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I really wanted to title this post “Well, that explains alot,” but it doesn’t. This post explains alot. The book I’m talking about explains something much less important than that. It explains why a terrible broadway musical was terrible.

I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Okay, context: Three years ago, Becca, Feather and I went to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark while it was in previews. To say that this was a terrible Broadway musical is not in fact accurate; when we saw it, it was two terrible musicals: Spider-Man, a terrible musical retelling of Sam Raimi’s 2002 movie; and Turn Off the Dark: a terrible musical retelling of Phantom of the Opera, but gender-flipped, and with spider-powers instead of music. Incidentally, I can’t stand ‘Phantom of the Opera, I think it is a bad musical telling a bad story, but Turn Off the Dark was worse, as I have gleefully told anyone who would stay still long enough for the last three years.

So when Becca, tasked with the job of being my Secret Santa, sent me a copy of Song of Spider-Man, a memoir by book writer Glen Berger, my squeal of delight was probably audible back in New York. A chance to relive the train wreck from inside!

This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.

For the 9th January (LJ | DW) bjornwilde asked what global or cosmic hero/es I like, based on the correct assumption that I tend to prefer street level superheroes (The Question, Black Canary, Daredevil)

So here’s three powerhouses, from three different publishers.

Power Girl

I’d been dabbling a toe into the Super books since Kelly-Sue DeConnick’s run in Supergirl, which for a while was the only Super book I read. I really really did not like Man of Steel in a way that was eye opening about what I thought was important about Superman (no doubt acquired through osmosis by spending my weekends watching Justice League with a man who did his dissertation on Superbooks). So it turned out I had Opinions! And I started reading more superbooks. And then I fell into a hole of Power Girl, because 1) Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner and 2) if the Super family is a family of people who are displaced from their home and trying to find their place, then Power Girl is the losted and most displaced of them all. And of course, in the Ame-Comi universe she’s essentially a genderswapped Superman, and we all know how much I like genderswaps.

Anyway, I like Karen cause she’s flexible in her changing situations. She’s smart and tech savvy, and uses her secret identity to help people with Starrware rather than building up a personal arsenal, like SOME smart super rich ‘hero’ types I can mention. And she takes absolutely zero crap, from anyone. She’s brave, compassionate, and  just trying to find her place in a planet – no, a universe, that isn’t her own.

Captain Marvel

Any claims that I like Carol Danvers for exactly the same reasons that I like Karen Starr will be met with a shifty look and an awkward subject change.

I jumped on the Captain Marvel bandwagon at the same time everyone else did – when Kelly-Sue started writing her solo book. (A pattern? To heck you say!) And I’ve been meaning to go back and read the rest of Princess Sparklefists, but there’s no hurry, right? As it is, Captain Marvel is one of the very few books I judge good enough to be on my small pull list. Carol, like Karen, is take-no-prisoners lets-punch-things. She has global powers and responsibilities (co-leader of the Avengers), but very real fears and worries (and a case of imposter syndrome, which is a very female concern.)

Atom Eve

Otherwise known as Invincible’s super girlfriend, Samantha Wilkins has her own life, and her own problems (which don’t get focused on nearly enough) including her own archnemesis. Dealing with Mark Grayson’s melodrama should be enough to get her a medal on its own, but she never ever lets it stop her. She’s pretty much the most powerful person in the world, including Invincible himself, even though she makes the tough decision to not use her powers when she gets pregnant.

Yeah, there are problems in Atom Eve’s story, but she’s an awesome character and a great  superhero.

This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.

Welp, DC, I hope you’re happy. As of right now, my regular comics pull-list contains more Marvel comics than DC. Given how much I adore those DC girls, you can understand how weird it feels.

It’s basically the fault of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction, the couple who are currently writing the excellent Hawkeye (Fraction), Captain Marvel and Avengers Assemble (DeConnick). And of course Greg Rucka, whose not-quite-finished Punisher arc is how I started reading that series, because I’ll pretty much follow him anywhere.

Anyhoo, I picked up Hawkeye based on a recommendation from Starman, who described it as “The Best Green Arrow book in years!” which coming from him is high praise, and of course is going to make me pick it up (I tried with new52 Ollie, I really did. But, like so much- meh.) And Captain Marvel is a female-lead title with a female writer which doesn’t have all the personal-for-me baggage that Gail Simone’s Batgirl has. So obviously I picked up that. And obviously, it’s amazing.

Though, I will say, the current artist (Filipe Andrade) is somewhat of a Marmite taste, and more importantly:

TYRANNOSAURS WITH THREE FINGERS. No excuse, dude. No excuse.

So today I’m at my comic store buying my stories, and the cashier man asks me how I’m liking Captain Marvel. I rave about Kelly Sue for a minute or so and he asks me whether I’m reading Avengers Assemble. I admit that so far, I’m not, because I missed her first issue and didn’t quite get on the Assemble bandwagon.

“Fie!” said he (except he didn’t) “To the Avengers corner of the store with you! Buy thyself copies of Avengers Assemble 9 through 11!”

So I did.

And proceeded to squeal and laugh and bounce with joy for three comics straight.

Man, it’s been a while since Superhero comics did that.

This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.

1. Roller skating.
2. Women in comic books.
3. Living in America.
4. Social media.
5. What you miss most from home.

Two of my favorite things. Women. Comics.

Two ways women can be “in comics”: as characters, and as creators.

Two things about female characters: firstly, that the comic medium is frequently flawed in its depiction of women. Secondly, that female characters in comics are nevertheless so often interesting, amazing characters compared to stories in other media, that I fell into reading comics just because of the female characters. So women in comics are particularly important to me, perhaps more so that in other media, which is particularly unfair.

Anyway, I don’t particularly want to talk about the flaws and problems with my particular fandoms today, let’s celebrate some awesome women in comics. I’ve been talking for years about Dinah Lance, Barbara Gordon and Renee Montoya, so I think I’ll focus on characters I discovered more recently.

This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.