“The Winter Men” is a patchwork quilt of observations and red herrings that takes the spy thriller to new heights of eccentric fun. It’s one of those stories that starts out about being one thing and ends up embracing everything. Meet Kris Kalenov, the main character in “The Winter Men,” he is your guide into the underworld and beyond. It’s a new world order since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Kalenov is no longer a star player in a Soviet secret weapons program. He has become a Moscow cop, usually full of vodka and, at the start of this tale, is keeled over drunk on a sidewalk covered in snow.

I did not discover “The Winter Men” when it was a comic book but, considering it’s production delays, including its switchover from Vertigo to Wildstorm, it’s understandable that it  somehow slipped by me. Luckily, I did not have to experience any long waits between issues and got to read this new collected trade in one sitting. This is a good read anytime and anywhere but I also see it as perfect inflight reading. Aren’t spy thrillers very popular in airport bookstores? I believe this to be so. It’s because you’re out of your element and open to adventure.

One big thing about “The Winter Men” is that it gets you way out of your element. It’s like “Goodfellas,” one of the best movies about gang life, all about wiseguys and getting whacked. “The Winter Men,” is all about Russia’s new Mafiya and its biznessmen and getting under the right roof. There’s also something akin to “Watchmen” going on in the background, a uber-man that was once the pride of Mother Russia, but it’s Kalenov and his rough and shady bunch, that will have you delight over this convoluted plot as you would in, say, an Elmore Leonard novel.

“The Winter Men” has a real attitude about it too. It promises the world, heroically keeps up with its ambition and, if it falters, shrugs like a good world-weary Russian. Kalenov, our drunk Moscow cop who once was so much more, would prefer to just live quietly and make do with his less than perfect marriage. But too much has happened in the past and it can’t be ignored. “We once filled the sky with heroes…but now they’ve fallen to earth…” That is an intriguing refrain that is looped throughout the book. Within the span of the first few pages: hints of the Soviet super-hero program, a woman is shot, a child is kidnapped and Kalenov is picked up from the snow and enlisted to solve the crime of the century, although he doesn’t know that yet.

All this reminds me of any number of very good television series that, from the narrative, the characters and the production value, are clearly a cut above. And these shows usually make big promises and it’s okay if they don’t deliver on all of them since it’s the world that the characters inhabit that’s most rewarding. I think of shows like, “Life on Mars,” at least the American version, or “Life” or “Dollhouse.” In fact, it’s interesting to consider if these shows would have done better in finding an audience if they were less about process and more about results but, then again, these shows are primarily about attitude. The promises they make, real or not, can be legitimate fuel for the story’s engine.

Another connection to “Watchmen,” I think, is the group of heroes that Kalenov originally belonged to. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the line-up is recalled by Kalenov in a regular loop throughout the book: Drost, the soldier; Nikki, the gangster; Nina, the bodyguard; Kalenov, the poet; for a total of four, or five, if you include The Siberian. There’s even a sepia toned photograph of the gang in much happier times: Nikki has just told a joke and it has The Siberian in stitches. Along with the irony, it’s those details, the atmosphere and texture that this book thrives on.

There are a couple of scenes that come to mind. And, like everything else here, the writer and artist team of Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon tackle it with gusto. One has Kalenov and Nikki creating a disturbance in a McDonald’s so that they can unbolt from the floor a plastic table and chairs console to take home. The employee desperately tries to convince an irate Kalenov that the mayonnaise does adhere to city regulations with “well above the forty percent fat requirement.” Another good one has Nikki in the middle of a full-on turf war with other soft drink vendors. Informing the mayhem and murder are quotes from a self-help best-seller like, “Lose Control to the Maximum.”

Perhaps your reading of “The Winter Men” will find it keeping to all its promises and even holding the answer to the meaning to life. God knows, it is certainly within its reach. If you find fault, some blame, maybe a good bit of it, can go to the fact the series was cut from a promised eight issues down to six. There are parts to the story that do appear truncated. And the ending does seem to come all too quickly. However, the fact remains that this comic is really about the quirk and it’s all there for you to enjoy.

“The Winter Men” collected trade releases on November 25.

Hope you enjoyed this installment of Comics Grinder and I welcome you back for more. You can always check in too at the Comics Grinder site.

If you consider yourself any kind of loyal fan of Aquaman, Rob Kelly is the most important person to know, next to Arthur Curry. And if you know what F.O.A.M. stands for, well, you’ve come to the right place. Rob is the host and caretaker of the Aquaman Shrine, the most endearingly exhaustive website devoted to the Sea King and founding father of the Justice League of America. Rob, like myself, hasn’t had a whole lot to look forward to on a monthly basis in terms of Aquaman material since his dubious passing in his own title (one I personally gave up on post-”Sub Diego” when the character arguably got the short shrift “One Year Later” following Infinite Crisis). And while Rob and I may not totally see eye to eye on the bigger story, I was personally enthused as to the use of Aquaman and his immediate supporting cast in Blackest Night#2.

My biggest hope is that someone on the creative side of DC has some exciting plans for the woefully underused Aquaman, and one thing that could help send a clear message to their editorial is an effort spearheaded by Mr. Kelly. As you may have seen this week in DC’s solicitations for February 2010, Brave and the Bold #32 will be starring none other than Aquaman and Etrigan the Demon!

Written by J. Michael Straczynski; Art and cover by Jesus Saiz
Terrors of the deep! A horrifying lost city has risen at the bottom of the ocean, and Aquaman must call on the supernatural might of Etrigan, the Demon to stand between humanity and the dark menace that lurks inside that forgotten realm! It’s an undersea chiller like no other!
32pg. Color $2.99 US; On Sale February 17, 2010

In the weeks and months between now and the release of this issue, Rob is going to give extensive coverage to this event, starting now as he’s already published an interview with series writer J. Michael Straczynski! If you or anyone you know supports Aquaman, now’s the time to be heard!

Sherlock Holmes is a character whose fame far outstrips the source material that birthed him. People seem to absorb Holmes lore via a sort of pop-cultural osmosis. You don’t have to read a word of Conan Doyle or even watch the movie adaptations to have Holmes’ indelibly etched on at least a tiny space in your brain. Like Tarzan, or even Superman and Batman, Sherlock Holmes is probably in your head whether you’ve made a conscious effort to put him there or not.

Holmes already prodigious profile is definitely on the ascendant these days. He’s featured in a comic series by Dynamite, TV hit House is, if not a straight adaptation, a definite riff on Holmes, and Holmes will even go head to head with zombies in the upcoming VICTORIAN UNDEAD. Most prominently in the zeitgeist, is second string Tarantino Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Sherlock Holmes film adaptation, a buddy action movie that threatens to bend the character out of all recognizable shape. With all of this Buzz floating around one of literature’s most enduring creations, it’s a good time to go back and look at the original legacy of a man who has a legitimate claim on the title world’s first Superhero.

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“Rotten” is a surprise on many levels and not exactly what you’d expect from a comic that traffics in zombies. First off, it’s set in the Wild West of 1877. And it’s packed with a number of issues that parallel our own time like Americans forced to accept a president who has not been elected by popular vote. Or Americans being manipulated during a crisis. I sat down with “Rotten” creator, Mark Rahner, and began with this tongue-in-cheek question: “Is there room for ‘Rotten’ to address universal health care?”

With a chuckle, Rahner quipped, “Being uninsured today sort of leaves you as screwed as you would have been in 1877. And, by the way, when they have those historic reenactments, they never have displays of people who lost all their teeth by thirty.” He then adds, “You’ll see a lot more connections. In Issues 7 thru 9, for instance, we’ll have a story arc about the denial of evolution. It’s to my shock and dismay that this is still an issue for debate but it is. Science exists independently of whether or not you believe in it.” Any chance of a direct reference to Sarah Palin? Rahner doesn’t rule that out but he stresses that you won’t be getting an obvious pop culture fix like a lab mouse reaching for its next food pellet.

In the upcoming Issue 5, one of the characters delivers a wonderful Shakespearen quote: “Have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?” Very classy and all too relevant to 1877 or today. Rahner: “With something like that, it helps to stress that this isn’t a cliché Western. It also underscores the fact that if anyone thought that just with Bush gone we’ve returned to reason is mistaken. And that quote hits on the central theme running throughout this comic: Americans being manipulated during a crisis, when fear trumps reason.”

Mark Rahner, and co-writer Robert Horton, have both written professionally as movie critics. Rahner calls himself the more boisterous one and Horton the more thoughtful one which sort of parallels the main characters, Agent William Wade and his trusty aide, J. J. Flynn. “We often talk and act like our characters,” says Rahner. Given their backgrounds, these guys are quite capable of seasoning their writing with just the right movie reference. In No. 1, you’ll find references to “The Molly Maguires” and “Yojimbo.” In 4 - 6, you’ll find the spaghetti Western, “The Great Silence.”

Aside from movies, Agents Wade and Flynn, share a vibe with James T. West and Artemus Gordon from the TV show, “The Wild Wild West” and, maybe even more so, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. “It wasn’t something we set out to do but, the Holmes/Watson connection is there. The story is in Flynn’s voice. It can’t be Wade’s. It can’t be from his perspective since he’s right in the middle of it all.”

I talked to Rahner more about horror movies. He prefers his horror to be serious and to be about something like George Romero and his movies, notably “The Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead.” Getting back to the Holmes/Watson dynamic, Rahner suggested a classic horror movie with humor, “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter,” which “has a roving heroic hunter of monsters with a sidekick. It’s by the same creators of the TV show, ‘The Avengers’ and has that same wit.” Rahner even likes the sendup of the zombie genre and satire on society, “Shaun of the Dead.” But, as for “Rotten,” it is not going to break out of character. As Rahner says, “We are getting back to the roots and making it serious and about something.”

With the brilliant art of Dan Dougherty, “Rotten” is the real deal all the way around. When asked about Dougherty, Rahner admits that it’s not easy to work with Mark Rahner. “Dan will ask if he can spread out on the page something and I’ll just say, no, we have too much to cover.” Whatever the case, the final result is a comic that just keeps growing creatively and continues gaining buzz. FHM recently suggested that it’s only a matter of time before “Rotten” becomes a movie. “We’ve thought about that. We were thinking it could be cool to turn it into something for cable.” Time will tell.

One thing is clear, you couldn’t find a better spokesperson for “Rotten” than Mark Rahner. He is a well-spoken, funny and personable guy. It’s no wonder that, as part of his work as a reporter at The Seattle Times, he creates some really cool videos that accompany his written stories. A couple of recent standouts are Rahner’s investigation of bacon-flavored mayonnaise and a tour of the locale for “Twilight,” Forks, Washington . “All that is time-consuming. It’s hard to do humor, especially satire, and rely on it reading well on video. If you’re a control freak, like me, and want to keep all your juvenile humor intact, then you have to do it yourself.”

“I never wanted to do an honest day’s work,” jokes Rahner when asked how he got his start. “Seriously, it’s really like it is for anyone else who has something they need to follow. At twelve, I was telling people I was a writer, no matter how absurd that may have sounded. It’s about discipline and hard work regardless of what talent you may have. The better the writer is, the easier he makes it look. I don’t know of any other profession where people can chime in about your work and tell you how much you suck.”

And what else lies ahead for Rahner? For one, he and Horton have a new project, a 5 issue mini series, H.E.L.I.X. that is set in the present day but is also part of the “Rotten” universe. “All the stuff we’re doing is connected to one universe. You’ll see names pop up from previous work and things that happen in one title, set a hundred years ago, will affect another title set today. In H.E.L.I.X., Rahner promises “an exciting and even repugnant story at a break-neck pace set in Seattle that involves stem cell experiments, sexually transmitted diseases, a race to the clock with two partners who hate each other and people who die in ways that are vomit-inducing.”

Stay tuned to all things “Rotten” and the rest of the work published by Moonstone. And check in on what Mark Rahner is up to at his site.

Spider-Man: The Short Halloween

Written by Bill Hader and Seth Meyers

Art by Kevin Maguire

Published by Marvel Comics

This one passed me by when it first came out earlier this year. As a special Halloween treat, let’s look back at this delightful one-shot. How often is it that you have “Saturday Night Live” veterans writing a superhero comic? Is it possible that Bill Hader and Seth Meyers are the first? I think so but I’d be happy to learn that there’s like some Chevy Chase script about Wonder Woman out there or maybe Al Franken’s take on Wolverine.

Hader and Meyers opt to be respectful and even include a reverential recap on how Spider-Man got his powers just in case you’re from some other planet. The story finds Spider-Man in typical fashion, pursuing a baddie. But that’s perfectly fine as we ease into some offbeat and often hilarious writing. It’s easy to see that Hader and Meyers love comics and the people who read them. The title itself, “Spiderman: The Short Halloween,” is a geek in-joke referring to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “Batman: The Long Halloween.” And the story, well it’s not some obvious satire. No, it’s actually a little masterpiece involving mistaken identity and, in the bargain, a clever juxtaposition of the weird world of superheroes and us average citizens.

In some ways, you feel like you can’t cross a line with Spider-Man. Peter Parker is as average as you can get. He’s forever fighting for his well-earned cash from The Man, J. Jonah Jameson. Who can’t relate to that? And, as Spider-Man, the guy gets no respect. What’s not to love? Hader and Meyers appear to feel the same way and give you a story where Joe Average gets to take center stage and we consider his problems. And the villains, they’re average too. Actually, they’re below average. And Spider-Man is totally enmeshed in this.

You can really take this mistaken identity thing to new heights. What happens is that the real Spider-Man is quite accidentally knocked out while confronting a third-rate wannabe villain. At the same time, a drunk in a Spider-Man costume, who happens to have a great Spider-Man costume and a credible build, is being hauled around by two of his buddies after a Halloween night that has gone wrong. As the drunk Spider-Man careens down a corner and collapses by a dumpster, the real Spider-Man heroically falls out from the sky and crashes into a heap nearby. So, the buddies haul the real Spider-Man into their apartment. And the awkward villain makes off with the drunk Spider-Man to show off to the rest of his crew of lame baddies.

I love it every time New York gets to be a character in a Spider-Man story. I  prefer the offbeat and the more domestic and talky stuff and how it can play off the superhero stuff. That’s always been an important part of Spider-Man and it’s carried off here with a lot of authentic dialogue and some very natural action. For example, the drunk Spider-Man’s life is a mess with his girlfriend ready to leave him. Finally getting past his friends, she is more than ready to go through “the talk” with him as he lays on a couch. Having said what she needs to say, she feels some regret and goes to kiss his hand. And, with perfect comedic timing, that’s when Spider-Man’s webbing shoots into her face. It’s a scene done with such skill since it’s so in the moment.

What keeps the writing so in the moment too is the amazing art by Kevin Maguire. His realism mixed with cartoony flourish is a perfect match. From the start, you know that Fumes, the clumsy villain, is more like us than Doctor Octopus. He has that face. And the guys out on the town with the drunk Spider-Man, elicit sympathy. You’ve been in that same cab with these guys as they agree with their pal that’s he’s Spider-Man– or at least you feel like you have.

How often does comedy mix with comics? Well, within superhero comics, there’s some of that in the current run of Marvel’s “Strange Tales” which includes Peter Bagge’s hilarious sendup of The Hulk. Of course, superhero comics can have a sense of humor but strictly comedic, not so much. Then again, it all depends on where you look, like for instance, “The Metal Men.”

That said, comedy is certainly as viable as anything else in comics. As reported here at Newsarama, American Original’s Jeff Katz, in connection with Top Cow, will gather a lineup of star comedians to create their own comics. They will be collected into graphic novels under the series title, “Comedy Death Ray.” It will be an impressive roster including Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Paul Scheer, B. J. Novak, Janeane Garofalo and another SNL talent, Fred Armisen. The proposed first four issue run is scheduled to come out this winter.

“Comedy Death Ray” probably won’t have that much to do with superheroes. The series editor, comedian/writer Scott Aukerman, is more of a fan of stuff like Dan Clowes’s “Eightball” and Peter Bagge’s “Hate.” But maybe he’s read “The Short Halloween.” If so, that’s a good thing since it’s a great example of comedy writers writing comics.

Greetings, Blog@teers — have we got some news for you!

For the past six months, a webcomic has been featured by Ain’t It Cool News and CNN, celebrated for its action, characterization, and respect for the blaxploitation films that inspired it. As its creator notes, it’s Super Fly meets The Equalizer, the step-child of Shaft and Rip Kirby, a love letter to the Black action films of the 1970s. For some, it’s street justice like you’ve never seen — and for those on the run, well, all that’s coming their way is a WORLD OF HURT.

And in keeping with our mission to deliver the best and the brightest to you, our readers, we are proud to announce that WORLD OF HURT will be making its second home at Blog@Newsarama, as the latest in our weekly webcomics series. We sat down with writer/artists Jay Potts about the comic, his blaxploitation inspirations, and what the future holds for Isaiah “Pastor” Hurt.

Newsarama: Jay, just to start out with, can you tell new readers a little bit about what World of Hurt is about?

Jay Potts: WORLD OF HURT is a weekly, black & white serial adventure webcomic that is my personal love letter to the Black action films of the 1970s and the Golden Age of newspaper adventure strips.  It is set in the early1970s in the city of Pointe Blanc, a fictional version of San Francisco and Oakland, and follows the exploits of a Black troubleshooter named Isaiah “Pastor” Hurt.

Nrama: In terms of getting to know you a little bit — what’s your background been in terms of comics? Is World of Hurt your first one, or have you been building up this?

Potts: I’ve been drawing since the age of four and have been a comic book fan for just as long.  However, it wasn’t until I entered the graduate program in Sequential Art at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA in 1997, that I received any formal instruction.  What I learned there about storytelling and composition, and the exposure to an incredible range of talent, was truly eye-opening.

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So early next year, when Smallville gets their second half of Season 9 under way, there’s the little matter of an episode written by Geoff Johns and featuring key members of the Justice Society (with the one-word title of “Society”). Well, the show’s producers, in their ultimate wisdom, decided that it was too good to confine to one episode, and it’s getting a second part entitled “Legends.”

And with this two-parter, the ever-reliable Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reports that a veteran Justice LEAGUER will be in on the action: J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter! Self-professed comic book geek Phil Morris will be reprising his role as the Metropolis police detective for the first time this season.

So between Superman (Clark Kent), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and Det. John Jones, and Hawkman (Carter Hall), Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson) and Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore), we’re looking at the first live-action crossover between the JLA and JSA!

If there was a book that isn’t Sandman more deserving of oversized, supersaturated Absolute edition, Promethea is it. It’s a sometimes-skipping, sometimes-running, sometimes-strolling journey through a dream world as wild and beautiful as Neil Gaiman’s but ruled by a warrior-queen who’s everything Wonder Woman ought to be.

Promethea is a living story, and she’s just taken over a new human host. The previous incarnations, like something out of Joseph Campbell, have all left their mark on her, and they each have something to teach young Sophie Bangs, a college student whose research has led her to Promethea’s tale.

I love Alan Moore (which should almost go without saying) and yet I’d never read these stories, which are probably the most like me of any of his works. Promethea is in one sense the wealth of woman-knowledge and magic passed down from generation to generation, and that’s an idea I can certainly get behind. But the story is less about ideas than about feelings; less a story than an experience.

Imagination-scapes unfurl across double-page spreads full of symbols that evoke a visceral reaction and yet are things you’ve never seen or heard of. It makes me want to write, or dream, or write about dreams. Hell, it makes me want to draw, and I’m no good at that.

Layered into the story are thoughtful critiques of power, hierarchy, patriarchy, as well as pokes and gibes at mainstream comic storytelling. The tale gets stranger as it goes on, spinning off into splashy explanations of Moore’s thoughts on magic and myth within the myth he’s created.

It’s less a narrative than a trip, fables layered on top of stories and characters’ identities shifting into dreams. If Watchmen is Moore’s Ulysses, then Promethea is Finnegans Wake and it demands the same experience—stop trying to make it make sense and just let it wash over you and enjoy the ride.

Rotten #4

Written by Mark Rahner and Robert Horton

Art by Dan Dougherty

Published by Moonstone

Agents Wade and Flynn proceed to their next zombie mission out in the Wild West in Part Four of Rotten. In a comic full of clever dialogue and wonderfully structured stoytelling, both in the writing and the art, you could say it’s sort of a bonus to include zombies.

As the popularity of “Zombieland” should make clear, it’s not just zombies that bring in an audience. It’s always going to come back to the story and the characters. In Rotten, you’ve got a very different kind of story led by a couple of likable and authentic guys, Agents Wade and Flynn. They are under special orders from Pres. Hayes to investigate reports of attacks from creatures or,  “the undead,” out West.

Issue Four finds our heroes going undercover as commanding officers taking over a snow-bound and desolate Army fort. For all purposes, it shouldn’t even exist. There’s a lot of good tension-filled scenes between the new officers and the troops as neither group is eager to reveal everything they know.

Dan Dougherty is definitely the guy to be drawing this. He has a very distinctive style: sharp-edged and lean. He knows how to keep the story moving with tight compositions. He also knows his way around the subtleties of human expression. In this issue, the pressure is really applied on Agent Wade to not only act as a leader but to be one even when his orders sound outright strange. His every move must be convincing to a group of desperate men. Dougherty keeps us in the story and gives us a deeper appreciation of this complex character.

And what are these strange orders coming from Wade? Well, they’re nothing compared to what the men have been hiding from him. It’s spooky stuff in the tradition of “The Twilight Zone.” You don’t want to say this sort of thing too often but Rotten remains one of those best kept secrets in comics and I recommend you get in on it. This issue is the start of a new arc and a great place to dive in.

I really enjoyed this video from GRITtv, with cartoonists Jennifer Camper, Carlo Quispe, and Erika Lopez, discussing drawing comics and depicting marginalized lives.

Host Laura Flanders notes that most comics have in common, “the idea of capturing different dimensions,” and her guests are people from different ethnic and economic backgrounds, telling their stories particularly through the lens of their sexuality. Camper notes that she likes to tell “regular stories about working-class people,” and Quispe discusses “being infatuated with someone for twenty minutes” while drawing them. Lopez jokes that she is popular because she is “ranting from the bottom,” and all three note that it is not just people of color, not just LGBT people who read their work.

“Those are the kinds of stories I wanted to read,” Camper said, and the others agreed.

For New Yorkers, there’s a show of these cartoonists’ work opening Thursday at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance.

The internet loves you, and it brings you fun things. Today:

Twilight-haters will no doubt have even more to complain about, but I don’t care: Stephenie Meyer’s The Host to be made into a movie.

From Wired: Get to know the Surrogates comic before the movie hits.

Fun little comic page by Matthew Sheret and Julia Scheele.

Jason Aaron has some thoughts on Scalped. You know, the best comic that comes out each month. (He didn’t say that. I did.)

Another story from Wired. I don’t know why I’m linking it, really. Those illustrations are sort of cool, I guess. Who’s the artist? Oh, some guy named Ryan Kelly…

One of the only reviews of Jennifer’s Body that I’ve seen that doesn’t spend half its time complaining about Diablo Cody (see comments on Stephenie Meyer).

I’ll repost this under events, but I found it interesting: from Johanna Draper Carlson, a lecture by Noah Berlatsky, whose blog examines classic Wonder Woman comics.

So it’s well known in sports — prep, collegiate and professional — that the rookies get hazed. From taping football players to the goalposts, to freshmen carrying the game film and projector on the road (scroll down toward to item #10b & c to read which Hall of Famer had to do that, AFTER winning a national championship!).

But New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi may have to answer the question “How is this punishment?”
Pictured with the skipper are some of the rookies currently wearing Yankees jerseys in their day jobs. This year the theme was clearly Batman, and a couple years ago it was apparently Wizard of Oz. That time I can see how dressing up as Dorothy was the unfortunate assignment. I guess this year the raw deal went to the players suited up as Catwoman and Robin.

My biggest question was this:
That guy dressed up as the Penguin is a Major League Baseball player??

I have to say I sort of miss the days when Brian Wood did his own DMZ covers, but there was something about JP Leon’s cover to #45 that really struck me. I’m the furthest thing from an art critic, but there’s something oddly intense about the shadowy back here, the broad shoulders–funny how I never pictured Matty Roth looking threatening, menacing, but suddenly he does here, and it’s not just the gun.

At the WildStorm blog.

Coming in October. You’re welcome.

This post on girl power in comics, from Retconning My Brain, is a seriously awesome piece that made me want to read a lot of these books (Power Girl, Batgirl, etc.) more than I already did.

The original “Girl power,” a sugared-up, popified version of what Riot Grrl was, hit when I was in my last years of high school. The late 90s, which brought us post-communications deregulation prefab pop, but also at least sort of acknowledged that women wanted pop culture that was their own, and that there was more to it than fighting over a man on a soap opera. It brought us Xena and Buffy, too.

I’ve never been the type of feminist who is terribly bothered by the word “girl”–if prodded, I can even conjure up a defense of using it as a word that doesn’t contain the word “man,” although that’s really not any less useless to me than spelling woman with a y. At the ripe old age of almost-thirty, I still refer to myself as a girl and usually anyone else who is my age or younger. I’ve even been scolded for it by friends male and female. But I can’t really help it, and I wonder if the twin specters of Riot Grrl and Girl Power are to blame.

I was thinking about Girl Power, while I was writing my generally-happy reactions to the stories, and I remember learning about third wave feminism and discussing Girl Power in my class, and the positives and negatives. You had shows with strong (Xena) or complex (Ally McBeal) female leads, but they were wearing short short skirts (and some of them could have used a sandwich, ahem). You had the Spice Girls saying friends come first (in a way more empowering way than bros before hos, yo) but most of their popular songs were still about finding love or something. I think. I can’t actually admit in public to listening to the Spice Girls. You know.

So. Is the rash of “Girl” comics a revival of this kind of feminism-lite? There certainly has been a trend lately, especially with DC books, toward female leads. Batwoman, Batgirl, Gotham City Sirens (and yes, Marvel Divas) and many more that I’m probably missing because this just isn’t really my area of expertise. The pop universe doesn’t seem to be swinging that way in the dramatic fashion it did in the Spice Girls era, but we do have Twilight and other pop-culture phenomena that are aimed at girls bringing a new demographic to geek culture–check out Vaneta Rogers’ awesome piece on The Fangirl Invasion.

Either way, I have to agree with this statement, again from Retconning My Brain:

What it came down to for me this week was that it was nice to buy a bunch of comics that are led my female superheroes, who are super with or without their male counterparts, but don’t exist in a vacuum of femaleness or solely for the gaze of the male reader. They’re there to kick some ass and be super.

Amen to that.

TV Guide provides is with the first look at Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as John Corben, better known to Superman fans as METALLO. Thanks to this, by way of Smallville, I now have a reason to gladly stay home on Friday nights.

Via When Fangirls Attack, which curates all the great women-and-gender related comics posts out there on the web so I don’t have to, I find this piece on “Marvel Bromance,” or now, apparently “Marvel Super Hero Team-Up.”

I wasn’t aware that there had even been a planned “Marvel Bromance,” which just shows you that I have entirely too much work to do in my life that doesn’t revolve around comics. Because you know I would’ve been all over that, right?

The evolution of the “bromance” out of the “buddy movie” has been interesting to me because it’s deliberately skated across that line of homoerotic tension that buddy movies always shied away from. In comics, the grand pairing of “buddies” was always Batman and his series of Robins, and since Robin was usually a good bit younger than Bruce Wayne, you really want to stay on the right side of that line with those books.

But the “bromance” is still ironic, not genuine. The movies are comedies; the stories loaded with snark and jokes about sharing feelings far more often than actually sharing feelings (when the kids in Superbad say “I love you” to one another they immediately have to pretend it didn’t happen). And so, as Chris Butcher noted, was Marvel’s solicit copy for the trade.

If This Be Bromance–! Marvel’s greatest buddies take the spotlight in this one-of-a-kind collection, and it’s male bonding like you’ve never seen — as Cable and Deadpool swap stories, Wonder Man and the Beast share a plane ride, Spidey and the Human Torch battle back-to-back, Wolverine makes a bet with Nightcrawler, Black Panther and Everett Ross lay their feelings on the line…and the Warriors Three set sail for fun! Plus: Captain America and the Falcon, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes, and more! Be here as Marvel says, “I love you, man!”

However, apparently “Bromance” was too–what, edgy? didn’t get enough attention? any ideas? It’s been changed to the too-long and unmemorable “Marvel Super Hero Team-Up,” which is so bland that it almost seems it must be a euphemism for something.

While “Bromance” might have been silly, it was at least an acknowledgment of the changing rules of same-gender friendships in the wider pop culture. More accurately, since the trade would be a reprint of classic stories, it would have been an acknowledgment that male friendships have always been more complex than a secret handshake or a gruff “Thanks.” Now it’s just another super hero team-up.

It’s Thursday. I have had too much caffeine and haven’t bought my comics for the week yet. Have some links.

Boondock Saints comics? Hell yes.

Becky Cloonan’s ongoing webcomic-saga of her “feud” with Amy Reeder Hadley just keeps getting funnier.

Warren Ellis thinks you should buy this print from Laurenn McCubbin. I think you should buy it for me.

One of my favorite political bloggers, Spencer Ackerman, is now the star of a comic book. Where the heck is MY comic book, people?

Jonathan Lethem on the “Squandered promise of science fiction.”

Joshua Dysart’s Unknown Soldier is featured in the New York Times today.

Unknown Soldier is unflinching in its depiction of violence, and that comes across even more strongly in the collected edition, without the monthly break between issues. One particularly horrific scene deals with the disfigurement of the title character: an inner voice navigates him through the violence, but when he reaches his breaking point, he hacks at himself to try to silence it. That gruesome episode came from Mr. Dysart’s imagination; some details he learned from his trip, he said, were too awful for the comic.

[snip]

“I witnessed people at the lowest point of their lives, and I came back and turned it into an action-packed war comic,” he said. “We try our best not to be exploitative, but in my heart I don’t know if this is the right way to do it.”

I’m a fan of Unknown Soldier; I think Dysart’s efforts to bring attention to an area of the world through comics are worthy and I appreciate his own conflict about whether he’s doing the right thing. It’s nice to see the comic getting this kind of recognition.