DC Comics: Huntress Origins
So. DC have announced a new comic, and Helena Wayne is coming back, huh?
( Helena Wayne, Helena Bertinelli: Didn't realise how much difference an origin made. )
( Helena Wayne, Helena Bertinelli: Didn't realise how much difference an origin made. )
I have super complicated thoughts about the diversity issue because I definitely don't buy into the "well why aren't people buying it?" aspect because, well bluntly because I believe that popular culture and the media has a social responsibility beyond the purely capitalistic. I also think that there's a pattern of not putting non-WASP characters in prominent roles, or under advertising stuff, etc. Equally I've read a number of articles, etc., about how difficult it is particularly with certain segments of the hardcore comics readership to convince them of anything new or changing, and advertising or no, I think there's a remarkable reluctance to moving to new incarnations of characters, and then you have these companies where the readership hates change, but the stuff they're harking back to is from this very male-WASP-dominated era and anything that doesn't have the pedigree of coming from that time is always going to be perceived as second rate, and that's...a complex problem.
I really wish someone smarter than me would write about it because I go back and forth on whether the best way to combat that is the DC way of embracing the concept of a Legacy Character, because then, in theory, we're already used to changing people behind that mask, and new characters can come along with the legitimacy of the old name, or whether that just draws attention to the problematic nostalgia to an era that sucked with regards to diversity and the Marvel method of just making up new people is a better way to play it, and hope they are popular enough to make up for not having been around so long.
Either way I think I'm saddest about Static because he really should have been DC's attempt to fill the Spider-man gap in their line-up. I hope he comes back in another team book at least.
And I will say that DC held off on canceling Voodoo even though she's selling worse than some of the titles that did get the ax. Possibly she is selling more consistently? I'm not sure, but given that women of colour have a representational issue that's even greater than people of colour in general, at least she's still around. I'm not personally a fan of the book, which makes me feel slightly hypocritical if it does tank and have to be canceled but on a purely representational basis, I'm glad she still has a title - I'm also glad that from what I've heard it stops being 90% about strippers after the first issue.
Aaaand now I'm babbling. Oh, right two things:
1) I hate that Batman has, now, FIVE FREAKING TITLES. But the title I really hate is Batman: the Dark Knight. It's just so nakedly there so that they can have a Batman book to release on that fourth week. It's weird and bizarre and mostly about Batman chasing a playboy bunny while on drugs from what I can tell. I mean, there's Batman. Fine. Detective, like Action, is something I'm willing to make an exception for, especially now they're bringing back the backup features, because it's kind of traditional, and doesn't always have to feature Batman (or Superman in the case of Action). Batman & Robin also at least makes it clear from the title what it's about. And now they have Batman Incorporated, which again has a clear mission statement about what sets it apart from the other bat titles. SO WHY DO WE STILL HAVE FUCKING BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT?! It's awful. You now have a different bat book to ship on week four. CANCEL IT I DON'T CARE THAT IT SELLS MORE THAN MOST OTHER COMIC BOOKS WILL EVER DREAM TO DO, KILL IT, KILL IT WITH FIRE. Ahem.
2) The Ray! Oh my god that comic is SO MUCH FUN. I adore it. It is, however, almost certain not to get an ongoing because sales of the mini series are in the toilet already. :( At least it's getting really good reviews though so hopefully they'll put him in something else. We picked it up because we like the dudes who write it, but missed them doing humour because All-Star Western is so darrrrk (I mean, what I read of it was good, but I really miss their take on Power Girl). So totally worth it.
You still care about DC cus there's still some really great, fun stuff there too. *hugs*
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I'm conflicted on Voodoo being kept - on the one hand, yay comic led by a PoC woman! On the other hand, comic that, from what I've seen, consistently objectifies said lead lady and has her as an alien. It doesn't seem all that great.
NO NO all your feelings on Batman: the Dark Knight I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH. Okay, seriously, we've got - Batman, Tec, Batman Inc. Dark Knight, Batman and Robin, JLI, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwing, and Justice League, all of which either feature Bruce himself (by himself or as part of a team) or feature his family/associates and are likely to have him as a frequent guest star. That is ten books, not including RHaTO because I don't think he'll guest star in that, but given this massive crossover he still might. That is literally a FIFTH of the DCnU. People he is one human being I know you love him but he's NOT THAT GOOD. also he is a crappy father please fix that.
I love his family to bits, his family is comprised of the BEST people, but uh, Bruce himself is actually pretty much dead boring to me. EVERY MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY IS MORE INTERESTING, and I am including Tim in that statement so that should say how totally uninteresting I find him. (Nothing against Tim, he just keeps getting written as mini-Bruce, can do no wrong, etc.)
I really think if they'd advertised Static more, especially anywhere with audiences that would have watched his show (which was pretty popular I understand!) they could really have set him up as, yeah, the Spider-man of this universe. Snarky teenage genius superhero.
I really like the Legacy character way of getting PoC into the universe, I think it works really well. But when DC does do it, like with Cass Cain and Ryan Choi, they almost always go back to the original, either by benching or killing the successor in completely nonsensical ways. (alshdgd oh man Ryan you got a raw deal and you were a fantastic person, I'm sorry. and god knows I adore Steph Brown and her Batgirl run it was a thing of utter beauty, but I think they could have done way better in showing why Cass left being Batgirl and continuing to showcase her, seriously.)
and on the Helena Wayne thing - Bertinelli is one of my favorite characters in the DCU, hands-down. I love the character development and growth she's been through, I love her attitude and her view on life and everything about her. But I also love the idea of Bruce's oldest kid being a girl, of there being a girl in the Batfamily who's treated well who isn't Barbara. (Love you, Babs, sorry.) ALSO A;LSDHGDS;G A WORLD'S FINEST COMIC ABOUT THE FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY HOLY FUCK THAT IS AWESOME. But! Bertinelli! TORN.
:(( UGH and again, I'm pretty sure that could be fixed by ADVERTISING IT I had heard there was going to be a Ray mini or ongoing coming up a while ago but literally nowhere had anything about it so I didn't realize it even existed until last week. A month after the first issue was released! that is really crappy advertising, given that I do follow quite a few comics fans and a couple comics news site. So yeah. :/ HE BETTER SHOW UP SOMEWHERE. I like him and I like his supporting cast a lot.
... okay, yeah, there is still some great stuff going on. SUPERGIRL. Wonder Woman is still REALLY EXCELLENT. The Huntress miniseries is a beautiful thing. They are doing some stuff right.
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That said, I don't particularly have a problem with the concept of her being an alien hybrid. I don't think it's inherently sexist, racist or exploitative given that the story is told from her perspective. However there are a number of ways it could be all three of those things depending on how it's handled, which I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on. I've heard they've turned down the objectification but can't comment personally.
Re: Static - I didn't even know he had a TV show! I think maybe it never aired in the UK? I kind of want to check it out now, except I have an ambivalent relationship with animation so we'll see.
Re: Legacy characters! I think that the key thing they flubbed with Batgirl wasn't so much replacing Steph with Cass as not giving Cass more play as Black Bat when that happened. Like, just on a team or something, so we knew what was up with her. *crosses fingers for Batman Inc* Apparently, once Justice League jumps to "present" day after this first arc, Ryan Choi will be back as the Atom! Like, I'm sure he won't get that much page time because it'll probably still mostly revolve around the seven core members, but yay, Ryan!Choi!Atom!
Re: Advertising The Ray. In fairness to DC I do recall them putting previews for the Ray in back of every comic they published like, the week before it came out or something. I remember because that's how we found out about it and decided to check it out. Which I think is more than they did for any of the other mini series. But the specifics of this case aside, in general I agree with you. You really don't need to be advertising Batman; everyone's gonna buy that anyway.
Re: BATMAN ARGH. I think I wouldn't count books like Batgirl and Nightwing against the "ridiculous portion of the DC dedicated to Batman" just cus most of the Batfamily books are about the Batfamily not Batman (who I agree: boring and a jerk), and they are some super great characters. So I'm kind of okay with 20% of the DCU being about Gotham. But now 10% of the DCU is just about Batman himself? Dear lord, it really isn't needed. Why is he even in JLI? WHY? WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE THERE?
I just keep picturing him crouched on gargoyles gritting out, "I work alonnnnnnne. COME ON ROBIN. No wait, I work alonnnnnneeeee, WHUT THE JLI DIDN'T INVITE ME TO BE ON THEIR TEAM? SCREW THAT SHIT! I work alonnnnnne, no Superman, go away, I work SO ALONE I'm giving our team-up book to the first pair of chicks who come along."
Huntress: "Uh...Dad? :D?"
Which brings us full-circle to Huntress. As I said, Helena Bertinelli isn't one of my all-time favourite characters, but even so, I really feel the loss of her all of a sudden. AND YET. BATMAN'S DAUGHTER MAKING OFF WITH BATMAN'S TEAM-UP TITLE WITH ANOTHER AWESOME LADY. I can't help it, I want to *swoon*
And to round off with positives; I agree with all you say (the art in Supergirl particularly is really beautiful, I think), and I'd also add that Birds of Prey is better than I thought it would be and in a lady-related positive that I don't think I've seen anyone really commenting on (which sort of surprises me), I love that Scott Snyder is kind of giving Abby Arcane her own mystical power, personal agency and place in the Green/Red/Rot mythology rather than just making her the human love interest once again.
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