Secret Six 23
This was a nice fill-in issue by John Ostrander, with art by Silva and Palamaro. A classic hunt-the-heroes (well, in this case, the protagonists; I'd hardly call the Six heroes) story that had no real suspense, but did contain many fun, iconic character moments. The last panel was especially delightful.
I realized I never commented on issue 22. It was a gritty, grim ending to a powerful story that fleshed out Catman's character. He's been my favorite of the Six, and this story has just reinforced that. It's scary what he's capable of, and why.
Supergirl 53
Yeah, I'm a bit late with some of these. I got distracted by the Wonder Woman mess. Anyway, in this, Kara -- call me Linda -- copes with the changes in her life. She comes across as a real teen. Finally, we've been given a modernized version of the classic Supergirl and I couldn't be happier.
Birds of Prey 2
Gail has started this revived book off with a topnotch mystery and plenty of suspense as a powerful enemy takes on Babs and the Birds, hitting Babs where it hurts most: her rep and those of the Birds and by threatening and making good on those threats on their lives. Ed Benes' art has really matured and this is the best work he's done. His facial expressions are especially nice. These women don't just look beautiful. They look tough.
Batgirl 11
I'm enjoying this even more than I'd dare hope. Steph is a great character and perfectly suited to be BG. She's tough, intelligent, impulsive, and funny, qualities I love in my costumed crimefighters. Calculator is a great adversary for Babs, here and in his appearances in BoP. I love Babs' dream life. And with Babs occupied, Steph is left to handle the nefarious plot by herself, until Calculator's daughter jumps in to help. In some ways, this is Birds of Prey, Junior Division and I'm loving it.
Gotham City Sirens 13
Sometimes, this book really does feel like a continuation of Catwoman's book, with Harley and Ivy merely supporting characters for Selina. This story definitely had that vibe, bringing back Selina's sister, who is now mentally unhinged and desperate to "save" Selina by destroying the evil within her. And while this story ended, the door was left open for a return appearance. Cool. Kudos to Tony Bedard for not undoing all the good that had been done with Catwoman in her book.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Alternate Realities
As in, the multiverse. But first, a few more thoughts on the new Wonder Woman outfit (I can't bring myself to call it a costume).
As many folks have pointed out, it would work better for Donna Troy, though I prefer Donna's black starfield jumpsuit. If I were younger, I would love to wear it, actually. Now I don't think those leggings would be all that flattering on me.
I think tweaking a costume is fine. Most of the time I don't notice. So many people (and I'm really sorry for not having links but at the time I read all the posts, I didn't think I'd want to revisit the topic over here) have blogged the history of Diana's WW costume. I've never paid much attention to her belt or the symbol on her chest, how stylized the eagle design is, if her boots are flat or heels, and so on. I notice a cape. I noticed two stars on the bottom of the costume vs a great many. I even notice when her bracelets grow or shrink in length. And I don't usually care. Because the costume still says Wonder Woman.
In fact, the only tweaking I never much cared for was Power Girl's costume, when the high neck with the cutout for her cleavage was replaced with a scoop neck, making it look like any old swimsuit off the rack. The top with the oval cutout was different, eye-catching, not something you see every day. Happily, the cutout is back. And when I realized that, I realized another thing about Diana's new outfit that bugs me.
The damn thing, pretty though it is, looks like it came off a rack at the local department store, Macy's, perhaps. I get the feeling Diana's real costume was in the laundry, so she rummaged in her closet and dresser drawers and came up with a nice, red stretchy top and black leggings (or possibly very tight pants) and thought, "Heck, this will do."
It's not iconic. It doesn't scream "Wonder Woman" because, minus the accessories, anyone could wear it (well, most any woman) and might be likely to wear it or something very similar, and no one would notice. Anyone walking around in Diana's iconic outfit, or a tweaked version, would stand out. Same as if they were wearing Supergirl's costume, or even Black Canary, because even that is a stylized look, blending the old Canary costume with a more modern approach.
Which brings me to that multiverse thing. I love the multiverse, so I decided I'm reading about Earth 53. I think there are still 52 earths, so I came up with Earth 53. On Earth 53, there was no Cry For Justice (or if so, Prometheus was quickly nabbed and eliminated as a threat). So, Ollie didn't kill anyone and Star City is intact. Corrupt, but intact. Ollie and Dinah are happily married, still (I'll have to see how well this fantasy of mine meshes with BoP as things play out there), and Lian Harper is alive and well. Roy is still the happy-go-lucky, yet responsible parent, still dating heavily and looking for the right woman to be Lian's stepmother. Without the need to avenge his daughter, he has not killed and might be back in the JLA. I can envision him fighting alongside Dick/Batman and Donna Troy.
The Dibneys are alive and well on Earth 53, too. Somehow, they were restored to life after Blackest Night, but no one knows yet. Not part of the special dozen whose story is currently being chronicled in Brightest Day, they moved to a busy city where Ralph, eschewing his Elongated Man identity, has opened a PI business with Sue, the two of them happily solving mysteries.
Anyone else we should resurrent/retcon on Earth 53?
As many folks have pointed out, it would work better for Donna Troy, though I prefer Donna's black starfield jumpsuit. If I were younger, I would love to wear it, actually. Now I don't think those leggings would be all that flattering on me.
I think tweaking a costume is fine. Most of the time I don't notice. So many people (and I'm really sorry for not having links but at the time I read all the posts, I didn't think I'd want to revisit the topic over here) have blogged the history of Diana's WW costume. I've never paid much attention to her belt or the symbol on her chest, how stylized the eagle design is, if her boots are flat or heels, and so on. I notice a cape. I noticed two stars on the bottom of the costume vs a great many. I even notice when her bracelets grow or shrink in length. And I don't usually care. Because the costume still says Wonder Woman.
In fact, the only tweaking I never much cared for was Power Girl's costume, when the high neck with the cutout for her cleavage was replaced with a scoop neck, making it look like any old swimsuit off the rack. The top with the oval cutout was different, eye-catching, not something you see every day. Happily, the cutout is back. And when I realized that, I realized another thing about Diana's new outfit that bugs me.
The damn thing, pretty though it is, looks like it came off a rack at the local department store, Macy's, perhaps. I get the feeling Diana's real costume was in the laundry, so she rummaged in her closet and dresser drawers and came up with a nice, red stretchy top and black leggings (or possibly very tight pants) and thought, "Heck, this will do."
It's not iconic. It doesn't scream "Wonder Woman" because, minus the accessories, anyone could wear it (well, most any woman) and might be likely to wear it or something very similar, and no one would notice. Anyone walking around in Diana's iconic outfit, or a tweaked version, would stand out. Same as if they were wearing Supergirl's costume, or even Black Canary, because even that is a stylized look, blending the old Canary costume with a more modern approach.
Which brings me to that multiverse thing. I love the multiverse, so I decided I'm reading about Earth 53. I think there are still 52 earths, so I came up with Earth 53. On Earth 53, there was no Cry For Justice (or if so, Prometheus was quickly nabbed and eliminated as a threat). So, Ollie didn't kill anyone and Star City is intact. Corrupt, but intact. Ollie and Dinah are happily married, still (I'll have to see how well this fantasy of mine meshes with BoP as things play out there), and Lian Harper is alive and well. Roy is still the happy-go-lucky, yet responsible parent, still dating heavily and looking for the right woman to be Lian's stepmother. Without the need to avenge his daughter, he has not killed and might be back in the JLA. I can envision him fighting alongside Dick/Batman and Donna Troy.
The Dibneys are alive and well on Earth 53, too. Somehow, they were restored to life after Blackest Night, but no one knows yet. Not part of the special dozen whose story is currently being chronicled in Brightest Day, they moved to a busy city where Ralph, eschewing his Elongated Man identity, has opened a PI business with Sue, the two of them happily solving mysteries.
Anyone else we should resurrent/retcon on Earth 53?
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