Amy Reads the Backlog

Spring Break has finally (!) arrived, Gentle Reader, and We Reads find ourselves on the brink of a lovely visit to Nearby Town for some much-needed Away Time. This time will, of course, be defined by reading and writing of the personal variety, and not of the academic variety. No papers shall be graded, no classes shall be prepped, and while This Humble Author finds herself Quite Lucky to teach Fantastical and Wonderful Courses that allow her to begin class with phrases like, "Now, how is Wonder Woman written to fulfill gender stereotypes here, and how is Batman not?" or, "So the name of today's game is zombie contagion. Discuss," One does need a break even from the things one loves, no?

But that means that I have time, yes, finally have time to begin tackling the Extreme Backlog of Comics. Last night found me finishing Secret Invasion, and catching up on Wonder Woman and Secret Six both. As This Humble Author still needs to pack for said trip tomorrow, the reviews will be brief in the extreme. Rather, I will leave you with small imprints, impressions, if you will, Friends, with a promise of a more in-depth review of Wonder Woman later.

Brian Michael Bendis's Secret Invasion #1-8
What I liked:
1) I feel sorry for Tony Stark for the first time since Civil War, Friends, and that is a Very Odd Feeling Indeed.
2) To quote the ever-quotable Kitty Pryde (and in this instance, the ever-quotable Joss Whedon): "Yeahbutwha?" Norman Osborne?? Really??? How Utterly Fascinating!
3) The fact that the writers recognize Spider-Man's insecurity insomuch that he will meet himself, and mock himself. Again and again.
4) Secret Invasion has made me interested in Mar-vell, a character I have never found myself very interested in.
5) Jessica Jones.
That is, any time Jessica Jones Saves The Day, I will smile.

What I didn't:
1) Friends, this defines, truly, my privileging of DC over Marvel: the treatment of Wasp feels overwhelming, more so than the treatment of major female characters in DC. Not only is she tossed aside like so much garbage, she is beaten down, figuratively rather than literally this time, by her husband once again.
2) The entire run seemed to end in an overall theme of "hell hath no fury." This failed utterly in X-Men III, and I found it Rather Grating here, as well.
3) I would have liked to see the comic do more with Wolverine. He felt--dare I say it?--extraneous, which he never usually does.
4) Sue Storm felt even more extraneous, when she is, clearly, the strongest member of the Fantastic 4. I adore Sue Storm as much as I dislike Reed Richards, and she once again seemed to be discounted.
5) Why would anyone use Kate Bishop, Gentle Reader, and then forget she is around? Is there a more interesting or engaging Young Avenger?

Gail Simone's Wonder Woman #28-29
What I liked:
Friends, I almost cried when I saw the trinity of Wonder Women--Diana, Donna, and Cassie--all armored in their matching individuality. It is a beautiful scene, and one definitely marking the signature of Ms. Simone's style. No one, no one writes the team-up better than Ms. Simone.

The constant revelations, and the constant fact that they were overwhelmingly unexpected. From the surprise appearance of Steve Trevor, to the big reveal of Dr. Psycho, and the bigger reveal of Cheetah, it is No Accident that #29 ends with the complete shattering of Zeus's last dredges of sanity.

What I didn't:
I want more from Tom Tresser. Ms. Simone has made me like, no, *care* for this character despite my previous protestations. I would like to see him do more on-screen.

The loss of a Great God feels like the loss of a Dear Friend.

The pacing feels off a bit, almost rushed. It feels like these events are too big for the normal 22 pages. Or perhaps it feels as if the origins storyline at the end rushes the entire comic?

What I wonder:
Is that a pregnant Amazon at the end??

Gail Simone's Secret Six #2-7
What I liked:
1) The Last Victim. I believe all comics would benefit greatly from arrogant immortal banshee aristocrats, truly.
2) Deadshot, Deadshot, Deadshot.
3) Scandal's final scene.
4) The entirety of Bane. The. Entirety. Of. Bane.

What I didn't (short answer):
Nothing, except that Junior has caused nightmares (!!!), Gentle Reader.

What I didn't (long answer):
Nothing.

That is to say, my adoration of Mr. Rucka's and Ms. Simone's runs on Wonder Woman is no secret to This Humble Blog. I cannot imagine it is a secret from anyone, especially you, Most Constant of Readers. But as well as Greg Rucka writes the Outlaw, Gail Simone writes the Team. And I must admit, as much as I love Gail Simone on Wonder Woman, I *adore* her on Secret Six.

It fulfills the promise of Birds of Prey, the dysfunctional little family that tries to pretend it is, in fact, *not* a family. That it is just a random group of people thrown together by common interest. Co-workers, yes?

No.

It fulfills the promise of Gen-13, the dysfunctional little family that tries to pretend it is just a random group of people thrown together by age and background. Teenagers, yes?

No.

It fulfills the promise of Welcome to Tranquility, the dysfunctional larger family that tries to pretend it is just a random group of people thrown together by location and need. Neighbors, yes?

No.

The Team *is* the Family.

Here is the True Secret of this book, Gentle Reader: Gail Simone seems to experience nothing but Joy when writing this book, and that shines through in every conversation, every page.

Ciao!
This began as a simple "brief review" and turned into Something Monstrous, as anything I attempt to be "brief" eventually does. Ah well. I believe this is what reading comics after many months does to one, no?

And with this, I am off, Friends, to enjoy the rest of Spring Break. See you when the work week begins again.

"Now Go. Unleash Hell": A Brief Review of Wonder Woman (DVD)

I have two reactions to this movie, Gentle Reader.

The first is a rather lengthy, near-academic discussion of the Absolute Smartness and Complete Joy of this video. It involves some Awfully Big Words, and perhaps A Few Comparisons to literary texts. It is Smart and at times, somewhat High Victorian, but still, a smart and engaged review.

The other goes, I believe, something like this:

"Omigod omigod omigod SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

At least, Mr. Reads informs me that is precisely what I said throughout the watching of this movie.

It is a Smart Movie, Friends, and Even Smarter than any of the other recent DC videos--Doomsday, New Frontier--that have graced our markets. Never let it be said that I do not enjoy those movies. I do, Friends. I do. But this movie depicts Diana in such a joyous way, in a way that Completely Understands the Amazon Princess, in a way that does not rely on Cheap Jokes or Unhappy Gendered Divisions, that I feel that this movie, unlike the other big-name titles, gets its main character completely.

It begins with bloodshed and war. Amazons and Gods fighting for supremacy. The Amazons win, in the end, by defeating Ares, and by losing so many of their sisters. And it continues with a Child Made Of Clay, of a Sister Longing for Love, of Another Sister Longing for War. It continues with Familiarity: with Steve Trevor, with a contest to see who will be the Amazonian Champion to escort Steve Trevor back to Man's World. But not just any Champion, and not just any warrior. A warrior that fights well, but a warrior who fights dirty. And when she no longer has a sword, she uses her fists. In the end, she is declared Champion, and when her Sisters are betrayed by one of their own, Diana becomes Earth's Champion, as well, against the dark forces of Ares's Army.

It begins in familiar places, Gentle Reader. And then, it becomes something uncanny.

Familiar yet unfamiliar, but not horrifying as Dr. Freud would have us believe. Rather, upon first arriving in Man's World, Diana spies a small girlchild crying, because the boys will not let her play. As the girl, they say, she must wait on the sidelines to be rescued.

Princess Diana scoffs, not only at such faulty logic, but at the improper and utterly preposterous way the young men hold their swords, and engage in their swordplay. After teaching the girlchild the proper way to fight, the thrust stroke that will kill, she looks at the girl fondly and tells her, "Now go. Unleash hell."

This is when this movie becomes Utterly Extraordinary.

Diana looks upon Man's World and finds it wanting, both in its approach to gendered divisions and in its presentation of violence and greed and bloodshed. She gives her opinions of these things, Gentle Reader, not only by speaking out against them, but also by using the stereotypical "trappings" of femininity, a purple dress, a high heel, to defeat her male enemy.

On the one hand, yes. Diana rails against the inequality on Man's World by destroying the feminine trappings that would bind her sisters. But for This Humble Scholar, who focuses much of her work on the Engagement With and Manipulation of those very trappings by nineteenth-century women, I say that Diana demonstrates the power hidden within these garments and accoutrements. What is a dress if not a sling, if not a catapult? What is a high heel if not a weapon to be wielded?

Steve is irreverent of and awed by Diana intermittently, and even ventures to call her a "crazy Amazonian dragon lady." The running joke of the definition of--forgive This Humble Author for the inappropriate language she is about to scribe--"crap" throughout the film offers cleverness among the earnestness. And Steve's righteousness, not only in the rescue of Wonder Woman over the rescue of the world, but in his patriotic anger over the desecration of the Lincoln Memorial ("they're messing with Lincoln!" he says. "Nobody messes with Lincoln!") update us to current concerns, as well.

In the end, of course, the threat of Ares's army is neutralized by what the American government believes to be "a group of armored supermodels." And Diana becomes the Warrior for Peace, with her Mother's blessing. Provided she visits home often, of course.

We often forget, Gentle Reader, that Wonder Woman is, first and foremost, a bruiser. She is not a plotter and schemer like Batman, or a boy scout like Superman. She is a Warrior, and she prefers to fight with her fists. And when she is knocked down, she will get up, again and again, not because she does not know fear. Of course she knows fear. Only the mad do not know fear. Rather, as a warrior, she knows Fear, understands it, feels it as far down as she can, and still, she meets it halfway.

That is the very definition of a hero, after all.

Amy Reads the Week (of October 26th, 2008)

The name of the game, Gentle Reader, is The Incredible Hulk. As I have mentioned many times on This Humble Blog, I occasionally feel as if Mr. Reads and I are the only two people in the world who not only appreciate but adore, yes, *adore* Ang Lee's Hulk. It is beautiful, and smart, and well-written, and, most importantly for the Hulk legend, tragic. There is something utterly tragic about the Hulk in Mr. Lee's version, not because he can be calmed by the serene beauty of Betty Ross (played by one of This Humble Author's favorite actresses, Ms. Jennifer Connelly), but because the Hulk understands. There is a core of Bruce Banner's gentleness inside of the Hulk in Mr. Lee's version, and that core is, ultimately, the tragic flaw of The Incredible Hulk.

Mr. Reads and I resisted seeing The Incredible Hulk (2008) in the theater for a variety of reasons, but namely because we adore the 2003 version so much. The Hulk has never been one of my favorite characters; As Constant Readers of This Humble Blog know, This Humble Author is a DC girl, to to the core. I dabble in Marvel, certainly (give me your Emma Frosts, your Kitty Prydes, your Iron Men), but at The End Of The Day, I would rather have a Wonder Woman or a Flash or a Batman, thank you very much. I am more for the Iconic and less for the Representation.

But I do enjoy Marvel to some degree, make no mistake. The imprint does Representation So Very Well. Their characters are symbolic to a level that is almost--dare I say it in light of the X-Men imprint?--Uncanny. While DC is archetypal, Marvel is Metaphorical. And who is more Metaphorical than The Hulk?

Part Jekyll, part Hyde, yet it seems without the arrogance of either, The Hulk is not often written with a sense of poetry that I think he deserves. Ang Lee's version offered us that. Bruce Banner and the Hulk both were metaphorical, symbolic, representative. The 2008 Hulk was just Hulk Smash, all around.

Not that I did not enjoy it. It was enjoyable in that I do not regret the two hours I spent watching the movie. But I did not walk away from the DVD thinking that it was a movie I must see again. There was no motivation in the movie. I do not mean for the characters but rather for the viewer. Why was I supposed to care? Why was I supposed to sympathize?

It all boils down ultimately, Gentle Reader, to two comments: one in support of what I liked, and one in explanation of what I didn't.

What I liked: Or, rather, what I found interesting and worth my time. This Hulk was not tragic or poetic or flawed. He was almost all monster. But neither, then, was this Bruce Banner tragic or poetic or flawed. Rather, there was a level of pathetic about Bruce Banner that led almost--Almost, Gentle Reader!--to disgust on the viewer's part. He was not a tragic hero, or an anti-hero, or stuck in a bad situation. He was unable to take care of himself, even on the most basic of levels. It seemed almost an Ultimates version of Bruce Banner more than anything else.

What I didn't: This movie had No Sense of Timing. That is to say, even in those moments that would have been funny (if they had not been all revealed in the trailers), the actors and directing plowed through them without so much as a By Your Leave. By the time the viewer got the reference, the next scene was already taking place.

I was with the movie at least half-heartedly until the big fight scene commenced, and there, the movie completely lost me. It was uninteresting and predictable and in my opinion, meant nothing to the movie but big Hulk Smash and Grab. Holding this up not only to the beautiful and poignant Ang Lee's Hulk but also to Dark Knight, Iron Man, Superman Returns, Hellboy, X-Men II, Spider-Man II, all of the really fantastic comic book movies out there and you see how comic book movies are Supposed To Be Made. Even without The Origin Story Problem, as The Incredible Hulk skipped past the Origin Story and straight to Story, this movie failed to connect with This Humble Viewer, at least.

But I am, Friends, very, very excited about the upcoming Wonder Woman animated film, and Iron Man II, Thor, Avengers, and of course, Watchmen. And I hope that one day, The Flash movie focusing on My Beloved Wally West will actually be a reality.

"Babies, Babies, Babies"; or, Amy Reads as a Fan

Not as an academic, Gentle Reader, or as a Reviewer. Not tonight. Not now. Tonight, I am a bit morose. Not suffering under any Romantic pretense of ennui, no, nothing so intellectual. Just a general sense of The Grumpies. So tonight, rather than reading in preparation of class, or working on various Bits and Sundries of Those Things More Important Than Comics, I instead Read Comics.

And I Read Comics as A Fan.

As Constant Readers of Arrogant Self-Reliance are aware, there is nothing of which I am a Fan more than The Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman #24 is *fun*, and *serious*, and *witty*. This is the complexity of Wonder Woman, surrounded by the complexities of Her Past. Beginning at Home, with a mother who decrees that Tom and Diana give her "Babies, Babies, Babies," we move from demands that Tom Tresser is "Not Food," to the gorilla guards' demands to "hear more about this fresh fruit portion of the negotiations." That is to say, I laughed out loud, and there is nothing I love more than laughing at good dialogue.

(Especially while suffering under my current general malaise.)

But here is The Thing, Gentle Reader. We get two panels of Wonder Woman, hugging a woman in need. And at a moment when This Humble Author is feeling--dare I say it?--rather fragile and In All Honesty in need of a hug, I felt myself thinking, "Wonder Woman hugs well."

She does, Friends, with whole heart and emotion, with no expectation and no sense of pulling away. The focus in on her face, with its eyes closed, its expression consoling and gentle, and you remember this is a Woman who is a Sister, used to hugging. This is the Diana responding to the birthday party from several issues ago. This is the Diana lamenting over the lack of hugs in her new life, her new workplace.

This is Diana, longing for her Sister Amazons.

Wonder Woman #24 deserves a Smart Review. A Longer Review, at least, something more In Depth, examining its place within The Mythos, the Larger Arc, and Simone's Larger Run. But rather, this evening, I would like to say simply, I liked it, very much.

Very Much Indeed.

Amy Reads on Vacation

It is true, Gentle Reader. I read. A lot.

Mr. Reads, Pup Reads, and I left on Sunday and came back on Tuesday. In that space of time, I read three, yes, Three Books, and Mr. Reads read One and a Half (granted, one was Duma Key, which is Ginormous, so there we are).

The first two were numbers three and four in Will Thomas's Barker and Llewelyn series, which is marvelous. And this praise, from a Victorianist! Upon first discovering these novels, I was afraid they would be too close to Holmes and Watson for my liking, as these are two detectives in late-nineteenth-century London (I do dislike the notion that imitation is the best form of flattery). But Lo, Friends, indeed that was not the case. This series is smart, savvy, and loads of fun. Bonus Treat, it gets darker and darker as it progresses. The fifth book The Black Hand has just (!) been released, and I look forward to reading it very soon.

The third book was Tana French's In the Woods, a book amazon.com, in its Great Wisdom, has recommended to me For Some Time, and I finally (!) read it. I began it Monday after lunch, and other than a break for dinner, did not put it down until 1:30 a.m. Her sequel, The Likeness, is due out very shortly, and I eagerly await it, as well.

All in all, a lovely vacation, a delightful getaway that was so utterly Pup Friendly that we have already made reservations to return this winter. Expect a review of the new Wonder Woman this weekend. Alas, our comics were not ready at My Local today (thanks to the Holiday!) and we return tomorrow to get This Week's Offerings.

Losing Her Religion: A Brief Review of Wonder Woman #21

There are three people in this world, Gentle Reader, who were instrumental in returning This Humble Author to the superheroic comic genre. Each of these three people is immensely talented at what he or she does, and therefore each has a particular talent that was presented to me, some five or six years back, when I found myself Rediscovering My Youth. Or, that is to say, when I found myself longing once more to watch a fight for my rights in satin tights (and that good ole red, white, and blue). While the Amazon Princess always has been Dear to My Heart, at the time I had not read her, in some while.

The first (and foremost) of these individuals is, of course, Mr. Reads, back when he was merely Boyfriend Reads. What Mr. Reads does, and does Rather Well, is Read. As a poet, as a writer, himself, Mr. Reads has an uncanny knack for Knowing What Is Good. Beneficially for This Humble Author, he also has an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what it is that This Humble Author will enjoy. This of course leads me directly to persons numbered 2 and 3.

Greg Rucka is individual numbered 2, and my rediscovery of superhero comics directly coincided with my introduction to Greg Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman. What Mr. Rucka does, and does Rather Well, is present the Other. He gives us a character who *should* be Just Like Us and instead shows us a character who is so utterly different from the world that we cannot help but sympathize with her, enjoy her strength and development, become angry with her when she fails, but only because she is So Very Angry with herself. Princess Diana, Tara Chace, Renee Montoya, all of these women were written with an eye towards what makes them different. It is no surprise, then, that these women are Warriors, All. Because what is more alien to our society than the Warrior, and the Woman Warrior, at that?

And, no surprise to you, Gentle Reader, Ms. Gail Simone is individual numbered 3. I remember when Mr. Reads first handed me Rose and Thorn, and Birds of Prey, and, most importantly, introduced me to the concept of Women in Refrigerators. As a feminist, an academic, and just generally, a Person Interested In Popular Culture, I found the very idea of Ms. Simone to be Utterly Fascinating. A fan becoming a writer, a critic becoming a voice. But while that is all Well And Good, it was Ms. Simone’s writing that truly won me over. And when I discovered that two of my enjoyments of comics were to coincide—Gail Simone was to write Wonder Woman—I knew that things would be rather interesting indeed.

Friends, I adored Greg Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman. I think he presented us with the difference of Diana. As a Princess from an isolated island, as a Warrior Ambassador for Peace, Diana is a dichotomy, and Mr. Rucka gave us those odd, isolated moments. The graphic novel The Hiketeia, for example, shows better than any other tale before or since the utter alienation of this character.

Mr. Rucka showed us the alienation; Ms. Simone shows us the internalization.

Diana is changing, to meet the world, to become someone new, but that change is not what Ms. Simone focuses on. Rather, it is Diana’s reactions to those changes we see stressed, so completely, in the recent issues of Wonder Woman. When battling on the edge of insanity, Wonder Woman finds herself losing: her strength, and understanding, and, most important to this Warrior for Peace, she tells us she is losing “My compassion. My mercy. My love.” These are the defining characteristics of Princess Diana, and to lose these things, she notes, would be “the wound that finally slays what I truly am.”

That wound, Gentle Reader, seems to threaten her very Soul.

It was Batman, was it not, who had a plan to defeat all super-powered heroes in case of emergency? And was it not his plan to let Wonder Woman defeat herself? Locked in a room, no weapons, no doors, just her willpower and her determination, Wonder Woman would fight until her heart gave out. There is often talk of the willpower of the Green Lanterns, but I point instead to the Amazon Princess. She will never back down, she will never surrender, and Ms. Simone demonstrates the toll that will have on Diana. Her gods will not answer her, so she sought another.

There are consequences, of course. Deep, earth-shattering consequences. The Lasso begins to reject her. She begins to doubt herself. There is constant questioning and repositioning here, on the edge of sanity, but most importantly there is development, growth, change, and Becoming. For good or for bad, the Amazon Princess changes, and We, the Constant Readers, are fortunate enough to watch it unfold, to cheer for her triumphs and to mourn her failures. In short, we are there, are we not? Because she is brought forward, as human as is possible for a Woman of Wonder, Made of Clay, Born of the Gods.

Mainly, for This Humble Author, that change also comes in the form of Costume: the Amazon Princess’s armor changes throughout the issue, and it is beautiful, Friends, just beautiful. But also, too, that change comes in writing. Mr. Rucka wrote the distant future-queen, the Ambassador come to fight for Peace. Ms. Simone, instead, writes the Wonder Woman of our past and of our future. This is the Wonder Woman for My Generation, Friends, not only the character but also the imprint. When I read Tresser singing to himself “Lolly lolly lolly get your strange bedfellows here,” I laughed out loud. I could not help it. Where Mr. Rucka rooted the imprint firmly in the realm of the Other, Ms. Simone bridges it between past and present. I, as a Reader and a Constant Fan, could never imagine Wonder Woman without her gods. That is, of course, until Ms. Simone gave her new ones.

For the first time since The Crisis, I feel as if Wonder Woman is standing on solid ground. I have greatly enjoyed Ms. Simone’s run thus far, but the past few issues, in particular, have given us a quietness, a solidity that along with the Team-Up is the true marker of Gail Simone’s writing. There is a quiet dignity to this story, to the presentation of Wonder Woman, and her alignment with Other Heroes, the constant questioning and requestioning of herself, all presents a picture of an Amazon Princess on the edge of sanity, on the edge of the future, on the edge, Gentle Reader, of change. She is losing her understanding of herself, she is losing her gods and her religion, but she is, perhaps, finding her humanity, too.

And it is her humanity, is it not, that we are most interested in? As I have argued before, She is both Same and Other, both Human and Amazon, and Ms. Simone brings that to the forefront.

I have had the great pleasure and privilege to reread all 12 issues of Welcome to Tranquility in the last week, and coupled with my recent reading of Secret Six and Villains United, I can say without a doubt that bringing forward the humanity of otherwise inhuman characters is Ms. Simone’s forte. And who is more inhuman than the Woman born not of woman but of the very Earth itself? Not even the alien from Krypton can claim such a difference, particularly as it is Clark Kent who is the real person rather than the mask. In these recent issues, Ms. Simone offers a new glimpse into the humanity of the Amazon and this does not rely on her employment (as evidenced when Etta Candy begs her not to return to the Taco Whiz in issue #20) or her romantic life. Rather, it is solely rooted in Diana’s internal questioning, in her quest to understand herself and how she is changing in the face of her actions, of the world, and of the loss of her traditions, her gods, her beliefs, and her mother.

Or, as Diana asks with a question laden with a myriad of implications and possibilities, “What is it that I am becoming?”

Amy Reads the Week (of June 22nd, 2008)

Still playing catch-up, Gentle Reader, and this time, I have gone Way Way Back. Over the past few days, I have worked through over 50 issues of New X-Men, Academy X, and the New Mutants.

I think what these titles really drive home is the awful face of Hatred in the X-Men universe. That is to say, it is one thing when someone expresses Hate against Emma Frost, or Wolverine, or another Grown-Up who can Fight and Protect Him-or-Her-Self, but to see that same racism, that same hatred against children, against teenagers, to see that hatred bring forth death and destruction of children, well, that is to see the True Face Of Hatred, Indeed.

Some parts of the run handle this better than others, of course, but I think what they all reveal is the immediate danger for those Mutants, particularly the young ones post House of M. For the Younger Members of the 198, the world has become a Very Dangerous Place Indeed. What Marvel does as an Imprint, and what it has always Done Well, is to use the comic book universe as a marker for "real-world" problems. The Hatred directed against the Mutants, purely because They Are Different, and that Hatred directed against Young Children, solely out of Fear, is analogous for racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, anything in which there is blind hatred and fear against someone different.

DC does archetypes well; Marvel handles analogies with perfect aplomb.

I have never been a very big fan of the X-Men until reading Morrison and Whedon. I grew up a DC Girl, and in my heart, a DC Girl I will stay. But when written well, the X-Men are written Very, Very Well, and I am about to embark on Mr. Brubaker's and Mr. Carey's run on the Mutants, as they are two writers whom I Absolutely Adore. Then, Friends Who Adore Those Of A Greenish Hue, I embark on a Quest of Brightest Day and Blackest Night.

Comics Backlog #4: Supergirl, Daredevil, and JLA

Well, it is official, Gentle Reader. JLA and Supergirl have bored me to tears. So much so that I am dropping both from my pull list as of now.

Daredevil, however, is Quite Extraordinary, and promises to become Even More Extraordinary(er?). That is right, Friends. Apparently my beloved comics writer Greg Rucka is joining the Daredevil cast, along with another beloved comics writer, Ed Brubaker.

Trying to plod through more of the backlog, and while I would like to give you more than these Reviews In Brief, I am afraid that I do not have anything at all particular to say about Supergirl (eh) and JLA (meh). As for Daredevil? All I can say is Fantastic.

I will probably start reading more Green Lantern tomorrow, Gentle Reader, so I promise to Keep You Updated!

As for now, I return to the backlog. On the docket: Teen Titans, Young Avengers, and the Umbrella Academy. An all-teen all-star lineup, it seems!

Comics Backlog #3: Green Lantern: Rebirth

For those Gentle Readers who are, specifically, Shelly, Ragnell, Kalinara, and Sally, I have Delved Deep into The Color Green: This Humble Author has read a Green Lantern Collection.

It is true, Friends. I have.

While I have No Special Love for the Green Lanterns, I have No Special Dislike of them, either. Rather, the GLs are a part of my Comics History into which I have never delved very deeply. What I do know of the GLs comes in referential form: in Supergirl, in JLA or JSA, in the cartoon JLU. As such, I am not really a fan of Hal Jordan or Guy Gardner. That is, of the Earth Green Lanterns, I am most interested in Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Alan Scott.

But, and here is the "but," Gentle Reader, I like the idea of a Green Lantern Corps. I want to know the Lanterns from other sectors, examine the alternative GLs. I adore Mogo, for example, and find the idea of a planet Green Lantern to be just about one of the Most Fascinating Plot Elements Ever. Because of this, Mr. Reads is about to put in my hands the Sinestro War, so that I may examine the history of the Rings Of Different Hues.

Here is what I did like about Green Lantern: Rebirth: the explanation of the yellow weakness, Kyle, Green Arrow's constant understanding and strength, Sinestro's arrogance, Kyle, the struggle between Fear and Willpower, Kyle, how the DC Universe joined together to save Hal, and Kyle.

Here is what I did not like about Green Lantern: Rebirth: I get Very, Very Grumpy when someone makes my Batman become a Bad Guy. And while Batman is not a Bad Guy per se, the art depicts him as villainous, creepy, and wrong.

While I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the stories around the major GLs. I am not, nor will I ever be, I think, a fan of Hal Jordan. But I could certainly enjoy stories that center on Kyle. I adored the fact that Kyle was the only GL safe from Parallax because Kyle is the only Lantern to Know Fear. Further, Kyle's artistic nature and how it becomes prominent in his use of the ring is Very Interesting Indeed.

Not a fan yet, Friends, but definitely more interested than before.

Slowly but Surely, Gentle Reader, I am plodding through the Immense Comics Backlog. I am almost caught up on Daredevil (almost a year behind!) and Teen Titans (only a few months behind), but I am still several issues behind on everything else. But next week my class begins the Comic Book I will be teaching, and that is enough to look forward to, no?

Reviews in Brief: The Middle Man and Secret Six

Villains United/Secret Six
The backlog continues, Gentle Reader, and I know that many of you will be Shocked, absolutely Shocked when you discover that This Humble Author has never read Villains United or The Secret Six. For those Readers of This Humble Blog who are, perhaps, less Constant than others, the shock would be based on This Simple Fact: I adore Ms. Simone's writing. I have read most of her work, I blog about it, I even am teaching her comics (it is true, Friends!), but while I was Familiar with the Secret Six, thanks to Birds of Prey, I had never delved that deep into my backlog of comics, until now.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: Gail Simone is a master of the team up. No one, no one takes disparate characters and makes them work quite like Ms. Simone. Welcome to Tranquility, Birds of Prey, Gen-13, Secret Six, Ms. Simone is able to bring a rather diverse and, in the Secret Six's case, rather dysfunctional group of individuals together and make them a *team*. Catman, Ragdoll, Scandal, Knockout (This Humble Author's Humble Favorite), Mad Hatter, and Deadshot should not work together, but they do. In fact, even when they do not work together, they work together just perfectly.

The relationship between Knockout and Scandal was a familiar one to me, thanks to Birds of Prey. As an Adorer of All Things Amazon, I am fascinated by all things Resembling Amazons; thus, the Furies are particularly fascinating to me. Barda, of course, is a longtime favorite of mine, and Knockout is rapidly becoming another favorite Fury, and another favorite female hero/anti-hero. But the relationship between Knockout and the daughter of Vandal Savage works well on numerous levels, the most basic one on the level of friendship and trust. Written as a fascinating antithesis to the anti-relationship of Cheshire and Catman, the relationship between Knockout and Scandal works because they work well together. The same as the relationship between Catman and Deadshot: two people who should never be friends become friends, and the world seems right.

Dr. Psycho is still the scariest of All Scary Villains for This Humble Author, along with the Joker, but the Mad Hatter is discomforting, as well. It is a testament to Gail Simone's writing that we sympathize with the Mad Hatter, a character who is By All Rights unnerving. But so, too, do we sympathize with Ragdoll, with Deadshot, with all of these anti-heroes/anti-villains who exist in the liminal state between good and evil, between right and wrong. In that gray area, always, is the strength of the team.

Like Grant Morrison's run on X-Men, this mini-series by Gail Simone makes me regret any time I have spent *not* reading it. But now that the Dissertation is A Thing Of The Past, I can return to things like a Very Large Stack of Comics Backlog. Next on the list: getting caught up on Daredevil.

The Middle Man
Gentle Reader, I wanted to hate this pilot, so completely. I do not trust ABC Family for Good Programming. That is to say, I trust them for "good programming," but not for, say, Programming of a Good Quality. But this show is self-aware, smart, funny, absurd, and just pure joy. If you have not seen it yet, do catch one of the encore viewings. I promise you, you Will Not Be Disappointed.

Comics Backlog #2: Final Crisis

Gentle Reader, in the immortal words of Kitty Pryde,
yeahbuwha?

Also, I adore, absolutely adore Manhunters, both of the Human and Martian varieties, and I dislike the idea of losing either of them.

And a few highlights:

- Alpha Lanterns - I will be swayed by Green Lanterns' Light yet, it seems!
- Batman and his eternal dossiers
- Yes, Vandal Savage, we've all waited 50,000 years. Please, hurry on with it.
- Um, Libra?
- Um, early Man?

And do not forget the 52, Gentle Reader!

I believe that is enough Comics Backlog for one evening, although Mr. Reads has just placed Secret Invasion #1 and #2 on my desk and slyly walked away. We Shall See, then, no?

Comics Backlog #1: Batman and Manhunter

Gentle Reader, Kate Spencer is back! Or, as Bones says, our favorite red-leather wearing single mom is back, and with a vengeance. I like this return issue, particularly in its femicide plotline. Manhunter is a comic that pays particular and, I Dare To Say, almost unique attention to the problems of women. That is, Manhunter becomes a superhero for women in the same way that, Back In The Day, Selina Kyle/Catwoman did the same. In this issue, we see Kate returning to superhero-ing with a vengeance, and that vengeance is all about the protection of the innocent.

As for Grant Morrison's Batman, much has been made of the lead-in to the Death of Batman, that is, Batman RIP, and I must say that it is making much ado about everything. Joker, Talia, Damien, Alfred, Jezebel Jet!

Er, that is, Jezebel Jet?!

Methinks she is Evil, Friends. What say you?

I do like the odd surrealism that occurs in the past few issues, and making the reader as confused as Batman Himself is is just a matter of Good Writing. But then, what else have we come to expect of Mr. Morrison?

Brief reviews only, Gentle Reader, as I make my slow and (rather) plodding way through my Very Large Backlog of Comics. I will save longer reviews for particular runs, like Wonder Woman and Astonishing X-Men. Until then, Friends, I return to the comics trenches.

Love and Hate (From Outer SPACE!!!!): Reviews in Brief, or, Amy Reads Takes a Spring Break

It’s true, Gentle Reader: this past week has been, how shall I say?, wonderfully relaxing. Understand that I say this with Full Knowledge that I have gotten Little Writing done on The Dissertation. I have researched, and read, but mostly, I’ve recovered from a ten-day illness and a year-long anxiety. Now that plans are Somewhat Settled for next year, I feel the desire to take some time to myself. Winter Break afforded none of that, and I have worked, steadily, consistently, and ruthlessly, since August. Even farther and even faster, six years now, since deciding to take the Ph.D. Taking a few days off has been lovely, truly, and with that loveliness comes the chance to, yes, even for This Humble Author, get Caught Up On Comics.

Constant Readers of This Humble Blog know, and know well, that I often find myself getting “Caught Up On Comics.” That is to say, between work and work and work (oh my!), over this past year in particular, I find myself with little time for non-television enjoyment. As it is My Job to Read Books for a living, sometimes, just sometimes, Gentle Reader!, I find myself unable to do so “for fun.”

But Spring Break offered a magical mystical time to get caught up on Very Old Series, like Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men, to stay current on Old Series With Shiny New Writers, like Gail Simone’s run on Wonder Woman, and to read several months’ backlog of Grant Morrison’s tremendous run on Batman.

For this, I offer Reviews In Brief, with the understanding that there are still several titles that as of yet remain unread. Yes, give me your New Avengers, your Daredevils, your Teen Titans yearning to Breathe Free (gratitude, Ms. Lazarus). Or, at least, to escape the Tyranny of Bag-and-Board, courtesy of Mr. Reads's longboxes.

Wonder Woman #17 and #18 by Gail Simone
I’ve already reviewed Ms. Simone’s most recent issues of Wonder Woman elsewhere on this blog, and we are all Well Aware that I adore her run on the Princess Diana, madly and completely. But what stands out most is the whimsy brought forward for this heretofore decidedly not-so-whimsical character. Diana’s questioning of her appearance after seeing a Khund statue that had to be prettied up, Tom Tresser’s dawning revelation that the Amazons of Themyscira are not asexual beings, and This Humble Author’s Humble Favorite, Lt. Etta Candy’s “Woo #@#! Woo,” all offer a Fantastic Glimpse into the considerable talents Ms. Simone takes to the Amazonian Princess.

Serenity #1 by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews
This is a mini I was Very Much looking forward to, but must admit that I wasn’t overwhelmed. Certainly, I enjoyed it, as I always enjoy stories of the Firefly Crew, but it was not the best comic I read the past few weeks. Most telling is Inara’s fantasy, and I am most looking forward to the continuation of this tale, but I do not finding the writing as strong as it is on other Whedon scripts, like Buffy or Astonishing X-Men or Runaways.

Angel #4 by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch
This issue of Angel is proving to be a continuation of some Very Strong Issues, and an overall Very Strong Storyline. I am adoring this comic, with its dark, muddy art, its references, and its constant twists, turns, confusions, and dragons. Bonus: Spike.

Wonder Girl #6 by J. Torres
I added this title to the Reads Pull List mainly out of solidarity for All Things Wonder, All The Time. Granted, if it had been my most-deplored Donna Troy, I would not have bothered. While Wonder Girl was charming and fun, I did not find it, ultimately, astonishing or earth-shattering or, dare I say? Wonderful.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12 by Drew Goddard
Next to Simone’s Wonder Woman, this is my favorite title in constant print at the moment. I've already reviewed it In (Extreme!) Brief, Not only because I am an Extraordinary Buffy Fan, but also because it is very well written. The “shock” of this issue, while generating a Great Deal of buzz, was not so “shocking” for Constant Readers of the Whedonverse. Sexuality is a fluid thing, and Buffy is ever an open-minded venue. Bonus: Xander’s Master returns.

All Star Superman #9 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
As I admitted earlier, in Hushed Tones, I am Woefully Behind in my comics reading. I finally (!) read this issue of All-Star Superman, and truly, it is a fantastically written book. I am ever-amazed at the abilities of Mr. Morrison, particularly as I also am enjoying his New X-Men run and his current Batman run. It takes a very engaged and talented writer to make the Aliens (from Outer SPACE!!!) feel more human than the humans, and Mr. Morrison accomplishes that with aplomb, grace, and beauty. Apologies for the Enthusiasm, Friends, but Mr. Reads has watched many, many episodes of MST3K this week while cleaning, and some things stick more than others!

And finally,
Booster Gold #7 by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz
I must confess, Gentle Reader, that Mr. Reads loves Booster more than I do. That is not to say that This Humble Author doesn’t adore this title; rather, I do not have the Deep Adoration that Mr. Reads has. However, this is pretty much one of the best titles being written at the moment, and even for a Reader like Myself who has, how shall I say?, a spotty fluency in All Comics Continuity, I don’t think there is a more enjoyable combination than Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.

The Best Comics I Am Not Reading
According to Mr. Reads, I am sorely lacking in Green Lantern. I know many of my Sister and Brother Bloggers would agree with this sentiment, but where should I begin? And how should I presume? (gratitude, Mr. Eliot, Mr. Prufrock). Any others, Gentle Reader?

The Best Comics I Can't Wait to Read
Manhunter returns in June, Gentle Reader. To quote Lt. Candy, "Woo Woo!!!"

The Woman Beneath the Wonder: A Brief Review of Wonder Woman #18

It is not often, Gentle Reader, that I both Love and Hate something at the same time. I am, if I may be so bold as to say, a Woman of Strong Emotions. I am in a job that I love, and how could I not? This Humble Author reads books for a living, and writes about them, and discusses them. In my spare time, those ten to fifteen seconds a day I can Call My Own, I aspire to Write Books, albeit Rather Poorly, if the Large Stack of Rejection Letters is Any Proof of my Ability to write a Marketable Novel. But when I love, I love deeply, and when I decidedly do not love, I do that deeply as well.

I expect that Constant Readers of This Humble Blog are shocked, absolutely shocked to see the word Hate in the same Blog Post as Gail Simone’s name. Wait, Friends. Let me explain. We are all Well Aware that This Humble Author thinks Ms. Simone can Do No Wrong. Even in her titles that I am not reading—All New Atom, for example—I never doubt her talent. But Ms. Simone has presented This Humble Author with a conundrum in issue #18 of Wonder Woman: she has given me a scene I love with a character and storyline that I hate.

I do not like Tom Tresser.

At all.

It is solely courtesy of Ms. Simone’s talents that I deign to tolerate him, in that she offers sneaks and peeks into his character that make him consumable by me, even just for a moment. A few issues back, she even made him somewhat charming, a near-impossible feat for This Humble Author. I do not like him, and frankly, I cannot determine why. Part of it is, I think, due to my Absolute Adoration of the Amazon Princess. She is my idol, the Super Hero Young Amy Reads aspired to be. I cannot imagine the Future Queen of Themyscira dating someone so very twenty-first century as Special Agent Tresser.

But.

But, Ms. Simone offers perhaps one of the most beautiful glimpses into Themysciran culture in the first pages of issue #18: a courting ritual, explained to and accepted by Tom Tresser before he even begins to comprehend what the Amazon Princess is offering him. He is offered both Beauty and Pain, Fear and Hope, boiled down into so many nectarine pits and thorns and colorful ribbons. It is the ritual that is important; he is to be courted, Diana tells him, “In the manner of [her] people.”

Tom comprehends the import of Diana’s language a few pages later, and notes, “But all your people are of the female persuasion...!” To which Diana responds, “Aren’t you the observant one?”

The Hate, Gentle Reader, is the, in This Humble Author’s opinion, Unworthy Object of the Amazon Princess’s affections.

The Love, Gentle Reader, is in the quiet dignity of the ritual in this scene.

This quiet dignity is not necessarily a dominant trait of Ms. Simone’s run on Wonder Woman as of yet. Not that Ms. Simone is incapable of writing Wonder Woman, the character, with quiet dignity. Nor is This Humble Author stating that Ms. Simone is incapable of writing quiet dignity. Rather, we see glimpses of this throughout her work. The first issues of both Welcome to Tranquility and Gen-13 offer this rare tone for the author, as do the more intimate moments in Birds of Prey. In This Humble Author's opinion, there is nothing, absolutely nothing Ms. Simone does better than the team-up. She is a master of the team-up, in that she offers a wide range of characters and tones and ideas without ever losing the depth of each individual character. There is the quiet dignity, the snarky irony, the comic relief, the gentle persuasion. But these softer moments come through more in her characters than in her writing. She is a weaver of many personalities and storylines and ideas; to see her, then, weave together all of the same in Wonder Woman, and to Weave Well, is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Further, to see this moment, to experience such a soft scene from a character who will just a few pages later defeat scores of warriors, to see the Woman beneath the Wonder, is to see the fulfillment of those glimpses here and there: the introduction of the characters in Gen-13 #1, the slow destruction of Maximum Man as evidenced in Welcome to Tranquility #1, Wonder Woman’s love of cake in Wonder Woman #14, all of these small moments have led to this one: the hushed revelation not only of Wonder Woman’s heart, her future, but also of Wonder Woman’s broken heart, her past.

I despise Tom Tresser. Gentle Reader, I find him Completely and Utterly Unworthy of Diana. But the depiction of Diana’s nervousness, her presentation not of other’s ideas of courtship but rather of her own people’s, gives us a Diana we haven’t seen in Some Time. I welcome more of her, and I find myself surprised to say that I do, even if it means the courtship and dating (!!!) of Nemesis.

A Very (Very Very!) Brief Review of Wonder Woman #17

Time is short, Gentle Reader, and I've Much To Do today. There is grading, and reading, and writing, yes, always writing on The Dissertation. But I finally (!!!) read Wonder Woman #17 while I finished my coffee this morning, and just wanted to express my joy over Gail Simone's fantastic first story arc. Perhaps it is best summarized as an early Hollywood action flick trailer, no?

Holiday Girls! Children made of clay! Amazonian vendettas! Weapons from the gods! Birthday cake! All color! All talking! No singing! Some dancing, but more of the fighting kind! Diana proves herself again and again! A story for the ages, as it encompasses all ages of the Amazon Princess!

I promise a longer and more respectable review later, Friends, but for now, just gushing admiration, lots of exclamation marks (!!!), and as always, This Humble Author's Humble Plea to DC Comics to allow Ms. Simone to write Wonder Woman as long as she wants.

The Inheritance of Same-and-Other, Human-and-Amazon: A Brief Review of Wonder Woman #14

I believe that I have admitted, rather shyly and in hushed, confessional tones, that I was a rather chubby, bookish girl-child, and Gentle Reader, that meant I read. A lot. Sports were not my forte, and never did the graceful art of dancing meet with such a travesty of clay feet as This Humble Author's. When in patterns and puzzles, Math and I were Great Friends; I found myself exceptionally fond of Algebra. When in grander, spatial, conceptual terms, like Advanced Math, or Geometry, or, Heaven Forbid, Calculus, I was lost In The Woods, stumbling around without compass, direction, or purpose. I was a Great Appreciator of Art, and still am; the Brother-Reads-in-Law and the Best Friend Reads are artists both, and the Reads Household is peppered with their works. But I cannot put straight line to paper, or color in the lines, or swirl abstract imaginative paint around a canvas. Too spatial, perhaps? Or it is just Beyond Me.

But oh, Gentle Reader, in literature, and history? This Humble Author found her niche. Books were my passion; the Parents Reads would reward my good academic behavior with trips to the local bookstore. I bought and read everything: children's lit, young adult, adult (Stephen King was read way too young, perhaps, but loved all the same), horror, fantasy, sci fi, history, mythology. When the Parents Reads remodeled the Reads Family Home some twenty-odd years ago, Young Amy Reads found herself displaced from her bedroom and lived, for some months, in the front room. I remember playing Mount Olympus, with all of my stuffed animals and Jem and the Hologram dolls and He-Man action figures standing in for Hephaestus, or Zeus, or My Beloved Athena. Was it any Wonder that This Humble Author's much younger self was entranced with the idea of an Amazon Princess, gifted with power from the gods themselves?

Wonder Woman is a character steeped in mythology; there would be no Wonder, no Woman, without the Greek gods. Without Themyscira, there would be no Amazons, no mysterious island of warrior women, alien, separate, Othered. There is tradition, and protocol, and cultural expectations. But further, Wonder Woman is a character steeped in history. She is the result of the first wave of the Suffrage Movement. Our Grandmother (Proto-) Feminists fought long and hard for a Vote, and a Voice, and Wonder Woman is the product of that. She fought for our rights in those satin tights in the seventies, but even before, she fought for Women. She was a Powerhouse among Powerhouses. Now, one of the Big Three, she still to this day is Stronger than Superman. As he has three weaknesses (kryptonite, magic, red suns), she has none. As he is the dichotomy, Man and Superman, she is Princess Diana, The Wonder Woman.

Constant Readers of This Humble Blog know well that I loved Greg Rucka's run on Wonder Woman. He brought the Otherness to the forefront. He showed us the strangeness of an Amazon Out Of Place. Not the strangeness of a Woman Warrior in the World of Men, but rather the strangeness of someone ruled by principle, tradition, and moral absolutes in a world of ambiguity. There is no gray in the world of the Grey-Eyed One's Champion. Even with Athena's eyes, Wonder Woman fights her battles the way she understands him.

Post-Crisis, through Mr. Heinberg's, Mr. Pfeifer's, and Ms. Picoult's runs on Wonder Woman, we saw the fumbling of connections. That is not to say that This or That Writer wrote Better or Worse than the other; rather, the difficulty of trying to connect such varied storylines in such short amounts of time wrought its tragedy upon the continuity of The Amazon Princess. Further, Amazons Attack demonstrated the difficulty of trying to manage multiple levels of storylines through the one figure of Wonder Woman. Neither One Thing or The Other, she was forced to be Both, and More. Diana was forced to be Human and Amazon, Same and Different, Us and Not-Us. But never consistently, and never with any true purpose.

Wonder Woman #14 brings a new writer to the fold, and Ms. Gail Simone takes her many and considerable talents to the Amazon Princess. But further, and most importantly, Ms. Simone brings her Understanding of the Amazon Princess to her run on Wonder Woman. That Understanding depends on the Same-and-Other construction of Princess Diana, certainly, but also it depends on the inheritance, the tradition, the ideas, and yes, even What Has Come Before, whether three or thirty issues ago.

We begin with a scene on Themyscira, Hippolyta running across the earth, sandaled feet flying over grass, eyes squinting against the sun and purpose, and the words, "It was more like birth itself. An act of DESTRUCTION, as well as CREATION." This thing-we-do-not-yet-know understands the Manichean dichotomy. One cannot have Creation without Destruction, just as one cannot have the Same without the Other. One cannot have new Agent Diana Prince without Amazon Princess Diana. One cannot have the New without the Tradition.

And we see New-and-Tradition in the pages that follow, images of Diana fighting Grodd's army, who challenge her to see if they are strong enough to defeat Superman. Diana, a warrior, is honored by the comparison. She knows their purpose, and she knows the dangers that can be wrought by discontent. When in battle she narrates that "their anger makes them mine," she separates herself, so distinctly, from emotion. It was not an angry or emotional Diana that killed Maxwell Lord; rather, it was the gods' Champion. It was the Royal Princess, performing an act herself because she would take the consequences on her own.

She does not defeat Grodd's army, but rather establishes dominance over them, because they are "Creatures of ritual, well used to a social hierarchy," and she is, above all else, a Princess. It is not that Diana is willing to use her royal status; it is that she is her royal status. It's why she "prefer[s] never to use Batman's methods." His way is violent simplicity; hers is ritualistic complication.

But what Ms. Simone brings to Wonder Woman is something precious that has been missing from its pages for Quite Some Time, even in Mr. Rucka's run. While I believe Mr. Rucka to be A Talented Writer, he is not, however, a humorous one. Gail Simone brings a much-needed sense of wit and fancy to these pages, and not only are all the characters charming and witty, they're likeable, as well. Even Nemesis, to whom This Humble Author never warmed, finally demonstrates why he might be an appropriate love interest for a Superhero who has had so few. Or, as one of Grodd's army states, "They will mate soon, if they haven't already," to which another responds, "Their movement and scent confirm it."

A sense of whimsy, of enjoyment, and this is a Diana that is likeable, too. Despite my love for her, something bred over close to thirty years, Wonder Woman is not the Superhero I would like to be, say, BFF with. Selina Kyle is someone with whom you could go dancing, and Black Canary someone to call when in trouble. But Wonder Woman, even in her Holiday Girls days, seemed a bit separate from me. Perhaps because she was such a grownup when I was a child, and even when I was an adult, she, the Ambassador, was too Royal and Proper for me. That is not to say I didn't want to be her, because I did. But never once did I imagine that we would be friends.

But this Diana, who is trying to "learn their rituals as more than an uncommitted observer," despite the fact that "it is a strange culture that outlaws the hug," enjoys surprise birthday parties, and cake. This is a Diana who will meet with a character that This Humble Author is thrilled, Absolutely Thrilled, to see grace these pages again. I will not ruin the surprise for you, Gentle Reader, but let me just say that it is worth it, after all, to have waited So Long for this reboot to finally—finally!—start.

Mr. Reads and I discussed once the best villain for Wonder Woman, and we both agreed: this was a Superhero made to Defeat Nazis. And Ms. Simone delivers, gives us not only Nazis but Super-Nazis. This will be a battle for both Diana Prince and Wonder Woman. This will be a villain we can hate, so very cheerfully, individually or as a collective.

There are other delights Here and There, too, and this feels like the beginning of what will prove to be a sensational run for the Amazon Princess. In This Humble Author's Humble Opinion, this is some of the best comic writing we've seen in the DC Universe since One Year Later Began, over One Year Ago. This is what Wonder Woman should be like, and I, for one, am glad that I held on, so very patiently, that I laid down my $3 a month for the past year to prove to DC that Wonder Woman is a title that deserves a dedicated writer once again.

This is a Wonder Woman that is the Inheritance of Themyscira and Our Earth. This is our Sister Suffragette, our Beloved Amazon, our Woman Warrior who is the Hope and Savior of Her People. She is Same-and-Other, Human-and-Amazon, Diana-Prince-and-Princess-Diana. Ms. Simone has taken What Has Come Before and has made it into something Quite Spectacular indeed.

Amy Reads the Week (of September 30, 2007)

And it’s here, Gentle Reader, finally! The end of September, and thus the precipice of Fall. October, the Reads’s favorite month of the year. Sweaters, hot tea, leaves changing color and falling—perhaps too much, as our Recent Forays into the Garden can attest! But We Reads have cleaned out our rock garden, have pruned back some of our plants, collected garden salsa peppers, and sweet peppers, and watched the sad demise of our tomatoes and basil. But Fall, yes, Fall is coming to the South.

And with it, of course, Fall Lineup. I’ve already pointed to the wealth of great new shows which are, thus far, Worthy of a Second Watch: Journeyman, Chuck, Reaper. Add to that Life, and take away Moonlight, which This Humble Author must agree with the majority of the reviews: I liked this show Much Better when it was called Angel.

But We Reads have been watching *and* reading, and rising to the top of the Reads’s Reading List is Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick which is utterly brilliant and Quite Smart Indeed! It reminded me a lot of Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, but not in an “imitation is the greatest form of flattery” sort of way. Rather, the utter helplessness of the situation, the characters, the strange oddities, all of it added together to One Fantastic Read! Ms. Cain is an author on my Watch List, as I Quite Adored Confessions of a Teen Sleuth, her Nancy Drew "exposé."

Also completed: Absolute Boyfriend #4, an odd little Manga by Yuu Watase, Wicked Dead: Lurker, a YA horror by Stefan Petrucha of the Nancy Drew graphic novels fame. Next on the docket: Dexter in the Dark, the latest Dexter novel by Jeff Lindsay, Exit Strategy, the contemporary thriller by Kelley Armstrong. Coming soon from a pre-order near We Reads: White Tiger: A Hero’s Compulsion, the graphic novel by Tamora Pierce and Tim Liebe, Winds of Marble Arch, the short story collection by Our Beloved Connie Willis, 20^th Century Ghosts, the short story collection by Joe Hill.

But the Most Important Consequence of this past week has been My Return To Comics. Yes, it’s true, Friends: This Humble Author read several comics this weekend, and has lived to Tell The Tale! Because I am So Behind, I offer you Reviews in Brief, as many of these comics will be Old News for my Constant Readers, I’m sure.

Batman #666-#668 - I am Ever The Fan of locked-room mysteries, and this one is No Exception. I adore the idea of Batmen from Around the World, banding together to solve a classic noir plotline. So Sayers, so Christie, so Poe, so Carr. And, of course, bonus Batman. I have yet to pick up #669, but I will, forthwith.

The Flash #232 - I am So Very Happy to have my favorite comic book family back, Friends! The Park-Wests were strong as spouses; as a family of parents and children, they are unstoppable.

New Avengers #34 - I love the pairing of Doctor Strange and The Night Nurse, who is one of This Humble Author’s favorite minor characters, Marvel or otherwise! Further, I love how this team is coming together in ways the other Avengers did not. As Mr. Reads and I watched the animated film on Doctor Strange this weekend—and it was surprisingly well done, Gentle Reader!—it has been a bit of a Stephen Strange weekend overall.

Teen Titans #50 - I Must Confess, Gentle Reader, to loving Mr. McKeever on Teen Titans. He brings a certain joy and light to the title that, paradoxically, revels in its darker moments. Well done, sir! I have not yet picked up #51, and I am curious to see where it takes us.

Walking Dead vol. 2 and 3 - Yes, I know, these are graphic novels, but I recently picked up this series and am enjoying it immensely.

Y the Last Man #58 - My heart is broken, Friends. That’s about all I can say.

Eagerly awaiting: Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, and Gail Simone’s run on Wonder Woman, which is Just Around the Corner!

More reviews soon, Friends, as I continue to catch up on my comics reading! Until then, please let me know how your Fall Lineup is faring.

Amy Reads the Week (of June 29th, 2007)

It’s been a rather hectic few days, Gentle Reader. There has been a family emergency for the Reads Clan in New Orleans, and due to the holiday weekend, I can’t get a flight home. Since I will not be able to be there physically, I have been asked to Write Something so I can be there, in spirit. As I’d rather save my writing energies for that, and as I’ve had little time for anything fun or comic the past few days, frankly, including the time to run to My Local and pick up My Weeklies, I will have little to offer you today.

Instead, I ask you, if you have the chance, to revel in the One Thing This Humble Author Likes About The Fourth Of July: the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel. Friends, I watch this Marathon religiously every 4^th, and every New Year's Day, as not only do I love the Twilight Zone, but also I Rather Dislike the 4^th, and New Years, each of them. I have eschewed invitations to countless barbeques, drunken binges, fireworks displays, etc. in order to stay home, cook something comforting and fun, and sit, All Day, in front of the television.

So in an effort to offer you Something Today, I offer you my Ten Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes, almost all of which will be playing on the 3^rd and 4^th of July, on the Sci Fi Channel. I’ve the DVR cued up, the grocery list for a wonderful dinner planned, and I am ready to enjoy it all.

Top Ten Twilight Zone Episodes

1) A Stop at Willoughby – The classic belief that things were better the way they used to be. A man takes a train ride and finds the place of his dreams.

2) The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street – Another classic, as Twilight Zone always deals in classic fears. This time, We are the scariest monsters out there.

3) The Eye of the Beholder – One of the greatest twist endings of any Twilight Zone episode. We forget, sometimes, how we wash everything to look Just Like Us.

4) Shadow Play – This one is Mr. Reads’ favorite episodes, and he’s very unhappy that it’s not showing this year. This episode asks whether it’s true if you believe something and no one else does.

5) Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? – Another fantastic example of the power of fear working during The Red Scare.

6) It’s a Good Life – Just wish it into the cornfield, please. We want none of it here.

That’s a very good boy, Anthony.

7) The Midnight Sun – This episode amazes me, every time I see it. In fact, I still don’t think I’ve wrapped my brain around it completely.

8) Five Characters in Search of an Exit – And here we come to This Humble Author’s favorite Twilight Zone episode. There is a story attached to this one, and it’s rather simple, really. Every year, twice a year, during this marathon, I wait for this episode. Inevitably, I go off to get lunch or run an errand, and when I come back, Mr. Reads or Daddy Reads informs me that *I just missed it*. I’m ready for it, now. The DVR is programmed.

9) To Serve Man – To serve man! To Serve Man!!! Very Soylent Green, and very fun.

10) Nightmare at 20,000 Feet – And finally, the classic to end all classics: William Shatner, in an airplane, battling something perhaps only he can see.

I promise more comics-related discussion soon, Gentle Reader, as I’ve just finished Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible, which was Utterly Brilliant, a Must-Read for any comic book fan, and perhaps one of the best books I’ve read since Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box or Scott Smith’s The Ruins, except, you know, not as scary.

Well, not as obviously scary, that is.

Art Saves (Because It Must): A Brief Review of The Plain Janes

You may remember, Gentle Reader, that Mr. Reads and I Hopped Across The Pond this past January for my Research Trip Of Grand Proportions. When I (finally!) stole a spare moment or two from research to look at Art, Mr. Reads dragged me, kicking and screaming the whole way, to the Tate Modern. Not that I pooh-poohed the idea of Art, in General. I adore Art, particularly as I Cannot Produce It. I don’t have that talent for visualizing something out of nothing. If I stare at A Blank Page, I can only see, as Mr. Hamlet would say, Words, Words, Words. I am a Writer, by nature, by profession, by trade, by choice, and most importantly for this discussion, by Training. My plans for a comic book—yes, even I, Gentle Reader, have plans for A Comic Book Of My Own—have been aborted, time and again, by my sincere lack of artistic talent. One cannot break through in a medium that proclaims the marriage between Art and Text if one cannot produce half of the equation, no?

Rather, I kicked and screamed my way to the Tate Modern because not only was I leaving the Tate Britain, and thus Waterhouses and Rossettis and Siddals (oh my!), but also because Modern Art baffles me. It is true, Friends. I have no appreciation for the Modern or Postmodern Artistic, and sometimes even Literary, Sentiment. I am a Victorianist, by nature, by profession, by trade, by choice, and most importantly for this discussion, by Training. I *understand* Victorian art. I *adore* Victorian art. And while I dally in the 20^th Century for the occasional Magritte or Picasso or Dali, my heart and my understanding are rooted firmly in the 19^th.

I offer you this rather lengthy and personal introduction so that you understand the oddity of my absolute joy over discovering a room, yes, an *entire room*, devoted to those most militant of artistic activists, the Guerrilla Girls. I do not like Modern Art, Gentle Reader, nor do I like Postmodern Art. That of course includes the Dadaists, the Performance Artists, and should therefore include the Guerrilla Girls. But even Mr. Reads, who has known me for almost ten years, was surprised to hear me squeal with delight inside That Most Auspicious Of Monuments To The Modern And Postmodern Art Movements, the Tate Modern.

And Squeal I Did, Friends, loudly, publicly, to looks of surprise and consternation from My Fellow Museum-Goers. The Guerrilla Girls are activists who draw attention to the lack of women and minorities in the arts. Their militant tactics included such things as plastering posters such as This One (gratitude, Tate Modern) to raise awareness of women and minorities working within the arts. This is a cause I appreciate and believe in. This is an artistic movement that I have admired for as long as I have been aware of it.

So when This Humble Author realized that Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg’s The Plain Janes offers a microcosmic look at the effects of guerrilla art in one small town and one small high school, you can only imagine the squeal of delight over said discovery. Even further, when This Humble Author realized that The Plain Janes details the use of such guerrilla art by a Young Woman as a means of recovering from the Shock and Horror of a terrorist attack, you can only imagine how much I fell in love with this book.

“Art Saves” are the words written on a notebook Main Jane recovers from the bombing site. “Art Saves” are the words she takes to heart when she rescues a John Doe from the bomb site. “Art Saves” are the words Main Jane repeats, like the Prayer They Are, to make sense of a senseless tragedy. She is a Survivor, she is a Hero, she saves One Man from the rubble, and still, her whole world falls apart.

Gentle Reader, you may be aware of the fact that This Humble Author is from New Orleans, and that I was home, visiting family, when we had to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. The Reads Clan and the Reads-in-Laws were the lucky ones. We all had somewhere to go: most came here, to Mr. Reads’ and my house, and others scattered across the South, to various friends and family. But with Math there is always Aftermath. So many of our Friends and Family Lost Everything. And while we are Grateful for the Lives Saved, we still Struggle Through Recovery.

That is to say, The Plain Janes is a title that I would give to any young man or woman trying to make sense of a senseless tragedy. What Castellucci and Rugg do, and do Very Well, is avoid the idea of The Perfect Happy Ending. This book understands that Not All Endings Are Perfectly Happy, and that is Perfectly Okay.

Even further, what Castellucci and Rugg do Even Better is offer an alternative definition of Hero. A Hero is not only someone who saves, but someone who survives, as well. Because it’s just as hard to pick up the pieces and carry on as it is to pick up the person lying next to you and drag him or her to safety. Because Being A Hero means being strong, even in the face of danger, and being strong, even in the face of ceaseless fear.

That’s what affects Main Jane the most, Gentle Reader: ceaseless fear. Her parents move her to the suburbs for her safety, and she hates it: the lack of culture, the high school cliques, leaving her friends behind, and most importantly, leaving behind John Doe, the man she saved, the man whose notebook she holds on to, like the talismanic item it is, the man to whom she writes, detailing her pains, her fears, her frustrations. Because Main Jane’s parents aren’t the only ones suffering under ceaseless fear. Her mother’s incessant phone calls affect Main Jane’s tranquility, certainly, but so, too, does her desire to reinvent herself. To throw off the cloak of normalcy and popularity, and to become The Person She Wants To Become.

And so she begins that quest. She refuses the popular girls’ offer to sit in their lunch group and finds the right table for her. “And then,” Main Jane says, “When you least expect it: Paradise!” She means Jane (the actress), Jayne (the brain), and Polly Jane (the athlete). Even when the Janes, her “tribe,” are “completely unimpressed” with her, she says, “I just know that these girls, these Janes, are my friends.”

Taking cues from the words “Art Saves,” Jane comes to the Startling Realization that so few ever come to: in order to save others, you first Must Save Yourself. So she uses art to cement a relationship with these Janes. They form P.L.A.I.N., “People Loving Art In Neighborhoods,” a secret group that performs (Guerrilla) Acts of Random Art. They form friendships. They bring a community of teenagers together.

As with almost all stories involving teenagers, lines are divided quickly between The Teens and The Adults. And The Teens seem to understand that Art *can* Save, because It Must. That is to say, what some see as vandalism is a way to bring beauty back into a world so devoid of it. The acts of the P.L.A.I.N. Janes are acts of creation, not of destruction. They become ways of making sense in a world that lacks sense, lacks understanding. Through these Random Acts Of Artness, Main Jane not only gains friends she wanted (the P.L.A.I.N. Janes) and friends she didn’t (Cindy, the Queen Bee), but she also gains a sense of self.

Art Saves Main Jane, as she predicted it would.

The link between Art and Tragedy is solid, Gentle Reader. Tug on it, and you find no give. Art reflects larger senseless tragedies, as the poetry of WWI soldiers such as Mr. Sassoon or Mr. Owen reflects, and art reflects personal tragedies, as well, smaller in scale, perhaps, but just as tragic, just as senseless. Ask Ms. Bishop, and she will tell you that “The art of losing’s not too hard to master/though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster” (“One Art”). Ms. Plath will tell you, too, that “Dying,/is an art, like everything else” (“Lady Lazarus”). And while These Great Poems use the word “art” to denote skill, they intend for us to understand skill as talent, as grace. Something one has an affinity for, to do very well (to do it so it feels like hell, so sayeth Ms. Plath). Art becomes a way of understanding tragedy, certainly, with the act of the poem, the painting, the photograph, the book. But art, by its very nature, is a skill set, a way of *dealing* with tragedy, not only with the act of the poem, the painting, the photograph, the book, but also with the community of the poem, the painting, the photograph, the book.

Art is public. By its very nature, it is meant to be shared. By its very nature, it is meant to speak, and speak loudly, to those who wish to hear. And by its very nature, Art is meant to be interpreted. While some see Salvation, others see Despair. What The Plain Janes makes perfectly clear is that while some see Destruction, others see Creation.

A common consequence of Destruction is Creation, Gentle Reader, and while said Creation is open for interpretation, The Plain Janes interprets it as self-creation. As self-understanding. For one teenaged girl, one Main Jane, yes, but through her, for dozens, perhaps hundreds of others.

Art Saves, because it must.

Make Mine Amazonian: A Brief Review of Wonder Woman #7

The Suffragettes understood the difficulty of discussing pressing concerns during larger, national and international crises, Gentle Reader. When The Great War broke out, they were expected to forgo their fight for The Larger Fight. Put down your placard and hammer, Sister Suffragette; the riveters need a Rosie, the boys need your support. When they continued to demand the Vote, on both sides of the Pond, they were chastised, condemned, and even physically hurt because of it.

But they kept on keeping on, fought the good fight, brought the government to reconciliation with its female population. The Suffragettes won the vote, a legal voice, decades, a century after the fight began In Earnest. They were called harridans, unsexed females (a term This Humble Author truly despises, the use of “females” rather than “women”), The Shrieking Sisterhood, the Damned Mob. They protested, hunger striked, broke windows and set fires, wrote letters upon letters upon letters, demanded justice and a voice and they got it, finally, after so much suffering, violence, pain, and even, in Emily Davison’s case, martyred death.

Women fought, bled, and died for This Humble Author to have The Right To Vote. They fought, bled, starved, and bruised for me to minor in Women’s Studies, for me to be a Feminist Scholar, for me to write a dissertation that in no small part is about them. Centuries upon centuries of suffering, Gentle Reader. Centuries. And it still hasn’t helped completely.

It. By It, I of course mean The Struggle for Women’s Rights. I mean Feminism. I mean that sometimes we tear ourselves down from the inside out.

So many of my Brother and Sister Bloggers have reviewed Wonder Woman #7, and all of them reviewed it well. As it was with #6, so it is with #7. There isn’t much I can add to the conversation. Wonder Woman is behaving in a strange, horrifying manner. She’s expressing concern over the broken body of a colleague, then dropping him because he, in a delusional pained state, makes an off-color joke. And she smiles, yes, *smiles*, Friends, while she does it.

Why does so much of popular culture insist that Feminism is about misandry? Why does so much of popular culture insist that Feminists hate men? Hate women? And, in all truth, hate themselves?

This Is Not My Wonder Woman.

I have been a Wonder Woman fan for over 25 years. I have read countless incarnations of her. I supported Diana Prince, lover of Steve Trevor. I supported Princess Diana, ambassador of peace. I even supported Wonder Woman, killer of Maxwell Lord, savior of humanity. And throughout this, I have always known that *Wonder Woman Is Not Human*.

Why, why, Friends, do so many try to insist she become so?

Wonder Woman is a fascinating character because she *isn’t* us. She has a different set of morals, skills, and requirements. She has a different sense of Justice. She is a Zealot, you might even say, for Justice. Blinded by it, literally, in the case of Rucka’s run, because she refuses, that’s right, *refuses* to stop her quest for justice.

She killed Maxwell Lord because that was the only way to protect those she was sworn to protect. She may experience regret, she may believe that she needs to understand humanity in order to return as its savior, but in the end, She Is Not Human.

And therein lies the rub, Gentle Reader. I don’t want a human Wonder Woman. Make mine Amazonian. Make mine Other. Make mine Princess Diana.

Why do we, as a society, try so hard to make the Other One Of Us? Why do we try to normalize, insist, yes, insist that there is a “Normal” in the first place? Why do we pretend that Wonder Woman is less alien than Superman, when in fact, she’s not? Or even that just because Batman happens to be Bruce Wayne, that he is human, and therefore “Normal”?

Why do we need our heroes to be Just Like Everyone Else?

I don’t know if I’ve said this before, Friends, but I adore Martian Manhunter. I adore him, specifically, because he is so alien. When he finds something human that he likes, he expresses nothing but Pure Joy (Oreos! Yes, Oreos!). I adore Hellboy for the same reason. Because both characters insist on being What They Want to Be, rather than What Others Expect Them To Be. Martian Manhunter is never as interesting as when he rejects his human form; Hellboy is never as interesting as when he rejects his demonic expectations.

Wonder Woman is never less interesting as when she caricaturizes Feminism.

She is a Symbol for Women’s Rights, has been for a few decades now, and despite her strange origins, she stands for Feminism, now. The problem is that so many producers of popular culture don’t really, truly understand what Feminism is. The reason is almost frighteningly simple, really, because *there is no one Feminism*.

That is to say, Feminism is not misandry. It’s not a She-Woman Man-Hating Club. It’s not a self-loathing cycle of despair, either. I am not a Feminist because I hate men. I am not a Feminist because I hate myself. Nor am I a Feminist because I hate other women, and want to fight them for any scrap of power I can grab.

I am a Feminist because I believe in equal rights. I am a Feminist because I believe that we live in a society that forces women into maternity, heterosexual imperatives, low-paying jobs, domesticity, self-hatred, particularly of their own bodies, proms, believing Math is Hard! and that Sci-Fi and Comics are for Boys! I am a Feminist because women *fought* and *died* for me, yes, *me*, to have more rights, various opportunities, and a better life than they themselves had. I am a Feminist because I believe Woman’s Story is mostly untold. I am a Feminist because I am physically stronger and intellectually smarter than some men, and not so much than others, and I’m completely okay with both. I am a Feminist because I believe Women should be whatever they want to be, whether that’s a CEO or a Stay-At-Home-Mom. Feminism gives us the Choice.

I am a Feminist because I believe in Choice.

I am a Feminist because I have the power to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves, and I therefore have the imperative to do so.

Wonder Woman became a Hero because she had the power to do so. She fought for the right to come and help “Man’s World,” or maybe she just had “Mother Issues,” but in the end, she has come to help. Yes, Friends, To Help. And if she’s soul-searching, or trying to find herself, or just taking a vacation, I support her. But if Becoming Human, or Finding Herself means that she no longer cares about people in pain, just because those people happen to be men? I can’t, in all good consciousness, believe that this is the same character that blinded herself to fight Medusa. Or that this is the same character that began said soul-searching in the first place because *she hurt and killed a human*.

Let’s bring back what’s truly interesting about Wonder Woman: her Otherness. The navigation of this world through *her* eyes. Her Amazonian Ideals. Her frightening sense of Pure Justice.

Make Mine Amazonian again, please.