Comics! And things!
Jun. 28th, 2009 12:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
effexBut mostly comics! :D :D
So, I went down to ye local comic book shop today and picked up the new Detective Comics and also Runaways 11. And then got it signed (Detective Comics, not Runaways) by Greg Rucka. Who was there! Signing things! HELL YEAH.
I was the only female in the shop aside from the lady behind the counter, who told me 'way to shake the genders up a bit.' Yay? Normally there are more women in the shop, I was kinda surprised.
Greg was there kinda sorta for Pride Weekend - Zeus Comics is an award-winning queer friendly shop and is the owner is gay himself (In Dallas! I <3 my comic shop) - and Detective Comics #854 features not one but *two* awesome lesbian ladies: Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, who's taking over the LEAD ROLE FROM BATMAN who is missing or in a coma or dead, idk (I stopped following that part of DC continuity when the Battle for the Cowl started, yeesh. All I know is that Dick's taken up the batmantle), and RENEE MONTOYA, aka The Question (v2), aka MY FANGIRLING, LET ME SHOW IT TO YOU. And Rucka is the author and notably queer friendly.
Also, he usually writes stories about women that do not suck! Detective Comics, in fact, is so low on the sucking that some might mistake it for awesome. The art is *amazing,* Kate is well characterized, and the writing is great. Renee's not in the same story arc here (and the art is different but also really good) - she's got her own minicomic tacked on to the end of Detective Comics (ala Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, aka at least DC's not totally ignoring these beloved characters, the fuckers). It means less screen time (only eight pages!), but what was there was a very good start.
In fact, gimmie a minute, I'm going to go back and read it again.
**
Back! Now, as for Runaways... I'm not sure if I like where this new volume is going, you know? I miss Xavin so much, and it seems like the kids are getting. More callous? Kinda assholish? And the art's pretty good, but Nico looks like a drag queen. Which, if that's the look she's going for? And if I didn't already know she's a rotten judge of character/situation, I would try and punch her in the face re: Xavin. And the story seems choppy!
And if [SPOILER]Old Lace[SPOILER] is actually dead, I will be SO PISSED OFF. What the hell.
/whinge
On the plus side, amazing Chase/Victor moment. I mean, just, wow. Wow. I'm not even much of a shipper, but. Holy cow.
And it looks like they might finally be addressing the extreme trauma Klara's been through, both with her abusive husband and the culture shock, so.
**
Okay, the original purpose of this post was to talk about two *other* comic book series (well, okay, one comic title and one manga) - Blue Beetle and Hayate Cross Blade. Two of my favorite things *ever,* y'all need to get in on this.
**
Blue Beetle. Favorite comic book series, hands down. My love is so huge it requires bullet points:
* Jaime (hi-meh) Reyes. He's such a *good* guy. Smart! Hardworking! Wisecracking! Dorky! Loyal! And he loves his family, loves his friends, never even blinked on the whole 'power=responsibility' thing. His secret dream of ultimate power is *dentistry.* People have come back in time to kill him (in Teen Titans) because he proved to be incorruptible. He reprogrammed an alien killing machine by virtue of being him and also possibly gave it a soul.
* Jaime's relationship with his loved ones. In that, they all know he's Blue Beetle. His parents? Know. Sister? Knows. Best friends, grandma, girlfriend, cyber support team, local magically powered gang, local crime boss? Know. And it creates for him a support network that other teenage (and adult) superheroes don't have - he doesn't have to worry about lying to them, about hiding a major part of his life. They all know what he does, know the danger it represents (boy, do they ever), and choose to stick with him anyway. Which makes him the most well adjusted teenage superhero I have ever seen, his Teen Titan teammates have got to be so confused.
* Paco and Brenda. Jaime's two best friends, totally unpowered, and totally awesome. Awesome! They each bring something to the table, for Jaime - he wouldn't be the hero he is if they weren't there to help. And they're fully flashed out as characters, and have lives of their own!
* Jaime's family. His mom and dad are wonderful people, struggling with jobs and disabilities and raising a young girl and a teenage superhero ('they never talked about these things in the manual.' 'there was a manual?'). She's a nurse! He's a mechanic! Also there is Jaime's sister, Milagro, who's... 8? Maybe (I could be totally wrong, here)? And goes through a very realistic period where her brother's spiffy magical bug suit freaks her the fuck out. Before adapting and becoming totally blase about it.
* Kaji Dha. Because there are few things as wondrous as watching the (murderous) hunk of alien tech fused to some kid's spine slowly grow into personhood.
* Traci 13. Jaime's girlfriend, so well written and characterized that I was *sure* that she had had loads of back story developed in some other title only to find out, no, not so much. But still! She's an urban wizard who provides magical backup for a crack team of international detectives! She's smart! She's level headed! She's funny! She's British, and British-born Chinese! I honestly don't think they'll make it as a couple in the long run, but I adore her as a character and hope they stay BFs for life.
* Did I mention that the majority of the characters in this series are Hispanic? And live in El Paso? And Jaime superheroes on both sides of the border? Seriously, the Reyes family, La Dama (major crime boss, not actually his archrival), Paco, most of the Posse (local magical not-actually-a-gang), Jaime's tech support team of awesome, at least 60% of the background characters = not-white. And not stereotyped, bonus!
There are 35 issues total for Blue Beetle - it just got canceled as it's title, which is a crime, but now it gets some pagetime at the back of the Booster Gold comics and Jaime's a Teen Titan, so we get to see him there.
The series is not perfect, story-wise - it helps to know a bit about the wider DCU: about the previous two Blue Beetles (Ted Kord, I miss you so much), about the events in Countdown, who the Green Lanterns are, etc. And a lot of narrative threads are brought up and then dropped, especially in the beginning. It gets really solid during the Reach arc, though! And then kinda fizzles, after the writers change.
Speaking of writers, the creator/main writer/major influence on this title is one John Rogers, who is also all those things for Leverage. Oh yeah, that's right. Under him, the characterizations are tight and the writing's snappy.
The series is available in trade paperback and also, uh, elsewhere. Myself and the overly large portion of my brain dedicated to comics canon are here if anyone has questions /hinthint
It's past midnight and I have Pride shenanigans to get up to tomorrow - will convey unto you the fantasticness that is Hayate Cross Blade at a later date. Night, folks!
So, I went down to ye local comic book shop today and picked up the new Detective Comics and also Runaways 11. And then got it signed (Detective Comics, not Runaways) by Greg Rucka. Who was there! Signing things! HELL YEAH.
I was the only female in the shop aside from the lady behind the counter, who told me 'way to shake the genders up a bit.' Yay? Normally there are more women in the shop, I was kinda surprised.
Greg was there kinda sorta for Pride Weekend - Zeus Comics is an award-winning queer friendly shop and is the owner is gay himself (In Dallas! I <3 my comic shop) - and Detective Comics #854 features not one but *two* awesome lesbian ladies: Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, who's taking over the LEAD ROLE FROM BATMAN who is missing or in a coma or dead, idk (I stopped following that part of DC continuity when the Battle for the Cowl started, yeesh. All I know is that Dick's taken up the batmantle), and RENEE MONTOYA, aka The Question (v2), aka MY FANGIRLING, LET ME SHOW IT TO YOU. And Rucka is the author and notably queer friendly.
Also, he usually writes stories about women that do not suck! Detective Comics, in fact, is so low on the sucking that some might mistake it for awesome. The art is *amazing,* Kate is well characterized, and the writing is great. Renee's not in the same story arc here (and the art is different but also really good) - she's got her own minicomic tacked on to the end of Detective Comics (ala Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, aka at least DC's not totally ignoring these beloved characters, the fuckers). It means less screen time (only eight pages!), but what was there was a very good start.
In fact, gimmie a minute, I'm going to go back and read it again.
**
Back! Now, as for Runaways... I'm not sure if I like where this new volume is going, you know? I miss Xavin so much, and it seems like the kids are getting. More callous? Kinda assholish? And the art's pretty good, but Nico looks like a drag queen. Which, if that's the look she's going for? And if I didn't already know she's a rotten judge of character/situation, I would try and punch her in the face re: Xavin. And the story seems choppy!
And if [SPOILER]Old Lace[SPOILER] is actually dead, I will be SO PISSED OFF. What the hell.
/whinge
On the plus side, amazing Chase/Victor moment. I mean, just, wow. Wow. I'm not even much of a shipper, but. Holy cow.
And it looks like they might finally be addressing the extreme trauma Klara's been through, both with her abusive husband and the culture shock, so.
**
Okay, the original purpose of this post was to talk about two *other* comic book series (well, okay, one comic title and one manga) - Blue Beetle and Hayate Cross Blade. Two of my favorite things *ever,* y'all need to get in on this.
**
Blue Beetle. Favorite comic book series, hands down. My love is so huge it requires bullet points:
* Jaime (hi-meh) Reyes. He's such a *good* guy. Smart! Hardworking! Wisecracking! Dorky! Loyal! And he loves his family, loves his friends, never even blinked on the whole 'power=responsibility' thing. His secret dream of ultimate power is *dentistry.* People have come back in time to kill him (in Teen Titans) because he proved to be incorruptible. He reprogrammed an alien killing machine by virtue of being him and also possibly gave it a soul.
* Jaime's relationship with his loved ones. In that, they all know he's Blue Beetle. His parents? Know. Sister? Knows. Best friends, grandma, girlfriend, cyber support team, local magically powered gang, local crime boss? Know. And it creates for him a support network that other teenage (and adult) superheroes don't have - he doesn't have to worry about lying to them, about hiding a major part of his life. They all know what he does, know the danger it represents (boy, do they ever), and choose to stick with him anyway. Which makes him the most well adjusted teenage superhero I have ever seen, his Teen Titan teammates have got to be so confused.
* Paco and Brenda. Jaime's two best friends, totally unpowered, and totally awesome. Awesome! They each bring something to the table, for Jaime - he wouldn't be the hero he is if they weren't there to help. And they're fully flashed out as characters, and have lives of their own!
* Jaime's family. His mom and dad are wonderful people, struggling with jobs and disabilities and raising a young girl and a teenage superhero ('they never talked about these things in the manual.' 'there was a manual?'). She's a nurse! He's a mechanic! Also there is Jaime's sister, Milagro, who's... 8? Maybe (I could be totally wrong, here)? And goes through a very realistic period where her brother's spiffy magical bug suit freaks her the fuck out. Before adapting and becoming totally blase about it.
* Kaji Dha. Because there are few things as wondrous as watching the (murderous) hunk of alien tech fused to some kid's spine slowly grow into personhood.
* Traci 13. Jaime's girlfriend, so well written and characterized that I was *sure* that she had had loads of back story developed in some other title only to find out, no, not so much. But still! She's an urban wizard who provides magical backup for a crack team of international detectives! She's smart! She's level headed! She's funny! She's British, and British-born Chinese! I honestly don't think they'll make it as a couple in the long run, but I adore her as a character and hope they stay BFs for life.
* Did I mention that the majority of the characters in this series are Hispanic? And live in El Paso? And Jaime superheroes on both sides of the border? Seriously, the Reyes family, La Dama (major crime boss, not actually his archrival), Paco, most of the Posse (local magical not-actually-a-gang), Jaime's tech support team of awesome, at least 60% of the background characters = not-white. And not stereotyped, bonus!
There are 35 issues total for Blue Beetle - it just got canceled as it's title, which is a crime, but now it gets some pagetime at the back of the Booster Gold comics and Jaime's a Teen Titan, so we get to see him there.
The series is not perfect, story-wise - it helps to know a bit about the wider DCU: about the previous two Blue Beetles (Ted Kord, I miss you so much), about the events in Countdown, who the Green Lanterns are, etc. And a lot of narrative threads are brought up and then dropped, especially in the beginning. It gets really solid during the Reach arc, though! And then kinda fizzles, after the writers change.
Speaking of writers, the creator/main writer/major influence on this title is one John Rogers, who is also all those things for Leverage. Oh yeah, that's right. Under him, the characterizations are tight and the writing's snappy.
The series is available in trade paperback and also, uh, elsewhere. Myself and the overly large portion of my brain dedicated to comics canon are here if anyone has questions /hinthint
It's past midnight and I have Pride shenanigans to get up to tomorrow - will convey unto you the fantasticness that is Hayate Cross Blade at a later date. Night, folks!
