(no subject)

[bluefall]

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.

Comments

[icon_uk]

Hey there, welcome back!

Zatanna will be a member of "Justice League Dark" I think.

[thehefner]

God, Gotham City Sirens just continues to read like bad fic. The tone-deafness of the voices is somehow actually getting worse. If you can't imagine Arleen Sorkin speaking Harley Quinn's lines, you're not writing Harley Quinn right.

[shadowpsykie]

wait... i thought ZACH was the one who's powers don't work on living creatures.....?

funny, i actually really like the Harley/ivy scene. Ivy and Harley's "relationship" that has always been toyed with, See that one Batgirl/Harley scene a while back "Oh you mean like what everyone says about you and supergirl?" i mean, people pretty much agree that Harley and Ivy do it like bunnies. Wether Ivy has ever admited outloud (she does not strike me as the type that would SAY it) or Harley has, no one has ever heard. THIS plays to Harley's keen intelligence AND skills as a shrink. SHE knows how Ivy feels about her, saying it outloud like that WOULD throw Ivy off because Ivy is not the type of person to say that to ANYONE even Harley, emotions are things SHE can manipulate, things SHE likes to control, for Pamela to admit she loves something other than plants takes ALOT. Harley on the other hand might love Ivy... BUT eveytime the Joker gets thrown into the mix all bets are off. It was not the best written (though i loved the bat/cat scenes) but the IDEA was great.

as far as Wonder Woman, it wasn't my favorite, but still so much better than JMS alone (and that saddens me) also I don't see it so much as Anti-theism, its more like, the gods powers can only take you so far, you cannot rely on them for everything, just like you cant deny them, when it comes down to it, you have to rely on your own strength. the stregth and power YOU develope, with some guidance from the gods yes, but in the end, its YOU that makes the choices.

[twigcollins]

"Is it because you love me?"

Yet another writer decides they are so much more awesome than a decade's worth of subtext. And I roll my eyes so hard it'll take a copay to get them back in properly.

[darkblade]

Due to the size of my monitor I only saw the top half of the GCS scan leading me to believe it was a kiss in that last panel. Scrolling down was a very disappointing experience.

[starwolf_oakley]

<>iIf 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.

Well, keep in mind, Harley Quinn only reached the mainstream DC Universe during No Man's Land. Exactly how long ago that was in DCU time, I don't know. But part of the reason Harley is so agile is because of something Poison Ivy did to her.

Although, at least there's some explanation for Ivy and/or Harley being gay. Fans thought Element Lad from the Legion of Super-Heroes had to be gay because his costume was pink.

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

As much as I enjoyed the most recent two Bop issues, the "we need a detective" comment was a bit odd. I'm not sure what "detective" would mean other than a combination of Hel's insane evidence-following (tracking) and Bab's insane data organization...

And I wish I had the luxury of another year of storytelling to care...

[mullon]

Nice ass, Diana.

[indy2012]

I don't get angry about stuff that happens in the funny books often, but GCS just kinda pissed me off this week. This series not only ignores the 3 women's respective histories, but it's own history as well.

Peter Calloway is not a good writer. He does not have respect for the characters that he writes. Gail Simone can write villains that are likeable but never lose their malevolent charm. His dialogue is full of clichés and puns and his characterization is supremely hollow.

The Ivy/Catwoman issue should have been dealt with waaaaay back when the series was still in its infancy, not 2 years later completely out of the blue. The fact that Selina stabbed Ivy in the back for that betrayal is just utterly stupid.

Calloway means to tell us that these 3 stuck their necks out for one another through all of these trials and tribulations, and Selina was planning to set Ivy up the entire time? Ivy was DEAD at one point and Selina frantically threw her into water to bring her back to life! She even had a greenhouse built for the woman! Ivy and Harley also put their necks on the line to save Selina's demented sister and save her from Black Mask, and after all of that, Selina chooses THEN to betray Ivy?? Ivy deserved some kind of punishment for what she did to Selina back in #2, but it should have been dealt with then and there.

It's funny, but this whole prolonged revenge scenario reminded me of a throwaway Family Guy line from 2001. Peter repaints the family car to look like the General Lee. When Brian tries to jump in through the window, Peter forgot to roll it down, so Brian just smashes into the side of the car. 4 years later in a 2005 episode, Brian throws a rock at Peter and shouts, "That's for rolling up the damn window when I tried to jump into the General Lee!".

[featheredserpent]

My vote goes to "shagging like demented but hot rabbits for years now." Nothing else makes sense.

[jlbarnett]

I still don't feel like Diana is hope, at least not in the normal comic book sense of hope which really makes it stand out when people assign it to her.

Diana wants to make the world a better place. She goes out and attempts to, and considering she's immortal it's entirely possible she'd see it. Plus if you look at human attitudes and behaviors over the millenia the world does seem to be

Comic book hope is the last desperate chance hope. Sending your only child in an untested ship as your world dies, knowing you'll never know his fate.

It's waging a war against human nature, like Batman's war on crime because even though he can't stop it he'll do everything in his power to lessen.

It's the grand futile gesture succeeding agains all odds, not get up go to work at a shit job to save money so you've got less problems tomorrow.

[mad]

1) Heh, I'm pretty sure when I read that BoP, I could hear the sounds of our collective *headdesk*-ing. I've been taking refuge in re-reading bits of NML lately.

2) Not having read this WW at all, I initially thought that cat was a photoshop for some reason.

3) I don't even care that much about Harley and Ivy as characters in the grand scheme of things, but aauuugh DC is so frustrating on this. All the creators like to flirt with this pairing (probably editorial too), and I'm pretty sure most readers would consider it canon or at least very plausible, so why not actually just do it?

4) I am weirded out by the use of actual thought bubbles in Zatanna. You really don't see those used in Big Two comics anymore.

[an_idol_mind]

Is there a POINT to the current storyline in Gothma City Sirens? From what I can tell, the story seems solely set up to strip away anything redeemable about Harley Quinn and cement the fact that she's as far gone ethically as the Joker is. Am I supposed to hate Harley in this story, or is the writer not doing his job?

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

I normally don't care much about villains, but I just finished reading through the entire run of GCS, and the last six or so issues (mostly after Dini left) turn it from a brilliant slice-of-life rehabilitation piece (that I really wish the reboot of Bop had participated in, instead of the confusing globe-hopping and death-faking) into a really generic Joker piece. I mean, there was a bit of awesome in seeing why Harley is so dangerous, but that kind of defeats any and all emotional resonance from the trio's bonding in the first year of issues.

I mean, I don't even have a ship at stake here (though I actively want the Joker to be turned into very fine pink mist), and I think this storyline is an atrocity. Not to mention the Catwoman/Ivy "development" (more like out-of-butt-pull-ment).

Makes me wonder - the suits have been saying "Killing Joke is in continuity, etc etc." So will this stuff be in continuity? Because I don't really know if I want to read about this Harley or Ivy in Bop or Suicide Squad. But the Harley and Ivy of the first year, definitely.