Entry tags:

char: huntress/helena bertinelli, char: question/renee montoya, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, char: zatanna zatara, title: birds of prey, title: wonder woman, title: zatanna

So I've been a little out of the loop lately, for various reasons. Given the current direction of DC, expect that to continue. But I managed to stick my head back in and check in with my girls this week, and a few brief moments stood out as worthy of comment. Or maybe I just feel a need to talk about comics before the coming reboot steals all motivation to ever do so again, idk.


From BoP #12, as Helena attempts to recruit the Question:


I'm not sure I've actually come out and said this, but I'm pretty much wholly on jarodrussell's team at this point wrt Oracle. So this isn't terribly surprising or annoying from my standard canon-rejecting Babsfan standpoint. But I'm kind of staring askance at the slight to Dinah and Helena, there. Particularly since Gail herself was the one who wrote the most recent and respectful portrayal of Dinah's detective moxie. Sure, neither of them is on Renee and Babs' level, but Helena's not going to come up to Diana and be like "what we don't have is a melee fighter" just because she and Dinah aren't kryptonian-class, y'know? I mean I suppose it's true that they don't have a detective, inasmuch as they, in fact, have three, but I don't think that's what Helena was supposed to be going for here.

From Wondy #612:






Looks like someone's been attending the Geoff Johns school of antitheism. Also, way too much Zeus. I was relatively cool with Psycho's role in #609 because it did at least make sense for the characters and their relationship and said something important about Diana's compassion and inspirational effect, but those justifications don't hold here and it's really not okay for Zeus to take Athena's place next to Aphrodite.

That said, kudos for noting Diana is largely a creature of hope (someone at least has managed to avoid the Geoff Johns school of ring assignation), and for the reasonably slashable Temi death a few pages prior. Since I'm highly suspicious they'll take the reboot opportunity to try to stick her back with Steve Trevor, I'm trying to appreciate this JMS clusterfuck as at least the last guaranteed portrayal of Diana as emotionally independent and potentially queer.

Speaking of, from Sirens #24:


And then Harley proceeds to kick her ass while she's off balance, which... I don't even... what? This is just stupid. Either Ivy and Harley are in (sick, twisted, abusive, supervillain-style, but nevertheless) love, or they aren't. If they aren't, they've just been friends all this time, and this taunt makes no sense. If they are, they've been shagging like demented but hot rabbits for years now, and Ivy's love for Harley isn't in question, and this taunt makes no sense. I mean it's not like I expect better from Sirens but this is just... not how you actually finally address Harley/Ivy in explicit canon.

And to end this post on a positive note, from Zatanna #14:


It's so weird to actually like something Beechen wrote. I mean, he still has no idea how Zatanna's powers work, but Zatanna in this issue is competent, in control, and clashes amusingly with Zach; Zach is the damsel-in-distress while Zee is never even on her back foot; the hero saves the day through quick thinking and an understanding of her opponent; the whole story is a quick, clean done-in-one; we even get a nod to a non-Western mythology. Do we know anything about Zee's coming fate post-reboot? It would be a real shame to lose this title.