http://tinyurl.com/6k qptl

Just discovered these comic critics strips yesterday. Some of them are spot on.

And yet, the mystery of how to make a successful film of this simplest of comic characters still alludes the powers that be.

But WW has been good several times. The first time I enjoyed her was when she changed her breastplate thingy from an eagle to a WW and Gene Colan drew her, that's when Silver Swan was created.

WW got better when Meissner-Loebs and Deodato did the whole thing with Artemis, even taking Diana out of the costume for some time. Awesome art (I preferred Deodato's style then to his current work), great story, great characterization of the Amazons and the humans. Of course, my friends commented that every woman in the book during this time was unbelievably hot, even by comic standards.

As great as that run was, I think the Greg Rucka time was even better. That's the whole time when she was an ambassador, went blind, etc. Great job of involving the Gods, but not overdoing it. Again, Diana was a person, really well done. This is my all-time favorite for Wonder Woman. I don't know why Rucka doesn't get more love, I think his writing is too adult and not sensational enough to get really popular, but he's awesome.

I am a big Simone fan as well, Secret Six being one of my very top books and her Birds of Prey also rocked. She can clearly write women, but I think she's much better with more flawed women (like Scandal Savage or Helena Bertinelli) than an icon. I also want to like it, but the stories are "meh" and the characterization isn't that great either.

So, on to Power Girl. Why is this whole "dyke trucker bitch" conversation going on? She isn't referenced in the reviews. Her new book, annoyingly promoted at the end of every DC comic for some time, didn't indicate this. I don't think Alex Ross' version is relevant to anything, so it seems just like a random, anti-Power Girl, anti-lesbian post. PG has never been indicated to be lesbian anyway.

Speaking of women some people think are attractive and others consider to be hideous, Michelle Obama. The whole thing with the Obamas is that all the far-right nutcases are demonizing them, making themselves look stupid. On the other hand, the liberals (my group) have some sort of PC thing where if you don't drink the kool-aid and pray to the altar of Barack and Michelle, you are a Pariah. Weird. And tiresome. I am sick of the Obamas and I voted for him.

Finally, Ennis is O-VER! I think he's gone downhill worse than the top two of "good writers gone lame:" Frank Miller and Chris Claremont. I can't imagine picking up an Ennis book again, ever! And I have many, many issues of Hellblazer and the entire run of Preacher. But that well has gone dry!

And superhero costumes have never looked as blatantly ridiculous as when he paints them.

Batman has a ton of good stories. But the Morrison/Quitely All-Star Superman is, IMO, the one and ONLY good Superman arc EVER! For real! He is ten times more boring than Wonder Woman. (But she is, admittedly, boring by nature as well).

Now, like Plas and Captain Marvel, people are trying to update her and make her relevant in a quick fick session versus having her naturally grow and change with the times. I mean, she has been around for almost 70 years but she feels like a character that has like a 30-40 year gap in her history.

Joe, Alias doesn't have a best known storyline. I was totally unfamiliar with it until your recommendation. Something I noticed here is that the most popular Icon storylines are not set in regular continuity. DKR and ASS are both out of continuity and that's a lot of why they are awesome. WW could be the same, but I don't think anything like that has been done. Making Wonder Girl Wonder Woman would just ruin the Wonder Girl character. I don't think anyone could do WW better than Rucka did, so if even his run doesn't get recognition, it's a limitation of the character.

Wonder Woman TO THE EXTREME! could work, it's basically what Marvel does with Power Princess, and I must say I find Power Princess more interesting. But I do think WW is hamstrung by the need to be perfect and all-ages role model. Hard to be entertaining in that. Probably why a WW movie never gets out of development (and, to a lesser note, why I don't expect any more Superman movies for a long time to come).

As for WW, I am a firm believer that she can be a relevant and great character. The problem IMO is that DC tries to have her act like a Marvel character (which they do with a lot of their characters) and she is the furthest thing away from a Marvel character. She isn't meant to be realistic or even naturalistic - she is a walking example of the use of mythology and sexual symbolisms. She has little to do with realism and everything to do with metaphor and subtext.

Interestingly, my roommate and I are rewatching the old '90s X-Men cartoon (still fucking awesome, btw), and there was a two parter called 'Time Fugitives' where Cable and Bishop fight in the present to save their respective futures! So not only is the 'Wolverine' movie ripping off the cartoon, but the writers of the comic that inspired the cartoon are taking cues from the cartoon! WTF?!?!?

Y'know, that could be a good thing or a bad thing, now that I think about it. I want PICS, like now.

Can't happen.

Ooooh, Joe Fixit gets REALLY mad and turns into the green Hulk. Uh, that's not how it fucking works. And Loeb should know that. Ok, I'm done.

Actually I agree witn The Kid about a lot of things, he's a great writer for someone of that age and he cuts through all the bullshit 'events' and tells it like it is. ,p> Well done, wee man, you're doing a good job

But the only way I could ever see myself buying a WW comic is if the entire direction of the character and her history was flipped 180 degrees.

Sadly, I came here to post what MCVamp said, that there really is no successful solo book with a female lead, and never has been. Group books do better with women in them, but not just one single woman.

Spider-Woman only lasted 50 issues. Manhunter, which got tons of praise and all of us who read it, loved it, lasted less than that. Catwoman can't keep a series. I think Dazzler was the longest running, despite being horrible, because she wasn't straight super hero.

I prefer female-driven comics, but I am in the minority and must agree that no female-led book is gonna be huge.

This shit though seems like it was written as a break time piece from his work on Blackest Night.

We all know they can't read

(my wife is going to kill me, but I couldn't resist)

But I really wanted to tell JoeNathan that the last issue of JSA has super classic heroes relaxing in costume. Almost everyone except Stargirl is in costume for her birthday party. The absolute best is Hourman and Damage buying ice cream at the grocery store in costume, wondering why people are staring. Made me wonder how they pay...I guess they carry some cash in the costume.

Girls buy and read superhero comics. Female leads CAN work too. The problem is, most mainstream writers don't know what makes a good female led book work. Tom DeFalco's Spider-Girl character and book lasted for 12+ years because he's writing as much about relationships and family as he his spandex & slugfests. His book managed to please both sexes. That's why it sold so well in trade.

The only reason why the self-titled book got canceled recently was because the recession reset the bar for how many low selling books could continue being published. With money being tight and paper/salary costs rising, Marvel finally had to say "no mas" after more than a decade and tons of fan fueled reprieves.

You don't have to be an indie book to attract more gals into the comic stores. You can have a mainstream book too, as long as it doesn't fall into the usual "big boob & thong costume" cliches. Most female led books fail due to writers scripting them as wussy men instead of actual women. A book like SG has/had all of same sort of drama as Spider-Man proper or Ultimate, but from a whole other perspective.

Books like Wonder Woman fail because they can't tell a good story. They fail because they're overly indulgent junk food that's targeted solely at horny teen boys or old men who ACT like horny teen boys.

You can get more female customers in by writing more likable and relatable female characters. No woman wants to see the stereotypical sassy supermodel type with the dental floss costume and the shallow storylines that are more fit for guy heroes and guy readers. Women like humor. They like relationships. They like vulnerability that coexists with strength. They like action too, but not when its that mindless X-Force sort of testosterone driven stuff. At least not usually.

Books like the Slott written She-Hulk or the DeFelco Spider-Girl could drive women to the stores.

Books like Arana, Wonder Woman, Manhunter, Supergirl, Dazzler, Spider-Woman, and so forth usually fail because they're written for the wrong audience and by the wrong writer.

The sad thing is, Marvel itself constantly fails when they target women because they end up pandering. They just (poorly) copy some indie idea that worked and only half-implement it with none of the inspiration. Shit like the upcoming "Marvel Divas" is something you'd expect from Vince McMahon and not the so-called "House of Ideas."

BTW, one book that I think might sit well with women is the latest incarnation of New Mutants. Ish #1 came out yesterday and it was great. What's interesting is that 2/3 of the cast are ladies. Each one of them so far has had a distinctly different personality and not one of them is the traditional slutty whorish cliche. (Yeah. I can hear you guys getting all upset about the lack of whores. LOL)

Zeb Wells has seemingly immersed himself in the best of New Mutants and X-Men continuity. You can get by with a rudimentary knowledge of who the characters are, but this book is not a 101 introductory course.

You're thrown in head first into a middle of a story that starts off Magik, with the recently resurrected demon child sister of Colossus, and ends off with the return of X-Men/New Mutants super baddie Legion - son of Professor X and the sole cause for alternaverse the Age of Apocalypse.

The Legion thing is not spoiler stuff, btw. It wasn't even the stuff of rumors. Marvel has been promoting his return here for months.

I think that if you can get your gal an old school New Mutants trade to catch her up, she'll be fine.

Characterization is spot on and the writing is smart and funny. The art isn't perfect, but it is indeed great and full of some sweet small touches that make the book worth a 2nd read. There are also lots of small fanboy giddiness inducing continuity nods everywhere. From mentions of Alpha Flight's Madison Jefferies to a scene framed like Cassaday's Astonishing #1 cover... Plus, with Warlock coming back in the 2nd arc and probably Cyper being revived.... Fanboys will LOVE this book.

Zeb Wells, who was already great with his New Warriors reality TV themed limited series, has managed to top himself here. If this doesn't boost his career then nothing will.

There is something fundamentally about the super hero genre that makes it male-centric. Maybe it is the violence, the power fantasy (i think most women don't want to "better" than everyone else, they just want to be looked at as equals, and Captain Fair Treatment is not that exciting character), and the conflict.

One of the other problems I think with most female superheroes is that they are always presented as being strong characters and personalities, in and out of their costumes. None of them are shown as having insecurities or feeling of inferiority like a Peter Parker or Kyle Raynor does (notice how Spider-Woman wasn’t a dweeb like Spider-Man, but a tough Hydra operative?). The only way I can think that a female character in her own title might work is if you did emphasize how her gender makes her seem less powerful and to make the character a true underdog, similar to how they use female protagonist in horror and thriller movies because they are percieved as weaker and more vulnerable. Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Billy Batson or Superman’s alter ego of Clark Kent all tap into comic book reader’s feelings of powerless and helplessness; a female character would have the added vulnerability of being part of the “weaker sex”. As big as underdog as a male hero might be facing six of his worst foes, a super heroine might be looked at as an even bigger underdog and a much more dramatic tale just because of her gender.

I don't know why comic books haven't tried this angle more often than just presenting the tough chick from "Encyclopedia Brown gets powers" over and over?

I am not saying you can't do a female comic, just that I don't think you'll ever get women over to the super hero genre in any sizable number.

What was wrong with the first issue of Power Girl? She looked fine, if slightly too cartoonish for my taste. The story was ok. I don't understand the negative reaction.

OMG, New Mutants was indeed super duper awesome, I guess we'll talk about that next week.

And, sorry, but I have to agree again that, generally speaking, girls and women just don't like super hero comics specifically. Comics, sure. Super hero comics, not so much. Frankly, most women don't really like Super Hero movies either and that's why we're stuck with, for example, a whole bunch of horrible Tobey/Kristen dribble in the Spider Man movies.

Too bad, Steve. Though I had a total geekgasm over New Mutants, Dani doesn't appear in issue #1. Gonna have to be patient.

But you just solved your own dilemma: Michelle Obama can say un-American things all she likes - it just proves how much she doesn't hate America.

Say, this is fun. Of course, I will now have to name my own name when I testify in front of Senator McCarthy, Estes Kefeauver, Roy Cohn and Dick Nixon.