I'll never let you sweep me off my feet
Let's talk about the DC reboot.
I was curious and cautiously (stupidly) hopeful, so I got hold of Red Hood and the Outlaws, and ugh, I am so grossed out by what they're doing with Starfire that I can't even... *shudder* I don't care that she's having sex with Jason and Roy - she could have sex with them both at the same time and not only wouldn't it strike me as particularly out of character, I'd probably cheer her on - but the bit about how she can't distinguish between humans and humans are just smells and sounds to her, and she can't remember her relationships or emotional connections with Dick and Donna (or the other Titans, but those two seem to be the most important)? SO GROSS. Not to mention the complete cheesecake in the way she's presented, which, whatever. The character was created to be a male fantasy sexy alien princess who has no hangups about sex or nudity. Blah blah blah. But I feel like they're completely missing her personality, and I don't even know comics!Starfire well.
silveronthetree suggested it might be a plot point, since Roy seemed surprised by the info even though he was on the Titans with her, but I just don't trust them enough to believe that.
This was enough to make me completely not react to the fact that Jason is on the trail of ORGAN STEALERS, which as you may or may not know, is my FAVORITE urban legend. Jason is recognizably himself, and he has black hair again and looks like one of Bruce's boys, and is very pretty. I don't really know comics Roy at all, so I can't comment on his characterization (my knowledge of Roy is basically Angry Speedy Is Angry from the animated YJ and his smug muggery on Teen Titans Go), but I wish they'd gone a different way than soldier of fortune; the casual racism of the opening was also gross. I admit to being intrigued that Jason and Roy were apparently a team previously? And I hate that I'm intrigued even while I'm disgusted. Oh, Jason, the things I do for you.
So I'm glad I'm not giving them money for this; I'd thought about it, because Jason! Kory! Roy! The "I slept with Dick Grayson and all I got was stuck with his exes" club! I imagine morbid curiosity will make me continue to read it, unless it gets better or, and this makes my soul quail to even imagine, somehow worse in terms of Kory's characterization and storyline. (also, why did they change the spelling from Kory to Kori? Is she going to dot it with a heart now? Ugh.) (also, also, it was this that really made me snap over on tumblr in response to that superheroes video; possibly the knowledge that even shitty superhero movies about men get sequels (Punisher, that Nic Cage flaming skull guy movie) and we're rebooting Superman and Spider-Man YET AGAIN, while we still can't get a Wonder Woman movie or anything that's really about female superheroes at all. *shakes fist at Hollywood*)
I also read Batman and Robin and Batman on the strength of some scans, and I enjoyed both, though it's hilarious to me how tiny they made Dick (that's what she said!) next to Bruce, even though he looks fully grown in Nightwing. Which I also read. So clearly there is some kind of shapeshifter than can even mimic DNA if Dick is coming up as a DNA match and there is also someone out to assassinate him for being a serial killer. Because there is no way he is a serial killer. (I still hate the red costume and the lack of fingerstripes. His boots are pretty neat, though.)
I enjoyed Bruce's attempt at being less grimdark - as I said on tumblr, I really liked the "It's my boat" line, mostly because I could hear Kevin Conroy saying it - though I wish he'd make a better effort with Damian. Surely Dick has filled him in on the kid's progress, and also, surely he has to know that it's his presence that makes Damian even pricklier. I mean, I get that he's terrible at emotions, especially when they concern his kids, but he has to have read some books about child psychology, so he could fake it even if he doesn't have the emotional capacity to really engage (which I think he does! He just doesn't know how. It's kind of sad, really). And I don't think Damian is a sociopath; I think he's capable of empathy, he's just lacked adults to model it for him, though Dick and Steph and Alfred were a good start. And it's not that I don't think Bruce can be empathetic - clearly he can! his whole relationship with Dick is based on it! - but I don't think he's any good at dealing with kids who aren't... hmm... basically, Dick was a good kid raised by loving parents before they were killed, and Tim was trained early on to try to be perfect in order to get some parental attention (and later to avoid it, I guess), so they didn't need the kind of emotional work that, say, Jason or Damian might. Otoh, he seemed to do pretty well with Cass, from what I've read, but possibly that's because Cass threw herself completely into doing things his way.
I'm still angry about them getting rid of Oracle and retconning Steph's time as Robin and Batgirl away (hence my decision not to read the new Batgirl or Birds of Prey) and I wish Cass were around, but these were enjoyable, if not really worth all the sturm und drang of the reboot.
I also read Catwoman, which eh, I don't like that she and Bruce don't know each other's identities anymore; I do like that they're still getting busy in their costumes. I was so upset about Kory that I couldn't even work up a righteous rage over how Selina is half hanging out of her costume half the time. So if I wanted to read a good run of Catwoman, what would you recommend? I know there was one a few years ago that has gotten a lot of praise, but I don't know exactly what it is, so recommendations are welcome.
I also read Batwoman, which looks like it will be good, though the art is still difficult for me to parse. I guess Bruce just shows up in every book now? Not that I didn't enjoy him showing up there, though I have enjoyed Kate's interactions with Dick (no, really, Dick, you're not her type), because I really liked their small bits of interaction in her past appearances. I'm sad she and her dad are on the outs, though, because I really liked their relationship a lot. I hope part of the story here is their reconciling. Also, please tell me that wasn't some sort of memorial wall for fallen officers that Renee's picture was hanging on, because if she's not around, I am going to be very angry indeed.
Wonder Woman didn't really make any sense to me? But Diana was fierce and in charge, and I like the new costume despite the blue boots.
I...don't know what I think of the new Superboy. It looks like they're going along the same direction as the YJ cartoon with him, which... I dunno. I am sad at losing Kon. And I don't think I'm curious enough to pick up Teen Titans to see how the two stories are going to interact. (though Tim's swan queen costume might be draw enough. Caw caw!)
And last - mostly because I was terrified that they were going to ruin perfection - I read the new Blue Beetle. Obviously it's impossible to predict how any of these will be long-term based on one issue, but my problems with this revised version of Jaime et al., let me enumerate them.
I guess they knew they couldn't replicate the power of the KHAJI-DA scene from the original, so they're just going to have him running around saying that whenever he armors up? Also, no Ted Kord or Dan Garrett? I don't mind missing out on Dan Garrett, but no Ted is a real shame. His influence and model were so important to Jaime, and I'm sad he's going to be without that. Also, I'm guessing Jaime doesn't go missing for a year because whatever crisis that was never happened? (Maybe this time Batman will learn not to build a satellite that can take out all the other members of the Justice League but be infiltrated by bad guys or develop sentience or whatever the fuck happened to cause all those problems. Hey, I'm all about the upsides. *snerk*)
Also, also, Paco's just a straight-up gangbanger now? I liked that he was just sort of lackadaisical about school. I really hope they're not going in a Jaime/Brenda/Paco triangle direction (though I would be all for them as an OT3 - it's one of my yuletide requests). I like that they showed Jaime as a good person before the scarab attached to him, though I also like that he's a kid who sneaks out against his parents' wishes to go to Brenda's party. That seems like a good balance to me.
I'm sure part of my ambivalence is that I just love Jaime's series SO MUCH that nothing could match up, but why couldn't he have just gotten a continuation instead of a reboot? It's not like there's a whole lot to catch up on, and it's worth catching up on, not like a lot of the nonsense they're allegedly jettisoning.
I think that's everything I intended to read. Nothing in it makes me think this reboot was a good idea - everything they've changed I dislike, and the stuff I do like is mostly stuff that continues on from where it was before.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/371583.html.
people have commented there.
I was curious and cautiously (stupidly) hopeful, so I got hold of Red Hood and the Outlaws, and ugh, I am so grossed out by what they're doing with Starfire that I can't even... *shudder* I don't care that she's having sex with Jason and Roy - she could have sex with them both at the same time and not only wouldn't it strike me as particularly out of character, I'd probably cheer her on - but the bit about how she can't distinguish between humans and humans are just smells and sounds to her, and she can't remember her relationships or emotional connections with Dick and Donna (or the other Titans, but those two seem to be the most important)? SO GROSS. Not to mention the complete cheesecake in the way she's presented, which, whatever. The character was created to be a male fantasy sexy alien princess who has no hangups about sex or nudity. Blah blah blah. But I feel like they're completely missing her personality, and I don't even know comics!Starfire well.
silveronthetree suggested it might be a plot point, since Roy seemed surprised by the info even though he was on the Titans with her, but I just don't trust them enough to believe that.
This was enough to make me completely not react to the fact that Jason is on the trail of ORGAN STEALERS, which as you may or may not know, is my FAVORITE urban legend. Jason is recognizably himself, and he has black hair again and looks like one of Bruce's boys, and is very pretty. I don't really know comics Roy at all, so I can't comment on his characterization (my knowledge of Roy is basically Angry Speedy Is Angry from the animated YJ and his smug muggery on Teen Titans Go), but I wish they'd gone a different way than soldier of fortune; the casual racism of the opening was also gross. I admit to being intrigued that Jason and Roy were apparently a team previously? And I hate that I'm intrigued even while I'm disgusted. Oh, Jason, the things I do for you.
So I'm glad I'm not giving them money for this; I'd thought about it, because Jason! Kory! Roy! The "I slept with Dick Grayson and all I got was stuck with his exes" club! I imagine morbid curiosity will make me continue to read it, unless it gets better or, and this makes my soul quail to even imagine, somehow worse in terms of Kory's characterization and storyline. (also, why did they change the spelling from Kory to Kori? Is she going to dot it with a heart now? Ugh.) (also, also, it was this that really made me snap over on tumblr in response to that superheroes video; possibly the knowledge that even shitty superhero movies about men get sequels (Punisher, that Nic Cage flaming skull guy movie) and we're rebooting Superman and Spider-Man YET AGAIN, while we still can't get a Wonder Woman movie or anything that's really about female superheroes at all. *shakes fist at Hollywood*)
I also read Batman and Robin and Batman on the strength of some scans, and I enjoyed both, though it's hilarious to me how tiny they made Dick (that's what she said!) next to Bruce, even though he looks fully grown in Nightwing. Which I also read. So clearly there is some kind of shapeshifter than can even mimic DNA if Dick is coming up as a DNA match and there is also someone out to assassinate him for being a serial killer. Because there is no way he is a serial killer. (I still hate the red costume and the lack of fingerstripes. His boots are pretty neat, though.)
I enjoyed Bruce's attempt at being less grimdark - as I said on tumblr, I really liked the "It's my boat" line, mostly because I could hear Kevin Conroy saying it - though I wish he'd make a better effort with Damian. Surely Dick has filled him in on the kid's progress, and also, surely he has to know that it's his presence that makes Damian even pricklier. I mean, I get that he's terrible at emotions, especially when they concern his kids, but he has to have read some books about child psychology, so he could fake it even if he doesn't have the emotional capacity to really engage (which I think he does! He just doesn't know how. It's kind of sad, really). And I don't think Damian is a sociopath; I think he's capable of empathy, he's just lacked adults to model it for him, though Dick and Steph and Alfred were a good start. And it's not that I don't think Bruce can be empathetic - clearly he can! his whole relationship with Dick is based on it! - but I don't think he's any good at dealing with kids who aren't... hmm... basically, Dick was a good kid raised by loving parents before they were killed, and Tim was trained early on to try to be perfect in order to get some parental attention (and later to avoid it, I guess), so they didn't need the kind of emotional work that, say, Jason or Damian might. Otoh, he seemed to do pretty well with Cass, from what I've read, but possibly that's because Cass threw herself completely into doing things his way.
I'm still angry about them getting rid of Oracle and retconning Steph's time as Robin and Batgirl away (hence my decision not to read the new Batgirl or Birds of Prey) and I wish Cass were around, but these were enjoyable, if not really worth all the sturm und drang of the reboot.
I also read Catwoman, which eh, I don't like that she and Bruce don't know each other's identities anymore; I do like that they're still getting busy in their costumes. I was so upset about Kory that I couldn't even work up a righteous rage over how Selina is half hanging out of her costume half the time. So if I wanted to read a good run of Catwoman, what would you recommend? I know there was one a few years ago that has gotten a lot of praise, but I don't know exactly what it is, so recommendations are welcome.
I also read Batwoman, which looks like it will be good, though the art is still difficult for me to parse. I guess Bruce just shows up in every book now? Not that I didn't enjoy him showing up there, though I have enjoyed Kate's interactions with Dick (no, really, Dick, you're not her type), because I really liked their small bits of interaction in her past appearances. I'm sad she and her dad are on the outs, though, because I really liked their relationship a lot. I hope part of the story here is their reconciling. Also, please tell me that wasn't some sort of memorial wall for fallen officers that Renee's picture was hanging on, because if she's not around, I am going to be very angry indeed.
Wonder Woman didn't really make any sense to me? But Diana was fierce and in charge, and I like the new costume despite the blue boots.
I...don't know what I think of the new Superboy. It looks like they're going along the same direction as the YJ cartoon with him, which... I dunno. I am sad at losing Kon. And I don't think I'm curious enough to pick up Teen Titans to see how the two stories are going to interact. (though Tim's swan queen costume might be draw enough. Caw caw!)
And last - mostly because I was terrified that they were going to ruin perfection - I read the new Blue Beetle. Obviously it's impossible to predict how any of these will be long-term based on one issue, but my problems with this revised version of Jaime et al., let me enumerate them.
I guess they knew they couldn't replicate the power of the KHAJI-DA scene from the original, so they're just going to have him running around saying that whenever he armors up? Also, no Ted Kord or Dan Garrett? I don't mind missing out on Dan Garrett, but no Ted is a real shame. His influence and model were so important to Jaime, and I'm sad he's going to be without that. Also, I'm guessing Jaime doesn't go missing for a year because whatever crisis that was never happened? (Maybe this time Batman will learn not to build a satellite that can take out all the other members of the Justice League but be infiltrated by bad guys or develop sentience or whatever the fuck happened to cause all those problems. Hey, I'm all about the upsides. *snerk*)
Also, also, Paco's just a straight-up gangbanger now? I liked that he was just sort of lackadaisical about school. I really hope they're not going in a Jaime/Brenda/Paco triangle direction (though I would be all for them as an OT3 - it's one of my yuletide requests). I like that they showed Jaime as a good person before the scarab attached to him, though I also like that he's a kid who sneaks out against his parents' wishes to go to Brenda's party. That seems like a good balance to me.
I'm sure part of my ambivalence is that I just love Jaime's series SO MUCH that nothing could match up, but why couldn't he have just gotten a continuation instead of a reboot? It's not like there's a whole lot to catch up on, and it's worth catching up on, not like a lot of the nonsense they're allegedly jettisoning.
I think that's everything I intended to read. Nothing in it makes me think this reboot was a good idea - everything they've changed I dislike, and the stuff I do like is mostly stuff that continues on from where it was before.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/371583.html.
people have commented there.