A very variant Wednesday: It’s no secret that the Big Two and many of their imitators have embraced variant covers with increasing fervor over the past few years. It’s still surprising to see to what degree some of the major players are embracing them, though. Yesterday Johanna Draper Carlson took a close look at Marvel’s shipping list for today, did some counting and some math and, wow. Visit her site to see the exact numbers and, perhaps of greater interest, what percentage of Marvel’s releases are variant covers this week and how that compares to DC’s total week of releases.
“Rumpus mcgooo?”: Tom Spurgeon has a brief observation about a term Black Canary used in a line of dialogue in last week’s Wonder Woman #34 that’s pretty funny. Do people use that term to refer to asses in real life, or is it DCU slang, or does Black Canary just talk like that? And, if it’s just the way Black Canary talks, why does anyone hang out with Black Canary?
“It’s not that I don’t care about the way they look, but what’s most important is that they be funny”: Michael Kupperman discusses his work in a Honolulu Star-Bulletin feature.
“In the male-dominated world of comic books…it’s interesting to examine whether or not…Muslim super-heroines escape the sexual objectification and sexism that women often suffer in comic books”: Jehanzeb Dar pens an excellent examination of Sooraya “Dust” Qadir, the female, Muslim mutant character Grant Morrison introduced during his run on New X-Men at Altmulimah.com. I can’t disagree with any of the points raised from any position other than, “Well, at least Morrison and Marvel were trying to be inclusive, and didn’t put her in a bikini or anything.” Which, you know, obviously isn’t a tenable position.
No one was murdered at Comic-Con International: Don MacPherson checked in with San Diego police to see how well comic fans behaved during their annual congregation in the city. Pretty well, apparently.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:31 am
I reread Wonder Woman #34 last night. I thought the appearance of BC brightened up the book considerably and made me miss Simone’s Birds of Prey all that much more.
BC seemed a bit goofy, but I thought it was charming/funny.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:09 am
“Star Spangled Rumpus Mcgoo” is a little long for a band name, but it might work. I”m gonna sit on my rumpus mcgoo and read some comics before I go to sleep tonight.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I loved Dar’s article– in 2008, when he originally wrote it!
http://brokenmystic.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/female-muslim-and-mutant-a-critique-of-muslim-women-in-comic-books-–-part-1-of-2/
What gives? Dude’s re-posting his own articles?
August 5th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Yeah, there was a bit in the fine print that says “this article originally ran blah blah blah…” which I didn’t mention as it was new to me and hopefully to some of you guys.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Cutesy writing in a Gail Simone book? I’m SHOCKED.
Now, let’s count how long it is ’til she shows up in the comments…
August 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Dar’s insights did a lot to point out how the representation of Dust seems poor, at best. The article was worth it just to explain what “male gaze” meant, which was itself a revelation…