Preview of Huntress #1

[aeka]

Newsarama released the first four pages of Huntress #1 by Paul Levitz, and so far it looks like this will be the only book in DCnU I'll actually be picking up besides Birds of Prey and Earth-2 JSA.

(Though should this really surprise anyone on here at this point? XP)






So far I'm really digging the art in this issue and the writing looks pretty solid. One thing I *am* a bit worried about though is Levitz writing Helena B too similarly to his Helena Wayne version (ie, drugging a guy to sleep for example was more Helena Wayne's modus operandi than Helena B's who is more likely to beat a guy unconscious). But other than that, I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of this issue on Wednesday :)

Comments

[aaron_bourque]

drugging a guy to sleep for example was more Helena Wayne's modus operandi than Helena B's who is more likely to beat a guy unconscious

She is trying to be sneaky. Beating a guy up would likely draw too much attention. Also, drugging him would ensure her plenty of time to snoop.

The only thing I didn't like about the preview was Helena wondering how many corpses she'd leave behind. That just felt a little too beyond the fringe.

[aeka]

Plot-wise I do get that. Character-wise though, being sneaky isn't really her style since she usually tends to make a noisier entrance when she does take action.

[aaron_bourque]

Character-wise

Well, how much did the reboot affect Helena?

[aeka]

From what is known, the mafia princess background and her connection to the Birds of Prey are still in continuity. Though considering all the drastic personality changes a lot of characters have been seeing lately, you do bring up a very good point. Still I don't think it would make sense to make Helena B more like her Earth-2 counterpart, especially if there's a chance the latter will be appearing in the Earth-2 JSA book. If not for anything else, I think that alone would be a good enough reason to leave Helena B's original personality in tact.

[quatoria]

Also, to be fair, you actually CAN'T beat someone unconscious, like the movies show it, unless you're causing them enough brain trauma to potentially cripple them or put them in a coma. It's why you see, for example, boxers who were KO'd starting to get up a few seconds after the knockout. The human body just doesn't work the way it's normally depicted in films and comics - which is why I flat out LOVED her use of drugs to keep the guard out of the picture after she initially subdued him with the crossbow bolt.

Little touches like that really go a long way towards winning me over, as a reader.

[whitesycamore]

Yes, this.

Funnily enough, they rarely show people who've been knocked out for a minute or two staggering around in confusion and vomiting their guts up either, as would be quite normal after a severe concussion.

'Knocking people out' - if it lasts for more than a minute that usually means you've caused them a mid-to-severe traumatic brain injury, folks.

*puts soap box away*

[silicondream]

Yep, exactly. That was a great touch

Not quite sure why she's all RARR I AM DARK SEXY VENGEANCE when she's actually firing it though, it seems a bit at odds with the narration otherwise.

[icon_uk]

I think I'd accept that a little more if she hadn't just ricochetted a crossbow bolt off his head. Even allowing for it being lighter than the norm, that thing would have crushed his skull, or at least caused severe fractures.

[aeka]

You beat me to it, but yes this. I would have believed that statement a bit more if she had actually fired a tranquilizer dart at him in the first place.

[richardak]

All true, but the injection is nearly as unrealistic. There's a reason that anesthesiologists spend years learning how to drug people into unconsciousness safely. Too weak a dose, and the subject doesn't go under or doesn't stay under long enough; too strong a dose, and the subject dies. Also, if she were going to tranq him, why not just shoot a tranq bolt from the crossbow? It's a minor complaint, but this seems unnecessarily complicated.

[aeka]

A fair point, but the point I was getting at is that characterisation-wise it's not beyond Helena B to cause fatal bodily harm when she pummels someone as she's been known to do so in the past.

Also, as icon_uk pointed out, the fact that she initially knocked him out with a crossbow bolt, the velocity with which it travelled before impact would've still caused injury. With that alone, he wasn't going to get up anytime soon.

[twospirit.blogspot.com]

Is is possible to drug someone to keep them unconscious without it being dangerous to their health? I was under the impression that anesthesia was quite dangerous, and the levels have to be pretty exacting.

Just curious. Doesn't really detract from the story for me.

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

This is pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully this mini will be a) very good in itself (another Cry for Blood, not Year One (though Year One was certainly not all bad at all)) and b) lead to a high profile use of Helena in some of the ongoing books (I'm torn whether I want to see her in the new Bop or Batgirl. I trust Simone to write awesome Hel, but I don't know if that fits her plans at all. I'm very un-wowed by the new Bop so far, but maybe that could change.)

It would be nice if in addition to drawing a strong looking Helena Saiz could remember that she's actually the tallest member of the Bop, though. She was consistently way too short in his issue of the new series.

[junipepper]

No belly window. I like it already!

[halloweenjack]

My reaction exactly. Kind of the opposite direction that they're going with Starfire.

[shadowpsykie]

soooo excited for this!

[darkknightjrk]

Not a big fan of the shoulder-pads, but still more preferable than the belly window.

I'll definitely be checking this out. :D

[q99]

Drugging someone to keep them from waking up is a sensible tool that I'm surprised doesn't show up more often.

[aeka]

That's because most of the Batclan has found it more effective to use sleeping gas which (a) gets the job done just as fast, and (b) does not require getting within too close proximity to the victim.

Helena B though is more fond of roughhousing even when she is stalking her prey in the shadows.

[beoweasel]

Because using sedatives in that manner is incredibly dicey? You have to have a pretty accurate knowledge of drug and the proportional dose to the receiver's body mass. Too little, and it won't be effective, too much and you'll kill them.

Not to mention, there's a chance that the person could be allergic to the drug you're using.

[q99]

Quite true, but then again, knocking someone out with a blow to the head is certainly highly dicey in itself as well!

In reality, there's not much of a good way to make someone stay sleepy for awhile.

[autohobbs]

Everything about this is awesome. Love her outfit, the art. Gah, I can't wait.

[aeolos_sakya]

No belly window?
What kind of sick world have I entered in?
It's not sexy enough!

(Thanklordfornobellywindow)

[nezchan]

Hell, they haven't even told us how many bras she owns, what sort of hack work is this?

[mrstatham]

Nice art, but I'm not sure about the narration, especially the parts with her coming across as a man-hater and especially the line with her pondering how many corpses to leave behind..

[aeka]

Hence why I brought up the slight *concern* that he may end up writing her as he did Helena Wayne back in the 70s and 80s. Not that Helena Wayne was a man-hater per se, but Levitz always wrote her as being critical of men, and the line about "wondering how many corpses [she'll] leave behind," doesn't give me much hope that fully understand this version of the character.

Still I hope the actual book proves me wrong about her characterisation, but the story-wise, it's looking pretty solid so far. :P

[richardak]

Actually, wondering how many bodies she's going to leave behind sounds exactly like Helena Bertinelli to me. Also, the comments about men don't strike me as hateful, necessarily; the comment about Berlusconi just sounds accurate, if understated.

[aeka]

I didn't think the comments about men were hateful either, I just don't recall Helena B as ever being critical of men/male behaviour, though this was done a lot with the Helena Wayne Huntress in the 70s and 80s.

Actually, wondering how many bodies she's going to leave behind sounds exactly like Helena Bertinelli to me

What bothered me most about the corpses comment was that it felt out of place and inconsistent with the rest of the narration. At best it felt like it was just thrown in there at the last minute to remind readers early on that this was the more "psychotic willing-to-kill" Helena Bertinelli Huntress and not the "soft-as-kittens" Helena Wayne Huntress.

If the narration had started off with Helena actually thinking about her objective or the people she was about to face off with, I would have believed the corpses comment a lot more. But the fact that the narration here reads as "I'm here in Italy-I wonder how many corpses I'll leave behind-Men are so easily distracted-what are the rules for importing lethal weapons?" shows that her thoughts are all over the place, which doesn't give the impression Levitz fully understand how version of the character thinks. What's more is that this is also how he wrote the Helena Wayne Huntress when she first started out.

Like I said it's only a minor concern, and that hopefully the rest of her characterisation is presented better in the rest of the book. Aside from that, the writing for this looks pretty solid.

[richardak]

I get what you mean, but I don't think the internal monologue is too scattered, considering the time frame it happens over. After all, it starts when her plane is on approach and ends when she's in her hotel room, so I don't think it comes across as too "all over the place." Most of the big jumps come at the major time-skips: she's thinking about being back in Italy as her plane is landing; she's thinking about men being easily distracted as she enters her hotel, presumably at least the better part of an hour later; she's thinking about lethal weapons up in her room as she unpacks, presumably at least a couple of minutes later. So given that some time passes in between, I don't see her thoughts as being all over the place the way you do. Also, I think the line about leaving bodies behind is a good character-establishing moment, and a good way for Levitz to make clear that he's writing Helena Bertinelli, not Helena Wayne. So I think I see where you're coming from, but I can't say I really agree.

[aeka]

It was just the randomness of the line in comparison to the rest of the narration that made it feel like a last minute add to remind readers this is the Helena Bertinelli Huntress. In other words, I didn't really feel like it really fit in with the rest of the narrative and was only thrown in there as an afterthought.

[omnipotent]

The comment about Berlusconi is extremely accurate. He's pretty much useless.

[whitesycamore]

Yep. It's the perennial problem of how to wrote a Strong Female Character's sexuality.

Looks like Levitz is going to go the easy route of deciding not to let her have her one at all (at least not until she meets that strong manly dominant fellow who is just SO strong and manly and dominant that he will sweep her off her feet and melt her icy heeeaaart ♥ , transforming her into a beautiful warm flower of non-man hating, tender womanliness)

But that's a traditional, nostalgic kind of narrative, so everyone will probably be cool with it. :/

[aeka]

Or until she meets a bloke she's attracted to because she thinks "he'll understand and accept me as I am," but turns out to be the misogynistic "only men can be heroes, women only get killed" douche she has trouble dumping...

[whitesycamore]

Oh yes, there is that old chestnut.

Points if she proves him wrong and he Learns a Valuable Lesson though.

[aeka]

Do those points still apply if the Joker put that theory to the test, not once but twice?

[whitesycamore]

I'm loving that purple dress with the waist-cincher.

Also the random thug she drugs is strikingly sexy for a random thug.

Dammit, why do I never have anything constructive to say? I'm looking forward to this, anyway.

[stubbleupdate]

I was impressed with Marcus To when I saw him in Heroes, and this is still as good.

[richardak]

I really can't wait for this one. Of all the crap series DC greenlit as ongoing sight unseen, why is this one only a mini? Oh well, maybe it will lead to an ongoing.