New X-Men due to a internet fan’s suggestion, even my cynical heart melted a little. I even gushed about it on my blog today and believe me, I’m not much of a gusher.
That is a huge accomplishment. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
While I give the credit more to Grant Morrison than the DC higher-ups, you’re absolutely right.
I do feel giddy with a strange sense of accomplishment. It’s a pleasant feeling to know that someone is actually noticing bloggers and taking online protests seriously.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
Stephanie, having been part of Robin’s story for more than 100 issues, certainly deserved more than what she was initially given. If all characters were treated respectfully, regardless of how many fans they had, we wouldn’t be having problems like this.
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Amen to that from this fan of both the Spoiler and of all the pre-”Collective” Alpha Flight characters.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Um, which is why things like that Ultimates 3 variant should be reconsidered before they are published.
Not for censorship, but am for voices bringing the change…maybe a few years down the line women’s portrayal in comics will be more on par with the men…and less creepy-distorted.
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
oops I meant in my first line *I hung out*…wish i could edit these
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Totally useless character. Better off dead and forgotten, rather than having DC catering to the capricious whims of a bunch of whiny girls.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:38 am
That’s a terrible thing to say. I agree completely.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Spoiler was a cool character and she had a fanbase beyond just female readers. The people who are bitching about how we feel about her are the same people who want us to side with them when their favorite characters get treated like crap. They whine and moan just the same, so they need top shut up.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
@6:
Damn straight! What is the deal with all those whiny superhero fans, complaining about Spiderman and Hal Jordan and Captain America.
Oh, wait, it’s the “girls” part you’re objecting to, isn’t it.
Never mind.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Adam:
One day, years from now, after your balls drop and hair grows in new places, you might stop finding girls “icky” and even start caring about what they think.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Daisy, replace “Spiderman and Hal Jordan and Captain America” with “Maggott and Azrael and Carnage” and you’ll have a more accurate point of comparison for Spoiler.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:58 am
[i]Ed:
One day, years from now, after your balls drop and hair grows in new places, you might stop finding girls “icky” and even start caring about what they think.[/i]
Yeah, maybe. I’ll take your advice under consideration.
On the other hand, if I needed to pretend to give half a rat’s ass about Dead Robin-ette as a prerequisite to getting laid, I’d sooner chop off my own weiner and preserve it in a mylar snug with 0.3% acidity.
February 4th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Spoiler gets a memorial, but nothing for Orpheus?
February 4th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
no love for the black guy Kev
February 4th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
and for the record..SPoiler was a pretty wretched character who never really did much beyond add to DCs stable of young blonde white girls…good riddance, and I only wish her memory could be wiped from DC continuity
February 4th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
The minute Spoiler is nearly as recognizable and/or influential character as Hal Jordan, Spider-Man, Captain America, etc. I’ll pull you out of your self-deluded, self-important fever dreams and agree with your easily-bruised sensitivities.
Until then, this is the such a pointless, whiny clarion call that it hardly abides the telling.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:53 am
*rolls eyes*
January 17th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
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