Comments on: How Not to Cover a Comics Story: TV Guide Edition

By: EvolutionAngel

EvolutionAngel — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:29:31 +0000

wow what horrible reporting from tvguide! It grinds my gears they are saying she’s replacing him in all ways not just as the lead in Detective Comics. I didnt know that this announcement had hit the mainstream until a friend of mine who is in now way a fanboy texted me with “batwoman is a lesbian?!” Of course I sent him a long text explaining the original one who is or isn’t back in continuity since last rights? and the new Kate Kane.

By: Daryll B

Daryll B — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Well I can’t say this is unexpected. This week my friends and I are doing a startup blogtalkradio show on the ComicCon. We are all hyped up on the events, stories and meeting the creators. We open the line for calls and the first one we get is a gay dude mad about Batwoman getting the spotlight because she’s a lesbian.

Sometimes when I think we have evolved as a society, stuff like this happens to just make me cynical about the human nature. After all isn’t comics supposed to be a medium of no limits on the imagination? And if ya don’t like what a writer/artist does, here’s a novel concept: Put down the book and buy another…

Sorry for rant..it just some people…and doesn’t TV Guide have editors???

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:28:16 +0000

Er, who didn’t see this coming a half mile away? When it was announced that Batwoman was replacing Batman in Detective Comics at the NY con that it wouldn’t hit the mainstream news outlets in exactly this way?
Seriously.

By: Troy Brownfield

Troy Brownfield — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:36:43 +0000

Fred, what part of “potentially offensive” is difficult to understand? I said that it was “potentially offensive” because it could “potentially” offend some people. I venture to say that, like just about anything else, some people may be offended by it, gay or not, just as others may not be.

And I don’t think that your Obama example has any relevance at all. Your example is a widely-used descriptor across all media, while the TV Guide headline co-opted a hackneyed overused headline device coupled with a character’s sexuality as a punchline. If there were an Obama headline that read “Holy Black President, Batman!”, then yeah, I’d guess some people, black or not, could also be “potentially” offended.

Again, “potentially”.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:43:52 +0000

@Troy Brownfield Says:

In all fairness, was there a poll of all gay people to confirm that “Holy Lesbian” is offensive?

Isn’t this like assuming that Black people are offended articles declaring Barack Obama as the “first Black President” or “the Black President?

By: The Rev. OJ Flow

The Rev. OJ Flow — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:11:54 +0000

Chris Williams = pwned

By: Vinnie Bartilucci

Vinnie Bartilucci — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:58:01 +0000

I seem to recall Greg Rucka commenting that there would likely be some reactionary articles.

Luckily the articles are all being written NOW, months before the comic is set to appear. So by the time it actually appears, the furor will have died down and they won’t cover it AGAIN, cause that’d just be silly.

By: Troy Brownfield

Troy Brownfield — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:50:01 +0000

Don’t put words in my mouth. I said, “potentially offensive”, meaning that someone could potentially be offended by it. On the face of it, it’s merely stupid on TV Guide’s part, but could offend some readers. As for your second, incomplete quote, I know that you’re referencing my explanation of a joke that Caleb made in a recent “linkarama” post. Your remark gives no context to either, and does not reflect my opinion.

When should I expect the predictable anti-Newsarama post at your site and the ensuing Twitter parade?

By: Chris Williams

Chris Williams — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:42:07 +0000

Wait a minute. You find “Holy lesbian” offensive, but “Superheroes are gay” defensible?

By: Rev. O.J. Flow

Rev. O.J. Flow — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:59:52 +0000

Going to Yahoo! News just now, keyword “batwoman,” yielded 4 different takes on “Holy Lesbian!” — Salon.com, Daily Mail: World News, Herald Sun and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. How nice of the mainstream media to portray homosexuality as something akin to cosmic ray bombardment or coming to Earth from another planet.