A Love Letter To My First Fandom - The Batverse

[clawofcat]

I've been feeling rather nostalgic lately for my first true fandom. I'm not sure why, but that old longing of yore has crept up on me. You see, before there was Buffy/Spike there was Batman/Catwoman and Nightwing/Oracle. Here's a brief history on how I got into them  - TV and comics brought me to fanfic - the first fic stories that made an

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[clawofcat]

I eventually wrote my undergraduate thesis on Lois Lane, so I guess that would be my first piece of meta.
Oh, what I would give to read that! What angle did you use for your analysis? When I was working at the paper, there was more than one female journalist I overheard wishing she were like Lois Lane.

I always say that comics helped me get into college. I wrote my college essay on their influence on me as a writer and aspiring journalist (references to hallucinatory ravings about me not wanting to be Batman anymore were included), specifically Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan, whose a Hunter S. Thompson sort of lunatic/crusading urban journalist in the future. Maud would actually fit right into his world, come to think of it.

My first paid piece of writing was also a profile of my local comic shop for a business magazine, which eventually segue-wayed into the rise of comics in popular culture (the first Spiderman movie had just come out) and their effects on the entertainment industry/economy. I owe a lot to all those men and women in tights.

I was a big fan of independent/alternative comics in the heyday, most especially Love & Rockets, which was a life-changer. I wrote and edited comics, as well as writing articles
I've never read Love & Rockets, but had always heard good things about it. I should ask Gus whether he has a trade of it. And the more I hear about you and the comics, the more intrigued I get. What comics did you write/edit? Are you this crazy famous person and I just haven't realized? Are you Devin Grayson or Jo Duffy!? (Those are the only 2 female writers I can think of off the top of my head - go gender equality). Does your husband work in mainstream comics? All sort of personal questions, but... inquiring minds want to know! PM me if you don't want to answer in comments.

[rebcake]

It's been awhile, but I know that a pretty big part of my thesis was that Lois' seemingly insane romantic pursuit of Superman was in fact a canny way to retain her independence. By setting her sights so publicly on an unattainable male, she didn't have to make herself available to someone who might have made an "honest" woman of her. In the 40s & 50s, it was no easy thing to be an independent, but not openly rebellious, woman. That was the first part, but the other parts I'd have to think on for a bit.

Definitely check out Love & Rockets if you get the chance. I'd start with the earlier stuff, if possible. Some of brother Gilbert's more recent work can be sort of nihilistic and brutal, which wasn't the case originally. The thing that stands out about Los Bros. Hernandez' work is the variety and realism of the female characters, which most of them are. This was incredibly rare in comics in the 80s, and is only marginally less so today in any type of media, alas. They always got the same questions Joss gets today, "Why do you write such strong female characters?" Which, duh, why wouldn't you? Have fun!